Whaz up ladies, gents an' other! Still on this writing rush and we're still following one Pinkamena Diane Pie's struggle which might feel a little...jarring. I don't own MLP or any other media I introduce into this story. Also, I'm gonna call out to more than a few content creators without sayin' their names so they don't somehow get dragged into my shitfest.
Pinkie: Wyverntooth, why are you so mean?
Not sure, Pinkie. Why are you so pink?
Pinkie: Not sure, hold on.*Punches me in my weak points with a goofy smile* Oh, it's because I'm Pinkie, silly!
Thoughts or emphasis
'Paraphrasing'
"Normal speech"
"Abnormal speech"
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Shining and Shimmer stayed there, noses almost touching with their bodies pressed up against one another. OH MY MOM! OH MY MOM! OH MY MOM! OH MY MOM! Shimmer thought, blushing a new shade of red that begged to be named 'shimmer red', before her eyes widened when she remembered they were in front of other ponies which had the effect of making her start hyperventilating. The hyperventilating caused her eyelids to grow heavier while she felt the sudden desire to fall forward into the embrace of the colt who'd made her feel special eight years ago.
Her ex-coltfriend was having similar thoughts, his pulse racing at a speed that could rival the speed of a pegasus flying at the speed of sound. OH MY CELESTIA! OH MY CELESTIA! OH MY CELESTIA! OH MY CELESTIA! His eyes bore into Shimmer's, transfixed by the undying love he saw in them as his eyelids became heavy and he felt tempted to lean in.
Twilight was smiling like the silly filly she was, believing her plan was flawless while her crush stared at the pair confusedly as he tried to understand what the issue was due to a lack of information. Rarity was smirking at the former item, smugness in her eyes while Spike stared indifferently at the whole exchange, chewing on a piece of wood that had fallen within his grasp before it was swatted out of his grabby paws by his babysitter. Cadence seemed too calm at the moment for it to be natural, staring at the pair with what looked to be a smile that said she knew her coltfriend wouldn't kiss another mare.
It was silent in the room, the only sound being the pair's breathing with the light of a celestial body shining down on their shimmering moment as they seemed to give into the moment. At least, that's what it seemed like before Shining opened his eyes to find he was kissing the cheek of a gasping-in-fear Shimmer who looked at him with mixed emotions flying through her zircon orbs. Don't make this more painful than it is, Shiny. She mentally begged, hoping that Twilight wouldn't make this any harder.
No such luck. "Shimmer," Twilight said irritably, coming to stand behind her senior and placing her hooves on either side of said mare's head to keep her still. "You have to kiss and make up, not peck-on-the-cheek and make up! Try again, Shining."
"Twilight," Shining began, slowly pulling away with an apologetic expression on his face as he saw the hurt in Shimmer's eyes at how much she was trying not to disrupt his relationship with Cadence. "Don't force her to kiss me if she doesn't want to."
Oh my mom, thank you! She thought, smiling at him through her eyes because Twilight's hooves had forced her to pucker her lips.
"But she does want to!" Twilight countered, glaring at her big brother for trying to weasel out of kissing his ex-marefriend. "She loves you, Shining. Loves you! She's just scared Cadence will get mad that you kissed another mare." Pointing a hoof accusingly at her foalsitter, she continued. "Now pucker up and kiss her!"
"Twilight-" Began Shining, meeting Shimmer's pleading eyes once more.
"Kiss her." Twilight interrupted, pushing Shimmer's face towards his which made him back up into Cadence.
"Twilight!" He began again, this time with a warning in his voice that socially awkward Twilight didn't recognize.
"Kiss her!" She said again, pushing Shimmer towards him even more which made him back up into a silent Cadence even more.
"Twilight!" Shining tried to begin again only to be interrupted again.
"Kiss her!" Said Twilight another time, desperation in her voice to help her friend in her problem.
