//------------------------------// // 17. Headmare Duties // Story: The Symbiote // by SpyroForLife //------------------------------// Twilight opened her eyes to find that the room was still dark. She was briefly confused, until realizing she had fallen asleep in the afternoon yesterday. How do you feel, Princess? Twilight rubbed her eyes and yawned. “I’m okay. Still a little tired. What time is it?” Venom stretched his head out of her and checked the nearest clock. “It’s shortly past 3 AM.” “Mm. Guess I should go back to sleep.” She stretched out, but now that she was awake, she didn’t really want to go back to sleep. “Still upset about yesterday?” “I’m starting to come to terms with it. It was pretty scary, thinking of what we did to all those ponies, but… it’s over now. It’s over, and now they can never harm anypony.” “Right. Do you think you’ll ever be able to do it without regret?” “I don’t know. Maybe? It depends. What would it say about me if I got used to killing, or worse, enjoyed it?” He hummed as he draped himself around her, pressing close. “It won’t say anything if we’re the only two who know about it. Sometimes heroes have to make hard choices. Sometimes, the only way to save someone is by killing someone else. But only you can decide if you can handle that.” She sighed. “I’m sure I can handle it. But what if it… changes me? Actually, I’ve already changed after only a few days of being with you. Luna was right, you’ve made me aggressive. Impulsive. You don’t just amplify the good parts of me, you amplify the bad too. I can usually control my temper. But then I feel your anger and it feeds into mine and then I’m yelling. Making threats. I don’t like being that way. And I’m somewhat worried to think how much more I’ll change due to being your host.” Venom regarded her silently for a few moments. Then he said, “That’s how it always goes with us. We give and take. Yes, I’ve influenced you to behave slightly more like me. But it goes both ways. Already you have made me more thoughtful, more compassionate, more intelligent even. Of course I was already pretty smart-” “Of course,” Twilight said with a snort. He bumped his nose against her snout, and continued, “But you’ve taught me things I never really considered before. We change each other by being together. It’s natural. But I can try not to influence you as much if it bothers you.” “It’d be hard to tell you not to, since it feels so natural most of the time I can’t tell I picked up a certain feeling from you. But alright, we’ve both changed each other’s thoughts slightly. But I’m going to hold onto my morals. I don’t want us to turn into what we hate.” She felt an annoyed swirl in her chest. “First Starlight, now you? Can none of you tell the difference between someone who just goes around torturing and killing because it’s fun and they get off on it, and someone who eliminates that guy and saves countless lives? It’s murder in both cases but with vastly different consequences.” “Yeah, but… well, maybe. It’s definitely not a black and white, killing is always bad thing. There are cases where we as a society see it as justified. You’re defending yourself. Or somepony got sentenced to death, or even, as much as I hate it, the country is thrown into war and we have to fight to defend it. But killing criminals on the street? Maybe they deserve it. But maybe not. Agh, it’s all so complicated.” “Clearly. You just keep going around in circles with this.” Twilight gathered a pillow over to press her face into. “I know. I think too much, you probably find it ridiculous.” “Oh, no, it’s a very admirable trait.” She looked over at him. “You know, I was wondering something.” “What?” “Why exactly did you decide to bond with me? Sure, Rock Break died, but they probably would have given you another host once I got out of there.” “At first I only grabbed you to keep you from zapping me because all it was doing was hurting and it didn’t help at all. But once I made that connection, I realized how powerful you were. I could sense that you were more than the unicorn you appeared to be. Plus, I knew Blue Bell and she would never be that incompetent when it comes to defibrillation.” “Wow.” “Anyway. I could feel the power in your body, and well, I did need a host since Rock kicked the bucket. So I did what comes naturally, and bonded to you. Spent a couple minutes just getting comfortable, tapping into your thoughts, linking into nerve endings. And then came your panicked thoughts about needing to stay disguised, and I knew just what to do.” “Hm. Alright then. I mean, I’m glad you joined me, because I would have had some trouble getting out otherwise.” “Highly likely.” Twilight definitely wasn’t getting back to sleep. She rolled onto her back, watching the ceiling. “Now we just have to find the rest of your people.” She looked at the other. “Any ideas?” The surface of his skin rippled as he thought about it, and then he said, “No more than I did when we first walked down that tunnel. All I can guess is that once they got on those wagons, they were taken to a different facility.” Twilight got out of bed. “Then we need to see how many facilities they own and investigate them. Would you happen to know that?” “I don’t know all of them. But my previous hosts had memories of learning about them, even visiting a few. But that building you went to is their main center, and now that it's being investigated, there's no way the patients will be taken back there. There's another place that’s more of a science museum. Public relations and whatnot. The museum is open so the common creature can get an idea of what work they do.” Twilight considered that as she opened her notebook and jotted down some notes. “Does the science museum have any labs?” “Don’t know. Never been. If they do it’s probably to demonstrate things like blood typing and so on for