Unforeseen Consequences - Chapter 34

>I had to give it to Spring Cookie, it takes some mighty cojones to set up shop in a place like this forest, and even more to commit to learn it as well as she did. The way she went around kinda felt like she was simply taking a stroll through a park more than anything else.
>She would sometimes ask me to stop with that super gentle tone of hers. It usually was so she could smell some weirdly shaped flowers, or murmur something to a passing critter.
>There were other times when the reason was was to avoid crossing paths with one of the… bigger residents. Less cute for sure, but still kinda awesome. We came across the fella who almost eat me, it was this bear as big as a 10 store building, and its entire body looked like a super starry night. It’s funny all the details you can miss when in a panic.
>Everything was so… otherworldly. Not in the chaotic way of the Void, but more like walking through a weird dream. I just wanted to know more about this place but didn’t have the chance to ask a thing for most of the trip.
>Finally, Spring Cookie turned to me and with that warm and sweet voice and pointed at a few warm lights on the distance, “We’re almost there, hun. We just have to cross my garden and that’s it!”

“Sick! All this walking really put me in the mood for more of those cookies”
>The path that followed lead us right into what seemed like a miniature valley covered almost in its entirely by strange neon glowing flowers. I felt kinda nostalgic by the sight, it felt like watching the city’s lights at night.
>I was so enthralled with this little spectacle, that I didn’t notice Spring Cookie was talking to me until she gently placed her hoof on my leg. She giggled at my startled face and motioned at the garden, “Enjoying the sight, hun? Just a little advice: don’t touch the flowers… especially the blue ones.”
“Uh… sure? Like, that wasn’t in my plans but... anything special about the blue ones? Maybe they’re a gift from somebody, you know… special?”
>“Is that all you young’uns like to think about? Spring Cookie playfully rolled her eyes and continued walking, “The blue flowers are poison jokes, hun. Ya don’t wanna mess with those, trust me on that”.
>I decided that maybe it was for the best to just shut up and listen on this one. Like, I had already tried my luck hard enough to get beaten by some flowers.
>Spring Cookie’s house was at the top located right at the other end of the small valley. It wasn’t really big, I think half the size of Discord’s place. It was humbler too, all of it was more like wooden bump that came from the ground and crowned by a rooftop made outta leaves.

>From the many little adornments carved throughout the circle-shaped door, to the little toys placed around the house, there but there was something super charming about this old cottage. Like, a lot of love went into this place and dude, you could really feel it.
>Of course, Spring Cookie was super eager to invite me into her home. She rushed to the door and opened it from pair to pair, saying as she continued waving her hoof in circles, “Don’t be shy, hun! My home is your home!”
>The inside of her little cottage wasn’t any less charming, or humble. The walls were all covered with shelves filled to the brim with colorful bottles, books, plants, toys and lots of other stuff. At the center of everything stood an old cauldron big enough for a pony to fit right.
>Her bedroom was only separated from the living room by a small curtain and it really just had a night table, a single bed and a book shelf filled with worn out books. The kitchen was similar, it was separated by a folding screen and it only had this ancient looking stove and a table filled with all sorts of cutlery and dishes.
>I chuckled a bit after reading the small sign hung on the only door besides the entrance. It said “Powder room” with a little happy face drawn in it. I’d be lying if I didn’t feel a bit nostalgic by this place. It really reminded me of the home I had with Resonance.
“Dude, you’ve got a sick place!”
>Spring Cookie chuckled as she closed the door and trotted to the kitchen, “Thanks hun, is my little piece of heaven. Take a seat, I’ll go and make us some tea!”