"TWILIGHT!" Shining shouted, startling her silent. "I've been trying to tell you, she doesn't want to kiss me after what I've done. You know how hard my mistake has been on her and doing this is making it worse. I kissed her, I told her I loved her, I treated her like the only mare in the world and I forgot what she told me when I left, breaking her heart in the process! Don't make this harder than it already is!" His piece finished, eyes seeming to lose focus as he'd said all that more to himself than his sister, he finished with a stomping of the hoof before he turned his attention to Shimmer. "I sincerely apologize for my sister's behavior and I'm so sorry for making you hurt the way I have. If you hate me, I completely understand and accept whatever punishment you decide is suitable for my crime, Princess." He bowed his head in shame, awaiting some sort of pain from the queen's daughter but none came.
All that came was the pit-pat of tears hitting the floor, getting him to look and find Shimmer was staring at him with adoration and love he didn't know if he could return. "Shimmer, you idiot," She said aloud to herself, doing her best to wipe her face. "You're such a cryfoal, getting worked up over the littlest things like your ex-coltfriend standing up and sitting down for you when what you really want is for him to-" She began muttering incomprehensible things to herself, getting Shining to lean forward to try to listen when he found his lips claimed by his ex, catching him completely by surprise.
Everyone's eyes were wide with surprise at the princess' actions but they became as wide as saucers when Shining's lids closed and he began returning the kiss, getting Shimmer's glowing tears to begin coming out in more force. They staid like that, forgetting the rest of the world and its inhabitants; all that mattered was that small amount of physical contact that had so much meaning to the both of them. If they'd have been asked, they'd probably deny the fact that they'd have wanted that moment to never end.
Too busy enjoying each other's lips, they didn't notice that Shimmer had reverted into her Infernal (Regal) State. Her burnt nectarine-colored coat shined, harmless sparks flying from her mane and tail as they burned brighter than a dragon's breath, while her tears evaporated as the kiss softened, deepened and intensified like the flames that danced as her tail and mane. Unknowingly, her flames crawled across her body to engulf the both of them before she opened her eyes and gasped, pulling herself away with fright. "Nonononononnonoononononononononono!" She began, holding her head in her hooves, flames becoming indigo and purple with guilt as she started hyperventilating. "I'msosorryIdidn'tmeantokissyouImeanIdidbutIdidn'tmeantokissyouthatmuch!WellIdidbutIdidn'tatthesametimeandohmymomI'msodead! I fucked up! I fucked up! I fuc-" Before she could begin crying again, Shining claimed her lips, surprising her and getting her to return the kiss with dazed eyes that closed as her mane and tail returned to normal. Shining pulled away slowly, Shimmer leaning towards him before he held her in place which made her open her eyes with slight disappointment that the kiss had ended.
"Feel better?" He asked smugly, fondly smiling at her like he had years ago which made her blush and twirl her mane nervously under his gaze. She didn't answer in words, not trusting her mouth to work after the thorough washing Shining had given it, so she merely giggled like a drunk. As soon as she did that, however, it was like the sound of a glass plate was shattered when the two of them turned to remember that they had an audience.
Twilight's eyes were wide like her smile was happy, sparks flying from her horn as her plan worked. She had her hooves under her chin as they shook with glee that her plan actually worked! OH MY CELESTIA, I'M THE GREATEST UNICORN IN THE WORLD! She thought proudly, her smile only growing as the two looked at her until she looked like an idiot.
Rarity chuckled like an older sister would at the antics of her younger sibling, levitating Spike onto Twilight's shoulders where he played with her mane. Cauldron was more lost than narrator while Cadence was merely...standing there, watching. Their eyes found their way to a serenely smiling Cadence, "Told you Twilight's a miracle worker, Shimmer!" Everyone but Shimmer stared at her blankly before Celestia's daughter nodded in agreement.
"She sure is. I never should've thought otherwise!" Shimmer smiled, a hoof to her cheek as she blushed in embarrassment at the gaping faces around them. Cauldron stared at everypony's face in lost confusion still, before just sighing and making the same face to fit in with the rest of them. "I guess I've just been nervous about this plan that I...Well, I guess I kinda almost ruined it!" She started chuckling at the faces everypony was making until she was rolling around on the ground, holding her sides in pain.
Cadence's expression was that of serenity incarnate as she came up to Shimmer and claimed her lips, getting Cauldron to actually gape in shock before suffering from a large nosebleed which left him unconscious, twitching at Twilight's hooves and Spike was gaping in shock. OH MY PARENTS! SHE'S ACTUALLY PRO-LOVE! Spike's thoughts were broken by Shimmer blushing and pulling away from the kiss nervously, gesturing to their audience. Cadence just smiled charismatically, once more taking Shimmer's lips as her prize with great passion that Celestia's daughter began to return.
