Shackles and Friendship
Chapter 17 - She's into it like Rarity
Edited by Noxxels
"Mayor Mare?" Twilight poked her head into the office room.
"Twilight, yes please come in." Twilight tentatively trotted inside and stood in front of the mayor's office table. "I'm sure you're aware why I've called here Twilight." The mayor's expression made Twilight feel uneasy, it wasn't anger, it reminded Twilight of those very rare occasions where she performed subpar in school. Twilight hated disappointing her teachers, especially Celestia.
"It’s about Rodney, isn’t it?"
"The human, yes. I was informed by both Princesses, and by you as well, that everypony in Ponyville would be safe with him living here. Twilight I do not feel safe, and after what happened today, I'm sure other ponies would agree." Twilight's head hung low while trying to avoid looking at the mayor directly. Even though Twilight may not have been responsible for these incidents, she had agreed to oversee Rodney's progress while in Ponyville. This, by extension, meant that she did share some responsibility for his actions. Whether they were intentional or not.
"He didn't mean to cause any of them, they were all accidents." She knew it was a weak argument.
"Whether they were intentional or not, the facts still remain. Did he not nearly burn down your home on his very first day in Ponyville?"
"Yes but that was-"
"And only two days after caused chaos and panic to the town when he, and I quote, destroyed the property of Rarity Belle, set fire to her home, and then caused it to float five meters above ground. Are these reports accurate?"
"The building was never really on fire, and again, it was all an accident." Mayor Mare’s gaze didn't waver.
"Twilight, the only reason I allowed him to live in Ponyville was because both Princess Celestia and Luna requested it. Requested, not ordered. I'm sorry Twilight, but as mayor, the safety of everypony is my responsibility. I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask the human to leave Ponyville. I believe you will agree that it is safer for him to go back to the castle."
"I know he'll be safer there, but it's like a cage to him. Princess Celestia wants him to live like any other pony, and the only way to do that is if he lives with other ponies." Twilight had been observing Rodney's behavior, it was easy to tell how his mindset was similar to a foal. And everypony knows that if a foal stays locked up in a place, no matter how big, for too long they'll throw a tantrum. In Rodney's case, a foal with enough magical potential to destroy all of Equestria, and he nearly did that already.
"I'm sorry Twilight but it's for the best, he'll be safer there."
"Exactly, he'll be monitored and watched every second of everyday. He won't be allowed to be on his own or learn. Mayor, I know what his track record says and I completely agree with you, he's a walking disaster. But, that's only because he's still learning about his powers and how to live with them."
"Yes I'm aware of that Twilight but-"
"And the only way he'll continue to learn is through experience. None of these disasters ever happened in the castle because everything he did was watched and tightly guarded. He knows how to control his abilities that he can, but there are some that's just natural to him. Unless he learns, properly learns to live with his abilities he'll be stuck inside the castle the rest of his life like a cage." Twilight realized that she had been yelling and was now out of breath. "Sorry, I didn't mean to start shouting like that." Surprisingly, the mayor started to chuckle.
Mayor Mare let out a long sigh and stared at the space in front of her, not really looking at anything in particular, but deep in thought as she contemplated Twilight's reasoning. After about five minutes, which felt far longer to Twilight, Mayor Mare come to a decision. "Very well, he can stay." It took about a second for it to sink in and when it did Twilight's eyes burst open along with a smile wide across her face, she even started to bounce around the office much like Pinkie Pie.
"Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you-" The mayor's smiled briefly at her behavior before turning back serious.
"But!" Twilight lost all momentum and froze mid air for a second before coming crashing down to the floor. "I believe you when you say that both incidents were not intentional, but accident or not, he still broke the law and that has consequences. But seeing as it wasn't intentional and nopony was hurt," Twilight tried to shrink as small as possible somehow hoping to hide the small scratches and bruises on her body. "...much, I'll be lenient. Community service, the punishment will help drive the lesson deeper." Twilight let out a long, relieved sigh as the tension left the room.
Slowly a grin starts to spread across her face, "I think I have a good idea where he can start, Rarity and I were just discussing it." She giggled before starting to elaborate on what Rarity had suggested earlier in the day while she helped Twilight freshen up.
