Chapters

The Begining
On The Other Side of the Wall
The Problem
The End

The Begining
View Online

Friendship is Magic

The Begining

Friendship is Magic

Chapter 1

Winter was over in Canterlot, yet the cold lingered a little bit longer. It was a new idea from the weather team captain to gradually wane away winter, rather than it being wrapped up in one day, he said it was a more natural approach. There was really nothing natural about it though, everypony was wishing for warm weather right about now.

I watched as a few mares trotted past my library, it hit me like a ton of bricks. I once again felt the need for a friend. Not even a marefriend, no, just any friend. I sighed and continued my rounds, browsing through the books, making sure everything was in alphabetical order, I turned down the next aisle and-

*ting ting*

The bell hanging above the door rang as somepony entered. I casually trotted over towards the door. I put on my best act; after all, a depressed pony doesn’t make a good salespony. “Hello and welcome to Sunset Wonder’s Library and Bookstore”, I spoke to the guest, I turned one more corner and saw who it was. “P-p-p-p-princess Celestia! W-w-w-w-what are you doing here? Can I help you with anything?” I stuttered out in shock as I stumbled into a bow. “Why no my little pony, I am here to help you.”

“What!?”

“Do not be surprised, I will explain.” She gestured for me to stand and began to speak once more “I have seen your melancholy, and wanted to help. This world rather centers on friendship and interaction with other ponies, so it pains me to see you so lonely. Canterlot is a big place and it is very hard to make friends here, so I have decided to send you somewhere simple, where it is easy to meet ponies, and maybe even friends.” She gave me wink and turned to leave, being the logical pony I am, I had some questions. “What about my house?”

“Your belongings have been packed up and are on their way to their destination.”

“And what of my store?”

“It has been sold, you know very well business was not exactly booming here.” She gestured around the room. It was true, the store was going under, nopony ever came in, and I could barely afford to pay the electric bill. “Then what about all the books in my house? Surely not all of those were packed.”

“They weren’t packed, not because they were to numerous, but because they all belonged to your library.”

“Very well then. When am I to depart?”

Celestia’s horn flashed with magic as she conjured up a train ticket.

“Your train will be here in an hour, enjoy your stay in Ponyville.” And with that, she left.

It was hardly going to be a stay; all ties between me and Canterlot were snapped with but a word from the mighty Goddess. I looked around the store one last time. I flipped the open sign on the door with my magic and left. I walked down the cobble street looking in the windows of shops selling various trinkets. I stopped outside a mirror store. I looked in the window at a reflection of myself. I liked the way I looked; I had a clean white coat and a long mane. I liked it long, even though I was a colt; it felt like I had something to hide behind. I wasn’t a very muscular colt, I wasn’t fat though, and I was trim. I recalled an unhappy memory of myself walking down this street, head hung low, after a colt had tried flirting with me, only to receive a rather deep voiced response of “What the hay?”. I sighed, blowing off a bit of my mane. It was a wonderful crimson and gold stripe, and I liked it too. I examined my tail of the same colors, when my eyes fell on my cutie mark, a quill and inkwell. I found it in a rather silly way, I had never written anything. I sat in the library one day, reading about caveponies, when it appeared. I didn’t understand until I wrote. I am a chronicler, I wrote down everything after that day, this is how the books I read came into existence, and I could never be happier knowing this. I stopped staring at myself, cursing me a little for looking so long, it made me feel vain. I thought for a moment of what happened to everything I wrote down. Then I remembered that they shut off the heat in my house, so it all went into the fireplace. I almost cried as I recalled my life burning away in an inferno to preserve myself. I continued walking towards the train station; it was just up the road so I was in no hurry to get there. The street was sparse; a few ponies here and there trotted up and down the street, with their friends. It felt like I had a neon sign over my head, nopony ever walks alone anywhere, but it wasn’t like I had anyone to walk with. Moondancer passed by me, I remembered her party just a- wait, was it really that long ago? Anyway, I remembered sitting alone while everypony was up and dancing to the new hit song March of the Parasprites. I winced a little when she stepped on my tail. “Oh my! I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to-“

“It’s fine” I whispered, I’m not good at talking to mares, or really anyone.

“Where are you heading to? I’ll walk with you.” She offered “You’re Sunset Wonder right?”

My eyes lit up, not only did she know who I was, but she also wanted to walk with me, suddenly my voice had a little more confidence.

“Yeah that’s me, and I was heading to the train station.” I gradually looked up, and was shocked to find her blushing.

“Why are you going to the train station? Are you going somewhere?”

“I’m going to live in Ponyville, by request of the Princess Celestia.”

“Ponyville? Really? I know someone who moved there a while ago, her name is Twilight Sparkle. Maybe you’ll meet her.”

I noticed she neglected the word friend, but thought nothing of it. We began walking, occasionally our eyes would meet, but we both abruptly looked away. Moondancer truly was an attractive mare; I almost didn’t want to leave. I tried to make conversation. “So how about you? Where were you going?”

“I was just going home, until I bumped into you.” She winked once; it was obvious that I would have to return to Canterlot sometime, even if it was for one, gorgeous mare.

She suddenly shouted to somepony “Swiftwing! Hey Swiftwing!” A rather muscular pegasus colt turned to look at us, before flying over, Moondancer introduced us.

“Sunset Wonder, this is my coltfriend Swiftwing.” I was hit by those words about as hard as a buck to the face, and then Swiftwing bucked me in the face.

“You stay away from my marefriend, got it?” he glared at me, anticipating a response.

“Got it.” I gasped out.

He didn’t break my nose, which was very generous of him, but it still hurt. Swiftwing pulled Moondancer close and said to her. “C’mon babe, let’s go.”

They trotted off, Moondancer looked back at me, and mouthed “Sorry” to me, and I dusted myself off and trotted away. I wish it didn’t have to be like this, me just being an acquaintance. I almost had a friend, but then I was shoved into a darkened corner by her coltfriend, I can guarantee that after one apology to her for beating me up, and a session of passionate lovemaking, she will have completely forgotten about me.

I continued on anyway, careful not to think about her too much, else I end up depressed again. Instead I though of my new life. Surely coming and going depression like this will be gone as soon as I have some kind of friend. I nodded to myself and left it at that. My thoughts continued to wander as I arrived at the train station. I approached the conductor pony and showed him my ticket, he let me on the train and I found a seat. I realized I hadn’t brought anything to do on the train ride. I sighed and looked out the window; all I saw were ponies with places to be. I wanted to find something to do, so I wandered the train for a short while, but there wasn’t really much wandering to do. There were a few ponies in their seats, but not many. I found nothing of interest aboard the train, so I headed back to my seat. To my surprise, when I returned I found two ponies in the same train compartment with me. There sat a sleeping purple mare and her rainbow friend. The purple one was leaning against her friend and fast asleep. She did not notice my entry. On the other hand, the rainbow one sat across from me and eyed me warily. I felt as though my very soul was being examined by this mare and her red-eyed stare. I started to wonder where they were going, but immediately stopped myself. This is a train bound for Ponyville, so that’s obviously where they were going. I looked around our compartment, and spotted a bin full of magazines; I took a copy of Literacy Daily and hid behind it. I heard the conductor shout once, and the train began to move. The train climbed up to a steady speed, and soon after the rainbow mare was also fast asleep. I put away my magazine and relaxed, it was starting to get late, and I could use some sleep. I looked around the compartment once more before I closed my eyes. I felt the rhythm of the train; I listened to the noise of the tracks, and the steady breathing of my companions. I drifted into a dreamland.

___________________________________________________________________________

I looked around the darkened room, but couldn’t see anything. I felt with my hooves for a light switch, but was stopped. Another hoof pushed mine to the side and flicked on the lights. Her stare made me grimace. Even though she looked cheery with her pink mane and coat, I knew something was amiss. She called to a friend “Look Dashie, somepony is going to watch!” I looked into the darkness and saw the same rainbow mare from our train compartment, she gasped as she recognized my face.

I noticed I felt slightly numb, as though I was previously drugged. I carefully mumbled out the words, finding it hard to articulate “Wha-wh-watch what?” I winced a little as the pink mare jumped up into my face, she began “You should really practice your speech, but anyway, you get to watch us make cupcakes!”

“Cupcakes? What?” I and the rainbow mare both looked at her quizzically, but before long, she wheeled a cart over to her friend. I could just make out all of the sharp tools and implements for cutting. I jumped to my hooves, but the pink mare (with surprising strength) pushed me into a chair and bound me with streamers. They seemed as though they would be fragile, but she wrapped me with several layers, so I could not budge. Now I was worried. The rainbow mare was also quite alarmed, she looked frantically around the room and at me, looking for some means of escape. The pink mare pulled out a scalpel and casually touched the end to her hoof to make sure it was sharp. She then turned to her friend and began to cut a circle around her cutie mark, all the while babbling unintelligible nonsense to her friend, all of which I failed to hear. The sight was gruesome, and all I could do was watch as the rainbow mare cried her eyes out, occasionally looking to me for help.

Next the pink mare pulled out a hacksaw and aimed it ever so carefully at a wing, she readied herself and-

The rainbow mare across from me awoke with a start, as did I. tear streaks stained her sky blue face as she looked at me with a pained expression. “How did you… get inside my dream?”

“I have absolutely no idea. Are you okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ve had this dream before; I already found help for it, but thanks anyway. Who are you?”

“I’m Sunset Wonder, and you are?”

“I’m Rainbow Dash.”

Rainbow Dash, I liked the name. It sounded right. She really was charming, her tomboyish style and athletic build complimented each other wonderfully. I stopped right then. Athletic build… Tomboyish style… well horse apples, she’s a lesbian. I realized I was making an assumption, that the only way to find out would be to ask her, and there was no way I was doing that.

“Hey…hey…HEY!!! Quit starin’ will ya’? I’m not into colts.” She jammed a hoof in her mouth following her slip of the tongue. It did probably look like I was staring from her point of view, but I didn’t care, I found out what I wanted to know and a wry smile crossed my face.

“Oh don’t you think about telling anypony, I didn’t even mean to tell you, and if anyone in Ponyville finds out, especially my friends, nopony will ever look at me the same!”

“I promise, I won’t tell anypony.”

“Pinkie Pie promise?”

I looked at her quizzically. “Who’s Pinkie Pie?”

“You’re not from Ponyville, are you?”

“No, I was sent to live here by the Princess.”

“The Princess? Really? Twilight here is her number one student.” She pointed at the purple unicorn leaning on her.

“Twilight? You mean Twilight Sparkle? I was told to talk to her by my… acquaintance Moondancer.”

“Acquaintance? Why not friend?”

“We aren’t that close. By the way who’s Pinkie Pie? You never answered my question.”

“Oh yeah, but you’ll meet Pinkie Pie soon, she knows everypony in town, and there really is no way to avoid talking with her.”

