“Okay, gotta admit, I like it.”

“I thought you might darling.”

“It’s quite… well, the word from my culture would be Victorian or Steampunk depending on who you asked…”

“This style is from what was called the Duality Period and would be called Sun-Favored since it compliments your dark coat and coloration better.”

“I’m surprised you kept the wraps then… they work and all but they wouldn’t seem to be a part of the ensemble.”

“Pants would clash with this outfit far more, and socks simply don’t work for you,” she grinned, “Would you like to try it on?”

“Yes please.”

“What do you think Drools?” I lifted the recipes that Pinkie had given me in turn, “Rose Salad? Red Rose Sandwich?”

The pink cat just yawned and rolled onto his other side and kept purring with his eyes closed.

“Some help you are,” I grumbled as I flipped through the recipes. Without the supernatural ability to be awesome at everything, I was reduced to working with prewritten recipes. Thankfully, I could more than follow a recipe, so it wasn’t a huge concern, just something to get used to again

Question was, what to make? I wanted a picnic food and I wanted something appropriate, I also wanted to make something that Rainbow Dash would like but… well, I had no real idea what she liked.

It was something delightfully normal to be worried about. Not giant monsters or being fused or being sexually assaulted by mindless mares.

Just fretting over what dish to make for my date tomorrow.

Stressful? Sure. But it was something people did all the time, it was something normal and dull and simple.

But what would she like best?! Gaaaaahhhhhhhhh.

Fresh air…

How long…

Time… that meant nothing but it had been far too long…

Eyes opened and light streamed into them, making me flinch.

I pulled everything inward, feeling warmth and something against my skin.

Okay, body check here. I was breathing, and without pain, so that’s good. I opened my eyes, two of them…? Two of them, good. Ow by the way, but still, good. Seeing in anything other than visible light? Nope.

I blinked a few times to get the tears out of my eyes as I took stock of what I could see silently. No eldritch horrors, no impossible angles, no things twisting in upon themselves, just… trees, partially burnt and slightly distorted and warped… okay, that’s good.

Slowly I extended all of my limbs, counting as I did. One, two… six? No, seven? Eight including the head/neck.

Blinking again, I tried to wiggle each of the limbs in turn, turning my head around to try and find them based on where the sensations were coming from.

Two… forelimbs? Hooves. Forehooves? Forelegs? Call me confused… was I a horse?

Two more… hind legs. Okay, all hooves, not some mis-mash creature…? All black with deep crimson hooves. Very weird… not a natural color for horses. That would mean… yeah, the odd limb was a tail that… was constantly billowing around and glowing…? What the hell…?

Now thoroughly confused I did my best to push myself to a standing position, something that took a few moments of fumbling with the whole quadruped thing, but I managed. That left two limbs on my… back? I turned my head and… it kept turning, okay, that was disconcerting to be able to turn that much, but I’d gone through weirder.

And it was wings… big, black, feathered wings.

… huh, cool.

I tried flexing them, having a bit of fun with how they maneuvered and twisted before I got myself back on track. Evaluate the situation first, squee about wings later.

Okay, I could see a muzzle between my eyes when I focused, my coat of fur was short and deep black, my hooves, tail and hair? Mane? Mane. My hooves, tail, and mane were all a deep crimson. So I was a black pegasus…? That was new. Also, a bit familiar.

So I was in a forest? Yeah, a darkly colored forest, there was a scorched ring around where I’d been laying. There’d probably been grass there until I’d appeared…

Taking a deep breath, enjoying the fact that it was air I was breathing and not something eldritch and impossible like love or the color purple. I examined each of my senses. It was quiet, but I could hear birds in the distance… and my ears swiveled… huh, that’s new… Tilting my head a bit, I tried tilting my ears all the way around to hear all around me. It didn’t change what I heard, silence and birdsong, but it was good to check.

My sight was thankfully normal. You see the smell of square with your fifth eye just once and that is more than enough please and thank you.

I could feel the dirt beneath my hooves, not in the hard part of the hoof but in a soft part at the center, there was a word for it but I don’t know what it was… I could feel the wind in my wings and between my feathers, an interesting sensation to say the least, one I think I liked… And I could feel…

I could feel a gentle warmth at the back of my brain, somewhere around and above the base of my skull. I didn’t think it was my mane since I couldn’t feel something similar with my ass and tail… Looking around again to be sure nothing was around me other than empty forest, I closed my eyes to focus on the sensation.

It was… warm… and bubbly… and so vast… so immeasurably vast… but it was also alive… it was so alive it almost hurt if I focused too hard, because above the molten vastness of heat was every tree, every insect, every–

My eyes shot open.

Whoa. Whoa whoa whoa. Whoa. Enough of that.

I hadn’t survived Outside with even a fragment of my sanity intact by focusing on stuff that vast. Nope. Nu uh. All aboard the Nope Train to Fuckthatville. Whatever I was feeling was big and powerful and honestly beyond my comprehension. Not even gonna go there.

All that said… I don’t think I could feel anything else…

I tried to find anything else weird again, no funny sensations, though feeling my ears the way I did was very strange… and the colors, while darker, seemed more… vibrant? Solid? There wasn’t a word really… but they were more something than I was used to…

I’d been through weirder, and seven limbs (not including the head) was a decent number, not too many and not too few, I’d miss having hands and opposable thumbs, but hey, I’d been through worse.

So… now what?

Concerned, I looked around, trying to find a direction to go or a general, coming up with bupkis.

Well, the cons of the situation: I was lost in a strange universe as a pegasus with something vast at the back of my mind with no direction or signs of civilization nearby, or even signs of sentience.

Pros: I wasn’t staring down Cthulu, Yog-Shoggoth, or some other horrific monstrosity Outside. Hell, this place was practically normal!

The pros obviously outweighed the cons here, lets be honest.

Still, that left me wondering what to do…

… fly?

… sure, why not, there’s no one to embarrass myself in front of…

I unfurled my wings and gave them a few experimental flaps. There was a lot of power in these them, a lot more than I expected to be honest, only two experimental pumps of them got my feet… hooves off of the ground. Emboldened by that, if a bit weirded out by the strange strength, I flapped my wings with feeling.

Let’s just say that I was like a kid the first time in one of those driving simulators in the movie theaters and arcades. Unsteady and crashing into everything. That or an adult trying to play video games the first time.

I definitely felt the branches breaking as I smashed into them, but I felt no pain. Briefly, I pondered that pain might not be a thing in this universe from my place belly up on the ground, it was more the kind of snafu I was used to, but then I remembered the pain I’d felt at the blinding light and that idea was discarded.

Pouting a bit, I rolled over and got back up onto my feet… hooves now damnit, get that right. Anyways, I stood again and tried once more, this time mindful of my surroundings and keeping the oomph and motions between the two wings equal.

And I was off! Taking off like a literal rocket actually…

And… wow…

My wings spread wide as I attempted to hold position, and I could practically feel myself grab the air around me with the wings as I hovered hundreds of feet above a beautiful forest… the sky was crystal blue, the clouds fluffy and white, a forest as far as the eyes could see, birds taking off in the distance… rolling hills beyond the forest and mountains beyond that…

It’s one thing to see this from the window of a plane, it’s another to see it under your own power several hundred feet up with the wind blowing around you…

I… I think I loved doing this already.

Best. Universe. Ever.

A grin split across my face before I laughed heartily, my legs making a silly little motion in my excitement as I did a loop-de-loop.

Safe.

Even if there were monsters and demons and things horrendous here, it was miles better than where I’d just been. Even if I wasn’t human again, even if there weren’t any sentient beings here… so much better!

Taking a deep breath and enjoying the myriad smells in the air and the warmth of the sun on my coat, I ascended further into sky and surveyed the world beneath me. The best way I could think of to find civilization (or at least what I would recognize as civilization) was to look for a river and follow it, since settlements liked rivers for a variety of reasons.

There! My eyes locked onto a winding streak of blue along the ground, tracing along it into the dista-...

… welp, there’s some civilization alright. Well damn. Not a bad sized town to be honest. A fair ways away from my current placement above the forest, though nothing insane…

Well… hopefully they’re friendly?

… okay, I’m giddy from not having to dodge eldritch abominations, but that didn’t mean I shouldn’t think about this logically. Could this be bad? Yes, they could be eldritch abominations. Alternatively, they could be hostile to varying degrees. Even in a way that my newfound flight wouldn’t allow me to escape. But… well… I was lonely. And odds were that it’d be something awkward and dangerous, but so long as I remained calm everything could work out.

So, now knowingly taking a risk, I hoped they were friendly.

Craning my head forward and trying to lift my hindquarters I managed to lean forward after a few attempts (damnit player one!), slowly gliding towards the settlement. Test-flapping my wings a few different ways to get a better feel for them. Also, because fun. Seriously. Flying. Pure wonder. My heart was soaring almost as much as I was to be honest.

As I approached I could see numerous multicolored forms that were definitely not birds flying over the town… were those… horses?

…. well, actually, that’d make sense if I had assumed the form of the native sapients.

Now thoroughly curious, I glided closer, my approach seeming to send the pegasi into a flurry of activity that was soon mimicked by the town itself.

I guess an approaching black pegasus wasn’t common…?

As I got close to the town, a strangely familiar streak of color approached me at high speeds and I carefully slowed myself. I neither wanted to send myself on a tumble to the ground nor appear threatening. Especially since there seemed to be a flock (pack? Herd?) of the pegasus approaching now.

The fastest blur resolved only a few feet away from my side as I glided in, a considerably smaller pegasus the color of the sky, her tail was long and her mane short and scruffy, but they were quite literally every color of the rainbow. She was extremely familiar for some reason… also, quite beautiful. Not in a sexual way mind you, but still beautiful.

“Hey! What are you doing here?”

I blinked in surprise.

I understood… her? Her. Definitely a her. But I could understand what she was saying! It wasn’t F’tagan or anything silly like that! Woo!

“Trying to find people to talk to?” I ventured with a hesitant smile, no teeth because these were (probably) herbivores. We were on the final approach to the town, and I could see an entire mass of brightly colored ponies.

“Omigosh! Really?!” her wings fluttered in what had to be excitement, and I felt another tickle of familiarity.

... waaaaaiiiiiit a gosh darned motherfuckin minute. You’ve got to be kidding…

My wings flared out as I approached the ground and I tentatively flapped my wings a few times to slow down and not crash into the dirt, “Um, yes, really…? I’m kinda new here.” For any definition of here they could understand, and most of the ones I could.

There was an excited, almost giddy murmuring from the crowd of ponies as my hooves touched ground in the small opening in the crowd. It took me a few moments to shuffle my wings into a proper folded position against my sides. Okay, did I just get dumped out of the Beyond into a reality that (at least superficially) resembled my own, one that was filled with pleasant, happy, friendly natives that for the life of me resembled freaking My Little Pony?

I caught a glimpse of my reflection in one of the windows. I wasn’t just a pegasus, and a huge one at that, I was a winged unicorn, I forgot what term the series used for them, but hell, I was like one of the Princesses! I mean, I stood so much taller than the other ponies that they could have walked under my torso while barely lowering their heads.

Heh, Princess Emeris Fillson. Pffft. I smiled, I looked freaking stupid. Deep black coat and a dark crimson mane and tail that were waving around constantly, my mane looked like it was in a constant updraft really, red eyes, and an absolutely absurd horn.

Still, did I luck out with the RNG or what? I’ve been living a Roguelike ever since being booted from my home reality and now I get this? It’s like going from Battletoads to a modern shooter on easy! Sweet merciful lords and ladies, it wasn’t heaven but not a bad choice!

Hell, looking around it honestly seemed like… hell, Friendship is Magic? Really? Definitely better than the other choices. If I wasn’t mistaken that was Rainbow Dash, I could recognize some background ponies like Lyra, and that was definitely Twilight Sparkle approaching me through the crowd (herd?), “Hello! My name’s Twilight Sparkle, personal student of Princess Celestia, what’s yours?”

Definitely the voice I remembered from the show. An amused thought flitted across my mind, “Call me Gary,” I brought my foreleg up to my chest, raising my nose into the air and doing my best Bond impression, “Gary Stu,”

Another excited murmuring went through the crowd, and I could hear the name Gary getting passed around freely while a stupid grin came across my face. Yeah, only I got the joke right now, and it’d probably fall flat once I told it to them but who the fuck cares? I thought it was funny, and I’d just explain the truth later, no big.

“Gary Stu! So! Awesome!” there was an excited squeal from Rainbow Dash as the pegasus was suddenly against my side, nuzzling her cheek against my shoulder as her wings fluttered to keep her aloft. A bit uncomfortable at her sudden proximity, I gently pushed her away with my wing, the closest appendage.

She made a sound that could only be called a squeal of ecstasy as she flopped onto the ground, squirming around and giggling, leaving me even more uncomfortable and with a soft blush on my cheeks. Even if she wasn’t human, that sound had been very human and more than a little erotic.

There was a giggling from the ponies around me and Twilight,,, bowed…? “Prince Gary Stu, it is an honor to meet you.”