"Yes I believe that would be perfect, so long as he stops setting anything, or anypony, on fire again." Said Mayor Mare while giving approving nods.
"He didn't set-ah never mind." Right now Twilight didn't really care to explain, she was just too happy to had convinced the mayor.
"Where is he anyway? I only saw you carry him out the building before galloping off."
"Well after everything settled down he passed out on the floor. I took him to Ponyville Hospital since he had the most and worst injuries, they’re treating him right now, albeit somewhat reluctantly. But don't worry, the biggest threat is infection, and since we got him there so quickly, there's very little chance of that happening. Too bad he woke up when we arrived." Mayor Mare caught the worry tone in Twilight's last comment.
"Why? Does he not like hospitals? Twilight I can't have him burn down the town's only-"
"No never, I'm sure the ordeal left him completely empty. It's just that since Ponyville is a small town the hospital doesn't really have much diversity in medical potions and salves since most ailments can be treated magically." The mayor look confused and bade Twilight to elaborate. "Basically magic doesn't work on him and since a great majority of our medical prowess relies on magic, the doctor has no choice but to use a more direct approach. Doctor said that he needs several stitches on some injuries made from all the broken glass."
"Oh dear." Mayor Mare felt genuinely sympathetic for the human, despite the trouble he caused.
"Worse, we can't put him to sleep or alleviate the pain. I don't know how anypony can go through something like that." Twilight's ears fell flat while her eyes slowly widened in fear. "I...I think I better go check on him. I'm sure he won't do anything drastic and all. But, you know...just in case." Twilight took several uneasy steps backward before galloping to the door, but stopped and turned around right before. "And sorry again for shouting out like that, not sure what came over me."
"It's alright Twilight, only shows how much you care." The mayor spoke the last part softly.
"What was that?" Twilight asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Nothing, forget about it." Mayor Mare smiled gently at Twilight before she started to gallop out the room, the clopping of her hooves receded and disappeared once she was gone out the front door. "That mare really needs to get out more." With a sigh, Mayor Mare picked up a rolled up scroll and dropped it to the nearby trash bin before getting back to work. So far the only contribution from the human was to point out flaws in the town's emergency procedure, something Mayor Mare was about to correct.
[Sometime later, in Ponyville Hospital....]
"Rodney? How are you-"
"AH! Goddammit, you said you've done this before!" Sharp pain shot through me again as the white earth pony with a red cross mark on her flank continued to stitch close a particularly large wound behind my shoulder. I had thought to ask how she was both holding the needle and making stitches at the same time, but it was probably one of those things you're better off not knowing.
"Will you please stop moving, you're only making this harder for yourself. I said I have some experience in stitching, I never said it was on anypony. And stop screaming, this is a hospital. Honestly, I've known foals that deal with needles better than you."
"Only because they're too young to know evil when they see-AH! You know what, I'm starting to suspect that you're getting some sick pleasure out of THIS!" I yelped out the last bit as the nurse continue to force the needle through my skin.
"I have no idea what you're talking about. Ah Miss Sparkle, come in. I'm just about done with him." I followed the nurse's gaze to see Twilight entering the room. "How are you feeling? Are those injuries giving you any trouble?"
"I'm fine, Nurse Redheart, thank you for asking but they only look worse than they actually are. It's just mildly irritating." Twilight trotted forward and sat on her haunches in front of me. "I'm sorry I had to leave so quickly after dropping him off earlier, I hope he didn't give the hospital too much trouble."
"Aside from the initial confusion from the doctors and trying to keep him quiet, we've handled worse." I felt a small tug on my back causing another jolt of pain from my shoulder which made me shout out of reflex. "And done, that's the last of them." I felt her hooves lift off of my back as she fell on all fours. "You know, you're extremely lucky that none of your injuries proved serious or fatal, none of the doctors or vets know anything about your physiology." She moved in front of me to stand beside Twilight. "I would like to apply some salves, but since nopony knows how you'll react, your wounds will have to heal by themselves. Which means taking it easy and try to move as little as possible." I let out a sigh and moved my shoulder experimentally which caused several wounds to make me grunt in pain. "What did I just say?!"
