//------------------------------// // Ch. 7 A Matter of Perspective // Story: Who's Afraid of a Rainbow? // by Root Strider //------------------------------// He awoke to pink face uncomfortably close to his. He didn't move, for fear of waking her up. He thought about what she had shown to him in the dream. Maybe the rainbow was a blessing in disguise, driving his life forward; not to be feared, but thanked. Of course, thanking a rainbow sounds ridiculous, but there was a pony who was hurt when I yelled that I was terrified of her. Maybe I should apologize, and thank her for not giving away my fear to the others. He blushed as a single thought rang through his head and blocked out all other thoughts; Pinkie Pie has an adorable little snore. Pinkie Pie's left eyebrow slowly arched and her eye opened to a blushing face, "You were thinking something naughty," she said, sticking her tongue out at him teasingly. "What, no I-" "Don't worry, I won't tell Zecora." She waggled her eyebrows and slipped out of the bed. She swayed her hips as she walked towards the doorway, "As long as you don't run away." She winked at him and walked past the curtain to the other room. She's crazy, he thought, they're all crazy. Maybe that is what is common between us and the rainbow; we're all off our rockers. he flung his mane about crazily to rid himself of thoughts of mares and laid back down on the bed. Cute mares and zebras occupied his dreams. The fragrant smell of spiced oatmeal awoke a monster in his stomach, which woke him up. There was a bowl of water and a washcloth on a stool next to the bed. After he cleaned himself up and looked presentable, he slipped under the curtain and into the main room. "Ah, you woke up a little early, breakfast isn't quite ready," a voice whispered. The voice belonged to a pretty, white unicorn, Rarity, he reminded himself. He surveyed the room; the other ponies and zebra were still asleep in makeshift beds or hammocks around the room. He tip-hoofed over to her, "It smells delicious." "Thank you, darling. Pinkie told us you are good with spices, maybe you could lend me a hoof with this?" She gestured to the large pot. "I figured this would be better for a larger group than a more complex breakfast." "He dipped a small spoon in and tasted it, "A little heavy on the sugar, some ground sunflower seeds should balance it out nicely." With a smile, he added, "and maybe have a small bowl of sugar left out for those who like it sweeter, like Pinkie." "Pinkie Pie does love her sugar." Her horn glowed and a small bowl was filled with sugar and floated over to the table. He watched as he ground sunflower seeds. I'm not jealous, not at all, well maybe a little bit. Something must have shown on his face, as Rarity grabbed the bowl, cut off her magic, and carried it to the table. "I'm sorry," she whispered to him, "I can't imagine what it's like to be without magic for so long." "I try not to think about it. I don't mind if you use it, really. I miss it, but I like the feel of doing things with my hooves. I've gotten pretty good at it." Rarity blushed and gave a small ladylike cough, "Yes, mhmm. Breakfast is almost done cooking, would you be a dear and get down bowls while I wake everypony up?" "Sure." After four bowlfuls of oatmeal satiated the monster in his stomach, he let out a contented sigh and noticed he was the last to finish eating, and that all the girls were staring at him. "Are ya done, or are ya gonna get another bowl? You eat more'an Big Mac does after applebuck season." "Where does all of it go, he doesn't have flabby legs or anything?" "Wow, I bet he's got a black hole in his tummy or something." "You know I can hear you, right?" Twilight let out a small cough, "So, Root Strider, I have some more questions for you if that's okay?" "Only if our deal is still in affect?" "Sure. Most of my questions have been answered by Zecora while you were... out. So, since your home was accidentally destroyed, are you going to move into town?" "Oh, umm, I hadn't really thought about it. I initially came here to Zecora's to work out a plan, but I think I'm ready to officially move into Ponyville." Zecora beamed at him, happy that she wouldn't have to convince him to stay. "Okay, so my question, I know the majority of my magic is gone, and I can't control what's left of my magic, but can outside influences control or use the magical energy?" Twilight was thrown off, she wasn't expecting a magical theory question, "Err, I'm