Chapter 10
Chapter 10
The Golden Oak Library was perfectly quiet. It could have been a great thing given the nature of this place, except that the silence that reigned was cold and overwhelming. Only the small strokes of Spike's feather duster made it more breathable. The little dragon inattentively accomplished his task as he glanced anxiously at his friend collapsed on a sofa that she had immediately joined when she got out of bed. If Twilight didn't have her eyes open halfway he would have thought she was asleep again under the weight of some terrible exhaustion. Her silent apathy was occasionally interrupted by deep and very dark sighs. A rainbow-colored stream passed through one of the windows and its raspy voice sound like a chime in this tomb.
“What’s up guys!”
“Hi Rainbow Dash!” declared Spike with renewed energy.
Although very low, Twilight's murmurs attracted the attention of the blue pegasus, then her concern when she discovered the sluggish mass Twilight had become.
"Seems I had a good intuition wanting to see how you were doing," Rainbow suggested to the little dragon, before flying gently towards Twilight. "Hmm ... Are you okay?"
"Yeah, yeah..." the unicorn mumbled, not looking at her.
“Don’t need to be Applejack to see that’s not true. What’s the deal?”
Twilight said nothing. She just turned her head a few degree, as heavy as leads, as if this simple gesture could make her disappear from the surface of Equis and people's memories. Saddened, Rainbow Dash moved away to question Spike.
"She's been like this since Kenneth's party."
“Really? Twilight, it was, like, three days ago. Nopony thinks about it anymore.”
“Maybe,” declared the unicorn with a weak tone, “but I do.”
Rainbow Dash was not comfortable with this depression. She wasn’t good with emotions and therefore didn’t know how to react to this kind of collapse, but she couldn’t leave her friend in such a state.
"Come on!" she tried with benevolent enthusiasm. “Just get up from this sofa, take a book, and do some of your nerdy stuff. You like this, right?”
"I don’t want to read."
Spike and Rainbow Dash exploded with dismay hearing these impossible words. They exchanged troubled looks before throwing themselves at the librarian's bedside. The pegasus looked at her from all angles, looking for the slightest explicit symptom of a terrible disease, while the dragon put his hand on her forehead. None of this caused the slightest reaction from the unicorn.
"What happened to you?" asked the worried element of loyalty. "I understand it's not fun to argue with a friend, but I'm sure Pinkie doesn’t hold a grudge against you. Nopony does.”
"It's not just that," sighed Twilight. "Princess Celestia sent me a message with our invitations to this year's Grand Galloping Gala."
“She did?! AWESOME!” Rainbow leaped with joy, before Spike's frowning eyes reminded her of the situation. “I mean… Cool. So?”
"There’s one more invitation this time," finished the unicorn in despair. “She asked me to invite Kenneth.”
“WHAT?! You kidding me? But why? He literally shouted at her and Princess Luna.”
“The Princess said that Canterlot nobles heard about him and are not comfortable with her decision to let an unknown creature live here. Since I said in a letter that he was sometimes reasonable, she would like to present him during the gala to prevent rumors and fear from spreading.”
"You mean she thinks Kenneth is capable of making a good impression to dozens of fancy ponies he never met because she asked him to? Your letter must have been very optimistic.”
“It doesn’t matter. He won’t come.”
Before Rainbow could express her surprise, Spike anticipated her question.
"When she got the message from Celestia, she asked me to go see Kenneth, invite him, and explain the situation. Twilight thought that if she was the one doing it, he would refuse right away.”
“So what did he say?”
"The polite version: He doesn’t care about a snobbish party that is most likely boring."
“I can understand that…”
“And when I explained it was a Princess’ demand, he said that she could take a hike. That’s still the polite version.”
The pegasus let out a frustrated sigh without any trace of surprise. In general, she respected headstrong people, but this human made her reconsider that. She approached her sad friend to try to help her again.
“Twilight, it’s not that bad. I'm sure the Princess understood when you told her that.”
"I did not." Rainbow's eyes widened. The unicorn added, her eyelids heavier and her lips twisted by a sadness which stretched her weak voice, "I don't have the courage to tell her that I have failed again. I... I can't tell her that. I don't know how I could face her again.”
As she rubbed her eyes with a heavy hoof, Rainbow lowered her ears and Spike felt sad. None knew what to do for Twilight. Her relationship with Celestia had always been a sensitive issue. Rainbow Dash was angry with Kenneth, who she believed was responsible for the situation.
"You’re not going to let this two-legged moron ruin your life, are you?"
Twilight simply listed in despair, as an unhealthy reminder of her own weakness.
"I'm supposed to bring him to the gala tomorrow and make sure he behaves well. Except that not only does he hate me, but even if he agreed to come, he would intimidate everyone on purpose for fun.”
"He could do that indeed," admitted the little dragon.
"So what?" pursued the blue pegasus. "It doesn't matter. We forget this idiot and we're going to have fun with all our friends. Too bad for him! Like I said, I'm sure the princess won't hold it against you. I know Fluttershy and Rarity started appreciating him, but if he wanted us to be friends, he would put in a little more effort. I know I would if you asked me to be quiet at one of those Canterlot parties, even if I know I’d be bored to death."
