//------------------------------// // Chapter 8: The Shake // Story: A Giant Adventure to Equestria // by ThePinkedWonder //------------------------------// Well, my lying was finally coming back to bite me in the butt. At Twilight's castle, in the room with the Cutie Map, Twilight, the others, and I were working on a plan to fully cheer Starlight up, and I thought of something that could help. I thought that if we bought up how Starlight saved them from Queen Chrysalis, it'd remind her that she doesn't always screw up like she said she did three weeks ago. Problem was, nopony had ever told me about that, so I shouldn't have known it already. As I was struggling to explain it, I stuttered badly, which only made them more and more suspicious. Worse, Twilight was glaring down at me the most, demanding me to explain. The fact that she and the others were ponies, not humans, made this even more unnerving. Ponies aren't predators, but I was still surrounded by giant animals, albeit sapient ones with human-like personalities. Even so, I had to try to break through my nervousness and say something. "W-Well, uh...I-I saw it when I w-was watching Starlight, and..." I was still stuttering. 'Wait, you were watching her?" Rarity shouted at me. Great. Now I also seemed like a creep. I tried to recover and explained, "N-No! I-I wasn't watching her like that! Just like I wasn't when I watched the rest of you!" "Wait, you were watchin' us too?!" Applejack yelled. I facepalmed. I just couldn't stop putting my foot in my mouth. Twilight picked me up with her magic again and held me right in front of her face. Seeing Twilight like this, her being so big, scowling at me, her horn glowing pink as she was holding me in her magic, barely being able to move, I was fully aware of how powerless I was against this giant Alicorn. It felt like Twilight was more gigantic than ever and all but invincible. I was still smaller than her eyes and the anger from those eyes made my heart sink. If she wanted to hurt me, or worse, whether physically or with her magic, I knew I wouldn't be able to protect myself from her, not even run. I went from stuttering and nervous to just purely scared, so I didn't even try to struggle. "Eric, what did you mean by you were 'watching us'? Tell me!" I didn't know what to say, so I froze, not wanting to risk making myself look even worse. I really didn't know what Twilight might do to me if she got any angrier, and I was even too scared to try reminding myself of who she was. At that moment, she stopped being Princess Twilight Sparkle to me and was instead simply an extremely powerful, angry giant that I was at the mercy of. Trying to get me to talk, Twilight gave me a light shake while holding me in her magic and demanded me to say something. It didn't actually hurt, but being forced to helplessly move back and forth to the, with no control over how I moved, made me panic on the inside. But I said nothing. Thought that might be my best option. Twilight couldn't seem to see this and probably just thought I was just refusing to talk, so it made her grit her teeth while getting madder: the very thing I didn't want to make her do. She shook me a few more times, a little harder (for her) wanting me to fess up. But Twilight was too mad to think about what the force of her shaking might be like on my much smaller body. I was forced harder through the air, and this time it was painful. I grimaced as it was happening, and I'm still surprised I didn't scream; I guess I was just that scared. It felt like the muscles in my body might start tearing if she didn't stop, and I then felt a pinch in the upper part of my left arm. I was so terrified at this point, I barely felt it and just stayed still and quiet, still hoping it'd make her cool it and let me go. But it was backfiring by just making Twilight scowl even more intensely, making me feel even more afraid of what was next, and I was on the verge of screaming for help. This was getting dangerous! "If you don't answer me right now, I will--" Fluttershy, seeing Twilight was becoming out of control and possibly sensing the terror I was feeling, had enough and ran up to her. "Twilight Sparkle, STOP IT!" She looked toward me and gasped. "Can't you see how much you're frightening him?! Look!" If Fluttershy didn't step in, It's extremely likely I'd been seriously hurt, since Twilight probably would have shaken me even harder, tearing muscles for sure, before giving up and stop doing it on her own--if I were still alive by that point. Twilight finally cooled