Chapter 4 - Integration
Canterlot. A big metropolis made of raw magnificence and filled with those who could afford it. Where two of the four alicons rule with benevolent power over the land within great castle walls unmatched by any other. Inside the palace, the four mentioned princesses had assembled in a rare congregation. It was not often that the alicorns found themselves all in the same room these days, but it was for a good reason.
They stood in the throne room of Canterlot Castle, having dismissed the guards for the sake of privacy. Barin’s existence was to be kept secret as reasonably as possible. This was established in the letters detailing the meeting, for the risk of public interference and fallacious influence had to be avoided.
The majority of attention was focused on Twilight, who was addressed by Celestia. “Princess Twilight, the three of us have discussed the recent discovery of Barin. He has shown kindness and intellect, and we think it is time we develop on our relationship as a species. But first, how has he been?”
Twilight rubbed her chin with a hoof in an effort to recall recent memories. “Barin is very eager to learn, and his Equestrian is steadily improving, but no matter how much food our carts can carry it isnt enough to feed him. To that extent he also refuses to eat grass or flowers...” She winced at a gruesome memory. “I once witnessed a manticore meal…he appears to have table manners, but I can't quite bring myself to closely examine...” She shook her head to clear away bad thoughts.
Having broken away from mental recalls, her speech shifted tones to accompany more formal prowess. “After research I found that meat has many proteins and fats not found in most greenery. This might be why he is an omnivore. The problem is trying to find a decent supply of food before he depopulates the wild life…”
Luna smiled, seemingly dismissing Twilight’s concerns. “Twilight, the ursa majors are greater beings than Barin. If they can live off meat then so can he.”
Twilight corrected Luna. “Ursa bears hunt dragons, serpents, and hydras. Barin is big, but not that big, let alone be able to take one on in a fight.”
Luna’s eyes went wide in slight embarrassment and her smile vanished, but her speech did not flounder. “Then I guess that is another issue for you to overcome.”
Cadence shared happy words of anticipation. “While I have yet to see, Be-arin…”
Twilight corrected her. “Barin.”
“Right, Barin, It sounds like he can be trusted. Perhaps even useful…”
Twilight tilted her head. “Useful? What do you mean by that?”
Celestia inhaled lightly. “As you are aware, most creatures that dwarf our size have been, more often than not, hostile towards us. This is an opportunity to show the ponies that not all the giants in this world are bad.”
Luna picked up the command. “In short, we want you to integrate him into Equestrian society. Along with being a good friend to the ponies around him, his presence and allied aid can offer protection or help to a whole town in need.”
Cadence tried to soften the blow evident on Twilight’s small pupils by putting her wing over Twilight’s back. “I know we are asking a lot of you this time, but the Elements are the only ponies Barin knows to a point of comfort. Besides, this will be good training in calming the general public around something they fear, and sharpen your diplomacy skills.”
Those last words stuck with Twilight. The ponies of Equestria can be very prejudicial, if the Zecora incident has anything to say about that. The new task ahead was not going to be easy.
Twilight trotted to one of her daily lessons for Barin. In tow was AppleJack and Rarity, who were helping deliver more supplies to him. Sadly, a lack of meat was apparent, yet it was not surprising in the slightest. Meat is simply a product not found in large quantities in a land of mostly herbivores. Instead, more apple based goods were underway, courtesy of AppleJack.
Twilight had explained to her friends what the other princesses told her. “As much as I would like to think that this will be simple, there are many problems to this integration assignment. The language barrier is not a huge one as progress is being made, but the supplies of food will simply not be enough…” She shook her head in an effort to make sense of it all.
AppleJack did not help the situation any by pointing out more issues. “That and the town folk won't give a warm welcome to a big hulking giant. Ponnyville, of all towns, has had, what? The Ursa attack, the Dragon smoke, the Hydra that looms inside the swamp, uh...well he don’t really count ‘couse he stays away, but ah’ve still made my point. Bigguns don't mix well with ponies ‘round here.”