“Um… I’m not really a Prince, no matter what the wings and horn might imply…” I was a bit weirded out now.

Immediately from the crowd came a cry of “So you’re a king?!”

I made a face at that, especially because of the… excitement and happiness of that question, “No! I’m not nobility, I have no rank at all!” What the hell?

There was more murmurings at that, and Twilight in front of me had turned to an alabaster white unicorn next to her, “Rarity! I must send a letter to Princess Celestia!”

While a part of my mind noted that both of the unicorns in front of me were pretty, most of my mind was focused on…. well, the stilted delivery. It was almost like a bad actor had said the lines… not a really bad actor, just a bad one.

“Um…”

“Absolutely darling!” Now that I was looking, the smile seemed almost… forced. It didn’t really reach Twilight’s eyes… or Rarity’s… I might be misreading their different facial structures though….

“We have a new prince, she absolutely must know!”

“Whoa! No way! I don’t want to be a prince!” that’s way more responsibility and leadership than I wanted or thought I was remotely capable of! I had enough trouble keeping my band section under control!

“A king then!”

I freaking recoiled, “Definitely no!” what the hell?! Was this some sort of test? The fuck was happening?

There were suddenly two hooves at my sides and I almost flinched away at the unexpected contact, my head swiveling around to find the source a pony that I didn’t recognize. A mare with a fuchsia coat and a darker mane, her grin very wide, “Are you sure? You’d make a great king.”

The fuck? The flying fuck? “No. No thank you.” I shuffled away from her, my eyes wide and my wings shuffling reflexively. Where was this coming from? It’d only been minutes tops!

Already on edge, I nearly jumped when two confetti cannons went off, showering me with the little strips of paper, “Wheeeeeeeeheeheeheee~!” a shuddering breath escaped me as I tried to calm down and a bright pink pony appeared in front of me, “It’s time for a welcome the new prince party~!”

“No! I am not royalty!”

There was a sudden press of soft warmth against my chest and my cheeks heated up at how pleasant that was, “So you won’t be taking a herd?”

“What?!” I fucking recoiled from the previously pleasant warmth, staring down at the- the butter yellow pegasus?! The fuck?! Fluttershy?! The fucking fuck?! “No! Definitely not!”

“Awwwwww….” They were pouting? What the fuck?! There’s no way this is normal! This can’t be–

Hooves were pressed against my side and I shuffled away, my wings flaring reflexively even as I stared at the brightly colored pony that had been against my side, “Are you sure?” there was another press of warmth against my other side, just beneath the wing, “We’d be happy to–”

“Enough.”

The world froze.

“W-What…?” my eyes wide, I turned around quickly looking for the source of the voice, finding a midnight blue horned unicorn… one with a mane and tail of stars… “L-Luna…?! I-... wait…” my brain was slowly catching up to me, the panic starting to fade, “You… you weren’t here…”

A brief smirk passed across the alicorns’ face, “No, I was not.”

“This…” I looked around, blinking as my eyes passed over the various ponies frozen in ‘time’, finally putting the pieces together, “This is a dream… a nightmare really…” I turned back to Luna, “A memory…”

“Yes, it is,” the princess approached, stepping over the frozen ponies as she did, looking over them with what I guessed was morbid curiosity, “This is the first time I’ve seen this memory. I was aware things were bad for our subjects but this…”

Sighing, I extracted myself from the memories of equines around me, rubbing my face with a foreleg, “Thank you for stopping it then… it only gets worse from here,” I paused, realizing that I was still big, black, and there are too many jokes to go with that but I was actually unhappy about this fact. Sure, I’d been like this for the most part of two years, but those memories were almost exclusively bad with few bright points. Whereas the last two months had been… good. Not great, but good.

“Princess,” I looked up at her from my fetlock, “Since I know this is a dream, can I change back…?”

For the briefest of moments, Luna looked intrigued, but then she shook her head, “No, your natural form would be dangerous to even me in its rawest state, here in the dream world it would actually be worse as your fundamentally different laws would be brought into direct contact with my mind.”

I blinked, “Oh… um… that’s not actually what I was talking about. Good to know though…” I lowered my hoof, shifting my wings, “I meant back to my normal pony form actually…”

“Oh…. then yes. Yes, you can.”

“... how?”

“Haven’t you fought nightmares on the Aether plane before…?”

“As Gary, sure, but everything was easy and natural while I was like this, I only had to focus to make things happen…” I shrugged, “I didn’t even know what I was doing half the time, just that I was getting results.” I’d eventually learned that I was just throwing around so much power that I was warping reality, that I was just throwing so much raw power at things that my will was made real regardless of intervening steps. Thus the term ‘Reality Warping Magic’.

“Ah, the dreamscape is very similar actually. It will take a greater exertion of thine will, but you may reshape your form here.”

“Huh,” I looked down at my legs, closing my eyes and focusing, envisioning my normal coat color. Green.

Opening my eyes, I was pleasantly surprised to see that it had worked, if not perfectly. The color was a bit off, but at least my coat wasn’t black. Then I went through a checklist, my horn wasn’t a three foot spear, I made it a bit more appropriate and curved it a bit. My mane was short, spiky, and brown, as was my tail. Dark purple hooves and gray-green eyes. My cutie mark was a book with a black lotus on the cover, not a(n admittedly awesome) molten planet.

I kept the wings because hey, wings and it was a dream.

There we go, much better. I probably looked atrocious because of my half-assed efforts, and the thought brought an amused smile to my face, but I was at least closer to myself.

Looking back up at Luna, I found her head cocking to the side briefly, “Hm, you are still my height.”

Oh, whoops. Glancing down, I realized that I was still at alicorn proportions, standing taller than any of the throng of temporally frozen ponies around me. Hadn’t thought to change that, “Ah. Problem?”

She shook her head with a small smile, “No, tis a pleasant change of pace to look one of my subjects in the eye.”

Squirming a bit, I worked my way out of the frozen throng of ponies, “So, aside from saving me from a nightmare, what brings you here Princess?”

“Your nightmares are infrequent Emeris, I must ensure that they are not the preludes to one of the monsters in your head attempting to escape,” she glanced over the throng of frozen ponies with a scowl, “Though thankfully this simply seems to be a relatively normal nightmare.Though…” she trailed off briefly, her wings ruffling slightly before she turned back to me, “I must admit to a fair amount of curiosity, my sister endeavored to keep us apart as much as possible for both of our sakes. As enlightening as our previous session together was, I still barely know Equestria’s newest knight.”

I flinched a bit, “Still not super happy about that,” I admitted. It was one thing when Dash was teasing me about it, it was another for the title to be used seriously. One was good natured teasing, the other an uncomfortable reminder.

“Too similar to being royalty?”

“Mhm,” I scowled, “I mean, I get it, but still.”

“That is understandable, but something I do not understand is your attraction to them,” she nodded her head at the throng of ponies, her eyes particularly on the pair of athletic blue and orange ponies.

A curious mix of emotions went through me, “I… they’re wonderful. It’s hard not to like them… I–… I’m more confused at how they like me…”

Luna gave me a look I couldn’t decipher, “Is it so weird?”

“... a bit?” I admitted, shuffling my hooves some, “I was never much of a catch. I’ve dated, sure, but I was always the pursuer. And especially with my… issues… I’m surprised they like me in a romantic sense at all…”

“Would you like to talk about it?”

“Yeah… I would,” stopping, I turned to raise an eyebrow at the freaking Princess of the Moon with a small smile on my face, “Though don’t you have better things to do than listen to me bitch and moan?”

“Just as the physical health of our subjects is my sisters responsibility, their mental health is mine,” she came up and brushed her shoulder against mine, “And no matter your origins, you are now one of ours.”

A small thrill of happiness flitted through me at that, and I was probably smiling more than I really should have, “Seems legit to me.” I glanced back at the frozen throng of ponies and a fair amount of the good feelings disappeared, “Is there any way we could do it on the wing? This brings back many of the bad feelingsis.”

Luna snorted in amusement at my silliness, returning some of the good feelingsis to me, “Certainly, Sir Emeris,” her wings flared as did mine in response, “Let us be off.”

With a few powerful beats of our wings we were off, the rush of air now familiar once more as we went into the sky. A small, content smile settled on my face, it was a delight to see the world rushing past us and the wind in my mane and wings. It was a dream… but it was a good dream.

We flew in silence for a little while, the world literally blurring beneath us as we did though it seemed to be more of a dream thing than a speed one. Eventually, it was Luna that spoke, “What makes you willing to go past your fear for those two mares?”

“... because they’re willing to go past their issues with me… because they’re beautiful… because they’re amazing?” I trailed off in my rambling, slowly flapping my wings, “Applejack is so stable. She’s honest and pleasant, she’s so easy to work with and nice… she teases but she doesn’t get crazy with it. She’s confident and capable and wonderful…”

“Dash is fun… she gets it and… it’s so easy to see how real she is. She’s got an ego, she’s physical, she can geek out so wonderfully…” I sighed, slowly dodging a cloud, “I don’t… I really don’t get why she likes me…”

“Truly? Less so than with Applejack…?”

“Yes, I… with Applejack it’s probably a crush,” I said, my wings ruffling some as I flew in discomfort, “I’ve been teaching her accounting and working with her and saved her sister and… and I just can get why she might have a crush on me.”

“But Dash… Dash I just don’t get… not in a romantic sense at absolute least,” there was a distortion in the air flow as Luna flapped beside me, “I mean, I can sort of get that Applejack wants stability and strength and someone she can have fun with… but… I’m not exciting. I’m not cool or awesome or radical, I’m basically the opposite of all those things. I’m boring, I’m lame, I’m an accountant… I mean, I can read with her and exercise with her, but that’s not enough for a freaking relationship…”

“Are you so certain?” Luna asked, and I glanced over to see her with a smirk on her face.

I blinked in confusion and fully turned my head to look at the midnight blue alicorn against the light blue of the sky, “Reasonably so…?”

“Hm… let us see,” the alicorn of the night tilted and drifted off towards the ground. Curious and confused, I angled my wings, following after her.

With a few flaps of our wings, we approached an increasingly distinct patch of grass at the edge of a forest… one that grew increasingly familiar as we approached. It was the edge of the Everfree where Dash and I had originally had our brawl, and later had trained in…

When we came in for a landing, I could see two ponies in the clearing… one was Rainbow Dash… in her Gi? And the other was… me?

… okay, now that’s weird.

Luna and I landed not far away from the two ponies, both the dream Dash and my dream duplicate in martial arts Gi’s. This… this was another memory, much more recent…

“Okay, even out your hooves some more,” my duplicate did so, shifting his hooves and assuming a stance at Dash’s direction, “Better but your legs are still wrong, here,” the blue pegasus came up and tapped at my duplicate's legs with a forehoof, nudging them into place for a proper stance.

“Pretty nitpicky stuff,” my duplicate noted.

Dash bonked me upside the head lightly, “This is the stuff that matters ya dork! If you don’t exercise right you can hurt yourself, and if you don’t do this stuff right you can get hurt by the bad guys.”

I stuck my tongue out at her for a moment before rolling my eyes with a small chuckle, “I get that, but these just seem like small changes is all. I’ll do them, just not sure the point of them.”

“Ugh, alright,” she stepped in front of me, assuming the same stance she’d been trying to show me, “See, this is the main stance of Rolling Earth.” I nodded, watching her intensely, trying to adjust myself to match her stance, “It’s a ground heavy style. It’s heavy on grapples and rolling dodges.”

A small snort escaped me, “It’s called Rolling Earth so it’s all about rolls and the ground. Who’da thunk that?”

Rolling her eyes with a smile, she continued, “You have to bend your knees so that you can launch yourself one way or another,” she demonstrated, launching like a spring to the side in a roll and coming up onto her feet in a single smooth motion, “Or the other way,” this time she launched herself forward into a somersault, her hoof coming to a stop within an inch of my face.

I kept my eyes locked on her form as she moved, a small thrill of pride going through me at the lack of flinch on my part. I trusted Dash and instead focused on learning and analyzing her form. There was a brief flash of respect across Dash’s face as I nodded, a small smirk appearing on my face as an amusing realization hit me, “I don’t think I can do that one Dash.” I reached up and tapped the side of my horn.

She snorted, a small smile on her face, “Still, you gotta learn the basics, and the first part is the stance. If I knew Shattered Stone worth a damn I’d be teaching you that, you’ve got the size and strength for it, but Rolling Earth works well with your ground game.”

“Alright,” my hoof returned to the grass beneath me and I looked over myself, checking my positioning compared to hers, “Do I have this right now though?”

“Yeah, much better, a whole lot less suck in that stance.” I blew a raspberry, drawing it out, making Dash shake her head with a giggle. Her giggle brought a little bubbling happiness to my chest and I went with the urge to be silly, wiggling my hips and punctuating each wiggle with another little fart noise.

Her snicker broke into a full blown laugh, “You are such a dork!”

I made an inquisitive fart noise at that, earning another round of giggles from Dash.

