//------------------------------// // Consequences of Hostility // Story: The Thief, The Wizard, and The Element of Kindness // by TheGradualGhost //------------------------------// “Okay, I’m sorry that I poisoned everyone,” John said. “I realized that it was unnecessary and I shouldn't have done it. Happy?” The draconequus blocking his path seemed unconvinced. “You are lucky,” Discord said coolly. A chill ran down John’s spine. “If I hadn't promised to keep my powers benign you would not be standing in front of me.” “What, the ponies have you on a leash?” John pressed. “One in which I wear willingly,” Discord countered. “I can turn my back on everything here if I thought it would be worth it. The only reason I obey the ponies is because they are my friends and you almost took them from me last night.” “Killing me would save your friends,” John responded, “but I suspect that if you wanted to you would have done so already. So, what do you want?” “I’m keeping you on a short leash,” Discord stated and put a claw behind his back, “figuratively and,” he moved his claw back to his front, “literally.” In his claw was a black collar. “Where did you get that?” John was panicking. “No, that thing is worse than you can imagine. Get it out of here!” Discord raised his paw to silence John. “I found it next to your body,” Discord smirked at his latest act of torture. “So tell me what it does.” “Never,” John prepared to run, but he doubted he would get far. Maybe I can make it to the castle? “I do love doing this the hard way,” Discord’s smirk turned into a full-blown smile as he advanced on the pony. Torturous images flashed through John’s mind. Men, women, and children wearing collars as black as night. The screams filled his mind. Voices begging for death. “They’re slave collars,” John was talking before he even realized it, “they bind the wearer to an owner.” His own voice was blocking out the ones in his head; for now. “Even better,” Discord began, “I can own you.” “You’re not the owner of that collar,” John stated. “If you think I’m bad for these ponies then don’t put that collar on me. You do not want to meet her.” That gave Discord pause. “How can anyone be worse than you?” Discord asked. “I let your friends live,” John began, “she wouldn’t have wasted the poison. Now listen carefully. You put that collar on me and she will find me. She will kill anyone who gets in her way and you’ll be left cleaning up your friends with a mop.” Discord seemed concerned. John seemed afraid. The cottage door opened and out stepped a minotaur. He saw the two standing by the bridge and waved to them. He took a step toward them but stopped when he noticed the collar in Discord’s claw. He hurriedly re-entered the cottage. “Just put the collar into my bag,” John demanded. “That hardly seems like the safest option,” Discord reasoned. “Then destroy the damn thing!” John snapped. “We’re all better off with it never being seen or handled again!” Discord regarded the sudden outburst curiously. He snapped his claw and the collar disappeared. “I’ll look into it later. For now, tell me what you intend to do with Fluttershy,” it was Discord’s turn to be demanding. John paused as he let his mind wander. “Well,” John began, “I’ll start of by apologizing and if she doesn’t start staring me down again-” he visibly shuddered at the thought, “-I’ll see where that takes me.” “Very well,” Discord said as he began walking toward the forest. “You’re stuck here so if things go wrong in there, I’ll help you find a place to sleep.” He then turned to face the pony. “But, don’t confuse my actions for kindness. If you harm these ponies again; well, I don’t think I’ll mind spending another thousand years as a statue. I’ll give my best victory pose for Celestia’s garden.” Having made his point, Discord blinked out of sight and laughter echoed through the forest. John was suddenly alone again. The collar unsettled him and he needed a distraction. With that in mind he continued on the path to the small cottage and knocked on the door upon arrival. The door flew open and an ax-wielding minotaur screamed in his face. “Relax Hammer,” John said. “Where’s the fucking collar?!” Hammer shouted. “All this time you had one of those?” “Please relax,” John began. “Discord has it and he’s looking into how to destroy it. It won’t bother us.” “You won’t get very far by lying to me,” Hammer stated anyone else would have ended it there, but Hammer was not like anyone else. “They’ll