Windfall and Luna had been talking now for a few hours though I had excused myself from the conversation and headed upstairs to think about my plans for tomorrow. First thing I was going to do was to go to the different shops and other businesses I had passed today to try and get a job. After I was successful or if I was failing and needed to blow off some steam I would go to the martial arts dojo.

I was concentrating on mapping out the route I would take through town when I heard hoof steps heading up the stairs. Looking up I saw Luna and Windfall coming up though both were watching me instead of each other and neither were talking. Turning to face them I said, “Is there something I can do for you two?”

Luna nodded, “Indeed there is. Windfall informs me that you seem to suffer from some particularly nasty nightmares which cause you to wake up screaming constantly.”

Turning I gave Windfall a glare, “She did, did she?”

Interposing herself and giving just as good a glare back Luna replied, “Yes she has. Before you decide to be angry with her bear in mind that she did this because she cares enough about you to want to help you.”

“Perhaps so but I don’t like it when someone talks about my private affairs without my permission. That aside how is telling you supposed to help me with my nightmares?”

With a smile Luna pointed to herself with a hoof, “I am the princess of the night and one of my duties is to watch over the dreams of my subjects, helping them where help is needed.”

Surprise silenced me for a moment as I started to wonder what other abilities she had, “So you can watch a pony’s dreams?”

She nodded, “Not just watch their dreams but also enter them and control them if required. Most of the time my assistance is not needed however every once in a while a pony will have terrible recurring nightmares because of something that they need to deal with. When such an instance occurs I step in, offering advice and even showing them different outcomes that can happen based on their choices.”

I scratched my head a bit as I took that in while pondering what else I knew she did, “So, how do you do that and watch over Equestria?”

Luna continued to smile clearly enjoying being able to talk about what she does with someone, “I do it at the same time. As I watch over Equestria from the moon I am able to see ponies’ dreams hovering around them, appearing almost as if a small moving picture piece.”

Windfall chuckled a bit before stifling it quickly, almost like she was afraid to let Luna know she was laughing at her, “Do you mean a movie your highness? Like those that play on screens at theatres?”

Instead of taking offense Luna gave her a grateful smile, “Yes that is it. They appear like a movie hovering around the pony. Thank you Windfall, I had wondered what those moving pictures were called.”

Windfall blushed, “You’re welcome your majesty.”

While she had offered some explanation I wasn’t fully convinced, “From up that high it would be pretty hard to see what all is going on in those dream movie things. Is there some other way you can tell if the dream is good or bad?”

Nodding she continued, “There is as a matter of fact. Each movie gives off a subtle vibration that I can sense when watching over the land. If I sense the harsh dark vibration of a nightmare I can focus on that specific dream and see it fully. If it is the first night I sense it I will watch but usually do not intervene. If it comes back more than once then I will enter the dream and offer my assistance.”

“Ok so you can watch my dreams but that does not explain how you can help me with my nightmares.”

Luna gave me a ‘give me a minute’ look and continued, “Once I am inside a dream I can manipulate it with my magic and even banish it if I decide to do so.”

I went silent after that statement and thought it over before asking, “To do this you must enter the dream first? You can’t simply get rid of the dream as you watch over Equestria?”

She shook her head, “No. To have power over the dream I must be present in the dream. In all honesty I do not know why it works that way but that is the way my power works and I must work within its limits.”

“Ah, I see.” That pretty much made up my mind; I wasn’t willing to tell Windfall the details of what went on in my dreams so I sure as hell wasn’t letting somepony take a look inside my head. Raising my hands in apology I said, “I’m sorry Luna but no. While it is a very kind offer I have to decline.”

Luna leaned back in surprise, “But don’t you want to be able to sleep normally?”

I shrugged, “I’m used to it by now. Look, I understand you want to help but I have reasons for not wanting anyone to take a look inside my mind right now. If something happens to change my mind I will let you know but for now the answer is no.”

Windfall came up to me and put a hoof on my hand, “John I understand you have your secrets but the way you sounded when you woke up screaming earlier today…it was just awful. We just want to help you.”

My hand gave her hoof a little squeeze to show some appreciation, “I understand Windfall but like I said I don’t want anyone inside my head right now.” Her concern did remind me of something else, “Luna is there anything you can do that will allow Windfall to sleep unimpeded by my waking up?”

