Chapter 5: Tension
Line Space hated this pain, and it was one he was all too familiar with. The doctor had given it to him when this first came up, the psychiatrist gave it to him when he tried so hard to explain it, and Twilight gave him it now. It was pain from a look of disbelief, disbelief that somepony like him could hurt somepony else the way Line Space had. He had to face it now though and he gave Twilight all the time she needed to handle the fact that he was linked to a monster.
Unfortunately, he also wasn’t patient. He began to fidget, rubbing his aching eye and wincing at the pain. Twilight seemed to take notice of his uncomfortableness and started prancing in place.
“Oh, ummm, would you like some ice or something for your, uh, eye?” Twilight said, stumbling over her voice. Line Space looked up at her and nodded, grateful for an ice breaker. She ran off into the kitchen and Line Space walked over to Fluttershy sleeping by the window. His mom had pain problems rather often and he now adjusted Fluttershy’s pillows to a more comfortable position. He finally braced himself and looked at her.
Fortunately, Red Pen had spared making any marks that would last to be seen by others. Line Space had talked to her in the past, just one or two chance conversations in the market. She was kind and a patient listener, the kind of person he enjoyed talking to but hated talking to at the same time. He chuckled slightly remembering a conversation once where he talked for ten minutes about a class project he was working on that had stressed him out. He had gotten to vent his frustrations and in the end she had said thats nice and he had no way to continue. He loved venting but it was even better to get a response. Of course, the next conversation he had focused on getting an actual response out of her and scared her into running away.
He then began to grind his teeth. Red Pen had some decency to him before, he only went after those that made him mad. But what could Fluttershy have done to deserve this?!
“This is my fault,” he said bitterly tears welling up in his eyes as he looked down at Fluttershy and knew it was what he believed. He had been selfish and once everything was right and Red Pen was gone he would make it up to her he swore. Once Red Pen was gone everything would be better and Twilight had the key to solving this. Not to mention, the two of them were so smart there wasn’t anyway Red Pen would be able to escape them, not with his fury blinding him.
“Thats nice to see. I was scared for moment there.”
Line Space whipped around because rather than fear or shock the voice held kindness and sympathy. His surprise turned into confusion when he saw that he was correct, that the voice was Twilight’s and her face had softened for the first time since his arrival. His mouth dropped open, unable to respond.
“You really do feel guilty for this, don’t you,” Twilight said as she came over to stand by Fluttershy as well. “Heres the ice. So, what can you tell me about him?” An edge had creeped into her voice and Line Space realized that she had not lost her anger, just her distrust of him. He found that it made him really happy but he refused to smile. It wouldn’t be right to enjoy this particular moment.
“Not much unfortunately. I have spent years trying to understand what it was that was afflicting me but no matter how much research I did I couldn’t find anything. Red Pen does everything he can to hurt those he’s angry at, and he’s always angry,” Line Space said his voice cracking as he struggled through the words. He turned his head away remembering everything Red Pen had said to him, everything he had tormented him about. “And he enjoys other ponies pain. A lot”
He turned away from Twilight and Fluttershy feeling tears well up. He tried desperately to fight against the despair and rage that filled him. He turned back at the sound of hoofsteps behind him and Twilight was there with a concerned look on her face. He let himself relax then and enjoy having another pony care.
“I can’t even begin imagining having a monster like that inside of me,” Twilight said with genuine care in her voice.
“Hah. I wish he had simply been inside. I haven’t seen my reflection in years since I got this horrible curse,” Line Space said bitterly the laugh dying and sounding sad. “It’s been a long time since I’ve had the kind of peace I feel now. A peace gained by not having an evil voice whispering in your ear.” As he finished this his voice turned wistful and his thoughts drifted to what he might do now. Who he could get close to.
Then he remembered Fluttershy. Red Pen had to be handled first and then he could bask in the possibilities of friendship. First, Twilight and him would need to deal with this evil though.
“So, um, why haven’t we met before Mister Space?” Twilight asked trying to not sound suspicious or awkward. Line Space flinched at the use of mister but also knew that people had a hard time picking how to refer to him.
“Please, Line or Space will do just fine Twilight. If I can call you that,” Line Space asked and after a nod from Twilight he continued. ”I tend to keep myself away from other ponies because I didn’t get along very well with others. That wasn’t even Red Pen’s fault all the time. I spend a lot of my time doing a….. mail based school to refine my writing skills.” At that Twilight scrunched up her face. This sounded familiar but she couldn’t place why.
