Estranged Anomalies

Panicking wasn’t something competent, capable ponies did. Those that were confident in their abilities, had a firm grasp on their special talents, and believed in themselves had little reason to panic. Kasikov fell under no such defining factors, and was totally panicking. Selling masks wasn’t like selling apples, there is no real necessity to having goddamn masks.

He was pacing back and forth behind the counter. Probably for about two hours, or so. Everypony else was already asleep, save for him. All because of this new problem.

“Okay, masks aren’t sustainable. Sure, they’re fun, and practical… but only in specific circumstances. The solution?” He taps a hoof against his chin. “I need to make masks that are sustainable. The kind of masks that are useful to have regardless of what the circumstances are.” He was beginning to make a mark in the wooden floor from all his damn pacing. “Masks are usually used in theatre, or theatre-adjacent activities. What else…? Bank robberies? That is kind of the opposite of practical, plus, not really lucrative to a good reputation.”

He groans, leaning his full body across the counter, looking out onto the ponies sleeping peacefully. His friends sleeping peacefully, even. The real problem of that was, after all this time… did he even know what a friend was anymore? He’d been locked up for the better part of a decade, or so. And while he had adapted well enough so far, that had mostly been due to the lovely and ESPECIALLY healthy coping mechanism of bottling up your emotions!

Kas pouts, blinking his eyes slowly and yawning. “Mmh, maybe I should take the advice of that musical number…” His dreary mumbles begin to slow as he too dozes off.

Not but a few hours later is Kas awoken by the telltale sound of paper rustling. A page being turned to be exact. Of coure, likely not totally the fault of Twilight, who is enjoying some late night reading. She probably had troubles getting to sleep too, but he was too sensitive a sleeper himself to sleep through the turning of the pages. Oh well, it was unlikely he’d be out much longer anyway. Between tossing and turning, nightmares… only a matter of time.

“No rest for the wicked, hm?” Kas chuckles, voice slightly hushed as Twilight jolts at the sudden intrusion unto the silence. Well, mostly silence. Rarity and Pinkie snored.

“Eep! Sorry if I woke you, Kas…” Her ears fold back slightly, while Kas deftly vaults over the counter.

“Nope. It was unlikely I’d be getting much rest anyway. Too much to think about. Everything just happens so much, doesn’t it?” He muses, earning a slightly confused nod from Twilight. He takes a seat next to her, leaning over to see what she was reading. “Anyway, what’s up?”

Upon being asked about her books, she brightens. “Ah! Well, this tome here is about enchanting! I figured if those ponies came back with reinforcements before the Princess could send her own guard detail, it’d be good if we all had a bit of extra firepower!” She winces a little, a bead of sweat forming on her forehead, “Of course, ah… ideally, we won’t need to go to that length. But I like to prepare for every possible scenario. Just in case!”

Kas nods in agreement, looking over the book with sudden intrigue. “Hrrm, smart thinking, Twi.” And she brightens even further at the compliment. The gears… the cogs up in his brain, they’re a’ turnin’. It is slow, not OSHA approved, and there is some smoke coming out of the mechanisms, but by god are they turnin’!

“Is there a real… limit, to what can and cannot be enchanted?” He tilts his head at her, to which Twilight shakes her own.

“Nope! Nearly anything and everything can be enchanted! Even items that already bear magics, if you are skilled enough. Starswhirl the Bearded apparently had a toothbrush called Bristletongue forged by an ancient dwemer blacksmith to bear remarkable Longevity, to ensure it didn’t deteriorate! Then apparently, he was able to inscribe numerous destructive incantations to dissuade intruders and would be thieves!”

Kas stares in silence. Oh god, she was doing it again.

“This is, of course, typically a difficult feat with artifacts due to the inherent magical structure within them! Enchanting them further can either dampen the inherent magical properties, or even go as far to make them malfunction!”

Kas blinks. This was how he died. Luckily, his will was already drafted. Everything was left to Gummy.

“But Starswhirl was able to perfect his OWN method for enchanting in such a way that it not only didn’t harm the inherent magic, but could empower it slightly through drawing from his own magical signature! Of course, close proximity is required for such a feat, but the lasting enchantments stay active on the object in question indefinitely so long as they have a strong connection to the ley lines and such.”

His brain was working overtime to sift through the onslaught of information to pick out the tidbits he could use. Of course, it felt like a mental blue screen through and through.

“Isn’t that fascinating?”

