Dramatic Irony

by KartalTheWriter

Rating: everyone
Tags: Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, DJ P0N-3, Dark, Sweetie Belle, Main 6, Original Character
Length: 6341

Sometimes, it's better if things stayed quiet.

I suppose you're wondering why I'm here. It didn't have to end up like this. But I'm really glad with how it turned out. I was so excited to have quiet in the hospital after my accident. For a while, it was really nice. Then it got boring. I can't stand boring. So I left.
Ponyville's a great place for me. There's these six ponies who all seem to like me. It's all so amusing. They think I'm this soft, silent, little sweetie. I'll soon prove them wrong...

NOT a self-insert.
Extra special thanks to EternalShadow54

Published 2012-07-16 18:14:04 UTC
Last updated 2012-07-29 21:51:24 UTC

Captivity

Here, in the darkness where I reside, there is no sound, and no voices to talk of the strange sensation they call sanity, because that is foreign here. There is me, that is Sync, and I am the only one here. No other life can penetrate this void, this chasm of irregularity. None, except for me, and me alone. It's nothing to worry about really. I've only been here forever.

Next to me, somepony moves. It’s that same movement I hear every day. Here, in the hospital, there is little variety. The nurses do the same thing every day. The patients have the same routine they follow. If they don’t follow that routine to the book, they get a little more unstable than they already are. And me, well I stare at these four walls on a strict schedule as well. The thing here is that everypony has a little… something strange about them.

There’s a barking pony in the room next to me. She doesn’t talk much, but when she does, it’s like a lap dog. Barking, barking, barking. It makes me sick. If only they hadn’t put that magical bandage on my horn, I could release some tension by blasting holes in the wall. Oh, but they’re forcing me to suffer alone, without magic.

In the room on the other side is a pony who seems to always be here; he’s always breaking bones or suffering from some stupid but curable disease. They plaster his hooves with stickers and give him as much tough love as he can afford. He’s far too sensitive for his own good and spends his days redundantly cowering in traction like a paranoid weakling. In fact, I find fun calling to him through the walls of my room; it’s amusing to hear him scream through his bandages.

I’ve heard them say dozens of times that I shouldn’t be in the same hospital with the normal ponies, that there’s something more wrong with me. You see, the only reason I’m here is because of something that happened a few days ago. I barely even remember it. All I know is I fell really hard on my horn and it broke. I didn’t know horns could break. It doesn’t even hurt that much, but that could just be the painkillers talking. After all, I am drugged up here most of the time.

I do remember coming here; that’s something I couldn’t forget. I remember the shocked voices of my former friends, disturbed by my impossible injury. The nurses, being earth ponies for the most part, also seemed relatively nervous. However, for some reason I was completely calm throughout the whole thing. I kept telling all my friends not to worry.

They must have taken my advice; I don’t see them anymore. Though I suspect that They have something to do with that. But that’s perfectly all right with me. I never had any friends anyway; they, as most things are, were just for show.

In this dark I know well, I listen for the hoofsteps of the only pony who loves me. He’s the only stallion doctor in this whole place, but he’s also the only one who specializes in unicorn medicine here in Ponyville. I don’t know why I’m in Ponyville, as I’m originally from Canterlot where there are plenty of unicorn doctors. But anyway, this stallion is very attractive, if I do say so myself, but he’s also very nervous. A wreck I’d call him. Worse than my neighbor. But he’s patient and determined I get well. Which is a plus and adds just a bit more to his character. Oh, here he comes now!

“Miss Sync, it’s time for your medicine.” There he is: tall, dark, and beautiful. Nervously, he steps over to me, a syringe vibrating in the green magic above his head. If I were more conscious I’d be nervous by how nervous he is as he goes to poke me with the sharp object full of sweet drugs. It's the same here every time. I'm just a bit more high than normal.

“Please, Doctor, just call me Sync,” I say in a voice fast becoming woozy from the drugs.

The stallion is young enough to play with, young enough and nice enough to hesitate when I ask for things.

