“Fluttershy… The fuck!?” I growl, putting the phone up to my ear, the dial tone buzzing in my ear only increasing my annoyance. I impatiently tap my foot, hoping she replies. “I swear, if she doesn’t answer I’m going to st-”
“H-hello?” answers Fluttershy’s familiar sweet, caring…
PIECE OF TRASH, LYING, SUCCUBUS FUC- okay, okay. Focus. “What the hell, Fluttershy!? We are here at the library as we agreed!” I waste no time getting to the point, yelling at her without restraint. That’s right! I yelled at Fluttershy! What you gonna do about it?
“L-Lemon!? Um… H-hi!” she replies surprised. Praise private number option.
“Less hi, more answers!” I shoot back.
“Please don’t be mad!” she pleads in return. “I’ll tell you, just p-p-p-please stop yelling!”
Wow, that sure was easy… And anti-climatic. “Good! Now, go ah-”
“I don’t think so!” another voice joins in, I can hear the sudden sounds of a struggle in the background as something keeps rubbing against the speaker.
“Um… Hello?”
“… No! …-at!… Flutters-” voices collide on the other side. Sounds like a catfight… If I weren’t so angry, I would wish I was there to see it.
Priorities, though. “Fluttershy? What’s wrong?’
“…”
“Flutters-”
“Nope!” a completely different voice says, very smugly I might add. “I don’t think you are getting what you want, jackass!’
“What? Who is this?”
“You really don’t know? Come on, you can't be THAT stupid.”
Wait… Smug tone, tomboyish voice, sounds like Ashleigh Ball… “Applejack!”
“… Getting warmer. Idiot.”
Oh, wait. “Rainbow Dash!”
“Waiting for something?” she laughs, pretty much proving my theory.
“Stay out of this, Dash, this is none of your business,” I say, which in this case, it translates to ‘buzz off, you insufferable excuse of a walking gay parade’ as far as I am concerned.
“Good luck doing your thing without Fluttershy helping, you cheater!” *click*
I blink rapidly, the realization of what just happened hitting me in the face like the fact that I just lost the only way I know of getting to Discord.
Oh, wait. It’s just exactly that!
“... The fuck!?”
~~~~~
Twenty minutes later, me and the others are standing just outside of the library. Annoyingly, I tell them what happened.
“What. The. Fuck!?” Trixie shouts at me.
“Woah, Trixie! Language,” I say to her disapprovingly. Some people.
“Well, that’s certainly not good,” Flash says, adding absolutely nothing to the conversation. “And I get the feeling that looking for his number on the phone book isn’t an option, huh?”
“Don't be ridiculous!” Trixie snarls. “He is a public figure, and he avoids most media outside of events. For that matter, we don’t even know where he could be staying here!”
“So basically, we are drowning up in shit creek… I need to sit down,” I sigh, taking seat on the stairs. “This is just, I don’t know… We have nothing!” I put my head down, hiding my face. “This just can’t get any worse!”
I feel Flash take a seat besides me, and he pats my back. “It’s okay, Lemon. It literally can’t get any worse.”
I shoot him a venomous stare in return, if I’m lucky, maybe it’ll actually poison him.
“I’m simply stating a fact,” he sighs, noticing my annoyance. “Let‘s face it, there is nothing we can do here. Maybe we should go home and rethink our plan?” he suggests.
“What!?” I turn to glare at Flash in disbelief. “Are you crazy!?"
“Unfortunately, Trixie has to agree,” Trixie says with a wary look. “I’m sorry Lemon, but without anything to go on, we’ll have to try some other day he is in town.”
I shake my head in disbelief. “ I… Who knows how long that might be! Dammit, Rainbow Dash!” I storm off, heading straight back to Trixie’s car. Screw this! There is nothing we can do her-
*Screech*
“Woah!” I yelp and fall back in surprise, as a small minivan pulls up right next to me. I bolt upright instantly, quickly smacking the glass in anger. “Hey! What’s the big idea!?” I shout at the driver. I am NOT in the mood right now! The car’s window slowly rolls down, revealing behind it a young woman who stoically stares at me… And that’s it. She says nothing in any way or form related to apologizing, she doesn’t move, actually.
She just stares. Emotionless.
“Lemon!” Trixie rushes by my side. “Are you okay? Are you hurt?” she asks, checking me up for any injuries.
“Aww, that’s sweet, but don‘t worry, I‘m ok- Ouch!” I yelp as she pulls one of my ears. “What the heck!?”
