mylittlejamjar | 2nd Idea [Accidental Visual]

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2nd Idea [Accidental Visual]

[With everything settling back down again, it should be the best time to relax. But it apparently was the opposite for Tadashi, who could be seen pacing around his room at the commune. His tail flicked with every turn, and the expression on his face was more agitated and troubled than normal for those who had seen him before.

Another passing turn had him pausing, finally noticing the scroll was open. And for a moment he almost seemed to glare at it, his hardened expression persisting as he debated whether to simply roll it up.

But it only lasted a moment before his expression softened, and he managed a small, if somewhat weary smile.]

Anyone feel like grabbing a drink?

...Or taking a walk. Or...something.

[It just seemed like he could use the company.]

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Your professor set that fire on purpose?

[...Give her a second to fully process that, Tadashi.]

...That...that bastard!

[There we go.]

What was he thinking???

[A sigh.] Apparently it was part of this whole...thing.

The night of the event, Hiro had built these things called nanobots. Like they sound, they're tiny machines that can't do much on their own, but can do pretty amazing things when you get a few thousand of them. And all the nanobots were connected by this band you where on your head, so they respond to your thoughts.

[Even now, talking about the nanobots, he couldn't help still feeling insanely proud of his brother.]

He'd built them to show what he can do, so that Callaghan would accept him into the school. And he did...but Callaghan wanted to use Hiro's nanobots for...something else.

So he started the fire...grabbed the controlling device, and used the nanobots to escape free from harm, while faking his own death.

Edited 2015-04-24 07:54 (UTC)

And killed you in the process!?!

[She really didn't need to remind him of that but she couldn't believe what she was hearing. All that stuff about nanobots and whatever aside, this was absolutely disgusting.

She stared at him, completely appalled, ears back as she stamped a hoof into the ground.]

That's awful, Tadashi!!!

[He was surprisingly calm as he nodded, though his focus seemed to be farther away.]

Yeah...I know...

[Honestly, the fact that he was so calm about it was almost more unnerving than the confession he'd just made.]

What's the matter with you?? Some teacher you cared enough about to risk your own life for completely betrayed you! Just to steal some technology from your little brother!?! You're acting like it's not even that big a deal!!

[That wasn't really fair. She'd seen him start to get upset earlier, when she'd thought it was just because he'd accidentally gotten himself killed.

Maybe Tadashi had already had time to come to grips with all of this, but his demeanor still had her dumb-founded nonetheless.]

You think I don't know that? [Some of the earlier fire was back as he looked up at her with a hardened look.] Of course it's a big deal!

This whole thing is a nightmare! Callaghan, someone I trusted, risked a lot of people's lives by starting the fire at the expo that night. It's lucky that no one else had gotten hurt, or worse!

And he did all this...He put my friends, my family...he put Hiro...through all this pain...for what? To steal Hiro's work? For revenge?

[The anger started to ebb again, but this time replaced with something else...something quieter as he tried to pull his cap down further over his eyes.]

I...I-I wasn't...I wasn't done yet...I hadn't...I hadn't finished...what I wanted to do...And now I...

...I never will...

[There was a slight tremble in his breath as he exhaled, turning away from her again.]

[She probably shouldn't have been goading him, but it honestly concerned her to see somebody appear so passive about a betrayal this deep. So she met his gaze evenly, her ears drooping only when he started to retreat under his hat, staring at him a little crestfallen.]

Tadashi, I...

[She felt so sorry for him.

It was bad enough they were all trapped here, but Tadashi was doomed to die when he finally managed to make it back home. He'd never get to see his little brother again. Not unless Hiro came back here, which was less than ideal for obvious reasons.

This sucked.

She watched him sadly for a long moment...

And then her expression steeled.]

No.

No, there has to be someway to fix this.

[How do you fix being dead?]

It...I-It's fine...When uh...When Hiro was telling me about it, it turned out the whole thing set off this big chain of events, and it ended up saving someone else. I dunno if that would have happened if...if I hadn't...y'know.

[Thinking about it that way - .that with his life, someone else's had been saved - made the whole thing a bit easier to bear.]

Edited 2015-04-24 19:08 (UTC)

It's not fine!!!

[It genuinely bothered her how resigned he seemed about this.

This was as bad as when Blake had started to give up on herself during the blizzard a few months back only there were no Windigos to blame this time.]

You don't know if those things wouldn't have happened anyway somehow!!

[Her tone softened.]

...You just said it yourself. You had things you still wanted to do back home.

[Another shrug.] I'm pretty sure those events were really circumstantial.

[Believe him, he'd been trying to think of ways for them to happen without him dying, but...he couldn't figure it out.

Her repeating his words had him wince just a bit.]

Yeah...but what can I do?

[She frowned hard at him at the shrug, one ear flicking in slight irritation. Then she slowly trotted over to stand beside him again, bending her head a little to make sure she could catch his gaze whether he wanted to look at her or not.]

You can start...with not giving up on yourself.

[Something about her words has him glancing up at her with a start.]

I'm not...

[Was he?]

I mean, if I thought there could be any way out of it, that'd be great...but my brother's from a later time...He went to my funeral.

What else can I do?

