> Another chance > by Ferencelvtars > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Chapter 1/epiloge > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- If someone said that suits are comfortable, they're lying, but today I have to wear one nonetheless. For others, today is just a regular school day, but for me, I have to rot here in court. Here I sit because my father, even at the age of 16, refuses to accept that I won't dance to his tune. My father has caused so much pain in the past, but I haven't given in to him. However, somewhere along the line, everyone around me only thought of themselves, while it was close to my heart, and to my vivid imagination, that my life should be good, if not as good as everyone else's. Finally, at the trial, I could say that I don't want to see my father's ugly face unless it's in a forced labor camp, considering all the things he's done, which would take more hours than anyone's life can afford to recount. "Rise! Before the honorable Judge János Kenevics," murmured a police officer, embarrassing the sheriff of the town. I didn't understand why the judges need to stand up when he enters, of course, it's tradition, but it's as meaningful as splashing water during Easter. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ The room fell silent, and I am sure my son will finally be free from the torment his father has inflicted on him for years. When we entered, I could already see that my son didn't look at him with hatred as he always did, just with indifference, a poker face. The judge began the trial, which started off smoothly. Then the prosecutor spoke. "The court calls the defendant, Ferenc Németh, to the witness stand." Though many didn't notice, I did see my son tremble a bit. As he sat down, he took a deep breath before they placed a Bible in front of him. He placed his right hand on the book and raised his left hand. He complied with the instructions. "I swear by the one true God that I will tell the truth and only the truth, and if I break this oath, may I burn eternally in hell," he said, to which the judge raised an eyebrow slightly, but it didn't bother him significantly. "Well, Mr. Ferenc, you and your mother initiated this lawsuit so that you never have to see your father again," began his father's lawyer. "Yes, why? I'm curious what legal trick you're going to pull now to start by accusing my mother of raising me against him?" The lawyer raised his eyebrow, but quickly continued. "Seems like you watch too many courtroom dramas. What argument do you have to terminate my client's right to contact? After all, it's quite obvious that his father doesn't pose a threat to himself." To this, Ferenc quickly formulated a few sentences, and I didn't know what to expect. "Unfortunately, my only argument won't please you. My life doesn't consist of enough hours to recount even a fraction of the immeasurable pain, torment, and suffering caused by your," he raised his hand with emphasis, "client," though by doing so, he violates the rights of all his other clients, but that's not my concern, "to us." There was a quiet murmur in the room. "Order in the court," the judge pounded his gavel. "Please continue." "Thank you, Your Honor. Well, Ferenc claims that life doesn't consist of enough hours, but I ask him to give just a little, as even a fraction is better than nothing." My son was a little startled by this and swallowed hard before finally speaking. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ "I truly apologize, Counselor, but at the moment, I don't intend to, nor will I give you a trump card. If I start to speak, you will use ambiguities and half-truths to prove that I was raised against my father. So, I choose to exercise my right to remain silent." The trial proceeded smoothly; I felt like I could outmaneuver their little games. Then, after the rest of the witnesses, the judge retired for deliberation, followed by a 15-minute break. Outside the courtroom, there was a small square, the main square of the city, and across from it, a neat little pastry shop. I wasn't exactly calm, but I thought a slice of Black Forest cake would do me good. As I was eating inside, enjoying the delicious slice filled with cream, chocolate chunks, and cherry sauce, someone unexpected walked in. It was my father, not exactly happily. "Hello, my son!" he began with the usual sweetness. I quickly finished the remaining cake and forced it down my throat, which hurt like hell, but at that moment, I didn't care, and I hurriedly left, shutting out most of his voice, except for one sentence. "You'll regret this. Your lies won't continue to ruin your life. I'll free you from this tyrant." Then I heard a loud bang, followed by screaming, and then... To be continued. > Chapter 2: > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 2: Darkness and silence surrounded me. I didn't understand where I was. However, I found solace in the silence. In my mind, I began to play a song. Strangely, the music didn't play within me but outside. I didn't understand why, nor did I care. Light broke through the darkness, turning it into a tunnel. It approached slowly, and then I understood. I realized that I was dead, and this was the gateway to the "afterlife." I didn't know what to do, but suddenly... I opened my eyes, and everything disappeared. Instead, I found myself in an intriguing forest. I attempted to stand up, but suddenly fell back on all fours. As I looked around, I noticed something odd. Wait a minute, is everyone here a different species? No, this can't be the afterlife since I didn't reach the light. Then what is this? I began to examine myself. It was evident that I was a pony or a horse. On my back, in the middle of my spine on both sides, protruded two stubby things. On my head, there was a broken horn, probably not a horn, but rather an antler, and strangely, it sparkled a bit. My fur was a slightly dark red, like the Soviet flag. However, my mane was a blondish-brown, similar to my hair. Based on my size, I was a foal or very tiny. This wasn't important at the moment, but I was still curious about why. I began to explore my surroundings. Surprisingly, it reminded me of my beautiful hometown, the forest where we lived among the trees in little treehouses. As I crawled under a bush, I noticed a treehouse built on a tree. Following that, I saw numerous apple trees. Now, these ponies sure know about planned food cultivation, I thought to myself. However, a loud noise from the treehouse interrupted my thoughts. Suddenly, a large brick flew out of the door, smashing it, heading straight towards me. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ In the small treehouse, which belonged to the Cutie Mark Crusaders, they were planning their next stunt to earn their cutie marks. Sweetie Belle with music, Apple Bloom with gadgets, and Scootaloo with construction. However, they quickly started arguing. "Sweetie Belle, understand this, we're not going to play music because we can't. Let's try my..." I lifted the brick from under Scootaloo and threw it, accidentally smashing the door. But it wasn't my fault. "Scootaloo, I told you this won't..." Suddenly, a loud thunderous explosion and a crack of a beam interrupted me. We thought it was over and someone was just messing with us, but then another batch hit, shaking us. We looked out with Scootaloo at the door, or rather the crater where it used to be, and saw a young colt whose horn seemed to function like some kind of strange lightning emitter. "What's going on here?" He asked, frightened, trying to hide behind his own horn, flapping his weird featherless wings. Then suddenly, his horn was filled with energy, forming a ball of lightning which he shot, creating a nearly 10-meter crater where an apple tree stood. "What just happened?" Apple Bloom famously had a bad time with electricity. We found out when we tried to be lightning tamers and a stronger bolt knocked her out for a whole week. She seemed a bit dazed now, only fully coming back to her senses after the explosion. "Is everyone alright?" Apple Jack asked. Twilight landed directly next to her, just two steps away from Apple Bloom. "What in tarnation happened here? is anypony hurt?" She asked, her attention drawn to the crater. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ The young colt groaned as he regained consciousness, causing panic. As we turned towards him, we saw that he hadn't left the land of the living, he had just knocked himself out. When I first saw the little colt, I couldn't decide what I was looking at. Based on his horn, he was an injured unicorn, but he had two "wings" on his back without feathers. However, it was clear that a hospital was the place for him. I couldn't understand how he could release so much magic. As I approached, I saw his horn start sparkling again. "Apple Jack, do you still have that rubber horn cap they use for swimming?" (To this day, I don't know why she had such a thing.) While I pondered this, Apple Jack ran off to get it. As I picked up the little guy, I felt a ticklish sensation from his wings, which was the most sensitive part of my body, but I had to hold myself back. Once I got the rubber piece, I put it on his horn, finally stopping that terrible tickling feeling. Then I hurried him to the hospital as quickly as possible. The doctor was equally astonished as when we found him. Despite having examined me already, he said he had never seen such a pony. He said it resembled more a half-Pegasus, half-unicorn pony than an alicorn. However, it was determined that aside from rest, he didn't need anything else. So, although they attached a life-sign monitor just to be safe, I went home peacefully. The next morning started with an unwelcome visit from the doctor, who was quite upset. He said the colt woke up, but there was something wrong with him, he was behaving strangely. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ "pip, pip what is this sound?" I wondered. Then I remembered the hospital monitors and my heartbeat. Although it was higher than normal, it seemed calm. Eventually, I got bored and opened my eyes. My prosthetic eyes remained, as my nose was still covered, which didn't bother me much. As I looked around, I didn't turn back into a human because that weird horn, or whatever it was, was still vibrating on my head. As I glanced around, a pony entered. It definitely couldn't be called a horse since it hadn't even reached foal size. I didn't turn my head to face it immediately, which was strange, since it didn't have an eye on the left side. Usually, I slightly tilt my head to the left to see better. "Well, how's the little patient?" she asked so sweetly it almost made me climb the walls. As I looked at her, I felt better. "You seem to be feeling better," she continued. I thought, 'nice honeyed words, but that's no reason for me to be disrespectful.' "Thank you, but I feel perfectly fine. Could you tell me how I ended up here?" I asked. She raised her eyebrow as if I had a third eye on my horn. "Excuse me!" I waved, placing my hoof on my forehead, and she finally reacted, as if waking from a trance or from being stunned. "Would you kindly tell me who brought me here and why? I only remember a brick being thrown at me and then my horn or whatever this rusty gutter bottom is going mad. Look," I pointed to the growth on top of my head. Again, she froze for half a minute, then spoke again. "Do you always talk a bit strangely? And where are your parents? If you tell me their names, we can call them here. In fact, we'd be glad to. We need some signatures from them." This time, I raised my eyebrow. "Excuse me, now?... Just to clarify! Are you making me out to be stupid or is your behavior always like this?" She looked