“Do not run off like that without looking at both sides of the street! Did the incident with Sentry not teach you anything!?” I, uh, okay, I deserved that one.
“Maybe we should focus on our guest?” Flash says, giving the girl a suspicious look. “I don‘t mean to be rude, but you nearly ran over our friend here.”
The woman simply stares at Flash, in fact, if she hadn’t been blinking, I would’ve thought she just died on the spot, or something.
“Trixie thinks we should just ignore her and go,” Trixie suggests. I’m willing to agree to that.
The woman creepily turns her head slightly towards Trixie, staring at her momentarily before turning to me again. “Get in.”
“Aah!” we all yelp surprised as she suddenly talks. Wait. “What did you say?”
“Get in,” she repeats. I honestly cannot tell if this is a request, or a demand.
“Excuse you?” Trixie asks incredulous. “But Trixie thinks you might have something wrong in the head if you think he will be going anywhere with you.”
The stranger simply stares at Trixie, her half-open eyelids eyeing her with disinterest. “No.”
“Um…” Trixie mumbles at a loss of words. “What?”
“Who are you exactly?” Flash asks. “Do we know you?” the woman turns to Flash this time, staring passively before shaking her head very slightly in response. “Okay? Then why do you wants us to get in your… Van.”
She stares at Flash, but doesn’t answer.
“Look, if you want people to go places with you, communication is a must,” he explains.
“… I’m here to pick up Lemon Lime and company.”
“Okay… That’s a start,” Flash nods satisfied. “Now, care to tell us the reason for that, maybe?”
“…” the girl says nothing, instead opting for her now renowned silence.
“Look, we can’t progress this if we don’t know why you want Lemon to go with you, please?” he asks politely, courtly motioning for her to answer.
She closes her eyes momentarily. “I’m here to take him and his friends to Mr. Harmonious Heart's location.”
I feel my eyes widening at her words. And let me tell you, with eyes as big as ours, that’s big. “R-really? No shi- Woah!!” I don't get to finish my sentence since Trixie has just turned me around. "Wow... You have strong hands."
“Lemon, you seriously don’t believe her, do you?” she asks.
“I have to agree. This is far too good to be, well, good,” Flash agrees, giving the woman the occasional stare. “This is an obvious setup.”
“Look,” I start. “She knows that we want to see Heart, without us telling her anything… Don’t you think that’s suspicious?”
“Yes!” they both reply. Well, at least they can agree on SOMETHING.
“Okay, my point is that a chance just dropped on us out of nowhere, are we going to miss it?” I reply in defense. “Besides, other than Sunsass Shitter, who else is really after us, huh?”
*Sigh* Flash sighs, shaking his head. “Lemon…”
“Well, I‘m going,” I say without faltering. I did not come this far for nothing, and not specially when I may have a chance to see him.
Flash shakes his head disapprovingly. “I can’t believe I’m doing this.”
“What!?” Trixie shrieks. “Please don’t tell me you are going to agree to this!”
“I don’t agree with it,” he sighs. “But there is no way that I’m letting him go on his own with this stranger. ”
“You two are being complete imbeciles! Just… ” she stomps her foot, taking a deep breath and turning to me. “Grr! Fine! Trixie will go, she won’t allow herself to miss it after last time.”
I grin contently. It’s good to know that she has my back. “Thanks Trix.”
“But if Trixie dies, we are SO breaking up,” she huffs.
“A-alrighty…“ okay, how do still I not see this coming from her every time?
…
And so, several minutes later, Flash and I are riding in the back of a strange older woman‘s car -there is a molestation joke in there, but that's beneath me- with Trixie following right behind on her grandma’s car by her own suggestion. Good idea, although it might just be her wanting to sit with me and have Flash drive, but she only ended up screwing herself over since she didn’t want Flash to drive her Grandma’s car.
I’m just guessing, of course. It’s a really boring car ride.
“Lemon,” Flash whispers.
“What?” I reply with a whisper of my own. “And why are we whispering?”
“Say something!”
“What? Why?”
“To avoid suspicion? She might find it odd that we don‘t say anything, don‘t you think?” he asks.
“I guess I do,” I mumble, trying to think up of something to say. “Alright, well, how about his then Flash? Who do you think would be hotter if we were girls. You? Or me?”
Flash tilts his head slowly, giving me the world’s most confused stare. “What the fu- Lemon!”
“What? You said to say something,” I shrug.
“You could be talking about actual important stuff. Preferably to her instead of me!”
“Then just say what you mean!” I huff, turning to the woman who continues driving while ignoring our drivel. Points to her for that.
