//------------------------------// // 15 A new friend // Story: Homecoming of a Jumper // by tosety //------------------------------// “Good morning, class,” Cheerilee said. “We have a new student that I would like you to welcome.” On cue, a warg pup trotted in and stood next to Cheerilee. His tail hung neutrally, neither wagging nor tucked under his belly. “Hello, fellow students. My name is Valus, son of Weyul, son of Wieland, dragged from my pack and forced to live among ponies.” Valus’ surly voice had an odd accent, the V and W having a breathy sound halfway between the two and the S coming out as a hiss. He looked over at Cheerilee for permission to sit down, but instead got a ‘tell us more’ motion from her. Turning back to the class, he continued “I come from the Griffin Lands and my father dragged me here because Miss Introspective is too skittish to be able to deal with some of her clients.” This time, his silent request to be dismissed was more of a glare. Cheerilee sighed at the stubborn warg and nodded towards an open seat in the front row. Steelskin noted that everypony next to him had slid in their seats to be as far away from Valus as they could without moving their desks. The smell of fear filled the room. Steelskin was certain that this was what Weyul was hinting at. “Now, continuing from yesterday’s lesson, the thaumic waveform for magon interaction, instead of forming a sine wave, takes the inverse; something termed a cosecant wave.” As Cheerilee explained, she graphed out the normal sine wave before drawing a U shape with its bottom just touching the top of the wave and an upside down one just touching the lowest point of the dip. “We learned last month about imaginary numbers and graphing them along the i axis. Similarly, a cosecant wave requires dividing by zero.” She pointed towards where the sine wave crossed the x axis and drew a dotted line down through it to illustrate that the ‘cosecant wave’ didn’t touch it. “Which, as we know, doesn’t make any sense outside magic theory as you cannot divide something into zero groups. For this, we need to use undefined numbers graphed on the u axis...” Cheerilee pulled out a magical chalkboard as she lectured on about trigonometry and its relation to magic theory. #EM-01# @Arrival + 2 Weeks@ It had been a week after I had rescued Rocky and I was an outcast. It was just as Tallic had said; ‘No good deed goes unpunished.’ That wasn’t completely true. I had gone a bit overboard in my anger at Brennan and I knew logically that their fear of me was due to me spearing his knees needlessly. That and the next time I saw Gary, I screamed at him and proceeded to thrash him for ‘letting Rocky get hurt’ in the middle of the main street. I can only imagine what it must have looked like to normal, peace loving ponies to see an earth pony colt attack a larger than average griffon and put said griffon on the defensive. Luckily for me, he didn’t decide to go all out. I was walking down the street and, as usual, everypony was running away or closing up shop. The CMC, and even Rocky, had let me know from a distance that they weren’t allowed to go near me. “Yo, Steelskin, still need to beat the feathers off me?” The voice from overhead was obviously Gary. “No,” I replied, loneliness overcoming my anger. “Good,” He replied as he landed next to me. “I’d rather tell you I’m sorry than get my tail handed to me again.” “You were holding back,” I replied. “Of course I was, because you were right. It was my fault Rocky got hurt, but I do want you to know it wasn’t about glory or courage.” Gary sighed, glad to be able to talk to his friend. “I wasn’t sure you’d be able to take him by yourself and figured the two of us keeping him busy would let Rocky escape without being noticed.” I smiled sadly as Gary paused for a moment. “I was forgetting how common it is for ponies to freeze,” he added. “I’m really sorry. It wasn’t your fault, just a freak accident... I probably wouldn’t have gotten out alive and there was no safe bet he wouldn’t have shot at you when you were rescuing Rocky,” I said, my eyes pleading for forgiveness. He smiled at me and held out his knuckles for a hoof bump. Steelskin watched as everypony carefully exited the schoolhouse, staying as far away from Valus as the room allowed. He caught a snippet of Saph trying to