• 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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14 - The Feel Of Opposition

Ch. 14 - The Feel Of Opposition


“I don't like it.”

The cafe owner frowned, looking down at his customer's plate. “Well if you don't like daffodil sandwiches, you should have ordered something else.”

“No, no, I'm not talking about...” Goose Down rubbed the bridge of his nose. “The sandwich is fine, Al. Your sandwiches are always the best in town.”

“Certainly have better hay burgers than the fast food place on the other side of town,” said Lemon Hearts, taking slow drag from her iced tea.

“Yeah, what she said,” Goose Down commented. “So it's not your cooking, Al. I don't like the situation, is what I was telling Lemon.”

“What situation?” said Al Gratin, folding the tray under one forleg.

“You would know better than anyone, Al. That monster!” Goose slammed his hoof on the table.

“Careful, I just fixed that from last time,” Al said, wincing at the table. “But what about the monster?”

“The fact that it's still here in Ponyville, right in the center of town, and the authorities are just letting it sit there!” Goose exclaimed, gesticulating with his hooves. “I don't care what the mayor or the Princesses say, that's a disaster waiting to happen!”

“But Celestia put those royal guard guys around the library,” Al objected.

“Yeah, all of two guards at any time,” Goose said, derisively. “Fat lot of good two stallions will do against that...that thing. I mean come on, you saw it in action yourself just like I did.”

“Al, didn't it confront you in the flesh?” Lemon Hearts asked. “And it nearly took your head off?”

“Well that was...” Al said. “Yeah, you've got a point.” He paused. “But, I mean, it's also got Princess Twilight right there, along with the rest of her friends. Surely they could handle it.”

“Handle it like last time, when a main thoroughfare got smashed up and one of them almost got killed?” Goose Down shook his head. “No, I can't feel safe knowing that monster is still around. I mean, can't they banish it to the Everfree forest? Or send it to the Gulag Archipelago?”

“Oh come on, Goose,” said Al Gratin, “You know the Gulag is just a myth.”

“No, it was quite real,” chimed Lemon Hearts. “It was a real prison camp from way back. It's on an island chain up north somewhere. The Princesses decommissioned it centuries ago.”

“Okay, fair enough,” said Goose. “But we've got prisons or dungeons or penal colonies. Why not send the monster out? Anywhere better than a poorly secured library basement with only two guards and a bookworm princess to contain it.”

“I think you're underestimating Princess Twilight,” said Al. “She's saved Ponyville more times than I can count, and she's been here only a couple years now. I should think she knows what she's doing.”

“I wonder about that,” said Goose, squinting his eyes. “Ponies have still been hearing screams from that place. Morning, noon, and night.” Admittedly, Goose was exaggerating a bit. Unknowingly, though, given the power of confirmation bias. Not that he'd ever realize this, or admit to it if he did. “And then there's the stuff with the graveyard.”

“The graverobbing?” Lemon asked. “What about that?”

“Isn't it strange that this creature shows up one day, gets captured, and suddenly a bunch of corpses go missing?” Goose asked. “Seems awfully suspicious.”

“I'm not following, Goose,” Lemon said.

“I mean, maybe it's got something do with Sparkle.”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Al said, waving a hoof. “What Goose, are you suggesting that Princess Twilight defiled those graves? You're seriously suggesting that?”

“I might be.”

“Why?”

“Monsters have to eat, don't they?” Goose said, watching the other two's faces light up with disgust. “Think about it. Twilight Sparkle levitated an Ursa Major...”

“Ursa Minor,” Lemon Hearts corrected.

“Ursa Minor, whatever,” Goose said, rolling his eyes. “She levitated a massive star-bear across town, and did a whole bunch of other stuff along the way, and sent the thing into the Everfree forest. That was all before she became a princess, too. If anypony could dig up a dozen graves and hail away their contents, in one night, it's her. I think she dug them up to feed her new pet monster, and paid off the groundskeeper to keep him quiet.”

“Goose, please,” Al Gratin said. “Listen to yourself. You're accusing the Princess of exhuming bodies to feed them to a wild creature she has locked in her basement. It's ludicrous.”

“Is it?” Goose said simply. “Our dear royal librarian has done some crazy things in the past. I certainly didn't like being in the middle of a pile of ponies, fighting over a raggedy plush toy, because she went over the deep end. And right now, I'm scared.”

“Scared?” Lemon repeated.

“Scared,” Goose confirmed. “Because what happens when that ghoul finishes snacking on our dearly departed? What happens when Twilight Sparkle runs out of dead bodies? Are we going to see normal, everyday ponies disappearing?”

“Goose stop it!” Al said. “That's insane! The creature eats bread and tomatoes, not corpses. I should know, I saw it raid my cafe for food. You're being irrational. Isn't that right, Lemon?”

