//------------------------------// // Chapter 4-3: First World Yo-Kai Problems // Story: Yo-Kai Watch: The mystery of Springdale // by Tythen //------------------------------// "Ahh..." First sighed with relaxation and comfort as he soaked himself into the hot and soothing water in the Hot Springs Bathhouse. "This really is relaxing." "I must admit," Flash was next to him, " the Hot Springs Bathhouse here does indeed live up to its name. If this place were to be shut down if it were to give this service, I would riot." "Is that so?" First laughed. Nearby, Whisper and Jibanyan were also enjoying themselves as they sat, stood or floated in the hot water. "This is sooo relaxing." Whisper moaned, "I feel like all my worries and trials of being a butler has been washed away." "Whisper, how can you be affected by the water?" Jibanyan asked, "Water is a part of nature." Whisper replied, "as is the concept of temperature. Which reminds me, how can you be so fine with stepping into water, let alone hot? Are cats not good swimmers?" "I'm a Yo-Kai!" Jibanyan replied, "Hey guys," First whispered over to them, "can you quieten down a notch?" "Why should we?" Jibanyan asked, "nopony hears us anyway..." "That doesn't happen anymore. I can hear you now." First corrected, "but speaking of life, I've found something interesting..." "Such as?" "I don't know if it occurs to you, but the Yo-Kai we've befriended. It seems like the Yo-Kai itself represents a certain behaviour that it passes on to others when inspiriting them..." "Deep thinking huh?" "Hey Whisper, and Jibanyan." First asked, "is it me or are Yo-Kai like you more than just mischievous spirits inspiriting ponies to their heart's content?" "I'm afraid that is a question for you to ponder and answer yourself First." Whisper replied, "I'm not a philosopher, and I've spent 190 years sealed away from the Pony AND Yo-Kai world." "I've been a Yo-Kai for about a year or two, hanging around that good ol' intersection at the Wet Market. Meeting you and moving to your house is a rather big change in my everlasting existence." "I see then..." First sighed, "at least it will give me food for thought." After the time of hydraulic relaxation was over, First, Flash and the others were sitting down in the lounge area, happily enjoying a fresh bottle of milk. "Feels good, doesn't it?" Flash asked, "Definitely!" First replied, "washes away any worries and bad memories!" As he took a swig, he quivered at the memory of what happened in the same place and his close experience with death. "... Washes them far... Away!" "Truly!" Whisper toasted, "what do you think Jibanyan?" "A toast to that!" Jibanyan replied, holding up his bottle of milk as the two chugged away, "hey Whisper, is it me or are we feeling very happy right now?" "Why the feeling?" Whisper answered, "I'm glad that we're happy! I would hate to see somepony we know seriously in shambles and despair!" "Hey Big Bro, shouldn't Big Sis be out by now?" First asked, "We went into our respective baths at the same time, her soak should be over by now." As they continued talking, the door to the mare's bath swung open. "There you are!" First waved to a familiar orange filly who stumbled out of the bath. "What do you want?" Scootaloo rasped back, a sour, unhappy and gloomy look on her face. "Goodness me Scoots," Flash was taken aback "what in the world happened to you? It seems like you've been standing under a really dark cloud!" "I don't want to talk about it." Scootaloo sighed as she grabbed a bottle of milk from the coffee table and drained its contents in one gulp. "Why so glum sis?" First asked politely with a wide smile on his face, "you went into the most relaxing bath ever!" "Why so happy bro?" Scoots harshly rebuked, "you've went into just every other ordinary common bathtub! What's so special about it anyway?" "Hey!" Flash snapped, "what is with your attitude Scoots? Apologise straight away!" "And who are you to boss me around???" Scootaloo challenged Flash, "just because we share the same blood, does not mean you have authority over me! I am sick of you treating me like a baby and tugging me all over the place, especially bringing me here in this foreign city of Froggy Bottom Bog all thanks to your Princess flank-kissing work!" "Th-This!!!" Flash stepped back in horror and rage, preparing for a powerful backlash. First did not know what was going on, but knew he had to intervene, "Stop it both of you!" First jumped in, "this isn't the time or place to start fighting!" As the two ponies glared at their youngest sibling, both knew that he was in a sense, correct. "We shall finish this disscussion at home." Flash growled as he stormed out of the hot spring. "Sister, what is your gripe today?" First asked with the utmost care, "What is your gripe today?" Scootaloo repeated, "I've never seen you being so depressed and attempting to pick fights with anypony, least of all Big Bro!" "And I've never seen you so happy that any sense of hostility towards you just goes over your head!" "Are you inspirited???" The siblings asked each other at the same time, realising they spoke in unison, they continued speaking back, "No I'm not!" "Yes you are!" "Can you stop copying me?" "Copying you? More like talking at the same time with me!" "Hey Whisper!" The siblings spoke, "is there some Yo-Kai behind this???" "Yes to both of you!" Whisper jumped