Description: With Keith engaged in the long, slow process of recovery, Dash has worked hard to help him get back on his feet. Now, the pair engage in a discussion about what drives the brightly-colored Friendship Warrior on her path! There can be only one horribly inevitable conclusion...
Several hours had passed since the events out near the Diamond Dragon passed on and Keith was found by a kid. They managed to make it to a motel of sort, which is an average place within China at most. However, it is is a very small place.
The size of the walls are akin to an American bathroom. The bed is long and flat with a window that has a set of glittery beige blinds nearby. A picture is framed up.
The place is definitely too small for a burly black man such as Keith. However, he does not mind it at all. He had recovered since the incident, his wounds healing and the need for the drugs subsiding.
His eyes remain shut, drifting to sleep for those moments.
...Only to recall himself in a tube. Bubbles float.
Flickering lights. Bubbles. Liquid within a capsule.
Keith immediately snaps awake, lifting his body up from the flat bed with a grimace. "Ugh." A hand rests over towards his head. He finds himself thinking back to the time of a distant memory. It feels like something had slipped away a moment ago.
It is then that Keith takes a moment to examine the cramped, homely room. He cannot help but give an amused look. "...Well, this is quite a place."
Dash has been having her own adventures in the interim of course, wild and crazy adventures involving photo booths and witches, but she didn't want to stray too far from Keith. The man's injuries were serious! And whilst she was pretty sure she had done a good job with the field medicine, she wanted to be there in case his condition took a turn for the worse. In which case, she'd... do... something. Probably not anything useful, but /something/.
She's returned from her trip with Naerose with a large orange cooked duck in a bag, and an owl in a cage. The owl looks mightily pissed off, glaring at everyone and everything in its immediate vicinity. It is also huge; four feet tall, almost as big as its new apparent owner!
Dash looks up from her laptop - a surprisingly sturdy piece of equipment, even if it is decorated with pony stickers - and smiles when Keith speaks. "Hey, you're awake!" She declares cheerfully, "How're you feeling? Better? You were thrashing around a lot, but I took that as a good sign. It probably means you haven't broken too many bones."
It is almost a throbbing headache that Keith feels. That lingering feeling of pain that just keeps whacking away at his brain cells. However, his eyes slowly focus towards the door, seeing the presence of a young girl finally make her way inside the motel.
At first, he gives her a look of unfamiliarity, but it soon starts to dawn on him what happened the last couple of hours. That's right. His rescuer.
"Ahh... you're back."
Picking up that feeling of negative emotions, his eyes fall over towards the large owl with an amused look. "I see you made a new friend." As she gives him that cheery look, Keith only grins and leans himself back upright.
"A bit better, thank you." He closes his eyes, "...It is still going to take a bit, but I am in better shape than I was before." He gives a thoughtful look, "I see your travel around Hong Kong has been fruitful. How did you get your new friend?"
There's some nervous laughter from Dash at the question, and she scratches behind the back of her head as she walks over to Keith's bedside. "Well, that's kind of a long story." She says, "The short version is, I met someone who thought I should make friends right here and level up before I go and take on Iraq, and Hootie was the first thing I saw!"
She tugs over a chair with her foot, and sits herself on it so she can inspect the large black man, pursing her lips in thought at the sight of him. He does look better, he's probably not going to die, and she can't smell any infection... those are all good signs.
"I paid up for the week here, I don't think the owner is used to people renting out these rooms for more than a night at a time for some reason, but he was pretty happy to take my money. You take all the time you need to feel better, okay?"
The Psycho Power is uncontrollable. Without the need of the drugs to enhance himself in the fight or the need to use it, the powers are rather passive. Emotions are easy to pick up. It is like a screaming voice in his head. That is something that Keith has been hoping to overcome. Unfortunately, with the owl's anger, it makes it rather difficult to get used to that screaming shout despite the desire to dull it.
"Easy, there..."
Once Dash explains about the situation as she joins his bed, Keith tilts his head over at her. "'Level up'?" Keith runs a hand over his shoulder, grimacing as his muscles seem to ache. The bed is definitely not a comfortable place for him to sleep.
Keith cannot help but to smile at the young girl. It is interesting to see that the young girl has been doing her earnest to take care of him. As such, Keith extends a hand over towards her hair, gently ruffling it.
"Thanks, kiddo." He looks up towards the ceiling. Though, he cannot help but ask.
"What reason are you planning on taking on Iraq?"
"Well, it topped the poll."
Dash doesn't mind the hair-ruffling, it is something you get used to when you're short. Reaching down next to the chair, she pulls her laptop up again, and flips it open. Tap-tap-tapping away for a few seconds, she gets up her blog, and - true to her word - there is indeed a poll. 'Where should D.Dash's Quest For World Peace Begin?'
There's several thousand votes, too.
The website is designed in bright primary colors, with quite a few embedded pony pictures. D.Dash.Com is a professionally designed piece of work! And it shows! But what might be more concerning to Keith is the blog entries down the side; right now there's only two, but he can see one in the 'Draft' stage called 'Step One: Hong Kong? Fooey!'
"I'm going to bring about world peace through the power of friendship! I figure, starting with the big conflict areas is probably the most sensible, but there's tons of them! Iraq, Afghanistan, Ukraine, Syria, North Korea..."
"Poll?"
Keith looks confused at this point. Though he had playfully ruffled the young girl's hair, what is catching his attention is the thought about 'poll'. That is where Keith slowly peels himself up and he looks rather curious, "Hm." As she settles and starts getting the laptop, Keith looks at the webpage that she is showing him.