“I can stop you from having your nightmares.”

Glaring at her persistence I tried to keep my voice even, “Is there anything else you can do?”

A sigh of resignation escaped her muzzle, “Yes there is. I can cast a spell on this room that will stop the sound of you screaming from reaching her ears. This is not as easy a spell as soundproofing the room completely because I have to have the spell differentiate between noises but I can do it.”

That worked better as far as I was concerned, “Why don’t you do that?”

“I shall do so.” She looked at me sternly, “The only reason I am doing this is because I will not force somepony to allow me into their mind.” With that she closed her eyes while her horn began glowing in that pale blue aura of hers and soon the entire room began to glow with that same aura. Windfall and I looked around the room as she cast her spell though what we expected to see I’m honestly not sure.

After a time the glow went away and Luna looked up at us, “It is done. Now your screams as you awake will not disturb Windfall.” Luna frowned a bit, “If for any other reason you need to scream then that too will be blocked by the spell. Bear that in mind if you feel the need to scream for some reason other than your nightmares.”

I nodded, “I will.” It seemed like something was missing until I realized I should probably at least thank her for her efforts on our behalf. In a rather embarrassing display I stuttered and fell over the words several times before I finally was able to get out, “Thank you.”

She nodded, “You’re welcome.” A smile played across her lips, “While this was a most enjoyable visit I cannot stay any longer. My sister was kind enough not to question my visit and I do not wish to abuse her trust by staying too long. Goodbye Windfall and I wish you a speedy recovery.”

Windfall smiled and blushed a little, “Thank you your highness. I’ll be ok.”

Luna turned to me, “Goodbye John. Please give some thought to my offer of help.” The only answer she got was a shrug so with a sigh she said, “In any event please continue to try and get along with our ponies. I shall be checking in from time to time so we shall see each other again.” Then Luna headed down the stairs, Windfall and I following her until we all were standing outside.

Wings beating Luna lifted into the air and stated, “Until next time.” Then she disappeared in a flash of light and once again Windfall and I were alone.

Once Luna disappeared I turned to Windfall who looked back at me apprehensively. Seeing that made me pause for a moment and take a few silent breathes, “Look Windfall I appreciate the thought behind asking Luna to help me with my nightmares. In all honesty it does sound like a pretty sweet deal.”

Her head cocked to the side in consideration and confusion, “If you appreciate it then why didn’t you accept it?”

“Like I said to Luna I don’t want anyone inside my mind.” I sighed, “Perhaps if things were different then I would accept her offer but right now letting her in like that is just too much for me.”

Windfall’s ears stood somehow straighter and her head snapped to its full height in realization, “Oh! It’s not just a matter of secrets then it’s also a matter of trusting someone to get that close to you.”

Nodding and feeling a bit relieved that she had picked up the meaning I confirmed her realization, “Exactly.”

She cocked her head to the side and asked the question dreaded by parents galaxy wide, “Why?”

Ok really? I just said I don’t trust people to get that close to me and now you’re asking me to trust you to know what happened to me that caused me to not want to trust people? Taking a deep breath before I simply blasted that out at her gave me time to formulate a better response, “I have my reasons but just like I don’t trust anyone enough to let them into my head I don’t trust anyone enough to let them know why either.”

Windfall didn’t respond at least not with words. She just looked at me for a moment, her ears going flat against her head, the corners of her mouth dropping and her eyes betraying a hurt look before she turned around and slowly trotted back into the cottage. Sighing I looked away and at the sky something I did habitually when I wasn’t sure what to do next. Answers never came to me when I did but I did it anyway.

Finally I went back inside to continue planning for the next day.

The sun pleasantly shone on me as I began my trek to Ponyville, waving to Windfall as I left. While she was not yet well enough to come with me she wanted to get outside and start stretching her legs and see how her wing was coming along. She was hoping she could begin flying again soon so that she could start going into town with me. With any luck she would be able to and could visit the hospital for some professional help.

Once out of sight I used my gauntlet to make my way to town quickly though I’m not entirely sure why I felt the need to hide its use from Windfall. It’s not like she was an enemy in fact she had shown signs of wanting to be friends with me. Thinking about her wanting to be my friend brought back at least some of the reason why I was treating her as carefully as I was. Friendship and those claiming it had cost me a lot of pain over the last decade and I was not sure I wanted to deal with any more of it.

