Chapter 37: Things Best Left Unsaid
"Hey, Dinky?" Apple Bloom asked as she walked along the way towards Ponyville. "What's it like livin in town?"
Dinky answered her, "It's like living in town, I guess. I've only ever lived at our house."
"Is it any different out where Ah live?"
"Yeah, it's real quiet. Where we live there's always somepony going by, and most of them are really noisy."
Ditzy added, "Well, it can't really be helped. We have one of the houses along the main road outside of town, Apple Bloom. Sometimes it's like there's always something going on in our own backyard."
"Wow, Ah've seen some of those houses. Ah bet you can see everypony from the upstairs. Ah bet they look like ants."
"Oh, it's not that high up, but a pony like Big Mac does look mare-sized from up there."
"Really?"
"No, but it is a good view though."
Apple Bloom chuckled. "Yuh had me for a second. You'd have ta be up a million million miles ta make mah brother look small."
"Yeah, I know what you mean. I feel small in comparison to him."
"Ah don't know of anypony who wouldn't, but you're pretty tall yourself, Bryce," the yellow filly said in response to his quip. "Before Ah saw you Ah thought nopony could be taller than him, but you're so tall you can reach up and get an apple right outta the tree. If my family wants one they have ta buck'em all down just to get the one they want."
"Well, they can still get them all down faster than I can. I tried it once and I could only get one."
"When'd that happen?"
"The night before I met you." Bryce said as he adjusted hat. "Is this down low enough?"
Amethyst sighed. "Bryce, why do you keep asking that? Can you even see where you're going?"
"Well, I'm trying to make myself less noticeable."
"You're wearing a cowboy hat, a hoodie with wing holes in the back, and you're twice as tall as a pony."
There was a short pause before Bryce said, "Yes, and?"
"You already stuck out like the broadside of a barn and now you look silly."
"But the barn burned down. There's nothing left to see."
"What do you mean, there's plenty still to see. There's- there's the charred remains, and, and blackened wood... This has nothing to do with the barn. I'm saying there's no way you could go unnoticed."
"Amy, don't be so mean to him." Dinky protested.
"I'm not trying to be mean. I'm just trying to state an obvious-"
"Amethyst, can I talk to you for a second?" Everyone stopped at Ditzy's words. Ditzy came in close to Amethyst and whispered in her ear. When she was done Amethyst said, "I- I really wasn't trying to be-"
"I know. Let me have a chance. You go on ahead with the girls; I'll try and calm him down."
"But what about the, uh, C-A-K-E for D-I-N-K-Y."
"Don't worry, we'll pick it up along the way. Now go on, we'll be there as soon as we can."
Amethyst did as she was asked leaving Bryce alone with the gray mare. Looking up at the human, she said, "Bryce, did you really wany to come with us?"
"I- Of course I did."
"Then why are you trying so hard to hide yourself from everypony?"
Bryce stopped for a second. "I can't get anything by you, can I?"
"Don't let my eyes deceive you. I can see a lot of things that go unnoticed by everypony else." She looked intensely at Bryce. "A lot of things."
Bryce cradled himself in his arms. "I- I don't know what you- you're talking about."
Ditzy snorted. "Don't worry, I won't say a word to anypony, but getting back to the point. I know you haven't been on top when it comes to meeting new ponies, but I can tell you that most of the one's in town are hospitable to most newcomers."
"Well, I'd like you to se- hear you say that about that one jerk at the park."
"What jerk?"
"Well, it was the day I was coming back from the hospital. The orange one and I were walking back when I saw him and his brother playing with a ball. They were both pegasi, and the bigger one was trying to help his little brother build up the muscles in his wings. Well, I stopped for a second to watch them play, but then the little one lost the ball and it rolled to my feet."
"Well, when that happened I tried to hide because the little one came to get it, and it came to where I had to reveal myself to him. The little one was okay with me, but when his brother came over he was going to starting hitting me because I was going to 'take his little brother and use his bones to make my bread.' His words, not mine. Corn was there too, and I could tell he was prepared to do worse to him. If Applejack hadn't shown up I don't what would have happened."
She sighed before saying, "Look, everything's going to be fine. You're with me. Sure, you may get a few sideways glances, or maybe ogled at, but everypony's going to be either more amazed or confused than scared... Okay, maybe a few will be scared, but the worst they'll probably do is run off. When we get there the best thing you can do is try and focus on how much fun we'll have at my little Muffin's party."
"Well... I'll try."
