Chapter 61: One Simple Act
When Bryce arrived at Rocksalt's house early the next morning he found the dull brown colt curled up, using a stack of newspapers for a pillow.
Normally, Bryce would have thought nothing of it and left the colt alone. But Rocksalt was expected to deliver said papers, and if he ruffled the pages and smudged the ink illegible on his first day then he doubted he would have the job for very long. Besides, if Bryce had to suffer being up two hours earlier than usual Rocksalt would have to, as well.
Bryce bent down and nudged the colt. "Hey, Kid, it's time to get up."
Slowly opening his eyes, Rocksalt found the human kneeling over him. He let out a wide mouthed yawn. "Hey, Bryce. I was just...getting..." He began to nod off.
Bryce grabbed Rocksalt on the shoulder and shook him back to the sticky humidity of the waking world. "Come on, Kid. You gotta make a good impression on your first day."
Rocksalt waved the human's hands away before placing his hooves under his own head, smacking his lips.
In a last ditch effort, and knowing Rocksalt would hate him for it, Bryce cupped his hands over the colt's mouth and nose, took in a mouthful of air, and blew his rank morning breath into his cupped hands.
From a single whiff, Rocksalt gagged. He grabbed at his throat and took in as much air as his lungs would allow, thinking each one may be his last. "Eh, what the hay's your problem!?"
Bryce gave a smirk. "Good, you're up. Well, let's get going."
"Give me a sec; I almost died. When'd ya last brush your teeth?"
"It's been about...four days."
Rocksalt gagged again, wishing now it had killed him.
After he caught his breath, and recovered enough from Bryce's exhale, Rocksalt was ready to start the day.
For the next half hour Bryce and Rocksalt went about the latter's paper route. Bryce carried the papers, which Rocksalt would throw, aiming for the doorsteps. The colt's first few tries at tossing were less than satisfactory; missing the mark by feet. By the halfway mark his form had improved, missing by mere inches.
By the time the pair reached the last house on the route, Rocksalt was able to toss the paper well enough to where it was six inches from the bull's eye.
The boys marked this achievement with a quick high five.
"That's it, Kid, now you're getting the hang of it. And that's all of'em."
The colt gave a yawn, rubbing the sleep out of his young eyes. "That's all of'em? That's great."
"You did good, Kid. You've done more than anyone else has today, so far. And it's not even 6 o'clock yet."
"Yeah, well..."
"Hey, don't sell yourself short. You earned your pay."
"Yeah," Rocksalt said as he twirled his shoulder in its socket. "Though my sholder's kinda sore."
Bryce bent down, rubbed his palms lengthwise, and placed his hands on the colt's sore muscles. "That's from you not having to using it that much in so little time." He gave the site a deep massage, relieving Rocksalt's aches in seconds. "How's that feel?"
Rocksalt turned his shoulder around. "Dang, that feels better than new."
"Great, now let's get you on home to bed."
By the time Rocksalt was back home the sun was beginning to fill the eastern part of the sky with brilliant pink hues, while the Mare in the Moon took one last look at the world before it lay down to rest in the west; plotting what would be her domain in less than a year's time.
For many, the sight of the dawn would be a beautiful, if not romantic experience. But for Bryce, thanks to his hypersensitivity, the sun brought with it retina searing light, merciless heat, and the inevitable springs of sweat that would leave him wet all over. And if that wasn't bad enough, his ankle had waited until now to tell him the weather report: 'IT'S GON RAIN!!!' And it felt to be a big one.
Bryce whipped the sweat off his brow, wanting more than anything for the day to be over.
As Bryce trudged back into town, he heard somepony call out to him. "Hey, you!"
Turning towards the voice half heartedly, Bryce perked up when he saw who it belong to: The silver unicorn. She glittered like a silver vein in the rising sunlight as she made her way over to Bryce.
"Oh... Hey, uh, you. What brings you out here so early?"
"I have an early appointment at the hospital," the mare told Bryce. "I wanted to see if I could go ahead and get my treatment done early. But then I saw you. What about you? What brings you out so early?"
"Well, there's this kid. He's a friend of mine and I'm trying to increase his outlook on life, because he doesn't have very many friends. I helped him get a job as a paperboy and his mother wanted me to watch over him the first few weeks."
"Is that so?" The mare asked in a delightful tone. "Well, aren't you the good Big Brother, looking after your little bro!"
"Well, you can say that, I guess. I mean, I'm just trying to help a brother out." Bryce gave a smirk.
The mare gave a laugh. "You're funny! Hey, since I caught you, and since my appointment isn't for a little while, how about you and I go and have a coffee?"
