//------------------------------// // Tests with an after Party // Story: DiE: Glarin Ungard the Berserker // by InsaneJustin //------------------------------// The inside of Glarins home was abuzz with activity as the new mattresses were set up. Each of the mares took it upon themselves to thank Spatzi personally for such a luxury, and were sure to pass the thanks onto Glarin as well. Pinkie had stuck around after the whole fiasco with the pegasus and figured that Spatzi might need some cheering up. She could tell Spatzi was just putting on a brave face. Pinkie knew when a smile was genuine or not. Everything for the surprise party was still in place, except it wouldn’t be much of a surprise anymore. Spatzi had already traveled through the area several times while everything was being set up for those mares from Las Pegasus. Pinkie had waited patently on the side lines for everything to finish before she approached Spatzi. “Now that everything is said and done, It’s time for YOUR PARTY!” Pinkie outstretched her arms with confetti bursting out from behind her with the sound of several kazoos going off as well. “M-my party? Is that what the balloons and stuff are for? But why?” Pinkie just giggled “Because silly, this is your welcome to Ponyville Party! And it’s kinda Sir Glarins too. He wasn’t doing too well when he first arrived so I couldn’t throw one for him. But this one is mostly yours!” Pinkie lead Spatzi back into the room where she was handed a slice of cake with a strawberry on top. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “Wha, How!?” Exclaimed Twilight as she kept looking at the numbers that were printing out on her huge machine. She had asked Glarin to go into a rage so that she could monitor exactly what goes on. The machine was giving out numbers and figures that shouldn’t of been possible to achieve. At least not without some kind of major physical threat. Somehow he was able to remove some of the involuntary mental blocks that every creature had as a built in safety mechanism to prevent self injury. Normally a creature only uses 30% of its total muscle mass to prevent injury and prolong muscle use. More could be used in short bursts due to massive stress and with the release of adrenaline. However her machine was telling her Glarin was currently in control of 60% of his total muscle fibers, without any adrenaline coursing through his system. She pushed her rising fear aside and wondered what the fury alone would do. “C-Could you perhaps enter into a f-fury for me? W-without the rage... P-p-please?” She saw Glarin take a deep breath and release a long low growl. The numbers on the machine suddenly dropped back down to normal, but only for a moment. Shortly after he took another deep breath and roared up to the ceiling. The numbers that printed out were much higher than before from his rage. As she watched the new numbers print out become bigger, so did her fear. Blood pressure spiked as did his heart rate. His metabolism increased and brain activity sky rocketed. Adrenaline was also coursing though his system with levels of serotonin and endorphin’s almost twice that of when he entered into the rage. These elevated levels would explain why he was able to ignore many of the serious injuries he has taken in the past. The numbers also explained why the bones in his arms and upper body always seemed to be broken after a big fight. He had control of 80% of his total muscle fibers. He had the same mental blocks removed but with the addition of the adrenaline it would seem he gained an increase of 20%. She heard of ponies that broke bones and tore muscle fibers by simply using 60% of their muscle mass with the help of adrenaline. Yet Glarin was using 80%, and most of the damage he sustained was only after prolonged use. It was most likely because of his training that he was so durable, and perhaps because of the fact that, ‘dwarves are born durable’. As he had told her a few times before hoof. Now she would need to know what happens when both of them are active at the same time. She felt the cold shivers of fear in her spine as her instinct kept telling her to run, but she also knew that none of it was directed at her and that she would be ok. “Now, i-if you would, c-could you calm down f-for a-a moment?” Glarin took another deep breath and released a growl, louder than before. Once he was done he seemed to have a bit of some labored breathing that quickly disappeared. “Was that everything Princess?” Glarins voice was rather calm and the aura he was emitting was gone. Her fears quickly died, yet the memories easily lingered on the forefront of her mind. “Just one more test, I would need