Friendship is Volatile

Things were heating up in Carousel Boutique and not in the good kind of way. Pinkie was giggling like the little nut job she was and Rarity looked like she was getting a bit too frazzled with their continued barter. It didn't help having little miss Rainbow turd sliding in verbal gut shots.

"You know it makes sense having a perverted job like giving things massages... Such a nice delicate job for sweet little Lockette~"

Like any true friend Locks had this wasn't the first time he had gotten heat for his job, or his name for that matter but it was the principle of the matter that counts. Namely having this dye job commenting on his life choices while looking like the product of a rainbow having a stomach flu and vomiting up this pony.

"I think all those hair jobs are affecting your head. The dye is seeping through your thick skull and polluting your brain"

"THE BUCK DID YOU SAY ABOUT MY MANE?!"

"I SAID YOUR DYEING YOURSELF RETARDED YOU SILLY HORSE!"

"Dashie! You can't have angry sex with him! It might kill him!"

Oh god I love you pink horse. That comment had the pegasus' wings flared out and her teeth bared once more, and after some very quick dialogue that he didn't quite catch he was ushered out of the building with Pinkie and Spike, while Rarity remained with Dashie in an attempt to calm her down.

"You two really make a great couple! I bet you two go at it like there's no tomorrow don't you Locks!"

"You're the best pink horse ever."

"I'm a pony silly!"

"Hosre, pony, doesn't matter. Do you think I've needled her enough for one day?"

"Dashie is a really tough mare so I think she'll be alright even if she doesn't realize your just pulling a prank on her. A really long and drawn out prank, but a prank none the less! Do all of you thingies do this to each other where you live?"

"Only the best of friends Pinkie, only the very best of friends would put up with this level of shit."

"You didn't have that many friends back home did you....."

"Fuck no I didn't, but the ones I did have were fantastic in there levels of douche baggery"

"What's a Douche bag?"

"One day Pink pony I will explain that to you, but not today."

"Awwwww!'

Without his object of harassment the walk back to the library was remarkably boring. He asked Pinkie and Spike a few questions about Celestia and Luna, as well as if there were any other types of ponies but other than that there wasn't any outlet to replace that Rainbow colored turd.

Spike split off from the group for a trip into town, and when the remaining two reached the library Pinkie seemed to have a minor panic attack and started trotting around in circles. Apparently she had forgotten why she left her place of work, and after reassuring the pony that he would be perfectly fine for a little while by himself she went darting back into town.

Closing the door behind him Locks was confronted with the hundreds of books and dead silence. Shuddering involentarily he browsed through the shelves for something to read, anything to distract his mind as unwanted calm started settling in on him. It was like coming down from a massive high in a bad way. The whole day felt like some kind of wild trip but being in the tree house completely alone was kicking him back into reality.

Books of every kind neatly lined the shelves from history, mathematics, science, etiquette, animals, and even a huge section on magic. Pulling a single book labeled Magic 101 he took a seat at one of the work tables and dug out some ink and a quill from one of the drawers as well as yellow parchment. He was lucky in the sense that he knew calligraphy and could actually use a quill pen, but with clean paper in front of him and the book opened to the first page all he could do was sit there staring at the table.

Maybe it was the constant badgering of Dashie that kept his mind occupied or so many new sensory inputs while walking through town that got him through the day, but sitting there brought back the dull throbbing pain in his right shoulder and the smaller aches throughout his body. After having a metal shard yanked out of his shoulder it was obvious that this was real, even if he was subconsciously suppressing it here he was with a book of magic in a world filled with ponies.

He felt exhausted, and with thousands of questions floating around his mind about the particularly disturbing situation he was in the only thing he could do to keep sane was copy the first few paragraphs from the first page word by word. He didn't even have it in him to take notes or retain anything new. Just the sound of his quill scratching at the parchment and the act of doing something was enough.

"Magic is in essence a fabric of our worlds very being that permeates nearly every living entity and natural course in some way shape or form. For those gifted individuals with the ability to manipulate these forces, one can alter this fabric to benefit not only themselves but every member of society as well. One should however understand that magic, while functioning along certain rules within the natural world, can be whatever the wielder of these forces chooses them to be. Thus we find ourselves with the very means to warp, corrupt, and utterly annihilate everything around us without proper education and limitations set forth in learning. The smallest steps in magic are always taken for the safety of every being around us, and in this book the foundation set will prevent many of the risks associated with the powers to mold the world around us. We urge our readers to seek counseling from a professional teacher in conjunction with the texts to ensure the safest and most beneficial education possible."

"The first step in wielding magic is to gather a small amount into ones horn and holding it there carefully. Magic is a integral part of any unicorn, and can be manifested through the horn by first gathering a measure of ones own will and desire to do so. For this exercise, imagine the force required to move this very book with ones hoof. Just the smallest amount is necessary when doing so physically, but that same restraint should be used in gathering the necessary magic to shift it with ones horn. As a precaution, the practitioner should have a single gem with the capability to store magic. Should the wielder find themselves with too much magic gathered, or are too nervous to attempt the simple action the gem is more than capable of storing the magic safely without the inherent risk of miss firing the spell."

This was ridiculous. It was bad enough he could actually read the book let alone having every pony walking around with a horn being mild mannered godlings. Was this what the girls were so worked up about earlier to keep him monitored? Sure magic was a huge fucking myth amongst humans but really, its not like any of them could do it. There was no way in hell the human race would have survived if people were running around hurling lightning bolts at each other and fucking with reality.

At least he wasn't going nutty anymore, even if the book in front of him was bat shit crazy. Maybe there were some other books on the shelves with something more believable. If magic was here maybe there was alchemy too.... that would be a little more easy to slip into. Looking at his left hand he envisioned what the book asked, gathering a force of his will towards his half curled fingers and calling on the memory of squishing a kiwi in his fist as a base.

