Flickers

by LoyalRenegade

Chapter 6: Ink on Paper

Chapter 6 – Ink on Paper

-

I stared at the crab apple, balancing it delicately on my hoof as I twisted it around. Its smooth, bright red skin softly reflected the light from Crystal’s horn into my eyes.

Stopping, I slowly brought the fruit to my mouth.

Just like the others, I took a bite out of it, chewed, and swallowed. And, just like the others, it too failed to rid me of my hunger. Air rushed out of my nostrils as I exhaled, letting the crab apple drop from my hoof and to the floor.

This is ridiculous, I thought. Nearly a whole pile of these things and yet this feeling still refuses to go away.

I had already asked Crystal how to satisfy the hunger before dinner, but she only seemed to know about as much as I did. “Changelings feed off of love,” she had said. “It’s why they’re trying to take over Equestria; there’s lots of it here.” I had asked how anything could possibly need to be loved just to not starve. “Well, they don’t from what I’ve heard. Changelings can just suck the love right out of ponies until there’s nothing left.” A pause. “Maybe you don’t need to take that much, you could just take a little bit, but...” A sigh. “I don’t think Twilight would like it if you did that. Even though I don't think there's any other way to stop you from, well, d-dying." She had wiped a tear.

We started dinner right after.

I looked over to Crystal on my left as she ate. Could it possibly be true? Is the only way to get rid of this hunger is to somehow literally suck the love out of someone? That doesn’t even make sense.

Nothing made sense, though. Unicorns didn’t make sense, and neither did their magic. Changelings didn’t make sense, even beyond the whole love thing. And pegasai were certainly no exception, either (and now that I thought about it, how could they fly anyways? Shouldn’t their body weight be too great for their wings to lift them off the ground?)

Whatever the case, it only figures that being dependent on love to survive would be an inevitability.

“Oooh,” I groaned as I felt my hunger pang yet again, as if it were deeply offended by my doubting it. Crystal stopped eating, throwing a worried glance at me. Something she had started doing a lot more since I’ve found out about my predicament.

I’d been analyzing the feeling closely over the course of dinner. At first, I thought it was coming from my stomach, but I soon discovered that such an assumption was misguided. This was not any normal kind of hunger indeed. It seemed to originate deep within me from something that I could only describe to be my soul. As if such a thing were possible.

“I’m so sorry for not telling you about it all before.” I faced Crystal, whose head was tilted down. “I- I just thought you knew already.”

“It’s fine,” I said.

It was not fine: I was going to die. And I didn’t even know when.

---

It would’ve taken a long while before we would be able to leave, as Twilight continued to insist on waiting until nightfall. “Better safe than sorry,” as she had put it.

To that end, we needed to pass the time somehow. Fortunately, Crystal, as it turned out, had the perfect solution.

“Got any sixes?” Pathfinder asked.

“Go fish,” Twilight said boredly.

He reached a hoof over to the pile of cards sitting between them, picking one card and placing it within one of his wings.

From what I’d gathered from the others’ conversations, the deck originated from the abandoned house I was being kept in – Twilight and Crystal played with them quite a bit as they waited for me to heal. Crystal, having extra space in her saddlebags, decided to keep them for future use.

After today’s dinner, she brought the cards out and asked Pathfinder and Twilight if they wanted to play. Of course, there was a lack of things to do to begin with, so they obliged. Crystal wanted me to join along, but Twilight "would sooner saw off" her own horn before playing with me.

I think what Twilight said got to Crystal, as she quit after only a single game, saying, "I don't really feel like playing any more." That left the other two to play amongst themselves.

"Any sevens?" Twilight asked, bringing my attention back to the game.

"Uh, no!" Pathfinder said a bit too defensively.

Twilight scrunched her face at him. "Really?"

He slammed a hoof down. "Bloody horseapples! I was so close to four!" He took three sevens out of his wings and threw them to her.

Catching the cards midair with her magic, she smirked and placed them down alongside another seven on the ground. "Another book~," Twilight sing-songed. "This game's too easy."

"Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up!"

"Oh, I'm not laughing; I merely find it amusing that you've lost nine games against me and you're still not giving up."

Pathfinder groaned and fell onto his back. “Wish Crystal was still playing so I wouldn’t have to suffer all by my-bloody-self.”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Uh-huh.” She looked around the room and stopped upon seeing me. “What the-” She grimaced. “How long have you been sitting there?”

I suddenly felt just the slightest bit tense.

“Uh, only the whole time?” Pathfinder said, rolling over. “Just pretend he’s not there and look somewhere else. Been working for me... actually, surprisingly fine, so far.”

Twilight stood. “Go bother somepony else!” she sneered at me. “Can’t you see that we’re already busy enough without you breathing down our necks?!”

My face went hot. Hastily, I turned around and headed for the cave entrance.

Twilight sighed, going back to the game. "Anyways, where were we... hmm, any kings?"

"Buck off," Pathfinder muttered as I stepped outside.

There, Crystal sat near the cliff’s edge. She had walked out here after the sixth game, though not before Twilight warned her to not linger for too long and to be careful of any changelings flying above.

She was looking out at the sky intensely. I squinted, but couldn't see anything notable.

I grit my teeth and pressed my chin against my neck as I felt another pang of hunger. Then, as it went away, I looked back up. Crystal’s attention hadn’t shifted from the same spot at all.