Twilight raised her ears.
“Wait… What did you say?”
Rainbow was surprised by this slight and unexpected revival.
"That I would do it for you, even if it was boring."
“Because we’re friends, right?”
“Of course we are.”
The light slowly turned on in Twilight's eyes before exploding with an epiphany that blinded his assistant and the element of loyalty with surprise.
“That’s it! If I become friends with him once and for all, he’ll make the effort to come at the gala and be well behaved. That way, I’ll be worthy of saying again that I know what friendship is and the Princess will be delighted.”
Twilight leaped from her couch to her desk and magically levitated various books which she flicked through as Spike and Rainbow Dash exchanged lost looks.
"I guess it is logical..." admitted the dragon with some hesitation. “But isn’t that just manipulation?”
“No, of course not. I’ll just be nice with him so we can have a fresh start.”
“Right,” hesitated Rainbow Dash, “but how will you do it? Don’t want to be the pessimist here but you don’t really seem to appreciate each other.”
Twilight gave his assistant a small bag with paper, a quill, and some ink, before announcing with a sorry look, “You’re right. We’re far from it and I’ve not been a good friend lately.”
“Don’t say that. Sure, you stopped talking to us for several weeks and made Pinkie cry, but… Forget that. I just mean that nopony blames you. Even Kenneth must have stopped thinking about it.”
“Maybe, but if I want to make things right, I’ll need to reconsider everything I learned about friendship. And for that, I think a good start would be to ask you some questions.”
Rainbow and Spike raised their eyebrows, not understanding what she meant. Twilight hurried to clarify.
“You and the others are my friends but also the elements of harmony. It is you that helped me understand what friendship is. So the best way to become a good friend again is to ask you what you think it is. Spike, take notes! So, Rainbow Dash, what does a good friend do in your opinion?”
Rainbow wasn't sure it was the right method, but her friend had finally regained some energy.
"Well... For me, a friend is somepony who stays by your side even in the worst moments. And I'm not just talking about when timberwolves attack or during a fight against an ancient evil monster. A friend stays with you even when you’re not feeling well, when you’re not having fun or not very pleasant. It’s important to be sure you can have someone by your side anytime unconditionally.”
“Okay! Did you get that, Spike? Good. Then let’s see the others,” declared Twilight while running out of her gloomy library, with her uncertain but reassured friends.
“What a good friend does?” repeated Applejack while bucking one of her precious trees. “That’s an easy one. Friends always tell you the truth, even when it's hard to say or hear.”
“I see,” declared twilight, considering this advice. "But what if we know that our friend will not listen to us? Or will get angry?"
"Doesn’t matter," answered the farmer while getting a crate full of delicious apples. “If it’s for his own good, it’s important to tell a buddy what you think. Without sincerity, there can’t be no trust.”
“Great! Thank you Applejack,” yelled Celesta’s disciple while running away with a busy Spike and a curious Rainbow Dash. She wondered what the farmer would have thought if Twilight had told her why she asked that.
After filling a bird feeder with fresh seeds, Fluttershy answered her friend's question uncertainly.
“I would say a good friend is pleasant and understanding. Life is difficult for everypony, so it’s important to be kind and show some understanding. Friends comfort each other when they’re not doing well, show signs of compassion, ask if their friends are doing well... "
Fluttershy pulled a little carrot out of her satchel and handed it to her rabbit, Angel. He stared at the vegetable from end to end before swinging it in her face, frowning.
“Even when they’re not nice to you,” Fluttershy added.
"Even when they make your life impossible or don't listen to you?" asked Twilight.
The element of kindness glanced at the grumpy rabbit who just sulked.
“Yes, even in that case.”
“Alright! Thank you, Fluttershy!”
Twilight and her companions quickly set off for their next destination, while the kind pegasus weakly implored her rabbit friend to make an effort.
“Come on, Angel. You know you’re on diet.”
Rarity patted her chin with her hoof while one of her needles floated in a magical azure aura. Finishing a hem, she shared her answer.
“Well, I would say that a good friend is never stingy with its time and efforts for those he cares about. If there is something you can do to make them smile, you should do it.”
“Like what?”
“It doesn’t need to be complicated. Having a small discussion, sharing a cup of tea, cooking a little pastry when they feel down... Offering a little gift is always a good method to show your appreciation to somepony.”
“Offering gifts, huh? Thank you, Rarity. That’s really helpful.”
“Oh it’s nothing at all. But why did you ask me… ”
Rarity's question was cut off by her friend's frantic gallop towards the exit. She redirected her questions to Rainbow Dash and Spike.
"I’ll explain later," declared the element of loyalty. “Let’s just say for now she’s revising her lessons.”
Although intrigued, Rarity had to return to the dress she was working on. Many other orders remained to be produced and she couldn’t put in as much energy as usual, for a reason which she was unaware of, but seemed to date from the time of the strange monologue which Kenneth had held in her shop a few days ago.