"That sounds good to me, but I think I'll have a cup of tea, if that's okay with you."
"It doesn't matter to me."
A short distance away there was a cafe. Deciding to take a seat outside, Bryce held out a seat for the mare. A waitress came to take their order not long after. "Do you know what you want, or do you need a minute?" She asked.
"No, we're ready. I'll have a cup of tea and she'll have coffee."
The waitress jotted down Bryce's order, giving the human an odd look before she finished scribbling down the order and going inside.
As they waited for their order, Bryce and the mare talked. "Well, I hope they don't take too long. I need something to wake up before work."
"Oh, where do you work?"
"At the construction site on the edge of town. It's tough work, but I like it."
"A construction worker? I knew you were strong, but that's something. What do you do?"
"Well, I work at the site. I nail in flooring, walls, stairs. You name it. "Sometimes I have to do some heavy lifting. In fact, I had to carry a cement mixer up five flights of stairs to get the job. It even had cement in it."
"Wow, that's sounds heavy."
"Believe me, it was. Turns out I didn't even have to carry it up that far. But I did get the crew off two hours early. Regardless, the pay's good, and I like what I do. And what about you, what do you do to make a living?"
When Bryce said that the mare's expression dampened. "I'm not really working right now."
"Well, what did you used to do?"
"I've had a lot of different jobs. It would be easier to tell you what I haven't done. But right now I'm not well enough to even do a job that has me sitting all day, with the weekly trips I need to take to the hospital." The mare went silent.
"I don't know if I should ask this, but is there something wrong with you?"
The mare looked down at the table, and began to say, "Bryce, I'm-"
By then the waitress returned with their drinks. "Is there anything I can get for you, sir? Any cream or sugar maybe?"
"Yes. Both, if you can."
After returning with a cream pitcher and a box of sugarcubes Bryce slid the cup of coffee over to the mare. "I'm sorry about that."
The mare waved it off. "It's no problem. Just being here with you is enough for me in the short time I have left."
Bryce cut off stirring in his cream and sugar. He looked to the mare. "Short...time?"
The mare frowned down into her beverage, holding back a tear. "Yes, Bryce. I'm afraid I don't have much time left. You see, I'm sick. And I don't mean like the over the counter drugs sick, I mean the experimental drug thearpy kind of sick."
Bryce was at a loss for words. He turned back to stirring his tea. "I'm... I'm sorry..."
"I don't have anything to forgive you for; you didn't cause this."
"Well... Do the doctors know what it is?"
The mare shook her head. "No, they don't. It's new. Something that affects my whole body. It's hard for me to explain, but from what the doctors have told me its a disease where my body is attacking itself. I run a constant fever at times and I'm always restless. My joints and muscles hurt so bad sometimes it a wonder I manage to-" The mare lost herself in a fit of coughs.
Bryce held a napkins out for her to take. She did a few more coughs into the napkin before the bout ceased. When the mare lowered her hoof from her mouth Bryce noticed the red specks that dotted the napkin.
The mare drew in a deep breath. "I'm sorry you had to see me like this, Bryce." She allowed a tear to escape from her wet eyes.
Bryce ran a tender hand down her back, causing her tears to come forth at a greater rate. She jumped forward and hugged Bryce's arm. "Bryce, I'm scared," she whimpered.
As the mare cried into his chest Bryce ran his free hand down her back. "How long do you have?"
"They can't say. The last time I was there they were trying to get me to check into the hospice. And I'm beginning to think I should."
Bryce ran his finger through the mare's mane. He couldn't have imagined how soft it felt. It was smooth and silky, but was so well kept despite its length. He wanted more than anything now to take a lock of her pink and purple mane so he could stim it whenever he needed something to do.
But looking to what the mane was attached to left Bryce with a gross pit in his stomach. The mare had been sweet to him, and he could hardly bear to see something so small and beautiful fall so short. And all he cared about now was her mane. It was enough to make his heart break. He couldn't allow a creature with such beauty to die from such a heinous and unforgiving malady if he could help it.
He laid his hand to rest on her back. "Look, you don't have to die."
The mare, barely able to look up to the human said, "There's nothing that can be done. I'm dying and there's not a thing the doctors can do."
"Well, maybe they can't. But there is something I can do. Something I doubt you would know was an option." Bryce took a deep breath, preparing to explain himself. "There's a certain ability I have. An ability that may be able to cure your illness."
"R- Really?" The mare asked, in her hoping this wasn't a game.
