//------------------------------// // the Walking and the Talking // Story: The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Pone // by the Horse Writer //------------------------------// Twilight was uncomfortable. Her neck ached, and the world surrounding her was dark. Plus, she couldn’t even remember what got her into such a position. The last thing she recalled was studying late at night, then… Oh. She must have overworked herself again. Her eyes fluttered open, now annoyed at the knowledge she barely slept a wink last night. The kitchen table wasn’t the most comfortable place to rest, which explains the neck, but she got quite familiar with it in her many years of study nights. “Urgh…” Twilight groaned, now aware of the headache building up on her forehead, and the desert which took home in her throat. Did I even drink anything last night? Well, at least this could be easily fixed. And hey, she was already in the kitchen! Luck was smiling upon her that day. Groggily opening a nearby cabinet with her magic, she floated over a glass, filled it to the brim with water, and gulped the life-saving liquid down her parched throat. With that done, Twilight could now think more clearly. Her mind drifted away to last night. Try as she might, she couldn’t remember what exactly was the reason for her current, precarious situation. Okay, let’s think about it step-by-step, she thought, What is my last coherent memory? Thinking about it, she clearly remembered making dinner- hayburger, her favorite, if unhealthy, treat-, then… Oh, right. Pinkie, Fluttershy, and David barged in, seeking aid with their search or whatever. She remembered giving them those old devices, the ones she got years ago to test something or other. Frankly, she couldn’t care much about the details this early in the morning. The rest of the evening came to her in quick succession; how she’d eaten with Spike, got to bed, and then… That. She got up from the kitchen chair she’d unintentionally made a bed out of, and headed to the library’s main room. There, on the central table, resting in a small pet carrier, she saw what had so cruelly taken her sleep away: That Celestia forsaken alligator. She clearly remembered it now; how, just as she was about to tuck herself to bed, the search party returned; how she took it in for the night for some testing; how, after finding near-to-nothing, she eventually got frustrated and, intent on making a frustration-sandwich, accidentally fallen asleep on the way. She shook her head. It would do no good to lament on last night right now. Turning her gaze back to Gummy, she came closer to him, looking at the blinking alligator from the cage’s barred window. He still had that belt on him, fortunately; Lord knows what he would have done without it. “You're an odd one, aren’t you?” she asked, half from frustration and half from genuine curiosity. Gummy, of course, did not reply. She stared at him for another moment, then sighed. Turning her gaze away, she took in the rest of the table; a disorganized mess greeted her. Piles of papers were strewn about, quills and half-finished coffee cups scattered around them. Jeez, how much coffee did I drink last night? More importantly for her, however, was a small stack of papers right beside the cage: the magical scanner’s output. It was surprisingly hard to place Gummy in that scanner, even with his magic nullified. Now, though, after she got some sleep and was fully conscious, she could really appreciate its results. Picking up the stack, she sifted through a few papers, taking in the data and the notes she scrawled while half awake. Her brow furrowed, disbelief evident on her face. “How did you even manage to get chaos magic?...” she muttered, more to herself than the other creature in the room. “That, scholar,” said creature answered, “Is a question I cannot answer.” Twilight’s eyes frightfully widened as she leaped into the air. “Eep!” *** “Jeez, Twilight, what got you so spooked?” I asked as Twilight and I hastily trotted down the road. “It’s…” she trailed off, searching for the right words. “It’s Gummy.” I groaned. “Ugh, again with him?” It seemed like my entire world was centered around that reptile nowadays. Twilight was hesitant to answer. “I… I guess?” she said, then gave a large yawn. I raised an eyebrow. Is there something wrong with her? I didn’t want to say it myself, but she does seem a little… sleepy. Fluttershy was right. The puffy eyes and the bags under them, frayed mane, and frequent yawns were but some of the signs of what last night had been for her. Fluttershy, concerned as always for her friends, took the initiative. Um, could you please ask her about last night? “Hey, Twilight,” I