//------------------------------//
// Bull's Eye 
// Story: Extremely Loud, Intensely Bright, Drastically Tense, Exceedingly Tight 
// by h4ns 
//------------------------------//

Chapter 42: Bull's Eye

"Would you like some more tea, Lemon Wedge?" The unicorn named Plum Pudding asked her pegasus friend.

"Why, yes, I would like another cup, Lady Pudding." 

"Now, Lemon, you know you don't have to call me 'Lady'. It makes me feel so old," Plum said as she poured her pegasus friend a third cup of tea.

"I know, but it sounds so much fun to say."

"Hmm, you do have a point... Lady Wedge." The two mares laughed in agreement. "And what of you, Lady Truffle? Do you feel you would want another cup?" Plum Pudding asked her earth pony guest.

"No thank yuh, ma'am. Ah've had all the tea Ah can drink."

"Then perhaps I can persuade you to accept a slice of cloud cake, or a cube of fudge?"

"Ah think Ah'll take a helpin of fudge, since you're offering."

Plum Pudding levitated over a tray of fudge to allow Raspberry Truffle to help herself.

As soon as the tray was within Truffle's range she began to chow into the fudge.

"Lady Truffle, that is highly unladylike!" Lemon Wedge exclaimed.

Truffle stopped momentarily to say, "Ah can't help it, this fudge is the best Ah've ever had." She then continued to devour what remained of the fudge.

"Lady Wedge, allow her to do as she pleases." Plum Pudding responded, "after all it isn't very often we get to have a tea party."

"You're right. I do wish we could have more of these little get togethers. How long has it been, two, three?"

"Five years since we last met."

Lemon Wedge gasped in surprise. "Five years!? Has it really been that long!?"

"I'm afraid so."

By then Raspberry Truffle had finished off the tray of fudge. "My, that fudge was even better than the last time. You've got ta give me the recipe."

"Oh, I'm afraid I can't. It's a well kept family secret that has passed down from my mother, from her mother, all the way to before Canterlot was founded. Now, aside from my family's recipe, is there anything else I can-"

Plum Pudding had to jump out of the way to avoid being mauled by a giant dog.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bryce sat quietly with his back against the house. He was whittling away at his latest creation. He had been doing this in his spare time, which he had a lot of since Applejack still had no work she wanted him to do. Each one of his new figures were modelled after somepony he'd met since he had came to Equestria. None of his current wooden figures were as large as the three he had made for Dinky, since his were more for display rather than for play, but with the decrease in scale came that much more challenge to try and fine tune everypony's individual details to the T. 

Currently, Bryce was whittling a miniture Rarity. This was presenting to be more of a challenge because of how the white unicorn's mane and tail curled. This would be Bryce's third attempt at trying to make her figure just right; his third go at trying to release the fashionista that was trapped inside of the small block of wood. If he had a way to carefully immobilize the wooden block without leaving any impression marks this could be done by now. Instead, Bryce had to make due with holding it in his free hand. 

As it so happened, the third time looked to be the charm. All that remained was to carve out Rarity's 'tramp tat' as Bryce called them. He didn't know what better to call these marks. He could only hope they weren't for what he thought they were. 

If Bryce was careful then he could finally move on to his next project.

"Corn, leave Plum Pudding alone!"

Bryce's concentration was instantly taken away from what he was doing and he sent a long gash that ran the entire length of Rarity's barrel and flank. If it weren't for his years of practice he would have cut himself.

"Bryce, come and get your dog!" Amethyst shouted.

Slamming his knife and the disfigured Rarity down, Bryce stood up and rushed into the yard. When he got there he found his dog close to biting down on Dinky's plum purple unicorn doll. "Corn, leave it alone!"

The German Shepherd brought his jaws back.

"Corn, come!"

Corn walked over to Bryce with his tail tucked.

Once he was at his boy's feet the dog stopped and looked up. "Now sit!"

Corn did so, letting out a low whine. 

Bryce took on a calmer tone. "What did I tell you, boy? You can look, but don't touch. They aren't made for dogs to play with. Now apologize to her."

Corn stood up and gave Dinky a sad look.

