Well everypony, this is where things turn quite grim in the story. It won’t be something common, but this does turn the rate up for mature in Fanfiction.net, in FIMfiction it is already listed and mature and in DA… well DA is DA.

Also: Still searching for a volunteer that wants to make sure my mess-ups are not so messy. I cannot stress the fact that I am bad at editing this grammar to make it as perfect as I want.

“Are you ready uh? Are you? Are you?” The pink mare bounced up and down around J, only visible to an extent.

Not thirty seconds had passed, but J was scared shitless for once in his life. There was no other way to put it: Darkness enveloped him and he could only see a seemingly happy Pinkie Pie that threw him glances much like a cat would do to a legless mouse as the thing was used as both amusement and, after the predator was bored, food.

Right now he heard nothing but the mare that looked, but was not, Pinkie. Her tone was odd, not as cheery or as friendly as it had always been, nor was her jumping and bouncing that of such a cute creature, but more of one that tried to make sure to stay over the prey it was circling with those eyes keeping tabs on him every-single-second.

“Oh… you don’t want to play” J felt a pang of regret and sadness as he heard Pinkie say that. She stopped in front of him with her mane down and a regretful look.

“Hey Pinkie, I do want to play, but it is too dark” He kneeled down with a smile to give Pinkie a gentle caress “I am just… surprised”

“Oh, of course!” She perked up immediately, grinning widely and showing what J did knew as her usual smile and cheery tone, yet still something was off “But there is no light in here, dummy, you have to follow me!”

Bouncing away, Pinkie suddenly generated light of her own, showing J the way down a corridor covered in grey and brownish metal plates. It was eerie, to say the least, when J followed her only to see small lights (much like the ones he had in his ‘home’ now) popping up to the sides to show countless doors where nothing but darkness could be seen.

From time to time a corridor popped here or there, simply being there, the same as the one he was walking in right now. There was no difference, all was monotonous and exactly the same, sometimes it even seemed that the scenery repeated itself as in an infinite loop with only just the small change needed to keep him from thinking it was something else and not only his worried imagination picking at him.

However it was bound to happen, he did know it, and the scenery would change. He was in a nightmare, he was sure for the few times he had ever dreamed it was a dream walk, it was always dream walking when he had luck and his mind drifted away like this. It meant he was aware that he was asleep and in a dream, a magical world that, unlike Equestria, wasn’t real. The fact that he could see ripples in the air around Pinkie Pie was a perfect sign of it.

It was not only the fact that she was weird when she talked, but things around her… changed slightly, like around everything that seemed important but wasn’t real in his dreams.

Once, long ago, he dreamed of the scene that made him change, the one that made him almost unable to ever dream when he slept: When he had to kill that boar. In that scene the creature, huge and monstrous, went for his sister when he could do nothing for her, nothing at all… It was a traumatic experience that took something dear from him back in that day.

But then he saw it, what most people could describe as the essence of a nightmare if they could even wake up with the full memories of the encounter: Black energy, probably a suggestion of the mind, rippling through the creature that was instigating his fear. It made all around it change for its benefit, altering the field so J could not reach his sister, so he could not stop the creature, not, until he could control his actions during the dreams.

However, to control oneself’s actions during a dream there must be a sliver of innocence, and back then there was none. That made him remember what Celestia had said about Lauren and that, for him to change like she did, he would need to change who he was.

In fact this made him remember that it was not until much later until, finally, J could dream again. This time his mind was clearer and, after many visits to the psychologist, he didn’t feel the monster he thought he had been that time when he trembled at the sight of the dead boar before a glint of his adult mind forced him to carve the poor thing apart for food.

For a kid, innocence is hard to lose, much more to recover if it happens. When J did lose his he also lost the right mind to dream, much like many do thanks to traumatic experiences. Recovering it was only possible thanks to the good doctor and his sister. The doctor helped him overcome part of the guilt, the only time it happened, and his sister made him relive that nightmare one more time when, after so long being nervous around her, she asked to help with him one stormy night.

This time though, he got the thing away from his sister.

Maybe, now that he thought about it, this was why Twilight had made that ‘mistake’? There were few dream walkers for there were few innocent people left in the world, at least few with part of an innocent mind. As he looked around, seeing the now colorful walls as Pinkie, or her shadow at least, guided him towards a pink colored door he had to admit something to himself, something he didn’t like.

‘For all the shit I went through, I would prefer it to be an accident’ He thought bitterly ‘I don’t want to think there interest from someone mixed in this, but… it is too much of a coincidence that Celestia asked me to do this just when she met me? She did read my mind, I suppose it showed her and she didn’t know until then but…’

He shook his head and looked down at Pinkie as he was about to enter the room. The smile on the pink pony was so gentle and caring, yet it was as if it was forced and behind it was such a scowl that simply showing it would harm, or do worse to, J. The mare was twitching, but not in her usual way, and the ripples in the air weren’t black or dark, but sure as hell they weren’t natural. Whatever would happen, because something was going to happen, would be BIG and NOT good.

So entranced he had been with Pinkie’s weirdness, those things that made her so obviously different, that when he reached the door something that would happen to any human happened to J thanks to having his eyes and attention somewhere else.

*KLONK!*

“AUCH!”

‘Seriously, watch your step. These are ponies, not humans, not in height anyway’ A voice sang inside his head, one that seemed to come from anywhere it wanted inside and outside his head at the same time, echoing as if a drop of water inside an empty cave it was.

“Duly noted” He said out loud with a groan, rubbing his forehead until he heard laughter, sincere and happy Pinkie Pie laughter.

When he looked towards Pinkie he saw the mare, but not the ripples, not the differences, no nothing…. There was nothing different this time, it, she, was Pinkie Pie. She was rolling in the ground, chuckling and giggling, even snorting a bit like a piggy and just laughing all the more with such antics until she got up, got closer to him and poked his nose.

“Honk!” She giggled “Are you alright? Sorry but I hadn’t had such a super-duper laugh in a long while”

J simply gave her a little smile “I am ok, no problem, only” He rubbed his forehead again, groaning at the feeling “It stings”

“I am sorry to hear, but come in, take a sweet and relax for a while” Pinkie gave him a cute smile “I don’t have anything for the aching head, so we will pass the time”

With a bright smile Pinkie hopped inside the room with J fallowing her soon enough, not too fast though as he dared to glance back, only to see that the walls of metal and all around him was changing, very slowly, to resemble Ponyville. It was a beautiful scene under a perfect blue sky empty of clouds that was watching over a peaceful town that, while easy to the eye, seemed empty like if it was a ghost town even with how much it looked like the real one.

‘The most complex one I have seen…’ He thought, thinking about all the dreams and those nightmares he had. When something ‘good’ happened, then the scenery changed accordingly. If something bad, on the other hand, came to happen…

‘You don’t want that happening’ J heard the voice from before as it invaded his mind again ‘Believe me, I am on your side, but I cannot help you here, so make sure you do not mess up’

‘I would thank whoever is in my head this time to give some information without much dilly dalling’ He growled, getting inside the room with Pinkie Pie ‘Else it is going to be hell’

When he got in, without the voice saying a single thing, J was glad to find that nothing had changed in Pinkie and, to round things up, the room was in fact Sugarcube Corner! The first floor with the main room to serve customers or to throw parties was filled with balloons, sweets and other foods that would make anyone’s mouth water. It did smell delicious and looked past that simple word. If you want some more information on J then let’s give you one of his weak spots: He had the biggest sweet tooth in history.

Then, if you take into consideration his sweet tooth, plush that this was a dream and he knew it, you can excuse him if he jumps, lands on the huge table set up for this and begins to devour pies, cupcakes, muffins and even half a cake before giving out the loudest belch he had ever heard (Or produced, for that matter).

“Wow, you were hungry” Pinkie giggled, snorting a bit “Did you like them?”

‘You better compliment my friend’ The voice in his head chuckled darkly ‘We don’t want our little friend showing her other face just yet’

‘Just yet? You told me I wouldn’t like if…’

‘I say many things’ The voice interrupted ‘You better only keep in mind one: I want you to succeed’

“They were great Pinkie” J admitted with a big smile since, in all fairness, it was true… or it would be if knowing he was here made any feelings less real than for those that didn’t know better “But I think I got too much, my teeth are going to ache if I don’t clean them”

“Oh don’t worry” Pinkie gave a smile “After what the Princess did you don’t have to worry about that. We only clean them to keep our breath fresh” She flashed her white and perfect teeth to him.

