9. Animus
Well, that’s it. My brain’s dead. Put me on a respirator and use me for medical research. One thing I’ll be good at...
“Well, you little shit? You want to explain what you did to my fucking apartment?!”
Oh, right. My uncle. The reason my brain wasn't processing was standing there in the middle of the apartment, surrounded by evidence of my misconduct: Hoof-marks printed into the expensive couches, cups, plates and bowls scattered about, some broken, some still dirty. The fruit cart, with its remaining produce starting to turn. Broken tiles across the floor from Twilight’s early rages.
Yep, I knew I should have asked her to fix that...
“Well, you little prick? You gonna say anything?”
...Brain...please...say something...
“...”
“Gah, you’re just as useless as your father!” he stormed up to me, aggressively grabbing my collar and pulling me forward. He wasn’t a large man, or strong, but rage is a great source of energy. He yanked me off balance, forcing me to look at every little bad detail, every piece of evidence against me. He pulled my head to his own mouth, sneering into my ear. “You thought you could come here and do this shit without repercussions? Are you that stupid?! The front desk called me, told me what you were doing.”
Oh no...
He noticed my look of fear, and smiled victoriously, “Hah! So you thought you could invite your prostitutes and your fun into MY house? From what the neighbours said, you must have had had half a dozen girls in here round the clock! And this,” He shoved me over to the couch, pointing at the hoof-prints, “I don’t even want to ask what kind of fetishist creeps you boys are now! Oh, you’re gonna pay for this boy, you are gonna pay...”
Well, looks like I was out of luck. Still, it was kind of funny that he thought that the ponies were pros-
The Girls!
I threw my mind out as far as I could. It felt like like I was bending reality, moving myself to fill more and more space. I ignored the sudden nausea and reached for her familiar touch, that feeling of another mind so close to mine, yet so far. But she was there.
Twilight! You need to run! Get andrew to drive, drive for Sarah’s place, get out of here!
I felt her shock. I felt fear and confusion, too, and realized I’d overwhelmed her a bit. I pulled back, ignoring myself and focussing on her. Them. Their safety. She gathered herself briefly before answering me: “Marc, what is going on? calm down...”
No! I threw it at her again, forcing her to listen. You guys need to leave, I’ll handle it-
I didn’t get any further, as I suddenly found my face becoming rather closely acquainted with my uncle’s golden rings.
They would have looked better at a distance.
“Marc!”
I heard Twilight’s mental shriek, but couldn’t answer her, for she was all around me. She was in my head again, more so than ever before. She looked up with my eyes, and I saw my uncle standing over me, grimacing. Twilight heard him say, “I hope that teaches you a little lesson you piece of shit-”
Twilight kicked out my leg, catching my uncle in the shin. The man fell over, a string of expletives strong enough to melt lead trailing from his mouth.
Twilight looked at the door and tried to scramble her way there on all fours. In an effort to avoid further injury, I gave her a hand, picking myself up and dashing through the door as if bullets were chasing me. Those loud bangs sounded suspiciously familiar. I looked back as I ran down the hall, Seeing three little round holes in the wall opposite the doorway.
...Okay, is it just me, or is that guy being a little psychotic about this?
“You don’t say?! Marc, what happened, why is your uncle trying to kill you?!”
Oh right, Twilight was in my head. Wait, how did she know who he - right, in my head.
Can we just get out of here?!
Twilight held her questions, and we agreed silently to exit the building as fast as possible. I stumbled once or twice, Twilight sending messages to my body that conflicted with my own, but I overruled her instincts and pushed on anyway. Any damage to property I caused seemed a little less important than the probable damage to my life at that particular moment.
Legs, move faster!
I was so focused on berating my poor limbs that I didn't notice the corner coming up. Light shone around it, promising freedom through the door at the end of the hall. I skidded to, swinging around the corner so fast that I didn't have time to slow down before crashing into the security guard.
The man just stood there for a moment, shocked, but I gasped in relief and babbled, “Oh thank god, sir, you gotta help me, my uncle’s trying to shoot me, and-”
“Stop that boy!” The loud bellow echoed down the hall, and I felt a the iron hard grip of the guard's hands on my wrists.
Of course my uncle had to have bribed the security team. Just fucking perfect..
Twilight didn't even deign that worth a response, but I felt her anyway. She moved my arms, my shoulders. She twisted my spine, shifted my footing, and I felt her intention burning from her mind to my own. And I went with it.
