Dream Realm

Night Slash was back in the darkness of nothing. He floated around waiting for something to happen. After a few minutes there was a bright flash. When the flash dimmed down Nightmare was floating in front of him. The two of them smiled at each other. Nightmare was surprised to be in Night Slash’s dream since his body didn’t allow intruders. Night Slash apologized for that inconvenience since he couldn’t do much about. Nightmare waved it off since she knew that he didn’t do it on purpose. As they floated around Night Slash asked her if she could look at the necklaces. She agreed to do it since she was curious herself.

They moved on to Amethyst Star’s dream so they could scan the necklace. Nightmare froze the dream in place so they wouldn’t be discovered. They floated down to where Amethyst Star was standing and Nightmare started scanning the necklace. Night Slash knew that it would be a while before she got any results on the necklace so he decided to have some fun. Night Slash stood in the middle of a field and looked out over Ponyville. He stared at the happy city and then closed his eyes in concentration. The city turned into a barren wasteland and there were dead ponies everywhere the eye could see.

Night Slash enjoyed the scene until Nightmare came up behind him. She looked at the scene he created with intrigue and disgust. Nightmare wanted to rule Equestria but not in such a state that he had it as. Night Slash changed the scene back to what it was originally and Nightmare seemed to calm down. They floated back up into the sky and resumed the dream. They were sitting on the clouds as they talked with each other. Nightmare explained that she couldn’t find anything special about the necklaces. The spell that was used was a brainwashing spell that twits one’s memory.

Night Slash was disgruntled that they couldn’t find anything on the necklaces but was glad they didn’t pose too big of a threat. The two of them flew around as they waited for themselves to wake up. A light came down from the sky and the two of them flew towards it. Once inside the light they disappeared to their waking forms. Unknown to them the hooded figure was watching. When they were gone it shook its head disappointed that they would try to figure out his plan of action. As he turned to walk away two shadow figures of the one that he had working for him appeared. They gave him a rolled up piece of paper. The figure opened the paper and looked it over. It smiled in appreciation at the shadows and thanked them for their hard work. The shadows bowed before the hooded figure and left. The figure laughed at how well this plan was going to work.

Night Slash

Night Slash woke up from his dream a little disappointed. He pushed his disappointment down since there was nothing that he could really do about it. The mares were gone so he headed for his shower. He stood under the water as he thought about what Nightmare told. The necklaces were just simple jewelry enchanted by a brainwashing spell. The spell also twisted their memories to work for the owner. That was the only thing that didn’t make any sense. He wasn’t the one to put the spell on the necklaces. He was plagued with the question as to why they were loyal to him.

Night Slash finished his shower and dried off. He grabbed his clothes and a pair of swim trunks. Before he left the bathroom he looked himself over in the mirror. He smiled at the muscles that his body gained and could feel that his bones were stronger than ever before. He was happy that the medical treatment that he went through was so worth it. He walked out of the bathroom and headed down the hall for the living room. As he neared the living room he gave his body a good stretch so his bones were in place.

After he was done stretching he walked out into the living room and was greeted by Cloudkicker and Lemon Hearts. The two mares came up to him and gave him a big hug. He returned their hug but felt some wetness on his body. When he broke the hug he could see that they were crying a little. He could see that they were tears of joy not sadness. They told him that he was okay and doing very well. He lead the two mares back to the couch so they could relax before they got started with any of their plans.

Holly Dash came out with breakfast and served it to Night Slash and the mares. He offered some food to her but she declined. She said that she already ate and was running late. Night Slash gave a slight nod and Holly left the house. Once she was gone the two mares scooted closer to Night Slash and placed their heads on his shoulders. Night Slash didn’t fight them off since this allowed them some kind of comfort. The three of them ate in silence just enjoying each other’s company. When breakfast was finished Lemon Hearts took the dishes away and started cleaning them.

Cloudkicker said that she and Lemon Hearts were headed for the spa for a regular appointment that they had. Night Slash told to have a good time with her friend and not worry about him. She looked at him with worry in her eyes. He pulled her in closer for a hug as he assured her that everything would be okay. When the hug was broken off Cloudkicker was smiling and grabber her things along with Lemon Hearts. The two mares waved goodbye as they left. Night Slash watched from the window waiting for them to be gone. After they were over the hill he went down to the basement to begin his last treatment.