“A mail based school system. That sounds kind of like the one I have with the Princess. What do you study besides writing?” Before responding Line Space sighed as though remembering something exhausting.
“I learn all sorts of things but most of it is aimed at giving me a chance for free study. I do get some outdoor activities from time to time though and those don’t tend to end well. Princess Celestia runs the school program though so I guess you could say she’s kind of like my principal,” saying this Line Space scrunched up his own face wondering why Twilight wouldn’t know about the program as Celestia’s personal student. Then again Twilight certainly didn’t seem to know about her life being recorded so maybe it shouldn’t be all that surprising she wouldn’t tell Twilight things that didn’t concern her.
“Maybe I can get Celestia to let me in on this school. I haven’t gotten a formal assignment in quite some time and it’s always fun getting new writing prompts.” Twilight and Line Space both seemed to be warming to the topic of schoolwork and most of the tension that had filled the room was beginning to leave as the two grew comfortable. Line Space decided to check on Fluttershy again now to give him a pause to the conversation. If he got anymore excited he would start stumbling over his words and that would only give her something to laugh at.
The two of them took a few steps away from Fluttershy, content she was still okay. “Well Celestia has certainly provided me with a lot of magical papers and such to review.” Line Space said. “ I’m hoping that I can get a job as a magical analyst once I grad-”
“Wait! I do know who you are! Your paper on magical theory that you sent in to Mayor Mare’s contest was fascinating. When she told me you were an earth pony I couldn’t believe the insight you showed into how magic worked!” Twilight started jumping around as she got really excited. Line Space took a few steps back. He wasn’t really sure how to handle praise, let alone someone getting this excited about his paper.
Blushing Line Space said “Well I just reworded some of Star Swirl the Bearded’s papers on magic in the world, built on that, and updated it to match up more with current magical theory.”
Twilight turned on him, her mouth gaping open. “You know who Star Swirl the Bearded is and you BUILT on some of his papers.”
“Yeah. The man was inspired but most magical theory has been built on top of his basic theories. I simply explored his theory further and did what someone else should have a long time ago. I updated his work,” Line Space said in a modest tone hoping that Twilight would calm down a bit. It didn’t work.
“You understood his work. I have spent time with some of the most renowned scholars in Equestria and they didn’t know who he was or understood it after they read it. You and I-” Twilight stopped mid-sentence. As she had said this she had been walking closer and closer to Line Space and only now did he realize there was maybe a foot between them. The pause grew longer and longer as Line struggled to come up with something to say. Never before had he been so happy to hear another pony whimper in pain.
Still wincing at that last thought he turned to Fluttershy and began fluffing her pillows gently. “I, uh, need to get a few things ready before we head off to take care of Red Pen and you should probably find someway to track him if you can,” Line Space said trying to sound serious but finding his voice cracking for some awful reason. “ There is something you need to know before we go after him though. I got him out of my head and separated from myself by using the mirror pool. I don’t know if that changes anything.”
Twilight shook her head before saying “ No problem. In fact that might make things easier but how did you know about the mirror pool?” After she said that Line Space took a second to put together his response. If Celestia hadn’t told Twilight that she was being filmed then it probably wasn’t his place to say anything.
“An obscure book on earth pony folklore. I borrowed it from the Canterlot library last time I was there,” Line Space quickly lied. Having put off telling her about the show he continued to say, “It might also be helpful if you found a way to track him. But Twilight, you know you don’t have to work with me right? This is my problem and no one else needs to get hurt because of it.” At that last bit he turned again to look at Fluttershy and bit his lip out of guilt.
Twilight took a deep breath and said with no lack of courageous bravado, “You can count on me. Really Line, you have nothing to worry about, we’ll take care of this.” Line Space looked up and smiled. “I’ll just get my friends and we-”
“NO!” Line Space almost jumped as he yelled this. “Did you not just here me? We need to bring as few people into this as we can so that others don’t get hurt.” He looked at Fluttershy as he paused, the pain coming back onto his face. “I wouldn’t be asking you if I didn’t think I needed it.” Twilight was silent for a moment before finally nodding.
“Alright then,” she began walking over to Fluttershy and opening the window to let more fresh air in, “you go get what you need and I’ll get ready myself. Lets meet back here in about 2 hours so we can get back at Red Pen for this.”
“Sounds like a plan. Until later Twilight.” Line Space turned away and headed out the door. As he exited he saw Rarity galloping towards the library and lowered his head, turning in the opposite direction. He frowned at himself and lifted his head. With his head raised high he went trotting through town proud and confident.