His eyes had to have been fucking with him. For just a second he could have sworn he saw the tiniest little arc of electricity playing across his palm and felt the distinct tingly sensation of being shocked. He smiled like a kid playing with matches for the first time in their lives, but in this case it was matches that could fuck up reality if he wasn't careful. Closing his eyes he calmed his breathing down and imagined the same force in his mind, only this time it was coming from the center of his chest and moving down his arm into his left hand.

This time he heard crackling, but keeping his eyes closed and concentrating he kept the energy moving until it was in the palm of his hand. When he opened his eyes he almost squealed with joy. Playing across his hand and slightly up his arm was what looked like black and purple lightning, and at the center of his palm was a small orb of the stuff occasionally sending off an arc down his arm before moving back to the orb.

Fuck everything, he currently had a fist full of lightning and nothing else mattered. The level of awe inspiring joy was only interrupted by the bang from the front door. Turning around he saw Rainbow Dash looking just as pissy as she always had, but her face shifted from angry, to shock, and then to horror at the maniacal grin on his face and the ominous lightning arcing around his fist.

"Oh buck me...."

"Come here you sexy pony... Let me touch you with my mighty lightning bolt!"

She immediately turned around and made a break for the door.

Outside Twilight was trotting her way back to the library with Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy in tow, studiously lecturing Pinkie on leaving Locks alone in the library unattended.

"We all agreed yesterday that he had to be watched Pinkie! If there was no one else around you should have waited for Rainbow Dash to show up again! Speaking of Rainbow she shouldn't have pestered us about watching him first if she doesn't even like the guy."

"I know we agreed to do this Twilight but Locks can't get into too much trouble on his own! You said it yourself he might not be able to read so there's no trouble there... And besides Locks and Dashie are besties! They get along really really well!"

"Darling please, they're like a married couple with the way they bicker and fight... But I do suspect something is going on with the two. They seem to be hiding something together..."

"That's just yer gossip turnin up Rarity. There ain't nothin goin on with that mare and that weird critter."

It was about that time they saw Twilights library door smash open with a panicked Rainbow Dash flying through the exit. The only problem was she stopped dead as black and purple lightning coursed around her tail. The mare's wings were pumping so quickly they were nothing more than a blur producing a deep humming sound. A single flash appeared beside them, and Princess Luna along with Dr. Meadows appeared at the groups side. They were about to greet them when they noticed the struggling mare in the door way.

Rainbow Dash was slowly being dragged back through the door, and while she grabbed the frame and tried to crawl back out they heard a depraved laughter echo out of the library.

"PREPARE THY ANUS BELOVED RAINBOW PONY!"

"GIRLS! HELLLLLP!"

She was finally pulled through the door, which slammed shut behind her leaving the small group standing there with their eyes bulging and their faces burning red. Applejack was the first to recover.

"HOLD ON SUGAR CUBE WE'RE COMIN!"

Bucking the door open unceremoniously the small group saw Rainbow Dash with her back against a wall and her eyes wide in terror. Locks was standing in front of her with what looked like a deep shade of pink lightning crackling along his right hand.

Everything was fantastic with the world. Locks could use magic, and in front of him was a terrified Rainbow Dash who thought he was going to give it to her in the butt. He had other plans however, and though he took a few seconds to concentrate he changed the magic in his hands into something far more suitable for this particular mare. His mind recalled every memory he could about softness, the warm fuzzy feeling of petting a puppy, that heart wrenching yet wonderful affection of cuddling a soft little kitten, basically every sense of adorable affection went into the magic, and seeing it turn from black/purple into a hot pink confirmed its appropriate shift.

He wanted her to feel these things, experience the same emotions he was pouring into the magic and with a wink he held out two fingers towards her and let the magic arc between the before colliding with the mare. His legs seemed to turn into jello, and falling to his knee he looked up to see if it had worked.

The girls were in shock as they saw the pink lightning arc into Rainbow Dash, but their shock slowly tuned to confusion when they saw her completely unharmed and standing on all four hooves. The mare's wings were spread out and flapping erratically, and the biggest, dopey grin spread across her blushing face as she looked at her friends. Applejack was on top of Locks in the next few heart beats, shaking his shoulders and yelling at him.

"WHAT IN THE HAY DID YA DO TO MAH FRIEND?!"

So slinging about magic apparently took a hell of a lot out of you, and Locks was having a hard time concentrating, but with a few more shakes he blinked up at Applejack and cupped her face in his hands.

"Evil love beam."

"What....."

Rainbow Dash let out a very girly giggle, and when Applejack turned her head to look at her she was currently rolling about on the ground giggling with her wings still flapping oddly. For a moment she was on her back, gently kicking her hooves into the air and once more giggling before she rolled unsteadily back to her hooves. Looking around her started staring at the girls and trotted up to them with that dopey grin plastered across her face. On the outside she simply looked like she was drunk.

"C'mere flutters..."

Applejack couldn't suppress the snort of laughter when she watched her friend pounce Fluttershy and start nuzzling her like a cat, muttering dreamily even as the other pegasus squeaked and tried to crawl away.

"So soft and cuddly.... I love you flutters..."

Locks let his arms flop to his sides as he heaved through a deep and pain filled laughter. He felt almost as bad as he had yesterday, yet seeing Dashie act that way somehow made up for it.

"Behold, the second and most diabolical magic ever produced by a human.... The Evil Love Beam!"

Face hooves. They all slammed their hooves into their faces which actually looked like it hurt a lot. Sure he was going to have hell to pay for doing it, but by damn he was going to streamline that little bit of magic until he could start lobbing it all over the place with impudence. For now though he was content with just passing out there on the spot.