Chapter 16: Thomas's Day Out and Chaos Influenced Rabbits
The decision to put an end to Twilight’s nighttime study sessions was easier to say than enforce. During the debate, which Thomas had really wanted to attend, he and Spike brainstormed ways to make sure she was sleeping through the night, but none were very well thought through. It hadn’t taken much for Thomas to convince Spike that it would be in her best interest to get a full night’s sleep at least six times a week, the only issue was that it was hard to come up with a plan that would stay effective for as long as possible. Then the idea struck them to have her exercise.
Spike had commented on how whenever she got back from an adventure of some sort, she slept like a rock for the next two days from all the running. The pair threw around jokes involving taking over Equestria on a consistent basis in order to make her do more running for a few minutes before seriously considering having her exercise nightly. They soon had a workout routine ready for her once she got back from the debate. First there would be warm up stretches, followed by pushups and crunches in alternating sets, and then a slow jog around the main room to cool down before bed.
At the end, Twilight’s legs were jelly, she was sweating profusely, and in a slight daze. Thomas carried her up to her bed and she promptly fell asleep the moment he picked her up. Spike snickered, but he too was pretty exhausted from the work out and went to bed himself not long after Thomas came back down.
Twilight woke up feeling like a million bits. For once in her life, she awoke before the alarm clock buzzed and lay in bed, realizing the power of a full eight hours. Breathing deeply, she let the sun’s rays slowly cross her bed and body, shutting off the alarm before it woke up Spike when it finally sounded. Twilight Sparkle was in a good mood and felt like letting the young dragon sleep in for once. After half an hour, she slowly got out of bed and quietly tiptoed out, listening to Spike’s snores with a smile.
Closing the door softly, the librarian resolved to thank him by doing his morning chores for him that day. She’d find a way to thank Thomas later, since there were so many possible ways due to his interest in pony culture, history, and basically everything on the planet. After taking a quick shower to get the smell of stale sweat out of her coat and trotting down the stairs, she used her horn to manipulate the broom, dust pan, bucket, mop, books, and feather duster all at once.
The broom paired with the dust pan and quickly removed any excess dust and loose dirt from the floor while the feather duster cleaned the books, book cases, and decorations in the main room. Once the sweeping was done, the mop and bucket tackled the harder stuff that had ended up on the floors, applying a fine scent of citrus fruits as it did. Twilight turned her focus towards the kitchen, were a simple and hard to ruin breakfast of fruit and cereal was made with a few spells. She wasn’t going to try to make breakfast for the others for fear of burning something and settled in for her solitary meal once the cleaning was done.
As she ate, Twilight as able to observe the morning rituals of her fellow citizens, like how her neighbor Jurisprudence watered his petunia’s before he left for the courtroom, the various merchants greeting one another while pulling wagons to the market square, and the birds that flittered from tree to tree and sang a little in each. After doing her dishes, Twilight poured a cup of coffee and went into the main room of the library, where she pulled a heavy tome off the shelves for some light reading.
An hour or so later, Thomas came up after listening intently through the door for sounds of ponies. Slowly pushing the door open he kept low and scanned as much of the room as he could through the crack. Twilight looked up at the squeak of a hinge and saw the door ajar.
“No one is here Thomas, you’re safe.” She informed, drawing the blinds with her magic. The human stood up and stepped into the main room, still cautious because he wasn’t used to Twilight being up at this point.
“Where’s Spike?” He asked curiously, looking around for the dragon.
“I let him sleep in and did his chores as a thank you making me get a good night’s sleep for once.” She explained with a smile. “You’re next by the way.” Thomas chuckled and went into the kitchen for breakfast. Twilight soon heard the sound of eggs sizzling on the stove and the chop of a knife. Setting her book down, she followed the sounds to see exactly what he was making.
“It’s called a French Omelet. Want one?” Thomas asked, seeing the look of curiosity on her face. Twilight shook her head.
“No thanks. I’ve already eaten. But seriously, what can I do to thank you?” She pressed, sitting across from where Thomas had set his plate and silverware.
“Not a thing.” He answered calmly, examining his food. Once he deemed it done, he took the pan over to the table and slid it onto his plate. Twilight had to admit it smelled delicious.
“Thomas, I haven’t slept like that in years and if I don’t have another breakdown, I owe you a lot.” She said firmly. “I must thank you some way.” The human nodded, but silently ate in breakfast. Twilight could see the look of intense thought on his face and let him think. It wasn’t an awkward silence in any way, just a moment of reflection. Thomas finished his food and began to do his dishes before answering.