The last pony the trio visited was the most difficult for Twilight to interview. She feared, since that famous party, that her friend was angry with her. As Pinkie was whipping brownie dough, she approached her, looking low, ears down with a trembling voice.
“Hi Pinkie…”
“TWILIGHT!” screamed the pink pony, leaping before crushing her in her arms. “I’m so happy to see you again! I was afraid that you would have shut yourself up in your library to work for weeks again, but I thought that it wouldn’t be very coherent or dramatic from a narrative point of view. I'm glad you're not mad at me.”
“What? But Pinkie, I thought you would be angry with me after what happened...”
Her sentence was cut by a pastry stuck by surprise in her mouth.
“Stop saying nonsense and eat this peace cupcake. Just tell me what you want.”
Twilight was so confused after what happened that she mumbled with her cheeks full and hurried to swallow her cake before trying again.
“No need to repeat,” said Pinkie, “I fluently speak the Full Mouth language. So, what does a good friend do? They have fun of course! You laugh with them, share jokes, do pranks, or simply have a good time with the others with common activities. Did you get that, Spike? Then take this Choco-hazelnut cupcake box and this bottle of cider. That’s a perfect little gift for Kenneth.”
Her bag filled with the gifts, Twilight stammered, "How do you know I’m..."
“Shoo-shoo! No time to explain. You have a long chapter ahead and me, a lot of orders. See you later!”
Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Spike all stood still, as if every portion of energy in them had been requisitioned to try to understand what Pinkie had just said. A pocket of intuitive resistance nevertheless managed to move their bodies to drag them as far as possible from the source of these insoluble puzzles doped with icing sugar.
In front of Octavia's home, Twilight finished rereading Spike's notes with an attention that the muffled noises coming from the house could not disturb. The trio had discreetly watched through the window and discovered the human playing with his red guitar and shaking his head in all directions. The walls prevented them from clearly perceiving what he was singing, but everypony could see that it was not calm at all.
“Alright,” said Twilight hopefully, "if I follow the advice you and the others have given me and my plan goes off without a hitch, I should be able to be friends with Kenneth by the end of the day. That way I will be a good friend again and the princess will attend the gala without a worry.”
Confused, Spike scratched his head, declaring,"I'm still not convinced this is the right way to do it."
“Yeah, me neither,” added Rainbow Dash. “I mean, if you were planning our next friendly trip like this, I wouldn’t feel comfortable.”
"Don’t worry. It's just to be sure that Kenneth and I start off on the right foot.”
Twilight raised a hoof in front of the door but froze before knocking. She hesitated for a moment before giving an embarrassed look to her friends.
"Now that I think about it... It may be better that you leave us alone."
“What? Why?” asked the blue pegasus.
"Kenneth gets along pretty well with Spike but not with you. This could complicate the situation.”
“Are you saying that I'm a troublemaker here?!”
“No!” corrected an embarrassed Twilight. "I'm just saying we'll save time if I have to focus on one friendship rather than two or three at the same time."
Rainbow frowned with a rage that almost scared the young unicor. She ended up walking away, muttering, with Spike at her side, and while Celestia's disciple reread her parchment covered with notes one last time, the two friends jumped behind a bush from which they would have a perfect view of the situation. She could ask them to stay away, but certainly not to miss such a spectacle.
Twilight took a deep breath, levitating her paper in her bag. She raised a determined hoof and knocked on the door. The muffled sounds of the house continued without interruption. Twilight struck again with more force. Still nothing and she was starting to lose patience. She had a lot to do to make them friends and not a moment to lose. She struck again with all her might. He couldn't be playing that loudly. The unicorn grabbed the handle in the hope that the door had not been locked. Unfortunately for her, it was not. As soon as she opened it, she released a sonic hurricane that pulled her mane and eyelids back and almost threw her away like a tornado. Even Rainbow and Spike had to hang onto their bush to not fly away.
Twilight quickly closed the door, eyes wide with dread, as much because of the power of this song as the few words she had understood in the midst of this cacophony so harsh that she would have thought that the singer had a sore throat. The two spies shook their heads to stop their eyes from whirling and their ears from whistling.
"Octavia and Vinyl really soundproofed the place well," admitted Rainbow.
The unicorn, initially so sure of herself, began to doubt whether she really wanted to continue her self-assigned mission. Her fortress of certainty was blown away like a house of cards by this infernal gust. She glanced out the window, the tiles of which now made her think of the marvelous bars of a big lion cage. The metalhead finished stamping his feet and blew a great blow, perfectly relaxed. It was the right time to intervene. Twilight continued to hesitate, but quickly re-motivated herself; otherwise she might have to wait for him to finish another song. She knocked on the door very quickly and waited with each of her muscles tensed. Finally, she perceived steps and the wooden shutter rotated to reveal the giant in the red and black shirt. On discovering his visitor, he arched a puzzled eyebrow that barely changed his always angry face.
“Nerd? What are you doing here?”
