//------------------------------// // Injuries & Inquiries // Story: Two Roomies and their Pest // by Vrilix //------------------------------// Amethyst’s point of view The first thing I felt in the morning was a horrible headache, followed by the feeling of snug, warm fur keeping my back at a nice, cozytemperature. “Silver, get off of me!” What followed was a lot of commotion that only succeeded in making my headache even worse. After a while, we realized that none of us had the will or strength to yell at each other much longer, so we ended up sitting at the dining table, drinking equestrian tea. We silently agreed to sit at the end of the table, furthest away from the window, as the sunlight scorched our eyes. It was here that we sat, trying our best to ignore each other and the position we had woken up in. After five minutes of roaring silence, Silver put down his cup and looked me in the eyes. “We didn’t do anything… right?” “Of course not, we would’ve been able to feel that. Knowing your kind we’d be sore all over,” I quickly replied. Hearing that last sentence, Silver cringed, obviously worried. “You’re not sore, are you? There’s a chance your sense of pain is cut off.” “Cut off?” I began, “what are you talking about? There’s no way that could happen, especially not now!” As if to emphasize my point, I brought my hooves out at the word “now.” Pouring himself another cup of equestrian tea, Silver explained his previous statement. “A hit to the head could send your body into shock, preventing you from feeling pain. I thought you knew of this, it’s basic biology.” Emphasizing his point, at the word “biology” he established eye contact as he set the equestrian tea kettle down on the table. Annoyed that I had forgotten something as simple as that, I turned my face around, looking away. Doing this as quickly as I did, I brought back what little of my headache the tea had removed. Furthermore, I also placed my head in a position that exposed my eyes to the sunlight, blinding myself. Feeling the pain in my head and eyes, I lowered my head down until it was mere inches from the table, and covered my eyes with my hooves. “Urgh, it doesn’t feel like I’m in shock!” Giggling, Silver brought his teacup up to his mouth and chugged it down, scorching his throat. “Arfflh! My moutwh!” Silver jumped up, tripping on the edge of the table, sending him into a position on his stomach. He landed next to me. We remained in our respective positions for a few moments, trying to overcome the pain in silence. The only sound to pierce the silence was the few chirping bird just outside the window. “Am’,” Silver began, “promise me that we’ll never speak of this again.” Removing my hooves from my eyes, I turned my head to see Silver standing in an upright position, rubbing his eyes. His appearance was unchanged, except for a few major differences: One of his paws he kept above the ground, presumably the one he had just hurt on the table. His legs were bruised and the color had changed. Instead of the usual grey, they had taken on a darker, red color. I wondered what could’ve changed the color so, but then I realized that I was staring at dried blood. I was obviously in pain, but what Silver felt must’ve been far worse. Worried about the health of my friend, I lifted my gaze upwards to see what else might plague him. His sides were relatively unchanged, except for a couple of bruises, but it was his back that had taken the most damage. The first thing I  noticed was the state of his fur. Instead of the usual soft and grey fur that Silver prided himself on, I was greeted by the sight of a dry coat of dust and hair. His entire back was covered in dirt, as if he had been thrown onto a wall with great force. The next thing I noticed about the back was the back itself. Instead of its normal slender shape, it was jagged and rough. It was still intact and he hadn’t broken anything, but from the looks of it his muscle had contracted, refusing to move about freely. Letting my gaze continue it’s path, I ended up looking directly at his face, only to see him looking right back at me. “It’s not blood my legs are covered in, if that’s what you think,” he said, interrupting my thoughts. “W-what?” I stammered, surprised to hear him speak. Moving back to the chair, he sat down, reaching out for the kettle. “I saw you stare at my legs as if you’d seen a ghost. You must have thought it was blood or something. It’s not.” Confused, I sat up properly in the chair, reaching out for my tea. “If it’s not blood, then what is it?” Bringing the cup up to my mouth, I was surprised to feel hot tea enter my mouth. I was certain that my tea would be cold after zoning out on Silver for a minute or two. “If you’re wondering about your tea,” he began, putting the kettle back on it’s stand, “then that’s me. I poured you a new cup.” Taken back by this act, I looked up at him with a puzzled expression. “But I thought I already had tea, it was half full when you fell.” Bringing the teacup up to his mouth, Silver continued. “Yes, but who said you stopped drinking it?” He sipped at the tea. “While you were staring at me, carefully examining every wound on my body, who’s to say that I didn’t the same to you? “You sure looked worried, staring at me like that. It would appear that you haven’t seen simple injuries like this before, but don’t worry about it; I’ve been through much worse than this. We greywolves are a lot sturdier than you might think. The ‘blood’ on my legs is nothing but dried up hot sauce. I’ve no idea how it got there, but it’s harmless. “And as for the jagged back, don’t worry