//------------------------------// // Chapter 50 - "Rising Problems" // Story: My Little Caboose II: Friendship is Fragmented! // by DarkWing //------------------------------// Church had spent the last ten minutes trudging through Ponyville, not particularly sure where to go. He wasn't really looking forward to going back to the library, knowing that Twilight would most likely push to help him. As he went around thinking of what he could do, he came across the fountain in the middle of town. Walking up to it, he gazed into his reflection. His eyes appeared normal, but he felt as if they were bloodshot. Feeling a small pain at the back of his head, he grabbed it and began to cringe at the feeling. As he looked at the water, he saw that the water was rippling. Shaking his head, the pain quickly subsided and the water returned to normal. With a sigh, he turned around and began walking through a nearby alleyway that had a few barrels sitting near it. "Surprise!" a voice exclaimed as Church passed one of the barrels. Snapping his vision to the source of the noise, Church saw a familiar face, top half of his body peaking out of a barrel filled with pears. "Happy birthday!" Caboose exclaimed joyously. "Make a wish and blow out the candles!" "First off, there are no candles to blow out. Secondly, it's not my birthday." "Just because it's not your birthday doesn't mean you can't celebrate it." "Actually, I'm pretty sure that is what it means. And since I assume you aren't here to give me a birthday speech, what do you want?" Church asked. "Oh, right! Church, I wanted to warn you about the fuuuutuuuuuure," Caboose said, waving his forelegs fluidly towards him. "And what future would that be, Caboose?" Church inquired, knowing it was better to play along with his stupidity than to question it. "It is the future where you let Twilight help you!" he exclaimed, throwing his legs upwards with a large smile. Church stared at Caboose with a blank expression, then began to rub the area between his eyes. "Okay, Caboose. Tell me about the future." "If you let Twilight help you, everything will be better. You will feel better, Twilight will feel better, I will be better, and we don't have to invite Tucker to be better!" he replied with a smile. "And if you call in now, we'll throw in two sponges!" "Caboose, I don't-" "Two sponges!" Caboose interrupted, grabbing onto Church's face. "That is two more than none!" "Stop it," Church grunted, slapping away Caboose's hooves. "Caboose, did Twilight put you up to this?" "Yes!" Caboose nodded. "Thought so," he sighed. "Sorry, Caboose. Not interested in what she's selling today. Normally I'd be happy to accept her help, but this is complicated. It's not just the headaches I'm worried about. It's what I remember, and those are things that I don't want her remembering." Caboose stared at Church with a large smile. "You're thinking about the sponges, aren't you?" "They are so soft and squishy!" he said in a bubbly tone. "They are like puppies that do not need to be fed!" "Sounds like the perfect pet for you, Caboose," Church said, now walking past the barrel that Caboose was sitting in. "If you don't mind, I think I need to talk to Twilight one more time. Seems like she really is trying her hardest to get others involved in my privacy." "Church, wait!" Caboose called out, reaching out to him once more. "What is it?" he asked with a reluctant sigh, glancing back. "I am stuck." Church raised his brow as Caboose glanced down at the barrel. Church simply closed his eyes and attempted to use his magic to pull Caboose out of his predicament. Instead, the barrel fell apart and the pears rolled to the ground. As they did that, the pain returned, but this time by a hundredfold. Grunting in pain, Church clasped the back off his head. "It wasn't me!" Caboose said quickly, looking around. "It must have been Tucker." "It wasn't Tucker, Caboose," he snapped. "I don't know what it is." "Is it a head-owie?" "No, it isn't a head-owie. It's something else," Church muttered quietly, trying to block out the pain as best as he could. "I'm just not sure what that something else is." "I know! You should see Twilight! She can help you!" Caboose said quickly, running behind Church to begin pushing him. "Here, I'll help you." "I'm fine, Caboose. It's going away," he assured his not-so-helpful friend as he regained his composure. "I think the stress of the situation is just getting to me. But you're right. I should see Twilight." "I am?" Caboose asked, ecstatic. "I should tell Pinkie! She will be so proud! "You do that. I'm going to go back to the library," Church grunted, then paused and began to look around. "Uh, Caboose? Do you know what direction the library is? My memory is a little hazy right now..." "Yes, I know the way!" he replied, humming lightly as he ran ahead of Church. "Follow me!" Church closed his eyes for a brief moment to collect himself, then followed after Caboose. After several minutes of non-silent walking, they reached the library. Caboose then trotted towards the door and pushed it open, surprising the unicorn inside. "Hello, Caboose. Did you get to talk to Church?" she asked pleasantly. "Yeah, he did. Maybe Next time you should probably pick someone who can be subtle when trying to convince them to let you help me," Church grunted as he walked through the door. Looking back, he gave a small nod to Caboose. "Mind waiting outside for a bit? I really need to talk to Twilight right now. I'll be out when I'm done, then maybe we can do something." "I love doing things! It is my favorite thing to do!" Caboose said happily, slamming the door behind him. "Church..." Twilight said quietly as Church began walking towards the table. "Twilight, do you ever think sometimes you should just let things be? I told you that I'm okay," Church sighed as he took a seat in front of her. "We've been over this. Discord could have just made it look like you are okay. We don't know what he did to you." "And it's not your job to find out," he countered. "It's not that I appreciate you wanting what's best for me, but you really can't just go out of your way to solve every problem any of your friends ever have. Sometimes some problems just don't have an answer at all." "Helping friends and learning from it is why I got sent to Ponyville in the first place, Church," Twilight sighed, beginning to get a little annoyed. "I have to at least try to help you, otherwise I wouldn't be a very good friend. Even though you don't want it, I can't help but... well, try to help you." Before Church could give a retort, the pain returned once more and Church let out a small yelp. "Church, are you okay?" Twilight asked, darting to his side to help. "Yes, I'm fine. I've just taken up yelling as a hobby," he growled as he clutched onto his head, slamming his eyes shut. Church's horn then began to glow and the area underneath the library began to shake lightly. "Um, can you two hear me?" Caboose called out from the other side of the door. "Kind of in the middle of something, Caboose," Twilight said passively, attention on Church. "Okay. When you're done with that, can you tell me if that supposed to be there?" he asked. "Is what supposed to be where?" she inquired. "That thingy in the sky." "That's the sun, Caboose, and I'd suggest not looking it at," Church said through clenched teeth. "No, it is not the sun. Wait. I think I've seen it before!" Caboose said as the ground began to shake slightly more. "Oh, I know what that is! Last time I saw that, it is when I was in here by myself, then you guys came in!" Twilight and Church shared a worried, knowing look and sprinted outside. Looking up at the sky, they saw a small tear appearing high up in the atmosphere, expanding ever-so slowly. "Son of a bitch..." Church muttered.