"Just trying to get a feel for it. How long till they heal?" Slowly I reached out and grabbed my clothes from the nearby table.
"Well if you heal like any other pony I would guess that most of them would heal in a week or two, but that large gash will take far longer. You're in for a painful month."
'Wonderful.'
Twilight looked at me with concern, "Is there really nothing you can give him?"
"Not without knowing its full effects. But if we can draw some blood for tests, then let the doctors analyze and experiment on it then..."
"See, you do enjoy riddling me with holes." I turned to Twilight. "She's into it like Rarity."
"Rodney!" I chuckled while the nurse looked confused.
"I'm just joking Twilight, calm down." I looked at the nurse with a smile. "Thank you Nurse Redheart for dressing my wounds and sorry for making you go through with it. I'm sure stitching me up like a doll must have been very unpleasant, again I'm sorry."
"Well, looks like there's hope for you yet. And it's quite alright dear, I may not like it but it's part of the job and somepony has to do it." She trotted off towards the door. "I'll be back to take some samples of your blood." And with that, she left.
I lifted the shirt above my head and managed to poke my head through it without it touching or pulling on the bandage around my head, but as it came down my back it tug on some of the stitching that stood out which caused me to grunt again in pain. "So, what actually happened back there?"
"I was hoping you can tell me, from what I could tell it looks as if you suddenly absorbed a large amount of magic, well beyond what you can control." I let out a sigh before going delving back to my memories, but it didn't take long for me to pinpoint what went wrong.
"Well after you and Rarity went upstairs I got bored and started wondering off, found a chest with gems inside. By the way are those gemstones real?"
"What do you mean by real?"
"They are gemstones right? Rubies, sapphires, diamonds, etc. Did Rarity buy them or something? I've never seen gems that size before, they must've cost her a fortune."
"I'm not sure what you’re talking about Rodney, Rarity usually finds the gems she needs with Spike near the mountains."
"Wait wait wait. Are you telling me that she just goes off one morning and just finds them? Just starts digging them up somewhere?"
"Yes? Why does it matter?" I let out a long sigh while rubbing the sides of my head through the bandages.
"Nothing, just hope my world and yours never connect ever again. It won't be pretty." Twilight was about to inquire further, but I cut her off. "Anyways, while I was looking through the gems I found this one ruby that was giving off light and heat all on its own. At the time my curiosity got the better of me so I picked it up, should have realized the thing was magical. Obviously I drained it empty before I could stop myself and the next thing I know my brain feels like it's burning from the inside out." I let out another sigh of frustration. 'You would think after nearly burning down Twilight's home it'll be enough to teach me a lesson.'
'Well nothing like mind breaking pain to drive it home.'
"It's called a fire ruby and yes it's magical, very magical." I let out another sigh, Twilight was about to go into one of her lecturing moods again. "They’re called arcane gems and are extremely rare. Basically, they’re gemstones infused with a large amount of magic. When magic naturally starts to gather, it becomes denser and attracts more magic around itself. In most cases, once it reaches a certain point it would be absorbed by nearby living creatures and even plants. This process is known as the natural cycle of magic." Despite my mood and the throbbing pain from my many injuries, Twilight's impromptu lecture was actually quite interesting. "For magic, anything alive can absorb magic as naturally as breathing, we don't even realize when it happens. However, in rare situations where no living entity is nearby, these collections of magic will start to gather around whatever material is most in tune with magic."
"I'm assuming gemstones count as one?"
"Correct. In fact, the tier goes from living creatures as the most in tune, to plants, to gems, and then to certain types of metals. Technically everything in some way is in tune with magic and therefore can hold a certain amount of magic, but the difference is how in tune they are. The closer it is to magic, the more magic it attracts."
"So it's all random then? Magic just so happens to gather in a dead area where it just so happens to have some gemstones underneath?"