"Yes, but I don't think I should do it here." Bryce motioned the waitress over, who gave them an odd glance as she cleared the table. She stopped when she saw the red speckled napkin, taking it from a corner not coated with blood.
After paying for the drinks and picking up their to-go cups, Bryce grabbed the mare up and brought her down a back alley. Sitting her down gently on a flattened cardboard box, Bryce took a knee. "Look, I can help you, but I want you tp please, please keep this between us."
The mare looked to him, too weak to keep her head up. She saw the seriousness in his eyes and gave a nod.
"Okay, I'm going to start this out small, since I'm not one hundred percent sure it will work. And because I have work."
Bryce clapped his hands together, shocking the mare. Just like the few times before a warm glow illuminated from within his palms. After he had his life force primed Bryce placed his hands on the mare's chest.
When this happened the mare let out a gasp, as if she had been hit with a defibrillator. The sensation in the mare's chest held for only a few seconds before Bryce took his hands away from the mare.
It took a minute for the mare to recuperate from the experience. It hadn't lasted very long, but it filled her with a feeling of unbounded euphoria. Her heart raced in her chest and her breathing was shallow and light. But it wasn't the usual shallow labored breathing. It was more rhythmic and she didn't feel close to coughing up a mouthful of blood.
As the mare's euphoric state faded, she asked, "Bryce, what was that?"
"Well, let's just say it's something that works."
"I'll say; I haven't felt this well in forever. I don't care what it was, I need more. Now!"
Bryce held up his hands in defense. "Now hold on a second. I'm not trying to get your hopes up, but I think it best we take this slow."
"But Bryce...?" The mare pursed her lips in a pout.
Bryce gave a smirk. "Yeah, that doesn't work on me."
The mare gave him a playful slap. "Ahh, you're so mean."
"I know you feel better now, but I never said this would cure you, only may. And I can't give you too much without hurting myself. But from the looks of it your body is holding what I gave you pretty well."
"But can't you give me just a little more? Because I've been having bad migranes."
Bryce bit his lip, exhaling as he considered the situation. "Okay, I'll do it this once, but if you begin to hear voices that aren't your own you should tell me. Now, where does it hurt the most?"
The mare placed a hoof above her head. "It hurts...all within this circle." She circled her hoof around her entire cranium.
Bryce sighed. "Well, okay. But I won't give very much." Bryce placed a hand on top of her head, and the familiar warm feeling ran through the mare's form.
It left the mare in a state of bliss. The few seconds Bryce had his hand on her head felt as if the elephant that had once been on it was pushed away, and that her brain was given time to air out. She found it hard to hold her mouth shut, allowing a thin stream of droll to drip down her muzzle.
By the time the mare came down from her high Bryce was wiping the saliva off her face.
"Okay, what ever that was, I need more."
Bryce gave a smirk. "I would, but I can't today. I have work in less than an hour. And I didn't get the chance to eat breakfast." He drew a swig of tea from his takeaway cup. "And don't you have an appointment you need to get to yourself?"
The mare's eye's rounded. "Oh no, you're right! What time is it?"
Bryce opened the front casing on his watch. "It's a little before six-thirty."
"Oh no, I have to go, like, now! It was nice seeing you, Bryce. And thank you for...whatever you did. I feel like I could run the Running of the Leaves."
"Maybe now, but go easy. Right not it's only a temporary fix. You're going to need a few more sessions for a lasting effect."
Grabbing her coffee cup, the mare went on her way. Bryce couldn't see it, but she held a menacing, conniving grin that ran from ear to ear. Bryce was the answer to her prayers, and he was none the wiser.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For most ponies the work day would end when it was well into the afternoon. But for Rainbow Dash, who could clear her entire workload in an hour-and-a-half flat, the work day had been over for hours now.
With ample time to do with as she pleased, the rainbow mare took the time to get in some flight practice. After all, a pegasus didn't get chosen to be a Wonderbolt by mere chance. It took skill, evasive action on half-a-second's notice, and the ability to make turns on the dime, all which Rainbow could do but not yet well enough to impress the Wonderbolts.
After spending a fair amount of time to warm up, Rainbow decided it was time to try 'it'. The one trick everypony thought impossible, until she'd done: The Sonic Rainboom.
For years now she had tried to replicate this one trick, and each time she was pushed back by the air resistance, vaulting her back in a violent jerk.
But she wasn't one to give up on something just because it was impossible. She'd proven the Sonic Rainboom was possible when she was a filly, earning her her Cutie Mark. If she could do it then she could do it now. All it would take was finding just the right angle, the right speed, and most important she needed to turn herself up at a right angle just above the ground.