the foals to learn about.” “It’s worth looking at. It’s in Baltimare, right?” “I think.” Twilight tapped on the paper as she thought about what else she knew about the center. “I think they also work at a few hospitals and universities. I wonder if any of those places would have the facilities to house the experiments.” “It would be very risky. Blazing isn’t the type to keep his valuable property on someone else’s land. Wherever he took them, it’s somewhere he owns and has full control of.” “I see. So the museum's our best bet?” “Basically.” “Okay, but school’s in today so it’ll have to be after. In the meantime, I'll write to Celestia and let her know to check out the Baltimare science museum.” He groaned but accepted it. She hoped he wouldn’t be too bored throughout the day. She spent the next few hours before school started relaxing and writing a brief letter to Celestia about the museum, sending it to her with the usual dragon flame spell. Then came time for them to head out. Twilight stepped into the bathroom, and while she brushed her teeth, Venom stretched out a tendril to grab her hairbrush, smoothing down her mane. She smiled at him and leaned down to spit out the toothpaste. Venom moved to straighten out her tail, and she checked her hooves, then used a pick to gently scrape some packed in grass and pebbles out of them. Once groomed, she headed out. Hungry, Venom complained as she flew across town. Again? After that huge meal? Fast metabolism. I had to heal you too. Food. Twilight sighed. Good thing she left early. She made a detour to the market so she could grab something microwavable. After browsing the frozen section, she grabbed a small bag of tater tots and took those with her. Once she paid, she continued to the school. She was still one of the first to arrive, as usual. She greeted the few early birds and made her way to her office. She wanted to check what she had to do today. She scanned over her agenda. Nothing too big. She would be here to talk to Starlight and any students that needed to see her. She would also need to review some new lesson plans from her teachers and conduct a couple meetings with parents. “Oh yeah, Silverstream’s parents are coming over. She’s a hippogriff,” she explained for Venom’s benefit. “Her father’s name is Sky Beak?” Venom asked. “Hahaha, names here are so quaint! Oh, and her mother is Ocean Flow, how cute.” Twilight shrugged. “I guess. So they pretty much just want to talk about their daughter’s progress, though they’re also interested in enrolling their son, Terramar.” Venom picked up a quill. “Here’s something you forgot to schedule.” He found the seven AM slot and wrote in unnecessarily large letters, FEED VENOM. “Venom,” she admonished, taking the quill. He snickered. “Look, the bag of tots is right there, the microwave is over there, go nuts.” “You have your own microwave? Oh aren’t you special.” Venom scooped up the bag and launched himself across the room. Twilight laughed at how comical he looked with so much of his body stretched out like that. He read the instructions on the bag, then the ingredients, and said, “These are made of potatoes!” “I know it’s not meat or anything but it’s just to hold you over. I’ll get something better for lunch.” “Fine.” He poured them out onto a plate and tossed it in the microwave, turning it on. Twilight went back to reading the agenda, and Venom returned to hovering at her shoulder. “Alright, what else… Oh, disciplinary hearing for one of our newer students, a dragon named Pyro. That won’t be fun. He’s coming with his parents to talk about him threatening to, well…” She pulled over the report Starlight had given her. “Torch a fellow student’s rump.” “That doesn’t say rump.” Twilight scanned the rest of the report. “He’s also gotten into fights with other students, despite nearly everyone around him trying to talk him down. He’s got a super short fuse. And dragons have thick hides that resist magic and physical attacks so it’s hard to stop one once they get mad.” “Let me guess. His parents won’t be very helpful because they’re dragons.” “Actually his fathers adopted him when his egg was abandoned by his birth parents and they’re actually very nice, you racist.” “Whoa, slow down there, Princess. Just figured his parents would be similar to him. So shouldn’t the meeting go well if his parents are nice?” “It’s not the first time I’ve talked to them. They’re nice, but they tend to downplay the stuff Pyro does. See, around them he mostly just acts like a moody teenager, but he listens to them for the most part and never threatens them. Then at school he’s totally different because they aren’t around. They just can’t believe he would ever fight anyone like that. But I’m going to have one of the last creatures he fought, a pony named Violet Dream, join us to tell her side of the story. She still has the wounds from his claws, we can prove he attacked her.” “I see. Well, I hope it goes well.” “Me too. Also, I’m going to need you to stay hidden. I take my open door policy very seriously, in that the door stays open unless conducting private meetings. Classes start soon and we’re going to start getting traffic past the area, so please hide.” “Fine. But let me eat first.” Venom reached a tendril out, and a few moments later the microwave dinged. He grabbed the plate and pulled it over, tossing a few tots into his mouth. He paused, then beamed and crammed several more in. “Mm, Twilight, these are great!” “They are pretty good, huh?” He nodded, leaning his head back and pouring the tots off the plate and into his mouth, munching loudly. Twilight got a faint sensation of taste in the back of her throat, and her stomach rumbled. She grabbed a couple tots for herself, but Venom quickly finished off the rest. “Food is so tasty here! We need to get these more often!” “Sure, I’ll buy a bigger bag for us