“Okay… Sync.” He tries his hardest to smile at me in a comforting sort of way but only manages to convey all of his curiosity and immaturity in one simple look.

“Why won’t you tell me your real name?” I ask for the millionth time I’m sure.

Again, I taste the hesitation. The stallion chokes a little on his words.

“I’m really not quite sure what that has to do with anything.” His insecurity makes him double check the clipboard in his hooves.

“I love you. And you love me. I want to know your name,” I say unromatically. “Doctor, please just make everything that much easier. Tell me your name.”

Blushing uncontrollably, the stallion clutches the clipboard to his chest and looks definitively away from me.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about! I am your doctor and nothing more!” The stallion shouts pretty adamantly, but all I hear is ‘Deny, deny, deny.’ I smile and sit up in bed.

“You really should rest so you’ll get better.” The stallion’s flush is letting down and the clipboard has only broken into two pieces this time. I don’t stop with sitting up; I lift the covers and slip one of my back legs onto the cold, sterilized floor. This incites the reaction I’ve been waiting for.

“Sync, you have to stay in bed! I must insist on that!” The stallion rushes over and with the softest touch of a butterfly’s wingbeat coerces me back into bed. Because he loves me, he also tucks me in. He’s the only one who’s ever done that. As he’s adjusting my I.V. with meticulous care, I distract him with another uncomfortable question.

“Can I have a goodnight kiss to go with that?” I see his eyes widen with many emotions. His shaking thoughts ruffle the stream of magic surrounding the I.V. Slowly, he forces himself to look at me, taking a characteristically shaky deep breath.

“I’m afraid that’s not on your care sheet,” he says firmly, the red of excitement rushing to his face disloyally.

“I understand, Doctor,” I say serenely as I secretly sit back up again. From a sitting position, and the stallion’s placement about the I.V., the space is perfect for what I’m about to do.

Straining, I lift my head up to his to kiss him on the cheek. Immediately, his whole face turns even redder and his eyes get just a bit more dilated, as if I’ve transferred some of my medication to him. At first, he tries to protest, I think, but all that comes out is worthless gibberish. He doesn’t want to look at me, but he also desperately wants to, so to make up for his pride, I look at him. Slowly, he regains speech.

“That never happened,” he says in a very matter of fact sort of way, as if he were merely prescribing another medication or advising me on a new treatment. This would have been very effective had he not still been completely crimson.

“Whatever you say, Doctor,” I reply, lounging back on my bed.

“I’ll be going presently,” The stallion begins gathering his papers that fell off his clipboard in his emerald aura.

“Do you have to go so soon? We were just getting to the good part,” I pout, maneuvering my lips into that irresistible shape.

The things the stallion is carrying all fall to the floor and he looks at me, if possible even redder than before, and tries to speak again. He’s having more trouble resisting saying what he really wants to say, and I want to tell him it’s okay to have those feelings, but I’m not quite sure how.

Finally, the stallion gets some breath behind his words and I understand some of the things he says.
“You…(gibberish)...pretty, but…(more gibberish)…work ethic…my job…(even more gibberish)…” And then I give him the face I’ve termed ‘The Face’. It consists of ultra adorable behavior designed to get what I need.

The stallion reacts to the face and the statement with expected reluctance. He looks at me, straining all emotions and sighs

“Sync, this needs to stop. I can’t keep on feeling all these things.”

“You could feel better, more positive emotions if you didn’t hold everything in.”

“I’m leaving!” The stallion’s voice rises in foal-like indignity.

“I love you! Come back soon!” I call loudly, making sure anypony outside could hear me as the stallion opens the door.

“I have to,” The stallion mutters. “I’m your doctor.” With that, he slams the door. When I’m sure he is definitely out of earshot, I burst out laughing. And for a while, I can’t stop.

And to think he still pretends that I’m coming out of this hospital. I’ve heard them all talking about me. They’ve seen terrible things in my records that make them afraid. They wouldn’t let me out. Not like this.

