//------------------------------// // Chapter Seven: Sparks // Story: Cure For a Toxin // by RadBunny //------------------------------// The feline bowed to the astral face hovering in front of him, two eagle eyes staring at the creature from the communications crystal in the dark cave. “Your orders?” The gryphon’s face bobbed, the owner letting out a huff. “Things have changed. We will continue our work here. The explosives did not perform as anticipated, however.” The feline was immediately bowing flat on the ground, fear making his sides shake. “Please, I ask for mercy, we didn’t-” A soft chuckle made the creature look up, the gryphon actually smiling gently. “I am not here to lecture you or dispatch punishment, Commander Chaster,” he said calmly, claws now forming in the image to invite the feline to rise. “You did exactly as I instructed, and for that you and your entire division are to be commended. I intend to reward you all for such efforts, as a matter of fact, for I am quite pleased with both your performance and continued unique testing results.” Chaster blinked, slowly standing up fully and smoothing his ruffled tan and grey fur. “I-t-thank you, Highness,” he stammered, the gryphon letting out an affirming nod. “Your success aside, there is a new task I would have you complete. The pony I encountered in the lab, Specialist Shield. You must try to kill him. I do not expect you personally to oversee this, but task your best creature for the job, for this is not a battle of brute force,” the gryphon explained. “. Alive, he has value to us but death would yield a greater reward at this point. That said, I do not expect you to succeed in this task. His meddling is tolerable for now, but as later steps progress his elimination will likely become of the highest priority..” “I understand, Highness.” “Do you?” The feline blinked, brown eyes then flickering to the floor. “Not completely, I admit. So, I am to dispatch an assassin? With the knowledge they will likely fail?” “That is correct. Rest assured; your soldier will not perish. I will personally ensure their continued survival.” The Commander stood up and bowed, confidence returning to his frame. “Then it will be done. I will inform you personally of the results.” “Excellent. I shall leave you to it.” “A whisper remains.” The gryphon paused, the smile on his beak dripping with eager malevolence that made the feline shiver. “A whisper remains. Good luck, Commander.” Leagues away, an orange and grey pattered gryphon shut down the communications spell, walking over to a small, elevated pool of liquid. Runes surrounded the table-sized rocky outcropping, the green and red contents frothing and swirling around the item in the center. If one listened closely, the howling of wintering winds and the neighing of ancient creatures seemed to be emanating from the crystal shard balanced between three jet-black stone prongs. The faint tendrils of shadow curled from the stones, two white eyes seeming to appear and examine the gryphon briefly, the outlines of a fanged mouth widening in approval. “A whisper remains indeed…” the gryphon chuckled. “Hold up,” Marigold stated, waving at the stallion behind the counter. “One small Chocolate Monster please. Extra whipped cream.” “Coming up!” Gelliana was all smiles, having just broken the news to her best friend the morning before her sort-of-date. “I know you had that rush order yesterday, but you could have left me a note about that,” Marigold stated, abruptly sucking down half of the chocolatey concoction placed in front of her, eye twitching slightly. “I wanted to tell you face to face,” Gelliana admitted, her best friend letting out a snort. “Ok, fair, and I appreciate it. But Toxic Shield? Really?” A genuine glare from Gelliana made Marigold wave her hooves defensively. “Not like that! Look, I’m sure he’s a great guy, and I felt bad for ages after what I said, you know this. I’m just really surprised. Then again, I guess I never really nailed down what kind of guys you are into. Other than ‘not big gryphon jerks.’ I’m surprised but curious. I take it the rumors were….” “Total and absolute garbage,” Gelliana relayed with a firm nod, the Pegasus’s ears perking up in surprise. “Wow. Serves me right I guess,” Marigold muttered to herself. “But not totally though.” “Oh?” Gelly nodded, sipping her own shake as she tapped a set of talons on the table. Now she understood fully why Toxic hadn’t wanted to go into detail about the lab. It was hard to gauge how much to say to somepony. “I mean, he does have a serious, confident side when he’s working, at least from what I saw. But that’s not all of him. I…” her voice trailed off, the gryphoness’s brow furrowing. “Just, I don’t want to say too much, ok? But he’s not an emotionless pony, far from it. I kind of stumbled into that realization.” It was only then Gelliana realized she was smiling, as was her friend. “Huh. You really do like him, huh?” Planting her head on the table, Gelly let out a groan, shrugging her wings futilely. “I barely know him!” “Ok, bad phrasing. You definitely find him interesting and good looking?” Marigold asked with a continuous grin. “I mean I suppose I know the answer to that. You did agree to have lunch with him.” An affirming grunt was Gelliana’s reply, the mare across the table then letting out a curious huff. “What about his voice? You don’t mind that?” she asked, genuinely curious. “I can’t say it wouldn’t be distracting for me at least. I’m just curious what he’s like, because apparently I was very, very wrong.” That got a smile from Gelliana, the gryphoness looking up from burying her head in her forelimbs. “Admitting you’re wrong? Are you SURE you’re Marigold and not some changeling?” A cherry smacked Gelly in the face, the mare across the table glaring at her. “I’m not THAT bad!” “You are!” “Sometimes! Only sometimes!” “Ok, sometimes,” Gelly replied, good-natured smile back in full force. “But his voice? I really didn’t notice it. It just faded into the background as, well, him, if that makes sense. It didn’t really bother me at all. I didn’t want to ask of course, because that’d be rude.” “But totally curious?” “Well duh, but if he doesn’t want to tell me, I’m not going to pry.” The Pegasus sighed, inspecting a hoof before waving it at her friend. “You’re a lot more patient than me, I’ll give you that. But what about how he is? I mean, I’m obviously flying blind here.” “It’s…” Gelliana searched for the words, the tender smile on her face making her friend grin all the wider. “Ooooh. What was that thought, and you’re blushing; what, did he kiss you?” A retaliatory cherry whacked Marigold in the check, the mare cackling as her feathery friend dissolved into grumbles, finally looking back up. “No, you evil mare. But just, he was happy.” “Huh? Not following,” Marigold replied, eyes widening as Gelliana’s demeanor shifted. Her friend just seemed relaxed, a bit of a wistful smile on her beak. “Hearing heartbeats. He wasn’t afraid of me, Marigold,” Gelliana whispered, still resting her head on her forelimbs. “He didn’t skip a beat when talking about one of the disasters he responded to. But asking me on a sort-of date? He was nervous,” her smile got wider, over-active feathers fluffing visibly. “And when I said yes, he was just happy. Exhausted, but happy. I just haven’t had that reaction from somecreature before. Usually they’re scared, nervous, or something like that. Even the other guys asking me out usually did so with an ego the size of a house. Never just hopeful and being glad I said yes.” “Awww.” Gelly looked up to see her best friend grinning at her, the mare bouncing in her chair with excitement. “That is so cute!” Such words did not help the lurking blush on Gelliana’s features, but the gryphoness didn’t even bother to hide such. “I’ve never seen you like this, Gelly. So, my incorrect view obviously aside, he must be something special.” “I just felt….” Gelliana sat up stretching her neck and shrugging. “I just felt me. Nervous because, well-” “You’re a nervous wreck anytime you usually meet somecreature new?” “Well yeah, but I kind of knew him from before; the stuff I can’t talk about with the disaster. So, it wasn’t totally new, but I just didn’t feel as scared. No anxiety, just talking with a pony. I guess Toxic being comfortable around me was really something I haven’t gotten used to before. You know how some ponies here see gryphons, even with me being smaller than others.” Marigold let out an angry snort at that. “I’m surprised they can see anycreature with their heads shoved so far up their-” “MARIGOLD!” The mare grinned cheekily as she casually began to demolish a second milkshake, Gelliana blowing a stray set of feathers off her face. “But thank you, and yes, you’re right. I just haven’t met a creature, let alone a stallion who can overlook me being…a…” Gelly’s tone trailed