A/N - Hi there, everycreature! For the time being, I'm going to keep myself to a twice-monthy update schedule. This will let me write at a comfortable pace and keep content rolling so I can give you quality without burning myself out. I hope everyone enjoys this latest installment!
1234andynguyen - Thanks! I thought it was a fun little aside after all the drama that's been happening lately.
The flash of Twilight's magic faded quickly, though I knew the spell had radiated out quite far in order to encompass all of Ponyville, and who knew how much further beyond it. It made me wonder just how quickly magic and its effects could travel. If the magic that had brought me here in the first place was any indication, it seemed there was no hard limit. Regardless of those thoughts however, the spell clearly seemed to have worked, as ponies around us began to move at normal speed once more. It seemed none of them noticed at first that things were back to normal, and some were even still attempting to mitigate the silly carnage of a crisis that was already contained.
As I looked around the town, Twilight turned to me, and gave me a tired smile. "Hey Blake? Could you do me a favor?" She asked in a tone that was clearly exhausted. "Two favors, actually. Could you take me back home so I can rest, then kick Rainbow's butt for me?"
I couldn't blame her for being annoyed with Rainbow Dash, though I knew the purple bookworm well enough to know she was only kidding about kicking our friend's rump… at least, I hoped she was. "Sure Twilight. I can do that much at least." With that, I gently scooped her up in my arms, and began to carry the tired mare back to my home, the place she had adopted as her second residence, after her beloved library. "Y'know, I was going to see if you wanted to try that thing with your cute tailhole again, but I think you're too tired for that."
It took the tired Twilight a moment to register my rather lewd suggestion, and when she finally did, her whole face lit up a bright red in embarrassment. "You cad!" She exclaimed playfully, pushing lightly at my face with a hoof.
Even with the happy playfulness, and perhaps thanks to Twilight's shifting around because of it, I couldn't help but notice how much lighter she was to me now. That strange artifact of the ancient humans of Mythis had really done a number on me, and times like this forced me to remember that I had to be exceptionally careful, lest I accidentally hurt someone that I cared about.
Those troubling implications had me so lost in thought that, for a time, I didn't notice Twilight attempting to get my attention. "Blake!" She finally cried out, snapping me out of my thoughts at last. "What's wrong? You went quiet on me, then started staring off into space like some war veteran."
My eyes focused on that lovely, lavender face, and I sighed. "Sorry Twi, I was just thinking about how much things have changed for me lately. I mean, I have to be careful with every little move I make, otherwise I might accidentally break something… or somepony."
Twilight pondered my words for a moment, nodding lightly. "I understand. I can imagine it would be pretty scary to have to learn how to use your own body all over again. And I can't say I blame you for being worried about us, but I know you'll do just fine with this change. Besides, you have all of us to help you, and you know we'll all do anything we can for you."
Another sigh escaped my lips, this one somewhat relieved, and I smiled at her. We had reached the front door to my house at this point, and I reached out with my magic to open the door, not wanting to let go of Twilight with either hand. Rather than slowly opening, as I had intended, the door nearly blew itself off its hinges. Only the superb quality of the construction and the materials saved it.
The two of us stared in dumbfounded silence at the now slightly crooked door for a long moment, then Twilight turned her attention to me, the motion causing me to look at her as well. "That's exactly what I mean. I let my concentration on my magic slip for just a fraction of a second, and I almost obliterated the door. That never would have happened before that weird artifact zapped me." I gently set my lavender lover down on her hooves, and let out a soft yet exasperated groan as I examined the door. "I'm afraid I'll go to give one of you a hug, forget about things for just a split second, and accidentally break your back… or maybe something worse." My voice was low as I spoke, just above a whisper.
