Peace Breakers

Episode Two: Ground Rules: Chapter 1

Twilight, Rum and Ale continuously glance back and forth at each other unsure of where to go from here. Twilight nervously clears her throat, and tries to handle the situation that’s been thrust upon her. “Well . . . welcome to my home, The Golden Oaks Library. My name is Twilight Sparkle, and—forgive me—but I’m going to need to get your names again.”

“I’m Beer, and this is Booze,” says Rum.

“Umm . . . I don’t think that’s—”

“Then why did you ask us?!” Rum shouts, exasperated.

“W-Wha—I-I—”

“Rum, honestly? Do you have to be this way twenty-four seven?”

“Hey!” Rum shouts. “The convenience store of Rum is open all hours, where all jokes are only one bit!”

“Yeah, limited supplies last.” Ale then turns to Twilight. “I’m Ale, and this is Rum.”

“Oh, okay.” Twilight now relieved. “Well, it’s nice to meet you both. If you don’t mind me asking, what was all that about earlier? Between you and the Cakes.”

“Which cakes?” Rum asks. “The food items, or Big Butt and Scarecrow?”

“Uhh, that’s—”

“What he MEANT to say!” Ale immediately cuts off Twilight as he steps in front of Rum with a big, nervous smile across his face.

“Yeah, what did he mean to say, Ale?” Rum intimidates. Ale whips around to glare intensely at Rum, who’s holding a hay-eating grin.

“I think I’ve heard enough,” says Twilight. “Clearly, you two should just take your bags and—”

“Twilight! What’s going on?” Rum and Ale turn to see a little, purple dragon walking down the set of stairs behind them. He rubs his eyes as if he’s just been woken up, and notices the three of them standing in the middle of the room. “Oh, we’ve got company.”

“Oh my Celestia! Dragon!” Rum yells, pointing his hoof. Ale turns, quickly filling with anxiety as his eyes are met with the horrifying sight of the deadly lizard.

“Ahh! Kill it before it eats us!” Ale cries. Both he and Ale rush towards the dragon. Ale, flailing his forelegs wildly and Rum on the verge of bucking the little dragon. Both Twilight’s and the dragon’s eyes widen with fear as the attackers gallop across the floor on a bloodlust. As the dragon shields himself with his arms, Rum and Ale suddenly find themselves unable to move. They are enveloped by a pinkish aura, and are frozen in place as the dragon takes a breath of relief.

“Have you two lost your minds?!” Twilight asks as she walks towards the frozen stallions. “This is my friend, Spike! And you two were just about to attack him!”

“Wait! You don’t understand!” Rum cries. “It was just a joke, you see? Just a joke!”

“Just a joke? He could’ve gotten hurt!”

“I’m sorry! We didn’t mean it!”

“Please, Miss Sparkle! It’s our fault! We were just scared is all!” Ale begs. “W-We were just afraid for our lives!”

“Well, that doesn’t excuse your complete lack of respect and courtesy to the ponies around you. Especially after what you said about Mr. and Mrs. Cake.”

“No! Please, forgive me!” Rum begs.

“Yes! Please, forgive him!” Ale adds. “No, forgive ‘us’! W-We don’t know any better! Please, don’t kick us out! We have nowhere else to go!”

“We’ll have to go out in the street again!”

“Kick ‘em out! Kick ‘em out!” Spike urges in a low voice.

“Well. . .” Twilight raises an eyebrow, pondering to herself.

“Please, Miss Sparkle,” Ale continues to plead. “We’ll do anything to make it up to you! W-We can be better ponies! We swear!”

“Hmm. . .” The aura around Rum and Ale vanishes, and they both fall painfully to the floor. They rub their heads in agony as they look up with Twilight towering over them. “Fine, I won’t kick you two out.”

“Yes!” Rum and Ale cheer in unison as they each grab on of Twilight’s hooves while still laying on the floor.

“Thank you, Miss Sparkle!” says Ale.

“Yeah! This means a lot!” Rum adds.

“However!” Twilight begins as their smiles quickly disappear. “You can only stay under one condition.”

“Name it! We’ll do anything!” says Ale.

“Well—” Rum attempts to interject, but is immediately punched in his side by Ale.

“The condition is: you can only stay here if you promise to ‘learn’ how to be better ponies.”

“Easy! We can do that!” Ale celebrates. “Shouldn’t be too hard to figure out.”

“And I’m going to be teaching you two how. I’ve been studying friendship for quite some—”

“Uugghh.” Rum groans. Twilight glares directly into Rum’s eyes as he—realizing he’s made a mistake—covers his mouth with his hooves.

“I’ve been studying friendship for quite some time, and I feel like this is a perfect opportunity to share what I’ve learned. This may even prove to be a valuable learning experience for all of us. All you two have to do, is follow my instructions.”

“Whatever you say, Miss Sparkle. We’ll do it,” Ale assures as Rum simply nods his head with his hooves still covering his mouth.

“Great! Because your first lesson begins now.”

“Oh . . . well, what is it?”

“I want you two to apologize to Spike.” Rum and Ale turn to Spike who is patiently waiting with his arms crossed. They get up from the floor, reluctant to take a step forward.

“I-I don’t wanna,” says Rum. “He looks angry.” Twilight sighs, trying to sustain her patience.

“Yes,” she begins. “That’s because you attacked him, and if you’re going to start making friends, you should apologize when you hurt somepony else’s feelings . . . or attempt to actually hurt ‘somepony’ in this case.”

“Okay. . .” Rum moans. He inches closer to the dragon, still fearful. “I’m . . . I’m sorry for trying to kick you to death.”

“Yeah, well—” Spike attempts to speak.

“Ahh! He’s yelling at me!” Rum shrieks. “That’s a sign he’s going to attack! Ale save me!” He turns and leaps into the air towards Ale.

“Wait, what?!” Ale shouts as he watches the incoming Rum hurdle towards him. Without any time to react, the two of them collide and tumble over the floor; fighting and shouting nonsensically to each other. Twilight presses her hoof onto her forehead as a headache ensues.

“This is going to be impossible.”