Days are not always that fun. They try to keep me complacent by drugging me up, but to tell the truth I’m getting rather bored with that cowardly routine. Sometimes it doesn’t even feel like I’m drugged at all. I feel so perfectly awake and aware of everything around me. I even think I can use my magic again in these moods. But that’s not even the most important part.

Oh goody, here’s another doctor. This one is not as forgiving as the other. She’s also not a unicorn, which makes up for her lack of scariness. I call her ‘Nurse Coldheart’ even though I’m sure that’s not her name.

“Hello, Nurse Coldheart.”

“That’s not my name,” the pale yellow mare snaps.

“Now is that really any way to talk to me? Look at me. I’m helpless.” I pose appropriately, but the nurse just narrows her eyes suspiciously.

“Are you up to something?”

“Me? Where would you get that idea?” Coldheart smiles evilly. She just realized I’ve been staring at that one spot on her body.

“You see the key, don’t you? Go ahead; take a good, hard look. It’s not moving from my neck, little pony. And if you had the decency to avert your eyes, well…now we wouldn’t be here, would we?” Coldheart laughs, her voice dripping with malice.

Indeed, I have been watching the key to my room swing freely from her neck from quite some time now. But it is not necessary I avert my eyes for her comfort. There’s nothing to worry about. I’m not letting that mare touch me. Under the bandage, I feel my horn trying its best to glow, and it brings about the worst pain ever. My head is burning and I try to make it stop, but it’s malfunctioning.

“Give me Doctor Nameless,” I murmur softly.

“What’s that?” Coldheart asks icily, cocking her head to one side in that oh-so-annoying way.

“I said, get me Doctor Nameless!” I bellow, sitting up straight in bed and allowing the magic to flow freely out of my horn for now.

Finally, finally, Coldheart steps back with some misgiving. She gives me a nervous-but-still-too-proud-to-break look.

“I don’t think you should be doing that. You’ll strain yourself and then be here even longer.” Coldheart’s voice has dropped a bit in volume, but she’s still trying to be an authority.

The burning sensation is, if possible, increasing. The pain is now unbearable. I see powerful bursts of magic seeping out the door. I hope vainly one of them will find him.

Cautiously, through my pain, I notice Coldheart pulling a syringe from her pocket. She shouldn’t be allowed to carry sharp objects. Barely thinking on my actions, a gust of magic knocks the sedative smartly from Coldheart’s grasp. For once, she looks terrified. Slowly, she looks up at me, her face contorted in an unmistakable expression of horror.

“Y-you’re not ‘sposed…supposed t-to be able to do that,” Coldheart stutters, stumbling. With a satisfying crack, the sedative constricts in my hazel aura. The pieces fall delicately to the floor. Now leaning terrified against the door, Coldheart’s eyes turn to dots; her mouth is moving, but all that’s coming out are motorboat sounds.

All in a day’s work for me, really.

Finally, the nurse runs from the room screaming. The sounds she makes are hilarious and I find myself roaring with laughter despite the throbbing near the base of my horn.

By the time my favorite unicorn rushes restlessly into the room, I’m on the floor, tangled in the I.V. and still making those wonderful sounds as something wet drips off my face.

The stallion gives a jolt of surprise and calls my name, but I barely even know he’s there. He wastes no time getting the wires off me and levitating me back up to the bed.

“Sync, can you hear me?” He asks desperately. There’s just a hint of red on the bridge of his nose.

I try to tell him about the searing pain in my head, but I can’t get words out. He’s trying so hard to understand me, though. Then I feel myself blacking out and I know no more.

When I finally wake up, the stallion is still in my room. This time, though, he’s sitting in a chair against the wall alternately watching me and scribbling on his clipboard like mad. As soon as my eyes open, though, he stands up, leaving the clipboard and coming directly to me.

“How do you feel, Sync?” I blink up at him for a few moments before answering.

“Feels…cold,” I murmur, shocked by how quiet I am.

Immediately, he levitates more blankets over me.

