link1able - Lol and i get the inkling you'll just hafta wait and see ;) No, can't say I have, though feel free to PM me a link.
HYBRID BATTLESHIP INFINITY210 - As always, thank you for the kind words good sir!
Pura blaze - It was pretty fun to write too.
KillerWoW - did you expect different from our hero? Lol yes, yes he did. I honestly enjoy writing this for everyone to enjoy, and the reviews I get always make it worth it to me; I don't know how I'd feel about being paid to do this, though I appreciate that you think so highly of my story.
A/N - Not really much to say here besides; Guess who almost cut their finger off at work? This guy! As always, don't forget to follow/favorite, review and most importantly, enjoy!
When we all arrived at the café, we took our places around one of the larger outdoor tables, with Applejack on my right and Luna on my left. Twilight and Dash sat next to one another across from us. The same waiter from before came by and took our various drink orders before handing us menus and leaving to allow us to peruse them.
The waiter returned again and took our orders, most everyone ordering a salad of some sort, except for Dash and me, who both ordered club sandwiches. We passed the time while we waited for our food by telling one another of some of the amusing things that had happened in our lives. Twilight told us of a time when she went temporarily insane when she didn't have a topic for her weekly 'Friendship Report' to Celestia and ended up making a huge mess by enchanting a doll with some kind of mind-altering spell.
Rainbow Dash regaled us with many of the pranks she'd pulled, many of which had her partnering up with Pinkie. There was one time however, when she pranked the pink party mare while said mare thought she was helping Dash prank somepony else. "So every time she would throw the boomerang, I'd toss another one at her!" She said between chortles. "I'd even zip around and get her from different angles too! But the funniest part was when she gathered up a big pile of the things and buried 'em! I zipped around and tossed all the ones I had left at her from everywhere at once, she was so mad!" She said as she promptly fell off her hay pile with laughter.
Once the laughter died down, it was Luna's turn. "That was very good Rainbow Dash, but I believe I have you beaten in this game."
Dash quirked an eyebrow. "Do tell…" She said with a smirk.
"I have always had somewhat of an… impish side, shall we say. I used to prank palace staff on a regular basis, but this particular prank went awry in ways I did not expect." We all leaned in a little to hear the princess's tale. "This particular incident occurred after my return, a mere month ago in fact. One morning I got the idea to place a bucket over a partially open door;" Classic. "My initial thought was to fill the bucket with water, however, I quickly decided that this would be too mundane and instead filled the bucket with milk."
Rainbow Dash was already struggling not to laugh, tears welling up in the corners of her eyes as she attempted to contain it. "One thing I neglected to take into account, was that this particular door was less frequently used than many of the others within the palace. After a few days, I'd honestly forgotten about the bucket; until around a week later that is, when somepony finally walked through the trapped door."
"Well, who was it? A guard, a servant, some posh dignitary?" Dash guessed.
Luna shook her head. "No, none of those, it was somepony far more important."
"Well, who was it? Come on, don't leave us hangin'!" The rainbow Pegasus begged.
Luna smirked evilly. "'Twas none other than my own sister." The midnight Alicorn burst out laughing at our collective slack-jawed expressions. "I am honestly surprised you did not hear her scream all the way here in Ponyville."
"Wha… b-bu-but… wha?" Twilight stuttered, unable to complete a thought.
Luna began laughing into her hoof. "Oh, you should have seen the look on her face when she came storming into my room! I would not be surprised if her glare had caused the milk to curdle further!" Chortled Luna.
I couldn't hold it in and began laughing hysterically. "I would've paid to see that!" I howled.
My laughter seemed to spur Luna to laugh harder. "She-she spent the next three hours in her *hahaha* in her personal washroom trying to get the milk out of her mane and coat, all the while shouting at mehehehe through the door." The rest of our friends, including Twilight, burst into laughter at this point. "She ran out of Equestrian obscenities, and had to resort to *heeheehee* to using ones from Blake's home."