Pulling away for air, Cadence smirked like the dominator nopony she'd been as Princess Amore, she suggestively said, "I've waited eight years to take you in front of Shining, Shim-Shim, and I don't think I'll be able to stop myself after so long!" Finished speaking, she began to have a make out session with Canterlot's secret princess, her breathing labored and her wings extended to their grandeur in a way that silently told of her arousal. Shining's nose began to leak blood while Twilight and Rarity were fighting off passing out from all of the blood rushing into the red in their faces.
Before anything hotter could begin, aside from Shimmer entering her Regal State, a knock came at the infirmary doors. Cadence, pulling away from Shimmer who began to return to her 'Casual State', had narrowed eyes at the pony coming through the doors who turned out to be-"Ms. Lulamoon?" Twilight asked confusedly, most likely expecting her to be retiring for the night in her own bed. "Why are you still here? It's-" Looking to the clock on the wall, she found it to be two hours after dusk. "Eleven o'clock!"
The Great and Powerful Trixie nodded to her student's words, smiling at the filly before noticing the odd atmosphere in the room. "I know," She said, opting to question the circumstances she'd walked into afterwards. "But your attackers seem to be more...communicative." Hearing that, a once more conscious Cauldron included, the ponies in the infirmary furrowed their brows.
"Alright," Twilight began, her expression dark and menacing. "Let's communicate..." Trixie, seeing that her student needed this, nodded and lead her towards the interrogation room they'd set up. It hadn't been set up in the Royal Guard barracks to avert suspicion, instead it was in one of the boiler rooms where very few students liked to go due to its foul stench. Inside the boiler room were a few spare portable lab tables from some of the classes, separated from each other by barriers that prevented the individual attacker inside from seeing outside of the bubble they were in and to stop them from somehow creating a plan with their cohorts. Each attacker had a suppression ring around their horn while around their front legs were boots bound by retractable wires in the boots themselves to a metal band around their rib cage, forcing them to bend their front legs and either lay down with their plot in the air or stand on their hind legs with the front half of their body laid on the table in their respective interrogation chamber.
Each barrier was like a large, upside-down crystal bowl that could be seen into when given permission by the caster of the barrier in question. "Who spilled first?" Shining asked smoothly, his teeth grinding on each other, fighting the fraternal instinct to bring justice down upon these delinquents. On the way there, Shining had explained the situation to his marefriend, getting Cadence to fume at not having been there to protect her favorite filly to foalsit. A seemingly blank look adorned Twilight's face but it was apparent to those in the boiler room that she wasn't as calm as she appeared.
Beneath the purple filly's eyes were dark rings like she hadn't slept in days, the baggy eyes in question were hidden by the shadow from the bangs of her bowl-cut hair, and the way her body shivered and shook told everypony in the room that, although she needed this, she wasn't okay with this situation. "All of them began babbling like foals at ten-fifty-five, getting the guards stationed here to ascribe sudden nausea and vertigo to their voices ringing in their ears. I've sent them to the garden where medics are awaiting a chance to heal these delinquents, interrogators or guards, should these four somehow manage to harm those around them."
"Four?" Rarity asked confusedly. "But only Road Block, Marcella and Ghost Hunter are still alive?" An understanding nod was Trixie's response before Ms. Hooves and Watch Reader exited one of the chambers with a mortified interrogator being carried between them. Ms. Hooves saw the group before her companion did, getting her to change their direction to right in front of Trixie and co.
"Red Herring did this?" Trixie asked, her tone indicating that she already knew the answer but merely needed to hear it straight from the horse's mouth. The interrogator, laying down on the floor with his breath shaking and the sweat dripping down his brow into his wide eyes, nodded weakly. A sigh was all Watch Reader could offer, remaining silent in thought. Groaning, Trixie's ears folded back in annoyance as she said, "Damn. She's fooled us once and seems to think it's her mission to be problematic even now."