Dinky felt like smacking the pooch, but his face could tell he was truely sorry for what he had almost done. She began to scratch him behind the neck. "It's okay, I forgive you." Corn began to shower the filly in giant licks all over her face. "Stop, your breath smells like poo!" It didn't take long for Dinky to be laid on her back and be lost in a fit of ticklish giggles.

"Bryce, why won't yuh let Corn play with Winona?" Apple Bloom asked. "Why'd yuh lock'er in the barn for playin piggyback? It looked funny cause Ah doubt she could even get his paws off the ground."

"Apple Bloom, it's... something you're just not old enough to understand yet."

"You keep saying that," she said under her breath as she scowled down at the ground.

"Hey, don't feel down. There is something you're old enough to do." Bryce reached into one of the pockets on his cargo shorts. "Here, why don't you both go play monkey in the middle with Corn?" Bryce  tossed the ball to Apple Bloom. 

Corn stopped his assault on Dinky and stared open mawed at his ball. It was the very one the nice winged horse thing had given his boy.

Apple Bloom took the ball, held it out, and swung it back and forth. "Yuh want it, Corn?"

Corn followed Apple Bloom's hoof with each path.

"Well... GO GET!!!" Apple Bloom shot her hoof out at full force.

Corn instantly ran off, prepared to scoop up the fuzzy sphere. He stopped a few feet out and perked his ears up to hear where it landed. When the sound of tennis ball hitting dirt never came Corn let out a whine and turned back. 

Apple Bloom was still in the same spot, the tennis ball firmly in her hoof. "Lookin for this, boy?"

Bryce let out a single laugh. "I taught her that!"

Corn let out a sound between a growl and a whine.

"Dinky, you go on out. Make sure Corn doesn't get it." Apple Bloom said to her friend.

Corn and the two fillies ran out into the yard; the fillies throwing the tennis ball back and forth; Corn running to either one in an attempt to get the ball before they could pass it off.	

As this went on, Amethyst picked up Dinky's little ponies in her magic and carefully placed them in her saddlebags. "Bryce, are sure they're going to be okay out there?"

"Yeah, they'll be fine. Corn's with them. If anything tries to get either one of them he'll fight to the death to defend their lives."

"Are you sure though? What if he hurts one of them!?"

"You don't have to worry. As long someone knows his secret word they won't get mauled. Did Corn get any of Dinky's little ponies?" Bryce asked.

"No, you came just in the nick of time, thank Celestia."

"Well that's good." Bryce reached into Amethyst's saddlebag and picked up the plum purple unicorn. "You both did a great job on these. I would have colored them myself, but I thought you would all enjoy doing it together."

"Actually, I didn't do anything. Dinky wanted to do it all herself. What got me about the whole thing was how she was so slow and careful with them. With most things she's tries to rush to get done. It was like she was a different pony off in her own little world. Ditzy and I had to almost tear her away so she would eat. She was acting almost exactly like..."

Bryce noticed her hesitation. "Like who?"

"... Like our dad."

There was a tense silence between them.

"What was he like?"

"Huh?"

"Your dad, what was he like?"

"He was... well... our dad."

"... You don't say."

"No, Bryce, I know what you're asking, but it's... hard to say. I mean, obviously you know he was a painter. And from just looking at his paintings you can think one thing: They're blotchy, repetitive, and unfinished. I can't even tell you how many different paintings of the same haystacks he made. But he insisted they were finished. He would spend hours or even days nonstop. He wouldn't leave until it was done."

"Okay, I get that. What else can you tell me about him?"

"Well... He was... Oh, he would always take the day off on birthdays and holidays and... There was the time he finished a painting early and took my mom and I out for dinner. My mom, not Ditzy. When an idea would come to him he would almost immediately ran into his studio and try and capture the moment, which was... often..." Amethyst fell silent as her ears drooped.

"Are you okay?"

"What...! Oh, yeah, of course."

"You look like you have something on your mind."

"Well... kind of..."

"Penny for your thoughts?"

"What's a penny?"

"Bit for your thoughts?"

"... I don't know what it is, but I just realized my dad spent more time alone in his studio than he ever did with anypony. Even with me. It was always the same thing that happened everyday: Our dad would get up, greet us, then shut himself up inside his studio. In fact it was the biggest thing my mom and him would argue about up until my mom finally left... Huh..."

