Panic leads to uncertainty, uncertainty breeds misjudgment, and from misjudgment comes:
Consequence.
David awoke in a daze the next morning, a few hours after dawn. Already he could tell something was amiss. Voices, faintly heard below, possibly outside. How could they be so loud, as to be heard from indoors? His curiosity got the better of him as he crawled over to the window and peered outside. The Cakes were standing directly below the window, along with Pinkie. His curiosity increased. They looked troubled, and in that moment his curiosity turned to fear. Had they found out? Was, perhaps, Pinkie fighting on his behalf? For all he knew, she had been the one to tip them off.
No...they seemed to be looking at something. Something in the distance. Something small, purple, and mad as hell.
Oh shit.
Twilight Sparkle, librarian of Ponyville and student of Celestia, was storming toward Sugercube Corner, her friends following closely behind her. They seemed to be trying to communicate with her, but she did not seem to notice, or care. Her eyes were locked on Sugarcube Corner. David felt as though they were on him, even at such a distance. He could feel the unicorn's anger.
His poor choices had finally come back to bite him on the arse.
"Game over!" he cried, looking around wildly for some sort of salvation. Nothing in the room could save him. Perhaps he could sneak out the back? Snake through a few alleys, scare a few ponies half to death but ultimately escape the wrath of Twilight. As if in response to his plan, the purple pony broke out into a gallop, her friends momentarily stunned before following. Rainbow Dash easily kept up with the unicorn from the air, but even she seemed to stay a fair distance behind.
At that moment, Pinkie appeared at the top of the stairs, looking worried. "Uh, Mr. David, we have a small problem!"
"I noticed!" he responded, practically jumping off the stairs leading up to the balcony. "Do you think I have enough time to get out through the back?"
The door to Sugarcube Corner flew open with a loud bang.
"Nope!"
David cursed inwardly. Now he had no choice. He had to stand his ground.
This wasn't going to be pretty.
David retreated a few paces back just as Twilight charged up into the room, seemingly alone. The unicorn's eyes immediately locked onto him, snorting angrily like a bull ready to charge. "YOU!" she cried, advancing with her horn trained on the man.
"Hi there little pony, my name is David, I'm a hu-" David began, trying to act as though he had never seen the unicorn before, before being interrupted by a blast of magical energy landing a few inches from his shoe. Although it impacted with an audible crack, the floor remained strangely undamaged.
"How dare you!" Twilight cried, continuing her advance as David retreated equally as much away. "You invade my home, take my things, and try to hide it from me?!"
"I know this looks bad," David began, holding his hands up. "But I was just trying to survive, honest! I had no choice!"
"You risked state of the art lab equipment for your little game!" the unicorn retorted, another blast landing a few paces in front of David. "Priceless, ancient text!"
By now David had begun to ascend the stairs to the balcony, with Twilight following only a few yards away. "Listen, I didn't mean to-"
"I don't want to hear your excuses!" she growled, her eyes narrowing.
"...If you strike me down now, I will become more powerful than you cou-AGH!" David cried as a large empty cardboard box impacted with his forehead, prompting him to stumble back against the wall. At least he tried.
The unicorn was angry, that much he knew. He needed to let her calm down. He needed time, of which he had very little. He needed to get more.
"I'm sorry, Twilight, I really am," he said calmly, reaching a hand behind him as he moved along the wall toward the window. "But if you won't accept my apology..."
His hand found the lock on the window, and he slid it up and pushed the glass out in one swift motion. Turning, the man launched himself out the two story window, into the (thankfully clear) street below.
The impact knocked the air from his lungs. He groaned. Landing flat on his stomach, the man should've died right then and there, or at the very least shattered a plethora of bones. Instead, he felt pain, a shock, and it was over. That was one burning question answered. But for now, he needed to concentrate on the present situation.
Using his arms to push himself off the ground, he had already began running before he was even upright. Numerous denizens of Ponyville had frozen in their daily activities to see what was transpiring, especially after a strange creature just dove out a window. As he ran, he looked back over his shoulder toward Sugarcube Corner. Twilight was staring out the open window as if he was insane. Then suddenly, she was gone.
In a bright flash of light, Twilight reappeared just outside the building, already mid-run in his direction.
"Cheater!" he called back as he fled, ignoring the confused ponies all around him. He had a plan, but first he needed to lead Twilight out of Ponyville. The spot where he had arrived, not far from Fluttershy's cottage....that would be their destination.