“Well, there is one thing…” He said slowly. Twilight brightened and walked over to him.
“What is it?” She inquired. Thomas hesitated before answering.
“Well, I would like to get out of the library. Invisible of course, but I’d love to visit with the others.” He wrung his hands as he spoke, not meeting her eyes. Twilight felt a sense of pity rise inside her. Thomas was the only one of the humans we lived in town and since Marcus, Taylor, Megan and Rachael respectively were well outside of Ponyville, they could walk around with more freedom. Especially at night when they would often meet with the others. Thomas had been outside before, but Twilight had always accompanied him and she’d have to teleport with him, effectively becoming his chaperone. But there was a good reason for all the caution; no creature anywhere looked anything like a human, and no creature other than a Minotaur was a complete bipedal, meaning that the sudden appearance of a human in town could cause mass panic.
“Well…” As soon as she spoke, Thomas began to sink, expecting her to say no, and to have a logical reason that he would fully agree with. “I guess, but you have to agree to a few conditions.” He looked up at her, a look of pure ecstasy on his face.
“Of course!” Thomas said ecstatically.
“First, you need to be back here by 6:00, that’ll give you all day to be outside. Second, you cannot talk to any ponies unless you go to Fluttershy’s or Sweet Apple Acres. And third, if you want to stay at either place for the night, please tell me before 6:00. Ok?”
“Absolutely!” He jumped up and grabbed Twilight, lifting her off the ground and giving her a bear hug that caught her off guard.
“You’re lucky I found that self-reinforcing cloaking spell.” Twilight gasped, trying to breathe but Thomas was hugging her too tight. She tapped him on the shoulder with her magic, hoping he’d realize he was crushing her ribcage. He looked down to see her struggling and quickly let go.
“Sorry about that…” He rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.
“It’s okay, I know how excited you are to get out and about.” She took a few deep breathes, trying to get the oxygen to her brain before she led him upstairs. The main room of the library was empty, but the drapes were open, allowing the suns light to pour into the room. Twilight turned before Thomas could exit the basement, standing directly behind her. “Ready?”
“Yup!” He exclaimed. Twilight smiled, igniting her horn and casting the regenerating invisibility spell. The unicorn had learned the spell when skimming through one of Starswirl the Bearded’s journals. He said the spell was for long term usage, as the average invisibility spell only lasted about half a day or so, an hour and a half for humans. Once Thomas had disappeared from view, the spell taking affect, Twilight heard the front door open and close. She felt a bemused smile grow on her face as she imagined his excitement about going around town and seeing his friends for the first time in a long while.
“He deserves this.” She said to herself, chuckling. With that, she turned and headed upstairs to study Thomas’s bayonet.
The bayonet was causing Twilight an immense amount of frustration. She was making another attempt at understanding the knife’s properties and had been for most of the day. Unfortunately, she was running out of ideas for how to test it and Thomas was putting off letting her take shavings because of how special it was to him. In short, it was not giving up any secrets.
“Twilight! You’ve got dragon mail!” Spike called up the stairs, distracting the pony. With a little sigh, she set the bayonet back down, letting it rest on a wooden box and stretched. She’d been studying it for nearly three hours and her muscles ached slightly from the lack of use.
“I’ll be right down!” Twilight acknowledged the dragon as she heard her back pop a satisfying number of times. She gave her research station, a glorified desk, a once over to make sure that it wouldn’t explode or anything while unattended. It had once, but luckily she’d been able to put out the fire before it could spread. Seeing everything was safe enough to leave alone, the lavender pony trotted out of the room and down the stairs to see what Princess Celestia had sent her.
“Here you are.” Spike dutifully handed the scroll over to her and waited for her to read it. “What’d she say?” Twilight grimaced slightly as she finished reading before turning it over to her assistant to read.
“She said that she and Princess Luna have decided that this weekend is the best time to inform the Stable of Nobles about the existence of the humans.” Twilight said warily. The dragon also grimaced when he finished the letter and absent mindedly straightened the spines on his head. It was Spike’s telltale nervous habit, he did it whenever he was concerned about something or his nerves were getting to him.
“Isn’t Prince Blueblood a member of the Stable?” Spike asked nervously, fixing his foremost spine. Twilight nodded finding that as unsettling as Spike did.
“He heads the conservative side of the Stable.” She explained. “They’re the ones that believe we should keep taxes high on the middle class and that there should be little done by the government in times of economic crisis.”
