//------------------------------// // Ch. 24 I S^e Yo# N&w ( e u o)... "...The Fuck Was in That Drink?!..." // Story: Cold Fire // by Arcanum -Phantasy //------------------------------// Silence held command of Wallflower's living room, a dull ticking from a grandfather clock the only thing standing in defiance. The mare sat nervously on a lime green cushion, her eyes darting at said clock sitting in a far corner of the room every few seconds. Standing in front of her was a simple wooden coffee table her parents gave her as a house warming gift, a green cushion similar to the one she occupied set up on the opposite side for her guest. She tried not to look at it, the dust stains covering the fabric more than enough to make her feel ashamed of the accommodations she was planing to share soon. While it was going to only be for a day at most, it still bothered her that Sid would see just how poorly she kept what few possessions she owned. She sighed pitifully at the tea set she had laid out across the table. Simple brown cups with small spider cracks on the sides with an equally tattered brown teapot. It wasn't until last night, when she finally finished dusting her home, that she was even aware that she had more than one cup. The thought brought a sad sigh out of her as she slouched in her seat. It was not the only meager thing in Wallflower's life. Her home was practically a standing embodiment of that word, a simple one bedroom one story cottage with a somewhat roomy living room, kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom. The walls were dark brown and bare save for a handful of round picture frames showing her and her family or open fields. What few bits of furniture she had was the bare necessities, all of them made of raw wood with not a single drop of stain or varnish. The most advanced things in her house were the pluming, the self-charging mana crystal lamps that stood in each room, a gas stove, her grandfather clock, and a record player that she seldom used. Her eyes drifted towards the meager tea set and a few anxious thoughts ran through her head. I wonder if he'll like my tea. He said he liked tea, right? Maybe I should make some snacks to go with them. What do Bai Ze eat? Ugh, I knew I should've gone to the library yesterday. Maybe it isn't too late? She shook her head, a determined frown forming on her muzzle as her thoughts continued. No! What if he comes by while I'm out? No. I need to make due with what I have on hoof and hope for the best. She nodded to herself resolutely, only for her nerve to falter as she glumly muttered, "If he even shows up anyway." Her eyes drifted shut as a familiar silence washed over her, the clock's ticking lulling her into a calmed state. All the while, her mind wandered through random thoughts. For a while, the only things to come to her were the smell of wood and the ticking of her clock, but that didn't last for very long. Naturally, her thoughts eventually drifted towards her possible guest. A hint of anger fluttered in her heart when she recalled his words, the frustration he spat in regards to something he couldn't change. It brought a small sense of kinship to in a way, her special talent putting her in an inverted version of Sid's plight. Then, the anger turned into butterflies as her thoughts drifted towards his eyes. More often than not, what looks she got where the kind that barely focused on her. The Bai Ze's sharp red eyes saw her and didn't veer away from her. He saw her! A small series of giddy giggles slipped past her lips, their corners pulled up into a small smile. It wilted slightly when the weight of the silence around her pressed down on her. Her eyes drifted towards the living room windows, her meadow shining brightly under the late morning sun. The bright colors warmed her heart, the lovingly tended flowers adding one form of life to her life. A light blush grew on her cheeks when the image of a Bai Ze lounging on them entered her mind. It made the silence all the more suffocating. "What's wrong with me?" she groaned, resting her head on the table. Of course, there was no answer given to her. Instead, the sound of footsteps crossing her front window graced her ears. Said appendages twitched, them and her head shooting straight up and turning towards it just in time to see the tip of a blade-like blue tail pass out of sight on the window's right side. A few seconds later, a knock came to her door. "He's here," she blinked, then jumped to her hooves and with a wide smile cried, "HE'S HERE!!!" She practically ran towards the door, took a moment to compose herself and put a hoof through her perpetually messy mane, then slowly opened it. Sure enough, Sid stood on the opposite side, the sun shining brightly off of his snow-white coat. He sported a roguish smile as he nodded towards her, his sharp eyes locked onto her and her alone. The complete gaze brought a shy smile to Wallflower's muzzle. "G-G-Good morning," she stammered, pawing a hoof lightly against her hard wood floor. "Same," he chuckled, then sheepishly added, "Sorry it took me so long to get here. I...uh...had a hard time finding your house." "Th-That's fine," she smiled. "The fact that you tried means a lot." More than you know, she thought hollowly. "I guess," he sighed, then worriedly looked over his shoulder as he muttered, "I'm usually pretty good with directions." "A-Anyway," Wallflower stammered. "Would you like to come in? I have tea." "Tea