Striving for Adaptation

Softly~

My head was resting on something incredibly soft and warm. Any thought simply dissolved under the influence of this sensation. It's kind of like the feeling when you can't solve a geometry equation for half an hour. But a pleasant version. Finally, there was a pleasant calm in my head. It felt like I could fall asleep at any moment.

"Well, now you definitely can't say you don't like my caresses," Celestia chuckled. From her breathing, my head, resting on her belly, lifted slightly. Not that it was critical or unpleasant in any way.

In any case, I didn't bother myself with any response and continued enjoying the complete calm in my head. However, my senses decided to tear apart this idyll. I heard Celestia's heartbeat. And it was slow. Unhealthily slow, I'm sure. When you hear something like that, you can forget about rest.

"Aren't you afraid that one of my little ponies might notice us? The maids sometimes enter my room without knocking," Celestia asked, slightly rubbing my head with her wing, as if trying to wake me up.

Not that there was any need for that now.

I opened my eyes and slowly sat down on the bed before noting: "If you were really worried about that, you could have just said no to my request."

"How could I refuse you? When you came to me and asked to lie together, you looked like you were about to cry," Celestia said with a slight chuckle.

I adjusted my glasses and grumbled: "I wasn't going to cry! I just came to you as soon as I woke up."

Celestia smirked and asked with a grin: "Maybe you'd look better if you slept in your room instead of on the roof of my tower?"

How did you know!?

Apparently, she roughly read my thoughts and answered, maintaining her expression: "Sorry, Daniel, but to keep the nobles from going completely crazy, you're regularly being watched. Of course they often lose sight of you, and of course I asked them not to watch anything very personal. But in general, there is always somepony watching you from a distance."

It took me just half a moment to realize that she must know about the meeting with Cozy Glow. Again, Celestia read me and said, nodding seriously: "Yes, I know you met with some filly from the orphanage. However, I don't fully understand the reason for this. Would it be difficult for you to explain it to me?"

I took a deep breath. There would be no point in lying. And breaking myself every day is simply beyond my strength. Putting my hands on my knees, I said: "I plan to transfer part of your soul that's stored in me to someone else. So it doesn't destroy me while I figure out a solution."

Celestia thoughtfully hummed and asked: "Why did you choose a filly specifically, and not someone familiar?"

I took a long, deep breath. Absolutely every particle of my body doesn't want this. Absolutely every particle screams that this shouldn't be said. But I said it: "I don't want to risk my friends. Not one of them. It's just easier for me to put at risk a filly I barely know."

