//------------------------------// // Ch. 12 - I don't look for trouble... // Story: Bad Company // by Symphony //------------------------------// I locked the door behind me and grumbled. It was way too early in the morning to do anything, let alone go outside and do business. I pinched the bridge of my nose and groaned before I pocketed the key to my house and jammed my hands in my pockets. Fiddling around with the key in my right pocket, I walked toward the gate. When I was close enough, the gate opened on its own. I walked through and turned towards the town. I heard a loud click when the gate closed to confirm that it locked. Looking down towards the town, I saw that it was starting to come to life. Ponies were bustling around, pulling carts and setting up stands for the day. I kept walking slowly, eyeing the ponies as I came closer into town with every step. I almost felt like turning on my heel and walk back home when ponies started noticing me walking past them. I nodded to a few ponies I talked to during the party Pinkie threw for me. They smiled back at me before they returned to work. My gaze fell back to the ground, my hands still in my pockets. I really don't understand. They should hate me. They really should fuckin' hate me. What I did was not acceptable by any means. I know this, that's why I've been trying to make changes so I don't appear like a big ol' asshole who just destroys everything. Still, I would understand if they would just hate my guts. All I did was keep my mouth shut for six hours. It's insane, really. I hear chattering amongst the ponies, nothing really picks up my attention so I keep walking. I feel a bump to my ankle and stop walking. A small red ball slowly rolled away from me. I look around and see a very small pony stare at me with wide eyes and its ears pinned back to its skull. I sigh and crouch down, taking the ball. “Hey, is this yours?” I say to the kid. It nods slowly. “Here you go, be careful so no-one trips on it and falls.” I reach out the hand holding the ball. The small pony walked carefully to me, then looked up at my eyes. Once it had a grip on the ball I let go and stood back up. “Th-thanks...” Sounded like a girl, alright then. She didnt look at me and scampered off with the ball. I turned around, put my hands back in my pockets and kept walking down the street toward the town hall. 'Figures. The big human is still scary for them.' I chewed the inside of my left cheek for a few seconds. 'I'm way taller than most ponies, so I must be a giant for them. Oh well...' Finally making it to the town hall, I looked up at the massive wooden doors. I rubbed the back of my neck with my right hand, sighed and walked up the steps. I pushed the doors open and walked inside. The pony at the reception desk stared at me for a few seconds with wide eyes. “Hello, I'm here to talk with who ever is in charge here...” I sat down at a very small chair next to an equally small table. The chair creaked from my weight. “Oh! Um... Well, the one in charge here is Mayor Mare, however she hasn't come in yet. She should arrive in a few minutes...” The mare behind the desk pushed up her glasses and smiled at me. Her coat was white and her mane was a very light red with a very light green streak. On her nose rested a pair of round black rimmed glasses. She had a few freckles on her cheeks and was slightly pudgy. I nodded to her. “Alright, I don't have anything better to do so I can wait...” I closed my eyes and leaned back, trying to ignore how uncomfortable this chair was. “Excuse me...” The mare from the desk said. I cracked an eye open at her. “New protocol is that anypony wanting to see the mayor has to write their name and what they want with her...” She slid a paper up the desk. Sighing, I stood up and dusted off my pants. “Fine.” I ran a hand through my hair, which reminded myself that I really needed to get it cut. I walked toward the desk, leaning down slightly so I could actually see what was on the paper. The pony handed me a pen and I thanked her. I scribbled my name down quickly, then stopped when I saw the next box to fill in. Reason: I coughed awkwardly and smiled up at the receptionist who gave me a small smile back. My brain churned as I tried to think of just one reason as to why. I eventually shrugged and just went with the broadest term I could think of to describe what I did. Reason: Property damage. I leaned back up and slid over the paper to the mare. She looked down at the paper, then up at me. “So... Jay, huh?” She adjusted her glasses again. “Can't see I've seen anypony like you before.” She shuffled on her seat. “I just moved here from Manehattan around two weeks ago...” “I'm not a pony, I'm a human.” I grinned at her. She shrunk back as she looked at my mouth and noticed my canines. I promptly closed my mouth and felt like an asshole. “Well uh, I kinda got stuck here a couple of days ago. Was here earlier a couple of months ago, which is why I'm here now.” “...Property damage?” She asked with a crooked eyebrow. Her glasses had went down her nose again, looking up at me. I felt a small blush creep on my cheeks. “It was uh...” I scratched the back of my head sheepishly with my left hand. “I kinda freaked out and thought I was in an intense lucid fever dream and decided to wake myself up doing several things until I realized that it wasn't a dream...” I gave her an awkward smile. She raised a hoof to her mouth and giggled. We both jumped as the doors slammed open. An older mare with a brown coat and gray hair walked inside, sharply turning left to head toward another door. She never looked up at me. “Strawberry, do I have any requests this morning?” Mayor Mare stopped and yawned, then turned toward me and the desk. Her eyes narrowed and she took a few quick steps toward me and talked in a voice that nearly made me empty my bowels on the spot. “You.” I quickly raised my hands defensively. “Hey, hey!” I took a step back, nearly tripping on the carpet behind me. “I'm not here to argue or fight! I'm here to set things straight! I promise!” The older mare was standing right in front of me, leaning into me and staring me right into my eyes, as if she was searching for something. She sighed. “Okay, fine...” She turned around and walked back toward the doors at the far end of the room. “Follow me.” She stood next to the door and I walked behind her. I followed her to her office. She held up the door to her office and I stepped in. She walked in behind me and locked the door. She glared at me for a few seconds as she slowly made her way to her desk. “Sit.” She pointed at another chair that was much too small for me. I sat down. She rested her head on her hooves and leaned forward. “So, let's talk about property damage.” She said with an almost evil grin. I gulped. “A HUNDRED THOUSAND BITS?!” Spike yelled. “Yup...” I said, resting my chin to my left palm as I sat on the steps to the library. I looked over to Spike who was pacing back and forth. “That is a LOT of money, dude...” He said, rubbing his tiny hands on his face. I shrugged. “Well, could have been a lot worse.” I scratched my cheek. “Could have been more money or I could have been thrown into jail.” I looked up at the clear sky and narrowed my eyes as I saw a lone dark cloud make its way closer slowly. “I guess...” Spike shrugged. “But what are you gonna do when you run out of money?” Spike looked up at me. I glanced down at him. “Utilities and things like that do cost money. And food.” “You make a good point there, dude.” I patted his head. I stood up and stretched my back. “I gotta think of something. Can't be too hard to get a g-AH FUCK!” I flinched as a bolt of lightning hit right next to where I had just been sitting. I jumped forward, looking up at the lone cloud. I narrowed my eyes. “Spike, those winged horses can control clouds and shit like that, right?” I asked him as I crouched down and picked up a decently sized rock, weighing it in my hands.” Spike, still recoiling from what just happened stuttered. “Y-yeah...” He looked up and spotted the cloud. “Wait, isn't that Rainbow Da-” I didn't give Spike time to finish his sentence as I reared back and threw the rock as hard as I could at the cloud. A loud thud came from it and I could see rainbow coloured hair flick away from the cloud, then I heard a quiet growl. Another lightning bolt struck, hitting my left arm. I couldnt even scream before my vision went black.