“That is so cute” J chuckled wholeheartedly “However I must ask you, all of this was for me?” Pinkie nodded with a smile, taking a muffin for herself “Where are the others? You always have everypony ogling such sweet things”

It was night imperceptible, almost as soft as if a sponge fell to the ground, however J was much more used to be alert like if death itself was stalking him during his dreams, that is the only reason that made him notice and turn.

‘Congratulations, you fucked it up in record time’ The voice spoke with a loud laugher ‘Not even I could have made a bigger mess. I am amazed! You only took two, and a few lines from the third if you allow me to say so, so you are a champion my friend’ J didn’t even understand what the voice was saying, simply because the important bit of information that he did understand and was true was also his main problem.

He had fucked it up, royally.

Pinkie’s pupils had turned into tiny dots, her mane had flattened out and her tail had fallowed its example. There were vestigial tears in her eyes, but they ran dry so quickly it wasn’t natural, as if they had been absorbed back from lack of feelings to simply let them out. Not that it was the weirdest thing however, as soon those ripples of dark energy emerged again, expanding in a black flash that blinded him for a few seconds.

Once he opened his eyes again he saw that he was still sitting in the table, yet this time the table was a pure mess: Rusted, with remaining food in a putrid state, maggots, flies and what seemed to be some kind of bones that had been left behind until they lost their original coloration. All the sweets were gone too, replaced by eyeballs in the case of muffins, still beating hearts in the case of cupcakes, ribcages full of the organs they once held instead of the pies and, god, the cake…

Made out of bones was the cover, with meat and blood as the icing and organs as the sweet insides of what had been a sugar coated white cake filled to the brim with chocolate and cream. J could even see that the little sugar apple on top had changed to be a little eye that was watching him. That thing even blinked once with what seemed to be a transparent eyelid before it jumped out with what would be the optic nerve being used as a makeshift feet.

“Nobody comes here anymore, they never do” Pinkie called with the saddest voice he had ever heard. However Pinkie was not there anymore.

Looking around J found himself entranced as he stared at walls of metal covered in rust, at least those he could stand to look at, the others were made out of skin and covered in blood. It didn’t look like pony skin, but it was no more disheartening or any less sickening as he looked upon the crudely tanned hide, only to see, from time to time, an eye looking at him or a smiling toothy mouth.

The seer disgust simply made him look all over, admiring, and fearing, this gory nightmare.

“I am always alone here… with nobody to talk with me” Pinkie’s voice sounded as if she was about to cry “When I saw you, like when I saw my friends the first time they came here, I was glad” Her tone took back some of its cheery tone for a second “But I knew it wouldn’t last”

When he looked towards the entrance from where he came he saw her: Pinkamena Diane Pie. In his world, with what the people had created as ‘fanon’, the real name of Pinkie had been labeled as an alter ego: An excruciatingly sadistic, murderous and dangerous creature, a cannibal pony. He had never read the story, he didn’t like gore or drama, but it did seem that if he had, then this would probably worry him the same, if not more.

Pinkamena sat there, a sad smile on her lips as she looked at him with those dead, beady eyes she had now “I… thought you would stay…”

“I never said I wanted to go away” J tried to salvage the situation, but then he felt something.

Touching his chin he took away a b it of meat. Rubbing his hand against his mouth he could see blood. When he burped again he could feel the coopery taste and even inside his belly he could feel the meat, twitching and moving, as if it was still alive.

He threw up; one of the things he most hated about his biology and it was the only thing he wanted to do right now.

‘Not helping your case’ The voice, as a chorus, chastised him.

‘Shut up, I want to die’ J growled within his mind, his belly emptied of… whatever he had consumed before.

Hearing a sniffle was all it took for J to stop himself trying to puke his own guts out. It was not that the taste was horrid; it was that something inside of him wanted him to throw up the meat, to take it out of his organism. However the sound of Pinkie’s sadness brought him back to her as Pinkamena lied before the door, crying on the floor.

A cry that soon turned to laughter.

“Oh my gosh! You should have seen your face” She said, standing on her forelegs as she made a face herself, mocking his pain “Do you know what you did?” Pinkamena asked with a wicked smile “You turned me into a happy idiot for a second there” The smile faded as she growled, practically spitting like a cat as she hissed the words out “You made me think this hell is a happy place! That there are some out there that care for me! Do you think how hard is to wake every morning to see everypony out there, looking just at the sweets and thinking I am a stupid mare that just does what she do to be… random?”

She stomped with one hoof, crushing one of the metal tiles so hard that a two by two square of them bent over like if a demolition ball had bashed them at full strength.

“Do you know why I didn’t slit your throat when you got here?” Pinkamena gave him a glare that could melt steel if she wanted to “Because I DID thought you would be my friend. I may not be a princess, but I was born different, I was born in a way I can see ‘things’” She let it hanging, not bothering to explain anything “That is the reason as to how I know what is going to happen every day or how I know some things… Do you know what happens when I don’t know? Do you know what happens when this… this sense doesn’t work?”

Out of nowhere a few things materialized: The imaginary friends that Pinkie had when she tried to do ‘that one party’ when her friends had been getting her own surprise birthday party together. Mr. Turnip, Rocky, Sir Lint-a-lot and Madame LeFlour, all four of them with their own dark ripples that equaled, if not surpassed, those of Pinkamena. Whatever these things had been in the surface of Equestria, within Pinkie’s mind they were much more, and dangerous.

“I see things as they shouldn’t… I… I feel like the only friends I have don’t like me…” She sniffled “Everypony knows me, but only they are my friends, and Vinyl…” Suddenly her eyes turned bloodshot “That BITCH! She knows where my sister is! She won’t tell me just because that darn Celestia said not to! Why the FUCK does that whore thinks she is!?”

Pinkamena stomped again with full force, shaking the room and making J roll over the mess he had made. IF not sickening and grim, the scene was at least as dark as it could get… or not.

Mr. Turnip, a simple bucket full of turnips just a moment ago, turned into the first monster of the mind: A giant turnip opened in two from top to bottom, showing an enormous number of serrated teeth and tentacles within its fleshy insides as roots formed from the rest of the turnips in the basket, ‘sacrificing’ themselves to form a pair of hulking arms that doubled as locomotion means while the weird and separated body was joined by a muscle that originated from a huge eyeball that stood in the middle, as if floating between both parts of the body. The bucket had melted not long after, covering bottom of the ‘roots’ to make it a ‘clawed’ appendage from which a purple ichor was oozing nonstop.

Rocky turned next: The lower rock forming a six legged base , much like a spider of some kind, with the middle one forming a sphere with an eye on the middle and a couple of small finger like stones floating around it. At first the middle one seemed weird as hell, not dangerous like the rest but simply weird, until those ‘fingers’ sharpened the ‘nails’ making the little flying rock field death ground when they began to spun around at such a speed that was hard to simply see. When the top one changed though, it was not a head, what was formed was more or less it was a kind of a crown; the normal cartoony like crown that every king has in kid stories… though this one turned to look at J and gave a ‘smile’, bending its anatomy to show itself as it was the teeth of the monster.

“You know what it is to be nopony in reality?!” Pinkamena thundered, growling as the other two ‘imaginary’ friends grew within the dark ripples, ready to transform “To simply make ponies smile at your parties and then leave thinking THAT is all you are?! A FUCKING PARTY?!”

The third creature, Sir Lint-a-lot, transformed in more of a gaseous form than a consistent one. J was unable to understand how a little eyeball had formed from the lint, much less how the yellow gaseous material, semi solid for the looks of it, worked and how it had transformed, but the result was there: A big mass of a creature, a little eye floating with blood basically covering all but the black of the eye and a rancid smell coming from it like if the thing was putrid. The creature moved away just slightly and the gaseous body touched one of the skin covered walls, dissolving it.

“How the fuck do you think I could be sane and friendly when they all see me as a simple airhead? You know how hard it was to lose everything I had? To then put on a smile and throw a party the next day after I lost my family?! DO YOU THINK THIS IS FUNNY YOU PIECE OF SHIT?!”

As Pinkamena walked forward Madame LeFlour finally went along with her change. The sack that had the flour burst, though it soon formed the chest of a woman, skin, muscles, bones… all from a sack of flour that was not enough to form it completely, just bits of it here and there, with most of it being as much a parchment of meat with a bone and maybe some skin, not even the breast formed completely. The rest of the body, though, was a paste of white, dense liquid that ran all over the body as if it was partially solidified blood before it turned yellow, forming factions on the face, claws on the hands and the feet and a wicked smile on the mouth where serrated black teeth rested. The only human like of the bunch, probably for a reason that J couldn’t take away from his head.

However those thoughts simply banished as he felt a hoof push against his face, slamming it on the rusty floor.