convince the rest of the CMC to say hi and deliberately stayed behind. “Are you going to make me go out there?” Valus growled at Cheerilee. Cheerilee, for her part, kept a calm face despite the growl. She was very tempted to scold him for that, but held her tongue. “I’m sorry, Valus, but I’m going out there too and I can’t just leave you inside unsupervised.” “Greetings,” Steelskin said, trying to rescue Cheerilee. “Valus, son of Weyul, son of Weiland. It is nice to meet someone new from the Griffin Lands.” He feigned the arrogant and stilted, but respectful, tone of voice common in the Griffin Lands that said ‘I don’t want to, but I’ll thrash you if you try anything.’ Valus stared at him, eyes lingering on the dermal spikes. Steelskin continued, pretending to not notice the staring. “I am Steelskin, son of Toughstuff, adopted son of Tallic, and inheritor of dragonslayer magic, friend of carnivores.” Steelskin was amused by Valus’ jaw hanging open and allowed himself a little bit of a smirk. “Please let me introduce you to my pack mates. They are a little skittish, but they’ll warm up to you quickly.” Valus forced out an “Okay,” more confused than anything else. Counting that as good enough, Steelskin trotted out the door, followed by an intrigued Valus and a thankful Cheerilee. Hearing Valus padding softly behind him, Steelskin continued his trot over to where Sapphire was still trying to convince the other CMC to join her in saying hi to Valus. Sadly, Rocky’s prey instinct kicked in and he bolted to the other side of the playground. Maybe he could teach them to be more than ponies. Steelskin thought to himself. Come on, Fei, Saphire projected exasperatedly. Don’t you remember what it was like your first day? Being shunned is not fun. “Hey, girls, mind if we hang out with you?” Steelskin’s voice was overly calm and casual. “S-sure,” Apple Bloom and Scootaloo said at the same time. Sapphire and Sweetie Belle stood slightly behind them, Sweetie Belle pawing the ground, ears flat against her head. Fei positioned herself to one side, looking ready to pounce if things went south. “Valus, this is Scootaloo, adopted daughter of Rainbow Dash, Element of Loyalty and hero of Equestria, and Alex Roberts, Paladin of Redemption and jumper between worlds.” At Steelskin’s introduction, Scootaloo held out a trembling hoof and tried to smile. Frown never leaving his face, Valus returned the hoof bump with his paw. “Apple Bloom, sister of Applejack, Element of Honesty, hero of Equestria, daughters of Apple Seed, son of Granny Smith, of the founding family of Ponyville.” Apple Bloom did slightly better and Valus relaxed a tiny bit. “Sweetie Belle, Sister of Rarity, Element of Generosity and hero of Equestria, Daughters of Cookie Crumbles.” Sweetie Belle merely waved a forehoof with a nervous smile, earning a scowl from Valus. Sapphire, daughter of Emerald, healer of all, Sapphire had inched up next to Scootaloo and held out her hoof, looking him in the eyes. Valus shook his head and glared at the blue-eyed unicorn. “What is this? I heard that in my head!” Steelskin was the first to reply, jumping in before Valus could say anything regrettable. “She, ah, has a speech impediment. So her dad taught her to thought project… ah, speak mind to mind.” That was probably the most concise description to tell the Warg pup. Valus grunted, not sure what to think of this. “And, lastly,” Steelskin hurried along with the introductions. “That little fireball that’s ready to attack you is Fei, adopted daughter of Trace Reinhart, wielder of combat magics and visitor from another world, grandson of...” Steelskin paused a moment, trying to think of Trace’s grandmother’s name. Fei’s posture softened as she puffed her chest out in pride Sarah, defender of her world and matriarch of House Reinhart, and one of founders of the Order of Magic. Steelskin gave her a thankful nod. “...and Twilight Sparkle, Element of Magic and hero of Equestria, protegee of Princess Celestia.” Valus had initially seemed confused and concerned by another user of thought protection, but quickly got over it. He smiled at her and gave a playful nip in her direction. Fei stepped back and assumed a full defensive stance, but, noting that Steelskin was smiling, dropped it and approached Valus, holding out a paw. Nice to meet you, She replied. “The