Shadow Play

"I'm sorry to hear that you are leaving us, and especially on such short notice." Grind Stone said with the utmost politeness. Testing restrained himself from diving forward at the stallion as he sat in the cold office at the end of the same shift that had seen his confrontation with Red Tape.

"Sir, if you don't mind me pointing out such an easily missed fact, that is not - indeed - what that piece of paper on your desk says." Testing said with all the decorum he could manage.

"I know," Grind Stone replied smoothly, "but, in effect, it is identical." The prim business pony leaned forward on his desk, giving Testing a look that wasn't sympathetic, but certainly hid all the anger Testing believed resided just behind the thin layer of hospitality the stallion seemed able to muster. "You are accusing my son of some rather dire things, and as it stands, you yourself admit that there were likely no witnesses to this event that you wish to report to me.

"Now, Mr. Testing Testing, I hope you understand the optics of having some seemingly random pony come off the street, work for two nights - causing a rumpus on one of them - only to then accuse my son, whom I have known his entire life, of improper attitudes and actions." Testing felt the urge to add this stallion's name to a list that only had one on it so far.

How fast anger grew.

Testing wanted to march out, to leave the two of them behind and start the search once more for some sort of job that wasn't here. He wanted to leave them as he had left Dick Slut.

But he couldn't.

Code Madrigal spoke of a shared hate towards the singular bane of the entire establishment. He felt duty bound to stay, if for no other reason than to return the Hell that the stallion thought he'd be bringing on Testing. And so he held back every word he wanted to spit at Grind Stone - save for eight particular ones he had just in case.

"Then I shall endeavor to find you proof." Testing said, lacking all menace or anger that he might've let into his voice. His words were a simple promise. They were simply facts that no pony would deny. Grind Stone, for one, seemed unaffected on the surface. Testing could only hope that the mire beneath the placid exterior had been shaken to its very core.

It was all the stallion deserved until the real reckoning brought everything else falling down atop him in a blaze of apocalyptic proportions.

"And you're STAYING‽" Puppershy gasped. "B-but, what if he really means it? What if... what if he does want to make you-"

"Then I'll chomp off his dick as soon as he tries to put it down my throat." Testing said, cutting her off before she could even finish. He then stopped, breathing as calmly as he could as he held out a hand and closed his eyes in an effort to tone down his anger. He hadn't yet truly decided if his rage was actually justified, or simply a product of past traumas.

He wanted to be angry, but right now there were concerns more pressing - or at least that should be more pressing - in his mind. "No... no, there's more. The stallion trying to antagonize me is just a small piece of it." Testing opened his eyes to a room full of concerned gazes. "I've... been having weird things happening to and around me recently."

"What... sort of weird?" Stellar asked, regarding the stallion with a cautious eye. Testing then did his best to explain everything he knew, had figured out, or suspected. It was a difficult process, but in the end the others had a better idea of what had been transpiring in their friend's head than anypony else.

"And, you're saying, that each of us give a bit of that feeling off?" Rose pressed. Testing nodded slowly as he did his best to try and explain.

"It's minor, like just a hint of the feeling that is almost unnoticeable." Testing replied. "I think that the more a pony has this... feeling about them, the more tied to the events to come they will be."

"And you're sure that these feelings are... well, what you are making them out to be?" Stella asked. "I'm not trying to say you shouldn't take these seriously - prophetic dreams have been recorded for too much of history for me to say that it isn't a possibility - but are you sure that you are getting this straight?"

"No, I'm not." The most honest part of Testing answered. "I'm afraid every moment that I'll find out at some point in the future that, SURPRISE, the feeling meant nothing, and as a result it ends up that I wound up ruining ponies' lives. I'm afraid, but I honestly have no better idea than what I've already told you all."

The room fell into uneasy silence for a while, as they all considered everything that had been said. It was a lot to take in, that much was for sure, and not all of it made perfect sense. Honestly, none of it really did beyond the fact that it somehow felt right that Testing of all ponies would be the one to be signaling the oncoming danger.

"And that stallion Red Tape, he gives you that feeling on steroids?" Rose said, breaking the silence after what had felt like hours.

"He's only beaten out by one other pony I've ever met. His being seems to exude the aura of this unreal fear, this... this dread out of time." Testing replied. "The amount of that feeling that he walks around with... its just so much."

"He might be the reason behind what you saw." Stella posited. "I doubt he'd solely cause the collapse of society and the general end of the world all in one go, but he might be the antecedent to it all. A herald of sorts that brings the doom and gloom on faster than it naturally would arrive."

"I fear that that might just be the case." Testing confirmed. "I don't know if he causes it, if he plays some major role in it, or if he might be just an inspiration to the actual pony or ponies that end up causing it; but I do know that he is the worst pony in this city. The next worst is a pony I recently befriended who I think I have a better chance of... redirecting."

