Arc 1: 8 - Freedom
There are multiple types of awkwardness. There is the classic kind of awkwardness when two ponies try to talk to each other, but neither of them finds a topic to talk about. There is the strange one, that shows up when you have made a bad joke and everypony that heard it just silently looks at you. Yet here, I experienced a whole new kind of awkwardness. The one that appears when somepony, or in this case somezebra, is eating and not giving you anything of it.
Seriously, what is this? Aren’t ponies supposed to be friendly in Equestria? I would even go as far as to say that there is even some kind of law against informality. Nah, that would seem way over the top. Well, I think I should talk with him a little more.
“So.”
“So,” he answered back while still slurping his soup. Oh that slurp sound is annoying me already.
“So, you won’t give me any soup?” I asked him with a raised eyebrow.
“Nope,” he answered with a momentous display of his skills for the high art of speech.
With a sigh, I continued speaking. “Then is there a way for me to get something to eat?”
After another slurp, he answered. “Of course.” He slurped another time. After some more slurps, he was finished and brought the bowl over to a faucet, where he washed it. After some minutes of washing, he put everything back in its appropriate place. He then took up a broom and started cleaning around the small shed.
“Ehm, hello. I am still waiting for an answer,” I called out while he was cleaning the floor.
After I said this, he looked at me and then to his left and right. He seemed to look for something. After a short while, he looked back at me and pointed a questioning hoof at himself. I placed a false smile on my face.
“No, I am talking to the broom,” I told him, and he looked down at the broom. He then looked back up at me and back at the broom again. After some time, he took the broom and carried it over to me. Gently, he placed it beside me.
“You really have some strange hobbies,” Abdarul said with a nervous chuckle accompanying his voice.
I think at this moment, I was able to conjure the hardest and coldest “Are you serious?” face that Equestria has ever seen. He turned around, but not before I could see the smirk on his face.
That *censored*! He knew exactly what I meant! That filthy… I would…! Calm down Spike. There is no point in getting angry now. That’s the exact thing he wants.
With a deep breath, I calmed down again. I opened my eyes and looked back at the evil abomination in the form of a zebra. “Yes, I was talking to you.”
His ear perked up and moved into my direction as I began to speak. After a short while, he turned to me and pointed a questioning hoof at himself again. I squeezed my left eye shut in anger. How is he able to provoke me this much? Yet, I did my best to hide the fact that I was irritated beyond belief.
“Yes Abdarul. I am talking to you.” Suddenly, he had another smirk on his face. The kind that practically shouts ‘victory’. I sighed another time. He tricked me into talking normally. I should have stayed asleep. “So, do you know of a way for me to get something to eat?” I asked him again, and he chuckles lightly.
“Of course.” The same answer as before.
I swear to Celestia, if he ignores me again after this, I will take this broom and shove it up his-
“There should be plenty food in the Everfree Forest.”
Never mind that. I originally planned to shove it up his chimney, so he had to get into the ashy dirt and get all filthy in order to get it back.
I narrowed my eyes at him. He basically told me that I should get out into the dangerous forest again in order to get something to eat.
Oh, he will regret this. For the place where I will put that broom now, dirt will be the smallest of his problems.
I took the broom in my right claw and stood up from my bed. Ignoring the slight nausea and dizziness, I started walking towards the zebra. He seemed absolutely calm, even after seeing me getting closer and closer to him. When I was in front of him with the broom in my hand, I looked deep into his eyes. “I think I have enough of your attitude,” I told him coldly and he only lifted an eyebrow with a waiting expression. “Oh, you think I won’t do it?”
His expression did not change and I began to grind my teeth. His calmness enraged me to no ends. Time to let his most prized possession burn. I inhaled deeply, and set fire to the broom. I burned the whole thing to the ground until nothing more than ash was left.
I knew from the beginning that this broom was valuable to him. The way he glanced at it. The way he looked at it when he gave it to me. The way it lovingly sat in the corner of the room until he took it. This broom was probably his family treasure or something similar to that, and I burned it. Take that, abomination!
Sadly, he didn’t react like I anticipated. Instead of quivering in fear in front of my demonstration of power, he began to laugh. Why the Tartarus was he laughing? I anticipated that he would be scared, or at least sad, that I destroyed his most prized possession. Instead, he only laughed.
After a while of laughing my rage began to climb to new heights. His laugh is even more annoying than his attitude.
“What’s so funny?” I asked in a frustrated and annoyed voice.
A little bit later, he calmed down and swished a tear from his right eye away with one of his hooves. “Ah…” Abdarul groaned like he just had the laugh of his life. “Because you will build me a new broom now,” he added with still a smile plastered on his face.