The hell is she doing? I thought, walking closer.

“What are you looking at?” I asked.

She jumped as I started talking, but quickly relaxed when she saw that it was me. "Oh, uh, nothing. Just looking at the clouds."

I paused. “The... clouds?”

Crystal nodded. A curious look grew on her face. “Why are you out here?”

I rubbed my fins. “Twilight didn’t exactly want me back there.”

She sighed, facing back towards the sky. Though after only a few seconds, she brightened and pointed a hoof up. "Oh, oh! That one looks like a pony, don't you think?"

I followed her hoof, squinting again. “What?”

“The cloud up there!”

“Which one?”

She stretched her foreleg out more. “That one!”

The cloud in question was indeed shaped vaguely like a pony. “Oh. I guess it does.”

Crystal turned around and looked at me, thinking a bit before patting a spot on the ground next to her. "Come and sit down, we can look at the sky together."

I waved a hoof. "I don't think I'm much of a-"

"Oh, come on! I insist," she said, smiling softly.

I stood awkwardly for a few seconds. Well, it's not like I have anything better to do, I reasoned. "Alright, then." I tentatively made my way to her side and sat down.

She looked at me, her eyes bright. "It's beautiful, isn't it? The sky."

I slowly nodded, looking out to the horizon. The sun was kissing the peak of one of the mountains from afar, casting a long shadow over the landscape. It wasn't nearly behind the horizon yet, but it was getting there.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Crystal levitate her brown book up from the floor. I glanced over as she flipped through the pages with the cover facing me until she came to one page in particular. Her eyes flickered back and forth as she glossed over the words. Then, she stopped. Looked up. Stared into my eyes hesitatingly. It seemed like she wanted to ask me something, but couldn't bring herself to do it.

"...What?"

She blinked. "Oh, um... I, uh, wrote a poem while I was looking," she said, lightly blushing.

My eyes glanced to the side and then back. “A poem?”

"Mmhmm." She took a deep breath as her hind leg lightly bounced up and down in anticipation. "Would you... like to read it?" Crystal said slowly.

I thought for a moment. "Sure."

Biting her lip, she gently set the book down in front of me. Holding the book down with a hoof to stop the wind from blowing the paper around, I began reading from the left page:

Oh white clouds, high up in the sky
Looking down upon us, with a sigh
You've seen so much, traveled so far and wide,
But you have no one to share your travels with

Floating with the wind, everywhere you go
Seeing all sorts of creatures down below
Never to touch, never to see
You cry out but none hears your pleas

But, one day, the sky'll turn grey
And you'll fall down to the earth

Finally, touching the ground.

When I finished, I read it again. And again. And then stopped, picking my head back up.

Crystal was blushing furiously now. "D-did you like it?" she stuttered.

I didn't know what to say. I'm sure it wasn't the best thing I've read, but perhaps not the worst either. I couldn't be sure; it wasn't like I was a poet.

Or, at least I didn't think I was a poet...

She buried her face in her hooves. "Oh, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have shown you that. I probably look so stupid right now." She wiped a tear going down across her cheek.

In that moment, I realized just how vulnerable she was. She only showed me that poem because she trusted me, confided in me; clearly more so than anyone else. She’d never let anyone else see what she writes in her book. I was the sole exception. And while I didn’t fully understand why she came to trust me like that so quickly, especially considering what I was, she did anyway.

That, and with her rounded face and huge, watery eyes, she damn-near looked like an adorable, hurt little puppy. I felt like absolute shit. I couldn’t bear to see her like this.

I had to say something.

"Crystal, you aren't stupid at all." She looked up. I paused as I tried to figure out what to say next. "It's... the poem’s actually thought provoking. I mean, maybe- maybe the clouds are alone – how would we know if they weren't? What would it be like to watch the whole world happening down below you, but never being able to interact with it? It must be a lonely life indeed."

Internally, I cursed myself. I didn't even know what I was saying; I was rambling. I might as well have been speaking complete gibberish.

Crystal frowned. I anticipated her pointing out just how ridiculous what I said was, but she surprised me instead: "You don't have to do that."

I raised an eyebrow. “Do what?”

She wiped another tear from her cheek. “You know what.”

“No, really, what?” I asked, genuinely confused.

“I know it’s not that good, the poem,” she said, closing her book and sliding it towards her, looking down at it somberly.

Okay, she didn’t see through my facade. I paused. But she’s still all teared up... come on, think. What do I say?

"Crystal, it's really not that bad, honestly,” I said after some thought. “For what it's worth, you're a great poet, and I really, really enjoyed reading what you wrote."

She smiled somewhat. "Do you really mean that?"

Well, really I only enjoyed it to an extent, I nearly told her. "I wouldn't have said that if I didn't," was what I went with instead.

She brightened fully, stood up, and walked over to me. I was unsure of what she was doing until I found myself wrapped tightly within her forelegs. "Thank you," she whispered as I felt one of her tears run down the side of my neck.

I tensed. I was not prepared for this at all. Gulping, I half-halfheartedly returned the hug – mostly just going through the motions, at best, as I waited for it to end. Unfortunately, she refused to let go for quite a while; it made me wonder for just how long any two people could embrace. It was torture.

"Oh, my." She abruptly stopped, pulling away.