Rarity on the other hoof tried to support her friend. “While ponies may be close to judge him merely from his size, I have no doubt that as soon as they see his soft side, they will welcome him with open hooves! After all, who wouldn’t love a giant that is both civil and stylish! Even if it is a bit of rustic attire.”
AppleJack rolled her eyes when she mentioned his clothes again, and mumbled under her breath. “Again with the clothes.” She then spoke to Rarity directly. “Style shmyle, what are ya gonna do? Make him a whole new set of clothes?” The actual thought of such Rarity making clothes bigger than her store made her laugh. “Hahaha! Ah’d like ta see that!”
With designer pride filling her, spite took over the argument. “Maybe I will! At the next Gala he will be in the biggest and grandest outfit you will ever see!”
“I’ma hold ya ta that!”
“By all means!”
Silently, Twilight added another note to the list of ever growing problems to gather large quantities of fabric as they approached the hall.
Barin was not found inside the hall.
Twilight flew to his bed. “It’s not warm, so he must have left some time ago.” She looked towards the sky through a window, estimating the time of day to make sure she wasn't mistaken. As usual, the sun was positioned at its midday peak in the sky. “He is usually here around this time of day.”
She looked at the fire pit. It was relatively calm but the mountainous pile of wood situated at side of the room indicated a decent supply of fuel. “Not out for firewood, so he could be hunting. Zecora says that the manticores are steering clear of an area around the castle, so they must be adapting to the new predator in the area already.”
As she said this, Twilight moved to the other “doorway”. Instead of going back through the shorter portions of the castle just to go outside, Barin converted a largely damaged window into a shortcut to the forest using some brute force and the shovaxe to bust out some stone, and utilizing the largest trees he could find to make a small ladder. Said ladder was crude and simple, but it was able to do the one job it was made to perform. Instead of a door, large tarps that were “borrowed” from the throne room’s cleaning supplies were fastened together with a strong silver tape not seen by pony kind.
Unhooking themselves from the carts, the other ponies also looked around the room for him. Despite the fact that there wasn't any place for him to really be hidden. The walls were now largely patched with wood and tree canopies. Most, if not all, of the large rubble was no longer littering the floor, making the room more homely.
The eyesore of the otherwise plain room was an area off to one side by the fire place. Dried blood from the many manticores that had been spilled during consumption and the occasional last touch of cleaning. The ponies knew of the spot and its purpose, but it was not spoken of and instead ignored.
The sketch pad lay off to the side of the room near the back. Investigating said pad, Rarity came across drawings. These were not word drawings, but an unfinished diagram or map. “Oh! What could these be of?” Not bothering to figure out her own question out of curiosity to the pad itself, she flipped more pages. One after another was a sketch of some type of house or room. “Odd…”
Without context, Twilight assumed that Rarity was referring to Barin’s absence. “I know, odd...Where could he be?”
A voice of malicious intentions came from the cart of apples. “You seek the Giant? I know where he is…”
Without thinking the ponies knew who that voice belonged to. “Discord!”
A humble laugh of madness came up from the cart in the form of a floating apple. “Hahaha!” The fruit then poofed into Discord who was wearing a simple white wig and a suit with a tie. He also held a stack of large cards with him. “Oh but I’m sorry, that answer had to be in the form of a question. Better luck next time!”
None of them were thrilled to see Discord, as AppleJack made plain. “Why are ya here and not hav’in tea or something at Flutters?”
The disguise disappearing, Discord gave her a perfectly good reason with his arms in the air. “No reason, the best kind of reason of all!”
Twilight didn't believe him. "Have you made contact with him?"
"Oh heavens no! I heard of him through Fluttershy.” Discord was now wearing a safari hat. “Of course I couldn't resist the urge to see if what she said was true! I saw him yesterday and a few minutes ago on my way here."
Rarity huffed slightly. "Humph, well where is he?"
"You will find him at the river slightly north from where the castle path leads."
I hope this water is deeper than it looks. Otherwise this will be an utter waste of my time.
