//------------------------------// // Once Settled In, Aphidgust Met His New Roommate And Proceeded To Get Into Many Disagreements With Her // Story: The Astonishing, Alarming, And Awesome Adventures Of Aphidgust Airin Adrigal the Eighteenth // by Discombobulated Soul //------------------------------// A roommate. A ROOMmate. A roomMATE. RoOmMAte. You know, even after running the word around in my head a few hundred times, I still couldn't quite understand its meaning. Well, I knew what it meant, of course. How could the Great Aphidgust not know what something means? You definitely know better than to make such a ridiculous assumption. What I mean is I was trying to grasp all the connotations of its meaning, you know? No? I think my mind was getting scrambled just thinking about all of this, which hardly helped anything. I found myself pacing through the air (don't ask, it's a Breezie thing) while considering this newfound information. Eventually I tired of this, so I sat down on top of the wardrobe with a dignified huff. This new room was massive, but I'm guessing by now you can already assume that much. Aside from that, I was beginning to notice some key differences in this one compared to the bedrooms of back home but, again, I couldn't really explore those all too well just yet; their sheer size rendered the investigation a whole chore unto itself and I only had a few minutes to prepare. They put me with a roommate! I'd have to share my living space with somepony! Can you even imagine what that's like?! I sure couldn't! Whose idea even was this in the first place? Whoever bunked with me would definitely be much bigger than I was, and I didn't take up nearly as much space as other creatures! Heck, one of their supply closets would be perfectly fine for me to use! ...I mean, that wouldn't exactly be the most dignified thing, but who cares about that?! It'd be better than sharing a room with a giant! Clearly, something must have fallen through and I needed to speak to somecreature about it. Some kind of clerical error or whatever, which I wouldn't put past them. All that headspace and no brains to fill it, just typical. With a resolute nod, I pushed off towards the door, but halted in midair upon realizing one key factor: The door was closed. Normally, closed doors weren't a big issue in the slightest. Doors held two purposes, after all: To be closed, and to be opened. Over the course of my amazing life, I had utterly mastered many things, one of which was the skill of opening doors. So, no, opening the door wasn't the issue. The closed door was massive, though. It was roughly as tall as a small mountain. ...and that was a pretty big issue. Pun intended. I spent longer than I care to admit trying to open the door. Scrabbling, scratching, grabbing, and whatever else had no effect on the polished round metal handle. I'll have you know, though, that I did all of this with the utmost poise and grace, not flailing, flopping, or flipping around in the slightest. What was the logic, here?! What creature could even use round door handles? I'd heard of creatures with things called 'fingers', but aside from them and unicorns, the rest of us were just left to fend for ourselves? That was pretty speciesist if you ask me. And yes, I did try using Breezie magic on the handle, too, which would normally have worked just fine. The issue was, with how little Airin I had left to spare, combined with the dreadfully low amount of airflow in the room, there was no way I could generate enough in one go. One thing was for sure: I'd have to get some kind of circulation in here, and pronto, or else I'd never be able to get around. Well, I could get around, but doing so would spend Airin that I really needed to save up at the moment, as discussed previously. Really, all I required was some airflow and the rest would come easily enough, but this bedroom didn't even have that. Did they take my Breezieness into consideration at all when they assigned this room to me? At this point, I was half-convinced I was in the complete wrong room and the headmare was simply more senile than anycreature realiz-- The door opened. The door. Opened. Hurriedly, I zipped straight back to the wardrobe's top, nearly getting blown completely off course from the rush of pushed air from the opened door. Just in time, too; a wave of wind traveled across the room, and my innate Breezie senses allowed me to feel its path as it swept across every last surface. My attention was focused solely on something else, though: The giant unicorn with a persian pink coat, vibrant orange-and-yellow mane, and brilliant golden eyes that absently roved the room. You may be thinking I was somehow scared by her or something, but I'm hoping you've gotten smarter than that by now, because you couldn't possibly be more wrong. Indignantly, I rose straight into the air and gracefully propelled myself closer, chastising the inconsiderate mare all the while. "What thinking are you?! Blow me into next Tuesday your plan is? I you show to mess me with!" The unicorn simply stood there