"The Other Side" Chapter 6- Recovery

As soon as Dylan entered the house, he was guided towards the stairs by Fluttershy.

"You need sleep... and a washing up. After you get some rest, I'll help you get a bath ready. Now, be careful on the stairs."

Dylan wobbled clumsily upstairs, clutching the handrail (or should I say hoofrail.) with a tired hand. The effort to move his legs was excruciating; his bones felt as if they were made of lead. He was escorted into a small bedroom, which was next to a larger, better furnished one, which he assumed was Fluttershy's. The room he was led into had one low-sitting bed, a dresser, a mirror, and a small table. The blankets and pillows on the bed were neatly and carefully set up, just as if Fluttershy was always expecting guests. She did enjoy having guests, but she was so shy she rarely asked anyone over. The room also had a circular window that looked out towards Ponyville, which was currently brightly lit in the night. Dylan assumed that there were a few establishments and buildings that still bustled, even in the dark hours.
He felt like visiting some of them, after he was healed, of course. If there was one thing you needed to know about Dylan's sleeping habits, it was that he slept and woke up late. This was due to the fact that he was an insomniac of sorts; writers tend to find it hard to sleep, with their over active imaginations and such. A slightly less pleasant reason for his insomnia was the large amount of painful and sobering memories of his last few years. Dylan pulled back the covers, nodded his thanks, and slid into the bed. He pulled the blankets around him snugly, resting his throbbing head on the pillows. Needless to say, his sheer exhaustion was enough to overpower his sleeplessness, and he began to drift off to sleep slowly. There was one thought on his mind as his eyes closed shut:

I killed her with my bare hands...

As Dylan fell asleep, Fluttershy went back down to the kitchen to clean up the mess on the floor and put away her healing supplies. She paused to grab a broom and a cloth, then began to sweep the shards of teacup into a waste bin. As she swept, she began to think.

What happened with Dylan? Why was he torn up like that? He was definitely in a fight, but with what? It looked like some kind of giant bird attacked him. I don't know about any birds that big in Ponyville... So what could have done that? I don't know, I'll ask him later.

Fluttershy finished brushing up the last of the shards, and began to wipe up the tea with the cloth. Her face was full of worry.

What did he see in his nightmares to try and hurt me like that? Did someone try to hurt him? Oh, I hope not... Why is he afraid of himself? Is it because he thought he hurt me? He didn't recognize me at first, either. Who did he think I was? And where did he think I was? He might not want to tell me...

Fluttershy stood up, her cleaning finished. She put away the broom and began to wash the cloth in her sink. She wrung it out with her hooves then placed it on the edge of the sink's basin.

Fluttershy lay in her bed, with her hooves resting at her sides. She breathed softly, the day's memories passing through her mind's eye with rapid succession: Being attacked by a manticore, then seeing it killed in front of her eyes by the most unusual creature she had ever seen; Chasing said creature after it jumped through a hospital window; Having her stare backfire for the first time in her whole life; Finding out how dangerous the thing -named Dylan- really is; Almost trampling him down in the dark; Seeing him bloody and broken, calling for her to help him; Having him survive the completely fatal injuries inflicted upon him; Seeing him experience some unknown and probably horrible nightmare in front of her very eyes; Being attacked by him, insanity burning deep in his eyes; Watching him mourn what he had done and blame himself for it; Feeling the strangest emotion she had ever experienced as she comforted him; Having him surprise her with a similar feeling to what she felt. All of these things seemed to snap into focus for a moment, only to merge with the swirling, raging storm of questions that plagued her curious mind. After a few minutes of hard thinking, she closed her eyes and let out one delicate, hushed breath. She fell asleep with the soothing feeling of the cool night air on her skin.

Her dreams were anything but. She seemed to be standing in the middle of a massive conflagration. The fire twisted and roiled oddly, as if the very air were distorted. The ground was black, volcanic rock. It was cracked and scarred, and the flames seemed to pour upwards from the cracks, wrapping around each other and twisting in the air. The sky was red, and sorcerous energy crackled in the churning grey clouds above. None pf these things were the source of her fear. What had her heart seizing in her chest were seven figures. All of them were monstrous, hell-spawned horrors that would
make the bravest soul flee like a coward. They were floating in a circle overhead, with one figure in the center. They were all peering at her with eyes full of hate and malice. Fluttershy was petrified. She was too horrified to make any sound at all. She was so completely overwhelmed that her mouth didn't even move open to let forth the scream that she could not make. The figure in the center drifted downwards, his chaotic combination of body parts immediately identifying him as a draconequus. He was the draconequus. Discord smiled. His teeth looked like knives had sprouted from his jaws. He bowed mockingly, lowering his head do that it was inches from Fluttershy's face. The darkness in his eyes caught her gaze. It was as if she was staring into two black holes. His eyes were no longer red, their entirety was the color of an abyss, cold and unloving. His tongue darted out, licking his dagger-like teeth as if he was about to savor a fine meal.