The thought of harming someone I cared about was one of the main reasons that I hadn't had many 'incidents' like what had just happened. I was so worried about what might happen if I used too much force that I was barely using any at all. It was like trying to pick up a sculpture made of glass that was as thin as a soap bubble. I wanted to do more, but the thought that the slightest wrong touch could break something kept me from handling the ponies that I loved with more than just the lightest of touches, just like you would do with such a fragile sculpture. In a word, it was maddening, and it had only been a few days since this all began.
Twilight's horn lit as I spoke, and the door shifted back into its proper place, what little damage there was to the hinges and the wall mending itself under the skilled magic user's careful attention. "I… see what you mean. I wish Spring Leaf hadn't been forced to destroy the artifact, so I could have studied it better. Maybe I would have been able to find a way to suppress the effects, or reverse them altogether."
We walked into the house, Twilight wobbling slightly on her hooves due to the additional strain she had put herself through when fixing the door. "I'd take having all this removed, myself. I don't have any reason to be this strong, and I don't want it. I mean, the worst things that we've had to deal with so far have all been things that could be handled without all this." I walked over to a couch in the living room and flopped over onto it, sighing deeply. "Maybe I'll talk with Nightmare Moon about it later. I mean, she knew enough to use the thing in the first place, maybe she knows enough about it to figure out how to… I don't know, turn it off."
There was a slight pause as Twilight thought that over, then she turned to me. "That might not be a bad idea. I can't say I fully trust her yet, but she did help us with our Pinkie Pie problem earlier, so I think she deserves a little credit for that." A flash of incredulity passed through the back of my mind at that, but it fled my perception almost as quickly, seemingly as though Nightmare had intended to say something on the matter, then thought better of it. Perhaps she had done just that.
"Thanks Twilight, I appreciate you understanding." As I spoke, my lovely marefriend joined me on the couch, and my arms gently, very gently, wrapped around her, as though I were holding onto a delicate butterfly. "Now, do you think you're up for trying that thing with your backside again?~" I hoped that a change in topic would help raise both our spirits. And besides that, it was adorable the way Twilight blushed.
Just as I had both expected and hoped, she did indeed blush, quite fiercely as well. "Y-you're just the worst…" She replied in a tone that clearly showed that, not only did she not mean those words, but she was indeed interested in taking me up on that little 'proposal'.
I knew that tone of voice all too well; it was the tone of a mare who did indeed want to have fun with me, but was too embarrassed to come out and say so. That tone was all the prompting I needed to shift up off the couch, and gently take Twilight in my arms, carrying the mare upstairs before gently depositing her on the oversized bed. "You wait here, and I'll get something to help us." She nodded lightly, still blushing, and I turned around to rummage in one of the drawers of the dresser against the wall.
Right in the instant I turned around to face her, a bottle of lube in my hand, a familiar sound reached my ears. I could only chuckle helplessly as I caught sight of the exhausted librarian, already snoozing away on our bed. "I suppose I should have seen that coming." I whispered quietly to myself as I tucked her into bed, then deposited the lube back in its drawer.
Once I was sure Twilight was comfortable, I quietly slipped out of the bedroom, and crept down the hall. I supposed I did still have a party in my honor to attend to. I didn't care much for huge parties like the ones that Pinkie threw, but I knew she meant well, and so I did my best to have a good time. I even usually ended up having a better time than I had intended to, though I could never tell if it was by accident, or if the pink devil really was that good of a party planner.
The cool metal of the door's handle was in my grasp when I heard a quiet, familiar voice behind me. "B-Blake… was that you?" I turned slowly to see Mitta peeking out from behind the archway that led from the main room off toward a short hallway that contained, among other rooms, the small library Twilight had started here in my home. "I heard a loud crashing sound, and it scared me, so I hid."
I hadn't expected anyone else to be here, and so thought the near breaking of the door had gone unnoticed. "Yeah, that was me. Sorry Mitta, I'm still getting used to how my body reacts now. What are you doing here though? Were the crowds getting to be too much?"