“You came here, all worried, thinking of what was happening” Pinkamena said with a wide grin “Then you made me laugh, made me… HER” She spat with an angry scowl “But you know what? I am going to give you a chance, Jonathan, we are going to play”

“P-play?” He tried to ask, his mouth filled now with his own blood.

“Yes, play” Her predatory smirk lasted just enough for J to be entranced on her, not noticing the hoof going straight for his stomach.

The impact sent him away to the other side of the room, in fact the *KRUNCH* probably had been his back and a part of the wall, he was not sure. The thing is that as painful as it looked it was dulled, much like the tastes, but to a greater degree. He had been dismembered quite a few times in these nightmares, even killed, he was no hero and only if the nightmare had happened before or if it ‘wanted’ him to win he would… otherwise it was nasty. In real life however? In real life he had broken bones, cuts and more, so it all added up to him being quite insensible to pain.

And no, it was not a good thing.

“I will hide somewhere, you search for me” She said with a little dark giggle as J opened his eyes “My friends search for YOU, and if they catch you and you can’t escape” From somewhere in her mane Pinkamena drew a knife, looking at it with a professional eye “Then you lose”

Panting, J tried to get up, only to feel his leg get stuck against the wall, giving him such a REAL sensation of pain that he had to scream out in such a guttural and bloody way that anyone would think he had been bisected right there.

“Oh, and I forgot” A sweet but murderous chuckle broke from Pinkamena, forcing J to open his eyes again as he had closed them, wishing the pain away like the first time he had felt it “There is someone you should WOOOOOORRY about”

“Jonathan…”

If to this point you, or anyone else, had thought of J as an emotional wreck of some short, then you would probably be right. However if you thought of him as someone capable of showing no fear… well, his white face and cold sweat would probably make you rethink it, much more so as the feeling made him unable to even feel his other leg being pinned down. The reason?

Sarbo.

That the word doesn’t mean anything to you, that it doesn’t MEAN anything, doesn’t have anything to do with the fear. What had to do was the thing that owned the name, the thing that had been his little fear when he had been young, then his personal boogieman and, finally, his ‘reaper’.

“I am here… for you…”

AS empty as the void and as cold as the space should be, those were the aspects of Sarbo’s voice: Devoid of everything, full of death. At first, when he was young and still had his full innocence with him, probably even before he had reached his sixth birthday, J dreamed up with a pair of cute red eyes when he was engulfed in darkness. His first ‘nightmare’. Back then Sarbo only looked at him, trying to scare him, but it never came to happen.

He never saw it again, but he did, though, name ‘him’. When he recovered from the ‘event’ that made him lose all the innocence a child has, when he defeated his first nightmare, Sarbo returned. This time those ruby eyes had a big gapping mouth under them and Sarbo seemed able to take him with something that was hidden in the dark. Back then the creature, Sarbo, had to be huge, draconic like even, because J never had a chance and it was one of the reasons he became so numbed in dreams.

Now? Now he was like in his last years in Earth: Sarbo, the dark machine.

As to why he had decided to name his personal death like that, J didn’t know, but it did fit. Sarbo was, for a lack of a better word, a golem. Its head was a helmet, much like it would be for a crusader in Europe in the middle age, but with the lower pat, the mouth, shaped like if it was the mouth of a dragon. It should be close, pure plate reinforced and tight together; however the metal was creaked, forming a huge mouth that gapped with blood red light coming from inside and steam escaping from holes that seemed to have little tendrils of metal inside. And the eyes… those red lifeless but brilliant eyes… they looked vivid and warm, but behind them one would find a simple purpose and desire: Pain.

Its chest was empty; in fact what you could call a chest was simply a broken armor that showed the mix of metal and meat. The still live muscle and the non beating hearth probably where there to give the thing a scarier appearance as, if it was like any other nightmare it only was what J made of him: A machine. However it did serve to frustrate his attempts at cutting his metal body in two as the flesh made it almost impossible for him to break it apart as, somehow, it managed to regenerate back.

The arms and legs though, they were dual. Dual means, in this sense, that they were pretty much like human legs and human arms, but also that the creature could, with a screeching sound similar to snapping bone and tearing flesh, realign them, change them, SHAPE them to change legs to arms, feet for hands and so on. In this case the mechanical monster now had the two legs transformed into a form more like a dog with metal huge claws, one in each, going though the floor while his hands had what seemed to be a pair of meat grinders in each, both pairs crushing J’s legs against the ground.

“Don’t leave… a friend behind…” Sarbo gave a wicked smile before it simply… disappeared from view.

“Your friend got here when you did” Pinkamena said with a little smirk “He seems to want to play with you SO much that I invited him over” She got closer and used the knife on J’s already destroyed legs. The feeling wasn’t anything like when Sarbo did it though, something that seemed to upset her so the only thing she did was to take a little sheering in her hand and stab J in the chest, emptying it “Wake up and the game begins”

And with that the world went dark.

*** Undetermined time afterwards… ***

‘Being the main character sucks’ J groaned in his mind as he tried opening his eyes.

It was easy to open them, not so easy to look around and see that the room had now a blue like light that gave it an even eerier look as some kind of music seemed to envelop it. The nightmare, whatever it had turned out to be (For him or for Pinkie, he was not sure), was using psychological and physical means to make sure to try and harm him, or outright do it.

‘Get used to it, chump’ The voice from before came back, after all the shit, it came back ‘I know you are destined to, maybe, succeed. I know you are going to take away all this dark, after all, I told you that I want you to be the hero and achieve all these good deeds you want to do. The problem is: You are not the main character of this story, don’t lie to yourself, you are just here to clean the horse crap and then… who knows? Will you live or will you die?’ There was a dark chuckle within J’s mind ‘I want you to succeed, whatever happens afterwards I haven’t looked at for I don’t really care’

‘That is comforting’ J grunted as he tried to get up. It came as no surprise that, since he still was in the dream realm (Or nightmare) his legs were perfectly fine again. They did hurt a lot though ‘So I am a peon in this little endeavor’

‘A knight’ The voice said, matter of fact.

‘Whatever’

‘Listen up fool’ The voice grew in power ‘I am the nightmare of Insanity, I am Mneuthan, and I am here to make sure Pinkie Pie is her random and crazy self for all her life’

“WHA…!?’

‘I am NOT like the rest of my ilk. I do not hurt my hosts physically or mentally, I do, however, make their inner minds, their dream personas, mad’ It said with a grim tone ‘However I make sure that they never have the power to never surface and harm anypony. It is the way I feed, the way I continue existing’

Suddenly a red puff of smoke appeared in front of J and, from within the cloud, a creature appeared.

It was a simply floating stone face, much like a human maybe? J wasn’t sure as it changed shapes quite fast though the old dramatic masks used in theatrical representations were most prominent. The reason it was hard to tell is because the thing was exuding red fumes wherever it went, making it hard to see. At least it was fairly easy to perceive a tail made of twenty little tendrils of black color with little sparkles of light that are almost imperceptible except when they moved really fast, leaving small trails of light when the creature is in the darkness if the fumes don’t obscure them.

‘This is me, me, before they corrupted me’ The voice sang within his mind ‘Pretty nice right? Such a simple yet obscure body, so pretty and so hideous at the same time and for the same people’ It giggled ‘This is what you could say, the mind of Pinkie is: A random form, obscure and complex yet happy and simplistic in a way. Anypony could think of this form in their heads, it is horrid and dark in a way, but there are worse and most complex things’

‘What the fu…’

‘Do you think she is happy?’ It snapped at J ‘Do you think Pinkie has been happy lately? Since before you moved here something dark has been pulling at me, at her… I said I do not harm my host, I have had many unlike my ‘family’, but I have never harmed them, not when I had my own free will’ At that the voice turned dark and devoid of life ‘I know the others are coming, slowly but steady, they are getting close. At some point I will have to show you the monster that I am before you fight the monster that YOU are’ J tried to ask but the stone face in front of him aimed all of its tentacles against his face ‘Shut up and listen! I am supposed to embody insanity, but here I am, doing my best to retain the little bit of seriousness and of my sane mine to warn you: Do what you must, harm none doing it! Do you understand what I am saying?’

‘I-I do’ J gulped down, almost falling down on his ass as he was pressed against the metal wall.

‘Oh I doubt you do’ The face hovered against him as the tentacles retracted ‘Harming them physically would be hard, you wouldn’t do it even if you life depends on it. Harming their feelings however… that will happen’ The voice of Mneuthan was filled with distaste ‘I have little time, but I can guarantee you that, when this ends, some will hate you and you will be hard pressed to remain friends with everypony’

‘But I want to have them as friends! I want to do things right I… I don’t want to make the same mistakes I did when I was in Earth’ He mumbled, almost whispering, as he looked away.

