A Prench Tale – Chapter 14, ver.2 · 5:34pm Jun 27th, 2019
Hello dear readers!
Well, this was supposed to come out, like, last week, but we finally have the cut Laurence PoV part added to Chapter 14! It's not plot-essential, but adds a little more character perspective and details to the conclusion. There were also some very minor changes to the next Amber PoV part, because I goofed on the chronology of events by a day, and to mesh better with the added part...
Anyway, you can find the missing scenes in the chapter, just after Sweetchard's second PoV part, or here directly under the break!
Thank you, and see you all soon!
“See, that's really simple!”, Sassie keeps pontificating to a befuddled Amber. “We're true fans, and that's why the two of us were granted the essence of true ponies, while you're just, well... You could just be a bunch of OCs really, no offense.”
Amber looks pleadingly at us, but the American mare has decided to make the most of her audience, reluctant as it may be. We all know that the young unicorn mustn't understand much more than half of what Sassie is saying, yet that little detail certainly doesn't deter her as she exposes her theories for the third time. I'm pretty sure she just revels in being the center of attention.
Quite ironic, considering Sassie was so averse to the idea of following Violette and our supercouple to see the neighbors...
I still think I should've gone with them. What they're doing is risky, even if it's the responsible thing to do on paper... But Vi thought that I wasn't needed, and insisted on her course of action despite my misgivings.
Let's hope she made a good call.
Meanwhile, Sassie is still not finished: “And is it so surprising that the two real ponies are also the two Americans? I don't think so! Mark my words, all the main characters are actually back home! What were the chances that both of us were granted ponies, huh? Though at least he got a pony with a true speaking part... Even if he's intent on hiding from his gift!”, she frowns, gesturing at Alex sitting next to me.
I share a quick glance with the stallion, his irritation barely hidden. We already agreed that it is best to just let her rant until she grows weary of her own voice. Eventually.
She clearly relishes her theories and how they would explain everything. How we would basically be some sort of saviors for the original ponies, sacrificing our bodies to preserve their 'essence', maybe for 'only' a quarter century, after that damn monster banished them. According to her, that would even be close to the central conceit of a popular series of fanfics, 'ponies on Earth' or something like that – it's what gave her the idea in the first place.
I wish she were right.
It would make things easier...
Amber takes advantage of Sassie being distracted by Bilberry coming back from the kitchen, and babbles a hasty excuse of going to the toilet. As the unicorn passes in front of me on her way to the corridor, our eyes meet briefly, and I can't help but think that her gaze isn't neutral. I'm not completely sure, I've never had perfect accuracy for deciphering such brief visual interactions, especially when it doesn't deal with clear-cut emotions like anger or annoyance, but I can't shake the feeling that she's expecting something of me.
Worst comes to worst, I'll just have an opportunity to isolate myself peacefully, so I decide to take the risk, and trust my guts on this one.
Getting up thirty-five seconds later to avoid undue suspicion, I follow after Amber. My shoulder protests a bit, but I squash the feeling – I have better things to do than be mindful of my body right now. The door to our room is standing slightly ajar, and I push inside to find the unicorn seated on her cot, looking somewhat anxious if I am to believe the way she magically fiddles with her mane. As I enter and close the door behind me, she greets me with a small smile: “Hey... Thank you.”
I let out an inner sigh of relief – I didn't misread her! So, now we must act big-sisterly... How would Mél go about it?
Let's try direct and simple: “Is there something I can help you with?”
The issue doesn't look to be either direct or simple though, seeing how she hesitates and ponders how to answer. “Yes... No..?”, she finally ventures, frowning. “Honestly I'm not sure... Things are just getting... even more complicated, if you can believe it...”
“I, uh...” That doesn't give me much to work on, but there's one thing I'm already sure of: “I'm here for you, if you need to talk about it, or anything...” I sit on my own cot, waiting for her to begin... which takes some time, the words still eluding her it seems.