Rainbow Dash and I were both laughing so hard we'd fallen over by this point in her tale. "I-I tried to apologize, but I was laughing too hard to do it. *Hahaha* Every time I would get close to being able to speak, she would shout out a new curse to my name and I would start laughing again. She had to wear perfume for a week to cover the smell that lingered." Luna paused to wipe a few mirthful tears from her eyes. "To this day, she still glares at me when she thinks I am not looking."
Twilight calmed down somewhat. "I wondered why she had so much perfume on when you both came to visit last month." She commented once she'd calmed down. "What about you Blake, do you have any funny stories to share?"
I thought for a moment. "Well, none that could top that, but sure, I'll give it a go." I ran through a few of the brighter memories I had, trying to think of one that would be amusing to everyone present. "Ah, I've got one. One summer, when my grandpa took me camping for one of the first times, he decided to show me just how awesome birch trees were for survival. He wanted to start off by showing me how useful the bark was, but while he was cutting a patch off a dead birch tree we found still standing, he failed to notice one key aspect of said tree: the giant wasp nest hanging from one of the branches. When he ripped some of the bark loose, it jostled the tree just enough to knock the nest off." The others were just staring at me, it was kind of unnerving, but I continued. "Unfortunately it landed right next to him and the wasps somehow knew that he was the one who brought their nest crashing down. I wasn't paying much attention at the time as I was setting up the fire ring, so imagine my surprise when my grandpa starts shouting and runs right by me being chased by a swarm of the little buggers."
The girls were all snickering, though Rainbow Dash seemed to be trying to hold back. "Fortunately, he made it to the lake we were camped beside, but that wasn't the end of it. Once he was safe in the lake, the wasps apparently decided I would make a suitable replacement and came after me instead."
"Wh-what did you do?" Twilight asked between snickers.
I chuckled a bit. "Well, at first I panicked and ran around in circles while they chased me, but then I got the bright idea to dive into my tent. Fortunately it worked, and I managed to close the flap before any followed me in. Three hours later, they finally lost interest and I met up with my grandpa after he finished swimming back in from the middle of the lake." The girls were all laughing now, though not as much as during Luna's story. "We almost didn't have enough ointment to treat all the stings we'd gotten from that. The real fun part was explaining to my grandma why we were both all puffy and covered in welts."
Further storytelling was cut off as the waiter arrived with our meals, the five of us silently agreeing to hold off on them during the meal. We slipped into a comfortable silence as we ate, with the exception of Rainbow Dash rather noisily chowing down on her sandwich. I had to admit, this place had a mean club, but I didn't think it was that good.
Once we finished our meal, we all got up to leave. "I must unfortunately return to Canterlot" Luna stated as she stood. "As much as I wish to stay and spend more time with everypony, I fear I have already remained longer than planned. I bid you all farewell for now." She trotted up to me and reared up to embrace me. "Goodbye dearest Blake; I shall see you again upon the morrow." She whispered lovingly into my ear.
She then released the embrace and turned to leave. "Oh, and before I forget, Celestia wishes for you to bring your sword; it would appear the bladesmith does not recognize it by its description and wishes to inspect it for himself." With a final wave and round of farewells, Luna departed, leaving the four of us to ourselves.
Dash looked up at the sky. "As much fun as all this was, I gotta head out too, gotta clear the sky still." Before we could reply, she zipped off into the mostly clear sky and out of sight.
"Well that was weird. "Twilight commented once our Pegasus friend had departed. "There are hardly any clouds in the sky at all. Plus, she's not even heading towards what few clouds there are, she's headed for Cloudsdale."
"Maybe she had something else to do first." I suggested with a shrug.
"So Blake, wanna head back to the library and get started on your magic lesson?" Twilight asked.
"Sure, sounds good to me. Who knows, maybe today I'll actually be able to lift the bit off the table instead of just scooting it around a bit."
