Chapter 60
Jax had just left the bank when he received a friendly punch on the shoulder. Rainbow Dash was hovering beside him with a crooked smile. The blue sky behind her almost camouflaged her, though her coat was a bit lighter. Of course her rainbow coloured hair ruined it as well.
He turned around to his guards. “Magnificent work there guys. She just flew right over here and assaulted me!” He said in mock indignation.
“There’s no need to start yelling at ponies again. You did enough of that last night.” Rainbow sounded more serious than he had ever heard her. He turned to see her frown at him. “Have you apologized yet?”
“… I’m sorry. I wasn’t in the right state of -“
“Not to me! Twilight, Applejack, Pinkie, Princess Luna and your friend… Beating Heart? You can’t just treat your friends like that and not at least apologize.” She sounded so strict, Jax actually flinched a little.
“I know. I’m making the rounds… I apologized to Luna and Rarity… and you so far. I will make it to all of them, don’t worry.” He should have foreseen that Rainbow would be protective of her friends. Element of Loyalty and all that.
Her gaze softened a bit, before she punched him again. “Good. I know it’s not easy on you, but you have to treat your friends right.”
Jax was about to comment on his guards ability to guard him again, but decided to focus on the problem instead. “Yeah… you’re right Rainbow.” He started walking, and she hovered along. “And I will.”
Rainbow finally smiled again. “Great. I gotta say, that took me by surprise yesterday. I almost smacked you in the face when you turned to Fluttershy.” She laughed. “You’re lucky you didn’t say anything.”
“With some of you there was just nothing to say… Pinkie and Beating deserved my outburst the least though, so I’ll make my way to them first.”
“Sounds good. Hey I have nothing to do today, mind if I come with?” He really didn’t want other ponies around when he apologized but… he sneaked a peek at his guards. What’s one more pony to a party?
“Uhmm… alright.” He answered with some hesitation.
“Yesss!” She hoofpumped. “Let’s do this!”
He couldn’t help but laugh at her enthusiasm. “Calm down Rainbow! We’re just going around apologizing. Not the best ‘hang out’ activity if you ask me.”
“Yeah, but we were supposed to hang out today - you know, with the schedule that we’re not following anymore because you’re under guard - so I planned a bunch of stuff! Let’s get all this apologizing out of the way and get to it!”
He couldn’t help but laugh again despite her bluntness. The words ‘under guard’ send a pang of annoyance through him that he ignored. “True, I was with Celestia last week. Alright, let’s get to it.”
As they made their way towards Beating’s house, Jax thought of something he had wanted to ask Rainbow for a while. “Hey Rainbow? You’re not friends with Discord are you?”
Rainbows smile turned into confusion. “Discord? No, of course not.”
Jax blinked. “You say that as if it should be obvious.”
She looked around, before flying a bit closer. She was suddenly completely serious. “Fluttershy might be able to forgive him as if he didn’t stab us all in the back, but I remember how easy it was for him.” She was speaking so low she was almost whispering. “I saw the look on his face when he sided with Tirek and locked us in a cage, how little he really cared. Fluttershy cried right in front of him, and all he had to say was ‘surely you saw this coming.’” Jax saw her clench her jaw in anger. The look in her eyes was fierce. “She trusted him completely, and that was how he repaid her!” Jax looked back at his guards. Shot looked ahead with a blank look that he couldn’t read, but Trusty looked very interested. He looked back at Rainbow when she started talking again. “That’s why I’m not, and will not be, friends with him. I don’t befriend traitors.” She said with a certain finality. “Everypony deserves a second chance, I really do believe that. But Discord had his second chance and he blew it. Everypony else wants to give him a third chance, even Fluttershy, but I don’t.”
Jax continued walking thoughtfully. Rainbow had a point - how many chances did someone deserve? On the other hand, he had met Discord, and he seemed… different from how he seemed in Twilight’s books. Maybe she was biased, and wrote him as she saw him, a jokester who wanted nothing but to have fun. But the conversation he had had with him in the hospital after Rainbow had thrown herself in front of Jax seemed so… mature. Rainbow didn’t even know that he had removed the residual crystal from her so she didn’t have to suffer when she woke.
