//------------------------------// // Chapter XXIII: Hayburgers // Story: Distorted Fate // by Silvak //------------------------------// "Um... Twilight, are you okay?" I gingerly asked as I slowly backed away from the manic alicorn. "Never better! Though I wish Spike didn't force me to stop my research on those crystals again. He wants me to take a break, but he doesn't understand that those crystals are an absolute mystery. Their unusual reaction alone to magic is so unheard of, I just wish I knew where they originated from!" Twilight said, her manic smile not slipping once. Okay... this mare is way too caught up with sci—wait a minute... the Maralus shards are producing unusual reactions to magic? Hmm... I need to keep that in mind for the future... and make sure the twins never get near them. "Well... you look tired Twilight, maybe you need some sleep?" "Not you too! Spike already told me that I need some sleep, but I'm perfectly fine, already had ten cups of coffee today and I feel fantastic!" ...Whatever this 'coffee' is, I doubt it's healthy for anypony to have ten cups of it, I thought to myself as she continued. "So since I can't continue my research, I think it's a good time to continue your magic lessons." "You mean for me to teach you more of my language, right?" I deadpanned. "Eh heh... looks like nothing is going to get past you," Twilight sheepishly said. "So how's your levitation practice going?" "I am... getting better, use 'levitation' to write in my... school time.  I am able to use it for about... one and a half as long as the first time." "Oh my, you're improving fast, maybe you're ready to try levitating multiple objects at once. How about we go to your room in the Sugarcube Corner so we can practice in private?" Before I said yes, I suddenly remembered the Maralus shards stashed in my room. I don't know if these ponies can be sensitive to their presence, especially Twilight since she's an alicorn. Best to choose a separate location for the time being. Looking at Twilight, I said, "No, twins are there, they may get in way and will... bother me while I practice my magic." "Hmm... you have a good point there, and the library isn't an option right no—" Twilight said before a rumble from my stomach interrupted her. As I looked at my stomach in annoyance, Twilight just smirked at me said she said, "Looks like some little filly is hungry today. How about we go to Hay Burger for some dinner?  My treat." Giving her a shrug, I followed Twilight to this 'Hay Burger' place, figuring that as long as we were in some public place, I would have someone to save me if this mare's mind finally snapped, if it hadn't already. It didn't take long to arrive at the place, which at first glance looked similar to Sugarcube Corner, but at the registers the similarities ended. Above the registers they had their menu displaying all the food they cooked here, though I knew that there was more food than what was shown judging by the number of lines with prices next to them that indicated their full menu. "So what do you want Aether?" Twilight asked, to which I simply gave her a deadpanned stare. "Oh... you probably can't read the menu beyond the pictures... eh heh..." "Just... give me what you are getting," I dryly replied. "Are you sure? What if you don't like it?" Twilight asked. "I had worse." "Okay..." Twilight replied before placing our orders.  While she ordered a hayburger, a side of 'hay fries' and a chocolate 'milkshake' for me, I was amazed by her own order, that consisted of four hayburgers, though of a different kind based on the additional words she used duing that part of the order, two sides of hay fries and a shake for herself.  After we received our meals, we took a seat at a table near a wall that was on the other side of the entrance to avoid the flow of ponies coming in and out. I tried to eat my meal, but was stopped by the site of... well, Twilight gorging herself. As disgusting as it was, it was one of those sights that you can't take your eyes off, no matter how much your brain tells you to look away. Where does all that food go? I thought to myself as I inspected her body, not finding it to be chubby in any way based on what I know of pony fitness so far. Her burgers were even more than twice the size of my own, and after taking a quick look around the place, I found that no other pony had ordered a meal as large as Twilight had. "Something wrong with your hayburger, Aether?" Twilight asked as she paused her consumption of her third burger as its sauce dripped off her face, ruining any look of nobility for her. "No-nothing, just was... thinking," I replied before I returned to my own meal. Unlike Twilight, I ate much more neatly, for I never really liked getting my fur unnecessarily dirty if I could avoid it. After I finished my burger, I could only watch in horror as Twilight finished her last burger and began to stuff the fries down her throat. I even turned my head to look at her barrel (another word that I quickly picked up due to Pinkie wanting to tickle me from time to time, which was my misfortune for my new body is ticklish), to receive the eerie sight of it not being bloated from all the food she had already eaten. Deciding that I couldn't stomach down anymore food until Twilight finally finished... eating, I looked at my fries and decided to practice using levitation on multiple objects at once as Twilight said. Remembering her exact words from the first lesson, I tried to apply my magic on two separate fries. It took greater concentration than my first try on levitation, but it didn't take long before I