I lifted an eyebrow at this. Does he really think I would build him a new broom? What’s wrong with him? Is he delusional?
“And why should I do that?” I asked and he let out a small chuckle again.
“Because you won’t leave this shed alive otherwise,” he exclaimed happily with a smile.
I raised an eyebrow in a skeptical expression. Did he really mean this or was he just acting strange again? Well, time to test it.
“And if I still say no?”
He laughed a little more again, and I was grinding my teeth at his happy demeanor. Suddenly, he leapt to me. It was so sudden that I had no time to react. He hit me with a hoof in my chest and I fell onto my back with an oomph. Instantly, his head came closer to mine and I will never forget what I saw then. It was one of the most horrific moments of my life.
I looked deep in his eyes. His deep, dark and burning eyes. I felt like a mere patch of grass in the middle of a desert in front of a herd of starving cows. I felt deep power radiating from his eyes. Like an endless void, they seemed to suck in every last piece of warmth.
I didn’t dare to move. I didn’t dare to breath. Not in front of those eyes.
“YOU. WILL. MAKE. ME. ANOTHER. BROOM!” He bellowed with the deepest and darkest voice I ever heard.
I immediately began to nod my head rapidly to show that I would do it. I wasn’t sure if I was allowed to move anything else. Should I just take a step towards the exit? Should I wait until he allows me to move? I didn’t know!
He indicated with his head towards the door, and I instantly complied. Like being bit by a Woody Wolf, I stood up and ran towards the exit of the shed. Quickly opening it, I dashed through it and closed the door behind me. Then, I finally breathed again. The pressure was gone. Yet, I still felt the fear deep inside of me. That zebra looked like a demon.
Wait… maybe this is why he is living alone here in the woods. Maybe his village exiled him for sacrificing innocent sheep? Maybe he is a demon lord himself and plans to take over the world from this place. Suddenly, I shook my head to clear my mind. What crap am I thinking about?
I was finally able to calm down a little. My heart wasn’t punching my rips anymore and my blood was flowing with subsonic speed again. With a deep breath, I finally calmed down completely. With a clear mind, I analyzed my situation again. So, I should get some materials for a new broom and then build it?
Slowly, I turned my head towards some trees. Wait a minute, where am I? I stood in front of the shed looking at it. It was build out of multiple trunks from trees in a typical rustic manner. Aside from the shed, I can’t describe much more. The only thing I could say was that the rest was forest. Absolutely typical Everfree Forest. Big, sometimes scary, trees, not much light and some patches of grass.
So apparently, I was at some part of the forest. I had no idea where the next sentient being was, except for that demon lord in the shed, and certainly no clue where to go. Hmm, maybe I should just walk in a random direction? Screw that zebra.
Suddenly, I felt the biggest chill running down my spine. I never felt anything quite like it. Like out of reflex, I turned around and saw him looking at me through a window, indicating that he was watching me. I took a deep gulp and turned away again. Better get some wood for that broom.
I looked around again and saw a hill to my right. Maybe I could see more from the top of the hill? I began walking towards it, but suddenly I heard a hammering from behind me. Turning around, I saw that Abdarul was hammering against the window to get my attention. I looked at him and he just shook his head in a serious frown.
Deciding that I would live longer if I wouldn’t anger him, I turned around and walked into another direction. This time, there was no hammering. Seriously what’s his problem? At first, he was acting like he wanted me to get as mad as possible, then he gets angry, then he gets serious. I don’t understand that guy.
After contemplating a little more about that shaman, I realized that I had already walked pretty far. Wait, why was I out here again? Suddenly, my palm met my face. Of course, I need wood for the broom. Looking around the forest, I tried to find a suitable stick for the handle. Trees, trees everywhere, and not a branch to use. What to take?
I saw an about one meter long branch growing out of a normal leaf tree. Yes, a leaf tree. I am well read, but regarding plants, I didn’t know anything. Why should I even know the name of those trees? It’s not like the names would help me to survive. It’s not like I can scream at some Woodies “This is a blabla-leaf-tree. Your hunt is invalid!” I think they would just hit and eat me after that. Wait, no they probably wouldn’t. I learned that it was impossible to predict them, and I won’t forget that lesson.
I shook my head. I was getting distracted again. We can’t have that now, can we? With a sigh, I walked towards the tree with the perfect branch. Ramming my claws into the trunk, I pulled myself up. Repeating this process, I soon was on top of the tree. I then moved towards the branch and grabbed it. Using all my strength, I pulled, but it didn’t budge. Holy excrement, why was this so sturdy?