>The little table that she vaguely pointed out was hidden at a corner and completely covered in old books, empty bottles and dried plants. I looked at Spring Cookie, she had become completely absorbed in making the tea and cookies and then I murmured to myself.
“Why not? So far she’s pretty ok…”
>While Spring Cookie continued to prepare the lunch and the house started to smell like chocolate and herbs, I placed the books, bottles and plants on the ground in neat groups and cleaned the table as good as I could.
>Before I knew it Spring Cookie came back holding a tray on her head. She smiled at me and said, “Aren’t you one sweetie pie! Thanks for the helping hoof, hun!”
“Oh come on, It’s nothing! I just hate feelin’ like a freeloader”.
>Spring Cookie waved her hoof dismissively and put the tray on the table, “Oh, don’t say things like that, hun. Got to think positive, that’s what I always say!” She then sat on a chair and started to pour the tea on the cups, “Now take a seat and tell me what’s on your mind!”
>The chair was actually a bit too small for me. Like, laying on the floor turned out to be much more comfortable than balancing my butt around that little chair. After I coiled myself like a snake, I took one of the cups and looked at my reflection on the green tea.
 “So this Everfree forest… is it Equestria or something else?”
>“Eh, I think is the opposite, hun”. Spring Cookie shrugged before taking a small sip from her tea, “This place’s really old, certainly older than the sisters and the three tribes…”
“Am I supposed to know what that means?”
>She let out a chuckle and took another sip, “Guess you must’ve come from pretty far away, huh?” She chuckled again and sighed, “That Discord sure is one knuckle head for not telling you about this, though”.
“Wait… You know the old man?!”
>“Of course! Everypony in the kingdom knows that fool!” She said with a belly laughter, “Most want to buck his face too! But forget about him. Why don’t you tell me your story, hun?”

>I had like, so many questions to ask her that it was really, really hard to not focus on everything she knew about the old guy. I wasn’t some kinda jerk who ignores a favor, though. The least I could do was to humor Spring Cookie… but just for a bit.
>I grabbed the cup and drank it out in a single gulp… bad idea. I ended up burning my tongue, at least Spring Cookie had a good laugh. After I could speak normally and got a refill of the tea, I leaned forward on the table and tried to play it cool.
“So, you wanna know my story, huh? Tee-hee, sure! Where do you want to start?”
>Spring Cookie took a sip from her cup and calmly shrugged, “Well, now that you ask… you don’t really see a new draconequus popping up every day. So, do you have a place to call home, hun? Some folks to come back to?”
>I scratched the back of my head and carefully drank from my cup. It was actually pretty frickin’ rad, now I knew why all those fancy folks loved this stuff. Needed something to sweeten it, though.
“No… well, not exactly. I ain’t from Equestria but you already know that part, right? Oh boy, I’m gonna sound like a total nutjob but please, stick with me”.
>“That’s why we’re here, hun”.
“Aw dang… okay, just gimme a moment”.
>I took a deep sigh and a few moments to get ready, but once the valves were open, they didn’t stop flowing. I told Spring Cookie about my old world, about my life in the streets, about my brother, about Discord, about everything.
>Outside of taking an occasional sip from her tea and excuse to make more tea and cookies, she didn’t say anything the whole way through. Really gotta give her props for that too, by the time I was finished we were on the third or fourth tea pot.

“…And that’s how I got here. Hoo-wee! I forgot how frickin’ good it felt to just unload everything!  No one has stood one of my rants since… well, Resonance. Thanks for listening, really, it meant a lot to me”.
>A vague smile appeared on Spring Cookie’s face as she stared into her tea cup as if lost in thought, “Couldn’t help it. That was quite the story you’ve got there, hun”.
“So… what did you think? I’m a pretty big screw-up, huh?”
>“Nah, you’ve been doing pretty well if you ask me”. She leaned back on her chair and looked at the ceiling before giggling, “Can’t believe that old fool actually has a heart. Guess you never stop learning, huh?”
“You kiddin’, right? That guy’s a massive, frickin’ jerk! He could’ve told me about his stupid carnival, but noooo! He had to just go and leave me in the dark!”
>“I’d say the balance’s still in his favor, hun. Especially for somepony like him”. Spring Cookie noticed my annoyance and raised a hoof, “Before you tear my head off, think back on what you told me about that old fool”.
“He’s an idiot?”
>“Well, that’s a given with Discord” Spring Cookie replied in-between laughs, “But that’s not really what I meant”. She sighed, her eyes locked on mine, “You think there’d be much left of you if he never saved ya up from those company creeps?”
>I raised a talon, but immediately went back on it. Truth is, there were no words that I could’ve used here. She was right, plain and simple.
“…”

