(36) Persuasion Check
Pinkie Pie’s POV
Canterlot High
Monday, 7:21AM
I reached into a side pocket of my backpack and pulled out two things. The first was a set of binoculars I had Fluttershy lend me. They were her dad’s and he used them for birdwatching, which explained the cute little birdie Fluttershy painted on it at some point. It was even singing tiny little music notes. Awwww.
The second was something I only used for the most delicate of cheer-up operations; a tape recorder. My family was just the teeniest bit old fashioned, so it was a tape deck recorder, but that was all the better. That meant, should it come to it, I could destroy the evidence. That way, any failed operations would stay classified. Forever.
Once I was ready, I shimmied along the wall of lockers, stopping at the turn of the hallway and poked my head around the corner. Then, with the binoculars, I saw it clearly. About twenty-seven and a half feet away was locker #329. A.K.A. Story Spinner’s locker.
I pressed play on my tape recorder and held it to my mouth.
“Deep Pie’s Log. Mission one, codenamed: Give Story His Stuff Back So He Doesn’t Give Up D&D Forever. Otherwise known as; G’Shs-Bshd-GudF [Name in progress].”
“Pinkie Pie, I know I said we were at your disposal,” Rarity, alias Diamond in the Rough (or DR for short), started. “But don’t you think this is a bit excessive? I mean, wouldn’t it be better to simply hand Story back his things?”
I turned around and gave DR a look. Her, as well as DashPass, Light Talker, and Applejack, were stacked up behind me out of sight from the target’s locker. We were blocking seven other lockers in the process, but it was a worthy cost for the mission.
I stopped the recording for a second, tutting. “Oh, poor, sweet DR. Don’t you know that the best way to cheer somebody up is with a surprise? Just imagine how glad Story’ll be to see his backpack hanging in his locker waiting for him! Not to mention, I made this.”
With a flourish, I pulled a card out of my hair and held it between my finger and thumb to show to the girls. It took me most of last night, but it was the perfect apology letter.
The outside wasn’t eye-catching, but that was on purpose. As much as I wanted to make it up to the Pinkie Pie Code, I figured Story wouldn’t like a huge fancy picture, or glitter, or the spring-loaded confetti packs, or anything too exciting right now.
So instead, the front of the card only had “We’re Sorry Story” written in as good a ‘fantasy’ font as I could get it to be. It took me a lot of time and a lot of wasted stationary, but I finally got it to look jusssssst right after the forty-eighth try.
The inside was lined with a piece of fake parchment paper I learned how to make online with a note written in ink. That was somehow easier too! Once it was written, I tucked it inside a small envelope that I sealed with a red wax seal. That’s what the girls saw me holding now.
“...And it’ll work?” DR asked, looking hopeful.
I gave her a wink and clicked ‘record’ again on my recorder, turning back to the locker. “We begin with phase one; Deploy the Rainbow. DashPass, that's your queue!”
DassPass rolled her eyes, but smirked. “Sure thing, Deep Pinks. For the cause,” she said plainly, weakly pumping her fist a little bit into the air.
“That’s the spirit!” I gave her a thumb’s up and watched her casually walk down the hallway. “Alright. Now for phase two; Infiltrate the Unit. Light Talker, you’re with me. I’ll take point. Applejack, DR? You’re on evac. Break!”
I stashed the recorder and letter before going into a dive roll, making it about a tenth of the way since Story’s locker was in the middle of a long hallway.
While I kept dive rolling nine more times, Light Talker followed behind. She walked fast and kept her head low so as not to make eye-contact with everyone in the hallway staring at us.
As we moved, DR turned to Applejack. “She doesn’t expect us to do that too, does she?” All she got was a shrug.
When we arrived, I jumped to my feet and carefully checked the edges of the locker. It doesn’t seem to be trapped or rigged. Good.
I turned the lock wildly to the left, just in case Story had it set to the last digit like Twilight does for her locker.
“Alright Light Talker, we made it.” I held my hand out towards her. “Pass me my kaleidoscope.”
“O-Okay Pi—wait," Light Talker stalled, scrunching up her nose. I had her on equipment duty, so she had all my supplies with her. “Don’t you mean a stethoscope?”
“Not this time, Light Talker,” I said, shaking my head. “These locks are in a field all their own. Stethoscopes just won’t cut it anymore. And it’s Deep Pie! Don’t give us away!”
“Oh! Um, sorry Pi—I-I mean...Deep Pie?” She said, awkwardly passing me my kaleidoscope.
“Thank you!” I smiled at her, taking the kaleidoscope and peering into it, turning the end of it back and forth. “Oh wow! I forgot how pretty all the oranges were! Teeheehee, I have got to use these bad boys more often!”
I passed back the kaleidoscope and then quickly put in Story’s combo. 17. 52. 20. Once that was done, I pulled the latch, and it opened like a charm.