pleasure is mine,” Valus responded, more out of custom than honesty at this point, but warming up nonetheless. "Artemis, sleeper of many places high and low, but you can call me Arty," a cat said from the end of the table. After several moments of awkward silence, Pinkie dashed in, grabbed the cat and galloped off. “You promised not to let anypony see you if I let you visit this...” Pinkie’s voice faded as her retreating form disappeared down the path. “What-” “You don’t want to know,” Steelskin said, interrupting Valus. “In fact, we don’t want to know either.” “Yeah, it’s best not to think too hard about anything that happens around Pinkie,” Apple Bloom added. Tension seemed to evaporate thanks to Pinkie’s antics. “Got any favorite games from your old school?” Scootaloo asked, trying to change the subject. “Well,” Valus said, shaking his head as if to clear out the confusion. “Do you have any rabbits? Wait, no, you’re ponies... how about catch the squirrel?” “Do we need a real squirrel?” Sweetie Belle asked nervously. “Nah,” Valus said. “The fastest or smallest gets to be the squirrel and the rest of the pack tries to corner them.” Steelskin noticed Cheerilee smiling at them and he waved to her before turning back to the group. “Fei, uhm, daughter of Twilight... and Trace...” Valus stumbled through her parentage. “Would you like to be the squirrel? We don’t have to have anything more than a tap since you’re not wargs.” It’s okay, you can just call me Fei, She responded. And, sure, I’m game. “Yeah,” Steelskin piped up. “Our friends call us Fei, ‘Loo, Saph, Bells, Bloom, and Steel.” He poked a hoof at Valus at the word ‘friends’ and pointed at each in turn as he named them. “Oh, yeah, Spect is also one of our friends, but she’s out sick again.” Fei rolled her eyes. You'd think she'd learn after the eighth time not to eat birds. Valus cocked his head. “What species is she?” After much hemming and hawing from everypony, Steelskin stepped up and replied “Well, she was turned into a pony by Princess Luna.” Valus decided sanity was the better part of curiosity and didn’t pursue the issue. #EM-01# @Arrival + 3 Weeks@ “Rutting stupid, panicky ponies,” I griped as I angrily pumped the bellows to the forge. I was glad that Stronghammer wasn’t as firm in his shunning of me as most of Ponyville was. Gary stopped working and looked over at me. “Yes, they are irritatingly skittish, but you should know even better than I how they would react to your actions.” Gary’s voice was kind but firm. “Anger cuts both ways.” I continued to pump the bellows, wishing I had some way of arguing against that. Tallic’s voice rang in my head with the one lesson I could never fully master. Steelskin, you must gain control of your anger. If you let it flow freely, it will be available for your enemies to use. It will also consume you. You must take that anger and contain it; compress it and control it. Only when you’ve mastered your anger can you use it while keeping it from using you. I let out a heavy sigh. “I just can’t do it.” “Do what?” I felt Gary’s talon on my back. That bottled up rage erupted again as I tried to respond. Without thinking, I slammed a hoof into the ground. “Tallic told me the same thing, too. ‘Control your anger’ he said.” I noticed my hoof and the sharp metallic point sticking over a hoof deep in the ground. I fought back tears as my failure was shoved in my face. “See what I mean? Mostly it happens when I see somepony get hurt...” Gary looked at me as if he wanted to tell me something but clamped his beak shut. I have seen that look before... in a mirror. I calmed down a little. Sighing deeply, I asked “How do you do it? You always seem so calm and controlled.” The big griffon sighed. "I'd say don't let it bother you but that is dumb advice. Just... don't hold onto it. Let it come and let it pass like the four winds." I sighed deeply. "I can do that okay if somepony's picking on me, but if I see a friend get hurt, I just lose control. All I can think about is making them hurt at least as much as they hurt my friend." "Steel, you should count yourself fortunate. You get angry for your friend's protection at your own free will." My tears of self pity that were threatening to break loose turned to frustration. I took a deep breath to try and contain it. Buck it, why not. I