Gladiator

by Not_A_Hat

6 - Weave

"Fascinating." Twilight held a vial of Mirror Pool water, turning it this way and that before her face. Her horn glowed as she examined it both magically and mundanely. "This has some very unusual properties! Zecora, how long have you known about this stuff?"

"Oh, quite a while," Zecora said. "But rest assured, I have my reasons for not wanting the knowledge spread about."

"And you're saying that the residue your scrying picked up boiled the water?"

"Yes."

"This is going to require some research..." Twilight absentmindedly finished the sandwich Spike had made her for brunch, and ambled out of the dining room. Zecora and I followed, only to find her already immersed, books floating around and pen scribbling. We shared a wry smile and continued out the door. As I did however, an overheard mumble from Twilight caused me to freeze.

<"...but Planck length means that couldn't be the case, even with ice...">

I almost stepped back inside, about to ask Twilight where she had learned English, until I remembered my own oddness last night.

"Zecora, something weird is happening with Twilight and me." The zebra turned to me inquisitively. "Come on," I said. "Someone showed me a great hill for sitting and talking around here. Let's see if it's available."

---

"Well, I think I could help you with that." Zecora was looking through the Almanack. "Actually, you should also ask Apple Bloom. She is quite well versed in the ways of the Everfree, and when you are on the edges, she can be quite an effective guide." Sighing, she leaned back on the grass. "As for the other, you say that both you and Twilight have known things you shouldn't? But you don't realize until later?"

"Yeah. I think that's right."

"Well. Firstly, the spell Twilight used to heal you." She tapped my chest, the gem clinking against her hoof. I could feel the vibrations deep in my bones. "It was a thing of desperation, and I am not surprised at unusual side effects. Twilight pulled you back from the brink by mixing the energy of her soul with yours. Souls are complex and delicate. This is just a guess, but perhaps you ended up with some of her memories and she ended up with some of yours?"

"Great." I sighed. "Now I feel like a thief AND a jerk."

"Easy, Wes. She did what she did of her own free will."

"I know, Zecora. But this is kinda a lot to take in all at once."

"...Yes."

I was getting better with ponies. I really was. I was learning not to see every one of them as a 'threat' on my subconscious danger assessment. I wasn't jumping around like crazy in town, I was able to walk calmly down the streets. I still didn't feel like I was up to large crowds, but those were blessedly uncommon in the quiet town.

I STILL wasn't prepared to have an electric-pink pony materialize directly in front of me without crossing the intervening space in any discernible manner. My instincts, still taut, screamed. I hadn’t noticed the approach at all. I’d normally default to fight, but against such a complete unknown, there was only one option.

"HI!"

"EEEEEEEEEEK!" I screamed like a little girl and ran as fast as I could. Somewhere behind I heard Zecora laughing, but I was too busy escaping to care.

"Hi! My name is Pinkie Pie! I haven't met you yet, but you're Rainbow and Twilight's new friend, right? I want to be your friend too! We can play games! Oh, are we playing tag? I like tag! Oh, oh, am I it? I want to be it!" The crazy pink creature was somehow keeping pace with me. I leaped into the forest, dashing at full speed through the underbrush. I had to concentrate and use every ounce of skill and innate speed I had to keep from falling and hurting myself, but my attacker somehow managed to not only keep pace with me, but to do it by bouncing.

I tried zigzaging, but that didn't work either.

"So, you're new here and I want to have a party for you! I love parties and any reason to throw a party should be embraced! Except we can't throw a party for a silly reason, because then parties won't be special anymore and the best part of parties is that they're special! But a new pony in Ponyville is definitely special, even if you're not really a pony! We can play games and there will be cake and friends! That's the best part of a party, how everyone has fun and is friendly and we can all share smiles!"

Giving up escaping, I dived for the next piece of cover I saw, a thick bush, and curled up in it hoping she would go away.

"Oh, are we done playing tag? But I didn't catch you! But you're not running anymore and tag is no fun if you don't run! What are we playing now? Is it hide-and-go-seek? I like hide-and-go-seek, but it's hard! You have to HOLD STILL and I have trouble with that! But you seem to be pretty good at it. Maybe I'll just let you hide? OK, I'll go count!" There was a series of 'boings' and the chattering died into the distance.

I lay in the underbrush for a while, trying to process what had just happened.

