Where did you come from?

by Jeweled Pen

Chapter 23: A day of fun

Cheerilee groaned as her eyes opened. A nice, pleasant morning. She had to get ready for work and--

Oh. Right. Wasn't going to work. She looked over across the room at Val. He was sleeping on his side, Nipper held to his stomach.

She slowly got up and walked towards the door, pulling it open. She yelped at the sight of the four guards. Three pegasi and a unicorn. “E-err... h-hello?” she said softly.

“Good morning, Miss Cheerilee,” the unicorn said, bowing his head. “We are here to escort you to anywhere you need to go.”

“I ummm, just wanted to get breakfast for Val and I.”

“We will have it brought immediately,” the unicorn said, before turning.

“Err... how many ponies are here now?” How did they all get here so fast?

“There are twenty five members of the solar guard and thirty members of the lunar guard currently lodged here,” the pony said before glancing back. “We are under orders to guard you, Val and Flash Sentry.”

That made her pause again as she tried to remember who that was. Then her eyes widened. “The guard? He's okay? I mean... err... he...”

“He is recovering a few rooms down. The poison was removed and he mostly just needs rest, so he was transferred here so our pony power did not need to be spread out. Do you have any more questions?”

She shook her head and slowly closed the door. Well, a veritable army of guards. That's something interesting. At least she didn't need to worry about a sneak attack. She then looked towards the sleeping colt.

Well, she could wake him after breakfast came. She hoped he was feeling a little better.

------

Rarity groaned as something warm and wet rubbed her face. Her back hurt, too. She pulled back and slowly opened her eyes, looking at Claw who just grinned at her. “Hi mommy!” he said happily, before giving her another face lick.

“H-hi dear,” she said weakly before standing with a cringe. She had been sitting on one of the chairs and fallen forward when she laid down. The position had been very bad on her back and she couldn't help but want to whimper a little bit. “Are you feeling better?” She stretched it a little bit and cringed again.

“Mmmm hmm! Are we going to go home? It'll be night soon, right?”

Rarity paused and looked out the window. Morning already? She looked at the time and cringed again. School would be starting soon. Could she get him home in time to... no. It wouldn't hurt him to miss one day of school. “No, dear. It's morning. School will be starting soon.” She reached out and pet his head. “I'm going to go talk to the doctor, okay? See if they'll let you come home now.”

“Okay mommy,” he said before giving her another nuzzle.

She turned and started to walk off, before stopping. “Claw, darling. The spiders. Do you remember what you did?”

He slowly nodded. “Uh huh. They wanted to bite mommy...” he said gently.

She nodded and smiled, giving him another gentle pat on the head. “Did you... errr... did you... remember how to do that? Do you know how you did it? Or what it was?”

He nodded. “Oh yes! I get really mad and then I picked them up and threw them!”

“Right. I mean HOW you did it, though. They were... bigger than you. As was that tree you... do you understand what you did?”

He nodded. “Uh huh. I beat up the bad things.”

She smiled at his simplicity. Well, it was true at least. “Yes you did and you did an amazing job of it.” She walked to the door and called over one of the nurses. Within a few minutes she had the release forms and trotted back to grab her little colt. “Come along, dear. Let's head home. I'm sure Spike is absolutely besides himself with worry.”

“Okay mommy!” he said before climbing out of bed. He nearly fell over and she was forced to quickly catch himself, but after a few seconds of walking he was moving fine again. She held him close, smiling.

“If you need more rest, it's fine.”

“No, I wanna go see daddy. Am I going to school?”

She shook her head. “Not today. You can go back tomorrow. Today... I just want you to get some rest. Come along.” She said before gently guiding him out of the room.

------

Sweetie looked nervously back at her cousin, before then turning to her two friends. She motioned Silverbelle inside and then, once she was inside the school, let out a little eep. “Silverbelle has a crush on Claw!”

“What?” Scootaloo asked.

“Wait, are yah sure? Ain't yah like... cousins an' all? Ain't Claw supposed tah be Rarity's?” Applebloom asked with a cocked eye.

“I know! He's like... if they...” Sweetie shivered and shook her head. “We need to break them up. Or, well, make sure they never try to do anything. I think this calls for drastic measures.”