"What is it?"

"I'm... beginning to wonder what it is I actually miss about my dad. I mean the days he took off were great, and his gifts he got me were the best, but there were days my mom had to work double shifts since my dad wasn't making very much money, if any most months. Since there was nopony else but my dad to watch me I usually wouldn't get anything to eat until my mom got home. After she left he started caring for me, but after he married Ditzy he just went back to his old ways little by little until he left... What did I see in him?"

"Well you were just a kid then. When you're a kid you usually see your parents as the greatest people in the world. When you get older you can't help but see who they really are. Sure, they've done things for, and given stuff to you, but what have they ever done with you?"

Amethyst fell back on her rump with her ears hung low. "You're right... You're right..."

Bryce bent down on one knee. "Look, don't feel bad. My life was almost the same way. Whenever I grew up my mom at least made sure someone was watching over me. And when I finally met my dad he acted the same way. Always away at work, gave neat presents, but never even looked at me. Don't know why he did me that way, but I don't let myself think about it."

Amethyst tilted her head up to look at Bryce. "What? How can you not?"

"Because it's just a waste of time. You can try and figure it out, but by the time you do a great amount of time has gone by. It's just better to live your life and try to make it better. If you stay in the past you'll never have a future."

"But what if he does come back? I just can't stop thinking about him. He was my dad."

"Then it's like I said before: He can't just come back and pretend it never happened. He abandoned you all, and he as to at least acknowledge what he did and make up for it."

"But what if he doesn't ever come back?"

"Then at least Ditzy's there if you need someone."

Small tears began to form in the corners of the magenta mare's eye as a small smile curled on her lips. "Then it'll be like you said: She does think of me as her daughter even though we're not related by blood. After all, it takes more than blood to make a family." Amethyst jumped up and wrapped the human in her hooves. "If it wasn't for you, Bryce, I would never have been this happy." They both stayed like that for a minute until Amethyst asked, "Bryce, you only see me as a friend, right?"

"Yeah."

"Good, I mean, you're a great guy, but... you always seem to find trouble."

"Eh, it's goes both way."

"Yeah... It does." 

Bryce took a look at his watch. "It's getting close to noon. Want to call'em up for lunch?"

"Might as well. DINK-" Amethyst cut herself short once she saw both Dinky and Apple Bloom running towards the house at full gallop. 

Corn was no where in sight.

When they reached the house Apple Bloom tried to talk between breaths. "Bry... Bryce... big... cow... tried ta-"

"Wait, slow down! Catch your breath!"

When the two fillys finally caught their breaths Apple Bloom spoke in an alarmed tone. "There was this bull out there. He was real mean to us. Then Corn started barking at'm and wouldn't anything else. Not even when we said that word you told us ta say."

Dinky nodded in agreement. 

Bryce tried his best to keep calm. "Is he still out there?"

"Which one?"

"Either one of them?"

"Corn is. Ah'm not sure about that bull. He just told us ta go away and began ta walk off. We tried ta make Corn come, but he wouldn't stop barkin."

Bryce looked off into the orchard and sighed. "Well, if that bull's still out there then Corn won't come back until he's well out of his scent range. You all go on in. I'll go out and get Corn."

"Bryce, can't it wait?" Amethyst asked.

"No, I can't just leave him out there. I'll be quick. It's just a cow. From what I've seen here they shouldn't be much of a problem. I'll just tip him over and run like hell. Simple."

"Fine, but please try and stay safe."

Bryce ran off, shouting, "I'll try! Save me some hay fries!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

It didn't take long for Bryce to find Corn. If the German Shepherd was even planning on hiding his constant barking didn't help. 

The closer Bryce got to Corn the louder the later's barks became, and the more the sound began to pierce into his highly sensitive ears. As Bryce cleared the final distance between him and Corn, Bryce had his hands held over his ears, but this did little to help.

"CORN, SHUT UP!!!"

If Corn could hear him he didn't show it.

Bryce bent down and held the dog's jaw shut. "CORN, WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH YOU!?"

Corn immediately stopped trying to bark and looked up at his boy. 