P̸̨̢̟̰͈̣̼̜͚̦͊ͅe̶̛̦̯̼̪̟̖̊̈́̉̑͂͑́̊̀̒͘͜ȑ̴̻̭̭̾̑͘̕f̴̡̧͓͚̙͖̻̣̟̟̩̹̰̞͖̜̂̈́͊̿̈́́͐̀̐̆̏̓͋̈́͝ḛ̷̺̗̫͖͚͕̘͙̯̓̀̓̍̉̍̐̚͝͝͠ͅc̷͍͔̥͕͊̀̈́̅͗͋̎̾̈́̕͘͝t̷̢̛̛̺̟͔̪̹̥̠̰̅̿̑̆̉̈̽̇̈͆̍̓͘͝ì̵̡̲͈̙̖̘͕̰̦̫̬͎̲̽̉̽̿̌̏̇͝ͅơ̵̦̠̥̼̼͓̥̜̲̻͌͊̉̎͐̃̈̐͗̍̓̕͝͝n̶̬͈̝̫͉̪̻̝̼̲̠̜̋̅͊ ̴̛̗͚͍̩͚̱̦̑̂͆̋̒̇͌͂͊͐͆̋̓͑̕͘ẃ̷̢̠̻̯̘̻͑̊̉͘o̶̬̻̼͎͆͆̎͊͘u̸̢̢̘̯̰͒̊͊͂̊̆́͐́͆̑l̴̢̨̧̝̤͔̦̭͍̦̮̥̼̼̹̫̠͂͋͆͐̀͊̿͊̅̓͊̒͛͗̌͝͠ḍ̸̨̢̧̥̠͔̻̜͉̫̬͉̼͚̭͆͋͂̿ ̶͚̝̥͚̘̯͐̇̍͆́̾̃͜͠ͅn̸̛͕̟͈̟͈͍̰̣̣͖̰̲̈́̃̈́̾͗͋̉̈́̚ö̷̡̻̺̜̘̱͇͙̠̻̯̗̳̳̥́́͋̒ţ̶̪̤͉̻͍͔̰̤̹̣̯̭͗̉͂̌̀̃̂̔̚͠ͅ ̴̹̫͙̍ã̸̢̯̥̝̝̮̮͇̫̳͖͙͚̑͆́̿̓͊̍͐̈́̄̆̒͘͜͝͠l̶̛̛̮̖͆̇͊͒͌̃̂̈́̆͋̿͐̌l̴̗̘͉͖̳̜͉̠̈́̊̇͌́̒͜ö̷̡̡̱͖̪͔̼̘͚͎̰̒͒̀͒̀̅̑͝w̵̜͖̒̏͊̽̓͗͊̆̌͂̑̽́͝͝ ̵̱̬͉̬̭͈̺̟̝̟̫̑̀̌͌͗̾̅̌̓̈͐̈́͆̒͘͘͝s̵̘̗̤͖̭͚̟͕̤̬̣̅͋̃̿̏͒͜͝ͅù̷̡̨̘̼̘̞͖̙̻͚͛̽̽̈́ͅͅc̵̢̜̝͔̺̯͑͋̆̿̀͜͠͠h̶̤̒̿͗̿͌̄̆̚͝ ̵̡̢̬̦͓̅̃͋͆͋͘a̶͚̝͖̯͙̜̘͚͚͖̠̐̍͋̋̏̀ ̶̧̙̩͇̻̙̜̺͔͈̘͉̙̞̋͌̌́̎̔͒͂͑̓̒̊̚̚ẁ̸̛͙̖̹̬̝͔̘̦͎̭͖̀́̂̚͜͝ͅȩ̵̢̛̼͍̦̳͔̈́̆̿͑͂̋̊̿̋̌͒̔͂͜͝ą̶̛̟̲̮͎̜͙͍̘̪̩͍̐͂̄̂̈̄̈́̂͊̆͘͜k̸̡̹̤̳͍̬̭̠͇͉̬̖̟͚͗̒͐͐̈́̊̊̾̂̚̕ń̵̛̼̤̠̓͐̔̂͒͐̊̋ͅe̴̜̫̰̜̼̗̙̣͔̖̱̦͖̘̖͙͍͂̎̾̕s̴̨͉͙̯̘̜̳̟̹͍͓͍̗̀͂̅s̴̟̙͚̰̠͊̽̈́̚͘.̷̧̤̘̹̳̮͓̥̙͈̭̠̗͎̪̠̓̓̂ͅ

Celestia sighed and with a light hoof movement, turned my head so that I was looking at her tired but sincere eyes. A few moments of silence held between us before she said: "Daniel, I understand you. During the time I've ruled Equestria, I too have made many questionable decisions. Sometimes, there just isn't a right option. Especially when the topic is someone close."

I opened my eyes in surprise and asked incredulously: "You really don't think this is something disgusting?"

In response, she forced out a small, tired laugh and answered self-deprecatingly: "Judging by what they told me, you at least didn't pressure the filly and didn't try too hard to present your option as good. That's already much better than some of my actions!"

Is she putting herself down so I feel better? Blinking, I quickly shook my head and abruptly changed the subject: "Celestia, no, Princess, may I ask a question?"

Please say no. I'm not ready to ask this, let alone get an answer.

Unfortunately, Celestia removed her wing and asked gently: "You don't have to use my title, my little human. And yes, you can ask me any question."

