The Foreign Factor

by Zombehhunter

Chapter 7: Rules Broken, Amends Made

It was remarkably warm for a winters day - bright sunlight had completely dried the damp roads and pavements, even going so far as to warm the very breeze that ruffled the grass and spread a fresh scent through the dreary streets as the people went through their routines, buying groceries, working, playing and harming.

10:30 was a very established time. A time where things had already been set in motion - which always made River feel a little odd whenever he wasn’t doing anything, or worse, found himself bored.

Not that day however. He was much too…grouchy. Twilight had tried to go into his room around nine to announce breakfast, but she slowly closed the door upon seeing River. He had sat there all night, and it was obvious. His hair was frazzled; his face had odd twitches, his foot tapped rapidly as he tried to keep himself awake. His eyes were wide, sore, staring dead ahead of him as he juggled several balls of various colours with one hand, his eyes resembling the red ball a bit too closely to be healthy. Not to mention he was breathing as though he were barely containing a cry of furstration. Rainbow Dash, who had just left her room with a bit of a cocky grin, stopped when she happened to glance at Twilight’s face as she closed the door..
“You okay Twi’? You look like you just saw an Ursa.”
“No…” She gave the door a cautious, but perplexed look before adding, “Much scarier.”

River himself was not truly aware of the passage of time or even the interruption that had occurred - he was focused. He had tried to sleep, but it did not come to him, even in his bed. His mind had been so invaded with questions and doubts and solutions and counter arguments, that his mind was comparable to a government body: irritating and chaotic.
‘I’ve already fucking dismissed that one, why will it not go away!? Oh, because it is the easiest option- well fuck you I’m not doing it! It isn’t happening, and- neither is that one for fucks sake! And that is simply absurd… Fuck off! I don’t even have access to cannons that large!’ Needless to say, he was not quite in control of his thoughts and nothing short of an explosion would pry him from his mind…

A very loud noise, akin to that of an explosion, pulled Rivers attention, just enough for him to realise something wasn’t right. Then the shockwave hit his house, buffeting the reinforced glass of his bedroom and the loud gust of air smothered the sound of his thoughts, blowing them out of sight and out of mind. He immediately threw himself to the ground, the balls dropping around him as he quickly shuffled directly under the windowsill, pulling out a carefully concealed handgun from behind the radiator. He looked up out the window however when something seemed amiss...

Colour. A rainbow of bright, vibrant colour poured into his room, bringing the walls to life as the colours bled and swam. He rose to his feet and gaped at what he saw outside the window: An explosion that displayed the full full beauty of the light spectrum pooled out among the clouds. A large disk of Rainbow light dominated the sky right across from his neighbourhood and beyond, gracefully rippling like a pebble drop in the sky, with a rather conspicuous rainbow line coming from the middle.
“Son of a bitch…” He said to no one particular. As much as it was said in awe, there was a sharp edge being directed at the rainbow’s source. The magnificent wave began to fade away as well as the rainbow trail, but his anger could not have the same said for it. “That little bitch.” He dug his fingers hard into the window frame as the rest of him froze up dangerously. “I knew she’d try something... But this…ohhh I’ve had it with shit!” He heard a door close down stairs, and he stood there for a moment, trying to figure out just how much pain he could put her in before both killing her and before her friends could stop him. Deciding the best thing would be to not kill her just yet and wait for a more opportune time where he could get her alone, he followed the sounds of some very nervous and angry ponies to the top landing, where he stood and listened.

“...What in the hay did you think you’re doin’?!”
“Disobeying orders.” She said with no small amount of pride, brushing her chest casually with her hoof. “What do you think, good way to go about it or what?”
“There was no need to go and do that what-so-ever Dash. That was without a doubt one of the most irrational things you have ever done. River is gonna be mighty ticked at ya.”
“Ack, let ‘im! I’m sick of the way he’s trying to boss us around. He’s only been awake three days and he thinks he owns us or something.”
“No, he thinks he owns the house – which he does! And he is well entitled to impose rules, Ah know Ah wouldn’t let folk go gallivanting around mah house without laying down some laws.”
“Please, do you really think that he is even competent enough to enforce them?”
“Even if he weren’t it ain’t right to go around givin’ him a hard time. It’s just common decency, and Ah also think that he is much more capable than you give him credit for.”
Dash and Applejack had been going at it ever since Dash had gotten through the back door and into the kitchen. The two of them stood there arguing while the others stood off to the side in the tiled cooking area, glancing uncertainly to each other. Needless to say, the air was tense even before the others noticed River standing on the stairs, looking on in the conversation.
“Common decency? You haven’t seen what they do to each other out there. Out there, there is no common decency. And besides, if he were to do anything, he would have done it by now. I bet he slept through the whole thing!” Evidently finding the idea funny, she erupted into a fit of laughter, with Applejack’s stern gaze and further comments going completely past her.