He just had to get there without being caught by the furious mare behind him. And hopefully not cause too much panic in the town in the process. Being chased by a small purple pony nearly half his size would probably ease any concerns the townsfolk may have about how dangerous he was, though.
Things were not off to a good start. Even Twilight was much faster than him. The only thing working for him now was the head start he had on the unicorn. He would need to complicate his route if he hoped to stay out of the purple pony's magical grasp, and not get lost in the process. Ponyville was quite different looking during the day...
David was now a considerable distance down the street, with Twilight in hot pursuit. He turned into one of the alleys without losing much speed, and immediately turned again in hopes of confusing his pursuer. Turning a third time, he reappeared in another major street, darting past stalls and ponies working and shopping around them. The market. He, at least, knew where he was.
A loud pop sounded not far away. In his peripheral vision, he saw Twilight appear from behind a building a few meters away in another bright flash of light. Staying low, the man attempted to blend in with the crowd, but they were having none of it. Confused and slightly scared by the appearance of such a strange creature, the ponies of the market parted to either side as he passed, offering no aid in his attempts to hide. Needless to say, it wasn't long before Twilight was right on his tail once more.
With a silent curse, he darted into yet another alley as the crowd's murmuring grew louder and louder. Much to his dismay, this one lacked any visible, immediate turns. It was a straight away, that would get him closer to his destination, but give him no opportunities to delay his pursuer. Rapid popping sounds sounded behind him, as he looked back to see what had transpired. Twilight had teleported rapidly to close the distance to him. He screamed in surprise and forced himself to run a little bit faster.
As if answering his silent prayers, the alley opened up in four directions, allowing him to twist and turn through its recesses (and even double back a few times) in an effort to lose the unicorn. He knew he would never succeed, but it would at least slow her down and put more distance between the two.
Again he appeared out in the open, and found himself a few meters from the road leading out of Ponyville toward Fluttershy's cottage. Salvation, at last! He wondered if he would get even that far, however, in such open terrain.
His pace did not slow as he surveyed his surroundings, though he did look behind briefly to check on his pursuer. She was no where to be found one moment, and uncomfortably close by the next. Damn that magic!
As the two passed by the few houses that remained this far out, David leapt over the small stream that ran near the cottage without hesitation, stumbling and almost falling as he landed on the other side. Of course, Twilight simply teleported over the gap without a second thought. Show off.
As they reached the fields, a considerable distance from civilization, David abruptly slowed to a stop and turned to face the pursuing unicorn. She slid to a stop as well, and the two shared a few silent, tense moments of staring at each other through narrowed eyes. A light breeze blew past, rustling the long grass that stood around them softly. Birds chirped innocently in the trees. A frog croaked from the stream just a few yards away. The two did not move.
Suddenly Twilight dropped low to the ground, her horn beginning to glow. David immediately thrust out his arm and assumed a combat stance, eyes burning with blind determination.
"GO, SECRET MAGIC FROM THE BOOKS I READ!"
Nothing happened.
"Aw fu-" he began, his arms falling to his sides in resignation before he was interrupted by a massive glowing field of magic engulfing every inch of his body. The next thing he knew, he was hoisted several meters into the air.
The sensation was incredible. It was both soft and solid, both blinding and magnificent to behold. He did not feel as though he was flying, but rather like a massive creature simply carried him around like a toy.
He was promptly turned upside down and dropped onto his head.
"Ow," the man called from the ditch the impact had made in the grass.
"I will now accept your apology," Twilight stated as she resumed a normal stance, smiling smugly.
"And I will gladly give it. I'm sorry," David responded, slowly rising to a sitting position, one hand rubbing his head. "I did mean what I said back there. I didn't mean to intrude, I just had no choice."
"You should have just asked me for help. It definitely would have went better than...this."
"Story of my life," he sighed, glancing around at his surroundings, and Ponyville off in the distance.
"How did you know I wouldn't just...blast you?" the unicorn asked suddenly, looking legitimately intrigued.
"If you had the inclination to do so, you would have already done it twelve times by now," David replied, getting to his feet. "The most magically attuned unicorn in Equestria missing a target only a few feet away." He scoffed.
Twilight blushed slightly at his choice of wording, before clearing her throat. "Well, then, I hope this is a lesson for you. You shouldn't take from anypony!"
"Lesson learned, believe me," the man assured with a halfhearted laugh. "I don't suppose you'd be willing to help me explain to the population why we just had a high speed chase through Ponyville?"
"Hmm...no," Twilight responded plainly. The smug look returned.
"Wonderful."