//------------------------------// // Wounds and Repercussions // Story: Happy Adventuring, Twilight! // by Pennington Inkwell //------------------------------// When Twilight woke up, she was laying in a bed in a large, windowless room, lit by a series of lanterns on the ceiling. The first sensation that she became aware of was the fact that she was warm. Simply warm. Not burning up in the sun of day, not freezing in the chilly sand of night, simply and pleasantly warm. The second sensation was less pleasant: her horn felt terrible, worse than it had when she had been afflicted by the poison joke. She gingerly reached up to touch it, and found that it had been heavily wrapped in bandages an gauze. She quickly decided that it would be best to leave it alone as hazy memories of the battle with the dune worm came back to her mind. Okay, I remember that I wound up being completely drained while trying to protect... Her eyes widened, and she bolted into a sitting position, looking around for her companion. "Pennington!" When she examined her surroundings, she noticed that one of the beds had been occupied (obviously recently, judging from the messy sheets), and Pennington's bags were sitting at the foot of the bed, all closed and seemingly unplundered. Finding herself surprisingly disappointed not to see the stallion waiting nearby, as he had constantly been for the past week, Twilight settled back into her bed, trying to remember what had happened through the fog that had settled on her mind. We were about to be eaten... Pennington was badly hurt... The moon was blue... And then that big ship came! Her mind slowly played back the memory like a movie, forcing Twilight to watch every moment over again. Sure Shot, it's so good to see you... The feelin's mutual, Penn! In her mind's eye, Twilight watched Pennington slip into comatose unconsciousness once again, feeling a deep pain in her heart at the sight of the once-proud stallion reduced to a helpless casualty or the dune worm's helpless attack. "Pennington..." She whispered, as if trying to comfort the image in her memory. "You called?" A familiar voice shouted, slightly muffled by the fact that its source wasn't in the room. Twilight's eyes flew open at Pennington's voice, raspy though it was. Her gaze was immediately fixed on the doorway as her friend walked through, overjoyed at the sound of his cocky voice and expecting some kind of cheesy entrance to display once more his prowess, both physical and magical. With horror that almost threatened to overtake her joy, Twilight watched a broken-looking pony hobble through the door and into the infirmary. Pennington's horn was similarly bandaged, along with bandages that ran around his head, pushing down on his mane. He had more bandages covering his midsection, likely covering fractured ribs, and his entire rear left leg was wrapped in bandages up to the top of his thigh, overlapping his cutie mark. The bandages were soaked with streaks of blood, outlining where the dune worm's teeth had raked across his flesh. Along with the bandages, a splint had been constructed to stop him from bending his leg, forcing him to swing his leg out awkwardly to the side to even take a step. He walked with an intense limp, only placing the lightest of pressure on his injured leg, making him seem like a foal trying to skip, rather than an adult trying to walk. He hobbled into the room with about half a dozen such skips, cringing and gritting his teeth every time he placed weight on his injured leg. "P-Pennington!" Twilight was flabbergasted, unsure of what to say at the horrifying and dumbfounding sight. "I've had worse..." Pennington tried to laugh, but it came out more like a series of coughs, forcing him to use one of his front hooves to grab his side. "Owww... I just can't remember when." "He's lucky. If you hadn't cushioned his fall, he would have been much worse off." The green pegasus, Sure Shot, followed Pennington into the room. His accent seemed much less pronounced, now, most likely because he wasn't under stress. When Twilight saw the pony face-to-face again, memories of the last few minutes of the night before finally came rushing back to her mind. The lavender unicorn quickly began to scramble away, pressing herself against the headboard in an effort to get as far away as possible. "Y-you! You're- You're one of them! The Lunar Republic!" She shouted, pointing an accusative hoof at the burly pegasus. "Eyup! Pennington, here, is one, too!" He motioned to his cerulean friend, who nodded in confirmation. "Y-you're that extremist group! The ones who want to take Princess Celestia out of power and replace her with Princess Luna! Y-you want a solitary