Consequences
Chapter 6 - Consequences
“Do you know what it is?”
“No.”
“Well, what do you think it is?”
The mare shrugged. “Eh, I imagine that it is some kind of minotaur, or possibly a dragon.”
Spike checked a box on the paper. “Al-right! What is your overall opinion of hi" --he coughed-- "it?”
The mare raised a brow. “Uhh, well it sounds friendly.” She rubbed one of her legs against the other in thought. “But I’d imagine that it wouldn't be a healthy thing to have in town.”
“Are you sure?” Spike asked. “A friendly protector could be useful.”
“Well...” The mare began to think on it some more, her eyes occasionally flickering left and right, she looked uncomfortable. “Its just that it’ll likely destroy something by accident should it wander into town...” Again she wavered off, trying to think of another reason. “And I suppose it’s supposed to be in the Everfree anyway.”
Spike shrugged and wrote something down. “Muh, fair enough.”
“Do you think it’s real?”
Caught off guard from the question, he looked back up. “You're asking me?”
“What? A survey mare–I mean–dragon can't be asked about their own survey?”
Sensing the sharp irritation in her voice, Spike raised his claws defensively. “No-no! It’s just that you're the first.”
“Well?” She raised a brow.
Spike was more than willing to bend the answer. “Uh, well, from what I have collected so far, it seems like a lot of details about it have been impressively specific.”
“Sooo?”
“I think that it’s likely.”
She rolled her eyes. “Humph, well, wouldn't be the first legend to be born around here. If you ever see the big lug,” she said while turning away, “tell him that Ponyville is strictly for the ponies. Oh, no offense," she added sarcastically at the end.
“I get the gist.” The door proceeded to politely slam in his face. Spike softly grumbled to himself as he walked away from the doorstep, “Geez, in that case, the castle is strictly for the giant.”
Spike looked down at his written data. Statistics was something he was familiar with, but the math used behind it was a bit out of practice. Spike put a tally next to the many others drawn on the page. “Thats a total of…one hundred ponies! I think that’s a good stopping point.”
He quickly scurried back to his home within the tree, and upon opening the front door, saw Twilight calmly waiting for him next to a table. It was a face he knew well, one of the mother waiting for the child to return to the scene of a household crime.
“Hello Spike,” was her blatant greeting.
“Hey Twi! Uh...Is something wrong?”
A yellow ball levitated before her. “Do you know what’s missing from this table?” The ball was then placed on the table’s center.
Spike blinked. “Yeah, the statue head.”
“Do you know where the head is?”
Twilight’s voice dared Spike to reply. The dragon however, was clueless. “No.”
Twilight blinked twice at this. “Really!” Her fascination was sarcastic. “Is that so?” She stepped aside and revealed the statue broken in large chunks on the floor. “Please enlighten me.”
Spike thought he was still innocent. “It’s the statue broken into large chunks. Look Twi, I didn't do it if that’s what you're getting at!”
“Were you playing ball in the house? While I was gone?”
“Pfft! No! Playing ball indoors is incredibly boring-g-g-ahhh dragon tails…” He knew he had goofed when he used the word “is” instead of “would be”. He retorted. “I will have you know though that I did not break that statue!”
Twilight arched her eyebrow. “You threw the ball aside carelessly, and smashed it.”
“...I did throw it over my shoulder, but how did you know that?”
“Lucky guess. Was there a reason you left in such a rush?”
Spike knew that this could save his crystal bacon. “I was collecting statistical data!”
“Statistics?! About what?”
“Well, long story short, Barin has somehow made a name for himself under the title. ‘Castle Guardian.’ ”
“I know. Pinkie informed me on my way back here.”
“Good to see that you're up with current events! I took a survey of what a hundred ponies and their opinion and knowledge about Brain, so if you excuse me, I need to make a few graphs from the data I collected.”
Faster than Twilight could blink, Spike had ran up the stairs to the bedroom.
Twilight looked back up at the staircase, and smiled at the thought of some promising numbers. These nerdy thoughts vanished when the yellow ball rolled off the table, and onto the broken head, reminding her of the mess at hoof, yet she knew that manually drawing up graphs and calculations can take a long while for an amateur.
She sighed and levitated the debris down into the basement for keeping so she could use it as a reference for a new model, and give Spike this window of time.
While she was down there, she took a moment to ponder her predicament. Knowing Spike was busy upstairs, she spoke aloud. “A giant with trypanophobia. While I can't sympathise I do know that it may put off my biological research.” She trotted over to a collection of papers. Each one held both scientific and behavioral information about the new species of “Mega Sapient”.
