'A pony named "Pinkie Pie," who worked in a building that was essentially a giant gingerbread house?' Banner thought. Oh, how sweet that irony tasted! Not that Banner was surprised, since very little surprised him at this point in his life. Twilight had taken him to the sweet shop of Ponyville. Not that she had needed to tell him, because the building was a dead giveaway. Before they entered, Twilight gave Banner a nervous look.
"Before we go in, I just wanted to tell you that Pinkie can be...unpredictable. She might say or do random things that might not make sense, like speak to some pony called 'the audience' or defy the laws of physics. Are you okay with this?"
"I've got someone like that back home," Banner said with a shrug.
"No, you don't get it. She might--"
"--Vanish and reappear in an instant, talk to people that aren't there and know what's going to happen before it even does, all while acting completely insane?" Banner interrupted. "Yeah, I know someone like that."
"Oh, okay," Twilight said in a stunned voice. She gently opened the door to the shop and braced herself. She saw nothing. No Pinkie, no surprise; nothing.
Twilight and Banner walked inside, looking around casually. Twilight didn't hear Pinkie's singing or note any other sign of her. She shrugged and the two turned to leave.
"HI!" a pony's voice suddenly blurted out from nowhere. Banner launched himself backwards across the floor while Twilight jumped into the air. A pink pony had somehow gotten behind the two and surprised them.
"Pinkie, why did you scare us?" a startled Twilight asked, somewhat annoyed. She turned to look at Banner and froze. He was glaring at Pinkie with a look of rage she'd never seen on another pony's face before, as if he were possessed. But what interested her the most, though, was that his eyes were green again--a deep green. After an awkward moment of silence, Banner's eyes returned to normal and he stood up to greet the pony.
"So, you must be Pinkie then," he said in a careful tone.
"Yup, that's me!" she said from the ceiling with a huge smile on her face, at which Banner raised an eyebrow. "You must be Twilight's friend that everypony's been talking about!" Pinkie exclaimed. Banner and Twilight exchanged confused glances.
"Everyponies talking about me?" Banner asked in interest. Pinkie's smile got wider.
"Yes sirree, everpony's talking about the human in Equestria. Lyra wanted to meet you, but she said she had some bragging to do first. Oh yeah, I have a gift for you," she said with a squeel and rushed off. Banner again raised an eyebrow as she went. She definitely reminded him of a more kid-friendly Deadpool. She was back in an instant, holding a small package in her mouth. She indicated for Banner to take it, so he did. Upon opening it, he found...a cupcake. How nice.
"I wasn't sure what flavor you'd like, so I made a cupcake with seven different flavor icings. Go on, try it!" Banner wasn't too fond of sugar, but he figured no harm would come of it. He looked at the multi-colored cupcake and bit into it. With all the training he had received on controlling his emotions, Banner was just able to keep his amazement in check.
"This is great," he said with a smile, finishing the rest of it in one bite. "Thank you." Pinkie's smile grew even larger and she gave one to Twilight too. Twilight's reaction was similar, except with more praise.
"Well ,we'd better get going. It's been a long day," Twilight said with a sigh, heading for the door. She grasped its handle and swung it open. A barrage of lights and shouting overwhelmed the three inside as the pony media locked onto its prey.
"Mr. Banner, is it true that you're an alien invader in our land?"
"Doctor Banner, how do you feel about being so far from home?"
"Are you the first of many to arrive or will you be taking any of us back with you to experiment on?"
"How many ponies have your alien-kind abducted?"
These and hundreds of more questions simultaneously assaulted Banner, who had to cover his eyes in order to block out the flashing lights. The reporters never came inside the building (they weren't sure what he would do), but seemed to have no problem screaming at him from beyond the door. Banner had never liked the press. They reported false information, intruded into people's lives and for the most part, just really annoyed--
'...smash...'