Watch Reader nodded silently, unnerving the younger individuals in the room with them. "Reader," Ms. Hooves said knowingly, her sole uncovered eye meeting his tired gaze. "Now isn't the time to keep important information secret." He nodded, sighing again like he had often done in the two times he'd been encountered by the group.
He cleared his throat and, in his aged, gruff and accented voice, explained. "To begin with, she's not a pony, explaining why she isn't a stain on the cobble. However, she's a native to this world, in one way or another." Once more he sighed before his whole body was racked with pain in a coughing fit that sounded as unhealthy as could be, resulting in Ms. Hooves catching him as he began to crumple in on himself.
"Don't overdo it!" She chastised compassionately, her one visible eye narrowed in concern. A nod of gratitude answered her as he returned to his former stature and continued.
"She's of a species known as the Baku. They're indigenous to the continent Mareasia, where they feed on the nightmares of other beings and replacing them with the pleasant dreams they produce as a byproduct of their dietary staple." He coughed again, crumpling down to the floor and getting Ms. Hooves to help him again. A growl of ire was the noise he made after he looked himself over to make sure he was alright before continuing, "From what she's said, she met members of the cult found here in Canterlot and followed them back to Equestria, feeding on the constant nightmares their worshiping rewarded them. When you saw her jump over the edge she had actually surrounded the area with a psychic field to generate a hallucination of her pony-self jumping over the edge."
"But why did she make everypony hallucinate that she committed suicide as a pony? And why did she the others attack me?!" Twilight asked bitterly, a grim atmosphere surrounding her as her scars seemed to glow in memory of how much they'd hurt being brought into existence.
Ms. Hooves spoke this time, Watch Reader's coughing up a lung making it difficult to explain. "She did that to prevent Jumble from catching onto the fact that she wasn't a pony or that she didn't share his beliefs. Tricking the rest of us so she could live on and bury the hatchet with him, giving her the chance to stop eating unnatural nightmares. In the case of helping attack you, she actually didn't do you any harm and had done a similar thing to the suicide situation. By surrounding you and your attackers in a psychic field, she was able to prevent them from killing either you or Spike and also give you a reason to make them pay for even being like this." Finished explaining, Ms. Hooves noticed that Twilight didn't seem altogether satisfied with the answer.
"Let me talk to her." She said simply, getting a group of protests to arise before she looked everyone in the eye to explain she wasn't going to hurt her. "Please." Watch Reader looked to everypony in the group before sighing and nodding, leading her into the barrier the baku was in with a nervous Spike on her back. They strode through the barrier's walls, an experience that could only be explained as walking through breathable pudding or dancing in a kiddie pool of melted jello.
"Good to know I can still get somepony to talk to." Red Herring said, giving Twilight a friendly smile that she understandably didn't return. The creature before her was very pig-like in the way its face was shaped. A pair of sharp inch-and-a-half tusks protruded from the bottom jaw, poking out from either side of its small, flexible snout like the snout of the tapirs Twilight had seen in books. Short fur being a middle grey-color, there was a long white stripe doing down its spine with a black stripe separating the white from the grey on either side of its spine. Grapple-like feet, the sole of each foot and the underside of each toe having relatively flat pads, with two toes for the front pair while the rear paws were just about the same but with an added pair of smaller, hook-clawed toes behind and slightly above the larger two.
It had a tail similar to a dog's, acting as a source of balance but nothing else as far as could be seen, and having rabbit-like ears atop its head. Concerning its head, there was a noticeable eye pattern in the center of its forehead, like a birthmark or a tattoo of some variety. Large shoulders indicated that it was a strong animal even though the creature had a bit of a rotund physique. Coming up to the table, Twilight realized that this creature was shorter than her by a head, giving her a leg up in the situation should she need it. She sat down, staring blankly at the baku across from her when she noticed that it had cylinders piercing along the edges of her ears and that there was a rune-covered band around its snout. "So," Twilight began flatly, getting the baku to wince slightly at the cold behavior it was receiving. "What do you know about the cult your coltfriend was a part of?"
