• Published 24th Feb 2014
  • 6,620 Views, 458 Comments

Outsider's Game: Turning Wheel - Bluecho



Skullgirls/MLP Crossover. Painwheel won her freedom, and it's an entirely hollow victory. Perhaps forced emigration to Equestria will soothe her pain.

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13 - Thorns & Sweet Scents

Ch. 13 - Thorns & Sweet Scents


“Can I just-”

“No.”

“But it wouldn't be any-”

“No.”

“Pretty please with sugar on-”

“Will you just leave already?”

Fluttershy shook like a leaf. She was at her wits end. For all the life of her, she couldn't get the human girl to let her do anything or say anything. It was...demoralizing.

Was this how Twilight felt? Was this what led to her losing it and diving into the girl's mind? Would Fluttershy end up the same way before too long? These questions frightened the butter yellow pegasus. “I just want to help you, Painwheel,” she squeaked.

“You can help by going away,” Painwheel said sternly. She looked haggard, her brow moist with sweat, brown hair matted.

“But why?” Fluttershy asked, eyes growing moist. “What did I do to you that was so terrible?”

“You took my will away, that's what!” Painwheel exclaimed, raising her voice. Her hands gripped the arms of her chair.

“What?!” Fluttershy said, shrinking. “But I-”

“No buts!” Painwheel said, her crooked teeth barred. Those red eyes, set in black, ogled the pegasus contemptuously. “Back in the fight, you did something to me. Something with those...those eyes of yours. They made me weak! Made me crumble and do whatever you wanted! Took away my ability to think and feel and act the way I wanted!” Painwheel trembled, gritting her teeth. She winced, flesh in her arms quivering. “Aah!” she hissed.

“Painwheel!” Fluttershy gasped, running the human's side. She tried to place a hoof on Painwheel's elbow. “Don't strain yourself so much! You'll make the pain worse!”

“You don't know my pain!” Painwheel shouted, violently pushing back with her elbow, causing the pegasus to recoil fearfully. “None of you really knows what it's like to feel this way! So stop acting like you're so empathetic! You disgust me!”

Fluttershy clutched the hoof she tried to touch Painwheel with. Tears began flowing from her eyes. Her voice cracked, “I...I'm sorry...I'm just trying to help, Painwheel...”

“Well fat lot of that you're doing,” Painwheel mumbled. Her own eyes glistened with moistness, but this born of anger. “You come into my life, saying you want to help. And then you break into my head...and...and you fuck around with my mind. My free will. You...and Twilight Sparkle...you're both the same.

“You're both just like him.” Painwheel whispered now, voice croaking. “Just like Brain Drain...damn you and her and him...”

Fluttershy collapsed to the floor. Fresh, full tears emptied out on the ground, the pegasus choking out sobs. “...you...you're r-right...”

“...hmm?” Painwheel said, looking down at the pony.

“You're right,” Fluttershy repeated, looking up. “I've b-been going on about how I w-want to help you. Yet all I've done so far is hurt.” She sniffed, rubbing her nose with her foreleg. “I had no idea my Stare...that you'd suffered so. Using my Stare hurt you really bad, didn't it?”

“...yeah, it did,” Painwheel said softly. She too sniffed.

“I'm s-sorry,” Fluttershy bawled, leaping to her hooves and embracing Painwheel around the waist. “I'm so sorry Painwheel! I'm such a terrible pony!”

The pale, bare flesh flinched under Fluttershy's touch. “Oomph!” Painwheel said, watching the pony weep on her. “...uh...” Her expression softened considerably. “Um...it's okay...I'll accept your apology, so long as you stop crawling on me all the time...”

A pink-maned head shot up, down-flat ears standing up hopefully. “...y-you will?”

“...sure?” Painwheel said, one eyebrow raised. “I guess...?”

“Oh thank you!” Fluttershy said, making to leap up and wrap her legs around Painwheel's shoulders. But a momentary pause causes her to reconsider, and she breaks away, blushing. “Sorry.”

Painwheel sighed. “It's alright,” she said, closing her eyes. “...I guess I can't hold it against you. I was going on a rampage and trying to kill you and your friends.”