I let out a disappointed sigh and grabbed my head with one hand before slowly starting to speak: "I know that it was you who came up with the idea to make me captain of the guard. I know that it was you who prevented news about certain things I did from reaching the press. And I know that it was you who made the decision that I needed to be reformed."

Taking a deep breath, I looked at Celestia with one eye and asked: "Why do you take care of me so much? What's the point?"

Don't answer, don't answer, don't answer.

But Celestia did exactly the opposite of what I wanted. She moved slightly closer to me and put her head on my crown in a peculiar embrace. Several moments hung in, I can't deny it, pleasant silence, but Celestia finally spoke: "I admit, at first you seemed like a very annoying young colt to me. I thought that you had a direct path to villains and the role of captain would allow me to, well, at least slow you down. I'm sorry I thought that. "

Celestia took a short breath and said lightly stroking my back with her wing: "I saw something in you, Daniel. Almost all your qualities are good. Honesty, openness, striving for justice, and so on and so forth. They're just damaged, like you yourself, by the cruelty of others. And I just want to fix you and protect you from further damage."

I sighed and placed my left hand on her stone-covered chest. Along with the exhale, a question escaped my lips: "You specifically want failure to cause maximum damage to my psyche."

"No, no. I'm just answering your question. And I think you really needed to know this. Before it's too late," Celestia sighed, carefully, barely noticeably rubbing my back.

I̷̞̍̈́͒̎͋̏̔͊́̈́̈́̈́̊̉͗̌͐͆̎͘ ̵̼͉͕̘͓̟̻͕͔͖̠̝̭͕͕͚͇̟̥̘̘́͐͐̋͘f̴̗̦̩̜̊͋̾͗͜e̷̛̱͉̯̺̖̹̫̫̐̃̀͂̑͒̊̉̐͑̂͐̓̆̑͌̋̀̈́̓́͘͠ë̶͈͖̭͉̥̋̇̉̽͑̀̉́̑̽͑̿̈̃͋̊͗̃́̓̍̏̓̂l̸͙͉̈̈́͐̂̄̈́̍̂́̈́̾̒͗̕̚͝͠͝.̵̢̨̛̯̳̠̦̹͇͎̩͈͙͉̙͚͉̲͙͒̎̓̃́͋̑́̉̈́͊̀̐͘̕̚͜͠͝.̴̢̡̨͉̰̮̟͙̳͙̳͚̥̩̗̠͔̗̊͊̽̐͂̏̓́͊̅̅͛̊̓̑͋́͂̎͗̀̍̕͜͝.̶̧̨̨̺̥̱̞͈̣̻͙͇͓̫̪̩̠͔̯͓͉̈̾̀̋͂̔͊̉́̌́̌̀̿̉͐̈́̚̚̚͠

With a careful movement, I hinted to Celestia to move slightly away from me, which she did without problem, albeit with an embarrassed look. Shaking my head, I asked carefully: "Listen, this is a bit strange. Maybe sleeping on the roof was really a bad idea. But I feel like you're going to ask me something."

For less than a second, Celestia's eyes widened in surprise. But the next moment, she returned to a neutral expression. Suddenly, Celestia's horn lit up and the dresser standing next to her bed opened. A scroll flew out, and when it began levitating between us, she finally started explaining: "You know, I was also developing backup plans. But I feel that you simply won't allow it to happen in my original version."

I just raised an eyebrow with interest but decided to let Celestia speak. She nodded gratefully to me and said: "I planned to make my student, Twilight Sparkle, an alicorn through this scroll. According to my plan, I just need to send her a letter and say that this is a spell made by Star Swirl and it needs to be completed. Nothing more."

This is omission. A lie, essentially. Not to mention that this is, in general, a true fatalist's plan.

Celestia apparently noticed my expression and said with a slight smirk: "I assumed you would think poorly of this plan. So, do you have other suggestions?"

With a quick movement of my left hand, I snatched the scroll from Celestia's magical grip and said confidently: "I'll go to Ponyville and talk to Twilight. We'll examine absolutely every aspect and nuance together. Being your backup plan should be her choice."