"Uhh… Y'all mind if Ah tag along?" We heard AJ ask in an uncharacteristically shy tone. "Ah don't wanna be a bother, Ah jus' kinda wanna watch Blake do his thing."
"I smiled at her. "Well, its fine with me, I wouldn't mind spending some more time with you after all." She looked up to me and smiled in return.
We headed to the library together and did just that. I still couldn't lift the small coin off the table, but I found that moving it was somewhat easier than the last time, which gave me hope. I also didn't mind spending more time with my country marefriend. Once we were done, Applejack looked to the clock. Well, looks like Ah need ta be headed to tha farm, it's mah turn ta cook tonight, and Ah don' wanna keep everypony waitin'."
Applejack hopped up to embrace me just I was leaning down to do the same, causing us to meet somewhat awkwardly in the middle, not the either of us cared. We released the hug at the same time. "Well, goodbye Applejack. Will you be able to see me off in the morning? I'll be headed out on one of the early trains."
She nodded. "Sure will! Ah wouldn't miss it fer tha world!" She exclaimed. As she departed the library, Twilight and I stood in the doorway, waving goodbye. Once she was out of sight, we turned and headed back inside. "She really seems to care about you…" Twilight commented once the door had shut behind us.
"Well, I care about her a lot too. After all that you girls have learned about me, I'm honestly surprised you want anything to do with me, let alone date me. Though that's just my experience on Earth talking, I know by now that you would never hold things like that against me."
"That's right, it's not your fault those awful things happened. You're a great stallion Blake, after everything, you deserve some good things to happen to you."
I smirked and began scratching behind her ears. "Hey! What're you… Oooh, that's the spot…"
"Ok everypony, soup's o-" Spike called as he walked out into the main room from the kitchen, wearing a frilly pink apron. "Uhh… do you two need a minute?"
I looked down to see Twilight with a dopey, blissed-out expression. I stopped scratching and she seemed to almost immediately snap out of it. "Hey… Why'd you stop?"
"Because dinner's ready." I replied simply. Her face turned beet red as soon as her eyes landed on Spike, who was still staring at us.
We walked into the kitchen to help the little drake bring out dinner and set it up on the table. It took quite awhile for Twilight's blush to go away, which caused me some concern, though I didn't say anything about it. After dinner I went up to my room and went about getting what I would need together for the trip to Canterlot, only to realize that I didn't have a suitcase to carry it in. I looked at my new pocket watch, which read that it was after nine in the evening, far too late for any of the shops to be open. Where's a Wal-Mart when you need one? Just then, Twilight entered the room, carrying a medium sized suitcase in her magic. The thing was fairly plain, being a shade of purple only slightly different from that of its owner's coat. The mulberry mare giggled when she saw me. "I thought you might be able to use this, after all, you never got one for yourself."
I smiled gratefully and took the suitcase from her magical grasp. "Thanks Twi. I honestly didn't expect to need one, at least not so soon."
"Anytime Blake, You know I'll always help a friend." She replied with a bright smile.
"That's because you're a great friend Twi." As I was packing, I couldn't help but think of how much she meant to me. I wanted to ask her if she wanted to join the herd that Luna AJ and I shared, but I doubted she'd be interested in sharing me with two other mares. "Ok, all done. Now, what say we get settled in and get some shut-eye?"
After that, we settled into our normal routine for the last time for awhile, Twilight snuggled next to me while we both read. Twilight seemed to be reading some kind of history book which seemed to reference humanity every now and again, while I was reading a book about the different species of Mythis. When we decided to shut off the lamp for the night, I had just finished reading a section on griffon social structure. I remembered to wind my watch at the last minute, making a mental note to get into that habit before bed.