about it, it’s an old injury. It was a family dinner gone wrong, I’ve learned to live with it a long time ago. And as for the dirt on my back? It’s from your roof. “Just above the spot we slept, there’s a giant dent in the ceiling, as if something, or someone was thrown up into it. That someone was probably me. Oh, and you drank the tea by the time you moved up to my back.” “But how did you refill my cup of tea without me noticing? For you to do so you had to move, and I should’ve seen that. For Celestia’s sake, I was staring at you!” I said, gesticulating as I did so. Hearing me say that, Silver leaned in over the table and looked me right in the eyes. “You want to know how I did it?” “Yes!” I exclaimed, angered by his question. “The explanation is…”he started. He made held a deliberate pause, carefully watching me as he did so. Throughout all of the pause he kept the same teasing smile plastered onto his face. If I wasn’t so curious I would’ve smacked it right off of his face. He opened his mouth again, about to say something. “...aliens.” “FOR PETE’S SAKE!” I yelled, jumping up as I did so. *** As of right now, I don’t remember much of what happened yesterday during our little drinking game. But, there is one thing that I remember clearly about the events that transpired during our little game during those late hours of the night. Well, it was the closer to the evening than the night; in fact I doubt it was past 10 PM when we passed out, but that’s not the point I’m trying to get across right now. What I’m trying to tell you relates to the entire reason we began drinking in the first place. I knew from experience that greywolves could be a little closed up to foreigners. So in order for him to open up, I had to get him drunk, or at least drinking. When we entered the apartment I noticed that he wasn't exactly paying as much attention as he used to. I used his “absence” to make it look like I was trying to seduce him, but that was just a cover. I wanted him to get the impression that I was a cheerful pony who had two sides to my personality. A persona that was pulled down on my face whenever I was outside, and the persona I became when I was inside. While this is true to some extent, it’s not precisely the truth either. My family taught me to have everypony where I needed them, even if it meant lying to my friends. It might feel like I’m deceiving everypony - and technically I am - but I’m maintaining a state of control that will benefit me in the end. Time and time again I’m on the verge of a mental breakdown. Somehow I always manage to steer away from that with a major distraction. The latest of those distractions was to take an unusual pairing of roommates consisting of a pony and a grey wolf and then link them up on a date. This was such a surreal situation that I was forced to act like myself. There was no earlier experience like this, so I could not act based on a previous memory. So all of these weird and abnormal actions and events are nothing but vacations to me. This is something I love immensely. But to everypony else, it looks like this is who I am. And in a way, they’re right. So when somepony - no, someone saw through that lie, I was caught off guard. My motive for living like this in the first place is to have a clear understanding of everypony around me. So when he comes along and moves around the filters I’ve placed around everypony, I can’t comprehend him. He is so different from everything I’ve ever faced before that the very act of talking with him is chaotic. I can’t read him like I can everypony else, and the only preparations I have with him are the memories of our previous conversations. Normally I could use the person's natural movements as well, but he is so far away from his natural habitat that I can’t do this. His fur heats him up to a temperature that is so uncomfortable that he has to stay around colder areas all day. His diet consists of meat, meaning he has to move way beyond his comfort-zone just to allow the ponies around him to stay within their own. He is thrown off balance to the point that he can’t see where he’s going with his life. I can’t see his goals or motives for being here, but I have a very clear understanding of his reasons behind all of his actions. All of this is just a complicated way of explaining why I’m incapable of knowing what he’s going to say ahead of time. I can’t predict his actions beyond the point that he needs a shower as well as some meat every day. Just being around him is a bliss, as I momentarily experience the world like everypony else. Thanks to Silver, I can attend this academy without having to plan out all of these ridiculous events just to stay sane. If I can get close to him, my chances of mental survival at this school will grow exponentially. So how do I get him to bond? I initially wanted to attempt a good old fashioned seduction, but then I realized a fatal flaw in that strategy. He’s not a pony, so he’s not naturally going to be attracted to my species. It’s not that interspecies relationships are anything new, but those who end up dating another species don’t do it spontaneously. They’ve known the other party for a long time before they’ll see each other in a romantic fashion. So for me to seduce him, I’m going to need a strong friendship in place - but if I had that I wouldn’t need to seduce him. Sadly, I realized this too late for me to change it completely, as that would seem suspicious. I tried to make up some excuse for the flirting I had thrown his way, but my mind was completely blank. This meant that my mouth began speaking on its own. And