"What is it?" I asked, internally relieved that the hug had finally ended.

"I'm sorry, I... gotta go."

"Go where?"

"Nowhere," Crystal replied, holding her crotch. "I just... gotta go. Like, really bad."

I looked up to the sky. "Oh, I see."

Crystal stood up and started making her slow descent down the cliff.

Well, I thought, that was interest-

“Fuck,” I breathed out as another hunger spike greeted me. Right as I’ve forgotten it existed. There didn’t seem to be a pattern as to when it arises, seemingly preferring to come and go at random.

Bending my neck down and shutting my eyes tightly, I held a hoof to my chest as I waited for it to pass.

It took well over half a minute to do so, unusually long compared to what I’d experienced so far. As it dissipated, I opened my eyes to Crystal’s brown book, which still laid on the floor only a few feet away, exactly as she’d left it.

Last time I checked, I didn't think she remembered to lock it. And I had a certain curiosity to look through it, to see what else was in there.

I really shouldn't, though, I thought. Crystal must've trusted me beyond measure to have shown as much as she already did. She clearly doesn't want me, much less anybody else, to read anything beyond that one poem, and I ought to respect those wishes. To peek through would be to betray the trust she holds in me.

I paused for a few moments, considering.

I looked side to side and behind, making sure nobody was watching. I then dragged the book over to myself, figuring that if Crystal never saw, then, really, what significant harm was I even causing?

It took a little while, but I somehow managed to get a loose grip of the cover and pry it open. It struck me odd that my hooves were able to get any kind of grip on it whatsoever with how smooth they were, but with the possibility of Crystal coming back at any moment, I didn't have the time to ponder that issue.

I looked at the very first page on the right:

Crystal Jades notebook

DO
NOT
READ

I noticed that “Jades” was missing an apostrophe, which somewhat bothered me. I ignored it and looked at the rest of the page. The paper itself looked rough and was yellowing slightly; probably more than five years old. As for its contents, while "Crystal Jades notebook" was written plainly and as straight as possible across the top of the page (though still noticeably crooked if looked at carefully,) the below words were huge and filled in thickly with black ink, taking up the majority of the page. Indeed, it would seem that Crystal tried her hardest to make her message very clear. And it almost worked, as I got the urge to close the book right then and there.

"Sorry," I muttered only somewhat sincerely, trying to get a grip of the next page in order to turn it.

As the page turned, I noticed "August 2nd" written at the very top in faded ink. Below, more words greeted me:

I thought about getting a new notebook last week because I got very nostalgic about how I keeped one back when

Kept, I corrected. Oh, what the fuck are you doing? Just keep reading.

how I keeped one back when I was still a teenager. so i went to the store today after remembering that and picked this one out I didn't pick a colorful one this time unlike when I was a filly, because I guessed i liked how simple it looks. Oh and I also guess because its also the only kind that had a lock on it and i didn't want to bother going to a different store haha.

There was more written after that, but I was interrupted by a hunger spike before I could continue to read it. After the feeling went away, I noted that I didn't really have time to read the whole thing anyways; Crystal could’ve come back at any time. So, after checking around once more for any witnesses, I kept on flipping the pages, skimming the contents.

The book contained various amounts of things aside from the journal entries the like of what I'd read above, mostly poems and drawings; some were even written or drawn sideways. All this in addition to the various odd words scattered throughout that weren't journal entries nor poems, like this one joke that didn't even slightly amuse me:

what did the bunny say to the squirrel, when the squirrel gave her some acorns?
Put it over hare I'll eat them later!

Wouldn’t the squirrel be the one asking that? I posited, continuing to flip through, although it was getting harder and harder to read as the sun continued to hide itself behind the mountains.

Further down the line, I noticed a flat drawing of a wilting sunflower in an open field, surrounded by other, normal-looking sunflowers. Underneath the drawing laid these words:

How is it, that even on the sunnyest of days I still feel so sad?

That comma shouldn't be there along with It's spelled "sunniest" were my only thoughts. Other than that, I didn't quite know what to make of it.

After enduring yet another brief hunger spike, I flipped through some more, not bothering to read much of it (though I would’ve if I had the time.) And then, suddenly, the pages turned blank. I had flipped through too fast. I carefully went backwards through the book until I reached the poem that Crystal had shown me.

Hm. What was written before this?

I turned one page to the right, and saw this in the center of the left page:

THEN WHY DO I CARE ABOUT HIM SO MUCH??

I heard a cough coming from down below. I poked my head over the cliff’s edge, seeing Crystal walking towards the pathway up to the cave. "Shit," I whispered as I quickly, yet silently closed the book and set it back to its original location. Considering the situation further, I lied down on the floor and closed my eyes, as she would suspect me of reading her book less if she thought I had been sleeping the whole time.

When Crystal came back, I heard a chuckle and a gentle nudging on my back. "Wake up, sleepy."

I was careful to open my eyes slowly. Calculating, I blinked once. Twice. I pretended to appear as if in a daze, slowly sitting myself back up. I rubbed my eyes.

She chuckled again. "Tired, aren't you?"

"Yeah, I guess so." Almost as an afterthought, I willed myself to yawn.

Crystal's eyes caught her brown book on the floor. "Oh, shoot," she cursed herself, immediately locking it. "I forgot to keep that away from the cliffside; it could've fallen off."