at me strangely again and soon stormed out. "Courtesy is appreciated, you uncouth boor!" I didn't say the last part out loud, or at least I hope I didn't. As the room emptied, I began to feel bored, and then I noticed a few old-looking books on my desk. They weren't scientific books, but I thought it was worth getting to know the culture. The first book had an interesting title, it was in English, but it didn't bother me, as I mostly understood what was written in English. Its title was "Mare on the Moon," or it could have been "The Moon Mare." The story was very interesting, a battle between sisters, but it immediately struck me that this was not just a fairy tale, as the end of the book said, "not long ago, this thousand years passed, and then the sister came back, whose name is now known: Luna." I thought, great, so these local tales are real stories, I thought to myself. The next two were the ponyfied versions of "Vuk" and "Cipollino," but I really liked their titles. "Vuk," which is a shortening of the phrase "vadászom utamból kotródj" was replaced here with a clever fox name, or rather with Red Ravass. In "Cipollino," instead of vegetables and fruits, flowers and leaves played, and its title became "Apricot Petal." Which made sense, as ponies surely consume such things as well. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ As I arrived at the hospital to my room, Fluttershy was with us, as her good friend Paper Cat broke his leg a few days ago and had to be put in a lying cast for a few weeks. However, there was nothing extraordinary in the ward, just a Little Colt reading, just "The Big Guastit," which used to be a personal favorite of mine. "Doctor, let's clarify please! What's so extraordinary about someone reading a book?" The doctor glanced into the ward and then scratched his head. "I don't understand, when I was here, he just stared out the window, I started talking to him, and it was very strange, come on, let me show you." With that, he dragged us along. "Hi there, what are you reading?" "Oh, is that you? Thank you for your question, it's a very exciting story, although it's quite mediocre to me," said the colt, putting the book aside and looking at us, but not the way he should, not turning both eyes, just one. "Good day!" He looked at me. "Hi! Do you mind if we ask you a few questions?" I asked, a little nervously. The colt looked at us questioningly, then nodded. "Of course, I don't mind, but only if you answer a few questions for me too." With that, I got the green light, although I couldn't really maintain eye contact with him. "So first of all, what's your name?" I had heard a few things that sounded like strange names before, but I didn't dare to say the real one, so I thought to myself, let them tell their names, and based on that, I'll come up with my own, but how should I do this? Then it hit me! "Excuse me, but here it's customary for the one who asks first to introduce themselves, would you mind respecting this?" He was taken aback for a moment, then sighed eventually. "My name is Twilight Sparkle, and yours?" This already gave me an idea, apparently everyone here is some kind of pun or English expression. Well then, what characteristic could I have been named after? "My name is Thunder Bender." I thought, surely there's something like this in the avatar, but it sounded even cooler than medium cool, and it really meant something too. "Bender! This sentence brought me out of my thoughts. Tell me exactly what are you? Our doctors say you don't resemble any pony species." "That's a very good question and the answer is, I have no idea. Anyway, I would like to know why I'm here. I mean, how did I end up in the hospital?" I got a short answer to this, when the alicorn told me that she brought me in. Well, if that's how it turned out, when can I leave? The doctor then recovered a bit from his daze. "Well, there's nothing stopping you from leaving right now, provided your parents sign a few papers." At this point, the realization struck me, my parents can't be here! Now what if I tell them my real age, they might laugh at me. Now what should I do? It seemed the best option, but then I saw that Yellow Pegasus, she seemed so helpless yet lively. I returned to the story and told them that where I came from, a terrorist organization ruled, it was interesting that they didn't fully understand what that was, but they believed me. "Well, if that's true, then I think you're free to go. The doctor said, then it was a bit difficult to stand up, uh hoof, but eventually I made it out finally. The hospital was relatively modern, but it reminded me more of a World War I setting than ours. As I stepped out, I saw that it evoked more of the 19th century in terms of development rather than the 21st, but I always liked this era. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ As I walked out, I stumbled a bit, but soon I walked steadily, admiring my surroundings, and Ponyville, if I'm not mistaken. However, even if she seems as lively as she is, many times this city doesn't provide 100% protection, especially since the Everfree Forest has become more active than usual. "Um... sorry, but where are you going to sleep tonight?" I asked with great difficulty. She turned to me, then thought for a moment, and finally shrugged. "I have no idea, I've just spent too much time in the hospital, I didn't want to stay there, but your question is justified. Hm, forgive me, but the name memory, what is it..." "My name is Fluttershy, if you're curious about that." She nodded approvingly, but I didn't notice, in the corner of her eye, a tiny tear, and I finally understood. I judged her very strangely, just like the doctor, but she's not strange, she just doesn't know, or maybe doesn't want to express her feelings. Perhaps, if I'm kind enough to her, I can help change that in her, as so far she has spoken in a