//------------------------------// // Chapter 6a: Panic -or- Bombs, Bullets, and Bedlam; A Portrait of Fun. // Story: Nightingale // by East Coast //------------------------------// ... ... ... ... The Pale mare kept nodding her head, not even remotely listening to Bebop as he dressed for the party. "Panic, I need you to wait around here for me all right?" "You can't come in..." "I need to help the..." "Thirty minutes... Come and..." "Do you understand?" The pale mare looked at the navy blueish green pony. She blinked a few times and looked left, then right, then back at him. "Nope. But don't s'plain it again. You're boring. Cut to the chase! Lieeeek... Like a rabbit! Just, cut into it after you chase it!" Bebop blinked and sighed. Rubbing his hoof against his forehead, he bit his lip and nodded before reaching out to hold the mare's head while she giggled and struggled a bit. He thought about how exactly he could put this in a way she could understand. "Panic! Gimme a half hour! Like, a t.v show alright? A cartoon. Wait a cartoon here for me? If I'm not back before-" "The commercial break?" "No! Too soon! The next show. If I'm not back by the next show, call you're provider. Ok?" The mare brightened up and nodded furiously, messing up her brilliant turquoise mane which popped back into place almost immediately. Bebop backed up slowly, keeping his eyes on the mare as she watched him go, her head turned constantly to the left. ... Without a word the mare reached into her saddle bags and removed a small box, a reflective glass screen lodged in front of it. Using her wings she manipulated a tiny crank and just as tiny antenna while the screen flickered to life. Her eyes widened eagerly as the teeny tele came to life, small toots of steam emanating from a small pipe. In other news, it seems the rebel group calling themselves "The Midnight Riders" has once again struck at our peace of mind. "Look! Boomy! We're on the tele again! Just like Mixed-Matched said!" The mare was now looking at a collection of assorted junk in a large, opened present. "We're on our way! Soon we'll be in cartoons and we'll have toys and we'll have fanfiction that ship us! Even though we are nothing alike!" Panic smiled and fell flat on her back as she cranked the crank that powered the small light box. No one but her seeing anything within the glorified lamp. Her eyes split apart as she lost track of her thoughts and they drifted for a moment, to her fillyhood. She twisted her head again, trying to remember something. Her eyes narrowed and her brow furrowed as she realized not a thing was coming to her. A local guard on duty looked across the yard, seeing the admittedly attractive mare rolling on the ground. The prevailing thought on his mind was if she were in pain, how could he help? He was not allowed to leave his post, so he could not go to her, and being a simple watch tower, there would be nopony to tell about her. He thought about calling to her, but he was not supposed to talk unless it was a dire emergency. So, he decided to watch. If she were in serious trouble, then it would become and emergency and he could do something... Or so he justified to himself. For the next twenty-nine minutes, the guard was blissfully unaware that the cute, albiet, strange mare who was rolling around barely fourteen yards away was the most wanted criminal in the empire. -------------------------- ... ... ... ... It had been eight minutes and the guard was well assured that the mare was not in pain. She just seemed to have thought something was funny, or simply enjoyed rolling around on the ground. He'd watched her walk around in circles (backwards) and fly upside down. She was... Entertaining to say the least. She seemed light hearted enough, when it came to switch shifts, he'd excort her off the grounds himself so she didn't get in trouble. He thought of a way to contact her. He couldn't speak, and he couldn't go to her... Could she read? If she could read then... ---------------------------------------------- ... Panic stared at the paper airplane. It had landed quite nicely next to her, the pilot was clearly the top of his gun... Class... Whatever. Panic slowly sniffed the paper and scrunched up her face, trying to decipher the message of the paper. ... ... Panic took a small canister of oil and dipped a pin of sorts into it and used the tiny metal thing to write a response. She also modified the paper airplane's design, reducing drag by adding lift and applying some careful whoopdanginomics to the bow to offset the stern which was always soooo laaaaaame~ Ya know... So it could make it back up to the guard. It got him in the eye. Hey there Mr. Guard! My friends call me Cinap! How are you? -------------------------------------------- Around twenty minutes had passed. By the now the duo were trading jokes, snacks, and the occasional cat face. Foreword Guard would make a new paper airplane, folding it meticulously like his father had shown him how. Each design was unique and complex but Foreword’s special talent was aligned with this sort of work. Not too many guards could throw anything quite like he could. Be it shields, swords, shoes or paper airplanes he was gifted with the manual dexterity and seamless skill to get it where he wanted, regardless of how the actual plane should function. And yet, every time the plane would return, looking completely different. At first he had suspected that she was making her own, but it soon