Neither of them noticed River quietly vault the stairs banister and move into the doorway. The rest of the group eyed him nervously, especially Twilight who was pawing at the ground as she saw the anger etched in his eyes. It was almost like a madman, except he was trying to hold back a little. Just a little.
“Girls,” he started slowly, as though talking to an irritating child, “I want to have a word with this… Delightful little git here…
“Oh, eh, howdy River,” Applejack said in a slight sweat. “Look, it ain’t that bad sugercube, honest. How’s about you let us handle this, what do ya say?” River lowered his head, glaring through Applejack straight into Dash, both ponies feeling unnerved by his glare. Dash suddenly realised that perhaps shattering the light spectrum wasn’t the best thing to do.
“Rule one: Do as I say. And considering how pissed off I am, do you really want to make this situation worse Applejack? Well?” His words were very airy, sounding as though he were hissing every single syllable. Applejack's eyes went everywhere as she began to sweat heavily, trying desperately to avoid his gaze. ‘Do Ah really want to leave Rainbow with this…? Alright, I’ll listen in at the door, and step in if Ah have to.' Trying to get a handle on her nerves, she spoke up.
“Okay, okay, calm yourself down a little here. Alright, you’ll take over then. We’ll just leave through that door behind ya’ll there,” she said nudging her head, encouraging her companions to leave with her.

She closed the door cautiously before pressing her ear right up against door - followed immediately by all of her friends, squashing her.
“Same idea, ‘ey girls?” She grumbled, to only be ‘shh’d by everpony.

The thunk from the door was the only sound in the kitchen for some time. Nearly two solid minutes passed as Dash (who was on her hooves and bore a straight face) gazed at River, waiting for him to make a move. River himself stood there motionless, eyes trained on Dash, soaking in every detail they could; her recently frazzled mane, her slightly nervous posture but that bold defiant (irritating) look in her eyes. He slowed his breathing as he began to speak in the same tone as before, but emphasising the glaswegian words to their fullest.
“Well, Rainbow Dash, wit are we going tae do wit’ you? Because, if this is how you are going to play this game, I am going to have to play back. And to be, quite frank with you li’l Dashie, I really cannot be arsed playing with you. Especially not by the rules you see fit to play by.”
‘God I hate speaking like this...’ He hung his face for a moment before twisting a table chair around and sitting down.

From behind the door her five friends could tell the air was hot already. The silence was worse; they could feel their pulse in their ears as they pressed harder against the wood, desperate to hear any details they might be missing. All except Fluttershy of course, who had backed off to give the others room.

The silence quickly began to bother the blue Pegasus, turning her expression into a snarl.
“Well, go on!”
“I’m waiting for an answer.” She quickly noticed that his demeanour had radically changed, sounding very cool and collected, posture being professional but relaxed and eyes still focused entirely on her, but without the overwhelming malice, almost like a chiding teacher. This did not do well to help her mood as frustration boiled up at the lack of a response from him.
“An answer to what?!”
“To my question.”
“Which was?” River frowned with false concern.
“It was “what are we going to do with you?” You don’t suffer from short-term memory loss, do you Dashie? Or does head-butting the light spectrum give you a bit of a headache?” She growled at him, not taking his sarcasm very well.
“You know you are really starting to annoy the hay out of me.”
‘Is ‘hay’ really the best curse that these grass-munchers have? I mean, come on!’ He pulled his leg up and folded it over his other leg, a smirk forming on his face.
“It’s not nice, is it? So why, oh why, do you want me to feel like that? That’s exactly what that stupid stunt of yours has done. And that is the least of your problems.”
“Oh, just shut the heck up!” She said stomping her hoof. “I’m sick of listening to you always saying ‘Things will get even worse for you if you keep doing what you’re doing!’ It is really annoying, and I can take care of myself. Heck, we can all take care of ourselves.” She flew straight to his face as she finished with, “Quit bullying us around!”
“Please, remove yourself from my face before I do so forcefully.” Dash hadn’t realised how close she was until she felt his breath on her nose.
She pulled back, putting herself back onto the ground in front of him. Dash tensed unconsciously as he raised his arm, but he brought it to his face, wiping away Dash’s spit.
‘This one is really pushing it, but I think I can work with what she just said…maybe if I try this.’
Once his face was dry once more, he returned to gaze to her, but this time, it was somewhat softer. He pulled out the adjacent chair, and motioned to Dash.
“Take a seat.” Rainbow Dash flinched, somewhat taken a-back by the out of place request. Seeing this as a sign of defiance, he added “Please.” Suspicious of his motives, she glanced at the chair, then back to him, then to the door where they both knew her friends were listening in. Nodding to herself, she hopped up onto the chair and righted herself to face River.
“A bully you say? Is that why you don’t like me?” Rainbow blinked, yet again taken a-back by the curveball in the conversation.
“Eh, yeah I suppose.”
“That all?”
“Huh?”
“Is that the only reason why you don’t like me? If it is that is a very weak foundation you have.”
“No…I have more reasons, believe me.”
“Share them.”
“What? Now? Here? To…”
“Yes now, here and to me. Come on, don’t be a woose, if you can’t say something to someone’s face there’s-“
“Alright, I get it, geese.” She began thinking intently, trying her best to find her most compelling reasons to explain why she hated him… Until she drew a blank. Suddenly she realised that she had already said almost all of what she could say to him. Picking up on this, River said,
“Well? I’m all ears, don’t be shy.”
“Q-quiet, I’m just trying to find the best ones. There being so many and all… You assaulted me, for one.”
“Hmm, alright. Though I say you were provoking me and it wasn’t exactly assault, but I will apologise for that. However, I actually have a hypothesis of my own. If you’d like to hear it?”
“A Hypotha-what?”
“An idea of my own on why you dislike me. And to why you are so…aggressive toward me. Care to hear it?” Thinking that it may give her more ideas she had missed (somehow), she nodded in agreement.