"Oi, Crystal, you out here?" Pathfinder called out. We both turned our heads over to the cave. Pathfinder was walking out of it. "Ah, there ya are."

"Oh, what is it, Pathfinder?" she asked.

"Just makin' sure you're still around. Twilight told me to check on you two and also ta see if the sun is settin' yet." He looked up. "And what'dya know? Looks like it is." I followed his gaze. The sun had fully disappeared behind the mountains now, an orange glow in the sky. It was getting very dark.

Pathfinder cracked his neck. "Well, I'll go on and tell her, then. You lot should probably come along." He walked back inside and we followed him, Crystal picking up her notebook along the way.

---

If they're all monsters, then why do I care about him so much?

I didn't know why that singular sentence had been stuck in my mind ever since I first laid eyes on it, but there it was.

"No, I ought to be the bloody navigator!" Pathfinder said from below, "It's my Celestia-damned special talent for Luna's sake!"

Maybe it simply felt strange for a single individual to care when everyone else despises you?

"Uh-huh." Twilight looked back up to the cliff, which I was still trying to climb down from. "Come on! Hurry up, a foal could move faster than you!" she barked.

"He's trying his best, Twilight," Crystal defended.

"Did you hear me? I should be the navigator!" Pathfinder said again.

Twilight and Pathfinder had always looked at me like I was some kind of burden, but Crystal had never once shown any kind of ill-will towards me. Why?

"Well, 'his best' isn't good enough, now is it?" Twilight countered

I needed to think about this later. I was getting close to the bottom, now.

"Uh, hello? Are you just going to ignore me?!" Pathfinder complained.

Twilight yawned. "That's the plan, yes. Now shut up; I'm tired enough as is without having to deal with your crap."

I finally reached the bottom, sighing in relief and joining the rest of the group.

"Finally," Twilight breathed, "we can actually start, now." She turned around. "Okay, everyone stay closeby. Don't wander and don't stop walking. Time is of the essence. If anybody needs to take a break, tell me beforehoof."

"Obviously," Pathfinder added.

Twilight glared back before looking away. "Let's get going," she grumbled.

With Twilight leading the four of us, we started our journey westwards. She kept a watchful eye to her surroundings, occasionally floating her map out in order to check it. Close to my left, Crystal looked around carefully as well, though apparently for different reasons. She in particular seemed to be more concerned with the occasional squirrel or bird than any potential dangers.

"Shit!" Pathfinder swung his head around. I turned to my right and looked over at him.

"There isn't anything following us, Pathfinder!" Twilight snapped. "For, oh, I don't know, only the millionth time!"

"I swore I heard something, though!"

"Just keep walking and SHUT. UP," Twilight snarled, voice gradually lowering as she added, "Or something will find us because you can't keep quiet to save your bucking life!"

Pathfinder was about to retort, but he suddenly stopped, rubbing his head. "Ah... bloody buck-all!"

"What now? Twilight groaned as we all stopped to face him.

"What's wrong, Pathfinder?" Crystal asked.

"I don't know, just got a really bad feeling, like we shouldn't be doin’ this." He shook his head violently, cracking his neck. "It's probably nothin' to be worried about, though. The Undiscovered West's probably full of all sorts of dangers nopony's heard about yet, so of course I'd be worried."

Twilight rolled her eyes and kept walking. "Another false alarm; why am I not surprised?"

Pathfinder looked at Crystal, who was eyeing a butterfly. "Why does she always need to be such a cunt?"

Crystal blinked and looked back. "What?"

He stared for a moment before shaking his head. "Ugh, nevermind."

---

Soon, night had fallen. I could only catch glimpses of the night sky from beneath the trees, the stars shining through the leaves in speckled patches. Everything else was dark, much of the moon's light blocked by the forest canopy.

We had been walking for quite some time, maybe an hour or two, and it showed; I was getting tired. The lack of sleep, of course, only made it worse, and I wasn't the only one, either. Pathfinder especially made it well known to everyone else just how exhausted he was, much to Twilight's chagrin.

Perhaps in an attempt to stop his complaints, Twilight declared that we all take a break for a while in order to refresh. Unfortunately for her, it only made him more talkative.

"I bloody hate walking," Pathfinder complained as he lied on the floor. "I'd already be at the West and then some more by now if I could fly. How in the buck do you Unicorns and Earth Ponies cope?"

"The real question is, 'how do I cope with your endless rambling'?" Twilight muttered over from the tree bark she was sitting against.

I turned to Crystal, who was lying her stomach on top of a short tree stump next to me, her forelegs dangling from the edge. "Earth ponies?"

"You don't know what they are?" Crystal asked.

I shook my head.

"Pft, it don't bloody seem like you know what anythin' is! I'd be surprised if you knew that two plus two equals buckin’ four!"

I slowly turned to Pathfinder.

He stared back. "And now you're just gonna look at me with that dumb, blank look, huh? Not even gonna say anything back."

I held my gaze.

Discomfort grew on Pathfinder's face until he finally rolled over on the ground, facing away. "Just pretend he's not there, pretend he's not there, pretend he's not there..."

I internally shrugged and looked to Crystal again. "So, earth ponies?"

"They're one of the three pony races," she explained.

"Races?"

"Yeah, you know, Unicorns, Pegasai, and then Earth Ponies."