I don’t know how much subtlety she planned on using, but I ended up kicking that guard in the crotch and spinning him into a wall. And god did it hurt. The man didn’t let go easily, and I felt my shoulder pop just before I finally shook him off my wrist. And nearly fell towards the door, gritting my teeth in pain. I fumbled for my keytag in desperation, my one good hand rifling around until the little silver tag finally found its way to the keypad. And freedom.
“Access, Denied”
“Oh, come on!” I shouted at the stupid automated lock. I slumped there, trying again and again, but always to the same response. I dully realized that my uncle had told the front desk to deactivate my tag the moment I entered the building. I just kept swiping it, hoping, as I watched the guard stand and, with an angry scowl, reach for his taser.
Oh lord I don't want to get tazed oh lord I don't want to get tazed oh lord I don't want to get tazed...
I saw the charge in the taser go off. I heard an appropriate zapping sound. I saw a white light, and gravity seemed to stop working.
And suddenly I was staring at cheap leatherette rushing into my face. I bounced off the poorly padded seat into the isle of the bus, and was hit with a massive wave of nausea. I felt comforting hooves on my back, heard questions asked in high voices, but didn't respond. I felt numb to the core. I just knew Twilight wasn't there anymore. I heard her voice calling out, but after I had just had reality ripped apart around me, I wanted, no, needed to feel her, the only constant through that lurch through matter that I could cling to.
So yeah, teleporting is NOT fun
“Andrew! get this bus moving, now!” Twilight shouted over me, before settling next me, nuzzling my cheek, trying to wake my up fully.
Andrew cranked the key and floored it. The bus roared to life, then sputtered. The engine cranked over twice before dying completely. Andrew stared at the wheel; “...shit.”
“Andrew? Andrew!” Twilight questioned, getting desperate. Pinkie squealed and ducked as three more loud shots cracked out, and I heard the sound of tinkling glass.
A growl nearby cut through the whirlwind of motion about me. “<-Oh no you don't, you sorry excuse for a horseapple...!->” Rainbow Dash spread her wings and pulled them down hard, blasting out of the bus. I heard the sound of Applejack’s teeth snapping shut just a moment too late.
Rarity pulled me up onto a bench and laid me up in a sitting position, fretting worriedly as Fluttershy laid a hoof to my chest and head. She turned and gave a sharp nod to Twilight, who turned back to the entrance of the building, visible through the broken windows of the bus. I raised my head slightly, peeking over the sill, just in time to see Rainbow Dash deliver the mother of all bucks to my uncle’s face.
One point to team Pony.
Rainbow’s anger was reigned in, however by Applejack’s admonishments. She soared wide, avoiding a taser shot fired by the security guard and barrel rolled through the broken window, crash-landing on the seat next to mine, breathing hard, and grinning like a loon.
Twilight had her horn against the floor, its glow penetrating the hardwood planks. About two-thirds of the way back, she stopped and and began pulsing magic into the engine bay directly below her, trying to fix whatever was broken with Andrew’s bus. I looked over the sill again. My uncle was down, but the guard was reaching for his own pistol.
“<-Uh, Twi? Now would be a really go time ta get a move on!->” AJ called out tremulously. Twilight ignored her, but her violet aura pulsed faster and faster through the floorboards, and I started to smell smoke. AJ was getting equally agitated, looking back and forth between Twilight and Andrew, who was still vainly twisting the key back and forth. “Aww, buck it!” She shouted, and sprinted along the bus, knocking Twilight out of the way and, aptly, bucking the floor so hard that the timbers split under her hooves. The engine roared into life.
AJ sighed and chuckled, leaning tiredly against the bench nearest her. With a moment’s pause, Twilight nuzzled the Earth Pony before shouting to Andrew, “Get moving!”
Andrew complied with a vengeance, but it wasn't enough. With mounting fear, I saw the guard draw his pistol, rack it and squeeze the trigger.
Gunshots are awesome if you see them from the right side of the muzzle, but I was definitely not enjoying this. Time slowed as adrenaline again surged through me. I saw the bang and I swear I watched the bullet getting closer to us by the second. It slowed the closer it got to my face, till it stopped an inch from my nose. My eyes traced back up its path to see the shock and fear spread across the guard’s face as his gun suddenly disassembled in his hands, leaving him holding the frame, with the other innumerable components orbiting him in a glowing blue aura.
I stared at Rarity as she panted softly beside me, grinning at the terrified guard. She stood up tall and called out, “<-Better luck next time, you miscreant!->” before flopping down on the seat beside mine and promptly fainting. The guard slid to his knees as the floating parts of his pistol clattered to the floor.
Ponies WIN!
Andrew got the bus rolling at a decent pace, and I waved cheerily out of the window at the disbelieving security guard and my catatonic uncle, giddy with adrenaline and success.