unfortunately for me it was only halfway into the sentence that I managed to reestablish control of my vocal cords. The sentence that came out could be illustrated with a tree: a tree with roots in truth and fruits in deception. I don’t remember exactly how it went, but the sentence stated that my family prevented me from living a normal life, so I would set up all of these dates to experience love. On one side it’s true. My family prevents me from living a normal life, and I do set up these dates to experience love. But I set them up for something far greater than love. I want to experience the full plethora of emotions completely unhindered without any restrictions, as it’s the only hole in the rules my family had given me. So Silver was right and wrong at the same time. On the way back he noticed that I made many attempts at acquiring his attention. In other words, I flirted. I did this because I had just met someone I couldn’t read, so I wanted to experience flirting, which I knew most ponies around my age love beyond belief. When we arrived at my apartment he was absentminded for some reason. I used this to my advantage. I tried to give him the idea that I was trying to seduce him, in an attempt to explain my earlier flirting. I realize that I’ve been explaining this for quite some time, so now I’m going to attempt making a summary of all of the variables and constants in the equation. I live an unusual life that causes me to understand everypony around me, effectively allowing me to predict everypony. This means I cannot live a normal life and enjoy the bliss of ignorance. Then Silver comes along who I cannot predict. With Silver, I can experience the thrill of a normal life. I set him up on a date with his roommate for the sole purpose of cooling him down as well as feeding him. With him in a prime condition, I had to dispose of Brown. With Brown gone I could talk to Silver, and experience a normal life. In my excitement I ended up spilling a few bold lies, and he quickly realized that something was going on. I came up with the suggestion that we should go back to my apartment so that I could explain everything. On the way there however, new problems arrived. My big mouth took over once again, but it seemed like he didn’t pay attention. I couldn’t risk the possibility of him remembering the flirt, so I had to play on it to explain the questions he posed to me. When he finally “woke up”, I was in the process of a fake seduction. It was my theory that he would see through it and come to the conclusion that I needed fake love to endure everyday life. Lying, I told him that this was the truth behind everything I had done to him. With this out of the way, I now had the possibility of bonding with him. With my knowledge of Canisbergan culture, I deduced that the best strategy to acquire a friendship was through a drinking game. I jokingly asked if we could share our life-stories over a drink. Surprisingly he agreed. And then I woke up with him on top of me the following day, along with a blank memory of the preceding day. Well done Amethyst Star, well done. *** “Did you say something Am’?” Silver said, bringing me back to Equestria. I realized that we were sitting in the couch, lazily relaxing in each other’s embrace. “What?” Silver lifted his head from the cushion, and looked down on me. “I’m pretty sure you said something, but I couldn’t hear what it was. It sounded a little like, ‘Well done.’ Why did you say that?” “Dammit, I’ve endangered my only chance to experience the luxury that is a normal life. I need to change the subject somehow. What subject did we talk about yesterday? What happened yesterday anyway?” Deep in thought, I failed to notice that I had been looking up at Silver for about a minute. When realization dawned on me, I pulled back, blushing. “Uh, I don’t know. My mind is all dazy, it could be related to last night. What happened yesterday anyways?” At the word “anyways”, I put on a fake smile, trying my best to change the subject. Silver stayed in the same position, looking down at me. After doing this for a brief moment, Silver grinned, showing off his fangs. “You’re not very hard to read Am’. You’re lying here your couch with a complete stranger, muttering the words ‘well done’. After I asked you about those words, you said they might be related to last night. And you said this with a flushed expression on your face. So really, you’re saying that by seducing a stranger to the point of snuggling, your job was ‘well done’. I know that you ponies are all about the magic of friendship, but you’ve been overly hospitable. Surely you’ve had some ulterior motives to this. Perhaps that hidden motive could be a little bit of love?” At the last word, Silver tilted his head to the side and giggled. “W-what...” I began, “I’m not-” Silver interrupted me with a hearty laugh, tears forming in his eyes. “Well, if you really aren’t trying to seduce me as I suggested, then why are you lying here, snuggled up with me?” The entire sentence was slightly incoherent, as he never stopped laughing. I tried stepping down onto the floor, as denying affections while snuggled up seemed counterproductive. But I couldn’t get down on the floor, as my hind legs were locked up between his. “Well, for starters, I-” I was cut off by the sound of my door being thrown open, and the sight of a brown mare galloping into my apartment. She looked familiar, but I couldn’t put a name to her. I was about to ask her, but I never got a chance to do so, as she cut me off before I even opened my mouth. “Where’s the wolf who beat up my little brother?!”