Alas, Kas.exe has crashed. Crash report: information overload. Twilight must have noticed the vacant, thousand-yard stare, because she slowly began to flush in dawning embarrassment.

“Er… I’m rambling again, aren’t I? Sorry…”

He snaps back to reality, though gravity idles to stay where it is for the time being. Reaching out, her head is effectively pat by Kas to bring about hopeful reassurance.

“Shh, it’s okay. You have a lot of words to share is all, and we’re happy to hear em’!” He laughs softly, causing her to playfully raise an eyebrow.

“Then why are you shushing me?”

He pauses for a second, seeming to need a moment to think on his answer. “Cuz… sometimes some words have ulterior motives. Like making ponies feel bad. Evil words, that gotta be sent to the Shame Corner.” Kas points a hoof over toward a corner of the room, where a chair sat that definitely wasn’t there before, facing sadly into a corner. It somehow seemed even darker there.

Twilight giggles, holding a hoof up to hopefully stifle said giggles, lest she wake her friends. “Okay, okay. Fair enough.” She pauses for a second, thinking. “...How did you get enough bits to afford this place, anyway? Considering how you didn’t have a place to stay the night, I assumed you were a bit light on money.” Her face flushes slightly again. “Not- not that I am trying to imply anything, by that! Just… just something I noticed, is all.”

“Ah, well… I had a very limited amount of money, and just wanted to be totally sure what could be done with it before I spent any, is all!” He is barely able to stop himself from faltering and tripping over his words, but it was believable enough, and Twilight seemed to accept that.

“That makes sense to me! Also… I have yet to receive a message back from the Princess yet, I hope she got the letter okay, this is a pretty serious problem, after all!”

Kas raises an eyebrow. “Is that really why you were still up?”

Her eyes go wide, and she looks from side to side, desperate for an escape as Kas sees right through her. Finally, she lets out a tired sigh. “I know, I know… I was telling everypony not to worry, but I guess I was worrying the most of all!” She sets her book down, staring at it silently. “It’s… weird, but nice, being thrust into a position like this, here in Ponyville. Here with friends, I… didn’t even really know I wanted until I had them. And even if I’ve only known you all a short time, you all mean a whole lot to me.”

She looks up, and suddenly flinches. “...Kas?”

He cocks his head, suddenly confused. “What’s up?”

“You’re, ah, crying…”

Kas goes totally still, reaching a confused hoop up towards his face, which comes back wet. A silent stream of tears. “Huh. Weird.”

Then, he laughs. Because at the end of the day, that is all he really can do. Even if it is a hollow laugh, or if it sounds wrong, or if it is inappropriate. Then something else unexpected happens. He feels Twilight pull him into a close hug, and his laughter stops.

“I’m not- I’m still learning about all this stuff, so… let me know if I’m overstepping any boundaries, or something…” Twilight mumbles the words out, seeming not too off put by Kas’ strange reaction.

Kas feels his ears fold back, as his last form of defense had failed. She hadn’t been deterred, so now he just laid there, slumped against her. After a few minutes, he giggles. “Sheesh… I’m not s’posed to be the mopey one…”

Pulling away slightly, Twilight shoots him a kind smile. “And yet here you are, still finding ways to laugh about it.”

His grin slowly starts to return. “And let my sense of humor die? Bah. Bah, I say!”

They are both giggling now, Twilight holding a hoof out against his mouth. “Be- be quiet! You’re gonna wake everypony!”

He sticks his tongue out, blowing a soft raspberry. “Baaaah.”

She rolls her eyes, looking back down to her book. “I don’t know what your circumstances were before this, and… well, while I’m really curious, I’ll let you talk about it when you feel comfortable.”

Kas is nodding silently, expression blank… but there is the barest hint of relief on it. “Thanks a bunch, Twi.”

Her horn glows once more, shedding light back onto the pages. “I’m, ah… gonna go back to reading now. Are you heading back to…”

But he was already out, partially curled up next to her and snoring soundly. She lets out a silent giggle, and gets back to her book, magicking the spare blanket she had brought for Spike over and setting it atop Kas.

Sirens were blaring as Kas woke up, asleep at a desk. He looks up and around in a daze, his office entirely empty, but not without sign of a struggle. Overturned stacks of paper, knocked over chairs, bullet holes riddling the walls, and the blood…

Damnit, the blood. The room reeked of it. The smell of dried blood. He reached to his chest, adjusting his crooked tie and standing up.

Upon looking, the entire complex seemed deserted.

Of course, except for two people.