“If you don’t stop I’ll make you do something else with that mouth!” she jabbed a hoof at me.

One of my eyebrows went up and an ear cocked to the side, soon followed by both eyebrows and ears going up as my perverted mind made a connection it probably shouldn’t have. My ears automatically leaned forward, a small smirk making itself known on my face around my tongue, when she gave me a somewhat confused look, I returned with an exaggerated eyebrow waggle.

After a brief moment, realization dawned on her face and Dash blushed with a small giggle, “Oh shut up!” her wings ruffled, extending slightly, “I meant having you do some mouth exercises-!” my eyebrows went back up, “For martial arts! Like picking up trees and rocks ya dork!”

I had to pull my tongue back in as I chuckled, but didn’t say anything, just grinning at the blue pegasus in spite of the small blush that was certainly on my face.

With a small laugh, Dash swatted me upside the head, “Alright alright, I get it, watch my mouth,” a mischievous grin spread across her face as she turned to the side, flexing a hind leg, “Now, the flanks are the money-makers.”

A short bark of laughter escaped me, which earned a chuckle from Dash who nonetheless continued, “See, all your power comes from these gals. Your flanks are the strongest part of you and you’re either hitting something with them or you’re using them to get power into your forelegs.”

“Your forelegs are where you get the speed,” she got up onto her hind legs, shadow boxing at me with several blindingly fast strikes on either side of my face. My muscles twitched slightly with each pass of her hooves, unable to see anything more than blurry sky-blue streaks, “But these babies don’t have anywhere near the pain they could if you don’t use the money makers too.”

While vertical, she deliberately shuffled her hindlegs, “If I don’t brace and push myself off with these into a blow it’s not gonna be more than a love tap.”

I nodded, “Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. I get it.”

Dash cocked her head to the side as she dropped back to the dirt, “Huh?”

“I know it as one of the laws of motion, you hit shit, it hits back,” I nodded at large rock one of the trees was growing around at the edge of the clearing, “If you hit a rock, you feel it in your hoof sort of thing. You can only move by pushing against stuff, like the ground or the air.”

“Pft, you just got to science it up don’t you?” she said with a teasing grin.

“Dork, remember?” I rebutted with a smile. Pushing myself up onto my hind legs and taking a few experimental swings. Something occurred to me as I did and I swung my hooves in horizontal sweeping motions with a small scowl, “How would you get the force for these then?”

“The money makers, duh,” she rolled her eyes as she got back up, demonstrating as she talked, “It’s in the twist of your hips, you’ve got to shuffle your hind hooves to get real force behind those strikes.”

“Okay…” my eyes were locked on her stomach and hips for reasons entirely to do with learning and absolutely nothing to do with how her muscles shifted and flexed beneath her coat. I gave the motions a try, wobbling due to the unfamiliar effects on my balance. I didn’t fall since I practiced running through the treetops of the Everfree almost every day, but it was a close thing, I’d never really practiced standing upright.

Dash thwap’d a hind leg with a wing, sending me falling back to all fours, “Save that for later, stance first, hitting things second,” she admonished with a smirk. She was enjoying this way too much, but i couldn’t complain because A). I was learning and B). She was freaking adorable while doing it.

Still, I couldn’t resist blowing another raspberry at her as I assumed the stance she’d been teaching. Once more Dash corrected it with a few taps of her hooves against my legs, making my hooves shift in the grass, though there were fewer things to fix this time, “Alright, let’s run through a basic sequence.”

I watched as the teasing faded away for the next few moments, standing there with Luna as I was. Dash and my memory-self went through several steps and moves of Rolling Earth. “You don’t see how she might like you?”

Shooting a glance over at the princess, I spoke softly as I watched the surreal memory, “I see a dork and an athlete hanging out and being friends, teasing one another.”

“Flirting,” Luna uncompromisingly corrected.

“Hey, Em?”

“Yeah?”

“Why are you holding back so much?”

“... what are you talking about?”

“Um… you’re a lot slower than I remember? I mean, no, you weren’t keeping up with me in the fight or anything, but you should be faster than this…”

“Even taking the fact that I’m taking it slow to learn into consideration?”

“...”

“Figured, just being sure.”

Dash rolled her eyes, “Seriously though, you’re a ton slower. Hold out a forehoof?” I confusedly obliged as Dash came up in front of me and pressed her forehoof against mine. Picking up on what she was going for, I pushed back. She wasn’t stronger than me, but both of us strained into the action, Dash’s hoof being pushed slightly back.

Stopping, Dash snorted, “And you’re weaker too. You were throwing my flank around with more strength than that. And before you say adrenaline it sure as Tartarus isn’t that. You’re weird and all, but adrenaline can’t do that much, I’d know,” she scowled.

“Well I’m not holding back. That’d be silly in this kind of training… That and I wouldn’t insult you like that.”

“Are you doing magic? Like, super special super strength magic sort of stuff?”

I shook my head, “Not that I’m aware of at very least… from my studies you can be magical, like my curse was, but I’ve never seen anything about doing unconscious magic.”

With effort, I pulled from the memory to turn to Luna, “Is there anything like that? I know of Boons that can increase the physical prowess of someone, but nothing that you could cast on accident.”

The princess of the night scowled at me… but not at me? “There is such magic… I was not aware that you were capable of it though…” she said, trailing off as I realized that her eyes were focused on my cutie mark, “It may make sense however…”

“Princess…?”

She shook it off, “I must speak with my sister about what to tell you about such magics, I wish to be sure of her own thoughts before I make a decision. Regardless, such a thing is not why we are here, we are here to explore your feelings for these mares and theirs for you.”

In the strangest of sensations, the world blurred forward and I found myself exhausted, sweat practically raining off of me onto the grass below as my barrel heaved, “Come on! You can do another!”

“Just…” I swallowed hard, trying to get some saliva back in my throat, “Give… me a sec!”

“Oh come on Em! You’ve got more in you! Another set!” she shouted in my face, the scent of ozone and spice thick in the air, her coat practically glistening with sweat.

“Bite me!” one of my hindlegs was at the edge of having a seizure, my focus was the only thing keeping it from trembling by tensing the whole thing, the bite marks on it aching fiercely, “Let me catch my breath.”

“Don’t chicken out on me! No pain no gain ya wimp!” her wings were low and flaring out, “Do another!”

“If I do another right now I could hurt myself!” I snapped.

“What? Afraid of a little pain?”

“Damnit Dash! I’m not afraid! I just don’t want to pull a musssssshhhh-!” I hissed through my suddenly gritted teeth, my eyes clenching shut as I lost control of the hindleg, the rebellious limb convulsing and little stabs of pain working through it that matched the bite marks along it.

My whole body jittered as the limb spazzed out on me, my ragged panting coming out as a sharp hiss through my teeth. The shakes stopped in what had to have been less than a single agonizing minute, a small, pained sound escaped my throat, my eyes still tightly shut.

“Em…?” came Dash’s stunned voice.

“Ow.”

“Bucking Tartarus Em! Get off those damn legs!”

“What-?” I started to open my eyes only to see a flash a blue before there was warmth beneath me. There was a sudden rush of panic at the terrifyingly familiar sensation before I was suddenly up-ended and on my side on the grass.

I started to get up, but a pair of hooves were placed on my barrel, pushing me back down, “Stay down, holy horseapples Em, you shoulda told me your legs were doing that! Just stay off your legs for a bit,” her hooves began to press and knead just above my flank, “I didn’t know you were that bad off big guy, why didn’t you say anything?”

A bit too stunned to do otherwise, I just rolled with it, letting my head fall down to the grass beneath me, “I was having fun and wanted to keep up…” I admitted with a small blush, my barrel heaving as I tried to catch my breath.

The Gi slipped around on my sweat some as she worked my muscles and and she paused. I lifted my head to find her staring in more than a bit of surprise at my flank, her hoof pressed against my flank again and the Gi slid just a bit, soaking through and she almost recoiled, her wings flaring, “Buck Em, you’re frothing! I couldn’t tell at all! Stay here, I’m grabbing some water! Don’t get on your hooves yet!”

Confused, I tried to raise my head up some more, but Dash was gone and back in under ten seconds with a raincloud. With a quick flick of her wings, she hacked off a piece of it, “I’m super sorry Em, I couldn’t tell at all! You looked freakin fine until your leg started to go. Sweaty, sure, but not frothy!” taking the raincloud, she wrung it out over me, causing cool water to pour against my side, sending shivers through me.

“Gonna take a wild shot in the dark that’s bad?” I ventured, letting my head fall back down to the ground of the clearing, trying to make my sore muscles relax.

“A-duh! Especially with how hard your flank is!” she paused before coughing, her wings ruffling, “N-Not that that’s a bad thing most of the time! But right now, with you frothing up like this, you run a risk of tying up!” Her hooves began to knead my flank and barrel again, pressing hard into the sore muscle, relief easing through me as she worked.

“You do realize I don’t know those terms right…?” I asked. Definitely not gonna complain about the attractive multicolored mare with her hooves on what amounted to my ass.

“Right, bucking nerd…” with a small sigh, Dash rolled her eyes, “Okay, you sweat when you get hot or you exercise a lot. You seem to sweat an extra lot but whatever. But that stuff’s clear. But if you start over exerting yourself you start to sweat this white sweat that’s called froth. That’s only when you’re seriously pushing yourself though. If you keep pushing after you start frothing you can really hurt yourself.”

“When your muscles start to seize up like that, you need to stop moving or they can tear themselves apart,” I twisted some in place and my leg seized up again, shuddering in spite of my best attempts, and even though I kept my eyes open it drew a pained hiss from me, “Especially with your legs having been messed up like they were. Even if the timberwolves didn’t tear up your muscles with those bites, it still means you can hurt them worse now.”

“Duly noted…”

She sighed, “And damn Em, that–… that makes me feel bad… I was pushing you way harder than I should have…”

The beautiful pegasus trailed off and I gritted my teeth through the pain enough to speak, “Dash, come on, you said yourself you couldn’t tell I was that bad off, don’t blame yourself…” my barrel wasn’t heaving so bad by now, “I really didn’t look that tired…?”

“Not anything like you were about to bucking collapse!” she sighed, “Buck Em… I can’t believe that you pushed yourself that hard just to keep up with me…”

“I didn’t want to disappoint you,” I admitted, my cheek heating up against the grass beneath it, “You’re going out of your way to teach me this stuff, I should be giving it everything I can…” I trailed off for a moment before clarifying, “Within reason. I was stopping because I knew I was getting close to hurting myself.”

“Next time don’t get even here!” she admonished, giving my flank a small swat, “I mean…” she trailed off briefly, a small amount of wonder in her tone, “I’m totally flattered you went this far for me, but next time, stop a bit sooner okay? We’re training, not trying to beat each other up.”

“Will do,” I said with a small smile as she got some more cloud-stuff, wringing it out over me, making me shiver as the cool water hit my too hot skin.

Luna’s voice interjected into the memory, “Do you not see why she might like you?”

Lifting my head from the grass, I looked over at the blue alicorn sitting in the grass not far away, “... not really?” at her scowl, a similar expression made itself known on my face, my tail flicking in irritation as I struggled to put it into words. Laying my head back down I stared at the now frozen Rainbow Dash over my prone form, “At least, not in comparison to the fanbo- fancolts she probably has? I’d expect her to be interested in a Wonderbolt, not…” I made an exasperated gesture with my forehooves, “Well… me.”

“Why would she be interested in a Wonderbolt?” Luna probed.

Blinking, I looked over at her like she was crazy, “They’re awesome? They’re daredevils, adrenaline junkies, heroes, badasses, and they fly? Passions she shares or idealizes.”

A small smirk crossed her muzzle, “And you are a fearless hero who has fought monsters that no other force in Equestria could, and you were an alicorn that relished in pushing the magical limits of your flight.”

“As Gary,” I said with far more petulance and bitterness than I really had a right to.

“And what has changed other than your lack of wings?” she rebutted, “Especially after your escapade in the Everfree,” she gestured with a wing and my gaze followed it. There at the edge of the clearing we’d been training in was a swath of trees felled or turned into kindling, the part of the Everfree that I’d hit with Swords like Stars…

I scowled again and pointed out a fact, “Any dedicated combat unicorn could do similar.”

“Some. But most would require a longer build up to such a spell,” the princess of the night noted, causing my scowl to deepen.

“Not all, a fair number could do even more with even less. I remember a captain that basically vaporized a building to stop a demon.”

“There are not that many unicorns with that power output Sir Emeris.”

“It’s not impossible though!”

“But tis rare, and not something that she would see often if ever before,” Luna stood and approached, “You are a warrior Emeris, if not by nature, then by nurture, and she idealizes noble warriors.”

“I–…” I trailed off, unable to refute that. Hell, why was I trying to refute it? Oh, right, fucked in the head. Ugh. My head fell back down to the grass, “It doesn’t seem like enough.”

“Why not?” she asked, her horn lighting up and the world becoming awash in midnight blue.

