//------------------------------// // New Faces (scrapped) // Story: Two Roomies and their Pest // by Vrilix //------------------------------// The following is an attempt at redesigning the device. Take note that prose and narration may differ from the preceding notes. She placed down the mug of coffee with her magic, and looked back at her coltfriend. “Did you hear about the professor? There’s been some talk as to how he had a nervous breakdown last week. It’s apparently not a good idea to have the extremely narcissistic professor read through the transcript that doesn’t even contain his name.” He curled out his wings and arched his back, attempting to rid himself of the back ache that had been troubling him for hours. “No, I haven’t. What happened to him?” She walked over to him and brought a hoof down at a specific point on his back, instantly releasing all of the pent up pressure. “Well he was lecturing the trio on their misuse of the device, blaming them for all of the flaws he had created. I also heard something about them not even knowing what it was meant to do, but that’s irrelevant. The interesting part was when he got the genius idea of attacking the mare when she gave out a sarcastic remark.” He got back up from the floor he’d fallen down onto moments before. “Genius? How? Also, what did she say to make him attack in the first place?” “Well you see Note, it wasn’t exactly what she said, it was the way she said it. Apparently she was expressing her deepest condolences towards the professor in a sarcastic way. And my use of the word ‘genius’ was equally sarcastic. Would it be sufficient to mention the fact that the wolf was present when it happened?” She helped him brush of the dust that had settled on his stomach when he fell down onto the ground. Note used his wings to balance his positing on his hind legs, allowing both himself and his partner to brush off the dust easily. “The wolf? Are you referring to Silver Nychthemeron?” She helped him get down on all fours again and brushed a lone patch of dust that had settled on his wing. “Yeah, I’m referring to that guy. Also, I’m pretty sure you pronounced his name wrong. But do you see where I’m going with this?” Note walked back to the table they’d been sitting at moments earlier, and sat down on his beloved chair. “I pronounced it wrong? Well then professor, how is it supposed to be said then? While you’re at it why don’t you tell me what it means? I can’t say I’ve heard it anywhere else. And no, I don’t see where you’re going with this, Cypher.” Cypher sat down next on her own chair and pulled the mug back to the table. “It’s pronounced nɪkˈθɛmərɒn. And from what I know it’s a period of 24 hours. Most, if not all of the nordic countries use this word regularly, albeit it being very different. And if you’re wondering where I’m going with this, why don’t you tell me how the relationship between Silver and Amethyst is going?” Note pulled out the books he needed for his work and flipped through one of them, trying to find a specific page. “Geez, just how much time do you spend learning foreign languages? And as for why I didn’t tell you where that relationship is going, then it’s because I have no idea. Doesn’t she just feed him magic-grown meat every now and then? It seems to be some weird obsession of hers.” Cypher pulled out her own books, giggling all the while. “You know nothin’ Note Snow. I suppose it is to be expected when your name is only partly related to your work. That last part isn’t very helpful. And she’s not just feeding him. She’s also paying for his spa sessions.” Note burst out laughing, dropping all of his books. “Spa sessions?! You’re telling me that the brutish wolf goes to the spa? This is hilarious!” Cypher raised an eyebrow at that, lowering her books slightly. “Brutish wolf? Hilarious? Why don’t you say those things in front of him and see what happens?” His laughing stopped abruptly, much to the amusement of Cypher. “You’re asking me to insult a wolf in person? Don’t you think I value my life?” he asked, picking up his books. Cypher placed her books back on the table and turned in her chair to face Note directly. “I don’t think you understand my point here. This guy is in a foreign country that’s far too warm for him to thrive. You never thought it was weird that he’s just lying around sleeping all day?” Note placed his books back on the table, ensuring that they wouldn’t be disturbed any further during their conversation. “The guy’s lazy. It’s not weird that he’s sleeping all day.” Cypher stared at Note for 30 seconds, allowing a silence to spread throughout the room. The only sound that resonated between them was the occasional sipping of coffee on Note’s part. In the end Cypher had had enough, and broke the silence. “Just how ignorant are you? Wolves doesn’t have a coat, they have fur. They can’t properly operate in Equestria. The only reason this dude is still alive is because he’s constantly napping. These ‘hilarious’  spa sessions you laughed at are the only reason he’s still energetic.” Note