Although, I guess Flash has a point.
“So… Care to fill us in on who you are, my lady?” I ask respectfully.
“…” she doesn’t reply. Totally didn't see that one coming, insert sarcasm backlash here.
I feel a smack on my arm, and with a pained look, I turn to Flash who has his hand up, clearly not feeling guilty about what he did. “What the hell, Flash?”
“My lady? Seriously?” he asks in disbelief.”What is this? The eighteen hundreds!?”
“Hey! It’s not my fault that I don’t have a fedora to help!” I reply in defense.
He stares at me with his mouth agape in disbelief. “… What!?”
“Mud,” the driving girl says suddenly, startling us.
“Excuse me?” I ask lost. “What are you talking about?”
“That is my name,” she replies quick and mechanically, never wavering from her driving.
“Um, okay, Mud?” what a weird name, but who am I to judge how much her parents didn't love her for giving her that name? “Care to tell us how you know about us? Maybe show us that you aren’t actually kidnapping us, or something of that magnit- Ouch!” I turn to Flash whose elbow is raised. Is it ‘hit Lemon day 2 - Electric Boogaloo’ or something?
“What is with you today!?” he growls under his breath. “Stop spewing stupid things!”
”Sorry! I’m just nervous, okay!?” I snarl, letting myself rest on the seat. “Look, I just don’t know what’ll happen today… Especially after last time,” yeah, I'm very nervous.
Flash gives me a brooding gaze. “What happened last time? You’ve hinted at it before, but you haven’t really told me about it.”
“Never you mind,” I reply quickly. “We have to focus on this.”
“Fine…” he looks ahead, his brows suddenly arched in surprise. “Anyway, where do you think we are going? Seems that getting it out of Mud here won‘t do us much good,” he doesn’t bother to say it in a low voice -- she obviously doesn’t care.
I sigh. “I’m as sure of our destination as you are. Guess we’ll find out soon enough, right?”
…
Why? Just… Why?
I shake my head as we approach a fancy looking fence in the distance, I look around, hoping for another road to take, but there doesn’t seem to be any as it is a straight road to the place.
I ask again. Why? Why here of all places?
“Interesting place for Mr. Heart to be in, huh?” Flash comments looking surprised, although I can gather it is for very different reasons.
“You are telling me,” I sigh, as the fence of Equus Private School comes to focus, and a sense of inferiority seeps into me. Well, I also feel a torrent of memories hitting my brain like a stream… From a firefighter hose... Off a lava lake.
Stop hating me, world.
We park right outside, the empty weekend lot allowing us to stop near the entrance.
“So this is the place?” Flash asks, looking out the window.
“Yes,” she replies.
“Is Mr. Heart really here?” Flash continues his interrogation as we exit her van.
“Yes,” she replies. Eloquent woman, isn’t she?
“… So, why don’t we drive inside?” I ask. “Would make it easier, right?“ it’s not like I dislike walking, or anything…
“Use the intercom,” she says simply. “Goodbye.”
“Oh, okay… Wait, what?“ she says nothing more, as she raises the window of her car before driving off. “Wait!” I shout as she slowly pulls out, but she doesn’t listen. She just drives off, leaving us on our own, and I only watch as she disappears in the distance. “… Bitch tricked us!”
Flash comes up next to me, placing his hand on my shoulder. “Let’s just try using the intercom. Besides, worst case scenario; we end up using up Trixie’s gas.”
“That better not be a double entendre,” Trixie says, coming up behind us. “And care to explain what just happened?”
I stare at her confused. “What? Didn’t you see what happened? It happened right now!”
“I… Trixie must have not been paying attention… I was busy with the car!” she says defensively, looking down for some reason. “A-anyway, what is this about an intercom?”
So, I explain to her what happened. Thankfully, it’s not a long process, and we are standing around the intercom soon enough, staring at it as if it was a dead body... Wait, let me try that again.
“So… What now?” Flash asks.
“We use it?" I guess.
"Obviously, but maybe we should have a plan before we do,” Flash suggests.
“For crying out loud!” Trixie growls, pressing the button labeled ‘call’. “Just do it!”
“Trixie!” I gasp. “What the hell? Don’t be dumb!”
“Excuse me?” a voice comes up from the speaker. “Who is there?”
“Ah, um… Hello?” I reply awkwardly, not realizing that I need to press the button again. “H-hi!”
“… This isn’t a prank call, is it?”
“No!” we all shout at the same time. “We are here to, um, see someone! Yes!” I wait for a reply, hoping that was enough of a reason to get her attention… I think it’s a her at least.