He began to explain what he had hypothesised with Scootaloo the night before, that it wasn’t really him that was the source of her anger. She immediately tried to tune out, but he seemed to have a way of noticing whenever she was not taking in whatever he was saying, and would stop in his tracks each time, forcing her to listen.

As he kept going however, he found he no longer needed to stop. Rainbow was actually listening intensely, drinking in his words and seeing sense in them. And as she thought about it rationally (though she loathed admitting it) he did seem to be correct. It made her wonder herself how she did not see it. Every time she flew, she would see more cruelty being committed, and every time she looked at River after that, she disliked him even more.

“I won’t deny that you are probably annoyed at me for trying to cage you. I have a strange feeling that you are a bit more of a free spirit – doing what you want when you want kinda gal.” She smiled a little at this, but to say it was melancholy would be to say the least of it. She felt like an ass. Realising that she had been taking her irritation out on River, well, got her down. “Hey, what’s the matter hen?” She lifted her eyes from the ground to him, and he raised an eyebrow when he saw genuine regret in her eyes and voice.
“It’s just…it’s kind of funny actually. I was the one just accusing you of being the one that was the bully…” Now it was River’s turn to be flabbergasted. ‘Wow that was a lot easier than I thought it would be… But God… face…that face is heart retching!’
“Hey, hey, don’t beat yourself up over it. Do I look bothered by it?”
“You were.”
“But I’m not bothered anymore, am I?” She studied his face, trying to find something false about the smiling, sympathetic face. She failed.
“I suppose you aren’t. But what about the Sonic Rainboom, what’ll happen about that?” It took a brief moment for River to catch her meaning.
“Oh, is that what you call it? Yes as...impressive as that was, it is going to cause a bit of a commotion…but don’t worry. I’ll have it sorted…somehow.” He sighed as he realised why he was angry in the first place – how the hell was he meant to hide that? Hundreds, potentially thousands of people had seen the spectacular show of luminescent light, and if it was on video, it border lined being a…precarious situation.
‘I’ll phone in and see if I can have strings pulled, I think old Ricky still owes me for Nevada .Taking out Sherriff wasn’t easy after all…’
“Aye, I know how to handle it, don’t you worry. And by the way, if you need to fly, come to me first. I can find out when the commercial flights are and you can avoid them.”
“What now?”
“Aeroplanes. You are lucky as hell to have missed them thus far. If it weren’t for the strike in the industry, you’d have been seen for sure. And how you haven’t been noticed any military activity is amazing.” She opened her mouth to ask what he was talking about, but decided against it.
‘It’ll be more confusion than it is worth. Besides, I need to chill for a while, maybe even nap on what I’ve heard. Yeah…now that’s an idea’. Plan set in her mind she hopped off the chair with a flourish of her wings and glided over to the door, a hint of a mischievous glint in her eyes behind the sincerity she was showing River.
“River…I, I guess I was a little judgmental. I think I’ll go take a nap.” She grasped the handle silently, and after a mental count down, opened the door with a wide flourish, the four nosey mares behind it spilling to the ground with satisfying “oomph!”’s, making Rainbow Dash beam with self-satisfaction.