I paused. "I didn't know they were considered races," I mused. "So, how do Earth Ponies differ from the other two?"

"Oh, they just don't have any horns or wings," Crystal said.

"Gross oversimplification," Twilight chimed in, sitting up. "Despite the lack of the ability to fly or cast spells, Earth Ponies have above-average strength and toughness, as well as having a connection to the earth, making them natural farmers and growers." She sat back down, repositioning herself against the tree back as to face away from us. "Now, shut up, all of you. I'm trying to think."

"What are you thinking about?" Crystal asked curiously.

"I said shut it!"

Her eyes went wide at Twilight's harsh tone. "I- I'm just as-"

"HUSH!"

She frowned, turning to me. "Why is everypony so hostile all the time?" Crystal whispered.

"...That's a bit-” Hunger interrupted me.

Crystal waited.

I cleared my throat. “Sorry. It just seems like a bit of an overgeneralization, everybody being hostile all of the time," I pointed out.

She ran a hoof through her mane. "Um, I mean, most of the time, at least."

"I can still hear you, you know!" Twilight said, making us glance at her and then back to eachother.

"Well," Crystal said, lowering her voice to the point of just barely being audible, "I guess I can't really complain. I mean, everypony's more rude to you than me, for sure."

I shook my head dismissively. "It's not really that big of a problem."

Despite my assurance, my words only made her more concerned. Her head lifted as she glanced around at the trees, thinking before she came back to me, deep blue eyes gazing into my own. "How can you pretend nothing's wrong?"

My face gave a quizzical look. "'Pretend'? I'm not pretending."

"It's just..." A short burst of air shot out from her nostrils. "I always see you brush off everything that happens to you."

"Didn't we already have a conversation like this one yesterday?" I inquired.

"Yeah, but I- the more time I spend with you, the more unsure I become about how you're really taking this. I just feel like something's wrong here."

I sighed. "Well, I guess I... am a little shaken about starving to death."

Her worried expression grew. "Only a little?"

I rubbed my fins. "I don't really know. Either way, worrying won't fix it."

Crystal paused. "You don’t have to go through this all by yourself. If you ever need to talk to someone, I'll be here for you. Okay?"

I stretched my lips flat, facing forwards. "Alright."

She kept her gaze upon me for one more moment before fixating it elsewhere.

Sometime later, maybe more than ten minutes, Twilight stood. "I think that's long enough of a break. We should get going before we waste any more moonlight."

Pathfinder's abrupt snoring answered her.

She groaned and levitated a thick tree branch up in the air, aiming it towards him.

"No, don't!" Crystal yelped, hopping off the stump

"It is very tempt-ting," Twilight mock sing-songed as she glared at Pathfinder's sleeping form.

Crystal's own horn glowed, the color of her aura mixing with Twilight's and creating a blueish purple. "Let... go!" Crystal demanded, visibly straining herself against Twilight's magic.

The branch did not move from where Twilight was floating it, not even after Crystal took hold. Though the former eventually started lowering the stick down ever so slowly before finally dropping onto the floor, sighing. "Fine. It’d probably do nothing but make him dumber, anyways."

Crystal was still breathing exhaustively from her struggle. "Pathfinder's only tired; it's not his fault!" she exclaimed.

"Aren't we all?" Twilight snided. "Just wake the featherbrain up."

Crystal exhaled as she walked to Pathfinder and shook him gently with a hoof.

"Ughnn... not now, mum," he mumbled sleepily.

"Pathfinder, we need to go," Crystal rushed, though it sounded more like cooing.

"Wha?" He blinked and shot straight up. "Oh, buck me sideways, must've fallen asleep."

Twilight huffed. "You think?"

"Great, don't tell me Twilight's miffed." Pathfinder looked over to the unicorn in question, her eyes venomous. "Yep, she's miffed. Lovely."

"You fall asleep like that again, we're leaving you behind to the wolves," Twilight threatened.

"Yeah, yeah," Pathfinder said almost nonchalantly, standing, "it was only one time, calm yerself."

"The wolves!" she stressed, walking off.

He followed. "How about ‘wolves can't buckin' fly’, wazzock?"

Twilight turned her head around as Crystal and I caught up to them both. "I probably know a spell that can make them do just that," she said.

"Oh, sure you bloody do!"

"Don't test me," Twilight warned.

Pathfinder looked behind at Crystal. "Oi, Crys, you know a spell that'll make pissy purple unicorns less of an absolute wanker?"

"Please don't drag me into this," she pleaded.

"Keep running those corpulent lips of yours, and I'll find a spell that'll permanently seal them shut," Twilight shot back.

"What the bloody bucking Tartarus does that even mean? You wanna start talking like a normal pony for a change?"

"Yore won tew bluh-dee tullk," Twilight mocked, severely exaggerating Pathfinder's accent.

"Well, better me talking than you, at any rate. Whenever you bloody talk, you go all gobby and start talking like a right toff. Makes my ears want to fall off!" Pathfinder stopped for a moment to press his hooves against the side of his head.

"And whenever you talk, you single-hoofedly lower the I.Q. of everyone else here by twenty points!" Twilight shot back.

"Like you’ve anymore to lose! You spend hours blabbering complete nonsense!"

"It only seems like nonsense to you because you just aren't smart enough to get it!"

"Well... you..." Pathfinder fumbled on his words.

