Through the Skin of my Teeth

by Etherdrone

4 - Argue For and Against

The day started unusually and painfully slowly. The continuously increasing rays of sunlight beamed through the leaves of the trees and bathed the landscape of Equestria like soft strokes of a paintbrush, bringing the usual breath of life upon the roof of Sweet Apple Acres.

With the rise of the sun, the farm was awaken by the crow of the roosters, setting the gears of work back in motion for another day of honest, hard labor. The Apple Family's routine was the same as always in the morning... Get up, make food, eat and then go straight to work. No dillydallying whatsoever.

However, Applejack's routine seemed to come to a strange little twist that particular morning...

“Hello there, Applejack! Good morning! 'Tis a lovely day, is it not?”

For the first face she saw that didn't belong to her family was that of the gray wolf Sillabus, standing outside the house with a rather wide, drowsy grin slapped across his face.

“Uh... Howdy,” she greeted him while pausing for a second, analyzing him from top to bottom. “Well, yer up awful early.”

“Oh, don't mind that,” he replied with a small, dismissing gesture, still keeping the same cheerfully drowsy aura about him. “What matters is that today is the day for you and me! To work, and maybe even work some more! Repaying debts, and all that wonderful plethora of other things Ponies and Wolves like you and I do in our useful, meaningful lives!”

Applejack stepped backwards slightly in stunned bewilderment, contemplating his rather odd behavior with skeptically worried eyes.

“Excuse me?”

“Oh, nothing! Please, let us not waste our precious time indulging ourselves in such minor things, Applejack,” he said while once again, dismissing her question with a small gesture from his arms. “We have much to do, yes? Let's get to it!”

The golden-maned pony let go a heavy sigh as he turned around and started to happily walk towards the deposit at the back of the house, almost as if he was dancing. She followed him without saying a word, figuring she would only find frustration if she tried to say anything.

Without too much of a hassle, they collected the apple baskets and brought small wagons with them this time, figuring that since Rainbow Dash wasn't there to get in the way again, progress in the harvest would be much better than before. The wolf looked like he was having the time of his life as he placed the small baskets inside the wagons and helped Applejack - who was still gazing at the wolf in silence - carry them all the way to the orchard.

And so it happened. The Earth Pony found this little trek to end up being eerily quick, as it didn't take long before they found themselves in a rather familiar situation as two days ago; surrounded by trees surrounded by baskets and empty wagons alike.

“Well! Up we go...!” the wolf exclaimed in excitement as he resumed climbing the closest tree and shaking the branches one by one, punching and slapping the stubborn apples to the baskets below. The Earth Pony watched with interest as he finished up the tree and climbed his way down, darting another glance towards her with a strange, drowsy energy. “Hmm? What's the matter? Is there something on my face?”

“...Ah'm not goin' anywhere, ya know.”

Beat.

Her words removed all of the drowsy energy away from his face so quickly it was eery, like they were a brutal slap to the face. The Earth Pony opened her eyes in shock as he let go a massive sigh, looking at the grass with extremely stressed eyes, almost like he had no sleep at all last night. His physiognomy turned absolutely horrible as he rose his face towards her, the sunken sockets that she guessed were his eyes flaring impetuously at hers.

“Thanks. I appreciate it.”

“W-What the hay?!” she exclaimed loudly as he groggily slapped a nearby apple on the grass, making it roll around with no real target. “What's gotten into you?”

“Nothing.”

“Don't go it's nothin' on me now, not after makin' that face 'o yers, mister!” she forced her voice towards him with impact, making him raise an extremely distressed face, sitting on the grass and crossing his arms in complaint. “Yer lookin' like you just swallowed a bunch 'o rotten apples! What are ye so saddlesore about?”

“...”

He stood there in silent contemplation as they just traded looks of absolute incredulity, the image of one another fixed in their own orbits.

“You already said what was it that was bothering me. Are you asking me why just to be nice?”

“Ah'm askin' you why 'cuz there's no way ah can do anythin' about it if you don't tell me what the hay is the problem in the first place!”

“...Makes sense,” he replied without any kind of interest or energy in his voice whatsoever. His tone made Applejack feel a nerve on the back of her head heat up. “I'd guess you leaving me alone here yesterday without saying anything would be a first step towards what the hay would be going on, apparently.”

“Figures,” she rebuked with a rather unusual and forceful tone. “Though ah have to wonder why you keep bringin' it up! Ah didn't think it would bother you that much!”