“Are you related to one of the students? Or perhaps a teacher?”
I think about it for less of a second before I reply “Um, not really, I me- Ouch!” I turn to Trixie who has now completed the cycle of elbowing the Lemon. I really hope this doesn’t become a tradition.
“In that case, have a good day.”
“No! Wait!” Flash talks this time. “We are here to see Mr. Heart!”
“Like I said, good da- Wait, did you just say Mr. Heart?"
"Yes!"
"Um, I see… Please, wait a moment,” the speaker goes dead, but mere seconds later, it comes back on once more. “Excuse me, is there a ‘Fluttershy’ with you?”
“Fuck! Mud didn’t say anything about Fluttershy!” I gasp. And at this point I’m grasping at straws. And I’m all out of straws!
“Move!” Trixie groans, pushing me out of the way and pressing the button. “I’m Fluttershy,” she says in a soft, sweet voice. “I a-am sorry, we don’t mean to impose, we can come back some other time… If that’s what you wish.”
“… That sounds shy alright. Very well, please, hold on a few minutes, I will send someone to take you to him,” the woman says, and the call is cut.
I turn to Trixie, smiling like an idiot. “Trixie! You! Love you!”
“Yes, Trixie knows she is the best,” she smiles triumphant. “Now, let us finally meet this Mr. Heart, shall we?”
And so, we wait. I grow anxious as we stand around in the silence of the lot. I look inside the place at the well kept grounds, only a few girls seem to be walking around. Guess that weekend studying does that… But why are they all girls? Not that I'm complaining, or anything.
“It’s a girls only school,” Trixie says knowingly.
“That explains it…“ I say, noticing her stare at the school with a downcast look. “Hey Trix? You okay? You look a bit off,“ I say a bit worried.
"It's nothing," she waves it off, hardening her gaze. I manage to notice her steal another glance towards the school before turning her back to it.
"Trixie, let's just cut the crap and get to the point, alright? We both know that we are gonna argue, and I'm going to find out what it is after badgering you for a few minutes, so let's not, alright?" I suggest.
She frowns, shaking her head. “Grr, yes, Trixie knows this," she runs a hand through her hair, pushing it out of her eyes. She doesn't think I see it, but I can see her pupils turning towards the school. "Trixie, by which I mean I, was supposed to come study here, is all.”
“Oh,” well, I imagined as much, what with the weird look and those grades of hers too. “But wait, how come you didn’t?”
“Trixie… Had her reasons,” she says awkwardly. “I don’t mean to be rude, but I’d rather not talk about them.”
Hey, at least she was direct about it. “Well. look at the bright side! If you had come here, you wouldn’t have met me, right?” I say, placing my hand around her.
She snorts, shaking her head. “Jury is still out on that one.”
I chuckle amused, turning to the school behind the fence. I haven‘t been thinking much about it, but Discord might actually be inside this place... Might as well get it out right now. “Trixie?”
“Hmm?” she hums quizzically, looking up with her big, blue, cute, beautiful e- Argh! Focus!
“Well, we are here and you know, if I end up being right about what I said before, and a way to go back home is there, well…”
“Enough,” she stops me, placing a finger over my lips. “Trixie believes we already had this discussion before, no?”
“Well, yeah, but…”
“No buts! Trixie will deal with what happens as it comes. Understand?”
“But, what if I end up g-”
“Do you want another ‘debate’?” she smirks, licking her lips in a very suggestive fashion. “Trixie is very up for it.”
“I, er, well… I understand,” I nod weakly. I’m sure that a pair of teenagers making out at the entrance of a private school is a total no-no. “Although if it does come to that, I’m a bit sad that I won’t be able to say goodbye to Pinkie.”
Trixie snorts loudly, pushing me away. “Pinkie!? Psst! She decided to be missing, this is all her own doing. You shouldn’t be feeling bad about it.”
Woah, complete mood change much? “Trixie, she was my first real friend here.”
“And look who isn’t here now!” she snarls back. “Not that it matters, Trixie already knows how this will turn out."
“I, wait… What is that supposed to mean?”
“Let’s just say that Trixie knows the current you well enough and leave it at that,” she says vaguely… What is with you and the vague crap today!?
*Creak* the big, fence door suddenly roars to life, making me remember we are here for a reason. I turn towards it, and watch as it mechanically slides open. Behind it, I notice a girl standing righ- OH, COME ON!
I... Ugh.