"Enough to know that they're growing impatient and that they're numbers are made up of more than zealots and lunatics." The baku said, tapping the table to emphasize its point. "For example, many of Canterlot's citizens make up their ranks without even knowing it, the subliminal conditioning they've placed around the city making it nearly impossible for anyone to take a step without a hint being somewhere for their senses to pick up and latch onto." A look of irritation crossed Twilight's face, her brow furrowing in disgust at what this cult could do to the city if they made their move.
"Okay, then how have you kept your mind your own over the years you've been in Canterlot?" Twilight asked with a knowing smirk, recognizing the face of something that had made a mistake. It lifted its paws in resignation, knowing that she'd cornered it because it failed to cover its tracks.
"You've got me, but I know there are ways to resist the conditioning enough to think for yourself." It said pointedly, clapping its paws together in a way that made Twilight's skin crawl in a manner she found pleasant and relaxing. The clapping continued, quiet and soft but audible and noticeable, as Twilight's brain climbed from cloud one through nine to feel the dancing of sparks within her skull. Her euphoria ended not long after, fading away slowly and gently, leaving her with her mind feeling...clear. Free. Fresh! Like a pegasus had flapped away the fog around her head to give her eyes the chance to see her surroundings.
Spike chirped from on her shoulders, playing with her mane before she brought him close and found that there was a golden stripe going down the side of his body from his eyes to the tip of his tail with a six-pronged, curve-ended star on his haunches. "What the?" Twilight asked, looking at the mark curiously when she noticed that the spikes on his head were curvier, sharper while remaining flexible like a fin as only one spike remained rounded-yet-sharp as a sheath for the fin that unfolded above his head. Another fin was on the back of each forelimb and another at the end of his tail, there was something oddly cute about the way he flexed them as if only then realizing he had them. And, as one last thing that the conditioning resistance let her see, there were a pair of small, rounded nubs surfacing at the tip of his small snout.
"What's going on?" Twilight asked, knowing the answer but wanting an explanation.
The baku chuckled good-naturedly, knowingly. "Since the conditioning's existed in this city for decades, you've been exposed to it and it's clouded your mind to what's around you. When you and the Empress left the library, it's because the signs set up around the library were arranged by Jumble to make you an easier target in the gardens but the Empress was an 'unnecessary extra' so she was put to sleep by the signs. Using the sensations created from the autonomous sensory meridian response is an inventive way to brainwash a large group of individuals within a large area..." She said the last part almost applaudingly, her silver eyes narrowed even as she said it.
"'Autonomous sensory meridian response?'" Twilight asked, enjoying the fact that her senses seemed heightened. She could see that the baku in front of her had mammaries, allowing her to tell that she was speaking with a female. Looking at Watch Reader, she could see that his scruffy exterior was due to desert sands caking his body and garb. In the reflection made by the barrier, she could see that her horn was curved like an alicorn's and if she focused her magic into her eyes, she could see that that was true with her brother and Shimmer as well, both of whom were talking with Cadence whose face told her that she was all-too happy with what was happening.
Nodding, the baku said, "Yes. Although it's more commonly referred to as 'ASMR', it's still the same sensation that's triggered by olfactory, neural, visual, audio, and or mental stimuli that the brain finds pleasing and releases endorphins and other such chemicals into the system, resulting in a tingly sensation crawling down your spine from your scalp and or base of your skull." She smiled after she finished, chuckling at the awestruck look Twilight had on her face.
"How come my senses are so much stronger?"
"The triggers that are used around the city are meshed with eldritch power behind them, meaning that the triggers are doing more than relaxing your entirety. With the signs they've used, every pony in Canterlot's a sacrifice-waiting-to-happen. Should the signs change in just the right way, everypony in Canterlot would take part in an orgy-like mass suicide. Using the signs of the gods, they can turn something simple into something completely different. Brainwashing has never been so simple!" Saying this sarcastically at the end, she waved her front legs exaggeratedly.
"Can we change the signs?" Twilight asked, hope beginning to shimmer in her eyes. "Also, what do I call you besides Red Herring because I'm spiteful towards that name."