Barin looked into the calm river at his tanned bare feet. For the inconceivable blue hue that it had, it didn't seem that clear. Of course, his glasses were removed from his face as to not get them wet. His minor prescription meant that most things were still clear and in detail, but were not crystal clear. Testing the water, he positioned himself on his belly, and reached an arm into the water.
It was deep and cold. “Oh! This is not going to be nice!” In reality it was a bath, but most are not accustomed to cold water such as it is found naturally. Sitting up, he sat himself at the lip of the liquid.
I haven't actually done something like this before, but I think I’m overdue for a bath. Behind a nearby tree Barin found his black shirt and blue Jeans. In the back pocket of the jeans, he retrieved a bar of unscented soap. Well...first time for everything…
He hesitated at the waters edge, knowing that what lay below him. Bracing himself for a cold bath, he let the legs fall into the water. “Cold!”
Pushing his mind over the edge of fear, he allowed himself to slide in. “O-O-H! Jesus!” Thankfully the river floor could be felt once the water reached his waist, but he wasn't thinking about such things at the moment.
He made the wash quick, but thorough. “So cold!” In his haste to clean himself the bar of soap slipped from his grasp. Time slowed for Barin as he frantically flailed his arms in an attempt to catch the bar, as the bar slowly made contact with the water. Barin released a disappointed cry as he stared at the point of entry. As time caught up to its original speed, Barin stood there, silently, his gaze never breaking from where the soap originally was. He inwardly sighed as he knew what had to happen next.
I need to go under.
Barin raised a fist to the air and grumbled his anger. He cursed whatever God that had casted such mundane bad luck upon him, and stomped his foot once. This was ended by the feeling of the bar making contact with his heel. He stood totally still, finally snapping to his senses and realizing that thrashing about would only cause it to move down river.
Barin released a frustrated breath, Well damn, I needed to wash my hair anyways.
The water was still freezing, but pushing his angst to retrieve the bar aside, and he took a deep breath and quickly dove.
Upon fingertips making contact with the soap, a white flash engulfed Barin’s vision. Around him he could hear the roar of rushing, violent water that slammed into him; Barin lost control of the bar and fear rammed into him like a bull when he felt his mouth and lungs fill with rancid tasting liquid that desired to extinguish his life; faintly he heard a voice of a man desperately screaming, “Help! Somebody help–”
Immediately Barin shot to the surface.. Shit! He felt his heart racing like he was running from a bear. The tides he created splashed against the green shore but the prize remained where it was at his heel. The hell….was that...
He stared at the water with new-found trepidation about being within it. His breath condensed and his stomached lost the appetite it had for the past few days.
He let himself stand there until the body calmed down, knowing that the soap still was down there. Barin wanted to climb out: to leave the bar there return to his new found home and forget about what had just happened. The sound of the river softly flowing around him seemed to taunt his emotions, daring him to delve back into the unknown. A breeze came in and the skin shivered in response. Ok, hypothermia is an issue, just let me get my soap.
Without any other choice he tried again, this time he did it quickly and in anticipation of reliving whatever memories those were. No horrifying screams or images of violent water came and the bar returned to the surface as well as his short soaking black hair. With his heart racing and panting like mad, Barin stared at the bar, somewhat angry at an inanimate object for putting him through such a frightening ordeal despite the absurdity of it all.
He dropped the bar on the shore without looking back, and heard it make impact on something other than soft grass. “Ow!”
Barin’s heart sank. Whipping his head at near lethal velocities, he saw Twilight partly stuck under the bar. She tried to stand up, but found her horn wedged into the brick of suds from the impact. With a tug, she was free, and a sharp noise indicated that it was now squeaky clean.
Naturally, privacy instincts kicked in and Barin quickly sidestepped behind a shore side tree, concealing the majority of him. “You ever heard of knock–” Barin stopped himself at the realization that there are no doors. “Have you ever heard of privacy?” There ya go.
Ignoring her subby head, Twilight looked happy to see him. “Hello! Barin!”