you to become enraged and enter the fury at the same time. I would like to see what doing both at the same time does exactly.” “Are you sure princess? I can tell that I’m scaring you...” Glarin looked a little sad as he finished his sentence. “Don’t worry about me Glarin, I’ll be fine.” Glarin sighed. “But I do worry, Princess. Not only are you Royalty, but you are also within my clan. Its my job thrice over to worry about you and your safety.” Twilight blushed a little at his words, but shook it off. “Yes I can understand that, but would you please enter them both so I may observe what happens?” Glarin took a deep breath before speaking. “As you wish Princess. I may need to yell a bit, so please, don’t think it’s directed at you.” Twilight simply nodded her head and motioned her hoof forward for him to continue. At the cue Glarin closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He then gritted his teeth and opened his mouth. “DON’T TOUCH HER YA OVERGROWN TUNNEL CHICKEEN!” As Glarin yelled he pulled against the restraints causing them to snap and break, yet he remained seated. Twilight felt a heavy pressure around her. Her fear was making it hard to breath and think. The one time his rage had been directed at her, she was sure she was going to be killed. And the thought scarred her deeply. It left a mark that she couldn’t forget or ignore. The numbers the machine printed were at unbelievable levels. Endorphin’s were six times what they were during a rage. The serotonin remained the same as did his brain actively. Yet his heart beat faster with blood pressure well over dangerous levels. His body temperature rose to a dangerous level as well. Most likely a response to the increased actively within his body. Adrenaline was also flooding his body, at least 9 times more than before. Every single mental block was removed. He had control of 100% of his muscle mass. But that wasn’t it, The machine said he was at 120% with his muscle control. His pain sensory was being blocked completely. It wasn’t that he ignored the pain with both active, He just couldn’t feel it. Twilight had read about unicorns claiming to have overcome their physical limitations with a spell that let them ignore pain and surpass their physical limits... It was an extremely dangerous prospect. The ponies could tear steel chains apart with their bare hooves. An amazing feat to a pony of any type. But they were always short lived because the cost was always great. Many unicorns had done such in an attempt to gain great strength without much if any physical work. The experiments were always short lived because it always ended with the breaking of their bones and tearing their muscle tendons beyond natural repair. His sensory organs also seemed to be shutting down. His life energy was slowly being consumed. His eyesight was reading at 89% along with his hearing, sense of taste, along with a few others. The numbers looked to be slowly dropping as she watched her machine continue to print. He seemed to be absorbing the magic surrounding him, yet it was being funneled into something that wasn’t him. The machine couldn’t tell her what exactly, because it was leaving his body. But she could see it. Above his head a dark storm cloud seemed to be gathering. She knew her basement had a high concentration of magic in the air due to her constant experiments, but she didn’t realize it was enough to make such a large cloud. She had theorized before that he was taking the magic in the air without realizing it, and giving his rage and fury a form of its own. But she still had no idea how it was happening. The machine still didn’t have the answer to the biggest question she had. Where did that monstrous beast come from when he jumped to Princess Luna’s aid near the Everfree forest? Was the magic thick enough around the Everfree to give it enough shape to be seen as more than a black cloud? Did the spell Princess Luna try to cast add enough magic to the surrounding air? Or was it the constant casting of the transformation spell Celestia was using? As a cold sweat dripped down her forehead, she decided she had gathered enough data. She wasn’t sure how much longer she could take it. She was visibly shaking and her eyes kept darting up to look at Glarin, just to make sure he was still sitting down and not coming after her. “O-o-o-ok, y-y-ou can s-s-stop n-n-ow...” She was able to finish her sentence, but not before she felt a tear roll down her cheek. Glarin calmed down with a roar, much to Twilights displeasure. After which he sighed to himself and removed the spaghetti strainer from his head. “I’ll be heading home Princess, If you need anything else, Anything at all. I’ll be at my home...” Glarin walked up the stairs dragging his feet. Twilight kept looking at the paper with a cold sweat, not wanting to look up at him as he left. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Glarin was just kicking random stones as he walked home. As he walked he absent mindedly began to wander around town as he kicked the stones. He ended up in front of the watering hole where he first saw Sweetie Belle sing. Glarin looked up at the sign and sighed to himself. “Might as well get a drink or four...” Glarin pushed the door open and seated himself at the bar. The barkeep slowly walked up to him and continued to shine the glass as he looked at the clock. “Haven’t seen you in a few days, and it’s a little early, what’el it be?” “The strongest drink you have.” “Well, that would be the Firewater still. Cold right?” “Cold, drinking fire was fun until I burned my beard.” The bartender set the glass down and turned around to grab the bottle. Filling the glass to the brim. Knowing exactly how Glarin likes his drink. He’s only been here a few times since Sweetie Belles show, but he left such an impression it was hard to forget. The bartender hasn’t seen anyone drink an entire bottle of Firewater like Glarin could and then walk home without so much as a stumble. “I got a question for you Mr. Clear.” Clear raised his eyebrow as he looked at Glarin. “Yeah? What could I know that the great Sir Glarin, Esteemed Knight of Equestria doesn’t?” Glarin sighed for a moment as he downed half the glass in one gulp. “Am I scary?” Clear looked at Glarin for a moment with a bit of confusion “What do you mean? Of course you are. Well when you’re fighting or angry. But for the most part, you’re just a very serious guy. Funny too, but I don’t think that’s intentional. Why do you ask?” “I was with Twilight, she was doing... something, not sure what. But she told me to get angry. Enter a rage n’ such. I didn’t mean too, but I was scaring her, badly. I know I can be frightening, but I made her cry... I feel like I’m...” Clear interrupted him mid sentence. “A monster?” Glarin just looked at Clear and downed the rest of the glass. “No, like some half-elf jerk. My mother told me that a dwarf who makes the lasses cry are hated more than elves and orcs combined. More so than any monster.” Clear just stood in silence for a moment before speaking again. “There’s something I gotta tell ya. Something a gentlemen told me awhile ago.” Glarin just looked into his empty glass and sighed. “Yeah and what was that?” Glarin tapped his glass to indicate he wanted it filled again. “He told me that a stallions form gets scary when he’s serious. When there’s something he’s just gotta protect. It doesn’t matter weather it may look right or wrong to others, because its necessary.” Glarin just looked into his filled glass for a bit. “I’m always serious. I suppose I could lighten up a bit. Try to be less hated.” Clear shook his head. “Sir Glarin, you are not hated. Feared perhaps, but not hated. Might I add one more line of wisdom for you?” Glarin just smiled as he downed the whole glass this time. “Go right ahead.” “Its better to be hated for what you are, rather than loved for what you aren’t. You’ll just live a hollow life like that. Besides, its easy to please yourself rather than everyone around you.” Glarin sat in his chair as he looked up at the ceiling for a moment. “True enough, but I still don’t wanna make all the lasses cry. Otherwise I shoulda just been born as a human.” Glarin tapped his empty glass again. “Give me three more for the road on top a this. I’m heading home.” Clear nodded his head as he pulled up three more glasses and filled up all four of em. “Just looking for a small buzz today?” Clear just began to wipe down the counter. “Yeah, still need to think clearly. Thanks for the advice though.” Glarin downed each glass right after each other and belched loudly once he was finished. “I’ll put it on your tab, remember its due at the end of the week.” Glarin waved his hand in the air as he walked out the door and headed home. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Glarin opened the door to his home and it was oddly dark inside. But that’s not unusual as the upper deck was normally dark as no one was ever in it. He started to become worried when it was also dark downstairs. Good thing he had dark vision, being a super awesome dwarf and everything. He could see clearly in the dark. He saw ponies hiding in various spots around the room. It didn’t take long for the lights to come back on with everyone yelling at nearly the same time. “SURPRISE!” Everyone jumped out from their hiding spots and somehow Pinkie had come from nowhere, appearing in front of him with a piece of cake in her hoof, which she held out for him. It had a strawberry on top. “Whats all this for then?” Glarin looked around the room and saw that pretty much everyone he knew was here. Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie, Applejack, Big Mac, Rainbow and the rest of her family. All of the guards and those that were staying here temporarily were also present. Some ponies he had never seen before were also present along with a bunch of griffons. Twilight wasn’t anywhere to be seen though... “It’s a Welcome to Ponyville party for you and Spatzi! I couldn’t set one up for you when you first got here since you were a little broken up, and then it totally slipped my mind until Spatzi showed up!” Glarin took the plate with the slice of cake on it and looked at it quizzically. “What is this? It looks like bread with some kind of soft white mud on it.” Pinkie Pie gasped loud enough for everyone in the party to hear her and turn around. “You’ve never had cake before?!” Applejack trotted up and hoofed Glarin in the shoulder, then took the plate freeing up his only hand. “Take a bite sugar cube, also we got somethin from our hidden stash ya might like.” Glarin was intrigued by her words, so he lifted up the fork that was sitting on the plate while she held it. He shoved a piece that was slathered in frosting into his mouth. He paused for a moment before looking at it again. “Why does this ‘cake’ have the sweetness of 10,000 apples?” He then shoved a much larger piece into his mouth without waiting for an answer. “Because it has loads a sugar in it!” Yelled Pinkie as she ate some cupcakes off a table not too far away. Glarin finished eating his slice of cake in a flash, causing Applejack to chuckle. He had frosting smeared on his face and beard. “Come right over here sugar cube, Big Mac and I got something from our hidden stash for ya.” Applejack lead Glarin over to where Big Mac was standing, along with the rest of the family. And next to them was the most glorious sight to ever be seen. It was a cask. A cask with a freshly placed spigot. “It ain’t no Granny Daniels, but it gets the job done. Mah brother an I made this batch. We call it Big Jack, go ahead N’ take the first glass.” Glarin reached out and took the cup from Applejacks hoof and held it near the spigot. Using his stump he pushed the spigot back and filled the glass to the brim. The liquid was a golden brown color with hints of red. It even had an earthy scent mixed with the apples. As Glarin put the glass to his lips he threw his head back filling his mouth with the magical liquid. He didn’t swallow immediately and let it swirl around his palate. The earthly smell was also in the taste and reminded him slightly of a braggot he had once when humans would trade it for some goods. He immediately filled his glass again and downed another. “This tastes so much better than that firewater. This actually has flavor!” Applejack chuckled while Big Mac nodded his head. “It aint as strong as the firewater, but it still packs a bit of a hoof with all of that flavor!” Glarin looked at Applejack a bit confused. “Don’t you mean it packs a punch?” Now Applejack looked confused. “No it packs a hoof. There’s no punch in this here Big Jack of ours. The punch is over on the table by Pinkie Pie.” Glarin narrowed his eyes as he looked at Applejack. “Packs a punch...” Applejack narrowed her eyes as she lowered her head to meet Glarins eyes “Packs a...!” Big Mac stepped between them breaking eye contact between them both. “Ah think what mah little sis is tryn’ ta say is that it packs a mighty good kick with the flavor.” Glarin and Applejack just looked up to Big Mac then to each other. “That makes sense.” Said Glarin as he nodded his head. “So does saying it packs a hoof.” Glarin just glared at Applejack while he filled his glass yet again. Without breaking eye contact he slowly turned his head to take a drink while still looking at her. When he finished he looked Applejack straight into the eyes and spoke slowly. “Has a nice, Kick, to it.” He put extra emphasis on the word kick. As he filled the glass yet again. “You just gotta be all nitpicky about things like Rarity don’t cha?” Glarin downed his cup again, only to fill it once again. “Me?! I’m no Nit Picker! You take that back ya dainty little pony!” Big Mac’s eyes went wide as he stepped back and away from his sister. “Danity?! You looking to get Bucked up again?!” The crowed of ponies suddenly hushed as Applejack and Glarin were starting to get louder. “Again!? I let you do it last time! Lets see how it turns out...!” Glarin felt a tug on