Twilight opened a book among the papers. At glance, it looked like a diary or journal, and that’s exactly what it was. Flipping to the next blank page after the previous entry, she picked up a quill and inkwell nearby, and began to write.
9/10/1002
He is progressing with his Equestrian language as usual, but the highlight of the day was the discovery of an irrational, but common, fear: trypanophobia, the fear of needles or other thin, sharp objects. I would admiringly find this amusing if this was a trait of the species, but even in the context of pony sized needles, it is ridiculous.
While he was laying down, I tried to take samples of his sweat that was beading on his head, not able to communicate my suspicious activity fluently, he took it considerably well when he caught me.
It’s illogical that he would be afraid of something that small, the mosquitos likely bite him all the time.
(Twilight paused for a moment.)
Come to think of it, I haven't seen any major, nor minor, bug bites on his skin. I know of most common blood consumers in the forest, but not a single one seems to bite the giant buffet. I figure that it must be the magical resistance, or the oils his skin secretes is resemblant of bug spray. It is theorized that magic resistance is a repellent for insects, though why is not quite certain, so perhaps his blood is resistant enough to create an invisible protection.
If this were to be true, than it would be a massive discovery!
(She mentally swooned at the idea of her papers being published. To be the talk of the scientists and historians alike would be a dream come true for a science-nut like herself.)
What if it is true? And for that matter, what of his skin oil, sweat, and any other fluids? If anything, his other body fluids will also tell me his diet and his body mechanics. The potential is colossal! Sadly, a fear of needles would quickly prevent any advance in pony society, and my biologist side career.
But I'm not giving up.
-End Entry
The quill was placed back in its rightful place inside the inkwell.
Twilight looked upward at the ceiling in thought. “The bite of an insect would not alarm his skin receptors to much, if at all…in theory...what he doesn't know can't hurt him.” She looked at her other spare examination equipment and tools. “And if that works out, I might be able to collect some extra data!”
She cheerfully applauded herself for the dark plan. “Its the perfect plan! I even get to use my stealth suit!”
In response, her inner conscience was arguing the morals of this action, as her face went from giddy to uncertain. “I can’t hide it forever though, he won't be happy with me when he finds out...if he finds out…like he would ever need to.” Twilight sadly resolved the obvious moral dilemma, with the power of “if”.
“If," she repeated. “If is good.”
A purple alicorn peered around the corner for the third time in the past half-hour, her eyes reflected the golden light of the colossal, but well contained fire. Her ears flickered back and forth like radar trying to find the right frequency. She listened for a ping, a sound of any kind that might indicate the need to wait longer. She sat, unmoving, but the only signals picked up were that of the fire. Her hooves clopped taking a step forward into the open, but the continuous crackle of the burning wood camouflaged the noise. The black stealth suit was barely reflecting the light, and in that sense, was completely useless unless she found a shadow to hide in.
On her back, a saddle bag filled with various equipment sat. The walk to the bed of the giant was slow, painfully slow, but it had to be that way less he wake and catch her off guard. Eventually, she was under the bed, somewhat safe should he awake.
Twilight looked up at the underbed. It lightly creaked from the flexing made by his deep breaths. She sat there, looking up in some kind of ominous awe. A few minutes passed, and now was the tricky part.
The wings unfolded and the pony carefully focused on a gentle increase in altitude. In four flaps and a bit of force, she barely was under the covers. The area was warm and of a potent smell, yet also in constant motion from the simple breathing.
Now was the hard part. Twilight unclipped her bag, pulled out an object with a thin tube from her bag, and began to slowly levitate it towards a random point of entry. That needle made its initial push into the arm. The skin, being proportionally thicker, meant that it had to be pressed deeper.
The rest became a blur.
The arm jerked, the sheets enwrapped her, and the next thing she knew, a large and very unhappy Barin had snapped his hands around her. “You break infinity!”
She tried to justify her actions. “I-I’m sorry, I just wanted a blood sample--!”
“Infinity!”
Her ears flexed back at the booming voice. Said voice was far angrier than she could have ever anticipated. It sounded violent. Suddenly, his grip tightened, and Twilight could truly feel the pressure. She began to cry, in fear of her life.