"What's the matter? Did you run out of sentences that barely pass for insults?" Twilight taunted.

He growled. "I am going to bloody murder you."

"I would absolutely love to see you try that," she said, feigning disinterest.

"No, seriously! I will bloody murder you!"

Twilight ceased walking and, turning completely, glared at him. "Well, I'm right here. Go ahead."

Crystal and I stopped along with them as Pathfinder stood dumbfounded. "What the- you- you're serious?”

"Aren't you?"

"No!"

"’No’? Seemed like you were pretty serious not twenty seconds ago. Pretty unwise to be making empty threats like that."

Crystal groaned. "Everypony, please! Stop!"

Twilight waved a hoof at her. "No no no no, let's see Pathfinder try to 'bloody murder me'."

Pathfinder paused. "You have completely lost the plot. I mean a proper nutter, you know that?" He pointed. “How’d a cock-up like you ever get into Celestia’s little magic school?”

"Oh, you- leave the princess out of this!" Twilight shouted.

"What’s the matter?" Pathfinder asked. “Upset that she went arse over tit when the changelings showed up?”

"Let’s see if you’ll still be able to talk after I-"

"STOP!" Crystal shouted at the top of her lungs, her voice echoing against the sky.

She got her wish for a few moments before Twilight turned to her. "What have you done?"

Crystal cowered. "S-sorry, I was only trying to stop all of the fighting..."

"Oh, save it for later, now every last changeling around here will be closing in on our position!"

"Wait, what?!" Pathfinder breathed.

Twilight put a hoof over her muzzle, whispering, "Shh! We don't need to draw any more attention to ourselves!" She slowly looked up, her pupils carefully gliding across the sky with her ears wide open and perked up.

Pathfinder bared his teeth as his wings spread apart. Crystal inched closer to me while I myself stood as still as possible, glancing left and right, waiting...

Beep.

Twilight turned over quickly alongside the rest of us to the unexpected noise, horn at the ready.

But there was nothing there.

She raised an eyebrow. "What the..."

Beep.

Looking behind at us and then back to the noise, she walked at a snail's pace to it.

Beep.

She looked down.

Beep.

And over to us.

"What is it?" Pathfinder inquired.

"I have no clue," Twilight replied. "It's some sort of..."

Beep.

"Sort of what?" He, alongside Crystal and I, walked over to where Twilight was.

Beep.

"Have a look yourself," Twilight said.

The three of us gazed down at the floor.

Beep.

There, sat a sphere of metal, right around the size of a basketball, planted into the ground just under halfway through.

Beep.

Pathfinder rubbed his head. "A ball?"

"Why is it beeping like that?" Crystal wondered.

"I don't know; I've never seen anything like it." Twilight pointed at me. "You?"

I shook my head.

"Of course. Why did I even bother asking?" She let her horn die down. "Well, whatever it is, it's probably best if we don't touch it."

Clank.

She growled. "Pathfinder!"

"What?!"

Right at that very moment, the ball sprung to life, beeping faster than before and whirring. A small, circular light shone blue. Around the blue light, smaller lights, shaped like lines and of the same color, all started turning on one by one in under a second, going clockwise. The blue light started adjusting itself, as if it were an eye of some sort. The eye rotated on its own axis, facing Twilight, looking at her.

"Woah," Pathfinder uttered.

Twilight glared at him. "You idiot! What made you think kicking it was a good idea?!"

Pathfinder struggled to find the words needed to explain himself, resorting to a pseudo-innocent shrug.

The ball held its gaze for a while before the eye rotated again, facing parallel to the ground. Four circular rings with blades inside them sprung out from the ball diagonally, the circumference of which right above the eye.

Pathfinder watched as the metal ball's blades started spinning, hovering itself up from the small hole it had dug into the ground. "Well, I mean, you gotta admit: this is bloody cool,” he remarked, making Twilight scowl.

The eye adjusted itself again as it studied Twilight, who was looking back at it in awe and confusion. A blue ray of light then emanated from the ball, projecting it onto Twilight. It seemed to be scanning her.

She fired up her horn. "Hey, watch it!"

The ball paid no mind, giving a light click moments later as the light disappeared and flew away from her. It then looked around at the rest of us, one by one.

"What is that bloody thing?" Pathfinder wondered.

Twilight paused. "Probably some kind of artifact with a golem enchantment, and a rather sophisticated one at that." She looked at him. "There's no telling what it may do... and you just awakened it."

"Oh, give it a rest! It's not like it's doin’ anythin’!"

I looked at the metal ball as it kept gazing around at us. I didn't know why, but it seemed oddly familiar...

"It’s- it’s a scout droid," I thought aloud.

Everyone looks at me. "A what?" Pathfinder said. "Actually, time out: how the buck do you even know that in the first place?"

I pause, trying to think about how I knew what it was. "I, uh... I don't know..."

The droid clicked again, its gaze catching Crystal and floating over to her.

Crystal smiled, albeit tentatively. "Hi there. What are you?"

It didn't respond, doing the same thing as it did to Twilight.

"You're... very curious," Crystal remarked.

Suddenly, a small rod popped out from the droid, electricity flowing from it like lightning as the droid briskly closed the gap between them.

"Holy shit!” Pathfinder sirened, backing away.

Crystal's body shook as she fell to the ground and still shook after that. The eye faced her on the ground.