The girl simply stands there, with her hands in her pockets of a lab coat which looks like it could use a wash, I could say the same about her hair, which is tied in a lazy attempt at styling. And her glasses? Broken through the middle, and held by a dirty looking tape -- This is a girl who shows lack of interest in her own appearance, at least at this moment.
Because despite the way she looks today, the girl standing there is the human Twilight Sparkle I met months before.
God, just… Shoot me now.
She looks at us with an examining gaze, almost as if she were studying us -I wouldn’t put it past her, being Twilight and all- her face remaining neutral and emotionless. “So, you three are Mr. Heart’s guests?” she finally asks, her tone completely neutral, clearly showing she doesn’t remember who I am… I don’t know whether to be happy, or cry uncontrollably.
“Y-yes,” I barely reply. Crying it is. “I mean… We are,” I say, wiping the incoming tears away.
“I see,” she replies, not noticing my reaction, she instead looks over to Flash and Trixie who remain silent, staring back at her… Aaaand still staring a good few seconds. I’m starting to feel like a fourth wheel. “Very well, follow me,” she finally says, urging us to follow.
We walk the unknown roads of the school grounds, taking the chance to partake in an indirect tour, I look around with awe, as everything looks akin to a small fancy college -which it could also be- there are only a handful of girls walking around, so I guess Saturday school for a private school isn't a recurring thing.
This is completely irrelevant to the situation at hand, but I am far too nervous to say something to Twilight… I should really say something.
“Um, so, Ms. Twilight, do you work here?” I say that’s a good question to start with, right? And she won't be suspicious!
She turns around, holding a glare. “How did you know my name?”
“Um,” oh wait! She didn't tell us her name! Oh god, oh god, um, think, think! “I saw your… Name… Tag?” I squeak, holding my best pokerface.
She -holy shit- looks down at her coat, and right there, to my insanely lucky ass, is a moderately visible nametag with picture and all, her name plastered big enough to be readable. “Ugh… How did I forget,” with a grunt, she pulls on the tag, and haphazardly shoves it into a pocket.
“Um, sorry?” I apologize.
She sighs and turns to me. “If you must know, I’m here furthering my studies, and to that extent, doing this is taking my valuable time, so let’s just get this over with,” she groans, continuing the walk.
“R-right,” we turn and follow a smaller road, climbing a couple of stairs leading up to a bigger building in the back, with Human Twilight silently muttering the rest of the road. Complaining aside, we make it there easily enough. “Here you go, he should be inside.”
I thank her, and watch as she instantly turns to leave. “Wait!” I call for her, stopping her.
She turns around with a scowl and crosses her arms. “What now?” I'm now questioning my brain.
“Um, well, you... Said! That's right! You said that you didn’t wanna waste your time, then how come you were the one to show us here, huh?” I ask. Lemon Lime is best liar.
She smirks amusedly and shakes her head slightly. “Probably so I could get some air… Teachers don’t like me staying inside twenty-four/seven,” she puts a hand through her hair, sighing. “Is that all? Or are you going to continue your interrogation?”
I slowly nod once, and she turns around and leaves without another word. I just watch as she slowly makes her way down the road and disappears behind a building. Huh, It’s strange, I mean, I should have been more nervous after seeing her again, but for some reason I don’t… Maybe it's just that human Twilight is a biiiitch.
“Lemon!” Trixie calls. And by call, I mean, she pulls on my ear. Hard.
“Ouououououch! Geez,” I push her hand away, feeling the tears brimming in my eyes. “Come on! You interrupted my mental introspection! It was smart and all that jazz!”
“It looked like you were staring at Twilight rather than us,” Flash laughs.
“Yeah, well, I was talking to her, you guys didn’t say anything… Speaking of, why didn’t you guys say anything?” I argue back.
They look at each other, and without wasting time, they reply. “No reason.”
I roll my eyes, and wasting no time, I head for the double doors. “Let’s get this over with.” I slowly push the doors open, revealing a huge lobby behind, the first thing I notice is the front desk, which happens to be empty right now. Then, the rest of the building becomes apparent as rows upon rows of books are around... Geez, not even Golden Oaks had this many books.
“What is is with you people and libraries,” Trixie notes, pointing at the numerous bookshelves set around. “Not even Trixie would hang out in a library on the weekend.”
“Well, my dear, some of us are just boring like that,” a voice says loudly, breaking through the silence of the library, I look around, and from one of the halls, a person comes out with a book in hand, his balding blue scalp shining in the bit of light entering the windows.
“You…” I say, breathing becoming suddenly difficult. That voice… That’s John Dewhatever's voice for sure.