“What makes you feel that it did? All I've done was make sure it didn't happen again! If you planned on going somewhere today, for example, at least I'd be warned about it! It doesn't hurt to be prepared, does it?”

“Well, ah'm glad you were so prepared, then! Though it's weird that you get so prissy over this! Why did you even bother makin' this such a big fuss? You found a way to kill time yesterday, anyways!”

“What...? I didn't find anything!!”

“Oh, so what do ya call what you'n Apple Bloom were doin' yesterday?” the Earth Pony claimed in a rather accusatory tone, making a nerve on the back of the head of the wolf heat up. “Ye clearly had so much time free in yer paws I bet ya couldn't wait to just find somethin' to spend time on!”

“She practically dragged me around like a toy! Do you think that I followed her around out of my free will?”

“Ah think so, yes! If not, you wouldn't be annoyin' me about leavin' you alone here! Yer must have been SUPER bored, Sillabus! So bored you had to find somethin' else to do, right? Ye couldn't wait to get somethin' done, couldn't ya?”

“I don't have to do ANYTHING other than repaying my debts! Everything else does not matter! Do you think I'm playing a game, here?”

“Ah think yer blowin' way too much steam for no real reason!! Stop pushing yer stuff over others before you start getting' on my nerves, do ya understand me?”

Sillabus stopped talking, as if his tongue was suddenly cut off. He took a quick, silent gasp muffled by the rustle of the grass, swaying calmly at the wind as it suddenly resumed its flow through the fields of Sweet Apple Acres.

His jaw hang agape for a few broken seconds as he sat on the grass, looking absolutely stunned. The Earth Pony rose an eyebrow, still feeling that nerve on the back of her head pulse, constantly reminding her of the feeling of irritation.

“I'm...” he silently voiced as he rose a paw to his head. “I'm forcing this over...?”

Applejack stood at attention, slightly raising a hoof from the ground in wonder.

“What didja say?”

“Forcing it? T-This,” he slowly stumbled over his own tongue, almost talking in a language that Applejack could not understand. “I am forcing you to accept me repaying you?”

“That's what it's feelin' like, if you ask me!”

The wolf's eyes sunk into their sockets like the life was sucked out of them. He breathed in slowly as he rose his face to look Applejack right in the eye, who was still standing strong on her ground like a predator, glaring fiercely at him. He stood there in silence for what felt like minutes, and as soon as Applejack blinked, he rose his frame from the grass.

“What?” the pony asked in an authoritative tone as his eyes made contact with hers again.

“You're right.”

“...Pardon?”

“I said you are right,” he repeated with a strange growl to his voice that Applejack rose an eyebrow to. “I'm forcing it. The way I'm supposed to be repaying you, this...commitment I'm asking of you. You're right, I shouldn't do this. I'm sorry.”

She threw another confused glance at the wolf, who now stood up without any trace left of that strange drowsy energy he displayed in the morning. The image of that wolf now seemed like an odd ghost in Applejack's eyes as she accompanied his frame for a minute, watching him trying miserably to climb a tree, only to fail repeated times.

“Sillabus? What the hay are you doin'?”

“...Picking apples.”

“Ah can see that!” she remarked with an unnaturally sarcastic quip, still scowling at the wolf fiercely. “But why'd you jus' turn yer back like this? Ah'm not done talking to ya!”

“Really?” he puffed through his tired, muffled voice as he finally managed to get up a low branch upwards. “But I am, so I don't care. ...I'll do what's been asked of me, and that's it. That's what you want of me, isn't it?”

The Earth Pony didn't answer as the wolf shook the branches and slowly harvested the apples from the tree, making them fall one by one as expected. She kept on watching him as he crawled his way out of the leaves and down the tree, all while keeping the same damp look on his eyes, almost as if he was working on automatic.

She thew a leer of confusion at his behavior as he didn't look in her direction anymore through his constant work. She whipped her tail around in anger, turning her back to Sillabus and going back to kicking the trees with the expertise granted to her through years of practice – both of them not trading words anymore...

The atmosphere of the orchard suddenly became really uncomfortable. Not even birds were around by the time afternoon hit.

---

“Sigh.”

“...Wow. That's gotta be the hardest I've seen you sigh, Applejack.”

