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// Old Friends, New Friends 
// Story: Manescape: Torment 
// by appendingfic 
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You struggle for words. You imagine that some forgotten memory contains someone who could weave an elegant response, but such eloquence is beyond you. “I just...thought you looked lonely.”

She lets out a bark of laughter. “Misery may love company, but I don’t. Look, unless you know me, there’s nothing we have to talk about.”

“Isn’t that how people get to know each other?”

The pegasus rolls her eyes. “Jeez. I do not have time for this.”

“You don’t look busy.”

“That’s because you don’t know what I’m doing.”

There it is again, the strange emphasis on the word ‘know’. You take a step closer, giving the pegasus a closer look. “What does that mean? To ‘know’?”

The pegasus sighs. “You might as well ask me what’s ‘cool’. Look, unless you’re born a pegasus, you’re not going to get it.”

“Try me.”

The pegasus starts at the iron in your voice. Her ears go back, fearful or uncertain. Then she sets her stance and stares evenly back at you.

“Fine.” She tugs a strange metal stone from some pack cleverly set against her side. With a few neat manipulations, she opens it into a simple ring, on which are written words. “This is the First Circle of Pansy. It’s...sort of a story.”

As you take ahold of the circle, you reply, “Is it a racial myth?”

In a moment, the pegasus is in your face, eyes narrow and fierce. “This isn’t a myth. This is the story of Pansy. It’s the story of our people! You want to know anything about me, you need to read this.”

“Okay.” You take it, staring at the words inscribed on it.

"Know that we are the First People.

Once all was chaos. The First People looked within themselves to know what was there, and they were chaos no longer.

With their thoughts and knowing of matter, the People shaped the First World and dwelled there.

Yet flesh was new, and the People’s thoughts were consumed by strange passions. Greeds and hates, pains and joys, jealousies and doubts. All these fed on each other and the minds of the People were divided. In their division, the People were punished.

The emotions were strong. The greed and hates, the pains and joys, the jealousies and doubts, all of these served as a guiding stone to enemies. In embracing these emotions, the First People became enslaved to those who knew emotions only as tools for their will. Know these beasts were the changelings.

The changelings were a race that had come not to know themselves. They had learned how to make other races not know themselves.

They were the chitinous ones. They lived in emotions and saw emotions as tools for their will. Their blood was as water and they drank minds. When the changelings came upon the People, the People were a people no more. The People became slaves.

The changelings took the People from the First World and brought them to the False Worlds. They chained their wings and the People labored upon the False Worlds. The changelings taught them the Way of the Heart. Through them, the People came to know loss. They came to know suffering. They came to know death, both of the body and the mind. They came to know what it is to be the herd of another and have their thoughts drank like water. They came to know the horror of being made to feel joy in such things.

The Unbroken Circle is in the knowing of how the People lost themselves. And how they came to know themselves again."

“So?” You look up to meet the pegasus’ gaze almost before you can finish reading.

“What?”

“What does it mean?”

“I…” A flicker of thought dances through your mind. When you speak, it is as if someone else is using your tongue. “Strength lies in knowing oneself. I learned that once someone does not know themselves, they are lost. They become a tool for others.”

The pegasus sighs, deflates, at your words. “Sounds about right.”

There is something exhilarating about the rush of discovery of the Unbroken Circle. “I want to learn more about the Unbroken Circle. Come with me; tell me more about it. Please?”

Something shudders through the pegasus’ form at your words. Her head drops to her chest. “...Fine.”

You wish she were more enthusiastic, but since she’s agreeing, you can’t quite feel disappointed. “Anyway, what’s your name?”

“Rainbow Dash,” she says softly, still staring at the floor.

“Well, Rainbow, I hope we’ll be friends.”

Rainbow snorts.

You decide to ignore the response. "Now come on, we've got things to do."

"Let me guess: off on an epic quest to get yourself killed?"

You pause mid-step. "No..." Liar! You promised Spike to bring an end to this. But something inside you quails at anyone who can so easily divine your intentions. The urge to lie, to run, to kill...

Stop it! You wonder if other people's heads are so full of arguments.

"I'm trying to restore my memory," you say. "Although at the moment, we're in a bit of a side-quest. Do you know who might be good with plants, and might be able to recognize this?" You hold up the seed. Rainbow snorts and grabs at your tail, tugging you along as she walks. Pinkie, although apparently engrossed in conversation with the bartender, glances up and trots after you as you leave the bar.

Once outside, Rainbow spits out your tail and takes a look around. "She should be lurking around here somewhere..."

"Who are we looking for? Is it another witch? Or some mystical artifact? Ooh! Are we looking for the Head of Vecneigh?"

Rainbow gives you a sharp, disbelieving look. "Please tell me she's not coming with us."

"Sorry."

Rainbow rolls her eyes. "Well, you want somebody who knows trees. And there's only one pony around here who does - ah!"

She trots in the direction of an elderly green pony, not winged or horned, who is staring at a shriveled vine with a look of concentration on her wizened face. At your approach, she glances up, offering all three of you a wide smile.

"Why hello, young'ns. What brings you here?"

Rainbow nudges your shoulder with her own. "Uh, ma'am-"

"Ha! I'm not so old I need to be called ma'am. Call me Granny, or, Mourns-For-Trees, if you need that pretentious horseapples everypony around here likes. Now spit it out."