sounds good," he shrugged, then downed a serious frown as he added, "Are you sure you want to let me in though? What if I'm some nut job?" "Then there's nothing I can do," she smiled, a sad edge pulling at its corners. A beat of silence passed between them before Sid broke it with a laugh. "A gambler eh?" he smirked. "I like that." With that, he let himself inside. All the while, his smile hid the heavy concern that sat in his gut. Too soon to make any assumptions. Maybe she just has a morbid sense of humor? Let's see if there's any other red flags before we jump to any conclusions. He didn't need to wait long to find them. One of the first things he noticed was how dark the house was. Aside from the living room window, all of the other windows he could see on his way towards the said room where covered by heavy curtains, filling the room with a gloomy darkness. The lack of personal decoration was another red flag. Aside from a few hung pictures, a record player, and a grandfather clock, he couldn't see anything beyond the bare minimum of comforts or necessities. The faint sent of dusk and the condition of the tea set laid out on the coffee table ticked off another box in Sid's mental list. While he saw nothing wrong with the chips and small cracks, the fact that one of the cups seemed to be in significantly better shape than the rest of the set made him slightly raise a brow. He kept his thoughts to himself as he took a seat, his worry almost breaking through his happy mask. Wallflower did the same, her smile bashful with a matching blush coloring her cheeks. The two sat in awkward silence, neither sure how they wanted to proceed. Wallflower didn't entertain guests often (she could count the number of creatures with one hand if she had one) and had spent most of the morning bracing herself for Sid's inevitable absence. At the same time, Sid didn't know what verbal paths were safe yet. As he sat in front of the mare, a new tingle sat in the back of his head. While it was not as large or sporadic as the one that had been bugging him for the past few weeks, it's presence filled him with just as much dread. Test the waters, then see what's under the surface. "Nice place you have here," he said, making a show of looking the room over. "Oh, um, y-yes," Wallflower stammered, avoiding eye contact as her blush deepened. "I-It's a lot better than my old place." "Really now?" he smirked, expertly poring them each a cup of tea. "Where was that? If you don't mind me asking, anyway." She giggled behind a hoof, then smiled into her cup as she pulled it towards herself. "It's no place special. I grew up in a small town mining town called Coal Brook. My parents ran one of the town's biggest quarries." "Sounds like they had a pretty good thing going on," Sid said, blowing some steam off of his cup. "They still do," she said, a hint of pride entering her eyes as they finally locked with his. Sid chuckled at that, then asked, "And you? What do you do around here?" Wallflower wilted slightly, then said, "I grow and sell flowers to the Flower Sisters." "Sounds nice," he smiled, casually taking a sip from his cup. "It is," she sighed, frowning as she yet again stared into her cup. "Not that anypony notices." "What do you mean?" he frowned, raising a brow. For a few seconds, Wallflower didn't answer, the mare struggling to find her words. It wasn't easy for her to tell others about her special talent. The last few times she did, they acted like she was crazy or making it up. Even when she presented evidence of how her talent worked, others refused to believe her. As such, when she finally found her nerve and words, she took a breath and explained. "My special talent makes me invisible. I don't know how else to put it. I could stand in an empty room and still go unnoticed to anypony looking in." "I see," Sid nodded, taking a sip of his tea. She blinked, taken aback by the Absol's reaction before she continued. "I-It's not just me," she stammered, her hooves trembling. "My home is invisible too! I-I had to set up a P.O. box in town because mail ponies couldn't find me! It's like.... I don't exist..." A heavy silence filled the room, broken by a shocked gasp when Sid put a claw on her hoof. She looked up from her cup towards the Absol's face. Hers turned a little pink as his eyes locked with hers, again focused on her and not the space around her. With an air of concern he said something that brought a genuine smile to her face. "You exist." Again, silence filled the room, but now it was a lot less heavy. Less empty. "Maybe," she giggled. "But I don't think you'll remember that tomorrow. It's a miracle you remembered your promise to me as it is." "No maybes here," he smiled, taking a sip from his cup. "I came back, didn't I?" "Yeah," she smiled. "You did." *** "Explain to me why the fuck we're doing this again?" I asked, staring through a pair of binoculars from behind a bush. I heard Trix groan next to me before she said, " Trixie already told you. Trixie is trying to find a way to apologize to your friend." "I got that part," I frowned. "What I don't get is why we're spying on him from behind cover like a pair of creepy stalkers." "Trixie is not a stalker!" she snapped."What she has planned is a surprise and for it to work, she needs information." "O-kay," I frowned. "I'm going to pretend spying on him is a good idea for a minute here. Why the hell did you talk Starlight into giving me time off for this?" I