“Uh? Oh. Sorry, Twi. Just getting' a bit o' steam off my chest is all,” the golden-maned pony replied with a concerned glance at her lavender unicorn friend, sitting in front of her with a concerned look of her own. “What were we talkin' about again?”

“...About the preparation for the Running of the Leaves? You know, that event that will happen a few months from now?”

“Oh yeah, that. ...The Runnin', of course. What about it again?”

“You mean you weren't even listening to me? Come on, Applejack! You've been spacing out a lot the past two days!”

“...Have I? Can't say ah noticed.”

Twilight Sparkle let go a small, bothered sigh as her horn flared with a light purple hue, making the nearby, massive book shine in the same tune and close on its own. Her eyes set on her apricot friend with a focused, analytical look as Applejack returned her gaze without any enthusiasm whatsoever.

Right after the work at the farm was done, the Earth Pony did whatever was it that she could with her free time. Recently, it's all been to spend time with her friends, or to just be very helpful, overall. She had a trophy on her room for being super-dependable, after all. She polished it practically every day.

However, not even her pride in being helpful was keeping her spirits up at the recent clash she had with Sillabus. His words ringed on the back of her head like how an annoying fly dances in front of your soup when you're trying to eat without expecting it to go inside your mouth, and it was aggravating. She felt the backlash of stress hit her harder than usual, and as she found herself laying on the floor in Twilight's library – right in front of her friend who chose to lay on a pillow instead – she could not bear to pay as much attention to her friend's plans on making plans for an event that she was decided on planning plans for.

Needless to say, the Earth Pony's distress was visible to the naked eye, much for the lavender Unicorn's worry.

“Something's bothering you, Applejack. What is it?” she asked as soothingly as she possibly could, lowering her gaze to try and meet her friend's.

“...Nothin'. It's nothin'.”

“It can't be nothing if it makes YOU sigh that hard. Is it the work? Have you been working yourself to exhaustion again? Is that wound on your back taxing you?”

“No! It's not...”

Applejack stopped talking. She knew Twilight Sparkle way too well for her to believe that her friend would just shrug that off if she said it was nothing. After what happened before? With all her friends chasing her across the border just to know why something was bothering her? None of her friends would take something like “nothing” for granted that easily.

The Earth Pony let go a small cough as Twilight whipped her tail in mild curiosity, tilting her head as she awaited for Applejack's answer. She fidgeted in place as she patted the floor with her hoof, playing with the words on her head as her jade eyes danced on her half-closed eyelids without something to focus on properly, and it didn't take long before she heard her own defeated sigh, giving in to the silence and raising her face to her friend's level, who still had her full attention focused on the Earth Pony.

“It's not the work. It's who ah have workin' with me.”

“Working with you?” she replied almost as if to confirm that what Applejack said. “What do you mean, a farmhand is giving you trouble? I had no idea you actually even had those.”

“And we don't,” Applejack replied almost instantly before pausing for a beat moment, letting go a small, annoyed cough. “...Well, now we kind of do. That wolf ain't bad at what he does, but the way he attaches himself to my own schedule...! It gets on mah nerves!”

“Attaching to your schedule? What do you mean, exactl-- wait. Did you say a WOLF?” Twilight snapped back at her friend, feeling the sudden curiosity bomb skyrocket through her eyes. “...I don't get it!”

“And ah'm surprised y'all don't know 'bout it already. Ah guess RD's been keepin' herself quiet about this for some reason.”

The lavender Unicorn rubbed her hoof on her forehead slightly as she proceeded to make a rather abstract mental image of the information she was just fed. Applejack stretched out her hoof and patted her friend on the leg as she started to sweat uncomfortably, making Twilight jerk in surprise.

“Whatever is it yer thinkin' about, just stop doin' it. Please.”

“S-Sorry. It's just... How did that even happen? You didn't say anything to us yourself yesterday!”

“I-I know. And it's way less complicated than it sounds like,” she reassured her friend while readjusting herself comfortably again. “He was dyin' from an accident in the Everfree Forest. Ah found him. saved him, and he says he's grateful for it. Now he's workin' for me at Sweet Apple Acres.”

The Unicorn blinked in awkward surprise. It really was pretty simple of a story.

“T-That's it?”

“That's it.”

“I-I still can't see how that would irritate you. I mean, you said he was good at what he did, right?”