"And don't worry about that featherbrain, I'm sure we won't even see him. Now let's go on and catch up. We're about halfway there."
They both started walking again. A minute later, Ditzy asked, "By the way, what did you end up getting for Dinky?"
"Well, I didn't really get her anything. I made her something."
"Oh, really? Is it in your satchel?"
"Yeah."
"Soooo, can I see it?"
"It'll be better if you wait."
"Come on, I want a peek."
Bryce thought for a second. "Okay, but don't say anything when we get to your house." Bryce bent down on one knee, unlooped his satchel from around his neck, and opened the flap.
Ditzy's eyes lit up at its contents "Wow, you made that?"
"Well, yeah."
"I mean... Wow, that's interesting. I'm sure she's going to love them."
From above, somepony said, "Going to love what?" Looking up they both saw a familar mohawked maned pegasus. "What have you got in there that's so 'interesting'?"
Ditzy yelled up, "It- it's nothing for you, Thunderlane, so just... get on!"
He landed a short distance away. "Ahh, come on, I just 'want a peek'," he said as he began to inch closer. "And besides, I wasn't talking to you anyway, Cockeye."
Bryce closed the flap at his approach.
"Well, are you going to show me, or not?"
"It's... like she said: It's nothing for you."
"Oh, so it's for 'Ms. Sees Out of the Corner of Her Eye'?"
"N- no, it's for... It's none of your business."
"Ahh, come on. Why does she get to see it?" Thunderlane crept closer until both Bryce and Ditzy were able to smell his rancid breath. In a slow tone, he said, "So why don't you let me... HAVE A PEEK!!!" Thunderlane shouted out surprising them both. It gave him the diversion he needed to grab Bryce's satchel and fly up out of reach.
"Hey, give it back, you prick!" Bryce shouted.
"Sure, after I take a peek." Thunderlane yanked the flap open and shoved his free hoof inside. "What the hay!? This is just trash!" He pulled out one of the three pieces of Dinky's present.
Bryce had made her a set of three wooden pony dolls. He had made one with a pair of pasted on corn husk wings, another with a whittled horn, and the last one he had left both wingless and hornless. It had been a tedious task, mostly because of large hands, but Bryce had put his blood, sweat, and tears into them all to make them perfect. He had wanted to paint them, but felt it would be better to allow Dinky to do it herself.
"What the hay is this!?"
"It's... it's a gift."
"*Pftt* Whoever it's for must like trash then."
"It's a toy."
Thunderlane twisted his hoof around to look it over. After he was done he tossed it back into Bryce's satchel haphazardly. "Whatever, looks like trash to me."
He released his grip on the bag and it came falling down. Bryce caught it in time before it could hit the ground. He quickly opened his satchel to check and make sure they were all okay.
Ditzy cried out, "Thunderlane, why'd you have to go do that? You could have broken them."
"*Pfft* Like it would really matter. You're probably going to end up using it for firewood anyways."
"It's not for me, it's for my daughter. She'd never do anything like that."
"Yeah right, like she- Wait, you actually let this thing near your kid? Are you stupid AND crazy? Haven't you heard what Rainbow had to say about him? Like how he eats parents in front of their foals so the fear makes the foals taste better? Or how he-"
"You're the stupid one if you think he'd do a thing like that. Even somepony with the mind of a foal could look at him and tell he wouldn't do a thing like that. In fact my daughter loves him. If anypony's the idiot here, it's you, you... FEATHERBRAIN!!!"
Thunderlane hovered in the air after Ditzy's monologue. One could easily see the rage that was steadily building up inside the slate gray stallion. If he had hands and fingers it would be unimaginable how white his knuckles were.
As the seconds slowly passed by Thunderlane broke the silence. "Well it's no wonder your daughter likes him. The two of them are nothing but a couple of freaks."
"Wha- what...?"
"I said they're both freaks. And you know why your daughter's one? It's because your the biggest one of them all. I mean, it's no secret to anypony in town what happened between you and Ponet. It's no secret why he up and left you like he did. He didn't want his good name to be dragged through the mud by staying with a pony like you. I can't even imagine wanting to have a foal, much less you being able to keep it alive. But knowing you it was probably all an accident. Speaking of accidents, with a klutz like you it's a big bucking miracle that nopony in town has turned up dead because of you."
Ditzy stood her ground through the whole ordeal, but no matter how much she tried to bear one could see the how Thunderlane's words were cutting through her like a knife.
