witchesreign | Fall: when the world starts growing cold...

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Fall: when the world starts growing cold...

[For a very long time now, a pegasus pony has zipped through the halls and across large dome of the Lobby without respect for physics or gravity. The sound of air rushing over feathers and the sight of a rainbow wake are common to the point of being uninteresting. Instead, for the past few days, their absence is what seems unusual.]

[Rainbow Dash hasn't much felt like flying lately. Instead, the pegasus plods from place to place with the weary, slow pace of a plowhorse at the end of planting season. No spring in her step or wind in her wings, just a slow, dispirited trudge.]

[She has a lot of reasons for her lack of energy, some more obvious than others, but it's easy to guess at the straw that broke the pony's back; every time she passes through the dorms, she stops to take a long, sad look at a room that had up till recently been inhabitated by one of her best friends.]

[Then, sadly satisfied that once again, looking at it will not bring the alicorn back, she trudges on, without really much hope for anything right now.]

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[It's not like he knows her well, but the change in demeanor is pretty obvious, even to a thick headed lug like Namur. He doesn't say anything the first few times he crosses her path- people go through all kinds of shit and eventually dig themselves out. But after a few days of it...]

Yo, Mare. Come with me a minute, huh?

...Huh?

[She looks up and out of her own thoughts for the first time in what feels like forever, sort of like surfacing from the depths of a pool. She blinks up at him.... waaaay up at him.]

What's going on?

Been noticin' I ain't swearin' as much between classes. Then I realized it's cuz I ain't been gettin' buzzed by damn rainbows in the hallways. I need them rainbows t' help me reach my shitty swearin' quota for the day. What gives, huh?

[Namur has gone about this in such a roundabout way that Rainbow, in a bad mood is she is, gets the impression that he's berating her for flying around the way she does, and draws herself up.]

Hey, if you need to swear, I could stomp on your foot some.

[Well, it got something other than moping out of her. Namur chuckles.]

Sheheheh! There's yer fight! Thought maybe y'd lost it. Y' want t' try stompin' me that's fine.

"Try" stomping you? TRY stomping you? Oh no, I think I need to make it a bit more clear that picking on me is a BAD idea!

[She turns and lashes out a hoof. Not for his foot, but a bit higher. No, higher. No, higher than that... yeah.]

[She's in such a bad mood... ordinarily, she wouldn't ever go for a nutshot. At least she's not putting anywhere near her full strength behind it...]

Who's pickin' on y'- oof!

[T.T]

[Namur doubles over, unable to breathe. Shit that hurt. Damn. That hurt. He can't even think much more than that. Manly tears of ultimate betrayal fog his vision.]

Ow, shit, damn it, y' dumbass! The hell's yer problem?

Yeah, how was that for "try"?

[She says this quite archly over her shoulder, but as she turns to properly appreciate her work and sees him all bent over and wheezing, guilt abruptly stabs her hard. That had really been uncalled for, Rainbow Dash.]

[Her Cure spells aren't terribly powerful, but she casts one anyway to try to ease his pain.]

Oh man. I don't know what got into me there. That was totally awful of me.

[He's okay. He'll be okay. No, really. He'll walk it off... when he can walk again.]

Shit, weren't nothin'...

[His voice is a big higher pitched than normal though. BUT HEY! He's breathing again, right?]

Man, I just nailed you to prove I had more than you thought I did, so if you don't admit it was something, I'm gonna have to prove myself some evenmore painful way.... Seriously, I'm sorry. That was way outta line.

Naw, it's...

[Okay dude. Breathe. Yes. Pain is beginning to fade.]

Nothin' t' be mad 'bout. Don't hold shit like this 'gainst no one. If knockin' someone 'round's what y' need, I'm here cuz I can take it.

[He winces.]

Usually.

...I told you I was barely trying. You could so not handle me if I went all out.

[Namur, given your current state, are you sure you want to argue with the pony? Because she totally looks ready to bring it.]

[She is also so not listening to what he's saying, so you know what? Why the hell not?

He drops into a fighting stance, soreness be damned.]

Jus' hope y' fight better'n y' listen, Featherbrain. Got shitty hearin' for how big yer ears are.

Oh, that's it! You! Me! Outside! NOW! [She jabs a hoof in the direction of the front gate.]

Trainin' Center's better. No one tries t' get in the way when y' fight in there.

[She'll listen to that part, right?]

[She shakes her head.] Walls can't handle me when I give it my all.

[Namur picks her up around the middle, pinning her wings under his arm and slinging her against his side, high enough that even if she kicks and struggles, lightning won't be able to strike twice in the same spot.]

So don't aim yer all at the walls, aim it at me. Could take y' out t' sea, too. Pretty sure the water can handle it.

What the -- HEY! LET ME GO!

[Yep, that's a bad position for her; she can't get force behind any of her blows, or traction to escape. The only thing growing stronger, faster, is her anger.]

You're just chicken! You're AFRAID to face a pegasus where she can fly around! You gotta have a ceiling over your head 'cuz you're scared!

