Chapter 45: Sometimes a Cigar is Just a Cigar
The following morning it came at great relief to hear that while there proved to be very small trace amounts of poison in his blood, it appeared to have no adverse effects on Bryce. It was a great relief to Bryce because after the events of last night he hadn't been able to catch even another wink of sleep.
If Amethyst hadn't brought Bryce a few things from home, namely his whittling knife, a block of wood, and a change of clothes, the night would have been a lot longer.
Before he could leave, however, Doctor Stable had Bryce stay long enough to measure his height and weight.
For his height they had to get a little creative. Marking off the top of his head, with his back against the wall, and using a yard stick he measured 6 foot even.
His weight, on the other hand, was taken in the usual way.
When he stepped on the scale Nurse Tenderheart began to adjust the blocks at top. After about a minute she stopped adjusting the blocks when the bar floated in balance. "That's 258 pounds on your weight. I'm not sure if that's good or bad, but I will say your belly seems to be well rounded."
"Well, you're not wrong. I've been trying. I've been eating a lot less than I was back in my world."
"It'll take more than that for you to lose weight, and starvation does little to help. You'll also need to exercise: Actually get up and move around, lift weights, go for a run or a jog. That sort of thing. I also noticed your heart rate was only just below the high point. You should try and lay off the energy rich foods. I can understand if you aren't getting as much to eat as you did back home, but you shouldn't try and supplement the calories with fat and sugar. I'm not trying to tell you what to do, Bryce, I'm only telling you this because I care."
"I know you are, but I'm a big guy. I need to eat."
"I know, but you should try and keep it all in moderation. Maybe you can find a friend to help you out with the exercise part. Somepony who has the time."
"Well... I'll try."
"Don't try, do! Now if you'll follow me I'll escort you out."
When they both reached the front entrance they were met with Ditzy, her two daughters, and Apple Bloom.
Catching sight of him, their immediate reaction was to run up and greet him.
"Hey, Bryce. Did everything go over okay with the doctor?" Ditzy asked.
"Yeah. They said whatever that stuff was on me wasn't lethal, but he told me I should come back if anything comes up."
"That's good. Have you gotten the chance to eat anything?"
"No, not since they fed me... whatever that stuff was last night."
"Well let's head on back to my house and I'll cook you up some good home cooking before I head off for work. After having to endure the food they serve here you deserve it. No offense, Tenderheart."
Nurse Tenderheart simply waved it off. "I won't blame you for saying that. We may not have five star food but we make up for it with a top notch medical staff and care. Take care, Bryce, and try not to come around too often. We don't want you to become another Bright Smiles on our hooves."
Bryce looked down to her in shock. "Wait, who?"
"I... can't say anymore. Please, take care." Nurse Tenderheart reentered Ponyville Hospital without another word.
"Bryce," Ditzy said, trying to get the human's attention, "I don't want to rush you, but I need to hurry and get to work."
"What...? Oh, okay."
The group then walked away from the hospital toward Ditzy's house. Upon entering the gray pegasus' home she immediately flew off into the kitchen and began preparing Bryce's breakfast.
Meanwhile Bryce took a seat at the kitchen table, took off his watch, and pulled out what remained of his lastest whittling. Not wanting to cause a distraction, the girls took a seat across from him and watched him as he worked.
After a few minutes of work, Bryce blew off the thin layer of wood dust and held it out to Dinky and Apple Bloom. "Well, what do y'all think?"
"It's... What's it supposed ta be?" Apple Bloom asked in confusion.
"Well what does it look like?"
The two fillies thought for a second before Dinky shouted, "It's a unibull!"
Apple Bloom turned her head to try and see what Dinky saw. "That's supposed ta be a bull?"
"No, it's a unibull," Dinky responded. "See, it only has one horn."
"Why'd yuh only give it one horn, Bryce?"
"Well, it only had one horn in my dream."
"You saw it in a dream?"
"Yeah. It was a lot bigger than me too."