Cloudkicker and Lemon Hearts

The mares walked along the road that lead to the local spa. They smiled as they reached the building. They went inside and were greeted by Aloe and Lotus. The spa twins knew who the mares were since they came to the spa regularly. Aloe and Louts took them to the changing room so they could put on their robes. Once they were changed the exited the changing room and headed for the massage tables for the first part of their treatment. They removed their robes as they laid face down on the tables waiting for Aloe and Lotus to start. They weren’t kept waiting long as the spa mares started working the knots out of their backs. As Aloe and Lotus massaged the two mares they started a conversation with them.

“So where have you two been? We haven’t seen you in a while.” Aloe asked as she worked on Cloudkicker’s wings.

“Well me and Lemon Hearts have been staying with our colt friend.” Cloudkicker answered as she released a moan from the massage.

“Oh so you two have finally found somepony to call your own?” Lotus asked with a sly grin on her face.

“Yeah his name is Night Slash. He is a new unicorn in town. He moved in from Detrot and it was love at first sight if you can believe in such a thing.” Lemon Hearts answered as Lotus went to filing her horn.

“What about you two? Have you girls found a stallion that can make you happy?” When Cloudkicker asked both Aloe’s and Lotus’ face became bright red. The two mares were now interested to know who they were with.

“So who is the lucky stallion that gets to feel your expert touch every day?” Lemon Hearts asked as she got a sly grin on her face.

“Well if you must know it is James the local human here in Ponyville. He stood up for us when we did something wrong. He may be the only person that truly loves us for who we are.” Aloe answered.

That answered surprised Cloudkicker because as she was getting off the table she fell onto the floor face first. The two mares were feeling slight rises in their anger and disgust towards this human. None of the mares told Night Slash but all the mares knew what each and every one of them went through when talking with their old friends. They kept their anger in check so they don’t cause a scene in the spa. The other reason they didn’t want to cause a scene was because that Aloe and Lotus were stronger than they looked.

They remembered when they had a customer that was being very rude to them. He made lewd gestures and kept trying to touch them inappropriately. The spas twins weren’t going to have that in their place of business. After his last attempt to grope them they returned his unwanted touch with a punch to the face. They both gave that stallion a good beating before throwing him out of the spa and banning him. After that day nopony didn’t even dare to cross Aloe or Lotus in fear of getting the crap beaten out of them.

The two mares were lead to the mud bath that was ready for them. As they relaxed in the mud there was a ring at the front door. The spa mares excused themselves to go see who it was. Cloudkicker and Lemon Hearts looked at each other as they gave a slight nod. They closed their eyes as they relaxed into the mud bath. The spa mares returned to check on them and see if they were comfortable. They told them that they were fine and they didn’t need anything. Lotus let them know that they had ten minutes left in the mud bath before going to the sauna.

Ten minutes later the spa mares returned and helped the mares out of the mud bath. They took them to the shower so they could get rid of the mud and clean their body with an exfoliating body wash. While they were getting themselves cleaned the spa mares went about cleaning the mud baths. Cloudkicker and Lemon Hearts came out looking very well groomed with very soft coats. Aloe and Lotus lead the two mares to the final part of the treatment which was the sauna. Aloe opened the door and the mares entered. Before the door was closed Lotus poured water on the hot rocks to get some steam going.

The spa mares said they would be back in a few minutes so they could relax a little more. The mares leaned against the wall and closed their eyes as they let the steam open their pores. Aloe and Lotus came back to tell them their time was up. They exited the sauna and headed back for one final shower. The mares were now well pampered and changing back into their regular clothes. Once they changed they headed to the front counter to see a new vase of flowers on the counter. As they paid the spa mares they asked where the flowers came from.

Lotus said that James came by and gave them flowers to help brighten up their day. It apparently worked since the spa mares looked happier than ever before. When the spa mares left Cloudkicker and Lemon Hearts each took one flower from the vase. With the flower in their hands they looked it over before crushing it to tiny pieces. They exited the spa and as they did they passed Rarity and Fluttershy. They were talking about something but they couldn’t catch what it was about.

They wanted to know what their conversation was about but they needed to head back home so they could talk to Night Slash. During their walk they ran into Pinkie Pie who was handing out slices of cake. The mares stopped by Pinkie’s stand and asked for a slice of cake. Pinkie happily gave them a piece of cake and with them a happy evening. The mares ate the cake as they walked down the path back to their house. They finished off their cake and threw away their plates in a nearby trash. They entered the building to see Night Slash cooking. They smiled at him since he was doing so well.