“Right,” she replied with a darker, irritated tone in her voice. “And why in tarnation is it that's not all that he does? Why does he have to say I'm committed to his quest to repay me, and why do ah have to keep him constantly updated on what ah'm doin' that day? Ah thought he was tryin' to repay me for savin' him, not tryin' to anchor me to his own debt, as he calls it!”

Twilight rose an eyebrow in bewilderment to Applejack's sudden burst of anger almost as if it was out of place, lowering her eyes to meet her friend's, trying to analyze her irritation as best as she could.

“And that's not all,” Applejack continued with audible anger as she banged the floor with her hoof, making solid wooden thud echo all across the library. “He had the stones to actually ignore me when ah told him he was getting' on mah nerves! He said that since workin' is all that ah want from him, then that's exactly what he was gonna do! Did he even listen to me? By Celestia's flowin' mane, I swear ah controlled mahself just so ah wouldn't knock him upside the head!”

The Earth Pony huffed and puffed in an angry stupor as she caught herself yelling at Twilight, who had her head pulled back with a look of absolute astonishment in her eyes. She blushed in embarrassment as she lowered her head to cover her eyes, whispering barely audible apologies to her friend, who now let go a small, awkward cough, catching the golden-maned pony's attention.

“So... He says you are committed to his debt until he's done repaying you? Did I get that right?”

“Ah didn't ask for him to tag with me the way he did, so ah don't want him to ask stuff of me that's none of his business! Can you believe this?”

“That sounds... rather extreme, true,” Twilight replied while raising a small, unsure frown. She trusted her friend, but she knew just how hot-blooded she could be when she was fed up the way she was... Jumping to conclusions like this would be a terrible idea. “Y-You said Rainbow Dash also knows this wolf? Would you know why she didn't say anything?”

“No. Maybe she figured no one should even bother? RD didn't like him anyways.”

Twilight blinked in wonder as Applejack seemed to open a small, sly grin as she mentioned the Pegasus.

“She didn't like him? Was there a reason for it?”

“Besides him bein' a wolf?” Applejack asked while her friend simply nodded in confirmation, making the Earth Pony widen her smile in response. “He actually made her work on the farm while sayin' it was a competition to see who would get more apples from the trees. You shoulda seen the look on her face when she saw what he did! Ah'm not one to fool people at all, but ah have to say that what he did was pretty clever, actually havin' RD to help...”

The Earth Pony caught herself smiling once again as her expression almost immediately returned to a moodier one. The Unicorn opened a smile of her own as she fidgeted in her pillow for a small while, organizing the bits of information she had gathered until now.

“Seems like you don't really hate him, Applejack,” she confirmed with a small glint of confidence on her voice, if only to give her own statement more weight. Her friend let go a small confirming grunt as she didn't return Twilight's look, making the lavender mare drag herself forward slightly. “But you're mad at him anyway.”

“...Like ah said, he does what he does well. The problem ah have is simply how he don't understand that he ain't supposed to interfere with mah own life.”

“Have you thought about this, Applejack? That maybe he doesn't even think like that at all?”

Twilight's question caught the Earth Pony's attention again as she brought her bright jade eyes up to meet the Unicorn's. She rose an eyebrow in perturbation as she took a moment to think about it. Long enough for her to shake her head, dismayed.

“What do ya mean?”

“I am not claiming that I know what he thinks, because I don't know him at all,” the lavender pony continued as she rose her hoof and pointed at her friend with a small smile lit on her own face. “But it's possible that all he wants is for you to approve of what he is doing. You said he wants to repay a debt of life to you, right? How exactly does one repay such a thing? Does he pick enough apples for you, and then that's it?”

She was met with no response from her friend, so Twilight saw no issue on keep giving her two bits on the matter.

“I don't think that it's that simple. A way one would think is a good way to repay such a debt is to make sure you appreciate the help that it's given to you. How can he make you appreciate his help if you're not around to see it?”

“Maybe somepony could just tell me when it happens.”

“I agree, but maybe that's not how he wants it to be,” Twilight rebuked with another puff of confidence, making her friend frown in amusement. “There's always the possibility, right?”

That's... That is true, ain't it?

“...Yer always surprise me how you can say stuff like that with so much certainty without really knowin' what's goin' on...” Applejack sighed at her friend as she watched Twilight giggle happily at her friend's remark, making her open a wide smile of her own.

“I'm not saying anything! I don't even know him at all – all I am doing is giving my honest opinion to an abstract subject.”

“Honesty is good,” the Earth Pony confirmed with a very satisfied nod. “It always makes up to be excellent business practice.”