In a fast motion, Twilight felt him release her towards the exit and in such a way that she couldn't get her bearings. Remembering the lessons taught by Rainbow Dash, she performed an emergency stability maneuver, setting the exit clear in her sight. Through the arch and out a hole in the ceiling, she flew. The night sky greeted her with profound serenity.
The streaming tears continued to flow while the alicorn swished across the night sky as the Abandoned Castle disappeared into the forest horizon. Her vision blurred from the streaming tears and she harshly landed on the tip of a tall tree, which bent forwards from impact. She managed to hang on to the tree tip as it counter swung.
While the lumber swayed back and fourth, Twilight closed her eyes to only feel the sensation of the throw simulated by the tree. Her mind swam between what was up and down, and therefore, put her conscious thoughts on a hold.
Reality became a feasible concept again once her eyes reopened. The tree was mostly still, apart from a soft breeze. Fortunately for Twilight, the small branches of the tree top could support her weight, allowing for some time to reflect on what had happened.
Twilight looked back. She could not see the great ruins. This gave her comfort as she the adrenaline phased out, leaving a tired body behind. “H-He was hurting me,” --She shook her head back in some attempt at denial while more tears came forth-- “really hurting me. I thought he would be angry but… if I didn't catch myself...” More tears were released at the thought.
Minutes ticked by while Twilight sat there in the moonlight moping. At some point her eyes were dry, and her nerves were calm. She unfolded her wings for the necessary flight home, but a question remained in her head during the flight. “...Was this worth the risk?” She said, with the words dripping with regret. "Putting myself in harm's way and jeopardizing the friendship?”
In an attempt to answer her own question, she quietly whispered, “What if it did work? I would have invaluable samples and data, I could have made so much progress with my research, but--” She swerved past some clouds “--he’s a friend. Not a scientific specimen.”
There was a light breeze as Twilight approached Ponyville from above, taking some of the pressure off her tired wings.
She softly floated downward and landed softly on her balcony. Figuring Spike was likely asleep, she quietly slipped through the balcony and collapsed on her bed in a physical and emotional breakdown.
“Are you okay, Twilight?” The unexpected voice was gentle, familiar, and welcome.
Her voice trembled. “He-he was hurting me…I-I knew he would be upset but…”
Spike got out of his bed and began to walk to Twilight, his own voice filled with confused concern. “Who?”
She spoke the name with regret. “Barin.”
In an effort to comfort her, Spike sat beside her and gently patted her mane. “Come on Twi, he maybe a gentle giant, but you’re a tiny pony! I’m sure whatever he did was just a mistake...”
“No!” she shouted with her head pressed into the pillow, “Every bit of it was intentional!”
Spike was getting genuinely concerned, for he rarely saw Twilight in such a state. “What did he do?”
She retold the event quickly. “He...screamed at me and tried to crush me in his hands, before throwing me like a baseball!”
Spike did a visible double take. “Wow...Twilight, are you sure that’s what happened?”
“Yes!”
Spike looked toward the window in scorn, and raised his fist. “That big jerk! I auta burn his mane…his hair off!”
“No, Spike that won't help-” Her hesitancy was clear.
“But thats no way to treat anypony, let alone a friend!”
Twilight put a hoof to Spike’s chest. “Please.”
Spike looked down at her, and realized that she needed support now. Vengeance could wait. “Are you hurt?”
Twilight retracted her hoof from Spike and placed it on her own chest. “I-I think so. I might feel sore tomorrow, but nothing feels damaged.”
“Sore? Thats still not a good sign.”
“Trust me Spike, I’ll be fine…”
“You sure?”
“...Yes”
Feeling angry again, he grumbled loudly. “We auta teach him a lesson! No pony hurts my friend, let alone family!”
“Spike! Listen to me, you must not get involved with this! I...I need to fix this.”
Now Spike was getting slightly confused. “Twi, I’m your friend, more than that really, but your other friends should help you with this too.”
“No, I have to take care of this myself.”
Spike did not like her tone of voice. “Are you sure you’ve told me everything?”
Twilight found herself unable to look him in the eye. “Yes…”
“Twilight, I’ve used that tone of voice myself!” Spike’s own tone was less comforting, but more accusing, as things were rapidly taking a turn.
She sat up from her bed and tried, but failed, to look Spike in the eyes. “I...wanted a few blood samples for research purposes-”
He could already see the outline of the issue. “So what? He doesn't like needles?”
“Well...I…”
“Twilight, spit it out!”
She sucked in her shame. “I learned he has trypanophobia--”
Spike proceeded to perform his best face-palm he could conjure. “Well there’s your problem!”