A few minutes later I heard laughing, giggling and even outright guffawing approach my hiding place. A little later, a black-and-gray fetlock poked into my bush and a hoof rapped me on the shoulder.

"Ready or not, here I come!" Zecora said, trying to stifle a giggle.

"Oh, shut up." I growled, slowly uncurling. "How do you deal with her?"

"It's really not so bad." She said, consolingly. "At least, for those of us who can suppress their fight or flight instinct." She added more seriously. "And once you get to know her I can honestly say that Pinkie Pie is a delight. She has her oddness, but it is vastly outweighed by her genuinely warm and caring heart."

"Fine, fine." I rose to my feet, dusting myself off. "I over-reacted. But honestly, how does she do that?"

"No-one knows," Zecora said. I glanced at her, half expecting her to be mocking me, but she was serious. "Honestly. Pinkie Pie is entirely inexplicable. Even our resident egghead, Twilight, had a go at researching what makes her tic. She soon decided to leave well enough alone, and categorized Pinkies tics as 'knowledge better off unknown to ponykind.'"

I shook my head, trying to settle this new information into it comfortably. This time I only jumped a little when Pinkie appeared.

"Found you!" She yelled, before collapsing into giggles.

"Good job, Pinkie." Zecora said, smiling warmly. "You win a bottle of cider! Come sit with us a while." Turning back towards the meadow, she led us all out of the forest.

---

"Really?" I asked, surprised. "I had no idea that making cupcakes was that complicated."

"Well, you only have to do that if you want really good ones!" Pinkie said, shooting me a serious look over her cider bottle. The three of us had spent the past hour or so sitting in the sun and swapping stories. "Rarity sticks her nose up and says they're all the same, but I can TASTE the difference! My cupcakes are made with LOVE!" She swigged her drink and slammed the bottle on the ground. "I can TASTE IT!" She broke out in smiles again, after her overly serious moment. "And I think others can, too. That's why I do it."

I shook my head a little, smiling. Zecora had been right. Although Pinkie had poor impulse control, it wasn't usually an issue because she had nothing but genuinely kind impulses.

"Rarity is your friend who owns a clothing store, right?"

"Oh, Carousel Boutique is MUCH more than a clothing store!" Pinkie said. "It's a place of art! Rarity pours her heart and soul into making clothes that ponies will love! Everyone who walks out of there is happy with their outfit, unless they're the sort of pony who has trouble being happy. That hurts Rarity the worst. But what can you do? Some ponies like being miserable." For a second she stared off into space, before shaking the mood away and bouncing to her feet. "Wes, you need some clothes, right? Come with me! I'll take you to meet Rarity, and you can order some new threads!"

"Um..." I took a swig of cider and stared uncertainly into space. "I'd love to, but I don't have any money."

"Here." Zecora dug a small pouch out of her mane and tossed it to me. "Take that, and consider it an advance on helping with my potion ingredients. Having another person gathering in the Everfree will give me more free time for experimenting."

I stared at the pouch for a second, feelings conflicted, before slowly pocketing it.

"Thanks, Zecora. you've been a true friend to me."

"Awww." Pinkie smiled at us. "That's what I'm talking about! Smiles should be shared!" She turned and started bouncing towards the town.

"Wait, I can't keep up!" I said, as I struggled along behind. "How do you do that, anyways?" I asked, frustrated at her pace.

"Just put a little spring in your step, silly!"

I stopped for a breath and paused in bemusement. looking up at the brilliantly blue sky and the green grass all around me, I summoned a bit of playfulness up from the bottom of my heart, slipped a smile onto my face, and cast off my cares for the future for a bit.

I set off with a hop and a skip, and it really did seem easier to keep up.

---

We must have looked a little ridiculous coming into a town, a bouncing pink pony and a skipping human, but we shrugged off the stares. If you’re doing something fun, do it with all your heart!

We soon reached a round two-story building. The upper floor was circled with a porch and a wrought iron railing, with ponies worked into it to simulate the shape of a carousel. The bottom floor was rather larger, with extensive glass windows. A glimpse through one showed several manikins...or would that be ponikins? Each with their own dress, some in states of partial completion.

Pinkie burst through the door, the bell jingling wildly.