The three shared a look, before nodding. “Yah both know what this means, don't yah?” Applebloom asked with a frown.

“Eeyup,” Scootaloo said firmly. “But we gotta do what we gotta do.”

“Then we're all agreed?” Sweetie asked with a smile.

“Mmmm hmmm,” Applebloom said with a nod. “Yah bring her down to the tree house after class. Scoots an' ah'll have everything set up.”

The unicorn nodded with a grin. “Thank you. So much.” She looked towards the house. It was for her own good. She felt bad about it... but it was for the best

------

Val groaned and kind of pushed his body around the ground, just using his back hooves while his front ones lay limp at his sides. “I am sooooo borrrrrrred,” he whined. “There's nothing to do!”

Cheerilee rolled her eyes and looked back to her book. “If you want, you can join me in reading. But I'm afraid there's not much more to do here.” There was no actual television on the premises, but thousands of books. The perfect place to teach Val to read, if he'd let her. To her relief, and later annoyance, Val was recovering quickly. In fact, all of the fear from before had...

No, it wasn't quite gone. It was still partially there, she could tell. He froze whenever the door opened and she noticed he was staying away from the windows. But he was moving around and not crying anymore, or talking about the horrible fate that awaited him, so she knew he was making some progress.

But it also meant he didn't want to just sit back, snuggle and read a book. He wanted action, drama, suspense. She wondered if they could find a joy boy or something. Maybe invite the other children over to play after school ended.

“So you're bored, huh?” a voice boomed through the room, making them both look up.

“Who's that?” Val asked, wide eyed.

“The destroyer of boredom, the defeater of apathy, the crusher of... ummm... unconcern!” The door swung open and Flash Sentry stood in the doorway, in full armor and... wearing a mask. A paper mask with a fake, round horn. Little sparklers were being lit behind the stallion and two other guards waved them around with apathetic looks on their faces. Cheerilee face hoofed.

“Oh brother...” she muttered. She then looked to Val. His eyes were wide and his mouth had fallen to the ground as he stared at the pegasus, surrounded by smoke and sparklers.

Flash stepped into the room and she noticed he walked with a slight limp. She could see white bandages wrapped tightly around his shoulder where the spider had bit him. He swung out a wing and the Armies of Equestria box fell to the ground. “For boredom, there is but one way to defeat it! Games!”

Val blinked and looked at the game in excitement, then his face fell. “I don't play games with bunnies!”

“But this isn't just any bunny!” Flash said before lifting up the box lid and pulling out one of the many cards, holding it out to the colt. “This is a bunny that can drop a dragon with one kick.” Val, despite his reservations, looked at the card. And his eyes widened. It was a little white bunny that was... eerily familiar. But it was wearing chainmail, had red war paint on its face and held a single mallet in its hands. At its feet were five dragons, crumbled in defeat. “The dreaded guardian bunny of Sanctuary, said to once protect a safe haven run by a beautiful mare who welcomed all. A bunny unmatched in combat, even by the greatest of pegasi warriors. A creature of myth and legend. In fact, some say his descendent's still roam this land. Guarding and protecting the ponies who wield that mare's powers."

------

Angel Bunny sneezed before looking around. He had the sudden urge to hurt a pegasus, he wondered why. Not Fluttershy, of course.

------

Val just stared at the card. Then Flash tilted it slightly and revealed... it was shiny. The colt gasped. “And... and that's the only bunny?”

“It is the only bunny worthy of being in such a game!” Flash said dramatically. Some more sparklers went off behind him and Cheerilee cringed as the curtains lit on fire and the poor guards had to run around, trying to put it out. Fortunately, they succeeded.

Val gulped and looked at the cards. Cheerilee rolled her eyes. He was completely taken in, she knew it. Now she just had to see if Flash could close the deal. She wondered where on earth he'd ever gotten such a silly idea. Did he make that mask out of scrap paper?

“In this game you are a general, a commander of your platoons, directing them across the field to capture your opponents, crushing their magical barriers and defeating them in the most glorious of manners. You can lead the earth ponies, the pegasi, the unicorns or even... the dragons.”

Val's eyes practically glowed. “I... I can lead an army of DRAGONS?”