Shaking my head to put aside any thought of friendship I finished my journey and made my way into town. Back on Earth I had done a lot of retail work so I began stopping in at the various shops in town to see if they needed help. While the ponies were still very nervous at my presence they were at least talking to me and not running away. When I asked one of them why that was he told me that it had to do with seeing me with the princess and having spoken to some of the vendor ponies that I had dealt with the previous day.

At least that was something that was getting better though the same could not be said when it came to getting a job. While they were all willing to at least talk to me none of them really needed any help at the moment. Thanking them for their time I left and went to the next store on my list only to repeat the same scenario over and over again. By the sixth time this had happened I was getting frustrated to the point of wanting to punch something.

Fortunately there was a way for me to satisfy that particular desire without having to get the authorities involved so I made my way over to the martial arts dojo. Ducking in through the door I was met with a stallion with brown fur and short, black mane and tail wearing a white martial arts uniform. His already giant pony eyes widened at the sight of me and in a deep voice he said, “Oh, you’re that new creature in town I’ve been hearing about right?”

A line I had heard once came to mind as I replied, arms wide out, “That would be me the human, that hard to find item on anypony’s list.”

The stallion chuckled then held out his hoof for shaking, “I’m Tough Hoof the owner of this center.”

I shook his hoof, “I’m John Tracker.”

He nodded, “Is there anything I can do for you Mr. Tracker?”

Nodding to one of the punching bags I asked, “How much to reserve one of those bags for an hour?”

“16 bits.” I handed him the money and went over to bag, taking off my gauntlet and coat and laying them nearby where I could easily get them if needed. This time, since I had planned to come here anyway I had discarded my usual holsters for ones that strapped directly to the coat. When I took the coat off the weapons went with it and stayed concealed allowing me to surprise anyone who thought I was unarmed.

Getting into a kickboxing stance I took a deep breath and began with some light jabs and crosses. As I continued I began to treat the bag like an opponent, aiming for weak points and soft spots. More types of punches and later kicks were added, sweat beginning to pour off of me as I didn’t let up but kept going. Next I began to work on speeding up my kicks and punches and cutting down on how long it took me to switch between them.

My lungs began to burn as I kept up a fast pace but I didn’t slow down or stop because I needed to keep up my endurance or else I’d be useless in an actual fight. Keep up your pace. Loosen up that elbow a bit. C’mon you can hit harder than that! In my mind was a constant running dialogue that I heard in the voice of my first trainer, named Wilhelm. Once I made the mistake of asking him why he didn’t have a last name which earned me several broken bones and a black eye.

Jason Brightmoon, a Furrigen like Wilhelm told me that he’d had his last name taken from him which in their culture was a way of branding him as an outcast. Apparently his own family wanted nothing to do with him because he was ruthless enough to shame them so they stripped him of his name and threw him out. Having met the bastard and been taught by him I definitely believed it.

The thought of Wilhelm began to cause my frustration to grow and soon I was punching harder and harder. My hands began to throb from the pain and the bag began to sway noticeably. Even to my own ears my breath was coming in harder and faster. As I thought of him more and more I felt pain growing from my teeth as they clenched and ground against each other. Before I could throw another punch something solid and strong took hold of my arm.

Whipping my head to the side I spotted Tough Hoof holding my arm back with one of his forelegs. Wide eyed and looking shaken he said, “Mr. Tracker please calm down! If you’re not careful I’m afraid you’ll hurt yourself.” With an effort I started to calm myself, unclenching my fists and closing my lips over my teeth. My breath was coming in a bit ragged from the physical exertions and from the heavy emotions I had just experienced.

Tough Hoof took his hoof off my arm but didn’t walk away, “Are you sure you’re ok Mr. Tracker? I’ve never seen anypony get so angry when using the bag before.”

Having had enough of him calling me ‘Mr. Tracker’ I said, “John. Just call me John ok?”

He nodded, “Ok, John it is. You still haven’t answered my question.”

I took a minute to calm down further during which Tough Hoof simply waited for an answer. Finally I was able to think clearly enough to give him a response without going too much into my problems, “Its just some bad memories combined with having a frustrating day here in Ponyville.”

His head cocked to the side, “What’s going on to cause you such frustration here in Ponyville?”