“Correct, I am me. Although I’m sure that’s obvious,“ he starts, chuckling at his own 'jpke'. “But if you were referring to whom I am, that would be Harmonius Heart, yes,” he looks at us his lips twisting into a smirk. “I can gather that you three are the ones looking for me?“
“That would be correct,“ Flash answers.
“I see. But I believe there is a certain young lady missing… I thought that Fluttershy would be here,” he says with a disappointed tone.
“Unfortunately, she isn’t here, sir,” Flash explains.
“Dude!” I hiss, taking the opportunity to get some payback with my elbow. “Da hell?”
“Do you really expect him to believe us?” he explains. “We might as well be transparent about the issue.”
Heart grins amused. “Well, I can respect honesty, but the fact remains that I’ve been already lied to.”
Before I can say anything, Trixie quickly steps forward. “It was T- I mean, I pretended to be Fluttershy. I’m sorry,” she apologizes with her head down.
“Hmm… I knew you looked familiar, well, well, if it isn’t Trixie Lulamoon,” he notes, to Trixie’s surprise.
“How did you…”
“You are one of the highest ranked students at Canterlot High, I've heard of you, young lady. You are quite the studious one,” he notes.
“Oh, t-thank you, sir,” Trixie says with a blush, looking down like a tomato… Wait, let me try that analogy again…
“Which means that you must be Lemon Lime, correct?” he points towards me… Wait.
”Huh? What? How would you know who I am?” I ask concerned. I get the feeling that it wasn’t just a guess.
“Well, Fluttershy told me quite a bit about you in her latest letter, more than enough, in fact,” wait, was that anger in his voice? “In any case, she doesn’t usually talk about people other than her other four friends… And animals, of course,” he laughs. “And this is out of the topic, but she has been rather happy lately thanks to you, whatever it is you did, you helped her accept something about herself, and for that, I thank you,” he thanks me with a bow and all that jazz.
“U-um, you are welcome…” geez, I’m not THAT great…
“And you… Pardon, but Fluttershy didn’t speak of another male friend of hers, unless you happen to be Pinkie Pie,” he suggests, chortling weakly.
“No!” I cut in quickly. “For one, Pinkie is actually cute, er, I mean, he isn’t Pinkie, she is, um, occupied, yeah…” whoops, I can already feel Trixie’s gaze piercing a hole on my head.
“Um, no sir, I’m Flash Sentry,” Flash says unfazed, stretching his hand to Heart.
“Well, it is a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Sentry,” Heart says, returning the handshake.
“See? He isn’t bad like you said,” Trixie whispers. “Are you ready to accept that this person isn’t who you believe he is?”
“No! Not yet,” I reply. “We need to talk to him some more!”
“Well, since dear Fluttershy isn’t here, does that mean there is something I can help you with?" he asks, eyeing us curiously.
I quickly notice Flash and Trixie staring at me attentively, as if waiting for something. Heart himself catches on and stares too, and I feel like I am being thoroughly violated right now. “… What!? What are you all looking at?”
“What do you mean what!?” Trixie growls. “You said you wanted to speak with him! Well, speak!”
“Um…” I freeze. I scratch my head awkwardly, not knowing what to say. “Is it a bad time to say that I didn’t really plan to get this far?”
…
Silent stares are the only response I receive.
Heart lets out a brief laugh, nodding his head. “Well, if that’s the case, what if you think about it over some tea? I do have some in my room,” he suggests.
I give him a questioning look. “Wait… Aren’t you going to kick us out? Since we lied to get he-” I come to a grinding halt, as Trixie -take a guess- elbows my ribs. “Ouch, my god! Again with the hitting! Stop with the hitting!”
“What Lemon means to say is that we would gladly take you up on your offer,” she says in a calm tone. “Thank you.”
“Of course! Follow me, we’ll have to walk a bit, but nothing too bad,” he says, passing us as he heads to the exit.
“Hmm,” I stare at him unconvinced. “I don’t buy it, he has to be hiding something.”
“Lemon,” Flash appears next to me, rolling his eyes. “Just give it up, or at least let him gives us some tea first, maybe you’ll find out that he isn’t that bad!”
“… Fine, let’s just go.” And so I begrudgingly go along with the crowd, walking outside again to a darker outside, the sun beginning to set in the distance, marking the end of the daylight. This feels very ominous.
Not to mention I’m STILL walking.
“Mr. Heart,” I call, getting the attention of the old man. “I don’t mean to be rude or anything, but how come we weren’t driven in here by that woman? I mean, she did drive us to the entrance. It would have made it easier to reach you.”