“Oh, okay.” My eyes went to my window; I saw a sign just outside FIVE MILES TO PONYVILLE. I sighed a small sigh of relief, almost there. I looked back at Rainbow Dash to see she had closed her eyes and presumably gone back to sleep. I wondered, could I call Rainbow Dash a friend? No, I would need to get to know her better. I looked down to Twilight Sparkle. I had completed my quest, I found Twilight Sparkle, now to just talk to her.

Chapter 2

___________________________________________________________________________

The Train stopped at Ponyville Station, The sun shone brightly, without a cloud in the sky. Obviously this town’s weather team captain wasn’t as “naturalist” as the one in Canterlot, and rather, they took a more traditional approach to Winter Wrap-up.

I stepped off of the train and looked about. It was a small, quaint little town, with not many ponies, so it was understandable that everypony knew everypony. It was also understandable the looks I received, as though I was a stranger (even though I was). As I left the train I was followed by Rainbow Dash, and a rather sleepy Twilight Sparkle. They were talking with four other ponies that had gotten off the train. They must have traveled together, but since each compartment only seats four comfortably, they had to split up. “Hey! Hey Sunny! Hey!” I got the feeling I was going to despise the nickname, but also hear it a lot. I turned to see who was trying to get my attention, and as soon as I turned around, a bubbly pink mare was in my face. “Hiya! I’m Pinkie Pie! Rainbow Dash was just telling me you were moving here and I-“ she stopped midsentence and let out a huge gasp, then darted away. What was that about? Ah well, it can wait, I obviously have some more ponies to meet, and based on the number I saw roaming around, it might just take all day. I grabbed a brochure from the visitor’s center and viewed a town map. It highlighted all of the hotspots of the town, predominantly was Sweet Apple Acres. I decided to head there first. I walked down the wide open streets of Ponyville, taking in the scenery. The town was lovely, everypony was so nice to each other. I avoided contact with anypony. I realized that I was actually going to go talk to some stranger. I didn’t want to do that. Instead I decided to find my house. Celestia wrote me a letter whilst I was on the train telling me how my money would be put into the Ponyville Bank and how I would be taking over the Quill and Sofa store. I chuckled to myself, what an odd grouping, quills and sofas. I wondered why I wouldn’t just run a library, but looking over the map I saw that there was already a library, in a tree no less. I wandered about for a bit longer until I finally found my new home. I figured that I would probably still run the store, since obviously there was a need for quills and sofas. Maybe as a business venture I could also sell paper, after all, it would be helpful to keep those in the same place. I pulled on the door to the shop with my magic, but it was locked, I unrolled the letter once more, and a key fell out. I recalled that I didn’t bring any saddlebags, so I would need to go buy some. I browsed the map once more (finding the Quill and Sofa shop on it made me feel a little foalish), and found a dressmaker’s shop, Carousel Boutique, I decided it would probably be the best place to find saddlebags since it (like the other hotspots) was marked with a gold star. I contemplated visiting the library first, but figured it would be easier to carry books with saddlebags. I left my “house” and locked the door, though I found it silly to do so, if there’s say 100 ponies in town, if anypony were to steal anything, tracking them down would be easy. I casually glanced at the map and set out. I found that all the main hotspots (besides Sweet Apple Acres which was on the edge of town) were situated fairly close together, making it easy for me to find the Boutique. I came upon the circular building and found that it did somewhat resemble a carousel, I grabbed the door with my magic and gently pulled it open.

*Ting ting*

The bell above the door gave a gentle ting as I entered. From the back of the boutique called a mare with a slight upper-class Canterlot accent. “Cooooooooooooming!” I had met upper-class ponies before, and I didn’t much care for them. Manely because of the way they talked down to me, I was worried that this was going to be one of those experiences. Instead, a gorgeous mare with purple locks came to greet me. “Hello and welcome to Carousel Boutique, I am Rarity, how may I help you?”

“Uh, yes umm, I’m Sunset Wonder, I’m new to Ponyville and I need some saddlebags.”

“Yes, yes, yes, I knew I didn’t recognize you, I’ll have them done in no time. By the way, where are you from?”

“Canterlot, I-“

“CANTERLOT! Oh my I knew you were a stallion with class as soon as you walked in, with your luscious mane, and your gorgeous eyes and- Ohhhhh why am I wasting time, tell me all about your life in Canterlot.”

“But I-“

“Every. Last. Detail.”

“Oh all right. I lived in a loft near the train station, nothing exciting ever happened there. I owned a bookstore downstairs and I-“

“Bookstore! You know I bet you and my friend Twilight would get along just great, she really likes books, you should go over there right now!”

“But I thought you wanted to hear about Canterlot.”

“Oh I’ve been there before and heard all about it anyway, I just wanted to talk. I would absolutely love to see you again, so don’t be shy, visit at any time.”

“Oh okay” and with that she pushed me out the door. Rarity, could I call her a friend? No, I would once again have to get to know her better. As for Pinkie Pie… well we really only had one short conversation, so no.

I trotted along to the nearby library and knocked on the door. “Coming, coming” answered the voice of what sounded like a child. The door opened and I looked down, I jumped a little when I saw that this was a dragon, not a pony. I had only ever seen a few dragons, in books. Seeing one up close was a bit of a surprise. My train of thought was interrupted by the small creature. “Who the hay are you?”

“Oh, I’m-“

“Spike! Don’t be so rude.”

“Twilight! There’s a stranger at the door, what did you want me to say?”

“A stranger? Really? What’s their name?”

“What’s your name?” asked the dragon.

“I’m Sunset Wonder, I came to see the library.”

“Oh okay, come on in.” the dragon turned and walked inside, calling upstairs

"He says that he’s Sunset Wonder, and he wanted to get some books.”

Twilight Sparkle trotted down the stairs and greeted him

“Hello, my name is Twilight Sparkle and I-“ she stopped when I came into view. “Hey, you’re the pony that Rainbow Dash was talking about, she said how you don’t have any friends and-“ I winced, that hurt inside. “Oh I’m sorry, it’s just that-“

“No, it’s fine, I just came to meet you. I met Rarity and told her about how I owned a bookstore in Canterlot and she told me I ‘must see you’” I explained, doing my best Rarity impression, Twilight grinned, and chuckled a little at my poor performance.

“Well she was right, I love books so I want to hear all about it.” I told her a shortened version of what I told Rarity, minus the interruptions, and I actually had Twilight’s interest.

“What kind of books did you have?”

“Really anything I could get my hooves on and sort alphabetically.”

“Sort huh? I might need your help here” she gestured to the full shelves “My books are very… unsorted, if you wouldn’t mind…”

“I wouldn’t mind at all, how would you like them sorted?”

“Let’s just go with alphabetically.” I grabbed the books with my magic and unshelved all of them, Twilight watched as I moved and rearranged the rows of floating books, eventually placing them all back on the shelf. “How did you do that?”

“An alphabetizing spell, the first of every month at my store was reshelving day, so to make it easier, I learned the spell.”

“Could you teach me?”

“I would love to, but it’s impossible to learn if your special talent is anything outside of the literary.”

“But my special talent is magic.” She grinned proudly.

“Really? Well then this shouldn’t take long.”

I taught Twilight the spell, showing her what and where to focus her magic, she got it within fifteen minutes. “Thank you so much Sunset Wonder! I would love to see you again!”

“You will, I’ll be here very often.”

Twilight gently nuzzled my neck before I left; I blushed a little, not knowing a mare’s touch. I headed back towards Carousel Boutique to pick up my saddlebags. The sun was gently setting on the horizon, I hadn’t realized I had spent so much time with Twilight. I entered the boutique, being greeted by a Rarity who was grinning ear to ear.

“Sooooo, what took you so long?” I immediately got what she was suggesting and replied “Really Miss Rarity, I thought you were more of a lady than that.”

“I am very much a lady, I just happen to enjoy a bit of gossip” I could tell my word rubbed her in just the right way as she pouted at me for keeping a secret.

“Nothing happened anyway, there isn’t any juicy gossip here.”

“Awwwww. Oh well” she sighed “Your saddlebags are on the counter, darling.”

“Thank you.” I said as I donned my new saddlebags and left.

I headed home after a long day; I was tired and wanted nothing more than to rest. I rounded my street corner and saw the door to my house wide open; all of the lights were off. Concerned, I approached with caution, noting the screwdriver and bobby pin on the ground in front of the door, somepony really wanted to get in, but why? I entered my home, closing the door behind me. I searched for the light switch when the lights were turned on by somepony else. I looked around the room at what seemed like everypony in Ponyville, all of them wore party hats and had noisemakers of all sorts. Pinkie Pie dashed over to me and screamed at the top of her lungs “PARTY!”

Chapter 3

___________________________________________________________________________

So here I was, amidst a plethora of partying ponies. Pinkie Pie was erratically chatting into my right ear, explaining her plan in detail. I looked around the room. Everypony in Ponyville must be here. I wandered through the crowd, greeting a few ponies as they greeted me. I finally made my way to the back room where I hid. This was not what I wanted; I can’t talk to all these ponies. I was barely able to talk to the few I had met. Apparently I was followed. “Whatcha doing?” asked the bubbly pink party pony. I sighed, there was going to be no avoiding this mare

“I’m hiding…until the party is over.”

“Hiding? But this is a party! Get out there and have fun!”

“You don’t understand.”

“I don’t?”

“No. I can’t.”

“Why? Is your arch-enemy here?”

“What? No. I mean I can’t handle this.”

“Sure you can! Just follow my lead!” and with that she dragged me out of the back room and personally introduced me to everypony there while I smiled and shyly waved. After I had met everypony, Pinkie Pie took me to the back room once again. She pinned me to the wall and glared at me, unable to meet her gaze, I looked away. She growled at me “Why aren’t you having any FUN!”

“I told you I can’t! I’m no good at meeting new ponies, that’s why I don’t have any friends!” Her face fell.

“What?! W-w-well what about Rarity? Or Twilight? Or ME?!” I could tell I had hurt her feelings. Her mane deflated as though I had popped a balloon, tears welled up in her eyes. She turned and went to leave. I knew I had to do something, I had ruined Pinkie Pie, and none of her friends would ever forgive me if I left her this way. I wouldn’t forgive myself. I placed a hoof on her shoulder. “Pinkie…I-“

“DON’T!” she stopped her sudden outburst “Don’t touch me… just… just leave me alone…”

“Pinkie… I’m sorry… I-I care about you.”

She sniffled a little “What? I thought we weren’t friends.”

“We are friends Pinkie… You took the time to get to know me, to introduce me to everypony else… and you are my friend.”

Her hair returned to its bouncy state, she turned to me with a wide grin and said “Well then let’s go make friends with everypony else!”

All through the night we danced, laughed, sang, and had a generally good time with Twilight, Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, The Doctor, Ditzy Doo (who apparently likes being called Derpy), Bonbon, Lyra, and…a lot of others, too many to name. I guess those just kind of stuck out to me. After the party, Twilight asked me to come over to her library. I gladly followed her. We went inside and she turned to me. “Looks like somepony learned something today.”

“Yeah, I guess I did. Why?”

“Oh right, every once in a while I report to Princess Celestia my findings on the magic of friendship, and it seems to me that you have found something.”