off under the withering glare of her best friend, Marigold angrily pointing a hoof at her. “Don’t you dare start that!” Marigold replied fiercely. “You shouldn’t ever be with someone because they overlook who you are, but love you because of it! Sure, we all have faults, but that’s different!” The mare then casually went back to sipping her shake, thoroughly pleased with herself as Gelliana’s feathers stuck out in shock. “And I thought I was the romantic,” Gelly replied, Marigold waving a hoof. “Bah. You definitely still are, but I’m not about to let you beat yourself up again. You deserve a guy who likes you for you. Eccentricities and all.” Another glare punctuated the mare’s pointing at the gryphoness as she glared. “The good kind. Seriously. If the guy doesn’t like learning about plants or going on romantic dates, toss him out the window!” Gelliana couldn’t hold back giggles at this point, rarely having seen her friend become so animated. “S-so are you my guardian Pegasus then?” she gasped, Marigold proudly flaring her wings at that. “Protecting and serving my best friend’s sappy heart for years; at your service!” Now in tears of laughter, Gelliana could barely breath as Marigold joined in with her own giggles. “Now I won’t ask for details, but you’d better let me know how things go tomorrow!” the Pegasus added as Gelly finally started on her own half-melted shake. “You’ll be the first to know,” Gelly replied, surprising herself at how much her wings relaxed simply at the thought. “Huh. You really aren’t nervous. That’s different from the others, well, most of them.” “All three? Or technically five?” Gelliana added, Marigold shrugging. “I mean in general. Usually you’re a ball of nerves and anxiety. But the idea of going on a sort-of-date with this stallion doesn’t make you lock yourself in a closet and hyperventilate.” “One. Time. And I was sleep deprived, already feeling sick, and…and…” Gelliana glared at her smug friend, the gryphoness returning to suck down her milkshake. “You know this of course. That was mean.” “Buuuuut my point still stands! Quite a knight in shining armor to defuse your usual nerves. So, I can’t wait to hear eeeeeeeeverything!” Marigold then paused, looking at the gryphoness. “And I assume you haven’t told your parents yet?” “Oh goodness no,” Gelly countered with a shudder. “I want to wait to see how things go before they start to get into that concerned spiral and try to pry.” “Or get so over-the-top excited they start asking the names of your future kids?” Gelliana nodded with a groan, shaking her head. “I love them dearly, but rarely is there an in-between. Either super-duper over the top concerned, or totally nosy and wanting to know every detail.” “Well, it sounds like you’ve learned, and perhaps they will too. Didn’t you say they have been getting better?” Nodding in agreement, Gelliana conceded to that fact. “That’s true. I would like to be more open with them, but, yeah. Here’s hoping,” she paused, then looking over to the mare. “Hmmm, enough about my date; don’t you have one this evening?” Gelliana asked, her friend sighing happily. “Mmhmmm. About time he got an evening off.” As Marigold delved into the plans of her night, Gelliana couldn’t help but have a small part of her own mind wander. I have a date, and I’m not a complete nervous wreck. I guess that IS new. It was only then that Gelliana saw Marigold staring at her, a rather triumphant grin on her face. “You are totally zoning out again, and is that a blush? OH, THIS IS SO CUTE!” Gelliana groaned as she motioned to the extremely-amused stallion behind the counter, the pony clearly trying his hardest to not burst out laughing. “Do you have a dessert called ‘overexcited friend?’” she asked, the shopkeeper letting out a hum in thought. “Yup! It’s actually paired perfectly with the ‘upcoming date sundae’!” he played along with a complete straight face, causing the gryphoness to smack her head on the table with a groan much to the amusement of the shopkeeper and Marigold. “We’ll take both! Sugar coma’s for everycreature!” Marigold exclaimed as Gelly’s giggles returned in force. I’m one lucky gryphoness. “A date? Oh, you must tell me about her! I’m so glad to hear you’re back in the game!” a mare’s voice said over Toxic’s earpiece, the stallion smiling. “When I get to know her more, Mom, I most certainly will. And a single date is hardly back in the game, per say. It’s taken me this long to