Light Talker stared in confusion, looking between the kaleidoscope and the locker while I pulled my recorder back out. “Mission update. We’re in! A few close calls, but we’re at the home stretch. Proceeding to the final phase: Placement.”
Putting the recorder away, I turned to my partner. “Light Talker...Light Talker?”
I blinked, watching as Light Talker was looking into the kaleidoscope, turning the dial in both directions as she held it up towards the light.
“Light Talker!” “meeep!” Light Talker jumped, fumbling for a second to catch the kaleidoscope and not let it fall to the floor.
“Focus,” I commanded. “We can’t afford to waste time! Quick, pass me the backpack!”
“Ri-Right! Sorry Pink—No, I-I mean Peep—err, Deep...here.” She slid the backpack DR bought for Story off her shoulder and passed it off to me.
Story left it along with his D&D notes at Applejack’s barn. We figured if we were gonna try talking to him again, the best step was to give him his things back. He probably left it all behind so he could leave faster anyways.
I stepped up and hung the backpack on the hook in his lock—
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
From the other end of the hall, DashPass pounded on one of the lockers, startling everyone in the hallway. They all glared at her, but she didn’t pay them any mind as she turned to stare at a locker while putting on a hat to hide her rainbow hair. She couldn’t get across the hallway in time without Story spotting her.
I gasped and grabbed Light Talker. “Quick! We need to hide!”
She let out another quiet yelp as I tossed her and myself inside Story’s locker, slamming the door shut and sealing us in.
I’m gonna be honest. There was hardly any space for us here! Seriously, how does the school expect two people to hide in one of these things?!
So instead, we stood absolutely still, nose-to-nose, hiding from our target. Somehow, I dug my recorder out of my pocket and brought it to my mouth to speak.
“Deep Pie with an update,” I began, whispering so as not to give us away. “We evaded detection, but for who knows for how long? We’re at the mercy of our allies on the outside now.”
“u-um. d-d-deep pie?” Light Talker stuttered even quieter than usual. Wow, she really didn’t want to be discovered! “H-Ho-Ho-howdowegetout?”
“Well, that’s easy, silly! That’s what our evac team’s for!” I cheered, now somehow pulling out my phone. I had to hold it up against Light Talker’s ribs to see what I typed, and I had to hope she didn’t mind.
“Applejack. Need. Evac. Now. Exclamation point. Exclamation point. Exclamation point. Winky face. Thumb’s up. Annnnnnd send! There! All taken care of!”
“u-uhm...deep pie...?” Light Talker said.
“Don’t worry about it!” I told her cheerfully. “I put DR and Applejack on evac duty for a reason! With their skillset and experience, we’ll be out of here and Story’ll be none the wiser!”
I felt my phone buzz in my hand from a text message. “Ya see?! That’s them right now, telling us they got it covered!”
I glanced down at my phone and read it out loud to Light Talker.
HOW
“...Huh!” I sounded off. “They even encrypted the message! They are on top of this today!”
Not a second after that, Light Talker and I heard the tumble of the locker turn from one number to the next. 17...52...
Hold on, I thought. They don’t know the combo. They don’t even have a kaleido—Uh oh...
As if answering me, the latch was pulled up and the locker was opened, revealing Story Spinner himself. He had this cute backpack half opened and was about to stuff a book in here only to stop when he saw both of us crammed inside.
I quickly acted natural, while Light Talker went with the ‘so-red-in-the-face-everyone-thinks-I’m-a-tomato’ routine.
“Goooood morning, Story!” I cheered happily. “Fancy seeing you here! How ya doin’?!”
For the first couple seconds, Story stared at us with wide eyes and a mouth that opened and shut like a freshly caught fish. With each time he nearly made a sound or spoke a word, my excitement became more and more obvious on my face as I waited for him with bated breath.
But, as the seconds passed, the surprise died from his face, and he settled down. And then I saw his eyes. They looked...sad. Actually, his eyes looked terrible! They looked more red than white, and he had dark sacks under his eyes that were easy to spot once he settled down.
He said nothing. That was on purpose. He didn’t want to talk to us from text messages, so I assumed he didn't want to talk in person either. Not only that, but he only looked at me. He refused to look at Fluttershy at all.
It was a shame. I had thought that, if we got caught, maybe seeing Fluttershy would make him open up a bit and talk. It was doing the opposite though. So much for that working, huh?
Still. When Story wasn’t surprised anymore, I quickly filled in the silence.
“W-We-We brought you your backpack!” I told him, pulling the backpack between me and Fluttershy and holding it out to him. “I like your new one, buuuut, it might not be big enough for your books? We don’t you want to have—”
Story silently reached out, taking the backpack from me. I smiled a little brighter but flinched as Story took it and tossed it to the floor beside him in one fluid motion. I could hear the dice and folders inside of it crashing around. "To. Carry. Everything..." I said with a strained smile.