She looked at me with some disappointment, but also resignation. Suddenly, a laugh escaped Celestia's lips followed by the words: "Amazing, isn't it? You're so young, we've known each other less than a year, and you've infected me with your honesty!"

In response, I couldn't help but smirk and say back: "And you infected me with damn empathy. Aren't you ashamed of spreading such an infection?"

For just a moment, we just stopped, exchanging fake annoyed glances. And then, we both burst into laughter. Such light, simple, carefree laughter. An incredible lightness of being, the weight was finally shed.

But like all good things, this ends. Our laughter first slowed down, then died down, leaving the room without any sound. Finally, Celestia decided to pierce this atmosphere: "Do you promise to tell her all the reasons why she should agree?"

"I promise to tell her all the pros and cons," I said, finally getting up from the bed and heading towards the exit of Celestia's room. However, a strange sensation hung in my chest. A sense of righteousness? Confidence? Anticipation? Anxiety.

No, it's something that can only be described by a phrase.

The best in the world is back at work.

When the human left the princess's room, a stream of wind ran through the castle corridors. Passing guards and servants couldn't even see its source. Because finally, he decided to knock on his limits.

While a fast stream of wind was moving towards Ponyville, in another place in the south, a slow, sluggish process was taking place. Princess Ember was walking through the streets of the largest city in southern Equestria, Baltimare. Here the sky was completely gray due to emissions into the atmosphere from factories. Not surprising, here is Equestria's largest shipyard, here is the largest metallurgical plant, here is the largest train car manufacturing plant, and so on and so forth. If Manehattan is the center of Equestria trade and construction, then this city is the center of industry.

Here, Ember was looking for information about who deprived her father of his arm. Rumors she heard in one village said that a creature matching the description had appeared several times in this large city.

"If this creature really appeared here, then this is the perfect place for such scum," ran through Ember's head as she walked through the central square while ponies, surprisingly, paid no attention to her at all. She probably didn't know this, but in such a large port city, it's absolutely unsurprising to see representatives of different races.

Suddenly Ember's gaze caught a pony who was heading to one of the large factories. He was dressed in a black suit, which contrasted with his gray mane and dull yellow fur. Perhaps it was intuition or just a desire to start a dialogue with someone, but Ember began approaching him.

"Hey, pony. I need to know about an unusual creature," Ember said when she stood right in front of the stallion. From the new angle, she saw that he was a unicorn with a surprisingly small horn. No wonder she didn't notice it at first.

The stallion blinked, looking at Ember. Maybe because of her audacity, maybe because of her appearance. But eventually, he snorted and said: "Information and my time are not free. Be kind enough to pay."

Ember's first thought was to threaten the stallion that she would scorch him with flame. However, glancing at her golden armor and, in particular, the removable golden gloves on her paw, she decided to try a peaceful approach. Ember took one of these off her right hand and asked, extending it to the stallion: "Is this enough to make you talk?"

In response, he slightly hummed before grabbing Ember's gift with his magic and saying: "You're lucky that my enterprise just happens to have a large deficit of gold. Who do you need to find?"

"The creature walks on two legs. Almost no hair on the body, only a mane. It's black in color, same as the eyes. Male," Ember quickly listed all the information that was known to her.

The stallion's eyebrows raised in surprise and he answered, almost instantly: "Ooh, that's Daniel Ctumer. A human with far from the best reputation, so I'm not surprised you're looking for him. But personally, I like him. Additional income is never superfluous."

Ember couldn't help but feel a certain triumph. This random pony she found gave her such necessary information. There remained only one important question, which she immediately asked: "Do you know where he can be found?"

The stallion slightly shook his head, as if hinting that this information would require additional payment. With an annoyed snort, Ember gave him the second golden glove and he replied: "Most often he can be found in central Equestria. Canterlot, Ponyville, and the like. Is that all you need?"

Ember didn't bother him with an answer and simply turned around on the spot. Her clawed paws clenched into fists. Soon, she would avenge what this creature, this Daniel, did to her father.

If she makes it in time, of course.