Twilight refrained from telling him how bad it was to greet someone like that. Fluttershy's advice barred the way to this reflex and the unicorn just pulled her lips to form a smile.
“Hey Kenneth!” she said. “Good morning!”
"Hmm... Good Morning too."
Twilight, in her need to hold onto some hope, took this basic mark of politeness as a good start. Her mind unrolled the memory of her plan and took the first step by magically floating the cupcake box and the cider entrusted to her by her pastry friend.
"Here! A little gift from me… and Pinkie.”
A little taken aback, Kenneth slowly took the gifts while remaining frozen and silent, his eyes wide open with incomprehension. Twilight considered what advice could be applied right now. So she made an honest suggestion.
"In this kind of case, you should say thank you."
“I guess… Thank you?”
"You're welcome."
Twilight began to relax her lips, her smile becoming more natural. Before she could start the next step of the plan, Kenneth spoke.
"And you, in this kind of case, you should answer the question I asked you."
"Oh! Sorry. I came because I thought we could spend the day together, get to know each other a little better, share some activities... What do you say?"
Kenneth remained stagnant, his puzzled eyes fixed on her smiling face and eyes filled with some hope he did not understand.
“Are you asking me on a date?”
“WHAT?!!!” screamed Twilight, fully tensed and her face cherry-red.
In the back, behind their bush, the two spies were laughing. While Kenneth was intrigued by this voices in the distance, Twilight stopped being a statue by shaking her head and asking with pure shock, “How could you have come directly to this conclusion?”
“You arrive without warning, smiling, with gifts and asking me if I want to spend the day with you. What else am I supposed to believe?”
“That I want to be friendly with you!”
Kenneth frowned, deep in thought.
“Now that you say it, I guess in my hypothesis the roles would be reversed.”
“Absolutely!” Twilight took a deep breath and regained her composure like a tightrope walker who almost fell. “So? What do you think? Would you like to have some fun with your friend Twilight?”
“No, not really.”
Twilight felt herself losing ground again.
“WHY?!” She interrupted herself with a hoof on her lips before starting again more gently. “I mean... Why not?”
"Firstly because I didn’t sleep well and need some resting time. That’s why I was quietly playing music..."
“Quietly?” asked Rainbow and Spike to each others.
“And secondly, since when are we friends? You've been pretty clear about what you think about me at Pinkie’s party."
Twilight lowered her ears and head. She found it harder to look him in the eyes as Kenneth pierced her with an annoyed look. Rainbow and Spike uselessly craned their curious heads to better see how this situation would turn out.
“I know what I said,” admitted the unicorn, looking up at him, "and it was unworthy of a friend. But I'm precisely there to make amends. Do you want to start over again?”
Kenneth raised an eyebrow before looking at the cakes and the drink she had brought, as well as her heavy little eyes. His sharp gaze dulled a little. The musician placed the cupcakes and the bottle on a piece of furniture.
“What do you suggest?”
Twilight shone with new energy before remembering her plan.
"I thought we could start with a quiet stroll in the park."
"Okay for the walk, but I promise nothing for the quiet part.”
Twilight gulped in anguish over what might happen if she didn't keep him occupied. She contented herself with a nervous laugh as she offered to go. Before that, Kenneth made her wait while he put his guitar in its case and slung it around his back.
“Do you really need that?” asked Twilight, a bit nervous.
“Maybe not, but I want to keep it with me.”
More anxious than ever, Twilight led the way, keeping an eye on the human, while Spike and Rainbow discreetly followed them.
In the middle of the emerald trees and the intoxicating scent of wild flowers, the walkers saw their routine and project of restful day a little undermined. On a road frequented by various ponies of all ages, Twilight was chatting with the immense creature that had unleashed a terrible hurricane on the city with a loud monstrous cry. Most fled at his sight. The majority contented themselves with watching them pass with big eyes, most of them surprised, others very worried. Rainbow discreetly landed in a tree with Spike, masked by the foliage.
“What do you think they’re talking about?” asked Spike.
“Don’t know. And I would say it’s more about what SHE said. I don’t remember Twilight letting Kenneth talk for a second.”
The human and the unicorn then settled on a bench not far from the hiding place of the two spies. Kenneth sit with a big sigh, placing his guitar near him, while Twilight continued to palaver.
“And when we found Rarity, she already had troubled the diamond dogs so much that... Are you listening?”
“Yeah yeah. Your princess is great. Canterlot is great. Your friends are great. Books are great.”
Rainbow Dash looked at Spike with a not so surprised gaze.
"I'm sure that's a good recap."
Twilight wanted to be angry but focused on her mission. She could see that Kenneth was not very interested and needed to fix it to improve their relationship. Under the curious gaze of passers-by, she pondered the various advices of her friends and tried to apply Pinkie’s one while pretending to make fun of herself.
“Well I talk, I talk... but what about you. Do you have anything to say? Like a good joke?”
“A joke?”
“Yeah. You must have some funny human stories to tell. Come on, don’t be shy.”
Kenneth looked at her dubiously, before giving in.