"AH, YOU REMEMBER ME... GOOD." The words echoed inwardly, the sound like the growling and roaring of an earthquake.

"I'LL MAKE SURE YOU NEVER FORGET."

A hand bristling with crooked talons wrapped around her body and began to squeeze. The strength of Discord's grip was enough to make Fluttershy cry out in pain. As she cried out, tears of suffering streamed down her cheeks. He lifted her above his head, dangling her by a hoof, his jaws wide open. She screamed as he dropped her into his gaping maw.

Her scream wasn't just in her mind, however. Her piercing cry of dread echoed through the house. She sat up with a start, her heart beating like the rapid fluttering of wings. She barely had time to wake up before Dylan charged into the room, screaming bloody murder. His eyes were full of anger, and his teeth were gritted. He stood with his shoulders hunched, and his chin tucked close to his chest. He looked like he was about to bludgeon something to death with its own limbs after ripping them out of their sockets. His chest heaved as he breathed furiously. His breathing sounded like a low growling hiss coming from deep in his throat. Fluttershy looked completely surprised at Dylan's appearance.

"Wh-what are you d-doing in my room?"

Fluttershy spoke quietly and gently, as if she were talking to a dangerous wild animal. Dylan turned his head to look at her, the snarl leaving his face at the same time that the anger left his eyes. He spoke softly as well, as if he was afraid that he would scare her by talking at a normal volume.

"You screamed, so I thought something happened. You're not hurt, are you?"

Dylan looked at her, trying to determine whether or not she had been harmed.

"N-no. I just had a bad dream... that's all. And you're the one who's hurt! You shouldn't be out of bed." she looked genuinely angry that he hadn't.

"You need to get some rest."

Dylan smiled, shaking his head.

"I was never one for sleeping. There was always really scary-ass shit on my mind. And I mean fucking scary."

He looked melancholy for a moment, then his face was full of concern again.

"So, you had a nightmare?" Nightmare. It was funny how that sounded in a world full of talking ponies.

Fluttershy nodded, looking downwards towards her hooves.

"Y-yes." That was the only word she could muster. The fear was so powerful that she could barely talk about it.

"What was it about?"

Dylan was now standing directly beside Fluttershy's bed with his arms crossed on his chest. His hairy, muscular arms seemed to look even more imposing folded over each other.

"S-someone I thought I'd n-never see again..." Fluttershy trembled as she recalled the sound of his voice.

Dylan was quite the masculine figure, and he preferred to look it. His caring, sensitive personality was at complete odds with his appearance, and Dylan rarely let it show. This was one of the few times that he did. He leaned over on the bed and wrapped his strong arms around Fluttershy, pressing his neck against hers. He closed his eyes and stayed like that for a few seconds.

"I won't let anything or anyone hurt you. They'll have to deal with me first. I'll stay up all night if that's what it takes to get you sleeping peacefully."

Fluttershy froze, her heart skipping a beat. She cried again, her eyes glistening with tears. They were not tears of sadness, not of fear, not of pain, but tears of joy.

"T-thank you. I..."

Dylan stopped her, putting a finger to her lips and looking into her eyes.

"Don't say anything. I understand. If you hadn't done what you did when I arrived here, I'd be dead. Dead. You saved me again tonight, and I can't stop thinking about how I... snapped when I woke up..."

Fluttershy looked like she was about to speak again, but Dylan looked into her eyes and shook his head slowly.

"You forgave me. The way you did it... it reminds me of someone I know. Someone very important to me. I see how important he is now. I wouldn't be here talking to you right now if he wasn't."

Dylan embraced her again and then stood up and walked to the door. He stopped and looked back at Fluttershy,

"I'll be right in the other room. Good night."

Fluttershy tried to hide her tears, brushing them away with one hoof.

"Good night, Dylan."

the corners of his mouth turned upwards almost invisibly. He closed her door. She heard his footsteps as he moved back into his room, closed his door, and got into bed. She pulled the covers back over her and closed her eyes. She was asleep in seconds. Fluttershy didn't have any more nightmares that night.

Dylan woke up the next morning to the smell of oatmeal. He fucking hated oatmeal. He wished it would come alive, just so he could kill it. That's how much he hated it.

Fuck. All right, then, oatmeal it is. Just be grateful you're even having breakfast at all... I hate non-solid breakfasts... yogurt... cream of wheat... damn disgusting. They're a disgrace to breakfasts everywhere!

He got out of bed and looked down at his ruined clothes.

Shit. Gonna need some new ones. I don't really feel like wearing trashed clothes, so I'll go naked this morning. She's already seen me naked, so it's no big deal, right?

