(AMF) Update 12

>Spike was still reshelving when you and Twilight got back.
>Not much of a dent had been made in the stacks of books, he probably enjoyed a nice break until he saw you coming back.
"oh hey, you're back! How'd it go?"
>Twilight's only response was to give you a quick glare before she started putting away the things she'd brought along.
>You really shouldn't, but...
+It was a blast, I had Twilight show off some magic of her own, she really blew me away.+
>With a loud groan of annoyance, Twilight drops what she's doing and storms off to the basement, slamming the door behind her.
"What's her problem?"
+My fault, I got her all worked up while we were gone, and it's fresh enough in her mind that she didn't exactly appreciate the joke.+
"All worked up? What did you do?"
+I was demonstrating a rather powerful defensive ability, and had her hit me with some magic to prove it worked. Right before one of the blasts hit, I stopped protecting myself, and she blew a chunk out of me and knocked me across the field.+
"Seriously?"
+If you don't believe me, she was recording it, you can watch for yourself.+
"Why would you do that, though?"
+Partly so I could follow up with a demonstration of my ability to repair myself, mostly for reasons I'm going to be explaining to her once she's had a chance to calm down.+
"...Right."
+I'll admit that there was probably a better way to have gone about it, but there's only so much I can do without being obvious about it.+
"Obvious about what?"
+About what I've been doing, and to save you the time you'd spend asking what that is, I will be telling HER that, not you.+
"Suit yourself. You feel like helping me with these books? Don't know why she even bothers having me reshelve them with how quickly they end up scattered around the place again."
+Manual labor builds character, and if you always slack off when left unsupervised, I probably shouldn't reduce the amount you get by helping you.+
"What makes you think I slack off?"
+Unless you've been doing some reading of your own, the pile of books you're supposed to be reshelving is still the same size as when we left.+
"You gonna tell Twilight?"
+Now why would I do something like that? You haven't given me any reason to. Maybe if there was something I wanted from you, I could dangle it over your head to get you to do it.+
"I don't get you, you seem like a nice guy most of the time, then you go and say things like that."
+I'm nice because I have no reason to not be. It's quite refreshing, in fact. Makes me wonder how my old life could have turned out if I'd let myself relax once in a while.+
"So you were constantly working on something?"
+Not at all, there was plenty of times when I didn't have anything to actively do. In fact, about half of my life had been spent waiting for the moons to be in the proper alignment for what I was trying to do, but even then, instead of enjoying myself, I went over everything in my head, checking and rechecking every last detail to ensure everything was just as it should be.+
"Why?"
+Because I had reason to. I'm gonna stay out of Twilight's hair for a bit, if she needs me for anything, I'll be at the edge of the Everfree Forest.+
>You turn and head for the door.
"Why do you always hang out near there, anyway?"
+It's somewhere I can go when I'd like some calm. Since nobody seems to like the forest, they don't hang around near it.+
"But what if a manticore or something attacks you?"
+Why would I get attacked, I'm big and I don't smell like food.+
>That answer seems to satisfy Spike, and he turns back to the pile of books with a long sigh.
>The walk through Ponyville is uneventful, you've been around long enough that the only one that stares at you is Lyra.
>You aren't sure if she's trying to work up the nerve and come talk to you, but you've been expecting something ever since you got here, with how she'd acted back in Canterlot, it was inevitable.
>As always, once you make it out of town in the direction of the Everfree, there are no ponies to be found.
>An oddity in this already odd nation.
>Apparently ponydom's dislike of the forest stemmed from the fact that unlike the rest of Equestria (and the rest of the world, for all you knew of it), weather happened on its own, and the animals took care of themselves.
>Your usual spot is as vacant as always.
>For the most part you spent your time here going over thoughts, but occasionally, you felt the need to reach out.
>Your mind expands, stretching out far beyond your own body.
>As it spreads, you can feel all the minds around you.
>The wildlife around you.
>Fluttershy's cabin, all her little friends clustered around as she tends to them.
>The beasts of the Everfree, roaming in search of their next meal.
>A mind different from the beasts, more like a pony's. You assumed this was was the Zecora you've heard about.