“So? What does that have to do with humans?” The dragon was slowly moving down the row of green spines on his head.
“Well, nothing really, but Blueblood has little tolerance for other races. I’m pretty sure he’s a unicorn supremacist.” She clarified. Spike made an understanding ‘O’ with his mouth. Certainly explained how Blueblood had reacted to Spike when he first met him. The little guy was still terrified of silver horseshoes.
“And he’s helping decide if Thomas and his friends can stay in Equestria?”
“Yes, he is.” Twilight lamented. “Unfortunately, that flankhole has a say in whether our friends can live in Equestria.” At this point, the door was thrown open and the setting sun could be seen through it. The duo watched as some invisible thing seemed to stumble across the library, knocking over various items before coming to a rest at the bottom of the stairs, breathing heavily. They heard a rumble outside and there was shouting about a stampede of bunnies. Once the noise ceased, whatever was breathing heavily let out a massive sigh.
“Fucking Bunnies.”
Thomas sighed happily and smiled. The sun was shinning, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, and he wasn’t spending the second straight week in the library cooped up. The last time he’d been outside, it was night and he went over to Fluttershy’s to visit Megan and Rachael. He’d been able to stay for about two hours after Twilight teleported him there before everyone got sleepy; also Twilight had preset her return so he didn’t have much of a choice. But today, he could do anything! With in reason of course; no revealing himself or the others, no causing any questionable situations, and no pretending to be a ghost, because that leads to the former and possible paranoia amongst the townsfolk which could lead to a riot if the humans are discovered. But everything else was possible!
With that thought he set out across town, wanting to use his time as preciously as possible. Although he hadn’t quite figured out where he was going, Thomas headed towards Ponyville’s Farmers Market with a steady pace, hands in his pockets and a smile on his face. Passing by the eccentrically painted houses of Ponyville, which consistently reminded him of the Dutch Colonial style, he saw numerous ponies going about their business, waving, greeting, and talking with one another. How Thomas envied them.
With that, he strolled down the streets of Ponyville in the general direction of Fluttershy’s cottage, feeling conflicted. He was torn between just taking in the sights and enjoying every second through a slow walk and cramming everything he could into every second. He was also debating on where to go on his day out. Twilight had taken him to Sweet Apple Acres earlier that month and he’d visited with Marcus and Taylor. Marcus had enveloped him in a massive bear hug and everyone had heard the succession of pops from Thomas’s back. Taylor had hugged him tightly as well, but tried not to hurt him in the process. Thinking about it, it’d been a while since he’d seen Megan and Rachael. With that in mind, Thomas set aside his reservations and walked slowly towards the cottage.
At Fluttershy’s home, the day had begun hours before and the morning activities were winding down. Lunch was being prepared for some of the residents who preferred to eat it early. In fact, the pegasus and the humans were making a salad for themselves, planning on making it a large, elaborate meal with three fruits and various other ingredients with the lettuce.
“Well darn.” Rachael sighed, going through the refrigerator. “I think we’re out of lettuce. I’ll get some from the garden.” The other two nodded in understanding as she walked out back. The garden was on the side of the cottage and grew a number of things, including carrots, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, and peas. In fact, everything other than peas was currently being sliced for the salad. Megan and Fluttershy shared a pleasant conversation. Fluttershy brought up something she’d accidently seen one evening as she prepared for bed.
“Megan, what’s that thing you do before going to sleep?” Fluttershy asked, looking to the human in question. She turned to the pegasi curiously, unsure of what she meant. “When you kneel and mumble? If you don’t mind that is…”
“Ah, that.” Megan said, realizing what she meant. “It’s just something that reminds me of home and makes me feel a little bit better.” Fluttershy nodded, but the quizzical expression was still there.
“What’s it called?”
“Praying.” Fluttershy tilted her head slightly in curiosity.
“What’s it for? Unless you’d rather not talk about it…” Fluttershy added quickly, mumbling just loud enough for words to be heard. Megan sighed, but stayed silent for a few moments.
“My family is follows a religion where praying is a way of communicating with our god.” She explained slowly.
“Like the Princesses?” Fluttershy asked. “Do they raise the sun and moon?” Megan chuckled under her breath.
“Our god doesn’t have a physical manifestation.” She said, Fluttershy forming a small ‘o’ with her mouth.
“Then how do you know he’s there?” The pegasus asked in confusion. Megan smiled lightly.
“Faith.” She answered simply. Fluttershy nodded in understanding and the topic turned to how adorable Spike and Angel had been together, romping around the house when the dragon was a hedgehog.
