The Equestria Diaries

by Istaran

Chapter 4: Knife and spider

"You have some good friends here." I stated idly, as Frank entered the room alone. He seemed a little nervous, but I chalked that up to the situation we were thrust into. If this really was a survival game, only one of us would be able to win. Presumably, that meant only one of us would be alive at the end.

"Yeah. They're really great mares. They have been incredibly kind to me since I arrived." I thought I saw the shimmer of barely restrained tears in his eyes, but he managed to keep his voice level. "I'll miss them when I'm gone. But I have a wife and son back home. I have to get back to them somehow. Do you have a family?"

"No. I mean, not like that. My mom and siblings are all scattered across the country, and I don't really keep in touch." I smiled wryly. "It will probably be a while before they realize I'm gone." In retrospect, that was probably the worst thing I could have said at that moment. I think it was at that point that he started to calm down, and eerily so.

He went on about his wife and child for a while. Apparently he had another one on the way as well. I paid just enough attention to play the part of a listener. I didn't think I would ever meet these people, no matter how things played out.

For my own part I didn't feel like I had too much to say. Back home I had been alone and lonely. I had friends but none that I would really call close friends. I had struggled with depression for a while, before roleplaying games had gotten me a few ties close enough to keep me sane. I realized while we talking that I hadn't really taken a moment to think about things since I got here. I was always too busy learning new languages, or skills, or such to really stop and reflect on just how disconnected I had become. Frank here not only had his family back home, but also his new friends here.

When I was finished, he leaned in close and gave me a nice big hug. I stiffened a little, as this was a bit more friendly contact that I was really comfortable with, particularly from another man. I needn't have worried about it being too friendly though. Before long, a sharp pain in my neck alerted me to his true intention. [<The flow of blood to your head has been interrupted. I am activating emergency countermeasures.>] Deus helpfully informed me. [<Don't kill him!>] I replied quickly.

Shifting his grip, Frank did his best to ensure the job was done. If I hadn't had Deus cheating death on my behalf, there is no doubt how it would have ended. Stumbling back, he looked at me like a man haunted. All that talk about his family, and about my relative lack of connections.. he had been steeling himself for this moment. Taking me out while I was injured and unsuspecting.. it was a sound strategy. I looked at him with glassy eyes, trying to play dead as I watched his resolve shatter after the fact.

Dozens of animals in another room became agitated, filling the air with a cacophony of alarmed sounds as the smell of fresh blood reached their noses. This shook Frank out of his reverie. He grabbed the robotic spider off my bed and made a run for it, slipping out of the house while the ponies were distracted. Running from the scene of the crime. Running from me. Running from his pony friends. Running from himself.

With a sigh, I slumped back against the wall, holding my neck to slow the flow of blood. The wound was only an inch or so deep, but it had bled profusely and made an awful mess. Deus was keeping my brain supplied as best he could, but with the interrupted flow, he could keep me alive but not conscious. I faded out before Fluttershy could find me. I didn't wake up even when she screamed.

---

It took some time to recover enough to even dream, but eventually I did. In my dream, I was standing atop a building, laughing maniacally, while my horrific doom machine rained kittens down upon the poor hapless ponies of the realm. Each kitten would find a pony, rub against them, purr at them, melt their hearts with adorable lovingness.. and then die, leaving the ponies shellshocked with horror. In my dreams, I was a very, very strange villain.

Luna appeared, putting an end to it with a swift kick to the machine. It flew off into the air, exploding into a cloud of confetti. The day was saved!

"<I was wondering when some hero would come and thwart my plan. I was starting to get bored of it. Thank you, my hero.>" I said, as I turned toward the princess.

Luna took a moment to decide how to respond. "Bloody human," she began. I thought for a moment she was using a British expression. "Several of my ponies have had nightmares this night about your horrific murder. How then do you still dream?"

I thought for a moment, trying to figure out how to explain to someone without a concept of nanomachines. "<I have magic blood. Consequently, I am not dead yet.>" Good enough.

"We were mislead by a human we thought to be a good pony. You have more troubling dreams than he, though that is not truly a crime. Will you submit to incarceration? It is perhaps a safer place for you than anywhere you might meet your kind. And it will help limit the chaos your presence sows within my kingdom."

"<Protective custody? No.>" I spun, arms wide, and the wind swept through to dramatically ruffle my hair and billow my clothes. "<I am the wind. I am change. And I must be free or I am nothing. Chaos is coming, but there is no life without chaos. Come and revel in it with me.>" I held out a hand in invitation, grinning madly at her.

She bristled, in response, pulling back, and then pulling out of the dream entirely. The whole dream collapsed without her, and I awoke.

---

Fluttershy was slumped over the bed, head buried in her forearms, sobbing. She didn't know me that well, but I suppose she was the kind to mourn anyone's death. And, I felt she was mourning the loss of the friend she thought she knew Frank to be.

I gently placed a hand on her shoulder and she sat bolt upright, startled. As she stared at me, I whispered to her, as well as I could. "Tell Rarity.. I am going to need.. a scarf.."

Comments

[Spacyjoker]

Good so far.

[Istaran]

5900435
Thanks. Hope you like the whole thing. :)