Next, he opened the locker wider and stepped aside, pointing into the hallway while staring unmoving eyes at me.
‘Get out.’ That’s what they looked like they were saying.
I felt my hair flatten a little bit as I gulped and nodded. “O-Okay. Right, yeah! No problemo! Come on, Fluttershy.”
It took some work, and an awkward moment of silence, but Fluttershy and I shimmied out of his locker and back to the hallway where there were already a bunch of students watching.
Applejack, DashPa...Rainbow Dash and Rarity were nearby too, albeit keeping their distance. We agreed not to surround him all at once. We didn’t want to make him feel cornered.
I turned around to try talking some more, but Story moved on. He roughly tossed a few things into his locker and took out a math book. It was for his first class and none of us had that with him.
Oh no! The letter! “Story, hold on!”
Once Story had what he needed, he tossed the locker closed and turned to walk away.
“No, wait!” I ran ahead, going around him and standing in his way. He tried side-stepping me, but I did the same and we ended up dancing in the hallway for a second before he stopped and narrowed his eyes. “Story, I just wanted to—”
“I swear.” His voice was only loud enough for me to hear him. He sounded like how Sunset did when we saw her yesterday. “If you don’t leave me alone. Right. Now.” He narrowed his eyes until they were as thin as playing cards. “I swear, I will scream ‘magic’ at the top o—urrrrrggg! Ah, not now...”
From mad to pained, Story gripped the side of his head. He was gritting his teeth and stared at the ground as his eyes shifted around in a bunch of directions. A little too fast, if you ask me. And while his eyes bounced, other students in the hallway stared in worry and confusion. So did we.
“S-Story?” Fluttershy stepped up beside us, too worried to try shaking him out of it. “What’s wrong? Ar-Are you ok—”
“I-I-I’m...Fine,” he forced himself to say while holding his breath. It took him a few seconds, but he straightened out and took a few heavy breaths. He was massaging his temples too. He looked even worse now than he did when he first saw us.
After he got his breathing under control, and then noticed everybody looking at us, Story shook his head and looked back at me.
“...Please,” he said sadly. “Please, just leave me alone. I don’t want to be near any of you. Go. Away.”
I went to say something. A small joke to try and cheer him up or an apology, but...But I couldn’t. I only stared at how sad his eyes were. At how upset they looked. And when they kept staring back, my voice got caught in my throat and my hair made this small pffffffffftt sound as if it sprung a leak.
“Oh. Um. O-Okay, well...We-we’ll just. We’ll just. Go then. Buh. B-Bye then, Stor—"
“W-Wait. Pinkie Pie?” Fluttershy was forcing herself to speak up. And when she saw me getting all sad too, she traded her voice for mine. “Um. S-Story? Pinkie Pie spent all night making a letter for us to give to you. We wanted to, erm. Tr-Try and get it to you. Won’t you please take it? We...We wanted to make sure you. g-got it...”
Story didn’t turn to look at her. He just moved his eyes to the edge of his vision and looked even miserable hearing her. Then he focused back on me.
“...” He took a low breath, rubbing one of his bloodshot eyes. “...fine. Fine. Can I have it?”
I felt my face light up for a brief moment before I took out the letter and held it out. Story scanned over it, staring at the wax seal that held it closed. He wouldn’t see anything else until he opened it.
When he got his fill, he gently took it out of my hand. “...Look,” he breathed. Then he noticed the students still watching in the hallway. He spoke quieter. “I already talked with Sunset. Alright? I'm doing what I said. I’ll stay quiet, I promised that. Just...Leave me alone? Okay?”
He took the letter and walked back over to his locker, sliding it through the slots. I then heard the wax seal snap off the envelope’s fold and fall somewhere in the bottom of the locker while the card landed elsewhere.
“I’ll read it later.” He started walking to class, clunky math book under one arm and kiddy backpack under the other. “Goodbye.”
He walked off without any other words said. The bigger backpack was left on the floor near his locker. Once he was past us, the nearby students gave worried looks and whispered at each other.
Story ignored them and walked with his head hung low. When he passed Rainbow Dash, she saw him for herself. Then, she saw how I was doing and weighed her options. Only after a second or two did she choose to come back towards me.
Rarity and Applejack came over too. With all of them, we left the hallway together and took Story’s bag with us. Once we reached a quieter part of the school, the girls took a couple minutes cheering me up.
They wanted to convince me it wasn’t my fault. That I did the best I could to cheer him up. They told me that we were able to give Story my letter, so it wasn’t completely bad. Even when I didn’t say much, they were there for me.
But they didn't need to be there for me. What about Story? What about Sunset? Both of them were way sadder than I was but everyone was here for me. That just made me more upset. So why? Why don't either of them want us to cheer them up? They both look so lonely but we can't help.