rule! Well, I won't let you!" Twilight tried to use her magic, but cried out as a skull-splitting pain flew down from her horn. Pennington and Sure Shot exchanged worried glances, each seemingly unsure of how to react. Both of them looked back at Twilight, regarding her with something that Twilight couldn't place. Was it surprise? Some kind of sick mutual agreement to keep her prisoner? Anticipation of what they were going to do with her? Both of them began to snicker. The snicker quickly grew into a chuckle, which escalated into a full-out fit of laughter, Pennington leaning on his friend for support as he grabbed his heaving sides. To Twilight's utter confusion, the two of them continued to laugh, often making indistinguishable remarks, pointing at her, and laughing even harder. "Oh- oh! Ha! That's... That's a good one!" Sure Shot exhaled the words between chortles. "Where did you find this one, Penn? The 'X-Files?' Ha ha ha!" "Oh, yeah! She was filed under 'Government Conspiraces and Ponynet Rumors!'" Pennington laughed in return. "Oh! Oh, my sides are splitting! Literally!" In a moment of alarm, both ponies looked at one another, then at Pennington's bandages. "No new blood stains... False alarm!" The two laughed even harder after that, now both leaning on one another. Twilight watched from her bed, trying to make sense of their unexpected reaction. "Twilight... Twilight..." Pennington shook his head as his laughter began to finally subside. "You have been truly misinformed, and you are the last pony I would expect to be so badly so!" "Replace Celestia? Why on Earth would we want to do that?" Sure Shot shook his head. "We're not trying to start some kind of revolution, whatever you may have been told..." "Twilight, do I really look like a terrorist to you?" Pennington motioned to himself, making sure to indicate his wounds. "We're not a rebellion, we're..." His brow furrowed, and he looked to Sure Shot for help. "We're Princess Luna's fan club!" Sure Shot enthusiastically finished, prompting Pennington to face-hoof, then cringe in pain. "I was hoping for a comparison that was a bit more... subtle?" "Wait... You're a fan club?" Twilight shook her head, sinking back into her bed. "That makes no sense... Why all of the secrecy, then?" "Well, we're not exactly a fan club... Come with me!" Pennington gently motioned towards the door. "I'll show you around... It's easier to see than to explain." Twilight eyed him suspiciously, but slipped out from under the covers of her bed and onto the floor. The moment Twilight tried to support her own weight, she realized that her legs were not nearly as steady as she thought that they were, and she stumbled forward, clumsily crashing her snout into Pennington's leg as she tried to catch herself. "RRMMMMMPPPPHHHHHHH!" Pennington's mouth was clamped shut as he tried to stifle the cry of pain, and he immediately shifted all of his weight to his other legs. He quickly swallowed the scream as tears began to fill his eyes. "Oh my gosh! Pennington, I'm so sorry!" Twilight immediately found her strength again, enough so to stand up. "That... STINGS..." Pennington forced out the words between snorting in and out through his nostrils as he stared straight ahead, obviously still trying to hold back the scream of pain. Twilight blushed hard and moved in front of him, into his line of sight. "A-are you okay? I'm so sorry!" Pennington's eyes flicked from wherever he was staring to look into Twilight's. She could see that there was a lot of pain hiding behind the violet irises, but the tenseness in his body seemed to flow away as she held his gaze, and he let out a long sigh. "Yo, Penn, maybe I should show her around... You need your rest, no matter how much magic we use to fix you up..." Sure Shot muttered, quietly observing the scene in front of him unfold. "You know, Sure Shot, I'm suddenly feeling much better..." Pennington whispered, still holding Twilight's gaze. Twilight watched with fascination as the look in Pennington's eyes changed from pain and restraint to something... Softer. It wasn't the same intrusive search that she had seen back in Ponyville, but it seemed to accept just as much as it was looking for. A more even trade, as it were. "If you don't mind, I think that I'll spend a bit longer on my hooves... At least three of them, anyway." Pennington finally broke the stare-down to look back at his hurt leg. "I think I get what's goin' on here..." Sure Shot smiled mischievously, turning towards the door. "Why don't you two go ahead and do as you like... Just give a shout if you need me." Twilight relaxed a bit once they were finally alone. "Pennington, would you please explain to me what's going