"Wow, something bigger than Bryce." Apple Bloom said in awe. "Ah can't think of anything that big in real life."
"Come on, there has to be something," Bryce objected. "What about Big Mac?"
"He's big, but you're like twice his size. Ah've seen him carry a hay bale alright, but when he put yuh in the wagon he was strugglin."
"Well... I have a lot of muscle."
Dinky responded, "Then it must be really loose at your belly. It feels better than a pillow."
"Dinky, you shouldn't say things like that," Amethyst said. "And Bryce, whenever you're done eating you and Apple Bloom need to go see Applejack at the apple stand. Because of how late it was after we left the hospital Apple Bloom had to spend the night here. It's okay, her family already knows about it. Ditzy went out to the farm after she got off work, thinking we were both still there, and made sure, but said for you both to meet Applejack before you did anything else."
"Okay I'll... I'll go see her after I eat."
Just then, Ditzy came over with a plate containing two egg sandwiches and a glass of milk. "Here's your breakfast. I gotta run. See you all later." After giving Dinky a kiss on the forehead, Ditzy ran to the door to get her satchel.
Before even taking the first bite, Bryce ran out to the gray mare. "Ditzy, before you go, I want to ask you for something. Outside."
"Okay, but be quick. I'm already late," Ditzy said as she stepped outside and shut the door.
"Well, if you see Rainbow could you tell her to come and find me? I need her help with something."
"It isn't anything bad, is it?"
"No, it's... it's personal."
"Uh huh, I got it. If I see her I'll tell her. You all have fun today, and stay safe." Getting a running start, Ditzy took flight.
Wolfing down his breakfast, Bryce and the others went into town. After tracking down the apple stand the apple mare came running out to greet them.
"Apple Bloom, there yuh are. How'd everything go?"
"It went great. Can Dinky come stay at our house some time?"
"Maybe some other time, Sugarcube. Have yuh gotten anything ta eat yet?"
"Yeah, Miss Doo is a good cook, not that Ah don't like Granny's cookin."
"That's good." Applejack turned to face Bryce. "Sooooo. What'd the doctor say about yuh, Bryce?"
"They told me everything checked out fine, but to come back if anything comes up," Bryce answered.
"That's, uh, that's good. Have yuh had anything yet yourself?"
"Yeah, Ditzy cooked me my usual."
"Well that's mightly neighborly of her. And it was neighborly of your family ta look after my sister on such short notice," Applejack said to Amethyst.
The magenta mare simply brushed it off. "It was nothing. You would have done the same if the shoe was on the other hoof."
"Yeah, Ah guess Ah would have. It'd be the honest thing to do." Applejack turned back to Bryce. "Are yuh thinkin of going on home, because if yuh want to Ah have some things you can get for me... Yuh know, since you're here."
"I can do that, sure."
"Alright then. Ah've put the bits in with your own. Yuh know, just in case yuh turned out fine. I also brought your satchel with me so you can carry it all."
Quickly fishing out everything, Applejack sent Bryce and the rest of the group off.
Opening the list, Bryce was happy to see it contained not only what was needed, but how much was need. It would make things easier for him. "Are you two going to tag along, or do yuh... Do you have somewhere you need to be?" Bryce asked Amethyst.
"Sure, we'll come. There were a few things we needed to get today anyway. No point in going out twice. What do you have first?"
Bryce almost stopped dead when he saw what was first. "Carrots." SHIT!
"Carrots, right. Actually, I think I have an idea that'll get our grocery shopping done faster."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"It's been almost a month. You promised-"
"I didn't promise yuh nothin, runt," Rocksalt said with a brazen grin plastered across his face. "We didn't even shake on it or nothin."
"But you said if I went up to him and came back, alive and in one piece, then you'd give me your autographed Wonderbolts poster" Scootaloo said in protest.
Rocksalt let out a snort. "And yuh bought that? You're not only a runt, you're dumber than the mailmare," the dull brown colt said before letting out a laugh.
