//------------------------------// // Hell Hath No Fury // Story: Life, Death, and Ponies // by thunderclap //------------------------------// “WHAT IN THE HAY WERE YA THINKIN’?!” “Oh no,” you said, already preparing for the worst. ‘Damn you Celestia. A pissed off Applejack is a fate worse than death. Okay, calm down. You can talk your way out of this… probably.’ “Why would ya go an’ do somethin’ as stupid as mess with Diamond Dogs!” You quickly looked around the room, hoping to find someone in the room that had some sympathy for you that you could use. However, that didn’t end up panning out. All of your friends had scowls on their faces that could put Celestia and Luna’s to shame. Even Fluttershy looked angry with you. Actually, her face scared you more than the others. ‘Ahhh! I take it back! Angry Fluttershy is so much worse than Applejack.’ You screamed in your head. ‘Okay, calm down. I’ll just tell them what happened.’ “Listen, Applejack. I have a good reason for what I did.” “Let me guess,” Applejack replied with a roll of her eyes, “ya ran into a pony that needed help and it somehow led to ya fightin’ Diamond Dogs to do it.” “That is about the gist of it.” “Honestly, you are so predictable sometimes.” Rainbow Dash huffed, hovering in one corner of the room. “Look, I know I’m prone to helping ponies. But there’s a lot more to it than that. So, can I please explain the rest of my story before you all start chewing me out?” “Alright,” Twilight sighed, “it’s only fair that you have a chance to explain yourself.” “Thank you. Okay, I’ll start this from the beginning. I was on my way back to Ponyville and I was on this little side trail that nopony seemed to use much. I wasn’t really paying attention to where I was going and suddenly tripped over something.” “How does this lead to you fighting Diamond Dogs, darling?” “I’m getting to that. This is a long story, so please just bear with me.” The girls and Spike all nodded and allowed you to continue. “I picked myself up off the ground and turned to look to see what I tripped over, which turned out to be a pony. She was in bad shape, and was so covered in dirt and blood that I could barely her gender. I quickly teleported into the closest town and got the mare to a hospital. The doctor asked me to come and see the mare the next day to visit the mare I’d saved. And when I did it turned out to be Trixie.” “What!?” Your friends cried out in unison. “You’re telling me that you put yourself into the hospital over Trixie?!” Rainbow Dash growled, getting close to your face. “Rainbow Dash, calm down,” Fluttershy said in a soothing voice. “Blackstar said that she was in bad shape. He couldn’t just leave her alone.” “And he didn’t.” Rainbow Dash snapped. “He got her to the hospital and made sure she was o.k. he didn’t need to do anything else.” “Look, both of ya make a good point.” Applejack said. “But, let Blackstar finish his story.” “Thanks Applejack. Ahem, when I found out it was Trixie I was about as excited as the rest of you, and wanted to leave then and there. But, my curiosity got the better of me and had me ask what happened to her. She told me a group of Diamond Dogs sprang up and tried to steal her caravan. When she wouldn’t give it to them: they swarmed her, took her caravan and left her there to die. I couldn’t leave that alone and so I decided to help her get it back. A few days later, we went to where I found her and went down into the tunnels that the Diamond Dogs were in. When we found them I easily took care most of them with my magic, but their leader had a magicite necklace.” “What the hay is magicite?” Applejack asked. “It’s a rare mineral that is immune to all types of magical energy. If somepony were to wear it then a unicorn wouldn’t be able to use magic on them.” Twilight explained. “Exactly,” you said with a nod. “So when I noticed the necklace I had no choice but to fight the leader with my bare hooves. It was a difficult fight, but I finally managed to get the advantage over him and knocked him out cold. Then I took his magicite necklace and Trixie and I made our way back to the surface with her caravan in tow.” “That’s quite the story.” Rarity said. “But, what made you want to help her?” “What do you mean?” You asked, confused. “I don’t know; it just seems like you had something extra motivating you other than your normal moral compass.” “I guess you’re right.” You admitted. “I guess you could say I could just relate to Trixie, and that really made me want to help her.” “That’s crazy, Blackstar.” Rainbow Dash blurted out. “You and Trixie are nothing alike. She’s completely selfish and bigheaded. And you’re one of the nicest and humblest guys I know.” “That’s not what reminded me of her. When she told me that those Diamond Dogs stole her caravan, she looked devastated. I know what it’s like to lose something really important, not to mention I used to travel around a lot like she does. I felt like if things in my life had ended up differently in my life, I could’ve been just like her. So I really wanted to try and change her for the better.” “So, did ya end up changing her?” Applejack asked. “I think so.” You admitted with a smile. “I mean, I was able to make friends with her.” “Only you could make friends with a pony like Trixie.” Rainbow Dash said. “I just did what I thought was right.” You said with a shrug. “I’m just glad that you all aren’t mad at me anymore.” “Hold on there, pardner. We never said that we ain’t still mad at ya. We’re just not as mad at ya. Yer still gonna get punished for bein’ so thickheaded and rushin’ into trouble. When we get back to Ponyville yer gonna be buckin’ trees, cleanin’ out the muck in the pig pens, and whatever else pops into mah head for a long while.” “I