"Now you know why they’re so rare. We have managed to replicate the effect to what we call as battery-gems, but nopony has ever created one that's to the same level as arcane gems. And even those require a unicorn with skill, is knowledgeable in magic and is born with a large 'container' for magic. It makes them extremely expensive and-"
"And I made the one Rarity found completely worthless before destroying her home and property. All because she just wanted to give me a fresh set of clothes." I rubbed my face in frustration and clenched my teeth in anger.
"Rodney it's alright, you didn't know any better. It's nopony's fault."
"No it’s my fault Twilight, I should have known better. Luckily I had my levitation spell, if you hadn't screamed at me like you did..." I gave Twilight a warm grateful smile.
"I'm surprised you were able to lift so many things at once especially while you were in pain, that must have taken a lot of concentration. Didn't I say to use one that took the least amount of effort?"
"Twily I wasn't thinking at all when I did it, I just used the spell with no real target or focus." I started to chuckled a bit. "But I definitely didn't expect to lift up Rarity's home like that. How is she by the way? I asked the nurse but it doesn't sound like she's here."
"Rarity came out of it all completely untouched, you and I are the only ones injured and the worse I have was from your kick."
"I what!?" Twilight tried to turn away from me and hide the other side of her body. "Twilight let me see." I said flatly.
"It's fine Rodney, it was just a-"
"Twilight, please." Twilight glanced downward and hesitated by eventually she turned her around. Around the area where left front hoof connected to the body was a large bruise which seemed to affect the color of her coat. I'm not sure why, but the fur on the bruise also showed some discoloring and was now a much lighter shade of purple than the rest of her body, making it plain for everyone to see. "Twilight I'm so sorry."
"Like I said, it only grazed me and it just looks bad. It'll change back when it heals." I was grateful that she tried to make me feel better, too bad it didn't work. I reached out and started to rub her head again just the way she likes it, I could tell because she started to hum and moan again, she even started to push up against my hand for more pressure.
'You know, it sounds as if she was-'
'Don't you dare say it.'
"Miss Sparkle is everything all-" Nurse Redheart had just walked in halfway through before she started to blush which, thanks to her white coat, made her glow like a headlight. "Oh my I'll...I'll come back later." Before I could say anything she bolted out the door. I looked down to see Twilight still enjoying herself, completely oblivious to the world.
'I just know that's going to bite us back in the future. Tell her?'
'Hell no.'
After about another minute of what was now an awkward situation, I withdrew my hand which caused Twilight to look up at me with a pout and puppy dog eyes. "Later, promise. For now let's head on to Rarity's place. I still need to apologize and somehow make up to her."
"Before that I need to talk to you about something first. I talked to the mayor just after dropping you off, she's having trouble letting you stay in Ponyville."
"Thought so, in fact I'd be somewhat worried about them if they didn't start to fear me. So when are we-"
"We're not going anywhere." I looked down at Twilight, confused. "I was able to convince her to let you stay, however, you're on very thin ice Rodney. One more fiasco like today and I doubt anything but a direct order from the Princess will change her mind." Twilight held up a hoof to emphasize. "Also, you’re going to have to do some community service as punishment. Considering what you did that's very generous of the mayor."
"So what do I do? Build a road? Oh please tell me I'll be working in Applejack's farm." I'll be content if she can pay me with more apples.
"Actually I suggested an alternative with the mayor and she agreed it was appropriate, in fact, it was Rarity's idea."
'Oh crap.'
"Rodney, from now on you'll be living and working in Carousel Boutique with Rarity."
'Fuck my life.'
[Late at night, in Golden Oaks library....]
"Spike!? Are you home?" Twilight entered her home while carrying a sack of apples and a box of cupcakes, still uneaten.
"Twilight!" Spike climbed down the stairs and ran up to Twilight. "Is it true? Was Carousel Boutique really on fire!? Is Rarity ok?"
"Calm down Spike. Yes, Rarity is fine, she wasn't hurt." Spike let out a sigh of relief but gasped loudly once he got a good look at Twilight. "Oh my gosh, Twilight you’re hurt! I'll go grab the first aid box!"
"It's ok Spike I can handle it, I was just about to practice my healing spells on them. I just need to review my notes before I do." Twilight trotted towards her study while magically lifting a large book nearby to the table, opened it, and began reading.