not sure. There are cases where a stronger magical creature took control of a unicorn's magic. There is also the case of large scale rituals, where a group of weaker unicorns lend there power to the lead unicorn who shapes the much larger energies into larger spells. I'd have to research more into it." "Alright, don't worry about researching, it's nothing, I've just got a hunch on my streak of bad luck. Your turn." "Ah got a question." The orange mare, Applejack, spoke up. "Fine, go ahead," Twilight grumbled. "Well, first off, I should apologize fer jumping on you and exposing a painful memory for ya. It weren't right to snoop about in your private affairs." "Thank you, and apology accepted. It wasn't the way I wanted it to come out, but it's a weight off my chest. So, your question?" "Ah mean no offence when ah say this, but, how are you gonna pay for your new house?" "Ah, yes, I forgot about that. I have a small sum of bits with me here, and I've been saving at the Baltimare First Central Bank. About a years worth of royalties for all my books should be enough. How long would a transfer of bits from there to here take?" Rainbow Dash spoke up, "It depends on which pony you send. There is the elderly gentlecolt who will take about a month, there and back. We also have a pegasus mailmare, she will take anywhere from a week to a month depending on if she gets lost." "You have a mailmare who gets lost?" "It's not her fault, She has a condition that makes her wall-eyed. She does her best." "Wait, that sounds familiar, does she have a grey coat and yellow mane?" "You know Ditzy?" "Yeah, she helped me out at the end of last winter, I was up in a northern mountain range getting a rare flower. Long story short, I got caught in a snowstorm, she saw me and pulled me out. Apparently she was sent south to help the birds get back, but she went the wrong way. She said she wasn't used to going places without an address, and then something about missing her muffin, and her muffins before she flew off." "Ah, that might be a bit confusing. Her muffin is Dinky, her adopted daughter, and her muffins are, well, muffins. She loves 'em both." "Oh, I guess that makes sense." "What did you say about royalties? Are you an author?" Twilight was uncomfortably close, excitement plastered on her face. He backed away slightly, "Ah, yes, I have written a few books, a guide on various spices, gardening manuels, guides to natural medicines. Only one got any publicity though. It's called Supernaturals: natural remedies and cure-alls that are simply super. Have you heard of it?" Twilight's eye twitched as she heard the title, "Ah, yes I have read some of it," She said in a forced sweet voice, her horn softly glowed, "I just have one question for you," The other girls looked at each other nervously as the pillow was sneaking up on Root Strider, "Why-" Smack, "did-" Smack, "you-" Smack, "give it such an easily misinterpreted title!?" Smack. "Ow, hey! Ooomph!" He got a mouthful of pillow, "Ith wahf fetty freefenge." "What?" "Phoo- bleh. I said, it was petty revenge, against a snobby unicorn up in Manehattin. He had said that earth ponies have no magic of their own, so I titled my book in a way that would emphasize the magic that earth ponies can do through natural remedies that are simply, magical. Plus, I called it Supernaturals since most unicorns who would pick it up have been taught that the word Supernatural almost always equals fake." Smack. He grabbed the pillow, "I guess that you didn't find the title amusing? "No, because of a misunderstanding, all six of us spent a day panicking about poison joke. We even thought Zecora had cursed us." Smack. "Alright, I'm sorry about the title, I'm sorry, please stop hitting me." Twilight released her magic, "I feel a lot better now, who knew hitting somepony with a pillow was so stress relieving." "Happy to be of assistance." Root Strider retorted, only slightly sarcastically. He grinned, "Do any of you know how to bake? I want to make up a batch for Ditzy as thanks." As one, they all turned towards Pinkie Pie, whose smile was threatening to split her face in half. "Of course I can bake, I work at Sugercube Corner. Yes, I'll make you some super-duper thank-you-for-saving-me muffins!" In the time it takes to blink, Pinkie was next to Root Strider, pulling him out of his chair. Her voice became gruff, "Come wiv' me if you vant to bake!" "Whoa, wait a minute Pinkie." He said from the floor, as Pinkie was literally