his shirt and looked down. It was Spatzi, and she was standing next to Daring. “Please don’t fight! This is supposed to be our party after all.” Glarin sighed to himself. “Yeah! I don’t wanna see you and aunty Applejack fight. You might get hurt.” “Me get hurt!? ME?!” Glarin turned his head to see Applejack burst out laughing. After she finished laughing hysterically she wiped a tear from her eye and walked up to Glarin putting her hoof on his shoulder. “Ya should listen to my little nephew. I’ll let you get back to the party, I need a good drink, been awhile since I let loose.” With that Applejack walked away and over to the cask filling it to the brim and slugging it back just like Glarin had done. Glarin had to admit, a girl that could down a drink like that was pretty attractive. He shook the thought from his head and looked back down to Spatzi. “I suppose you’re right, it would be bad form to get into a fight at our own party. Show me to some games!” Spatzi smiled as she lead Glarin to a nearby game. As Spatzi lead him to the side of the rooms the games were at. He saw Twilight try to sneak into the room. He smiled and was glad that she came after all. “This ones called pin the tail on the pony! You put on this blind fold then we spin you around. After that you gotta do your best to put the tail where its supposed to go. So far I’ve been the only one to get it as close as possible!” Glarin looked at the picture and watched as some of the other guests did as she was describing. “Sounds simple enough, could I go next?” Pinkie popped out next to him with a blind fold on her hooves. “Of course you can silly!” They watched the other pony finish and then began to blind fold Glarin. “Alright here's the tail...” Pinkie put the tail into Glarins hand “... and now we spin you right round!” She began to spin him around and around. After a bit she stopped him on a dime and made sure he was facing the direction the poster was in. “Alright, now just walk straight ahead and try to figure out where the tail goes!” When Pinkie let go of Glarin he began to walk with a heavy step toward the left. “Uh Glarin...” “Don’t help me I can do this!” Shouted Glarin as he veered heavily toward the left. Rarity was conversing with Fluttershy and Twilight. She was talking about a new line of dresses she was making for the upcoming Winter. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “As I was saying Darling, Stripes are in this season, especially since the new trade agreement with the zebra nations across the sea. The timing is just perfect I say.” Pinkie had just finished spinning Glarin and sent him on his way. “I don’t know Rarity, I mean stripes are nice but...” Fluttershy paused because she noticed Glarin was getting closer. But Twilight was speaking with her eyes closed like she normally did when she spoke of things she knew by heart. Afterall reading books about fashion trends means she could now speak equally about this with Rarity. Right? “How do you even plan to make black and white stripes look good? Isn’t is just a super simple design?” So much for reading all of those books. “Oh please, I am going to ask Zecora if she could visit and model for me a bit. Make it look like authentic zebra stripes. Also I will be using many different colors and patterns, not just black and white. That would be far to boring darling!” “Ok but what about...” Twilgiht stopped because she just noticed Glarin was standing behind Rarity blindfolded while holding the tail for the pin the tail on the pony game. She could only guess what was about to happen now. “What about what dar...” Was all Rarity could say before she heard Glarin yell out loud right behind her. “The tail goes here!” Glarin shoved the pin as hard as he could into what he assumed was the correct spot on the wall. Shortly after he heard a shrill cry with a yelp as the pin entered Rarities flank. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Glarins bumble was soon forgotten as the only damage was a small red spot of Rarities pristine white coat. A spot that was easily cleaned up inside Glarins bathroom with a bit of soap and some magic. The party had gone rather smoothly afterwards with many games being played and many cups being filled. Apple Bloom had taken to following Glarin around the house with Sweetie Belle. Spike apparently had other business to tend too. Apparently he was having some problems with the mares he moved in with recently. He was thinking about moving back in with Twilight or maybe Glarin. Glarin didn’t know the full details of what was going on, but he was sure it had something to with the fact Spike was a Sex Fiend. He already had those five mares