POV: Arthur Davis
Time: Noon
Location: Twilight's Library

"Uh, thanks for agreeing to pay me for this. I really need money to pay off the house debt," I mumbled while feeling the pencil in my hand. Pleasant, slightly rough wood. Due to its thickness, it somewhat resembles the stylus I used to draw with while I was on Earth.

"Oh, no need to thank me! I'm really interested in learning more about you humans. But I couldn't gather the courage to ask Daniel for a long time," Twilight replied with excitement in her voice. I swear, when I took a small breath, my ears caught the frantic scratching of pen on paper.

"So, can you remind me why I need the blindfold?" I asked, turning my head to where Twilight presumably was.

From the other side, I felt a hoof slightly moving my right hand. After this, Twilight answered excitedly: "It's very simple! Just draw. Without thinking about anything at all. This is needed, how to say, to understand how human imagination works in the absence of external stimuli."

Does it really work like that?

Whatever. This is probably the smartest pony in canon. Sighing, I carefully extended my hand, and as soon as I felt the pencil stop against something, I started moving it across the canvas. Following Twilight's instruction, I tried not to think about what I was drawing at all. Not that it was difficult. I was mainly thinking about my wings touching the floor.

Suddenly I heard several light and slow knocks on the door. Reflexively, my head turned toward the sound, but Twilight quickly said: "Don't get distracted, don't get distracted. I'll check."

I frowned under the blindfold but turned my head back and continued drawing. Several quick hoof steps sounded before the door creaked. This was followed by a male voice I didn't expect to hear: "Good afternoon, Twilight. Can we talk?"

Daniel never knocked on my door like that. . .

A couple of moments of silence hung in the air before Twilight said: "Well, I need to conduct research with Arthur."

Daniel was silent for a few seconds but quickly came up with a worthy response: "He's drawing with closed eyes? I think he'll need enough time for that, so you can talk to me and come back before he's finished."

"I actually think I'm just drawing a crooked line," I mumbled under my breath. However, it seems no one paid attention. Probably Twilight was thinking about what to answer to Daniel's suggestion. But it's really important, so it's probably okay that there's been silence in the air for ten seconds. This is a responsible decision, after all.

"Damn, you forgot to close the door!" Daniel said before loudly slamming the door. Damn, I didn't think that they both could talk so quietly that I wouldn't hear. Well, okay, need to continue drawing.

My hand was sliding across the canvas in front of me without any intent, while my wings hung motionless on my back, touching the warm library floor with their tips. Over the past day, I managed to get used to them just a tiny bit. Well, I've learnt not to look at them almost all the time. If I don't see a problem, there isn't one.

Okay, I'm tired of this.

Carefully raising my left hand, I lifted the blindfold and looked around the room. A canvas with random scribbles drawn on it, cold black tea on the table, and Spike sleeping in something that looked like a basket. Well, nothing interesting overall.

Completely removing the eye blindfold, I put it in my pocket and carefully stood up from my place, putting the pencil on the table. On tiptoes, I walked to the exit and carefully closed the door behind me. How convenient that Daniel and Twilight hadn't gone too far yet.

I followed them carefully, stopping periodically in the alleyways for safety. Although I'm not sure it's really necessary. The ponies moving away from Daniel form a kind of protective ring behind which he will hardly notice me.

After a while, I heard Twilight ask: "Can I at least know what you want to discuss?"

"Only when we're not in such a crowded place," Daniel answered instantly. And just as I took another step, he sharply turned his head toward me, with surprising speed.

What!?

I quickly went around the corner trying to hide. But only after a while did I think to turn so that my wings wouldn't stick out. My heart skipped a beat when Twilight asked confusedly: "What happened? Did you see something?"

I tensed up and pressed my back against the wall, despite how unpleasant it was for my wings. But to my great fortune, Daniel said: "It's not important now. Let's keep moving. Do you have any ideas about a quiet place?"

