ACT THREE
“Whoa!” cried Spike “I’ve never seen any-pony bark like that before.”
Rarity was completely livid “Any and all respect I had for that pony is rapidly dwindling now!”
Starlight approached Twilight, “Are you okay? He shouldn’t have yelled at you like that.”
Twilight did feel angry and upset for the way Stone had balked at her, and how he scoffed at the tastes of other ponies and literature, but just the same it also made her more curious than ever to find out why Stone was like this, and what would force him to want to write stories his own way and not listen to his readers.
“Uh-oh,” Spike said as he recognized the look on Twilight’s face, “Here it comes.
“I think we need to help Stone just a little more.” said Twilight.
Rarity approached her, “Darling, much as I would agree with you, I think it is clear that Stone has no intention of heeding your advice.”
Starlight on the other hoof agreed with Twilight, “Twilight’s right, we should at least figure out what pushed him to be so pushy.”
The others reluctantly agreed to help Twilight, or at least tag along.
Stone Heart worked more than one job.
Aside from being a trash-pony, he also worked at the Canterlot Foundry where they melted steel to make things like girders, beams, casings, wall panels and stuff.
The inside was really hot from all the heat from the smelting sections where some ponies worked.
Then again there were others who worked hard to shape the steel-- pounding it with huge hammers, or pouring it into molds for casings and walls, while some cooled off the burning metal with hoses.
Normally, only ponies on the force would be allowed entry, but as Princess Twilight was well known, the Foreman graciously allowed her and friends inside for a tour of the place, provided they all wore hardhats and silver uniforms to wear down the heat.
“Gracious, it’s hot.” groaned Rarity, then she gazed at her soft reflection in the shininess of her suit, “Ooh, but I love this. I can just see a whole new line of fashion in this.”
The others sighed, but the tour continued.
“As you can see,” the foreman said “We work very hard to provide necessities for not just Canterlot, but for all over Equestria.”
“I see that,” said Twilight, but as the tour progressed, she noticed a lot of the workers didn’t seem to be talking to one another. No-pony said “hello” or smiled, or even looked towards another co-worker.
Then, there was trouble, as one of the large pouring kettles tipped over and the scaling hot liquid headed straight for an employee by a wall.
“LOOK OUT!!!” shouted Spike.
The pony screamed, but then she was pulled out of the way by a fellow co-worker, and the liquid was quickly shielded off by a few unicorn ponies and kept contained.
“It’s all good, boss.” One of them called.
The foreman was delighted, but didn’t even say “Good job” or ask if the victim was alright.
Before anyone could question him, Spike saw Stone Heart working in a siding, pounding a steel girder with a large hammer, controlled by magic, to shape it well.
Suddenly, the hammer broke from being over-used, so he had to get a new one.
And luckily for Twilight and her friends, the foreman got called away to attend to the helping to clear up the mess made from the accident.
“Forgive me, but I must see this.” he said to the group “Feel free to walk around, but don’t touch anything or interfere with the work. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
Then he just walked off leaving the gang where they were.
“Well, that’s rather irresponsible.” said Starlight.
Twilight agreed, but this was the perfect chance she needed to talk to Stone, and he was just coming back with a fresh hammer for his work.
“Hello, Stone.” said Twilight.
Stone saw her and the gang and sighed. “Some ponies just never learn.” he grumbled, and he ignored them and proceeded to go back to his work.
But Twilight used her magic to poof the hammer away from him, which quickly aggravated Stone.
“I’d like to talk to you again.” said Twilight.
“There is nothing to discuss.” Stone said bluntly “I don’t want to write anymore, and I’m trying to make a living here.”
“Yes, I understand that…” Twilight said resisting every urge to bite into her limb.
As stone began to pound at the hot steel with the hammer, “Sooo…” she said casually “I just thought I’d ask what made you decide to write your story the way you wanted to in the first place.
…Did your friends inspire you to do it?”
Stone stopped pounded and looked over at her, “I don’t have friends, never did, and never believed in the stuff.”
Twilight and her crew were horrified.
“No pony wanted to be my friend…” Stone said as he reflected on his past life.
He was a nerdy pony-- eye glasses, braces, a little pudgy, and preferring to read fairy tales and romantic stories like Starlight had read.
He was often made fun of by other ponies, especially by Milles.
“Retard…!
Werido…
Geek…
…Who’d ever want to be friends with you?
That book can go in the garbage along with the rest of your tastes.”
Other ponies laughed with him at Stone, the poor little guy felt so dejected.
It seemed no matter how kind and polite he tried to act; no pony ever respected him, or even was willing to give him a chance.
“You’ll never be a success like any-pony else.”
“Why don’t you give up now and just stay home all day?”
“Nothing of great value will be lost!”
Worst of it was, Sandy Beam was one of those ponies. He thought she was pretty, and he did have a crush on her at one
She didn’t like nerdy ponies, and preferred ponies that were handsome, strong, rich or famous- preferable to hang with them just to boost her own image and popularity.