on here?" "Well, for reasons I'm afraid I'm sworn not to reveal... REALLY!" Pennington quickly chuckled at Twilight's skeptical expression. "I really am! It's corny, I know, but for reasons that I'm not allowed to tell you, I'm a high-ranking member of the New Lunar Republic. When they saw my blue-moon distress signal last night, Sure Shot and his crew came to help us on the double!" He gave a smug grin. "I told you that I had friends out here..." "Okay, but that doesn't explain why your little 'secret society' even exists! If you're not a terrorist group, why all of the secrecy?" Twilight questioned him, trying not to sound accusative. Pennington thought for a moment, then began to turn with his strange hobbling motion. "Do you remember the adventures of Clued In, Equestria's greatest detective?" Twilight walked abreast to him, nodding slowly. "Yes, I really enjoyed her use of deduction and observation..." "Then you remember her support network? The Confectioner Street Irregulars?" "You mean the foals who went from street to street, finding useful information for her? Yes..." "Well, we're a lot like that!" Pennington smiled. "Ponies are lining up every day to work for Celestia, but not as many ponies want the night shift, or are willing to go through the transformation to work on the Night Guards... That's where we come in!" As they walked through the door, Pennington and Twilight emerged into a long hallway, which Pennington continued to lead her down. "If Princess Luna needs help in a pinch, she can call on the NLR for advice and support! In fact, we're even the ones who have been helping her adapt to modern society! Speech patterns, customs, new styles, we've been teaching her everything that she needs to know to be more relatable to her subjects! Thus, she becomes more accepted by ponies who no longer see her as Nightmare Moon! In a way, by getting rid of the old night mare and restoring Luna, you've actually been our biggest help!" When they reached the end of the hallway, Pennington stopped at the door. "I think that I understand... You're not just Luna's fan club, you're her web of support! You're the reason that she's been moving forward in leaps and bounds in the eyes of her subjects!" Twilight's eyes lit up. "And the secrecy?" "Well, both Princesses have their enemies, Twilight. We keep tabs on them, as well. Secrecy is key if we're going to watch them without suspicion... Which is actually what this room is for!" Pennington grew a bit more somber as he pushed open the door. Inside of the next room were many ponies in what appeared to be some kind of underground base. Many were working on computers, while others were repairing tools, going over maps, or simply chatting over a couple cups of coffee. When the door opened, several of them immediately recognized Pennington and rushed over to meet him, swamping him with questions of where he had been, what had happened, and who he was travelling with. Twilight was shocked to see that the pony she had once thought to be a reclusive hermit had so many friends, albeit nowhere near his home. Pennington greeted them all, answered their questions one by one, and the crowd quickly subsided again as they returned to their work. "You certainly have a lot of friends here, Penny..." Twilight smiled as they walked on towards the back of the room, entering another door. Through the door was another empty hallway. "I told you not to call me Penny, Sparky..." Pennington tried to sound annoyed, but it was half-hearted. The injuries seemed to have toned down his temperament as well as his physical abilities. As Twilight once again found her eyes drawn to the injuries that had so violently and so suddenly humbled the blue unicorn, a thought came to her mind that she had been desperately trying to stop herself from thinking about. "Penny, it's my fault. It's my fault that you're hurt like this..." The two of them slowed to a stop, Twilight looking down at the ground in shame. "I distracted you instead of the dune worm. If you hadn't been so fast to jump... If it had been any other pony... You would be dead. Because of me..." Twilight's eyes burned as tears began to rise to the surface. "I'm- I'm sorry..." "Twilight, don't you dare think that!" Pennington's voice lost its rasp and he stood a bit taller, using his injured leg to support himself. Twilight felt strong arms wrap around her, pulling her into a tight hug against his chest. "I did what I did because I wanted to. I wouldn't have it any other way, injuries and all, if it meant that you didn't get hurt..." His expression softened as he stared into her eyes. "I knew from the moment that I could be sure it was going to attack that I was going