//------------------------------// // Attraction // Story: My Little Pony: Red Version // by FaelaArts //------------------------------// Bouncing around the room, Pinkie talked joyfully about what she would be using to decorate, “So I see you really like the color red! Ooh! Maybe we should make it a whole theme! Yeah, I can just imagine it-” Red was sitting on a seat at a table off to the side while she began setting up pink and red streamers. Once she was done with that, she dashed behind the counter of the candy-colored store, pulling out some fresh cupcakes from the stove. She put them on the cooling rack and took a deep whiff, all the while letting the handsome aroma spread around the room. She glanced at Red, but frowned at his facial expression. Why wasn’t he smiling? It wasn’t the first time that she had noticed; he had only shown mild interest in the cake she was frosting earlier with blue and red artsy frosting. Pinkie had forced the Cakes on paid leave for their first vacation in several years and was left to run the store while they were gone. She didn’t mind running the store; it was nice to talk to customers and she enjoyed making ponies happy by selling them sweets. The one thing that she DIDN’T like was meeting ponies who looked as if they had never cracked a smile in their entire life. Red would give Pinkie a polite nod whenever she cracked a joke or asked him a question, but wouldn’t say anything or even show emotion at all. Chopping up some light snacks for the more weight-minded guests, she gazed around the brightly-colored room, “Something’s missing…something important…” Indeed, something WAS missing. She went through a mental checklist of what she needed for the perfect party. Decorations? Check. Sweets? Check. Red’s smile? Pending. Music? On its way. She scratched her head in confusion until the something popped into her head like an explosion of color. Red’s friend! The other human! She couldn’t very well have a human thingy party without him, could she? Putting some batter in the oven, she bounced over to Red, dragged him into the kitchen, and pointed at the oven, “Take, them out when they’re ready, please! I’ll be right back~” And with that, Pinkie bounced out of the house, leaving a human who had never touched a stove before in his life in the kitchen. Red gazed at the muffins as they began to rise. They slowly browned and, after a few moments, he grabbed the oven mit, pulled them out, and placed them on the bench. “…” He gently stuck one with a knife, causing it to collapse in on itself. Red put them back in the oven and continued waiting. After a while longer, he tried again, only to achieve the same result. Putting them back in, he glanced to the door, then back to the muffins. Browner…browner…browner…almost black…on fire. Red took them out quickly and dumped the flaming contents in the sink. He took a minute or two to work out how to turn on the sink, then figured it out and dowsed the flames as best he could. He gazed at the black rocks that had once been muffins before turning off the water after he had made completely sure that they were no longer on fire. After a moment or two, he grabbed the knife and poked a muffin again, causing it to collapse in on itself. His eye twitched and he glared at the muffins with ever-growing hate. Pinkie bounced back into the store cheerfully, “I’m baaack~” She had expected to see a smiling face, but was instead greeted by the smell of burnt cupcakes and burning gas. She scrambled over to the stove and weaved in front of Red to turn the oven off. Shooting Red a nasty look, she pulled him down to her eye level, “What, you can’t cook either?” Red shook his head and received a glare from the pink earth pony. Sighing, she separated the black mess from the pan. After cleaning it off, she filled it with batter once again and stuck it back in the oven, forcing Red to bow down so that he could see inside. “When the cupcakes are…a color like…that,” she took them out, “THAT’S when you use the knife” She gently touched one of them with her hoof, causing it to press down slightly, then spring back up in response. She put them with the other cupcakes to cool, then pointed to Red, “See? Now YOU try” Red blinked, then glanced to door as someone walked in. It was, of course, Blue, who looked like something (Which shall remain anonymous and pink) had dragged him across the ground for at least a few miles. “Hey, Red, were you abducted by the pink one too? What does she want?” he asked with a raised eyebrow. Pinkie jumped up, still glaring at Red, before turning to Blue and smiling, “You’ve been invited to the ‘WELCOME HUMAN THINGIES’ PARTY! Take a seat! The festivities will start soon!” Blue frowned, but obeyed the pink pony without objection. With that, Pinkie returned to glaring at Red, “Now. You. Red” Red glanced at the batter, then at the oven. He walked out of the room and sat next to Blue in silent defiance. Pinkie stood absolutely still for a moment, before turning and gazing at the two with one eye twitching. Blue glanced between the two and raised an eyebrow at Red, “Yo, what’s got her hair in knots?” After a moment or two of tension, Blue sighed and made his way to the door, “I’ll be heading out, then, smell ya-” His voice cut off and his eyes widened when he saw the pink pony in front of him, who coincidentally