occurred to him she had never taken out a scrap of paper. She had simply been... Reengineering all of his own to get them back to him. He took a guess that Cinap was short for Synapse, meaning she was most likely just an eccentric genius type. He was enjoying her company to say the least. ------------------------ Twenty-seven minutes in and Foreword was falling for the strange mare out his window. He had three minutes till his shift was over and he planned on walking her home, no matter where she lived. She seemed very cool, as far as strange ponies who were technically trespassing go. She had been assembling something, but he gave it no mind. She was working out of a present so he couldn't see what she was working on, but part of him hoped she knew it was also his birthday. He chuckled to himself as he thought about that... A pony with birthday senses. The idea was so absurd. He looked at the next papper, simply rolled up in a ball, and given paper wings. Do you like surprises? He smiled as he crafted a heart shaped plane and sent it back. I love surprises. ------------------------------------------ Foreword Guard sighed as the mare finally seemed finished with whatever she was building and had found the time to get to his paper. She looked at the heart like she seemed puzzled, then looked to her box as if a noise came from it and giggled. It was the first time he'd heard her and her giggle was quite cute, a little snort falling in there as she began to scribble on the heart. Then she looked up at him with a broad smile and tossed it with a great deal of vigor. Too much in fact. This one also hit him in the eye, blinding him a moment. Foreword blinked as his sense of sight quickly retruned and he retrieved the paper from the ground, never hearing the mare take flight. On the heart were scribbles of explosions, poorly drawn stick figures dying, and a large dinosaur like creature labeled "Gummy, the destroyer of worlds" with the only words legible being "Panic" written all over it and the single word on the back, stylized so that every letter looked like a weapon or an explosion. SURPRISE! Foreword Guard had no time to react, before he could yell, or sound an alarm, Panic was grinning madly at him from the window or his post. He stammered as he thought back on the name of his pen pal... Cinap... Panic... He swallowed heavily before he found any words. Staring into her increbily friendly smile. "H-H-Hi P-Panic." "Buh bye Mr. Guard!" And with the fury of hell, the guard tower furthest from the Princess’ bed room exploded into a column of fire as Panic flew around, appearing quite tipsy as she screamed and cackled with delight. She fired Boomy, her saddle mounted missile launcher, indiscriminately; what others might call “stray shots” Panic called “late arrivals”. She flew slightly off kilter given the weight of the weapon at her side. "Aehehehehe! Next up on the Snuff Channel; Cooking with Chef Boomy! He swears a lot!” Several guards poured from their various barracks and stood no chance. Panic was not armed with simply a lop-sided missile launcher. Her eyes rolled back as an intense blush slowly came to her face, her hind legs bending a bit as she bit her now quivering lip. “Ohhhhhhhhhh wooooooow~! Moremoremoremoremoremore, More, more!” She adjusted her wings to allow a large mini-gun, decorated in poorly drawn peace signs, vicious looking smiley faces and explosions were suitable words carved into the weapon, as if to remind the wielder the sound a gun makes. Panic flipped her unruly mane out of her eyes and held it back, giving any who were watching a good view of her neck, looking at them through one eye, only because the other still managed to be covered by her bangs. She hadn't even remotely noticed the bullets being fired at her, either by gun or by apt unicorn. Everything just faded as she began to pant, her body heaving not from strain but from lust. ... "Ahehehehehehe!" It only took a few moments to warm up, the bullets flying out of the barrels and tearing out the barrel, sending the guards either cowering away or running for cover as the recoiled pushed her backwards mid-flight, her moans of ecstasy barely audible over the sound of the one mare warmachine. Her late arrivals found their marks shortly, blowing more guard towers into oblivion. She looked around from the sky, her fervor fading as she realized the signs of life were fading. “W-Where did everypony go?” Panic’s face drooped as her fun was quickly coming to a close, the towers burning and the servants running in fear of their lives barely seemed to register with the somewhat sickly pale mare. She felt her eyes water and thoughts of sadness quickly entered her mind. … The mare looked around, first slowly then rapidly appearing to search for something as the ponies below her made their way for the exits. ... < Shut up!> ... ... < Stop!> ... < This isn’t fun anymore!> Her body shook as the unease took over and she pointed her gun at the shadows cast by ever flame and opened fire, laying waste to the outer castle complex. Her eyes grew wide as she looked around, the mixture of pleasure and paranoia creating a strange mix of euphoria for her. Her eyes fell on the main hall, a building full of life and music and chatter. … … … … … Maniacal laughter erupted from the mare as she sped towards the halls, unleashing a barrage of bullets and missiles along her way. “TIIIIIIIIIIIMMMEEEEE TOOOOOOOO PAANNNNNNNNNIIIIIIIIIIICCCC~~~~~~~!!!!!!”