to do everything that I could to defend you." Pennington let her go, instead taking a hold of her shoulders and looking into her eyes. As Twilight felt the last of the tears disappear back to wherever they had come from, she found herself entranced by his eyes and his words, trying to find some kind of understanding of his thought process behind his sacrifice. Deep in the center of her chest, Twilight could feel something stirring, though she couldn't quite understand what it was. "Twilight, in that hair-splitting moment, I realized something: you are special. Immeasurably so. You, Twilight Sparkle, I needed to protect with my life. When we first met, I immediately recognized you as the Element of Magic. Now, I can see that that's only a minor detail of the intricate, shimmering web of qualities that make you beyond worth..." Pennington's talent as a writer was beginning to shine through, his words becoming nearly poetic. "When I was trying to stare down that monster, my mind felt crystal clear, not clouded as I thought that it would be, as were every sense. When you called out to me, I was forced to look away, yes, and normally, I could never dodge something that fast if I wasn't looking at it. But I saw it without looking at it, if it's possible..." He shook his head, finally breaking eye contact. "It hurt much more when I realized that my injury left you on your own... I had been trying to protect you, and I failed." As the meaning behind his words sunk into Twilight's brain, she found herself completely dumbfounded by the conclusion that presented itself. Pennington: the pony who was so adamant about not wanting or needing a girlfriend... Could it be that he's actually turned a hundred and eighty degrees? Twilight could feel blood rushing to her face, and tried her best to force it back down again, looking away from Pennington and at a nearby wall. I mean, I've done nothing but get on his nerves since we met... Why would he like ME? "Pennington, I'm- I'm truly flattered, but I'm not worth dying for." Whatever form of reaching out that Pennington had been trying to extend quickly retreated back into himself, much to Twilight's dismay. He turned back towards the end of the hallway, his posture slouching again, though the change would have been near-imperceptible to any pony whose attention wasn't fixed on him as Twilight's was. "Well, perhaps someday you'll meet a lucky stallion who disagrees with that as strongly as I do." He began to hobble forward once again, still swinging his leg awkwardly to the side. "I just thought that you should know all of that... So that you don't feel guilty." Without waiting for Twilight to reply or catch up, he pulled open the second set of doors. "And this... Is our cafeteria! And yes, they serve things other than ramen!" Twilight was unsure of what to say, realizing that Pennington's moment of opening up to her had come and gone, and that he had sealed himself shut once more. She decided to keep her peace and walked into the large dining hall, where several ponies were already sitting at long tables and eating their meals, hardly even taking notice of the new visitors. With a beckoning hoof from Pennington, she followed him into the line to receive food, grabbing a large blue lunch tray from a tall stack with her hooves. The entire cafeteria operated as a buffet, with long counters sporting various foods under plexiglass shields. As they moved along, Pennington grabbed a few assorted bowls of vegetables, and Twilight quickly found some of her favorite foods, as well. "Do you think that I could have my special?" Pennington asked one of the ponies standing on the other side of the food. "Doctor's orders..." The pony scowled, but handed him a bowl of ramen from under the plexiglass. "Pennington Inkwell, no doctor would recommend that soup..." "It's been fortified with vitamins! Honest!" Pennington drew his hoof across his heart to illustrate. "Look at me! I'm healthy!" As a thought struck him, he quickly glanced back at his bandages. "Okay, so don't look at me. I'm still healthy..." He chuckled to himself as he poured himself a tall glass of Sunny C. "Now THIS! This is bad for you... It'll ruin your teeth!" He took a long drink before refilling his glass. Ah, I can already feel the tooth decay... After a few more glasses, he was finally shooed away by one of the ladies behind the counter. Twilight was trying her hardest not to laugh at Pennington's antics, which she was beginning to realize was his less-than-discreet sense of humor. As she reached the end of the line, she recognized a familiar scent. It was rich, thick, and wafted through the air like a heaven-sent agent of joy for Twilight. She knew