‘Some things here will be easier, I can assure you, but some will look much, much harder’ Mneuthan floated away from him slowly ‘The feelings of ponykind are much stronger than those of humans. The humans of your world have lost much of their sensitivity thanks to the things you have done during your history and, as such, you do not have the problems ponykind have. Yes, they do recover soon from loss, but it is a defense mechanism to ensure they are happy as sadness can tempt them to be… dangerous to others, much like Pinkie’s dark side has’

‘Then what do I do? I do not want to harm any of them’ He couldn’t help himself. He was afraid to die now as he had what he wanted in Equestria, but at the same time he was afraid of harming his new friends… How to make sure none of those two things happened?

‘I know that you will beat the darkness in this world, I know it and have it stored in my mind. However I… I also have seen… have seen so many possible results… but never looked at them, never cared to spoil the surprise’ Mneuthan’s mask gave out a weird smile ‘Why, it would be so fun to see how awkward it will be when you tell Pinkie you like her’ The thing snickered ‘Or how weird I would be to tell Rarity you hate makeup but that you find her sexy? Even more! How would Twilight react if you told her it was the first kiss that you didn’t regret having? Awkward moment if I have seen one I bet, even more if she told you it was the same way for her’

*TWUNK! TWUNK!*

‘Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit…’

The ‘hands’ from what had been the mutated body of Mr. Turnip were protruding from the wall, each one barely an inch away from J’s arms. He had taken too long, he was supposed to be running and searching since he woke up. This conversation had taken too much time and it seemed that the ‘guest’ of honor had bored the pink mare.

‘Such huge amount of possibilities’ Mneuthan giggled as it rolled in the air, slowly disappearing ‘Telling Fluttershy how much you would love to cuddle her at night, asking Rainbow Dash out because you like her strong attitude, helping Apple Jack in the farm in hopes to simply stay with her for a while… Wouldn’t it all be great to do so many things? I am DYING to see how you will do all of it without harming them all at once. I wonder how this lovely mess in your head will play out in real life’ with a final chuckle Mneuthan faced him with a little smirk as it faded away.

Whatever had happened, Mneuthan had obviously lost whatever control it had left over what sane mind the nightmare of Madness could have. The problem was that if it was the Nightmare and that it had some control until now, then it meant…

*KRAK!*

“I am here for you” A croaking voice emanated from behind him, forcing him to turn and see that it did meant it.

The nightmare had resumed and the creature that would be Mr. Turnip was there, with its hands firmly on the fleshy ground behind the wall. It was like the nightmare ended right in the wall, but behind it there was a void with flesh expanding just a few inches away from the wall, tentacles making sure that the monster out there was not going to fall to the emptiness of the dark.

“The game is on… don’t disappoint my mistress” The creature growled as it cracked the wall with a roar, opening enough of it to step into the room.

‘Fallow the tracks…’ A sweet and gentle voice told him. It was female and sweet, but it was neither Celestia nor Luna.

‘Tracks? What tracks?’

J was seeing everything go in slow motion. The adrenaline had finally kicked in, in fact it was the first time he felt it in his dreams or nightmares like he had felt in real life. That… that was a problem, this was bad.

‘RUN YOU IDIOT! IF YOU DIE HERE YOU DIE FOR REAL!’

Never in his life had his mind simply screamed at him as it did then. The creature in front of him had just moved its semi organic appendage so fast that even in this ‘slow-mo’ it was being fast enough to guarantee that this time the wound he would get was going to be fatal.

As if on impulse he jumped backwards, stumbling to the ground and seeing bright reed hoof prints in the metal tiles that went straight to the now opened rusty door.

J heard his breath as he got up, his earth pumping blood so loudly that he could swear his eardrums were going to explode by the rhythmical sound beating at them without pause. From behind him he could hear the scratching of metal being bent and cut down thanks to the huge claws of the monster as it screamed something intelligible, distorted by J’s actual perception thanks to the natural cocktail that made his mind and body act faster than it should.

It took him a moment to notice that the creature was lumbering towards him, but, luckily, not fast enough. He had turned his face just enough to see the claw pass a single inch away from him, in fact that was a lie. Right across his eye a burning sensation came to rest when two deep gashes cut through his upper left side of his face in a diagonal direction. It didn’t hit the eye, but in turn did cut a small bit of his nose.

The pain felt real; in fact it felt so real that he thought, no, he was sure that those wounds would be there when he woke up. It was… it was simply something he felt inside.

‘If I don’t move I am really dead’ His eyes, for once after so long, were filled with tears of fear as he looked down to the eager ‘mouth’ that was practically the whole monster as it salivated ‘I need to move… MOVE!’

And move he did. As if all his strength was pushed right towards his legs J ran, ran for his life fallowing the hoof prints through the door, never looking back in fear of another attack as he watched the twisted corridors filled with blood, meat walls and even pure floor made out of something… alive. Whatever nested within Pinkie’s mind had twisted this part of her to such a degree it could hardly be called a mind anymore.

‘I need to run, I need to… to… god’

One, two, three corridors, uncountable doors and so many twists he could take. The music that was hammering at him had returned as the adrenalin stopped pumping in his bloodstream. Something was making him tired, nervous, afraid.

J took a hand to his wounds. They weren’t really all that deep, but they would leave a little scar. The problem was the pink ooze that they were exuding. It feel thick and it bubbled, as if it was caustic or venomous, though knowing that it came from an aberration it was probably the most plausible thing.

‘I-I am going to die’ He thought, his insides churning again as he felt the need to puke as strongly as when he felt the meat within his system ‘Oh god… when I finally do care for… for what is happening… when I finally enjoy living… why?’

‘Fallow the hoof prints, don’t falter’ The same sweet voice spoke again, forcing him to take step after step again.

J was unsure of what was happening to his body. He looked back and forth, to the sides as well as up and down. Everything was spinning and he saw things… so… so horrible things. Yet he kept on going as he heard voices and saw the scenes unfold.

He remembered that game he played on Newgrounds first, that is how it began. The music, the music crept to his ears and he knew he was hallucinating, but he saw… he saw THEM.

It all started moving when one of those rusty doors opened inwards, crumbling as the cadaveric figure stepped forward. He couldn’t be sure, much less as the world was spinning around him and the colors changed whenever they pleased, but J could swear there was a bit on green in… her?

“Someone new… a visitor?” The voice was vacuous and it reverberated like a gurgling from someone that was drowning while trying to talk “No… not a visitor… We are not at home… We are… somewhere else, again”

The creature turned around to look, showing its blackened form, red eyes and its jagged skull as well as putrid and rotting flesh. Most bones had turned black and while they looked fragile something made J understand that even if he had the courage to put his sword to use (and the right mind to score a blow) the thing would not feel it. It had remnants of hair in both had and tail, but them too were black except for hints of green that somehow where really present.

“We are here again… who brings us here? Why am I the only one that notices what goes on around this place?” The tone was not frustrated, nor was it angry. The thing was just questioning it as she shook her head.

As she looked back and forth the creature finally sighed, looking at J with pity before she shook as if it was an uncontrollable emotion that was rushing through its decrepit body.

To J this was going beyond surreal. If this thing was the one he had seen in that game, if they were REAL too and not something made up in Pinkie’s mind, then they, well, her, would try to get him. However the ‘zombie’ was there, shaking as he tried his best to stay on his feet.

‘Move. She will not be like that for long, you are in danger’

However J did not move, whatever was in him was making his thoughts clouded by the second. Instead he looked around, seeing that he was against one of those rusty doors. It was like most cell doors with a little space to see from. Inside the room, the ‘cell’ there was somepony, or at least what looked like somepony.

It all took was a blink but then the pony was right there in front of him.

It, she, was Octavia. Well, at least she looked like Octavia. Her face was… sucked, as if she had not so much meat in her. Her hair was white and seemingly falling out constantly. The eyes were half dry and the pupils small and discolored. Yet the creepiness of the scene came from the smile.

The joyous smile she bore in her face, one that was plastered there as she decayed.

Whatever it was, it happened so fast that J could hardly explain it. First her skin peeled off, showing the muscles behind until they… burned out, turned black and then showed even the dark bone as a red glow overtook the form of Octavia as her hair darkened and died with her skull soon showing jagged teeth and a mischievous smile.

“Stay with us, we want friends here…” She said with a voice J had never heard.

Then she struck.