"Yeah, I know about the bull. What about him?"

Bryce released his hold on Corn. The dog continued to look up at his boy.

"What do you mean? What was he acting like?"

Corn began to bark, in a much lower tone.

"You could tell something wasn't right? What did he do?"

Corn whined.

Bryce balled his fists. "He tried to hurt the girls? Where is he?"

Corn pointed with his snout.

There was a set of hoofprints in the ground. What got Bryce, however, was the long streak of tilled dirt that ran between the bull's track. On closer inspection Bryce could also see the grass along the furrowed ground was severly yellowed.

"Corn, stay here. If I don't come back soon then you go and get someone at the house."

Bryce followed the hoofprints, and the shallow trench that ran between them. With each step the atmosphere of the orchard felt darker and darker. As Bryce continued on he took note of the silence. When he had silenced Corn there was at least the sound of cicadas and the occasional bird chirp, but now there was only silence, save for his own footsteps.

A minute later, Bryce found an object laying a short distance away from the unending hoofsteps. It was green and flat. Bryce bent down to pick it up. When he did a burning sensation and he dropped it. It was then he recognized what the object was. It was Fluttershy's tennis ball, and it appeared to have been gnawed to bits. What ever had been inside of it was all but gone.

Taking a look down his current path, Bryce stood back up and continued.

It didn't take long for Bryce to catch up to the bull. When he laid eyes on it he had to stop and make sure what exactly he was seeing. The creature was indeed in the shape of a bull, but this was like no bull he had seen on any farm.

This creature had more the appearance of a wildebeest, with the curved inward horns and dark stripes along its brown neck and sides. Bryce had seen The Lion King plenty of times to know what they looked like. This wildebeest was faced away from him, with its large head dragging through the grass. Bryce wasn't sure how best to deal with this situation. When he had came out into the orchard he was expecting a male cow, not a large antelope from the African (or whatever) savannah.

In any case Bryce couldn't just leave this wildebeest to its own devices. If it had tried to attack Apple Bloom and Dinky it would easily do so again to someone else. After tearing down and pruning a sizeable tree branch, Bryce slowly approached the wildebeest.

"Hey!"

The wildebeest stopped in its tracks. "What do you want!?" It cruelly demanded.

"What are you doing out here? And what do you think gives you the right to try and hurt those girls?"

The wildebeest simply replied, "I gave them fair warning. You should heed it as well. Leave!"

"And let you hurt others? No!"

The wildebeest ignored Bryce and walked on, his head still dragging thourgh the dirt.

"Hey, get back here!"

The bull stopped and said, "I shall tell you only once more, LEAVE!!!"

Bryce in turn ignored the wildebeest's demand. Hefting the tree branch back, he brought it down full force on its back. The tree branch broke into a series of splinters, leaving a short stub in Bryce's hands.

"YOU! WERE!! WARNED!!!" The wildebeest slung its head at Bryce and slung its drool onto him. 

Bryce's skin started to burn in a searing pain where the drool made contact. He had once burned his palm on the stove, but this was far worse. It made him want to rip his flesh at each and every spot. "What the fuck are you!?"

The wildebeest slowly lifted up its large head. "I am that which shall bring you to your end. You were warned." 

When the wildebeest's gaze met his own, Bryce felt as if his brain were going to explode out of his skull. His vision blurred and he found himself unable to walk straight. He was lucky to even prop himself up on a nearby tree.

When Bryce looked back towards where he had last seen the wildebeest it was already a considerable distance away. Considerable for something that walked with its large head dragging along the ground.

From behind him he heard barking. Turning back he saw Corn running towards him.

When Corn reached Bryce he stopped and sniffed his boy intently. 

"Corn... go get... help..."

Corn whined in concern.

"I know... but if you don't... I won't... have a chance..." Bryce fell down, scrapping himself on the tree bark along the way.

Corn whined a few more times before running back to the farmhouse, barking as he went.

Bryce pushed himself up, the pain on his skin and in his head growing more intense by the second. It was a miracle he was able to get himself in a lying position on the side of the tree.

As the world began to darken, Bryce's last thoughts were on what the creature had told last said to him.

"I am that which shall bring you to your end. You were warned."