Facing him I leaned on one arm against the top of the bag, “I’ve been looking for a job but so far I’m having no luck.”

A look of sympathy crossed his face, “Ah, I see. I suppose that most ponies are afraid of you and don’t really want to risk hiring you.” Suddenly his face lit up, “I’ll tell you what…You seem like you have a decent enough idea of martial arts, if you can hold your own well enough against me in a one on one match you can work here, deal?”

I blinked in surprise, “Well that is not what I was expecting. I’m willing to accept but I should warn you, I’m trained to kill.”

He thought for a moment then shrugged, “John I am aware that not all our techniques are meant solely for defense or disabling your opponent. Some are meant to kill and others can easily be used for killing. On top of that if you can’t control your moves well enough to keep from killing or grievously injuring me then I wouldn’t want you on my staff anyway.”

Nodding I brought my right leg back and my hands up, “Fair enough.” As I had gotten into my stance he had lowered himself closer to the floor, protecting his softer underbelly. His golden-brown eyes were watching my face, probably looking for a reaction in my gaze that would announce my attempt to strike. Clearly he knew what he was doing which was going to make this hard enough, add into that his four legged stance and I was going to be fighting an unfamiliar type of battle.

Add to that he was smaller than me and lowered like that he was even smaller, certainly below the range of my punches unless I punched downward. Though I had no proof I suspected he was probably stronger than me, if ponies back on Earth were any help at all in deciphering these ponies. The only real advantage I had in this fight was maneuverability since I could move and attack while to attack he had to sacrifice movement.

For a while we stood there, waiting to see what the other would do. I certainly had no intention of being the one to move in and attack first, leaving myself open to a counter attack. For a moment I had the thought that I should just use a gun instead of getting into a fight I likely couldn’t win. Shaking my head to clear the thought I tried to pound into my brain that this pony was not an enemy to kill.

Seizing the opening Tough Hoof raced forward, planted his forehooves and kicked out at me with his rear hooves. My backwards leap was just enough to keep him from connecting. A side kick was aimed his way in an attempt to take advantage of his temporary lack of mobility however he had his hooves on the floor by then and danced away. His face was wearing a smile of enjoyment as he began to circle me.

Surprisingly he ran forward and leapt to his hind hooves and began using his forehooves like fists, throwing punches at my stomach and ribs. How the hell is he staying upright and keeping his balance for so long, was what was going through my mind as I blocked and turned aside his punches. His strength definitely was showing through as straight on blocking felt like it was going to break my bones and even turning them aside wasn’t pain free.

Figuring that there was no way he could maintain his balance if pressed on two legs I began to fire off punches of my own while moving closer to him. Hooves began to find their way to my body in blows that caused pain to flare up however I bit my lip and kept going. At this point I was gambling the pain I was receiving against my ability to knock him over and render him vulnerable.

Gritting my teeth as yet another blow found its way to my now pain filled ribs I threw my elbow into his snout, causing him to stumble back. My eyes widened in astonishment as his stayed on his hind legs and shook off the attack. You have got to be kidding me! I know these ponies move differently from ponies back home but seriously? How the fuck can he maintain a two legged fighting stance like this?

Not only did he stay upright he got right back into the fight, moving forward and attempting to one-two punch his way past my defenses. Dodging back just enough I let out another side kick that caught him in the chest and finally sent him onto his back. As I moved forward he rolled to his hooves though this time he stayed on all fours. The fight slowed as we went back to watching the other for an opening.

A few moments passed before he relaxed and stood at his normal height with a smile. He said, “That was a very fun match John. I may have been able to take you by surprise a few times but you recovered well and got in a few good shots yourself. So what do you say, willing to come work for me?”

I was silent for a few more moments, expecting a possible trap and continuation of our fight. When he did nothing I finally lowered my arms and stood normally, “What exactly would I be doing around here?”

He looked at me in surprise as if I should know what I would do, “Why, you would help me teach ponies about martial arts of course. We don’t get a lot of students mind you but I prefer a more one on one approach to learning anyway. On top of that I think it would be interesting to see how you can mix in your bipedal techniques with our quadrupedal ones.”

To that I raised an eyebrow, “Do you even need me to mix in bipedal techniques? You seemed to be holding your own on two legs just fine.” Though I have no idea how the hell you did that.

