Igniting Hope

by Theta

Step 7: Dude, Epiphany?

AUTHORS NOTES:So by now a lot of you are probably confused about inner monologues and when exactly Nastic is talking to Torque inside his head, this is something I'm changing this chapter by adding color to Torques monologue/thoughts and Nastic's speaking roles as well. Hope this clarifies anything that is iffy and doesnt seem right. I also intertwine the two stories up on my page, eventually leading up to Torques life with Theta Gait. Warning:If you read the other story and come back to this one, I am going to make slight changes to the plot of Theta's Lax in order to better combine the two...maybe, this is still an idea in my head. Leave a comment to tell me your thoughts!

I was in no particular rush back to Ditzy's, instead trying to recap on what had happened today. Get a job? Check. Meet new ponies? Also check. Any further injuries? Nuh-uh, thank Celestia! Better my navigational skills? Eh, somewhat. Least I know where the park is now! The scenic route back, which mind you was the only way back, calmed my nerves, and allowed me to focus on what lay ahead. The start of my new life had begun, and I intended on making it ten times better than my old one. Now, what to do for five days whilst I wait to start my new job? Wall ball? Restringing? Maybe introduce a few ponies to the sport? No, too many shitty memories there... I'll tell them what it is if they ask, outside that not a word of it. Come to think of it, probably shouldn't strain myself too bad... Damn I'm hungry...and what do you know? I want some Coltcinatti chili. Wonder if there's one of them new chain retailers round he- I came to in front of a small building, a square and otherwise ordinary building; that is if it hadn't had 'Rich's Barnyard Bargains' illuminated on the structure.

"Convenient.," I mumbled, and my stomach growled revealing my hunger.

I walked into the small establishment, and was greeted with on register open to my left, where a disinterested blue haired mare sat behind the checkout counter. This was made apparent when she made no attempt to look up, instead focusing heavily on the music enveloping her skull within her headphones. Customer help at its finest right? I amused myself with a small laugh, and walked towards the back of the store, where I assumed the canned beans would be.

"No, not that...not that one either...ARGH where the buck are these damned beans? I mean they have to have them right?," I started in with much frustration,and only after a minute more of searching they caught my eye,"You sneaky bastards! There you are! Time to get in my belly!"

I laughed all the way to the checkout, making sure to pick up veggie dogs and pasta along the way. Awww this is going to be the shit! Can't wait for this to be done, oh how it will taste so good!

"Eyy, yo you there miss?," I rhetorically remarked, waving my hand in front of her purple glasses, unsure of if she was asleep or not.

She looked up with a unsatisfied look, but upon seeing me it turned into an expression of joy and excitedness, "Yo, aren't you that dude who beat the living tar out of that bully? Oh, I see you got a few things here, let me just ring those up for you!"

"Uhh? I reckon you got me mi-mistaken with another stallion, I mean look at me; do I look like I could harm a fly, let alone a group of bullies?," I responded, trying to keep that secret from spreading.

"Y'know, you're terrible at lying," she laughed a little at my expense, "I never said anything about a group, you're guilty as charged!"

"I-I have no idea what you're talking about. If you would please just bag my food up, I'm hungrier than-than...well there's not really a metaphor for it, but I'm stoked to get back to where I'm staying and cook this shit up!," I further denied any affiliation with those ponies, instead I tried and succeeded in speeding up the whole check out experience. There really needs to be self service lanes...

"That'll be eight bits. Say, you're new around here, right? I'm the, soon to be famous, Vinyl Scratch! Yeah, you can tell everypony that you knew me before I got famous now.," She spoke with narcissism in her, well scratchy voice.

I pulled out my wallet, and retrieved the fifty bit note, and had put it on the counter for the cashier to break. "Yeah, I guess I'm new. You sure are a humble one, although I'm neither going to promote or demote your, well whatever you do, until I have proof of it.," New goal; work on not being so sarcastic. My voice had a monotone to it, and nothing ever covered up my sarcasm.

"Damn, dude, you carry fifty's with you wherever you go? Luna and Celestia be damned, you must be loaded!," Her response surprised me, not because she spoke ill will of both princesses, but because she thought I was loaded.

Me? Loaded? Ha, what a joke. The most I have ever carried up to this point is twenty bits.

"Nah, just...uh just call it start up money.," My voice preceded again in the same cold voice I had spoken with most of the day.

"Here you go, forty-two back and a bag of your stuff," she handed me a bag with the currency crudely stuffed inside, "Hey dude, hit me up sometime, you got to hear my music! It will literally blow your freaking mind."