River chuckled heartily at the slapstick as he rose to his feet. The ponies expressed their slight irritation to Dash as River entered the conservatory and rummaged behind one of the couches, his entire front half buried behind it as he muttered illegible obscenities, searching for his prize. It took just enough time for the search to become annoying but he rose up with his bounty in hand.
“What are those for?” Inquired Applejack, the rest of the ponies milling around in the kitchen, doing whatever caught their fancy.
“Oh, this just a soldering iron. Well, a rigged soldering iron.”
“Oh…what the hay is it for?” River couldn’t help but smile in amusement as she tilted her head for the question – it was adorable.
“Usually? Electrical circuits. Re-wiring things and the like.” He said like it was the most common thing in the world.
“Oh…” She still had no idea what it was, but decided not to ask.
“Hey Dash, could you please come to my room in about twenty minutes? Thanks.” Finished, he sprinted out the room with his soldering iron and a marble slate in hand and jogged up the stairs, hints of amusement still on his face.
“Aw…but I wanted to nap…”

****

As instructed, twenty minutes later, Rainbow Dash nosed open the door after being invited in and closed it gently behind her. She walked into the room proper and saw River sitting on his bed, his face hidden by his long wavy hair as he leaned over the smoking soldering iron.
“Ah, Dashie, a moment more, if you please,” came the concentrated, yet chilled voice of River. It almost struck Dash dumb hearing him sound much more light-hearted.
“Okay…what are you doing anyway?” She asked as she hovered over to him, trying to peer through his hair to get a glance at the smoky work, only to be patted away.
“Ah, ah. I think you’ll like this, just give me a moment…” He suddenly raised his head and blinked at her as an idea struck. “In fact, may I have your hoof?”
“My hoof…?”
“Yes, may I?” He asked and extended his hand expectantly.

She hesitated for a moment, but placed her limb in his grip. He took her hoof gently in both hands and cupped it softly in his hand, making a ring around it with his thumb and fore-finger.
“Thank you.”

He swiftly went back to his work, concentration filling his features once again, smoke slipping through the gaps in his hair. Though, after only a few moments the black smoke stopped slithering into the air and he opened his top drawer, pulling out a scalpel and then vibrant gold thread and needle from his middle drawer.

Dash raised an eyebrow at the items but made no comment, deciding instead to stay silent and not put him off his work. He was about to place the soldering iron down but jerked his arm back at the last second, putting it onto the marble slate instead and then both to the ground. Her head tilted slightly in puzzlement.

“It’s very hot you see,” he explained, “placing it on the bed would likely…well, definitely burn the thing.” He glanced up to see her nod in understanding before refocusing his attention once more, placing the sharp needle between his lips. Dash was now able to see what he doing, but wasn’t able to tell what it was he aiming for. She watched as he took the scalpel and began working carefully, guiding the blade through the tough, black leather with a glass maker’s precision and care, licking his lips every time he moved to another part of the belt.

Dash, who would normally have been bored into scuffing her hooves or hovering had anypony been doing the same, was oddly complacent and interested in his actions. It seemed - like his gentle smile - to be a whole new dimension of him. Seeing someone she had not even an hour ago loathed and thought to be nothing more than a brute putting up a facade, sitting down and working on what looked like an arts and crafts project was unnaturally jarring, and thus interesting to her. The strokes of the blade, (short, long, deep, shallow) worked to make his vision a reality, the cool leather beginning to take the shape River desired.

With a final curling cut he placed the scalpel back into his drawer and took the needle between his fingers, and with elegant finesse that would have made Rarity proud threaded it in a smooth, dignified motion. He brought the needle down to the tough leather, lacing it with the golden thread at a speed that would make a sowing machine blush with envy. He worked to embed the belt with gold, his pace giving him RSI but he trundled on, ignoring his wrist’s wails of neglect. He coiled the belt, pursing his hands in a ring shape to match it, marking a spot in his mind before sowing it in place. Finally he cut off the excess belt and added one last final incision. ‘The devil is in the detail,’ she thought as River looked over his creation once more, ensuring its quality.

He placed his tools back into his drawer and took his creation in hand, extending the other to Dash.
“May I have your hoof? Your left, if you please.” Following his direction, she placed her left hoof in his grasp. He took his creation and undid the ring, letting Dash notice the clasp that had been sown into it. He slid it around her hoof and pulled it tight; the leather felt strong and comfortable against her coat. Securing the clasp, he let her hoof go, letting her look at his creation properly.