Trying some more times, I realized that I wouldn’t get anywhere with this. Taking a deep breath, I looked at the branch and thought about a possible solution. I don’t know why, but I somehow got the idea to just punch the branch. Following the strange feeling, I punched the branch. The tree seemed to vibrate slightly, but that was it. The branch did not budge.
Hitting it with another punch, the same thing happened. I hit it with another one, another one, another, another, another, and another one until I was blindly punching it in a frenzy. I don’t know how long I did that, but when I was finished, I was breathing deeply through my clenched teeth. Why do I have to be so unlucky? Can’t anything go my way for once?
While asking myself such questions, I took another punch at the branch. After this one, I took a couple more. A minute or two later, I calmed down and leaned back against the tree. Somehow, I felt relaxed again. Like calmness I haven’t felt for an eternity finally returned. My eyes felt heavy, and I lowered my eyelids until they were only half open. My breath slowly calmed down and I now breathed deeply through my nose.
A slight breeze, which was accompanied by fresh air, came over me, and it felt so… real. It’s strange to say this since everything I did was real, but this was somehow different. It felt like I was alive for the first time, like I stepped out of a cage.
The light slightly shifted. The clouds in front of the sun slowly moved away, and the sun shone through the canopies of the trees and illuminated some spots on the ground. Some butterflies were flying through the air and landed on a beautiful red flower in one of the sunny spots. The silence and calmness of the forest relaxed me and slowly, I closed my eyes in the forest breeze, atop the tree.
While I laid there with closed eyes, I realized something. I was free. Everything I did, I did out of my own free will. Nopony was telling me what to do. Well apart from Abdarul, but that was my own fault. I also realized that I acted pretty ugly towards him. He patched me up over a full week and I act like a flank hole. Maybe I should apologize later.
Freedom. The thing I always wanted back then in Canterlot. I could sleep here as long as I wanted. I could go in whatever direction I wanted. I could go eat whatever I wanted. I could speak to whom I wanted. I could sleep whenever I wanted. Freedom; this is true freedom. Slowly, I felt myself drift away from the world, and not long after that, I was fully asleep.
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Pain. Immense pain. This was what I woke up to. My body, especially the front of it, was in unreal pain. I groaned and opened my eyes. Dirt. I was lying face down in the dirt. Yep, that would explain the pain. Apparently, I fell down the tree while I was sleeping. Ouch, this shouldn’t have happened. I am a calm sleeper. I don’t turn often in my sleep, so why was I on the ground like this?
“Taking a nap while you should be working, little dragon?” I heard from my front. Slowly, I raised my head towards the voice. Yep, there stood Abdarul with a raised eyebrow and some kind of big walking stick in his hoof.
I bet he was the reason why I fell down. He probably kicked the tree and I fell out of it. There goes my apology for him.
I slowly tried to stand up, but my abdominals burned. Seriously, it felt like they decided to dance in a sea of boiling lava. Yes, boiling lava. Lava can also be cold, in which it turns into a slimy thing, so I need to add the boiling part. Imagine muscles burning like slimy lava, how silly.
Suddenly, I got “punched” with the stick of the demon lord, and I fell back on my back. I let out a pretty loud groan and Abdarul came closer to me. With a hoof, he touched multiple parts of my tummy, which all hurt like Tartarus by the way, and pushed at some others. After some moments, he stopped and let go of me. I instantly jumped up at my feet.
“Stop it; that hurts!” I screamed, and he just raised an eyebrow.
“It does? Where?” He asked in a bewildered voice, and I instantly answered him.
Well, I wanted to answer him, but I quickly realized that I didn’t feel any pain anymore. Wait, what? Where did all the pain go? I just fell at least three meters down and directly on my tummy. Why isn’t it hurting anymore? I touched my body at nearly every spot and never felt any pain. Slowly, I looked at Abdarul with a bewildered expression.
“Did you heal me?” I asked him, but he only made an overly done smile.
“No, I sold you a house,” he told me.
I simply looked at him with an appraising look. Did he just? No, he wouldn’t. But he did. Slowly, the corners of my mouth moved upwards and not long after, I smiled and started laughing. I couldn’t stop it. Somehow, this was just too funny, even though he just copied me. I just couldn’t hold myself anymore.
Suddenly, I heard a dunk that was accompanied with a sting of pain in my head. Apparently, Abdarul didn’t think this was funny and hit me on the head with his stick. “Ow!” I shouted while rubbing my head with my claws.
