//------------------------------// // Chapter 6 // Story: For The One We Love // by bahatumay //------------------------------// Fritter gnawed on a gemstone on the floor of the friendship castle. Spike hadn’t minded too much giving up a few of his snacks as teething rings. Fritter was a cute little guy (for a foal, anyway); and besides, it wasn’t like his tiny teeth could actually do anything to them. In stark contrast to their grandfoal’s contentedness, however, Death Herald Firestorm and Lightning-Force Hoofstrike were anything but pleased. “I'm gonna kill him,” Death Herald seethed, pacing angrily. “I'm going to tear out his skull and beat him to death with it and I’m going to strangle him with his own tail and then I’m going to cut his head off and then I’m going to kill him until he's dead. I'm going to kill him so hard his grandmother will feel it, and she's already dead!” Twilight looked over at Lightning-Force, expecting to see her calming her husband. Instead, she was nodding and making forward hoof motions, silently egging him on. Twilight groaned internally. Lovely. “As fascinating and historic as it would be to see another House war,” she interrupted, “you really can't waltz up and cave his skull in.” “Like Tartarus we can’t! Fritter is our grandfoal!” “And Fluttershy my dear friend; but if you killed him to silence his claim, that would cause retaliation from his family, and we can't just go charging headlong into something that could plunge the rest of the Houses into internal fighting and all-out war.” She emphasized the word ‘war’, hoping to make her point. Death Herald blinked. “You make that sound like a bad thing,” he said. Twilight pressed her hoof against her forehead and dragged it down her face. “That’s because it would be a bad thing!” she insisted. “How?” Death Herald demanded. “Besides the fact that almost every pegasus in Cloudsdale would get swept up and involved which would directly result in hordes of injured pegasi which would directly result in a lack of weather ponies which would directly lead to loss of weather control for the earth ponies which would result in crop failures and, consequently, disastrous food shortages all across Equestria?” Death Herald blinked. “Well, anything sounds bad if you say it in that tone of voice.” It was Lightning-Force's turn to facehoof. Twilight exhaled. “Look. I know you're upset, and you have every right to be. I am, too. But we need to stay calm and do this by the book.” “Well, you've sure got enough of them here,” Death Herald nodded. “Not like- ugh! Not like that. We need to make it completely legal. We can start with petitioning for a restraining order, and go on from there.” “But that’s what shallow graves are for,” Death Herald complained. “Wrap him in a cloud and push it northward to the griffon territory.” “Herald! That is just an urban legend!” Lightning-Force scolded. “As far as you know,” Death Herald said, flicking his wings in the pegasus gesture equivalent of sticking one's tongue out. Twilight was starting to wonder just how well a defense of plausible deniability would work if Death Herald went through with that idea when they heard the sound of the door open. “Hello?” the entering pony called. “That's Skyblaze!” Spike hissed. Death Herald grinned maliciously and spread his wings. “Good!” Twilight lit her horn and held his hooves on the ground. “No! No killing other ponies in my castle! We are going to work something legal out! Spike! Stall him!” “How?” Spike asked, his voice nearly an octave higher in pitch. “I don't know! Think of something!” She pushed him away out the door with her wing. Spike tumbled across the floor, sliding on the smooth crystal ground right out of the back room. He grunted and coughed as he picked himself up. And stood up right in front of Skyblaze. “He's back there, isn't he?” Skyblaze demanded. Spike decided to take a leaf from Owlowiscious's book. “Who?” “You know exactly who I mean!” “Who?” “Don’t mess with me, boy,” Skyblaze warned, prodding Spike with a hoof so he'd know exactly who he was talking to. “We have a lot of things back there,” Spike said with a shrug. “This is a library.” Skyblaze smirked. “Then maybe I'll just go back and check some of them out, then, eh? Maybe there's a little colt back there that belongs to me, eh?” Spike cracked a brief smile as Twilight's drilling of library protocol came to mind. “You can't go back there. Not without a library card.” “That's discrimination,” Skyblaze accused. “It's established policy across Equestria. And it's really not; anyone can get one. They're free.” Skyblaze scowled. “Fine. I'll play your little game. Give me a card.” Spike bounded over to a nearby desk and retrieved a stack of papers. “All right,” he said, retrieving a quill. “I just need some information. Name?” “Skyblaze Carnage Wingsteel of House Thunderhead.” “Sky,” Spike said, scribbling the single word on the paper and then underlining it. “I'll also need two pieces of identification and proof of address.” Skyblaze held up both forehooves and hit them together. Spike gulped. “That'll work.” * * * Back in the back room, Death Herald, Lightning-Force, and Twilight were having a heated discussion. “I still say we kill him,” Death Herald maintained. “And I still say we don’t!” Twilight hissed. “Don't make me make this a royal decree. We can start with a restraining order and work our way up from there.” “Restraining orders are just pieces of paper!” Death Herald scoffed. “Pieces of paper that can land a pony in jail,” Twilight emphasized. “Locked up. On the ground. Out of the sky, which is where pegasi like to go.” “That's not going to hold him, though.” Twilight rolled her eyes. “It will.” “What if he escapes? Security down here is a little lax.” Twilight growled, then relaxed. “He’ll have to stay hidden and out of the limelight for the rest of his life,” she scoffed. “There’s no way he’ll do that. And that's assuming we don't find him right away, which we would.” “So, restraining order,” Lightning-Force said, thankfully acting a little bit more rationally than her husband. “What happens next?” “In a perfect world, he’d leave it at that and then we’d just renew it every year.” “So what’s actually going to happen?” Lightning-Force asked. Twilight swallowed. “Well, since he's claimed paternity, probably a long court fight for custody,” she admitted. * * * Skyblaze scowled. “My cutie mark does not look like that.” “Sorry! It's just… hard to draw with you glaring at me like that,” Spike defended himself. “This is the fourth card we've tried. You're just stalling,” Skyblaze accused. “Stalling?” Spike asked. “Yes, stalling!” “Stalling?” Spike confirmed. “You're doing it right now!” Spike cocked his head. “Doing what?” “Stalling!” Skyblaze shouted, his face turning red. “Stalling?” “Yes, stalling!” “Who, me? Stalling?” Spike asked innocently. He flinched as Skyblaze raised a hoof, as if ready to smash the desk; but then he stepped back and took a deep breath. “Fine,” he said, forcing his voice to sound calm. “Fine. We'll do it the hard way.” Spike swallowed. “The hard way?” “Yes. I'm taking this to court and suing for custody. Complete custody.” Spike coughed a laugh. “Good luck,” he said. “You’re gonna need it.” A cold smile crossed Skyblaze’s lips. “I don’t need luck where I’m going. Let’s just say I know a colt or two.” Spike couldn’t help but shiver as Skyblaze walked out the door. He had the distinct feeling that this was far from over.