slammed my hoof into Gary’s beak. “That’s it, Rocky,” Steelskin said through his classmate’s tail. “You’re going to say hello to Valus. I promise you he’s not going to hurt you.” Rocky was trembling with fright but had stopped trying to run away, so Steelskin stopped dragging him. “Do I have to?” Rocky whined. I replied flatly, “Yes.” Rocky dejectedly stood up, ears flattened to his head. Seeing compliance, Steelskin dropped his friend’s tail but didn’t drop his guard. “It took me a long time to learn how to control my emotions. You’ll be better off if you can control your fear and Valus needs friends,” Steelskin said as they walked up the hill where Gary and Valus were waiting. “You know that griffon freaks me out and now you want me to hang out with a warg too?” Rocky grumbled. “Do I need to drag you again?” Steelskin asked in a conversational tone. “No.” Rocky felt that the pleasant tone of Steelskin’s threat made it even more ominous. Rocky froze as Gary’s voice boomed out. “Yo, Steel, Rocks!” Steelskin jabbed him lightly in the ribs. “Say hi,” Steelskin whispered. “H-hi, Gary...” Rocky said, lifting a hoof into the air in a halfhearted wave, but forgetting to put it down. Steelskin moved on and greeted them up close. “Gary, Valus, thanks for helping,” he said with a nod to each. “Hey, Rocks, come over and say hi to Valus.” Steelskin was able to make it sound conversational, but Rocky knew better. Rocky stepped up, trying desperately to keep from hyperventilating. “Rocky, this is Valus, son of Weyul Healer of Souls,” Steelskin said. “Valus, this is Rocky, Survivor of Discord’s Wrath.” “Greetings, Rocky. It is an honor to meet one who has seen chaos and lived,” Valus said, scowling slightly but managing to sound sincere. “Uhm... thanks... It’s nice to... uhm... meet you too...” Rocky responded, shaking in fear. Steelskin started having second thoughts. Maybe he’d been a jerk to push Rocky into this. He sighed heavily. Well, it’s too late to turn back now. “I figured I’d, uhm, drag Rocky along for this,” Steelskin said failing to sound casual with his mention of dragging. “Don’t worry, he’s okay with the plan. He’s nearly gotten nailed in the head with a rock a few times.” “C’mon,” Gary said with a smile. “Matt says we’ve only got an hour for this.” #EM-01# @Arrival + 5 Weeks@ I had gotten sick of getting useless advice on how to control my temper, so I spent most of my time practicing the Neighponese kyanta Butterscotch had taught me. I finished the last hoof strike and sat down, panting heavily. “Glad to see you’re taking out your aggression on the air rather than on me,” Gary said, gliding down. I laughed even while recognizing that if he said it when I first started, I’d have been annoyed at best. “Good,” he continued. “You want a sparring partner?” “Sure,” I replied. “Freestyle or prearranged?” “Most of what I was taught was aerial, so how about freestyle?” He started out pretty tentative. I think my tantrums made him think I was fragile or something. Soon enough, though, we were going at it full tilt, getting some pretty bad bruises and cuts and tiring ourselves out quickly. Within an hour, we were both panting on the grass. “Hey, Steel,” Gary asked. “You been taught any meditation?” “Not really,” I replied. “Closest thing would be Tallic teaching me how to use all my senses to keep from getting snuck up on. Supposedly, dragons even use it when sleeping.” The rest of the day, and most of my time in that reality, we spent meditating. I found it similar with what Tallic taught me to the point of being difficult. Instead of turning my attention outward and looking for danger, Gary taught me to turn my attention inward and observe my body. I think Butterscotch had tried to teach it to me a few times, but I was so caught up in everything else I was learning at the time that I ended up just doing what Tallic had taught me. As Gary saw they were getting ready, he leaped into the air and perched himself relaxingly on a nearby tree, which bent slightly due to his huge size. Steelskin looked up to his friend, “You aren’t going to join us?” Gary shrugged. “Steel, I understand you’re more mature than you look, but they aren’t.” He pointed a talon at Rocky and Valus. “No offense, but I’m no child at heart. As the responsible adult,” He grinned. “I’m just babysitting and