kind of hypnotized manner, with perfect emphasis, but insensitively. Well, if you have nowhere to go, you can sleep at my place tonight! With that, she raised her eyebrows, or maybe it's better if she didn't... I don't know... "You're not only charming, but where I come from, no one would offer such a thing, but thank you, I accept the invitation." As she said this, her mane sparkled a bit more, I guess this meant she was excited. > Chapter 3: > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 3: A week had passed since Flutershy's offer of a night's stay, and I realized that my presence was still welcomed as a permanent resident. I've been going out shopping—you wouldn't believe how much animal feed is needed for a farm-like place—and starting next week, I'll have to go back to school as well. Not that I mind coming here; working with the animals brings me great joy, and I've discovered that almost every technique I need is available here. Currently, I'm working on a small-scale food dispensing system designed for cages, to make it easier to feed the animals during longer enclosed periods. I quickly realized that not everything is as magical as the youthful, unbreakable sparkle—Diamond Tiara, to give her proper name, is a perfect example of how to be not only disrespectful but also unworthy of pity. I'm sitting in my room, "meditating." In reality, I'm sitting there like a fool in silence, replaying fond memories of my life from the other world. I think a lot about fairy tales, for example, and also about what awaits me here. School starts tomorrow, and today I went shopping for pens, notebooks, and a backpack—I didn't buy a saddlebag because I crafted one, turning a small leather tool bag into a unique school backpack. "Bender! Dinner's ready! And I made it using your fancy recipe!" Flutershy's voice is hard to hear, but in the quiet cottage, her voice is more than sufficient. I get up and head out; it's always strange to me how much time passes during these memory projections. After all, those stories are only 10-20 minutes long. I came in here around mid-afternoon, at about 3 o'clock, to think about how time flies like this? Anyway, I don't have time to dwell on that now. I finally convinced Flutershy to make one of our home-cooked dishes, which required three eggs. The scent of fried pumpkin and tartar sauce tickled my nose as I rushed downstairs. "Flutershy! This looks divine!" I exclaimed as I saw the still-steaming slices of breaded pumpkin. Fortunately, ponies enjoy patissons, so only the sides were a bit unusual. "Thank you for finally making it, and I know how much you love animals, but not every egg becomes a chick." As she spoke to me, I knew she was right, but my heart still ached because you never know which one will and which one won't. This mystery of chance was always present; she constantly wore a manufactured emotion on her face, something she knew was expected of her. If she didn't know what emotion was expected of her, she would maintain a poker face. What made it even stranger was how much she meditated—something I found out wasn't such a big deal—but nothing interested her about the other Fillies or Colts. She wasn't interested in beauty contests, Pegasi life, or magic. Though she did help when she could, she seemed even more reserved than me at times. When she asked me what I wanted to eat, she always asked what I wanted, which meant I listed what I craved, and eventually, we ate what we both wanted. When she asked me to prepare the recipe, she acted as if she feared I wouldn't want to, and she was partly right, but she didn't ask; she questioned me to prepare it, just once! She also handled money oddly; I gave her 10 bits to buy school supplies, but she returned 8 bits and said that was enough. I saw that she only bought what she needed, even making her own bag instead of buying one. She said her parents taught her that money isn't free; you have to work hard for it. Meanwhile, the last slice of pumpkin was ready, and I still don't understand what the sauce is for, because its scent is indeed good, but it's not like, say, gravy for dipping fries in. "Bender, as I put the tray on the table, she took one from the cooler bottom and dipped it in.Into the sauce, then she grabbed one and started crunching on it. "Mm, Flutershy, this is divine! Thank you for making it; it's almost better than home-cooked." Then she took another one. After gathering some courage, I mimicked her actions, and suddenly something happened—my taste buds felt like they melted. It was so delicious that I can't even find the right word to describe it, maybe heavenly, but multiply that by a hundred, and it's just about there. The pumpkin quickly disappeared, but what's interesting is that after about 5-6 pieces, Bender got up, wished us good night, and left. I could only hear the sound of the shower when I finished. Though he initially startled us, that little colt, Bender, seemed like a natural genius. When we met for the second time, he was just delivering food to Flutershy after sorting out his school papers. I couldn't even handle such matters alone, let alone know how to deal with them. He said he would be in the same class as us and even mentioned that he thought we looked better without beauty marks. Rarity said his views were radical, whatever that means, but she never said she didn't want a beauty mark. In fact, she's actively involved in our troupe as an idea developer, whatever that means. Since then, I've been waiting for today, his first day at school. Although he expressed that he thought the class might be boring not because of the hour but because of the content, he could hardly wait. As I pondered on this, Apple Bloom and Scoutalu snuck up beside me, giving me quite a start, but I've gotten better at handling these, so I didn't jump onto a rooftop. Then he came over and joined our gang. His