“I think you’re right! Do you mind if I borrow some ink?”

“No problem.” And with that I left, floating an inkwell behind me.

I re-entered my home and surveyed the room once more. There was not a single sign there had been a party. A note was stuck on the door from Pinkie Pie. Thanks for a great night! She apparently stayed behind to clean up my place, what a thoughtful pony! I walked to the back room, I think I’ve decided to make the room an office, since all the storage space I need is in the showroom. I pulled out a parchment and began writing.

Dear Princess Celestia,

Twilight Sparkle has personally asked me to report to you my findings on friendship. I really don’t know what to say other than thank you. If you hadn’t sent me here I wouldn’t have gotten to meet all of these wonderful ponies. Now for my report.

I have observed that when somepony wants to be your friend, let them. No matter how shy you are, if you are alone, what are you really? I say live like there’s no tomorrow, and Pinkie Pie showed me that. If not for her, getting me out into a social situation I would not have made any of the friends I currently have.

Sincerely,
Sunset Wonder

I read my letter one last time, satisfied with how it felt. I concentrated on the letter and where I wanted to send it and with a puff of smoke it was gone. I watched a cloud out in the night sky, and smiled. I would have to get used to Rainbow Dash, she handles weather differently than in Canterlot. Not to mention I suspect she’ll be a little reluctant to sleep during the day now, for fear I might stumble into her dreams. I thought about her dream for a moment. That was Pinkie Pie in there wasn’t it? I got to know Dash a little better at the party, and I doubt she sought out some help. I think I’ll talk with her in the morning, it’s late. I left the back room and thought about where to sleep. I’m in a couch store, where better to sleep? I climbed onto a cushiony sofa and rested my head. I once more drifted off to sleep.

The End

As a sidenote, all characters used in this story are owned by their respective companies, except for the mane character whom I made up. I might write more, so don’t think this is the true end. It all really depends on how popular it is.

Pony Generator Code: 342S0K4200FEFEFEFFC49D00000AAABABUN1E3F004000000Y1BC0000D6B30008107F3FCC004CB2

On The Other Side of the Wall
View Online

Friendship is Magic

On The Other Side of the Wall

The Other Side of the Wall

Midnight Clearing looked out her window; she really admired that stallion next door. She could see him now through the window in his bookstore. Ahh, Sunset Wonder what would she do? She watched him skimming the shelves of his store. She wished he would get out of those books. It was the only thing keeping her away. She watched a little longer until she saw a flash outside the door. Sunset Wonder didn’t notice it, but she did. Princess Celestia entered the store, catching his attention. They began talking. Midnight Clearing wasn’t very good at reading lips, so she didn’t catch what they were saying, but then she saw a train ticket. She was sending him away! Like a good marefriend, Midnight decided she must pursue.

Midnight dashed out of her second story home, directly next door to Sunset Wonder’s. She ran up to the door but stopped herself; it was rude to interrupt a Princess’ conversation. So she put an ear up against the door. She caught the last word they said. “Ponyville”, No wonder Sunny got a train ticket, Ponyville was to far from Canterlot to walk. She backed away from the door as the princess vanished and Sunset Wonder exited. She followed him after putting a distance between herself and him. He abruptly stopped in front of a mirror store. He looked inside, and then continued walking. Midnight Clearing also stopped in front of the store, she looked at her body. She had a nice figure with a wonderfully plump backside. Her middle was thin, as she liked it. Her mane was a dark blue with light blue streaks. Her coat was stark white, as was Sunset Wonder’s. Her Cutie mark was her most favorite thing about herself, a telescope, with little stars near the end. Ever since she was a filly she loved to examine the stars, she also loved to examine Sunset Wonder. They had gone to Magic School together, and she always sat next to him, now she lived next to him. She looked at Sunset Wonder and saw Moondancer with him. Jealousy overwhelmed Midnight Clearing; they were walking together and chatting away. She knew Moondancer’s ways, she was lusting for Sunset Wonder, Midnight could see it in her eyes. Moondancer stopped walking and started calling to somepony. A muscular pegasus flew over. He towered over Sunset Wonder. Midnight watched as he turned and bucked Sunset in the face! She gasped and turned away. Moondancer was toted away by her muscular friend, leaving Midnight Clearing to follow once again.

Sunset Wonder entered the train as Midnight Clearing hurried to buy a ticket. She galloped over and showed her ticket to the conductor. Six other mares entered the train before her. One called to the others, “I’m going to secure a cabin for myself, I need my beauty sleep!” Two of them entered one compartment, the rainbow one explained to her friend, “I don’t want to leave you by yourself.” The other three entered another compartment. Midnight Clearing jumped as she saw Sunset Wonder heading her direction. She quickly dived into a compartment. She looked out the door to see him entering the compartment next to hers. She breathed a sigh of relief, but was startled as the other three mares greeted her.

“Hiya!”

“Howdy!”

“….umm…..hello…”

Midnight Clearing turned to see the other three ponies. One looked to be a farmer pony. The other one was a yellow pegasus, who quickly looked out the window when Midnight looked her way. Midnight Clearing sat down next to a pink mare who looked at her with a smile. An unnerving smile. Midnight listened to the wall, but only heard faint snoring. They were asleep.

“Umm, what’re y’all doin?”

Midnight looked over at the farmer pony, who eyed her suspiciously. “Oh! Umm…nothing! Nothing at all!”

“Whatever.”

The farmer pony looked out the window and Midnight let out a soft sigh of relief. She leaned back and decided to sleep. She hadn’t slept much in the past few nights. She mostly watched Sunset Wonder work. Occasionally, she herself would…work. She frowned for a moment. It was a little creepy what she did, but as long as he never found out, it was okay. She thought more and more about Sunset Wonder until she fell asleep.

___________________________________________________________________________

Midnight Clearing looked around her dark compartment. She knew she was still asleep, she could feel it. For no reason whatsoever, she looked down at her hooves. They were not her own, they were pink. She realized she was the pink pony she saw earlier, but why? Her eyes finally adjusted to the darkness, and saw that her real self was not there. She got up, and at that moment realized that she was not in control, the pink pony was.

The pink pony opened the window. She stuck her head out and grabbed a knife, which was taped to the side of the train. She closed the window without a sound and turned to the other two ponies. With surgical precision, she slid the knife along the neck of the orange farm pony. A soft gurgle emitted from her as her eyes shot open, but it was too late. The pink pony plunged the knife into her one last time to make sure she was dead. The pegasus stirred, “Wha-what’s going on” a gasp sounded “Pinkie Pie! What have you done?!” The pink pony did not answer; she launched herself onto the pegasus, shoving a hoof into her mouth to keep her from screaming. She then plunged the knife into her breast. A shudder resounded in the pegasus, then she fell limp.

A wicked grin crossed the pink pony’s face. She looked at the door. Obviously she was waiting for Midnight. The door opened slowly, so as not to wake anypony (not that anypony was sleeping). When it fully opened she saw herself, staring wide eyed at the pink pony. Midnight (the real one) was yanked into the compartment. She was thrown against the seat, and opened her mouth to scream. The pink pony reacted quickly, thrusting the knife into Midnight’s mouth, and then using her hoof to shove it further in. Midnight struggled with her unicorn magic to pull it out, but it was too far in. she gave one last meager gurgle, before falling to the floor.

___________________________________________________________________________

Midnight awoke with a start. She saw a glow and looked up at her horn. Its blue light comforted her, but she realized she was casting a spell. She ended it, and turned to the brutal murderer in her dreams. The pink pony lay next to her giggling and smiling from ear to pink ear. She occasionally moved in her sleep, her hoof thrusting, her head moving side to side. Nothing abnormal. What was that spell though? She had never used anything like it before. That dream, it frightened her. She wanted nothing more than to curl up in Sunset Wonder’s arms where she could feel safe. She looked out the window and saw a sign pass by. “FIVE MILES TO PONYVILLE” it read. She was too frightened to try to sleep again, so she watched the landscape roll by, thinking all the while of Sunset Wonder.

___________________________________________________________________________

The train pulled up to Ponyville Station. Everpony in her compartment was awake, including the pink mare next to her. Midnight Clearing hurried out of her compartment, thankful to get off of that Goddess-forsaken train. She trotted to the Ponyville Visitors Center near the train station. Midnight Clearing picked up a map and looked over it. It highlighted all of the local hotspots of Ponyville. Midnight Clearing found an inn on the map and headed there.

She trotted through the wide streets of Ponyville, taking into account every face. These were the friendliest ponies she had ever seen. She entered the Ponyville Inn, smiling at the stallion at the counter. “Hello! I’d like to book a room please.”

“Very well ma’am, that’ll be eight bits a night. Enjoy your stay at Ponyville.”

“Thank you.”

Midnight Clearing gave him the money and he handed her a key. She neglected to bring saddlebags, so she tucked the key into her mane, making sure it was firmly in place, before setting out.

She needed something sweet and tasty after a nightmare like that, so she looked over the map and found the local bakery, Sugarcube Corner. Midnight Clearing casually trotted in the general direction of the sweets shop. What kind of treat am I going to get? She thought to herself as she arrived at her destination.

She saw a pink mare bounce in through the door. A thought crossed her mind maybe I should go someplace else, but she shook her head distastefully. The fear of this pony was just irrational, besides, she was allowed to eat here too. Midnight Clearing trotted into the bakery, the smell of freshly made cupcakes wafted to her nose. She smiled, glad she had made the right choice.

The pink mare appeared behind the counter, a tray of cupcakes balanced on her head. She addressed Midnight Clearing with a smile. “Hey I remember you! You’re the mare from the train! Wanna help make cupcakes? I’m throwing a party later today and could use the help!”

“Help make cupcakes? Well I’m not very good at baking but I could give it a shot!” The pink mare’s grin widened.

“Great! Here, why don’t you try one? Get a taste for how they’re supposed to come out!”

The pink mare held the tray out in front of her. Midnight levitated one out and took a big bite. They were delicious, by far the best cupcakes she had ever had.

“These are really good!” Midnight exclaimed.

“Thanks! They’re my knockout cupcakes! Not because they’re really good though, because you’ll be unconscious. Maybe I should change the name to something more specific?”

“Unconcious! What?!” Midnight Clearing suddenly became very alarmed.

“Oh yeah, but it’s too late now!” Midnight began to feel very drowsy. Then she fell over to her side, unconscious.

___________________________________________________________________________

Midnight Clearing awoke in what she assumed to be the cellar at Sugarcube Corner. Standing over her was the pink mare. She held a key in her hoof.

“Look at this! You had a key in your mane! Silly filly! Why would you put a key in your mane? You could lose it like that!”

Midnight tried to move, but found herself tightly bound. “Oh no, you don’t! Not after what you did!”

“What? What are you talking about?”

“Oh hey! You can still talk! Most ponies suffer brain damage from my knockout cupcakes!”

“What are you doing? Let me go!”

