Chapters The one who fails to comply
1.The one who fails to comply
I could almost cry when my clock made its alarming beeping sound. Ugh.
For a few minutes, I stared at the remains of the old device.
I came close to panicking when she knocked on my bedroom door.
I wasn't keen on going. It was Hearts and Hooves day, after all.
My mom knocked again.
She was right. I had tried to postpone this day as far as I could, but it was pointless.
Hearts and Hooves day comes every year, whether I like it or not.
First of all, ponies drivelling on its importance.
Also, ponies trying to find a date, only to dump them the day after.
Even worse is the fact ponies start laughing because I don't have a special somepony (eventhough I've made perfectly clear I don't want a special somepony).
"Shutter, you have to go!"
I hopped out of bed.
"Have a nice day, Shutter, and remember: today is supposed to be a happy day."
I ran to the school.
When I arrived, the horror had already started.
I tried to ignore them while I walked to my favourite spot on the playground.
Suddenly, Threshold sat down next to me. Threshold was a filly. She had a purple as fresh grapes and a fur yellow as the yellowest lemon. She lived on the corner of my street. She usually brought the flower to Derpy's place when she made muffins with Dinky.
"Hi", she said.
With 'the others', she meant our best friends: Featherweight, Button Mash, Pipsqueak and the Cutiemark Crusaders.
We didn't really talk much. I got bored and picked up my twig, which I then used to draw a manticore in the dirt.
"What are you drawing?", Thresh suddenly asked.
I took another look and drew him again, this time, the eyes were closer to each other. It was perfect.
"How did you know?"
I looked at the manticore again, and I found it hard to believe Applebloom's sister actually encountered one in the Everfree forest.
"I have a question", she said.
I didn't really know what to say. I just liked the tree, for no particular reason.
"Threshie, Shutter, how are you?"
I tried not to get angry over what he'd just said.
It wasn't long before Button, Pipsqueak and the Crusaders arrived.
I was already in the classroom when I remembered I hadn't answered Threshold's question.
Of course, Miss Cheerilee lectured us on the history of the day.
Suddenly, I saw Big Mac outside the window next to me.
I sighed as I did my duty and waved my hoof three times, indicating it'd be three hours until the next break.
Those three hours passed by slowly, slowly, as if time was having fun torturing me.
When the break finally came, I went to the pick nick table and took my lunch box out of my saddle bag.
I sat down at the table the closest to my tree.
Diamond Tiara sighed in a dreamy way and said: "Would you be so kind to move over to another table? Silver gets twitchy when there are three ponies at one table."
Silver Spoon seemed agitated, but Diamond Tiara hadn't given up yet.
I tried hard not to start laughing at their ridiculous attempt.
Tiara seemed a bit shocked I hadn't fallen for her 'charm', but really, what'd she expect?
I tried not to observe them too much, but my curiosity got the best of me.
Diamond Tiara seemed to point my way for a second. Vendell glanced at me and frowned.
I was glad when I was accompanied by Button and Pipsqueak.
"You two still coming to the party this evening?", he said.
Button was throwing a LAN- party at his place.
Button spoke of his latest gaming experiences, Pip about his grandmother's banana pies and I was just happy I had friends.
I ate half my sandwich. My mom had smeared it with strawberry jelly. I didn't like jelly.
Suddenly, it came to me.
I felt a bit disappointed. I always got nervous whenever I didn't get closure.
While I was thinking this, Skootaloo scootered through the school gate, the other Crusaders dirt skiing behind her.
She had a large flower imbedded in her mane, probably a gift from Big Mac.
She told the day had once stopped two armies from engaging in an all deciding battle, so the soldiers could be with their loved ones.
Most ponies still believe this was a good thing, but let's be honest here:
I was considering pointing it out when suddenly I felt something bump into the back of my head.
Whilst Cheerilee was dreaming away with the thought of the hero who saved the princess during that war, I was begging she didn't notice I was unfolding the message.
I knew I was doing this against the rules, but I was curious what might be written on it and I'd heard the same story a million times, so I wouldn't really miss out on anything.
I gasped in disbelief while I scanned the letters. It was an anonymous message.
"Will you be my special somepony?", it said.
How could I not think of this? Letters were passed in class all the time, but this was Hearts and Hooves day, of course it'd be a love letter.
Was it somepony who really cared, somepony who's heart I'd have to break?
The greatest horror had yet to come: Cheerilee noticed the piece of paper in my hoof.
"What do you have there, Shutter, passing notes?", she said as she snagged the note from my hoof, before I could hide it.
The whole class, apart from my friends, started laughing. Applebloom and Scootaloo looked at me with compassion. Sweetie Belle was woken up by the laughter, after she'd fallen asleep during Cheerilee's lecture.