mane was a bit disheveled, and it stood on end, but it wasn't so surprising due to the constant electrical sparks. My own mane started falling apart from it, and when he noticed, he caught his sparks and just said, "Sorry," before shuffling away with his eyes downcast. So here we have the now 4-member blank flank gang! Diamond Tiara got in our way and singled out Bender. "Do you even care that you could be a powerful alicorn, but you're so pathetic, just this twisted half-this, half-that?" We were all furious, but he wasn't. "I don't know, should I? Because the only thing bothering me right now is that your mane looks like it got caught in a paint roller." Diamond Tiara was taken aback. "And yours looks like it got struck by lightning," Bender retorted, a small smile appearing on his lips. We were getting angrier, but he just kept smiling. "I bet your beauty mark will be something tacky, like a little lightning bolt, representing how useless you are." At this point, almost everyone would have exploded, but he just kept smiling. "Excuse me, but as far as I'm concerned, I'll make a big deal out of what tattoo I get, and when I do, I'll have it. Otherwise, unless you want to duel me, please step aside." Diamond Tiara's jaw dropped, as did ours, but she didn't give up. "Still so afraid of me that you can't even use 'you'?" Bender walked away from her and stopped behind her. "What's the matter? You don't dare turn your back?" Bender just smiled even wider. "Well, listen, Tia, if you insist on being annoying, I suggest you pick on something we can do something about, like, I could criticize your upbringing or your manners, but it's not your fault, it's your parents' fault. Because if I understand correctly, you're your mommy's little darling, who always has to be the best at everything everywhere, and nobody can match up to you. I suggest you establish a proper set of values for yourself because right now, not only is your behavior intolerable, but it's also pitiful. Diamond Tiara's eyes widened, and tears began to well up in her eyes, streaming down. "You have no idea what my fate is!" With that, she stormed off as if she'd seen a ghost. Well, it looks like I managed to put her in her place. I think we should hurry if we don't want to be late. I saw that the others couldn't believe their eyes that I had just taken down their biggest opponent, but that didn't bother me at all. We trotted off; I heard someone trotting beside me, and suddenly the little unicorn, whose name my memory constantly fails to recall, was there. So I tried to signal who I was talking to with my gaze, although it's not so easy with half an eye. "That was fantastic; were you able to do that?" The question surprised me, and I had an answer, but not in words or phrases, explaining what autism is and why it's associated with such a big advantage in this situation, especially for a Filly, isn't easy. "Well, let's just say I keep my emotions under lock and key, so I'm not nervous if I don't want to be, and I'm not afraid if I don't want to be, although I can love even if I don't want to." "Really? And how do you do that, and why doesn't it work with love?" My eyes widened; I almost said I found it very cute. "Oh, I think this counts as pedophilia since she's barely 7, and I'm mentally 16; I don't know, does the body or the mind count here? Setting that aside, I don't feel this is right because, sure, she may be cute, but I hardly know her." "Well, there's a simple answer to two simple questions. The point is, your face shouldn't be dominated by emotions. If you can maintain a poker face under any stress, then you've won. As for the second question, the answer is that there are no noticeable signs, so there's no need to hide it." She froze; I guess what I said shocked her. She walked away, seemingly stunned. We walked off; Apple Bloom and the other one, whose name is forgotten even if they shoot me in the head because I can't remember it, were with me. I started humming: "Love gives new hope every day, even the coldest heart can change..." "Will you teach me?" "Teach you what?" This request shocked me; being autistic is terrible, and being asked to act autistic, or at least to have a poker face, didn't appeal to me. I didn't like this idea, and if she insists, I'll do it, but I don't like it even then. "Well, let's meet at Fluttershy's cabin after school, but I warn you, this is a very difficult task." "I don't mind; no matter how difficult, I want to learn to defend myself against this fury." I actually expected this and even imagined how the training would go, but I was afraid I'd regret it. By the time I decided on the methods, we arrived at the school, and I sat next to Sweetie Belle, with Scoutalu (I remembered his name) across from me. The teacher, Ms. Cheerilee, was very nice even during my enrollment , reminding me of my former German teacher; the bell rang like a church bell. The lesson began. "Hello, little ponies, today we have a new student joining us. Thunder Bender, please come out and introduce yourself." I wasn't expecting this; it's not our custom, but the teacher's word is law. I walked out slowly, but my trembling gave away that I was nervous because my hair was sparking with every strand attached to a little lightning bolt. I came out, turned around, and opened my mouth. "Hello, my name you've already heard, but I'd like you to call me Bender. Let's see what else... It might be important to know that I have only one eye, so I can't see to the left, and maybe someone noticed, but that's why I often tilt my head to the left. What's more important is that I have extremely sensitive eyes, so if there's a way, please don't shine light into them." Maybe I shouldn't have told them this, but it's too late now. My hair is constantly sparking, and these sparks are attracted to moist things, so don't go near them because it can easily