saw that one coming from a mile away.” You replied with a chuckle. “It’s good to see you all again.” “The same goes for us.” Rarity said. “Now just try to get some rest, darling. We want you to come home as soon as possible. “Alright,” you replied, laying your head down on the pillow of your hospital bed. After your friends left you drifted off into a dreamless sleep. A part of you was dreading the punishment that Applejack had planned for you, but another was just happy to be returning home. You had to stop and catch your thoughts for a moment. That had been the first time you had referred to it as “Your” home and not the Apple family’s home. You smiled at yourself internally for this development. Eventually, you had to wake up and you were greeted by a soft knocking on the door to your hospital room. “Hey, Blackstar, it’s me. Can I come in?” A familiar voice called out to you. “Sure, come on in.” The door opened and Flarewing was standing in the doorframe. “Hey dude, I heard you were back in town.” “Hey yourself, I was hoping you’d come and visit me.” “Well, what kind of best friend would I be if I wasn’t there for my friend when he’d bored out of his skull in a hospital?” “Thanks, I’m just glad I’m getting a visitor that isn’t chewing me out.” “From what Luna told me, your friends from Ponyville have already done plenty of that. So, is there anything you want to talk about in particular?” “There is something that I’ve had on my mind for a while, and I think you’re the only one I can talk to about it. “This sounds pretty serious.” Flarewing replied, lowering his brow. “Is something wrong?” “Not really,” you started, “I mean it’s still important, but…” “Blackstar, calm down,” Flarewing interrupted. “Just spit it out, dude.” You managed to put your thoughts in order and took a deep breath. “I was just wondering; if a friend starts dating another friend… do things get weird?” “Where’d this come from?” Flarewing asked. “Do you have a specific friend in mind?” “No, it’s just that, a lot of my friends back in Ponyville are girls, and I get along with all of them. So I just wanted to know if escalating things with one of them would complicate things in our group.” “Well, are you attracted to any of them?” “I don’t know.” You admitted. “I’m not entirely sure what that feels like.” “Trust me, when you feel it, you’ll know. So if you don’t really feel attracted to them then you shouldn’t ask any of your friends out. Now, if you do eventually find yourself attracted to one of your friends then you will run the risk of making things weird with your other friends. And if the relationship doesn’t pan out and you end up breaking up with this friend then don’t expect things to go back to normal right away, if they ever do.” “Thanks. Ya know that was a surprisingly intelligent answer from you, Flarewing.” You said with a smirk. “Of course, you asked me about my area of expertise, mare on stallion relations.” Flarewing replied, ignoring your remark. “Also, I’d recommend that you try going on dates with a few mares. It’ll help you figure out how to have a successful date. And when you’re ready to take a serious relationship to the next level, I can give you advice for the more ‘intimate’ part of a date.” You easily figured out what Flarewing meant and instantly felt your face go flush. “Uh, no thanks. I’m pretty sure if I go that far with a girl, then it’ll work itself out.” At that, Flarewing started to laugh uproariously. “What’s so funny?” “Oh, nothing,” he replied, barely able to collect himself. “You’ll find out for yourself.” You and Flarewing continued to talk for a while until a nurse came in and told Flarewing that visiting hours were over. You two brohoofed and he slipped out the door. Later. Rarity walked into the Carousel Boutique with her mail in tow. She quickly found the foal-sitter that she had hired to watch Sweetie Belle, and made her way to her room. At first glance it looked like Sweetie Belle was asleep, but all of a sudden Sweetie Belle whipped around and sprang up onto the bed. “Is Blackstar okay?!” She cried out in her shrill voice. “He’s fine Sweetie Belle; he just needs a day or two to recover.” “That’s good. I was really worried when I heard about that letter Twilight got.” “I wasn’t aware you cared so much about Blackstar.” “Well yeah, Apple Bloom really likes him. If anything happened to him she’d be destroyed.” “It’s very sweet of you to be concerned about your friend.” Rarity replied; proud of how mature her little sister was becoming. “Besides, he promised to help me get my cutie mark. If something happened to him, then I might never get it!” Rarity laughed a little at this. Sweetie Belle was still at the age where she could afford to be selfish every now and then. Besides, she had been worse at that age anyway. Rarity put Sweetie Belle to bed, and made her way to her own room. Rarity sat down on her bed and started to rummage through her mail while thinking to herself. ‘I almost feel like we were too hard on Blackstar back in Canterlot. He was only being selfless trying to help a pony in need. Actually, I think it’s his selflessness that draws all of us to him. Then again, he did nearly get himself killed, so it does even out. I swear the boy needs to stop being so impulsive. Oh well, Applejack has his punishment lined up so there’s no need to be too mad at him. Speaking of Applejack, we’re the only ones who have our proto-dates with Blackstar left. I wonder what I should do for mine.’ No sooner did the thought come into her head, than her eyes rested on a strange letter. She opened the letter and examined its contents. When she saw what it was her eyes lit up and a smile worked its way onto her face. “That’ll do,” she said to herself.