“I have some good news,” the stallion says, smiling. The awkwardness has settled back in now that he knows I’m okay.

“They’re letting you out of here.”

Again, I’m silent. But suddenly, I feel really warm. I sit up, and for once, nopony stops me.

“What are They thinking?” I murmur, no longer speaking to my favorite doctor. No. Now I’m talking to the ponies who run this facility.

“They’re letting me out?” I ask, turning to the stallion. He nods excitedly, happy for me.

I look away and then back at the door.

Suddenly, I’m miles away in my own little world. But just as something starts happening, Nurse Coldheart appears in the room with us. The stallion jumps guiltily; I hadn’t realized he had gotten that close to me. But now’s not the time.

Coldheart glares at me. I glare back. The other unicorn in the room tries to shift us apart with his magic, but amazingly, neither of us move.

“It’s time to leave,” Coldheart spits out the worlds like tiny daggers.

“Don’t expect me to stay, Coldheart.” This achieves the desired result of more aggression. I laugh again. “I’ve always loved a good joke.”

Forgetting, I use my magic to disconnect the I.V. The stallion shouts at me to stop, but my horn feels fine now. Of course, now he’s gibbering over the blood dripping from my right front hoof. Out of nowhere he sticks a small bandage on it. I ignore him, now that I’m getting out. I think he says something else to me, like I’ll be right back? I don’t really care. I just really want to see the sun suddenly.

“I don’t approve of this,” Coldheart begins, and I can tell she’s been saving a long rant for me.

Suddenly, something in me could care less about what she has to say. In fact, I don’t want to hear her talk at all. Swiftly, I turn to face the nurse, wishing her quiet in my eyes. As soon as I wish it, her mouth is covered in a hazel glow. Her mouth is moving, but no sound is coming out.

“Ah, now isn’t that much better?” There’s anger and confusion in her eyes. I avert my gaze and walk slowly out of the room. Freedom awaits me. I haven’t time for every little pony now that They’ve seen sense. Yet, I want to walk down this path slowly. The smell is the same, the ponies are the same, and the sights are the same. Even from wall to wall, things are the same.

I hate it.

Involuntarily, my horn glows again, this time a bit more powerful that last time, and it hurts, so I direct the beams into the walls, scoring deep lines. Plaster and rubble fly at me, but I dodge it easily. There is a bit of screaming, yes, but I expected that. Some ponies just can’t handle a bit of change.

And change it is. It’s beautiful. So very beautiful. I can’t stop to admire it now. I have to make my way to freedom before somepony gets in my way. Of course, anypony who gets in my way will…well, they’ll surely be sorry.

As I try to walk out the door, one of the nurses, a white earth pony with a light pink mane spots my hospital bracelet and stops me.

What did I say about the ponies who would dare obstruct my path?

With a manic wink, I stare down the nurse as hazel smoke envelops her. At first, she seems confused, but then as she starts coughing, her eyes begin to constrict in fear. I giggle to myself. After all, it’s not that big of an accomplishment. Not yet….

At that moment, the stallion appears in my line of vision. His appearance distracts me and my concentration breaks.

“Hey Sync, guess what?” The stallion looks very excited and pleased with himself. It takes me a moment to notice he’s not wearing his doctor hat or lab coat.

“I’ve realized something today. I was sitting alone and thinking and I found my thoughts going out to you a lot more than usual. When I heard that you’d broken the bandage off your horn, I must admit I lost my head a bit. I was so worried. But now you’re better, and I can tell you what I’ve decided. I love you, Sync. You were right all along. I loved you from the day I first saw you. I still love you. So I did the only reasonable thing. I quit my job so I could spend more time with you, and maybe even get to know each other better. So let’s go somewhere! Let’s start a new adventure!”

It took me a moment, but I got there. I laugh my hardest, most satisfying laugh right in his face. At first, he thinks I’m happy and nuzzles my head. Then I zap him with a hit of negative energy and laugh some more. Confused, the stallion looks to me for an explanation.