Exhaling, I carefully peeked out from around the corner and started carefully moving forward. Seems like I was safe now and could calmly listen to the conversation. Twilight answered with some excitement in her voice: "Oh, remember that series of explosions you caused when Everfree started growing? Well, something amazing has appeared in that place!"

Eh, honestly? Despite those explosions being near my house, I didn't bother to look at them yesterday and this morning. Like, well, I have other things to worry about!

Slightly shaking my head, I continued following them both until we reached the outskirts of town. That is, there would be no cover until we reach my house. I waited for some time, waiting for them to go as far as possible. And when the time came, I took a deep breath before running at full speed to my house.

Fortunately, no one paid attention to me. I calmly went behind the wall of my house and catching my breath, looked around the corner. Where two months ago there were craters, new trees had slowly started growing. However, one tree stood out. It had already fully grown and even grown about twice as tall as the old trees that hadn't suffered from the explosions.

"So, do you see this tree? First of all, it's strange that it grew so much in just two months. However, that's not the most amazing thing!" Twilight said with some excitement in her voice as she started approaching the tree. When she was just a couple of feet from it, it started slightly pulsating with blue light.

That's the color of Daniel's magic.

"Do you have any ideas why this grew?" Twilight asked, looking at him with a sparkle in her eyes. As if he would give her an answer.

In response, Daniel just shook his head and said, reaching into his pocket with his metal hand: "I have a couple of ideas. But now there's a much more important thing that needs to be discussed."

My eyes widened in surprise when I saw what he pulled out. A wrapped scroll. As soon as Twilight raised an eyebrow and grabbed it with her magic, Daniel said with a sigh: "This scroll contains an unfinished spell. If you complete it, you'll become an alicorn. Irreversibly."

What!?

Twilight stared at the scroll with wide eyes and silently opened her mouth, unable to think of what to say. Not that I blamed her. The chronology of this world is moving further and further away from canon. Maybe I really just made up the cartoon about ponies?

"I understand that this is difficult. But you must understand. This is Celestia's idea. She wants that in case she gets really sick, you could take on the role of princess. Luna won't handle it alone," Daniel said, slightly bending down before Twilight to be at the same level.

"But this is such a big responsibility. I'm not sure I'm ready for this. M-Maybe there's some other candidate?" Twilight asked nervously, slightly stuttering. When Daniel just shook his head in response, I felt a thought. Or more correctly, a suddenly resurfaced memory.

Once on Saturday, my sister and I were sitting and watching for the first time the episode where Twilight became an alicorn. And then she was just furious. For many reasons. Starting from wanting Rainbow Dash to become princess. And ending with the fact that Twilight would now outlive all her friends.

"The latter clearly won't please Twilight herself," I mumbled to myself while my brain slowly thought about what to do. On one hand, I should be in her library right now drawing with closed eyes. But on the other, should I really just stand aside while Daniel persuades her to make a terrible choice for his own purposes?

Shaking my head, I finally came out from behind the corner and started walking toward the strange tree with widely spread shoulders. When I got close enough, Daniel slowly moved his cold gaze to me and Twilight's ear twitched before she turned to me. Not giving either of them time to speak, I said: "You forgot to mention that alicorns are immortal?"

"I was planning to say that," Daniel answered impassively without moving an inch. Yeah, sure I believed that.

Quickly turning to Twilight, I said: "Sorry for running away from the experiment. But I had a very unpleasant feeling when Daniel called you for a private conversation. But now, I really think you should know about the consequences."

"I wouldn't want to part with my friends," Twilight answered, slightly swallowing when she looked at Daniel with some regret.

He frowned and said raising his hand: "I read that on average unicorns live about five years longer than pegasi and three years less than earth ponies. Thus, it turns out that the probability that you'll lose at least one of your friends is high. And, I know from personal experience, the death of a loved one shouldn't completely break you. You need to be able to overcome it."

From personal experience? I very much doubt that you can really feel empathy for anyone. Besides, who will talk statistics at such moments?Ugh, and in general. . .