“Okay, so... Er... Oh gosh there's not two ways to go about it: Violette is Amber's mom!”, she blurts out.
“Uh, we're talking 'Amber', as in you, right..?”
“Well my pony template, you know what I mean!”
“Oh, yes, how silly of me...” I guess this kind of situation was to be expected, even if it defies probabilities... Though considering how Chard and Crispy found one another, maybe it was just inevitable? “And, uh... How are you taking it?”
She stomps in frustration: “That's the problem, I'm not sure how I should react, how I should feel! Is it good? Is it bad?”
Of course it's bad! Why would you even consider this curse trying to remold you into someone else, family and all, to be something good!? You already have a mother! Who disowned you... And wouldn't accept you even when you looked human... All right, I can sort of see the potential appeal of the situation, but... “Am I really the best person to answer that kind of question..?”
“I trust you to try to be impartial.”, she nods with complete confidence.
'Try' being the operative word here... “So, uh, we could take it through a pros and cons approach? What's the first con that comes to mind in this situation?”
“Well first off, it's just so sudden! And...” Her voice goes down to a whisper: “Can you keep a secret..?”
“Of course I can.”
Again she clearly struggles to organize her thoughts into words and sentences, and as she keeps mulling it over she shuffles closer to me, well into touching distance. My first instinct is to reestablish my usual comfort space, but then that wouldn't send the right message... So I let her sit so close to me, and focus my attention on her voice:
“It's... It's Violette, she's... She's Raphaël..!”
...
Uh...
“Who..?”
“My former best friend, the one I thought outed me to my parents..!”, she hisses.
“Oh!”
So she did meet someone she knew... One of those she feared the most to see again, and who came under the guise of a pony...
“I, uh, I see how that could affect your perception of the situation.”
“Yeah, no kidding..!”
“Does she know?”
“I don't think so... And I don't want her to...”
The anxiety of broaching such a sensitive subject is something I could relate to, but... “Why? Wouldn't it be easier to deal with her if you were both on the same page?”
She takes some time to ponder the question. “Well, that's the thing, I... I want to trust her, to learn how to trust her again, so... I want to see how she's going to act with me, without all this emotional baggage... See if we can salvage what we once had, even in a different form. I suppose that, in some way, I just wish it never happened in the first place...”
Vi would probably wish the same, if she knew... What could it feel like, to be responsible for your own daughter's misery..? Maybe, as grating as the general idea can be to me, Amber isn't in the wrong by choosing to let sleeping dogs lie – for both their sake. “I guess I can understand that point of view.”
The young unicorn leans against me, her head resting against my chest. I tense, but force myself to stay still.
“Thank you...”, she sighs. “I'm still not sure that's the right thing to do, but... I suppose I just need some time to sort things out, you know..? And if it works... If I can find my best friend again... Even if it's as a new mom...”
“It's worth a try.”, I nod a tad stiltedly.
“Maybe it's like a second chance, some kind of blessing brought about by the ponies to compensate for the rest... Or am I just overthinking all this..?”
“Honestly? I'm impressed that you are so calm and composed, considering the situation.” I know I wouldn't be... With any luck, that stupid pegasus didn't have any family and her last thoughts were just toward close friends or something...
That makes her chuckle: “Well I'm a little past the initial freak-out, just... wondering how to deal with it now.”
“I guess the 'wait and see' is still our go-to solution, huh?”
“Yeah... I...” She gently rubs her snout against my chest, which feels... Strange, but kind of nice too, somehow. “I'm still so afraid to trust her, you know. To accept rekindling my relationship with her, even if it's so different now, and risk being horribly burned again...”
“The two of you seemed to really click together though.” Which was thus unavoidable, in retrospect. “She also looks like a good person, from my interactions with her.”
Her snout rubs stop. “So I should just accept her..?”
“I just mean that it could be worth giving her a chance, that's all.”