Taking in a deep breath, Rainbow shot up into the air, gaining altitude at a rapid pace. When she was high enough to where she could see all of Ponyville and the farms in the surrounding area, she stopped and prepared her mind and body for her quick descent.
Flexing the muscles in her wings, Rainbow did a few loops in the air to get her speed up before darting downwards at a diagonal. In seconds she cleared half the distance from where she started to the ground. With each second her velocity increased. All the colors of the earth below her blended into a single uniform blotch. She could feel the air begin to push her back, refusing to allow her to pass through. But she refused to listen, pushing ever more force into her descent.
Then she felt. The same feeling she felt when she was a filly; the feeling she felt when she cut through the invisible wall of air.
This was the part she needed to get right. While maintaining her velocity, Rainbow would have to pull up at a perfect right angle at the perfect time. If she didn't time it right than one of two things would happen. The first, and far less lethal was that she would be thrown back into the air, and try to right herself. The second would be a sure death sentence: Rainbow would crash into the earth, disintegrating her into her base molecules.
But when the moment of truth came, she was distracted by somepony calling her name. "Rainbow!"
In her distraction, the latter of these two things happen. But instead being reduced to molecules, Rainbow was awakened from her nap, which she did after every practice.
"Hey, Rainbow!" The same stallion called up to the cloud.
Wiping the sleep out of her eyes, Rainbow peeked over the cloud. Upon seeing who it was she was close to fly down and planting a hoof across the stallion's face. "What, Thunderlane!?" She said in spite.
"I was just wondering how you were doing. Can't a stallion check in with a friend from time to time?"
Rainbow glared down to the slate grey pegasus. "Oh, is that all you're here for?"
"Of course. I just wanted to talk."
"About what?"
"Oh, nothing in particular. You know, maybe exchange tricks or maybe even practice together."
"Really?" Rainbow asked with a smirk. "Because last I heard you were grounded."
Thunderlane scratched the back of his head. "You heard about that? Well, I was, but my parents let me go on Monday."
Rainbow continued to smirk as she said, "So you're not grounded anymore. Then why don't you fly up here and we can talk."
Crap, she knows about that, too? Thunderlane thought to himself.
Rainbow grabbed at her sides as she began to laugh. "Of course I do. Everypony in town knows about how 'Bryce took my flight away and now I'm gonna prove it.'" She said before losing herself in a fit of laughter.
Thunderlane's face burned a deep shade of red. Everypony knows!!! Wait, how did she know what I-
"Because you're talking out loud, Featherbrain!" She yelled down.
"What? No I wasn't."
"Yeah you were. You didn't even try to keep it quiet. Now what do you want, I'm busy."
"Thunderlane was unsure of what to say to the rainbow mare. She was talking nonsense. "Uh... Well..."
"Let me tell you one thing, Thunderlane. If you think I'm going to tell you anything you can go on and leave. I'm not gonna betray a friend for you."
"What makes you think I came here for Bryce?"
"For starters, I never said who it was. And second, everypony knows about you spying on Bryce, too. It's a funny thing about small towns; word usually gets around, and fast. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got a dream I need to finish." Rainbow lie back on her cloud, prepared to finish her afternoon nap before she had to move in a storm cloud later in the afternoon.
But Thunderlane refused to let that be the end of it. "Oh no, you're not going to rub me off like that." Thunderlane shouted. "I'll come up there and make you talk if I have to."
"Yeah, I'd like to see that happen."
"Fine, you asked for it, Rainbow Crash!" Thunderlane jumped straight in the air, flapping his wings as he did so. This resulted in him hitting the ground hard on his rump.
Rainbow, who had seen Thunderlane injure his rump laughed again.
"Well fine, if I can't get you up there I'll just yell until you come down to me. What do you say to that, smart ass!"
"I say it's a good plan, but there's one thing you probably didn't count on."
"What!?"
"I can just fly off and find another cloud." She shot Thunderlane a two finger salute. "See ya!" Rainbow zipped off through the sky, becoming lost amongst a cluster of clouds that were well out of reach of anypony's voice.
Thunderlane stood, trembling with rage as he ground his teeth together.
"FIne, Rainbow, you just go up there!" He shouted, knowing full well there was no way she could hear him. "If you won't listen to me than I'll... I'll..." Then for once he knew what he was going to do. He wasn't going to hide and spy like a scared little filly. No, he was going to the source of his troubles. The source being Bryce.