“I’m happy that that new family of hedgehogs adopted Annabelle.” Megan said with a smile. Fluttershy nodded in agreement just as Rachael returned with the lettuce.
Thomas smirked as a pony scrunched his face and focused on the spot where the human had been a few moments ago. He’d been distracted from reaching his destination by the numerous conversations around him, a few even involving his essays, the second one clarifying his position. Rumors were going around about Leviathan writing a response to Liberal Thought, something Thomas was actually hoping for. Talking with Twilight had been fun, but this was a little bit more interesting and productive. Lost in thought, he’d stayed still when the invisibility spell recast itself.
Because the spell was resealing, there would be moments where others would possibly be able to see Thomas for a split second in the worst case, but more likely ‘imagine’ they saw some ripples of heat rising off the ground or something like that. This had just occurred with the black unicorn he thought was called Lantern Light, but wasn’t sure. Picking up his pace, he made his way back to the street that would take him to Fluttershy’s.
A floating creature that looked like a foal cut pictures of animals out of a book and proceeded to glue them together, bring them to life, and thankfully color inside the lines stayed slightly out of phase with the universe’s time flow, allowing him to observe Ponyville without being observed. He was only making a pit stop to check on everything and investigate some big news Princess Sun Butt and her sidekick Full Moon told him about. He scoured Ponyville proper, looking in basements, attics, trashcans, and even pipes for the strange and outlandish creatures that weren’t in someway represented on his body. He took extreme caution as he perused the library, knowing but never admitting that the librarian was a tricky customer. Not finding any, he chugged a chocolate milk of glass to rejuvenate his joints and turned his mismatched gaze towards the outskirts of the town that he was forever associated with. He’d checked, 30, 300, and 3,000 years from this present ponies and those strange critters evading him now called Ponyville his home.
Sighing and sucking on a bubble pipe for the licorice feel, he bee lined to Sweet Apple Acres. His labors bore fruit, raspberries, and he witnessed a pair of them working in the orchard alongside the orange one and her mountain of a brother. Big Mountain Macintosh has a nice ring to it… he mused, invisibly stroking his invisible chin. He made a close inspection of the ‘humans’ and found them to be quite interesting.
The large one, Marcus his mind readily informed the inquisitor, was a prankster at times, but predominately quiet in others, strangely quiet as of late though. Focused is a more fitting word. His kidneys were in fine condition, and so was his liver, only showing slight amounts of a strange substance Discord was only too happy to see in Equestria. He also found the large one to be a male from the excess testosterone.
The smaller one, with fiery hair was known as Taylor, although the large one had another name for her that Discord reviled, finding the substance to be the only thing he couldn’t spoil in some way. Her kidney’s worked fine as well, with slightly more of that funny stuff stored within. She also had a temper, something that warmed her to Discord.
Then he noticed a slight disturbance. Sticking his paw near one of the humans, he felt the magic being siphoned off ever so slightly. Making a closer examination and shifting his sight to another frequency, he saw that the humans were magic sinks of a sort. Raising his eyebrows in curiosity, he watched as the ambient magic of the planet was soaked in slowly by the humans, far slower than it was by the ponies, and rendered inert. The inert magic was then released a slightly faster speed when the humans touched a tree or breathed out. Watching, he could see the magic slowly become reactive again.
I LOVE THIS! He exclaimed in his mind. Even his magic was subject to this strange phenomenon, but it degraded at a much slower rate. He peered into the females mind to glimpse her past and was slightly surprised by two things. One was how chaotic their home was, and the second was that she forced him out rather quickly. The latter was the sign of an exceptionally strong mind, but the strange properties of these creatures probably helped some. With that, he flew up and away, looking for the rest of quintumvirate and spotted three similar sinks at good ol’Fluttershy’s place.
At the cottage, Thomas was enjoying lemonade and cookies with his friends, Fluttershy included. They were in the main room, Thomas and Rachael on the couch while Megan and Fluttershy occupied chairs across the coffee table. All three had been surprised when they heard a knock at the door and found no one there. Then Thomas spoke and spooked Fluttershy, who hid behind Mr. Bear. Megan and Rachael were able to keep the 9 foot, 700 pound grizzly from trying to hurt Thomas for terrifying the mare and once he explained the situation, both relaxed.
“Sorry about scaring you.” Thomas said for what seemed like the hundredth time. Mr. Bear had put the fear of god in him on a primal level. It wasn’t everyday a human met something that could easily kill him inside of ten seconds and could look down at him. Even if he couldn’t see Thomas, Mr. Bear could easily smell him.