“Did you though?” He finally asked her. She looked confused. “Give him a second chance I mean. It seems from the books Twilight wrote like Fluttershy is the only one he befriended.”
“Of course I-!” she started almost angrily, then stopped looking almost puzzled. She looked ahead, as they kept moving forward, seemingly deep in thought. He kept walking beside her, letting her think.
When they arrived at Beating’s house, he rang the doorbell. Then he rang it again. At the third time, a muffled answer sounded from inside. “For Celestia’s sake! Nobody’s home!”
He hesitated, unsure whether to intrude when she sounded like she wasn’t in the mood for guests. Then he rang the bell again. After all, he could be the reason that she was in a bad mood in the first place, so he was willing to take the chance of her ire. He deserved it anyway after the way he acted.
The door was ripped open, and Beating stuck out her head looking ready to kill whoever had disturbed whatever she was doing. Her gaze softened when she saw him.
“Hey Beating.” He said, maybe a bit bashfully. He was having a hard time meeting her eyes. He kept thinking about the night before. ‘I’m not sure what you’re doing here, but fuck you anyway!’ He shivered, hopefully unnoticeably.
“Hey… Jax.” She looked past him at his guards. “What’s going on?” She sounded alarmed.
He smiled. “Just came by to see my favourite nurse. You have time?”
She nodded, but still looked somewhat unsure. She made room for them and he, Rainbow Dash and his two… guards entered.
“Sorry to bother you. It sounded like you had something going.” He said as they entered the living room.
“Oh. It was a long night yesterday, and I have the night shift at the hospital, so I was just trying to catch some sleep.” If she was as tired as she sounded, then Jax sympathised with her. He knew what it was like to be tired.
“Ah… sorry then. I thought maybe you were in a bad mood because of… well me.” He sat down on the couch, Trusty and Shot taking positions somewhere behind him, and Rainbow sitting beside him. “Listen, about yesterday…” Beating sat down on an armchair opposite him, and looked at him attentively. “I’m sorry about what I said. You didn’t deserve to be lashed out at like that, and I shouldn’t have done so, despite all that had happened.”
Beating nodded, and then smiled for the first time since he had come. It was a small smile, and you could still see how tired she was, but it made him feel much better regardless. “I’m happy that you came all the way over here to apologize Jax. It honestly bothered me more than it should have, when I knew how much you’ve been through. Honestly… I feel a little unsure about our friendship sometimes.” She looked a bit bashful when she said it. Jax felt a tight knot in the pit of his stomach at her words. Had he really been that bad of a friend? Didn’t she want to be friends anymore? “I mean,” she went on “I don’t have many friends as it is. It wasn’t a problem when I had Gerald, my husband, but when he passed away…” Jax faintly remembered a conversation where Beating told him about her griffon husband. “I’ve been having some trouble making new ones. So I was happy that we could become friends, Jax.” She scraped at the chair beneath her, looking unsure of herself. She lowered her gaze. “But you’ve been spending so much time with the elements of harmony, and I don’t feel like I can compete with them. I already feel like I’ve been very proactive in trying to meet with you but… mostly it doesn’t work out. Either you aren’t home or… well, last night happened. And then you spend the whole day with one of them and I get a little bit more unsure of myself.”
“Beating-“ Was all he could say before she raised a hoof.
“I know. I know, logically, that it isn’t like that. Things happen in Ponyville and somehow you got caught up in it without meaning to. But then I think about how you used to visit with Princess Luna, and I feel a little… lonely.“ She looked up at him, and he could see all of her emotions clearly, in a way that only a ponies large eyes could show him. He opened his mouth to say something, anything to make her feel better, when she continued. “I’m not trying to guilt you or anything, it’s just…” She folded her ears and looked down at the carpet. “I’m doing alright, aren’t I?”
“You don’t need to try so hard.” All eyes in the room turned to Rainbow Dash. She had a serious look in her eyes that made her look older than Jax normally thought of her. “Friendship isn’t like that. Jax is your friend, and nopony is going to take that away. If it bothers you that much, agree on a day to meet on weekly. That’s how Rarity and Fluttershy work it out.”
“Hey, that’s actually a good idea!” Jax realized that maybe he shouldn’t sound so surprised. “When do you have time Beating? Moonday night is reserved for Luna, but other than that I should be free.”