“That's what I hope too, but... I...”
Feeling her respiration grow more erratic, I surprise myself by lowering my head, resting my jaw along her neck. “It's going to be all right, okay..?”, I susurrate. “You're already acting like you should, wary but hopeful. I'll keep an eye on her too, and I'll tell you if I catch anything that you should know about... Would that help?”
“Yes...”, she nods, cuddling closer. “Thank you...”
We stay like this for as long as she needs to calm down. It's funny, now that I think about it, it's not the first time I acted that way with her – even if the memories of our ride to Toulouse are still more than a little blurry, I remember holding her.
I'm usually far more cautious with my physical interactions. It doesn't feel unpleasant, though, except for the part that this probably comes for that cursed pony side...
Maybe...
Maybe I should try to extricate whatever good aspects can be found in this mess, too..?
... Or I could stop letting myself be lulled by these damn mental alterations!? I will not let them change who I am!!
So I draw away from Amber, without being too brusque either – it's not her fault after all. Fortunately, I think that was the right moment, and she gets back to her hooves:
“I'm still not sure how it will go,” she muses, “but it felt good to talk about it... Just to get things out of my head, you know?”
My answer is a slightly forced smile, but it's sufficient for Amber, who saunters out of the room. As soon as her magic pushes the door closed, I let the deep frown take control of my face, and start clawing at the floor.
Can't ever catch a fucking break, huh..?
– — –
Well, looks like I'm the appointed unicorn therapist today... At least focusing on someone's else problems is good for my own mental well-being.
Violette cornered me soon after coming back – in one piece, but obviously preoccupied by something – while the others wanted to organize a little party to celebrate our reclaimed rights, though I'm not sure how they're planning to do that with our quite limited resources.
Anyway, that's how I find myself in Vi's room, watching her pace around until she judges appropriate to tell me what the hell is going on. Hard not to see the mother-daughter resemblance even in the way they skirt around the issue they want to discuss... I guess she too would want to talk about that new relationship? Though considering how overtly affectionate she was with Amber just a minute ago, I wouldn't think that she's as conflicted about it.
Not that I'm particularly busy today, but this is getting annoying... “So?”, I dare to ask.
“I'm frustrated, all right!?”, she snaps at me, not even pausing in her pacing.
“I can see that... Any specific reason, or is it just bitching time?”
My choicy words have the desired effect, stopping her right in her tracks as she stares at me in offense.
“You didn't drag me here just to have a silent spectator, Violette. What's the matter?”
She has the decency to look contrite, however flittingly: “Please excuse me, it's just... It didn't go as it should have!”
“That is to say..?”
“Why did she react like this!?”, she keeps on ranting. “Should I have gone alone? Or tried to break the ice with a phone call beforehoof or something? Was it just too soon? Too late?”
This is becoming tedious... “And you're talking about..?”
“About the children's mother, of course!”
“Oh, I see...” Now, what is so hard to clarify? “I thought it went well?”
“It was terrible!”, she groans. “She acted irrationally, she barely listened to me!”
Let's not point out that she isn't exactly behaving in a very affable manner either right now... “Well not everyone is comfortable with the idea of talking ponies. What did you expect?”
“To have a normal, civil conversation! Was it so much to ask for!? It was like she didn't even see us, didn't even think we were real!”
I can't help but snort at her petulance. “Vi, you're asking of a random person to accept to have their whole view of reality upended, and to do it with a smile even..? I'm more surprised that so many people took it so well already. We were bound to be confronted to someone who failed to see the human behind the equine façade.”
“It's not a question of passing for humans Laurence! Just showing common courtesy to a fellow sentient being!”
“Uh, Violette, are you serious..? I may be a cynic, but it's undeniable that many, if not most people have a hard time accepting their fellow humans when they're just a little different... We've been lucky until now, but it couldn't last...” And then, the silliness of my own statement hits me, and I laugh, pointing at my ruined eye: “This should be all the proof you need..!”