"Rarity!" she called. "Come meet Wes! He needs clothes!" There was a startled gasp and clatter as something fell, followed by the sound of many small things bouncing on the floor. I stepped through the door behind her and saw a brilliantly white unicorn with an immaculately coiffured mane. She was shaking her head and examining a dropped sewing basket that had spilled bobbins and rolls of thread all across the floor.

I bent down and picked one up. It was red.

"Pinkie, you really MUST stop surprising people! There are some situations where it is simply not appropriate!" The white unicorn was berating Pinkie, while gathering up the thread with her telekinetic aura. She stopped as the bobbin in my hand glowed.

"Oh, I do apologize! How rude of me to ignore a customer!" She tucked the bobbins back in the basket, and set it on a nearby table. "Now, what can I do for you?"

"He needs new clothes, Rarity!" Pinkie interjected, sounding slightly frustrated. "I just said so!"

"Yes yes, dear. Run along now." Rarity waved dismissively at Pinkie. I shrugged at my pink guide slightly. I could probably take it from here. She huffed, clearly annoyed at being excluded, but made her way to the door and let herself out.

"Um, she's pretty much right." I said. "I know you only do custom work and I can't afford to pay much, but I don't think I can wear pony clothes and I really need something new soon. These can't take much more wear and tear." I fingered my shirt. It had lasted much longer than it should have, thanks to the magic of the gem, but by now it was starting to look pretty lived-in. I had washed it when I could, but I really wanted a bit more than one set of clothes.

"Well, you came to the right place!" Rarity spun, waving about the store. "If anyone can help you, I can!" She took a closer look at what I was wearing. "The patterns for these don't seem too difficult. But for formal wear, this seems awfully plain! I can surely make you something much more fabulous than this!"

"Oh, uh..." Cultural differences. I hadn't really thought about it until now, but most of these ponies were naked. The most clothing I'd seen in day-to-day use was a hat. "Well, this isn't actually formal wear. I wear clothes pretty much all the time." No need to get into human social norms and mores too far. "Look," I said, holding out an arm. "No fur. I need the protection from the sun and wind, not to mention if I walk in the forest," I pointed to a scratch. "Actually, I could use some long sleeves."

"Fascinating! A race that wears clothes all the time? You simply MUST tell me about your home country! It sounds fabulous! But I must ask you, what sort of fiber is this made of?" She rubbed the cloth of my shirt gently. "And it's spun so very finely! This is absolutely masterful work!"

"Um, let's see..." I pulled the collar of my shirt around, and squinted at the tag. "Rayon? Personally, I would prefer cotton. Oh, and they're machine made. I've never been able to afford hand-made clothes, not to mention hand-spun."

"Oh my! Your country really must use more textiles than us to have such an advanced industry! But I do have cotton and I can work with that. I wonder if I could import some fabric, though; the possibilities in this cloth are simply fascinating."

"I don't think that will work...I'm from a very, very long way away."

"Well, why don't you tell me about it?" She motioned to a changing screen. "Step behind that, and pass me your clothes so I can examine them. After that, I'll need to take your measurements."

"Well, I don't really understand how it all works myself, but I was camping and there must have been some sort of magical accident, because when I woke up..."

---

"...and so, Twilight saved my life, but I have trouble even looking her in the face."

I ended up telling Rarity a lot more than I had expected to. Maybe it was because she was obviously very close to several ponies I had already met, or maybe it was because she was extremely personable. We were sitting in her studio, sipping from tiny teacups. She was working on a pattern with paper and pins scattered across the table. it was going to be another shirt, a simple button-down like the one I was currently wearing, but with two breast pockets and long sleeves. I had mentioned buttoning cuffs to her, and she was currently working on adapting a pony design to fit my wrists.

"Well, I would say there's a little more to it than that." She said. "Although you claim to hold no grudge, that sort of...altercation can be difficult to put behind you."

I nodded glumly as she re-filled my cup.

"Um...could you point me to the bathroom?" I asked, looking down into what was probably my seventh tiny cup of tea.

"Next room on the left." She pointed absently as she carefully placed a pin.

I stepped back into the studio a bit later, much relieved.

"Rarity, did your mirrors break last night, too?"

"Indeed! It was horrible! Glass everywhere and this horrible noise! It's a wonder I got any sleep afterwards, what with the fog and the magical resonance."

"Wait...fog?"