Cheerilee, who could hardly resist a smile herself, asked for silence.
First, only my cheeks went red from embarrassment.
Tiara and Silver started laughing again.
I choked on my incomplete words, and found myself incapable of saying anything.
I ran and ran and ran. I lost track of time.
I looked around, and found myself at Sweet Apple Acres.
It was after my head started hurting, I stopped crying.
I hadn't noticed Granny Smith was behind me.
"Well, dear, what's on your mind?", she asked.
I was still too deep in shock to say something that actually made sense, so what came out of me was something like:
Granny patted me on the back.
I was grateful she didn't bring me back to school, instead, she brought me to her house and gave me a hot coco and a few hoofkerchiefs.
When I woke up, I heard Granny talk to somepony outside.
Button was the first to speak.
Sweetie Belle nodded at the saddlebag.
"Look, if you don't want to come this evening, you don't have to, I can always scratch you from the list, we won't be mad", Button said.
Sweetie Belle agreed.
"No, I'll come."
Before she could open the door, it was done from the other side. My parents came in.
'Duuuh, of course not', I thought, instead I said:
He nodded thankfully at Granny.
'We can talk underway' might have been a bit exaggerated. We didn't speak a word.
When we reached the door to our house, mom finally broke the silence.
Did she even know what she was talking about? Did she not know the mind numbing effects of that natural poison? Of course she didn't, it had infected her already.
Mom continued: "The heart wants what the heart wants"
She smiled at my dad, and hardly even noticed I walked up to my room.
When she realised I was gone, she yelled.
I didn't leave my room. Instead, I picked up my broken clock and an old manual.
I had been interested in mechanics since I got my first toolkit, five years ago.
I kept track of time via the sundial I could see in the garden, outside of my window.
I tried to tighten a gizmo, but I couldn't do it with my bare hooves.
No, not A note, THE note.
I held the note for minutes. I read it over and over again. The message of my undoing.
I contemplated dumping it in the trash, when I noticed something on the back of the note.
An invitation. A way to meet the pony who sent me this message.
A part of me wondered: "What if I give in?"
I tried to focus on the clock.
This, this is achievement.
"How do you know if you've never been in one", something said.
I had to lay down for a second. I was losing it.
"Everything is going to be fine. I'll stay in the house tomorrow and keep working on my robot."
I took a glance at my closet. I opened it up and took out my drawings.
Some of my drawings were Everfree beasts.
I was interrupted by my mom:
I looked at my clock. It said I still had forty minutes. Dang, I must have made a wrong calibration. I'd fix it when I got back.
The one who wants to deny
The one who wants to deny
I speeded over the streets.
I didn't know why I took the letter with me.
I huffed and puffed when I arrived at Button's place.
I knocked on the door and Button's mother opened it.
I recalculated. It normally took me fifteen minutes to go from my house to his house, my mom had said I was going to be late.
Dang
Mom had tricked me out of my room.
I was relieved my clock might be fine after all, if I had taken five less minutes to get here this time, but that didn't reduce my agitation.
Mrs. Mash looked around again.
She let me in and I saw mister Mash was knotting his tie.
"Button and Sweetie Belle are upstairs. They're playing a game, I'm sure they'll let you play with them. If you want anything, just ask Button, he knows where to find everything", Mrs. Mash told me.
I nodded, and said: "Okay ma'am, have a fun evening."
I knocked on Button's door, but they didn't hear me.
Their laptops were lit and Button was using the oculus.
The virtual reality system didn't allow him to see what was actually happening around him, since it covered his eyes completely, so he didn't see me enter the room.
Button smiled and said: "I'm gonna beat this monster, Sweetie Belle."
Sweetie Belle giggled and put a hoof in front of her lips, ordering me to remain silent.
Suddenly, Sweetie growled and gave Button a small push on the shoulder.
The terrified foal was launched into the air, screaming and yelling.
"Dang it, Sweetie Belle", he complained, "why did you do that?"
Button seemed to relax a little bit, then, he noticed me.
"Shutter? Hi, eh, how long have you been standing there?", he asked.
Sweetie Belle patted him on the back.
I tried hard not to laugh. 'Brave' is not exactly how I would've described his panic attack.
"Why are you so early?", Button asked.
Sweetie Belle clicked away a few windows on her screen.
So we did. We placed our laptops on Button's desk and started up the game.
Button and I just kept dying.
We played for half an hour, and I forgot about the letter, the worries and all bad things that had happened that day.
Button logged out of the game and went downstairs. His parents had already left.
After he had opened it, Applebloom and Skootaloo came in.