“Hello...Twilight…”
“Follow!” She waved her hoof back to the castle.
“Out!”
Now Twilight was confused, not at the word, but at the hostile tone. Regardless her business persisted. “You're late for your lesson, get out and dressed!”
He could tell that she was still demanding his immediate accompaniment. “No.” An arm still damp from the water reached around the canopy and tried to shoo Twilight away, but instead got her slightly wet.
Now irritated, Twilight refused to back down. “I’m not leaving until you get out of the water!”
“Nein!”
“Now Barin!”
In defiance he shook his head. “You can’t make me!” To make her own point, Twilight flew up to his face and prepared to demand once more. However, Barin blew a gust of air to push her away.
The smells that came from the maw were indescribable in that there was no scent to relate it too, but it was most certainly unpleasant. The polluted air seemed to cloud around Twilight’s face like a swarm of bees as she gagged uncontrollably.
Evidently, of all the things in the backpack, Barin could not find his minty toothpaste.
Twilight’s attempt to fly back down to the shore to dunk her head in the water, in an attempt to wash out the sticky stench, was hilariously ungraceful. Watching a horse fly and dry-heave air in a fit of disgust at the same time caused Barin to inadvertently laugh out loud.
Once the poor mare reached the waterside, Twilight plunged her head in. Her head came out cold and dripping with her mane blocking her vision and a mouth full of river water. Thankfully the smell had retreated away from her nostrils, but it was now that she realized the water she held was likely containing runoff filth from Barin’s body.
After violently spitting said filth out, Twilight was getting more than frustrated from dealing with nauseous wind, and feeling almost powerless in her task of forcing him to leave the water.
From Barin’s point of view she began to bark at him for blowing his unwelcome breath in her face. Of course over ninety-five percent of what was spoken flew over his head.
I dont have time for this, Barin thought, I’m losing sense in my toes. Throwing an arm back behind him, Barin thrusted forward and sent a wave of cold water barreling toward Twilight who could not see this before it was too late. She momentarily disappeared under the waves.
“Gaaahhhh!” Once the water cleared Barin saw that Twilight had been pushed back a whole foot and was drenched in water. Her tail was flat to match her mane and the fur became glossy in the sunlight. Furthermore he saw her cough up some of said water and gasp for air.
She stood shaking from the chilly dunk.“Alright! Al-Alright! I’ll l-leave you alone!” Clearly peeved at him, she retreated briskly while mumbling under her breath.
Feeling a little bad for inadvertently shoving water down her throat, he made a personal promise...That deserves an apology...
He emerged from the depths of the river and dried himself with one of the cloth tarps. As he got dressed in clothes washed yesterday, his stomach quaked in despair for the fourth time that hour. I know, I know. I have a meal ready back at the hall for you. That reminds me, I should really coin a name for those cat things.
He made his way back to the castle carrying his other clothes with the shovaxe occasionally bumping a tree as it swung from the belt.
Lion, scorpion, bat...Li-scorp-at? Bat-orp-ion? Scorp-bat-lion? That could work. Scorpbatlion. I will have Scorpbatlion for dinner. Meh...I’ll work on it….What is that smell?
CRUNCH
Glancing down he saw that a pack of wooden wolves had appeared in his path. He had encountered these stinkers before, and they usually ended up finding themselves crushed under a large boot. In a cruel way, it was like harassing large insects, but the sounds they make are much more satisfying.
“You know, for a bunch of canines, you guys never seem to hear me coming.” Not in the stomping mood, Barin continued onward while the pack tried to avenge their fallen brothers. Barin heard tree snapping, dog growling, and the sound of rustling branches.
The castle came into view and so was the small pathway to the ladder.
He then heard a much deeper growl, indicating a bigger animal. Looking behind him, Barin saw a frightening sight. A timberwolf had evidently grown to impressive heights and was standing ten feet from him. The wolf had grown to the point where it was at upper chest height. Its face, while still wolf-like, was wearing a distinctly menacing countenance.