got down from his chair and walked over to the window in the corner, intending to open it. “Energetic? Yeah sure, the guy who’s napping eight hours a day is energetic. I completely agree with you.” He brought the curtains out to the sides and checked if anything was placed on the window ledge. “I mean, it’s not like he’s ever doing anything right? All I’ve seen him do is leech off of the others.” He grabbed the few items on the window ledge and put them down on the floor. “And when he’s actually pulling himself together long enough to be ‘active,’ he’s either scaring one of the Browns halfway to death, or building up romantic tension on his supposed partner, only to kick her in the guts.” He checked if he’d tied the curtains to the wall and opened the window. “Despite all of this, you still seem incredibly fond towards this guy. Why are you so thrilled at the prospect of a wolf leeching off of others and generally just being a big douchebag?” Note then found himself suspended in the air by magic, unable to move. He was then pulled over to the mare he’d been talking to up until now, and was placed in a position that allowed him to hear and see her speak. Cypher ensured she had establish eye contact, and then leaned in towards Note. “I’m not fond of the wolf, Note. I think he’s an interesting character, but that’s about it. An interest. Even if I had any feelings towards him that went beyond that, I’d be too late, as the red mare is with him.” She acted shocked, and allowed sarcasm to show its face in the tone of her voice. “And it’s not like this is the entire reason we’re talking about him, is it? The fact that she’s with him, and that it could be related to something I said earlier?” Cypher leaned back in her chair, breaking the eye contact and falling back in her regular way of speaking. “But seeing as how we’re already talking about him, I don’t feel like changing the subject until I’ve debunked a few of those things we’ve said just now.” Cypher was about to open her mouth once again, but muffled screams from Note alerted her to the fact that she was strangling him. Half a second later Note had a firsthoof encounter with gravity, who then pulled him face-down into the floor. Cypher once again reached out with her magic, but this time she only helped him into a standing position. “He’s not leeching off of them, he’s actually paying for everything that he gets. If you actually went out to speak with them, or watch them go about their business instead of just reading the chapters, you’d see him complain about Amethyst constantly buying him food. It’s just that she buys it for him when he’s asleep.” Note walked over to the chair and sat down in it. Despite momentarily being cut off from oxygen, he still had enough air left in his lungs to speak, albeit briefly. “But what of his douchebagginess?” Cypher sighed deeply, allowing her pent up frustrations to show on her face. “He’s not a douchebag. He just has a particularly dark sense of humor. He adapts it to whoever he’s speaking to, but when it’s all written down, somepony is bound to be offended.” Glancing at Cypher, Note leaned further back in his chair. “Aha. You seem to know so much about him, but why would Amethyst be so interested in him? Obviously he’s been trying to woo her to get her to pay for his expenses. I can understand the whole part about him having enough of that, and wanting to pay for himself, but how did it start?” Cypher then copied Note, and leaned back in her chair as well. “You think he somehow seduced her, and had her buy him food that way? Doesn’t that seem sorta illogical?” Note raised an eyebrow at that, surprised at that last sentence. “Yes, I do think he seduced her. But why do you find that illogical?” Cypher abruptly sat upright, turning in the chair to face Note. “You’re telling me you don’t know? You don’t know how they first met?” Note kept his eyebrow in its raised position, allowing his confusion to linger on his face. “I thought they first met when they showed up at this experiment? I knew that she had known Brown for years, but didn’t she just meet Silver?” Cypher reached out with her magic and brought the mug up to her mouth. After sipping for a few seconds, she placed the mug back down on the table. “While it’s true that the first time they met each other was at the experiment, they’ve known each other longer than that. Well, they’ve known of each other at least. In fact, they could have met earlier, but one of them would always have been unconscious in some way, so I doubt it qualifies.” Note dropped his eyebrows back down and rubbed his eyes in frustration. “Why don’t you just get to the point? Why not just answer my question already and get back to the topic at hoof? We’ve come all the way to the point of the personal relationships of these two because we talked about the professor. Let’s get this over with and just get back to work!” Cypher smiled at that and leaned back in her chair. “I agree, we’ve been out on a tangent for far too long. I’ll make this quick. Silver somehow