#142

Ben was waiting for you in Buttercup’s brother’s room. You had both been sent off to bed and were sharing his while he was gone.

As you were settling in for the night day (still on Batpony sleep schedule) Ben asked you, “I actually had a lot of fun today, how about you?”

“Yhea I guess I did.” You admit getting into bed and pulling the covers.

“Except for that fight, at least you won’t have to do that again.” Ben sounded like it had scared him petty good.

“Um, about that. It’s not going to be a scary fight again, but I’m going to do it again.”

“Why?” Ben obviously didn’t like your answer.

“I have to. I need to learn more and he’s agreed to teach me. It’ll probably be more like going to school than a real fight.”

That seemed to make him feel better, though he admitted he didn’t get why you wanted to learn more. And as you laid there trying to fall asleep, your reasons for getting stronger stayed just out of reach for you too.

In the morning evening Buttercup’s mom made pancakes again, and during the meal you broke the bad news to Buttercup that you would be working with her dad for a wile.

She wasn’t  too pleased about being left behind but Ben helped you smooth things over before her dad came back. He tossed you a new practice sword and told you to hurry up before leaving again. It seemed getting an early start was important to him.

Practice practice practice, that’s all he wanted you to do today. But the hardest part was the practice sword he gave you was heavy, and by the end of your lesson your jaw and neck were sore just holding it.

At least he also showed you a few new things, even if he was keeping your lessons simple.

After that it was time to hold up your part of the bargain and help him at work. Turns out being Chief of a Batpony colony was a lot more like what you imagined being a Mayor to be like. Filing paperwork, settling small deputes, and drinking lots of coffee.

Your job was to help him get his coffee, retrieve said paperwork when forgotten, or when someone forgot to turn it in on time, etcetera, etcetera. And for some odd reason you just couldn’t shake the words ‘Fetch Quest’ from your head.

DO THE THING!

Screw Adenosine Caffeine Molecule Mug

[Image ID: A photo mockup of a person with long hair, glasses, and a gray sweater, holding up an 11oz black ceramic coffee mug that features a white line drawing of a caffeine molecule and the words "Screw Adenosine" in white all-caps hand lettering.]

The point of this one might be a little obscure for some bystanders, but I know you get the joke, dear reader. But just in case: adenosine is the neurotransmitter that makes you feel sleepy. Caffeine blocks the receptors so you can ignore that shit... for a time. But who cares? You've got code to compile and fanfic to read now.

2021 Geek-A-Long: Week 1

There are too many squares. TOO MANY. “How many?” you ask. Well, let me tell you. After spending hours compiling them into a spreadsheet, because apparently I never thought to do such a thing over the past seven years, there are 289 Geek-A-Long squares. TWO HUNRED EIGHTY-NINE. The whole project is very daunting and is probably the reason why I kept putting the revamp on the back burner. To be…