Barin had the sudden feeling of karma for all the wood wolfs he had encountered/squashed before, and his body was already entering fight or flight mode from this emotion. “Oh... shit.”
The wolf growled one more time and flared its glowing eyes. The reality of the situation hit Barin into a state of panic as he scrambled to unholster his weapon. The clumsy fashion in retrieving it was all the pitiful fear the wolf needed to see.
By the time Barin’s gaze looked up with the shovel in his stiff grasp, the wolf had charged toward him in great bounds, intent on taking down the prey with extreme prejudice. Having no time to formulate a counter, Barin raised the shaft in a defensive stance and braced for impact.
Opposing jaws snapped onto the steel shaft and the force of the impact nearly knocked Barin over, but the wolf yanked on the shovel in an attempt to tear it away. In this the wolf nearly caused him to then fall forward.
Barin’s thoughts were scrambled and he was unable to formulate a plan to save himself from his attacker, instead he reacted on nothing more than his gut feelings while his emotions of fear was hard boiled into nothing but primal rage.
The wolf released the tool seeing that its foe was unable to quickly regain balance. With a leap the beast was now facing the backside of the now vulnerable prey, suddenly the tall creature warped around inadvertently swinging the shovel.
The wooden monster leapt backwards avoiding contact just at the last second. Giving Barin moments to catch his breath. His anger now driving him to charge the wolf screaming and hollering with not a single thought on his mind. His actions held no other meaning or weight, instead his thoughts were purely focused on thwarting his enemy from defeating him. The time he needed to convert his fear into the drive to fight. Again, Barin’s actions were purely instinctual and not graceful nor strategic, but now he was aggressive.
He jabbed at the wolf who simply moved to the right and lunged again. Barin turned his back towards it and tucked his head down defensively.
The beast pounced onto Barin’s back. Its jaw clamping down on his left shoulder just at the base of his neck. Barin cried out as its teeth penetrated through the shirt and into flesh. Reacting entirely on instinct Barin reached back and tightly grasped his fingers onto a patch of moss, and he flipped the wolf over his shoulders.
The canine landed fiercely on its back, a tremor shook the earth. Primal rage and instincts told Barin that the brute should not be given a chance to stand up, that it should die where it sat. He blindly pounded the animal like a savage. Just like he did with its minuscule young.
Its skull shattered sending a cascade of splinters in the opposite direction of the boot’s force, it’s lower jaw snapped in two, allowing its green leaf tongue to dangle aimlessly out. As he did this, Barin shouted vigorously. “Die!” With each word his foot dismembered the wolf. On the last he gave a mighty kick. “You! Son! Of! A! Bitch!”
The monster was left in shambles. Its head was a pile of broken wood and the body was missing a large portion off the side from the finishing punt. Barin began to slow his rapid breathing, and not a sound could be heard in the forest. He then gasped when he noticed small shattered pieces reforming. “Oh now that’s just cheating!”
Quickly he picked up the shovaxe and began to swing downward madly. As pieces came together, a smash would tear them apart. Again he smashed the beast. And again. And again. His movement became sluggish from his wounds that were now making the hissing pain apparent. Every heave, every swing, hurt more than the last.
Getting desperate, one thought of logic finally came through the wall of rage and agony...Just run, if it is made of wood than it should stay away from the fire…
Barin had never ran so fast in his life. The wolf had never felt so humiliated in its life.
Discord looked at his handy work. A series of bandage wraps covered Barin’s beaten backside, each one labeled with weird and goofy patterns. For instance, one strap was done in a cotton candy cloud design, and for the sake of subtlety, the shoulder patch was left blank in order to fool Barin into thinking things were normal. He could feel the death stare Twilight was giving him, but he didn't care.
Twilight knew this, and directed this irritation into a sentence. “You know, since he doesn't know you he may not realize that it was you who healed him, but me instead.”
Discord’s smile grew bigger, not ashamed in the slightest “That is perfectly fine by me!”
Barin turned his head around to Discord before directing his attention toward Twilight, who was still glaring at a certain god. A finger pointed at Discord.