A broken hoof shot forward, hitting J under the nose as he tried to move away a second too late. He felt his skull resent the impact, yet the painful sensation came from the burning feeling he had in his lips. J couldn’t help it as he touched, only to see his skin slowly, extremely slowly but oh so steady, dying as putrefaction grew over.

“W-what?”

“One of us… a friend” The voice from the first ‘zombie’ caught his attention as he turned to see her, the red glow in her eyes and all over her had taken over “All we want is friendship. Stay with us…”

“A friend…” Another voice called from his side.

“Someone who won’t spoil the party…”

“That is normal… that is not corrupted…”

“He lacks the marks…”

All around him there were zombies. Creatures of disjointed bones, decayed meat and bright red eyes looking at him with the longing for something they could not comprehend anymore. All of them different yet horrid, all of them with madness in their looks, as if something else had been there before and it still was, yet there was no way for it to surface and take over.

“But he can get them… if we don’t protect him he will be cursed…”

“Come with us, we’ll protect you… forever…”

‘Run! Run or die! They won’t stop now!’ The voice in his head had lost the gentle tone, scared for the life she had tried to protect.

With the world still spinning around him J got up, finally growing in courage or in fear just enough to push his body against the metal wall and simply dig his fingers against the next fleshy section, forcing his body with all his might so as to jump over the monstrous abominations that were closing on him.

The adrenaline quickly pumped back inside of him, but this time something had changed. His hearth had stopped, there was no beat and his lungs didn’t accept the air he tried to give them. As J looked towards the bright hoof prints he could do little but see as the darkness of the decaying disease spread over his fingers to reach his hand, and then stop. The left side of his face had stopped oozing the venom as the curse had spread out, covering it and turning half his vision into a red zone where dark treads of something lingered as he saw things very differently from a moment ago.

Yet he ran.

He was not going to let this nightmare have him, not without a fight at least. As he turned the next corridor he threw a glance to the creatures going after him. All of the zombie ponies were fallowing him, maybe no more than six or seven, but all of them snarling the same words over and over, viciously trying to get at him in such a way that they tore away with the corridor, bringing the blackness of the nightmare with them.

Right and left the darkness expanded, slowly creeping its way under J’s legs as he ran, feeling the burn all over his body even when he knew that the corruption had stopped consuming his face after practically disfiguring him. It was strenuous and his heart, even now that he thought it stopped, seemed about to explode by the fear that raced down his mind.

‘I am going to die for fuck’s sake!’ He cried within his mind, the stench of the monsters behind him intoxicating his lungs with each step he made, each new one feeling harder to achieve, his body numbing slowly.

‘Just a little more!’ The voice pledged ‘You are close! Come in!’

A sudden turn of the hoof prints made him crash against one of the fleshy walls for just a second, though a second was all they did need.

‘Madam LaFleur’s’ body busted the wall as if the creature had been expecting him to bump there all along. With its slick hands the feminine form drew him in into a sickening kiss in which she tried to bite away part of his face, yet was stopped by one of the charging zombie ponies as it collided against its form. The luck, though, didn’t even gave J a chance to breathe in as he felt to the ground because the creature that once had been Sir Lint-a-lot appeared from within one of the nearby cells, corrupting all around its form, much like the flesh of J, as soon as it appeared.

‘NO NO NO NO! STOP!’

He scurried away, the curse flooding through his veins as his vision finally turned red and his raged bread finally stopped. The burning was getting most his arm and all of his head, yet he still managed to move, to run, ignoring the sensation that his decaying body was giving him as he saw a door opening at the end of the corridor. A single little spark of light waited for him within the room and, even if it was another dreadful end that awaited him the hope for it to end in him surviving was overwhelming his broken body.

The last creature finally appeared. Smashing its way through the floor with the crown of stone ‘Rocky’ showed its innumerable clawed fingers and the rock/eye that seemed to be the control of gravity of such madness. Every single digit and part in the creature was dripping blood from whatever was underground, and while the monster seemed to be stuck it didn’t make any difference as the rocky fingers just flew towards J with murderous intent.

His flesh was punctured, his veins were cut, he even felt something go through his chest from the front and through the back, but the pain was no worse than the fear, in fact the sounds coming from behind made him ignore the former to such an extent that when Rocky was close enough to bite him, tearing away his good arm, J didn’t feel a thing as he jumped over the monster.

What caught his undying attention, what made him continue, was the door, the door he was growing so close to reach.

However this was a nightmare, one where he had lost control and that was not even his to begin with. Getting to a safe haven was not going to come so easy even if he was already dead.

“Where are you going?”

A feminine gurgling voice took him over just as he grabbed the frame of the metal door, as his already broken shoulder, lacking the arm, was grabbed violently by a pasty claw. LaFleur was faster than she looked.

“We haven’t finished playing” She hissed in his ear as he yanked him backwards.

“LET GO! LET GO OF ME YOU BITCH!”

The other creatures were closing in so fast that J’s struggling with only one arm served for nothing more than to bother the vaguely female figure as it inched closer, producing a worm like tongue to lick at his neck as her teeth got ready to bite down.

“Relax… enjoy your stay here…”

“Get out of here you monster!”

LaFleur had almost sunk her teeth inside J’s neck, yet she hadn’t yet done so simply by the surprise that was seeing a young filly of grey fur and two tones of yellow in her mane and also yellow as her whole eye color. She seemed tiny and fearful, but also determined as she turned to show her magnifying glass cutie mark. At first the empty eye sockets in her head shrieked in disbelief, then banished, alongside her whole face, as the little filly flashed a powerful light.

The monster was vanished, but whatever had been pushing J forward had evaporated as the flash turned the darkness into light for a second.

J felt the burn all over his upper body. He could swear that, by now, his skin and most his flesh had liquefied to a black substance that ran down the remnants of his body as his red eyes scanned what was left of him in a drunken daze of pain, his body’s last attempts to maintain him alive and the insane amount of adrenaline that was left in the few still functioning sections of his body.

He managed to take a few steps forward, hearing the monsters behind him as he looked at his hands; they were decayed and consumed, sporting black claws of what once had been bone with also some muscle of skin, or what was left of it in their actual state, connecting them together, making them work by either magic or some other dark means.

“Close the door or they will get you!” The young filly yelled.

By now his mind was all but right, however he didn’t need to do anything as a simple glance towards the door was all it took for the thing to close by itself just as a hoof shoot straight for his face. The slam and the crunching sound were sickening as the yells and cries from the monsters on the other side banged at the door, trying to bring it down by any means necessary.

J, however, could hardly notice it as he came crashing down on the metal floor.

The little he could feel now was all sickness. His vision was changing all the time as it went from his normal one to a redder and obscured one with little tendrils of blackness creeping over the surface of his eyes. He, his dream persona at least, was dead. J was not sure if this meant he had failed or if this meant he was really going to die. Right now he could think of anything coherently by the fear of whatever he was going to turn and who he could harm.

He coughed, probably by reflex, he wasn’t even sure he had lungs anymore and what escaped his mouth were a gurgling sound and a putrid stench as he began to cry.

“Why?... WHY?! WHY AFTER I AM HAPPY SOMEWHERE?! WHY THE FUCK!!!!!!!”

“Relax” The filly said with a smile as she crept closer, seemingly not afraid of the mutilated and decayed human “I can help you”

Again a shooting light washed all over, illuminating all around just for a moment, however it felt warm this time. When J opened his eyes again he was whole; his arm, his skin, his feeling and his mind. All was back where it should and the young filly was smiling.

“Hello, I am Ruby” She offered a cheery smile as J finally noticed that her eyes weren’t yellow, but that they were filled with light “And you meet my… the ones I thought were my friends”

“Is… nice to meet you Ruby” J was too shocked as he felt himself all over with his own hands. Whatever pain or wounds he had sustained were gone; all but the new scratch in his face “But… why are here zombie ponies? Why are you here?”

“I… don’t know” The little filly said with a little whine. In fact she was almost the size of an adult, probably she would be if she had lived a few years more, but if indeed this was like that game and it was real and not a dream… Ruby was as alive as J had been a moment ago “Something drags us here sometimes. Lately it has happened a few times and I am more scared than ever”

“That is because you should” The form of Pinkamena appeared out of nowhere besides both of them “You were supposed to be enjoying the show! I was having so much fun and you spoiled it! Now I know why Grayhoof did what he did. You are a party pooper”

Ruby’s eyes watered as she heard those words, something that made Pinkamena giggle.

“A monster for them and a party popper for me” She growled between gritted teeth “Get out of my sight!”

With a wave of her hoof Pinkamena vanished the ghost of Ruby from her nightmare as if it was nothing.