from that herd starting party, but he seemed to be on the lookout for more. Was he going to start hoarding mares? He was a dragon after all. But then again... “I feel like Spikes been going out of his way to see me Sweetie.” Said Apple Bloom as they stood next to Glarin, who was near the now half empty keg. “Really? I feel the same way. He used to randomly show up at the Bouquet to see Rarity, but now he only stays if I’m there. At least that’s what Rarity told me.” Apple Bloom raised an eyebrow as she looked at Glarin. “Seeing him round the farm wasn’t that odd because he was training with all the other guards, but now he just comes by at random times as well.” Apple Bloom had her hoof to her chin as she thought about it for a moment, Sweetie turned to look at Glarin as well. “Glarin, have you seen Spike lately?” “Yeah what’s up with him, I mean really.” Glarin finished filling his cup and downed it before speaking with a sigh. Apple Bloom decided to fill her cup while Glarin was busy. “No idea, only thing I know is that he has an interest in the two of you, even though he’s got five other mares already.” “Whaat? Really?!” “Are those five not enough for him!?” Glarin started to fill his cup again, he really wished he had a mug, drinking from a tea cup was starting to get really annoying. “Well he is a dragon, my thought is that he's creating a hoard of mares. Or whats it called... a uh...” Sweetie spoke up next to finish his thought. “A Harem?” “Yeah, something like that.” Apple Bloom shook her head. “I don’t think he could do a good job keeping them all happy, I mean he's already having trouble with 5 of em right? How’s, he supposed to handle more?” “Who knows, maybe he’ll figure...” Before Glarin could finish his sentence Applejack wobbled over. “Heey! Stop hogging all the drink ya booze hound!” Applejack was clearly drunk, or getting there. Surprisingly her speech wasn’t that slurred. She moved herself right next to Glarin, pushing Apple Bloom aside a little as she attempted to fill her cup again. “Ah good, theres still some left!” Shouted Applejack as she quickly emptied her cup in one gulp. She looked into the cup and turned it upside down “Sheesh, tea cups do not make good drinking cups. Shoulda brought some mugs. Don’t you have any mugs?!” Glarin just shrugged his shoulders at Applejack who wasn’t surprised. “I had cups, but most em broke during one of the training exercises.” Glarin reached over and started to fill his cup again, Applejack watched intently as he then quickly emptied his cup. “Ya should save some fer other ponies and griffins ya know.” Glarin looked at Applejack and narrowed his eyes a bit. He then began to fill his cup again without taking his eyes off her. “What did I just say?!” Applejack seemed a little bossy when intoxicated Apple Bloom noticed. Glarin just continued to look at Applejack as he brought the cup to his lips and slowly drank. Once he was finished he set the cup down onto the table next to him and spoke. “Sorry, I wasn’t listening.” Applejack raised an eyebrow at Glarin and shoved her face into his. Being the hard head Glarin was he didn’t back down. “Spit that back out or I’ll make ya do it.” Glarin just kept glaring at Applejack “Make me.” Applejack Moved her face even closer as she glared back. She then forcefully pressed her lips against Glarins and went to work. Glarin neither resisted or embraced her, he just had a rather confused look on his face. Sweetie Belle gasped while Apple Bloom stared in confusion. The rest of the party guests either didn’t notice or care. Except well, Applejacks friends and family. Mostly just Apple Bloom. “Noo! He’s Mine sis!” Apple Bloom ran over and shoved Applejack off Glarin. This made many of the nearby guests look over to see what was going on. The only thing Glarin could think to add was a single sentence. “You put your tongue in my mouth.” “Noo! Ah won’t lose ta you! I’ll give ya real kiss!” Glarin just watched as Apple Bloom went up to him with a determined look on her face. She then tossed her hooves over Glarins shoulders and placed her lips upon his, going to work similar to how Applejack had just done. “How was that?” Said Bloom as she pulled off from Glarin. He just looked thoughtful for a moment and nodded his head, looking over at Applejack who seemed to just be sleeping on the floor... "Right then this calls for more drink!" Glarin partly filled his cup and dumped it into Blooms half empty cup, then handed Sweetie Belle a filled cup before filling his own. "B-but I don't drink!" Glarin downed his drink along with Bloom and laughed. "I think its time you started then!" The rest of the night was somewhat of a blur.