“What? Oh, it’s nothing really. I was just planning something a little different, you know? It’s really been nice playing with you. You’re a great player. I’d even say you’re very well played.” With this, I laugh just a bit harder as the stallion scrunches his face in confusion.

“What I mean to say is…well how do I put this?” The passion is in my eyes all right, it’s just…skewed. “That was just a game we were playing. I mean, I’m sorry you went to all that trouble and all, but I can’t accept this,” I say, not sorry at all, as I push him back a step.

The stallion looks like he still doesn’t understand. What a pity. I’ll have to do this the hard way.

“What are you saying?” That voice he has is so pitiful.

“Can’t you see?” I ask, voice dripping with that sickly sweet venom of fake love. The only thing that would actually hurt him would be the words, as my tone still sounds believably lovesick. If not with a bit of a dark aftertaste, mind you.

“I’m leaving this place now. I’m leaving it alone,” I tell his face harshly. Finally he gets it.

I have to admit. He takes it rather well, considering.

“What?! After all I did for you?”

“In all honesty, I was paying you for it.”

“But there was that time--”

“None of your excuses! Let’s just stop that irritating noise, shall we?”

At that, I feel a powerful surge of energy envelop me. I feel like I can do anything. So I smother that stallion’s muzzle in a cloud of hazel energy. Startled, the stallion struggles, not even thinking to use his own magic. He makes that humming noise one makes when one’s mouth is shut and they don’t want it to be shut.

“What’s that, Doctor? I can’t hear you. Do speak up!” The humming gets louder and his eyes plead with me. The situation isn’t even that dire. “What, have I shut your nostrils, too? You should have told me! Silly me!” With that, I release the stallion, who gulps in air gratefully.

Conveniently, nopony else is around.

Panting, the stallion tries to speak again. “You’re still…sick, Sync. That injury…it’s messed with your head. You weren’t…you weren’t like this when you came here.”

Somehow, that infuriates me. Just as I’m about to use my magic again, the stallion stands up and faces me, his horn glowing.

“I may not be in charge here, but I’m not letting you leave. Not after you tried to kill me!”

I am not afraid. I don’t think I’ve ever been afraid. Not when I fell on my face and broke my horn. Not when I had my first sadistic thought. So of course I just can’t find fear when the stallion is advancing towards me, horn glowing emerald, the essence snaking around me tightly.

Instead, I feel a good laugh coming on.

“Please, Doctor, I think you’re overreacting a bit. Nopony ever said I was trying to kill you.”

I expect the stallion to respond in some witty--perhaps sarcastic--way. That’s what I would have done in his position. However, one can’t expect everypony to behave like oneself.

I don’t notice that my horn has started glowing and I’m actually fighting back against my captor. Oddly, I’m rather indifferent.

“I can break your horn again, Sync!” The stallion warns suddenly, eyeing the top of my head in distrust. “I don’t want to, though. Celestia knows what would happen…the first time was bad enough…”

“You act like the first time is over, Doctor,” I say calmly, taking the stallion’s moment of weakness to move out of his green embrace. “I never wanted to kill you; just shut you up for a while. Was it so much to ask?” At that moment I actually attempt to concentrate on just my magic for a little while. I’m not the best at magic, but I’m pretty good for a unicorn, I guess.

“No!” The stallion’s scream isn’t drawn out at all. I mean, I did just smash him into a wall. He’s still moving, and now finally nurses are coming to see to him. It’s at that moment I let go of every emotion I’ve been keeping. I take a deep breath and sigh.

I look down at my right foreleg. There’s this fashionable little plastic bracelet I hadn’t noticed before resting obliviously on my wrist. Lamenting the loss of my sharp objects, I savagely slit the plastic on my wrist and then stomp on it until it’s flat. The attendants are all crowded around that stallion. Nopony notices my serene exit.

“À Celestia, petit poney,” I say, not turning back to the stallion as I leave him and everything that goes with him behind for good.