He walked out of the bedroom, heading downstairs with a rather uncomfortable look in his face. As he neared the kitchen, he saw Fluttershy stirring a pot full of something on her stove. Getting closer, Dylan knew it was unmistakably oatmeal that was being cooked in the pot. He shuddered in disgust, twitching slightly.

"Good morning, Fluttershy." Dylan said, stretching his neck, which was stiff.

"Good morning, D-"

Fluttershy had turned and begun to stare, her mouth apparently trying to form words.

"Y-your clothes, where are they?"

"Trashed, remember?"

She tried to look away from Dylan, but couldn't.

"Oh. Y-yes. Um... Uh..."

Dylan smiled warmly, a sudden thought striking him.

"Hey, what's wrong? Every time I've seen you, you've been naked. Nothing to be ashamed of."

She was. She blushed, as if she had realized something obvious for the first time. Normally, nudity wasn't a problem to ponies, but apparently realizing that she was nude made Fluttershy somewhat embarrassed.

Uh... She's a friggin' pony... ponies walk around naked... and she's embarrassed... Screw logic.

He awkwardly sat down at the kitchen table, which was strange seeing as he had almost been a corpse lying on it just the night before. Admittedly, he was completely frustrated at getting injured over and over again. Fell from the sky, hit some trees, stabbed by a manticore, fell from a window, punched in the face, kicked in the crotch, clawed at, bitten... His first day in Equestria was painful, to say the least. Sitting down in the chair was even more uncomfortable, the wood feeling strange on his bare skin.

"Uh. What's for breakfast?"

"Oatmeal. It's good for you!"

"Yeah... got anything else? Maybe bacon?"

"Bacon?"

"Uh, nevermind... it's not something ponies eat."

"What is it?" Dylan scratched his head, looked sheepish and smiled nervously.

"Hey, Fluttershy, do you like pigs?"

"Oh! Yes I do! They're so cute, with their curly tails, and their widdle bellies and snouts. And that adorable snorting thing they do! I love pigs!"

Dylan looked like he was about to regret saying his next words.!

"Bacon is pig... Pig meat..."

It took a second for it to sink in, but Fluttershy's jaw caught up quicker than her tongue. She looked completely taken aback, her eyes completely wide and her mouth wide open.

"P-p-pig... meat?! You eat pigs?!"

Dylan gritted his teeth and looked at the table.

"Pigs and cows and chickens and turkeys and fish... didn't I explain this yesterday?"

"Cows?! Cows talk!"

"Not in my world. Cows talk here?!"

"Yes! Why do you eat animals?!"

"It's just the human diet. Would you get mad at a cat for eating mice? Or a mongoose eating snakes? If it makes a difference, I don't eat equines."

"It doesn't."

"Oh. Can I have some... oatmeal?" He said that last word with disgust and venom, cringing inwardly.

She walked over to the table with a bowl of the unappetizing mush and placed it in front of Dylan, along with a spoon.

"Eat up."

"Sure... thanks..."

Dylan picked up his spoon, gulped, and looked down at the bowl.

"What are you waiting for? Dig in."

Dylan raised the spoon and scooped up a bit of oatmeal. He brought it up to his mouth and tasted it. He smiled, but the gesture was fake. Inside his head, he mentally vomited all over the kitchen, then threw the oatmeal to the floor with a splat.

"Good, now eat the whole thing."

Dylan's fabricated smile stretched wider as he ate another spoonful of the slop.

"It's... very good!"

Dylan said this with a nod, at which Fluttershy smiled and turned back to the stove.

"For feeding pigs..." this was whispered so that Fluttershy couldn't hear.

She was humming a tune, bustling around the kitchen as Dylan tried to choke down the oatmeal. He literally had to slam his mouth closed so he wouldn't spit oatmeal all over the table. Needless to say, breakfast wasn't enjoyable for Dylan.

"So, did you sleep well last night?" Dylan said as he finished the last of his meal.

Fluttershy looked shocked at how fast he ate it, as it had only been thirty seconds. Dylan did not want to spend ten whole minutes shoveling down something so disgusting to him.

"Uhm, good. I didn't have any other dreams like that one last night."

"You did dream though?"

"Y-yes." Fluttershy blushed, and looked as if she was remembering something private.

Dylan had no idea why she was so embarrassed.

"What did you dream about?"

"Um... I dreamt about last night... Uh, yeah, that's it. Last night. Wait a moment, aren't you hurt? How are you looking so healthy? You were almost dead last night!"

Dylan shrugged, looking just as puzzled as Fluttershy.

"Guess I'm just a tough sunnavabitch. That, and you must be very good at what you do."

"What do you think I do?"

"Take care of things. Animals, mostly. It's hard not to notice." He felt a sudden tickling sensation at his feet, as if something was moving under the table. He looked down to see a white rabbit standing on top of his foot and staring straight at him.