"But... You said-"
"Get it through your thick skull. I knew you'd be dumb enough to go if I even mentioned something of the Wonderbolts. Everypony knows every pegasus has a thing for the Wonderbolts, whether they'd like ta admit it or not. You can ask your parents."
At hearing that Scootaloo's ears drooped.
Bowl Cut, one of Rocksalt's friends, took note of Scootalo's change in demeanor. "Hey, you alright, Scootaloo?"
Scootaloo could only nod back.
"Yuh see, she's fine. Now let's go yous guys."
"Are you sure?" Bowl Cut asked. "Is it about what he said?"
Scootaloo nodded again. It almost went unnoticed by deep blue colt.
"You see, you hurt her feelings again."
"*Pfft* I ain't done it. She's just cryin cause she don't get her Blunderbolts poster and her parents won't tell how much of a runt she is." Rocksalt said in a mocking tone.
"I'M AN ORPHAN, YOU JERK!!!"
Everypony stopped for a second following Scootaloo's outburst. When a sly grin spread across Rocksalt's face, he said, "Mommy and daddy didn't want you? No wonder you're a flightless runt."
The orange pegasus followed up by pouncing on the dull brown colt and socking him in the jaw. Before she could continue, Rocksalt's two remaining friends quickly pulled the angered filly off the colt. "Let me go, I'm not done with him!"
"No way. We're not about to let you kill him," the thin, baby blue Middle Part said.
"Yeah, we can't let you do that," the fat, powder blue Cue Ball said in agreement.
Bowl Cut made an attempt to take control of the situation. What's the matter with you, pulling on a girl like that? Our mom would be ashamed if she heard about this."
"Yeah, but Bowl-"
"Recede, you knuckleheads!" The two colts cautiously loosened their hold on the orange pegasus, both prepared to instantly grab her again.
Taking a step towards Scootaloo, Bowl Cut bent down and whispered, "Look, get goin. We'll take care of'm."
"How can you all spend time with that jerk?"
"Don't worry about that. Get goin'."
Wanting more than anything to give Rocksalt what for, Scootaloo reluctantly got up and walked away from the scene.
When the orange pegasus was out of sight, Bowl Cut turned to look at Rocksalt. The dull brown colt said to him, "Yuh did good, Bowl, my friend. Another second and I mighta did something to her that would-"
"You're a jerk, you know that."
Rocksalt was thrown back by the deep blue colt's comment. "What's gotten in to you?"
"You didn't have to go and say something like that. Even if you didn't know about it before."
"Hey, what are you gettin on ta me about? That runt woulda killed me if your brothers hadn't-"
"Well maybe we shouldn't have if you're going to act innocent," Part stated.
"Yeah, we should have let her teach you a lesson," Cue added.
"What are yous guys goin on about!?"
"You're a jerk and we're done with you," Bowl said sternly. "Lying about giving her a poster is one thing, but picking on her for being an orphan? That's just low. We might have put up with a lot of things with you, even put up with you ranting about Bryce through the whole month, but this was the straw that broke the camel's back with me."
"Me too," both Cue and Part added.
"See, they agree."
Rocksalt narrowed his eyes before saying," I see what's going on here. Bryce's makin yous guys say all this. Where is he!? Take me to him!"
Bowl shook his head and shut his eyes. "Rock, this has nothing to do with him. This is all you, you imbecile!"
"Maybe that's what you want me to think so I'll let my guard down long enough for him to take me. Well yous can tell'm I'm not gonna fall for it." Turning tail, Rocksalt ran off, not taking a look back.
After a minute, Cue Ball asked, "Hey, fellas, we're not under Bryce's control, are we?'
"No, Cue Ball. Rocksalt is just... Rocksalt," Bowl Cut replied.
"You think Rock's gonna be alright?" Middle Part asked.
"I don't know, but all I know is we can't associate with him anymore. He's gone way past the point of no return."
"Oh."
