//------------------------------// // An Uneasy Peace // Story: The Olden World // by Czar_Yoshi //------------------------------// Valey straightened up inside the hotel room Puddles had somehow procured, climbing out of the shadow sneak she used to get under the door. Nightmare Module, sound stone, battery... Puddles had let her take the former. She could have stopped her from getting away with it at any time, certainly. Fortunately, her things should just be safe on the bedside table... Her earth pony companion was a sad lump curled underneath the blankets, and for a while Valey considered just sleeping on the floor. Maybe Puddles wouldn't notice if she just snuck one blanket off the top of the pile... "Don't wake her, now," a metallic voice echoed from everywhere in the room at once, keeping itself to a grating whisper. "My pony body needs its rest. Been having fun with your new trinket, Valey?" Valey started, breath catching. Puddles' breathing beneath the blankets was regular, mane mussed and face turned away from the door, but... "You don't need her to speak, do you?" she whispered back. "I'm a talented ventriloquist." The temperature in the room flickered by a few degrees, a suppressed growl in the windigo's voice that lent cruelty to every word, whether it was intended or not. "So, don't keep me in the dark... You reek of resignation and uncertainty. Spill the details! You bailed out on using it, didn't you?" "What, this?" Valey hefted the dark crystal. "Yeah, sorry, but it's not really my thing. Listen, you mind actually being asleep? Because I wanna hit the hay too, and your voice is disconcerting." "What? You prefer me the other way?" The windigo sounded smug. "'Yay, I'm Puddles, I say everything in third person!' Would it have hurt to have landed a body with a more charismatic brain?" It paused. "Whatever. She's certainly good at making herself feel nice, except when she's doing something stupid." Valey folded her ears. "...You're talking like she's still in there. But earlier-" "Is that really a route you'll feel happy about sticking your nose down, my little pony? Puddles isn't feeling up to giving you a shoulder to cry on right now. Thought patterns, speech patterns... This body is mine now, but it's still so used to being hers! You're lucky I wound up in someone so sweet, you know. Imagine if I'd inherited worse dispositions instead. Heh heh heh..." Valey adamantly shook her head. "Nope. Not interested in finding out. I just want a blanket and I'm going to bed." "Really, now." Now the windigo was disappointed. "Speaking of blankets, you're the wettest one I've ever seen. Hello, curiosity? I up and drop an ancient superweapon in your hooves just for you, let Puddles sicken herself to make it look like an accident, and not even a thank-you? You killjoy! I wanted to see what it does!" "...You can't use this, can you?" Valey held up the module again. "And you don't know what it does, but wanted to see me use it? Really?" She shook her head. "Yeah, again, sorry, but nope and no." "It was a good cake, too," the windigo growled. "I enjoyed eating it immensely. Too bad you were off doing whatever instead of keeping an eye on poor Puddles. Physical pain hurts! If you're not even going to throw me a single bone, here, I'm not going to throw you a blanket either." Valey huffed and folded her forelegs. "You'd better not be blackmailing me with the threat of hurting Morena's daughter." "Hurt my precious pony body?" The windigo sounded offended. "I'd never! ...Mostly, anyway." "...So you're saying you're not malicious, just stupid," Valey deadpanned. "You did know why eating an entire wedding cake in one go is a bad idea, right? Especially if you've been subsisting on magic, aren't used to digesting anything, and were using your stomach to store whatever this is?" "Oh, yes," the windigo hissed in glee. "Very stupid. Willfully so. I've been thinking, and you know what's great? You need me. You need to keep poor Puddles safe from harm so Morena the moron will still be your friend, don't you? It's not that I have a death wish, or anything. I can just be as reckless as I please, and you're the one who will suffer the consequences if some plan goes sour. Essentially, the dumber I am, the harder you're forced to be my chaperone, and as it turns out, taking risks is exhilarating! I think I love gambling with ponies' fortunes. Maybe I'll even get us in enough trouble you'll need a powerful weapon to get us out, and I'll get to see what that one does!" "Cool," Valey sighed. "I'm, like, really proud of you for planning that out. Also, you're a jerk. What do you want for a blanket?" "I never said I wasn't. And that's a good question... Too bad for you, you're somewhat short on things I can't take by force already. Wah wah waaaaah..." Valey raised a single eyebrow. "And too bad for you, I won't have the energy to chase you around if I don't get a good night's sleep. Look. You think you can blackmail me into being your stupidity shield and personal bodyguard just because I can't afford for you to get hurt?" She took two steps closer. "The way you've been carrying on, I bet I can afford it a lot more than you can afford to let her die. It's your body, you keep saying. Maybe you can move to another one. Wanna gamble on whether I'll believe that?" Puddles kept sleeping even as a low growl of frustration reverberated around the room. "Well played. So you want a game of chicken now? Care to see who chickens out first?" "I am this close to waking her up," Valey threatened. "Because I'm honestly starting to believe you about thinking differently when you're thinking through her." She frowned. "On second thought, scratch that. I'm better at dealing with villains who seem remorselessly evil." The windigo hissed again, still an invisible voice in the room as Puddles slumbered. "I am not remorselessly evil! I've evolved!" "Bananas." Valey blew a bit of mane out of her face, chancing a silly smile. "Am I getting the upper hoof on you in an argument? Either you're a really great actor, or I think I am! Heh." She stuck out her tongue and winked. "Nyaah. So. Whatever you're playing at, I'd like a blanket. Let's say you let me have a good night's sleep, and then I'll follow you around like glue tomorrow. We each get what we want, no more frustrating arguments, everything's happy. Cool?" "Cold," the windigo retorted. "Take your blanket. Take all of them, and leave poor Puddles shivering and alone in the night! And... sleep well, and all that. See, I can be harmonic and nice." Valey wasted no time in grabbing a quilt from the top of the blanket pile. "You're a straaange windigo, whatever your name is. I don't feel like calling you Puddles. Gotta get something better in the morning..." "Humph." Then the room was silent.