“Because I’m messed up?” I pointed out with a raised eyebrow as I stood up, the aches and pain dissolving as did the world around me, “I mean, seriously, I’m scared of anypony liking me because my first instinct is still that they’re being controlled by the curse.” I had returned to the alicorn form I’d ‘chosen’ for myself in this dream as the world became a white expanse.

“That is no longer the case Sir Emeris, both my sister and I have confirmed it.”

“Luna–… Princess, I know that. But I know it up here,” I tapped the side of my head with a hoof before bringing it to my chest, “In here? Not so much.”

“Then you have your quest then do you not, Knight of the Beyond?” she asked with a small smile.

But I shivered.

That title had resonated in the dreamscape in a way that unsettled me, “Please don’t call me that.”

“No,” I blinked, staring at Luna, finding her eyes hard, “You are our knight, and you are of the Beyond. Here in the Aether, titles matter as much as names, and you know how much names matter don’t you, Gary Stu?”

This time I flinched before snarling at her, that name causing something deep inside my chest to wrench, “You’ve made your point!”

“I’m not certain I have Gar–”

“Nightmare,” I snapped. She froze, eyes going wide. With a shuddering breath I reiterated, “You’ve made your point Luna.”

There was an indeterminable time of silence as our eyes remained locked, “I shall still refer to you as our knight, it serves to distance you from him here in the Aether.”

I closed my eyes, trying to get my flaring temper under control, breathing far louder in my nostrils than I intended, “The title helps?”

“Yes, you are still linked to your history as Gary,” I immediately flinched, but there wasn’t that horrid tugging/twisting sensation this time, “Those with the authority to do so referring to you otherwise helps thin that connection.”

My lips pressed into a thin line as I sighed through my nose, “And what does that connection do…?”

“It primarily causes nightmares, but if reinforced too heavily here in the Aether, your mind may assume the shape of Gary’s.”

My chest went cold at that, my eyes snapping open, “... what.”

“Should enough pressure be applied here in the Aether, your mind would become that of what Gary’s was assumed to be,” she said with far less gravity than such a fucking statement deserved! “This is unlikely given your mental resilience and aversion to exactly such a thing, but it is a possibility.”

A shudder of revulsion went through me, “Fuck that noise.”

Luna smiled slightly at that, “Quite.” The princess of the night approached, “But come, our Knight of the Beyond, my sister shall soon raise the sun. Our time tonight shall soon be over.”

I sighed as golden beams of light began to burn their way through the white expanse of the dream-realm, “Not sure whether I’m relieved or sad…”

The dawn came, the speckled sunlight coming through the my window, the light warm on my face.

Good morning good morning, go the fuuuuck awwaaayyyyyy~

With a yawn, I rolled over once, letting my legs dangle off the edge of the bed and getting a face and mouthful of fur, “Mmph-?”

Recoiling with a snort, I had to spit out some fur, Droolykins mewing unhappily at being awoken, “Ppbbbth! Bleh! Shush, you’re not exactly tasty you know!” I found myself suddenly wishing that I still had hands to clean off my tongue because ew. Ew ew ew. That tasted nasty! “Ugh, you need a bath!”

“Mew?!”

The pink animal leapt off of the bed and right into the construct net I created. Even half awake I could create some thread, it was a whole lot safer for me to do this than trying to affect a living thing directly. I couldn’t judge my strength very well and I was very uncomfortable with the thought of handling something living with power that could suddenly spike enough to bruise or break.

With an unhappy groan, I rolled out of bed, ignoring the plaintive mewling from my cat as I landed on my hooves, wobbling into a standing position.

From what I could tell, unicorns normally let their power flow like water around a living being to encompass them and move them then, but my magic was too rigid and structured to do that. I could infuse non-living things with my power directly and manipulate that, but the magic resistance of living things made it difficult or even dangerous for me to do that with them.

Carting the unhappy cat over to the sink, I turned the water on and plugged the drain.

As I stared at the pooling water, my brain tried to catch up with my body’s awake-ness.

I’d had a dream… a dream with Luna talking to me… talking to me about my feelings for Applejack and Dash and my confusion over Dash’s feelings for me… I could remember that Luna had made some sort of point about Dash having reason to like me and another one about titles but the rest of it escaped me...

Turning the handle again, I turned off the water, deliberately lowering Droolykins into the water. Picking up the brush and soap I began to work at the unhappily mewing cat.

Alright, so it was Tuesday, I was going to go to the spa in a little while, get dressed… and…

My eyes went wide.

Oh, yeah. D-Day.

Meep.

Swallowing hard, I took a few deep breaths to calm my suddenly racing heart.

Okay…

Okay.

Well… that would explain Luna’s topic choice…

So the plan was simple, get cleaned up at the spa, grab my stuff and my fancy new outfit, meet up with Dash and have fun for the rest of the day.

Oh, and try not to have a horrible freak-out, that’d be nice too.

… considering my track record, it was unfortunately likely that I’d have some serious issues. I mean hell, even when we’d first met I’d freaked out, even if it wasn’t immediately.

Lifting the unhappy cat out of the water I looked him over even as he glared at me with his mismatched eyes. Mentally declaring him fit to use as an impromptu pillow, I lowered him back to the water and began to rinse him off.

Curse you emotions! Curse yoooouuuuuuu! I mean hell, I wasn’t this nervous on my first date!

Then again, on my first date I wasn’t dealing with two years of trauma associated with affection, so there’s that.

With a bit of a self-depreciating snort, I lifted the rinsed cat out of the water, pulling him into my forelegs and the towel I held there. The little cat making an unhappy sound even as I dried him off, drawing a small smile from me. “Oh hush ya little snot, you were dirty as hell, too many wild parties.”

Droolykins mewed unhappily in my forelegs even as he snuggled closer, “Pets resemble their owners Drools. You complain plenty, but you really love the affection ya snot, just like me”

I’d forgone my normal vest today, instead going for just a pair of saddlebags to carry the meal for later. It felt pretty weird to go without my vest honestly, I just wore it so much. It was my comfort blankie, my binky of sorts. It was getting a pay cut since it hadn’t been doing its job worth a damn, HR found its performance absolutely unacceptable in the last review.

… or would that be PR here? No, then what would be public relations?

… man I took that joke somewhere weird.

Anyways, I’d run into Rarity on the way to the spa, the alabaster unicorn had been carrying my outfit in a bag. Fluttershy had been invited, but couldn’t make it today due to someone bringing in a sick viper that required almost constant attention. Rarity had practically dragged me the rest of the way to the spa, jabbering on about exactly what needed to be done to make me fabulous enough for my date. I didn’t pay too much attention to be honest, it was mean but I kinda tuned her out after a point.

“-and a proper rinse of your mane and tail will do them absolute wonders! Your coat and mane are already delightfully thick and soft, they only need some care and styling to be absolutely marvelous!” her horn lit up as she opened the door to the spa, letting me in, “Isn’t that right Aloe dear?”

“Ov’ course it iz Rarity~”

“Do you even know what we’re talking about?” I asked with a smirk as I entered.

“No, but Mizz Belle iz far more likely to be right than wrong,” the spa-pony pointed out, an amused smile on her face.

I nodded as Rarity stepped in behind me, the door closing behind her, “Touche’.”

With a haughty smile, Rarity spoke up, “So as scheduled, we are here for Emeris’ full treatment~ The works darling!”

Surprisingly, Aloe winced, “Ah, well, we… you zee, we can’t.”

Both Rarity and I blinked at that, while they weren’t as friendly with me as they were with Rarity and Fluttershy, they’d definitely warmed up to me over the past month, “What’s wrong?”

“Our boiler iz broken, and ze repairmare won’t arrive until tomorrow, we have no hot water for a full treatment and we would not put customers through that, let alone such repeat customerz az yourselves!”

While Rarity pouted, I cocked my head to the side. Damn, I was actually looking forward to this… “Well… can I look at it? I’m not exactly an engineer but I’m a bit of a handyman, I might be able to figure it out.”

Aloe seemed uncertain, not that I could blame her, “I promise that if I can’t figure out how to fix it I won’t make it worse.”

“Well, if you think you can fix it…”

To make a long story short, I couldn’t fix it. I’d figured out that the problem was with heat regulation system that’d caused pressure to build up too much and a pipe to break, but I didn’t understand it well enough to fix it.

The pipe had been a simple fix though, which left me stumped. I knew I could figure out the mechanism given some time, but I had a date and a repairman-... repairmare was going to be here tomorrow.

Hrm…

“Can you fix et?”

“Technically no… but I might be able to jury-rig something…” I scowled at the boiler in the basement as my brain worked. The problem was that it overheated, I couldn’t fix the mechanism that normally regulated it but magic? I didn’t have a spell to do that, but runes might…

Stepping up to the inactive boiler I reviewed the mental list of runes I knew. It wasn’t much different from coding really, if you coded in two or three dimensions rather than linearly.

I said it wasn’t that much different, not that it wasn’t harder. It was hella hard once you got into the three dimensional stuff like the inside of gems. I preferred keeping it linear, stuff like circles or borders kept it most similar to coding.

Hm…

To roughly translate:

while (Power > 1){
if (Water >= Boil) {Contained_Heat = Contained_Heat * .99
External_Heat += Contained_Heat * .01}
else {Wait 1 second}};

Given that I went through the work of defining power and temperature and what was contained heat and what was uncontained heat… that would work… though I didn’t know a rune for boil… evaporate might work though… yeah, it’d be a bit of a complex wording but I could basically enumerate it into a single pointer rune…

I could make it last forever if I instead had it vent some of the excess heat into the runic structures stored power, but this was a ghetto-rig, not a true fix, so with this it’d just fizzle out over time.

I sketched out the runic circle along the outside of the boiler, double checking the language in about four different directions to be sure it wouldn’t blow up or do something weird. I deliberately didn’t put in any of the usual anti-tampering stuff for the explicit purpose of making it easy to pop the magic if there was a reason for it.

“Okay, stand back, let me power this up,” Aloe, Lotus, and Rarity all shuffled a few steps back. Tapping into my mana reserves, I lit up my horn and went down the runic line, pouring a little bit of energy into each one as I went along, “This’ll keep it from overheating, but it won’t last forever. This is a quick fix only. So keep that repairmare scheduled for tomorrow.”

Powering up runes was actually always an impressive thing when you did it right, each rune would start to glow in sequence and with some practice it’d end up looking like glowing power flowing through a pipe.

Actually not a bad analogy for linear or circular runes like this.

“Really? Zis will make it run?”

“With the fixed pipe, which I’ve marked as such, and this? Yeah, it’ll work for a few days at least, maybe longer. But definitely get a professional to look at it,” I eased up on the power flow just a bit as I finished, instead pouring it into the whole, waiting for the- Ah, there it is. The whole ring pulsed briefly before I cut the power flow entirely, letting it settle into a gentle, forest green glow.

“There we go,” creating a telekinetic shovel, I began loading some wood into the fire box proper to speed things along. I did have a date to get ready for.

“Oh thank you! We did not think we would be able to meet our appointments!” Aloe said, a beatific smile on her face.

“Yes! Consider your treatment today on the house!” Lotus was even giddier than her partner, actually prancing in place.

I paused in my loading, a small clench of fear in my chest that didn’t make its way any further, “You really don’t have to.” My ears had swept back in spite of my level tone.

“Non non,” Aloe waved it off with a hoof, “If you had not we may have had to make many of our clients services complimentary today! This iz much better! It is the least we can do to show our appreciation.”

True… and it did make sense. I wasn’t against getting paid for work, I just wanted to make things up for what my curse did to others, which it seems I’d already done here, so… “Can’t really argue with that logic…” I returned to shoveling, only putting in a few more scoops of wood and kindling before I let the shovel dissolve.

With some effort, I switched my brain over to the mindset required for evocation. It wasn’t something natural to me anymore, not after the curse was broken, but I could still manage a few basic things like this. With thoughts of heat and burning and a little lighter flicking I created a small fire at the end of my horn before throwing it into the fire box, sustaining it long enough for the kindling to catch.

That’d take a bit though so… gritting my teeth, I tapped into my mana reserves and channeled them through my horn and into the spell, the inefficiencies of the effort making my horn light up brightly as the fire blazed.

“Are you sure you wish to do that Emeris?” it was Rarity that asked this, but I didn’t look at her, “You obviously don’t have a talent for pyromancy and this sort of effort will drain you quite heavily…”

“I’m not going to be stupid about this Rarity, but I don’t anticipate having to draw heavily on my mana reserves today.”

“And if you do?” she questioned with a raised eyebrow and an otherwise deadpan expression.

“See the above statement about not being stupid,” I said with a small smile as I let the mana flow die out, instead recreating the shovel to put a few more wood chips and logs into the fire box.

“Zat should be fine Mister Fillson, we shall get the other tasks done while ze water heats.”

“Works for me.”

“What ever did you do to the boiler anyways?”

“Hm?” I flicked my uncut ear towards Rarity beside me as the masseuse did their jobs, unable to look at her due to the cucumbers over my eyes.