“Always so easy to banish ghosties with a little laugh” The mare said with a little smile before looking at J with murderous intent “However a cheater is much harder to take care of”

“Cheater? B-but I did nothing” J backed away from the mare “I just ran!”

“You stopped the timer! I don’t know what you did but you woke up and you stared towards NOTHING for ten minutes! None of my friends could move, why is that? What did you do?” She growled as she got closer, drawing her knife out “I do not eat meat like those crazy stories tell, but I do have a thing when it comes to see how much anypony can last with me” Her smile was predatory; her eyes filled with madness “Now tell me, what did you do?”

Tonight’s fear had simply ruled J’s mind. He had never thought of himself as a real hero, but more as a soldier. Hardly had he ever been afraid but inside of his own dreams, much like here. However this night had almost made him soak his own pants and the look that yearned bloodshed in Pinkamena’s eyes gave away all the little courage that the young Ruby had brought to him.

“I told you to watch out for him, yet you only watched out for yourself” Pinkamena stopped as she said that, rubbing the knife with a hoof “However if you don’t talk, I am sure he will be more than glad once you are done for”

A metallic sound brought J to attention, but all too late. From the shadows a pair of clawed metallic hands gripped at his arms while mechanical legs crushed his own as they enveloped flesh and bone as if blades of liquid metal were trying to fuse with him.

“Together…” The monster whispered in his ear as he lined his metallic/organic chest against his back.

“NO! DON’T DO IT!”

Immediately he felt the oh so familiar pain against his skin as Sarbo began to tear him apart with his metallic body as it spread through his skin, forcing them to join together. This was the time when he always woke up, when he always felt the most excruciating pain in existence: When his own being, his own soul, was being ripped apart by his own reaper.

The scream of anguish that fallowed only made Pinkamena giggle like a maniac as the two bodies slowly joined as one.

“Wake up! Wake up please!”

J opened his eyes, gasping with his body on fire as he saw the darkness of his room. Somehow he had woken up as someone shook him violently, practically yelling in his ear. He would have loved to thank whoever had woke him up, but with the pain and the feelings that he had within he could only do one thing to thank that pony.

Push it away and puke his guts out as he pushed half his body out of the bed.

“By Celestia! What has happened to you?!”

Between raged breaths J finally gave a look towards whoever came to try and wake him up. In fact there were not one, but two ponies: Twilight and Octavia were there. The look in Octavia was of disgust, horror and fear. The one in Twilight turned the disgust away to replace it with concern as she held J’s clothes with her magic, cleaning red stains all over them with what she could spare and making J realize the mess that had been on his bed before he woke up.

“Octavia heard yells coming from your room and found you BLEEDING all over” Twilight said in a desperate tone “When she finally woke me up your door was CLOSED SHUT. I had to use all my magic to break in and then you… you weren’t bleeding all over but dear Celestia…”

Twilight couldn’t continue talking, but J did felt something particularly weird in his back, asides the pain. He was afraid to touch, but his curiosity as to what had happened, what had carried over (If anything) from the nightmare to this world. What was happening to him to worry Twilight so much? That was what he wanted to know.

First, and out of instinct, though, he touched his face. The wounds over his eye and across his nose were there, healed but rough to the touch, as if they had turned his skin into something stronger. He didn’t know how to feel about that, but the fact that, for some reason, they felt like the corruption when it was spreading over his body did not make them look any more tantalizing than they were in that nightmare.

Then he felt what was on his back. His other hand had touched it and it seemed to be a circular wound that left some of his skin much like the wounds on his face, however it didn’t burn as he touched it, it didn’t give away such pain. The thing is that it did felt weird, as if a shooting tranquility got him as he rubbed at it, yet it was worry some as the more he touched the more wounds like that first one he found. In total there were eight, separated by a few inches but all of them on his back.

“W-what the hell happened to me?” The fear from before came back to haunt J “Oh fuck… oh fuck… I need a drink. I want to forget this”

“What happened Jonathan? Why are you… why were you?”

“I… I need a shower first… I need to relax, to get a cold head” He rambled as he tried to get up clumsily “And then… and then I want to get drunk”

As if he was a zombie J got up and walked away, his body now awash with new wounds that seemed to heal fast and not leave a mark except for the eight spheres like wounds on his back and the cuts on his face.

Twilight could only look as he walked upstairs, practically nude and leaving a slight trail of blood as each time she or Octavia called for him the human did not even simply turn his head towards them. It was as if his mind was elsewhere or that he was simply numb towards the world. In the end they simply waited in an awkward silence outside Twilight’s bathroom until J finished his shower.

Twilight was glad that J had recovered a bit of his cheery character after the shower. She had done the same after hours of talking with the mayor, not an easy feat mind you; however he did seem distant as he got dressed in front of the watchful eyes of both her and Octavia. Why Octavia wanted to be there and offer any kind of support to the man that literally got her at sword point was a wonder to Twilight, but she had seen maybe worse things being forgiven in her lifetime.

Or maybe it was the story he had been telling them.

It was still nighttime, probably not later than three in the morning, but it was late. Luckily the girls were still sleeping, probably still so tired from yesterday that the commotion had not been enough to wake them up. All the better because as Twilight pestered him with question he did stick with what he said ‘I can either tell them the truth or nothing at all’, because he was not going to lie.

Celestia, she wished it was a lie.

How he described the nightmare, how he told her about the job Celestia had asked him for, how Octavia went wide eyed as she heard of what her sister had in her mind and how torn she had been since the day that their missing sister went away… as well as how she felt deep inside about Vinyl Scratch’s secret.

The monsters, the fear, the situations, it all was depicted with such realism in his words as he kept on dressing very clumsily and slow that Twilight could swear he was still feeling the pain as he muttered a curse when his body was touched until it became accustomed. The part about the zombie ponies and the ghost filly caught her attention, but Twilight was going to say nothing, she had promised Apple Bloom and Zecora.

But how Pinkie acted, how such a good dream he had turned it to be when he accidentally bumped against the door’s frame at first and… how it twisted itself like if Pinkie had lost her mind? That had been horrid. She was sure that J was hiding something from her, but after what she heard she did not press matters much. The whole experience seemed to turn J into another person; someone afraid of being alone and so afraid to die that he was trembling at the slight provocation.

He had been as direct with her as he said that, a lot of times during his life, he had wanted to die. Even when he came here he had wanted to. When he became depressed he was a danger to himself because of so much shit in his life that he sometimes thought everyone would be better without him, in fact this nightmare seemed to make him think that was exactly what should happen at some point: He would serve his purpose and then disappear.

That had earned him a good ‘slap’, as he had called it, when she lost her temper and hit him in the face. There had been some yelling and he had been ashamed, but Twilight thought she needed to get it out of her system as the frustration since yesterday had been way too much for her and, besides, he needed to come back to the real world. She could not talk for her friends, but Twilight knew that if J went away she would be sad again; probably if it wasn’t for him she would be dead or worse now.

There was only one thing that didn’t change during this whole talk: He wanted to get drunk. He admitted that he hated alcohol (for some reason Octavia flustered as he said that, though Twilight didn’t pay it any heed), and that he suffered horrible hangovers when he took it, but he was afraid of going to sleep and in his actual state he would be so broken by the morning that the hangover would be preferable if he could sleep a bit.

“I know of a bar” Octavia finally spoke after the whole night being silent except when she went to wake up Twilight “Each time I had to be in the village I ended up there after I crossed Pinka… Pinkie every time” She hesitated on saying Pinkie’s real name after hearing J’s tale “If you are hell-bent on drinking yourself to an stupor there is no better place”

“Would be appreciated, thanks” J mumbled as he finally got his clothes in place “I don’t want to remember this as clearly when the morning comes” He growled “I am sorry for my stupidity and… making you clean my blood and the puke Twilight” He bowed slightly, mostly so she couldn’t see the regret and shame on his face “And Octavia” He turned to face her “Thanks for waking up Twilight, otherwise…” He ran his hand across the wounds in his face and touched his back “Just… just thanks, I owe you a lot”

Octavia gave a bit of a shy smile “Don’t mention it” Then got up and walked outside “The bar closes at four in the morning, so we have only an hour if you do want to go there”

J simply nodded, even if Octavia couldn’t see it. He did, however, get closer to Twilight to, then, knell down and give her a big hug.

“Thank you Twilight… you saved my ass as much as Octavia”

Twilight wasn’t sure what to say to say the truth. She felt happy for her friend being ok, well, as ok as he could be really. However it was the sensation that gave her, the feeling of his tears as they splashed against her fur. He was crying and trembling as he held her down gently yet so hard.

