//------------------------------// // Act 2: Reasoning? // Story: Friendship is Failure #19: Write in the Head (Hour long special) // by DakariKingMykan //------------------------------// ACT TWO The friends decided to split up into several groups, each taking a portion of the list of ponies to talk to. The groups were… Applejack and Pinkie interviewed the owner of a bookstore. “Okay, give it to use straight…” said Pinkie, acting like a private-eye “Who’d done it? Where are the goods? Where were you on the night of the fifteenth?” All this freaked the proprietor out. Applejack calmed Pinkie down, “Sorry about that, she’s a little excited.” The store owner agreed, but the interview went smoothly anyway. It was the same with every pony the groups interviewed, they asked where they were, what they were doing and if anything unusual happened. Twilight and Spike interviewed the librarian, who had a nightmare the previous night. “I remember I went to be feeling rather angry.” she explained “I had a little bit of a fight with Stone Heart yesterday.” “…With Stone Heart?” asked Twilight. “Yes. I loved his book so much that I offered him an autograph session at the library, but he refused.” Spike wrote down everything on his notepad, while Twilight found that most perplexing. “Why would Stone refuse?” she asked. “Well…” the mare said, and she rubbed the back of her head a little “You see it isn’t the first time Stone came to the library. He was known to be a struggling writer, and he tried to make stories that no one seemed to like. I was among the majority. He tried to have his books displayed in the library, but I detested them so much that I told him…” “Write it good, then we’ll talk, or maybe you should give up writing.” Spike looked up from his writing, “Well, that wasn’t really very nice.” The mare admitted it wasn’t. “And now he finally writes a successful story, and I give him the offer he desires, but he coldly refuses me and tells me…” “You’re just like all the rest. You insult me for how I write things, you bully me for my point of view, and you only accept me when I DO what YOU prefer. So you can keep your offer, and while you’re at it… get bent!” The mare went on saying that she proceeded to insult him further, calling him “Selfish!” and “A worthless pony!” To which Stone Heart turned and said to her, “You’ll be sorry you said that! You’ll be sorry…!” Twilight was horrified to hear such things, and it made her concerned about Stone’s actions even more. “What did he mean by “You’d be sorry?” she asked. The mare was confused, “I thought you were talking to me about the nightmare I had?” “She’s right, Twilight. Try not to fall off topic.” said Spike. Soon, the interview was over, and Twilight and Spike hadn’t much to work with. From the way it sounded, the librarian merely went to bed with a guilty conscience, which Twilight read up were likely to cause nightmares, but given the plague going around it didn’t seem like the answer. “Well, who should we interview next?” asked Spike. “Twilight…?” Twilight was far too lost in Stone’s behaviour more than ever. Then, right up ahead she heard someone shouting… “…I said No!” “What’s going on now?” she wondered, and she couldn’t resist galloping forth to investigate, nearly making Spike fall off her back. “Ah… come on, seriously?!” he groaned. The ruckus turned out to be Stone Heart, whom was minding his own business and emptying out a couple of garbage bins, when he was approached by a stallion who was a book publisher, and his daughter who was about Stone’s age. The Publisher was trying to talk Stone into reasoning and coming to work with him again. “I said No!” growled Stone “And I want you to stop sending me checks! Understand?” “But why?!” protested the daughter “You’re being very unreasonable!” Stone laughed, “I’m being unreasonable? Yes, I suppose I am, just like you and your dad were to me, Sandy Beam!” Sandy looked very upset, and her father didn’t take kindly to it. “Hold it!” shouted Twilight. The trio gazed at her. “Princess Twilight Sparkle…?” said the publisher, and he and Sandy bowed to her, and Stone did as well just to be proper. “What is going here?” asked Twilight. Stone quickly and bluntly stated, “Nothing that concerns you.” Twilight didn’t like his tone. “Whoa! Watch it there, pal!” said Spike “You’re talking to the Princess of Friendship here!” Twilight cleared her throat, stopping Spike from making things even worse, and she maintained her own cool as well. “I simply want to know what all this noise is about.” Stone motioned at Sandy and her father, “These two, like everyone else in this crazy town, have