Night Slash

Night Slash was in the bath and it was pretty relaxing. This bath was to help free up his chakra points so that he could focus magic more easily. He sat there in a meditative state as he let his body absorb the water. He could feel the water run through his body as it made a clear collection in his chakra points. As the water moved around his body Night Slash ended up having a coughing fit. He coughed violently as he tried to get something out of his throat. He coughed for five minutes before a black ooze came out of his mouth.

Night Slash was breathing heavily as he tried to get his body under control. His time was up in the bath so he got out. He carefully got out of the bath avoiding the black ooze uncertain what it would do. Night Slash pressed the button and the bath started to drain. Night Slash watched as the ooze was sent down the drain and out of his sight. To make sure that it was all gone he went over and grabbed a hose. He turned it on and sprayed the entire bath with a heavy stream of hot water. After spraying the bath for five minutes he turned off the hose and put it away.

He started walking towards the final pool so he could get his last swim in. He reached the final pool and after the last few that he went through he was ready for anything. Not even checking the water he jumped right in. He surfaced from the water and was confused to what it did. The pool was just like a regular pool. The water was pleasantly warm and there were no disturbances. He swam around for a few minutes and he was sure that there was nothing special about this pool. Taking this as a chance to have a nice relaxing swim he went on his back and floated around.

He floated around for a few minutes and then went to swimming his laps. He went back and forth in the pool at a steady pace. After every three laps he would increase the speed that he was going. He was going as fast as he could now in the pool and it felt great. The baths were doing their job and the other swims helped to make this feel pleasant. After his last thirty minutes of swimming he got out of the pool and headed for the shower. He grabbed his clothes and set them to the side as he grabbed the stool.

He sat under the running shower as the warm water went down his body. As the water ran down his body he started to hum a little tune to himself. It was an old tune back from earth but it made Night Slash happy to hum it. For the first time he was happy and there was nothing that could take that from him. As he had this thought of happiness his head started to hurt. He grabbed his pounding head hoping to stop the headache that was forming. The pain was steadily increasing and was starting to hurt intensely.

Before Night Slash fell to the ground in pain the headache subsided. Night Slash got up on his feet and had a new hatred building for James. He knew that James was going to be the only thing that could take his happiness away from. He turned off the shower and dried off his body. Once he was completely dry he changed into his clothes and stood in the center of the room. Night Slash focused the magic in his hand as he summoned a human skull. Night Slash gripped the skull tightly and was steadily increasing the pressure on it. After several seconds the skull shattered in his hand. He looked at the dusty remains of the skull and laughed at it.

Night Slash walked out of the room as he popped his knuckles and neck. Once upstairs he got started on dinner for him and the mares. He was halfway done cooking when he heard the door open. Cloudkicker and Lemon Hearts entered the building and smiled when they saw Night Slash. Night Slash returned the smile with one of his own and went back to cooking. The mares took a seat on the couch as they waited for dinner to finish. After ten minutes Night Slash came back into the living with their food.

He set the food down on the table and they all grabbed their plates. They ate in relative silence as Night Slash enjoyed he renewed strength. When dinner was finished the mares took the dishes to the kitchen and got everything cleaned up. The mares were finished cleaning and joined Night Slash on the couch. He could see that they were a little upset so he asked what was wrong. They said they would tell him if he allowed them to sleep with him tonight. He nodded his head in approval and lead the mares to the bedroom. Once in the bedroom they got changed into their sleeping clothes and laid down on the bed.

The two mares cuddled up to Night Slash as they got themselves comfortable in the bed. Once they were situated Cloudkicker and Lemon Hearts told Night Slash about what they talked about with Aloe and Lotus. Night Slash pulled them closer and promised that they would liberate the spa twins and make James pay. The mares were happy that Night Slash was so understanding of how they felt. With their minds put at ease the two mares fell asleep happily. Night Slash stayed awake for a few more minutes thinking about where he stood. He should be at full strength in the morning so there was the upside. The downside was the uncertainty that tomorrow would bring. Deciding to dwell on it later he closed his eyes and fell asleep with the mares.

Author's Notes:

Thanks to ErikTheSoulReaper for the idea on this chapter.