making sure nothing goes wrong.” Steelskin rolled his eyes, “Come on, you can be big brother Gary.” He smirked. “That’s too much work,” Gary mocked back. “Just make sure their parents know I charge a bit per hour looking after you starlings.” Steelskin thought about bucking the tree to see if Gary would fall out, but decided against it. Angel Bunny was watching Rocky as he approached Fluttershy’s cottage. As normal, a rock came whizzing at Rocky’s head. Steelskin trembled as he kept himself from rushing forward and blocking it. He also felt the normal fury rise in his gut as he saw someone get attacked. Rocky, having experience with the bunny, dodged it like a pro. “I di’nny know vorpal bunnies were real,” Valus whispered from our hiding place, surprise causing him to drop into his vargish accent. “I allus thought they were just a tale the elders used ta scare pups.” Angel Bunny had hopped down and was wielding a large carrot like a club and glaring at Rocky. Steelskin and Valus crept around behind while Gary, as the responsible adult, watched from his perch. “Hey, I’m only here to talk to Fluttershy,” Rocky stated. He’d come up with a decent story that was true enough in the off chance that he was given a chance to actually talk with her. Angel made a rude gesture and a shooing motion before tapping the carrot against his paw. “Yummmm,” Valus growled deeply. Angel froze. He turned his head slowly to the left, seeing a pony with warg piercings and draconic fangs. Turning his head right he saw a drooling warg pup within snapping distance of his tail. In an amazing feat of acrobatics, Angel leapt backwards, swinging the carrot down on Valus’ head as he twisted midair to run towards the cottage. Valus shrugged off the stars from his hit and took left flank as Steelskin kept right flank. Valus got in front of the bunny first and Angel spun again, racing towards Rocky. With a little bunny war cry, he swung the carrot with all his might at Rocky’s head. Steelskin shot off a blade that neatly cut off the business end of the improvised weapon. The business end went sailing over Rocky’s head as the bit Angel was left holding whooshed past his muzzle. Rocky stomped a hoof down on the useless bit of carrot Angel was still holding and smiled menacingly. He turned and tried to dash between Rocky and Steelskin, but they closed ranks. Seeing no escape, he huddled down, trembling. Valus snapped at his head and he let out a terrified squeak as he closed his eyes, waiting for the end. “Okay, that’s enough,” Steelskin said. “Hopefully he’s learned his lesson.” “I would like to take a little bit of an ear,” Valus said, rubbing where the carrot impacted his head. “That carrot felt like it was made of gold.” “Maybe next time,” Steelskin replied with a meaningful look at Angel’s half opened eye. “You willing to make a truce?” Gary asked, landing next to Valus. Angel nodded his head. “Good. All of us play nice with each other. You treat us with respect and we’ll treat you with respect.” Gary turned his attention to Valus. “That means no revenge for this time, and hopefully there won’t be need of a next time?” Angel nodded somberly. Steelskin stepped forward. “Not just us.” He narrowed his eyes at the rabbit. “You treat everypony with respect. If I hear you’ve been acting like a bully again, expect to get more than just scared.” “Steelskin,” Gary said with an edge of warning in his voice. “You’re going too far again.” Steelskin backed off with a look of apology. Turning back to Angel, Gary continued. “No bullying. You have a problem with someone; you take it to Fluttershy. If she won’t help, come to us or Matt. We’ll let him know of this little agreement and tell him to let bygones be bygones.” Angel’s face took on a sour look, but he nodded agreement. “Sorry about the threatening,” Steelskin said, putting out a hoof. “Friends?” Angel smiled tentatively and bumped paw to hoof. Returning the smile, the other three exchanged hoof bumps with him before the four walked off towards town. “Hey, Valus,” Rocky asked. “You okay? Angel got you pretty good with that carrot.” Valus smiled. “Yeah. It still hurts, but I’ve had worse.” Valus’ smile faltered for a second as Rocky looked nervously at his teeth, but Rocky forced his eyes back up. “Sorry I’ve been so skittish.” “Meh,” Valus replied. “We’re good.”