Days have a funny way of running past you without you noting the time gone by.
It was nearly five days after "first contact" yet I could swear I was living second to second. After my debacle with the Apple family and the following interaction with Twilight, I resolved to maintain as isolated as possible to prevent any further dramatic confusion. My own fragility within this place had made it's point quite clearly. The less I expose myself to danger, the less danger can affect me and the more likely I am to actually get home. To this end I decided to impose upon my courteous host a bit more.
Fluttershy was more than enthused to extend her home to me and I tried my best to be as unimposing as possible. Helping with her daily routine and caring for the animals wasn't difficult and it actually helped to ease the tension I had built up over my time in this place. The animals themselves seemed to much favor attention from Fluttershy herself and some of the smaller ones would outright avoid me. Fluttershy assured me that they would warm up to me but as time went by I could tell that she was simply ushering kind words. Something told me that they had taken note of a creature very much like me that preyed upon them in the forest not so long ago. Can't blame them for being antsy.
In the days gone by there were occasional visitors to the cottage. Big Mac had made a point to bring food for me in the morning. I tried to assure him that this was unnecessary but he continued all the same. It seemed to be a matter of pride to the stallion and as such he remained steadfast in his deliveries. The other frequenter was Rarity. She stopped by in order to deposit the clothes she had promised. She had ended up creating a line of stylized pieces especially for me. My upright figure had apparently inspired her into composing an idea for a show. She wanted me to model the focus pieces. I disagreed.
"Oh, but you must, darling!" She playfully begged.
I rolled my eyes and shrugged, "Look, I appreciate all this, but there's just no way. Never mind what everyone would think about seeing me, I don't do well with crowds." I ruffled my hair as I thought of a way to ease her out of her idea. "What you've made really is incredible. I never had clothes this well made back home. I owe you-"
"Then you absolutely MUST do me this favor!" Rarity implored. "I mean, it's not like anyone else even could. You were BORN to do this!"
That made me loose another sigh. "Rarity, I think you mean the clothes were made for me to do this."
She didn't even flinch at my accusation and continued her relentless pitch, "It would be MOST kind of you to do this, incy-teensy favor for me." She batted her long lashes and swept her eyes up to plead into my soul.
I sighed deeply one last time, "Alright. You've got me. I'll prance myself about to show off your work. But after this we're even."
Rarity smirked coyly in recognition of her victory. "Oh by no means! I must repay you for for such a generous arrangement. Now if you'll excuse me I must continue to prepare for the show. A fine evening to you!"
I smiled begrudgingly back to her, "To you as well." She shut the door. "Fuck." I no more than whispered to myself.
"What's the problem?" came a delicate and familiar tone that I had grown to recognize as coming from Fluttershy.
Startled, I turned to face her as she came in through the rear entrance to the living room. "Ah, it's nothing really," truthfully it wasn't but things had already begun stirring in my head. "Rarity just seems intent on embarrassing me to death while simultaneously scaring the town into mania with my presence."
"I know what you mean, but it won't be that bad." She said.
Ever since the time I clarified my extensive knowledge to Twilight, I decided not to clue anyone else in. I was sorely tempted to bring up Fluttershy's own modeling career. I settled on saying, "I'm not so confident."
"Are you worried that you'll mess up?"
"No, not really. I'm more concerned with what everyone will think. I was never great with crowds back home and this is gonna be my intro to the whole town."
"Don't worry, they all seem very excited to meet you."
"Pardon?"
"Well, Pinkie has been sending invitations to your party all around town. She's been describing you to everyone she's met."
My blood froze. "A-and exactly what has she told them?"
Fluttershy furled her brow and brought a hoof to her chin to think. "Nothing bad really. Just that your really tall, don't have that much fur, only walk on your rear hooves, and have really pointy teeth." She huffed, clearing her thoughts. "Oh! And that you come from another world."
I let out a weak laugh "Is that all?" I hung my head. "Greeeeeaaaaat."
"It's ok. I'm sure you'll get along great with everypony. In fact, Lyra has already been asking quite a bit about you."
Yeah, I bet she has "I still don't know about all this. Can't I just sneak on back through using the elements and leave without so much of a fuss?"
Fluttershy brought her head down a bit and her mane came in front of her eye. She softly said, "Then you just wanna leave?" She was acting as if I had just yelled at her.