the drink well, it had buoyed her through times of need, accompanied her on many an all-night voyage into her studies, and was filled with all of the goodness that the cocoa bean could deliver: hot chocolate. Twilight could have found it by scent alone if the tall container hadn't already been plainly labeled. The cylinder was tall and silver, and sat on a stove top burner to ensure eternal warmth. Twilight lifted the mug that she had grabbed to the tap and slowly opened it, savoring the sight of the dark brown liquid flowing down. She had been dying for the comforting brew ever since she had realized that she was stranded in the border town, seeing as hot chocolate always steadied her nerves and helped her to relax. When her mug was filled to the brim, she placed it on the tray and picked it up again in her mouth. Now, where did Pennington sit? She thought as she turned around. To her surprise, there was Pennington, quietly waiting a short distance away. Twilight smiled, happy to see that he was still always nearby, though his motives for doing so were beginning to become clearer. Pennington led the way to an empty table, where they both set down their trays. "I'd prefer not to answer the same questions over again." Pennington smiled. "You can go sit somewhere closer to the others, if you like." "I think that I'd like to stay with my protector." Twilight smiled, watching the stallion fidget. Well, he's certainly becoming nervous... Maybe I could use my effect on him to help him open up again! Twilight tried to ignored the twinge of guilt that flashed through her. I'm not manipulating him, I'm just trying to make sure that he really does like me... "After all, if you would protect me from a dune worm on your own, I think that the safest place I could be is by your side." "Well, I-" IT was Pennington's turn to flush, and he quickly hid behind his bowl of soup, lifting it to his face. "I- I really couldn't do much..." When he put it back down, he was still blushing. "Not in this state. No magic, one leg incapacitated, I can't even breathe too deeply without pain..." "Why are you blushing?" Twilight was trying to get him to admit to his true feelings. "I'm just flattered that you think so much of me when I failed so terribly... You had to protect me, in the end..." Pennington suddenly seemed very interested in his salad. "Well, after you saved me from the initial attack. Not to mention, you risked your life for me! Normal ponies wouldn't do that... Why did you do that?" "I just told you... I thought that you were worth it." Pennington mumbled. "So... Would you say that you... wanted me? You were willing to pay the price, even if it was everything. That's a lot of commitment for just two friends..." Twilight was trying her hardest not to let the conversation move in circles, but Pennington had suddenly become shy. It was a strange sight for a pony who was usually so brash and forward to be behaving in such an opposing manner. "I would like to think that I'm a loyal friend. Wouldn't you do the same if Rainbow Dash or Pinkie Pie were in danger?" He was still looking down at his soup. His voice was losing inflection as quickly as it was losing volume, almost making it hard for Twilight to hear him. "Well, I would like to believe that I would-" "Then that's why." Pennington took a long sip from his soup, once again foregoing a spoon. "Would you mind if we moved on to another subject?" "Um- sure..." Twilight was a bit disappointed at not having received the answer that she... wanted? In a moment of retrospect, Twilight realized that she had indeed wanted Pennington to say that he had fallen in love with her. Once again, Twilight felt a stirring in her chest. Something that welled up inside of her when she looked at the half-mummified unicorn, culminating in a strange feeling of... longing. For the first time, Twilight realized that, though she felt as if she were obligated or trapped, there were many times that she could have left Pennington behind. In Ponyville, she could have chosen to simply not have anything more to do with him after he hurt Pinkie Pie. In Canterlot, she could have left him when he chose to bribe the ticket salespony. Even on the border, she could have left on the train, or even gone back to the hotel to wait another week! Instead, she had always chosen to follow him, justifying to herself that she was trying to stop him and bring him back to Ponyville. But... Why did she care so much? Why did I risk MY life to protect him? I didn't even think about it at the time... It just seemed natural. I didn't want to... lose him... Twilight's eyes widened as she continued to think, the feeling in her chest only growing stronger.