They all stood there for a second until Cue said, "Hey, fellas, are you thinkin what I'm thinkin?"
"What?"
Running off, Cue yelled, "Last one to Sugarcube Corner pays for the shakes. *Nyuk Nyuk Nyuk*!"
"Why I oughta..." Bowl said before taking chase.
"Hey, Bowl! Hey, Cuey! Wait for me!" Part said before bringing up the rear.
Meanwhile, Rocksalt was having a hard time accepting the events of the last few minutes. Those three colts had been with him for years, and now... Now they were under the control of... whatever that thing was that had arrived in their small town.
The dull brown colt was at his wits end, and he might has well have been the only one with a good head on his shoulders.
As Rocksalt entered the town square he saw something from out of the corner of his eye.
What he saw made him shudder.
It was Bryce, standing at the carrot vendor's stand. With him was the yellow earth pony filly who lived at Ponyville's apple farm. Looking around, Rocksalt saw that not a single pony; not stallion nor mare; not colt nor filly seemed to register his presence. They all simply walked casually past without causing a single stir.
It was at that moment Rocksalt decided he was going to end this once and for all. He may become a thrall to this creature, but he was tired of ranting; tired of fighting a battle he may have no possible chance of winning.
Narrowing his brow, Rocksalt stepped forward just as Bryce stepped away from the carrot vendor's stand.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As Bryce stepped towards Carrot Top's stand his heart began to beat rapidly in his chest. He had no idea how the orange maned mare would react to him after his moment the week prior.
He had never wanted that to have happened, but it wasn't entirely in his control. This time he knew what was needed, and how many of it was wanted, but there was no way to forget what he saw.
A week ago, Carrot Top had looked to have been on the verge of falling over, as if she would have a heart attack from mere fright of the twice her size human being before her. Hell, she'd ran away from him the first time she'd saw him, and he couldn't even see her.
Bryce didn't want to put her through something like that a third time, he hadn't even meant to make her feel that way.
At the same time. however, he was mentally berating himself for not concentrating.
Right now the only pony with Bryce was Apple Bloom. Both Amethyst and DInky had run off, with half his list and he with half of theirs. It had been Amethyst's plan that if they split up then they could each go ahead and get whatever they all needed. To do this, she had decided the best course of action would be to split their lists, get their items, then meet up later at Ditzy's house to sort through everything.
Bryce had thought it a good plan. The sooner they each got everything then the sooner they would be able do something fun together. He didn't realize until Amethyst and DInky had gone that he was still responsible for getting carrots. Both the Apple family's and the Doos'.
The last week he'd only had Apple Bloom, with Rarity and Fluttershy coming to 'his' rescue at the last moment. He doubt he would be as lucky this time around.
By then it was too late to try and run. The carrot mare had spotted him, and immediately the smile she had had sank. To Bryce, this wasn't a good sign.
Gripping down onto the strap of his satchel, Bryce took a position less than a foot from the carrot stall.
When he stopped, Corrot Top's face was still in the same expression. It was hard for one to tell exactly what to call it, but Bryce could only think it was a face of one thing: Fear.
"Excuse me," Carrot Top said in a hard to place tone, "is there something I can help you with... Bryce, is it?"
Bryce was still in too much of a daze to comprehend what she'd said. "What...?"
"Your name. It is Bryce, right?"
"I... It is..."
"I thought so. I mean, you'd be hard to forget," The carrot mare said as a smile began to creep its way back across her cheeks. "So what can I get for you?"
"Well... Um..."
"Wait, let me guess. You want something orange?"
"Well, yeah."
"So you want sweet potatoes?"
"No, I was thinking more along the line of-"
"Grapefruit? Tangerines? Pumpkins? Canteloupes?"
"I prefer to call them net melons."
"If that's so then you'll want to talk to Musk Melon. He's about four or five stalls down from mine. Don't worry, you'll know you've reached him when you smell his cologne."