strike you with a stronger spark. Maybe that's all that was important; I really don't know what else would be important. If you have any questions, I'm happy to answer. Then there were about 35 questions, half of which were typical like what do you like to do, what do you think your beauty mark will be, etc., but the rest weren't interesting. The lesson was, though; we learned the basic laws of physics, and the teacher was surprised at how well I knew Newton—probably the pony equivalent of Newton—and his laws, and I even got to demonstrate an experiment, which was named after Professor Öveges, called the Sparking Chair Experiment. It was break time, and Bender was eating alone under a tree; the food was interesting, brown mushroom-shaped things, and I don't even know what they were. The other was a white sauce that looked like mayonnaise, slightly diluted, at least visually. I couldn't wait to go over to him in the afternoon, but I couldn't help noticing that he seemed tense, hoping it had nothing to do with me. Scoutalu and Apple Bloom wouldn't have been missed today anyway because they were going to the annual apple festival together. As we chatted there, Bender suddenly appeared behind me, and when he directed a spark directly onto my horn, I almost screamed. "Oh, for heaven's sake, don't give me a heart attack, please." He blushed a little but continued to smile; fortunately, this outburst didn't attract attention in the yard, but I already felt uncomfortable. "Sorry, but this was a test for the afternoon program because I needed to know something. Joking aside, if you can, bring a notebook with you." I raised my eyebrows, about to ask him why, but he had already disappeared; it seemed like he was in a hurry. The bell for the student room rang, and we had to go in. The division of the student room was completely different since many went to extracurricular activities. That day, only I and the two life-ruiners were there. Apple Bloom went to the farming course, and Scoutalu went to the wing repair course at times like this. It didn't take long, and the teacher came in. "All right, little ones... then she suddenly counted. Where's Bender?" Pip had a bit more of a country accent than us, but nobody cared. He was usually quiet, but now he immediately spoke up. "He had to leave, and he askede mem specificallyn to tell youre." He said to mei thate he's workingon a super secrete surprise for the class foir next week's bog physics presentation, and somethinge about how his manchinery is very complex and takes a long time to plan. This country accent wasn't unusual for him, but decoding it was difficlt; oh, whoops, it seems contagious. "Well, I guess until his homework for tomorrow is done, I can let it slide. And that's how the lesson began, which only Diamond Tiara could ruin even more. > chapter 4 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- As I walked home, I was already pondering what to make shovels out of because wood didn't seem like such a good idea, but metal was too expensive. Then it occurred to me that they could be made from the same material as my hooves or horn, which I still use interchangeably as synonyms. However, Flutershy was kind enough to buy me the strongest available, unfortunately, along with the most fuel-consuming engine by far, which the seller swore could produce at least 4-5 hundred average forces. I retrospectively consider this the local equivalent of horsepower, after all, everyone here is a horse, or actually a pony, but that's just as much difference as between a wolf and a dog. What I'm planning is to demonstrate physical flight, or more precisely, an airplane. When I was still human, I was very interested in airplanes from the 1930s and 1940s. In practice, my model resembled a long-winged, single-engine 1939 Fiat CR 42. The engine I acquired could keep the plane in the air for about 140-145 minutes with a full tank, and then it could glide for another 20 minutes or so. Then it occurred to me that Sweetie Belle was coming today, and I had no idea how to teach her to be autistic. Is this even possible? When it was diagnosed with me, it was a curse. Everyone looked at me as if I were a fool, and whatever ideas I had, they laughed at, whether it was funny or serious. As I grew more solemn, the "positive side" of this seemed to stand out, namely, that I could fool anyone, play any emotion, except genuine affection. Another big advantage is that I can lie without blinking, although I don't do it so often now. Since I've been here, I've only done it twice—okay, maybe three times—maybe even four times. What's also positive is that what interests me, I'm really good at, but I try to deal with the negative side as well, so that the excitement, whether it's mating or just adrenaline, doesn't show too much. When I was human, I could fly with my hands, which was really weird. Now, it's not difficult to hide this with my wings, but is this really a good idea? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ It was almost three-quarters past three when I reached Flutershy's hut. I was very excited; I could finally defeat Diamond Tiara. I came in response to Bender's request. Next to the hut, there was recently built a lean-to, which was quite large because while the average lean-to is about 2x5 meters, this one was 6x14, and the door in front of it could be completely opened. I also saw Flutershy feeding rabbits. "Hi! Flutershy! Where's Bender!?" Flutershy noticed and waved, but before she could speak, Bender shouted, "Sweetie Belle, come to the workshop!" I turned towards the little shack; the entire wall with a door opening upwards was wide open, but it looked like there was something inside. In front of the window, there was something resembling a sharp "arrowhead," with three regular oar-like paddles attached to it. As I peeked in, I saw Bender, with a welding mask on his