“Alright. Let me think… A man works every day to earn a few pennies. He gets up before dawn, starts the day already exhausted, hurts himself at work and is insulted by his boss, mocked by his colleagues and comes home at night to be roughed up every day by thugs. He decides that one day he will be the most powerful man in town. After years of enduring this and working hard, he eventually get promoted and makes more money. He, in turn, mistreats his subordinates, steals money from his company and ends up becoming the most powerful and wealthiest man ever. With all that he makes people work like slaves in appalling conditions to build a huge statue to his glory. He fights with all his might against those who want to stop the construction. Right after cutting the ribbon, the great Cthulhu rises and crushes him and his statue under its foot. ”
Silence reigned throughout the park. Twilight, Rainbow, Spike, and all the ponies present within earshot of Kenneth remained motionless, eyes wide.
“And?” asked Twilight.
"That’s the joke."
At the same moment, at Sugarcube Corner, Pinkie inhaled strongly and had wide eyes.
“HAAAAA! I felt a great disturbance in the fun, as if numerous ponies had heard a joke but nothing funny…”
After the park remained frozen for what seemed like an eternity, all the ponies who heard the human’s joke walked away without taking his eyes off him, as if to be sure they were not followed. Only Kenneth and Twilight remained on their benches and the two spies in their hiding place. The unicorn could not even take her eyes off the musician. Her mind was dissecting every sentence he had uttered, but couldn't find any explanation.
"How is this a joke?"
"I knew you wouldn't get it."
"So explain to me."
The human sighed, growling.
“Don't want to.”
“Why not?”
“Too long to explain. And then if I explain the joke, it’s no longer funny.”
"If it is not funny without explanations, it’s not even a joke. You don't have to be the element of laughter to know that.”
“My joke is perfect. You're the one who doesn't understand it.”
“Are you saying I’m stupid?!”
"No, just that you do not know certain things."
"Like what?"
"Stuff you wouldn't understand."
Twilight felt herself engulfed in fury and ready to go abroad. However, she noticed the young man's annoyed look and took a deep breath. She repeated to herself like a mantra that she was doing this for Princess Celestia until her spirit calmed down and remembered the advices of Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. When her anger subsided, she tried to ask him one last time to get a clear answer in an artificially affable tone.
“Can you give me a quick explanation? Or even a summarization?”
Kenneth stared at her with piercing eyes for a long, calm moment that worried his interlocutor. He nevertheless ends up pronouncing.
“I’ll tell you the key. When I read that sentence from Lovecraft, I understood many things, but don’t expect to do it directly.”
"That’s the author of one of your book, isn’t it?" Twilight asked with a little more enthusiasm.
"Yup, he's my favorite one."
“So what did he say?”
“The world is indeed comical, but the joke is on mankind.”
Twilight blinked, frozen again. Her mind tried again to understand what Kenneth had told her. Although she understood that he was not really limiting his quote to his species, she only managed to formulate a hypothesis that worried her.
“Are you saying that we are all the toys of great forces that want to hurt us and that it’s funny?”
“As I said: you won’t understand directly.”
The unicorn, frustrated to not understand, wanted to ask him questions. Especially since the detached and somewhat haughty air of the metalhead annoyed her. However, she understood that by talking about his favorite author, she had a chance to strengthen their friendship thanks to a potential common passion. She thought it was not that different than sharing a common activity.
“If your favorite author said that, I can understand why you believe it. Did you read a lot in your world?”
“Not really. I was more interested in music, but I guess I wasn’t the less cultured of my band.”
In the tree above them, Rainbow began to despair as she understood what the topic of the conversation was about to be.
“I like reading, as you noticed.”
“No? Really?”
Twilight pretended that his sarcasm was funny.
"What do you like to read in general?"
“Aside from Lovecraft? A bit of Allan Poe, Hodgson, Shelley, Steinbeck..."
“Sorry, but we don’t know them here.”
“Oh, right. They’re mostly horror fiction writers. Except Steinbeck, he’s more of a social realism guy, but I only read one of his books.”
“Why? He’s not interesting?”
“No, he’s a good writer. It’s just not what I prefer. I only keep Of Mice and Men because it was a present from my uncle.”
“Your uncle likes reading?”
“Yeah, for a soldier he was a real bookworm.” Twilight noted a surprisingly soft tone from Kenneth, who had stopped looking at her in the eye. “I think you would have appreciate him. He's the one who introduced me to Lovecraft. He didn’t want me to only read what my mother kept at home.”
“She likes reading too?” asked the unicorn with even more hope.
“I guess. I remember she liked to read grandma’s arthurian tales for me when I was younger. The french version. She said they were more poetic. However, with all the work she had, she didn’t have a lot of time for reading in the end. She was more into music. She’s the one who taught me how to play and appreciate it. Whether it came from bands, movies, or games.”
Kenneth looked at his instrument before stroking it with a delicate hand.
“She even offered me this guitar for my twelfth birthday, with my uncle’s help, since it was really expensive. We didn’t have much money.”
While Twilight could sense the emotion hidden under the dark and stoic face of the human, she thought about something curious that needed an answer.