it, stopped her scowling, relaxed her teeth, and simply looked at me more closely. She then saw the freaked-out state she'd put me in and frowned. I teared up a bit and was too scared to notice the change in Twilight, and still wasn't trying to move. I might have felt shame for it, if not being too frightened to care about any pride. Any male pride was meaningless at this point. Fluttershy picked me up from Twilight's magic with her hooves, gently held me to her chest, saying, "It's okay, Eric. Twilight didn't mean to do that." I grabbed the hair on Fluttershy's coat with my right hand, and this was when I really felt the pain from the pulled muscle in my left arm, and by pure luck, her foreleg just avoided squeezing it. Still, my eyes got big, out of shock and fear, that Twilight had actually hurt me, but I didn't say I was hurt. I also thought Twilight had just threatened me, and while it was very minor, something I'd recover from in like a week, I was still hurt. I was breathing hard in a panic attack. Twilight saw this, making her mouth quiver, and then frowned even more. Her ears drooped down and had big sad eyes that screamed "I'm sorry". She stood up from her chair and, in a much calmer, gentler voice than before, she pleaded, "Eric, I am so sorry. I-I didn't mean to go that far. It's me, big sis Twilight, remember? I won't hurt you." But that had no effect, especially since she did just hurt me, but just didn't know it. I was in no shape to listen or be near her, stayed in a panic attack, and buried my face in Fluttershy's chest. I only wanted to get away from Twilight, bad, before she could grab or hurt me again. Rarity, I guess seeing me shaking in Fluttershy's foreleg with my head buried in her chest, gasped. She didn't even attempt to get me to try to listen to Twilight, though I bet she wanted to. She simply told Fluttershy to take me to her (Fluttershy's) cottage for now. Fluttershy agreed, silently, then ran out of the castle doors, holding me in a wing, with me still shaking and in a panic attack. After Fluttershy took Eric out of Twilight's castle, Twilight sat back down in her chair, putting her forelegs over her face in remorse. Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie walked up to her, stunned by what she just did to Eric out of anger. "Wha...what did I just do?" Twilight cried. "You went too far, Twilight Sparkle!" Rarity yelled. "That's what you just did!" "Yeah, Twilight, that was mean!" Pinkie shouted while frowning. "Well, maybe Twilight went a little bit too far--" Rainbow raised her head up in thought, then back to its usual height "--but still, that guy said he was spying on us!" Applejack, who was previously just as suspicious as Rainbow Dash, thought about Eric's reaction when he was in Twilight's magic. She groaned, facehoofed, turned to Rainbow in regret, and sighed. "What was I...Rainbow, I think we just really messed up." "What do you mean by that, Applejack?" "I mean, think about it, Rainbow. If Eric really were up to somethin', he would have admitted it when Twilight started shakin' him. He was totally defenseless in her magic, so it would've been a lot safer to just do what she said, not stay quiet and keep testin' her. If Twilight really wanted to, she could've seriously hurt or even killed him with ease just now. Worse, if she did go on the attack, he wouldn't have a chance against her size and magic. And he knows this." "And he didn't admit anything, right?" Pinkie gasped. "And if that means what I think it means...uh-oh." Applejack turned to Pinkie. "Yep, that's what ya do if you're doing nothin' wrong, but so scared for your life that you just didn't know what to say and froze from fear. And If I remember right, it's the fourth time he's gone through that kind of fear, since being stuck in Equestria." Applejack's words made Twilight's mouth quiver and was on the verge of tears. "But...then why didn't he say anything sooner, especially to me? I thought we were becoming good friends?" Twilight asked with her voice breaking. "Well, he probably wanted to, Twi. But don't forget that, to him, we're giant creatures, and knows we could hurt or kill him in a second if we wanted. Plus, he already had to face Starlight try to crush him when she thought he was a bug, so he knows somethin' like that could happen to him. This is a huge world that guy's been thrown into and he's probably still a little scared, even if he didn't look it. I remember how it felt when that Poison Joke stuff made me bite-sized, and you do not feel safe bein' that small." "Oh