like an absolute daff, staring blankly at me as I puffed my cheeks out and shook my foreleg at her. "WELL?! Answer me! Or have you no space in enormous head your do to so simple something?!" The mare continued to wordlessly gawk at me, even despite my perfect, grammatically-flawless Equestrian. Her clueless act was getting really old, really fast, so I accordingly attempted to snap her out of it. With a puff of expelled Airin, I soared forward and landed solidly on her muzzle. Her eyes--both of which, need I remind you, being easily the size of myself--immediately crossed to regard my fuming form as I impatiently stamped a hoof. "...um..." The fuzzy ground beneath me rumbled in time with her mutter and I raised a demanding eyebrow, expectantly staring into her right eye as she gave one slow blink. "...hello, angry bug. What're you doing in my room?" My jaw dropped. The absolute nerve! Who did this mare think she was?! Calling the great Aphidgust Airin Adrigal the Eighteenth by such a blatantly offensive name! How could she so carelessly sully me like that?! How dare she insult me like that?! Nay, not just me, but my entire family! A whole lineage of the greatest Breezies to ever soar the skies, and she reduces us to mere BUGS?! I would not stand for this! In the name of all Breeziedom, this kind of offense would not go unpunished! I would teach this foolish mare exactly what this 'angry bug' was doing in her room: Pummeling her face! The pure, unadulterated rage flooded every fiber of my being and I glared at the mare with the blazing fury of a thousand suns. For some reason, the unicorn didn't begin shaking and begging for mercy. "Aww, cute!" ...it would appear that my angry face did not have the same effect on these giants as it did back home. I blinked, dumbfounded, and the ire disappeared as abruptly as it had arrived. I found myself only able to sit limply on the mare's muzzle, head bowed in thought as I considered her reaction. I was the most powerful breezie to ever exist, you see, and as such I was used to being revered and feared by my peers. To have my efforts at being threatening disregarded in such a blatant way was...disheartening, to say the least. A wave of fatigue swept over me, and it was about then that I realized I'd spent way more Airin for that stunt than I probably should have. So much for saving it for later... My body was definitely feeling the withdrawal and it was not happy about it; everywhere I was missing Airin was beginning to ache and feel suddenly fragile, which wasn't exactly a pleasant sensation. I'd run out of Airin only a few times before in my amazing life, but the memories of how it felt to do so still haunted me to this day. A quick check-in revealed only a few morsels left in my upper barrel and most of the traces in my wings utterly gone. It was mildly disturbing to see just how fast I could subconsciously spend the stuff, even taking into consideration how I needed to spend more the less I had; a task that would take only a hoof's worth at full capacity suddenly look three times as much when I was running low. In short: I needed to cut back on my spending and I needed to do it now. I emerged from my thoughts at around the same time that the mare set me down on the room's gargantuan desk, watching dully as she sat in the accompanying chair. Her expression was one of faint embarrassment, features crinkled in apology as she rested her elbows on the desk, steepling her hooves and peering at me from over them. "Soo...eh...I just realized that you're probably my roommate, huh?" She chuckled nervously at my unamused look, absently tapping her giant hooves together. "I mean, Mom didn't tell me much about you, just that you were from someplace far away and a little on the...small side." The mare muttered something under her breath which, to my begrudging admiration, was somehow too quiet for me to hear even despite her size. Then, "gee, this is awkward, huh?" I rolled my eyes at that and made to respond, but a loud gasp of realization interrupted me, soon accompanied by a rush of wind as she thrust one of her forehooves in my face. "Oh! I'm Luster Dawn! Pleasure to make your acquaintance!" Another loud gasp came after that, probably because my wings got caught in the air current and sent me careening backwards. Of course, this wasn't that big of an issue, since my amazingly well-trained instincts kicked in and I immediately regained control of my path. Still, this mare's utter carelessness was annoying and her sheepish chuckle even more so. Huffing indignantly, I settled back down on the expansive desk with gentle grace--I felt like stomping, but without Airin, my legs probably would be too fragile to handle the force--before glaring spitefully at my roommate. "Here's how will go things: Refer you to me will as 'Aphidgust Airin Adrigal,' because that my name is. Carry me you will everywhere, until Airin my comes fully back. Not you will make fast movements, or else I beat you up will. Capiche?!" Luster blinked blankly at me for a few seconds and I could practically see