Beating blinked at him. “Moonday?”
Jax nodded. “Moonday.” He said with finality.
She blinked a couple of more times, before she smiled. “Of course. Let me get my calendar.”
She retrieved it from its place on the wall and looked through it. “If I don’t get called to work, I think Wednesdays generally works fine for me. Around four?”
Jax nodded. “Works for me.” He said as he got up. “Well, I should let you get your rest before your shift, and I’ve got some other ponies I need to apologize to as well. Sorry for waking you Beating Heart.”
“Of course.” She moved over to him and he leaned down so they could hug. She seemed to be in a much better mood, which was a relief. Jax felt some of the guilt lessen, though it was still there, like a constant tension in shoulders.
“See you Wednesday then.”
***
They were walking down the street, towards Sugarcube Corner, where Pinkie was most likely to be, when Rainbow flew up in front of him. “I guess you’re right. I never really accepted that Discord was good, and I always mistrusted him, waiting for him to do what he did…” she looked like she would rather not say the next words, “and I guess that could have been a reason to why he did it. Maybe if I had been his friend the same way Fluttershy was, he wouldn’t have… done what he did.” She turned her muzzle away. “So I guess… I should give him a real chance to prove himself.”
Jax’ surprised face slowly turned to a smiling one. “That’s really big of you Rainbow, wanting to give him a chance despite your feelings.”
She waved his compliment away. “I should have done it from the beginning. I was so busy being afraid that he’d hurt Fluttershy that I never even considered it, at least not really.” They started going forward again. “You know, when he gave us over to Tirek, all I could think was ‘I knew it. He should have stayed as a statue.’ But now that I think about it… being a statue couldn't have been that fun.”
“No, I believe you’re right. I feel like there’s a pun here somewhere… all I can think is ‘it must be stoney,’ though, which doesn’t even make sense.” He looked thoughtfully ahead.
“I think ‘it must be hard,’ would be better.” Rainbow looked at him with the most serious expression, not befitting the conversation at all. “Because stones are hard?”
It wasn’t that funny, but Rainbow’s seriousness just made him burst out laughing.
“What are we laughing at?!” Pinkie was suddenly in his face in typical Pinkie fashion.
Which of course surprised him. “Whoa!” He let out as he tried to stop himself from walking into the mare, tripping over his own feet in the process and ending up falling painfully on his rear.
“Hey Pinkie.” Rainbow gave a nod to the mare as if she had strolled over like a normal pony.
“Hiya Rainbow! What were you talking about?” She asked with her usual cheer.
“Just Discord and rocks, I guess. We were actually on our way to see you.”
Jax rolled his eyes at their casual conversation as he raised himself from the ground. That would leave a bruise.
“Ohh, I wish Maud was here. She knows aaaaaaall about rocks. Not so much Discord though. I know! I should totally introduce them! They’d have so much fun!”
“Yes you should.” Jax cut in, not really sure who Maud was. “But let me just start by apologizing for yesterday. You didn’t deserve to be lashed out at and I’m sorry I did it.” He hurried through the apology because he was afraid she was going to cut him off if he took too long. It almost always felt like Pinkie was in high gear, and everything around her happened too slowly for her.
Her smile turned devious. “Well… you’re in luck! It just so happens that I have the day off and I need somepony to prank with. Normally I just ask Rainbow, but the more the merrier!” She threw out her hooves like she had just invited him to the best thing ever, her eyes big and expectant.
Jax looked at her, then at Rainbow, then at his two guards. Rainbow had a crooked smile, looking ready for some action, Shot still had an expression of steel, while Trusty looked almost excited.
He turned to Pinkie again. “Can we invite Discord?”
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this is most likely a well written version of all the cliches used in hie.
I think I'm going to love this.
7460330 Is that your guess before you start reading? XD well I do hope it is good enough for you ^.^
7460990 definitely
Update! Yes!
Loved it and can't wait for more!