face and a strange cylinder in his hand, which had a regular U-shaped glass frame turned upside down on top of it, and on both sides, there were what looked like the wings Snails made before he realized it wouldn't work. "Bender!" He stopped welding and turned towards me. He took off the mask and switched off the welding horn. "Is this the super-secret thing you're planning for next week?" His eyes widened for a moment, but then he returned to his aristocratic manner. "Exactly! Sweetie Belle, let me show you. This here is the Vercse." Then he summarized what it was in a few sentences (mostly, I understood that it was some sort of flying machine). I think he saw that I was bored, so he sighed, and after a little pause, he spoke again. "But I can see you're bored. Let's get straight to the point. My art in this age will be difficult to master, but not impossible. The first thing you'll get is this." He took out three rings; they weren't designed for this purpose, but they served the purpose well. "I don't mean to argue, but what do we need these three iron rings for? How does this fit into the training...?" Bender put his hand over my mouth, then placed the rings on my horn, neck, and just above my tail, so basically, my most sensitive areas except for my intimate parts, and secured them tightly. He then conducted a very weak current to all three rings. Naturally, I yelped in response. "Great, the system works perfectly," declared Bender, as if it were perfectly normal to conduct electricity into a friend. "The first part of the lesson is the poker face; then you'll learn to simulate, and finally, to control. I wanted to speak up, but he continued before I could. "Thanks to Twilight's great camouflage magic, these rings, now that they're in place, can only be seen by you and me. When we're at school, a longer 2-3 second shake signals it's poker time, meaning you can only have a poker face then; another shake indicates you're free, and if you show emotion when you shouldn't, I'll shake you, of course, not so that it hurts, but you'll feel it. While the method may be morbid, it makes sense." "Isn't there any other way? I don't know if I can bear this; it seems so barbaric." He thought about it for a while, but then shook his head. "I'm sorry, but I really don't know how else or what else could be done. I've been learning this since birth, almost by myself, but to jump into it at this age, well, it's very difficult, and this is the fastest method. If you want something else, it'll take years, this is about 3-4 months per section. My eyes widened; is this really the only way? I was ready for anything, but suddenly this seemed like too much. Now that this has been discussed, I would like to focus more on you. I need to know your facial expressions and gestures well for the next chapter. After that, he asked me a lot of questions and wrote down what I should do to maintain the poker face and what to do with other things, the signals from my body; of course, this was a kind of consultation. What was strange was that although I would gladly have talked to him about this, he showed no interest in my romantic affairs, and when I brought it up, he said that love and joy cannot be hidden, so they're irrelevant here. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Today, as Sweetie Belle recounted the madness Bender had come up with that morning, we initially just laughed, until Bender stepped in and supported the statement. Her blonde mane still stood as if struck by lightning. We went to school together, and suddenly Sweetie Belle twitched a bit. Then Bender called her back. "Well, what do you want?" I was a bit nervous because I saw that Bender probably shook Sweetie Belle, albeit not painfully. "You know, your method isn't exactly ethical; poor Sweetie Belle is very fragile, and you're not having a good influence on her for sure. But spit it out, what do you want?" "Would you honor me by presenting it next week..." He suddenly fell silent, then pondered for a moment, and spoke again. "So, would you be interested in trying out my new game, specifically designed for ponies like us?" This caught me off guard; it wasn't like Bender at all. He always spoke to us as if we were nobles. This was casual and childish. "Sorry, could you repeat that?" He smacked his forehead before starting to stroke his accidentally hit horn and bite his lip. After an awkward half-minute, he spoke again. "I have a cool new toy; do you want to try it out?" Again, this wasn't like him. "Did you decide to drop the formalities? You're not speaking so aristocratically now?" I shrugged in response. "If it doesn't matter, I'll try to speak more like the average ponies in the future. Except when I'm burning Diamond Tiara. Then I said, and he winked, making it hard for me not to laugh. Then, to my surprise, he joined in, and although I hardly noticed it, he shook Sweetie Belle again and hurried back to them. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ This was one of the most embarrassing conversations of my life, but it also started a thought process in me. If speaking in an average tone is really odd for me, then I won't force it. Luna seemed very convincing, saying that I shouldn't speak like this always, but it's really hard for me to change that. Not that I care much about a noble's opinion, having been raised according to socialist principles, but she's like a dear granny to me here. Did I phrase that too personally? I don't really care; what I think, I'll say. However, at school, they immediately started asking what this secret program was that allowed me to leave yesterday. They didn't get anything out of me. I signaled Sweetie Belle's practice again, and she stumbled twice on the way back when I withdrew it. I don't blame her; the first time was a joke that almost made me laugh myself, and the second was a surprise when someone