“It’s ok. I’m sorry for overreacting.” She mumbled her apology, genuinely upset for nearly killing Thomas.
“Right, you’re both sorry.” Megan interrupted, knowing this would go on for at least half an hour. “Let’s just put it behind us.” Rachael nodded in agreement, randomly picking a conversation topic.
“So Fluttershy, we haven’t heard about your family.” She said quickly, looking to the pegasus. This abrupt topic change was a little seredipidus for the others, but they didn’t raise any complaints.
“Well…” She said nervously. “I don’t have one. You know that.”
“I meant your parents, siblings, grandparents, etc…” Rachael clarified, getting a nod of understanding from Fluttershy. There was a noticeable pause in the conversation as she hesitated to answer the question, but before the humans could ask if anything was wrong, she began speaking.
“Well, my parents are two pegasi. My father is Halberd and my mother is Gauntlet, they’re both in the Royal Guard detachment in Cloudsdale. I have a brother named Brandistock, who’s also in the Royal Guard. My grandparents were all in the Guard too, as are my uncles, aunts, and cousins.” The others were beginning to notice a trend at this point and the pegasus slowly drew her legs closer to her body as she spoke, signaling some sort of discomfort.
“In fact, I think I’m the first in four generations not to be in the Guard.” She continued, her legs pressed tightly against her body, fear lacing her voice.
“Well then.” Rachael cut her off, seeing she was obviously upset. “Have you met any nice stallions here in Ponyville?” Fluttershy gave her a look, unsure of how to respond to another quick change in the conversation. She slowly shook her head, blushing heavily.
“None at all?” Megan asked curiously. A quick nod and her hiding within her mane was all she got in response. There was an awkward silence that followed, since Fluttershy didn’t want to extrapolate her answer and no one was sure what to say.
“So….” Thomas said, trying and failing to break the silence.
“Want to hear about my family Fluttershy?” Rachael asked calmly, ever prepared with a topic. The pegasus, still hiding somewhat behind her mane, nodded slower this time. Seeing that this had gotten more positive results, she smiled kindly.
“Well, we’ve lived in New Haven, Connecticut since my parents got married.” Rachael began, leaning back. “My dad was a Marine and my mom was a teacher at a local high school. Their names were Reynold and Clarice, although I just call them mom and pop. And then there are my brothers, which made me feel a little left out since I was the only girl. Jake would especially say I couldn’t do things with them since I was a girl and would only make is ‘foofy’ and ‘stupid’. Then I would put him in a headlock until he cried uncle.” She sniggered. At this point Megan raised her hand up high with a question.
“How would you do that?” She asked curiously. “I mean, you aren’t exactly the strongest of us.” Rachael just giggled in response.
“Leverage. I was daddy’s little girl so he taught me how to defend myself.” She explained with a smile. “He taught me all the pressure points that bring down a person in seconds, how to break bones with ease, and stay pretty doing it!” Ending with an overly girly tone that made all but Fluttershy laugh.
"So, you have how many brothers?” She asked in terror.
“Three.” Rachael answered calmly, still giggling from the last comment. “Hugh, Jake, and Nelson. I’m the second oldest of the four.” Fluttershy, who could barely live with her one older brother and rough and tumble parents, was completely baffled confused about how Rachael could have handled such a life so well, even with violence.
“Oh… oh my.” Fluttershy stammered. Rachael smirked.
“Pff, I could easily handle them. If Jake or Nelson, my younger brothers, ever tried to mess with me I’d just put them in a headlock.” Thomas smiled at the comment while Megan laughed at Fluttershy’s reaction. Her jaw was hanging loose and her eyes were wide as saucers.
“And what about Hugh?” Thomas asked curiously.
“I was his baby sister. He took my side every time.” She replied with a devious smile. “Like the time Nelson tried to pin losing the dog at the park on me and Hugh dangled him off the roof until he admitted it was him.” Fluttershy just gaped in horror at Rachael, stunned that she could find something like that funny.
“That’s terrible!” She exclaimed, her forehooves covering her mouth.
“No one got hurt.” Rachael said, waving off her concern. “And we were family, so it was all in good fun.” Futtershy seemed less than comforted but she didn’t speak up. Megan took the opportunity to refill her cup and Fluttershy’s as well.
“Well, every family is different.” She said as she poured the lemonade. Where he would have nodded, Thomas agreed vocally.