“Yes.” Twilight dryly answered. “Friend.”
Wanting to be formal, Barin extended his hand to Discord, while the other hand felt the new decorations on his back. “Barin.”
The draconequus happily took it with the lion claw. “Discord, pleasure to meet you!” Once the shake was over, Barin went to retrieve a meal hidden behind the pine trees. In perspective, the smell of the large amount of trees was predicted to be enough to mask the dead body smell.
Discord leaned over to AppleJack who was helping Rarity repair the shirt. There was, of course, not enough material to patch it completely, however Rarity used what she had to the bast of her ability. Like she said when asked about her odd choice of emergency supplies: “One never knows when a situation such as this comes up, darling.”
AppleJack glanced up at the god, who was wearing a smug face. “You know, in the first few seconds of us meeting, he has been more polite than you ponies typically are towards me.”
AJ responded with slight annoyance in her voice. “Pointing them things out migh’ not change that.”
Rarity took the wise path of ignoring Discord and commented on what transpired minutes earlier, as she weaved the fabric back together. “I’ve never seen a timberwolf that big before…”
They saw most of the fight. Discord was eating popcorn while it happened, but he had plenty by the time it was over. Where it went was only known to him. “Shame though, didn’t last long, I thought the fagot wood put up more of a fight.”
Not one to support vulgar language, Rarity shouted at Discord. “Discord! I thought you had some sense of decency!” His only response was a giggle.
Followed by AppleJack. “I didn't think you would drop such words!”
Twilight, however, explained why to her friends this use of words was not completely out of order. And also shed light on why Discord was now laughing so hard. “Girls, fagot also refers to a bundle of sticks typically used for firewood.”
It is at this point Barin returned to the fire with a large reptilian carnivore of respectable size and prowess. This shocked all the ponies present. “A cragadile?!”
The cragadile is a rare and dangerous beast of the Everfree forest. Named for its rocky and jagged skin, it used to stay hidden alongside rocks or in ponds for weeks at a time. The head filled with numerous teeth that lay inside massive jaws was missing from the body.
A tarp gifted two days ago was tied in a bag that hung from his hip. The shade of red that soaked into the cloth indicated where the organs were. Barin had a big smile plastered upon his face, happy to have something new to eat.
Twilight had gotten partly used to the cooking ritual, but her friends were still disgusted by the sight. They looked away with sour faces.
Discord teleported to his shoulder, startling Barin slightly. Being able to eat anything of course, the god could sympathise with cooking fresh meat. “Allow me my omnivorous friend!” With a snap of his talons the bag of meat disappeared with the edible parts appearing on the ends of sticks overlooking the flames.
Easily able to connect the dots, Barin smiled at Discord. “Thank you my friend!”
While he did not understand Barin, Discord understood the tone in his voice. “You are very much welcome!”
Approaching his bed, he collapsed upon the structure and hissed at his wounds before he released a breath of exhaustion. Wanting to relax and make things up for Twilight, an arm reached for her.
Discord laughed while lounging on the backpack munching on Tic Tacs. “Haha, you’re like little dogs to him!”
Begrudgingly, Twilight was scoped up. “It may seem that way, but it might just be his form of social conduct with his own kind.” To reinforce the assumption, Twilight found herself in both hands of bliss, the best apology and source of repayment Barin could provide without saying “sorry” and “thank you”, both words still unknown to him. “Besides…I...can't ...complain…”
AppleJack looked at the purple pile of attention hogging mush relaxing on Brian's chest. “Aaand she’s gone. Again.” AppleJack gave a sympathetic shrug. “Not that ah blame ‘er.”
Actually curious to Twilight’s tranquility, the only other male in the room appeared next to Rarity. “How ‘out of it’ is she?”
Rolling her eyes, she answered. “Very much out of it. I doubt she can hear what we’re saying.” However, something bothered her. "Are you not worried what Barin will do once he discovers your medical decor?"
Discord smiled. “No, of course not! ...Does he pet you too?”