"Hey!" Twilight yelled, horn glowing. The droid was struck with a blast of her magic from the side, ruining the metal. The eye turned red, a small cannon extruding from the droid as it tried to face Twilight, but its damaged hover blades caused it to tilt to its left instead, coming towards her all the while spraying bullets into the air, Pathfinder wailing shortly thereafter. Twilight ducked, the droid crashing into a tree and getting its other blades jammed in the tree's branches. The droid hung there, continuing to fire aimlessly at the ground. My ears were ringing.

Twilight finished it off with another blast, and promptly covered her ears, groaning. “Why did it need to be so damn loud?!” she complained.

“Why did it have to shoot me in the bucking wing?!” Pathfinder cried out from the floor, holding a bloodied hoof to his side.

Twilight turned around, staring at him, her eyes wide.

“ARE YOU TWO GOING TO STAND THERE, OR ARE YOU GONNA HELP ME ALREADY?! YOU’RE LIKE TWO CATS WATCHING A BLOODY MOUSE DIE!”

"Celestia dammit,” Twilight uttered, rushing over to him. “I knew I should've just shot the thing the moment it awakened! Stupid, stupid, stupi-” Pathfinder groaned out in pain, making her stop. “Okay,” she breathed, kneeling down. “You need to apply pressure to the wound in order to stop the blee- dear Celestia, stop MOVING!”

“Oh, so sorry I can’t buckin’ HELP it, arsehole!”

Twilight growled, horn lighting up as she pinned his legs to the ground, using her hooves to press against Pathfinder’s wound.

Pathfinder let out another painful groan. “Buckin’ hell, why does this need to happen again?! Why me?!”

She didn’t answer, glancing to Crystal’s still body. The latter’s saddlebags opened, Twilight rummaging around inside with her magic. “No more bandages,” she muttered. “Great.”

“Oh, come on! Don’t you know a spell or something?!”

Twilight paused. “Oh.” She faced Pathfinder again and closed her eyes, tilting her forehead to his side, which now glew purple. Moments later, she let off of him.

Pathfinder stood up, wincing as he did. “Ugh, I can still feel it.” A single drop of blood dripped down from one of the feathers of his wings. “And it’s still bleedin’. Yeah, quality work right there, you tosser!” he yelled at Twilight.

“The spell only slows down the bleeding. I know of nothing else that could help,” Twilight explained.

“Well, to Tartarus with you! Where’s Crystal when you nee-” Pathfinder looked over to her, still lying dormant. “Right,” he said quietly, “dead.” He shook his head and clawed at his face, marking his cheeks in red. “Bloody fantastic.”

“Hold on,” Twilight said, walking over to Crystal. She paused for a second or two, thinking. Her horn glowed. "Where's the pulse, where's the pulse... here." She looked up. "She's not dead, just unconscious."

Pathfinder let out the breath he was holding, relieved. “Thank dear Luna," he remarked thankfully.

"Oh, cut the bucking crap!" Twilight exclaimed. "It's your fault this happened in the first place!"

"Well, I'm sorry, okay?! Cut me a bloody break!" Walking over to Crystal, he bowed his head to the ground and, pushing through the pain, swiftly scooped her up onto his back. Already, a couple drops of blood soaked into her fur. Pathfinder then looked at the droid, which was nothing more now but a mess of scrap metal. If I hadn’t seen it in one piece before already, I probably wouldn’t have been able to tell what the pile of scraps even was originally.

All of a sudden, I felt something grab me from behind and pin me against their shoulder. I yelped. “You better start talking,” Twilight demanded.

“About what?!” I exclaimed, confused.

“You said you knew nothing about that thing, and then suddenly you do?”

I chittered nervously. “I just didn’t remember!”

“Shut the buck up! That’s a load of horseapples and you know it!” Twilight yelled, throwing me to the floor and looking down upon me with contempt. Then, she took a deep breath and looked elsewhere. "Whatever, I’ll deal with you later – we need to get going before more possibly start showing up."

Pathfinder glanced around and pointed. "Think we're a bit late for that!" he shouted.

Quickly standing up, I looked over to where he was pointing, three more droids floating in midair about five meters away. Their eyes, of course, were red.

Twilight quickly charged her horn and sent out a blast to the frontmost one. Apparently, the droid anticipated that and quickly tilted itself to its right, dodging the shot. A small door on the droid then opened, its cannon sliding out.

"Buck," Twilight uttered, firing more blasts at the droids. But it was of no use, as they all adeptly evaded everything she threw at them. The other two units then slid out their own cannons as well, switching on their targeting lasers with the first as all three of the droids started aiming right at her. Twilight, realizing what was about to happen, lit her horn again, but did not fire a single blast. Instead, a purple, transparent dome materialized around us, shining and glimmering. The droids started shooting, but their bullets were stopped from the dome, falling to the ground as they came. The dome seemed to be some kind of magical shield.

After only ten seconds, the droids figured out that expending any more ammunition was pointless. So they stopped firing, crept up closer, and stopped right before the dome, looking upon us.

"What the buck do we do now?!" Pathfinder exclaimed. "You can't possibly hold that thing up forever!"

"You're right; I can't," Twilight said. "But there's no clear alternative."