later. Now could you please hide?” “Well, since you said please…”He melted back under her skin. She tossed the plate into the trash and sat behind her desk, opening a drawer to get into her snack stash. She rifled past various candies and wrapped pastries, considering the options. Lots of sweets. Pinkie kept her well supplied. Then she picked up a chocolate muffin. It was breakfast time, after all. She could feel Venom’s delight as she took bites from the muffin, continuing to get things organized. She wouldn’t be meeting Sky Beak and Ocean Flow for an hour, so she decided to start reading Rarity’s lesson plan, as she was the most organized and succinct of all her teachers. In order to better demonstrate generosity, Rarity was going to teach about the importance of charity, and encourage her students to find at least one creature to help out every week. She wanted to stress that while monetary donations were fine, sometimes a kind presence and providing specifically what the person needs goes a lot further. On top of that, Rarity was planning a volunteer event to provide toys at a local foal’s hospital and spend some time entertaining patients. “Aw, Rarity, that’s so sweet,” Twilight said. She signed the plan and set it in her done box. She picked up the next submission. “Okay Rainbow, your next lesson on loyalty will be… Alright, when loyal to two friends but they disagree, how do you decide who to side with… that’s a good conflict to cover-” You’re talking to yourself. Unless you’re talking to me. “Feel free to contribute. But talking to myself helps me think.” Twilight continued reading. “Obviously you side with whoever’s cooler… ugh, Rainbow.” She shook her head, but luckily Rainbow was just joking and began listing out her actual tips for that situation. There was also a doodle of Rainbow doing a rainboom. Twilight made some notes on the plan, but also signed off on it. Along with attaching a sticky note with a drawing of herself sitting on a cloud, knowing how entertained Rainbow was by doodles. A few people came by to greet her, but mostly she was left alone. She was just starting to decode Applejack’s hoofwriting when Silverstream’s parents came by for their meeting. Twilight invited them in, closing the door behind them for privacy. “Hey, good to see you,” she said as she returned to her desk, inviting the two to sit down. They did, and she took out Silverstream’s file. “So, you wanted to talk about Silverstream?” “Yes, she’s graduating soon and we just wanted to discuss some things,” Sky Beak replied. “Alright, like what?” “Job prospects!” Ocean said excitedly. “Oh?” “We’ve been talking and we want to know what she can do with everything she’s learned,” Sky explained. “I see. Well, I wouldn’t say there’s a job specifically for friendship, but it can make her very successful at any job she does choose. The lessons she’s learned here can help her with networking, for one. And being friendly can improve morale in a workplace, which is very important. Did she have any particular jobs in mind?” “My sister Novo offered her a job as an ambassador,” Ocean said. “But we’re not so sure she’s ready for that sort of responsibility.” “Why not?” Twilight asked. “She’s kind and understanding and great at conflict resolution. If you’re going to introduce your kingdom to anyone, she’s probably one of the best you could send.” “Our daughter would definitely make a good first impression, but we’re worried she’ll get stressed out,” Sky replied. “She can also be easily distracted, so we were wondering if you had any ideas for a less high visibility job that would make use of her talents.” “Honestly, in the end it’s her choice,” Twilight answered. “I know you care about her and want the best for her, but you have to let her live her life. That includes making her own mistakes. Let her be an ambassador. And if it doesn’t work out, encourage her to follow her dreams. She can use what she learned here for pretty much anything.” “I told you she’d say that,” Sky said to his wife. “There isn’t a specific friendship job.” “It was worth asking,” Ocean replied. “It’d be nice if you could pay someone to just hang out with you for a few hours though,” Sky mused. You can, they’re called hookers, Venom whispered in Twilight’s mind, and she laughed, before quickly covering her mouth and pretending to cough instead. The others still gave her curious looks, and she said, “Just remembered a funny joke, sorry.” She cleared her throat, then said, “Maybe she could pursue a career that will let her help others? Then she could do it with a smile, which will definitely go a long way. She could be a doctor, or a nurse, or therapist, or even work at a zoo or some kind of educational center. Seriously, it’s all up to her.” They nodded in agreement. Then Ocean said, “So, can we also sign Terramar up while we’re here? He’s really been wanting to attend.” “No problem, let me get you the sign-up sheet. We have plenty of spots open for next year so he should be able to get one.” She led them through filling it out, answering their questions, and several minutes later was finally saying goodbye to them. She walked to the door with them and saw them off, waving and watching them until they were out of sight. Then she left the door open and returned to her desk, sitting down and picking up Applejack’s lesson. She chatted with Venom about the hippogriffs, who found them to be very cheerful, but that sort of attitude was growing on him. Twilight was looking forward to having a peaceful morning, as the meeting with Pyro’s parents wasn’t until the afternoon. Then Starlight poked her head in. “Hey, can we talk?” “Sure,” Twilight replied, not thinking much of it as she looked up at her. Then Starlight came in and closed the door, and Twilight’s heart sank when she saw her carrying a morning newspaper from Fillydelphia. Oh boy.