the gears--little though there were--turning in her head. Finally she leaned forward, saw me brace for impact, leaned back, opened her mouth, and spoke. "So, translated, you're saying you want to be carried everywhere, you don't want me to make sudden movements, and your name is Aphidgust Airin Adrigal?" I nodded fiercely, stamping a hoof for emphasis. "The Eighteenth." The unicorn blinked once more, shaking her head before returning her oversized gaze to me. "Right...how about I just call you 'Aphid'?" This infuriated me all the more, but the art of compromise is one that all the greatest heroes know well. I, as one myself, was well-versed in the give-and-take nature of such a thing. It was thanks to this that I magnanimously accepted the nickname. Blatantly offensive though it was, I could at least relent on that front. I clenched my teeth and grimaced, thoughts of my long-respected lineage tearing through my consciousness, but eventually managed a nod. Luster seemed greatly pleased at this movement, if her beaming at me and straightening in her seat was anything to go by. "Alright! I accept both of your other terms as well. You don't look very heavy, and studying my notebooks doesn't take much movement at all!" That said, the mare carefully hopped down from her enormous chair, turning towards the doorway just as a few bags and a suitcase came floating through. I monitored their speed quite warily, but luckily she was thoughtful enough to levitate them at a reasonable velocity. I wasn't unused to levitation; I did say that Breezie magic was quite versatile, after all. Still, watching the items soar through the air made me fairly nervous, though I knew not why. Maybe it was because they were the size of entire houses. Witnessing one creature easily levitate a whole home's worth of material kind of has that effect, I'd think. Granted, I could do the very same when I was fully recharged, but that wouldn't be for some time. As well, the slowly-growing ache in the majority of my body kept me all too aware of how fragile much of me was at the moment. Don't misunderstand--I could definitely escape a potential attack and beat this mare senseless without too much effort, but I'd be pretty useless afterwards. Well, as useless as someone as great as I had the capacity to be, but the point remained. Luster Dawn appeared to be busying herself with unpacking her strange building-sized bags, so I accordingly fluttered up to the wardrobe I'd been on earlier, making sure to keep my spending at a minimum. The baskets I'd brought with me were still there, somehow, but I didn't dare question how they'd withstood the wind forces. Slipping them on without difficulty, I reentered the air to flit down to the wardrobe's ornate double doors, noting with some mixture of relief and awe their ornate appearance and apparent high quality. Maybe this won't be such a bad place to stay, after all. My plan, of course, was to claim this polished piece of furniture for myself and set up my things in there. I figured my inconsiderate roommate would at least be content with everything else in the room, and I couldn't exactly use those things anyway. She probably wouldn't ever need the storage, since a student of her station couldn't possibly have that many clothes to put away. Plus, being able to close those doors for a bit of privacy greatly appealed to me, if only to get out of range of those eerily large eyes. I had thought that the giant mare I'd be living with for the foreseeable future would be on the same page and thus allow me the space. Apparently, I thought wrong, because not two seconds after I entered the enormous wardrobe--something I was able to do by nature of the non-circular shape of the doorknobs--a veritable hurricane of launched cloth and random accessories slammed straight into me before falling to the floor. I yelled, thrashing while entangled in the huge blankets of fabric, before being mercilessly pinned to the bottom of the structure. Initially, this wasn't too bad; the giant clothing, while heavy, was quite soft and I didn't have very far to fall in the first place. My relief, however, was cut short when I realized one critical issue with my current situation: I couldn't breathe. Torturous moments passed as I wiggled about in vain, trying to take heaving breaths but receiving only clods of dust and fuzz for my troubles. Just when I thought I'd have to deplete the rest of my stored Airin to get this mountain of piled fabric off of me, my vision lit up in a brilliant reddish-orange glow and the pressure was removed. I gasped for air, pushing off the floor to confront my savior, who was peering down at me with yet another sheepish expression. "Whoops! Didn't see you there, Aphid. D'ya mind getting out of my wardrobe?" My expression soured as I slowly rose to her eye level. Whatever Luster Dawn saw in my gaze, she apparently didn't find it endearing this time, if her gulping uneasily and taking a step back was any indication. "YOUR WARDROBE?!?!" Filled to bursting with indescribable fury, I launched myself forward.