"In any case, immortality is pain. Like, literally every plot about this topic says that. Immortality is boring, it deprives life of meaning and so on and so forth. No one would agree to this voluntarily," I said crossing my arms on my chest. Slowly, Daniel raised his metal hand. And bit into his finger as if trying to tear it off. At that moment, his eyes were wide open and moving very quickly in all directions.

After a couple of seconds, Daniel gritted his teeth and said, voice trembling with anger: "Twilight, I want you to know. Celestia initially planned to make you an alicorn and correspondingly a princess without asking permission. Possibly, this was planned even at the moment when you first met her. You understand yourself what this means."

"Trying to instill a sense of duty and guilt in her?" I asked coldly looking at Daniel. However, as soon as I took a breath to continue, Twilight intervened, in a quiet voice.

"I-I've read about leadership theory, about the responsibilities of ruling. . . but reading about something and being ready for it are completely different things. And the magical transformation itself - there are so many unknowns. Would it change who I am? How I think? My connection to magic itself?" She said before letting out a heavy sigh and continuing.

"I-I understand that Celestia wants this. And I understand why. But I just can't force myself to accept this. I don't want to be a princess, don't want to become an immortal alicorn. I'm just Twilight, a unicorn," she said carefully approaching Daniel and slightly extending the scroll to him.

I swear, I saw how the muscles on Daniel's face trembled as he tried to maintain a calm expression. Slowly he extended his left hand and yanked the scroll from Twilight's magical grip. She briefly nodded to him, nodded to me and quickly walked away, apparently feeling that something would happen between us. But lastly she said: "Daniel, please tell Celestia that I'm really very sorry. But this is not the door I want to open."

"Defeat is just a door we're afraid to open because of fear of the unknown," Daniel said when the veins on his neck bulged with tension. After his words, Twilight continued to hastily leave.

You're in such rage, aren't you?

I couldn't help but feel a certain triumph. Right now this guy, who at our very first meeting destroyed all my hopes, now stands and trembles with anger. Putting my hand on my side I asked: "What, couldn't use the pony in some of your plans?"

Then something incredible happened. At first, Daniel just stood in front of me. And the next moment, a terrible pain shot through my entire face. Squinting reflexively, I felt my head snap back before I collapsed to the ground and tears poured out of my eyes. Moreover, I felt something warm flow where my nose should have been. Blood.

My heart started beating faster. Either because everything around became blurry, or from fear of blood, or from fear of Daniel. As soon as I thought about the latter I heard his voice trembling with unrestrained rage: "Arthur, you don't even fucking imagine what hatred and in what volume I feel. What hatred I feel EVERY TIME I SEE YOUR FACE, EVERY TIME YOUR EXISTENCE INTERRUPTS PLANS."

With difficulty, I managed to wipe my face with my hand to remove tears and look at Daniel. He was now standing over me, with his left hand extended, which was clenched into a fist. Blood was clearly visible on the knuckles. My blood.

Daniel looked somewhere into the distance and asked twirling his finger near his temple: "Want me to make a prediction? You'll try to follow me. And you'll die shitting and pissing yourself. Most likely even before I die. Now I'm not even sure if I'll contribute to this or not. Probably not."

Slowly, he leaned right to my face and stuck out his tongue. When Daniel licked some blood from my damaged nose I shuddered, but still felt disoriented from the hit. Swallowing, he said in a quiet whisper: "Arthur, you better stay away from any water. It'll be worse."

W-What is that supposed to mean?

Before I could gather myself, Daniel suddenly disappeared like some nightmare. Teleported most likely. Without noticing it earlier, I had held my breath and now was trying to catch my breath while lying on the ground. But my brain was racing trying to understand the situation. Even before I die? Stay away from any water? Every time your existence interrupts plans? Something in all these phrases felt... wrong, unfinished.

With difficulty, I sat on the ground and covered my nose with both hands. However, this didn't prevent blood from continuously flowing between my fingers and falling on the dried grass. Gasping for air, I tried to somehow concentrate. But this single hit from Daniel seemed to completely scramble my brain.

I, I, I'll try to talk to him. There must be something more here.