Twilight’s emotions began to turn bitter to the taste of her mistakes and the lack of moral support from her assistant. “Spike, it was--”
Spike now had little sympathy. “In the name of research-blah-blah! I understand now! You poked at him in his sleep! What in Celestia’s name were you thinking?!”
The pair were now actively arguing. “I realize that I made a mistake Spike, but he nearly broke my rib! He went too far for it not to be deliberate!”
“You made him angry! In the heat of the moment he might not realize he’s hurting you!”
“How would you know?!”
Spike was now yelling with passion. “I had some of that when I grew into a oversized dragon! We don't intend to hurt, we intend to intimidate in our own self defense!”
There was a sudden silence in the wake of the argument.
“So,” Twilight began, her voice dripping with sincerity, “You’re on his side of this.”
“Twilight, I’m tackling this from a reasonable point of view, you should know better than this.”
“I wasn't expecting that, from you of all dragons.”
“Your thought process rubs off on me.”
“...I’ll think of something to do, but for now I just need to rest on it.”
“I hope you recognize your fault here.”
“I do, but you should understand the implications.” This left the topic unresolved, and bitter. “I need to rest on this.”
Spike was somewhat understanding. “Alright, goodnight.” He hopped off the bed and scurried back into his bed with nothing more to say.
Rainbow Dash lightly sipped away at her strawberry drink, the nose brace flexing slightly as she did so. Next to her, AppleJack was retrieving a sandwich from a large table plate before hoofing it over to Fluttershy; she accepted the food with a silent ‘thanks’.
The Elements of Harmony were happily situated inside the Golden Oaks Library in the dusk of dinner hosted by Twilight, who could not get comfortable in her own chair. The large table for seven was filled with humble food of multiple varieties such as soups, salads, sandwiches, and roasted greens. One plate was filled with long greasy strands of crystals for a certain reptile.
Twilight’s plate was empty, and had been that way throughout the course of the meal so far. Her mind was clouded with stress. This was involuntarily evident from her worried face, folded ears, and fidgety movements. Applejack noticed Twilight’s lack of appetite and unrelaxing movements. “Is something on yer mind, Twi? You’ve been jitterin your feathers this whole time.”
Twilight’s ears shot straight up and she snapped her gaze at AJ. “I’m fine! Just peachy!” She said with an obviously forced smile.
AppleJack begged to differ. “You ain't foolin anypony with that. Something’s bothering ya.”
Twilight's state only worsened “I-It’s nothing for you guys to be concerned about.”
Spike called out from the kitchen. “Yes, it is!”
Fluttershy quietly swallowed her bite of food. “Twilight, if you're concerned about it, then we should be concerned too.”
The soft words of the pegasus made Twilight more divulging of her fears, and with all eyes on her, it was clear that they wouldn’t stop until she told them something. “Well...it’s just that Spike recently completed a town survey–”
Rarity softly tapped the side of her head in self punishment. “Bah! I knew that I had forgotten something! Pray tell dear, what did he find?”
Twilight was visibly beginning to relax as she began a lecture. “The rumors revolving around Barin seem to have no definitive origin point, but multiple sources appear to be key points of social branch offs. The first point being an old book that is hardly legible and what little can be read are one-liners about him, and it is clear from the description that it is referring to the giant we recently...b-befriended.” Twilight stuttered as if that word did not belong in the sentence.
“The other clue is a traveling merchant that passed quickly through town, sharing similar tales as a conversation starter. The third and final one is an anonymous report delivered to the mayor vaguely depicting his appearance and behavior, but it did not describe anything else.” Her act of recalling the information indirectly sent her gears grinding for an answer while she trotted around the room.
Rarity was tapping her hoof to her chin. “Most peculiar, is it not?”
Pinkie lowered her reflector. “I didn’t know that you were an investigator!”
Rarity paused her motions. “If it’s about gossip as important as this, I will put on my thinking fedora.”
“But you're not wearing a fedora.”
“It’s a figure of speech, Pinkie.”
Rainbow put down her now empty glass. “Is it? I wouldn’t be surprised if you did actually have a fancy thinking hat.”
“Am I really that blatant?”
Rainbow shrugged as Spike came back with a fresh glass to give her. “...Sometimes.”
Applejack quickly refocused the topic. “We’re off track. You were sayin’ Twi?”
Twilight was more than happy to continue. “Well, Spike’s survey data kinda put a spotlight on the situation, and most assume that his actual existence is debatable. The town appears to unsure of whether his existence is good, bad, or not worth fussing over.”
