Habit Tends It

A Hectic Dent

Pi R. Square was not having a good day.  His classes were boring, as usual, and his father, Square Deal, had the usual complaints about customers. But something, actually someone, was missing. Meadow Lily was staying home from school due to one of Pinkie and Applejack’s latest creations. Meadow Lily was a filly unicorn in his class who he hung out with a lot. His friends all insisted he had a crush on her, but his knowledge of such things was a lot like his artistic ability. Nonexistent.

Pi couldn’t say that he hadn’t ever thought about her, but he knew it would eventually end and he’d have one less friend.  He was an awkward unicorn nerd and as such wasn’t very outgoing. He couldn’t afford to lose one the few friends he had, and so had just avoided thinking about the subject.

She had come to Ponyville a while ago and they had quickly become good friends. He liked her because she was funny but not ridiculous, and she liked him because he was funny and ridiculous. Although neither had admitted it to anyone, or even themselves, they both thought of each other as more than friends. He hadn’t realized how much he missed her until she hadn’t come.

After he got back from school he decided he wanted to go to the park and just sit by the creek. He told his mother, Square Meal, where he was going and she gave him the “o.k., be careful, blah, blah,” speech. He walked to the park and sat down on a rock and started thinking.

Over the years, or more accurately, the last two, he had realized that thinking could be a very painful exercise.

He started out thinking about school, then college. As he reviewed his life he realized he didn’t really have any drive for life. He got mostly A’s yes, but that was because he came from a very nerdy family. He realized he didn’t have any goals, or dreams. All he did was go to school, then come home and surf “America Daily” and play TwilightDash studio’s “Skyrealm.”

He decided this line of thought was too depressing, so tried to come up with a new train of thought. His brain suddenly started producing a scene, and he decided to let his mind run away with it.

He and Meadow Lily were standing in the cafeteria after school.

Meadow Lily started saying “So... I was thinking…”

“Always a dangerous habit.” He responded. Darn! Why did his brain have to interject quotes into everything. But that was a good series… His brain proceeded onto thoughts of fantasy lands, and why archery was cooler than sword fighting.

Meadow Lily hadn’t wanted to stay at home, but after a “baked bad” like that she really didn’t have a choice. She had mostly recovered by noon, and decided that some fresh air would be nice. She walked down to the local park, hoping to spend some time alone so she could sort out her thoughts.

Muddy Waters had just gotten released from prison for sexual assault, which had been a setup, but when one has the name of “Muddy Waters” pretty much everything gets blamed on you.  He walked around town enjoying his freedom, and strolled by the park. He thought that some time alone might help him and walked towards the creek while silently meditating on what he would do next.

Meadow Lily was walking around the park when she saw Pi sitting by the creek. He looked sad and she wondered what was wrong. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a stallion walking towards him. She immediately recognized the stallion as Muddy Waters. She watched silently for a few seconds as Muddy Waters walked closer and closer to Pie.

Muddy Waters was thinking about how nice it was to be able to just walk around outside, while not doing community service, when he tripped a branch. He cursed and realized he had been so busy thinking he hadn’t been looking where he was going. He looked up to check where he was going. He saw a young earth pony sitting by the stream, and knew that foal would feel comfortable with him sitting near them, and he knew he wouldn’t feel comfortable next to them either.

He turned away looking for somewhere else to sit down, saw a young filly unicorn charging towards him, and side stepped just in time.

Meadow Lily slid a few feet and turned around, then yelled “Leave my friend alone!”

Muddy Waters resisted the urge to face hoof or yell and said “I fully inte-“oof!”

The “oof!” was of course from Meadow Lily horn-butting him.

Pie was disturbed from his thoughts by the sound of Meadow Lily yelling, and turned around to see what was making her yell. He turned around just in time to see her turn around and charge at Muddy Waters again. He immediately pieced together what was happening, and decided that he would not be defended by a girl. He looked around for a weapon, and his eyes fell on a sizeable tree branch.

He picked it up in his mouth and turned around. Muddy Waters was in the middle of fending off a round of Lily’s punches. He decided a roundhouse spin with the tree branch would worked he turned his head and started to spin it back as hard as he could.

Muddy Water’s had a dilemma. He didn’t want to hurt either of the foals, as the fight would be blamed on him, but he didn’t think he could handle the both of them at once. He decided running was the best course of action. He turned and ran towards Ponyville.

Lily ran in pursuit of him, but was stopped immediately. She fell to the ground, unconscious.  Pi had swung with all his might, and had heard the sickening ‘whump’ as the branch made contact. It was only after the blood splattered on his eyes he realized they were shut. He opened his eyes, knowing he and Lily were safe now. His eyes rolled back into his head as fast as he had opened them.

Muddy Waters looked back to see if either of the unicorns was chasing after him. What he saw only made him run all the faster.

This is my first fan-fic so critiques are much appreciated!!!