"Hey girls!", Sweetie said, "do you have your laptops?"
Button and I passed a frown.
It didn't take long before the doorbell rang again.
They added their laptops to the ensemble and Featherweight picked some spare LAN cables from his saddlebag.
This time, Dinky Hooves and Threshold were at the door.
Now, a whole group of ponies had arrived:
It felt kind of strange to let them in, because some of these ponies had laughed at me when I had received that letter.
We all gathered at the table and Button performed a head count.
We started up the game on a server Button was hosting.
Next to me were Featherweight and Applebloom.
I just defeated Nya when Applebloom bended towards me, and spoke with a tone so only I could hear her speak.
I was furious.
"You read that letter?!", I yelled, completely forgetting about all the faces around me, "Don't you understand how personal this is?"
She cramped together with every word.
"Uh, Shutter?", Featherweight responded.
Featherweight pointed at my laptop. I had smashed the keyboard with my hoof.
I tried to calm down, but it was of no use. I was infuriated.
Skootaloo killed my character in the game.
The little Pipsqueak was the first to move.
After that, he went inside. I stood there.
I reflected on my day while I enjoyed the cool evening breeze.
I heard the door open and close again, as Applebloom, Threshold, Sweetie Belle and Button came outside.
"Are you okay?", Button asked.
Sweetie Belle scratched her neck.
"You do know you'll have to choose, right? You can't just ignore something like this."
I swallowed the last bits of my anger.
"You're probably right."
I wanted to say no, I wanted to run away again, run as far as I could.
Button nodded.
They turned around and went back.
"Threshold?", I said, before she could follow the others inside.
We went back inside, and I could feel the crowd's eyes poking me.
My computer was broken. I attempted to fix the device while I was watching the other players fight each other.
After half an hour or so, all players were taken out, and they started over.
I moved the last key in place and was content with the look of it.
The one who doesn't want them to break
The one who doesn't want them to break.
I didn't really know what to say.
My eyes were trying to adjust to the darkness.
Skootaloo gave me reproachful glance.
I was about to apologize, when the lights went back on.
Button repetitively pushed the on button of his computer, but it was useless.
For a second, I considered lying, but I immediately rejected the idea. I'd rather have Button hate me than lie to him.
"I think it's my fault", I said, preparing for a rage burst.
Tais looked at my laptop.
Skootaloo gave me another angry look. Button caressed his deceased laptop.
"It couldn't be his computer, he doesn't have the amount of power to fry all of our laptops."
Threshold looked outside the window.
Sweetie Belle nodded. "Okay crusaders, we'll check the back."
The six ponies left the place.
"My mom is going to be very mad", Puffles said.
"Not if I can help it", I said. I quickly started working on my laptop.
"Can you fix it?"
I fixed the laptops as fast as I could. It took me about half an hour to fix the other thirteen.
"It might still be a bit glitchy from time to time, I'm sorry I can't get it perfect", I said.
I was flattered. I wanted to say thanks when I suddenly realised something.
"Shouldn't they be back by now?", I asked.
Pipsqueak had fallen asleep in the couch. It was a late hour for him.
Puffles took a look outside the window.
"Let's go then", Button said.
Threshold, Featherweight, Button and I went outside.
Threshold scratched her chin.
I should've known it was a bad idea by then, but for some reason, it didn't occur to me.
"Good thinking. I'll take the west, you take east", Featherweight said.
We had only taken two steps at the west side and we already got jumped.
Ummy protested, but I pressed my hoof into his eye.
We slowly crawled through the garden.
We soon found ourselves at the back of the building.
Yummy and Crummy were holding Applebloom and Sweetie Belle against the wall.
Tais was knocked out on the floor. There was no sign of Skootaloo.
I could see Vendell as well. He was poking the wires at the side of the building.
I saw Drummy pass the corner. He was somehow keeping both Button and Threshold in control.
"And these?", he asked.
Drummy wanted to bring the two to the wall, but Button kicked him in the knee.
Chummy pushed Nya against the wall harder, and she squealed.
"I have defeated a thousand of creeprs and have vanquished the Overlord of More, I will not be defeated this easily!", Button yelled.
"Why are you doing this?", Button asked.
Button frowned.
Vendell shook his head.
Something was wrong about his plan. Wouldn't he just blow himself up in the process?
"I don't want that kind of a present, and I already rejected you! Now let me out, my dad can get you in prison for this!", Diamond screamed. Apparently, she was inside the potato sack.
"Oh you will like it", Vendell said with a manic glare.
"Found it!" He bucked the gas line.
"Where's my lighter?", Vendell asked Ummy.
I was getting nervous. With the sparks coming from the broken wires, the building could explode any time now.