... A blog. Not only is this a blog, but this is a blog that has a thousand of votes for a matter of 'World Peace'. Keith inwardly winces. Although part of it is due to the colors that seems to have flooded his eyes, the main reason is the strange goal.
He just laughs at this point.
"That is quite a hefty goal."
Although Keith raises an eyebrow at the topic, it is not much concern to him. However, he does focus towards hte young girl, "Do you think you have the ability to spread friendship in those places?" He considers, "Those are some very nasty places."
How wild could this kid's imagination go?
It is almost as though she had waited for this moment like a predator, lurking in the underbrush for Keith to drop his guard and chuckle. Then, she strikes!
Reaching into her pocket, she pulls out her smartphone, and there's a 'snap' of the laughing man, before she responds in kind.
"Well, that's kind of the point!" Dash laughs, taking the laptop back and turning it around to face her. "If they were nice and friendly places already, they wouldn't NEED a Champion of Friendship to show them the way. Although, to be honest, you get badness pretty much everywhere... but THOSE places, I figure when I win one of them over, everyone else will see how great it is and follow along! The trouble is, everyone keeps trying to calm places down with violence. That's EXACTLY how you SHOULDN'T do it!"
... Wait.
What just happened? Whatever just happened occured at a point that was far too fast for Keith to process. It was Dash that pulled out her smartphone and took a shot of him.
Keith is left rather dumbfounded, confused over the whole ordeal. "Uh.."
Though, as Dash finally explains her reasoning, Keith considers her goal.
"...How, exactly, do you plan to become the Champion of Friendship in those locations?" He considers, "Many of them have weapons, technology, and may not be adverse to doing very unsavory things to random girls." A frown forms, then it turns rather thoughtful, looking her over.
It is one that cannot help but wonder: Will she try to strive to face the world? "It seems that you have a lot of people encouraging you."
"Well, obviously, I'll take away their weapons and explain to them why it isn't a good idea to use them."
Dash explains this to Keith in the way only a teenager talking to an adult can; as though he is a total idiot for even asking the question and really should have known better. The phone is slid back into the front pocket of her hoodie, and she closes the laptop up too, smiling to the older man as she sets it by the side of her chair.
"I know Horse Style Kung Fu, Keith, and I'm NOT an idiot. I know it'll be dangerous, but that's the point! If I spend all my life talking from behind a keyboard because I'm scared to do it in public, I'm no better than a troll! If I get out there and make the world a better place, by freeing owls, saving people bleeding to death in alleyways, and /making friends.../"
She clenches her hand into a fist, and raises it up towards him - not in violence, but in an invitation to *brohoof* like any true pony fan would.
"NOTHING can stop me achieving world peace!"
"Sounds simple."
Keith retorts, leaning back against the bed. As his back presses against the hard mattress, he grimaces and he mutters to himself before he finally settles onto the bed.
"No matter. Life will be quite a lesson." He considers to himself, "...Whatever your pursuit leads you to: Just make sure that you rememebr who you are in the long run." Keith sure as hell does not. It is all a blur to him. Even his own face. As soon as he tries to recall something, it is like the visual becomes static-filled and grainy.
As the girl raises a fist towards his direction.
A chuckle is given once more, then he brings his larger hand to meet with her knuckles.
"Well then, I wish you well on your goal."
Dash beams when Keith relents and gives her the dap she asked for. If she is even aware that he was being sceptical in his assessment of her plan, she doesn't show it in the least. "Thanks! And like Naerose said, if I get a good group of friends about me, then, its like... I've ALREADY won!"
The chair is dragged closer to Keith's bedside, and she reaches out with one foot to snare her backpack and drag it in closer. This is an awful lot of effort to avoid having to get up, but the end result is worth it, as she winds up with the bag brought in and sitting so that Keith will be able to look at the laptop in a moment.
"I don't think I'll run any risk of forgetting that!" The brightly-colored girl enthuses, "After all, I carry around my inspiration with me wherever I go!"
Keith might be expecting something poignant here; a picture of her dead mother, Gandhi's autobiography, the works of Bertrand Russell...
What he gets is a hefty DVD box set featuring happy, smiling, pastel-colored ponies dumped onto his injured lap. "I'll show you! We'll start with the core series because Equestria Girls is kind of Advanced Tier, don't worry, by the time we've got you back on your feet, you'll understand exactly what I'm getting at!"
Soon, Keith may have memories he only wishes he could forget...
It helps a kid's imagination.
Keith finds the young girl rather idealistic. However, Keith cannot help but to feel a bit bad for her. How long until such idealism is crushed? After a moment, Keith shakes his head, dismissing the thoughts. Perhaps he has grown too pessimistic.
... But why? Why is this pessimism natural to him? This should be a complete blank slate for him. Everything should be filled with curiosity. However, there is only fragments of himself.
Inspiration? Keith looks rather thoughtful. Inspiration. What does he have that inspires him? Keith's gaze lower towards his right pocket, procuring a large coin. He has held this coin for some time. It seems to have some sort of value to him.
Why?
Those thoughts immediately banish as he becomes curious about Dash.
"Huh? What inspires you to be the way that you are?"
There it is. A set of DVDs with colorful ponies.
"...What?"
And the DVD set is about to begin.
There is a deep, impending feeling of horror that runs deep within the core of Keith's heart.
"Ahhh... I think I have some of that scotch left."
Lord knows he will need it.
Log created on 07:28:28 03/06/2015 by D. Dash, and last modified on 09:30:04 03/06/2015.