even consider it, and that’s after weeks of sleep deprivation,” Toxic replied with a huff as he paced in his roomy apartment. “I know, I know, I’m just being an excited mother. I won’t pry, but I am a bit curious.” “I…” Toxic frowned, trying to measure his words carefully. Having top-secret security clearance made even seemingly benign conversations difficult, even with certain permissions granted to family. “She helped me on one of my jobs when I was in trouble, and is an herbalist in Tall Tale.” “An herbalist? That’s interesting! And don’t mistake this question for a snooty-noble question; you know how much I loathe that whole thing. But I do wonder. Unicorn? Pegasus? Earth pony?” Spectrum Shield asked her son. “Gryphoness.” Without missing a beat, Spectrum clopped her hooves together (apparently,) the sound echoing over the communicator. “Oh! Well I have to say I’m a bit surprised but she certainly sounds interesting! You must let us know how it goes! I’ll tell your father of course but he’s busy with all these new orders for the upcoming airship release.” Toxic chuckled, nodding in thought. “Of course, I’ll let you all know in the next few days.” “Oh, and Toxic?” “Hmm?” “Did…did you ask the Princess for help with Pick?” Toxic felt a prick of pain in his heart at hearing the name of his younger brother, Pick Shield. “Not since you asked last. Do I need to?” It was then that a soft sniffle came over the call, Toxic’s worries immediately fleeing on hearing his mother’s voice. “No. We just had a visit from a very kind Doctor, a very, very large hippogriff.” Nacreous? “There’s experimental treatments they’re developing in that new empire up north, and Pick qualifies for them. I’m still in shock that we got to meet an Emperor. Pick hasn’t stopped smiling in days, one of the top Archivists of that empire is talking to him constantly about new magical theories, even during this hospital stay.” “I, that’s fantastic to hear, Mom,” Toxic stammered, a lump rising up in his throat. “Please let me know how things progress. Pick definitely caught the science bug from me, so I imagine that makes him quite happy.” “To say the least, and I’ll keep you in the loop. Take care, I know you probably have a laundry list of things to do today, so I’ll let you go. Love you, Toxic.” “Love you too, Mom.” Toxic carefully levitated the communicator out of his ear, trotting over to sit on his bed. A few tears trickled down the stallion’s cheeks, the pony rubbing a forelimb across his eyes. He levitated an enchanted piece of parchment over, the letters to be sent in an instant. ‘To the Paladin of Love. Thank you. -Specialist Toxic Shield.’ Onyx set another book aside, letting his grey gaze drift out across Tall Tale from the tower he was perched on. The original plan for him to join the town guard was on hold, a new tension now present whenever Starlight checked up on him. Something was wrong, and it didn’t help that nocreature would tell him what it was. He had a pretty good idea though from his interactions with Luna. There was a threat growing, one from his realm. A single interaction wasn’t enough to prove his fears, but if it was true, things were going to get messy very, very fast. At least Icait is oblivious to it all. The peppy Windigo always regaled him with the stories of the day when she got home, the shadow-pony asking regularly. It made her happy, and was interesting, so Onyx didn’t mind. At least it’s something to do. I find myself looking forward to it sometimes. Starlight had given him more books, more volumes on friendship and the like. It was an odd thing to have disparaged and despised such a topic not but a few months prior. And now I just find it confusing. Ponies just fall into these friendships, and then there’s all the social rules. Ugh. Even more puzzling was when Icait returned absolutely gushing of how her gryphoness friend had a date. How does one get joy from someone else’s activities? I mean, good for her? Icait always did like observing social interactions, even in that cave we were stuck in. It’s interesting to be sure, but I don’t fully understand it. Then again, I’ve never had a friend before. Icait is always just happier after working with that gryphoness, Gelliana was it? Then again, she’s much more outgoing than me. What would that be like, he wondered, to look forward to interactions like that? To care about another creature like that? I don’t have anycreature like, that, a