“...yeah, Al's right, Goose,” Lemon Hearts said. “That seems a bit far fetched.”

Goose Down sputtered for a second, looking back and forth between the two. Then he sighed. “Okay, maybe I'm a little off-base on that. But I still can't sleep soundly at night knowing that thing is just waiting to break out and go on another rampage. And I'm not the only pony who thinks that. A whole bunch of townsponies do.”

“I got to admit, I feel that way too,” said Lemon.

“And what about you, Al?” Goose said, staring the cafe owner in the eyes. “What if it gets out and comes back around to your cafe? What if it's not going to be satisfied with hay burgers?”

Al Gratin frowned nervously. “...well...”

“I say, we ought to do something about it,” Goose said, thinking. “Who knows what that monster is doing?”


Painwheel stared into the polychromatic pegasus' eyes. The latter returned the somber attention. If Painwheel was to guess, she would say her current guest interpreted the assignment as an order to watch the human, nothing more.

Perfectly okay with Painwheel. There was no pressing matters they needed to discuss anyway.

Unfortunately, an impromptu staring contest could hold either girl's attention for only so long. Rainbow Dash's eyes began to drift, her posture sagging more and more each passing moment. Within minutes, she leaned down to rest on her side, the one opposite her injury. White linen bandages clung around her furry flesh. Dash released a bored sigh, still keeping her eyes on Painwheel.

Painwheel released her own sigh in return. It would be a long day at this rate.

Or maybe not. “Ugh,” Rainbow Dash sighed, louder this time.

“Mugh...” Painwheel sighed. If nothing else, an impromptu shift from impromptu staring contest to impromptu sighing contest was slightly more interesting. Barely.

“Uuugh.”

“Heeeeegh.”

“Uuuuuuuugh.”

“Muuuuuuuuuuugh.”

“Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuu-” Rainbow Dash's latest, most drawn-out sigh was interrupted by a spontaneous burp. “Oh horsefeathers!”

“He he,” Painwheel chuckled lightly, the barest glimmer of a smile appearing on her lips.

I must really be desperate if this is what passes for entertainment, she thought. But I'll take it.

“Oh, you think you've won, huh?” Rainbow Dash said, rising to her hooves with a little wince. She hobbled over to Painwheel's chair. “I just got off a big lunch, so that doesn't count. You hear me?”

Painwheel snorts. “Right, sure, whatever you say.”

“I'm serious!” The pegasus stamps her hoof. “Do you know who I am? I'm Rainbow Dash. Nopony you'll ever meet can beat me! I'm the best!” She smiled proudly, tilting head up.

“Unless it's in a dogpile, at which point you're the last to rush off even when you have advance warning.” Painwheel pointed to the bandaged side of the pony. “I'm surprised with such a painful wound that you'd forget that fact.”

Rainbow Dash's eyes went wide. “...buh...guh...spuh...oh what do you know?” She pointed a hoof in Painwheel's face. “I've had worse.”

“Really?” Painwheel said, eyebrow raised.

“Yeah, really. It's just a flesh wound, anyway.” Her expression turned haughty. “Besides, this little cut didn't stop me from making a tornado right on top of you. A whole tornado!”

“That you needed the help of your friends to pull off,” Painwheel said. “In fact, that entire fight was six on one, and you all needed to pull out all the stops to beat me.”

“Are you telling me I couldn't beat you alone?”

“Yes, I am.” Painwheel stretched out her neck, willing herself to avoid the parasitic pain it elicited. “Plus, I wasn't even full strength at the time.”

“Likely story,” Rainbow Dash said, rolling her eyes. “Let me guess, you were having an off day?”

“Not as such. I just got off about six or seven fights two days prior.”

“Liar.”

“I'm not lying,” said Painwheel, growing annoyed. “Before I came to Equestria, I fought a whole bunch of strong fighters. One right after the other.”

“Okay,” Dash said, eyebrow raised. “I'll bite. What kind of fighters were they?”

“How about a woman with a hat that grew muscular arms?” Painwheel said. “Wider than a fruit cart, all told.”

“Pshaw! That's nothing,” Dash said, waving a hoof. “You ever face off against a shape-stealing parasite?”

“Yes, I have. She was ugly as sin, which was weird since she was a nun. Ever fight a cat woman that could detach her own head and throw it at you?”

“How about dig dogs in armor who could burrow underground like moles?”

“A girl with an infinite supply of explosives?”

“Hair tentacles?”

“Fought that before, too,” Painwheel said, cocking an eyebrow. “Were yours on the head of a woman?”

“A mare, yeah,” Dash said, similarly cocking an eyebrow. “Ever fought the avatar of chaos?”

“Ever fought the avatar of death, with an army of skeletons at her command?”