Generosity

I expect to feel a rush of relief and freedom as I exit the hospital. I am slowly rewarded with said feeling. It makes me laugh, softly at first, and then successively louder. I feel new strength coming from corners in my mind I didn’t know I had. I can do anything!

Just to test my wicked theory, I aim an energy blast at a tree stump on the edge of the Everfree Forest. I squeal in triumph as the stump crackles and pulls apart. Giddy, I blast another stump. And then another. And then a rock. All of them shatter with a terrific smashing noise. So I get a little more ambitious and blast a rock that’s bigger than me. The pieces that fly in all directions after this get a little out of control. Suddenly, one hits me in the head, where my tender horn is still healing. The impact unbalances me, to say the least. The next thing I know, my vision goes black.

The next thing I remember is waking up to the sound of pots and pans and the smell of something hot cooking. I sit up bolt upright and feel instant pain. Unfortunately my horn is still as vulnerable as it was last night. Now it’s throbbing. Clutching my head, I look around and wait for the room to stop spinning. Within the blurry colors, I pick out an electric blue and turquoise mix.

“Hey, are you okay there?” A voice, surprisingly gentle to me, weaves into my ears through the smudged colors in my eyes, which I rub furiously in frustration. Slowly the colors relax and I see a white body and hot pink eyes that also belong to that wild blue thing, which happens to be the pony’s mane. I moan in response and fall back on…something soft?

The pony uses her magic to pull a blanket back over me, revealing herself to be a unicorn. She seems older than me, as she has her cutie mark; a pair of eighth notes.

“I’ll be right back.” The blue-maned pony says before standing and cantering away, calling some name as she goes.

“Wait! I demand to know why I’m here!” I mumble, reaching out with one weak foreleg that soon falls back down at my side.

I’m pathetic.

After a couple of minutes at least, I see that unicorn coming back, only this time she has a little white filly with a pink and purple mane at her side.

“This is the pony Rarity rescued? She looks pretty beat up to me.” The filly says to the older pony. I want to sit up again, but it’s just too much.

Suddenly I hear an alarm sounding, assaulting my eardrums with its piercing warning. I try to force myself up but end up staggering. For some reason, the other two ponies take almost no notice of it except…

“Ooh! That’s my soup!” The filly squeals excitedly, running in the direction of the noise. The pink-eyed pony comes to me and says something that sounds both incomprehensible and reassuring all at once.

“Who are you and what do you want with me?” I ask in the most threatening voice I can muster in my severely weakened state. The unicorn above me just laughs; I imagine, mockingly.

“My name is Vinyl Scratch and my friend Rarity found you lying on the edge of the Everfree Forest. You’re lucky she found you before something else did.” The pony shudders at that thought. “I was just stopping by when I saw Rarity crouched over this thing in the corner so I asked her what had happened. She didn’t tell me anything; just ran off and told me to watch her little sister. Here she comes now with the soup.”

The little filly returns with a steaming pot of soup in her shaky magical grasp.

“Sweetie Belle!” Blue leaps up and uses her own magic to take the soup from the filly before she spilled it. Coincidentally, both of their magical auras are the same majestic blue.

“Whew! That was close, Belle. You have to be more careful.” Sweetie Belle, evidently the filly’s name, doesn’t seem to hear a word Blue says. She leaps up and down in obvious triumph.

“Did you see me, Vinyl? Did you see me carry that pot in all by myself with magic? Rarity taught me that! Isn’t that cool?”

“Yeah, that’s really good. I’m sure Rarity will be really proud of you when she gets back.” Blue says obligingly, ruffling the mane of the younger pony.

“Who is this Rarity and where did she go?” I ask finally, irritated both by the throbbing in my head and the ambiguity of my situation.

The unicorn called Vinyl Scratch looks over at me with an uncomfortable amount of concern. So when she walks over to me, I put up a shield around me that Blue hits her nose on. I chuckle just a bit at that.