And then there was the thing Story said. ‘I’ll stay quiet, I promised that.’ What did that mean exactly? Does that mean no one knows why he’s upset? Not even his other friends or his family? Just how lonely was Story? And how do you make someone not lonely if they don’t want to talk? How do you get them to cheer up? I don’t want to make Story or Sunset more sad but I didn’t want to ignore them either.
How can I be a good friend if I can’t cheer either of them up?
Applejack’s POV
Canterlot High, Outside the Cafeteria
Monday, 11:38 AM
Like last Wednesday, I and the girls were all stacked up at a table. We had a few D&D stuff out but we weren’t about to test anything. Sunset and Twilight played along with our decision on that. Besides, there were other students eating outside like us this time. That made me confident nobody would try something silly.
However, that left us sitting around with different levels of frustration. Twilight was buried in her notes, writing and reviewing plans while occasionally feeling around for a chicken nugget on the tray beside her. Now and again, Spike would paw at her hand whenever she was about to eat a die by mistake.
Pinkie Pie was sort of the opposite. Rather than staying busy like Twi, Pinkie pecked at her food with this semi-vacant look. The school day was half over by now and a few strands of Pink’s hair were still lying flat past her shoulders.
Beyond Pinkie’s attempt this morning, a few of us tried reaching out to Story during or between classes. Rarity had second period history with him while RD and I shared fourth period chemistry. And in neither of those times did we make any headway.
In fact, if I didn’t reel her in, Rainbow would be stuck with detention after school with how she was trying to get Story's attention in the middle of class. Story wasn’t jazzed dealing with that either. I figured as much when he locked eyes with me.
I managed a stiff nod at the time before he stared down at his notes for the rest of class. The fella looked like he was gonna fall into a snooze the whole time too.
So, with Twilight and Pinkie distracted, that left Fluttershy, Rainbow, and me in this awkward spot while we debated a new idea. Rarity would have joined in on that too but she was about fifteen feet away from the table on her phone. Something about having to cancel a spa appointment today.
And then, there was Sunset.
Except for Twilight during class, nobody saw her up until lunch. She never even responded to texts. Instead, she had been in her own head while the rest of her looked exhausted. She hadn’t bothered getting food from the cafeteria and had spent nearly the whole time trying to align the pages of her magic book back together. She still hadn’t figured out a way to repair it and according to her, it also meant the other Twilight had no way of coming to see us anymore.
Sunset mentioned at one point that if she kept the pages aligned, then the other Twilight could repair it on her end. But that would mean Other Twilight would first need to notice the book’s damaged. And if Other Twilight was as busy as she was during the Friendship Games, that might be a while.
Soon enough, Sunset stopped prodding at the tome and just glared at it behind tired eyes. She’s barely said a word to us since yesterday’s spat, I remarked. Actually. Has she said anything today?
From the other side of the table, I heard the light plap! of Spike swatting away Twilight’s hand again. “Careful, you almost ate it again.”
Twilight rolled her eyes and this time grabbed the die with more purpose. Specifically, the magic one that had no numbers on it yet. “I meant to this time.”
That piqued my interest. “How’s come?”
“I need to test something,” she told us. Then she shook the die around in her fist. “I’m going to see if I can access Sky-Space without Story. Let's—”
“Woah now.” I reached up and lightly held her fist. “You really think that’s the wisest plan?”
She frowned. “We all agreed that while you try talking to Story, Sunset and I would try finding an alternative way. This is how we find it.”
“It hasn’t even been a day yet.” I kept a hold of her fist. We both knew she couldn’t shake free of me.
“But Story’s brushed us off every time so far,” Rainbow reminded me. There was this strain in the way she said it. “Is there any convincing him?”
“W-We haven’t been giving him any time to himself,” Fluttershy tried speaking up. “Maybe he just wants some space? That might be why he blocked all of us.”
“Fluttershy, you said both of you knew each other long before we met him last week, right?” Twilight turned the tables. “He’s even blocked your number. I don’t think he's getting some space.”
The sound of a leather book thumping closed made us all notice how we were starting to lean forward on the table. Sunset had given up on staring at her book for today. And as she closed it, a few pages became unaligned again.
“Let’s stop this,” Sunset said with full monotone. Her voice was as dry as chipped paint too. “He’s out. That’s it. He won’t talk. He won’t listen. At least we can be assured he won’t tell anyone about dunamancy.”
“Because you told him not to?”
Sunset glanced over at Pinkie, who was staring over from under her bangs. “...Yeah. And he told me he wouldn’t.”
But Pinkie didn’t go back to her food. Instead, she kept this unsettling eye contact with Sunset as she slowly held up her hand. “Can I see?”
Sunset just furrowed her brow. “See what?”
“The message,” Pinkie said carefully. “Can I see what you sent him?”
The two stayed in a deadlock as the rest of us stayed quiet. “...Why?”
“I wanna know how you told him,” Pinkie pressed. “Can I see it? Please?”