The baku scratched her chin, claws sharp but not so sharp as to be razors. "It's possible to change them, but since you don't have the original spell and I don't know it, you'd have to find each sign and change it manually. But you'd need to know the eldritch language or some dialect of it, and that kind of occult knowledge is hardly legal to acquire for someone in your situation. And you can call me Kufu." She said this with a yawn, exhaustion in her silver eyes. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm very tired from using that disguise so consistently for so long..." Finished speaking, she lowered her head down onto the table and dozed off, z's floating from her head like she were in a storybook.
Twilight's eye twitched at Kufu's aloof behavior. Ponies' lives were hanging by a thread and she was taking a nap! Whatever, I've got what I needed. Occult knowledge...That's Cauldron's specialty! A giddy look crossed her face as she clapped her hooves together excitedly. She dashed out of the barrier with Spike holding onto her tail for his life before she stopped in front of her crush with eyes full of stars and her horn lighting up like one of Trixie's fireworks. "I KNOW WHAT WE'RE GOING TO STUDY TOMORROW!" She said, bouncing in place like she had sugar filling her arteries.
Cauldron's eyes were wide while his ears were folded back in slight fear of how much energy she had. "W-W-What's that?"
"THE ELDRITCH LANGUAGE!" And like that, she was on the floor, unconscious and mumbling in her sleep about the time of her life before Rarity lifted her onto her back and strode back towards the infirmary where her best friend was staying. Meanwhile, Cauldron was pale, sucking his bottom lip nervously.
Next day, Infirmary
Twilight awoke with a chipper smile, knowing that she was going to study with her crush in the library. She squealed in excitement, startling Spike and Trixie into wakefulness. Spike snarled as menacingly as possible while Trixie readied a spell before they both realized that Twilight was just jumping on the bed with the biggest shit-eating grin they'd ever seen on her. Rarity was already awake, having brought the container of her old fragment for Twilight to use for whatever, but if she hadn't been she was now.
"I'M GOING TO BE STUDYING WITH CAULDRON!" Twilight said ecstatically, bouncing between the infirmary beds. The others in the room smiled, the hole in the roof having been fixed thanks to Shimmer and Cadence's cooperative excellence, before Rarity chuckled teasingly.
"You know he doesn't really want to study, right?" Rarity asked, her tone making her sound like Twilight's older sister.
Her words made Celestia's protege slow her bouncing to a stop before her eyes widened and she dived under the covers of her bed. "Nononononononononononononononononononononononono!" She said fervently, shaking her head vigorously, making Rarity laugh much to a mock-glaring Trixie's mock-exasperation.
"Twilight," Trixie began, coming to look the nervous filly in the eye with a serene smile. "You'll be fine. Cauldron's going to be just as nervous as you are, more so now that I think about it."
"B-B-B-But what if he wants to k-k-kiss?!" She asked in what sounded like terror. "What i-i-i-i-if he w-w-w-wants to d-d-d-date?! Wh-?!" Spike stuck his paw in her mouth, playing with her tongue like the child he was.
"Twilight!" He said without a care in the world, grabbing her tongue and pulling on it, much to her displeasure.
"Thyp, moh! Gif so!" She commanded, pulling her tongue out of his grasp before he tried to stick his face in her mouth curiously, getting her to spit his face out of her mouth and wipe her tongue on her hooves in disgust. "That's gross, Spike! Never do that again." Slamming her cleft hoof down on the bed, making it shake, she emphasized her statement with a look of serious disapproval. Before she could look at him like that for long, however, his eyes began to well up with tears that his caretaker was mad at him. "No, don't cry! I didn't want to make you sad, Spike!" She came down to hug him close, getting him to hold onto her tightly, desperate to keep his 'mother' close to him. He eventually calmed down and by that time Rarity had more ideas to tease her sororal figure.
"I bet you'd make an amazing stay-at-home mother, darling. Cauldron might think so, too..." She left that hanging there, getting Twilight to connect the dots and dive under the blanket again, blushing up a storm as well as bleeding a fountain out of her nose with a look of shame on her face. The sight of the blood stain on both the floor and the blankets was enough to make Rarity laugh but the look of blushing shame was enough to make her sprain a lung.
Even Trixie had to laugh a little at poor Twilight's expression of blushing shame, the bloodstain on the blankets and on the floor only made it a lot funnier but in a more sinister sense outside of context. A knock came at the door, getting Trixie to open it since Twilight was resisting the urge to pass out while Rarity laughed her ass off. Opening the door, Trixie found one irate Shining Armor dragging a terrified-looking Bubbling Cauldron by his tail. "Apologize for bewitching my sister, you asshole!"