gave her a bouquet of flowers. At first, I thought she was going to eat it, but then I realized it wasn't a real flower, but a fake one. I don't understand why, but maybe it's because sweets exist here. Still, I can see that she tries to keep a poker face even when it's not necessary, but I knew it would take her a long time to master this, in the meantime, not only I her, but she also develops me. I have fewer and fewer red spots on my face and forced good mood when I'm with them. I've never been able to do this before, but now that I'm with them a lot, it's getting better. "Listen up! I have a great idea for getting our beauty marks." This is new to me too, of course; it's understandable that finding destiny is important, but I think forcing it isn't. I only joined in because thanks to common savings, I have enough money to finish the tail part of my machine with aluminum. Of course, as a gesture of thanks, Scoutalu will do the test flight since everyone likes the fruit they can't eat often, and Scoutalu can fly very rarely, even with help. Anyway, I turned around and watched. What if we were the beauty mark-crossed dragonfly riders? Everyone laughed at this because it's completely hopeless, even riding a dragonfly, let alone flying on it, is absurd. However, then the teacher came in. "Hello, little ponies!" "Good morning, Miss Cheerilee!" I greeted her, which earned me a few stares, but then they took it as a Bender-style saying and turned away. "Imagine Ponyville! Princess Cadence and Princess Luna are visiting for the zap apple harvest. Can anyone tell me what this means?" I raised my hand and felt bitterness, hatred, and disgust fill my body. "I suppose it's appropriate for the princesses to give gifts. " Cheerilee's eyes widened, and only then did I realize why. I said it with such disgust that it almost offended everyone. "What tone should I take this as, Bender? I thought my heart would stop and my blood would freeze, but then the Snow White came to mind, where the old witch says, 'Her heart will harden, her blood will freeze, and I will be the fairest in the land again!' That made me feel so good that I giggled a bit, and suddenly I had an idea of what to say to get myself out of this situation. "Ex-cuse me, ma'am, I just... where I come from, the leaders call themselves kings and take everything they can from us. This... this will surely do the trick." The class stared for a while, first in surprise, then sympathetically, and finally in pity. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ The arrival of Luna and Cadence means a lot of work but also great joy, although Luna's letter requested Discord's presence, which isn't easy to arrange. Despite his change, he still can't behave normally. It's also sad that Princess Celestia isn't coming, but someone has to hold the fort in Canterlot. This afternoon is also the traditional Help the Little Ones Day, when 10-15 foals from the nursery come over, and they'll be here soon. So now I don't have the time or energy to look for that chaos creature. Fluttershy told me that Bender is building something super-secret and super-expensive, and he has no idea where he got the money. He claims he won't tell us anything about it because it would provoke a lot of resentment from the pegasi and unicorns alike. Of course, when the princesses visit, there will also be a physics demonstration for the foals, but it's certainly not as big a secret as what he's building, and I'll try to find out from him. As this thought flashed through my mind, the door suddenly opened, and they flooded in. Bender came in last in line and immediately knew what he was looking for; he grabbed a book on glider planes. Then he picked one up about the new internal combustion ship engines. Then I saw Sweetie Belle trembling, but after this, she behaved a bit strangely; she didn't show much emotion, even the sparkle disappeared from her eyes. This was odd, but it was time to inquire about what Bender was doing. "Hey, Bender, what's up?" He turned to me, and although it didn't show on his face, you could see on his horn that he was either irritated or nervous. Sparks flew out of it pretty strong, then he spoke. "Well, I'd like to start a little course, but Cheerilee refuses to go along with it." This surprised me; ponies of his age rarely have plans, and they seldom take on any obligations, so I knew he wasn't an ordinary pony, and since this had nothing to do with machines, my path seemed longer. "What kind of course would that be?" I meant it as a rhetorical question, not expecting an actual answer, but he started explaining what it would be, that it would be some kind of training where ponies could learn to keep a poker face or show false emotions so that in case of trouble, they could look safe and not be afraid. Despite my lack of interest, this course was a terribly great idea. Moreover, they announced that there has been an increase in foal kidnappings in Las Pegasus. The course would have been specifically designed for such cases. This course is brilliant! I'll help if you want. He smiled, touched, and blushed a bit, then took a pen, ink, and paper, and started writing. The ink was red, and he quickly painted the text with it, with which he wanted to advertise: Attention! Attention! A self-defense and panic control course will soon start specifically for foals! Here, foals can learn to overcome panic and defend themselves! In case of foal abduction, how to leave a trace, how to disguise fear! Those interested can apply at Fluttershy's House or the Golden Oak Library! Courses every Wednesday and Saturday! The course is always a full day and is the responsibility of the parent! Then he turned to me and looked at me questioningly. I nodded and grabbed the poster, making about 30 of them in total. Then he disappeared like camphor, taking the posters and books with him. To be continued.