Spike sat down and spoke calmly. “Yeah, the survey has you worried…” The tone he said this in indicated that all was not explained. Twilight glared at him before he began eating his bacon.
AppleJack folded her legs across and began to confront Twilight’s concerns. “Ah dont think that’s the thing botherin’ you. Ah don’t want to seem pushy, but ah do prefer honest answers.”
Twilight had not stopped shuffling around the area, but she did slow down. “Well...I...He-”
Pinkie suddenly sat up and tossed her reflector to the side. “Did you break a Pinkie Promise?!”
“N-Technically, no. I...found out that he had trypanophobia-”
Rainbow shot her arms out. “Stop! Tell us normal ponies what that is.”
“A fear of needles or other thin sharp objects…”
Rainbow sat back again. “Continue.”
“That night, I proceeded to sneak under his covers, and take a blood sample…”
It was a rare occasion of unanimous face-hooves. All the ponies present except for Twilight slammed their hooves into their faces and collectively groaned in the appropriate manner.
Desperately she tried to justify her case. “As you can expect he got angry, really angry...and then he grabbed me, nearly crushed my ribs, and threw me like a baseball! I could have been seriously hurt!”
Applejack was rubbing her temple. “Ok Twi, so you’re sayin’ he overreacted, and ta be fair, ah would say that crushing and tossing my friend would be a tad far. But! You were jabbin at him while he was sleeping!”
Rainbow Dash shrugged. “Maybe he just has a bad temper, you don't know how he thinks.”
Pinkie sighed and retrieved a notepad hidden in her tail, before pulling out a cookie as well. She ate the cookie. “Mmm, I wondered where that went…” Pinkie swallowed the cookie entirely without even chewing. “Sounds like to me that our cuddle-tickle buddy could use his freinds!”
Rarity pointed at Twilight accusingly. “That, and you should apologise! But to be frank dear, he should apologise too.”
Fluttershy began neatly putting the dishes away. “We should go over there quickly, so you can apologise as soon as possible, or things could get worse…”
Rainbow scratched the back of her head. “Its almost moonrise, I’d rather not go through the forest at night. Besides, I thought Twilight was supposed to be the ‘princess of friendship’, or something?”
Twilight made her first valid defence. “Even experts can learn a thing or two, Dash, it just that I don’t usually get this much conflict between myself and a friend.”
Rarity finished the rest of her salad. “Darling, I have had my fair share of friendship quarrels. Most notably, my occasional scuffs with Applejack.”
AJ closed her eyelids in recalling the mentioned scuffs. “Heh, that’s fer sure, sugarcube, we have butted heads before, but we always make it up to one another in the end.” She continued, this time directed at Twilight, “The key thing is that both ponies know that they did something wrong, so it becomes easy to say sorry.”
Fluttershy quietly added to the conversation. “Barin is a very nice giant, I’m sure that he’ll understand your position.”
Pinkie did not help. “Even if your position is a bit wacko!” Suddenly, a sharp “Ding” sounded from the kitchen. Spike lept from the table and ran into the kitchen, while Pinkie exclaimed, “Oh! Why don't we all have a sleepover here, and then go see Barin tomorrow morning! We could have so much fun!”
The prospect of all six of them being at a sleepover was actually quite appealing. After a few moments of silence for them all to think it over, there came an unanimous mumble of approval.
Twilight was the first to speak actual words. “Well, you girls should go get anything you’ll need before night rises, and I need to consult my sleepover guide!”
Spike sighed his voice filled with annoyance as he approached the table with his tray of baked chocolate cookies. He was holding the tray with mitts. “I was kinda hoping to go to bed early after dinner” –he then perked up at the sight of his crush– “but at least Rarity will be here for the whole night...why should I even be complaining in the first place? This is awesome!”
Twilight watched her friends quickly depart, knowing that they would return soon. “With your love lust over Rarity, I find your enthusiasm about this off-putting.” She looked at the dragon's mitts. “Why do you even have those? Aren't dragons extremely heat tolerant?”
“...Rarity said I look cute when I wear kitchen clothing.”
“Al-right! I will shove that information in a dark place, where I will not be bugged by it!”
“Is it any different than your fur-tight stealth sui--” Twilight levitated a strand of crystal bacon and shoved it into Spike’s mouth.