"In fact of all the ponies in town you rank as one of the most worthless of them all. Nopony even dares be near you on account of how clumsy you are. Why don't you just do everypony in town a favor, and leave. And when I say 'leave' I mean only you. They'd be better off living at the orphanage than having to suffer because of a cockeyed, accident prone, idiot like-"
Thunderlane's rant was cut off. Unbeknownst to either him or Ditzy, Bryce had pulled out his slingshot and had found a few sizeable rocks. After taking careful aim, Bryce released one of the rocks into Thunderlane's unprotected wing. When it struck the pegasus came crashing down.
The utter shock and pain of the projectile left Thunderlane lying on the ground. The pain in his wing was so much he was unable to properly bring it to his side, instead letting the appendage lay in the dirt.
When Thunderlane finally registered what had happened, Bryce had already loaded a second rock into the slingshot's pouch and had it aimed directly at the pegasus. But it wasn't the slingshot that left him speechless. It was the one holding the slingshot. More specifically his eyes.
Bryce's irises looked so dark they were indistinguishable from his pupils. For whatever reason Thunderlane felt it impossible to bring his gaze away from his eyes. The more he looked into the human's eyes the deeper he felt himself drawn into them. It was almost like they were depthless; two, small, bottomless pits.
"If you say... or do one more thing to her... I will do it again."
"The- there's no way you'd-"
Bryce released his hold on the slingshot's pouch. It zipped past Thunderlane's head close enough to where he could feel the wind as it passed. He shrieked in fear.
Bryce quickly reloaded the slingshot. "Well, you want to bet your life on it... Or how about those two, perfectly level eyes of yours. It'd be a shame if something were to happen to one of them. If something were to land inside of one and have it where you couldn't see straight."
"Bryce, don't!" Ditzy prtotested.
"Not so tough now that you're so low to the ground, are you?"
"Bryce, don't do it!"
Bryce pulled back further on the slingshot. "You've got to ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel lucky?' Well, do ya, punk?"
Ditzy then stepped forward, standing between Bryce and Thunderlane. "Bryce, don't do this."
"Ditzy, move!"
"No, he's not worth it. He's not worth going to jail over."
"I'm not letting him get off easy. You don't deserve any of what he just-"
"Bryce, you've done enough. You've made your point, now stop before you do anything worse."
Bryce looked down towards Ditzy. When he saw her face it was enough to bring his train of thought away from Thunderlane.
To say she was mad would have been one thing, but instead Bryce could see Ditzy was on the verge of tears. At first glance he would have thought it was because of what Thunderlane had said about her. About Ditzy, and her daughter.
But Bryce could tell it was more than that.
Bryce looked past her at Thunderlane. The slate gray pegasus was no better than Ditzy. He was lying supine in the dirt, his face frozen in fear, his wing laying prostrate on the ground. It was then Bryce realized how he was looking down at him. He was looking through the prongs of his slingshot, and the pouch was loaded and aimed at Thunderlane.
Bryce was taken back by what had just occured. He remembered perfectly well what had brought him up to this moment, but he was scared to find out he was the culprit. His arms began to shake as if from a sudden gust of cold air. Bryce quickly loosened his grip on the stone in his fingers, bringing the pouch to the stick it was banded to.
"Ditzy... I- I need you to take this from me."
"What...? O- okay." Ditzy took Bryce's slingshot in her mouth.
"Thank you..." Bryce again looked at Thunderlane. In a more serious tone, he said, "As for you... Leave!"
Thunderlane stood up, his left wing hanging at his side. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but whatever he had to say refused to come out. Turning around, Thunderlane jumped up and prepared to take flight. His injured wing, however, caused him too much pain when he tried to flap it and he once again fell to the ground. Acting fast, he looked back for a second before getting onto his hooves and running off. Every so often Thunderlane would look back to see if he was being followed, but each time found the human getting smaller and smaller.
Now all alone Bryce and Ditzy were both left standing there.
For how long they stood there they were both unsure. It was Ditzy who broke the silence. "Bryce..."
"Yeah...?"
"We really need to get going. The others are probably getting worried."
"Y- you're right." Bryce bent down, pocketed his slingshot, and looped his satchel around his neck.
Before setting off, Ditzy asked, "Are you still okay with going into town?"
"Forget about me, are you okay?"
"This isn't the time. Are you still willing to go, or not!?"
"I am, but-"
"Okay, but aren't you worried about Thunderlane?"
Bryce shook his head. "We don't have to worry about him."
"Are you sure."
Bryce balled his hands into fists. "Just... trust me on this."