The next morning, I woke up slightly later than usual, though it was by less than an hour, so I wasn't overly concerned. I got out of bed and took care of my morning hygiene before packing my supplies for the trip. After that, I headed downstairs and began cooking breakfast for the three of us, having woken up before Spike as usual. Today I felt like something a little special for the three of us, so I gathered together some eggs, a loaf of sourdough bread I'd bought earlier in the week, some cherry tomatoes still on the vine and a few Portobello mushrooms. I turned on the stovetop to low and set the mushrooms and tomatoes, still on their vine, to cook. I sliced up the bread into thick slices and put it onto the old-fashioned stovetop toaster, which was little more than a metal plate with a few wires to hold the toast above it.
While those were cooking, I cracked the eggs into a pan and added a generous dollop of butter. I then began whisking the eggs with a spatula while alternating it on and off medium heat, whisking it constantly. Once it had a nice, creamy consistency, I added a small dollop of sour cream and a splash of buttermilk. Once that was blended, I added some salt, pepper, and some fresh-chopped chives. "Mmm… That smells delicious!" I heard Twilight from somewhere outside the kitchen.
I had just finished placing the bread, mushrooms and tomatoes on the three plates when Twilight walked into the kitchen, somewhat bleary-eyed but quickly waking up. "What are you making?" She asked groggily.
I poured some of the eggs onto the toast and held the plate out to Twilight. She took a deep, slow sniff of the food presented to her and immediately began licking her lips. "Oh wow… You've really outdone yourself this time Blake…"
"Thanks Twi, but it's just some scrambled eggs with mushrooms and tomatoes, nothing that special."
She smiled brightly, seeming to fully wake up. "It's special because of the love and care you put into making it for us, not because of the food itself." She licked her lips again. "Although the food smells pretty special too." She added with a giggle.
"Aww, get a room you two." Spike grumbled as he walked past us, rubbing sleep from his eye.
The two of us looked back and forth between each other and Spike a few times before bursting out in half-embarrassed laughter. Once we calmed down a bit, we realized the little dragon was no longer in the kitchen. "Hey, these eggs are really good!" We heard him call out from the main room.
"Spike!" Twilight scolded. "You're supposed to wait for us before you start eating!"
"If I waited for you two, I'd starve to death!" The baby drake countered.
Twilight just let out a frustrated sigh while I chuckled at their quarrel. We both grabbed our plates and headed into the main room as well. Surprisingly, it seemed that Spike had also poured three glasses of apple juice for the three of us. We sat down and Twilight and I each picked up our toast and took a bite. I had to suppress another chuckle at all the delighted moaning Twilight was doing as she chewed her first bite. She and I swallowed at almost the same time. "That was incredible! What did you put in those eggs?"
I shrugged. "Not much actually, just a pat of butter for consistency, then a bit of salt, pepper, and chives at the end."
Her eyes opened wide. "That's it!? How did you make them taste so good with just that?!"
I smirked playfully. "Magic." I replied as I waved my hands in front of her.
She rolled her eyes and picked the bread back up again. "Well, however you did it, it's delicious." That put a smile on my face.
I may have been playing with her, but I appreciated her sincere compliments likely more than she could know. I enjoyed being complimented just like everyone else did, but something about being complimented for my cooking always gave me a severe case of the warm fuzzies.
As breakfast went on, I received more compliments from both of them about both the tomatoes and mushrooms. As usual, once breakfast was done, Spike and I carried the dishes into the kitchen and cleaned them up. "Y'know Blake, I really appreciate all the help… I'm gonna miss you while you're gone."
I reached down and picked the little guy up under his arms and gave a quick squeeze before setting him down again. "I'll miss you too little buddy." I took a second to check my watch, which read a little after seven. "Come on buddy, I've got a train to catch in less than a half an hour."
He seemed dejected at this, but complied and came with me. I ran upstairs and grabbed my bags before heading back down to find Twi and Spike waiting for me by the door, both of them looking down. "Aww c'mon Twi, why the long face?" Ba-dum tish.
"Well, we've both grown to like having you around, this place is gonna feel… empty when you're gone."
I walked up to the pair and knelt down to Twilight's level. "It's not going to be forever, I'm going to be gone a week, two tops. As long as you keep yourselves busy, I'll be back before you know it!" They both seemed to be affected by my upbeat attitude, as they both smiled.