started, “I noticed you were kinda’ tired. How did you sleep?” Maybe don’t be, um, that direct next time… Whoops. Twilight sighed, lowering her head. “To be honest, I barely did.” she looked back up at me, “But I discovered lots’ of important stuff, so I count that as a win.” I shrugged. “To each their own, I guess.” We walked in silence for another moment, before I remembered I didn’t know why we had been walking in the first place. “Wait, so what did you find?” I asked, “And for that matter, what do you need me for?” Twilight oh’ed. “Oh. Right. “Okay, so two things, really.” she began, “One, Gummy has chaos magic, and two, he can talk.” Oh my… “Huh,” I stated. This world has already squeezed out every last feeling of surprise in me. “The second one is why I called you. You see, since this morning, when I found out about it, he only spoke once. I thought, maybe with Fluttershy’s talent, you can do something.” she stopped to yawn again, “Plus, I’ve told Spike to fetch Pinkie, so hopefully they’ll be at the library soon too.” I instantly tensed up at the mention of the pink pony’s name. After looking around for a moment, I eased up, releasing a breath. “Phew, I half expected that pony to spring up from somewhere at the mention of her name…” I muttered. “Nah, silly I don’t spring, I bounce!” Eep! ”Gah!” Twilight and I leaped into the air. Perhaps there was some surprise left in me. A moment later, I floated down, my wings having automatically opened to keep me afloat. Touching the ground, I turned to Twilight. “Hey, you can let go now.” Twilight turned red. “Uh, whoops,” she quickly detached from me. Then, she turned to the guffawing Pinkie. “Jeez, Pinkie, you scared us half to death!” “Heh,” she finished with a giggle, “you should have seen the look on your faces!" “Har har, very funny.” I rolled my eyes. “Well, shall we continue?” Twilight nodded. “Yeah, let’s go.” It was then that Fluttershy spoke to me; Wait… Um, What about Spike? What about him? I asked, genuinely curious. …Oh, nevermind… And so, we continued forth, renewing our journey to Twilight’s library. Twilight took the lead, me in the middle, and Pinkie bouncing in tow. It was a moment later when Pinkie asked; “Sooo… How about we play a trip game?” I sighed. It was going to be a long walk. *** “And then I told him, ‘I think it was the counselor all along!’” Pinkie chuckled, “Needless to say, we didn’t end up getting the cereal.” I blinked. That was… Oddly engaging. Oh, but was the butler alright? Fluttershy worriedly asked. I relayed the question to Pinkie; she snorted in response. “Damn right he was! He was the counselor's accomplice all along!” Fluttershy and I gasped. Oh my… “Alright, girls,” Twilight interrupted, “I’m sorry to stop you, but we have arrived.” Getting my bearings, I looked forwards, and sure enough, there lay our destination. The library was just as it was yesterday, and the day before- a big, hollowed-out tree. Just felt the need to point it out, is all.  In the past few days I’ve been here, I noticed quite the curious trend: the library was always empty of customers. I mean, I have never, in all of the three-four days I’ve been here, ever seen a single pony reading, or checking in books, or even anyone other than Twilight and her friends. I guess the common resident of Ponyville just isn’t that big of a reader. Uh, David… They’re already entering the library… Huh? I shook my head as that train of thought crossed the horizon, never to be seen again. I returned to reality, and- Hey, they are getting in without me! I quickly rushed to the pair of abandoners, grumbling all the while. it seemed they hadn't even noticed my absence, as they continued to chatter while entering the building. “All I’m saying is, be ready for anything,” Twilight said as she telekinetically grabbed the door’s handle, “We can’t really know what’s going to happen with him like… this.” “Alrighty tighty!” Pinkie merrily saluted. “Yeah, sure,” I answered, still down at the grumps. Twilight took a deep breath. “Well, here goes nothing…” I held my breath as she opened the door, expecting the worst. I was relieved, though, to see the most anticlimactic sight to ever grace my eyes. simply standing there, placed in a cage meant for cats, was that alligator, who I spent so much of my energy towards. Pinkie instantly leaped forwards, trotting towards it. “Oh, Gummy, I’ve heard you’ve been talking!” If what she said was true, he didn’t affirm it. I walked in too, Twilight following after she closed the door. “Come on, man,” I said, “You can’t leave us hanging like that.” Gummy continued in his trend of not answering. “Oh, poor Gummy,” Pinkie cooed at him as she leaned towards the cage’s