hadn’t dropped the knife that she had been working with. He noticed a thinly-veiled coat of insanity behind her light blue eyes. Her eye twitched, “I told you to sit down and wait for the festivities” Blue turned around and quickly sat back at his spot next to Red. He glanced at Red and slowly reached for a Pokéball, only to be greeted by a knife in between his hand and his belt that told him he wouldn’t be summoning any Pokémon any time soon. The party pony returned to her usual cheery business, “Well it’s okay if ya don’t wanna cook, Red, I’ll do all the cooking and you just enjoy the party, mmk?” Red gave a single nod and watched as she set out food on plates and blew up balloons. She finished after a little while with five minutes to spare. Admiring her work, she noticed Blue watching her nervously and Red STILL not showing an ounce of emotion. Her ear twitched a little, but she ignored it and went to open the door to let in party guests. Twilight was the first one there, as usual, followed by Lyra. They immediately saw Red and Blue sitting in one corner of the room and decided to walk over to them. Lyra noticed Blue’s slightly wary gaze and turned to the host, “Pinkie, what did you do to him?” Her eyes were trained on Red, and her gaze was narrowed as if she was trying to catch something that she could only just see. Pinkie tilted her head and giggled, “What do you mean? I tried to show Red how to cook and I told Blue to wait there until the party started. Red didn’t really like cooking, so I decided to finish it off so that we can all enjoy the party!” Lyra peered at Pinkie, as if debating something, before relaxing with a smile. Twilight glanced between the two a few times, then shrugged. Twilight turned to Red, “Well, your Pokémon came. They’re outside, Red” She had expected him to jump up instantly, but noticed that all he did was slowly stand up and open the door. Pikachu was the only Pokémon to come in, who immediately glared at Blue before jumping on Red’s shoulder. Blue rolled his eyes and waited for the ‘party’ to be over so that he could leave. Various party-goers began to roll in, two ponies, one playing the cello and one on a DJ booth, began to thrum the building with music. Lyra was on the dance floor, dancing to the unique combination of culture and beat that made the two musicians known for their skills. Twilight was talking with her friends at a table, laughing and joking with Pinkie in the center of it all. In the food section, Blue was trying and succeeding in drinking one of the ponies under the table. He laughed with alcohol-burdened breath, “This is nothing! I’ve drunk worse spirits at the *hic* grand arenas I was invited to so I could *hic* beat up those losers” A purple mare with grapes on her flank growled and drunk another cup, slamming it onto the table loudly, “Oh yeah!? Well Iva-Iva, *hic* I’ve *hic* evenz drunkenz celeztia underz the table!” Blue snorted, not caring who this Celestia was, meeting Berry Punch drink for drink. While he waited for her to drink her next cup, he pointed to himself proudly. Blue smirked, “My grand*hic*father-gramps invented a device to help make Pokémon more likely to trust trainers when first being *hic*captured! I had to *hic* go to all his congratulatory dinners and *hic* once got drunk when I was a kid” Lyra stopped dancing, having heard this over the symphony of sound, and made her way to Blue. Berry gulped down her drink, making half way through her glass before passing out. Blue held up his hands in victory, before noticing the mint mare trotting over to him. Lyra fluttered her eyes, bringing Blue under her control immediately, “Wow you must be a strong trainer to be the grandson of the guy who made that device, maybe even the best” She paused, waiting to see if her words had the desired effect. Red couldn’t hear them over the noise, and was watching the musicians with mild interest. “I am to be sure! Well if I tell the *hic* truth Red’s beaten me once or twice. But just you wait; one day I’ll defeat him and regain my title!” Blue rambled as he raised his arm in victory, gaining Red’s attention. Lyra didn’t notice him stand up and make his way through the crowd. “So tell me, Blue, what exactly does this machine do to the Pokémon captured inside those balls?” Lyra asked with another flutter of her eyes, faking wonder and admiration. It was almost too easy; Blue was so drunk that he would have believed a princess controlled the movements of the moon. “It’s real simple real *hic* When first used the Pokéballs release some kind of *hic* toxin that makes the Pokémon trust the trainer inexcusably for at least week or two. Heard some talks about Pokémon becoming disobedient after that. Never had problem *hic* myself; the compound is made based off this move called Attract” Lyra blinked, “Toxin? So what effect does it normally come off as?” Lyra saw Blue down another cup and sway, “Heard they tested it on humans. Apparently some of the paired groups are still married today, still suffering from the after effects of what they called ‘love potion A’ *hic*” Lyra’s eyes widened and she stepped back in shock, “A LOVE POTION!?” The musicians stopped mid-song, the dancers turned to face them, and all ponies turned toward Lyra, “Love potion, that’s why I- No that can’t be why would he- Unless he-” Taking a step back her