No. No, not here! The Hulk couldn't come out here! Banner sat down in a cross-legged position, giving the photographers something to shoot, and immediately began his breathing exercises, trying to lower his heart rate. If the Hulk was waking up, then Banner needed to get control over his emotions NOW. He placed his wrists on his knees and began to go blank, forgetting about the reporters, about the noise and the questions; just...forgetting. He closed his eyes and began to zen. In his mind, he was sitting atop a rock that balanced precariously on a pillar far above the ground. One move and the rock would come down. While he was in his own world, the questions continued...
"Doctor Banner, are you trying to communicate with the mothership? How about--?"
SLAM!
Twilight had grown tired of the reporters and had ungraciously slammed the door in their faces. She turned her attention back to Banner, who was still meditating on the floor.
"Well that was crazy, huh Banner?" Twilight said with a small chuckle. Banner didn't move, giving no indication that he had ever heard the pony. Now Pinkie wanted a try.
"Hellooooo, anypony home?" she shouted into his ear. Banner didn't flinch, didn't react; nothing. Now Twilight and Pinkie were starting to get a little worried.
"Doctor Banner, what's wrong?" Twilight asked nervously, hoping he would answer. He didn't. Twilight and Pinkie exchanged anxious glances and were about to take him to the hospital, when his eyes snapped back open and he slowly stood up.
"Oh, thank goodness you're okay! We were worried about you," Twilight said with a sigh if relief.
"Yeah, I was about to throw a bucket of water on your head, silly," Pinkie said, her smile back on her face.
"I'm sorry if I worried you, but my heart rate was rising and I needed to calm down," Banner said with a shamefaced grin.
"Why do you need to keep your heart rate low?" Twilight asked in confusion. Banner let out a sigh, not sure where to begin. He sat down cross-legged on the floor, so he could look the two ponies in the eyes.
"I have a...conditon. If my heart rate reaches over two hundred beats per minute...bad things happen," Banner said in a mutter, trying to keep his voice level.
"Like a heart condition?" Twilight asked. Banner grasped onto her idea.
"Yes, like a heart condition. It only happens when I get surprised, hurt...or angry. If I don't stop it early, it quickly consumes my entire body. The after effects are...bad," Banner said in a whisper. Twilight and Pinkie both gave him a sympathetic look, the former putting a hoof on his shoulder.
"I'm sorry, Doctor Banner, I didn't know. Is that why you didn't want the needle at the doctor's office?"
"Yes, that's the reason. Any form of pain at all can trigger the attack. I'm lucky it didn't happen when the snake bit me," he muttered, looking at the already-closed wound.
"Is a side effect of the disease that your eyes turn green?" Twilight asked innocently. While he didn't show it on the surface, Banner was terrified on the inside. His eyes had been changing and he hadn't known about it? How many times today did that happen? How many times had he put this town in danger of a possible rampage? That settled it; he'd leave tonight.
"Yes, that is a side effect," Banner said, answering Twilight's question. "So I can't be hurt or allowed to get angry. Also," he muttered, turning to Pinkie, "No surprises."
"Well, I think you should go home and rest," Pinkie instructed Banner, ignoring his warning. Rest sounded good to him, so he nodded in agreement.
"Well, let's head back to my place," Twilight said with a small smile.
"How are we supposed to get past the media?" Banner asked. Twilight gave him a bigger smile.
"Oh, just you wait and see," she said, her horn crackling with power. One flash of light later and the two were gone.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~@@~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Inside Twilight's tree, a briliant flash of light lit up the room, momentarily illuminating the dark place. When the light died down, Twilight and Banner stood in the center of the room, one tired and the other terrified.
"What the hell was that!?" Banner yelled, trying to keep his temper under control.
"I just teleported us, it's no big deal," Twilight said.
"Well next time I'd like a little warning before you do something like that. Remember my condition? NO surprises," he said with a growl. He wasn't mad that she had teleported them; he was angry that she had in advertently put her life at risk with that move. Twilight rolled her eyes and started to head upstairs.
"Well your sleeping bag is where you left it. I'm going to bed."
"I'm leaving," Banner stated flatly. That stopped Twilight in her tracks and she spun around to find Banner heading for the door. She quickly rushed down the stairs and put herself between him and the door.