back, "and of all the luck, it's those two!" "Who is it?" "Well..." Whisper frantically flipped through the Yo-Kai Pad, "Helpful," The siblings sighed, Jibanyan quickly got a glance and memorised the names. "Scoots, you've got Dismarelda on your downtrodden tracks. And First, you've been infected by the smiling presence of Happierre!" "Oh great, why did you have to go and give away our spots?" A gloomy female voice sighed as the flightless filly miserably held out her Yo-Kai Watch to see the purple sludgy and yellow cloud Yo-Kai. "Ho ho ho!" A cheerful voice with a Prench accent replied, "thanks for spotting us out! I have need of your help!" "You mean their help." Jibanyan corrected pointing towards the siblings, "Whisper can't do anything." "Excuse you!" Whisper replied offended, "Oh great..." Scootaloo sighed, "more Yo-Kai are inspiriting me, again..." "Great! Here's two more steps to getting back home!" First cheered, "Interesting, even though we inspirit you dahlings, you still know that you've fallen under our spell." "We've been dealing with Yo-Kai ourselves." First replied, "that, and our Yo-Kai butler already told us that your inspiriting us ..." "Is zat so?" Happierre noted, "but of course! You must be those 'siblings' that every Yo-Kai has been talking about! How did I not know that you would be holding the Yo-Kai Watch?" "So the rumours have begun to spread..." Scootaloo moaned, "great, just when life couldn't get any harder." "Anyway Mr Happi and Miss Misery," First greeted, "my name is First Base, and this is my sister Scootaloo! I'm probably sure that I'm not this happy, nor is my sister not this depressed." "Pleasure to meet you!" Happierre greeted back, "Whatever." Dismarelda sighed, "If you can be so kind to stop inspiriting us," First smiled innocently and cutely, "that would be wonderful!" "I'll pass," Dismarelda shook her head, "I like inspiriting your sister and seeing her friends and family apart." "Ho ho ho!" Happierre laughed, "how can I say no?" And he released First from his possession. "Thank you very much!" First smiled back, before his face turned into an impulsive and annoyed glare. "Now why?" He growled at the Yo-Kai, taking them by surprise. "Wh-Why what?" Happierre gulped, "Why inspirit us?" "Y-You see, ma Cherie here always likes to cause trouble through inspiriting others, I've tried to stop her so many times, but she wouldn't listen. All because I fought with her." "Hmph..." Dismarelda looked away in disgust, "Ma Cherie? Are you guys... In love?" First asked, "Oui!" Happierre nodded, "husband and wife!" "Yo-Kai can get married!?" First was bewildered, "Like I repeated from before," Whisper replied, "Yo-Kai have social lives of their own. From having hobbies, to spreading gossip, to having relationships with each other." "Wow, Yo-Kai are just as modern as we are! I thought they would be old and historic and all that..." First mumbled to himself, "Curb your tongue First," Whisper fumed, "I've existed in this world longer than you'll ever have," "But um..." First picked up, "wasn't it Mr Goodsight who said that?" "Whatever..." Whisper growled in shame, "A-Anyway Mr Happi, instead of telling Miss Mis- I mean Mrs Happi to stop initiating all these fights and inspirits, why don't you actually talk with her and make up?" "I've never thought of that before!" Happierre realised, "Seriously? Are you that short-minded?" First sighed again, hoof on his face. "I'm not in the mood to talk." Dismarelda replied, "and don't call me that either." "And how long are you going to be like that?" First asked, "Probably for eternity. " Dismarelda replied, emitting a sigh of sadness. "You don't seem to happy to not talk," First replied, "I'm not just a complete blob of darkness." Dismarelda explained, "Sure, I do cause dark and hostile tensions between each ponies, but I don't want to do it all the time. Besides, every time I do it, it's going to make my poor Happierre unhappy." "You still love him, don't you?" "I do..." Dismarelda sighed, "It's just... It's just that when we fought, we were on very dire terms against each other and after that, what's the point of love? What's the point of a relationship? It would just be better if we were alone." "Well, at least I don't have to hear a long back-story," First sighed in relief, "no offence." "None taken," "But listen," First replied, and he took a deep breath before he began. "Life is full of surprises, it's ups and downs, it's motivations and it's trials. But there are many ways to pass through them. Perseverance, Balance, Wisdom, and many other virtues. The most important however, is Friendship or Love. If everypony was estranged from each other, then what would happen to our world? The Princesses will be against each other, mare and colt will divorce, and there won't be anymore ponies that would be happy!" "So what? I don't care about what happens to ponies..." "The same goes for Yo-Kai! I think..." "Don't care for them either..." "Okay then..." First sighed, "then look at it this way, love is very valuable, because there is the chance that it can be taken away forcibly or just life itself." "Really? And is there anypony who has that?" "You're talking to one, and you're inspiriting the other." First replied, "You guys?" Happierre asked, "Yeah... Our parents... Well, I don't know a lot about my father, he died a short while after Scoots and I were born, and