opening. Turning to Twilight, she asked, “Can I open it?” “No.” “Pretty please?” “I just don’t think it’ll be wise. He’s still unpredictable.” Pinkie visibly saddened as she returned to pawing at the cage, attempting to reach her pet. “Aww…” “Fret not, caregiver,” came from the cage, “I am of the utmost shape.” Uh… The room instantly devolved into dead silence. It was but a second after that Twilight, mirth at being proven correct on her face, stomped the ground. “Ha! Told you!” I deadpanned at her. “Not the time, Twilight…” I was just about to continue, when a sharp inhale cut me off. Knowing instantly what that was, I turned to Pinkie, who was in the middle of gasping, her mouth a large ‘O’. Suddenly, her face turned to a bright grin. “Oh my gosh Gummy you can talk!” She held the sides of the alligator’s cage in both hooves. “Oh now we can play party games together, and mareco-polo, and-” “I apologize, caregiver,” Gummy blinked at her, “But I do not currently  possess the ‘mood’ to do such things.” How I could feel the air quotes under ‘mood’, I do not know. Pinkie’s mouth flapped open and closed a few times, but, seeming to respect her pet’s wishes, she hadn’t made another sound. Gummy’s speech was odd, to say the least. First thing that came to my attention was how he even spoke in the first place; I assumed it to be some type of telepathy, seeing as his lips hadn’t moved in the slightest; and the rest of his body, for that matter. Save for his eyelids, of course. The next thing I noticed was just how odd the voice sounded. It hadn’t sounded as humanlike -or ponylike for that matter- as much as it sounded like a garbling alien trying to imitate human speech they heard from some late-night TV show one time. I guess it makes sense, seeing the circumstances. With that said, he also had this elegant, baritone voice reserved only for a supervillain’s butler. Telekinesis works in mysterious ways. Um, David, If I may interrupt your exposition, Fluttershy interrupted my exposition, You are kind of dozing off again… Oh, whoops. I shook my head, clearing my thoughts. It seemed that during my dozing, the room had devolved into a short, awkward silence. “So…” I said, trying to break the 10 tons of ice that descended upon us. “What now?” Twilight looked at me quizzically, then turned to the verbally-newborn alligator. “Well, Gummy, I’ve been meaning to ask- If you’re willing to cooperate, that is,” she looked sheepish, “How did this, um, happen?” The reptile did not answer. Instead, in a rare show of movement, he slightly huddled closer to the cage’s door; and thereby, his owner. “C’mon Gummy, it’s alright.” Pinkie comforted, “Twilight’s a friend!” Said pony nodded in response. Twilight and I both looked at Gummy, expectantly awaiting his reaction. After a moment of hesitation, he emitted what my mind interpreted as a deep sigh (Though the muted, mutilated garble I heard in my mind’s ear was quite far from it). “Alright. I concede. “The first time I noticed something was amiss was, as I believe, about sixty sunsets ago…” *** “As I realize it now, something has shifted in my mind that day. It was as though an unseen weight had lifted itself from my consciousness. “I remember that day clearly. My owner had left in a hurry, though I have not known the reason. I do remember, looking outside, the surroundings of our dwelling had appeared different than usual. Odd colors coated the ground, and objects which had no right to fly had, as I had seen, done just that.” “Sorry to interrupt,” Twilight interrupted, “But two months ago was…” Her eyes widened, “You must be talking about-” “Discord!” Pinkie interrupted the interrupter, “What has he done to my baby?!” I was a little taken aback by her outburst. Pinkie can be scary sometimes… My, I do believe that this is not the worst I’ve seen her… Fluttershy assured me. Either way, it was understandable of her. Gummy seemed to appreciate her caring attitude, as he blinked in response and replied, “I am grateful for your worry, caregiver, but I believe it is in vain.” He said. “I had not met a single creature that day, aside from you.” “Wait a minute,” Now it was my turn to interrupt. “If you hadn’t met anyone, then what was so special about that day?” Then, thinking about it, I added; “Aside from the near takeover of the country by a demigod, I mean.” “If you so kindly would let me continue,” Gummy said, doing what I assume would have been ‘glaring daggers’ at Twilight and me, had he not been a non-threatening small reptile. “Sorry,” I swiftly replied. I’m starting to get the feeling he doesn’t like me very much. “Either way, that day had indeed not been special. It was dusk when the abnormality began. “My