"Well if you say so. Hey where's the monkey guy?" Spike head poked out the front door but saw no sign of the human anywhere in the vicinity.
"Rodney won't be living with us any longer." Before Spike could ask her to elaborate Twilight's horn started to glow along with her entire body. Slowly, the small injuries and cuts on Twilight's body started to heal as well as her coat. The only one left was the bruise from Rodney's kick, even it was a barely visible impression. Twilight inspected her handiwork and gave an approving nod before continuing, "He'll be staying with Rarity from now on."
"What!? Why?" For Spike, the usual stallions going for Rarity was enough competition for him, now this human was already living with her after only a few days.
"Don't worry Spike I doubt he's Rarity's type and as far as I can tell she's not Rodney's either. I told Rarity that I needed to find a place for Rodney to live she offered to provide if Rodney works for her." Twilight let out a long yawn, the day had been very tiring for her. In fact, ever since Rodney everything's been tiring, having him work at Rarity’s was a great idea and it made sense. Rarity uses a lot of magic for her work which can help Rodney train his magic skills, and even though Spike is more than willing to help he's not always available to help her dig for gems. Plus, her place isn't that far away from Twilight's which meant she could still keep a relatively close eye on Rodney, it all worked out.
"Well I guess that's ok then, but he better not make a move on Rarity." Spike tried to take an intimidating posture, but only managed to look adorable to Twilight. "Anyways, you want me to make you anything? Wait. How come we only have apples? And cupcakes?"
"Sorry Spike, but the market was closed today because of the rain. I was lucky enough to meet Applejack in front of Sugarcube Corner."
"What rain?" Spike raised an eyebrow quizzically at Twilight.
"What do you mean 'what rain'? Didn't the weather team schedule one for...oh never mind. They must have used the all the rain clouds on Rarity's home." Twilight let out another tired sigh. "I think I'll head to bed early for tonight. Where's Owlowiscious and Peewee?"
"Owlowiscious should be upstairs sleeping on his perch, if not then he's most likely outside on a branch. Peewee should be somewhere down in the basement again, I don't know why that bird likes being underground so much." Spike walked into the kitchen along with the apples and cupcakes. "Do you want to eat these first before you sleep?" Spike shouted.
"No thank you Spike, I ate an apple on the way home." Twilight let out another yawn before making her way up the stairs. Once at the top her horn glowed and a small leather bound book floated up from one of Twilight's private drawers along with a quill and ink.
'Might as well I suppose.' Twilight thought.
Observation Report 14,
Today another disaster occurred due to negligence on the subject's awareness of his powers. Luckily no pony was hurt, but he still caused a great amount of damage to Rarity's home and spread panic to the town. This was all due to a small arcane gem, a fire ruby, that the subject had unwittingly absorbed.
Despite the situation, it provided a chance to analyze how the band reacts if the subject were to drain magic well beyond the current setting. The subject was fully incapacitated by the band as it continued to exert its full effect until the subject was able to release his magic until his reserve was below the setting. Had he not been able to do, so the band could have easily caused some type of permanent damage.
Note: Double check the integrity of the band as soon as possible.
Subject has moved into Rarity's home, and although I was somewhat hesitant in the beginning, now believe it was the right choice given the situation. The subject has shown genuine guilt over the disaster, even though it was unintentional. The subject’s reaction to the situation provides proof that he is not a threat. However, observations are still in the early stages. We do not know if the subject would react in the same manner for every situation.
AN: Well I hope everyone's clearon what happened, and what's going on with Rodney. But if anyone's still somewhat confused at something feel free to post it on the comment.
As usual shower me with your comments and critics please, my editor enjoys is as well.
.... .... .... Pinkie what are you doing?
Nothi~ng.
Pinkie...you have a jack hammer with you, that don't look like nothing to me. In fact where did you even get one?
*giggle* It's a surprise.
*sigh* Look I need to go and when I come back I want to live in a house. A HOUSE! With running water, electricity, heating the whole package. Understand?
Okey dokey loki!
*sigh* Leaving behind Pinkie Pie with industry grade machinery, it's official I'm retarded.