“No can do Midnight Clearing! You probed my mind, I didn’t like that at all. And if anypony found out what I was thinking, it wouldn’t be very fun for me.”

Probed her mind? Was that the spell? She was reading this mare’s thoughts? Midnight Clearing suddenly realized “Hey! How did you know my name?”

“You were in my head silly filly! I could hear you! You entered the compartment in my dream and named yourself!”

“How could you-“

“Enough talk, it’s time to get to work.”

“What work? What are you going to do with me?”

“So many questions…. Oh yeah! We’re making cupcakes remember!? And you are going to be the mane ingredient.”

Midnight panicked once again, struggling to break free, but she was tightly bound. The pink mare darted away and wheeled over a cart of medical instruments.

“I’m going to teach you how to prepare pony!” she drew an oval on Midnight’s stomach with a marker. She then pulled out a scalpel and began to cut along the line.

“Midnight, are you a pony who likes to color inside or outside the lines? I personally don’t color, I paint.”

She took her scalpel and cut around inside Midnight. Midnight could not help but cry and scream, she wasn’t a tough pony, and had never endured so much pain.

“First you want to remove the stomach so you don’t spoil the meat.” The pink mare then ripped out her stomach, getting blood all over her hooves.

She trotted over to the wall and began to draw a pony shape on the wall. “See, Midnight!? I told you I was a good painter! Oh yeah! Back to the lesson!”

The mare trotted back over to Midnight Clearing “Next we want to remove the intestines! Look at how long they are!” she exclaimed as she pulled more and more intestine out onto the floor, spilling Midnight’s precious lifeblood away.

“I wonder if Fluttershy needs a new garden hose. I’ll ask her sometime, she needs a long one to reach all her plants. Okay now, on with the lesson! Next we remove…..ummm…..EVERYTHING ELSE!”

She began to gut the rest of Midnight Clearing, holding out each organ so she could see.

“And now, to finish you off! The final thing we need to remove is either the heart or the lungs. I think I’ll take out the lungs!”

The pink mare began cutting everything that attached to the lungs, then she yanked them out. Midnight Clearing began gasping for breath, but to no avail. The pink mare threw one last joke at her

“What’s that? You can’t breathe? Hang on! I know CPR! Oh wait, you don’t have any lungs!”

Midnight closed her eyes, never again would they be open. The pink mare removed the heart and proceeded to cut meat and sinews away from bone. She then started to feed the deboned corpse into a large grinder. She ground Midnight’s corpse until it was in fine pieces. She went upstairs and came back down with a bowl full of cupcake batter.

“Don’t worry Midnight, you’ll get to see Sunset Wonder at the party! You’ll be the tastiest dish there!”

She returned to the surface mixing her batter. She poured the pony-cupcake combination into her cupcake pan and stuck it in the oven. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got some invitations to deliver!” and with that, she galloped out the door.

The End

This story coincides with my other one Friendship is Magic, I might do some more gore as well, it all depends on how popular it ends up. All characters except for the mane character belong to their respective companies.

Pony Generator code: 2L38000100FFFEFFFEAE9E00201007BFEUN1837003000001Y13A00CC00E1FE0Z107F3FCC004CB2

The Problem
View Online

Friendship is Magic

The Problem

2nd installment of the Friendship is Magic series

I awoke with a mild headache from last night’s party. I looked around the room, the sun shone in brightly to signal a sunny day ahead. The first thought in my mind was food I was absolutely famished. I could head over to Sugarcube Corner for breakfast and thank Pinkie Pie for the help last night. Donning my saddlebags and placing the key to the Quill and Sofa store inside, I set out on my quest for breakfast. I had gotten to know my way around Ponyville in the past day, so I no longer needed a map. I casually trotted over to Sugarcube Corner, anxious to eat some delicious treats.
I entered through the open door of Sugarcube Corner and sniffed the air. The decadent scents of blueberry muffins, cheese danishes, bear claws, and all sorts of breakfast goodies greeted my nose. For a moment I thought I smelled somepony I knew in Canterlot, a mare, but I dismissed the thought. Pinkie Pie greeted me with a wide grin when I approached the counter

“Sunny!” she exclaimed “Have I got a special treat for you! I borrowed a book from Twilight on Canterlot recipes and I found something amazing! I think its called kah-fee!”

“Do you mean coffee?”

“Yeah that stuff! It’s great! I’ve already drank like three cups!” I grimaced at this; she is one pony who should not have coffee. “So anyway Sunny, what can I get ya?”

“I suppose I’ll have a breakfast croissant and a cup of coffee.”

“Alright I’ll be done in a jiffy!” she sped off in a pink blur “Oh wait! I almost forgot! Would you mind bringing Rarity her daily order of croissants?”

“It would be a pleasure Pinkie.”

“Okey-dokey-lokey, I’ll get them both done in no time at all!” and with that she sped off a second time.

I had a seat on a cushiony pink chair to wait for my order. I decided to run through a mental checklist of what I was going to do today, adding bring Rarity breakfast to my list. I figured I could stop by the library now that I had saddlebags to carry books in, I think I’ll visit Sweet Apple Acres for lunch; Twilight told me all about Applejack’s magnificent cooking so I knew I had to stop by. That was it, but I can’t help but have the nagging feeling I’m forgetting something, but what was it? I ran through my checklist a second time. No, that wasn’t it, what am I forgetting? Oh that’s right! I wanted to-

“Suuuuuuunnnnnnyyyyy! Your order is ready!” and with that, the thought escaped my grasp.

“Thanks Pinkie.”

“Oh and also, here’s Rarity’s order.”

She pushed a brown paper bag towards me. I used my magic and placed it in my saddlebags. The croissants were still warm. I took my order and began walking to Carousel Boutique. I nibbled at my croissant and took a few sips of coffee. The croissant was buttery and flaky, just right for a croissant. The coffee was strong and bitter, waking up my mind with a few gulps. I trotted down Mane Street and waved to ponies that waved to me. I recognized many faces, but I was still getting to know some ponies, so I didn’t recognize everypony. I greeted those I didn’t recognize, still a little shyly, but definitely more confident than before. I met a few more ponies such as June Bug, Rose Luck, and Derpy’s adopted filly Dinky Doo. I finished my croissant, savoring those last precious bites, as I arrived at Carousel Boutique. I opened the door and was greeted by a soft ting as well as a small filly trotted over to me with an excited look in her eyes.

“Hey you’re that new pony Rarity was talking about! Do you think… maybe… you could help us get our cutie marks?”

“Us?”

“Oh yeah, me and my friends, Scootaloo and Apple Bloom. We three are the CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS!” she explained, shouting their club name at the top of her tiny lungs.

“I suppose I can help you, but first, Pinkie Pie asked me to deliver Rarity’s breakfast.”

“Breakfast?! I’ll go get Rarity!” The little filly then galloped off and into another room of the boutique. I heard chattering in the next room, but was soon distracted by the elaborate dresses and gowns that hung around the room. The colors and shapes were tantalizing, I would give almost anything to see them on some mare.
Rarity and the filly walked into the room and towards me.

“Ah, Sunset Wonder! Thank you for bringing me my breakfast. I understand you have met my younger sister Sweetie Belle?”

“Yes I have, she asked me to help her with ‘crusading’”

“I’m not surprised.”

“Anyway, here’s your food” I opened my saddlebags and pulled out the paper sack, floating it over to Rarity with my magic, where she took it in her own glowing field of levitation. I went to go leave with Sweetie Belle when she stopped me.

“Wait” she said “I need to go get my scarf.”

“It isn’t chilly outside, you won’t need it.”

“You don’t understand, just wait and see.” And so I did.

Sweetie Belle returned wearing a sort of bandanna around her neck with red and gold fabric, as well as a small blue shield. She escorted me out the door and toward Sweet Apple Acres.

“It’s where our clubhouse is.” She explained as we walked. I got the feeling this was going to be like babysitting. Lucky me. The other two crusaders were already waiting at the clubhouse. The orange and magenta pegasus introduced herself as Scootaloo and the yellow and red earth pony introduced herself as Apple Bloom. I decided I would try to work this out as easy as possible.

“So do you girls have a checklist or anything, of things you’ve already done?”

“Yeah!” responded the pegasus “and next on the list is grizzly bear wrestling!”

I winced, that would not have ended well, had I not been here. Sweetie Belle brought out the checklist; it was nearly completed, with only a few more things left on it. I decided to try a different approach. “You see girls, the reason you haven’t gotten your cutie marks yet is that you are trying to force it.” A “Huh?” resounded from the three. “What I mean is that you are just doing random things, instead you should do things you like…What do you like anyway?”

“I like riding my scooter!” replied Scootaloo

“I like painting and building!” replied Apple Bloom, gesturing around the clubhouse “I fixed this place up ya know.”

“I like singing!” exclaimed Sweetie Belle. This is going to be easy.

“All right then, here’s the plan, practice these things. Work harder and harder until your cutie marks show. Doing what you like is the only way to get a cutie mark.” They each grinned at each other and ran off, Apple Bloom gathered up some stray boards and paints.

“I’m gonna build a ramp fer ya Scootaloo!”

“Cool! I’m gonna jump it!”

“And I can sing about it!” said Sweetie Belle, wheeling out a miniature piano. I smiled to myself as I left the clubhouse, with this plan, they’ll have their cutie marks in no time. They’ll also be staying out of danger (except for maybe Scootaloo, who might receive a few scrapes and bruises).

I looked up to the sun, it was about noon, the perfect time for lunch, and I was already at Sweet Apple Acres.

The scenery at the farm was lovely. Apple trees with full, ripe, red apples grew just about everywhere. Off in the distance I spied a large red barn. I heard the sound of workhorses in the same direction. I trotted off towards the sounds of ponies.

When I arrived at the barn, there was nopony to be seen. I circled it a few times before I spotted a red stallion; he was a large fellow, with the muscles of one whom works all day. I waved a hoof at him and he waved back. “Hello miss! Welcome to Sweet Apple Acres!”

“I’m sorry what?”

“Oh… My apologies sir! Just your mane and…”

“And my frame and, Yes, YES I KNOW!” I gradually raised my voice at him and he flinched a little, taken aback by my sudden outburst. “I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to shout, would you mind telling me where to find Applejack?”

“Eeyup”

“So where is she?”

“She’s out in the orchard, bucking apples. It’s harvest season.” I turned to go find Applejack, but I thought on it a little. It’s harvest season, so the Apple Family must be very busy, it would be a great imposition to just walk in and ask them to make me lunch. That would be rude. I instead turned in another direction to head over to the Café; maybe I would come some other time.

When would be best though? Probably around the same time Twilight came, the Apple Family Reunion. Then again, that would also be an imposition, coming uninvited to their family reunion and asking them to cook for me. There really wasn’t a good way to go about this. I suppose I’ll never taste Apple Family cooking. I suppose I could buy some apples and try to cook myself some other time.