my mother would never stop crying. They had a common sense of justice, service and loyalty to the Royal family, but she had always loved Dad so much, as he loved her back. The same goes for their children, and to us, our parents." "Listen, I'm not really interested in--" "Then my mom died of a broken heart a month after that." First interrupted, "it just left the three of us all alone, as orphans. A few years later living what what we just had, Big Bro joined the Guard to follow after our parents' hoofsteps. It was just us, our caretakers, and our friends. The biggest source of love that we cherished the most, was gone." "..." Dismarelda kept silent. "Our brother's love is close to what we have for our parents. He may not be the most interesting pony, but he's all we have, and he really is a caring brother. Your relationship with Happierre is really important. Though troubles may come between both of you, never, ever, split apart. That's my only word to you as somepony who has experienced how precious love can be, and how easy it is to be taken." "..." Happierre stayed silent, "I'm sorry if I bored or troubled you all with this story." First finished, "You really did, a lot." Dismarelda spoke, "but... I understand." "Ma Cherie." Happierre held his wife's hands, "I am truly sorry for my words, and my projective and commanding behaviour. Can you find it in you to forgive me?" "Oh my dear sweet honey..." Dismarelda sighed, "I'm really sorry too. Forgive me for my fighting." All at once, Happierre's yellow and cheerful aura, combined with the dark purple and gloomy aura of Dismarelda and dissipated into nothing but clear air. "What happened here?" First looked around, "It seems that Happierre's Happy energy works in tandem with Dismarelda's Unhappy energy to negate each other out, creating a balance of emotions." Whisper analysed, "Little Brother?" What once was a frustrated and depressed Scootaloo suddenly looked at First with a face of guilt. "Are you okay sis?" "I'm... I'm sorry for what I have said to you... And brother..." Scootaloo replied, "and like before, the words spoken from my mouth, it really is what I feel from my heart. Dismarelda just allowed me to say it out." "Sis, I understand you mean no ill-will to the me or the Yo-Kai." First comforted, "but you have said nothing of offence to me. The real pony you need to apologise to is--" "Big Brother." Scootaloo sighed, tears running down her face. "I know." "Scoots, remember that it's just us and him, as our own family." First continued, "our friends are far away, and we have trouble making friends here too." "So there's no use of galloping away." Scootaloo answered, "like Happierre and Dismarelda, I'll have to make up with him." Back at the Sentry House, Flash was sitting on the couch, pondering the words coming from his younger sister at the Hot Spring. "Kissing the Princesses' Flanks, never heard that one before..." Flash chuckled to himself, "but Springdale being Froggy Bottom Bog? Think again Scoots, stop acting like a filly." "Flash." A warm voice came from the entrance of the house. Scootaloo looked at her brother with a very firm face. "Shall we continue this discussion?" "Very well." Flash nodded, "care to start?" "What I said was out of order, but it was what I truly thought at the time. I'm sorry for mocking your duty, and I am a fool to say that Springdale was Froggy Bottom Bog when it clear as sky that the place we live in is Springdale." "..." Flash stayed silent, "I know that you've tried your best in trying to keep us together after all these years, and I know you've been trying to maintain your job in order for us to survive, and I know how much your duty and devotion to the Princesses are important to you as they were important to our parents..." "Not another word," Flash snapped, "perhaps you may be right after all. I have been too devoted to the Royal Family, I never had enough time for both of you." "Flash..." "I promise to both of you, that I will work my hardest, in order for us to return to Ponyville, to be reunited with your friends." "... I promise..." Scootaloo nodded, determination once again, flaring in her eyes "And I'll do my best." "So will I!" First piped up, "Come here both of you." Flash opened his hooves, and his younger siblings embraced in a hug. "Don't worry..." Flash comforted, "as long as I'm alive, I will carry the duty of being a Royal Guard, but even more, the duty of being a Brother." As night falls, Scootaloo, First, Whisper and Jibanyan looked out of the window of their bedroom, gazing at the starry night that covers the residential area. "We'll do our best right?" Scootaloo asked, "just as Flash is doing the same." "Of course sis," First nodded, "we'll always do our best." "You'll have my support!" Whisper saluted, "for my master and for Yo-Kai Kind!" "And I'll help you too!" Jibanyan added, "because that's what friends are for!" "Heh..." Scootaloo smiled as she thought to the meeting of Nate, Katie, Bear, Eddie and all her classmates, "maybe making friends wouldn't be so hard after all." "..." First was moving the medals of Dismarelda and Happierre around his hoof. "Happierre, Dismarelda... Whisper and Jibanyan... And every Yo-Kai... You share the sorrows and experiences that Ponies do in this magic called life. I am starting to believe, that your existence is more than being mere supernatural beings..."