Then I passed out.
*****
“Marc?”
buzz off, ‘m sleepyy...
“Marc, please, just wake up, tell us you’re okay.”
‘m fine, jus’ dozyy...
“Come on. Up!”
“Ooph!” I keeled off the bench and sprawled in the isle rubbing my ribs where a distinctly hoof-shaped bruise was likely to appear. I looked around at the circle of concerned faces around me. “<-What?->”
The yellow and pink head to my left nudged my side with her nose cautiously. “<-Are...are you sure you’re not hurt anywhere else? I tried to find any injuries, but you’re so...different to ponies and...->”
“It’s okay, sugarcube,” I swung my head over to look at hat-pony, “ He’ll be right as rain once we get some food inna ‘im, right Twilight? Twi?”
Twilight
I sat up quickly, hauling myself up a surprised Rainbow Dash - her mane looked like a toothbrush, but anyway - and cast about for Twilight. It took a moment for my fuzzy mind to find her, but a glowing alicorn isn’t hard to spot. She was standing in the middle of the bus, standing straight up, her horn radiating light throughout the vehicle, Her eyes screwed up in concentration.
I frowned, battling with my motor controls. In my fuzzy state, all I knew was that Twilight was struggling, and I wanted to help her. If I couldn't reach out to her physically, I’d reach her...that other way.
Twilight?
Her eyes opened, and she smiled at me. I could feel, though, her roiling emotions: Worry, relief, guilt, and a little fear. Fear for me. It warmed me just knowing that she cared, but I could see she was struggling with something. I reached out with my own feelings, offering to share, willing the exchange.
Twilight denied me that, though. Instead, she stepped down from her spell, which seemed to remain on its own, and walked over to me. She nudged me as Fluttershy had, pushing me up. I sat against the bench, regarding her curiously. She sat next to me, monitoring her spell as it continued to beat pulse gently to a beat I couldn’t hear.
Then she looked at me...almost. She couldn’t quite meet my eyes as she whispered, “Marc, I’m sorry...I lost control back there. I shouldn’t have...”
“Oh hush you,” I cooed, grabbing her in a tremendous hug with an admittedly goofy look on my face. Yeah, I was still fuzzy, okay? “You saved my ass! You were all like, bam, kick, flip!” I couldn't help but frown at the next memory, “The weird swirly sucking-me-through-space-thing I could've done without, but you still got me out alive, so...” I gave her great big kiss on the cheek.
Yeah. You should see me when I’m drunk.
Twilight froze, stock still, and asked calmly, “<-Marc, what are you doing and why aren’t you acting normally?->”
“...Eh?” I blinked a few times, settling my brain into normal mode. Of course, that’s when I noticed precisely where I was...
Oh god I’m wrapped around Twilight see looks pissed why is there a wet patch on her cheek and why do I taste lavender...yep, I’m doomed.
Twilight leaned away from me, but didn’t pull out of the embrace just yet. Instead, she gave me an unsure smile. “<-Well, okay then. Are you going to be okay with Fluttershy, now? You were thrashing a bit earlier.->”
Really?. Great...I turned to Fluttershy. “<-I’m so sorry, ‘Shy, I didn’t hurt you, did I?->”
That sweet mare just shook her head with a smile, despite the the bruise clearly spreading under the pale fur of her neck. I felt awful, and she just kept smiling sympathetically. I couldn’t stop looking until I felt Twilight shifting in my arms. I swung back to watch her pull herself free and resume her position under the heart of her unexplained spell. She resumed pumping power into the ethereal mass.
Twi noticed my questioning look. “<-I’m keeping an illusion over the bus. I didn’t know which vehicles out there to copy, but Andrew said those red buses would be inconspicuous, so I copied...one of their shapes. The spell will collapse soon, though, I don’t have much energy left.->”
Unexplained spell no longer, but now I had another cause to worry: “<-Twilight, I saw Rainbow flying. And AJ bucked the bus into starting. And Rarity - ohmygod Rarity that was so cool - But that all took magic, didn’t it? Magic you had to provide?->”
Twilight simply nodded as the full repercussions hit me. I gasped. “And the Teleport, too. and that mind-meld thing. Gees, Twi, how much did that take out of you?”
She was about to reply when her horn's glow began flickering. She glanced at it, then smiled thinly at me. “<-Well...Just about everything, now.->”
She’d had enough energy to take them all home. She could have, back in the parking lot. She should have, too. But instead, she saved me.
Well, now I felt like an ass...