I sat down at a patio table at the Café, the sky was clear and the sun was warm. I relaxed and gave my order to a waiter who entered the kitchen to place it. When he returned with my meal I ate it casually and stared into the sky. The pegasi do really work wonders, clearing the clouds and keeping Equestria’s sky manetained.
Pegasi…pegasi…pegasus… Ugh I’m so close to remembering, but I just can’t think! What was I trying to remember! WHAT WAS IT!

I refocused on the sky, trying to think of what it could be. I watched a pegasus fly over the town and do a barrel roll. I watched a little closer to possibly catch another trick when I noticed who it was. Rainbow Dash! That was it! I intended to talk to Rainbow about her nightmares! I ditched the remaining quarter of my lunch to follow her.

She casually flew to and fro, not paying attention to anypony on the ground. She finally stopped to land on a cloud; she sprawled out onto it and put her hooves behind her head. Now my plan could come into action.

I galloped to the nearest bench and lay down. I closed my eyes and focused on Rainbow Dash. If I could do this once I was sure I could do this a second time, help Rainbow Dash, fight away her nightmares! That’s what friends are for!

___________________________________________________________________________

I awoke inside the Quill and Sofa store. I sat on a leather sofa; looking out the window I saw a dense fog. I stood on my hooves and looked about; the store was empty, except for the one sofa I was near. No furniture, no quills, what’s going on? I decided to check the back room.

That was a mistake. I opened the door to see a relatively clear room except for a rainbow mare, tied up on a sofa, and a horrifying version of myself. I saw relatively similar body features, but that was where the comparison ended. Knives stuck out across his (my?) back. Their sharp ends implanted into his (my) body. I could not see the face from where I stood, so I circled for a closer look. Bigger mistake. Around his (my) neck hung the skull of a filly, in both of his (my) eyes were needles with small droplets of blood coming from the end. His (my) mouth was stitched shut, and contorted into a macabre smile. He (me) approached Dash and she screamed.

I stood mortified. He (me) was frightening. I couldn’t allow anything that was supposed to be me and looked like that exist. I rushed him (me). I lowered my head, aiming my horn at his (my) side. I struck true, thrusting into his (my) side. Blood gushed out and ran down my face. He (me) turned, staggered, and looked to me. He (me) cackled a hoarse, phlegmy laugh. He (me) jumped onto me and stood over me. He (me) aimed his horn threateningly at my eye. I focused my magic on the knives in his back. I pushed them down into him (me) as far as they would go. He (me) coughed once again, spitting up blood onto my face. I refocused my magic onto the needles in his (my) eyes, and shoved them in, finishing him off. His (my) limp body fell onto me.

I shoved the evil pony to the side and got to my hooves. I realized I was breathing very quickly, and took a moment to calm myself. I looked to Rainbow Dash, who eyed me very angrily for somepony whose life had just been saved. I trotted over to her and slowly untied the ropes that held her. She stretched her wings and turned to me. “Why are you here again?”

“If it helps any, I’m here on purpose this time.”

“Well it doesn’t. Why did you hop into my dreams again?”

“I came to help.”

“What? Why?”

“Because, I know you Rainbow Dash, you haven’t sought any help on this issue. I doubt you’ve even told your friends. The fact that you’re still having these dreams proves it.”

“Fine. You caught me. I didn’t find help. But I can tough it out.”

“How often are you having dreams like these?”

“Ummm… every… time I sleep.”

“That isn’t healthy Rainbow Dash.”

“I know, I know, but I’m fine. Really.”

“It’s okay now. I’m here to help. I’ve read a lot of books on the matter, and I think I can help.”

“Fine then. What now?”

“First I need to identify if there’s any underlying cause.”

“No reason really. I just all of a sudden started having nightmares.”

“Has anypony ever talked about something like this? This macabre scene?”

“No, I just imagined it. I felt like there was some- no, never mind.”

“What? What is it?”

“I… I felt like there was something you weren’t sharing, something you wanted to hide from us.”

“I have nothing to hide.”

“Never mind. There are more monsters besides what’s left of you.”

“Will that ever resurface?”

“No, never, I found out what you were hiding.”

“What?”

“You’re a hero, and a lot tougher than you let on.”

“I appreciate the praise. Who else has been…warped?”

“Everypony. But I don’t know if you can help. You showed me what you hid, but how would you do so for anypony else?”

I pondered this for a moment. How would I find out what somepony else was hiding? More importantly, how would I get them to fess up? I decided to probe a little further.

“Rainbow Dash” I began “I will help you with your nightmares, I am the only other pony who has seen them and I feel as though it is my duty to help you, my friend.”

“Well said. I can tell you a list of ponies who I know are in this dream. These are the only ones I know of: Derpy, Cheerilee, Pinkie Pie, The Doctor, and Celestia.”

“The Princess? Really?”

“I can’t help it! I just know she isn’t innocent. There’s gotta be some dirty secret she doesn’t want us to know!”

“Whatever. You sound like a conspiracy theorist.” I started towards the door to the showroom. “Hey! Where are you going?!”

“I’m going to hunt down these monsters.”

“But what about me? I have to find the truth, not you!” she had a point. I needed to take her with me. Running her around in her own nightmare, how cruel is that? I motioned for her to follow me, and we re-entered the showroom. We then trotted towards the exit, and opened the way into the cold, dark, fog.

___________________________________________________________________________

The air was moist. A chill ran across our spines as we walked. Truly this was a scene from a horror film. We approached the bakery that was Sugarcube Corner. Its colors were muted by the fog, making what would have been cheery and comforting look menacing.

Rainbow Dash approached the door cautiously; sweat beading up on her brow. She looked inside. All was dark and not a pony was in sight. I heard something odd, talking. I looked around to see what it was, and then I saw the window into the basement. I waved a hoof at Rainbow Dash and pointed at the window. She nodded and walked over towards the window. She peeked into the darkness down below and gasped. I gave her a quizzical look and she frantically waved her hooves at me, pointing into the basement. I looked down there and saw Pinkie Pie, as well as Pinkie Pie. I was perplexed, how could Pinkie Pie be here? I guessed that the dream invading spell had a wider effect are than I had originally assumed. Pinkie must have been taking a nap somewhere nearby and was pulled into the dream along with me. I whispered to Rainbow Dash “We have to help her.”

“Are you insane? The crazy one is down there too! It might already be too late anyways.”

“But she’s your friend!” she cringed at this, and then nodded with a determined look “Let’s go.”

We entered the bakery; the ground floor was almost the same as in the real world, but on the wall behind the counter hung Mr. and Mrs. Cake’s corpses on makeshift nooses. We listened at the door to the basement, and could now clearly hear their speech. It was neigh impossible to determine which one was which, but it was clear who was tied up and who wasn’t.

“So let me get this straight, you’re me? But how?”

“I dunno, so when are we going to make cupcakes? They’re my favorite!”

“We’ll be starting very soon.”

“YAY!” Pinkie screamed with delight. Was she really so naïve? We slowly opened the door to the basement. The evil Pinkie’s ears perked up at the sound and turned to us. “Rainbow Dash! My favorite victim! And Sunset Wonder too!” she cocked her head for a moment. “What happened to you man?” I realized I still had streaks of pony blood on my face and in my mane. I gave Pinkie a menacing look and replied “I met the evil me, and I killed him.” There was a silence for a moment, and then Pinkie began clapping. “Bravo Sunny, you’ve found your dark side! I hope you realize the spiral you’ve sent yourself into!”

“What are you talking about?”

“Oh never mind, you’ll find out soon enough.”

“Give us back Pinkie Pie. I don’t have time for your games.”

“How about… NO!” Evil Pinkie picked up a cake knife from a nearby table and lunged at good Pinkie. Rainbow Dash launched into the air, throwing herself at the evil Pinkie. The evil Pinkie scrambled to get out of Rainbow Dash’s way, but to no avail. The evil pink pony was trapped underneath Rainbow Dash’s body. The evil Pinkie tried one last resort, she threw the knife at good Pinkie. I was caught off guard as the knife came closer and closer to Pinkie’s head, I grasped at it with my magic, stopping it just slightly too late. The knife had cut into much of Pinkie’s eye as she screamed out in pain. I tossed the knife aside and rushed to Pinkie.

I untied Pinkie’s bonds as she cried and whimpered. I let her down gently, allowing her to lie on the floor. Rainbow Dash promptly thrust the bad Pinkie into the bindings. She quickly tied up her hands, feet, and head. The bad Pinkie was bound tightly. Rainbow Dash turned, raised her hind legs, and bucked as hard as she could into the evil Pinkie. The cracking of ribs resounded and the evil Pinkie coughed until blood came out. “Finish… me…” she weakly pleaded. I gladly obeyed her request.

I grabbed the knife with my magic and aimed it precisely above her eye, the exact same one that Pinkie had been cut in. I pushed it into her eye, slowly. She wailed in pain as I tortured her, until I finally finished her. Pinkie and Rainbow Dash both looked at me in utter horror. I had not only taken this pony’s life, but tortured her to the very end. “I-…I’m…I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to- I mean, I- well Pinkie, and her eye and- oh sweet Celestia, what have I done?” the tears of self loathing came slowly, but surely, breaking out into huge sobs. At this point Pinkie had stopped crying, and came to embrace me. I held her tight, her squishy pink body was warm and fuzzy. “I hate this place… Can we just leave?” I looked to Rainbow Dash, she nodded and we left the demon bakery of Sugarcube Corner.

___________________________________________________________________________

We sat on the step outside Sugarcube Corner. The fog was slightly less thick, and the air had remained cool. I turned to Pinkie, making sure she was okay. Her eye had stopped bleeding and she pouted at the fact that her eye was now useless. I then looked to Rainbow Dash, who sat pensively next to Pinkie Pie. I decided we should talk. “So Rainbow Dash, aren’t you going to get the truth from Pinkie? To get rid of that horrible nightmare once and for all?”

“Yeah, yeah.” She turned to Pinkie Pie “So Pinkie Pie, is there something you’re hiding? Something you don’t want anypony to know?”

“Well… umm…”

“Yes?”

“I once told Mrs. Cake I had eaten two corn cakes, when I really ate three!” Rainbow Dash looked unimpressed. “Okay six! I ate six!”

“No Pinkie, some deep dark secret, that nopony should ever know.”

“Oh yeah, I think I’ve got something like that.”

“What is it? If you don’t tell me, that evil Pinkie Pie will come back!” Pinkie Pie grimaced as she spoke. “You remember that basement down there, right?”

“Yes.”

“And all the knives, and tools, and straps, right?”

“Yes.”

“Well…”

“Yes?”

“IT”S ALL TRUE!” Pinkie looked disgusted with herself; she sobbed into her hooves and turned away from Rainbow Dash. “What’s true?”

“The cupcakes! I do all that! I killed them all! To make delicious pony cupcakes!” she sobbed even harder “I’m sorry Dashie, I didn’t want you to know, I thought you wouldn’t like me anymore, but when you started calling me a monster, or a fiend, I couldn’t take it! I had to tell you!”

“Then when you were strapped down there…”

“I knew what was going on, I figured I deserved it.”