“I did not recognize that form of magic, that writing wasn’t anything I know and that wasn’t normal enchantment.”

“Oh, those are runes, they’re not a common thing since they can be pretty bad if you misuse them, and the classic paradigm for unicorn magic lends itself to doing them wrong,” the masseuse began to do that rapidly beating hooves thing on my back and my voice began to oscillate in a hilarious manner as I continued my explanation, “I learned magic differently from most unicorns and already had a background that lends itself well to the thinking required.”

Coding and accounting worked really well with Runic magic, since it was in a way the coding of the universe, but it also dealt with equivalent exchange. The accounts had to balance, something that normal coding didn’t really have to worry about. I wasn’t super good with languages though, that talent would’ve made me an absolute natural at Runic magic rather than ‘just’ pretty good. Curse you french rather than japanese being offered in high schoooooool~!

“Should we be worried then?”

“NoOot reaalllLlLLlLy…” there was a soft *crick* as my foreleg was tugged, and after the brief moment of pain I basically melted into the bed-thingy, “It’s not fool-proof, but things would already have to be going wrong for it to do anything bad, and it’ll fade in a few days.”

Another *crick* as the masseuse went to work on my other limbs and I let out a small groan. Damn that’s the good stuff.

“So it’s a lot like normal enchanting?”

“As far as I know, I’m not an expert on normal enchanting by any means,” I admitted freely as the masseuse’s hooves worked against my right foreleg, the pressure a welcome thing on the scarred leg, “I think Runes are more rigid in implementation than normal enchanting, which is sometimes an advantage, but oftentimes a disadvantage for the basic stuff.”

“Hm… I must ask Twilight to learn more it seems,” she mused.

“That’d be smart, she’s much more of an expert than me,” I admitted, “I specialized heavily, so my knowledge is pretty limited. Why do you want to know?”

“Oh, I was hoping to work them into my dresses and outfits, if one could work beautiful characters into the lining and trim of an outfit that made it stain and wrinkle resistant it would be absolutely wonderful!”

I pondered that for a minute, “Well… I might actually be able to do that. I’ll have to see if I still have free reign with the royal library first, but if I can get a few reference books on runes I should be able to put something lasting together.”

There was a long silence from the fashionista before she carefully asked, “Emeris, what limits are there on the enchantments you could put together with these runes?”

“Technically? Given enough time to think it out and reference materials? Not a whole lot,” I shrugged, “There are functional limits mind you, I’m not good enough to do certain things like runic quilts or such, and there’s a limit to how small you can make runes and the amount of power you can put into an object based on the size of the runic inscription, but as far as variety goes? There’s not a whole lot of limits.”

“Would the material of the dress make a difference?”

“Not with runes, though I know it would with normal enchanting. The material the runes themselves are made out of matters for power output of the magic, but not for the kinds of enchantments you can place.”

“Would you be willing to make me those enchantments against wrinkles and dirt and stains?”

“For a price,” I said with a small smile.

I could practically hear Rarity grin, “Why Emeris dear, I do believe this is the start of a beautiful relationship~”

I slowly stretched, feeling a satisfying little pop in my back knee. A facial (Mind out of the gutter! I don’t swing that way), a hooficure, a mane styling, a tail styling, massage, steam bath, some fancy coat brushing thing I didn’t remember the name of, and a horn filing.

I felt freaking fancy. In a good way.

A bag floated in front of me, making me blink at the teal enclosed fabric. Turning my head, I found Rarity walking up, having already paid for her own treatment today, “Time to change?”

“No, it is time to finish your transformation into a form absolutely fabulous and worthy of such a date!”

“See, you just did that thing where I say one thing, and you say it again only much weirder.”

She harrumphed at that, making me smile even as I took the bag from her.

As I slowly wrapped up my legs with the white silk bandages around my legs, a thought occured me, “Hey, Rarity?”

“Yes dear?” she said from outside the room I was changing in. It was a bit strange that I felt uncomfortable changing in front of even Rarity, especially since she often-times changed me with all the outfits that she’d put me through. But eh, I didn’t question it.

“If you’re here helping me, who’s helping Dash?” there was a long moment of silence from the other side of the door even as I tied off the wrap up near my shoulder, flexing the leg to make sure it could move fine, “Rarity…?”

“Ah, what makes you think that Dash is getting help?”

“Well, aside from the fact that I know she’s almost as nervous as I am about this, for whatever reason,” I muttered that part under my breath, “And that she came to you for an outfit, there was the way you just said that.”

I could hear her cough delicately, “That’s silly darling, Rainbow Dash is an absolute pillar of confidence! Why, she’s probably just finishing up her preening now~”

“With Fluttershy.”

“Actually she’s with Lot– …” I could practically feel her scowl at me through the door, “That was mean.”

A giggle escaped me as I started to wrap my other foreleg, “So do you think she’ll be done before me?”

“I’m going to make sure of it dear, a mare should never keep a stallion waiting.”

“I think keeping people waiting is bad in general, regardless of the genders involved,” I noted with an amused smile.

“Oh hush you and finish putting on your outfit.”

I adjusted my tie, a small, shuddering breath escaping me as I stood outside of Ponyville. I was going on a date.

I was going on a date.

I was going on a date.

I… holy crap.

All four hooves on the ground, I closed my eyes and took slow breaths, trying to calm the terror in my chest. There was a line of tension through my body, my chest clenching tightly as I basically freaked the flying fuck out.

There were so many ways this could go wrong. This could be the curse sneaking its way back into existence. She could immediately discover she didn’t like me on the date. Would she like my outfit? Would monsters attack during the date–?

I facehoofed even as my mind raced, feeling my own hoof tremble against my muzzle in panic. The thoughts were pouring out of my head faster than I could bring up the logical counter-arguments.

That I might scare her off, that I might have a full on freak out in the middle of the date and hurt her, that the curse could return during the date! That she wouldn’t like me, that this was a joke, that it was a set up–

I could handle it! No matter what happened, I could handle it! I knew I could!

–she might ask me to stop seeing her ever. I could be such an ass that she’d get the others to stop being my friends, I could do something so socially inept by pony standards that she’d hate me–

I grit my teeth, pressing my fetlock to my face hard.

It was astoundingly frustrating to have a panic attack and be unable to do anything about it. Because fuck. Fuckity fuck fuck. It was my first date jitters times a hundred, meshed with my jumbled unpleasant emotions towards the curse.

“Sugar…? That you?”

Applejack-?! She’ll hate me for picking Dash! She’s only trying to make me feel better-! I clamped down hard on those thoughts, “H-Hey–…” I swallowed in an attempt to get my voice steady, turning and putting my foreleg down. My eyes opened to the sight of Applejack and the Cutie Mark Crusaders. While Applejack was in her usual stetson, the CMC had their capes, all of them staring at me, “What’s up AJ?”

“You okay Sugar?” the farmmare approached, the CMC in tow until she was in normal speaking distance, “Ya’ don’t look too good.”

“I–” Don’t say anything! She’ll think you’re crazy! But I can’t lie to her, she deserves the truth! I– I looked away, trying to keep my racing thoughts reigned in, “I’m nervous.”

Call me the Knight of the Understatement ladies and gentlemen.

“Y’er nervous about your date?” it was Applebloom this time, looking up at me with wide eyes.

“Yes, very,” I smiled, strained as it might be.

”You’re going on a date with Rainbow Dash right?” Scootaloo asked. Kids, blunt as ever, tact was still something a few years off it seemed.

“Yes, I am, later today actually,” I admitted a bit awkwardly. I mean, come on, Applejack was right the fuck there thank you very much. Okay with it or not it was bad fucking form, it had to be!

“So lucky,” the little pegasus breathed, staring up at me, but not really seeing me. I’m pretty sure she was instead thinking of her idol, possibly with herself in my place.

The thought made me chuckle, “Yes… I’m very lucky. It’s why I’m scared I’m going to mess it up.”

“Why would you mess it up?” it was Sweetie Belle that asked this one with wide eyed innocence.

While I wanted to roll my eyes at that, a funny thought came to mind and I glanced around as if looking for listeners before leaning down and cupping a hoof to the side of my muzzle as if imparting a secret in a stage whisper, “Because I’m kinda weird.”

The little fillies burst into giggles, making a pleasant warmth fill my chest and a smile appear on my face in spite of the grip around my heart. Glancing up though I found AJ giving me a small scowl before her face straightened out into a more neutral smile, “Girls, why don’t y’all head down to Scootaloo’s on y’er own? I want to talk to Emeris here a minute.”

Applebloom, in the manner of every little sibling ever, immediately jumped on the opportunity to tease her elder sibling, “About being your special somepony too?”

Applejack bumped her forehoof against her sister’s flank, “Maybe, but it ain’t none of y’er business.”

“Awww!”

“Now g’it, Ah’ll pick y’all up after I have lunch with the girls alright?”

“Okay!” the little fillies turned to me and chorused, “Bye Emeris!”

“Good luck on your date!” Sweetie Belle called as they started to run off down the path.

“Thanks!” I called back.

But Scootaloo stopped, looking at me. I raised an eyebrow at her, and she raised a hoof to her head, pointing at her eyes and then at me with a small scowl. Understanding, I smiled and nodded at her in acknowledgement. Satisfied, she took off after her friends, her small cape billowing as she did.

A fond smile had found its way onto my face in spite of the panic still squeezing in my chest.

-now if we mess up we’ll definitely have Scootaloo mad at us too–

Brain. Shut the fuck up.

“Alright Sugar, little ears are out of the way,” Applejack came up, bumping a forehoof against my leg, “Want to tell me what’s eatin’ ya?”

I heaved a sigh, my head drooping, “I told the truth, I’m nervous. Just… understating it a bit,” I admitted, a wry smile on my face.

Applejack scowled, her ears sweeping back and her blonde tail flicking in irritation, “Understatin’ by how much?”

My mouth opened to speak, but nothing came out, so I blew out my breath briefly, looking away, “I was kind of in the middle of suppressing a panic attack when you and the girls came up.” I turned back to her with a grin, “But I’m doing much better now!”

Apparently the grin was a bit strained, as the cowpony did not look impressed, “Emmy…” she said warningly.

I sighed, anymore this beautiful mare could read me almost as well as Rarity could, “It’s the truth, I’m not doing good yet, but I’m doing better.”

Her ears drooped to the sides as her look melted to one of concern, “You gonna be okay?”

My first response would have been ‘Of course!’ but… that would’ve been a lie. While most of my concerns were stupid and silly, there was the very real possibility that in spite of my best efforts my Sanity points would run out in the course of the date or I’d go into Limit Break or my Humanity would run out or however you’d want to put it, I could have an episode. My head fell, “I think so, but I don’t know.”

Briefly, a sad look swept across Applejack’s face before she smiled at me, using a hoof to ruffle my (carefully styled no more) mane, “Hey, you’ll be fine sugar. You took on a whole pack of Timberwolves for my sister at the drop of a hat, you can handle a little ole’ Dash.”

I snorted and rolled my eyes, a smile appearing on my face, “Little she says.”

The farmpony grinned, “She ain’t so bad if ya’ treat her right.” Her look melted into a warm smile and without warning, she placed a small kiss on my left cheek, right on top of the scars, “A lot like you sugar.”

My face turned at least four different shades of red at that, the feeling of her warm lips against my cheek lingering; my jaw working silently a few times before I got out a small, “AJ…” She felt extremely close, her muzzle less than a foot away from mine, and part of that was simple height difference.

She grinned at me, her emerald eyes dancing with mirth and mischief, “Now, we may be competin’, but Dash is m’ah friend too. if ya’ treat her bad, Ah’ll have ta’ buck the apples right out of y’er noggin, we clear?” I nodded, unable to say anything at the moment, essentially trapped by her eyes as they narrowed slightly, “But ya’ treat her right, and I’ll treat you right, ya hear?”

I swallowed hard, less from fear than from the sudden need to wet my throat, all I could smell was Applejack, that blend of grass and apples and sweat, “Loud and clear.”

“Good, Ah’d give ya a thump for luck, but y’er dressed up all fancy,” she gestured at my outfit with a hoof even as she smiled warmly at me, “So you’ll just have to imagine it. But still… good luck.”

My mouth worked silently before I smiled warmly, my heart feeling like it would swell out of my chest, “Thanks AJ…” my voice barely more than a whisper.

“Ain’t nothin’ to it,” she said with confidence as she walked past me, close enough that I could actually feel the heat coming off of her coat, making me almost shiver. As she got past me, she looked back at me over her shoulder, “Now get along, you’ve got a date to get to,” her tail swished through the air until it cracked against my flank, making me rear up with a whinny and scamper ahead several steps, my face turning red.

“AJ! What is it with you and my flank?!”

Her face split into a wide grin, “What can Ah say? I’m a flank-mare!” With a far too amused giggle, she took off down the road towards town, calling out over her shoulder, “And Rarity did a good job! Ya’ look good!”

I gaped after her, aware that I probably resembled a fire hydrant by this point. Blinking a few times before I closed my mouth, my tail swishing back and forth in embarrassment. She had way too much fun teasing me.