Sheheheh! Yer the one makin' a fuss 'bout havin' a cielin' overhead. Maybe yer too scared t' get close an' have a real fight.

[At some point she might notice they aren't headed in the direction of the Training Center.]

[Rainbow crosses her forelegs indignantly.]

Typical attitude, thinking a fight only counts if you're straight up in each others' faces. YOU'RE only saying that because you couldn't deal with the full fury of a pegasus if you had a reinforced bunker and a year's supply of food!

Whoa there, comin' through!

[Rainbow may not feel up to speeding through the corridors like she usually does, but it seems that at least one other inhabitant of Garden is trying to make up for it today. Near the entrance to the dorms, a bright orange blur of desperation and headphones tears past, narrowly avoids tripping over the pony in the hallway as he turns a corner, and bolts out of sight.

About five minutes later, he comes strolling back the same way in distinctly less of a hurry. This time, when he passes Rainbow, he does give her a second glance. It's mostly a glance down, but it isn't unkind.]

Hmm? Oh, still hanging around? Hey, what's with the long face?

[He doesn't sound like he's joking...]

[At the remark, Rainbow glances at him out of the corner of her eye.]

Was that a pony joke?

[She's not really mad, because anger would take too much energy right now, and because she's grown used to classless mistreatment by people who meant no harm and thought they were more clever than they really were.]

Huh? [Nonplussed, coming to a stop, he rubs the back of his neck -

- and blanches, almost knocking his translator off in his haste to frantically wave both his hands in front of him.] Wait, no no no, you got it all wrong! I wouldn't inflict that on anyone else...

[His little outburst might be a shade too apologetic to be completely convincing, but at least he doesn't harp on it for long.]

I just thought you looked down. Something the matter?

[Rainbow sighs, not having it in her to get worked up at all. That would take energy, and she has none of that. She just looks back to the door. She HAS been kind of obvious in her sulking unhappiness, has she. There's no way she can get away with claiming nothing is wrong.]

A friend left and I didn't get to say goodbye. That's all.

[That's totally not all, but if she admits to ONE thing she can avoid talking about anything else, right?]

[He cocks his head. That would explain why somebody would want to loiter around here of all places, yeah...]

You mean, left without telling you? Yikes, that is kinda harsh.

[That gets her moving, lifting off the ground a couple feet to face him properly. No way is she gonna let anypony get the wrong idea about Twilight Sparkle!]

No no, it's not like that. I mean, she went back. Back home. You don't GET a warning when you do that, so it's not like you can say a proper goodbye.

Wh-!? [It's an easy and sudden enough movement to take Yosuke by surprise, and he involuntarily steps back. Did the horse just... Well, yes, obviously. That would be why the horse has a pair of wings. Haha, why didn't he see that...?

... Come to think of it, is this a guy or a girl? His first guess would be girl, but he's not sure his instincts are worth much when it comes to improbably colourful talking animals. After all, he's only really well acquainted with one.

He coughs.] She got taken home? By who? [Hold on - something's a little off about her gloominess right now if it's really in response to a kidnapping, and wouldn't there have been more of a commotion about it? Huh.] Wait, I thought the whole reason they took us in was because that couldn't happen...

[What? Hey! She's totally a girl! Hear that voice! Look at the eyelashes! What more did you need?!]

No, just nopony can control it. Sometimes people just vanish. Sometimes they don't. I've been here like a year and a half now. Time Compression is totally random!

Oooh. Gotcha. [Yeah, that would make more sense. He bites his lip. Having a close friend up and disappear without a chance to see them off... Was it insensitive to start quizzing her about it?] Um, sorry. I guess I missed that part.

[Looking down for a moment, he scratches his head. Jeez, this is no good. He's talking to her(?) because she looked like she could use some cheering up, not to take her mood and stomp on it. What would his partner say?...]

But, well... if she can come back, she will, right?

Why would she? She's home.

[Rainbow doesn't blame Twilight; there's no reason for her to go blindly chasing portals and spells back to this world, when all the evidence suggests Rainbow herself, the last pony on this world, would pop back eventually too. She's just... sad, and lonely, and carrying more weights than just this on her shoulder.]

I'm glad she's back where she belongs...

Sure she would. She didn't mean to disappear on you, you're this worried about her... there's no way she wouldn't at least let you know she's okay. It's not like you stop being friends the moment you're out of sight. And if you keep fretting about it before you hear back from her, it's just a waste, you know? [He grins awkwardly, sticking his hands in his pockets. ...Man, pretty much any of his friends would be so much better at this.]

Whoa, hold up. I'm not doubting our friendship or anything, I just miss her, okay? [Little surprise the Element of Loyalty gets a bit prickly about the implications there.] But we don't even know if time goes the same on our home worlds as here. I think it doesn't, actually. So that means she COULDN'T come back for me, even if she wanted to, because time isn't passing for her.

Does that change anything? I said if she can.

[Prickly is an improvement on doom and gloom, isn't it? Well, he's hardly cut out to be serious about these things. What if he tried a joke?]