Lunar light had just begun to shine through the windows of the castle dining hall. Inside, Barin and Discord were merrily eating lobsters. Barin’s was supersized and sitting on a large plate upon the floor, and served with a colossal side of candle heated butter dip. Discord was on a formal looking chair enjoying his own levitating crustacean.
Discord swallowed a passionate bite. “Mmm, you know, its been a long time since I’ve had formal seafood with another being, and as you can see, I prefer my lobster cooked and served with no expense!”
Most of the response he got was sympathetic “Murphs” from a human mouth stuffed with butter and lobster.
Discord continued, “You deserve this after what you went through last night.” He glanced at the equipment Twilight left behind stuffed in the saddle bag they came in. The bag was resting under the giant bed. “I'll say one thing, even if you could speak fluent Equestrian, I wouldn't have believed you without that gear.” He chuckled to himself. “Imagine what Celestia would say!”
In a quick flash, he was disguised as said princess with voice to match. “I am very disappointed in you, Twilight! After all this time of learning the principles of friendship you blo--” He stopped when he saw Barin’s surprised face. “You should really get used to these things.”
“That’s just weird. The cool kind of weird, but still…”
“Is there not magic where you come from?”
“Why do you keep talking when you know that I can't fully understand you?”
“You know, we may not know what the other is saying most of the time, but I still find comfort in having companionship.”
Barin blankly stared at his insane friend just so he could humor another one of his rants.
Discord sounded quite frank. “Most of the time ponies find my rants annoying quite quickly, even Fluttershy. She prefers both the peace and the quiet, but I digress.”
He pumped his hoof in the air. “As a god of chaos, my art of ramble is just as potent as the art of subtlety." He then gestured to Barin. "You on the other claw; you don’t listen, you rarely respond, and you have hilarious difficulty pronouncing 'picnic’!"
He crossed his legs. "Yet, I know first claw that you are smarter than you look, gentle and kind, and most importantly–" he threw his forelegs up, literally, where they continued to function in the air "–you’re a guy! I can't explain to you how nice it is to talk to another dude in normal...par-normal conversation!” The limbs met back with their owner in a resounding shwomp!
"I mean, do you really expect me to have a decent conversation with Spike? He's a nice dragon, but he's just so..." He waved his legs around as if trying to conjure an answer. "I don't know, but I don't need a reason!" Celestia’s hoof moved in a quick motion of a snap, but no sound was heard. Realising this, he instead clapped hooves once, returning his body back to normal.
Barin waved his hand lazily. “Do you think I over reacted last night?”
Discord repeated his movement. “I’m perceptive, but not that perceptive. At least tell me in some terminology that makes sense! Like coconut fifty-six! Oh, now there's something a sensible pony can understand!” Discord gestured to a pile of coconuts with gratitude.
Barin tried again, only this time with Equestrian words and visual actions. “Barin throw Twilight, big angry?” As cryptic as his words were, it was clear from the guilt on his face what point he was making.
Discord began to speak bluntly. “Look, I’m going to talk straight for once, whether you understand me or not.” He gestured to the archway entry. “I’ll admit that it was funny to watch you reenact that night to explain what happened, and I won’t deny that Twilight did something undeniably stupid, but even I don't violently throw ponies like baseballs...mostly. But that’s not my point! To answer your question, yes.”
Barin sighed to himself and stared down at his empty plate.
“As much as I like chaos, this kind of conflict isn't settling well with me... unless...” He stopped as a spark flashed in his head. “That could work, it would bite me back later, but it would be entertaining…”
“I have an idea!” While he was directing his voice to Barin, the giant appeared to be ignoring his words.
Discord sighed and put his claw to his chin. “Explaining this will take a hardy game of charades.”
Twilight sat in her kitchen, alone and tired. Her thoughts were disturbed by the event that occurred the night prior. A single candle lit her area, as her friends were all asleep. A solitary plate rested on the table, on the plate, was a rose. The rose was an expensive flower, as flowers go anyway, and was more of a premium treat for the average horse. The flower still had purpose in ways of showing care or affection, but they were usually eaten immediately afterward.
The rose was barely starting to wilt. Twilight stared at it. Her neck was stiff from looking down at the food for so long, and her eyes were wide and distant. She licked her lips, not in anticipation, but in a state of nerves. She opened her mouth only slightly and began to formulate a word with her lips, but the only noise was the soft sound of air passing by her lips. She looked away from the flower, as if ashamed by what was not said.