As far as I could tell, the strength of my magic hadn't changed, it was simply that the artifact had done something to the way I controlled it. To me, it felt much the same as though someone had tampered with the gas pedal of a familiar car; the amount of power the engine produced remained the same as before, but the input from the pedal now gave it twice or even three times as much throttle at a given pressure as you were expecting.
She nodded with a small sigh. "Th-they were. I hope I didn't upset anypony, but I'm just not used to big crowds yet." I couldn't say I blamed her, given all that the poor mare had been through over the last millennium or so.
Slowly, I walked up to the recently curse-lifted mare, and gave her a gentle hug, which she returned reluctantly, but gratefully. "I understand. And I don't think you upset anypony." After a moment longer, I moved her back, and looked into her shimmering, crimson eyes. "I have a favor to ask. Twilight exhausted herself trying to fix a mishap at the party. Would you mind looking after her when she wakes up? Nothing major, just bring her some water, and maybe a bit of food to help her recover."
Her eyes searched mine briefly, then the gray earth pony nodded slightly. "Sure thing, Blake. Twilight has been good to me since I came to Ponyville, so I can give her a helping hoof." She looked to the door then, and nodded even more faintly. "Anyway, you should probably get back to your party." I could tell her spirits were a little higher now, which I attributed to having given her something to occupy her mind aside from her own, understandably depressed thoughts.
We said our brief goodbyes, and then I left the house, leaving Mitta and likely Shimmer to tend to it for me. While I knew that the young changeling could very convincingly shape-shift, and even had a preferred form she used around town, I also knew she was just as much of a social butterfly as Mitta was. That was to say, that she wasn't at all a social mare, and she was easily happier cleaning my home than she was spending any amount of time with ponies other than the ones who lived with me.
Rather than walk back to the town square again, I decided to send a mental call into the amulet that I always kept around my neck, and summoned the ethereal wings of magical force the amulet contained, although I did not call upon the fantastical armor that had saved my hide more than once. Right now I was glad for the amulet, as it seemed to be immune to the strange 'mishaps' I had been suffering of late, more than likely because it didn't require any sort of magical input, just a thought or two to tell it what was needed of it.
As I glided through the crisp air, I reflected on the fact that, despite Equestria still being locked in the dead of its winter months, the brisk air, which should have been miserable, felt good as it flowed past me. The chilling bite of the winter wind helped keep my mind focused on the here and now, and kept my thoughts from wandering back to that dreary corner where all I could think about was how I might accidentally hurt somepony. All too soon though, I was back at town square, and ponies had seemingly finished up cleaning the mess that faster-than-light Pinkie had made, and were back to celebrating.
A welcome sight met my eyes as I came in for a touch down, in the form of Scootaloo, Dinky, and Derpy. The trio came up to me as my feet touched the snowy ground, with the foals once again riding atop one of my marefriends. It seemed that I had spoiled these two on rides by taking them on my shoulders. Of course, watching Spike ride on Twilight likely didn't help the issue any.
As I landed, Derpy reared up and wrapped her hooves around me in a warm hug. This of course sent the two fillies toppling off her back, plopping into the snow in a fit of giggles. The fillies quickly got into a snow fight of sorts, which was little more than the two shoving snow at one another in a way that reminded me of two ponies each splashing water at the other.
Derpy squeezed me a little tighter before letting me go. "I'm glad you're back, Blake. We saw you leave with Twilight, and we got worried. Is she ok?" That was something I really loved about Derpy; she may have been a bit of a klutz, and her situational awareness may have needed a little… or a lot of work, but she had a heart of gold, and she always cared about other ponies.
In answer to her question, I gave a light nod. "Yeah, she's just fine. She just wore herself out a bit trying to help clear up the commotion around here." It technically wasn't a lie, but I didn't want to tell the whole truth, and risk accidentally getting either Rainbow or Pinkie in trouble for what had happened. Not that I expected Derpy of all ponies to judge either of them. "She's resting at home right now, and Mitta's there to take care of her when she wakes up."