Bryce looked where she indicated with her hoof. He turned back to her with a smirk. "I'm actually here for-"
"Carrots?"
"No, I'm here for peaches."
The carrot mare stopped dead upon hearing that. "Well peaches are on the other side of... Okay, okay, how many do 'peaches' you need?"
"Well, I need 20 peaches. You can substitute carrots if you don't have them though."
"I can do that. Should I bunch them in half, or is there some other way you'd prefer them?"
"12 and 8, if you could."
"Certainly." Carrot Top bent down and came back up with the desired amount of carrots. "Here you go. That'll be eight bits total."
Pulling out the required amount, Bryce placed the coinage down on the stall and scooped up the carrots.
Before he could even place them into his satchel and walk off, Carrot Top stopped him. "Bryce, before you go, I want to ask you something."
"Okay..." Damn it!!!
"Last week, when you were standing there for the longest time, did I do something that scared you?"
"N- No..."
"Oh, that's a relief... I guess. I was just... all last week I was wondering..." Carrot Top stopped herself and let out a sigh. "What I really wanted to say is that I was afraid when I first saw you. I mean, you're big and... I don't know the best word to say."
"There's really no wrong answer."
"Well I don't want to say anything to upset you, so I'll just say this: When I saw the way you acted over how many carrots you needed I saw something else. You just looked so lost; like you knew where you needed to be, but you were too scared to ask anypony how to get there. I tried to help, but Rarity and Fluttershy beat me to the punch. I guess I'm trying to say that you may appear to be big, but inside you're a small little colt trying to find his way. Am I right?"
"That about sums it up," he shyly replied.
"Ahh, come on, chip up," Carrot Top said as she came over to Bryce's side of the stall. "If you were going to hurt anypony you would have done something by now." Bryce scratched the back of his head. It went unnoticed by the yellow mare. "I won't let you leave unless you give me a smile. Come on."
Bryce didn't want to admit it, but hearing what Carrot Top had said did help him feel good. He gave a weak smile.
"You can do better than that."
Bryce laughed a little, the smile slowly easing its way out.
"There it is. Now go on and get back out there. Don't forget your carrots."
Bryce placed the carrots into his satchel. "Thank you, Carrot Top."
"Don't mention it. And one more thing. Could you tell Ditzy and the girls I said hi?"
"Well, if I don't forget, I will."
"Okay then, have a nice day. Come back if you're ever looking for peaches."
"You too. Let's get going, Sprout."
Apple Bloom jumped up, wanting more than anything to get moving. "Finally, I hate it when adults just talk talk talk!"
"Eh, come on. It's not like someone was pulling off your hooves or the like. Next up, lettuce."
"Hey, you!" A gruff voice shouted from behind.
Bryce kept going, thinking it was for someone else.
"Hey, I'm talkin ta you!" The same New Yorkeresque voice shouted.
"Bryce, Ah think that colt's talkin to yuh," Apple Bloom said.
Bryce turned around to face whoever was yelling for him. "Look, I got things- You again?"
Standing before him was the dull brown colt that had yelled at him a few weeks ago. "Yeah, me again. I'm only gonaa tell yuh once: Let everypony go, and nopony has ta get hurt."
Bryce looked at him, very puzzled. "What are you going on about?"
"You know good and well what. What makes yuh think you can come here and try and take over 'our' world you... thing! You better release your mind control on everypony, or else."
"My mind- Mind control!?"
"What're yuh, deaf? Release'em all, now!" A crowd was beginning to form around Bryce and Rocksalt. "Oh I see, tryin ta intimadate me inta forfeitin. Well I'll tell you what I already told your other thralls: I ain't fallin for it." He began to circle around, staring everypony dead in the eye. "I'll take yuh all on if I have ta!"
"Look, kid, you don't know what you're saying. Get on!" Bryce shouted back.
"No! I'm not quitin until they all get their minds back. We can do this the easy way or the hard way."