“They certainly are.” With that the conversation took a more pleasant turn towards topics that didn’t upset the buttercream pegasus.
“So how goes the inventing Thomas?” Megan asked as she shifted in her chair, trying to find a comfortable position.
“Not bad. Twilight and I are currently trying to make a small electrical generator, but gas doesn’t seem to be very plentiful in Equestria and I’ll be damned if I can make heads or tails of their crystal technology.” He’d used air quotes around the word technology, but they went missed by his companions due to his invisibility. This was one of the draw backs he was trying to deal with until he and his friends could reveal themselves.
“Why crystals?” Fluttershy asked curiously.
“Well, Twilight says that the right crystal can store large quantities of magic, which could be used to power the generator and be recharged when empty.” He explained, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees.
“Makes sense.” Rachael observed, sipping her drink.
“Yeah well, try explaining that to Marcus.” Thomas said with a snort. “Twilight and I visited him and Taylor a few weeks ago and brought up our research.”
“What’d he do now?” Megan asked with a sigh, pinching the bridge of her nose in annoyance.
“He wanted to help, saying engineering and architecture are the essentially the same thing.”
“Not electrical engineering.” Rachael deadpanned. Unseen, Thomas nodded in agreement.
“That’s what I said. He waved it off as semantics. Took Taylor to convince him they weren’t.” Fluttershy smiled at this.
“Applejack says that the two are very close.” She added warmly.
“Yes, they certainly seemed it when we visited.” Thomas agreed, smiling a little.
“You don’t think…” Rachael began slowly, seeing the look on his face. Megan’s smile stretched from ear to ear once she caught on and had to put down her lemonade due to her giggling.
“Well, I’m not sure really.” Thomas said honestly. “I mean, you two are obviously closer since you’ve been living with Fluttershy. They could be bonding after having to spend so much time together.” Megan’s giggling continued while Fluttershy blushed lightly, as this topic always made her do.
“How perfect would it be if they did?” Megan asked, stifling her laughter long enough to make her voice coherent.
“Almost as perfect as you and him.” Rachael quipped, causing the other girl’s face to fall instantly and Thomas to start laughing. Fluttershy furrowed her brow and looked to where the sound of laughter was originating, confused.
“Megan and Marcus don’t see eye to eye on a number of things.” Rachael explained.
“Like that praying thing I told you about earlier.” Megan said flatly.
“Marcus doesn’t believe in a supreme being.” Thomas explained, his laughter petering out. “And he’s had issues with religious people in the past.”
“I still don’t see why he has to keep the bug up his ass with me.” Megan said pointedly, her arms crossed. “I’ve done nothing to upset him.” Thomas shrugged, the response innate, and sighed.
“I think it’s Pavlovian in nature. A number of people tried to bully us when we were young and they were religious, so he just associates the two.” He explained. This did nothing to placate Megan, who angrily swirled her drink as she bit her tongue.
“Um…” Fluttershy spoke up, hoping to change the topic to something more positive. “You guys like games?” Her voice was hopeful and she hid a little behind her mane as she asked, unsure of how upset Megan was. Both girls nodded in affirmation and Thomas said ‘yes’ politely.
“Well, I’ve got a few. Like Shoots ‘n’ Ladders, checkers, go fish, Twister…” Thomas noticed that, except for checkers, her choice in games was very non-confrontational and mellow. Go fish, unless playing with someone with anger issues, was a very calm game and Twister was, well, just fun. A consensus was made on Shoots ‘n’ Ladders and they started playing. ‘Appearing’ in the first middle of the game, Discord noticed that the four were getting along nicely and that Fluttershy was thoroughly enjoying her human company. Smirking, he cast a little magic on the die so that she never rolled something that would send her very far back and more often than not, she leaped ahead of everyone else. After six games of this, it was decided that Lady Luck was firmly on the pony’s side and conversation took over again.
Megan fought an internal battle over asking one particular question. If there had been any news, it would have been the first thing Thomas said when he got there she reasoned. He wouldn’t keep that information hidden from them, he just wouldn’t. But since he hadn’t said anything, it could mean that there was nothing new to say. There could be a new theory or two, a possible lead even. Anything would help her nerves.
Biting her lip, Megan looked to where the depression in the couch told her Thomas was sitting. He and Rachael were telling Fluttershy about the different animals of Earth, something she was immensely interested in and had asked Megan about multiple times. The conversation seemed to end and a lull ensued. Taking a deep breath, she took the plunge.