"Uhh, ok? I guess I'll have to come back to the store sometime or another..." I was interrupted by laughter.

"That's pretty funny, y'know?"

Funny? That wasn't a joke... "I guess it was. I'll probably be back within a week or tw..." Again I was cut off.

"I don't live here," she briefly chuckled, "You can usually find me at Sugar Cube Corner MCing for Pinkie Pie. Trust me, getting into one of those parties takes nothing, almost no one is excluded from her parties."

"Huh, I'll check one out when I hear bout another one. Thanks for the info, and for bagging my food. Now if you'll excuse me, my stomach is currently eating itself.," and with that, I waved goodbye and walked out of the store.

It took around ten minutes to get back to Ditzy's place, and what happened next blew my mind. "Yo, dude I'm back with some good new-" I stopped and found myself staring down at a young mare, with the same fur and mane as Ditzy. Holy hay, didn't know she had siblings. Shoot, looked like I scared her, not good for my rep, dude.

"Mommy, some man is here with a grocery bag! I think there's candy in it, and should I go get help?," her shrill voice combined with her fast talking left me standing there, frozen in shock.

Did she just say 'mommy'? Wait a minute, she think's I'm a pedophi- I looked up to the wall eyed mare just as shocked as I was. The young girl was now hiding behind Ditzy's leg, and looking at me with a confused expression.

Ditzy...she's a mom? Damn, she lied to me! She has a special somepony after all...wonder what the dude's name is? "Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...this is awkward.." I managed to say, after a delayed ButtHoof 'uh'. Only thing I left out was 'that's cool!', or 'Beavis you dumbass!'.

"Come on out, it's alright muffin. That's just Torque, he's going to be living with us for awhile.," She said in a calm voice, which contrasted with the embarrassment plastered onto her face.

"He better not take my bed! Or my muffins! Or you! You're my mommy, not his!," the young foal hellbent on standing her ground.

"Don't worry honey, he's staying in the guest room. And you're always my number one priority!"

"Cute kid, and I can see that she's as defensive as a crease defender. Hey, hope you don't mind but I want to make dinner. Picked up some things on the way home to make a Coltcinatti favourite...Chili!," I interjected, making it apparent that I was going to be cooking.

"Well...okay. You have enough for all four of us? My mom will be home soon...oh my gosh! You two still haven't met! Quick, you have to look nice! Dinner will be an added bonus, but you need to put on clean clothes!," The thought of me meeting her mother seemed to terrify her.

"I'd love to, but my other shirt is dirty and this is my only pair of pants dude." I stated in a sympathetic tone.

"Ohhh this isn't good...,"

The way shes flipping, you'd think she was trying to present a coltfriend...oh shit, is that happening? The last days have been a blur, that is being in and out of consciousness so much.

"Uh, dude don't worry I'll be fine. Parent's usually like me, I'm likeable guy, right?," I reassured her of her fear.

"No no no no no no, you don't understand. My mom judges people on their looks, what clothes they're wearing, and if they seem poor or not. She aligns herself with the Canterlot elite, and all the stallions I have dated have been less than presentable.," She was clearly worried by this point.

"Mommy, this man is weird...I don't like him! He has red stuff on his shirt. Is he bad? Only bad people have that stuff on their clothes.," the foal said in complete innocence.

"Hehe, excuse her Torque, she's a handful at times...Dinky, go play upstairs. Mr. Ignitor and I need to talk alone."

"Oh, is he your coltfriend? Is he the one you were talking about earlier? Either way mommy, he's really weird."

"Now, DInky..." she commanded, "As for you Torque, I bet you have multiple questions about this..."

Author's Note:

Going with the flow right now, adding drama for shits and giggles. That and because it's good to incorporate as much as I can in this learning experience. There are a few references here and there, but I mainly focused on the innocence of children...well I was that kind of kid, anyway. Won't go into much detail, but to sum it all up; I spoke my mind, frequently was punished and had soap in my mouth, and asked questions that really weren't appropriate by any standards. I was a hell child.. Thank God I finally took a chill pill, someone should get Pinkie Pie one of those by the way. Or get her to smoke some poison joke... Anyway back to the story, hope you like it so far and as always if you have any ideas of where you want to see this story go, feel free to pm or comment. I will listen to your feedback, and will do my best with what you give me, whether its an idea for this story or another.
Peace,
Theta Gunner

Comments

[WarpPony]

Liking the story can't wait to see who ditzy's mom is

[Theta]

1823906 Thanks a ton for the feedback, I'll keep it in mind this time around! And as always, I'm glad youre enjoying the story!