was able to cause both fries to float up into the air. "Wow, you're advancing quite well for a filly of your age," Twilight commented as she watched me, though her words broke my concentration and caused me to drop the fries. Rubbing my forehead with a hoof, I replied, "Maybe, but that was not easy still. It does mean that I do not need you to teach me how to do many objects at once, so no words for that," as I gave Twilight a teasing sneer. "Hey, I did get you dinner," Twilight responded with an annoyed expression as her frazzled mane grew more messy. "But you said it was a treat," I countered, keeping up my sneer. Moments passed before I broke my composure as I laughed at Twilight's expense. "Relax, I will teach you some words still, but you owe me a magic 'spell' then." Twilight grumbled for a moment before she summoned a notepad and quill, giving me the opportunity to finish the rest of my meal without the disturbing sight of her eating habits. Twilight's lesson this time around was... less pleasant, though I had to lay the blame at her current state.  The first word I instructed her was 'food' since we were eating, writing it down first before once again watching the spectacle of Twilight trying to pronounce the word only to butcher it in her first few attempts. "What does your culture call that?" Twilight asked as she pointed at my remaining hay fries. "We do not have them in my... 'culture'." "How about hay burgers?" "Not those either." "Milkshakes?" Twilight asked, only to receive a shake of my head. "Hmm... oh! How about quills?" Twilight said, as she wave the quill in front of my face with her magic. Sighing to myself, I rubbed the sides of my head with my hooves before saying my language's word for quill. "Twilight, maybe you need a break from all this... well... a break from learning new things," I said as I grabbed the quill out of the air and wrote down my language's word on the notepad. "What are you talking about?" "You are being... well, all over the place with your mind. I said food and you were stuck on it, not thinking much besides it until you ran out of food on our table. I think you need some rest." "Look, I'm perfectly fine, lets just conti—" Twilight said before I hopped onto the table and shoved my hoof into her mouth. I wasn't in the mood to deal with her mania anymore as I peered into her eyes with my own narrowed eyes, causing her to pause in whatever protest she had for my behavior. "Twilight, you are not looking well, and you are not... behaving well. Spike is right, you need a break. Relax for a few days, then you can work again, and work good instead of... this," I said before I pulled out my hoof. For a moment Twilight said nothing as she pondered my words, but I soon saw her face working into a frustrated look, I chose to stop her in her tracks again. "Look if you do not rest for a few days, I will not teach anymore words to you, but if you do rest, I teach you.... twenty words in return." Twilight quickly calmed down as she thought about my offer before giving me a nod as she said, "Alright, you win. I'll... relax as you said. Though it's surprising that you said all that, Aether. A normal filly wouldn't be able to come up with that reasoning so quickly." Shit, she has a point. How am I going to redirect her suspici—got it! Looking at Twilight with the most serious expression I could muster, I said, "Well, we both know I am not normal, I had to live alone for a while, remember?" My question caused Twilight's eyes to widen in shock, and she quickly lowered her head down as her ears folded onto her head as she said, "Sorry... I didn't mean to remind you of your past." "It is... fine Twilight, my past is... bad but now I am living with more... well I am more happy now," I replied, causing her to raise her head again as my words eased her sorrow. "I think we should go now, it is getting late and I have to be home soon before Pinkie starts to worry... or go find me herself," I said with a shiver as the memory of her appearing out of boxes flashed across my mind. "True, we shouldn't get Pinkie or the Cakes worried about you. Do you need me to take you home?" "No thank you, I will be fine," I answered as I get off my seat while Twilight used her magic to clean up the mess we, or should I say she, made. "Thank you for dinner Twilight, I hope to see you in a couple days." After Twilight gave me her farewell, I headed back to the Sugarcube Corner, where I received a friendly hug from Pinkie the moment I stepped inside, though a friendly hug in Pinkie's case is more like her trying to crush all of my ribs. She then asked why I took so long with Rarity, only for me to truthfully answered that I spent the rest of the day with Twilight, before telling her to take a break from her work due to how crazed she looked. This in turn caused Pinkie to give me another 'friendly hug' as she said she was proud of me for telling Twilight that. After I checked to see that my ribs were intact, gave the Cakes the usual pleasantries, and told Pinkie that Cheerilee needed to met her in the morning whenever she could make it, I made my way back to my room for some last minute magic practice before I turned in for the night. As I pulled the covers over me, the memory of my nightmare crossed my mind, only for me to shake it off as I thought it was probably just some fluke or just my mind coping with the horror of that one world that I've been to. Instead, to keep that memory off my mind, I recalled the memories I made in this world, which to be honest were extremely pleasant compared to the rest of my life, as I drifted off to sleep.