“Oh Pinkie.” Rainbow Dash hugged the pink mare. “I’ll always like you, although now I might not trust your cooking.” She joked. Pinkie giggled a little, and then returned the hug. “I had found the recipe in a book, something called… umm… Necronomicooking! I decided to try it out, but then it called for pony flesh. I had promised my friends the best cupcakes ever, so I had to continue. They ended up being the best cupcakes ever, so I continued making them for Ponyville, hoping that I’d be caught or something, to release me from my cupcake bonds.”

“If it helps, we could send you to therapy.”

“No. I’m not crazy, just evil. And I just wanted to please the ponies. Unfortunately, the cost was high.” Pinkie Pie released Rainbow Dash and sat again. I spoke to Rainbow Dash again “So what now? Who’s next?”

“Cheerilee’s house is closest to here, we could go there next.”

“Promise me there’s no more murderous ponies.”

“I’m pretty sure that’s it”

“Thank Celestia; I don’t think my mind could handle much more.”

“Me neither.”

I got to my hooves and turned in the direction of Cheerilee’s house. The others soon followed, and we eventually arrived at Cheerilee’s door. I decided I should be prepared for what was in store before I opened this door. “So what’s wrong with this Cheerilee?”

“Umm… It’s kind of hard to explain. It’s best to just see.” I turned to the door once again. I sighed and thought to myself thanks for the help there RD. I looked at the ground and picked up a rock with my magic, now I was slightly prepared. Rainbow Dash looked at me funny. A sort of ‘What the hay is wrong with you?’ kind of look.

I opened the door to Cheerilee’s home, rock in hoof. In the other room I could hear Cheerilee’s breathing. This was going to be bad. I entered the next room and there lay Cheerilee, on her bed, hoof between her legs. I reacted in a split second. “NO!” I shouted, taking the rock and bashing her in the head until her body stopped convulsing. Once again Rainbow Dash gave me that look. I turned to her and said “I’m sorry, I respect Cheerilee and her teaching capabilities, I didn’t realize your sexual fantasies were going to be included here.” Rainbow Dash looked at me with her mouth wide open. Pinkie Pie looked at Rainbow and blurted out “You’re a lesbian?!” I realized all too late what I had done. I had revealed one of Rainbow Dash’s own secrets to one of her friends, whom had known nothing about this. I had to apologize. “Rainbow Dash! I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to tell her! I wasn’t thinking! I-“

“You mean he knew?! Why didn’t you tell me? Your best friend?” Rainbow Dash turned her head, looking away from us, then spoke

“I’m sorry you two. Pinkie, I should have told you, I know you can keep a secret. And you Sunset Wonder, I should have warned you about Cheerilee.”

“It’s fine, really.” Pinkie and I spoke at the same time. We looked at each other and giggled. I looked back to Rainbow Dash “So who’s next?”

“I think this has been a long enough nap. It’s been like four hours.”

“Really!?”

“Yeah, we should probably wake up.” Pinkie jumped in next “And next time, don’t include me.” I turned to her “I’m sorry Pinkie Pie, I didn’t mean to bring you into this.”

“Oh it’s all right. Maybe when we wake up I can make you a batch of cupcakes!”

“Like what? I hope you aren’t suggesting making me into cupcakes. Or anypony else.”

“No silly! Just regular sugar filled cupcakes!”

“I think I’d like that.”

End Part 2

All characters belong to their respective companies, yadda, yadda, yadda.

The End
View Online

Friendship is Magic

The End

I was waiting outside of Rainbow Dash’s house. I couldn’t find her anywhere in Ponyville, so I figured “What better to do than have a little stake out?” I began waiting outside Rainbow Dash’s house after breakfast. Now it was almost sunset.

I was a little irritated with Rainbow, I thought she would be a little more eager to get rid of horrible dreams like these, but I guess not. I wondered where she could be.

The air was warm on my skin, I liked the feeling. Though the crisp air in Rainbow’s dream would be a stark contrast. I looked around, no Rainbow Dash in sight. Where could she have gone? I looked up in the sky and saw her, napping on a cloud, directly above my head. You have got to be kidding me. I thought as I looked up at her. I was a little upset at myself for not noticing her sooner.

I thought about waking her, but then I realized what she was doing. She was waiting for me. I couldn’t believe it, I thought she was making me wait, I was making her wait. I looked around for somewhere to sleep, I found a nearby shady tree and began focusing my magic on Rainbow Dash; going inside her dreams was almost a second nature to me now.

I closed my eyes and began to drift into sleep; it came slowly, but fell over me like a blanket. I found this feeling comforting, as I had been worried all day about what I would encounter in the dream world.

___________________________________________________________________________

I was inside of Cheerilee’s house, oddly enough. This was where we were last time, but why was I still here? I refocused on finding Rainbow Dash, she was kind of important. I searched around Cheerilee’s house, seeing no signs of Rainbow Dash. I went to leave, but found the door was wide open.

I trotted a little faster, exiting the house. The landscape was very different; any houses of no importance were just… gone! Now all that remained were my Quill and Sofa shop, Sugarcube Corner, Rainbow Dash’s house, Cheerilee’s house, and…what is that? I trotted closer and closer, nearing… a blue box. It had words on it, but they didn’t make sense. There wasn’t any such thing as a “police” there were only knights. The other word “box” was clear what it meant. Between those two words were the words “public call”. It was fairly easy to interpret what that meant, but still, what was a “police”?

The door opened. I jumped a little, not expecting the sudden emergence of the pony. He spoke to me “Well then, we’ve been waitin’ for you all day!”

“Sorry, I was-“

“C’mon, let’s go.”

He pulled me into the box. This was weird. This place… it made no sense either. The room was bigger than the box itself! But how is that possible? Logic obviously only applies to those who pay attention to it. I shrugged off the thought and addressed the ponies before me. “So Doctor, what’s up?”

“I don’t really know, let me check.” He turned to face a corridor. “Derpy! Sunset Wonder wants to know ‘what’s up?’”

“Umm… I think the ceiling.”

“Derpy says the ceiling is up.” The Doctor said, turning back to me.

“Thanks Doctor… I appreciate that. Have you seen Rainbow Dash?”

“Yes I have! She’s in the back with Derpy.”

“Thanks again Doctor, I’ll just go and see her then.”

“Have I ever told you about the time I had fingers?”

“What? What are fingers?”

“Ahh yes, never mind, I assumed you would know. You seem like the knowledgeable pony, I suppose that means you can’t help either. Whatever, go see Rainbow Dash.”

“Umm… yeah… thanks again.”

I began trotting down the corridor towards Derpy’s voice. The Doctor was oft strange like that, saying things that nopony else seemed to understand. I found Rainbow Dash and Derpy in a sort of lounge. There was a magenta carpet with a large leather sofa in the middle, in front of a fireplace. My thoughts called out to me Really? A fireplace? But I ignored it; there were just some things you couldn’t explain. I looked around the room. Paintings of strange creatures hung from the walls. There were intriguing, like nothing in Equestria, they were pale, furless bipeds that wore odd clothing. I heard Derpy’s voice once again; I rounded the sofa and saw Rainbow Dash and Derpy. They sat on the couch, speaking to one another and having what seemed to be a grand old time. Rainbow Dash’s eyes met with my own and she hopped up from the couch. “Where were you?” she asked

“I could have asked you the same question, but I didn’t want to be rude.”

“You didn’t answer me.”

“I was standing outside your house all day, waiting for you.”

“Has it really been a whole day? That’s odd.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s almost impossible for me to sleep a whole day.”

“You said almost.”

“I said almost because it includes this time, before for this I’ve never slept an entire day, I think something’s wrong.”

“What could possibly be wrong? Derpy and the Doctor seem fine.”

“I know they’re fine, I already talked to them, like all day.”

“Then what could be wrong?”

“I don’t know, are we leaving somepony out?”

“No, I don’t think so.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

“I don’t know. Let’s talk to the Doctor.”

Rainbow and I exited the lounge area; we trotted down the corridor, finally reaching the main room. The Doctor was at the console, fiddling with some knobs and levers. Rainbow beckoned him over with a hoof and he abandoned his console. “Can I help you Miss Dash?”

“Yes, something strange is going on.”

“Oh really? The TARDIS doesn’t show any abnormal activity.”

“I’ve been asleep all day.”

“Well I suppose that is a bit abnormal. Are you sure it isn’t just you?”

“I’m sure Doctor. Any suggestions?”

“I suppose you could go out into your dream world and find the cause to this problem.”

“That’s not a bad idea. C’mon Sunny, we’re gonna figure this out.”

The Doctor waved goodbye as we exited the TARDIS. This mysterious blue box… maybe I would ask the real Doctor about it some time. Right now though, I was busy. Rainbow Dash wanted to figure out what was going on, and we wouldn’t rest (pun intended) until we found the source.

Dash paused near a fount in the town square. She turned around and asked me “Have any ideas?”

“I’ve got nothing.”

“What’ll we do then?”

“Walk, I suppose.”

“Walk where?”

“That direction.” I said, pointing a hoof in some random direction.

“How long will we walk?”

“Until we find something.”

“Sounds good.”

So we started walking. The scenery slowly drifted by, the bakery, the town hall, RD’s house, the sofa shop, the boutique, everything rolled by, slowly and surely. We walked until we reached the end of Ponyville, then we walked until we reached the outside of the Everfree Forest (keep in mind that everything was deserted). The trees were silent, not even the wind made a noise. All was quiet and abandoned. We eventually crossed a river; the noise of it sounded muffled no matter how close we were to it. The water was clear, so I drank. My mouth had become very dry and I needed the refreshment of water. It was cool as it rolled down my throat, easing the dried husk it had become. Rainbow Dash also paused for a quick drink, and then we continued.

Unlike Rainbow Dash, I was no athlete. Even though we were walking, the distance was exhausting. Rainbow Dash had not a single bead of sweat or sign of wanting to stop. I on the other hand, had sweat accumulating on my brow, my legs ached, we had been walking for what felt like days, but what I knew had been four hours. It was still a long time to go without stopping, and I was tired.

We were on the other side of the previously mentioned river when Rainbow Dash said “Let’s make camp here.”

“I agree, there won’t be any more water for miles if we are where I think we are.”

“Yes, that and we shouldn’t camp in the forest, just in case there is something still in there.”

“I have a question though.”

“What?”

“How could we possibly sleep if we’re already asleep?”

“Good point. I don’t know if we can actually sleep, but surely we can rest.”

I told Rainbow Dash I was going to get some firewood and I left her by the river. I wandered back into the forest, making occasional holes in the ground to keep track of where I was. I picked up a branch here and there, but I needed something bigger than twigs. I approached the climax of a hill and thought to myself This is going to be too good.