“A whole army. Countering your enemy forces, defeating them in the most glorious of manners. All you need to do is create your army and then fight it against others.” He picked up a small deck of the cards, all of which were inside little blue plastic sleeves, and held them out to the colt. “Will you lead your soldiers?”

Val sqweed and nodded, taking the cards. Cheerilee walked over and grabbed Flash by the shoulders. “I'm not sure I like the idea of him playing such a... violent game,” she whispered.

“It's really not,” Flash whispered back. “It's just a game of diplomacy. But I figured he'd be more interested if I added a little flair.”

She looked down at Val, before giving a small nod. “I... suppose it's okay.”

The little colt frowned. “Hey, what do all these little words say?”

“They explain what abilities each creature have. Here, let me explain the rules...”

Cheerilee watched them for a moment before looking towards the door. The other guards had walked off, leaving behind nothing but a slightly burnt and damp curtain. She then looked to Flash and smiled. Of course. He was laid up too, he was probably just as bored as Val. At least maybe the two could keep each other entertained.

Though, seriously. Where in Equestria did he get that mask? It looked like it was... words couldn't even explain it. So much scrap paper. And was that horn made from a toilet paper roll?

------

Silverbelle couldn't help feeling a little nervous as she was led through the trees of the Apple family orchard. They were going back to the club house they'd been quite a few times, but this time it was different. This time... something was off. Her cousin was barely speaking to her. She was being very vague about what was happening, too.

Oh, she did hope she was just misunderstanding things again. These Equestrian ponies were just so... strange. Their rituals and other things just made so little sense to her. The words and everything, just ugh. How she wished she was smart like her mother and understood both. She was learning how to read a little bit and was getting better at speaking it, but so often ponies just spoke too fast for her to keep up. It was horrible.

“We're here!” Sweetie said happily before galloping up towards the tree house. Silverbelle let out a soft sigh as she followed after her cousin, a feeling of dread. She wished she knew where that feeling was coming from.

The two walked into the tree house and she was surprised to see four ponies waiting for them. She recognized the other two, Diamond and Silver Spoon. They'd met quite often, but only at school. This was the first time she was seeing them outside of that safe environment and already she felt the anxiety rising. It didn't help that everypony was staring at her and there was a big banner up above with her name on it.

In... tear... vent...on? What was an in-tear-vent-on? Were they tearing up vents? Why? Was there a cutie mark for that?

The door closed behind her and she yelped, looking back to Sweetie. “I'm sorry tah do this to yah, Silverbelle, but it's for your own good.”

She whimpered and backed away in fear. What were they going to do to her? What-- eep! She was grabbed by Applebloom and Scootaloo and dragged towards one of the nearby chairs and plopped down. A cup of apple cider was forced into her hooves.

“Silverbelle, we're doing this for your own good,” Scootaloo said as she moved in front of her.

“We're your friends and we care about you, that's why this needs to stop,” Applebloom said as she joined her. “Ah know yah like 'im, but it just ain't gonna work out.”

“We're here for support and because we didn't want to be left out,” Diamond said with a small smile. “And I didn't have any treasury things to do.”

“What she said,” Silver Spoon said with a nod.

Sweetie moved to join them. “This is your intervention, Silverbelle. We know about your crush and... it needs to stop.”

The little unicorn's cheeks turned bright red. “I-I don't... I don't h-have a crush...” The cup timidly trembled in her hooves. “N-not at all.”

“Mmmm hmmm, looks like yah were right, Sweetie,” Applebloom said with a shake of her head. “Jus' look at the way her hooves are shakin'.”

“As much as I hate to agree, you're right,” Diamond said with a sigh. “Listen, Silverbelle. I understand. Many a pony has submitted to the... dangerous. The exciting. The strange. It's in plenty of those romance novels my mother reads. But this is... a little too far.”

“B-but... I-I don't...” Silverbelle whimpered and accidentally spilled some of her juice, but in the intense moment nopony noticed.

“Please, Silverbelle,” Sweetie said before reaching out and putting a hoof over hers. “I'm your cousin. I know this can be hard, but you need to believe me. It won't work out. You can't... make it work. The differences are bad enough, but the similarities are just too much. It's not healthy.”

“H-he's not... that d-different...”'