With a chuckle he came over and to my surprise throw a foreleg around my shoulder, “That’s because I studied with different teachers over the years, including a minotaur so I learned many different fighting styles including bipedal ones. Trust me, it’ll be useful for the students to learn. Are you interested in the job?”

I definitely needed the income so I nodded, “Sure. When do I start?”

His mouth opened wide in a smile, “Wonderful! You start tomorrow at 3 in the afternoon. Most of our students work or go to school so we won’t be seeing them until later anyway.”

Nodding at him I felt a bit of satisfaction at having accomplished my goal while also having let off some frustration from earlier. “In that case I shall see you tomorrow Tough Hoof. I’m feeling better now so I will head back home and prepare myself for tomorrow.”

“Alright then, so long John.” He waved at me and me at him then we parted ways. Picking up my coat I began my trek home.

I arrived to see Windfall happily trotting out to greet me, waving a forehoof in greeting. With a smile on her face she said, “Hi John. How did your job search go?”

The corner of my mouth twitched up a bit, “I managed to get a job at the martial arts place in town.”

Her smile got wider when she heard that, “That’s great John!”

Nodding I began to walk past her, not so much in the mood for social pleasantries though I did have to ask, “Do you feel ok? You’ve had more activity today then you’ve had since getting injured.”

Trotting alongside me she nodded again, “I feel great actually. Dear Celestia but it feels good to get outside and stretch my legs again.” Glancing down I took quick looks at her wounds which were somewhat red but were beginning to get pink. None of them had reopened and she hadn’t said anything about pain so as far as I could tell she was ok. Continuing she said, “My wings still don’t stretch fully but I’m working on that. I really hope to be able to fly soon.”

With a grunt of acknowledgement I sat down, leaned back and closed my eyes just wanting to rest for a moment in peace. Thankfully she seemed to take the hint and trotted back outside. The rest of the day passed that way, save for a quick dinner.

His scarred and dark furred face was close to mine, white fangs showing through withdrawn lips. Gag inducing breath washed across my face as he spat out, “You worthless little meat sack, can’t you do anything right?!” Wilhelm’s latest tirade was on my current poor performance during one of our daily running exercises. My muscles were sore and cramping, my breathing was heavy and hurt when I did.

On top of that my stomach felt like it was going to digest itself for nourishment even while still wanting to empty itself at his breath and I was still angry as hell over my entire situation. I was angry at his yelling at me, I was angry at being here because I damn well didn’t want to be here and I was angry at how much everything fucking hurt. Finally my anger burst out of me like a train from a tunnel, “I don’t give a fuck about this exercise or whether or not you’re happy about it you fucking asshole! You kidnapped me and are forcing me to learn to fight and die for you and you have the fucking gall to get angry because I’m not performing like the dog you want me to be?! Fuck you! Fuck you all the way to hell!”

Then I did the stupidest thing I had ever done up until that point; I threw a punch at him. He easily caught my wrist in his hand, twisting it until I cried out in pain which got cut off as he planted his other hand, now a fist into my stomach. My body protested its abuse as he hauled me upright and began to pummel my ribs, switching to my stomach again as I tried to protect myself with my hands.

As the pain began to make it hard for me to try and concentrate enough to even attempt to defend myself he kicked me to the floor. Dull pain came from my arms as he kneeled on them so I couldn’t do anything. The light from the ceiling became blocked by his now overhead face as he growled, “Know your place, pup. Here I am the alpha and you are less than even an omega.”

I heard a crack and tasted blood as his fast crashed into my face. It happened again, then again as he just began to pummel me with his fists with little to no time between blows. Blackness had almost consumed my vision when I felt the pressure ease from my arms and a painful grip on my hair hauled me up from the floor. “Oh no, you do not get to black out on me now meat,” He growled, “You obviously have forgotten who holds the power here so its time for a reminder.”

Though I couldn’t see it as he threw me to the floor on my front I could hear him begin to fiddle with his belt. My body felt like ice as fear gripped me and I tried to get to my feet to run away. His foot was keeping me pinned and all I could do was wiggle around. Desperately I began to cast my glance around to the other human trainees, begging for help. No one stepped forward though, they all knew what was coming too and they were too afraid of it happening to them to stop it.

Tears were flowing down my eyes as I heard his pants hit the ground and felt the heat of him now being uncomfortably close to me. As I drew in a breath to scream, the only outlet I had for the fear I had I heard his voice, “At least you make for a nice plaything.”