"So you have been working at this on your own?" Puppershy asked. "Do you think we can stop this? Can... can we beat this?" Testing desperately wanted to reassure her. He wanted to hug her and tell her that, yes, everything was alright and that everything was well under control. He just couldn't.

"I don't know." He answered, giving no pony or griffon any hope they shouldn't have.

"Are we sure we should do this?" Gunther asked, looking about the group. "He might be dangerous. He might try and hurt us." The griffon cautioned. Testing had to agree. He knew that in the very least that the devilish pony known as Red Tape had it in for Testing, but whether or not that translated to a willingness to hunt down Testing's friends... so far the wrath of the pony had not been tested. It's limits were undefined - terrifyingly so.

"We have to try and do something." Stellar Afterglow said, as if trying to convince herself at the same time as everypony else. "We can't just let this go on to the end that Testing saw. No pony, or any other creature for that matter, could possibly live in a world like that for long. We have to do SOMETHING." She said, growing more sure and emphatical with each word.

"What about Cress and the artifacts?" Puppershy offered. "We could just call him and ask him to make a recording, or maybe try some other trick with a different artifact. It would be easy... right?" Most of the group seemed to take this with a nod of approval at what seemed the simplest solution to their dilemma.

"Easy? Yes." Testing nodded. "Will it happen? Probably not."

"Why not?" Was the generally voiced question.

"Two reasons." Testing began, closing his eyes as he resigned himself to the post of bearer of bad news. "One, it wouldn't be Cress' style. The pony isn't an artifact user - just an enormous dick. Changing somepony wholesale who's worst crime is thinking that he could treat the staff at his father's business like trash is just... well, it makes him not so much better than the pony he's changing in a way.

"Second, Cress' wedding is in, like, two weeks or so." The room was filled with a bit of confusion at this reason, though was stopped from pandemonium by Testing's raised hand. "I hadn't said because he hadn't told me until last week and he had said he'd rather not explain to his parents and Double's who we are and how we met. I think we can all respect that as we also were the ones that wanted space from him and the bad atmosphere that Ponyville holds for us."

The group was silent for a moment as they drank this all in. It was true that they had been the ones that had, in a sense, ran away. They had wanted space - especially for Gunther's sake - from Cress and Ponyville and everything else the area held. Though they had parted on good terms, they had parted intentionally. Calling in favors of such a high caliber against what amounted to the town's biggest prick who may or may not have ties to a dystopian future whose primary portent was Cress' doppelganger's dreams was... less than likely to result in success in even the most optimistic of circumstance.

"Cress is a no go." Testing said, as if to cement that fact all the further in their minds. "He needs to have a calm, relaxing time leading up to what is to be the best day of his life. I don't think any of us, despite any hesitancies or grudges we may or may not have, would want to ruin the best day of not only Cress but of Berry Punch, Spring Periwinkle, Midnight Raven, Double Time, and Spring Thyme." The group nodded in general agreement to this assessment.

Beyond outbursts they had had at one point or another, there never really had been animosity towards those they had split off from - in more than one sense. Sure, there might be some caution, maybe even a bit of hard feelings towards certain actions and attitudes that had been taken in the past, but even so it was minor at the worst of times.

"We'll have to settle it on our own then." Stella sighed. "It won't be easy trying to deal with a stallion who has such a superiority complex. He might not be a giant big bad evil guy, but small pricks can be just as annoying as large ones." The group nodded as one to this, already cooking up a variety of ideas.

"If you guys don't mind," Testing said, breaking into the thinking time, "I'll go and get into some more comfortable clothes. This suit is nice and all, but I need to not wear it all the time." Without waiting for an answer, Testing stood up, grabbed some close from the bag he kept his clean things in, and walked into the bathroom - figuring he should at least try and wipe away some of the smoky smell the club had left him with.

As he finished getting dressed once more, a gentle tapping on the door caught his attention. He turned and saw Puppershy entering, timid as ever.

"You holding up alright, Puppers?" Testing asked, shifting his shirt on properly as he approached the mare. Puppershy held her one arm with the other hand, looking to the floor as she tried to summon up her courage. "Puppershy?" The mare finally looked up, and immediately Testing could see how red her eyes had gotten. Down her cheeks streamed fresh tears that followed in the wake of their forbearers.

"Tell me you'll be safe." She pleaded sincerely, stepping closer to Testing. "Tell me that he won't hurt you and that you come back every night in the same way you left. Please... please promise me that if you have to... that we all can just run away from it all and find someplace new." Testing's heart ached for the mare at that moment, and in the best sign he could give her of how he felt, wrapped his arms about her in a loving embrace.

"I'll never leave you." He whispered tenderly to her, willing his words to be true. Puppershy sniffled once or twice before Testing pulled back, taking her hands in his own before pressing his forehead against hers. "I love you, Puppershy." He said, holding her hands in a firm - yet tender - grip. "I'll never leave you behind. Never."