She didn’t even let me apologize. She waved a hoof at me to cut me off. “<-And don’t even think of saying sorry. After all you two have done for us, we could never leave you like that. We’re happy to spend a few more days if that what it takes to make sure you’re safe.->”
With my brain finally functioning correctly, I was processing the full implications of the evening’s surprises, and it wasn’t looking good. In fact, this could be really, really bad.
I struggled up in the lurching vehicle and stumbled along towards Andrew, gesturing for Twilight to follow. When the other girls started coming along, I shook my head, “<-Sorry ladies, this conversation is going to be in English.->”
I turned away from the chorus of ‘aws’ and trudged up to Andrew’s side, noticing that the poor guy still looked a bit shell-shocked. I couldn't blame him: we’d just seen something of the dark underbelly of this city I hadn't even known about.
“Hey, mate, you okay?” I clapped a hand to his shoulder. The poor sod nearly went through the roof. I smiled and kept him in his seat long enough for him to realize it was only me. I sat on the dashboard and crossed my arms. Twilight sat in front of me while Andrew sat in the driver’s seat to me left. An appropriate arrangement for a very serious discussion. I nodded to them, beginning the only way I could.
“I’m sorry, guys.”
I looked from Twilight to Andrew and back, trying to impress upon them my regret.
“I didn't know my uncle was such a dangerous temper, or into bad business, and I should made sure he was... from the better side of the family, and for that I apologize.”
Twilight clearly had no idea what I was talking about, but Andrew caught on fast. He immediately asked; “He’s Black Market, ain’t he?”
What could I say? I didn't really know, but if he was carrying around a gun in a civil building, and so willing to use it without fear? Plus he had the security force there on his side...”Yes, I’m pretty sure he is. I knew some of the Family weren't playing straight like my father, but I had no idea...NO idea, my uncle was ever into...this.” My own anger built towards the end, and I punched the dash vainly. I sighed, then looked back up.
“Twilight, you should have taken taken my advice. You should have run. I would have been fine eventually. But now, we may have everyone as high as the police on the lookout for us. But throwing that shield over us was a great idea, you probably saved our lives...again.”
Twilight nodded. “Actually, that was Andrew’s idea. He caught on quickly, and told me that the authorities may be trying to follow us. Now that they know there are Equestrians in your world, they won’t rest easy, I’m sure.”
Hmm, that was a good point too. Kinda hard to deny them being here with Rainbow Dash’s hoof-marks decorating my uncles face. And a spontaneously disassembled firearm. Well, at least bureaucracy would slow down the acceptance of the strange information, but if they looked hard enough, the other sightings from the day before would seal this deal real quick.
I looked down and frowned, mumbling, “We really fucked this up, now...”
No time to think back, though, I had to move on. “Well, Andrew, good thinking. We can’t risk anything now. Twilight, I should apologize for something else: Our one and only goal should always have been to get you girls home as fast as possible, not showing you around or hiding indoors. From here on in, it’s my one mission to get you where you need to be a safely as I can, no matter my personal feeling in the matter.”
Twilight’s head shot up, but I muscled through on volume alone. “The only course of action is to go to the only other person who knows you girls are here. Andrew,” I punched his shoulder, “Sarah’s address, Hout Bay, the Wildlife Sanctuary. Go.”
Andrew kicked the accelerator and tore through the city, headed for our last hope of salvation.
*****
It was a bloody manor.
I wish I was joking, but I’m not. It was a huge house, three voluminous stories tall, and no matter how much it needed repairs, the small holding it was planted was far superior to my uncle’s little apartment. And she gave US the ponies...why?!
Whatever, we needed help, and she had offered - I think - to take us in if our side went bad, which it catastrophically had. And so I walked up to the wooden door, swallowed my nerves, and knocked gently.
I'd forgotten what she’d looked like, actually. In the craziness of the last few days, I hadn’t had time to think back on the beautiful girl I’d met under shady circumstances only a few days ago. It felt more like three months...I couldn’t help but stare for a second - at a human female - as she stared back unbelieving. Then she broke out into a relieved smile. I wonder why?
‘Oh, hello Marc! I was wondering if I’d hear from you again, So the ponies went back to Equestria?”
Oh. Thats what she thought. I scratched the back of my neck and chuckled nervously. “Well...not exactly...” Seeing her face turn from pleasant welcoming to abject shock was disconcerting, and I tried to follow up with something to soften the blow, “But not to worry!” We’re. uh...working on it?”
Damn brain.
She gulped. “Where...where are they...?”
Oh, she was okay with it. I turned and pointed at the bus behind us, just as Twilight’s illusion spell gave way to reveal Pinkie Pie waving ecstatically out the window.