“Wait. Why aren’t you eager to go home then? Your mother and uncle must be really worried about you.”
“Don’t think so. They’re dead.”
Hearing this, Twilight widened her eyes and lowered her ears, as did Rainbow Dash and Spike. Kenneth had never actually spoken about his relatives when Twilight interviewed him. She now understood why. She was very embarrassed now and felt that she had to find a way to make him smile a little to avoid slowing the formation of their friendship. She tried something in desperation.
“What about your father? Is he…”
"That’s the limit." Kenneth cut her sentence like a knife, his eyes cold as ice.
Twilight understood that her awkward attempt was a complete failure and cursed herself internally for her stupidity. She hadn't just made him sad, she realized, his eyes like arrows ready to be shoot at her. She had made him angry. For one reason or another, his father's topic was taboo. She no longer knew what to do. A word wrong and she felt that she would ruin all her efforts. Seeing the pathetic situation in which her friend was, and fearing that the human might act violently, Rainbow could no longer sit idly by. She growled and flew up to the sky to go by the human’s side and the unicorn from a direction that would not betray her hiding place.
"Hey, what’s up?" she said to break the ice.
Twilight jumped when she discovered the blue pegasus, but Kenneth didn’t see it since he was now staring at her curiously.
“Birdbrain? What are you doing here?”
Annoyed by the nickname, Rainbow couldn't help but frown and raise her voice.
“What? I don’t have the right to fly around on a resting day?”
“Of course you can. It's a free country... I guess. I actually wonder how my country would consider a monarchy ruled by an immortal ruler.”
A little surprised by the musician's thinking, the pegasus preferred to move on, pretending to ignore it.
“Whatever. What are you doing?”
“Just talking,” answered Kenneth, like there was no problematic discussion before.
Twilight, almost panicking with the addition of a new factor in her relation calculations, declared with a tensed laugh, “Yeah! Just chit-chatting like two normal, boring people. Nothing that would captivate you. So, thanks for passing by, but you probably should go.”
Both Kenneth and Rainbow looked at her with surprised gazes. The human was the first to react.
“Hey! Even I know that’s not cool to say. For someone who talks about friendship all the time, you're pretty impolite with your friend.”
“For once, I agree with Weirdo!”
“Seriously? That’s the nickname you chose for me?”
“What? I think it suits you.”
“Yeah but, by Yog-Sothoth, it’s so uninspired I’m not even a bit mad at you.”
“What about Big Ape? Huh?”
“That would be problematic in my country nowadays, but at least there’s an idea. For you, I hesitated a bit. I thought about Superbird at first.”
“This one is kinda nice actually.”
“That’s why I didn’t choose it.”
“Hmm… You’re right. Too cool to be insulting. What about Furless Bag?”
“I don’t feel offended but I give you the point for originality, Chicken Flash.”
“Oh! That one’s good, Squishy Squid.”
“Squid? Oh! because of my hands? That’s funny, Rainbow Crash.”
“Ha ha! I haven’t been called like that since Filly Garden, Lazy Flank.”
“A solid classic in pony version. Interesting, Speed Pigeon.”
“Cider Junkie.“
“Girly Dash.”
“Screaming Pig.”
“Hippie Brush.”
“Cupcake Hole.”
Kenneth and Rainbow remained staring at each other for a moment in tensed silence, under the worried looks of Spike and Twilight. It broke when the pegasus and the musicians started to smile and exchanged glances in which reflected, to Twilight's surprise, a certain form of respect.
“Not bad,” kindly declared Rainbow Dash.
“Not bad too, Dashie.”
The pegasus was very surprised by this, before showing a light smile to the metalhead that Spike, from the top of his branch, had too. Twilight, on the other hand, was completely confused. She threw herself on her notes in anguish. She was investigating how Rainbow had managed to improve her relationship with Kenneth so quickly. What they said to each other could count as honesty but was not nice at all. It sounded like a joke as they generously exchanged insults. And in addition to not getting along a minute ago, they hadn't been friends for long enough to forget the wickedness of it all out of loyalty. Twilight didn't understand anything anymore. Rainbow then heard a pleasant sound. When she discovered the origin, she had an idea that she hoped would help her friend.
“Hey look! It's the monthly Music Show now.”
“The what?” asked Kenneth.
"It's an event where ponies can come play whatever they want on the park's bandstand in front of everypony."
Kenneth seemed quite surprised to discover this. Twilight was still panicking but Rainbow Dash had a good intuition that going to this show was part of her original plan.
“Yeah,” she declared with an embarrassed laugh, “why don’t we go assist it?”
"I guess that’s fine," admitted the human, getting up with his guitar case and following Rainbow Dash. “Come on, Nerd.”
Twilight was still tensed, but at least the plan was still going on. She just needed to keep him company and make him talk to her. Rainbow was kind to help her, but she needed to make sure Kenneth was better friends with her than with Rainbow. She didn’t felt like she was making any progress. When she got up to follow them, she heard a voice above and discovered a shameful Spike asking for help getting down. With a frustrated blow, Twilight used her magic to bring him on her back, before giving him a frowned gaze that made Spike uncomfortable.