“Don’t you have something to do?” The demon lord asked me, and I instantly knew what he meant. He still wanted me to make another broom. After I stopped rubbing my head, I looked at him with annoyed eyes. Then, I pointed with one of my claws at the branch from the tree, I tried to rip off earlier, and no I don’t mean the rip off as in selling something for too much bits. I was talking about the physical rip-off.
“I tried to, but no matter what I do, this branch just won’t budge.”
With his gaze, he followed my claw and looked at the branch I was pointing at. He only shook his head, and turned back to me. “This is a joint tree.” He pointed at the tree and then continued. “A joint tree is a unique kind of tree that strengthens its sturdiness through creating multiple thick ‘joints’.”
He then proceeded to raise his stick and lightly punched against the branch with it, creating a light and hollow sound. After this, he moved the stick a little closer to the tree and hit it again. This time, the sound was little deeper. Another move closer to the tree and another hit later, a short deep thunk could be heard. The typical sound when somepony hits something terribly hard.
“As you heard, here is the joint.” He made small circles around the spot where he hit the branch. “There is also more to the joint than what meets the eye.” Abdarul lifted his forelegs and stood on two legs. I had never seen anything quite like it. I always thought that ponies, or zebras in his case, needed all four legs to stand steadily.
Nonetheless, he stood there without wavering or swaying and simply lifted his stick up and over the branch. “Those trees are not called joint trees for nothing,” he told me and began to push the stick downwards while it was over the branch.
I only stood there with a lifted eyebrow. What does he plan? Bending a branch of this thickness with the tip of a stick is impossible. The power one would have to use would be unreal. On top of that, the stick would probably break before the branch moves. I think it is understandable when I tell you that I was pretty baffled when the branch suddenly started to bend at an unreal angle. I quickly looked between Abdarul and the branch, not believing what I saw.
He simply stood there without any strain on his face, as if this was the easiest thing in the world. Looking back at the branch, I saw that it was now nearly on a 90° angle downwards. “How is this possible?” I asked aloud and Abdarul answered.
“Joint trees are called joint trees because those thick growths in their branches are able to bend in a downward direction. Nopony knows why they can do this. We still don’t know what positive usage the tree could gain from such branches,” he explained. Then he took his stick back and I looked at the branch in disbelief.
It was still bent at 90°, even though nothing was holding it down. “How?” I asked again, and again, Abdarul answered me.
“The joints lock at 90° and stay fixed until something breaks the strain. Let me show you.” Moving his stick towards the bent branch again, he lightly hit it, and the branch shot back to being straight in an instant. The speed on which the branch moved showed that there was an unreal amount of power behind that movement. If I were to get hit by this, I doubt that I would survive.
“As you see,” I heard beside me and turned to Abdarul again. “The branch has to be very sturdy in order to withstand such force. It’s no surprise that you weren’t able to break one. But there is a way to break such a branch,” he added, and I crooked an eyebrow. “You need to push or pull the part of the branch, which is located after the joint, against the direction the branch could bend towards.”
I looked up at the branch again. “So, since the branch could bend downwards, this means that I would need to pull it upwards in order to break it?” I asked him and he nodded. Looking down at my feet, I thought about this. If this joint really was like a pony joint or dragon joint, then this seemed logical.
Earlier, I was pushing downwards before the joint came. If I compare this branch to one of my arms, then the joint would be my elbow. The point where I pushed earlier would have been somewhere on my upper arm. Of course, this was very hard to break. I looked at my arm and held it out in front of me.
Now if somepony would grab my forearm and pull it against the direction of the joint, while using my upper arm as bending point, my joint would be overstrained and would quickly break. Slowly, I looked up at the branch again, while putting my arm back to my side.
So, if I would sit on the thicker part of the branch and pull the outer part upwards, I should be able to break it. With a sigh, I walked towards the tree and began to climb it. Because of my claws, it didn’t take me long until I was back on the branch again. Sitting on it, I looked downwards towards Abdarul, who gestured me to move on.
I looked at the branch again and sighed once more. Lowering my head towards the branch, I put my ear on it and knocked at it. I did this multiple times until I knew where the joint was. Moving forward a little, I now sat on top of the joint. One deep breath later, I grabbed the branch in front of me and pulled it upwards with all of my strength.
At first, it did not budge, but I did not relent. After a short while, it slowly moved upwards and I felt a deep feeling of success. I can do this! I can break this branch! I stopped pulling and held it, bent like this, for a short while in order to get some air in my lungs again. After some breaths, I continued pulling and the bending was now accompanied by a noise that sounded like strained bark.
I am nearly there. Just a little more! The straining noise got louder and I could feel my arms burn. I wanted nothing more than to just stop and let my arms rest. No, I will do this! With a mighty roar I gave myself a last boost of strength, and with it, came the sound of breaking bark. Suddenly, the branch was easy to bend and I completely pulled it back with me.