That seemed to snap Sunset out of her doom some, but she still refused. I then watched Sunset begin curling in on herself. Like she was on the defensive towards us. And that, coupled with the frazzled hair and wrinkled clothes, as well as her eyes getting a little crazed, were starting to paint a vivid picture that something was off.
“Sunset.” I spoke softly, but even that made Sunset tense up a bit more. “Is, um. Is it ‘cause a’ Ms. Cheerilee’s promise? Is that why ya can’t show us?”
Sunset looked between the others for a few seconds. Mostly between myself and Pinkie, who was backing off when she heard the excuse I threw out there.
“Uh, y-yeah. Yes, it is. That,” Sunset affirmed awkwardly as she nodded. “Ms. Cheerilee made me and Story promise to keep it a secret and the way I put it in the message, I talked about it. A bit. Actually, I probably shouldn’t keep that sitting in my phone.”
Sunset quickly pulled out her phone and quickly tapped away on it, leaning back away from all of us as, a couple slides of her finger later, the messages were all deleted. “There.” She stowed it away. “I’m sorry girls, but what Ms. Cheerilee said? She was really on edge about it. Applejack saw it, she didn’t even want us to tell you girls. I really am sorry. Really!”
A few of the others looked to me, unsure what to think. And in that instance, I gritted my teeth and nodded along. “She’s right, y’all. Ms. Cheerilee really did want it hush-hush. I ended up walkin’ out ‘fore she told what the secret was. Not ta little yer kinds a' promises Pinkie, but what Ms. Cheerilee had goin’ felt even bigger than Pinkie Promises.”
“Mmmm...” Pinkie had some sort of debate with herself before she folded against her food and started getting distant all over again. “If you say so, then okie-dokie. I’m sorry Sunset, I had no idea."
“I-It’s fine,” Sunset told her. Meanwhile, I was packing up my tray and stood up. “Applejack? Where are...?”
“Ah’m headin’ onta class early.” I then grabbed my bag and slung it over my shoulder. “We got about fifteen minutes an’ Ah got Ms. Cheerilee’s English next. Ah wanna drop by early ta greet her ‘fore the rush moseys on through.”
“Alright, I’m back everyone.” Just then, Rarity was sauntering back to the table as she tucked her phone away. She looked more unnerved than usual, but that was starting to become the norm. “Applejack, you’re leaving?”
“Eeyup. Ah’ll meet up with y’all after school. Don’t worry.”
I tipped my hat with one hand, picked up my food tray with the other, and walked away. When I made it into the cafeteria without the girls stopping me, I tossed my garbage into the bin and took a deep breath.
Maybe seeing Cheerilee early wasn’t a lie, but...That half-truth felt dirty. I’m sorry girls. I just need a bit.
I straightened myself out and walked past the tables of other students hanging around and pushed myself out into the hallway. Just having a room between myself and Sunset made me feel a little lighter. Which, in turn, made me feel more guilty.
Sugarcube, I got no clue what’s going through your head, but that was the easiest lie I’ve ever read off you. Whatever you told Story, it wasn’t about Ms. Cheerilee.
I shook off the tensity best I could and started down the hallway. Ms. Cheerilee’s classroom was on the other side of the school from the lunchroom so the quiet helped clear my head.
It wasn’t just Sunset either. Everyone was getting stressed now. It wasn’t anything like the fights we had before the Fall Formal, but I spotted the signs. It was getting toxic. And if things kept up, saving Principal Celestia was gonna be more than a struggle.
With no one in the halls, I never got stopped. There were two lunch shifts at our school now that we had an influx of transfer students. The girls and I all had first lunch. The folks who had second lunch were in class right now. Fifth period took place at the same time as lunch, meaning it was the longest period.
Gearing up for that, I turned down the hall leading to Ms. Cheerilee’s classroom. What I didn’t expect was to see one other person nearby. They were standing in front of their locker and lightly thumping their forehead against it.
Story Spinner.
I stopped walking and found myself watching. He looked terrible. More so than he had this morning. If you put him and Sunset side by side, they’d push away from each other like magnets with how negative they were.
But then I saw something weirder. Without warning, Story stopped thumping his head. He let out this painful groan as he clutched the wall of lockers with one hand and gripped the side of his head with the other. Exactly like he did this morning when Pinkie talked to him.
He lurched forward and breathed heavily; like he was dizzy, or someone knocked the wind out of him. And at the same time, it looked like this headache pounded at his noggin from outta nowhere.
When it looked as worse as it was gonna be, he started trembling. Almost violently. His breathing got more intense, and I just watched like a deer in the headlights as he slowly pulled himself away from the lockers.
“Get...Out..." He mumbled, barely loud enough for me to hear. “I hate it...lemme alone...!”
His whole body tensed up for a moment and after five or so seconds, he flinched, and his eyes shot open as he took in a huge gulp of air and fell against the lockers once more. He was drenched in a cold sweat.