Arriving at the bandstand, Kenneth discovered many ponies gathered to attend the show of a gray pegasus with a blond mane playing flute. She had an amateur level but definitely put heart into it, producing a choppy but catchy melody. Kenneth stayed away from the crowd with Rainbow and enjoyed the show under the watchful eye of Twilight, who had dropped Spike on the ground.
When the gray pegasus, whose eyes looked a little crooked, had finished playing, she gave way to an unicorn with an aquamarine coat who began a sweet melody with a lyra. Twilight, in another attempt to chat and bond with the metalhead, explained to him with a measured voice.
“It's Lyra Heartstrings. She comes to play every month, like Octavia.”
“I can see why. She’s pretty good.”
“By the way,” asked Rainbow, “where is she? And Vinyl?”
“Octavia said she had to go to Canterlot to prepare for this gala shit. Vinyl, I don’t know. She doesn’t say what she does or where she goes… Or anything at all, but I guess she didn’t had time to sign in this show.”
“Oh, there's no signing for that,” detailed Spike. "It's open for everypony."
Kenneth opened his eyes wide.
“Really? Well, I’ll go then.”
At these words, Twilight's stress level exploded. Every fiber of her body tensed with anxiety at the memory of the music she had heard him play. As the human walked toward the bandstand, under the puzzled, if not worried, looks of some of the audience's ponies, Twilight teleported directly in front of him.
"You can’t do that!" she screamed.
In addition to Kenneth's astonished gaze, Twilight noticed that she had attracted the attention of the entire public, but instead of being embarrassed, she tried to soften her words by combining Applejack and Fluttershy’s advice.
"I mean... I don’t think you should do that."
“Why?”
“Your music is a bit intimidating. You might scare everypony and it’s not only not very nice but afterwards it’ll be up to me, as a disciple of Celestia, to reassure them. Could you simply not play for now? If it doesn’t bother you.”
Rainbow and Spike exchanged an intrigued glance at the discovery of this strange behavioral mixture which didn’t resemble Twilight at all. Kenneth stared at her in perplexity before announcing, “I think I’ll do like the color out of space who felt on Gardner’s property.”
“Which means?”
“Don’t give a shit and do what I want.”
Kenneth walked around the panicking unicorn who teleported again in front of him, screaming.
"STOP! I'm asking that as a friend!"
“We’re not friends, Nerd.”
“How can’t we be even a bit friends?! I offered you a gift, I gave you my honest opinion, I was nice with you even when you were not listening, we shared an activity and talked about a common hobby. I did everything my notes said!” The unicorn levitated her scroll listing her friends' advice and plan. “So why can’t you make an effort to be nicer when I ask you to do it?”
Kenneth remained frozen in amazement, under the intrigued eyes of Rainbow, Spike, and all the other ponies. Twilight was furious, with an intense look with her jaw tight. Kenneth's eyes became sharp like knives again. He understood the essence of everything Twilight had done today. With his hands firm like raptors' talons, he grabbed the document the unicorn was making fly and, before her wide eyes, tore it in two. He dropped the scraps of paper and said darkly, pointing at her.
“Fuck you.”
All the ponies present almost lost their jaw and made their eyes pop out of their sockets when they saw this strange creature insulting the disciple of Princess Celestia and element of magic. She stayed frozen like a statue as Kenneth walked away to the bandstand. He took his guitar out of his case and faced the audience in an imposing way. Everyone started to worry as the metalhead raised his hand, unaware that at that moment, the only thing Kenneth wanted was to break the expectations of the one who had made fun of him.
At first impressed, the audience then became intrigued, then interested. The ears paid attention to each series of notes and the hooves began to move to the rhythm of this noisy music, sometimes muddled but actually very festive. Rainbow Dash even let herself dance. The only one who didn't move an eyelash was Twilight. In front of her bewildered eyes, there were only amused faces and big smiles, including Kenneth, who stamped his feet and shook his head without missing a single chord.
When the music ended, there was a moment of silence, followed by a tidal wave of cries of joy. The next moment, several ponies approached the bandstand and spoke enthusiastically to Kenneth. Derpy told him how great she thought his music was. Lyra asked him questions about his hands which she found strangely fascinating. Aloe and Lotus did the same and asked him if he intended to go to the spa, while Dr. Hooves seemed more captivated by his musical instrument.
A little overwhelmed by this delirious crowd, Kenneth descended from the bandstand in the hope that the crowd would calm down a bit and let him go, but without success. The ponies followed him with an innocent curiosity that embarrassed and flattered him at the same time. Understanding that they would not stop, Kenneth tried to answer some questions as calmly as possible under the shocked, and very satisfying for him, look of Twilight.