Two of the droids started circling the dome in opposite directions, stopping at the other side and creating a triangle formation. They had us surrounded. Trapped. The situation looked bleak.

Twilight bit her lip. "Though, maybe..."

"What?" Pathfinder said. "Come on, speak! What?"

She looked at him. "If I supercharge the shield spell, it'll break apart, but it'll also create a shockwave that may disorient these things long enough for us to make a hasty getaway. Though we will need to act quickly and without hesitation."

He huffed. "I really don't like that idea. How about a plan that doesn't risk us getting shot again?"

"...Such as?"

Pathfinder looked at the droids and then back to her. "Alright, fine. But if I die, I'm blaming you."

"Good, then it's a plan." Twilight glanced at me.

I stared. "What?"

"Did you even understand all of that?"

"I was listening," I said.

"Didn't seem like it," she muttered. "Look, when this shield breaks apart, you'll have to run, understand? And don't even think about going the other way."

"I understand," I said assuredly.

She held her gaze, searching me before looking back. "Alright, back the way we came," she said, turning over to the east. "Everyone ready?"

"About as ready as I'll ever be to bloody die," Pathfinder remarked. I settled with a nod.

"Okay, the shield will go down on the count of five." She took a deep breath. "One..."

Pathfinder and Twilight walked over to the edge of the shield where we were about to run. I did the same.

"Two... three..."

Twilight's horn started glowing brightly; the shield reacted accordingly and grew in luminosity. Pathfinder shifted around, lifting one wing and wrapping it around Crystal’s body, trying to get her into a secure position.

"Four..."

Pathfinder cracked his neck, muttering to himself, "You can do this."

"...Five!" The shield cracked and subsequently busted open, sending a wave of energy outwards. Immediately, we started running. I stumbled on my hooves, barely managing to keep up with them. I looked back at the droids, panting. They were far enough behind us, maybe twenty meters, the shockwave probably having caught them off guard. However, they were fast to notice that we were getting away, immediately chasing after us.

And then bullets started whizzing by my ears. I quickly faced forwards, slightly lowering my head. I cursed; I was falling behind Pathfinder and Twilight. The fact that even he was able to outrun me had me befuddled; how wasn’t I able to match his pace despite my own previous injuries having long since healed?

"Oi! You- ow- you wanna run faster?!" Pathfinder yelled over to me.

I'm trying! I replied internally right before stubbing my hoof on a rock. I fumbled around, slowing down to a crawl as I tried desperately to not fall. When I regained my balance, they were even further than before. I quickly looked behind me and then ducked right before I heard a bullet crackling through the empty space where my head was, keeping on running. The droids were only ten meters away now.

Pure adrenaline pumped through my veins as I zigzagged through the trees of the forest, my black hooves clopping against the ground with each and every step. I've already lost sight of my accomplices, leaving me the sole target of the droids. And, somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew they wouldn't ever stop until they either caught me or I got away. At the rate I was going, the former seemed more likely.

Sidestepping the trunk of yet another tree, my hoof fell into a narrow gully and I came down crashing along with it, crying out in pain. "Ah, shit," I whispered, rubbing my side. I was about to get back up, but a droid then came into my view. Its eye, now yellow, was looking around in every last direction but below it, searching for me.

My eyes instinctively looked away from it. I kept as still and as quiet as I possibly could, my pulse thumping clearly and loudly in my ears. After a few long seconds with nothing happening, I slowly rolled my eyeballs back over to the droid.

I froze. Something inside me broke.

On the underbelly of the droid, there was a white, wide diagonal arrow that pointed to the top right. At the bottom, the arrow that was cut apart into two unequal pieces near the bottom. The piece closest to the rest of the arrow was thicker than the other, which was just a bit further away and rather thin.

I know that symbol, I thought. Or, at least I recognized it. What I didn't know was why my chest tightened all of a sudden, why my heart rate slowed, why a strong sense of panic and dread overtook me.

I must've made my distress audible, as the droid heard and immediately faced me. It was only when the gun on the droid started to pivot over to my head that I snapped back to reality and reflexively started scrambling away.

But I failed to move fast enough: I heard a loud gunshot followed by a very disorienting buzz on my forehead as I lost consciousness.

Comments

[Ali della Morte]

Ouch..

Good chapter. Hope the next comes soon.

[LoyalRenegade]

10274066
Should come sooner than this one.

[misterguest]

Shooby doop dobby dop dobby doop dobby dah dah doo dap
Shooby doop dobby dop dobby doop dobby dah dah dobby op
Shooby doop dobby dop dobby doop dobby dah dah doo dap
Do bop she doo whoo

Ooh, shooby doop dobby dop dobby doop dobby dah dah doo dap
Shooby doop dobby dop dobby doop dobby dah dah dobby op
Wap pap pada doo wa wa
Shooby doop dobby dop dobby doop dobby dah dah doo dap

Do bop she doo whoo
Do bop she doo whoo
Do bop she doo whoo, whoo
Do bop she doo whoo

[LoyalRenegade]

10279155
really not that quality

[Guppyadrian]

I require more

[LoyalRenegade]

10308579
SIR, YES, SIR!

[CrazyLaDerp]

Great work, Dan! Never a dull moment, mah man!

[LoyalRenegade]

10368819
th-thanks you too

[tsaukpaetra]

Well that escalated quickly. Too bad she didn't even think of how she might try feeding him...