Still, a small smile appeared on my face.

My chest was pleasantly warm and I felt like prancing about, a giddy little smile appearing on my face before I schooled my expression into something a little less silly.

That had felt real, it had felt natural, it had been fun.

I could do this, even if things went wrong, I could handle it. I always knew I could, but now I felt it too.

I’d always thought that wishing people good luck was a bit silly, I’d often replied that I made my own luck, but… I guess I really needed some luck from her.

An entirely unmanly giggle escaped me as I did prance a bit. I had a date with Dash, one that would probably be awkward and tense and any number of other things… but I had a date.

Rarity pushed the door open to the Library, glad to have gotten a hold of Pinkie earlier today to set this up as the rest of the girls exempting Rainbow Dash, “Girls, it’s good to see you, Fluttershy, I’m happy you were able to come with how that… delightful, snake has been.”

“Oh, Angel will take care of Ms. Slithers for a little while, Pinkie did say it was important…”

“Yepperoonies, Rarity was all ‘I need you to get up the girls, I found something out that they need to know’ and I was all ‘Okey dokey lokey~’ and- mmph mpph mmph–”

Twilight didn’t look away from her fellow unicorn even as Applejack held a hoof over Pinkie’s mouth, “So what did you find out Rarity?”

Coming to sit down in the small circle they’d formed, the spot that Spike had strategically positioned next to himself of course, Rarity let out a small sigh, “Well dears, Emeris is…” she trailed off, searching for a polite way to describe it.

“Special?”

“Different?”

“Bucked in the head?”

“Twilight!”

“Sounds about right.”

“Applejack!!”

“What? It’s true and he’d say it himself.”

“Oh dear, but it’s still a mean thing to say about him Twilight, I mean… oh dear…”

“Fluttershy, I was stuck in there with him, trust me, he’s kind of messed up. We all know it.”

Rarity delicately coughed into a hoof, “Yes, well, I’m not entirely certain we’ve realized just how… distorted, our newest friend is.”

“Let me guess, you found out he has PTSD?” Twilight ventured, to the confusion of most of those present.

“Among other things,” the fashionista confirmed with a nod.

“What’s Peaty-Esdy?” Pinkie asked with a grin, but it was the slightest bit forced.

Twilight cringed, shifting in place, “It stands for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. It’s… it’s when the bad things that have happened to a pony haunt them. Nightmares, panic attacks, loss of control, anxiety, avoidance…” her lavender eyes fell to the hardwood floor, “In more extreme cases it also can include emotional detachment, an inability to remember important aspects of the trauma, and…” she swallowed, “And a loss of interest in living.” She shuddered at the thought.

“That’s a bucking disorder?” Applejack had half-raised herself off the floor, “What’s a serious problem then?”

Twilight’s stare was almost blank as she responded with an almost rote memorized passage, “It was originally called Post Traumatic Stress Disharmony, it was renamed to a disorder due to the negative connotations and misinformation on disharmony, as many ponies believed that disharmony was a choice. Therefore any time disharmonious mental states interfere with a pony's life it is referred to as a disorder.”

Fluttershy scooched closer to the purple unicorn, wrapping a wing around her withers, Twilight letting out a small shudder as she leaned into the pegasus’ offered comfort.

“That is how the doctor described it to me…” Rarity confirmed, “And we have to admit, it certainly describes Emeris quite well. It was brought to my attention by something… unpleasant however.” The girls and Spike all looked to her as she adjusted her coif in a nervous gesture, “Emeris lost over half of one of his ears."

Fluttershy gasped, her wings flaring defensively; Pinkie deflated slightly, her ears drooping; Spike had a brief look of confusion before wincing. Applejack gave Rarity an incredulous look before glancing away, then her eyes slowly widened as she realized that while she’d seen the missing right ear, she hadn’t really seen it given that she’d been distracted by his emotional state and how nice he’d looked cleaned up.

Twilight herself winced at the statement, “Yeah, I found that out yesterday.”

“I was there when it happened,” Rarity said with a scowl, earning a sharp intake of breath from all others present, immediately followed by a sympathetic wince as the alabaster unicorn shuddered, “There was a lot of blood. It happened while True Glamour was cutting his mane, it was her fault too and… and he forgave her, just like that.”

“Wait, what?” Spike cocked his head to the side in confusion, “Isn’t that a good thing?”

Her scowl deepened, “She tried to refuse him service, and when I convinced her to do it anyways, she insulted him, treated him like dirt, and when he tried to defend himself she cut off his ear! It was an accident but still!” Rarity’s voice had been climbing in volume as she punctuated the sentence with a stomp of her hoof, “And afterwards she was more concerned with losing my business than the pony bleeding all over her floor! As frustrating as Emeris may be at times he’s still my friend and it was- it was… it was appalling, disgusting, horrifying, atrocious!”

The alabaster unicorn deflated, “It was absolutely unacceptable, and he just forgives her… just like that. He had to. It’s hard to describe but if you’d seen his eyes when I tried to tell him that he shouldn’t… he was desperate. It was almost like I’d asked Fluttershy to hurt her animal friends, or Rainbow Dash to betray a friend.”

“But… had she done anything to earn…?” Twilight said in mild shock.

“No… no she hadn’t,” drawing herself back up, Rarity touched up her coif with a hoof, “It’s then that I realized that I needed to talk to a professional about this. While Nurse Redheart sewed up his ear, I talked to Doctor Stable about his mental state. he said what you just did Twilight, that Emeris is suffering from PTSD, but that’s one of several issues.”

As the others stared at her, Rarity began to list them off, “He said that he suffered from PTSD, a phobia of physical affection, a hint of what he called Paranoid Personality Disorder as well as Avoidant Personality Disorder, as well as something else that the doctor called PDNOS…?” she looked to Twilight for elaboration.

“Personality Disorder Not Otherwise Specified, that’s what his forgiveness would fall under. It’s obviously something that interferes with his life and social interactions, so it’s definitely a disorder, but I don’t think I’ve heard of something like that before.”

“That seems appropriate. The doctor also mentioned that Emeris likely suffers from a moderate case of Dissociative Identity Disorder in some form or another, treating the things that happened while he was Gary as a different life, but one he has to make up for.”

“That’s silly, Emmy didn’t have any control over what happened while he was Gary, only what he did! And he controlled that just fine. I mean, the worst thing I ever caught him doing was ogling my flanks when I was bouncing around Sugarcube Corner after a really good rush that he’d brought in.”

Twilight shifted uncomfortably, “It actually probably has something to do with everything he had to see as Gary…” her voice fell to just a whisper, “I still have nightmares of some of the things I saw, Luna’s had to help me at night, and I only saw a few nights worth of horrors.”

Fluttershy tightened her wing around Twilight and the unicorn shot her a grateful look.

“So… what do we do about this mess?” Applejack asked.

Rarity shifted some in discomfort, “The doctor had a few recommendations, as dreadful as the suggestion is, we can always convince Emeris to let himself be committed.”

The entire group cringed, “Oh dear…”

“Yes, an unpleasant option at best,” Rarity admitted, “The next was that we convince him to come in to go to a dedicated therapist.” The girls exchanged a glance, considering the possibility, “The other one he suggested was that we take over his therapy ourselves.”

“Ah’m sorry, but what?”

“The doctor suggested we might help with his therapy or even do the bulk of it,” Rarity reiterated, “He needs to open up about what happened to him as Gary, but what we can definitely do is to forgive him, but assure him that he has nothing to apologize for.”

“That’s therapy?” Spike asked, voicing the confusion of most of those present.

“It’s like cleaning and disinfecting a wound,” the group turned to Twilight, who was scowling at her forelegs, “To quote Sound Mind the second, discussion of trauma brings up the poison, examining it and addressing it disinfects, and with the poison gone and the wound of the mind cleaned, the mind will heal itself as the body would.”

“That doesn’t sound very fun,” Pinkie scowled briefly.

“It didn’t sound any more fun when the doctor said it either,” Rarity admitted.

“But… that’ll fix him up?”

“In principle… it’s what currently prevalent theory suggests. But with the amount of trauma that Emeris has gone through, it may be a long time before he’s healed…” Twilight shifted in place under Fluttershy’s wing, her ears sweeping back as she scowled, “But he may never be even close to normal. We’ve all got to remember that he wasn’t a pony originally.”

“Oh,” the ears of the lone pegasus present perked up, “He said that he originally came from a species with just a bit of sexual dimorphism that mated for life in pairs, an ape-like species that most closely resembles chimpanzees.” Her ears drooped then, “But he didn’t tell me much else about them. So I don’t know how much of it is him being a hueman and how much is him being himself, sorry.”

“Mated in pairs? That’s a lot of lonely mares…”

“According to Emeris, there was one mare per stallion actually.”

That made all of the girls pause, thinking about that possibility for a moment, “That’s a lot of stallions…”

Rarity coughed into her hoof delicately, a small blush on her cheeks, “Yes, quite.”

Pinkie giggled, “Ooh… that’d be fun!” Applejack swatted her lightly in the back of the head in spite of the small blush on her own face.

“Uh, girls,” Spike raised a claw, “I think kinda we’re getting off topic.”

“Yes,” Twilight coughed into her hoof, “You’re right Spike, of course.”

“So what do you think girls? What should we do?”

“Ah’m in favor of helpin him ourselves. He’s done his best to do right by us and we should return the favor.”

“Yeah! Friends stick together like birds of a feather! Like geese or sparrows or pigeons or penguins, though do penguins even have feathers?”

“Yes.”

“Oh, okay!”

“I-I think we should get him go to a professional,” Fluttershy said, “If you’re sick, you go to a doctor.”

“I disagree,” Twilight said softly.

“Oh! I’m sorry.. but why?”

“Don’t be Fluttershy, I just disagree. I think we shouldn’t have him go to a professional about this unless we can’t help him ourselves. He’s different from most ponies, heck, he’s still learning how to be a pony. A therapist may not realize or believe that and may make things worse,” shifting uncomfortably, Twilight looked away, “And they may be like me and just assume that he was bad and deliberately sabotage him because of it.”

While most of the girls shot Twilight a sympathetic look at that, a very brief scowl crossed Rarity’s face, “Be that as it may Darling, do you really think that we should try to help him without professional assistance?”

“I think we should try first, before getting him to get professional help if we can’t help him on our own,” her tail flicked back and forth, “I really don’t want to risk him getting sabotaged by someone who’s supposed to help him.”

“Again?” Rarity probed.

Twilight flinched slightly, almost recoiling from the comment even though it earned Rarity herself some hard looks. But the purple unicorn looked at the floorboards of the library with a small scowl and in a voice barely above a whisper admitted to the otherwise silent library, “Yeah, again.”

Rarity’s gaze didn’t leave her fellow unicorn for several long moments before she finally looked away with a sigh, “So we definitely want to help him ourselves, but what is the vote when it comes to convincing Emeris to get professional help?”

“Ah dunno, while Fluttershy is right and we should definitely have somepony that knows what they’re doing, Twilight’s got a point. Now Ah’m a bit scared by the thought of somepony tryin to mess up his mind even worse if given the chance.”

“Friends stick together!” Pinkie said with a smile, “Even if we can’t do it by ourselves, we can always talk him into it later.”

Rarity nodded, “Alright then, we try to help him by ourselves first, and if we feel we aren’t doing enough we convince him to get professional therapy.”

I approached the tree with a small smile, saddlebags bouncing at my sides and having finally gotten the ridiculous prancing out of my step.

As I crested a hill, my eyes picked out a splash of riotous color sitting beneath it just as expected. Rarity really had held me up long enough for Dash to get here first.. Not that it was a huge surprise seeing as how she was Celestia knows how many times faster than me.

… actually, Celestia might not know that if she didn’t have a good gauge of how fast I was now.

Still, I approached the hill at a steady pace in spite of the nervous energy bubbling in my chest. I was excited, I was nervous, I was hopeful, hell, I was positively giddy!

Dash had stood once I’d started climbing the little hill the tree was on, “So…” she started, her wings expanding some before she resettled them back at her sides, doing a small turn as she did, “How do I look?”

Well… seeing as how her wings had freaking glittered in the light, as had the golden sandals that were on each of her hooves and the laurel in her mane. A simple, multicolored toga was all she had on her barrel, the fabric seeming to shift in color as she moved…

She was, for lack of better words, breathtaking. Hell, she’d even gone so far as to have her mane and tail brushed, which was a wonderful effect to be honest.

“Can I go with… wow?” I said with a grin.

A small blush appeared on her cheeks and she smiled, her wings resettling again as she flicked her tail, “Now there’s an appropriate reaction for a pegasus as awesome as me~”

“Oh?” Thesaurus powers, go! “What about astounding, amazing, wonderful, astonishing, fantastic, fantabulous, super,” Dash was fighting (and losing) at suppressing a snicker as I kept going, “Awesome, stupendous, amazetastic, incredible, delightful, colorful, unique, dazzling…” I had to stop to take a deep breath, and Dash almost cracked up, “Splendiforous, wonderous, awe-inspiring, cool, chill, badass, intimidating, impressive, impossible…” I trailed off for a moment, hesitating, before I said from the heart, “And beautiful.”