What in tarnation...? I took a couple steps forward out of impulse. What’s happening to him?
I got maybe twenty feet before Story glanced around and quickly spotted me. When he realized who he was staring at, he tried righting himself real quick but the breathing and sluggishness were too bad to hide.
But I said nothing. And neither did he. We just stood there, waiting for the other to say something. And since I had no idea what to say, I kept my mouth shut and let him at least have his silence.
Maybe a minute passed as he caught his breath while attempting to appear presentable enough to keep other students from asking questions. We weren’t in any sort of staring contest or anything. Any time one of us thought we heard something, we’d look away to make sure we were the only ones still in the hall.
Then, finally, the silence got too loud for him. He sighed and gave me a motion. “Go ahead.”
I furrowed my brow. “What?”
“Go ahead. S-Say it,” he told me as he let his hand fall on his leg. “I should stop moping. We don’t have time for this. I overreacted. I’m selfish! Just say it! It’s what all of you are thinking; I know it.”
I thought that was a weird thing to focus on. Why would I want to talk about that and not how he’s frea...Oh.
Taking the bait, I thought about it for a moment. Each of the things he said, none of us believed. Rainbow Dash might’ve come close, but she was more concerned about an apology. She wouldn’t bad mouth him like he was thinking.
So that’s what I told him. The truth.
“Well. RD thinks yer actin’ rude. Wants ya ta apologize ta Sunset.”
Story took a moment to let that register. “Yeah? Wh-What about you?”
My brow furrowed deeper. “What about me?”
“I mean, Rainbow and Sunset can’t be the only ones that hate me. I. I-I screwed up. Badly. And I walked away, and I’m. I. It-It’s—I screwed up. Can you just say it so we can get this over with?”
“Screwed up?” My face lightened into a sad frown. “Story, we’ve all screwed up. We’ve worn down every screwdriver in the shed with how bad we’ve screwed up. Heck, I just left a table full a’ girls who are takin’ turns kickin’ themselves. And, tell ya the truth? Ah think you’ve screwed up the least.”
Story gave out a snort. “Alright. Sure.” He turned to start pulling things out of his locker. “Thought I’d get a straight answer.”
“That is mah straight answer.” I doubled down, stepping towards him. “And now, Sunset won’t even tell us what she asked of ya after ya left.”
That made Story freeze. I couldn’t see his face since his locker door hid it, but his body turned rigid. Forget screws. Looks like ya hit the nail on the head, AJ.
“She deleted it too,” I added on. “And now, she’s riddled with guilt. About you, ‘bout the principal, ‘bout another friend of ours, and now at us. Pinkie’s losin’ her spirit, Rainbow doesn’t know what ta think, Twi’s thinkin’ too much, Rarity and Fluttershy don’t got a clue how ta handle any a’ this, and Ah—”
I bit my cheek and took a deep breath. I was heated. Not at Story, just at everything. Everyone was holding onto something. And being around everyone plus the whole police situation yesterday? I thought telling Story the truth and coming clean was the right decision. I still think that. But with how we're all behaving, I...
Story peaked out from his locker. I had his attention.
“...Ah think Ah’m fallin' deep into my own worry,” I admitted. “Ah’m realizin’, this whole week's been nothin’ but one problem after the next. And. And Ah’d love nothin’ more than ta solve it all. But even Ah know ya gotta refill the oil ‘fore ya burn through the lamp. And mah light's gettin' awfully dim.”
Story meekly nodded along before slowly transitioning to a lost look as he shook his head. “Um, c-could you try that last part again?”
I closed my eyes and nodded at him. I can’t believe I’m gonna say this.
I took a few seconds, chewing my cheek some more before finally saying it straight. “What Ah mean ta say is...Ah think Ah wanna day off.”
“A. A day off?” Story replayed, making me cringe slightly. “What?”
Welp. It’s out there. I hate that I just said that, but. Ugh. Keep digging, I commanded myself. “All this nonsense about magic? These last few days? The game, all of yesterday’s argument, the poli—” Nope. Nope, you say that and Story’ll think you're blaming him. “...Ah wanna pretend like none of it exists. Alright?”
Story leaned back, pulling out a book before slowly closing the locker door and giving me his full attention. “You...You want to ignore it?”
I nodded, tossing my hands up a little before letting out a huff. “Yeah! Ah do. And Ah hate that Ah feel this way! Ah hate ignorin’ problems. That don’t fix ‘em, it just lets ‘em build. That's what led ta all this nonsense in the first place! But the place mah head’s at righ’ now? And where everyone's heads are at? A hedge maze would be scoffin’ at how lost we are.”
As if to prove it, Story let out this discordant scoff. “Take it from someone who is trying to ignore it all, it doesn’t help. I just feel worse.”