“That's the problem!” Scootaloo said with a roll of her eyes. “If you two didn't come from the same family, it would be fine. But really, Claw? I get it, he's kind of... weird and a bit cute. But he's like... your nephew or cousin or... whatever he is.”

Silverbelle just stared then, her mind rolling. That couldn't be... she was just confused. That had to be it. Everything was just so confusing. She was sure if she had a proper grasp on Equestrian speech this would all make sense and could be fixed calmly and rationally. Instead, all she could do was look at them. “I... sorry?”

“Listen, there are plenty of other unicorn's in the sea,” Diamond said with a nod. “How about Snails? He's kind of dopy, too. Weird and--”

The door opened and chaos marched through it. A chill went down the pink earth pony's spine and she turned in time to see the blur of white jump on top of her. She let out a shriek and was brought down by the colt, Claw standing on top of her and proceeding to lick her face.

“Ack! What? No, stop, get it off!”

“See? This is what you're crushing on!” Applebloom said, shaking her head. “An' he's your nephew! It jus' ain't right!”

Silverbelle just looked confused as she looked between them. Were none of them going to help the poor shrieking pony? Oh, there. Silver Spoon went to stop him and... was soon pinned as well, being licked.

“Ummm...” Silverbelle said softly. “Should you... not help them?” she asked softly.

“Oh, they're fine,” Applebloom said with a shrug. “He's harmless. But anyway. Yah gotta promise yah won't try tah date Claw or do any of that whole... crushin' thing with him. Okay? Yah gotta let him go.”

Silverbelle slowly nodded. “Err... o...kay?” she said softly, watching them as she struggled in vain to understand what was going on.

Sweetie smiled. “You promise?”

“I... promise?”

The unicorn grinned. There, they'd done it. Saved her cousin from a fate of... well, whatever Claw was. She then turned towards the others and sighed. “Claw, get off Diamond!” He'd switched licking partners again. “Now!”

He whined, but did so, his tail wagging slightly. The two fillies looked traumatized. Applebloom let out a shriek as she was tackled and licked next. “Consarn it!”

“W-why?” Diamond asked softly. “T-the horror... the horror...”

“I thought you only did that to Val,” Scootaloo asked with a cocked eye. “Why all of a sudden?”

“Not allowed to lick ponies at school,” Claw said dejectedly. “Also, she tastes like diamonds. They're good!” He pointed at Diamond, who shuddered.

“... Wait, really? She does?” Every eye turned to the filly.

She eeked. “What? No! No pony licks me! Back, back I say!”

“Oh relax,” Applebloom said with a shake of her head, finally shoving Claw off. “Ain't nopony gonna lick yah, Diamond. Except maybe Claw. He's affectionate. It means he likes yah!”

The filly glowered.

“So, what do we do now?” Sweetie asked with a big grin. They'd saved her little cousin from a horrible relationship of... well... just ewwwww.

“We... could ummmm... go check on Val...” Silverbelle said softly, shuffling her hooves. “Make sure he's okay...”

Diamond's eyes widened. “W-what? That evil little-- eek!” She was taken down by another pounce by Claw, who proceeded to nibble on her tiara. “Get offffff!”

“See? It just means he likes you,” Scootaloo said with a chuckle. “You're making friends so quickly now, Diamond. And yeah, that could be fun. Maybe we can see Miss Cheerilee. I hope she's okay...”

“So we're agreed?” Applebloom asked. Most of the ponies nodded. Except Diamond and Claw who were in the midst of their licky struggle. And Silver Spoon, who was struggling to pull him off the poor dragon-saliva covered filly.

“Gahhhh! Claw, knock that offffff!” the filly whined.

She got a nuzzle and slight purr in response. “I like you Diamond tasting filly.”

The filly rolled her eyes and grumbled darkly. Why did this being nice stuff have to be so hard? She wanted to throw a shake on his head or at least punch him in his big stupid face!

Comments

[Kage no Brony]

“So, what do we do now?” Silverbelle asked with a big grin. They'd saved her little cousin from a horrible relationship of... well... just ewwwww.
“We... could ummmm... go check on Val...” Silverbelle said softly, shuffling her hooves. “Make sure he's okay...”

I believe the first name should be Sweetie.