“Is… is there any news on possibly getting us home?” Megan asked tentatively. Thomas wanted desperately to answer by shaking his head solemnly, sparing the reality of having to actually say it. But there was no other way.
“No. Twilight has absolutely no leads, and she hasn’t heard from the Princesses in a while.” He said hollowly. Thomas looked down at the table corner, unable to meet either of his friend’s eyes. He could feel the disappointment emanating from them, their silent hopes having been dashed once again.
Discord also felt a small amount of pity well up inside him. Once he’d returned from spreading a sufficient amount of chaos in the Griffon Empire to keep the world healthy, both Sun Butt and Full Moon had asked if he could send the humans home. They explained the situation and how the humans had just… appeared without warning in some field outside of Ponyville, claimed to have no knowledge of getting there, their lack of magic, and the unnecessary, which was stressed multiple times to his annoyance, chaos their appearance would cause since most ponies were on edge from the recent incidents in Equestria. On his part, Discord had felt the sudden spike in ambient magic in Equestria during his absence but he had no idea what had caused it.
And while he was incredibly powerful, enough to overpower both princesses, he did not have the ability to start opening portals and checking parallel dimensions and universes. He could barely check the arm of the galaxy without suffering from magical exhaustion like regular unicorns. In short, there was nothing he could do to help them, even if he wanted to.
With those thoughts running through his mind, Discord switched his vision back to the visual light spectrum and realized that the male was invisible. Twilight. Got to be her doing. But that gave him opportunities! If the ponies couldn’t see the human, they couldn’t see him get hassled by something. If this town thought he had been an unruly foreigner, they’d probably think anything he did to the human was just a part of the natural order of things! Giggling, he started thinking about what to do. Then he remembered that stubborn rabbit from his stay in the cottage.
Discord smiled, and decided that Angel should get his friends together to have some fun with this invisible human. Hehe, ‘fun’. In a flash only visible to him, the god appeared in the field in front of the cottage and scanned for the Sylvilagus Floridanus trouble maker. Finding him sun bathing near a patch of daisies, Discord looked into his memories to find out the size of the warren of females that called the cottage home. He was pleasantly surprised to find that there were three warrens nearby and each contained about 40 of the furry creatures. Cracking his knuckles, he laid the ground work for his spell and spread it throughout the species.
Since the depressing silence caused by Thomas’s response to Megan’s question, Fluttershy had decided to regale the three humans with her brief version of the exploits of the Elements of Harmony. After telling them how she reformed Discord, and the incidents in the Crystal Empire, she was subject to their praises. All this was in spite of downplaying her role short of saying she wasn’t even there.
“That’s an amazing story.” Megan said with a whistle. Thomas and Rachael nodded, even though the former couldn’t be seen as he did so. Fluttershy blushed and waved it off their compliments.
“It’s not too big really.” She muttered, hiding behind her mane. Megan leaned forward and shook her head.
“No, that’s huge! You reformed a god! And you guys saved an Empire from a demonic unicorn king!” She said with a pride. “Both of those are once in a lifetime events and you’ve done both!” Fluttershy blushed even harder, and hid deeper within her mane.
“That’s awesome!” Thomas added with enthusiasm. “How is it that you and your friends aren’t followed everywhere by press or adoring fans?” The two visible humans nodded in agreement, wondering the same.
“Well…” Fluttershy stammered, deeply embarrassed. “Princess Celestia and Princess Luna promised to keep our identities as Elements quiet and most townsfolk don’t actually remember Discord so well. I know a few who think he was simply an unruly foreigner.” At this point the invisible god returned to enact his plan and grew indignant. He made a mental note to pay Ponyville a less… inconspicuous visit soon. With a snap of his claws, Angel and his species felt an overwhelming urge to chase the smell of the invisible human. For a few minutes, there was no visible reaction and the group of four slowly began to recover from the silence. Then all the rabbits poured in from the kitchen, having been out back. Discord relished two of the three looks he could see, both shock and confusion.
“What’s going on?!” Megan asked Fluttershy, her voice going slightly higher in pitch. The pegasus just gaped at the bunnies as they assembled themselves in an orderly fashion. Three warrens organized themselves into squads and platoons before coalescing into a single company. Small catapults were moved into position behind them, turnips ready. Discord was greatly impressed as he sat back to watch the fun. Angel finally appeared, wearing a miniature green helmet and holding an appropriately sized riding crop. He hopped to the forefront of the furry mass wearing a grim face.