Himself, and a fellow wearing a white jumpsuit bearing a symbol on his right breastpocket. A circle, with arrows jutting out of it into all directions.

His voice was the same as it always was.

Dry.

Tired.

...Bored.

“We’ve been through this song and dance time, and time again, K-11-A.” The figure steps towards Kas, face a mask of emotions. Rippling noises sound off on all sides, revealing what look to be armed soldiers at the ready. Weapons drawn, all locked onto Kas.

“You escape, you run, you hide… then everyone dies, and you come home.” Kas feels his eye twitch at that last word. “Do you enjoy all the death? Does it appeal to your ideals? Your sense of chaos? I suppose those are more notes for your record." The man sighs, cracking his neck. "After all, you laugh all the way while it happens so… I must assume it does-”

“You’re WRONG You’re wrong, and you know you are.” Kas suddenly screams, stomping his foot and taking a step toward the man. He hears clicks from all the firearms around him, and stops dead in his tracks.

The man brings a collar out from behind him, making Kas feel his blood turn to ice. “You’ve outwitted us for the last time, I’m afraid. Humanity needs a savior, and I am determined to acquire that savior.” Kas, feeling unable to move a muscle, starts to scream. ”And I will go to ANY lengths to achieve my goal.”

And the last thing Kas hears is the click of that collar around his neck.

Sleeping soundly was something Kas did not often get to receive. And while, strangely, he found he slept better tonight than most nights… he shot up in a cold sweat anyway. He stared around the room, panting a little. Twilight was gone, and he saw Applejack walk through the doors, tugging behind a small wagon with wood and other such tools she said she’d give him the other day. The tools were a bit on the older side, but it was better than nothing to get him started.

“Ah, up already, sugarcube? Thought ah’ was gonna have to wake ya’ myself…” Her expression gets a bit concerned when she sees just how bad he looks.

Giving a hollow laugh, Kas stands up. “Please do, next time.”

“Are ya… are ya alright? Yer’ lookin’ awful…” She points a hoof at his mouth, a trickle of blood coming out from it. “And bleedin’... again.”

He reaches up, hoof this time coming away slightly red. It was how he woke himself up. “Oh. Yeah, I do that. I'll be fine. Think I just bit my tongue.”

Wrong answer, apparently, because Applejack immediately starts squinting. He shrinks backward. “It- it might’ve been my cheek…”

She steps up to him, eyebrow raised. “Mighty hard to bite yer’ cheek on accident as opposed to yer’ tongue.’

Kas clenches his eyes shut for the briefest of moments, before opening them back up and chuckling. “I’m an odd guy.”

Then commences the staredown of the century, but Applejack soon relents. “Fine, I won’t pry… but remember, we’re all here to talk if ya’ need it. So… just be careful, alright?” He nods, she gives a tip of her hat, before heading off.

He begins fiddling with the building materials at the counter, thinking deeply. And, of course, thinking for him can often be quite audible…

“Enchanting, hm? I wonder… quite clearly only unicorns can use magic, and those… alicorns, I think it was. But is that really true? In a place as magical as this? I wonder…” Kas needed answers, so he begins to mindlessly work with the materials while he ‘thinks’. “Could an earth pony feasibly do magic? If they can, it doesn’t seem like it’d be common knowledge… I need to, like, find a library. A big library.”

And again, despite the musical number, he still really, really didn’t want to ask for help-

“Did someone say library?” Twilight bursts through the door, Kas meeting her gaze in silence. She falters, coughing awkwardly. “Sorry! You were, ah, talking out loud and I.. heard. Specifically, you mentioning wanting to find a big library?”

He nods slowly, smiling. “This is so convenient! I should lament about my problems more often to avoid asking for help!”

Then, he goes pale, Twilight squinting at him. He facehoofs. “Meee and my big mouth…”

He looks back up, jolting as Twilight now stands in front of him, violently shaking him by the shoulders. “Don’t make them sing the song again! It was hard enough for me to join in LAST time…” She sighs, pulling away and holding a hoof out, smiling. “C’mon, we’ll figure this all out together, okay?”

Kas stares at her hoof in silence, and despite Twilight knowing just about as much about friendship as he does… he can feel like he learns more from her every day. She seemed to be a natural at it. He sighs, but it devolves into a soft laugh as he takes her hoof. “Okay, okay, enough sappy stuff. I sapped myself outta it last night. Where to, boss?”

She leads him outside, a determined grin on her face.

“To Canterlot, of course!”