You look to Rainbow for help, but she seems to be fighting back a grin. You suspect she knew exactly what you were getting into here. An answering grin flickers on your face. It is a bit funny, you guess.

"My name...isn't important. But I'm trying to find the plant that would grow from this seed."

Granny takes the seed and stares at it, squinting her eyes, biting the seed, licking it...After a few long minutes, she spits to the side and shakes her head. "I ain't never heard of a plant like this. Although...mayhap there is something you can do."

"What is it?"

"Grow it yourself."

"I can't wait that long-"

"Hush, child. I know that. Look at these vines."

You take another look at the vines, which are as withered and dead as they were when you arrived. "They're dying."

"Aye. I've been trying to find people to care about the vines."

"Care for?"

The elderly pony smacks your nose. "I meant what I said. I said care about. I've been tending to these vines for years, but they're dying because there ain't nopony to care about them. Shoot, child, it's one of the rules of the planes. Wherever you are, that's the center of things." At your blank look, she sighs. "It matters what you care about, what you believe. I've been asking people to care about these plants, and nopony ever does." Granny seems to briefly shrink in stature before squaring her shoulders and standing straight up. "But nopony ever said anything worth doing was easy. But there you go. If you've got will enough, I reckon you could make that seed grow."

You want to go off immediately to try, but you're held in place by Granny's plight. You can't imagine someone standing here for years, trying and failing to get anyone else to care.

You turn to Pinkie. "Pinkie, do you think you could care about these vines?"

The pink pony giggles. "I care about everyone, silly! But I guess I can do a little more for these vines." She closes one eye grits her teeth, still grinning wildly as she does so.

You then glance at Rainbow. "Do you think you could care for the vines?"

"Why? What's your angle?"

"I don't-" You look helplessly at the withered vines. "She's been trying so hard to save them. It's sad no one else would help her. And she's already tried her best to help us without asking anything in return. You don't have to, Rainbow Dash." The pegasus' head swivels back to you, eyes wide. "I just...think it would be a nice thing to do."

She narrows her eyes as she glares at you, silent and still for a long moment. At last she sighs, turning back to the vines. "Fine, I'll try. But not because you asked me to." Rainbow closes her eyes. As she stands quietly, the coverings on her wings take on a green tint, and something of the same color seeps into the leaves of the vines. They still look weak, but more like they're a little dry than being on the edge of death.

"Wow, Rainbow Dash, you're good at that!"

You don't hear Rainbow's reaction, because you're taking your turn. You close your eyes and focus your mind on the vines before you, the growing things struggling against the press of the city. They deserve to grow and flourish and flower. You wish them only the best. You want them to-

"Whoa." Your eyes snap open. Rainbow is staring upward, something of awe and admiration in her face.

"Wooooooooow," Pinkie says.

You glance at Granny, who is staring upward with tears in her eyes. You follow hers and Rainbow's gaze to see...

Green vines edged with purple curl up the height of this wall, spreading and branching to cross to other walls. You can see flashes of green and purple throughout the neighborhood, where you had seen and ignored the withering vines before.

You take a hesitant step forward, only to feel a strange pressure on your left forehoof. You look down; a black vine covered in thorns is wrapped around your leg. The seed is nowhere to be seen.

"Thank you," Granny murmurs. "I never could imagine - but thank you."

"I don't..." You shift uneasily from foot to foot. "I just thought you deserved better."

Granny looks away, perhaps to hide further tears. "You've already done so much, and I ain't one to ask for charity-"

"I don't have much money myself."

Granny laughs. "Land sakes, child, I'm not that down on my luck. You seem the type to travel, and so I wanted to know...my granddaughter went off to join the Mercykillers ages ago and I haven't seen her since. I wondered...if you see her, could you tell her Granny would like to see her one last time?"

"What's her name?" Pinkie seems thrilled by your casual question, but Rainbow seems uneasy, still. You wonder what person so hurt Rainbow that the thought of doing something nice for someone is so unnerving to her.

"Applejack," Granny says. "And you'll know her by being the stubbornest, rashest, most bullheaded pony you'll ever meet. I don't know what I can do to repay you-"

"You've done more than enough, thank you. I hope you can keep on helping your plants. Come on, girls."

Hilda is waiting for you when you return to her home. She grins at the sight of the vines wrapped around your leg.

"I can see one or two problems with the vine you've got," she says.

You wave your hoof a few times, and the vine doesn't shift. "It's not like I planned for it to get wrapped up like this."

Hilda snorted. "Well, you made it grow. I don't see why you can't make it do whatever you want.”

You sigh at the non-answer, and focus on your hoof. In a moment, the plant twists away, falling from your flesh. Hilda grabs it, frowning. “Doesn’t look useful, though. Actually, now that I see it, I think it’d make a good picture frame. Would you mind?”

You sigh and close your eyes. In a moment, the thorns are in the shape of a frame, and Hilda gives you a bright smile.

“Great!”

“Now can we-”

“Anyway, I’ve got one last thing for you to do.”

“I swear, if it involves going back to that market-”

“I need some ink from fish in the marketplace. Talk to Kossah-Jai. Now, scoot!”