got lost a couple of years ago and somehow ended up just around Ponyville during a blizzard. Due to him being a wolf, he didn’t have to worry about freezing. But he quickly met someone who did. Miles away from any type of shelter, a filly was collapsed in a pile of snow.” Note was about to ask who the filly was but the wave of a hoof stopped him. “He knew the filly was dying, but he also knew she was too far off for him to bring her in somewhere. He didn’t know anything about first aid, so he didn’t possess any means of helping her. The only thing he had was his own fur. So, he walked in above her, and fell down on top of her. This allowed heat to return to her body, as well as allowing it to stay there.” Cypher then started smiling from ear to ear, amused by the turn of events in the story. “Being as lazy as he is, he quickly fell asleep, despite the blizzard hurling around him. When the town’s inhabitants cleared away the snow next morning, they were surprised to find a wolf sleeping on top of the filly who had been lost for days.” Cypher got up from her chair and walked over the open window. “Ever since then, the family of that filly have paid for his core needs. If he had to pay for the medical bills for some injury he got while sleeping, they’d pay. If he had to pay for some pillow he ruined while sleeping, they’d pay. If he had to pay for some food he ate because he got hungry while sleeping, they’d pay. If he accidentally ruined some statue because he was lying on it while sleeping, they’d pay.” Cypher closed the window and turned around to face Note who was still lying in his chair. “So you can see, he’s not a slob at all! He’s very active!” Note looked back at her, doubt painted on his face. “That doesn’t sound very active to me. Also, what’s up with Amethyst and Silver then? I get the whole respect because he saved her cousin or whatever, but why are they so close?” Cypher walked back towards Note her chair and sat down in it. “She hates her parents and wants a valid way to spend it without looking like a dweeb. And he wants free food. So they’re literally just lying around all day, eating and sleeping.” Note briefly considered sitting upright and use powerful body language with what he was about to say, but decided to continue lying down. “They’re greedy and slothful then? This sounds like something somepony might add in as two out of seven sins in some holy book in some foreign country.” Cypher got comfy in her chair, and pulled at her books with her magic. “Nah, it sounds a lot more like something somepony might add into some religion so that some local populace who couldn’t read some book might follow some principles of some book so that some priests might retain power over some king.” Note, remembering a specific passage from the second chapter, abruptly sat upright in his chair, shock wildly visible on his face. “But in the second ‘chapter’, Silver was surprised at Amethyst’s family’s wealth. How would he be surprised at her identity if he already knew she was from the Rose family?” Cypher flipped through the pages of the books hovering in front of her face, too lazy to use her hooves. “I don’t know, blame it on the device being broken. If nothing else you can just seek out Silver sometime he’s not busy getting fed by Amethyst, sleeping, getting massaged by Amethyst or basically doing whatever with Amethyst.” Note looked at her wildly confused, much to the amusement of Cypher. She in turn, didn’t even bother to move her eyes to look at him. “I think he’s all booked out with Amethyst. Good luck with asking him to explain that part to you.” Note sat back in his chair, hoping to get back in his comfortable position. “I don’t care anymore. Oh well, now that we sorta got their backstories in place, why don’t you tell me why this is related to the genius factor on the professor's decision to attack Amethyst?” Cypher stopped flipping through the book, and turned her head to the left to observe her partner. “Amethyst and Silver are in a weird relationship. It could be that they’re doing it to use up her family fortune whilst feeding him. It could be that they’re doing it to pass the time. It could also be to show society the error of looking down upon trans-species relationships. Or they could be, you know, dating or something.” Note, finally realizing what she meant by all of this, lit up with excitement. “Oh! So you were sarcastic when you described his decision to attack Amethyst as ‘genius!’ He got the living shit beat out of him by Silver!” Cypher smiled at her partner finally realizing what she had been talking about all along. “Twice.” Note got up from his chair and approached the device in the corner of the room. “Hey, it looks like it’s working again. So far it’s printed out about six pages of our dialogue. Should I turn it off?” Cypher returned to flipping through pages, albeit sipping coffee this time. “Yeah, go ahead.” Note leaned in towards the device and brought his hoof up towards the button that turned it on and off. “Alright, I’m turning it off no-- ***