“I thought I was going to die… I dint, I didn’t for once want that to happen” He tripped over his own words as he talked, his whole body shaking “I was scared, I felt everything: The pain, the death, my body going numb as it happened… I-I just want it to go”

“I promise it will be all right” Twilight tried to smile, but her nervousness and the feeling of dread coming from him didn’t let her do more than simply return the hug.

“How long?” He asked, his voice shaking “When those things come I will have to do this with every one of you every-one” His voice crumbled, some more tears escaped “I will have to see what you girls would turn out to be if I FAIL. How could anyone want to harm you?” J was whimpering. He looked all but like he had been until now “What if I fuck it and I fail? What then? I will leave you all down and… god knows how… I can’t even go to sleep now for god’s sake! I can’t even face the damn dark alone! I… I just want to be drunk and forget this night ever happened” He pushed away slowly, not daring to look at twilight “I… I am a coward”

“No, no you aren’t” Twilight closed in and lifted his downed head with a gentle smirk “You did your best, you fled in that nightmare because anyone with half a mind would have done so. You didn’t know what to do, so you did the best you could even if you were scared. You went in, you got something from it (even if we aren’t sure what it is) and you survived your first meeting with the nightmares in their own world” Twilight cleaned his tears with a bit of her magic “I promise you Jonathan: You will not let us down”

J wiped away the leftover tears and nodded, smiling a bit, yet the dread of the night would hardly go away “Thanks Twilight, I shouldn’t be like this after what happened yesterday. I should be helping you recover your usual self”

Against her best judgment Twilight gave him a kiss. He was surprised as their lips meet again and Twilight felt a mix of regret and joy as she did so. When he mentioned that the events she could deny no longer that she still felt like crap, yet she didn’t want to bring it up now as he too was pained… but it was also that Twilight knew she felt strongly towards Jonathan. He had risked it all to save her and seeing him in this state brought fear to her mind, fear of losing the man as he had been before, of seeing him depressed and, probably, of seeing him as a danger.

It made him think of the easier exit available, and the only she knew was to give him a kiss. Yes it sounded cheesy and as corny as her books would get, but it felt good. This time he didn’t get her closer and she didn’t press, but the kiss did visibly relax him and, Twilight had to admit, it did help ease her mind too. It simply felt… good. It was a kiss to someone she knew that did care for her enough to risk his life for her.

However she did push away, gently, after a few seconds. She had wanted it as a way to escape from the direction the conversation was going in, not to… well… Twilight hadn’t done this kind of things with such a selfish purpose in all her life and she felt bad for it, but it at least did seem that it did more good than bad.

‘Don’t lie to yourself’ Her mind told her with a scolding tone.

“Uh…” At least J was surprised and he seemed to smile for a moment. That, at least, did make Twilight think this hadn’t been such a bad thing “Twilight… I…”

“Don’t say anything” She gave a shy smile as she blushed “But listen to me: You need to calm down. I… I am not as good as I should be; I know these things cannot be helped but… I still feel bad. However I want you how you were yesterday, how happy and courageous you seemed to be. If you do think this is the best course of actions then, please, do it but do it without any regret and without a single tear spilled there. Everypony need to see a confident and powerful creature that will serve as Ponyville’s protector, ok?” Twilight chuckled, but blushed deeper as J gave her a kiss on the cheek.

“Thanks Twilight” He whispered before getting up and walking out towards Octavia.

Twilight, once he left, blushed brightly as she rubbed the cheek that he had kissed.

‘You are an idiot’ Her mind told her as she began to giggle.

J got out and saw Octavia giving him a secretive smile while sparing a glance towards where Twilight was inside the house. He blushed but said nothing, instead Octavia just got up and trotted away slowly with him fallowing close. Neither of them said much, well, in fact nothing at all, they only spared a fast glance at each other from time to time as they walked through the deserted town until they reached a different building from the rest, a bar with a sign that read.

‘Berry’s Liquors’

The outlook was that of a normal house, yet there had been add-ons such as a little room on the side that was obviously handmade as well as a second floor and a flat room. There was also a trapdoor on the side of the house; probably it went to a cellar. For a small village this little place looked more than ready.

“If I say my liver is going to resent this but that I don’t care, how would anyone react?” He asked to no one in particular.

“Like most people that know Berry Punch, so by drinking and not tasting” Octavia let out a little giggle “I would advise you to make sure you are ready though, if you still want to drink yourself stupid”

“I am, I am sure I do want to” J sighed “Just… I forgot to pick any money” Because five thousand bits in a card was not going to cut it.

“Berry knows me, I will ask her to put it on my tab” Octavia blushed maybe a bit too much “I am considered a regular here”

“I see…” J simply nodded at that “Seems not only I think this is a good idea, eh?”

Octavia looked down as she neared the door “It is an easy way to get the sorrow away”

J had to give her that, a good drink washed away all, but it did give you regrets anyway, and doubts. Octavia opened the door, let the calm music and the shooting lights wash over him and got in. He went after her shortly after.

Inside the building the lights were dim and there was quiet, but quite loud, music playing while mares, and some stallions, drank away the night. There were some that he knew from the series, the so called ‘background ponies’, as well as some he didn’t, however mostly there were only mares and only so few colts.

And every eye was on him.

As if he had not been weirded and scared enough for tonight. He simply paid them no heed as he walked towards the bar where a dizzy Berry Punch awaited with a bit of a silly smile.

“Whut iz et gona be? *Hic*” She asked with a bit of a giggle as Octavia gave her an inquisitive look at which Berry blushed.

“I thought you told me you were going to cut it down at night” The grey mare stared at the poor Berry.

“Eh… I… Hehe…” Berry took a bottle from somewhere under the bar and gulped down whatever was inside. She made the most pained face J had ever seen “Oh Celestia… That tastes like cra… OH MY GOD WHATE ARE YOU?!”

J grimaced as he felt the stares of every single pony dawning on him once more.

“I am a human and eeeh…”

“He is going to be Celestia’s designed guardian here” Octavia cut him out with a little smile “I delivered him the letter that assigned him as the ‘Knight’ for the village since there had been quite a few creatures sighted on the forest and the princess thinks it is right to have another powerful ally in town”

“Yea, that” J grimaced at the lie, though technically it wasn’t a lie “But I have had a bad night and Octavia said this bar was good. Do you have something strong AND sweet?”

“For someone so big?” Berry looked him up and down “I have something, wait here” She took off as fast as light, leaving the bar. Everyone was speechless for a moment, then shrugged and went back to talking.

It seemed everypony had relaxed and had turned back to their talking. J couldn’t help but smile a bit at that, at least the ponies weren’t giving him cold stares or were disgusted at him, probably thanks to the diversity of creatures that roam this land. That made things easier and, in fact; he could relax now, comfortable in such a crowd as there was surely no bad thing that could befall him in such a crowded place.

Octavia gave him a concerned look but he waved it off with a little smile. She nodded and gave him a chair that, while designed for a pony (So quite small for him), proved to be quite comfortable as he sat down. Until Berry returned all he had to do was to either eavesdrop on whatever conversation picked his interest (There were way too many girls gossiping) or talk with Octavia.

The latter, though, would not be possible. Just as he turned Octavia had picked up a conversation with some pony he didn’t recognize, of course he didn’t even take much notice of the colt but since there were few in the town he was sure to get his name (And his looks, if he had appeared in the series) in the morning. What did perk his attention though, did come from a pair of mares talking.

“But Goldy! You can’t go! What will I do with you on Manehattan?” He heard a very rich voice with a regal touch to it and he turned.

There were two mares talking heatedly besides him, in fact it seemed like they hadn’t even noticed him more than was necessary, not even cared to be exact.

One of them was a grey mare with pure white hair in both her mane and tail. She was perfectly well groomed by the looks of it and had the looks of someone that hadn’t had to lift a fing… a hoof in her whole life. Her eyes were a bright shade of purple and over her body she had a fine dress with silver buttons and other extras that didn’t serve much more purpose than to make it look fancy. One could say she had practically a silver dress made fit for a gala. It didn’t, however, hide a silver looking mark, much like a spoon, that was engraved on her flank.

The other was of a dull pink color with velvet mane and tail. Her appearance was regal, her sapphire eyes cold and her dress, sparkling as if it was made out of gold, gave away how much the pony was concerned with her appearance. On her head she had a little garment, much like a crown, that was made out of platinum and adorned with many different gems finely crafted in such a way that they looked like a perfect part of the construction. She didn’t reveal her mark but probably it had to do with the ‘name’ of Goldie.