be finding pieces of you all over this world when I’m done with you.” John decided it was best to just stare at the minotaur. “If I wanted to kill you I wouldn't put a damned collar around your neck!” John raised his voice to emphasize the point. “They would find your body face-down in a pool of your own blood. Do you understand? I want that collar gone.” He let his gaze drop and forced himself to calm down. “Now,” John said, “can you let me in? I want to speak with Fluttershy.” Hammer stood in the doorframe for a minute. He slowly returned his ax to its holster and stepped outside. “No tricks,” Hammer warned before walking toward the forest. Once again John was alone. Being alone made his thoughts wander. An elven beauty entered his mind; she loved to dance in the moonlight before- Shaking his head John entered the cabin. Inside he only found a white rabbit. “You,” John confronted the rabbit, “I don’t like you and you don’t like me. Just tell me where Fluttershy is and I’ll leave you alone.” The rabbit blinked. “I’m talking to a rabbit. Just do whatever it is that you do.” John left the rabbit alone and moved toward the kitchen. Inside Fluttershy was humming a tune and making soup. She gave no sign that she noticed the pony entering which reminded John that he hadn’t announced himself at the door. “Ahem,” John cleared his throat which caused the pegasus to go airborne. “Oh my,” Fluttershy began. She turned toward the source of the noise and found John standing in the doorway. She stared at him for a moment. Soft blue eyes filled with something, not the overwhelming authority of the stare from the night before but something else… The eyes of kindness… She flew over and immediately began looking John over. “Where were you last night?” her voice was full of concern. “You’re still recovering and shouldn’t be out all by yourself.” John put a hoof on her shoulder. “I came here to apologize,” John said. “I shouldn’t have done what I did last night. There were better ways to deal with that. I’m sorry.” Fluttershy returned to checking his injuries. “It was wrong,” she began, “but you already cured everyone. So, I guess it’s nothing to worry about anymore.” Despite how calm she appeared her voice had an edge to it. “That doesn’t mean that I should have done it,” John stated. She must still be angry at me but probably feels bad about it. “About our… conversation…” Fluttershy stopped her inspection. “I’m so sorry,” she was practically groveling, “I shouldn’t have used the stare on you but I was so upset. You poisoned us and I thought something terrible was going to happen.” This made John uncomfortable. He was expecting her to shout. “Please stop,” John said, “I was in the wrong and I needed the sense knocked into me. I was scared after that… stare…” he visibly shuddered, “but I just used the time to think long and hard about it. I won’t do anything to harm you ponies anymore.” “But I-” Fluttershy began before she was cut off. “You told me the truth,” John interrupted. “You ran away,” Fluttershy accused. “I needed to be alone,” John reasoned. “I think we’ve begun talking in circles. Can we both agree that we were wrong?” Fluttershy was caught off guard by that but she nodded in agreement. “I’m making soup,” Fluttershy said. “It should be just about ready.” “That sounds lovely,” John said. “You know, I think this may make a good first report for Twilight.” “I can get you some paper if you’d like to get started,” she didn’t even wait for a reply. A bowl of soup was placed at the table and she was off to gather writing supplies. John took a moment to enjoy his meal. Fluttershy returned with a quill, inkwell, and several sheets of paper. She then helped herself to some soup while John finished his. “I think I’m getting better at object manipulation,” John casually remarked. To prove his point he lifted the quill and dipped it into the ink then he brought it to a page. Dear Princess Twilight, I know that you just issued this assignment but I have already learned a lesson in friendship. You see I learned that it is best to be honest with others… “H-How are you doing that?” Fluttershy asked. Fear pervaded her normally soft voice. “Huh?” was John’s only response. His confusion became more pronounced as he realized what Fluttershy was talking about. His eyes wandered to the quill. The quill was standing upright on the page. His hoof was nowhere near it. John’s hoof hadn’t touched the quill since he dipped it into the inkwell.