yeah." Rainbow gasped and facehoofed. "I didn't think about it like that." "To be truthful, Rainbow, until now, I didn't either," Applejack admitted. "And I talked to him a few times showin' that I wasn't fully trustin' him, so I didn't help things either. I can't believe myself!" "And just now, we were putting soooo much pressure on him!" Pinkie pointed out. Rarity put a hoof on her cheek. "Oh dear, we never should have done that! The poor little darling must have been so scared of us!" Applejack, while still wanting to know the truth about Eric, she now wanted to know something else even more. With a serious frown, she pointed a hoof at Twilight. "Okay, Twilight, when ya told Eric, 'If you don't say something, I'll...' was that a threat?" Applejack calmly, but angrily asked Twilight. Twilight's eyes opened widely at Applejack's accusation and jumped from her chair. "What?! No! I wasn't threatening him! You know me better than that, Applejack!" "Well, what was it then, Twilight?" Rarity's tone had more anger than the one Applejack just used. "I was just gonna say that, if he didn't say anything, I would take him to Princess Celestia and she'd talk to him. But I wasn't threatening to truly hurt him! I would never threaten to hurt somepony, I mean someone, that's so much smaller and weaker than me! I'm not that kind of pony!" "Twi?" Applejack put a hoof on Twilight's back. "I really hate to say it, but I think he thought you were, and ya saw how he reacted." With a blank expression on her face, tears flowed from the eyes of the young Alicorn, as the mistake she made fully sank into her heart. "But...I..." "And...even after Starlight tried to crush him, he still wanted to help cheer her up! So even if he did lie to us, he can't be a bad guy, right?" Rainbow admitted. "Truth be told, y'all, while I hate lyin', but I really can't blame him," Applejack confessed. "Not if Eric truly thought he needed to lie so he wouldn't risk gettin' hurt, or even killed. And as I think about it, him not being a pony might have made him even more nervous here in Equestria than if he was one." After hearing her friends' words, Twilight fell to the floor and hit it with a hoof repeatedly. Tears fell from her cheeks, which slowly formed two tiny puddles on the floor. "Why? Why did I do that? Why did I talk to him the way I did? Why did I start shaking him?! I...*sniff*...promised that I wouldn't let him get hurt, and now...*sniff*...I made him think I was about to do it, and it terrified him! I'm a monster!" "No, you're not a monster, darling," Rarity softly said, trying to place a friendly hoof on Twilight's back. But Twilight stood up and swiftly moved away from her friend's hoof. "Yes I am, Rarity! Didn't you see what I just did?! He trusted me, and...*sniff*...he even said I'm like his new big sister. And yet I...*sniff*...I..." Rainbow walked closer to Twilight. "Hey, come on, Twi, you were just upset. Eric knows you didn't mean to do that." "But he doesn't know it, Rainbow!" Twilight shouted at the top of her lungs. "His heart probably broke being treated that bad by his 'big sister'! Some 'Princess of Friendship' I am! Maybe I...*sniff*...shouldn't have gotten Alicorn wings. I don't know if I even deserve them!" "Now come on, Twilight, that ain't true," Applejack pleaded to Twilight. But Twilight wouldn't listen. As Twilight lay back on the floor and continued to cry almost uncontrollably, Pinkie slowly walked up and placed her own sympathetic hoof on the heartbroken Princess. "Twilight, if you keep crying, you'll never be able to make this right," Pinkie said, in her rare solemn voice. "Don't you want to see him smile again?" "Well...*sniff*...yes. Yes, I do, Pinkie." "Then why don't you go apologize to Eric?" Pinkie suggested. Tearing still flowing from Twilight's eyes, she slowly lifted her head to Pinkie's and quietly asked, "But what if he hates me, Pinkie? What if he's too scared of me now and doesn't want to see me again?" "I don't think he'll hate you over that, Twilight," Rainbow assured. "I mean, he seemed to really like and trust you." "Yeah, Rainbow's right!" Pinkie added. "Don't you remember when Gummy was about to eat him, Twilight?" "Well, yeah! How could I forget that?" Twilight asked. "I was almost as scared as he was!" Rainbow reminded, "When Eric was about to be eaten, he yelled out 'Twilight, help!!' right?" "But what does that have to do with it, Rainbow?" "Don't ya get it, sugarcube? When he thought he was about to die, he yelled 'Twilight, help!!' not just 'help!!' by itself. Bein' that