She levitated the rose to meet her at eye level. Her neck spouted aches in punishment of mistreating it, but Twilight could care less. The rose floated there. It had spikes of no mercy, and a bloom of such innocence and kindness. The stem was long and thick, but there was only one leaf. She had bitten the other leaf off hours ago.
Twilight continued to gaze. In a swift push of bravery, she spoke to it. “I’m sorry.”
A thud, low in pitch, and barely audible enough to cause an ear to twitch. This thud was quickly followed by another, and another, each one becoming successfully louder. Twilight’s head swiveled back and forth, trying to pin-point the direction of the thuds.
The answer was given, when a noise came from her front door.
Knock, Knock!
Twilight was not only confused, but slightly concerned, for the low noises had not stopped. Teleporting from her spot in the kitchen, she opened the door.
The rose dropped to the floor.
A small crowd of ponies were gathered at the door, some wore angry faces, others looked paranoid and concerned. One of the ponies was the mayor. “Princess Twilight, we have a situation!”
A loud crash and a bang sounded from somewhere behind the group, another noise was the sound of a loud horn followed by a great call, “RE-COLTA-A!”
Twilight quickly darted up into the air where she could see Barin pinned in magic spotlights and a crowd of ponies observing him on all sides, preventing an escape. Behind him, a two story house was missing a large chunk of it’s second floor. Barin himself was leaning against the building, and was trying to block the lights from shining into his face. His shoveaxe was equipped on his belt.
Suddenly, Rainbow Dash flew up beside Twilight, just as surprised as she was. “What the hay is he doing here?”
Twilight threw her hooves out in the giant’s direction. “I don't know!”
Twilight hovered there, trying to piece what she was seeing together, and figuring out how to defuse the situation, but it was too late. Barin turned away from the light sources and removed his arm to recover his sight, before two more spotlights appeared directly in his face.
Barin was not only beginning to panic, but was blinded by the lights, and recoiled in response. Trying to regain balance, he stumbled into another house across the street.
CRASH
Ponies screamed and began fleeing the area as the giant stumbled about. The house was damaged much like the previous one, but the spotlights were too persistent and ignorant for him to recover his vision.
CRASH
He kicked hit the adjacent building, collapsing the majority of the front. Barin tried to rebound back to the first house.
CRASH
He harshly bumped into it, causing more of it to fall away, and Twilight was finally taking action. Using magic to amplify her voice, she boomed. “TURN OFF YOUR LIGHTS!” Immediately, all spotlights were out. Barin opened his eyes, and found his chance. With unstable vision, he aimed himself down the way he came.
He booked it. From a pony’s perspective, it was jarring to see how fast something that large could move. Before Twilight could shout again, he had ran back to the edge of the forest. He paused to blink a few more times and stabilize his sight, before shooting back a dark scorn, and then disappeared into the brush.
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poor Barin
Omfg Pones are stugnorant.
New Chapter!!!! I wonder if Barin was there to apologize but it soon turned into that circus scene from King-Kong where he escapes then (not) rampages. Hehehe.....
And there we went from clever 20'th century man to lumbering King-Kong.
... what the fuck was that?
5079527 Stugnorant? In all my time learning Internet slang, I have NEVER heard that before.
5079557 Didnt I just say that?
5079563 My, that you did. I hadn't updated the posts before writing my own so I didn't see it.
I don't think he overreacted at all. That bitch, said she wouldn't stick him with a needle and she did. Fuck that noise, I'da hit her so fucking hard she'd be singing disney songs.
*whack!*
"A whole new wo~orld!"
I SAW THAT!
5079627
That was a real swood reference....
5079615 considering size, she more likely would have popped like a ketchup packet.
5079615 I'm of much the same line of thought. Twilight had no excuses, she KNEW Barin has a needle phobia and she went through her little shenanigan anyway. She was poking a barrel of nitro and she was fully aware that it could easily blow up in her face.
I can't say for Barin who seems to be a tremendous soft touch with his sense of self-respect if he's feeling guilty about it, but I know I myself wouldn't apologize even if little ponies urged me to. I wasn't the one who set fire to the bridge.
Thank you for the Jontron reference. Thank you.
Wait a minute coconut 56 I remember that. You put a Jontron reference in there. Clever.
5079722 Twilight set fire to the bridge and Barin isn't responsible for extinguishing it.
Fuckin idiots.
Ah cool you fixed the ending like I told you.
Good boy, now here have a cookie
If only someone had taught Twilight that losing a friend's trust is the fastest way to lose a friend.
Forever.