Looking down at it, I saw that only a small part of it was still attached to the tree. With newfound motivation I twisted the branch in my hand and pulled away again, completely ripping it off of the tree. I quickly stood up and held the branch in my right claw towards the sky. My right claw was burning, but that didn’t matter now. I won!
The cool breeze came over my body and with it, a deep feeling of satisfaction. I did it! I am the best! Nothing can stand in my way! I simply stood on top of the former branch and held my newly acquired stick in my arm. I don’t know how long I stood there, but at some point, I heard a cough from downwards.
Looking down I saw Abdarul. Oh, right. He was still here. Slowly, I realized how I probably looked like, and my feeling of success got replaced with a feeling of embarrassment.
“Little dragon, you broke a branch, not a timberwolf. Calm down,” he slowly said in an annoyed voice. For the first time in my life, I had a blush on my face. Oh Celestia, this is embarrassing. Quickly, I climbed down the tree again and walked towards the shaman. Not looking in his eyes, I offered the stick to him.
“Here, for your broom.” I told him while not looking at him. He took it and laid it across his back.
“Very well. Now go and gather the remaining parts,” he practically ordered me, but it didn’t really annoy me. It was my own fault for destroying the old broom.
I turned around and started walking away, but I suddenly remembered something. Oh Celestia, I don’t want to do this. With a gulp, I turned around and looked at him again. He had a waiting expression plastered on his face. I averted my eyes again and looked sideways at some trees. I put my claws together behind my back, and began to kick some stones on the ground.
“I just wanted to tell you,” I began but then hesitated. Oh, why does this have to be so hard? “Thank you for saving me from the forest, and…” here goes. “Sorry for acting like a flank hole!” I rushed the last part as quickly as possible, and closed my eyes while saying it.
After a while where nothing happened, I heard a sigh and slowly opened one of my eyes. “It’s alright,” He slowly said with a dismissive hoof. “I forgive you.” I somehow felt happy to hear this. Why did this feel so good? I never apologized seriously before. Even that apology earlier in his shed was fake. I just wanted some of that soup. But now, I did it for real for the first time, and it felt like a burden has been lifted from my shoulders.
“But you still need to make me another broom, understood?” He added with an urging voice.
I quickly tried to defend myself. “I didn’t say this because I do-“
“I don’t care why you said it! You owe me a broom. Now go and make it!” He ordered me in a loud voice, and I looked back at him in a shocked voice.
“But I-“
“No buts young mister! Go and make that broom!” The demon lord told me with a voice that indicated that there was no point in discussing this any further. I grinded my teeth again. I swear it! At one point, I will get back on him for this. Why did I even apologize to that condescending *censored*? With a gruff, I turned away from him and began to walk aggressively away, putting extra strength in every step I took.
And thus, my epic quest to create a broom began. The battle of the branch would get immortalized in future books, which would tell of my heroic deeds I did, in order to create the one legendary item every shaman lives in hope off.
A self-made broom.
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I'm liking Abdarul already
Seriously, what a mysterious fellow. I'm looking forward to see how you'll be using him.
It's interesting to see how these two interact with each other and it looks like Spike is realizing his freedom. Another good chapter. Keep them coming.
2383871 I bet he will get a way to make Spike stay so he can train him.
2384379
From the way Abdarul is, I seriously hope not, Spike's sarcastic personality and Abdarul’s smartass attitude, clash dangerously; those types of relationships usually end with one of them dropping the way they are, and if Spike stops being sarcastic, what difference would he have of the original Spike's way of speech? And if it does happen I wish they could get used to each other instead of attacking each other, like they have been doing since they meet.
Hey, Warmaisach!
A mistake.
2385127
Thanks
Think I placed that one in there after reading over my preread one that got preread by my proofreader. Thank you for that.
Also, you don't need to write so big. I read every single comment multiple times. Yes, I am such a comment whore.
2385142
Oh, alright, noted.
And there's another mistake, but not in the story.
I'm so darn nitpicky.
2385186 *sigh* Well, I don't really look after correct grammar in my comments, but thanks nonetheless
EDIT: LOL it was in my AN.... sorry for that. thought you meant in one of my comments
EDIT: Changed. Thanks for that
Could you time skip to after he finishes building the broom? Or is the whole broom building thing the centerpiece for this arc?
Whatever. I just wanna see where Spike winds up next.
I won't be surprised if the ingredients for that broom is composed of "hairs of cerberus" and "alicorn hoof glue"