“Yeah...” Fluttershy said, scratching the back of her head. An awkward silence ensued, before the pony spoke again. “So, who is Brain Drain?”

“Huh?”

“Brain Drain. You compared me and Twilight to him, so I wonder what he did.” Fluttershy shivered. “I hope it's not too bad, that you'd think of me like that.”

Pondering the point, Painwheel shrugged. “Actually, I probably wasn't being fair. Brain Drain wasn't as bad as you.”

“Oh...oh dear...” Fluttershy said, ears drooping against her skull. “Does that mean I'm...?”

“He was so much worse.”

Fluttershy let out a sigh of relief. “Goodness,” she said, smiling minutely. “That's good to hear...oh wait no!” She suddenly started trembling, contrite as could be. “I didn't mean to say it was good you-”

“Fluttershy?”

“I, um...what?”

“Calm down,” Painwheel said. She sighed again. “I get what you mean.”

“So was he really so bad?”

“He really was. Brain Drain was a bastard.” When Fluttershy flinched under the curse, Painwheel continued, “He's a cyborg with a brain visible under a glass skullcap. He was the one who ordered me turned into...this.” She looked down at her own form. “He's also psychic. When I first woke up the way I am now, I couldn't think straight. It hurt so much, and I was so angry. I went off on anything around me, with aimless fury. Then Brain Drain started feeding commands into my head. Told me where to go, what to do...who to kill...”

Fluttershy gasped. “Oh goodness! How horrible!”

“Mm hmm,” Painwheel hummed, nodding sadly. “I've fought many horrible people and things. Some even what you'd call demons.” Painwheel frowned somberly. “But Brain Drain was no mere demon. He was the devil himself. If I had the chance right now, I'd go and kill him myself. Count on it.”

Fluttershy gulped loudly. “M-maybe it would be better to talk about something else...”


“And...done!”

Spike ladled steamy chicken soup into a bowl, sitting on a tray. He hopped down from his step stool and picked up the tray. “This stuff smells so good, even I kind of want to try it,” Spike said, licking his lips. As a dragon, he was perfectly capable of consuming flesh. But he was also raised by ponies, and thus had few opportunities to do so.

If Painwheel didn't end up liking the soup, he would clearly have no choice but to eat it himself. No sense in letting good food go to waste.

As he made his way to the basement door, he counted it odd how quiet it was. Earlier of course, Spike heard shouting. He almost got worried, but the shouting stopped. Spike didn't actually know which of their friends came over that day, but it would seem Painwheel calmed down after a while.

Spike waltzed into the basement, taking the stairs down. He shouldn't worry so much. Painwheel was making progress he was sure, and especially with whichever pony came to visit. So long as it wasn't Fluttershy, they would probably be in the clear.

“Hey Painwheel, it's lunch time! Guess what I cooked for you today.”

“Ooh! Whatever it is smells scrumptious!”

Spike froze in his tracks. It was Fluttershy. Fluttershy came to visit. The same Fluttershy with a love for animals. The Fluttershy who would die or freak out if she knew one was served in a soup with beans and carrots.

The dragon gulped. “O-oh. H-h-hi F-fluttershy,” he stammered, the tray shaking in his claws. “What are you...I mean, what are you two doing down here?” He tried to put on a smile, but could already tell it wasn't a good mask.

Fluttershy didn't seem to notice. “Oh, Painwheel and I were just talking about flowers!” she said, smiling. “Did you know she kept a garden back at home with all kinds of them!” She turned around to Painwheel again. “Which ones did you say you planted, Painwheel?”

Painwheel shrugged. Her face looked a little puffy, but she seemed fairly calm and collected. “I liked to plant Buttercups, Freesia, and White Lilacs*, and my mom preferred Magenta Zinnias, Tulips, and...Queen Anne's Lace**...” The human frowned at that last one. Spike raised an eyebrow. What was that about?

Then again, he didn't have much time to worry about a flower he'd never even heard of. “Well, I guess you have a lot of talking to do, so maybe I should just come back.”

“Oh no, don't do that!” Fluttershy said, waving a hoof. “You went to all that trouble to make Painwheel lunch. It would be a shame to let it go cold. Wouldn't it, Painwheel?”