Her wings flared even as her face turned a deep shade of red, “I-... you’re just saying that.”

But I shook my head, “No, I’m not Dash.” I hesitated, wondering if I should leave it at there or continue on, but I decided that in for a penny, in for a pound, and I approached the top of the hill, “I’ve never told you for a number of reasons but… really, you’re beautiful.”

“Um… I…” her rose colored eyes were wide, “Wow…”

My blush deepened as the silence dragged on, but a smirk began to break out on Dash’s face, “Well, at least one of us looks good.”

I blinked before raising an eyebrow at her incredulously. She grinned at me as she approached, “I mean, come on, Rarity did a good job,” a glittering wing came out and brushed against my vest, “But a dork like you? She had her work cut out for her.”

A bit of a grin spread across my face as I raised my head and pressed a hoof to my chest, “I will have you know that Rarity did a fine job!” A brown silk vest with gold trim and buttons, a white button up shirt, a little red tie, a belt with a brass buckle and studs, and my stark white wraps made for a delightful combination in my opinion, “And according to her and Aloe I look absolutely fabulous~”

“Yeah,” her mouth had settled on a mischevious grin, her feathers tickling at my sides and flank as she started to circle me, “Fabulously dorky.”

“Me being a dork just might have something to do with that hun,” I rebutted with a smirk.

“Still, I know how to make it way cooler, at least forty percent.”

“Oh?”

Turning her head, she reached into her wings and pulled out a single feather from her secondaries, leaning up and tucking the feather behind my ear with an almost nervous smile, “There.”

I blinked for just a moment before my face flushed and I grinned like an idiot, “Okay, yeah, probably forty percent better.”

Her grin was, well, like a rainbow on a rainy day, a small blush on her cheeks as the already sunny day seemed all the better. Then she blinked again and her head cocked to the side in confusion. A bit surprised by the sudden change in attitude, I cocked my head to the side even as her eyes narrowed, “Em…?”

“... yeah?”

“What happened to your ear?”

…

Fuck.

This is not gonna end well.

I shifted uncomfortably, my hooves shuffling, “Um, well…”

“Emeris…” she said warningly, scowling at me as her wings flared in a far different fashion than before.

I deflated some and begged, “Promise me you won’t rush off to hurt someone.”

“Emeris!” she snapped, and I felt my temper flare.

“Promise!”

Dash grit her teeth, poking me in the chest with a hoof, “Who the buck did this to you?!”

“It was an accident and I don’t want you to rush off and beat the hell out of her for it!” I snapped, not backing down.

“If it was an accident then why are you hiding it from me?!” she stomped a forehoof as she glared up at me.

“Because she was being a bitch before it happened!” my volume had risen more than it should have, but I couldn’t help myself, “And I know that if Rarity almost came to blows with her over it then you’ll want to beat the fuck out of her!”

Dash’s eyes went wide for just a moment before she snarled, “Damn right I do! If it’s bad enough that Rares wanted to beat her up then this horseapple’s earned it!”

I stomped a hoof in frustration, my nostrils flaring, “Damnit! That’s why I haven’t said it yet! It was an accident!”

“Was it her fault?” she demanded, her eyes narrowing and her wings held low and almost threateningly.

“Yes!” I paused before clarifying, “Mostly, I jerked around some when she was working, but still.”

“Then just tell me what happened!”

“Promise you won’t go beat her face in,” I wouldn’t budge.

“Tell me.”

“Promise first!”

“Why?! Why protect her?!”

“Because I don’t want to see her hurt just because of an accident!”

“Em, she took off half your bucking ear!”

“She apologized!”

“So bucking what?!”

Something in me cracked and I bellowed, “So I fucking forgave her okay?!”

Dash flinched at my volume and I felt my heart ache. But after just a moment, Dash drew herself back up, her rose colored eyes burning with intensity and her tone little more than a growl, “If it’s her fault like you said, then she needs to answer for it.”

“What, like I should answer for the terrible things that happened while I was Gary?!” I snapped, unable to help myself.

“That shit wasn’t your fault!”

“But it is my responsibility!”

“So what?!” she barked out, “Sure you’re responsible for it, just like I’m responsible for the weather here! But that doesn’t mean it was your fault anymore than it’d be my fault if some crazy weather came out of the Everfree and threw my plans off! They don’t punish me when that happens and they shouldn’t punish you for what happened around you while you were Gary! But you said it was this horseapple’s fault! Are you gonna change your mind about that?!”

“I–…” my brain ground to a halt, my anger popping like a balloon; I looked away, staring out at the green hills as my brain tried to catch up.

Was she just responsible, or was it truly her fault…?

… yes, it was. I was responsible for moving but she’d provoked me.

I deflated, “Yeah… it was her fault.”

Her wings pulled inwards, “Who did it?”

This time I winced, “Promise you won’t rush off to beat her face in.”

“Emeris!”

“Not to protect her!”I rushed to say, “Because we’re supposed to be on a date, together, us. And because I don’t want you to get in trouble,” I trailed off for a moment before adding, “And I really think Rarity is going to basically ruin her life no matter what I say at this point…”

Dash stopped, the anger draining from her as her wings folded against her sides, “Em…” she sighed, stepping up and pressing her head against the crook of my neck, I pressed my chin against the top of her multicolored mane, leaning into her.

A part of me screamed in terror at the simple act of affection, but the rest of me politely told it to shut the flying fuck up as I used my chin to tuck Dash’s head against my chest, pressing against the smaller pegasus, feeling her heat through our respective outfits, taking comfort at her closeness and pleasantly warmed by the dappled sunlight.

I don’t know how long we just stood there like that, pressed together, her cheek slowly rubbing against the material of my vest as I breathed in her scent, of ozone and spice and some herbs from whatever soap they’d used to get her cleaned up.

A sigh of frustration and exasperation escaped me, “What a great start, not even thirty minutes into our first date and we have a fight…”

The pegasus snorted, her wings ruffling against her sides, “Hey, I’d say our first fight was when we met up after your curse was broken.”

I considered the statement for a moment, “Touche’.”

The pegasus sighed, rubbing her cheek against my silk vest, “So who was the horseapple?”

“True Glamour if I remember right, the stylist… she was cutting my mane and being a royal bitch to me…” I admitted now, after the fact, “Even with what the curse did she was taking it too far.” My thoughts settled firmly on what she’d said about Pinkie and Rarity and my blood boiled just a bit.

“She cut off your ear?”

“On accident, seriously, she was just about as horrified as I was about that part. She was just being bitchy and nasty, not actually trying to hurt me, just not caring if my haircut was bad.”

Dash snorted, “That still doesn’t make it okay.”

I sighed, “Please don’t hurt her too bad,” I pleaded, “She really did apologize.”

A sigh escaped her as she ground the top of her head against my chest, “Alright, but there’s no bucking way I’m not gonna give her a whole lot of crap for this.” She pulled back, her eyes locking with mine as she looked up at me, “She cut off half of your ear Em, buck…” a sad look passed across her face before she pouted, her ears drooping, “And it was the tugging ear too! Total horseapples.”

I snorted, an amused smile on my face, “Sorry, no tugging on it until it’s totally healed,” as a bit of a peace offering I turned my head, offering my left, undamaged ear to her and waggling it, “This one’s still free though.”

She let out a small snort, the little smile on her face worth the uncomfortable sensation as she clamped her teeth on the offered ear and tugged me over to the blanket. I still let out a very unmanly squeak at the man (mare? pony?) handling, but didn’t fight it as she bumped her shoulder against my chest and threw me off balance, a foreleg suddenly hooking around my neck before I found myself ass over applecart and tumbling across the blanket.

I rolled to a stop on my back, blinking up at the grinning Dash, “Was that really necessary?”

“Yep,” she said smugly as she came up to lay down beside me.

Rolling my eyes with a small smile, I swung myself around onto my stomach, tucking my legs beneath me as my side pressed against Dash’s, “Time for food then?

“Yeah,” she said, the thought of food though quickly perking her mood, a grin spreading across her face, “So, you said you’d bring food, so what’d you bring?”

Grinning, I opened my saddlebags with my magic and lifted out the contents, attempting to reclaim the pleasant silliness I’d had earlier, “For the lady’s perusal and judgement I present for appetizer, Rose salad with cucumber, pickle and cheese, with a light vinaigrette.” Her eyes widened as I set the container out, “For our entree, I present yellow rose and tulip subs with lettuce, pickle, mustard, and mayo.”

“Wow… you really went fancy with this didn’t you?”

“Just a bit,” I said with a smile. My horn lit up as I picked up the salad I’d made and two bowls, creating a set of construct tongs with a bit of focus and serving us both a healthy portion. Setting her bowl in front of her, I smiled gently, “Bon appetite.”

The meal was quiet, if slightly uncomfortable with the so-recent fight, but over the course of our appetizer we leaned more into one another until her wing had spread out across my withers once again. At which point I think I was well and truly forgiven, because when I’d started to bring out the subs and put away the bowls, she’d tucked her head underneath mine, pressing her smaller form against the length of my body.

I felt comfortably warm there, snuggled as we were, her wing wrapped around me, the sunlight peeking through the leaves of the tree. The two of us quietly munching away at our subs.

How in the world had I lucked out like this…

Even through my vest and shirt and wraps I could feel her taut muscles under her coat, that immense strength contained in such a small, elegant form. And without any coercion, she was laying here with me.

“Em…?”

At the sound of her voice I nearly jumped, realizing that I’d been staring at my half-eaten sub for a few minutes now, “Yeah?”

She bumped her shoulder against mine, “What’s up?”

I sighed, my gaze returning to the half-eaten sub, “It’ll sound a bit stupid,” I paused, thinking about it for just a second before adding, “And probably not appropriate conversation topic right now.”

Dash snorted, “I think we’ve already broken enough rules of the date, so shoot.”

Blowing my breath out through my nostrils, I gathered my courage and set the sub down, “Why in the world do you like me?” She blinked and I continued, “I mean, I’m a dork, a dweeb! I’m an accountant for petes sake, and I have issues. A lot of issues,” I freely admitted, channeling a bit of batman there, “Why in the world does an amazing athlete and amazing mare like yourself like me?”

“Um… oh…” she looked away, her sub drifting downward, “You… you probably won’t like the answer…” she said softly.

Now it was my turn to blink, my mismatched ears cocking at an angle, “Okay?”

She started to shuffle away but I swung a foreleg around her withers, gently trapping her. Her face lit up like a fire hydrant at that, but she stopped trying to get away.Ducking her head, she mumbled something indecipherable.

“Sorry, but you’re going to have to speak up hun,” I almost winced, knowing how much it sucked to be on the receiving end of that sort of phrase.

“I said because you liked me.”

Now that made me pause, “That… isn’t what I expected at all… you’re going to have to elaborate that some…”

Dash turned her head away, staring at the edge of the blanket, “I–… look, I’m not good at this mushy stuff okay?”

My chest twinged in sympathy, “Hey, it’s okay, you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.”

“No no, you asked… I just…” she snorted, “I’m going to sound stupid.”

“Not stupider than I usually sound,” I joked with a grin, trying to lighten the mood. Pausing and cocking my head to the side in mock thought, “At least it’s not likely, and even if you do I’ll be more impressed than anything else.”

A short snort of laughter escaped Dash before she shook her head, a small smile on her face. The pegasus took a deep breath before drawing herself up, “Okay, well… you’re actually pretty cool and all. You’re funny and you just roll with the jokes and pranks, which makes you like, fifteen percent cooler by itself. And when you get going during training you can be pretty awesome too. No, you’re not radical at all, but still, two out of three ain’t bad.”

I smiled a bit, rolling my eyes, only to have her wing knock me upside the head lightly.

Blowing a small raspberry at me, she continued, “But, like, that wouldn’t have been enough. You’re nice and you look good and you’re an all around decent guy,” she scowled at her hooves as she wrung them in front of her, “But I like like you because… well… you liked me.”

“Sure stallions are nice to me, but… I’m too…” she gesticulated with her forehooves some as she glared into the distance, “Aggressive? Teasing?”

“Awesome?” I interjected.

She snorted, rolling her eyes at the cheesy line, “And I’ve got no bounce to my flank, not like Fluttershy or Rarity. I’m all muscle!” I opened my mouth but she cut me off, “Don’t say anything, I know I am, I work hard for it! I’m proud of it!” she sighed in frustration, “But it’s not what stallions look for.”

Now that made me scowl some, “Then they’re idiots, I think it’s one of your better traits. You look like you work your butt off for an amazing body. You’re not disproportionate or anything, just super fit.”

“I know! I catch you staring all the time.”

The statement sent a rush of heat to my cheeks. I’d known I wasn’t super subtle about that or anything but still, “Sorry,” I turned my head automatically in a futile attempt to hide my blush.