Rainbow Dash and Painwheel locked eyes, sizing each other up. Eventually, the pony blinked. “Did you really fight all those things? Or are you just bragging?”

“I really did,” Painwheel said. “All in the same day.”

“No way!”

“Way!”

The pegasus stopped and considered that for a moment. “...really?”

“Really.”

“...that...is...so...AWESOME!”

Painwheel blinked. “What?”

Rainbow Dash smiled wide. “I knew you were pretty hardcore from our fight, but that's just amazing!” She jumped up and down, wincing slightly from her injury. “Ow...uh, I mean wow! And the way you flew! Can you do that all the time?”

Painwheel nodded. “Yeah, sure. My Buar Drive has a lot of functions.” Honestly, if the Gae Bolga didn't weigh her down so much, Painwheel could probably fly higher, faster.

Looking back on it, flying was one of the genuinely positive experiences she had during that time.

“Cool!” Dash said, whistling. “You know, I have a pet turtle with a propeller.”

“You have...a turtle?”

“Yeah I know, fastest pegasus in all of Equestria, and she has a turtle for a pet,” Dash said, waving her hoof and rolling her eyes. “But I tell you, Tank – that's my tortoise – is a truer animal buddy than I'd ever seen. And I mean it. Me and Fluttershy set up this entire testing circuit to find me an awesome pet. Turned out Tank acted like a better friend, even though he wasn't the swiftest.” She scratched the back of her head. “Really not the swiftest. It's why Twilight built a little magical propeller to stick on his back, so he could keep up.

“Back during the fight, when you started flying, it reminded me of Tank's helicopter thingie. Except, obviously, scarier.” She stopped, then cringed. Tilting her head up again, she said, “Not that I was scared, of course. I just had a...healthy understanding of the threat you posed. You were, after all, flying, automatically making you ten times more dangerous. Not to me though.”

“Sure,” said Painwheel, smiling minutely. “And I'm certain you were totally going to deal with my attack yourself before Twilight Sparkle shot me.”

“I would have dodged in time!” Dash objected. “But enough of that, I've had plenty of adventures myself. Wanna hear about the time me and the others gained super powers?”

“Um...okay...” Painwheel said, intrigued.

“Okay, it all started when we got sucked into a magic comic book...don't look at me like that, I know how it sounds...”


“AAGH!”

Painwheel shot awake, face contorted. Bloodshot eyes opened with a start. A shrill hiss issued from her mouth, followed by a sharp moan.

More pain. Her parasites were moving around again.

She squirmed in her chair, beginning to hyperventilate. Tears rolled down her face. Instinct compelled her to clutch her chest. But limbs refused to move from their positions. More panicked, pained moans came from her throat. Why couldn't she move? Why was she strapped down? Images of Zero Lab rushed through her head; horrible memories that seemed so fresh. Where was the nurse? Where was Valentine? Where was Brain Drain?

Painwheel struggled even harder against the bonds. Stress induced her feisty parasites to squirm more readily. Each throbbing, stinging movement elicited a scream or groan. “Ah! Ugh! Fffuu-”

She needed to get out. Get away. Couldn't stay there. Not in the lab. Not in Lab Zero. Had to get away. Had to do something – anything – to make the pain stop.

“AAAAHHH!” she shrieked, rolling her head around in frustration.

“Painwheel! What's wrong?!”

Her eyes opened again, agony causing her to shut them. She searched for the voice. Finally, she saw the dimly lit form of a diminutive dragon. Painwheel looked all around herself, taking in her surroundings. “Ugh! N-not the lab?”

“No, Painwheel! You're not in the Lab,” Spike said, placing claws gently on her arm.

“Not...the lab...” she gasped through short, heaving breaths. Her damp, sweat-drenched body chilled in the night air. “Not the lab...”

“That's right, you're right here, Painwheel,” Spike said, patting her arm reassuringly. The girl saw he had bags under his eyes. “You're safe, Painwheel. No one is going to hurt you.”

“...really...?” Painwheel gasped, tears flowing down her face. “B-but...but it still hurts...”

“I know it hurts, Painwheel, but it's going to be alright.” The dragon placed a hand to her shoulder, rubbing it. He even found a tissue and began wiping away the girl's tears. “We're here to help you. You're safe here. Twilight is looking for a way to make the pain go away.”

“No more pain?” The question was emphatic, a child-like mixture of hope and disbelief.

“No more pain...we'll get through this.” Spike smiled. “Just hang on.”

Painwheel sniffed, swallowed. “...okay...”

“Okay?”

“Okay.”

Somewhere above, watching over the two, Twilight Sparkle stood in the doorway. Her heart felt as if constricted in a hot vice. For she knew – if only by proxy – just how greatly the poor Carol suffered.

The knowledge of her own failure thus far made the heartache all the more palpable.