Thump
I turned back with a disarming smile just in time to see her hit the deck, out cold. Damn. Shoulda seen that coming. I sighed gustily, a little past caring after the day I’d had. I leaned inside and shouted to anyone else in the house, but got no reply. Probably out shopping or something. Then I saw, hanging in plain sight, a key. A key with a tag inscribed ‘Guest House.’ Score! I snapped up the key, and hauled Sarah into a sitting position. Hm, couldn’t leave her lying in the middle of the floor, and I’d probably want to talk to her later. I picked her up as gently as I could, trying not to think of her as heavy - oh god she was - as I walked back down the long drive toward the bus of craziness that seemed more inviting and just more normal than the world I’d had to live in the last few hours.
My head was still messed up. I needed to lay down and sleep for a while, really sleep it all off. I looked around blearily, and spotted the smaller building off in the trees down a separate drive. I waved Andrew down the side road and stumped over to the guest house through the garden. I arrived at the same time the bus did, and gestured for its occupants to get out: the house was surrounded by tall bushes and pine trees, so there was no reason to keep the ponies hidden. For the first time this week, the main six were outside.
Rainbow Dash stretched pretty majestically, and AJ’s sprinted circles around the bus were entertaining, but the others stole the show here: Fluttershy found her way immediately into a tree full of birds, Rarity stretched in a way that would get a pastor going, and Pinkie Pie...Pinkie Pie was doing gymnastics. Litteral flips, twists and somersaults. I avoided the careening Pink mass of energy and shoved the key into the house’s door, pulling it open. I laid Sarah in a convenient hall chair before going back to the bus to see what was keeping Andrew and Twi.
Andrew was at least easy to spot: He was lying against the front tire of the bus, grinning in psychotic relief at the gyrating ponies in the driveway. I patted him on shoulder as I stood beside him. “So, dude, you okay after that shit?”
He nodded, giggling helplessly. “Yeah, mate, I’m...I’m okay. This just wasn't what I expected of our Cape Town Getaway, y’know? And the weirdest part is...I’m happy its like this.”
He laughed again at my quirked eyebrow, saying, “Yeah, I know, crazy, right? But seriously, aside from the getting shot at and now probably being on the run from the law...Its been better than I could have hoped for. Your uncle’s still a dodgy tool, though.”
I chuckled at that. Andrew was right on all counts: Hell, ponies were trotting about in front of me, and their happy faces made even the getting shot at seem worth it to me. And yes, my uncle was a tool. But I didn't care. “Hey, mate, you know where Twi went?” I asked. He pointed up the framework ladder welded into the bus’s side. I thanked him and climbed on up.
Twilight sat at the other end of the bus’s roof, her wings spread halfway as she watched the sun going down through trees. I could see her clearly in profile, her silhouette perfect and regal. I walked up to her side and sat a few feet to her left, throwing glances her way. She just smiled at me, her conflicted emotions rampant through our unwilled link. I saw her toying with a gold-and-silver necklace with its sigil. I took my own out of my pocket, my little piece of history. But Twilight's was her last connection to her mentor, her world. Here she was, supporting and fueling her friend’s play below, while she sat here alone, and I saw her for the first time to be exhausted.
Fuck it, she was my friend now, too, and if she could draw strength from me, then she could take as much as she needed. I owed her that much. I slid in next to her, giving her a gentle hug as she watched the sunset, and I realized, no matter how long I ever looked at her, I’d never see her clearer than I did at that moment.
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All the yes~
ALL OF ET!!
Plots moving along, we've got solid villains now, Sarah's back, Ponies get to go outside, Dash kicked tail (or face, in this instance) AJ uses the oldest trick in the book to fix a bus, Rarity shows incredible magical finesse, and Twi gets to puppet around a human for the first time!~
Can you say "fangasm?"
In all seriousness though, I loved the chapter and eagerly await more. Keep up the good work, or hell, slack off on the next chapter, just give us MOAR.
(Insert positive comment here).
Great job, as usual. I don't know what else to say.
2827975
Mate, I had the same reaction when writing this. I wanted to write this chapter for so long...You know, I never even noticed the lack of a villain until you pointed it out? Yeah..I never had one. I take that as a compliment, that I could write a decent story without one. But oh, I want to write more of these! And I will! Oh, I will...
Regards
The Quickest of Sears
very good job sear.
can't wait for the next one.
ahh, you gotta love that earth-pony magic...
"this piece of equipment is not working, (gives it a kick) oh look at that its working again!"
*I really should comment earlier, all the good stuff has been said already...
anyway wonderful chapter and all that complimentary stuff
look forward to more of your (as always) high quality work!
Auf Wiedersehen