"What do we do?", Feather asked.
"The only reasonable thing to do", I smiled, content with my ridiculous plan.
I went straight for Chummy.
I guess luck was on my side, because when I jumped Chummy, he hit his head against the wall and passed out.
"Ummy, my lighter!", Vendell yelled.
"Cutiemark Crusaders kung fu champions", Sweetie Belle answered.
Chummy, Drummy, Crummy, Yummy and Ummy were all down.
Caundles and Nya were moving Tais away and the Cutiemark Crusaders were pulling the potato sack over the rocky bottom.
I was surprised how easily these guys were taken down.
Chummy woke up and immediately charged Button.
She kicked him so hard he landed on the other side of the garden.
I desperately tried to free myself from his grasp.
I can still remember how I was launched into the air.
The one who needs to be unbroken
The one who needs to be unbroken
My head felt like it was going to implode when I woke up.
I could see my mom sitting in the corner.
Mom looked up immediately, and ran towards me, tears on her cheeks.
"Thank Celestia, you are awake!", she said whilst she hugged me.
I don't know how long she hugged me, but I didn't want it to end. Suddenly, my dad came in.
"You're awake! He's awake!", he shouted.
Dad ran towards us and joined the hug.
"How long have I been out?", I asked.
My parents left the hug. Mom and dad gave each other the should-we-tell-him-maybe-we-should look.
"When are we?", I asked again.
I thought back at what had happened yesterday.
"Are the others okay? Is anypony hurt?"
I tried to sit up, but pain cut my stomach, and I laid down again.
"They're fine. That Tais kid is a little bit shaken up by that awful fight. Button and his family are staying with us for a while."
I sighed. I hoped she'd be all right.
"You should probably get some rest now", dad said.
I wasn't happy with the thought of staying here any longer, but my stomach seemed to agree with the medic.
"Almost forgot!", dad said.
"My drawings!"
I braced myself for the upcoming lecture about wasting my time on useless things.
I couldn't believe he approved.
"I based the drawings of the Everfree beasts on biology book from the library. I figured the plans for the robot out myself."
I hadn't seen him so enthusiastic since the last Daring Do novel came out.
"Do you really think it'll work?", I asked.
My parents had left to prepare the house for the Mashes' stay.
I opened up my laptop and looked at the time. Three thirty.
"Sugarcube Corner, four o' clock tomorrow"
I still hadn't figured out what to think of it.
I managed to get to Sugarcube Corner. I crawled the last bits, trying to ignore the pain.
Pinkie Pie was keeping the business going. I saw muffins, cupcakes, pop tarts... Aha, a wall clock!
I started thinking who the mystery mare could be.
The crusaders had been in my sight when the note found its way to my head, so it couldn't possibly be one of them.
For a moment, I thought it was Threshold, then again, she alibied out, being at Rarity's shop.
Perhaps she was a little late.
I waited there, fighting the pain.
Pinkie Pie must have heard me, because she walked outside and tried to cheer me up.
"Cookie?", she asked. "Ooh, ooh, balloons will do you well."
I tried to dry my tears, but my stomach cramped again.
"Cupcakes? Milk? Bubbles?", Pinkie asked, desperate to console me.
She tried to walk me there, but I couldn't move a hoof without cramping together.
"Oh dear, I can't carry you by myself", she said, "Wait here!"
'Duuh', I thought. I collapsed on the floor.
What were probably only a few minutes felt like hours.
"Rarity was the closest by", Pinkie said.
They lifted me up and brought me to the hospital.
Threshold instantly embraced me. I was shocked, didn't know what to say.
"You're hurting him", the doctor stated.
She let go and jumped back. Her cheeks were red.
"Why did you leave, for Luna's sake!", dad said.
I tried to make a sentence, but I didn't know what to say.
Threshold gasped for breath.
Rarity smiled.
I didn't know what to say.
The doctor tried to hide his face in his vest.
"Just... well... I understand if you're mad", Threshold said.
I gave it a quick thought. I raised my shoulders, pulled Threshold towards me and kissed her.
"I..uh..I", she stuttered."
Epilogue
Button readied his controller.
We gave each other a quick I'll-beat-you-so-hard look and started up our robots.
I was sure I'd win this round.
Too bad, Button was a pro with joysticks.
The second Sweetie Belle had waved her flag, we shot onto the course.
Still, I felt a bit victorious.
Next project: a sentient robopony.
Threshold helped me up and gave me a hug.
We didn't talk. We didn't need to.
"I'm glad I'm here with you", Threshie said.
Sweetie Belle sat down next to us.
Thresh and I passed a frown. I could tell from her eyes she was thinking the same thing.