scared, he wouldn't have singled ya out to yell for to save his life, unless he really trusted ya." "Yes, and that's why he wanted you there, darling, the pony you said he thinks of as his new big sister! Plus that sweet little darling doesn't seem like the type that could hate anything that easily, especially not you." "Oh...yeah. You all are right, and I understand now." Twilight wiped her eyes and stood up. "I need to go and apologize to Eric for not thinking about his feelings, explain that I wasn't threatening him, and promise that I would never want to hurt him." But Applejack warned, "Uh...Twilight? I don't think it's a good idea to try that right now." "But why not, Applejack?" Pinkie questioned. "Well, y'all saw the shape Eric was in, right? If Twilight goes now, she'd probably scare the guy half to death the moment he sees her, no matter how friendly and sorry she is. We can't risk that happenin', not after what he just went through." "Oh...yeah. He was in really bad shape," Pinkie reminded. "Well, what do I do then, Applejack? I can't tell him I'm sorry and how I feel if I can't even get near him!" Rarity smiled, and suggested, "Well, I have another idea, Twilight. How about I go and tell him you're sorry? Fluttershy probably would have him calmed down by the time I get there, and I don't think he'll be too scared of me." "Oh yeah, that's a good idea, Rarity! And I'll go too." Applejack walked to Rarity. "Eric knows how I don't lie, so if I explain what happened just now, and how bad Twilight feels about what she did, he may be more willin' to believe it and then might want to see her." "Okay. But...be sure to let him know that he doesn't have to force himself to see me. And please, please tell him that I'm not mad at him, I won't be if he doesn't want to see me, that I'm so sorry for what I did, and that I promise, on my life, to never do anything like that to him ever again." "We will, Twilight," Rarity said. "And once he tells us what he wants to do, we'll come right back here to let you know, okay?" "All right. I'll wait here in the castle and wait for you two to return." Rarity and Applejack trotted out of Twilight's castle and went to Fluttershy's cottage to tell them what happened with Twilight. At Fluttershy's cottage, I was finally calming down. I lay face-down on Fluttershy's yellow couch, on a pillow, and she was sitting right beside me, with one of her wings around me. She now knew about my left arm being hurt, so she was extremely careful to not touch it. I wasn't hurt anywhere else, physically anyway, but my body still felt a little limp. Both from the impact the shaking itself did, and the emotional shock of what Twilight, who I was beginning to think of like a big sister in Equestria, just did to me. It was made even worse that she promised that she wouldn't let me get hurt, and now I was hurt, by her. Even if the pony didn't mean to actually do it, but at this point in time, it didn't matter much to me. "Are you okay now, Eric?" Fluttershy asked me, in the gentlest voice I've ever heard. Guess I should've expected nothing less from her, the Element of Kindness. "I think so, Fluttershy," I answered, motionless under her wing. "T...thank you for getting me out of there. I just can't believe Twilight did that, and even threatened me. I thought she was my friend, who I said was like my new big sister. I trusted her..." "Oh, Eric, she is." Fluttershy moved her wing off me, so she could look at me, probably wanting me to look her in the eyes, so I could see that she was not lying. It was (to me) high up, but she had a big smile on her face, helping me stay calm-ish. "I want to believe that, Fluttershy, and I'm trying to, but still, she..." I gritted my teeth, trying to fight back the tears. At this point, it was getting embarrassing, but male pride took a back seat. "Now, now, Eric, Twilight just got carried away, but she's not that type of pony" -- Fluttershy gently rubbed my back with a wing -- "and you said you were watching us right? If you were, you should know that she'll never threaten anyone that's harmless, even if she's really angry." I put a hand on my chin, thinking about that, then I looked at Fluttershy, right into her eyes. "Well, from what I've seen, Twilight's not that kind of pony. But...then why did she say she'd do something to me if I didn't talk? I don't know that much about you all, so who I was thinking Twilight is might not be who she really is. I'm just not sure anymore." Fluttershy rolled her eyes upwards as if she were thinking about what I just