hoof touched the body of somepony behind her. She turned around to apologize but, to her horror, was instead greeted by Red gazing at Blue. “What’s wrong, *hic* Red, afraid to let your pony friend find out that you’ve been secretly making her fall head over heels with ya you sly *hic* bastard?” Blue laughed. Lyra’s eyes widened, her gaze falling onto Red’s, “Is this true, Red?” Red didn’t look at her at first, but his gaze trailed down to her after a moment, and something unexpected happened. Red’s face broke out into blazing fury, and he punched Blue with all the strength of his Pokémon, smashing the table to pieces. The ponies in the room were slow to react as silence echoed for a second before all the ponies bar Lyra, Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and the other two Red had yet to meet were left behind as a wall of screaming ponies exited the house. He walked over the broken table, grabbing Blue by the scruff and dragging him outside into the street where he could call out his Pokémon. Twilight walked over to Lyra, bending down so she could see Lyra’s eyes. “Lyra?” she spoke as the mare blinked once, not responding. Twilight gently went to put a hoof on her friend who flinched, coming out of her semi-comatose state. She turned her eyes to Twilight, and her face scrunched up in tears. Twilight jumped as Lyra leapt into her arms and began sobbing openly. It wasn’t until the sound of something outside that Lyra raised her head and separated from Twilight. “Lyra, we have to stop Red” Twilight said as Lyra turned to face her. She wiped her face before putting on the mask that Red wore so well. The group ran outside, narrowly avoiding a chunk of flying debris. Blue threw out Pokémon after Pokémon, but Red would mercilessly defeat them, switching Pokémon so fast Blue was having trouble even keeping himself from getting caught in the powerful blasts of energy. Finally, his final Pokémon was down. He returned it and gazed at Red. Red left his Blastoise on the field, grabbing Blue by the Scruff and dragging him in front of his Pokémon. Once he held out three fingers, however, Blastoise hesitated and glanced to his trainer. Red met Blastoise’s gaze, and the Pokémon reluctantly nodded. “No, Red! Please stop! L-Look, I’m sorry! I’m drunk and I wasn’t thinking!” Blue begged as Blastoise picked him up and held him out in front of him, opening his mouth and preparing to fire a Hydro Pump. Once again, the Pokémon hesitated, gazing at Red and waiting for the signal. Blue flailed about in the Pokémon’s strong arms, “Red, please! That will KILL ME. Don’t you understand!? You’re going to kill me over a stupid mistake! I’m sorry!” Red’s eyes showed no mercy. Blue closed his eyes and turned away. “Wait!” a voice shouted. All three then turned to look at the mint pony, who had her eyes only on Red. With one simple movement, she shook her head. Blastoise returned his gaze to Red, who stood stock still for a moment before blinking and returning his gaze to his Pokémon and shaking his head. Blastoise put Blue down, and everypony breathed a sigh of relief. “Red, I-” Blue stopped mid-sentence as Red gazed to him. He didn’t stop looking even as he returned Blastoise to the ball. It wasn’t until Red turned, leapt onto his Rapidash, and vanished into the distance that Blue was allowed to blink. Lyra watched him go, then walked over to Blue and helped him to his feet. Blue thanked her quietly, then turned and walked in the opposite direction of Red, heading for the forest where he could heal his Pokémon and recover his shattered pride. He hiccupped once on the way there. Twilight swallowed hard, “Lyra, would Red really have-” Lyra turned to gaze at Twilight, her face serious, “No, but he wouldn’t have let Blue off that easy if I hadn’t said something” Without another word, Lyra turned and headed after Red. Red sat on the couch, eyes closed with darkness all around him. He was vacant of any outward emotion, even as he opened his eyes and glanced to where Lyra’s Pokéball sat. Walking into the kitchen, he began searching, and soon found what he was looking for. In a drawer were some handyman repair tools for fix-it-yourself jobs, and off to one side was a hammer. Taking the hammer, Red walked over to the Pokéball. “…” Gazing at it intently, he held off for a few moments, hesitating. Finally, he lifted his hand, preparing to swing. A sound of something tapping on the floor behind him stopped him, however. “Don’t do it, Red. It was my fault for getting caught in it in the first place” Lyra said as she approached his still form and leaned against his solid, strong legs. “I don’t mind, Red, honestly. It’s just nice to know that it wasn’t my imagination” She admitted. This time, Lyra was the one who surprised herself. Standing up on her back hooves, she waved her front legs rapidly as she gained balance, then leaned forward and wrapped them around Red. She closed her eyes, feeling him stiffen, and then relax. The hammer dropped to the floor, and Red stood there, only his arm having moved. Leaning back, she swiveled and landed back on all hooves again and turned to Red. “Red, I’ve got a question” She asked seriously. Red was slow to move, but eventually gazed at her, vacant of any emotion to all but the trained eye. She took in a deep breath, then continued, “Teach me to be your Pokémon”