“Do not call me ‘Goldie’, Silverlight, we are amongst peasants, call me Royally Golden my dear” ‘Goldie’ called with a bit of disgust “If it wasn’t this where the carriage is going to be in an hour I would’ve never set hoof here. I do not understand how you can come here with your mate once a week, though I must compliment that drunkard that is Berry Punch; she can make a decent drink, magnificent if I can be so frank”

Silverlight sighed “Whatever you say Royal” The mare simply looked away “But what will I do without you here? You are one of my few friends and everyone is going to take vacations once summer starts. I have to remain here and Silver Spoon is going to be alone if you don’t let Diamond Tiara with me. You know my servants will treat her as well as yours”

“Nonsense” Goldie cut her “Your servants are of high quality but my daughter goes nowhere without my supervision. I know that you don’t want your daughter hurt and neither do I for she is a fine young lady” The mare turned almost tender there for a moment “But these business have to be taken care of and Diamond Tiara needs to learn the trade, she is way too self centered to care for more than tease the peasants, as much as they deserve it. I will be back in a month at most, I am sure if this does not please you my friend, but me, my mate and my daughter will go to Manehattan”

Just then the door opened and a huge black colored pony with a servant’s suit came in.

“My lady, the carriage is here” He said in a deep and rough voice.

“Thank you Coltinant, I will be on my way in no time” The colt nodded and stepped out. At least now all eyes were fixed on Goldie “Then my friend… see you soon”

Goldie gave Silverlight a quick kiss and walked off. J didn’t know what struck him as weirder: How easy everyone took that two married mares with children shared a kiss in front of them or the sigh of relief from everyone as she was out of sight, because the conversations were more livery and now people even laughed.

The only negative thing was that Silverlight slunk down against the bar with a sad look.

“Damn prissy idiot” She sighed, taking a glass filled with a bright pink substance and downing it fast “Will never learn”

“Are you ok miss?” J’s question caught her out of guard and she practically fell to the ground as she looked at the human “Sorry to bother you, but you did seem quite troubled after your friend walked away” How was he worrying about someone else after all he wanted was to drink himself stupid was beyond J’s comprehension right now. Well, he was a stupid and warmhearted fool after all…

“And what do you care for you… what were you?” Silverlight asked, only to receive that ‘human’ word as his answer. It was all the same for her as she didn’t know what it meant “Whatever, and yes, I am sad. What do you care for? It is my life and I am half drunk” She sighed, taking a look under the bar to pick a bottle with the same liquid as she had drank a moment ago “I think tonight I will buy a whole bottle”

“Well you seem troubled and I don’t like to see people so, I have already seen it more than enough these past days” J tried to whip the memories away as they came “And the thing that seems to bother you more than anything is that your daughter will be alone now that you friend is gone, right?” Silverlight gave him a look that screamed with warnings “Do not get me wrong here, I live under Twilight Sparkle’s rule, to call it something, in the local library. She is a well read mare and I think she needs her mind occupied these days. She is taking care of two young fillies that are going to be living with her for… a while” At that he stumbled but Silverlight didn’t seem to mind “They are going to need friends after coming here and maybe your daughter could help with that? If it works it is a win/win situation for both my friend, as she will see the fillies happy, and you, because your daughter would have somepony to play with”

Silverlight seemed to ponder for a bit before she simply took the bottle with her mouth and chugged down until it was depleted. She threw it away (With the typical *CRASH* and yell, though nopony seemed hurt as J looked back) and gave out a so inaudible and gentle belch that it either meant she was a pro or that she was so gentle mannered that even her burps were made for frigging royalty.

“I’ll think about it” She said finally “I don’t think I have any other choice however. My daughter drives everypony away, like Goldie and her prissy girl” She scowled at her reflection in one of the many bar’s stands “Sometimes I hate that I was born with riches. All that gave given me are problems”

“Everyone has problems; some worse than others” J told her as Berry Punch finally came back “Mine right now are worth getting knocked out by whatever makes me forget”

Berry placed a bright, so bright it gave of light it seemed, bottle over the bar. With a bit of skill with her hooves she took one small glass and filled it to the brim before giving him a little smile.

“That is Everfree Apple Dread, I don’t know why I called it like that… oh wait, I do remember” She snickered “Because it is made from apples and a few healing herbs from the forest! However the mix makes it an alcoholic and so sweet beverage that… WHAT THE HAY ARE YOU DOING?!”

Ignoring the glass J had taken the whole bottle and was downing it down like, for a lack of a better world, a ‘baws’. The taste was sweet, but the liquor didn’t seem to have any kind of sugar on it as the feeling was ‘dry’ in a sense, even though it went down so easily it could be water to him in all but such a taste and a felling as it was being swallowed. When the bottle was empty he left it on the bar, took the shot and drank it too.

Everypony was looking at him with eyes big as dinner plates.

“T…that shot could take a colt down” Berry said before her mouth hung open.

“It was sweet, I liked it” J said with a small chuckle, feeling lightheaded all of sudden “But I think it was a bit too much”

*KLUNK!*

His head hit the bar and he began to snore loudly.

“I think I liked the plan of the wrong pony” Silverlight mumbled before imitating J’s behavior as the alcohol in her took the rich pony to the dram realm.

“Nopony could drink more than a shot” Berry mumbled as she made sure that Silverlight would not fall down before doing the same with J “Your friend is a pro at this, Octavia”

“He needed it, and I do too, do you have the normal Apple Dread?” She asked, giving J a glancing smile. He looked cute when he was sleep; in fact he looked happy “I would want a few shots myself”

“Of course, at least this won’t send you into a coma” Berry gave out a little chuckle as she served her friend “Consider it free, this was a real something. Tonight had quite the surprise for me”

“Tell me about it” Octavia measured the clear but green liquid in the glass as she took it near her mouth with her hooves “Today had quite a few surprises for me too” Then he simply took the shot and gave out a carefree smile ‘It may be bad, but it feels good’

As you may have guessed by now, this story is going to have a lot of mini stories inside. It serves a purpose and, in fact, was thought to be like this not from the start, but as I kept on writing chapters. I thought that the story I had developed [Yea, ‘developed’… Do you know that I write things ON THE FLY? I NEVER plan anything, except in some occasions like some of the things done in this story and it is just because my mind is working nonstop when I am writing!] would be too fast, way too fast… in fact if I tried to keep up this ‘fast’ writing it could probably be 16 or 20 chapters long, however I want more than that.

This is the first story in nearly… how much, eight to ten years? Yea, probably, but this is the one that I want to go along until the end. I mean it, and it is going to be huge IF I PULL IT THROUGH. Believe me the only reason I do not have anything published is not the fact that I do not have a nice paper that says I am intelligent and that I am good at some given task, it is because when I write I usually get bored. This? This is entertaining, this is NICE.

Yes, I dislike the fact that I will have to write drama here and there, I dislike how some things turned out, but I enjoy the overall feeling it is giving out and how things are moving along. That is why I want to give most the characters a little push in how I envision things could have been for them and how it could be. For that matter I would like to congratulate the creator of ‘The Story of the Blank Flanks’, Donitz, as when I was preparing to write this chapter I finally got around to play his game (Remember, until recently I hated MLP, so I literally threw that game to the back of my mind not wanting to play it. Fuck, it is scary).

I wanted to give somepony a bit of story in here and that story gave me the inspiration. I would like to keep everything in here as original as possible but… damn, this is something I have to exploit, sorry. It was a great game and I FEEL like I need to expand such a creepy story because it also would SERVE a purpose in here and because I enjoyed it so much for a 5 minute long game. This does mean, though, that there will be more horror in some of the latter chapters, but I promise it will end well if… you all want to.

That brings me to the next matter at hand: You all will pretty much decide the theme of the ending. I would NOT do this, normally, but I want your opinion. As I said this is the first story I want to finish since I first took this seriously. The thing is, well… this is the first in a long time that had people fallowing it and LIKING it. I want to give you guys the chance to do something, to influence it. So the nice or sad ending depends on what you want to see. I mean, you can decide if you want Equestria without any human or… that at least one stays.

I, personally, already want a nice ending :3 But it is not only up to me now.

You all take your time, this is going to stay and last. I doubt you will see less than the already mentioned 20, in fact if I extend it nicely it should have 30 or up to 40 if I can keep up with it. Of course if I keep writing like this it may not reach that length because each chapter now is going to have 10k to 20k words, hopefully not more (Because I take from 1 to 2 weeks per chapter).

Also: I won’t update in Deviant Art until my friend finishes the drawing for this :3 If he does as I asked him it is going to be frigging awesome x3! Shame he stopped reading because he can’t see drama, horror or the like in FIM, something that I understand very well. Of course as a writer is my duty to write what I enjoy, and I enjoy this story I am making.