//------------------------------// // Chapter #7. Price Over His Head/The 50,000,000,000 Bit Bird // Story: Tales from Bronyville // by InkyPye //------------------------------// It was a normal day at the office for the resident psychiatrist of the town as he spoke to a troubled red stallion. "FireBrand, your heart is in the right place, but-What is that?" Doctor Wolf said, switching subjects from the heart to heart he was having with the Fiery Joker, the two walked to the window as they watched a mob gather below. "He made me offend our true lord, John DeLancie of Discordia! And I was denied a chance to show off my Discord Princess title!" KP wailed from the mob below. "I thought that was Megan McCartney...And what?!" Toon said, scratching his head. "We don't speak that name here...She made Discord forget his only friend's name." KP replied. "I was denied the chocolate brown gooeyness of chocolate chip cookies!" Anthony C yelled as a few ponies who hadn't watched the first and only episode of "The Shipping Game" stared at him blankly. "He's a weird, over-weight pigeon!" Yelled Mary-Sue, as Maddie cringed on the sideline. "And chances of collaborating again is slipping away to null." Maddie muttered. "What in the world are they so upset about?" Doctor Wolf pondered aloud. "Silver." The commander deadpanned, getting up from the therapy couch. "It has to be Silver based on the way they're clamoring, plus, Discord princess, cookies, that weird pink alicorn who's obsessed with pigeons." (Sorry, I'm doing most of this on mobile, so paragraphs will be clunky.) "True, but Silver is accustomed to be disruptive and chaotic with his show-boating, why is everypony making such a big fuss about it now?" Just then, Dusty Katt came in through the door. "Wow, plot convenience." Firebrand commented. "Actually, I'm here to see Doctor Wolf, but I also know how to answer your question." Dusty Katt commented as Firebrand rolled his eyes at the author as Dusty turned on the TV. "Thank you, Dusty Katt. Anyway, breaking news; Princess Cadence is offering a reward of fifty billion bits to anypony who can bring to her the only hippogriff in Equestria, Silver Quill. Who is charged with kidnapping, traumatizing other ponies, corrupting the youth, being overall annoying, shipping Big Mac with Pinkie Pie and being offended by burning ducks. In other news, Ink Rose is adorable and remember to tip your waitress fillies-" "Oh dear..." Doctor Wolf muttered as the news was turned off. "How much do you believe the crowd knows about this." "We should have about five minutes before the news bulletin begins trending and then the hunt is on." Dusty Katt commented. "And mobs rarely make good decisions." Firebrand commented. "So...We're helping him? I mean, Silver can usually take a hit when it comes to this kind of thing." "Yes, we are. There is a mob out there who wants his head and-" Doctor Wolf said as Silver Quill walked through the door covered in scratches. "Medic." " Wrong game, but somewhat right place." Firebrand said in a sort of sarcastic, spiteful way as Doctor Wolf shot him a glare. "We don't have much time, while Silver is able to take the heat most of the time, we have a very ticked off community we're dealing with, and we should reason with them after the heat has died down a bit." Doctor Wolf told the two conscious ponies as Silver got up, still weary. "Uh, I agree. There is a pyromaniac, an overly tall unicorn, and a LOT of ponies down there that won't be happy to see me." "Let's go to my channel." Firebrand relented. "It'll be the safest place for all of us considering I do the least amount of collabsand should be harder to find versus your office." "But how will we get the only hippogriff through a sea of ponies looking for the exact same one?" Dusty Katt asked as the four began to think. "When I said this, this is not what I meant." Dusty Katt dead-panned as the four were walking through the crowd, with Silver wearing a mustache resembling Dusty's. "Hey? Isn't that Silver?" Sweetie Bloom asked KP while KP was lighting a torch. "Pssh. No, Silver doesn't have a mustache. Hey Sweetie, hold this torch, and here's that sword you almost impaled the commander with." KP said, dismissing her suspicions. "Then...Why is there an achievement thingy saying 'Disguise Success!'?" A triumphant trumpet tune played as soon as Sweetie said that, and it vanished. "Let's walk faster." Firebrand's channel, which also functions as his home, is a bright brick red, covered in burn and scorch marks on the sides of the walls with a few letters scattered around the yard, and the whole thing had a sleeping tatzel worm curled around it as Silver Quill looked at it cautiously as they walked past it and ran immediately into The Puppet, or as Xain and Josh call her, Marionette or Mari. "So let me get this straight." She said, in an annoyed tone. "You almost got impaled by a mare named Sweetie, he's on the lam, and you two are assisting him until the heat dies down." Mari gave Firebrand a look and Firebrand mumbled about how her depth-perception, or lack of, made her even more terrifying-ish. "We'll try to prevent any unneeded chaos and get the heat to die down until Silver can rest easy." Doctor Wolf mentioned as he looked at the oddly quiet Silver, who was pretty banged up, with a black eye, numerous scratches, and a sword going through his head as his mustache fell to pieces. "SsOoUuNnDds GgOoOoDd..." Silver said, his voice wavering. Then there was a banging on the channel door.