“Oh, Ah feel terrible about it,” I admitted with a sweeping motion. “It sucks as all get out. Ah feel like if any a’ the others were tellin' me the same thing, Ah’d tell ‘em we all gotta power through it. But this feelin’ Ah got? Every second Ah see the girls gettin’ depressed, Ah feel like Ah’m fallin’ right there with ‘em. And if ya don’t mind me copyin’ what ya said Saturday, Ah’m tired. Ah’m tired a’ goin’ one day ta the next tryin’ ta deal with something Ah don’t understand.”
“And you think a break will help you feel better?” Story asked.
“Ah dunno! No? Yes? Maybe?” I shrugged. “Maybe it won’t. But what Ah do know, is that while ya might not wanna talk ta all a’ us, we’re still yer friends. And as yer friend, Ah don’t think we’ve hung out outside a’ all the madness.”
“...” Story blinked a few times. “Y-Yeah?”
“So, Ah’m figurin’...How’s about this.” I took a few more steps until I was just five feet away from him. He was at least willing to look me in the eyes. I thought this would be a good time to extend an olive branch.
“For today,” I started. “We don’t bring up magic. We bring up none of it. How’s about we just go hang out somewhere? Take a day?”
I saw Story tense up at the word ‘we’ with a deep breath. Dang it, I think I phrased that wrong. “I-I don’t think—”
“Now, Ah don’t mean all of us,” I clarified quickly. “It’d just be you an’ me. Ah wouldn’t tell the girls. Ah don’t think they’d be on board with us goofin’ off anyhow. Ah just...We both want to ignore this. And we both hate that we feel that way. Right?”
Story eased up, folding his fist inside his palm. “Yeah. Yeah, I hate feeling like this. But... Isn’t this selfish?”
“Ah’d say so, yes! Still, it’s gonna be naggin’ at me whether we do it err not. But who knows? Maybe after we get some fresh air, we can try coolin’ off the others an’ think with our heads fer once. So, what do ya say? Ya up for it?”
Story thought it all through sincerely, slowly starting to nod. Then, as he sighed and dawned this ironic smirk, he nodded more firmly. “I guess...I guess, if I feel miserable with someone else, it’ll be easier? Fine, sure, I’m-I’m in.”
I gave him a smile. “Thanks.” Then after a couple seconds, I realized I had no idea how to actually do this. “Erm. Eheh, Ah don’t suppose ya got any place in mind, do ya? Ah don’t got too many ideas fer how ta take yer mind off a’ things. ‘Side from sittin’ around in the shade.”
Story bobbed his head a little. “Well, my brother really wanted to drag me out to the movies after school. I think my, uh..." He debated with himself for a second before shaking his head. “He, erm, wanted to cheer me up. You interested?”
“Sure.” I smiled. Movie works. “If ya want, Ah can bring Applebloom along. Keeps us from bringing up anythin’.”
“Uh, yeah, no, that sounds fine. Um...But." He fought with himself for a moment. "Erm. Y-You said Rainbow was upset at me. But, uh. W-What about Pinkie?" He finally forced the words out.
"Pinkie?" I blinked. "What do ya mean?"
Story built up his courage. "Well, I'm pretty sure I made her upset. And, uh." He reached into his pocket and took out a piece of old looking paper with the words We're Sorry Story written all fancy-like. "I read her card."
I chuckled and smiled. Heheh. What do you know. Worked just like you thought, Pinkie. "Ah wouldn't worry too much. Pinkie knows ya didn't mean it. If yer lookin' ta make it up to her though..."
Story caught on and slowly nodded along. "Yeah. I think you're right. But, how are you two gonna avoid tell—"
At that moment, the bell for lunch change rang out, cutting us both off as a few doors down the hall were pushed open not two seconds later by students trying to sprint down the hall to reach the lunchroom.
“You leave that up ta us,” I told him. "And Ah'll make sure Pinkie knows too. She's good at keepin' folks like us in good spirits."
I glanced over behind me to find that Ms. Cheerilee’s door was already open for us. Huh. I don’t think it was like when I got here. Did she—
“I think you're right.” He nodded. “Okay then. Should we meet up after school then?”
“Fine by me. But, uh, Story?”
“Yeah?”
“Do ya mind, um, unblockin’ me first?” I took out my phone and waved it a bit while Story cringed and nodded.
“R-Right! Yeah, I should probably, um...Does Fluttershy and the girls all—” “Know ya blocked us? Eeyup.” I smirked as he looked even worse. “Ah’ll do my best not ta let ‘em know we're talkin’ to ya 'til yer ready. Ah won’t lie to ‘em, but Ah’ll respect the privacy if ya want. Deal?”
“Deal.” He quickly pulled out his phone and got to work on it while the both of us got into Ms. Cheerilee’s room before those from lunch could get back. "I'll unblock Pinkie too. And, Applejack?"
"Yeah?"