“Why is he wearing a helmet?” Rachael asked nervously, also looking to Fluttershy. The mare was speechless, too stunned to speak. The riding crop was raised in the air and time slowed. All five spectators watched it fall at a snail’s pace and the catapults fire in response. The turnips arced through the air, reaching six feet into the air before falling onto Thomas. Reflexes kicking in, the human raised his arms and a leg, ducking his head and twisting away from the turnips. A few struck the back of his head and his arms but none did any real damage. Then the horde threw itself at him. Thomas leapt behind the couch in the hopes of shielding himself and bolted out the door. Rachael, Megan, and Fluttershy tried to hold back the bunnies, but failed. Spilling though the open window and doorway in hot pursuit.
Ponyville watched on in terror and shock as a mass of fur bore down on it. Over a hundred rabbits were running down the path from Fluttershy’s house and into the town proper. As with the first bunny stampede, ponies panicked, fainted, and hid in their homes, but this time the creatures seemed focused on something in particular. They ignored the ponies, hopping around, under, over, and between them as they chased the smell. Thomas was running not quite as fast as possible, storing his energy for later on.
He weaved through the streets, using alleys ways to put some distance between him and his pursuers. The human made his way through the market, making a mental note to somehow apologize as the rabbits knocked over a couple carts and sent fruits and vegetables all over the place. Taking a sharp turn down a road at the end of the market, he made a bee line for Carousel Boutique. Rarity’s shop was on one side of town that lacked many wide open spaces, which would allow him to evade capture by the bunnies.
In the straight away leading towards the building, his pursuers were able to gain some ground on him. Looking back, Thomas sped up a little and made his first turn down the narrower streets. The rabbits lost any ground they made following his sharp turns, bottlenecking at several points in the roads and alleys. Smiling, Thomas made his way towards the general part of town the library was and soon he saw the structure appearing over the roof tops of houses. Then he felt something grab onto his waist. Looking down in surprise, he saw a rabbit doing its best to hold on. Turning, he watched in horror as the horde picked up speed. Eyes wide, he went into an all-out sprint as he tossed the rabbit behind him.
By this point Thomas was genuinely concerned about what would happen and had started to panic somewhat. All he could think about was getting as far away from them as possible, making him feel like prey. Discord, who had been watching the whole chase with a bucket of popcorn while invisible, sighed and relaxed his puppets. The bunnies slowed down, growing tired from the cash. He also eased Thomas’s fears a bit and gave his feet a little nudge, giving him more space for him to make his move.
Feeling calmer, the human turned his head and saw the greater distance. As the library approached, he prepared himself for leaping inside. Looking behind him one last time, he saw the bunnies disappear behind a corner as they tried to head him off, thinking he was continuing on. Thomas threw himself at the library door handle and forced the door open. His knee met the frame and tripped him up, sending him headlong into a bookcase. Knocking off a few books, he pushed off the shelf and backed into another. Stumbling again, Thomas tried to regain his balance and succeeded in only puling more books off. He finally collapsed at the base of the stairs. Not seeing Twilight and Spike, he felt like swearing.
“Fucking bunnies.”
Laughing, the god wiped his eyes of tears brought on by the scene and released the rabbits from his control. They dispersed quickly, Angel knowing that all of them were going to experience a very stern talking to from Fluttershy and Rachael for their behavior. Once his giggles died down, he stretched his limbs and cracked his neck.
“Thank wasn’t very nice.” Discord jumped, shocked at hearing a voice right next to him. Looking to his right, he was both less and more surprised. Pinkie Pie, the Element of Laughter, was giving him a serious look as if she could see him.
“He’s a really nice guy and he’s had a pretty tough time” She added, meeting his gaze.
“Who ya talking to Pinkie?” Rainbow Dash asked, landing next to her. Pinkie turned sharply to face the new comer and smiled brightly.
“No one silly!” She answered with a giggle. “There’s no pony there for me to talk to!” Discord, Master of Chaos and Count of Mischief, was amused by her response and smiled to himself. She was one of his favorite ponies, even from before he was ‘reformed’. Rainbow just gave her friend a weird look before shrugging like it was nothing.
“What ever.” She brushed off her friend’s strangeness and took to the skies. Discord watched the streak she left in her wake with a neutral look before returning his gaze to Pinkie. She was trotting away happily, apparently done with the conversation. Shrugging himself, Discord headed east towards Zebrica which needed a little more chaos or the harmonious magic of the world would make the entire country break out into the CanCan again. The last time had caused a crash in the economy and a civil war.
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Changed the name because I just hated the first part.