“Oh, uh, yeah, I guess,” Painwheel said, snapping out of her funk. “I am pretty hungry.”

Spike frowned. Great, no way to sidestep the issue.

“So what did you make, Spike?” Fluttershy said, attempting to step close to the tray. Her nostrils flared, so as to take a big whiff.

Spike swung the tray behind him, holding it away from the prying eyes – and nose – of the pegasus. “Oh nothing, it's really nothing,” he said, releasing a nervous laugh. “Just some beans and carrots...and some other stuff. You know, vegetable soup.” Sweat rolled down his scaly brow. “Nothing offensive or out of the ordinary here. Just good old vegetable soup. He he.”

“Oh, well okay then,” Fluttershy said, puzzled. “Can I help you feed her?”

“No!” Spike said, causing the pegasus to jump. “I-I mean, no, I've got it. Plus, I have hands, so it'll be easy for me. No need for help here, I got it.”

“...are you sure?”

“Positive!” Spike said, walking past Fluttershy – keeping the tray on the opposite side of his body as he went. Setting the tray on the side table, he stepped in front of it so Fluttershy couldn't peek. More sweat yet poured down his face, the young dragon fighting to hold a confident affectation up. “I'm sure we'll be just fine.” He paused, mind racing. Had to get her out of the house. “Is there anything you've been meaning to do, Fluttershy? This might take a while. Painwheel can be a pretty messy eater.”

“I am not!” Painwheel interjected, pouting. “I'm a great eater! Etiquette was one of the things I excelled at!”

“...he he,” Spike chuckled, darting eyes back and forth between the two girls. “I stand corrected...but Fluttershy, don't you need to feed your chickens or something?”

“No,” Fluttershy said, casually. “I fed all my chickens this morning before I came in.” By this point Spike was almost ready to scream. However, “But now that I think about it, I've been meaning to drop by the hardware store and buy some nails. That fence for the ferret enclosure needs to be fixed.” She smiled softly. “Thanks for reminding me, Spike! I guess I'll be seeing you soon, Painwheel.” He waved, winging her way to the top of the balcony and exiting through the door.

Spike sagged in place, nearly falling to the ground. Air escaped his lungs in a relieved sigh. “Thank Celestia she finally left,” he said, wiping away cold brow sweat.

“And why did she have to leave, exactly?” Painwheel asked, frowning. “I'm hungry, sure, but I was actually having a nice conversation. What gives?”

“What gives...” Spike began, picking up the tray of food, “is that I didn't make you vegetable soup.” He lifted it up so the human could see the contents of the bowl up close. “I made you chicken soup. Chicken!” He was whispering now, darting an eye to the basement door.

“...oh...so?”

“Aside from having to go to great lengths to get it, since ponies have kind of a thing against the slaughter and sale of animals?” Spike asked, picking up a spoon and stirring the bowl's contents. “How about because Fluttershy is the greatest animal lover ever, and would go crazy if she found out what was in this.”

“...thank you,” Painwheel said, expression softening to one of gratitude. “I haven't had chicken in...a long time.”

Spike beamed in satisfaction, scooping up a spoonful of soup with a carrot, some beans, and a bite-sized chunk of chicken breast. “Don't mention it. You've been through a lot, so it's only right you be treated.” He moved the spoon into Painwheel's waiting jaws, the latter greedily savoring the taste of bird flesh. Spike smiled at the human hum happily. “Glad you like it. And so long as Fluttershy doesn't find out, we'll be...”

“SPIKE!” came a shriek from upstairs.

“...just fine...” Spike cringed, shoulders sagging. He knew he should have been more careful where he put that pot of soup.

Author's Note:

Painwheel is a lover of flowers. But it's only while writing this chapter that I remembered that individual flowers have specific symbolic meanings. So I looked up a chart for the subject, and will be utilizing it sporadically from here on out.

That said, I'm unsure as to whether I ought to note what the different flowers mean, or whether I should just leave that up to the reader to look up on their own. For at least this one time, I'll do the work for you. Leave a comment on your individual views on the matter.

* Buttercups mean childishness; the latter two both represent innocence.
** Meaning Lasting Affection, Passionate Love, and Haven, respectively. Queen Anne's Lace is also known as Wild Carrot.