Anyways, if you really insist on getting hung up on it... why not take it somewhere else? There's gotta be somewhere less stuffy you could do your lurking around, even in the rain. [...Okay, no, that one sucked. Point stands, though.] I mean, when there's nothing you can do, what are the reminders good for?

[Unfortunately, Rainbow takes the exact wrong thing in the exact wrong way, and it shows.]

Oh, in other words, "get out of the hall and quite blocking traffic, nopony cares if you lost your friend", huh?!

No what? [For a second, it sounded like... Huh, maybe his translator's acting up?

Wait, that totally isn't the part he should be reacting to!]

H-Hey, I didn't say that! When did I say that? I just came in here to... [He trails off rather quickly. Um, never mind.] You just looked like you could do with taking your mind off it for a while, and... [This laugh of his is really more of a nervous giggle.] Maybe I was wrong...

[Rainbow lunges forward to get right up in his face.]

Oh sure, if I really insist I should 'get hung up on' my BEST FRIEND vanishing, then I should go do it somewhere else! THAT's when you said that!

[The pony backs off just to turn around and fold her forearm haughtily.] I bet you don't even HAVE any friends. THAT's why you don't care about somepony ELSE losing theirs.

[She didn't really have any way of knowing exactly how close to home that would hit, but he still flinches.

And then, abruptly, leans forward himself.]

Of course I do! And of course I miss them! But they're not around either, and that's just the way it is! And dude, if you're so quick to take it out on whoever's passing by, it's no wonder you don't have anyone else!

[He doesn't quite manage to bite his lip in time.

...Damn. Now he's the one who sounds like a loser. The mature thing to do would be to just step away, right? Yeah, definitely the mature thing. It's not like her purported friend vanishing is his fault.]

Alright, alright, I get the hint... Sorry. I'll leave you to it.

[He pulls his headphones over his ears and walks back the way he came.]

[Rainbow's turn to take words like a punch to the gut. She winces as the shot hits home, recoils a little... then swallows. Oh man, she hates having to be mature and responsible and admit mistakes, but...]

[She flies past Yosuke to intercept him, wheeling around to face him properly once she's past him.]

Hey, you're right. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said any of that stuff. I didn't mean it.

[Huh, that was a quick turnaround. Literally and metaphorically. He stops before he can walk straight into her and removes his headphones again, not even having had the chance to put any music on.]

That's pretty much what I figured. No worries. [He makes an effort to give her a smile - a distinctly embarrassed one thanks to his own outburst, but in some sense it feels just a shade less awkward than before.

...It's okay to needle her a little in retaliation, though, isn't it?]

See, now you aren't just loitering around the same old dorm. Isn't that an improvement?

[Rainbow sighs deeply, drooping, but at least she's letting herself be honestly sad and depressed instead of angry or hostile.]

Not really. I guess I appreciate the thought, but... just moving around isn't gonna do anything to help me.

Not at all? At the very least, it's gotta be a little more interesting. You should try working the late-night shift sometime...

[Whoops, he's forgetting himself. He folds his arms and leans back slightly in order to feel less like he's trying to tower over her.] Oh, what's your name, anyway? I don't think I've seen you in class before. There was that other horse with wings in one of them, I guess, but she looked girlier than you.

[Purpler. Same difference.]

I'm Rainbow Dash.

[One questionable advantage of her low mood is that he doesn't get any additional description of how awesome or amazing she is, just the name.]

The pony you're talking about is my friend. The one who left.

[Well, that settles it. Whoever heard of a dude called Rainbow?

... Whoever heard of a girl called Rainbow? Sounds like something they'd slap onto a filler villain of the day on Featherman. Argh, forget it. More importantly -]

Oh. Oh. Um, jeez, I'm sorry... again.

[For lack of any better way to change the subject, he coughs.] A-Anyway! I'm Yosuke Hanamura. Er... I know I said I'd leave you to it, but if you ever felt like taking a break and getting a soda or something, I'd be up for that... [He gives her a sheepish but open-hearted wink.] Just, you know, just saying.

[Clumsy as he realises he's being, he does look more worried for her. It's dangerous to feel like you're totally alone...]

Well, I know I'm a catch, but you're being awful forward considering we just met.

[The good news is that she's cheered up, just a little, just for the moment. The bad news is that it comes at his expense, given her teasing wink.]

[There's no way she means it, but banter is still more his speed than any of the sappy stuff. He dares to grin.] Does that mean you're not busy?

Naw. [The brief spurt of good humor drains away, because yeah, she's not busy and missing friends is a big part of why.] I got nothin' going on.

[He tilts his head slightly.]

Well... I know how I sound, but I was serious... Think about it sometime, okay?

[Alright, that's probably enough awkward hovering for one day, even for him. He gives her what he hopes is an encouraging nod, steps around her and walks away again.]

Hey!

[She's not trying to catch him or intercept him this time, just turning in place to try to get his attention for one moment more.]

...thanks.

[He just turns to wave at her - and he'll probably wave the next time he passes her in a hallway, too.]

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Fall: when the world starts growing cold...

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