gave her a side-glance just in time to see her stare at the ground with...a guilty look. "It's to make sure Trixie doesn't do something even more boneheaded." I....didn't know how to react to that. Look, Trixie was not my favorite person. She's obnoxious and makes my job more difficult just by being there (With or with out fireworks). It's because of her stupid antics that I almost got eaten by C'thulu's left nut a few days ago. However, as much as she might give me a migraine, I'd be a special kind of asshole not to see that she was at least trying to fix her fuck up. I sighed and shifted all of my focus back through my binoculars as I said, "Fine. I'll do my job and you do yours." "Thank you," she said, the hum of her force powers telling me she was using her own pair. I smiled a little at that, before letting a confused frown take its place. As much as I was against Trixie's methods, I had to admit, I was a little curious about what Sid was up to. He seemed a little out of it during my training this morning, only making me do fifty laps around the quarry instead of a hundred and barely managing to dodge my attacks in our sparring match. Hell, I had to remind him to put the boulder on my back before I did squats (the closest thing to push ups for four-legged creatures). After Trixie dragged me into this, we spent a good two hours watching him wander around the open fields way out in the outskirts of Ponyville until he went inside some house. A house that seemed to pop into existence from out of nowhere. No. Seriously. The damn thing just...I don't know how! He just walked past this giant tree, knocked his claw onto something, and the damn thing just melded out of the shadows! Maybe it was some kind of magic camouflage thing or something. The place was painted green, so...maybe? I have a literally smoking hot talking Kirin for a girlfriend and a body that could get me charged for copyright infringement back home. At this point, I'm willing to believe almost anything, I did (not) almost crap myself when the door opened on its own though. After that, he started talking to...something. Hear me out! I know that something was there, but I couldn't see it properly. Whatever it was just sort of...flickered in and out sight. I could hear it talking, but I couldn't make out what it was saying. Sid could apparently, since he was talking back to it, calling it a gambler or something. Freaky, but I wasn't too worried. Trust me, Sid could more than take care of himself if shit ended up hitting the fan. When he walked into the house, we quickly changed our hiding place to one that gave us a perfect view into the house's front window. So here we were, a Ninetales and an annoying pyromaniac hiding in the bushes watching my friend have tea with some sort of I-have-no-fucking-clue-what like a pair of creepy exes. I can't believe I'm getting payed to do this. I'd say "Just pretend you're 007," but we both know you're not suave enough for that. "No shit," I muttered, adjusting my binocular's settings. "Huh?" Trixie asked. "Nothing," I sighed. Some movement on the table caught my eye so I shifted my binoculars towards it. What I saw...I think my brain broke. There was a mare sitting across from him, I think? It was kind of hard to tell. She kept, flickering in and out of sight. It was like there was some kind of glitch or something and she would disappear for a few seconds at random points. The thing that freaked me the fuck out was that each time she did I...who was I talking abo-HOLY FUCK SHE'S BACK! "Uh, Trix?" I asked unevenly. "Yes?" she asked. "Do you see the pony he's talking to?" "What po-what the hay?! When did she get in there?" "So you see her t-who are we talking about?" "I do-WHAT THE HAY?" We traded terrified looks for a second, then we gave the mare our full attention. Turns out, that was the secret to breaking her freaky Matrix Glitch powers. The mare was bright green with a messy dark green mane and dark brown eyes. Cute, but not any more so than most of the other ponies I've seen around town. She seemed like the shy type, kind of funny considering what happened earlier. I almost burst out laughing when the irony hit me. A pony that can make people forget her and an Absol that can't walk into a room without getting eyes on him. I quickly found that focusing on her didn't fix everything, since she kept...okay, no other way to put it, she kept fading into the background. I swear to fucking god, it's like this pony isn't meant to be seen or something. How the hell can Sid keep track of her? Is it an Absol thing or am I missing something? "Who is that?" Trixie muttered. "Trixie never saw her before." "I, uh, don't think I can blame you," I gulped. "Sid seems to like her though." "Yes. Yes he does," she said, wickedly? I turned my head towards her and glared at her. She was smiling like one of those old-school cartoon bad guys and rubbing her front hooves together. "Trix, you do anything to Sid I swear-" "Trixie would never!" she balked, then gave me a mischievous smile as she added, "Though this mystery mare does make things a bit easier for her." "What are you planing?" I growled. "Nothing much," she shrugged. "Just see if you and your marefriend can be free this weekend." "Why?" I frowned. "Two words," she smirked, then gave her cape a dramatic flourish as she sang, "Game night~" I blinked, then shifted my attention back towards Sid in...wait...where the fuck did that house come from?