Like I expected, she looks slightly queasy at the mention of what happened to me, and this starts to erode her frustration. Better keep striking while the iron is hot:
“I mean, you yourself had to deal with this kind of attitude during the past few days, did you not? It's one thing to hope and be optimistic, it's another to delude yourself into thinking that everybody is a Care Bear as long as you chose your words well...”
Damn it, I 'struck' too hard it seems – the frustration is coming back full-force: “So what, we should just stop trying? Just isolate ourselves and treat every human like an enemy!?”
“Of course not..!”, I grumble, rolling my eye. “There's lot of people who will gladly lend us a hand, we even know several, but just as much as there's also some who want to hurt us for some stupid reason. Though I guess that, for the majority, they don't know what to make of the situation. Isn't it what happened with that woman?” At her reluctant nod, I continue: “Violette, you're a formidable mare, I admire your resolve, and having lofty ideals is good and well, as long as your safety isn't in question – but that's not our case. We have to act with a degree of pragmatism.”
“You sound like Amber...”, she mutters, avoiding my gaze.
“Really? If anything I would think I sound like Crispy... Because her core idea wasn't wrong, you know. How she went about it was extreme and disastrous, but it's still true that we can't take people's good will for granted. Today you took another big risk, but this one didn't just involve your own safety. We were all lucky it didn't end terribly – and someone not being polite does not count as 'terrible'...”
“I just... I just want to do good..!”, she tells me, almost pleadingly.
“And you do lots of good, but you also have to acknowledge that you can't change people with just some pretty words. I wish it were that easy, trust me, but it's not – I couldn't have talked down the bastards who almost killed me.”
“We can't base our assumptions on a fringe, marginal part of the population...”, she contests.
“Violette, it's not that everybody would react like them, it's just that we have to keep in mind that they still exist, and because they're so unhinged they're far more likely to act on their beliefs than other people. Yeah, it's only a tiny fraction, but it only needs one person, motivated enough... How would you feel, if this one person found us here just because we didn't take any kind of precaution, and hurt Amber?”
Her reaction is immediate, her ears folding back. I know it's a cheap shot, but I have to make my point unambiguously. I can't let her put us all at risk so readily just because she feels like she has to act like a saint.
“You told me you didn't need me when you went to see that woman. I accepted that, but only because I knew you weren't going alone, and even then I didn't think it was prudent.”
“So what, I shouldn't have done it, it was just too irresponsible, that's what you want me to say?”
“I just want you to admit that it was risky, and to promise me that for now on you will act with a little more caution!”
“All right, it was risky!”, she snarls, her emotions jumping again from calm to anger. “Happy now!?”
Oh how I want to facepalm so hard..! I try to talk more calmly, limiting the emotion in my voice: “Violette, my only concern is that none of us come to any kind of harm. I'm here to protect us, but I can't do it when the one pony most of the others see as a leader decides to act unilaterally. Like I said, you already did lots of good, and I think your heart is definitely in the right place, but please, before you try something like going on your own to the city without warning anyone, at least talk to me, that we may weight the pros and cons, and act with caution.”
“It's true that I'm looking at the face of caution...”, she comments snidely.
That earns her my sternest face: “Are you referring to my injuries? You think they came about because I took an unnecessary risk..? Or because I had to deal with the consequences of someone else's choices?”
Her sudden enmity dwindles, as she probably realizes that in her attempts to avoid questioning herself she crossed a line she shouldn't have.
I've had enough of her attitude now, and as I take a step in her direction, she starts to back down, but I won't let her escape: “I accepted to die if it helped the others get away unscathed. I would do it again, in a heartbeat. I just would prefer if I didn't have to. That implies that ponies don't gallivant without caring about the consequences for others. Am I clear?”
She gulps instead of nodding, but that suits me fine.