"We've been over this: I didn't bewitch Twilight!" Came Cauldron's whimpering, frightened shaking being the other sign that he was terrified beyond belief. "Please don't hurt me!" He begged, getting Shining to glare hell at the young stallion and drag him in front of his LSBFF.
"Shining," Twilight began, her eyes glowing with magic while her head remained overshadowed by the blanket. "Don't hurt him." When she said that, she channeled magic through her horn to cast a basic illusion spell which she used to make her appear as a hellish filly with black eyes that held only a red pupil as they wept blood. The spell lasted only a second or two, but it had the effect of unnerving the Lieutenant of the Royal Guard enough to leave her crush alone. She took the opportunity to get out from under the blankets, wrap her mouth around the Cauldron's fishtail-braided tail and drag him out of the infirmary with impressive strength for a filly two-thirds his size.
Spike, itching his ears with his paws, saw his caretaker leaving him and chased after her with great haste, running on all fours like the whelp he was. Everyone else merely stared after the trio, looking to a confused-looking Cauldron who wasn't sure how to feel about his crush dragging him to the library. Twilight, getting a better hold on Cauldron's tail, dragged him passed several students with a look of almost-snooty pride on her face while most of the students looked at Cauldron with either pity or amusement or even a mix of the two.
Eventually reaching the library, Twilight spit out his tail with a look of mixed emotions. "Why do you taste like cookie dough?" That question got Cauldron to blush awkwardly while other students looked at her oddly with how that was phrased, a few doing the best to stifle laughter. "Do you live in a bakery or something, because unless you eat cookie dough regularly, you shouldn't taste like cookie dough!" A look of shame came across the young stallion's face, remaining silent as they staid there in the middle of the library with several others staring at them although Twilight didn't notice.
After a few moments of silence, Twilight huffed and telekinetically lifted Cauldron above her as she strode up the stairs to the advanced section where she hoped to find some books on the eldritch language. Cauldron, looking ashamed of himself for his cowardice with Shining and his inability to act masculine enough to take Twilight to the library, just allowed himself to be swept away by the current that was Twilight's will. "I do live in a bakery." He eventually conceded, looking away from Twilight's surprised face.
"Seriously?" She asked, astounded. This was news to her. Cauldron was almost always silent in class and whenever they spoke before she was attacked, he'd attacked like a jerk, so anything she learned about him was information to be stored for later.
He merely nodded, not proud of his lineage nor confident in his voice.
"Then why's your talent in the occult and supernatural?" Twilight asked, getting Cauldron to quietly shrug, unsure of why he was even doing this if it was going to turn out this poorly.
"If I knew that, I'd have told my parents so they would accept the fact that I don't want to make food that does what I'm named after..." He said that glumly, being set down on his hooves which allowed him to lightly kick at the floor quietly.
"Is Bubbling Cauldron not your real name?" Twilight asked slowly, seeing the look of self-disappointment in his eyes.
A sigh of honesty escaped him as he answered, "My birth name is Cookie Crumble and I've been trying to get it legally changed, but since I'm still a minor I can't and I've had to ask the teachers to call me by my chosen name." He sat his rear on a cushion, looking at the bookshelf for anything to distract him from what he felt was a judgmental look on Twilight's face before he saw a book he often read concerning the supernatural whenever he was feeling down. "Ah, the Krivbeknih. My old friend..." He brought it down from the shelf and held it close to his chest, the scarred, leather cover covered with runes emitting a warmth that soothed him in his times of weakness.
To him, staring at the cover as he held it to his body, the world seemed to fade into nothing. All around him was emptiness, leaving him alone with the tome he'd trusted so much in. Without realizing it, his eyes grew heavy and closed, letting its whispers envelope his thoughts and spirit. It was as if a rising, double helix of runes was surrounding him, creating a seaweed forest of shapes and sizes in the forms of symbols. Eventually, the shapes and sizes changed in appearance from symbols to geometrical, Euclidean forms. What appeared to be tendrils made of cubes swam around him like they were fish while sharp, star-like entities grew and contracted in on themselves against moving, triangular pyramids that seemed to be moving against the black, spherical bubbles that defied the nature of this place.