I trotted around the boulder that topped the hill, aiming it at a tree. I gave the boulder a push using my magic. It was sent rolling down the hill, gaining speed until it struck the tree. The tree then gave under the combination of weight and momentum from the boulder. I steadily trotted down the hill, very pleased with myself. I grabbed the tree with my magic and began attempting to tear it asunder. Even though I was much stronger magically than I was physically, this was no easy task. I successfully tore the tree in half, twice. This made the logs just the right size for a fire. I began bringing my workload back to camp. I placed the logs where our camp had taken shape. Rainbow had apparently gone out and collected enough plant debris to make a comfortable (if you can call it that) hay pile. I sat next to Rainbow Dash on the pile and began focusing the rest of my energy on lighting the fire. I put as much heat as I possibly could without making an inferno into the wood. There was a flicker, and then a flame. The fire was strong and comforting. It really was a stark contrast to this cold and quiet dream. Celestia’s sun had sunk below the horizon and now the moon hung over the sky.

Did I mention the fire was warm? The fire was warm. It was incredible, I felt it inside me, and it was great. The fire, yes the fire. It was warm. I noticed something odd though, we were a little far from the fire to experience the full warmth of it like this. I tenaciously looked to my side. Rainbow Dash was leaning on me. I only slightly felt the fire, I felt her heat more. I was only a little shocked. Rainbow and I had become fairly close over the past few days. There was no way she had interest in me though. I knew that for a fact. She had… other interests. I still enjoyed the experience. I leaned on her slightly. She spoke though, causing me to jump slightly “I feel safe around you.”

“Really?”

“Yeah…you’re…you’re like family to me. Like a father.”

“What about your father?”

“My father? I don’t like him. He didn’t like me either. I wasn’t liked since birth. He wanted a son, that was my first disappointment. Well not really, my first was my mother; she died giving birth to me. He sent me off to flight school and drowned his miseries in hard cider. I hated him for it. So I flunked out. That really got his goat; he was fuming when I got home. He struck me, and all I could do was cry. He let me go to a normal filly’s school until I was of age. He took me out of school and sent me to a new, stricter flight camp. There I wanted to impress him. I knew if I could prove myself, he’d have me. He’d take me in his hooves and tell me how proud he was to be my father. I was fastest in the class, nothing, I won every competition I participated in, nothing. I sent home a letter one day, telling about my accomplishments. I received a black envelope, telling me he OD’d on Poison Joke Pollen. The last line of the letter said ‘He must have been proud to have someone like you in his life’ but I knew he wasn’t, and he was dead. I left flight camp and searched for a job. I got one as a weather pony in Ponyville, and here I am.”

I was speechless. I didn’t know whether to be flattered or appalled at what I had just heard. All I could manage was “Wow.”

“I’m sorry I had to shove my sob story down your throat, but I never had anypony who seemed to care so much, like you.”

“What about your friends?”

“You are my friend, but so are they. They’re just there, like a luxury. I appreciate having them, and I don’t know what I’d do without them, but… I just don’t know… you’ve really gone and confused me.”

“What I’m trying to say is that I can’t possibly be the only pony who cares so much. You have your best friends; they probably care even more than me.”

“I dunno…I think you might be included in that category. But whatever, just shut up and get some rest.”

I closed my mouth and once again took in the feeling of Rainbow Dash leaning against me. It was…nice. I came to realize that I felt the same way about RD (except for the father part). She was like family to me. I closed my eyes and rested my head. Even though I couldn’t sleep, I could certainly dream.

___________________________________________________________________________

The night feels a lot longer when you aren’t sleeping through it. I watched the stars and thought for hours. I tried thinking about what could be causing such an anomaly, but that hurt my head. Instead I thought about good stories I have recently read.

I felt Rainbow Dash stir and knew that our rest period was over. She asked me “How long do you think we’ve been asleep now?”

“I’m not sure, it’s difficult to tell.”

We put out the fire and continued our path into the unknown. The forest came to an end after another hour of walking. We came across a dirt road. On the side of the road was a wooden cart with barrels and crates in it. I looked to Rainbow Dash; I could tell she was hungry. I asked her “Would you like to do some searching?”

“Hmm? Search what?”

“The cart. For food.”

“Oh yeah, sure. That sounds good. I am starving!”

Rainbow Dash leapt into the air and came down on the cart. The cart shook slightly as Rainbow dug through barrels and crates. She finally emerged, an apple in her mouth. “Efry fing ish full of afflesh!” she said through bites of fruit. I trotted around the cart and picked up an apple with my horn. I eyed the juicy, fresh fruit. My stomach grumbled as if to tell me Eat the bucking apple! So I brought the apple close, and took a large bite. It was everything I expected from an apple, satisfying crunch after satisfying crunch I devoured the fruit. I grabbed another to carry as we walked, but my limbs suddenly felt weak. My knees buckled and I was on the ground. “Rainbow Dash! Are you okay?!” I called to my companion.

“I can’t move!”

“I was afraid of that, neither can I.”

“What should we do?”

“Nothing, we can’t move.”

I sat there for a good five minutes looking at the sky. I wondered what was going to happen to us. Would we just be stuck here forever? I doubted that. I heard a rustling in the trees. There was somepony there, I just knew it. The trees continued rustling until somepony emerged. I couldn’t see though, they were outside my field of vision. They managed to put my head inside a burlap sack; I felt their hooves against the sides of my neck. I was hoisted up and placed on somepony else’s back. I could hear Rainbow Dash’s struggling noises, since she couldn’t actually move, but she could still speak. Profanely. I couldn’t help but feel we were going on a long ride. I had a general idea of where we were going, after all, all roads lead to Canterlot at some point.

___________________________________________________________________________

It was darker when we came to a stop. The ponies who abducted us had walked all day to wherever they were going. When they stopped though, my body now lacked the rhythm they had made, the pace of their walking was comfortable, like they weren’t in any hurry, but they weren’t planning on arriving late. They dropped us on the cobble street. I heard their hoofsteps as they walked away. We were stuck again. Just because it was worth it, I tried moving.

We could move. There was no telling how long we had been able to move. We could have only been incapacitated for a mere five minutes and wouldn’t have known. I tapped Rainbow Dash on the shoulder; she jumped to her hooves, and then realized “Hey! I can move!”

“Yeah.” I replied as I removed my bag.

“Whoa.” Rainbow Dash spoke as she took the bag from her head.

“What?”

Rainbow Dash pointed a hoof behind me. I had been focused on her face, so I had not looked around to see where we were.

The city was definitely not as I had remembered. A large wall surrounded the inner city. Small shantytowns were erected around the wall. Poor, starving ponies sat around and watched us. The inner city was barely visible through the gates, but all of the buildings looked evil and wicked. The sharp spires of the castle were accented by evil demon winged ponies flying about. “I’m not sure this is good.” I said to Rainbow Dash.

“No, this is definitely not good.”

“Should we try talking to some of the locals?”

“No, look.” She said, pointing with a hoof.

The pony she was pointing at was sitting with another of the same age. Their ears were filled with what was once hot liquid metal, but had cooled. In the sides of their metal ears was an etching. It looked like a... pile of sand. “Let’s just see if we can get inside.” Rainbow said to me.

“Alright, I’ll go try the gate.”

I trotted over to the gate and gave it a push, the gate opened just enough for us to squeeze through. Inside the city walls, Canterlot looked much better. The filth from the rabble was almost completely forgotten because of how clean the inner city was. The buildings in the inner city were abandoned, not a soul stirred. The windows of houses were boarded up and shattered. I quickened my pace some, as Rainbow Dash followed suit. We were nearing the castle rapidly.

The guards flying overhead paid us no mind. They flew in formation almost flawlessly. The castle looked as clean as the rest of the city. There was no gate to stop Rainbow Dash and me, so we entered the castle.

The central hall was as wide as in the real world. Stained glass windows only depicted scenes of a single alicorn, different from Celestia. Rainbow Dash looked unto me and said “Hey egghead, who’s that alicorn?”

“I have no idea. I only know of Luna and Celestia.”

Suddenly a voice shook the walls “WHO DARES SPEAKEST MINE SISTER’S NAME?!”

“Umm... hello? Is anypony there?”

“TWAS YOU KNAVE! BOW BEFORE YOUR TRUE MASTER!”

“Who are you?”

The voice became quieter “Dost...Dost thou not remember us?”

“No...Who are you?”

“Tis I, Dreamcaster... hast Celestia really forgotten of me?”

“I...umm...yes?”

I heard the sounds of sobs, I should have known, based upon the wavering of her voice. “Tis a lie! Mine dear sister! Tis not possible that she hath forgotten us!” The voice grew farther away; I figured she was off to hide in her room. I tried to follow the sounds of her crying, but it was neigh impossible to do so. I got lost in a hallway, and waited for Rainbow Dash to catch up. Rainbow Dash almost flew past me when she stopped “What are you doing?”

“I lost the trail.”

“She’s dream world Celestia, she obviously lives in Celestia’s room, duh.”

“Oh...right.”

“Let’s go then!”

I began galloping again, and then stopped again. “Wait! I’ve never been inside the castle; I don’t know where Celestia’s room is!”

“Just follow me.”

We started running again, I followed Rainbow Dash closely. I had to make sure not to lose her, otherwise I would be lost. We galloped past many paintings of nature and the sky, the atmosphere was lovely, for a nightmarish castle. I caught up to Rainbow Dash after she stopped at a door. She was speaking softly, trying to get the Princess’s attention.

“Princess...Princess are you there?”

“Go away Rainbow Dash; we do not want to speak to you.”

“But Princess-“

“Go away...”

The Princess obviously didn’t want any visitors, but then again, she hadn’t met Rainbow Dash, who just barged in anyway. The Princess was as awe inspiring as her sisters, she almost had the build of a younger Celestia. It was easy to tell though, that she was the middle sister, she looked older than Luna. She had a golden coat with a yellow and red mane. Her cutie mark was a pile of sand. This image reminded me of her name once again. “You’re...the sand pony?”

“We have not been called that for a while.”

“There is only a little fairy tale left. Ponies tell it to their foals whenever they can’t sleep.”

“That’s nice. Why art thou telling us this, knave?”

“Because you are remembered, just not in the way you expected.”

“And what of my sisters? They hath forgotten us.”

“Maybe they made a decision. You were doing a good job here, and Equestria needs the Sand Pony.”

“But why can’t we just be in the real world? Why can we not smell fresh air and see the real sun? Why suffer these illusions, these ‘dreams’? Tis all a nightmare to me. This realm is torture.”

“Like the ponies outside?”

“They are not real. Thou knows this, yet accuses us of torture. I am proving to our self that this is but a dream. Those ponies do not feel, nor do they think. They are but sand in the wind.” She spoke with surprising casualness for what had just been said.

“What about Rainbow Dash and I?”

“We had to be sure you were real. Nopony good comes to visit us. Only the nightmares I am forced to create. Thou art familiar with some of them, yes?”

“Forced to?”

“Yes. While a few of my guards and ourself art real, everything else tis a lie. When ponies go to sleep, we are forced to build a dream based on what they are thinking. Ponies do not think sweet and kind things anymore, Sunset Wonder, this is no longer fun.”

“What about children?”

“They think lightheartedly. We enjoy catering to them, making pirate ships and enchanted castles, evil dragons and suits of armor. These are the ones we enjoy, but look at Rainbow Dash, look at the filth that fills her mind.”