I woke not with my usual scream of terror but instead a mixed scream of terror and hatred, “WILHELM!” In my shaking hand was the pistol I kept under my pillow, the grip wet with my sweat. Slowly I put the gun down next to my bed then held my head in my hands. My body was in pain from the memories I was now trying to suppress and from the sense of violation and dread that would not leave me after that dream.

It wasn’t just my hands that were shaking; it was now my whole body. Even though that event had happened almost ten years ago I was able to still recall what it felt like and how horrible it was. A sob almost made its way out but I managed to hold it in with what felt like a superhuman effort. Part of me was wondering where Windfall was before I remembered Luna’s spell.

Thanks to the vulnerable state I was in I was saddened by her not being there and in fact desired to have someone, or somepony to comfort me. As the thought rose I tried to quash it, knowing that I needed to keep my distance as much as possible. These two desires warred with one another until finally another nearly escaped sob decided the conflict in favor of desperately needed comfort.

Carefully I crept downstairs so as not to wake her if she was asleep which she was. She lay motionless on the couch save her side rising and falling as she breathed. Indecision caught me; on one hand I wanted some comfort from someone however I didn’t like the idea of just waking her up in the middle of the night. After a moment I decided to head back upstairs however the step creaked as I turned on it.

Her ear flicked in my direction and her big eyes fluttered open then focused on me. “John,” She asked, “What’s going on? Is everything ok?”

I sighed, disliking the idea of having to let anyone know I was hurting but needed the comfort too much to let that stop me now. Climbing down the rest of the stairs I shook my head, “No, things are not ok. Right now, I…I really need some company if that’s ok with you.”

Different emotions flickered through her eyes; on one hand she seemed to be surprised but very happy that I was asking for her company. On the other hand she was concerned for me, especially since I didn’t like to let others into my problems. She sat up and patted the cushion to her right, her undamaged side. Soon I was sinking into the couch, arms holding my torso to try and ward off the shakes.

The soft feathery sensation of her right wing began to trail up and down my back, like a human would use a hand to comfortingly stroke a friend. “What’s wrong John? I’ve never seen you scared like this,” She said.

It took me a minute to gather my thoughts during which she sat there waiting patiently for me to continue. Finally I said, “I had a nightmare again tonight. This one though…was also a memory.”

“You were reliving a bad memory?”

I nodded, “Yes. I’ve had it before but no matter how many times I relive it…it always sticks with me the most.” My body began to shake again and to my surprise tears began to slowly slip from my eyes. Windfall’s eyes began to water too and a sympathetic sad look was on her face. She shifted her body so that she was leaning against me, or I was leaning against her. To be honest I’m not sure which was true at the time.

Her wing enfolded my shoulders and her soft face comfortingly nuzzled my cheek. We sat like that for a while before she said, “Do you want to tell me about it or will that be too painful? If it is then please don’t talk about it. I’ll be here for you either way.”

Even with the need for comfort I didn’t want to tell her everything but I did feel the need to at least say something. I said, “Well…it’s from almost ten years ago. At the time I was part of a group I didn’t want to be a part of but didn’t have much of a choice about. The guy that was put in charge of me was a very cruel person.”

Windfall lifted a forehoof and began to gently rub my arm with it, the surprising softness of the bottom of the hoof contrasting with the hardness around the edges of it. “Why couldn’t you leave,” She asked.

With a shuddering breath I told her, “These people were very cruel Windfall. The only way I could leave without doing what they wanted would have been by dying.”

She gasped, both her forehooves flying to her face in horror, “That’s horrible! How can they get away with that?”

A bitter grimace crossed my face, “Let’s just say that they were in a position where those who could have stopped them, didn’t care or want to.”

Now her forehooves encircled me in a hug, “Oh John, I’m so very sorry. Dear Celestia how can such people even exist?”

Rather awkwardly I hugged her back, still at least somewhat glad for the contact and the comfort it gave me. While her question had been rhetorical I decided to answer it anyway, “The harsh truth Windfall is that while this place may be a place of friendship and harmony that is not so true elsewhere. Out there are people who only care for themselves and their own desires. They will do whatever it takes to get what they want no matter who it hurts. Others in fact prefer it to hurt other people because they gain some pleasure from it.”