“You're a smart mare, Violette, and I really like you. I want to work with you to ensure that all ponies are safe and have a future, whatever it may turn out to be. Would you please try to work with me?”
I don't know what's happening in her head, but she appears conflicted. What could refrain her from accepting my proposition? Is she just too full of herself to admit she's not perfect..?
She lets herself fall on her haunches, and sighs: “All right, Laurence, you've made your point... But I still think it was the right thing to do.”
“Didn't say it wasn't.” At her surprised look, I elaborate: “It was risky, but you chose to take responsibility for our collective actions, and that's good. That's what a leader should do. We could have improved the specifics, certainly, though the end result could still have been the same anyway.”
“So what was the point of all this spiel..?”
“To make you realize that, just as you took responsibility for what Crispy and Sassie did, I would have to take responsibility for what any of you do – and I'm not talking about a legal or moral responsibility... Because there's people out there who wish us harm, just as much as there's people who would help us. Crispy saw everything in black, but you try to paint everything white, Violette. No wonder you're so frustrated if everything doesn't unfold like you expect it to, even when you try your damnedest to be the whitest gal around... We have to be more gray and pragmatic than that, for our own sake. Do you understand?”
“Yes...”, she answers, though I can see it costs her. I guess she wasn't expecting that venting to me would backfire right in her face, but it was necessary.
“Okay then, let's talk business.”, I declare with a smile. “Do you think this woman or her family could become a security issue?”
Probably a bit taken aback by the conversation and attitude shift, she needs an instant to recollect herself: “Well, I suppose she wouldn't... It was like she just didn't want to deal with us in any way. She didn't even accept my check.”
“Let me guess, you tried to hand it to her via magic..? That's not something you should do so casually around most humans, you know.”
“I'm a unicorn, I will not hide that part of me!”
“Pragmatism Violette, pragmatism... But to get back to the point: did she make any kind of threat, or from her attitudes and her home, would she be tempted to talk to the Brigade or other unsavory bunches?”
“She didn't strike me as anything other than confused and afraid. She only asked that we leave her family and herself alone.”
“All right, then I guess it's a lesser risk. I would also expect that her son could talk on our behalf, or even warn us if need be. I just hope that his sister will not do anything on her side... Next item: the people who tried to stop you from getting to the tribunal. Any news on that front?”
Now that we're in full-on work mode, it's pleasing to see Violette get her bearings back, and she answers quickly and efficiently: “Amber thinks that Brigade was somehow involved. Even the tribunal's vice-president could have been working with them. Fortunately, all charges have been dropped since then.”
So they are here too... And they clearly have a lot of influence. “Do you know if anybody could have followed you, when you came back here..?”
“I... I don't think so, we tried to be discreet in leaving the hotel.”
“These bastards aren't the kind to call it quits... I don't like this. If I remember well, you mentioned that the government is trying to set up some kind of covert quarantine zone for ponies?”
“I wouldn't describe it like that, but yes.”
“How soon do you think we could arrange transportation to this zone?”
“Antoine should know, I'll have to call him, but... Do we really have to leave?”
“Like I said, we need to act cautiously. I don't particularly like moving from one place to the other, trust me, but our situation here has been compromised. I'm afraid it's only a matter of time until word gets out, and the risks of being discovered increase drastically. It's doubtful that the Brigade would be deterred by us having official papers – if anything, on the basis of their rhetoric, they would become even more motivated. So please, call your friend, and see if he can help us move as soon as possible.” She really doesn't look happy about this, but she still nods. “I understand it can be painful to leave your home... But for now, survival must be our priority, okay?”
“Okay...”
Lots of character progression, Yay! Sarge definitely seems to be taking her role as guardian quite seriously, even with her wounds. Seems like it may be a way for her to cope with the changes as she seems less resentful of them.
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Like she said, in this situation, some degree of pragmatism can be necessary – even when it concerns how she deals with the change.
We'll see if she can live up to her own teachings...