friend. I suppose I’ll have….to…. When the two neurons in Onyx’s brain finally connected, the shadow pony let his face smack into the stone underneath him, letting out a rather long and loud groan. Oh. The edges of his mouth turned up ever so slightly into a smile, the long-held resentment around the word having finally vanished it would seem. “Onyx? I have some new…are you ok?” “Yes. What can I do for you, Starlight?” Onyx mumbled from his face-plant position on the stone tower. “Huh, ok. Well, I’ve got some new books for you, and a tentative plan. Well, sort of a plan. Stuff is up in the air…are you sure you’re ok?” the powerful unicorn asked, the shadow pony finally looking up. She seemed somewhat confused by the barest hint of a grin on his features, Onyx letting out a huff. “I have a friend, don’t I, Starlight?” he asked softly. “I think I finally am realizing what that means. Something different than an ally.” “I’d say you have a few, Onyx. And the terms don’t necessarily have to be separate. I’d argue they should be overlapping at times.” The shadow pony nodded, Starlight then venturing a guess. “Icait?” A simple nod, Onyx’s brow furrowing. “She was so eager to call me her friend, a week, a few months ago. I had so much resentment to the idea I couldn’t fathom it,” he explained. “I don’t get to have friends, that was my thinking. Creatures like me aren’t allowed that.” “For what reason?” The question seemed to stump Onyx, the stallion shrugging. “I don’t know. I was so unsure of what I was, what I am, it was just a rule I made for myself, I guess. A creature who fed off hate and malcontent shouldn’t deserve such a thing, such was my reasoning. And yet I ignored the very obvious fact that while I refused to be a friend….” “Icait certainly wasn’t about to stop,” Starlight finished with a grin. “Right?” Another nod, Onyx sitting down and thinking. “I have no idea what to do with this information.” Starlight giggled, making the pony’s head whip over with a glare. “Sorry! You don’t have to do anything special with it, that’s the point,” Starlight explained. “You just are nice to friends. That’s the point. You enjoy being around them, and you learn about life with them. It’s different for everycreature, but considering how much Icait has said about you, I’d certainly say she’s your friend,” the Principle paused, a tender smile now on her features as Onyx continued to stare at his hooves. “The question is, if you want to be her friend.” “I am not sure I know how, Starlight,” Onyx admitted. “Books are one thing, implementing it is another.” “Well, if all else fails, the books are something good to reference, but being a friend is easier than that. As I said, it’s just about being nice to somecreature, valuing their wellbeing and opinion. That’s pretty much a core of friendship, and a good place to start.” Letting the stallion digest the information, Starlight ventured another comment, this one soft and sincere. “She’s worried about you, Onyx.” His head whipped up; grey eyes narrowed at the concerned mare. “She says you’ve woken up at night, shivering and curled into a ball. I won’t pry, but if there is any way I can help, I’m glad to do so.” The indignant demeanor faded from Onyx, the wisps of shadow around his body fading away. “I don’t know,” he admitted. “I remember nothing from those times, only fear of…something. I didn’t know she saw me like that.” “Well, she did, and doesn’t want to make you mad by asking. So perhaps you could tell her what you told me?” Starlight suggested. “She trusts you a lot more than I think you realize, and cares quite a bit about how you are doing. I haven’t gotten a single report without a mention of you at least once.” Nodding slowly, Onyx let out a breath at that. “I suppose that’s part of being a friend? Letting them help? Or at least not keeping secrets from them?” he asked. “Well, everycreature has secrets. But ones that may impact your friendship, those are things that should be addressed. In this case, you have a friend who is really concerned about you, but doesn’t want to make you upset by asking about it. This is a time you could ignore it, but addressing it would potentially make things better, and stronger.” Onyx chuckled, glancing over to Starlight in amusement. “Friendship is complicated, is it not?” he asked, a rather sly grin then coming across the mare’s face as she nodded. “Yep. It’s kind of similar to magic, in a lot of ways…”