no decency or respect for another pony’s wishes or privacy.” “Stone, can’t you see how ridiculous you’re being?!” protested the Publisher “You’ve done a good thing with this story of yours, and you have a chance to improve your life, and here you are throwing it away because of your obsessive and worthless pride!” He stopped when he realized he was being a little harsh with his words, while Stone gave him a nasty smirk, “…And you both think I’m the only one being unreasonable? …Stay away from me! I don’t write stories anymore, especially for ponies that have terrible tastes and one-sided views of delusion!! …Good-day!” He then stormed off with his wagon to gather more garbage. “Stone, wait…!” Twilight called as she raced after him, leaving Spike to talk with the upset father and daughter. Sandy almost looked on the verge of tears, which faded into angry grumbles, “Stubborn Jerk!” “Mind telling me what this is all about?” he asked them. The Publisher decided to explain to him, “Stone has been like this ever since I published his book.” While they talked, Twilight caught up with the angry trash-picker. “Stone, please, I’d like to talk to you.” Stone irritable stopped his wagon. “Make it quick, please. I still have three more streets to collect from.” Twilight let it out blunt and clear. “Forgive me for saying, but this is not the lifestyle I expected you to be living, and I’ve seen you behave very cold and rude towards ponies trying to be kind to you, especially the royal sisters… I saw you destroy the money they gave you.” “I didn’t want it.” Stone quickly said, making Twilight gawk at him. “But they were giving you their royal praise, and you just tossed away a fortune.” “I said… I didn’t want the money, and I don’t want any praise either.” Now Twilight was feeling a little disturbed, “You wrote such a wonderful story,” she said, and she levitated up a copy of the book she mysterious seemed to have on her. “It’s the most wonderful thing I’ve ever read, and other ponies feel the same… Yet you don’t seem to want any reward or recognition for your work?” She tried not to make herself sound whiny. “Can I ask you why?” Stone gave a snicker and pointed at the book, and he spoke deeply but calmly, “Because this… is filth… worthless… garbage… and I hate it! …That’s why.” Twilight stood where she was completely frozen in shock and appalment at what she had just heard. “Hey, you good-for-nothing hack!” called a rather unpleasant voice. Stone rolled his eyes and groaned, and he turned and saw an orange male unicorn with a blonde mane, and wearing a nice dress suit, for he was a success, and his cutiemark was that of a stack of books with a quill next to them. Stone glared at him, “What do you want now, Pager?” Pager scoffed, “Look, you may be a worthless heap of trash, but that doesn’t give you the right to talk to Princess Twilight like that. Now you’re going to apologize her, and get back to your low-paying job because you suck at life!” Stone didn’t seem the least bit intimidated, “Guess you’re the type that never learns.” and he began to walk off with his wagon, but Pager made his horn glow tipping the wagon over and spilling the garbage everywhere! “Whoops! Guess you’re still clumsy, and not a successful writer, like me.” Pager mocked, and lots of ponies walking by laughed at Stone’s predicament, while he just used his own magic to put all the garbage back. Twilight was very livid with Pager. “You had no right to do that to him.” Pager was shocked that Twilight defend him like that. “With all due respect, your highness, he was being a jerk to you, like he acts towards all of us. He had it coming to him!” While Twilight could not deny that Stone’s attitude was baffling and uncalled for, “That still does not give you the right push him like that.” “Don’t bother, Princess!” said Stone “Pager’s been a bully since fifth grade. I ought to know, I got him held back, and while he may be a successful writer, he’s also the world’s foremost expert on ignoring everything you say and acting like he has all the answers.” Pager looked like he was going to blow like a volcano, but not wanting anymore trouble and having work to do, Stone went on his way, but he grumbled softly “…I know some ponies that aren’t going sleep well tonight.” “You bring this on yourself!” shouted Pager “If you want ponies to respect you then ACT respectable, or get lost!!” Twilight looked ready to blow up herself at such insolence, but Spike came along and called to her “Come on, Twilight. We’re behind schedule, and we have other ponies to interview.” Twilight finally snapped back to her senses and walked off.