Unexpectedly, he gives me a quizzical look, and scratching his head, he shrugs. “Whatever do you mean? Your visit was a surprise, so I didn’t send for anyone to pick you up, and for that matter, who is this woman you speak of?”
Flash and Trixie turn their eyes to me, giving me looks of concern. “I see… I really don’t know what to tell you,” frowning, I look back into what happened, and I have to ask -- if she didn’t work for Heart, then who was she? And why did she bring us here?
Welcome to the list of things that don’t make any sense to me, maybe it can work with Chryssa’s sudden, maddened rage to figure each other out, Celestia forbid it would do me a favor.
A few minutes later, we enter an old looking building near the back of the campus, I guess it’s a dorm of some sort, but outside its decrepit state, this looks like every other building here.
“This used to be a dorm for the teachers who first began passing their knowledge here over four decades ago,” Heart explains as we stop by a random door on the second floor. “It isn’t used quite as often nowadays, so it’s a perfect place for me to stay,” he opens the door wide, and points inside. “And so, I welcome you all to my temporal abode!”
“What,” I mouth off in disbelief. What outside looked like a low rent living apartment has a feel of a very stylish office on the inside. “How even…?”
“Well, I have been using this building for a good time now, I have added my own touches through the years,” he says, putting his book on a shelf by the entrance. “Come now! Sit down, I’ll go ahead and make us some tea!”
We do as we are told, sitting on a couch in the middle of the room. And as Heart i- Oh, screw it, I hate that name. As DISCORD goes to the next room to make tea, I use the time to examine the place, noticing another door. “Why is there a door leading to the next room over?” I quietly ask the pair sitting to each side of me.
“Trixie believes that maybe the room has been expanded to the one over. There is no bed after all,” she explains, pointing at the room we are in. “Mr. Heart seems to have made this his home in the city.”
I groan audibly. “Real talk? I don’t really like the ‘Heart’ name he seems to have given himself, it’s just too weird after knowing him by something else.”
“What are you babbling about?” Trixie questions. “What else would you know him for? You don‘t mean that ‘Discord’ name, do you?”
“Of course I do!” I mean, what else would I know him for? “Besides, Discord sounds much cooler than Harmonious Heart, right?”
“Which has yet to be proven! Trixie would prefer you called him He-” *Crash* “What was that!?”
We all turn our heads quickly to the source of the noise, and notice Discord picking up a broken cup from the floor.
“Oh, pardon me, I seem to have dropped a cup,” he apologizes, quickly picking up the remains.
From that point on, our conversation dies, and we simply wait as he brings out the tea and sits with us, and… Okay, I hate to admit it, but he is a rather pleasant man, we speak of trivial things for the following hour, and he listens to us intently, adding his own thoughts every once in a while. To be honest, nothing I ask him brings a sense of impending chaotic doom, so I'm soon out of any subtle ammo against him.
Phenomenal...
We continue conversing, and we would have kept going If my phone hadn't beeped, signaling a message from mom and pretty much marking the end of the visit.
“Well, that’s too bad,” Heart says with a sad tone as he leads us out. “Are you sure you’ll be fine going back on your own?”
“Yes sir, we saw where we came from and we have our own vehicle, thank you,” Flash reiterates.
“Ah, very well, it was nice to meet you three, have a pleasant trip!” he pats my shoulder rather hard, nearly making me trip. This guy is strong for his age! … Whatever that may be. "I'm sure we'll meet again."
And so, we say our goodbyes, and before we know it, we are back in Trixie’s vehicle, driving down the highway.
“Well, what do you have to say, Lime?” Trixie suddenly asks with a satisfied grin.
“Fine, fine,” I begrudgingly give in. “He was really nice! You were right!” I groan annoyed. Trixie doesn’t notice it, but it’s starting to hit me that maybe, just maybe, there isn’t a way back to my own world. “Just drop it, okay?”
She rolls her eyes annoyed. “No need for the attitude, Lemon.”
“No n- No need!?” I say in disbelief. “Oh, I’m sorry, didn’t know that with my last hope gone my attitude wasn’t warranted!”
Trixie shoots me a quick glare, quickly returning her sight to the front. “It isn’t Trixie’s fault that Mr. Heart wasn’t this ‘Discord’ person, don’t take it out on her!”
”Hmm?” Flash hums from the back, patting my shoulder.
“Flash! The adults are talking!” I grunt, pushing his hand away.
“Talk? You are just shouting everything,” Trixie continues as if uninterrupted.