"Thanks. For the straight answer, I mean."
I gave him a nod and started off to my own class. This felt like a step in the right direction despite how much I felt like I was betraying the others. I probably was. But if I could help everybody get some piece of mind, maybe we could all end up back on the same page. Plus, if Pinkie was coming, she would be a much better fit for cheering him up. This time the right way.
And all it costs is me swallowing my pride and telling Granny I’m taking a day off with Applebloom. Oh boy, Mac’s gonna hold this over my head for a week.
It's been a while. I'm pretty sure I've said that before, but yeah. "These next couple of chapters will be a bit shorter than what I normally write. Not sure if I'll be able to write them all the quicker" Those were words of a fool that didn't know what life does to people with plans. 
That said, next chapter's draft is already completed. I wanted to try and do the characters justice with these next couple of chapters, especially those that haven't gotten as much spotlight as others. But the reason they (AJ & Pinkie) don't is because I don't really use them too much. And with 8 characters in the main roster (plus their game characters), it's easy to ignore them.
Let me know what you think! I love taking in feedback wherever I can. Helps with stories & DMing.
Cheers,
-Zeke
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That interaction? Between AJ and Story Spinner? THAT is why Applejack is my favorite character. She's honest, but not blunt. She cares about the people around her.
A day without worrying about the magic and madness sounds like just what Story needs. Hopefully after taking the time to just be a normal teenager, he can jump back into this with a fresh mind.
I wonder how our party is doing right now.......
Another great chapter, as usual.:D
Amazing chapter!
Glad to see that the group is going to get Long Rest before diving back into the problem, they really need it. If they kept on going Story was going to run himself into the ground trying to keep them all safe, and the girls weren't going to be too far behind him. Hopefully they'll be able to take a step back, calm down, and approach the problem without everything going sideways.
Then again, the dice giveth and the dice taketh away, so it's all up to luck! 🤞that we don't roll a nasty encounter with.... Nope! Not gonna jinx it! It's in Fate's hand's, so Luck be a Lady tonight and stay by the side of our heroes as they go forth boldly into the unknown!
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Actually, Sunset is playing an Aasimar. She has Celestial blood.
Seven months since last update..... should we call it?
Edit: And now almost 9 months since last update... are we going on hiatus now?
11530809
Before Camp Everfree.
Well, it's been over a year since the last chapter. And I can't help but notice that nobody has thought to really talk about the Player Characters. It's been about half a year since last comment so... screw it! Let's do it!
To start, I wanna talk about our obviously CR-inspired duo: Glemerr and Ricven, obvious parallels to Grog and Scanlan, but not copies. To start with Glemerr, she's the standard big, strong, not-too-smart brawler that every D&D group has seen at least once, and was made famous with Grog. Where she differs from Grog is the form of her fighting, and the style of her low intellect. Where Grog was all-around not very smart, and never had a chance to really show his wisdom, Glemerr shows insight and gives advice, and also does incredibly random things. Although, that's probably the Pinkie Pie leaking through. In a similar vein, Ricven is a ladies' man, very much in keeping with Scanlan and other "horny bards." However, in keeping with Rarity's ideas of romance and class, Ricven is more interested in wooing ladies than bedding them (and doing quite poorly, I would say.)
Platick is an interesting one. I'm not sure if he was inspired by Percy or Vax, but the edgy rogue is a staple of D&D. However, I must admit that having it be more of Applejack's misunderstanding of the class, rather than a genuine desire to act as such, is rather refreshing. Needless to say, I can't wait to see where he goes from here.
Vareén is a very mysterious character, a ranger without any real hint to her past. Granted, mysterious characters are nothing new, but every time she's been in focus, we keep getting more questions than answers. Not really much more to say there.
Stostine is surprisingly unique. I suppose that comes baked in with the sorcerer class, as there are so many ways for someone to obtain power (though I suppose the same could be said for the warlock). Regardless, Sunset's influence leaks through in so many ways, from the subclass, to the backstory, even down to Stostine's behavior. All in all, a very well-made character with a compelling story.
Thorn Wielder is a "nature-first" druid, with a burnt down home and with some similarities to Fluttershy. And that's where comparisons end. This druid is scary, both in and out of combat. Her clipped Common, bizarre mismatched clothing, and quiet yet powerful demeanor cut a very imposing figure. Which makes it all the more jarring when she behaves so cutely when hungover or eating that loaf of bread. And... I mean... she inspired my first druid character. What more do you want me to say?
Ravathyra is probably the most interesting character because, to me, she's basically her own creation. Of all the people influenced by the magic of this game, I think Rainbow was affected the most, being the first to truly interact with the magic on a personal level. Think about it: if Dash never did that small stint as a DM, never did anything with the magic that the others didn't do, would the Rava we know be here? The Ulaa goddess, the visions, everything we know about Rava might not have happened without magical interference.
But these are just my thoughts!