"Uh... Hi."

Dylan grinned, looking down at the small furry mammal.

"What're you doing down there?"

The rabbit somehow crossed his front legs and looked at Dylan with a mixture of jealousy and frustration on his face.

"Angel! Come get your breakfast."

Angel frowned at Dylan before kicking his foot and running over to Fluttershy.

"Ow. Little fucker... You sure you shouldn't change his name to Demon? He just kicked me."

Fluttershy looked down at the little rabbit now staring up at her with innocent, sheepish eyes.

"Angel, did you kick him?"

He shook his head in the negative, looking at Fluttershy with a hurt look on his face.

"Angel..."

Fluttershy leaned close to Angel, her eyes open wide and staring at his with raw, savage intensity.

"Did. You. Kick. Him?"

Dylan cringed a little, remembering how Fluttershy had stared at him in a similar way.

Oh, shit... he's gonna get it. Dylan thought, trying to look like he wasn't the slightest bit nervous.

Angel tried to look away, bit he ended up looking into her eyes anyway. He twitched and squirmed, trying desperately not to look guilty. It didn't help.

"Did you just kick Dylan?"

Angel tried not to, but he nodded nonetheless. Angel hung his head shamefully, his frown deepening.

"Don't you do that again, mister! What did I say about hitting?"

"It, uh... wasn't that big of a deal, I mean-"

She turned her stare to gaze straight at Dylan. Without warning, Dylan sprang up and ran for the door. "She's gonna eat me! AGAIN!!!!!"

Fluttershy stopped in place for a second, then chuckled to herself. Dylan turned around and laughed as well.

"I need to wash up. I'll be back."

"I have a bathtub, you know... um... If you want."

"Oh. I guess I don't need to bathe in the river then. You sure? I'll probably just stink it up with my masculineliness... shit. That ain't a word. Oh well."

"Uh... okay. Its no problem, you are my guest after all."

"Is it upstairs or down here?"

"Down here. Just over there." Fluttershy pointed a hoof towards the main room.

"It's around the other side of the house. I can... run the bath for you..."

"Oh. Thanks, that'd be nice. Hmm... how many other animals do you have running around the house?"

"Just Angel. All the other animals are outside in their homes. They're happier out in the fresh air."

"Ha. Don't get much of that myself. Or sunlight... I'm pretty much a basement dweller. Damn you, Skyrim..."

"Skyrim?"

"A game. Got dragons in it."

"What do you do?"

"You kill dragons. Wasn't that kind of obvious? You know, fire-breathing, massive, princess-stealing, savage, monstrous lizards? What else would you do with em'? Have a tea party?"

Fluttershy was silent for a moment, then nervously whispered.

"They're not all bad, you know."

"Well, you let me know when you find one that doesn't want a Dylan burger, and I'll buy him a damn drink. Otherwise, I'll make some nice boots outta the scaly wanker." He laughed heartily.

"Um... I'll run your bath."

"Cool. Hey, you got any booze? My friggin' shoulder is hurtin' again."

"What's 'booze'?"

Dylan looked a little bit nervous, as if he was giving a young child a talk about something that they shouldn't know.

"Uh. Alcohol? Fermented stuff? Wine? Beer? Vodka? Whiskey? Rum? Gin? Tequila?"

"Oh! I have some wine, yes."

"I'm more of a beer man, but wine is good."

"Dylan... do you... wanna talk about what how you got hurt last night?"

Dylan swallowed, scratching his beard anxiously.

"I uh... got in a fight."

"With who?"

"Gilda."

"G-Gilda?! Why?"

"The bitch blackmailed Applejack and threatened her sister. That and I heard how she made you cry. So I beat the living fucking shit outta her. I got bit. I think I won, though. Last I saw of her, she wasn't in any state to come back and bother anyone." This last sentence was said in a grim and withdrawn voice.

He leaned against the wall, running a hand through his hair.

"No one... Hurts my friends. That's the rule that's most important to me. And if they do, I make em' wish they never crawled out from under their damn rock. And then I beat em' with it." His face was a half-snarl, and he seemed to look inwardly, contemplating the action.

"I don't have many friends, most of them are gone now. Those I do have are more important to me than anythin'."

"Th-that's... very loyal. You're a lot like Rainbow Dash."

"We seemed to... hehe... get along well enough when we first met. She's stubborn like me, at least from what I've seen. I'm definitely not as cocky as her, figuratively of course..."

He laughed nervously at this, unintentionally making another dirty reference.

"Well... I'll get the bath started."

"Sure. I'll just um... not sit on these couches."

As Fluttershy walked out of the room, Dylan remembered the night. He remembered the running, the words he spoke to Gilda, the blood, and finally, the fire. Where had the fire come from? He looked at his hands.

What the fuck am I?