"Wait, you can't go! If this is about the teleportation thing, then I'm sorry!" she tried to dissuade him, but to no avail.
"It's not about the teleportation, it's that...I need to go. Don't ask me why, but it's better for everyone if I do." Banner tried to step past Twilight, but she refused to move.
"Better for everypony? Banner, since you got here this morning, you've done nothing but help others. You stopped that snake from biting Fluttershy, you helped out Rainbow Dash with Gilda, and you saved a foal's life in the hospital. Even though I haven't known you long, I know that you would never do anything to hurt us."
"You're right, I wouldn't do anything to hurt you. That's why I have to go," Banner said sadly. He tried to get by her again, but Twilight held her ground with determination in her eyes.
"Alright Banner, if you really want to go, I won't stop you. But you have the potential to do so much good for pony kind. Maybe that's why you were brought here in the first place--to help us." Banner thought about what the pony had said. It was true that since he had arrived only a day ago, he had helped a lot of ponies. Besides, when he fell to the planet, the Hulk had barely tried anything. Maybe this was a place where he could finally be at peace. Maybe.
"Alright, one more day, that's it," he gave in at last. Twilight let out a happy squeel and clapped her hooves together.
"Great! I'll let you get some sleep, so, um, goodnight," Twilight said awkwardly, running back up the stairs. Banner sighed and lay down on his bed as the lights in the tree house went out. He didn't know why he had agreed to stay longer, all he was doing was putting the ponies at risk. And why had Twilight wanted him to stay so badly? What was she hiding from him?
Banner sat back up, his racing mind preventing him from falling into slumber. He quietly stood up and went to pick a book off the shelf, when the basement door caught his eye. It had been the one room in the house he hadn't been to or seen yet, so he placed the book back on the shelf and opened the door to the basement. He slowly walked down the steps, relying on moonlight to light his path. When he reached the bottom, his eyes fell upon something completely unexpected--another contradiction to the technology that the ponies currently had. Banner was staring at some sort of analysis machine, which apparently hadn't been used in some time. Still, the chance to examine something that was more on his level of intellect was irresistible.
He started with the inner workings. He removed the back panel and looked inside, but couldn't see anything. He frowned and started to look around for a candle of sorts. He saw one on a shelf and picked it up, using the matches next to it to light it. Banner placed the candle near the opening and looked inside. The circuitry was old, but it was much more advanced than he had expected from a bunch of town ponies. What's more, the circuits weren't connected properly. Yes the machine worked, but it wasn't exerting its full power. Banner connected the wires in the proper order and smiled when the machine came to life with a hum. He stood back up, happy with his work.
"Doctor Banner, what are you doing?" Twilight asked from the top of the stairs in an annoyed voice. Her annoyance melted away into awe as she looked at the now functioning analysis machine, complete with a smiling Banner. She slowly walked down the stairs to the machine, rubbing her eyes to make sure it wasn't some sort of dream.
"You...you got it to work," she muttered, still awestruck.
"Yep, but it took me a few seconds longer than I'd like to admit. A lot of those wires were in the wrong place," Banner said with a smile. Twilight walked over to the front, reading the data as it came out on a sheet of paper.
"How did you fix it?" she eventually asked him. Banner gave her another smile.
"Please, I study advanced forms of radiation. I'd have to wear a bag on my head if I couldn't fix your machine," he joked. Twilight now saw Banner in a new light. Not only was he a nice guy and fun to have around, but in his brain was also a cornucopia of knowledge--knowledge of not only her world, but also his world.
"Advanced radiation? What are you talking about?" Twilight asked, still trying to process what Banner had done.
"Are you saying you ponies know nothing of all the advanced radiations out there?" he asked in disbelief. He raised an eyebrow when Twilight shook her head.
"Twilight, get out some candles and prepare for an all-nighter, because you and I have some things to discuss," Banner instructed her with a smile, heading back up the stairs. Twilight quickly followed and the two began to engage in scientific speak. What neither of them had noticed was that the machine had finished its scanning and had produced its results. The results showed a massive spike in gamma radiation only a few seconds before...
...and they were predicted to spike again soon.