The element of magic no longer knew what to think. Kenneth had insulted her, played his music, and everypony liked it. She wanted him to be appreciated, acting in a way which made him more likable, and yet she was not okay, because she understood that he had achieved this by doing what he wanted, not to please her. Thus, he had shown her that he could attract the sympathy of others if he wanted to and when he wanted to. She had no control over him and he wouldn't do anything for her if he didn't agree. He didn't care about making her happy. They weren't friends. With low ears and dragging her hoofs, Twilight moved away from the crowd, under the worried looks of Spike and Rainbow.
The sun was quite low on the horizon. Princess Celestia would soon make Equestria switch from day to night. On a hill on the edge of Ponyville, her disciple had a very heavy head. Her half-closed eyes, weighed down by despair, stared at the ground without looking at it. She no longer knew what to do and, at that moment, didn’t want to think anymore. Nothing mattered anymore. She dreamed of disappearing from the surface of Equis. She heard heavy footsteps which, with a burst of curiosity, made her look up. The unicorn discovered the last thing she thought she would see.
“Kenneth?”
The human stared at her with his usual intimidating look.
“What are you doing here?”
“Dashie asked me to speak with you.”
Twilight's eyes widened in amazement.
“Why?”
"I'm not sure. I guess she’s worried about you, but I don’t understand why she didn’t come herself.”
Kenneth put his guitar case down against a tree and lay down on the grass, exhausted. Its relaxed appearance did not reassure the unicorn, however.
“You have good friends,” declared Kenneth.
Twilight lowered her ears again.
“Indeed,” she admitted.
The two remained silent for a few moments. Twilight didn't dare look at him or speak. She didn’t know how he felt. In the end, under the weight of curiosity, she asked the question that was torturing her mind.
“Are you angry with me?”
“That depends.”
Kenneth's response surprised Twilight.
“On what?”
“On why you fucked with me. I hate being manipulated. The last one who tried ended up with his teeth on the floor and his balls turned to scrambled eggs.”
Kenneth's vulgarity and violence no longer surprised the young unicorn at this point. She just plunged into his confused thoughts. She was exhausted. She had thought so much and got so disappointed that she didn’t want to do it now. She simply talked, her eyes becoming wet.
“The princess is my mentor. She asked me to make friends, but after Pinkie’s party… I felt like I had failed. And now she asked me to make you come to the Gala, but I know you’ll make a mess and I can’t let that happen. I ... I can’t put her in an uncomfortable position. I can’t face her after failing everything she asked me. I owe her too much. After the party, I realized that I had missed everything, as a disciple and as friends. I have studied friendship for years and have acted with pride. I made one of my friends cry and now I can't even do something as simple for my mentor as inviting someone. I thought I could correct everything by becoming your friend so you would be more reasonable if I asked you. I just...” A tear rolled down Twilight’s face. “I just wanted to show her my gratitude, to be a good student. And I wanted to be a good friend to show the others my gratitude too. But if I can’t apply what they teached me, how good am I? I… I don’t know what to do anymore.”
For a long time, Kenneth watched the sad unicorn out of the corner of his eye. They then remained in total silence for a long time, each immersed in their own world. Twilight only spurted out of her grief when she heard Kenneth sigh.
“Tsathoggua help me… When is your stupid fancy celebration?”
Surprised by the question, she could only answer automatically.
“Tomorrow night.”
"I’ll need a suit?"
“I guess so.”
“Shit. Well, it has to be a bit larger than necessary. I hate feeling constricted.”
“That can be arranged with Rarity I think.”
Twilight couldn’t believe what she just heard. She thought she was dreaming for a minute. As she needed to understand, even a bit, she asked the most simple question.
“Why?”
Kenneth looked at her in the eyes. He knew she wasn’t talking about the suit.
“Because you were finally honest, Nerd.”
Eyes dripping with tears, Twilight started to smile again and didn't say a word. She accepted the situation as it was and refused to risk ruining everything again. In the distance, behind a bush, Rainbow and Spike smiled in turn and clapped their hands and hoof triumphantly.
Once again, thank you for reading my fic 
Hope you had a good time.
Next stop : Grand Galloping Gala ! 
A big thank you to the best proofreader ever : 0_0
See you soon !
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This was a very well written chapter, great job
Cool chapter!
So, I guess Kenneth respects Dash now... I think? I can see why an insult match like that would appeal to him.
Any chance Kenneth would know Green Day?
In any case, Twi’s evolving relationship with Kenneth continues!
Cenotaph, by Bolt Thrower?
\m/
Thank you for that tasteful death metal.
I think that Symphonic/Opera Metal would shake up the boring Gala. Hellfire, Blind Guardian or Luca Turilli, or even Ayreon would make things interesting.
Or well, finding a pony equivalent of Floor Jansen to Floorgasm them.
Thank you for updating this fic.
Glad to see another chapter for this story hope to see more soon and quicker then it took for this one :P
I understand writing takes a bit depending on the person and what they are writing so don’t feel rushed on my part just stating what I hope to see. Keep up the awesome work!
Fantastic chapter, as always. Keep it up!
I look forward to more.
You know what, I'm actually sad to see that this is the last chapter since I started reading this. This story was so good and now I'm sad that there isnt more of it, but that just means I have more to look forward to. Good job my friend!