//------------------------------// // Chapter 6 - Wariness // Story: Fred Walsh: Diverted // by Baguettedood //------------------------------// Chapter 6 - Wariness "Twilight's startled jump when I came out of the corner reminded me of this friend I had back in school. Somehow, I was able to repeatedly sneak up on him, despite walking completely normally, and when he'd realise I'm there, he'd freak out. "I understand that it's a bad idea to tell strangers about potentially sensitive information, but the way that guard – Shining Armor, I believe – reacted to Celestia wrapping up the Potens Daemonium incident was suspiciously odd. I think he knows about the STF too. Which raises the question: Is Shining Armor a member of the Solar Task Force? More importantly: Why am I asking this to a vlog I'm probably not publishing?" Fred Walsh, Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie and Princess Celestia were all seated around a table for a bite to eat. The lavender mare, oddly, remained rather silent around the human. “Twilight, is everything alright?” The alicorn observed the strange behaviour. “Huh? Everything's fine. Nothing's wrong,” Twilight told an obvious lie. “I think she's afraid of me,” Fred commented. 'Fair enough, I guess.' “Don't be scared, Twilight!” Pinkie exclaimed with a pause in eating the confectionery she somehow brought along. “Freddy here won't hurt you.” The human turned his head toward the party pony, intending to question the sudden nickname, but instead remained silent. He took a bite from an apple, then addressed the scholarly unicorn. “I think you have every right to be afraid of me. I'm a six foot tall bipedal hairless ape that appeared through a crack in the space-time continuum.” Celestia spoke up in attempt to calm the unicorn, along with dismiss Fred's counter-attempt at reassurance. “Fred Walsh and I met nearly two hundred and six years ago. He assisted in preventing a demon and its associated cult from destroying Equestria.” “Are you really going to keep recounting that?” Fred then realised something. “Wait, Pinkie and I spent a whole day walking here. How did you manage it so fast?” Twilight mustered up some courage. “The morning after you passed through, Spike and I realised Pinkie Pie disappeared,” she answered as she paused eating her daffodil and daisy sandwich. "Of course! I'm not going to leave anypony all alone with no friends, even if it isn't a pony," Pinkie interrupted the pause in between sentences. Twilight continued, "So, I teleported here." "What? In one jump?" "No no no, of course not," she attempted to clarify. "I spaced them out throughout the morning.” “Ah.” He nodded and took another bite out of his apple. He then once again checked the Scavenger Watch. The time was 8:47 AM. “Oh, right,” Princess Celestia realised they hadn't been formally introduced. “My Protégé Twilight Sparkle here, along with her friends, wielded the Elements of Harmony to defeat Nightmare Moon some years ago. Also more recently, Discord, the spirit of chaos,” she explained. “I fought Potens Daemonium recently. We'd make great demon hunters.” Fred nodded, impressed, even though he already knew of their exploits. “How come I've never heard of humans before, Princess?” The unicorn went through her mental history of all the books she'd read and never come across humans before. “The only human I've known of is Fred Walsh. No other humans have ever been known,” the alicorn explained. “I also wore a perception filter to avoid freakouts like the one in Ponyville yesterday. Speaking of, can I get another of those?” “Unfortunately, they only work for those who haven't witnessed your true form.” she informed. “Alright then.” 'True form sounds slightly weird, like I'm some evil overlord in disguise or something.' “How come you two know each other?” Pinkie asked, oblivious to the recent conversation. “You don't look hundreds of years old.” “I don't even know who that was directed at. Anyway, Celestia explained it just before.” Fred stood up, facing away from the group. “This cult attempted to summon the demon known as Potens Daemonium, but they messed up. Instead, they received something much, much worse...” 'Dramatic speech for the win.' “What did they get?” Twilight questioned, slightly worried. The human turned around slowly. “...Me.” It wasn't long before he lost his straight face and cracked into laughter. He sat back down. “That's the short version.” “Okay!” Pinkie seemed nonchalant about the statement. The man spent a few moments in throught. “If the bearers are excellent at defending Equestria, why aren't they in the STF?” “Princess, what's the STF?” Twilght felt a little behind. “Wait, so you manipulate ponies for centuries, ensuring that you can keep Equestria defended, but neglect to tell your own student any of this?” Celestia was taken aback, offended and scared at the accusation. The Scavenger Watch beeped twice rapidly. The alicorn tried to control herself. “Twilight, I'd like Fred Walsh to accompany you back to Ponyville.” 'Wow. Everypony here gets offended really easily.' Fred Walsh, Pinkie Pie and Twilight Sparkle sat on a bench at a train station, waiting for the next transport to Ponyville. Princess Celestia remained absent, as did anypony else. It was likely the platform was cleared intentionally beforehand. Twilight looked ahead, confused at the recent events. Pinkie didn't seem to care. “Well, Celestia no longer likes me. Also, worst attempt at hiding emotions ever.” Now that he had time, Fred unlocked the Scavenger Watch to determine the program that beeped. After some skimming through menus and lists on the cracked display, it turned out the beeping was caused by the program he wrote a few days ago: The neuroheadset auto-ping. Judging from the time of the notification, it read Princess Celestia's emotions again. He guessed anger, and the device registered a spike in the 13-40Hz range. A loud whistle sounded in the distance, accompanied by a chugging noise. “I thought I'd have some time to catch up with Cadance while I was at the castle; I wasn't planning on leaving right away,” Twilight reflected on events. The sound grew closer, owned by a locomotive. It slowed to a halt as it reached the platform. The two ponies and human stood up and boarded. The small crew on the engine either didn't notice, or weren't fazed by, the new passengers. Once all were aboard, the iron horse gained speed and departed the station.