Some of your word choices seem off.
Retaliate doesn't really work in a conversation. Retort, rejoinder, reply, riposte.
I think the word you want is transparent.
scornful look?
5079753 ech
5079527 you. Don't. Motherfucking. Say?
http://youtu.be/PD2Skqw1Ess
Barin partially overreacted.
Squeezing Twilight rather hard? Overreacting.
Tossing something with wings like a baseball? She can easily recover and not hit anything. Not overreacting.
Twilight promised him "No syringe infinity." and promptly broke that promise in less than 24 hours.
Not only that, but she tried to stick him while he was sleeping, to me that's a double violation of trust.
She broke the syringe promise and tried to do it so she wouldn't get caught. She KNEW she was doing something wrong.
5079815
The first one I can agree with, the other two are unfitting. Not that they are grammatically faulty.
"Opaque" is fitting of Rarity, it has a classy ring to it, and "transparent" doesn't feel right in that sentence.
"Scornful" is correct, but it doesn't carry the power I'm looking for. I replaced it with "a dark scorn".
She hesitated because he might wake up, but she thought he wouldn't because it's such a small needle.
If the needle is small enough for him not to notice when it's inside of his skin, then if he fliches while she's trying to take a bloodsample it could most likely break, and he'd have a needle stuck inside of his arm which could most likely do some damage, and it'd have to be taken out with surgery?
Evil direction to take this, I must say.
5079559 it means stupid and ignorant!
A reference to Disney's Hercules?
I approve.
1997 was a good year.
Twilight wont even consider the obverse. What if Barin sneaked in at night and shoved something she didnt want in her without warning.
Im puzzzled at Discord though, he should be able to select several methods that would allow conversation with Barin. In fact, given the Lobster, and the chaos, Id say the most useful item would be a Babel Fish.
Then Barin would be listen into all sorts of secret communications and meetings. And have all sorts of misunderstandings.
Barin is right to be afraid of needles.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRBlgLyC0KY&list=UUV3iHQsE2h3CH-LehgPRkMg
oi58.tinypic.com/2d93de9.jpg
5079615
Gotta agree here. I had to go back and make sure her friends weren't there to witness her 'infinity' promise. Otherwise, it would seem odd to me that they would support the Princess of Friendship's breaking a promise not to perform an experiment on a patient that was deathly afraid of needles.
I'm hoping this sympathy wellspring dries up when they learn of this little nugget she coincidentally left out in her retelling.
Besides, her genius plan involved hoping him thinking it no worse than a mosquito bite......never mind that one's natural reaction to a mosquito involved smashing the darn thing.
I love this story, but I'm a bit surprised at the characters' rationale at sympathy for not only a broken promise, but a cruel one at that.
5080495 Is-is that raritys "oooohhhh" face? Cus thats what it looks like. Why was that the first thing that came to mind? Wjy am i still asking these questions? Why am i posting this? What is my life?
Is... is this the real life, or is it fantasy?
5080285
oh yeah ponies? well tell me what your gonna do if i hold you like an ice cream cone?
5080976 Oh My. I don't think she stretches enough for that, man...
...discord
I gotta say, I'm liking how buddy-buddy Discord is with him.
Is it strange that I find it surprising that Discord is the one making things worse this time, and not Twilight... again?
5081213 You never know. Human needles can be quite small xD
Well that wasn't a very smart move on his end now was it?
5080285
Giggity
5080054 I like you, but let's face it, you are wrong. 5080922 explained it best: something opaque is something you can't see through, you can't know all aspects easily. The only real way you could use "opaque" as a figure of speech would be as a synonym of "dull", "lifeless".
Don't try to create new meanings for old words outside of tongue-in-cheek slang, that's just being pretentious by faking knowledge.
5082126 I think even the smallest of human needles, in this case, would be far more than she could deal with. Pretty sure she'd have a problem with even the smallest volume of ....injection.
5082499
5079815
5080922
Alright, fluke on my part...I'll change it to "blatant". How's that?
What they all see to forget is that a phobia is an irrational fear of whatever it pertains to which means that people affected by them may do irrational things when confronted with them and or completely overreact.
5082671 I think 'predictable' might fit best.
5082685 You're right. I mean if i told a friend i had an irational fear of cotton swabs and then they tried to take some samples of my stuffs i would be justtified in going balistick and hurting them. They knew i was afraid of it and yet they brought it down upon themselves. Barin did nothing wrong when he hurt twilight.
*tips fedora*