---

Gloom.

The Wolf's mind was static. Frozen. Irritated as he felt nothing but lack of joy on the fact his breathing made too much noise. Noisy enough for him to notice it.

His ears were completely dysfunctional as he rested his head on the grass, laying on its giant sheet of nature, spread around as if he was resting on his own grave. His own motion was that of the very little he was breathing. His fur flowing at the slight breeze of the wind.

...Sweet Apple Acres never looked so gray for him. The feeling of solitude and the harsh words of Applejack banging on his head like a jackhammer made him feel like he was on a cemetery, surrounded by fog and dusk. The absolutely haunted trace of dismay on his eyes were devoid of any light whatsoever.

And he was not alone. He heard the rustling sound of steps on the grassy fields around the house, where he was laying as if expecting the ground to open up and swallow him, but he did not move to see who it was. Not that it was needed, anyway.

“What'cher doin' layin' 'round the grass for, young'n?”

The distinctive voice of Granny Smith came from nearby as the wolf paid her no heed. He was way too bothered to do anything right now, let alone speak.

“What's the matter? Cat got yer tongue, young'n?”

She was greeted with more silence from his part. Enough silence to actually made the aged mare sigh in discomfort, proceeding to ignore him and do whatever was it that she was doing. The Wolf couldn't tell what that was.

The rustling of leather objects and apples in the background soon filed the Wolf's ears as he rose a paw to cover his face, fidgeting on the grass like he suddenly just woke up. He blinked after a period of time that felt like ages, and he felt his orbits burn with the refreshment from the act. It was almost rejuvenating.

“I don't have anything else to do,” he said with a low, grizzled voice, almost like a barely audible grunt. Granny Smith turned around and threw a gaze at the wolf, both eyes focused on his back as he was still lying on the grass, the chill of the grave emanating from like almost like poison.

“What was that, young'n?”

“You asked what I was doing lying on the grass,” he responded with the same tone of voice, not feeling any kind of energy to improve the enthusiasm in it. “That's because there's nothing else for me to do. So I won't do anything else.”

“Well,” Granny Smith chuckled as her eyes fell back on the job she was partaking on before. “Yer not goin' to repay Applejack if all yer doin' is goofin' around instead of workin'.”

“...No kidding.”

His response brought the elder's eyes upon him once again. She placed one of the apples she was carrying back on the pile she was rummaging on, resting her rump on the floor.

“And yer not doin' anything because...?”

“Because there is nothing for me to do.”

“Balderdash! This is a farm, young'n! There's always something to get doin'!”

Granny Smith met her claim with silence, much for the elder's chagrin. She sighed even harder as she resumed choosing apples from the stocked pile, her weary but experienced eyes picking the best ones from the pile faster than any other pony could and adding the good ones on a separate, quickly growing mound.

“Applejack didn't tell ye to do somethin'? Like helpin', for instance?”

“...Applejack doesn't want me to do anything,” he said with a slightly more haunted shake to his voice, almost as if the mere thought of such a thing terrified him. Granny Smith kept on working at the apples, her ears focused on the wolf as best she could. “So I'm not going to do anything.”

“Oh? ...Right after she said she agreed on you repayin' yer debt to her? What happened?”

More silence filled the air as the elder pony opened a small smile, throwing quick glances at the wolf just to make sure she wasn't talking to thin air.

“Did you fight?”

“...I'm not sure.”

“Hah! What kind o' answer's that? Yer not sure if you two squabbled?”

“I don't... All I asked of Applejack was for a bit more effort on helping me repay her. She said she didn't want me to do things beyond that, since everything else seemed to be forcing the fact I'm supposed to do something for her.”

His voice sunk back, almost as if he was speaking into his own throat. He buried his face in his paw as he narrowed his eyes so much he almost closed them, feeling the breeze of the afternoon flow through them like fire.

“Is my life truly this insignificant...? If I am such an annoyance, why even bother saving me in the first place? Why keep me around? I don't get it...”

Granny Smith rose her eyes in shock as she felt her jaw try to open on its own. She watched as the wolf seemed to have stopped moving again, drowning on a question that she thought it was absurd to even consider. ...However...

He was a wolf, coming from a different place in the name of Everfree Forest. He said it was tradition for them to repay their debts as best as they could. But failing to do so, or being told to do otherwise was as good as receiving a death sentence?