She hung out a lot with Milles as he was the jock at school, and great at sports, and writing.
The older Stone got, the more and more he found it harder to please any-pony; even when he lost weight, ditched his glasses for contact lenses, and he started to try writing stories, inspired by all the many novels and books he had read, but also based on his own life experiences…
…Friendship could not help in all fields, and while some ponies do live happily ever after; some do not!
…Nothing had changed!
He was still poked at, insulted, and bashed around, by Sandy, by Milles, and all the rest of them.
They ever spat on his stories.
“You want your stories to be good? Put effort into them!”
“Quit projecting yourself onto others!”
Stone began to grow angrier every day, especially after graduation when he tried to make it as a professional writer by submitting his stories to publishers, only to be cast out rejected and rudely criticized every time.
No pony liked the way his story was, insisting that was not how reality worked; though it became obvious to Stone that none of they had ever seen the world the way he saw it now-- bigoted, mean, uncaring, and above all things, blind!
This only inspired him to write hateful stories, like “A Change of Life” which portrayed the hate and wickedness of others, and what possible consequences could befall them!
Still, publishers would not accept them, and Stone was losing patience!
So, he took up three jobs to help make money to stay alive.
-A trash picker
-Working at the foundry
-His third job was a flyer distributor, for other companies, where he would go around town and putting up flyers and notices on lampposts and the sides of buildings.
…So at least he had stable ways of income!
…AND STILL… he was taunted and picked on by Milles and other ponies. Sandy no longer made fun of him, feeling rather sorry for him, but Stone was already more than turned off by her for the way she had treated him before and was not willing to give her any chances.
Finally, fed up with all the taunting and hooting, he finally complied to their demands and wrote “A Change of Heart” which ponies instantly loved, and publishers deemed worthy of distributing.
…The rest was history.
Twilight and company just stood where they were with their mouth agape, and their eyes open wide!
“So, now you know.” said Stone “Now if you’ll excuse me,” and he proceed to get back to work pounding the metal with his hammer.
Twilight finally snapped out of her trance and tried to talk some sense into him.
“So you had a hard life growing up, but you can’t spend the rest of your life like this, cold, miserable and harsh.”
Stone only sighed irritably and kept on pounding.
“You can’t just throw your dreams away.” added Rarity “You got that cutiemark for writing, and you should follow it. It is your calling.”
“Really…?” snapped Stone “Look at it again…!
It’s a book with pages falling out of it and a broken pencil, which represents FAILED stories.”
“…He’s got a point.” said Spike.
“And in any case,” sneered Stone “I don’t care about what my cutiemark is or isn’t. I’m not letting any-pony push me around anymore, least of all any of you!
Now, please leave”
Starlight’s features hardened, “We’re not trying to tell you how to live, we’re just trying to help you.
You’re on a dangerous path, Stone. I should know, I was once like you-- I didn’t care much for friendship, and it led me to do horrible things.”
Twilight agreed, “You need to give friendship better chances, Stone. I’m sure there’s some-pony out there who would appreciate you, but you have to be willing to appreciate them for their tastes and respect their ideals too.”
Stone was growing very irritable! “You know there’s a limit to my patience, and you are very rapidly reaching it!”
“You’re being very stubborn!” sneered Rarity “We are not going to sit by and let some-pony throw his life away and be some nobody!”
“That’s enough!” shouted Stone.
All the other co-workers looked his way
“Let us help you, Stone!” Twilight said, practically demanding “You can improve yourself! You can be so much more than what you are now, and other ponies will like you better!”
“…If you and your miserable friends are not out of my sight in two seconds, I don’t care if you are Princess, I actually will do something horrible, ON YOU!!”
Spike shuddered in fear, “Um, maybe we should just go.”
Twilight was furious, “How dare you speak to me that way. I’m only trying to help you, but if that’s way you want to be…”
“…TIME’S UP!!” shouted Stone, and he whipped round in a threatening manner, and Twilight stood ready to defend herself.
“What’s going on here!” the foreman shouted as he came over.
“Nothing, boss…” Stone said innocently, and he turned to go back to work.
The foreman was not stupid though. He heard the shouting, and while he couldn’t approve of Stone’s attitude towards Princess Twilight, he couldn’t approve of Twilight harassing his worker either.
“I’m going to have to ask you and your friends to leave.”
Twilight shut her eyes tight, supressing any and all rage that was still poking at her, but she agreed, “Come on, guys.” she said to her friends.
“Humph!” Rarity grunted as she stuck her nose up high and walked off.
Starlight could only shake her head pitifully, and Spike, he was just relieved that no pony got hurt… at least not physically.
Not only that, as Twilight was about the leave through the main entrance, she noticed that all the ponies were still working about as if nothing had happened-- still not looking please, and were acting cold and distant at one another…
…Even the mare that was nearly melted to death in the accident, or the other pony that saved her.
The foreman wasn’t even talking severely to Stone, or reprimanding him for his attitude.
“Come on, Twilight.” said Starlight “Let’s just go.”
Twilight agreed, and the friends all walked out.