"That book," Twilight began curiously, waking him from his reverie with a slight start. "Is that a book on the occult and supernatural like I mentioned we'd be studying yesterday?" He looked to the book quietly before nodding, giving her a glance as he inhaled and exhaled slowly.
"Yes, yes it is. Whenever I feel sad or lost, and the library's open, I come in and just...spend time with this book. I don't even need to turn the pages to read anymore thanks to this book." He said all of this with a gentle, grateful smile as he slowly, hesitantly placed it in Twilight's hooves. "Please, don't hurt it. Please, take care of it." The way he said that, looking into Twilight's violet eyes with his own pure, cerulean orbs that held such faith in her that he was trusting her with something he viewed as incredibly precious to his being.
Twilight took it with shaky, anticipatory hooves and the moment its leather cover touched her, she felt different. As if a new world had opened up around her and a new mind was driving her body, she carefully opened the small book and began reading it without knowing what the symbols meant as they glowed. It was like the symbols were engraving themselves into her memory, asking her to use them with care and wisdom. Unsure of how much time had passed, eventually Twilight closed the book with great hesitation to find Cauldron staring at her with an adoring smile before he realized she saw him staring which got him to open up a random book and stuff his nose into it.
She smiled charmingly at him, making him blush the same shade Shimmer did when Shining had kissed her. "This d-date's turning out amazing so far, Cookie Crumble." When she said his birth name she said it with adoration and compassion, not with emphasis and disappointment like his parents did, he smiled at her with a heavy, happy blush.
"I think, as long as you say it, I might be able to like hearing that name-" Interrupting him with a peck on the cheek, Twilight blushed so hard that they both passed out next to one another, cuddling for warmth.
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That's a wrap ladies, gents an' other! I wanted to do somethin' a little less on the dark side and more on the strange-yet-adorkable side. And, judging by the fact that no one's killed me yet, I succeeded somewhat. My biggest worry with Cauldron/Crumble's been the possibility that he turns into a Mary Sue/Gary Stu which is somethin' I've nearly done with Spike and Pinkie in the past few chapters' rough drafts!
My good friend and fellow author whose account name I lost (Sorry) gave me several great ideas and criticisms that I've taken to use in my works, one of them was Crumble's backstory. In order to make him an asshole we could like, he needed a good reason to act like a dick at times. How do we do that?! Give him struggles that some of us can relate to. Parents don't approve of your life choices? That works. Financial issues? Totally! Dead parents? Cliche.
In canon, lots of the ponies get cutie marks that seem to follow trends when in families with there being obvious exceptions. The Apples, kinda obvious as an example but fuck it. What'd happen if someone in your family, a long line of blank, didn't want to do that thing your family's done for generations and doesn't like doing that thing? That's Crumble's struggle: parental shame and self-disapproval for letting them down as well as not fulfilling his own dreams. He's also not a macho, giving him more struggle which we all have.
He and Twilight's nervousness is somethin' I enjoyed writing as it gave me something to use that I don't use in my writing very often: stuttering. Two nervous, socially inept dorks going out on a date would result in a lot of stuttering. The Krivbeknih and the reference to Euclidean were just my enjoyment of the Lovecraft Mythos' philosophies surfacing, but those do play a part in the story so remember them.
Crumble's trust in an 'obviously'-evil tome isn't odd, nor is it wrong in his case. He's a coward, hates himself because he feels like a failure and can't decide if he wants to please himself or his parents. What better than an eldritch manuscript to calm your fears? Twilight's reading it isn't odd, either. She's an egghead, a bookworm an' a dictionary-lover, she'd read anythin' if it's interesting. Also, she needs to know the Eldritch Language to help save Canterlot, so she'd need to read.
One, last thing: I listened to "Go Tell Aunt Rhody" for the last chunk of the chapter. Concerning your question, Echo...I don't like spoilin' surprises ya might enjoy. With all that said, (As always: Thanks for bein' here, R&R, no flamin' my ass, constructive criticism an' SEE YA-G'NIGHT!)