“Every thing in here was created by you! How can you accuse her like that?”

“Tis not true Sunset Wonder, we are the maker, yes, but Rainbow Dash made the blueprints. Her paranoia was the foundation; we only had to make it a reality.”

Just like that, the sun broke through the clouds. The castle was cleansed in its warming rays. The city went from a nightmare, to a wonderland. The fog had lifted. I however, was still a little suspicious. “What kind of trick is this?”

“No trick Sunset Wonder, Rainbow Dash did this. She confessed to herself what she was doing. Her mind is clean.” The princess turned to Rainbow Dash “But stop being so paranoid, it isn’t healthy.” The princess smiled and watched the imaginary citizens of Canterlot file into the city. They were bright and happy, smiles accenting their muzzles. I had only one more thing to ask of the princess “Why did you keep us here?”

“We could not stand to see Rainbow Dash’s melancholy any longer. We held thou here to find the truth, as well as to bond a little. Bonding is good.”

“Thank you.”

I turned to Rainbow Dash and spoke “We have a letter to write.”

“About friendship?”

I leaned in and whispered “I kinda feel bad keeping Dreamcaster here, maybe we should see if the princess could get her out of the dream world.”

“Why was she here in the first place?”

“I...don’t know.” I looked over my shoulder at Dreamcaster and asked “Princess, why are you trapped in the dream world?”

“We killed our youngest sister.”

I was stunned. “You what?”

“We killed her. Long ago we were in the real world, we still had dominion over dreams, but we lusted for more. Celestia had the honor of raising the sun, but we were jealous. Luna and our self were cast out into the shadows, she raised the moon, and we wove dreams. Our younger sister was always by Celestia’s side. She had little magic, so instead, she addressed the subjects, giving speeches, christening ships, and attending to any royal duties she could. Luna and our self plotted a rebellion. We gathered and trained many soldiers. We became mad. Luna was defeated within the first five minutes of battle when Celestia did something she had never done before; she banished her to the moon. Our armies fought to the death. When the battle ended, neither side was left with any soldiers. We were alone against Celestia, but we had been practicing powerful magic. We had learned a beam that could wipe her off the map. We aimed for Celestia, and let off a burst of magic, but our youngest sister saw this, and heaved herself in front of Celestia. She was nothing but a pile of ashes. Celestia was aghast. We were drained of our energy, and Celestia had complete power over us, we cursed her name, and looked at her with furious eyes. She looked at us with pity and said ‘I am disappointed in you, but I want you to know I love you.’ We replied back ‘Love me? LOVE ME?! What about Luna? You banished her to the bucking MOON! Why couldn’t we share power? Why couldn’t we resolve this? This is YOUR FAULT! Look at this! Look at what you caused! I HATE YOU!’ she began to cry and I lapped up the bitter tears ‘You never loved any of us, you loved the throne. You didn’t even love our youngest sis-‘ and then she looked up. She couldn’t take it. She gave me one last glance and banished me here.”

“I’m sorry princess...I didn’t know.”

“Tis fine Sunset Wonder. We have brooded over the scene for a thousand years and are more than sorry for what happened. Luna deserves to be free, she didn’t kill anypony. We deserve to suffer here.”

I looked to Rainbow Dash and she nodded. We closed our eyes once again and focused, we were going to wake up.

___________________________________________________________________________

I got home. We had been asleep for a full day and a half. I was well rested and had a task at hand. I headed to the back of the Quill and Sofa shop. I opened the door to the storage room, my temporary ‘office’, and pulled out a sheet of parchment and a quill, I wrote:

Dear Princess Celestia,

We found something. Something you need to see.

Sincerely,
Sunset Wonder

I brought the letter with me. I trotted out the door and to Twilight’s library. I passed through the night street, seeing few ponies out. Pinkie must have been having some kind of bash, otherwise I wouldn’t see any at all. I rounded a corner on the cobble street and spotted Twilight’s library. I quickened pace slightly and soon arrived at her door. I knocked twice and Spike opened the door. He looked tired, but I didn’t care, this was more important than sleep. I handed the letter to him

“Send this, please.”

“Yeah sure. In the morning.”

“Spike, it’s kinda important. Just send it now.”

“Alright, alright.” Spike held the letter out in front of his face and breathed his dragonfire on it. “Happy?”

“Very. See you later, Spike.”

“Yeah whatever, see ya.”

I trotted to my house/store past Sugarcube Corner, DJ PON-3 was really cranking up the bass tonight. Nopony on the block was going to get any sleep, I was sure of it. I opened the back door of the Quill and Sofa shop. I had made a habit of only entering through the back door, since it was the employee entrance. I decided to have a seat at my desk and chronicle the past few days. They were probably the most exciting of my life. I even found Celestia’s sister, who can top that? There was a sudden rapping, though, a rapping at the back door. It stopped me from writing and I opened it. The princess waved a hoof and asked “May I come in?”

“Yes, princess.” I said, falling to one knee.

“So, Sunset Wonder, what did you find?”

“I’m afraid I cannot describe it princess, I can only show you.” Rainbow Dash filed in after the princess. She had probably seen her coming to my home and followed, but that was okay, I needed her anyway.

“Princess, I need to ask you something.”

“Ask away my little pony.”

“Do I have your permission to perform magic on you?”

“I suppose so...but why?”

“You will see.”

“I would like to remind you though, that I am the princess, and I don’t think anypony would like to see me hurt, especially Luna, so whatever you are doing, I hope you hold no ill will. My, my, that sounded slightly vain of me.”

“No, princess, I have no intent to harm you. Would you mind closing your eyes?”

The princess closed her eyes and Rainbow Dash followed suit. I began performing the spell, focusing my magic on the three of us. I felt my limbs grow weaker as I drifted into a slumber once again.

___________________________________________________________________________

“Did you just want to show me you could teleport to Canterlot Castle?”

We were standing in the front hall of the castle. The same stained glass windows let in the light from a fake sun.

“No, princess, something else.”

I began leading the princess through the castle until we reached her room. Now the princess was confused.

“What’s going on?”

“Before we enter, I have another request of you.”

“Yes?”

“Let Dreamcaster back into the real world.”

“How do you-“ she stopped as I opened the door, Dreamcaster sat there brushing her mane, looking longingly out the window. She turned her head and saw the princess. “Celestia.”

“Dreamcaster.”

“It has been a thousand years since you banished us. We want you to know something.”

“Yes?”

“We love you my dear sister. We are so sorry about everything that happened.” Tears began to stream “We-...I’ve waited a thousand years to apologize. And to say I’m sorry.”

“Dreamcaster, I too have waited a thousand years to say something. I’m sorry. I didn’t know you felt the way you did. I regretted what I had done every day, and I want you to come back.”

The conversation was followed by a sisterly embrace. Celestia spoke to me “Thank you, Sunset Wonder. Take us back.”

“I don’t know how to release Dreamcaster.”

“You don’t have to; I did, when I apologized.”

I focused my magic on the four of us, sending our consciousness back to our bodies.

___________________________________________________________________________

Celestia thanked me again once we were in the real world. Dreamcaster ran outside to get the first breath of real air in a thousand years. I went outside with her, to make sure she was okay. She saw me follow her and spoke “Sunset Wonder.”

“Yes?”

“We would like to thank you for bringing us and our sister back together, thou art a true friend. Thou art my friend as well.”

“Thank you, princess.”

“We notice Ponyville does not have a guard duty.”

“No, we haven’t ever needed one.”

“Well as a thank you, we would like to make you captain.”

“What?”

“Yes. Captain Sunset Wonder, sounds nice. Thou will not have to move, and as a bonus, we will have somepony run the Quill and Sofa store for you. We understand a mister Davenport used to own the store, correct?”

“Yes.”

“He will do nicely then. Your armor will be commissioned and delivered on the morrow; you will need to select somepony to deputize as well. A contingent of five to ten guards will be under your command and will be on their way along with your armor.”

“This is a big responsibility, are you sure you want me to do it?”

“I would trust nopony else.”

“Well in that case, I know just who to deputize.”

___________________________________________________________________________

The next morning Derpy struggled into my home, carrying a package. This was my uniform. I opened the package and in it was a captain’s armor. An assemblage of light steel plates, colored gold made up the torso piece as well as a... skirt? What? I made the association in a few seconds. The armor much resembled the armor of the Pony Roman Empire of 800 BC (Before Celestia). I liked the cape though, it was a nice touch. I donned my armor and trotted out the door.

I knew my mission, but first I had to assign the guards a schedule. I found them standing near the entrance to Ponyville. “Are you all my contingent?”

“SIR, YES, SIR!”

“Very well then, I will assign a job for you all to complete. We need a guard station, barracks, prison, and battlements. We are a small contingent, so it does NOT need to be large. Build one.”

A guard stepped forward. “PERMISSION TO SPEAK, SIR!”

“Go ahead, and name yourself. Also, don’t worry about volume, I can hear just fine.”

“Lieutenant Steel Prism, sir! I would like to ask where we would get the materials to build such a structure, sir.”

“There is a construction site over there. Ask nicely.”

“Yes, sir.”

“All right then, fall out, get to work.”

I trotted off in the direction I was intending. The Cutie Mark Crusaders Club House. I was glad I had stayed up all night studying military commands and basic drill, it really paid off. Thank the goddesses I was able to assert myself.

I crossed Sweet Apple Acres and came upon the tree house. I heard the crusaders inside, arguing over what to do next. I entered the clubhouse and they were a little surprised. “Sunset Wonder?” spoke Apple Bloom

“The same.”

“Why are you wearin’ that funny getup?”

“This is captain’s armor. I am captain of the guard here in Ponyville.”

“We have a guard here? Since when?”

“Since today. I would like you girls to do something for me.”

“What is it?” all three girls asked excitedly.

“I would like to ask you to be my deputies, just for the day. If you don’t like it after that you can quit.”

“CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS ROYAL GUARD DEPUTIES! YEAH!”

The trio ran out the door to the clubhouse and I barely caught up with them. I explained to them what they would be doing and how to help. I told them how to use their authority and how to treat the other ponies (soldiers and civilians alike). I gave them each a deputy scarf, which had come with the armor. This was going to be entertaining.

I stood watching the progress of the outpost. The work-ponies had been kind enough to let us use the materials we needed. The outpost had come along quickly. The Cutie Mark Crusaders helped build on occasion, as well as bring water. They were definitely going to be finding something they’re good at. The day passed quickly as everypony was helping build the outpost.

At sunset, the outpost was completed. I gave the guards a break and set out a volunteer sheet for the night watch. The CMC almost signed up, but I stopped them.

Yep. I was gonna love this job.

___________________________________________________________________________

END
(For reals this time)

All characters owned by their respective companies.

I hope ya’ll liked it. It was a joy to write.

___________________________________________________________________________

Dreamcaster Ponycode:
4O3H007230CCCC00D8D90000201A200FEUN1B3H004000000Z1D9ED00C100000X107F3FCC004CB2