owner had retired for the night, taking me with her, as our usual sleeping arrangement. It was roughly midway into the night when an odd sound emanated from the restroom. It was a sort of clicking, continuing with no particular rhythm. After long deliberation, and seeing that it would not stop, I decided to leave my comfortable position and investigate. “Due to my admittedly short stature, I had not found much in the beginning. Though I had indeed confirmed the sound came from the restroom, I could not find its source. After exasperating all easily accessible options, I decided to climb upon the bathroom’s countertop. “There, upon looking in the mirror, I found the clicking’s source, existing only behind the mirror. Though its form is etched in my mind, I do not know how to properly describe it. A sort of large, serpentine creature, with each of its limbs belonging to a different animal.” A series of gasps went through the room and in my head, though I was kinda lost. It’s Discord. Ohh, I returned, then gasped- better late than never! “So it is that guy!” I said. “Oh,” Gummy said. “So that is the ‘Discord’ you have been talking about. I had not known that.” Pinkie seemed irritated as she urged him to continue. “So what did that meany-head do?” Gummy hesitated for a moment. “I… do not rightly know. He simply talked to me, though about what, I could now know, seeing as I wasn’t verbal at that time.” He stopped for a moment, then added, “He did seem frustrated, though.” Twilight, oddly enough, snickered. “Probably because we’ve beaten and humiliated him.” She then turned more serious. “Though the question remains- how did he even do such a thing? I mean, as far as I know, he hadn’t broken out from his prison since then, much less on the same day.” She turned quiet after that. There was more pondering to be had. I, uh, I’ve got a question for Gummy, Fluttershy told me, sounding somewhat worried. I listened to what she had to say, then relayed it; Turning to Gummy, I asked, “Has Discord bothered you since? And on that note, what has happened since?” That last one was made by yours truly. Gummy turned his eyes to me, still keeping his body’s movements to a minimum. “I assure you, I have not met that creature since.” Oh, good. Fluttershy said, calmer than earlier. “And about what happened after that ordeal, well,” Gummy began again. “For the first few days, there was no noticeable difference. But then, odd… changes began to manifest. “It was small things at first. Appeared slowly, too. A slight improvement in my walking speed, Better hearing, and so on. I thought nothing of it at the time. “But a few days ago, the change’s intensity had grown rapidly. Suddenly, I found myself talking, teleporting, and, as of yesterday, even flying. Stuff I could not have even imagined two months ago. Literally. I didn’t have the capability of high cognitive thought back then." “Hold on,” Pinkie continued the trend of stopping the alligator’s monologue. “Was that why you left home?” then, without waiting for an answer, “You know you didn’t need to… I would always understand you, no matter what weird superpowers you have!” I raised an eyebrow. “Superpowers?” “Hey, I’m just calling it by its name!” “I thank you for your positive attitude, caregiver,” Gummy said, “But those ‘powers’ are not ‘super’. They are more of a burden.” “Whaaat? Why?” Pinkie exaggeratedly expressed her shock with her hooves. “I’d admit,” Gummy said, doing what I assume is meant as ‘looking down in shame’. “I… do not know how to control them. You have seen their destructive properties yourself.” He then looked at me, eyes surprisingly expressive of their melancholy. “I apologize about what I have done, by the way. To the both of you.” “...Fluttershy and I both agree that it’s alright,” I answered after a moment. “Still, I am sorry,” Gummy said. “Anyhow, I do wish life could return to what it was. For those abilities to simply fade away.” The room devolved into a short, yet not unpleasant silence. A moment later, Twilight, who I’d admittedly forgot she was also in the room due to her silence, spoke. “Well, I’ve been thinking,” she said, seeming to have just returned from a long detachment from reality. “And I think I know how to, uh,” she glanced at me and/or Fluttershy for an instant, “Save two birds with one spell.” “I mean, how to fix both your problem,” she pointed at Gummy, “and your problem,” she pointed at me. My breath, as so my heart, hitched for a moment. “You can bring me home?” The room was quiet, an unshakable silence placed over it. Gummy, though, did not get the memo, as he crankily spoke after a moment; “Alright, that is fine and all, but can I get out of this cage now?”