“Ah don't think that Applejack meant to say that what you think she said, young'n.”

“...What? What do you mean?”

“Ah mean... Look at where y'all are. Both of you are dealin' with things yer not used to dealin' with. No one here is tryin' to defy anyone's tradition. That's why you agreed to her askin' you to back down, ain't that right?”

“Y-Yes. I mean...”

“Applejack's a stubborn girl, so maybe she said somethin' blunt and that might have shocked ya. But think through her point of view for a spell. Do you really think she don't appreciate yer help? And even if she didn't, don't ya think that guessin' that she don't value yer life to be a tad extreme? Ah don't understand how yer culture works, but that is just unreasonable.”

“Maybe it is,” Sillabus grunted as he finally moved from the position he was in, feeling his blood flow to his head as he sat on the grass, his vision going black for a small, split moment. “But the great Everfree isn't really a forgiving place. Helping the Clan and repaying debts to it is that what makes us actually survive amongst the larger, stronger species. If I can't manage to repay a debt... I suddenly become the anchor that drags the Clan down. My presence loses all of its meaning.”

“So you value loyalty to yer cause more than anythin'?”

“...Uh, yes.”

The Wolf suddenly felt a massive weight fall on his side on the grass, making him jerk sideways in shock and look at the bag of apples that quite frankly seemed to have spawned from thin air. He rose his face to watch the elder Earth Pony open a unusually energetic grin, carrying saddlebags that looked way heavier than she probably should be carrying.

“Isn't that a little bit too heavy for you?” he commented as she marched with a strange elegance with the cargo, seemingly unhindered by her age. “These look heavy...”

“Don't they? They are a bit heavy, so please be a darlin' and carry those things for me, will you?” Granny Smith chuckled as Sillabus's expression grew more and more stunned, watching the aged mare point at the apple bags by his side with enthusiasm. “A young wolf from the forests won't have a problem carrying those bags for me, right?”

“...B-But Applejack said--" he started talking with a small stutter, but he couldn't finish his sensence, being interrupted by the mare's irritated voice.

“Aagh, ponyfeathers! Why do y'all have to make things more complicated than it needs to be!?” Granny Smith complained harshly while giving the wolf a good nudge on the head making him back away in surprise. “Y'all like to moan and complain about how things don't go the way y'all want, but when it comes to makin' things right you never do what you gotta do to make it happen!”

“W-What?”

“You said you value loyalty to yer cause, right? That's all good and honorable, but that will you do if you find yerself in the situation yer in? Do you want me to play ya a song in the world's smallest violin?”

The Earth Pony's claim made the wolf step back, perplexed, keeping his eyes fixated on hers in such a way he found himself trapped in her leer, almost like she was hypnotizing him.

“T-Then what am I supposed to do? Confront Applejack? S-She's the one that saved my life! I don't want to do anything that might disrespect her!”

“But that depends on both you and her, not me, whippersnapper. Me? All ah want is some help to bring those bags back inside. Are ye helpin' me or ain't ya? Didn't you hear? Those who do good are appreciated by others.”

And that was it. Granny Smith opened a wise and fun-loving smile at the wolf, who now was looking at her like he was still processing that what he just heard, watching her signal him to follow her to the storage area in the back of the farmhouse. His mind stormed with thoughts as he stuttered in place awkwardly before raising a bag from the ground, feeling a sharp, annoying pain strike his back like a reminder of the reason why he was at the farm.

Those ponies were so odd. They always replied in ways that made him wonder what kind of differences did they have exactly. They lived completely different lives than he did... Lives that were not under the great pressure of the Everfree Forest; lives that rewarded you for helping others for the sake of doing so.

Perhaps... There is much more for me to learn in this place than I gave it credit for?

...No.

Of that I am certain. There is no doubt about that anymore.

And so, carrying bags with a wounded back proved to be Sillabus' greatest enemy so far. That, or apple bags. He could not tell.

Comments

[Dream Catcher]

I still haven't decided precisely what flavor this leaves in my mouth, but whatever it is, it don't taste half bad.

[Etherdrone]

634034
That is most intriguing indeed... I cannot, for the life of me, wonder what exactly you mean with your rather strange praise myself. 'Tis possible, perhaps, that one has tasted the monitor while reading this tale?

...Hmm. Most fascinating indeed. I must delve deeper into this subject at once! TO THE ETHER FORTRESS!

*dashes off to the sunset*