"You're right Blake! It's not forever, I'm sure we'll be fine."
I stood back up once they were both smiling again and the three of us made our way out the door and towards the Ponyville train station. As we approached the station, we saw several other familiar faces; Applejack and Applebloom, Sweetie Belle and Rarity, Scoots and Dash, Pinkie and Fluttershy, and even Derpy.
"Wow, looks like just about everypony showed up to see me off." I said as I looked around at the various friends I'd made.
"Not just yet dude." I heard my favorite DJ exclaim from behind.
I turned around to see her, Lyra and oddly enough, Hammer Hoof walking up the road towards us. "Well hey there ladies, come to see me off too?" The trio just smiled. "How 'bout you Hammer Hoof, I honestly didn't expect to see you out here."
Hammer Hoof smirked. "Well, I couldn't let my favorite customer go without a goodbye, could I?" I raised an eyebrow, causing her to giggle. "I hafta admit, business was getting' kinda slow before you showed up. Once ponies heard about how you won that contest and found out that I made the bars that went into your wall, my business skyrocketed literally overnight!"
"Well I'm glad to hear that, and I'm glad I could help, albeit indirectly."
"Well, if you ever need a job, I'd be glad to have you, I could use the extra help at this point, especially from somepony who seems to know as much about metallurgy as you." She stated with a broad smile.
I returned that smile. "Sure thing, Hammer Hoof, I might just do that when I get back."
I turned back to the group just as I felt a light tug on my pant leg. I looked down to see Scoots with said pant leg in her teeth. When she noticed me looking at her, she spat the fabric out. "Pleh! That tasted really funky!" She said with a grimace. "Oh, right! Hey Blake, can I ask you something?" I nodded, giving her the go-ahead. "Would you mind if… if I came with you? I already asked my parents and they say it's ok."
I knelt down to be closer to her level. "Why would you wanna come with me? All I'll be doing is talking to a bunch of stuffy ponies all day, it's probably gonna be pretty boring."
"Don't worry about me, I can find stuff to do while you're gone! And I promise I won't get into any trouble either!" She exclaimed pleadingly "I just wanna… hang out with you some, just the two of us."
Part of me said she should stay here, but something felt off… like it was deeper than just wanting to hang out. "Well, if it's really what you want, and your parents are really ok with it, I suppose there's no harm in it."
She shot me a big, toothy grin. "Don't worry Blake, you won't regret this!"
Just then, we heard the train whistle off in the distance. Everypony turned to watch it approach. A thought suddenly popped into my head. "Wait a minute Scoots, you don't have a ticket."
"Oh, don't worry, foals ride for free." Twi explained.
After another minute or so, the train pulled up and began letting off what few passengers were aboard. I turned back to the small crowd that was waiting on the landing to say their goodbyes. "Well, looks like this is it everypony, it's time to say goodbye for now. But don't forget, the princesses said you'd all be more than welcome to visit while I'm at the palace, and I'd enjoy seeing you if you have any free time to spare." Everyone seemed a little less sad than they had been when I reminded them of that.
One by one, I hugged each of them and bid my farewell, saving Applejack for last. "Hey, How come y'all waited so long ta say goodbye ta me?"
I smirked "Well, I had to save the best for last." I replied with a wink.
AJ smiled and blushed slightly. "Aww shucks pardner, y'all know how ta make a mare feel special."
I knelt down and hugged her as well, though this embrace was slightly tighter than the others had been. "I know better than to tell a lie around you AJ." I felt her shudder slightly in my arms as I whispered into her ear. "Don't worry AJ; we'll do something special together when I get back, that's a promise." I told her as we broke the embrace.
With one last farewell to our friends, Scootaloo and I boarded the train together. The train began pulling away shortly after we found our seats. I looked out the window to see Applejack running after it. "Y'all better not keep a mare waitin', ya hear?" She shouted after us as the train pulled out of the station.