>Spring Cookie poked me with her hoof and smiled, “Exactly! I’m not going to run to the store and buy me some poster of him, but I reckon we’ve to give credit where credit is due, hun. That knucklehead gave you a home, probably not the best one, but better than the streets, right?”
“I-I guess so?”
>“I know so, and that’s not it! What about that chaos business ya kept talking about? I’ll bet my entire house he’s not the best teacher, but it sounds to me like Discord helped ya out to find that new passion”.
>I lowered my head feeling completely defeated. Somehow I was now starting to feel bad for pulling that stunt on him.
“Guess you’re right… dang”
>“Don’t put that face hun, you’re not wrong in saying Discord is a fool, but what he has done…ugh”.   Spring Cookie rolled her eyes before leaning back on her chair and sighing, “My advice is just… maybe give him another chance, see how it goes”.
“Sure, and what if he just does the same thing again, huh? What if he gets worse and tries to lock me up in a tower or something?”
>“Then you can come back here, I’ll set you a bed and everything. It’s not much, but I’m sure we could manage together”.
“You say that, but is still leagues better than any other house I’ve been into...”

>“Guess I’m doing something right, then”. Spring Cookie let out a chuckle and stretched her limbs, “For real, though. I don’t think he’d do something like that, for the sound of it he finally learned his lesson. Who knows? He actually might be worried sick about you”.
>I let out a sigh and looked at the window, arms crossed. After a few minutes, I grinned and turned back to her.
“Well, then I’ll let him worry a lil’ bit more, ‘cuz I’m having a blast here!”
>“Atta girl! I was going to say exactly the same!” Spring Cookie grabbed a bottle filled with a sparkly yellow liquid from beneath the table and poured it into her cup, “Now if you excuse me, Grandma Spring will have some of her favorite cider medicine”.
“Ooooh! Can I have some?”
>Spring Cookie drank the cup in one gulp and refilled it just as fast, “Maybe in a few years” She laughed to herself and served me some more tea, “I know I haven’t talked about myself that much, but… curiosity is killing me harder than the mold. How does it feel to have chaos magic?”
“Like, the best thing ever! It’s hard as heck to control, and it comes back to bite me in the butt half the time… but when it works, oh boy! Is like, this pure rush of electricity flowing from head to hooves! Tee-hee! I can’t wait to blow Rez’ mind with it! He’s gonna be like, “Ooooh, Eris! You’re so awesome!” and I’ll be like, “Heck yeah I am!” and… well, you get point”.