>The Ponyvillians, going about their day.
>While not relaxing in any meaningful sense of the word, it was times like this you truly felt relaxed.
>No worries, no distractions, just you and all the minds you could reach out and sense.
>Seeing how far you'd be able to stretch before someone inevitably came looking for you.
>You were getting close to what felt like your farthest ever when you noticed a mind from Ponyville heading your way.
>Having a good idea of who it was, you brought your mind back in so you could focus on the conversation to follow.
>Next time...
"Spike tells me you have something to say."
>She sounded calm enough, guess you'd be getting this over with sooner than you'd expected.
>You sit down next to her in the grass, bringing your face down to Twilight's level.
>This is the first time you have made such a gesture, all your previous conversations have had you standing.
+I've been testing you ever since Celestia made her decision about me. Little things here and there, to see how you react. My stunt earlier today was one of them.+
"Really. Tests. What did you learn from me blasting a chunk out of you, then?"
>Some of the anger from earlier creeps back into her voice.
+For a start, I saw first-hand how you react to the possibility of failing in your perceived duties. Hearing about it is one thing, but it's hard to tell how much truth there is to a story when it involves an entire town fighting over an enchanted doll.+
>Her face goes bright red.
"Oh, you've heard about that..."
+And now I know it's true. The other important thing I learned is that you can keep a relatively level head in the middle of a crisis. I'd need a crisis that didn't directly involve your duties to get a proper idea, but that'd be a bit tricky to arrange, especially now that I'm explaining all this to you.+
"So why are you interested in how I react to things?"
+Because eventually you're going to start asking me about my world and my past, and I'd like to have an idea of what things I'd be able to share without causing undue distress.+
"You keep saying things like that, can it seriously be that horrible?"
+YES!+
>Your shout surprises her, and she remains silent.
+Compared to everything I have seen and heard of Equestria, my world is infinitely worse. I've managed to sneak plenty of little tests past you, here's a big obvious one. What is the worst thing that has ever happened to you?+
>Her expression tells you volumes before she gets a word out.
>Whatever happened, it hurt her as bad as Nightmare Moon had hurt Celestia.
>Finally, she begins to voice the memories going through her head, her words slow and uncertain.
"When we'd used the Elements of Harmony to stop Nightmare Moon, the connection that Celestia and Luna had with them was broken. Without that connection, Discord's prison began to weaken. Discord is... old. Powerful. A physical manifestation of chaos. When he escaped, the first thing he did was hide the Elements so he couldn't be turned right back into a statue."
>Twilight was doing her best to not show it, but she was clearly on the verge of tears.
"He made a game out of it, gave us a clue to where he'd hidden them. He was playing a game of his own, though. We'd gotten separated in the hedge maze, and one by one, he got to my friends, used magic to change how they acted."
>The tears start to flow.
>You reach over and start gently running your hand through her mane.
>She seems to appreciate the gesture, leaning into your hand.
"He was trying to drive us apart, ruin our friendship so we couldn't use the Elements."
>She'd been getting steadily quieter since she started, and was barely above a whisper at this point.
[spoiler]"And... he'd succeeded."[/spoiler]
>You've made a serious mistake.
>That much was obvious as you picked Twilight up and held her close.
"He didn't even need to use magic on me, he just got my friends and I did the rest for him..."
>In spite of a lifetime of training yourself to remain detached, you've managed to become attached to this little purple unicorn.
>And now she's crying in your arms, because of you.
>You couldn't come up with anything to say to try and help, so you simply hold her in silence.
>Slowly, she starts to calm back down, until she finally falls asleep.
>Not wishing to wake her up, you remain motionless, pondering this new turn of events.
>The last person you'd cared about died in the Day of Mourning.
>Equestria seemed utopian enough that a similar event would be highly unlikely, but you've already got a shitlist started, and Discord was right at the top.
>If he ever got out of that statue, you were going to tear him apart in as many ways as you could find.
>On a more immediate note, there was still plenty of time before it started to get dark, hopefully Twilight wakes up before then.
>There would be questions if you got seen carrying her home, especially with her looking like she's been crying.
>It would be better all around if she had a chance to clean herself up before returning to town.