There was another short pause.
"Okay, let's get going.
"Wait, can I just say one thing?"
Ditzy stopped to hear him out. "Okay..."
"Ditzy, you didn't deserve that, and I mean more than just what he said. I also mean what I-"
"Bryce!"
"Hmm?"
"Your nose! It's..."
Bryce wiped his hand under his nose. He was met with the sight of blood. "Ahh, crap. I'm having a nose bleed."
"Are you okay? It didn't look like you were hurt."
"It's fine; I get them sometimes for no reason. Do you have anything I can use to wipe with?"
"No, I left my satchel at my house before I came to get you all."
"Crap! Well, I'm going to need you to be my guide, because I'm going to need to keep my head up to slow the flow."
"Bryce, I don't know."
"It's the only way."
Ditzy reluctantly obliged. After Bryce placed his hat in his satchel and a hand on Ditzy's head they were both off once again. For the next few minutes the walk was very uneventful. With Ditzy having to guide the human there was little for Bryce to see but the big blue sky above through the trees on the sides of the path. Eventually Bryce could feel the dirt road at his feet give way to a patchs of grass that then gave way to what felt like a whole field. It was at this time the trees that had been branching out overhead all but disappeared.
It was as Bryce had feared; they were passing through a big open area. A big, vast, limitless open space.
"Bryce, are you alright?"
"I'm- I'm-" Bryce stuttered.
"Try and stay calm. We're almost there."
A little further on Bryce was relieved to see something that enclose the openness. He was a little frightened to see that it was the side of a building. "Ditzy, did we just-"
"Yeah, we're in town now. We still need to go a little further."
At every twist and turn Bryce followed Ditzy, with his hand still placed down on her blonde mane to guide him. Everywhere they went Bryce could hear disembodied voices from an unseen origin. To Bryce that could only mean one thing; they weren't alone.
From closeby, they both heard somepony say, "Ditzy... what's... going... on...?"
Ditzy stopped to answer. "Oh, hey, Carrot Top. My friend Bryce here had a nose bleed on our way here. He's trying to stop the bleeding and I didn't have anything for him to wipe with. "
"Oh, okay then... You don't need any help...? Do you?"
"Me, oh no, Everything's under control. Really, it is."
There was a pause before Carrot Top said, "If... If you say so... Can he talk?"
"I can," Bryce said.
"Oh, well I can see you... have something you need to take care of, so maybe next time we can... see each other?"
"Uhm... sure."
"Great so... see you next time." Carrot Top held out her hoof for Bryce to shake, but he didn't take it.
"Bryce, she's wanting to shake your hoof."
"Oh, sorry." Bryce felt around the air until he found something round and solid. Shaking it a few times, Carrot Top said, "Well... see you next time." Bryce could hear a set of hooves quickly running away from thier location.
After a while Ditzy came to another stop, this time under a building with a brown and white-trimmed roof. From the design of the trim it almost looked to be cake frosting. "Bryce, do you think you could sit down here for a minute. I need to go inside to get something."
"Where...? Where exactly are we?"
"We're at Sugarcube Corner. I'll be back in a second with something to wipe your nose with, then zip back in for a minute."
"Well... I guess I could."
"Great. I'll only be a second." Having said that, Ditzy quickly helped Bryce sit on a set of unseen steps and went inside a door. When the door closed the breeze let off the smell of what must have lay inside the building called 'Sugarcube Corner'. It was a sweet smell, almost like the smell of cakes baking.
Almost as quick as Ditzy had disappeared, she reappeared with a collection of paper towels. "Here, see if this will help matters. And don't get mad, but I may need to be longer than I thought. The Cakes are really backed up and there's a line. Hopefully it'll be quick. Before I go, do you want anything sweet?"
"Well, no, but can we at least talk about-"
"No, not here. I promise we can later, but right now I need to go wait in line. Do you want anything or not?"
"Well, anything with chocolate, I guess."
"Okay, got it." Ditzy rushed back in leaving Bryce to himself, but not alone. All around he could still hear the voices from unseen figures, and as the seconds passed he could hear them growing louder.
As Bryce pressed a folded paper towel to his bleeding nostril and lowered his head he saw something that sent a chill down his spine. Surrounding him was a crowd of ponies. Every single one a bright pastel color. Each ones' gaze fixed on one thing: him.
He had thought there was a lot based on all the voices he'd heard, but nothing prepared him for this. There had to at least a hundred there. Maybe two. And twice as many eyes.