She nuzzled me again, her fur now soaked with tears, “No wonder this has you so scared. I can’t even imagine what that must have been like.” After that it got quiet as she had no more words for what had happened and I didn’t want to talk about it. We simply sat there until I was able to calm down and the shakes stopped.

Leaning back I managed an upturn of the corners of my lips, “Thank you Windfall. I really appreciate you helping me like this.”

A smiled appeared on her face, happy yet still sad for me, “Are you ok? If you want you can stay for a bit, I don’t mind really. It’s not like I have anywhere I have to be tomorrow anyway.”

I shook my head, “Thank you but no. While I do appreciate what you’ve done for me tonight for now I’d like to try and go back to sleep.”

Her face betrayed her dubiousness but she nodded and said, “Ok John. Sleep well.”

“You too Windfall,” I said as she let me go and I stood up. Walking upstairs I did feel much calmer than I had going downstairs but there was something else there as well. As I lay down and pondered it I realized that I had begun to see Windfall as more than just somepony I knew. I was beginning to see her more as a friend and was letting her past my defenses a little bit. As my eyes closed I shivered as that thought scared me almost more than the dream had.

After the events of the night I decided to arrive at the dojo early to warm up on a punching bag which also served as something to focus on instead of my memories. As the start of my shift began to draw near another stallion came into the dojo, glancing askew at me before talking to Tough Hoof. I was able to overhear enough to gather that this stallion was Tough Hoof’s student for today.

However about ten minutes before I was to start two more ponies came in; a mother and her daughter. The mare was a dark blue pony with a pink mane and tail and like Applejack had neither horn nor wings. Now that I had some idea of cutie marks I began to look at what each pony had for a cutie mark; in her case a card with a heart on it. Huddling behind her mother’s legs and fearfully looking at me was a little filly with a blue and white coat and a blue and white striped mane and tail.

Unlike the other ponies she had no cutie mark and like her mother she had no horn or wings. Tough Hoof came up to them with a friendly wave, “Hello there, I’m Tough Hoof, the owner of this dojo. What can I do for you?”

The mare gave him a smile, “Hi, I’m Loving Heart and this is my daughter Faint Heart. Say hello dear.” The filly gave out a little squeak and a tiny wave of her hoof. “I’m sorry about that. She’s not a very outgoing pony I’m afraid. I’d like to enroll her in a class here to see if it will boost her confidence and give her enough courage to start engaging with other ponies.”

Tough Hoof smiled back, “Well of course Mrs. Heart we’d be glad to help your little filly.” He turned to look at me and suddenly I felt a sense of dread at what I was pretty sure was going to happen. His hoof waved at me to come over, “Hey John will you come here please?” My sense of dread mounting I headed over, the eyes of Mrs. Heart and her daughter growing even wider and filling with a sense of fear and uncertainty. Tough Hoof held out a hoof like I would hold a hand to introduce someone, “This is our newest teacher, John Tracker. I like to take the one on one approach and I have a student today so he will be teaching your daughter today.”

Yep, I knew he was going to do something like that if for no other reason than because I didn’t want it to happen so it would. Dammit this wasn’t good. Even back when I was more social I never was very good with children; they annoyed me and I didn’t have enough patience for them. I tried though, raising my hand and waving it in greeting, “Hello there.”

Loving Heart managed an uncertain smile and a slight wave back while Faint Heart had frozen in place. Loving Heart turned to Tough Hoof, “Are you sure this is the best idea? I mean,” She glanced at me before lowering her voice, “I keep hearing of a bipedal creature around town that most ponies refer to as a monster.” Well if I needed proof that she meant me before that statement I certainly didn’t now.

Tough Hoof nodded understandingly, “I understand you have some concerns Mrs. Heart but I can assure you I will not allow him to harm your little filly. To help ease your concerns I’ll have their class in the same room as my class so I can keep an eye on them. Will that be ok with you?” When she continued to look unsure he said, “Would you like to watch the class yourself?”

After a moment of though she asked, “How long is it?”

“Our classes tend to run for about an hour.”

A grimace contorted her face, “I have to be back at the shop I operate with my husband in half an hour.”

Tough Hoof put a forehoof to his chin in thought, “How about it we made it a short class, say 20 minutes and you could sit in on it then take her with you when you leave?”