He had crafted a custom watch for her. He had taken a digital watch piece of a cool dark blue and cut the straps off soldering the metal body to the leather. As a tribute to his precision and expert skill, the leather looked completely unmarred by the soldering, the metal seeming to blend effortlessly into the leather as though it were there since birth. Even the way it was melted was done with aesthetic flourish; the edges had been pressed in, like a finger mark in clay, burning away the blue to give a glinting silver concave all the way around the watch. The belt itself had had elegant patterns and swirls engraved by the scalpel, and despite their air of sophistication they captured Rainbow’s gaze.
‘Those are pretty bucking sweet…’ Along the edges of the belt (now made watch) was the golden thread, double lacing it. It was a surprisingly eye catching piece, especially on the otherwise bare Pegasus.
“I think you’ll like the back.” Eager to see what he thought would be the centrepiece for her, she took it off (after discovering turning it was not too easy with hooves) and gazed gleefully at the back of her new gift. It bore her cutie mark, gouged lightly by the scalpel and then sewn into the belt itself; the mark caught the light differently from the rest of the thread, making her mark shine as she twisted it from different angles.
“Wowsers… Uh, this is something else…” River smiled lightly at her comment and lay down on his bed, propping himself on his shoulder to look at her.
“Yah, it’s so you can fly.” She raised her head and gave River her attention. “I considered just giving you a watch, but it wasn’t big enough to fit ‘round your hoof. So I thought that it was a good excuse to make you a wee somethin’. You like it, yes?” Dash looked back down from Rivers inquiring look to the watch, not even bothering to resist the smile forcing its way onto her face.
“Of course I like it! This is awesome. Nopony’s ever done something like this for me, and it is made…really well! You’re good at this- you should do it more often.” She said, the whole time looking at her new toy. River just smiled, finding amusement in her praise in what he found to be a trivial skill.
“Hay, what’s this on the inside say?” He looked to see her scrunching her eyes at the text he scrawled into the belts inside, sticking her tongue out as she tried to decipher it.
“Oh…it’s pretty cheesy. ‘May bonds of friendship never be forgotten’.” Dash gave him an incredulous look before giving a good natured nicker.
“That is pretty cheesy,” she chided as she put the watch back on, “but it’s true. “ She finished with a grateful smile, a gesture that River returned.
“Thank you. I’m no poet, but hey, I can try.” There was a moment of sheer understanding, where both realised truly that they had not been seeing the other’s true colours, and they forged an unspoken friendship.

“Oh, eh, if you’re wanting to fly I suggest going and doing so now. Just be back by eleven ten, okay?” Like a child on their birthday Dash’s face beamed. The excitement of her gift had given her a second wind of energy, and a quick glance of the watch revealing she had twenty five minutes, she was hungry to burn it out. She flew out the room and turned down the stairs at break neck speed and was nearly in the kitchen before she hightailed it back, stopping at Rivers room door.
“Thank you. I appreciate this.” A still smiling River waved his hand at her.
“You go have fun.” And with his dismissal she was away, dragging her friend’s manes in her wake as she battered through the kitchen and outside once more.

River gave a sigh that he found to be oddly contented as he lay back on his bed proper, sinking into one of the pillows for a moment of luxury before thinking,
‘That was a hell of a lot easier than I thought it would be… Well, not that all is well in the kingdom of River, the question still remains – How am I going to keep this lot safe?’

Author's Note:

Well then! If it hasn't been something close to a year I don't know what! Thought this was cancled? So did I oddly enough but recently a drive to write has been sparked by the possibility of a new project between me and a good friend. Won't be going up for a wee while now, bu t I figured with that new found inspiration I would go back and fix this up a bit. Yeah, in reality this has been done for...7months? More? But it was so God aweful that I never released it. But here it is now, and I will also be doing chapter 8. But this means this is the last piece of work that will be released in my 'older style' of writing (ie. Shit).

I do have something to ask you, anyone who might see this crappy wee thing; Should I continue this story? I have already agreed to do chapter 8 (I owe to myself even to do that) but should I continue onward from there and finish this thing? If you think yes, or if you think no, I need to you comment - and telling me why you hold the opinion you do would be quite nice also. You know, as a wee bonus?

Ah I'm rambling now. tl;dr? Should I continue this story or not - you decide!

Update: 30mins later - ...okay, more like 15months but still!

Comments

[claypokemonz]

This is so Awesome I love that they're friend now! It made me feel all warm a gooey I can't wait for chapter 8! Please do the hole thing, I am absolutely loving it so far!