"Oh, didn't you notice?" She looked up, her baby-blue eyes wide with surprise. "Although I guess if you didn't look outside, it might have been easy to miss. There was this horrid black fog floating through the streets. I have no idea what the pegasus were thinking; honestly, it was awful!"

"Huh. And the resonance?"

"Well, of course you would have missed that, not being a unicorn. Honestly, I almost missed it myself. It was faint, but I think it came from that way." She turned her head, pointing with her horn. "I wonder what caused that sort of thing? It seemed a bit strong for a misfired spell, but my mirrors are replaceable. At least none of my projects were damaged."

"Did you know that mirrors all across the town broke? Even Zecora had one shatter."

"Oh, is that so?" She sounded mildly curious. "You should really tell Twilight. She will find it fascinating, I'm sure."

"She knows. She's locked herself up in the library, pouring over all her books. Again."

"There there, dear. She will surface eventually. As her friends, we just need to be there for her when she does."

"She's lucky to have friends like you."

"Friends like us, Wes. If you're not her friend, after her saving your life and accepting her offer of room and board, you have a colder heart than I thought."

That floored me. Was I Twilight's friend? I thought about it for a minute. There had been nothing but bad blood between us so far, but that could change, right? I pushed my first impressions aside and thought about Twilight objectively for a bit. Although she had hurt me, she had owned up to it and apologized handsomely. She had immersed herself in her books, maybe to avoid me, but also to find a way to help me.

"I...I think I would like to be her friend."

"Well! That's the important part. Now, dear, I'm going to be sewing for a bit and I won't be fit for polite company. I've had a wonderful afternoon with you, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave me to my work. If you come back tomorrow, I should have this finished."

"Ok, I can do that. Just out of curiosity, how much is it going to cost? I don't have much money now, but I should be making more soon."

"Well..." her voice trailed off as she trotted out into the middle of the studio and started comparing bolts of cloth and checking her notes. "Most outfits I do are not exactly cheap. I charge for material and labor, gems and design time, with a little taken off if it's a particularly nice piece or for a particularly important person. This sort of business is built on reputation, after all and I don't sell outfits everyday. But this has been a pleasant afternoon and your order is so very basic, it will be simplicity itself to make. I even have some pieces of cloth leftover from previous projects that I think I can use." She paused for a second, tallying in her head. "It will be fifty-five bits. That's the material only, but I won't take anything more. You need some help and I'm happy to provide it. Besides, you've been excellent company." She tossed her mane over her shoulder and turned towards me. "You don't need to pay it all now, though, if you don't have it."

I pulled the bag Zecora had given me out of a pocket and spilled it into my palm. It came to thirty bits. I counted twenty out and passed them to her.

"Consider this a down payment. I hope to have more for you soon. Thank you so much, Rarity. I'll be back tomorrow. I hope you have a wonderful evening."

"Oh, I think I will," she said, pulling pieces of fabric out of a basket and holding them up for inspection. "I will see you tomorrow."

I nodded in response and pulled the door closed behind me, only to bump into a tiny white unicorn filly with a pink and purple mane. Behind her stood Apple Bloom and an orange pegasus filly.

"Wes?" Apple Bloom said. "Ah'm so glad Ah found you! These are my friends!"

Comments

[Public Reader]

I stepped through the door behind her and saw a brilliantly white unicorn with an immaculately coiffured mane shaking her head and examining a dropped sewing basket that had spilled bobbins and rolls of thread all across the floor.

A little bit to long for a sentence. Try this:

I stepped through the door behind her and saw a brilliantly white unicorn with an immaculately coiffured mane. She was shaking her head while examining a dropped sewing basket that had spilled bobbins and rolls of thread all across the floor.

I had washed it as I could, but I really wanted a bit more than one set of clothes.

Try
I had washed it when I could...

She was working on a pattern, paper and pins scattered across the table

Never use a comma, by itself, to combine two ideas. It must have a conjunction or it can be a semicolon. Unless they are used to show more information.

I.e "the state of Florida, known for its beautiful beaches, was owned by the Spanish until 1999."(I know that the date is wrong)

Instead you should have:

She was working on a pattern with paper and pins scattered across the table.
Or
Paper and pins were scattered across the table as she was working on a pattern.

Rarity spun, waving at the store.

Since they are in the store it has to be

Rarity spun, waving around the store.