[She fixed him with a look, but this time it was more amused than frustrated.]

You're currently living in a world full of magic and colorful ponies, and some of them have like 3 copies of themselves or something.

[The corner of her mouth quirked into a confident smile.]

We'll get creative.

[There was emphasis on that "we'll". Whether Tadashi wanted her help or not, he was going to get it.

Her expression softened again.]

You're not dead yet, Tadashi.

[That was important.]

[That earned a bit of a chuckle.] That's true, I guess...

From my understanding, though, stuff we do here doesn't have much bearing when we go back.

As long as I'm here, I'm alive. But once I go back...

Hmm...

[She was frowning again, but in thought now. She didn't want to admit it but Tadashi did have a slight point there.]

If Calice sends you back, she'll just return you to the point in time she pulled you from.

[Because Calice was an asshole who delighted in other people's misery.]

Maybe if we found a way out that wasn't through her you could pick an earlier time to return to and just...not run into that burning building or something.

[Like, really, Tadashi. Really.

And then the frown returned.]

But there's no telling how long it'll be until we figure out how to do that. And Calice could send you back before we manage it.

[Because again. Asshole.

She trotted off a little further into the training grounds, pacing somewhat back and forth in thought. If there was one thing Yang could be stubborn about, it was finding answers and she would find an answer to this.]

I guess...although if I don't go into the burning building, that might...mess up what happens later.

[He'd like to be alive, sure, but...he didn't know if he wanted to risk that.]

[She turned back towards him with a slight stamp of her back hoof.]

Tadashi, I admire your heroism but you're not obligated to be a sacrifice for somebody else.

[It wasn't selfish to want to live. Even the Huntsmen and Huntresses back in her world, the protectors of the people, didn't go out of their way to get themselves killed. You couldn't help people if you were dead.

She rolled her eyes, turning her head back forwards with the motion and started pacing again.]

Besides, if you survive and you remember what Hiro told you, then you can just help make sure whatever else was supposed to happen...happens.

["Yang Xiao Long's Guide to Flipping Paradoxes the Bird".]

[He frowned a bit.]

I suppose that's true. But the question is how to do that?

Working on it.

[This time she hadn't even bothered looking at him, staring at the ground as she paced. The movement wasn't agitated though. Just a controlled back and forth, like the problem was an opponent she simply had to beat into submission.

And since Yang tended to banter when she fought...]

When a friend of mine was sent back to our home-world for a short while, he didn't take anything he'd gotten here with him. And I think the same thing might have happened to Ruby when she briefly went home too.

So some kind of armor's no good.

[It'd just be left here if Calice returned him.

She huffed air through her nose, turning and working down another train of thought.]

One of the ponies here might know a spell that could make you fire-proof or something.

[Dust knew the Communes could use one while they were at it, even if she didn't live there anymore.

Her frown deepened again as she made another turn.]

But it might not stay with you if you return to your regular body. And there's always the chance this world's magic won't work anywhere else but here.

[She certainly wouldn't expect it to work in her world where there wasn't any. Plus with Calice's knowledge of likely everything there was to know about this world's magic, they'd risk her sensing it and removing it.

Yang gave a snort, sounding a little frustrated now.

She was much better at giving ideas and suggestions than she was at critiquing her own, but she couldn't take a chance here. Not with Tadashi's life at stake. Nonetheless it was irritating getting an idea and then having to work out where it could possibly fail. She didn't like thinking like that.]

Rrgh, there has to be something we can do!

[She was not going to just let this go. She could figure this out.]

[Tadashi was silent a moment, his tail flicking just a bit as he watched her.

If she was going through all the effort to think of a way to keep him alive...he could at least help out.]

If we're talking about protection...it would have be something that's part of me.

[He'd heard the explanation of what Calice did to them when she brought them here.]

But I think the only thing that would really be left is...my soul?

[He hadn't really given much though to souls and afterlife, but...if that was true, it didn't leave them with too many options.]

[Yang froze in her tracks, facing away from him, but her ears clearly up as if in alarm or surprise.]

...Your soul.

[She turned and looked at him, wide-eyed.]

Your soul. That's it!

[Yang closed the distance between them with two short bounds, coming to a stop in front of him and just inside of his personal space bubble.

Complete with a slightly too wide grin on her face.]

Your soul can be your shield!

[He can't help leaning back a bit as she gets in his face, and he can only stare at her as he tried to process her words.]

...What?

[She laughs a little, still grinning but a touch less...maniacally.]

Aura.

The answer is Aura.

Aura?

[Of course he's heard of aura, but how was that going to help?]

Warriors in my world protect themselves with their souls. Their Aura.

[Her smile softened to something a little more proud.]

Huntsmen and Huntresses like me are able to control our Aura so that we can project it outwardly and shield ourselves from harm.

[The end of her mouth quirked a little.]

If you slashed me with a sword, my Aura would be able to protect me, even if it would have been a fatal blow without it. It can protect the wielder from blunt force too and...

[She paused, hoping Tadashi was starting to see where she was going with this before continuing.]

It can shield you from explosions.

Trust me, I know. Somebody fired a rocket launcher at me once.

[Several times actually.

...Don't ask her what she was doing that led to that.]

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