Thunderlane ran back into Ponyville, not caring where he went, who he cut off, nor what got in his way. He didn't have a plan, except for one: He was going to beat Bryce senseless until he admitted what he had done. Thunderlane didn't care if he killed him or he himself were killed, he couldn't stand being flightless, mocked, and lied to anymore. He only wished he had done this when he had first met the human. That would have solved a lot of problems he had now.
When Thunderlane reached the construction site he saw his opportune moment. The human was by himself on the edge of the site. The rest of the crew were busy around the site. "Perfect."
Gritting his teeth, Thunderlane charged. His focus was cut off from the world around him, save for the thing that sat in front of him. For once, Thunderlane could say he was flying as he ran to meet Bryce.
His work was all for naught when he was tackled to the ground by a papyrus yellow blob he hadn't seen until now. When Thunderlane could see straight he saw it was the construction mare he had interrogated the day before.
"What do you think you're doing!?" She shouted. When she saw it was Thunderlane, her eyes narrowed. "Wait, you were the one with the weird questions yesterday." She pressed her hooves down on his throat. "What do you want!?"
Before she could go any farther, Bryce came over and said, "Ambrosia, let him go."
"But he was about to attack you. If I let up what's to stop him from doing it?"
"Well, for one thing I doubt he has the strength to throw a good punch. And by the time you let go of his throat he'll be so blue in the face he can't even move."
"You think so?"
"Well, he's starting to turn," said Bryce, pointing to Thunderlane.
Ambrosia saw he was blue in the face, just as Bryce had said. She released her grip from around his throat, but continued to sit on him to hold him down.
Thunderlane took deep breaths, refilling his blood's oxygen supply.
Bryce bent down on one knee. "Now-" He winced from the pain in his ankle.
"What's wrong?" Asked Ambrosia.
"It's nothing. It's just my ankle telling me it's going to rain later. I just hope I can get home before it starts. I hate getting wet." Bryce turned back to Thunderlane. "Now, answer the lady."
The slate grey pegasus responded by spitting onto Bryce's cheek.
Bryce wiped the spit off his face and flung it to the ground. "Let's try this again." He stood and placed the toes of his sneaker onto Thunderlane's Adam's apple, weak enough to where he could still breath. "Speak."
Between gritted teeth and fear, Thunderlane said, "I want my flight back."
Bryce gave a smirk. "Is that all?" He took his shoe away. "Ambrosia, let him up." This time Ambrosia did as the human told her. When Thunderlane was standing on all four hooves, Bryce said, "So, you want your flight back? Well, all you had to do was ask." Bryce leaned down and gave the pegasus a firm slap across the face.
After that had happened, Ambrosia thought Thunderlane would try and make another pass at Bryce, but he instead lost his hostility and asked, "Is that it? Is that all it took?" He flexed his wings, prepared to fly.
"No, that was for spitting on me," Bryce answered. "But if you want your flight back there's one thing you have to do."
Thunderlane, in his mania, listened to Bryce with all ears. "Yes..."
"I don't know if you can though. I mean, it's something super hard."
"I don't care what it is, tell me."
Bryce shrugged. "Okay, if you're that desperate." He bent down again, coming eye to eye with Thunderlane. "Humility." Was all he said.
Thunderlane looked confused, and Ambrosia was, as well. "Humility?" She asked.
"Yes, humiliy. You have to show one act of humility."
"T- That's all...?" Thunderlane asked.
Bryce nodded.
"N- No bluffing?"
Bryce shook his head. "No bluffing."
"So if I do this then I get my flight back?"
"It's as simple as that."
Thunderlane began to jump on his hooves, ecstatic about the prospect. "Oh, I'll give you humility. I can give you humility all day."
"Good, then go do it."
"Oh ho, I will. I'll do ten right now just to prove I can." Thunderlane ran off, leaving a very confused Ambrosia in his wake.
"An act of humility?" She asked Bryce.
"Yep, that's all it will take with him."
She scratched the back of her head. "Uhm, I don't know him very well, but that seems like the kind of thing that looks easy but he can't do."
Bryce gave a smirk. "Exactly."
There was a few seconds of silence before Ambrosia asked, "Bryce, did you really take away his flight?"
He looked Ambrosia straight in the eye. Without looking away, he said, "No. I didn't take it from him."
"Then why can't he... You know."
Bryce looked off in the direction Thunderlane took. "Because Thunderlane's an idiot. But I have to commend you for what you did. I saw you run from the site to'm in under five seconds."
"Oh, that. I was a running champion in high school, three years straight."
Bryce gave a smirk. "Well, it shows. Thanks for stopping him, I guess. But my break's over and I want to get done before the rain arrives. Like I said, I hate to get wet."