>“Loud and clear. Sounds like a sure win too”. Spring Cookie drank from her cider and smirked a bit, “That is, if he doesn’t surprise you with his own magic first”.
“Come on, ponies can’t do magic! That’s the whole point for the darn lab those company psychos set up!”
>Spring Cookie leaned forward and raised an eyebrow, “Maybe I heard wrong, but didn’t you say something about that old world not having any magic?”
“Oh, so just ‘cuz I got my magic when I left that garbage dump, does it mean my dork is gonna get some sick magical powers too? Puh-lease, that’s waaaay too…!”
>I let out a groan and crossed my arms. Oh brother, did I really need to ask? The answer felt so frickin’ obvious.
“He got sick magical powers, didn’t he?”
>“You said the colt’s a unicorn, unicorns tend to have magic.” Spring Cookie shrugged, “Don’t worry, though. If I’m honest, pony magic isn’t really that strong… well, that’s not exactly true. There’s some unicorns that won the magic lottery at birth, but good luck finding one of those. They’re as rare as they come. I’ve only met one in all my years, and she ended up being a librarian”.
“You say that, but the company was dead set on finding him. Like, reaaaaaally wanted to get their greasy hooves on my dork, that creepy geezer even had a file the size of a desk about him. Oh brother, this frickin’ sucks. Magic was supposed to be my thing, dude! How am I gonna blow his lil’ nerdy mind now?!”
>Spring Cookie raised an eyebrow and rolled her eyes, “How about trying to get your own life, hun? Not everything has to revolve around Resonance and Discord”.
“What the heck are you talking about? I’ve got a life!”
>By this point, Spring Cookie had dropped the cup and was just drinking the cider straight out of the bottle, “I’m not saying to stop liking your chaos magic, or to stop caring about your little brother”. She put the bottle on the table and shook her head, “But you’ve to branch out, hun. Start owning your life, otherwise you’ll end up all bitter… and that’s never good”.
>I let out a groan and crossed my arms again.
“Ugh… can’t believe you’re telling me the same stuff Discord says”.
>“Then I’ll be darned! The old fool really isn’t that bad!” Spring Cookie let out a belly laugh, “Listen, if that knuckle head isn’t lying then Resonance is probably making his own life outside of you. That’s good and it doesn’t mean he has forgotten you. You want to impress? Then start doing the same, but don’t do it for Discord, or Resonance, or anypony else. Do it for yourself”.
“A’ight, I get it! Geez, you didn’t need to lay it down this hard! And it ain’t like I think on my dork ALL the time either! I’ll… I’ll have to find something… is gonna be hard, though”.
>“I’m not asking you to do it today, hun. Just a project to keep in mind”. Spring Cookie said with a warm smile, “Speaking of which, there’s not much of today left”.
“How the heck…? Do you have some kind of super power that connects you with the forest?”
> Spring Cookie pointed at her bedroom, “Nah, I have a clock over there.” She then finished up the last drops of cider and sighed, “Thank you, hun. I don’t remember the last time I had this much fun with somepony else”.

“Wait, you’re calling it quits?! Come on, you gotta be kidding. We’re just starting here!”
>“These old bones are too tired to keep going, hun” She said, “I’ve got to take… a really long sleep”.
>There was nothing else I could say without coming out as a major jerk. I sighed in defeat and closed my eyes.
“So this is it, huh? Can you at least take me someplace where I won’t get eaten?”
>“Of course, hun! But before we go, I’ve got something for ya”. She stood up from her chair and walked to one of the bookshelves. There, she grabbed a very thick, and very old book before handling to me, “Here you go, hun!”
>I was surprised by how heavy the book felt, I swear it could have been used as a self-defense weapon perfectly fine. The cover really showed its age, like most of reddish color was washed out, and the title was barely legible. So much that I had to bring it closer to my face to actually know what it said.
“Magic and other secrets by Starry Skies. So this is about pony magic?”
>Spring Cookie eagerly nodded, “That’s right! I’m not sure how your draconequus magic work, but I figured you’d get more use out of this old friend than I ever did”.
>Even with all that talk about getting new hobbies, she still gave me a book about magic… I really liked this mare. I quickly wiped off a tear that had formed in the corner of my eye and sheepishly smiled at her.
“I’m not really about books… but I swear I’ll study this as hard as I can! Thank you so much!”
>“Aw shucks, don’t think much about it!” She then opened the door and motioned me to step forward, “Now let’s get movin’ while we still have some day left. You go ahead and I’ll be right behind ya!”
>I felt filled with new energy and ready to take on whatever crossed my way, even this creepy as heck forest. I nodded to her and happily jumped out of the hut.
“Hey, know what? Now that I think about it, I never got to ask you…”