Bryce covered his face with his hands. "Kid... Nobody is under my control. You're just... I don't know what, but you're acting crazy. Now I have things I need to get done. Goodbye." Bryce walked off, Apple Bloom attempting to keep up.
"I'm not done with you! Get back here!"
"Just ignore him, Apple Bloom," Bryce said to the yellow filly.
"Don't you ignore me!"
Rocksalt jumped when he heard something hit the ground from behind. "Kid, what are you yelling at Bryce about?"
Looking back, Rocksalt was surprised to see the one pony who had faced Bryce and lived to tell the tale: Rainbow Dash, in all her furred and feathered glory. "Rainbow Dash! Thank Celestia you're here. Bryce is here, and he's got everypony in town under his control. Yuh gotta stop him before he takes Manehatten, Cloudsdale, Canterlot, and eventually, the world."
Rainbow Dash then did the last thing Rocksalt had expected her to do. She laughed. "Kid, that's... That's one of the funniest things I've ever-" Anything else the rainbow mare said was lost in a fit of laughter.
Rocksalt could only look in horror. Rainbow Dash, the most awesomest pegasus in all of Equestria, had been taken in by Bryce. he began to slowly walk away.
"Look, kid, I'll go and talk to him. Maybe get a few ponies free. How's that sound?"
"What, only a-"
"You wait here, I'll go beg for their 'freedom', Rainbow said with air quotes. She flew off towards Bryce.
Rocksalt shook his head to clear his mind. Whatever Rainbow was going to do wouldn't be enough. He was going to have to take matters into his own hooves. He ran of to catch up with Rainbow and Bryce.
When he reached them he saw them both talking, calmly. After catching sight of Rocksalt, Rainbow pointed to the colt, prompting Bryce to look where she indicated.
A sly grin came to Bryce's face. "Rainbow Dash?" Bryce said in a low, gruff voice. "The same little horse thing who vanquished me, and made me suffer such an indignity?"
"Yeah, that's me! What'd I tell you about showing your face around these parts, you bald ape!?"
Bryce continued to give the same sly grin. "I'm here to exact my revenge, maybe take a little dinner with me."
"Oh really!? I beat your flank once. What makes you think I can't do it again?"
"You may have defeated me before," Bryce said as he pointed with his finger almost an inch away from her face, "but this time you won't find me so easy to take on."
"Oh yeah, is that so?" She said as she flew up a short distance off the ground.
Bryce bore his teeth at her. "Oh yes, it is." Thrusting forward, Bryce attempted to claw at her, but she dodged his attack and followed up with a hook to his jaw. Bryce spun around with a hand to his mouth.
The crowd which had encircled the pair let out a gasp.
"Had enough?" Rainbow asked.
"Ha ha, we haven't even started!" Bryce spun back around and grabbed Rainbow by one of her back hooves. Instantly Rainbow started to flap her wings to try and get out of the human's grip, but Bryce held on tight. All she could muster was to drag him across the ground at a slow pace through the gathered crowd on ponies, who instantly cleared a path for Bryce and Rainbow to cut through.
Once they reached a more open area, Rainbow was finally able to pull herself loose. With a powerful flap of her wings she barreled up into the air. When she came back down she landed square into Bryce's gut sending him to the ground a considerable distance away. Rainbow hit the ground not far from Bryce.
It took all of Bryce's strength to utter a single word. "... Ow..."
Picking herself up, Rainbow crawled her way up Bryce's front.
Bryce grabbed Rainbow and tossed her off of him. Acting fast, he rolled away from the rainbow mare and picked himself up.
By then Rainbow was up as well. She again flew up and zoomed at him.
This time Bryce stepped to the side, grabbing her by the nape of her neck and base of her tail as she passed. With Rainbow in his grip, Bryce held her up high. Taking a knee, Bryce brought Rainbow's back down hard on his thigh.
Rainbow let out a cry of pain when it made contact.
Everypony could only stare open mouthed.
Bryce dropped the rainbow mare prone onto the ground and held his hands up in triumph.