Welcome back (again)! XD
Good chapter. I can't wait to see what pranking with Discord looks like. Not sure I'd want to be on the receiving end, though. It's nice to be able to come back to your story. I'm in the middle of reading one that is a bit darker, so it's nice to have the break of a lighter, but still deep story. Btw, if you haven't already read it, The Moon's Apprentice has been pretty good so far. I'm only about 13 chapters in right now, though. I typically don't go for these dark-sude type stories, but this one has been enjoyable so far, and I'm thinking it might actually end up with a happy ending. Time will tell.
Anyway, back to your story. Found these hiding in your work:
I think that is refering to Twilight, in which case it should be a "she".
It needs be be either "Wednesdays generally work" or "Wednesday generally works". Plural noun with plural verb, or singular noun with singular verb.
7461564 Glad to hear it! XD forgot to mention it in the au, but we're back to the normal updating schedule (every other Sunday) ^.^
7461642 Thank you again XD
Heh well I have something in mind, but don't worry, it's gonna be clean ^.^ unless i change my mind and it's going to be really dirty >.< hard to say right now :3
hehe light but deep ^^ I like that description :b
I litteraly just started Second Chances, Many Changes that you recommended, now I get a 400k story thrown in my face XD I guess this is how you guys feel when I recommend too many stories XD anyway, I put it in my 'read later' list :b it better have a happy ending though... after I finished 'Background Pony' I'm not sure I can take sad endings anymore XD
you are right, I was referring to Twi. Well spotted, I'm so bad at genders apparently XD
yes.
as always, thanks for the corrections XD
7461856 Haha, either way, I imagine it will be funny.
Yeah. Deep in that it does delve into some more emotional stuff, but light in that even when it does have it's darker moments, it's not depressing. Well, to be honest, I never actually looked at how long it was. It's one of those stories I have been seeing around the site for months now, and finally decided to give it a try. I'll let you know if it looks like it's gonna get depressing. Though, in my defence, you're the guy who recommended Bad Mondays. Not that I'm ungrateful, but it's not exactly short. :P
Eh, 'tis but one letter. Easy mistake. At least you don't put an ñ in place of a comma as much as I do. :/ Lol.
7461938 Hopefully it will be XD
Hehe well that... is pretty much how I want it to be I think ^.^ so success :3
I've been seeing it around as well, and normally I give stories with that many likes at least a chance but... it just... I dunno, maybe it was the 'Twi get's seduced by Nightmare Moon' story I read early on that makes me suspicious of stories like it since it was bad XD
hahah true, true XD I guess I can't complain XD
Really? I havent notice you do that ^^
7461957 Yeah, the sex tag was a lot of what put me off of it. I honestly wish that tag was broken down more. Like "mentions/talks about sex", "non-graphic sex", "graphic sex", and "erotica". Or at least split sexual references from actual sex.
So far it hasn't had any actual sex in it, just discussion. Though, where I'm at, Twilight is still a filly.
Yeah... I usually catch it on here and go back to edit it, but I miss it on texts sometimes. As I've mentioned before (I think), I am almost always using my phone rather than an actual computer. My phone is a Samsung Note 3, which is an awesome phone in many ways (like how it's still a good phone coming up on being 3 years old). Ubfortunately, it has the evil touchscreen keyboard. While Samsungs keyboard is better than Apple's (in my opinion), it's still easy to mistype. And since the comma and ñ are both characters accessed be holding down the n key, it's easy to have your thumb just a bit too far to the left and pick the wrong one.
Also, on a slightly related note, if you set your phone to a cursive font, and set the font size to tiny, many people will complain about not being able to read anything on your phone.
7461816
Fuck yeah!
7461957 Aw, so you didn't liked the jika-tabi. Alright, it's not for everyone I guess, down the same alley as socks with separate fingers and Vibrams probably. I just think it would be kinda nice, if Vibrams wouldn't cost an arm and a leg here. Well, apparently they cost pretty much as much everywhere.
7463069 well I gave it a try XD
7462028 yeah the sex tag is kind of confusing sometimes. XD Yeah they should split it up... like a clop tag for stories that are only about that XD as you say ^^
I don't think I've heard you say that you mostly use your phone ^.^ well you do well to edit your posts then ^^
I didn't notice that... now i know XD
7463474
....
nah
XD
they need to dress true shot up as a dog and have him say, "woof woof" anytime anyone comments on it XD
7774367 does it have to be said in this manner?