dragging him to the cooking area, "I need to figure out where I'm going to be living for the time being first." "Well, Ah might be able t'solve that problem. It's Zapapple season, an we usually employ some extra help. There's a spare room in the barn's loft, an two good meals a day, plus pay, if'n you're willing to work." Root Strider sat up, "That sounds good, but if you want to work Zapapples, there's a talented pony you should find, she's the best, hooves down, at working Zapapples. She taught me everything I know about them." "We already got the best at working Zapapples, we just need a few extra hooves." "Seriously, you should at least get into contact with her, I assure you she's better than whoever you have. I don't know what you've heard, but Zapapples can be extremely dangerous. Ponies could get hurt!" "Are you implyin' that we're reckless? We take every caution cause we got the master of Zapapples with us!" "I'm not implying anything, I'm suggesting you get into contact with her for your own good!" They were muzzle to muzzle, just below shouting levels. They both shouted at each other, "I don't care who you've got. Nopony is better with Zapapples than Granny Smith!" at the same time. They paused, looked at each other in confusion, then burst out laughing. "We were arguing about the same pony!" Root Strider fell over, unable to breathe. After a short break to catch their breathe, Applejack asked, "How do ya know Granny Smith? You said you learned from her, but Ah've never met you before." "It was about a year ago, I learned about Granny Smith's Zapapple jam, so I wrote to her. I used to write to her every other week, but lately it's been once a month or so. She's sent seeds, zapapples, jam, her ideas on different applications, and don't worry, as per her terms, I haven't told anyone else about it. Now I'm curious, how do you know Granny Smith?" He said as he sat back down at his seat. "She's my grandma." Such a simple statement, yet it caused a chain reaction of thoughts in Root Strider. Blood rushed away from his face as he realized he had been arguing with Granny Smith's granddaughter, then blood raced back to his face as he remembered the last letter Granny Smith sent to him, a letter about her granddaughter and how he really ought to meet her and how well they would get along, and he choked, his chair flew up into the air. "Y-you are Granny Smith's granddaughter?" He said from the floor. "Ayuup, you got a problem with that?" "Ah, no, no problem at all. I'll take you up on that job offer." "Hows about I help you up first." "Thanks. You know, Granny Smith talks about you a lot in her letters. Your bravery, strength of character, determination that borderlines stubbornness, and your honesty. she talks about how proud she is of you and that you are an honest pony. I swear, it's almost as if she thinks honesty is your special talent. It isn't, is it?" Applejack's cheeks glowed brighter which each compliment, "Aww shucks, it ain't my special talent, just my Element." "Your what?" "My Element." "I don't understand, your what now? "Twilight, explain it for 'im, your in fer a shocker." His eyes turned to Twilight. "Alright, but promise you won't freak out or anything." "Why would I freak out?" "Just promise." "Alright," He placed a hoof on his chest, "I promise on Celestia's sun I will not 'freak out' about what you are going to tell me. Good enough?" She nodded, "What Applejack means is the she wields one of the Elements of Harmony, the Element of Honesty to be exact. All six of us do: Rainbow Dash's is Loyalty, Rarity's is Generosity, Pinkie Pie's is Laughter, Fluttershy's is Kindness, and mine is Magic." "Wait, wait, wait. You mean to tell me that you six are the bearers of the Elements? The greatest heroes since the time of Starswirl? Who have defeated Discord, chaos incarnate, defeated a changling horde, and returned Princess Luna to her rightful place and state of mind? Those bearers of the Elements of Harmony?" With each nod, he grew paler and paler, "Zecora, is it true?" His eyes pleading for her to burst out laughing and it to be a big joke. "It is true, all they have said to you." "Well, Rarity, could you grab me that pillow, please?" "Whatever for?" the pillow gently floated behind him. "Like I promised, I'm not gonna freak out." Pomf. "You didn't say he couldn't pass out." Pinkie giggled. "At least he didn't run away." Rainbow Dash chimed in, chuckling at Twilight's grumpy look. Smack. Twilight smiled.