This earned me a soft sigh of relief from Derpy, and I noticed that Scootaloo and Dinky had stopped their game, and were now looking at me. "I hope Twilight gets better soon." Dinky said softly. "She's a nice pony, and I don't want her to be sick." I had to wonder who Dinky and Derpy's parents were, as the two were both kind, sweet ponies with hearts as big as the sky.
"Don't you worry, kiddo." I told Dinky reassuringly. "Twilight isn't sick, she's just a little tired, like you get when you've been running and playing all day. Just like that, all she needs is a nap and a snack and she'll be just fine." As I spoke, I gently tousled Dinky's mane, and she smiled up at me, nodding in understanding. I was glad that she was so trusting of me, it felt nice to know that the inhabitants of this world were so accepting. For the most part, at least.
Derpy interrupted my thoughts a moment later. "Hey Blake? Can I take these two to get an elephant ear? We were going that way when we saw you land."
Realizing that I was interrupting, I smiled and nodded. "Sure thing, Derpy." The trio trotted past me, with Dinky and Scootaloo hopping back aboard Derpy's back. The two fillies waved goodbye with smiles on their faces, then turned to watch where Derpy was going, probably to make sure the silly mare didn't get them lost.
After that, the party began to wind down around me. After all, there had been a minor crisis to deal with. Fortunately, everypony seemed to be in good spirits, and the party was still fun for all. I even saw Pinkie Pie a time or two, though she was little more than a pink blur when I did catch a glimpse of her. I had to wonder if that was due to the coffee she was still under the effects of, or if it was just a part of the strange phenomenon that was Pinkie Pie.
Once the party had ended, and ponies began to file out of the town square to head back home, I met up with Applejack and Big Mac, purely by chance, and began helping them break down their stall so that AJ could haul it, along with the bits the siblings had earned, back home. Fortunately, the Apple family were both frugal and industrious, and had managed to keep the flow of pastries and other apple-based desserts going just enough to keep stock without there being a lot of leftovers, or bellies left wanting for the tasty treats of the Apple clan. I knew though, that between said Apples and my own flock, the few leftovers that there were would be gone long before they could go bad.
As Big Mac had gone to find Applebloom, my lovely, country marefriend and I walked and talked, with Applejack pulling her cart behind her while I carried the bag of bits for safekeeping, the two of us chatting amiably while we made our way to Sweet Apple Acres. Applejack had promised during our trip that she would be coming back with me so she could spend the night at my house with me and the rest of the herd. I liked that idea, and I wondered if Luna would also be joining us.
That particular thought led me to think back on the kiss I had watched her and Twilight share, and I couldn't help but want to see those two do more than just kiss, though I wasn't sure if they would ever be up for giving me a show like that. I wouldn't blame them if they didn't feel comfortable with such a thing, even with the 'herding bond' that was supposedly forming between them.
When we reached Sweet Apple Acres, we learned that Big Mac and Applebloom had somehow beaten us to the Apple family home, and I handed the bag of bits off to big stallion, who took them with a wordless nod and trotted off to deposit them in the small safe the family possessed. It wasn't long before we'd sorted all of the affairs that Applejack needed to tend to, and were just turning to leave when we heard a familiar, young voice call out, stopping us in our tracks. "Hey now! Yer not thinkin' about leavin' me behind, are ya?" Applejack and I both paused in mid-step then turned around to see Applebloom standing there, dressed for the weather with a small pack resting on the floor next to her.
My lovely, country marefriend quirked an eyebrow at her younger sister, and took a step forward. "Now where in tha hay do ya think yer goin', Applebloom?" There was a slight tinge of annoyance in her voice, but I could tell that it was held well in check by long-standing patience, likely built up over little Applebloom's young lifetime. "Ah don't remember invitin' ya ta come with us."