>A cold chill ran down my spine the moment I turned back. There was no Spring Cookie anymore, like she had vanished into thin air. I’ll admit that I felt scared to the bone, and it wasn’t just because it was just impossible that a mare of her age to disappear like this.
“H-Hey, this ain’t funny! W-Where did you go, d-dude?”
>What truly scared me was that now the house kinda looked like one of those derelict buildings at the edge of the slums and that the warm light from Spring Cookie’s candles had been replaced by a neon light coming through the broken windows.
>Despite all of my fear, I wasn’t gonna back down on finding my frined. That’s why I rushed into what was left of the cabin without any kind of second thought.
>I had to rub my eyes and slap my face to make sure I wasn’t in some dream. Almost everything was covered by what felt like thousands of the strange neon glowing flowers that made up Spring Cookie’s garden.
>For some reason, the bedroom was the only thing left almost intact. Even with the poor lightning, I managed to see a couple things lying on the bed: a little basket filled with holes, and a piece of paper with something written on it.
>I’m not sure why, but I felt like there was something heavy hanging from my heart. It took me a while to gather the strength to read the scrap of paper, and when I did, I read it out loud.
“I’ll now depart to the lands of eternal rest. May this frail body serve my beloved forest the same way it blessed me in life. Spring Cookie”.

>My memory is hazy about what exactly happened after that. Like, I only remember bits of it and even then is like trying to see through a fuzzy TV. I remember walking through a sea of those neon glowing flowers, roads in the forest that didn’t seem to be there before, soft whispers in the air telling me words I could not fully understand.
>It was night time when I arrived to the glade I landed in the first place, and what a night it was too. I had never seen so many stars in my whole life, it felt like I was watching the whole universe in front of me. My body shivered by a gust of cold wind before I dropped on my back in the middle of the glade.
>I felt so frickin’ tired that I closed my eyes to rest for a bit. Next thing I knew is being woke up someone laid right next to me in the grass. I didn’t say anything, just crossed my arms and looked at the stars.
>After some time of silence, the presence finally decided to speak, “I’ve been looking for you high and low, my dear”. It was Discord, and he sounded surprisingly calm considering what happened “Considering your talent to get into trouble, I probably should’ve started here”.
“Heh! So I did get your old butt worried, huh?”
>Discord sat on the ground and looked intently at me, I could see his upper lip trembling with every word he growled, “Oooooh! I had so many things I wanted to tell you, little missy!” His expression then softened as he sighed, “But now… I don’t really know what to say”.
“Then don’t think too hard about it, you old dumbo! Just keep it nice and simple, a little “nice to see you” sounds fine, dontcha think?”
>“And is nice to see you indeed” Discord smiled for a moment before a clear feeling of worry took over him, “Did you get hurt?”

>It felt so weird to see him so… concerned about me like that. In the end, I just shrugged off the question.
“Nah, but I had a sick party with a ghost”.
>I grinned at Discord and waved the book Spring Cookie gave me around.
“She was pretty cool, even gave me a souvenir! How about you old man?”
>Discord didn’t reply at first, he just looked at me right in the eye with this baffled expression on his face. After a couple minutes he just dropped on the grass and sighed, “Well… my surprise meeting didn’t go with the bang I expected, so my entire plans were delayed and I got a 3 hour long lecture. Not my finest hour, if I have to be honest with you, my dear”.
>Discord lowered his head and plucked some blades of grass while having this thousand yard stare on his face. Like, he looked so broken that it made my heart ache. I stood up and gently placed my paw over his shoulder.
“Come on dude, quit the long face! This ain’t nothing a good day of training can’t solve!”
>“So you want to come back?”
“Only if you promise to stop with the sneaky garbage”.
>Discord let out a chuckle and caressed his beard, “You want the spirit of chaos to make promise? Well, aren’t you a funny one!” Discord closed his eyes, and after taking a deep breath he smiled at me, “But I suppose there is no harm in trying, maybe I can actually succeed this time”.
“So it’s a deal?”
>He energetically shook my talons and nodded, “Absolutely!” He then chuckled and looked at me with a raised eyebrow, “You know, my dear. I’m kind of surprised you didn’t demand to see the young Resonance.”
“Nah, I just… want to live my life, dude. If the dork’s being all happy like you said, then let him enjoy it for a lil’ bit longer. I wanna have my own fun too, y’know?”
>“And just like that you grew up a little. I’m stunned, my dear!”
>I burst out laughing and hit him on the shoulder.
“Shut up, you old jerk! Now get that ancient butt movin’, I wanna get back home and have a huge dinner, I’m starving here! Oh… and by the way, you’re cooking!”