Rarity gently brushed her mane. “The only ponies he hasn't fondled is me or Rainbow Dash. I personally would rather not have my mane and fur ruined by dirty hands.”
Discord made a mental note of this. “So, I hear that Twilight is to help our friend here adapt to Equestrian society...”
The ponies nodded respectively.
His smile was more in anticipation as reflected in his giddy voice. “Oh, how fun that will be! I can just imagine the town going into widespread panic while I’m standing on the sidelines selling Ricolt-a and wearing a funny hat!”
AppleJack however, tried to get something good out of this talk. “Well, would you possibly know how to do it? Without causing a panic?”
“Me?” A suit resembling that of a politician appeared on him. “Well, if you want some good advice, I recommend starting with portraying him as a myth!”
Rarity seemed appalled at the idea. “Starting false rumors about a friend is no way to behave!”
“You don't have to trust me…but you should.” He gave off an ominous laugh.
Barin stopped petting Twilight and looked over to the cooking meal. Of course Twilight didn’t like this. “Eat later, pet now!” This went on deaf ears as Twilight was placed back onto the ground. Taking defeat, she turned to confront Discord like nothing had happened. “Like I was saying, I can't complain.”
AppleJack decided to fill her in on what happened. “We were just talking about yer mission.”
Twilight picked up an apple from the cart. “Yes, well, first off we need to make sure he has a stable lifestyle. So the main impending task is trying to establish a consistent food source.”
AppleJack tried her best to ignore the smell of crag being eaten by a hungry giant with some productive conversation. She tilted her hat so that she didn't have to see Barin eat in her field of view. “Why don't ya use your magic ta make the apples bigger?”
Twilight floated an apple from the cart. “Its not that simple. It takes more magic to make something bigger.” Seeing AppleJack and Rarity’s faces of confusion, she tried to further explain it. “There’s a mathematical ratio of magic usage to size/density of subject matter that states if I wanted to make this apple proportional to him, I would need to use a large portion of my magic. Even then, one apple will not feed him.” Inadvertently she made the logic more confusing.
What this did do instead was cause the gears in Twilight’s head to turn faster. “However, I do think you're on to the right path...we just need to make the food bigger...That's it! Discord treats the magical laws of matter like they don't exist! He could supersize a whole cart and feed Barin almost indefinitely!”
Discord looked at the cart of fruit. “Perhaps, I could,” Instinctively he could feel the desire to ask for something in return, “...but I’m not your grocery colt!”
Twilight knew this just as well. “Discord, doing something for a friend without asking for anything in return is part of being a friend.”
He grumbled under his breath against his better nature. “Err…” He looked at Barin who had finished the meat, but his stomach released a sad growl for it was still not enough. This was reflected on Barin’s face who sighed while drinking water from a near empty thermos. “...Very well!”
With a snap of his talons the food and cart fanished before reappearing in a more spacious part of the room. It had grown to proportional size to Barin, who was still reeling from what his eyes were seeing. First instinct was fear, followed by a swell of curiosity to provoke the legs to stand and move over to the cart. A hand feared what the apple would feel like, its approach slow and dramatic.
“Oh my god...I...I think I can eat these...”
Once it made contact, a burst of happiness grew on his face as if he were receiving a birthday present. “Oh my god, can I eat these?”
He took a bite of the apple and exclaimed with a full mouth. “Oh my god! I think I can eat these! I can eat these!!” The apple was devoured faster than Barin had ever eaten before in a sloppy and crude manner. Such is the effect of lasting hunger on the body and mind.
His head snapped to look at Discord, who was somewhat afraid at that. “Now-now, that’s what friends are for after all…” Barin took quick long steps to Discord. “No need to...Oh boy.”
AppleJack and Rarity were both laughing, but Twilight restrained herself into a smile. “See Discord, you don't always need to ask for something in return.”
Discord found himself in a large hug. Barin’s arms were unintentionally squeezing him. “Yes, but can you please convey that I ask for him to let me go!?”