“Hey, no need to be so defensive. I’m not going to hurt you.” Blue says. Though there is patience in her voice, I can also hear a minor annoyance building in her subconscious. This could get very interesting very quickly if I play my cards right.

I don’t notice the filly walking up to me, delightfully innocent, and knocking on my shield like it’s a door. The impact sends tremors down my skull.

“I made you some soup!” The filly known as Sweetie Belle says. I want to send an energy pulse through the room to lend effort to my escape right then, but I tell myself to wait. After all, I still haven’t met this Rarity character, and that might be interesting.

Instead, I lower the shield and take the soup that the filly gives me. Though it hurts, I manage to use my magic to eat. I grimace when I realize the soup is burnt. I glare at the others, and they stare right back with glazed eyes. It’s very frustrating.

“How’s the soup?” The filly asks excitedly, leaning closer to me despite my unwelcoming disposition.

I think for a long moment about how best to phrase my displeasure.

“It’s like nothing I’ve ever tasted.” Obliviously, the filly beams. I smirk and push the soup away.

I hear a noise, like a door opening, and Blue jumps up to answer it. I hear her whispering to herself; something like ‘Please be Rarity’, which I find hilarious.

“What’s so funny?” The filly jumps up and down, wanting to be in on the joke. I smile at her unkindly.

I pause for a few moments before answering, wondering what the most infuriating answer could be.

“When you’re older.” I reply, enjoying the look of frustration on the filly’s face.

Meanwhile at the door, I hear the voice of a pony I don’t recognize. I assume this can only be the elusive Rarity. She, like Blue, is older than me. Her cutie mark is three diamonds, an instant turn-off.

“Thank you so much for watching Sweetie Belle and our…guest for me.”

“No problem at all.” Blue says. I hear the door shut. However, I seem to be hearing three sets of hoofsteps instead of just my rescuer and Blue. I must be imagining things. This pain in my head…perfectly natural to--

Blue enters my vision and I spill my soup on the floor. Not one, but two unicorns are following her. The first is a white unicorn, like Blue, but with an ornate purple mane and engaging blue eyes. The other is a purple mare with three colors in her mane. This one looks at me curiously, as if I’m some experiment.

Needless to say, I immediately dislike her.

“Hello, darling. Are you feeling any better? At least you’re awake.” The white unicorn says in a strange voice with a warm emotion I’ve only yet to find in the stallion. Instantly, I despise that emotion; for nostalgia reasons, if nothing else. She then turns to Blue and thanks her profusely for watching both me and the filly.

“No problem, Rares.” Says Blue nonchalantly. On noticing the other pony, she adds “Hey, Twilight.”

Sticky Eyes had been watching me ever since she walked into the place. Right now, she’s so fixated on me she doesn’t even hear Blue’s greeting. It’s most unnerving. While the white unicorns are saying goodbye, the purple unicorn introduces herself at last.

“Hello, my name is Twilight Sparkle. What’s yours?” She smiles pleasantly and waits for me to say something back. I let her endure an awfully awkward silence. Sticky’s smile slowly fades and she coughs awkwardly before continuing.

“My friend Rarity tells me she found you unconscious at the edge of the Everfree Forest. Are you okay?” I don’t say anything, but my horn glows threateningly. At least, it tries to. All that happens, though, is a minor spark. I’m malfunctioning again…

“Ooh, that doesn’t look good at all. Rarity was right to call me.” Sticky too has that warm emotion in her voice; this time with a hint of concern, something I’ve learned to manipulate.

“Sorry girls, Vinyl was just telling me the most delightful story--oh I see you two have met.” Diamonds says, smiling an enchanting smile.

“However, I’ve yet to meet you.” I say, leering at my hostess.

“Oh where are my manners? My name is Rarity. You’ve already met Twilight Sparkle, and I suppose you’ve met Sweetie Belle?” At this, Diamonds looks sternly at the filly. “You did introduce yourself, didn’t you?” The filly shuffles her hooves.