“I’m still talking!” I shoot back. “See? My voice isn’t shouty, or anything!”
“Guys?” Flash calls again.
“Shut it, Sentry!” Trixie says this time. “And it's called a hyperbole, don't argue that with Trixie!”
I bare my teeth at her, hoping that the image isn’t as ridiculous as it is in my head. “Joke’s on you, I don’t even know what that means!”
“Wouldn’t be the first thing!”
“Why do you always have to argue with me!?”
“Shut up!” Flash shouts, submitting us into a surprised silence. “Will you just listen!?”
“What!?” both Trixie and I say in a normal, but irritated voice. No shouting!
“Just… Look,” he sighs, handing me a piece of paper.
“What is this?” I ask, looking at the paper.
“Just read it!” he orders.
"Psst, rude," I turn the paper around, noticing a couple written words on it. After fumbling around with it for a couple of seconds, I notice a message.
…
“Wait, what?”
Trixie turns her head to me in confusion. “What’s the matter? Trixie is confused.”
“Let’s just say that we are taking a field trip before going home, get ready to change directions,” I take out my phone and load the map app.
“What? Where to?” she asks, shaking her head in confusion.
I can‘t help but grin as I turn to tell her. “Rainbow Falls park, this day isn‘t over yet.”
~~~~~
“Fine, alright, I get it. You have to help Trixie. Just please promise me you’ll come right back, alright?”
I sigh in relief. “Yes mom, I will.”
“Oh, an-” she cuts off, her voice sounding far off. Possibly conversing with dad. “And don’t forget to use protection! Bye!” *beep* I… God dammit.
Flash watches me as I put my phone away. “So, what did they say?”
“They are okay with it,” I say, giving him a thumbs up. “So now all we have to do is wait,."
Trixie remains silent, tapping her feet impatiently. “Trixie doesn’t like this… What if this is a trap?” she says with a quiver in her voice.
“Trixie, we are in a public park,” I point out, noting the trees surrounding us, although I have to admit that the twilight is rather gloomy as the sun fully sets in the horizon. “Besides, we are both here!”
“Is that supposed to make Trixie feel better,” shs huffs, turning her face away. “Can’t believe I’m saying this, but having Pinkie here would have made it more bearable.”
“Yeah…” I can’t help but agree. She was always trying her best to cheer us up.
“Psst, you would like that,” she harrumphs annoyed.
"Here we go again!" I snap with increasing annoyance. “What is that supposed to mean?”
She steals a glance for a second, but she doesn‘t keep it, simply choosing to remain attentive of my good looks. “Trixie wonders that herself…”
*Rustle*
Flash bolts coolly into action, stepping in front of us both. “Alright guys, look sharp.”
We stare at a pair of bushes rustling, I gulp as it continues moving, whatever it’s behind taking its sweet time, until finally, a person bursts out of it.
“Accursed bushes,” complaints the indistinguishable form of Harmonious Heart, who quickly proceeds to clean slivers of grass from his suit.
“Mr. Heart,” I say his name, moving in front of Flash. “Hey again.”
He nods respectfully. “Greetings, I figure you got my message?”
I reach into my pocket and take out the note, holding it in front of him. “Meet me at Rainbow Falls park in an hour. All of you should come. Signed, Heart,” I read the note out loud for him to hear. “Yes, I say we did, what is this all about?”
He nods. “I will get straight to the point,” he begins pacing around, holding his chin thoughtfully. “Young Trixie referred to me by another name earlier, did she not?”
“You mean ‘Discord,’” I say out loud to get to the issue. “Is that it?”
“Hmm…” he stays serious, turning his back to us. “I see, so I didn’t imagine it then, did I?”
“No sir,” Flash joins, appearing interested all of a sudden. “Is that important? Maybe you could tell us what that’s all about, please.”
Heart begins laugh in a low voice, shaking his head. “I’ll start by saying that I can’t believe I would hear that name again, it’s been long, I must admit.”
This time Trixie bolts upright, pushing herself to the front. “So you really are…?”
Heart continues in a low voice. “You are all good kids, you know that?”
I get a sudden tingle in my back at his words, and hesitantly, I ask. “Why are you saying that?”
He turns around slowly, his face showing a disconcerting smile, but most terrifyingly, is his hand, which brandishes a small handgun now pointed at us. “Because we are all going to regret what’s going to happen here, of course.”
We all freeze in place at the sight of the gun, but I can’t help but let out something as I stare at the barrel of the gun.
“Arr, I fucking called it!”
*Bang*