asked, then they came back down to me. "Well, I don't know what she was about to say, but I'm sure it was just some kind of misunderstanding. If Twilight did have that side to her and prone to doing what she just did to you, we would know, Eric. We would have stopped her the instant she picked you up with her magic before one of us got you out of the castle, and I'm so sorry I waited as long as I did." If I were in a normal or even a "normal" shaken-up state, I would have automatically believed Fluttershy. And deep down I knew that Twilight didn't actually threaten me, and there just had to be more to it. But with how I was almost killed twice since I got to Equestria, more aware than ever how powerless I was, and now I was injured by Twilight, the pony I trusted the most, I was just reeling too much to think clearly. "You're sure about that, Fluttershy?" "Oh yes. Just in case you don't already know, Twilight and I go away back, and I know she'll never do anything like that to someone like you." "Well--" but as I was about to add more, the door to Fluttershy's house opened. When I looked to see who it was, I saw purple, and I thought it was Twilight. A moment of uncontrollable paranoia that she possibly came to follow through on her "threat" took over, making a pulse of fear flood through my whole body. I panicked, screamed, and covered my head with the arm that wasn't hurt. At the same time, Fluttershy covered me with a wing. "Wait, what's going on?! Why is he acting like that, Fluttershy?" I noticed the voice was different from Twilight's. That made me stop screaming, slightly calm down and, as Fluttershy moved her wing off me, I moved my arm off my head, and lifted my head to where the voice came from. It was just Starlight, who was turning her head in one direction after another, really surprised by how scared I was acting. Seeing it was just her, and that she was obviously not there to try anything because of her reaction, I fully calmed back down and took a deep relieved breath. Seeing me calm again, Fluttershy turned her head to Starlight and asked, "Starlight? What are you doing here? Have you been at Twilight's castle yet?" "No, not since I left earlier. I was just about to go back and I was nearby, so thought I'd stop here and see if you were here, Fluttershy." Starlight slowly walked a little closer to me while slightly leaning down, almost like she was trying to make herself seem smaller. "Eric? Why were you so scared? I'm not gonna hurt you. What's wrong?" I gave a deep sigh and sat up. I decided to just tell her and Fluttershy the full truth. I was sick of hiding it. Turning to Fluttershy, and then back to Starlight, I said in a tired voice, "Okay, Fluttershy, Starlight, I want to say something." They both frowned, worried about what I was about to say, as I added, "But"-- I looked back down --"it's really hard for me to explain, you might not believe it, and I was really worried that you might think I was up to no good and might even do something to me like...what Twilight did. All that was why I hid it. But...please trust me that I'm telling you the truth, and I'm no threat because I don't know what to do anymore." They both nodded. Starlight walked closer to the couch Fluttershy and I were on to hear me better, then lay down on the floor. With the unstable state I was in, I'm pretty sure Starlight didn't want to make me feel like she was towering over me, even if she didn't say it. I was in such a rattled state, I didn't even remember that Starlight might have known about TVs and cartoons. But even if I did remember, I doubted Fluttershy would have known about them, so I figured I'd try to explain things by comparing them to "characters" in their fictional books, and Equestria to the world those "characters" in those books lived in. I then said that if they (Fluttershy or Starlight) somehow ended up in that world, where those "characters" in the books existed, it would be what Equestria and they were to me. I thought it was the best way to explain how I could already know about them, and even in this way, it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. Fluttershy was surprised by this but, seeing how I was, and really sounded like I was telling the truth, said that she believed me, and trusted me about not being up to anything. Starlight said the same, but then said something else that quickly made me really wish I'd told them all the truth from the start. She would even do something that would make me look at Starlight Glimmer in a different light than I did before.