That seemed to satisfy her as she nodded, “Alright, let’s do that then.” With that we all headed back into the largest of the training rooms of the dojo where the pony who had come in earlier were doing some warm up stretches. Tough Hoof nodded Faint Heart, her mother and I off to one side of the room while he went over to his student. My fear and dread was returning at the thought of how I was going to teach this filly martial arts.

I had never taught anyone anything before and the first example that came to mind when I thought of being taught was Wilhelm. Even if it wasn’t a child before me and an innocent being I still would be damned before I would teach her like he taught me. And there is at least part of my answer, I thought to myself, Avoid being like him and I should be ok, I hope. Since the other class was stretching before they started I decided to start there too.

Turning around I saw Faint Heart still huddled close to the ground, shaking a bit and refusing to meet my eyes. Unsure of what else to do I decided to get on my knees, make me seem a little less intimidating or so I hoped. Consciously lowering my voice I asked, “Faint Heart, do you know how to stretch before working out?” The sound of my voice caused her to start a little before she shook her head, not speaking.

Nodding over to the other class with my head I asked, “Did you see what they were doing or what they are doing now?” Another nod was my answer, “Ok well why don’t you copy that. It will help get you ready for the rest of the lesson.” I almost said something about preventing injury but given her current state I was afraid she’d literally go catatonic and faint or something before the lesson could begin.

Thankfully she did begin to do the stretches, stretching one foreleg and the opposite hind leg forward for a second or two, then switching to the other limbs. After a few more, such as pushing herself up as high as she could go one four legs and holding it I decided that was enough. As gently as I could manage I said, “Ok Faint Heart, get into an upright stance,” a thought occurred to me to add a, “Please.”

She stood up on her hind legs, wobbling a little bit but she did it and for the first time her teal eyes met mine as she looked to see if she was standing correctly. Giving her the closest thing I could manage to a smile and nodding encouragingly I slowly stood up, “Ok, now I want you to try and mimic my stance. It’s ok if you can’t just please try.” Shifting so that my body was now facing sideways compared to the way my face was pointed I brought my right leg back along with my right arm which was held upright and in a fist. My left arm was also upright and in a fist in front of my face.

Faint Heart tried but she wasn’t able to keep her balance and she fell onto her front. Coming out of my stance I asked, “Are you ok?” To my relief she nodded and stood up, shaking herself though she looked like she was having trouble not taking it as a failure. Ok this isn’t working. I need to adapt what I know to something that she should be able to do with four legs. How did Tough Hoof fight when he was on two hooves?

Thinking back to the fight we’d had the previous day I tried to recall his stance. Glancing over as I was thinking I saw him doing it again as he ran his class through a routine and it hit me; he was still facing completely forward with both his body and face. Turning back to Faint Heart I said, “Its ok Faint Heart, I think I know what we can do. Go ahead and get back on your hind legs please.”

She did so and I nodded, “Ok now use your forehooves to punch the air in front of you. Do one then the other ok?” I waited until she did so then said, “Ok now do it about ten more times and we’ll see how you’re feeling after that.” There were no signs of fatigue of anything, not that ten repetitions was hard really but she was a young filly so I didn’t want to push her too hard. Since she was doing ok though I had her do another ten reps.

After that I showed her how to do a uppercut and asked her to try to do one. The first one caused her to put too much weight forward and she fell forward again. As gently as possible I admonished, “Don’t lean forward too much when using an uppercut. Just a little forward leaning is what you want ok? Now try again.” When she was able to do so without falling over I had her do ten reps of that.

Just as she finished that Loving Heart spoke up, “Sorry to interrupt Mr. Tracker but I need to be heading back to the store. Come on Faint Heart, we need to go.” Faint Heart nodded and began to trot up, not looking at me or anypony else for that matter. Loving Heart turned to go then hesitated and looked over at me, “Mr. Tracker, I want to say thank you. I wasn’t sure what to think when I was told you would be her teacher, but you’ve been patient with her so far so thank you.”

Nodding my head in polite acknowledgement of her thanks I said, “You’re welcome.” She nodded as well then trotted off to catch up with her daughter. With that done I decided to go over and join Tough Hoof and his student in running their routines. Tough Hoof gave me a ‘good job’ smile but otherwise kept his focus on the class he was running. As for me, I was just glad to not have had any of my own Wilhelm moments though the fear remained that I might in the end.