“Don’t be!” she bit her lip, glancing away briefly before quietly admitting, “It sorta excited me, made me feel wanted y’know? I liked it.” Okay, if I was blushing before, now I was redder than the front of her mane, only it was giddier and less mortified now. “It made me think, y’know? Just… made me wonder if I could like you since you already liked me…” she trailed off, staring at her sandaled hooves.

“Dash…”

“I mean, I don’t know if I would’ve been interested in the first place if you hadn’t been… you said it yourself, you’re not exactly my type,” she gave me a weak grin that quickly faltered as she looked down at the blanket beneath us, “Not on the outside at least, not after you stopped being Gary. You’ve always been bigger than I like, you like to do boring things, you’re only cool or awesome on accident, you gave up your wings rather than your horn…” she sighed, “But… while you’re pretty cool when you look closer… I just… I don’t know if I’d have looked if you hadn’t liked me first…”

“Dash…”

She snorted, looking away, “Like I said, stupid.”

There was no way I could just let her go on thinking like that, “Would you believe me if I said part of the reason I like you is that you don’t seem to like me all that much?”

She froze, her ears cocking at odd angles, turning to look at me incredulously, “What?”

“You tease me, make fun of me, you don’t sugar coat it when we train, you actually push me even when I push back… hell, you push back even harder…” I squeezed my foreleg around her withers, pressing her tightly against my chest.

“Dash… I’m terrified of affection. As much as I want it, my first instinct is that it’s fake, that it’s a lie and I have to run now to keep people from being hurt… I don’t…” I struggled to put it into words, staring at the blanket, “You don’t trigger that reflex much if at all… you’re rough, but not in the way people under the curse were, you’re… well… you.” I smiled at her a bit weakly, “Stupid reason.”

Dash snorted, “No, you see, your reason makes sense, mine is stupid.”

“Nuh uh. If your reason is stupid, then so is mine.”

“Dude, your reason is all about you overcoming your fears and crap, mine’s super shallow.”

“It would be if it was the only reason you liked me, but the way you said it it was just the reason you started liking me, big difference,” I countered.

The pegasus blew a raspberry at me, “I’m on your left y’know.”

“... so?”

“So I can do this!”

She lunged up, clamping her teeth on my uninjured ear and tugging, sending us both tumbling, “Gack!”

Bowl! Cloth! Grass! Hill!!

The pegasus was giggling as her forelegs tried to get a hold of me as I twisted, a playful and wordless sound of defiance escaping me as I struggled with her for dominance. The two of us tumbled down the hill in a tangle of limbs until we hit the bottom, my greater size and weight letting me roll her onto the bottom. I grinned down at her as she squirmed, “Ha!”

She made another lunge for my ear and I twisted out of the way, “Double ha! Fool me once, shame on you! Fool me twice, shame on me!” I grinned smugly at her.

Dash scowled up at me for a moment before a mischievous grin spread across her face. suddenly I was worried.

She lunged up again and I twisted back, but instead of my ear, she licked the front of my muzzle, leaving a streak of dampness along my nose.

First thought, kinda ew. Second thought, kinda hot. Third thought– OH CRAP I’M ROLLING.

“Ack!”

“Ha yourself!”

I squirmed in the hold of the smaller pegasus who had me pinned on my back, her forelegs wrapped around my neck and her hind legs around my foreleg, her flank was on the ground and no matter how I twisted or squirmed I couldn’t get the traction to do more than scooch us around in the grass some. Still I worked at it, “That,” I grunted, “Wasn’t any Rolling Earth style move.”

“Nope~” she said with a smug smirk, her core and legs bunching as she fought my struggles, keeping me locked in place, "That was marefriend-fu!"

I snorted in amusement. To be fair, I could’ve used magic to get out of this easily. I couldn’t Blink away since she was wrapped around me like this, I would’ve just taken her with me, but I could’ve made a construct crowbar or hands or something to just straight up pull her off.

But that would’ve been cheating, and I might’ve been all for that in a real fight, this was for fun.

Blowing a raspberry at her, I admitted defeat, “Alright! You win,” I threw up my free forehoof, “You got me. You can let me go now.”

Dash hummed thoughtfully, relaxing some, “Nah.” I raised an eyebrow at her and she grinned mischievously at me, “I’m comfy.” Leaning in, she gently rested her muzzle against mine, her eyes closing.

My heart thudded in my chest in a combination of fear and excitement, reflexive panic kicking in… but… she didn’t do anything else. No voracious kiss, no lunging and desperate makeout session, no attempt to straddle and mount me…

Her muzzle just… rested against mine, a small smile on her face as our breath intermingled… and slowly, ever so slowly… the panic eased.

Gradually, a warmth spread through me as I relaxed, my eyes drifting closed as I breathed in her scent once more, feeling it wash over me. Absently, I tugged my trapped foreleg free and she let it go, both of us content to just lay there together, her wings fluttering quietly for a moment as we settled, equally content smiles on our faces.

I don’t know how long we lay there like that, just enjoying each others closeness… and to be frank, I don’t care. Eventually, she shifted some, her cheek rubbing against my scarred one as she hummed, ending with a happy little giggle, “Would you believe I never really expected to be able to do this with a stallion? Always thought I’d be too awesome for stallions to handle.”

A little snort escaped me as I adjusted myself to wrap my forelegs around her, hugging her close, “You’re too awesome for me to handle, but I’ll be damned if I don’t at least try,” a small grin spread across my face as I slowly nuzzled her neck, “You’re especially too radical for me, I can’t handle radical at all.”

She chuckled, her wings flaring to drape across the two of us.

“Y’know…” I started.

“Hm?”

“I honestly expected you to want a more exciting date than this…” I said it teasingly, but… I really had. I’d worried if this would be exciting enough for the beautiful adrenaline junkie.

I felt her eyes open as her eyelashes brushed against my cheek and I watched her pout thoughtfully. Then she shrugged and smiled, settling back down and snuggling close, “N’ah, I’m good.”

With a smile of my own, I gave her a squeeze, holding her tight against my chest.

I know that we probably had gotten grass stains and dirt all over the outfits that Rarity had made us, that we’d totally destroyed whatever styling to our manes and tails had been done, and generally ruined all of the efforts the others had gone through to make us beautiful. But ya’ know what? I couldn’t have cared less.

Gently stroking her withers with my forelegs to a happy crooning from Dash, I settled in for the long haul, the pegasus half-on and half-off of my chest and her presence completely enveloping me.

“So why’s did Ravenclaw start being all ‘Separatists bluh bluh~’ this book?”

“Most likely mediocre writing actually,” I said, my saddlebags bouncing at my sides lightly as we trotted along, “See, because of an altercation while I was Gary, the Griffon kingdoms unified into a single empire, absorbing the Minos state along the way. This happened only about a year ago, so it wasn’t even a thing in earlier books. It’s a good character arc for Ravenclaw really, but it would’ve been a lot more meaningful if she’d made the unification of the griffon kingdoms an event in the story rather than something just assumed.”

Celestia’s sun was slowly dipping towards the horizon, a beautiful splash of colors across the sky, almost as many were in Rainbow’s mane and tail, “But she didn’t.”

“But she didn’t,” I confirmed with a nod, “Note that it wasn’t bad writing per se so much as…” I searched for the term, “Inelegant.”

Dash pouted in the most adorable way as she thought about that, “So… like how you fight versus how I fight?” she ventured with a raised eyebrow.

“That’s…” I stopped to think, before nodding, “Actually a really good example,” the corner of my mouth quirked up, “If I didn’t suck that is.”

A wing swatted lightly against my side, a small smile on her face as we came to a stop beneath her house.

I looked up at the house, which honestly was more of a small mansion. Clouds or not, it was, in the words of my homies in the hood, pretty bitchin’. It was a little reminder that Dash made damn good money as the head weathermare of a region up against the Everfree.

“So…” I turned, finding Dash biting her lip and looking away from me, a small blush barely visible on her cheeks in the waning light, “I had fun today…” she glanced over and grinned, “Rough start, but… it was fun.”

My face suddenly heated up as it clicked what was happening, “Y-Yeah… very fun…”

She wanted a kiss.

I–…. could I?

I wanted to.

But my stomach was twisting into knots, wrapping around itself.

I was scared… hell, I was fucking terrified.

She glanced down at her hooves as she scuffed one in the dirt before looking up at me through her lashes.

My heart clenched.

Fuck, would it be worse to not kiss her or to try and kiss her only to throw up?

My jaw worked silently as I tried to make myself do something as the silence dragged on, dejection slowly spreading across Dash’s face.

Damnit, come on brain, make up your mind! I know this is a big deal, I know this is the first time I’ve crossed any sort of line in more than two years, I know that this is me fighting a conditioned response to avoid giving affection, but damnit! Either do or don’t!

“I–…”

And I could see it, that moment that her heart broke just a little, “I guess it’s good night then…” her wings flared and with a single pump of them, she lifted from the ground.

What?! No! I wouldn’t hurt her with this! I refused!

She turned, starting to ascend as I managed to croak out, “Dash.”

Pausing, she turned, only for my tie to be telekinetically thrown around the back of her neck and pull her down even as I leaned up, mashing my lips to hers. She made a small, surprised squeak as I pressed my lips to hers, holding her close with the tie even as her wings fluttered.

After that moment’s surprise though, she melted into the kiss, her lips pressing back against my own as our heads tilted slightly to gain more contact. The pegasus letting out a happy little crooning sound as her soft lips worked against mine, and I had to suppress a small groan. The delightful scent of ozone and spice flooded my nose and made me shiver, the tie forgotten as I leaned into the kiss.

Kissing her was like kissing a stormcloud, thunderous and dark and crackling with electricity.

My eyes cracked open and my heart throbbed at what I could see. Dash was lit by the waning light of the sunset, her wings glittering with every flap and her multicolored toga shimmering in the light, a small tinge of red to her cheeks as our lips pressed together. She was so beautiful…

With a shuddering breath, I slowly broke the kiss, the two of us pulling away slowly, panting softly.

Belatedly, I realized that my tie was draped across her withers loosely, the red silk a light contrast to her multicolored toga in the increasingly red light of the sunset. I realized that she’d fluttered even higher during the kiss and that I was standing on my hindlegs to reach her. Falling back to all four hooves, Dash slowly drifted lower as I tried to speak.

“Dash…” my voice quaked slightly before I swallowed, “Don’t ever mistake my hesitation for a lack of desire. I want this… I want you. But… this scares me. This is all new and terrifying and yet horrifyingly familiar at the same time.” I rambled off before stopping myself. With effort, I admitted, “I… I know I have issues, and I honestly think you deserve better than me… but I promise, so long as you want me, I’ll do everything in my power to get over them for you. I don’t regret this, and I don’t want you to either, okay?”

The beautiful pegasus nodded weakly, her eyes slightly unfocused. That little fact sent a small thrill of masculine pride through me even as I blushed brightly.

Gathering my courage, I stood on my hind legs again much to Dash’s surprise, and gently cupped her cheeks with my fetlocks, keeping her in place as I placed a small peck on her lips and smiled, “Good night.”

Dropping back to all fours, I turned and began walking towards my home before the fear clutching at my heart could cause me to do something stupid.

There was a long moment of silence from behind me before a nearly ecstatic giggle escaped the pegasus and I heard her take off, the sound bringing a smile to my face. It was only a moment later that the realization hit me.

I’d kissed Dash.

I’d kissed Rainbow Dash.

A giddy little giggle escaped me as I began to skip, practically floating on the light, warm feeling in my chest, the wonderful feeling overlapping and overwhelming the tense fear that still was there.

For arguably the first time since I’d arrived in Equestria, I wasn’t just content or having fun… I was happy. Well and truly happy down to my core.

With almost joyous laughter, I took off in a gallop for home, today… today had been a good day.

Author's Notes:

(TONS) of Words! Things! Stuff! Exclamation points!!!

So how about that cover art? T'is super sweet and rockin off all the socks in my opinion. While not perfect, the only things are super-nitpicky.

Anyways, I’m actually pretty happy with this chapter, it came together a lot better than it felt like it would when I started, if a lot bigger.

There were a few scenes I was kinda concerned wouldn’t accomplish everything I wanted to when I first wrote them, but I was able to add in all the subtleties and world-building I was aiming for!

Much has been accomplished here. Emeris has been called out (again) on his silliness when it comes to forgiveness, what Rarity actually did while Emeris was getting his ear sewn up has been revealed, what Emeris was like when he first arrived and what his arrival was like has been revealed (as well as a couple other subtle things!), and a date has been had!

So, what are your thoughts on the chapter and what we’ve learned? What’s your favorite part of the chapter? Your least?

Leaving y’all with those questions, I’ve got some chapters to work on! Hopefully I’ll be able to crank out an ending to CoU: Alternate as well as another chapter for Taking Turns.

Anyways, comments and critiques are appreciated as always! I fully encourage calling me out on what you think sucks as well as gushing about what you think was amazing! It’s how I improve!

Anyways, Autobots, roll out!