“I was busy making soup.” She mutters. At this Diamonds’ eyes go to the mostly full bowl of steaming, slightly burnt soup at my hooves.

“I am so sorry. My sister probably burnt that. I’ve told her not to set hoof into the kitchen, especially when I’m not home--” Diamonds probably would have gone on longer if I hadn’t cut her off.

“No need to fuss over me.” The filly, who is still sitting near me though I’d forgotten until now, seems tired of being ignored and starts to speak.

“I didn’t mean to burn it, Miss. I just wanted to make you something special.” The filly says in another tone I don’t recognize. Somewhere between warm and dangerous and manipulative in her own way.

“What did you say your name was?” The purple unicorn, who’s still staring at me, asks.

“I didn’t.” I smile sweetly. “Please call me Sync.”

“Nice to meet you, Sync.” All the ponies in the room respond in an eerie, connected way.

“It looks like you’ve damaged your horn recently, Sync. What happened, exactly?” Sticky Eyes asks, peering closer at my horn.

At this moment, the filly gasps and runs out of the room. Diamonds looks to see her go but otherwise nopony pays much attention. When the little filly comes back with a small adhesive bandage in her mouth, she looks rather proud of herself.

“Here you go, Sync. I hope you feel better.” The filly says, wrapping the bandage around my horn. At her touch I instantly feel the darkest form of hatred envelop me. It’s like a unicorn’s red aura holding me, fueling my fury as energy surges from my horn and blasts the bandage against the wall.

Panting from the effort of expelling the loathsome device, I lean forward and try to breathe.

Diamonds, not caring about her wall in the least, kneels down near me and puts a foreleg on my back.

“There, there, now. Don’t worry about my wall. The only thing that matters is your recovery.”

Seething, my forehooves shake, rattling on Diamonds’ cold, hard floor.

Sticky ‘hmms’ infuriatingly some more and stares if possible even more closely at my horn.

“I can’t imagine what did this. Sync, were you attacked?”

Attacked? Now that would be an intriguing story. Say I was walking through the Everfree and something jumped on me and bit my horn? I suppose that would hurt very much…

“Sync? Hello?” Sticky looks so utterly confused that I smile unkindly and giggle. All the ponies present look positively puzzled.

I snap out of my brief musing and look at the unicorns in the room. Sticky still looks confused, but Diamonds and the filly look worried. How strange.

“Maybe her condition has messed with her head a bit.” Diamonds suggests.

“I suppose.” Sticky consents, though she still seems unconvinced.

At that moment all attention shifts from me to the door as four ponies enter the room.

“Hiya everypony!” A pink earth pony says in an annoying high-pitched voice. Already, I don’t like her.

The others, two pegasi and another earth pony, notice all of us huddled in a corner.

“What’s goin’ on here?” An orange earth pony asks curiously with a thick accent. On seeing me and my seemingly pathetic posture, she and the others come and gather around me.

“Aww, poor thing.” The yellow pegasus says in a warm voice. “What happened?”

I know this type very well. She loves cute things and as long as I stay adorable, she’ll be very easy to control. In fact, it won’t be hard to make her love me and as soon as she does, I can probably have whatever I want. Of course, what I could possibly want is a mystery as of yet.

“We’re not quite sure, Fluttershy. All we’ve figured out is that she damaged her horn and it’s messed with her head somehow.”

Fluttershy, the yellow pegasus I presume, flutters over to me and makes a strange humming noise over my head. On a subconscious level, I feel it calming me.

“See, nopony’s going to hurt you here. You’re perfectly safe with us.” The pegasus’ sweet voice is like honey, but for some reason I don’t find it too sickly sweet. No, there’s something really familiar about her.

“Mommy?” I ask involuntarily, looking up at the yellow stranger in blind adoration.

Everypony is silent for a moment. Then an incredibly warm noise pervades the room with intensity.

“AWWWW!” All of the ponies in the room are making that strange, but not unpleasant, noise.

I have the distinct feeling that I’ve now got not just one of the ponies, but all of them wrapped around my hoof.