The country filly puffed up her cheeks with her own annoyance. "No, ya didn't. But Ah wanna come with ya. Y'all always take off ta spend time over at Blake's house, but ya never spend any time over here anymore." Applebloom's big, friendly eyes began to glisten with tears as she looked at us. "Ah miss mah friends, Ah miss Blake, and Ah miss mah sister!"
Seeing a little filly, especially a little sweetheart like 'Bloom with tears in their eyes tugged at my heartstrings, and I looked to Applejack. "It's your decision, sweetheart. She's your sister, so I won't step on your hooves. But, I will say that I don't have a problem with her coming with us. She's old enough that she can be by herself with Scootaloo and Dinky when we're busy. And she also has a point; you've been gone a lot lately, and Scootaloo has been too busy with other things to have as much time to play with her other friends as she used to. I can't say I blame her for being lonely."
There was a soft grumble from Applejack as she looked between her sister and myself, but eventually she sighed and nodded her head. "Alright, y'all c'n come." Before Applebloom could let out the cheer of joy she clearly wanted to, her big sister cut her off with a look. "Don't y'all go celebratin' though. Ah don't like tha way ya invited yerself like this, Applebloom. It's just plumb rude ta do somethin' like that. But, yer right; we ain't been spendin' as much time together as we used to, and Ah s'pose that's mostly mah fault. So ya c'n come with us, but ah expect ya ta be on yer best behavior." I considered commenting on Applejack using the word 'mostly', but it was true; she hadn't asked for me to be put in the hospital over and over again, nor had she asked for that little 'adventure' into the Everfree forest that she, myself and Twilight had been forced to undertake just a few months ago.
The way Applebloom reacted to being granted permission to join us hadn't been what I had expected; instead of bouncing around gleefully, as the normally cheerful filly otherwise would, the little apple farmer instead let out a soft 'humph', and picked up her bag in her teeth, slinging it up in the air to land perfectly on her back. "Ah'm ready whenever y'all are." She remarked before trotting off towards the door.
I could practically feel my country lover tensing beside me, and I placed a gentle hand on the hat resting on her head. This caused Applejack to pause and look up at me. With a light shake of my head, I answered her unspoken question. "She has a right to be upset right now." I remarked quietly. "Just let her walk it off while we head to my place. She'll feel better by the time we get there. Yelling at her now won't do you any good." I had never considered myself to be particularly great with kids, but it seemed that I had been dropped quite unceremoniously into the role of both caregiver and advisor despite that.
As Applejack and I began walking towards Applebloom, the filly opened the door and trotted out into the cold evening air ahead of us. Once she was out of sight, her older sister let out a resigned sigh next to me. "Ah know yer right, Sugarcube. Ah just don't care fer tha way she went about gettin' herself invited along."
I nodded, and held the door for Applejack, gesturing her to go first. "I know Sugarmare. But like I said; she's upset, and to her, that probably seemed like the only way she even had a chance of seeing her sister for more than a minute or two."
A soft, yet hearty chuckle emanated from the lovely, freckled mare. "Sugarmare, eh? Ah kinda like that one." She smirked and gave me a hip bump as we headed out into the winter landscape behind Applebloom. "And thanks. Ah let mah temper get tha better of me sometimes, and Ah'm glad Ah got you ta remind me ta keep it reigned in." She looked forward, towards Applebloom's small figure in the snow ahead of us, and smiled warmly. "Ah really am a lucky mare ta have a sister like her, and ta have a stallion who loves me as much as y'all do."
After that heartwarming sentiment, we lapsed into a comfortable silence, with the quiet, rhythmic crunching of the snow beneath us being the only sound to penetrate the still air. Eventually, almost as though lulled by the calm atmosphere around us, Applebloom drifted back and began walking alongside her sister, looking ahead as we made our way from the apple orchard to my home. "Ah'm sorry Ah acted like that, sis." The words seemed to hang in the air as they left the little filly's mouth, and Applejack sniffled softly between us. "Ah'm sorry too."