Using at would mean that she is outside waving in the direction of the store.

With all that out of the way, the story is progressing quite smoothly. It is very enjoyable to read. Keep up the good work.

[Not_A_Hat]

3507060 Fixed!
Commas are the bane of my existence; for some reason, my brain throws them in everywhere when I write. Probably half of what my (minimal) editing consists of is evicting extra commas that have sneaked into my sentences.

I start work tomorrow, so updates might slow. We will see. Thanks for the help!

[Public Reader]

3509010 sweet. Cant wait to read it.

[damnaion]

hummmm

[The Letter J]

Okay, I cannot figure out why Wes ran away from Pinkie. After all his time fighting in the arena, I would think that his fight or flight instinct would be rather heavy on the fight side.

[earthrise]

4339680

In an arena, you're boxed in. But he probably spent his entire time not in the arena obsessing about escape. If you're given a choice between fighting an unknown and escaping (Pinkie doesn't look like she could fly), smart money is on the escaping.

[The Letter J]

4342923
The way I see it is that while he may have been thinking about escape whenever he wasn't in the arena, he only thought about attacking while he was in the arena. And the arena was where he was constantly being threatened. So after a year of that, his instinct becomes to go into combat mode when an unexpected threat pops up. I'm only at about chapter 20 so far, but Wes has already explained several times that his instinct is to fight to kill.

[The Letter J]

4342923
4340456
Okay, I just read chapter 26, and I think it confirms what I've been saying here (spoilered just in case).

"Hey, Twilight!" Rainbow reached over and tapped her on the shoulder. I felt the reaction across the link, first; Twilight had maintained it so the could use her fingers properly. Reflexes I'd painstakingly trained lashed out, and she moved without thinking, twisting violently and throwing a punch directly at Rainbow's unprotected side. I reacted nearly as quickly, trying to keep my friends from hurting each other. I grasped Twilight's power, yanking it across the link and spellcasting in a split second. Rainbow blinked out, re-appearing halfway across the room, and Twilight hit only empty air, a shocked look appearing on her face.
"Oh, Rainbow, I'm so sorry!" She leaped up and ran to her friend, hugging her fiercely.
"It's Ok," came the muffled reply. "I guess that's why Wes twitches when I sneak up on him."

[tk4]

Well, this is a first for me! Rarity actually charged for her work!
Anyways, good work on this chapter

[BeardedRedMane]

electric-pink pony materialize directly in front of my without

me

[Not_A_Hat]

5032531 Thanks, I've fixed what you've found over the past few chapters. I have a few more re-edited chapters I'd like to upload, but Gdocs is being unhelpful. >.< at least the later chapters seem a little better. I'm glad you're liking the story!

[Jack Kellar]

"Bemusement" is not the same as "amusement". The former means "confusion", the latter means "enjoyment".

"Really?" I asked, surprised. "I had no idea that making cupcakes was that complicated." I said.

Axe that last "I said.". It's redundant, you already mentioned the character talking before.

[Not_A_Hat]

5201676 Yes, I know what bemusement means, although perhaps 'smirked' was a poor word to go with it. I fixed the 'said'. Thanks for the help!

[MurderSassin]

Rarity didn't give out free clothes!

[Lupus]

"Wes?" Apple Bloom said. "Ah'm so glad Ah found you! These are my friends!"

Uh oh...

[Aprion]

6500498 uh oh indeed. crusader madness, hoooooo!

[DerpyDucks]

I bent down and picked one up. It was red.

Why does this sentence exist.

[supersoulspark]

7107982 Well If we go down into color psychology, red is associated with violence, anger, and blood. By having Wes only focus and pick up the red ball of yarn out of the other balls within his vicinity, it further supports his violent characterization. It also hints that he could be much more attracted to the color. Beside the psychological reason, red could be his favorite color, or just the color that ticked his fancy the most at that moment. Hat could have just said he picked up one of the spools, but because he applied the color red he was able to ... string out some extra characterization.

edit for spelling

[Theresa]

I sure he will be twilight friend in time but he just discovered freedom and the guilt from her isn't making easy to get close.

[clerfamerg]

"Friends like us, Wes. If you're not her friend, after her saving your life and accepting her offer of room and board, you have a colder heart than I thought."

I mean, I think that really discounts the fact that the reason she had to save his life is that she took it in the first place.