Taking a seat on he couch, I slowed my frantic thoughts down a tad. I had been gone for a long time, I missed my home, I missed my family, my friends. What did they think happened to me? I could have died, I needed them to know I was alright I couldn't keep them worrying. "Wish I could, but..." I thought about what happened after I had been found in the forest. All these ponies...I owed them. More than I could repay in my short time here. "...there's people here that need me a bit longer." I glanced over at Fluttershy. She still had her one eye covered in her soft pink mane but the other was trained squarely on me. I cut her a crooked smile.
"Thank you." Was all she said before flipping her mane out of her vision and continuing on to the kitchen.
"Want any help making dinner?" I called ahead.
"No, that's alright." She calmly assured.
Leaning back in the couch I closed my eyes and tried to relax as much as I could. It was going to be an interesting next few days. Two more days huh? I took a deep breath. Guess I'll just pretend like it's a role in a play. Here's hoping I'm a half-decent actor. Releasing my breath, I was finally able to calm my nerves. Just two more.
After a brief meal I excused myself and headed to the edge of the Everfree for my routine. No one ever came that close to the edge of the forest and it was getting late anyways. It was mostly in an effort to keep myself active so that I could regain a healthy physique, or at least that's how it started. In the brief time I had to recuperate, not only had I regained my health in incredible time, but I actually began to gain muscle mass that I never had. What had begun as a delicate physical therapy rapidly transformed into a full blown workout. I even started doing running exercises again, though I was sure to favor my bad leg. The point was to make sure I kept active so that I didn't regress to what happened in the forest. So far it was working, and better than I expected.
Using branches as distance markers, I set up an interval distance course and readied myself for a jog. My pleasant pace picked up bit by bit until I was in a full run on my second lap. Faster still, I went around the next mark and pounded my legs into a sprint. Just as I neared the end, a familiar flair brought my speed down and I jogged back across my finish line.Guess exercise ain't enough to heal that. I nursed my leg briefly and started upon the rest of my routine. By the end of it I was tired and worn but impressed. Since just yesterday I had almost done half again of my repetitions. I'd never heard of progress like that before but I just chalked it up to endorphins or adrenaline.
Having worked up a decent sweat, I turned back to the cabin, planning to wash up and crash. My plan was interrupted by a late night guest.
As I approached the rear entrance, there was Fluttershy talking with Twilight in the light of the living room.
"So they'll be making the trip?" Fluttershy asked politely.
"Yeah, and they'll be here by tomorrow afternoon! There's so much to do, but I thought I should let him know." Twilight explained in a rushed manner.
I decided to jump into the conversation. "Who's this then?"
Twilight turned to me without surprise or hesitation, "There you are, how have you been?"
Giving a light smirk I said, "Holding up, but now I'm itching with curiosity. Who's on their way?"
Twilight smiled widely before answering, "Not only did I hear back from Celestia on my report, but Luna and Cadence also penned me back in time. They're all headed down for your little goodbye party and even Shining Armor said he could make it. I'm gonna have to talk to Pinkie about making arrangements but they all seemed excited to pay a visit."
All the blood in my brain quickly rushed away, as I murmured "They're...all...coming to see...me?"
"Yup! Aren't you excited?!"
Catching on to what was fast becoming recurring symptoms for me here, I sat down on the couch and resumed breathing while trying to calm myself. You're not fainting again man, control yourself.
"Excited is one way to put it," was all I could manage at the moment
"Something the matter?" Twilight asked.
Where to start? "All of the Princesses, and the Captain of the Royal guard want to meet me?"
"Mmhm," She answered briefly.
"Huh, well I'm honored and all but..." I hesitated trying to phrase my worries properly. "...did I do something? Are they worried I might do something?"
Realization dawned on Twilight's face, "Oh of course not! I had just told all of them about you and they seemed to want to introduce themselves first-hand." She smiled and shook her head "Trust me, if they were worried about you, you would know."
"Well that's encouraging," Somehow my worries remained. "I guess I shouldn't fret that the highest authorities in Equestria want to all come take a look at the new kid on the block." In fact, they might have been getting worse. "I mean, like, what's the worst that could happen, right? Only like, Lunar banishment, sleepless nights for the rest of my life, or lifetime incarceration. No you're right, I'll be fine."
It was by now that I was quite visibly afraid, rocking ever so slightly back and forth and darting my gaze to and fro.
Fluttershy came over to pat my leg and try to center me a bit. Twilight also took note of my worry and tried to calm me a bit.
"They wouldn't do that. You've done nothing wrong and they seem to really enjoy the thought of meeting someone new to Equestria." She said it so plainly and evenly that I couldn't help but believe her.
"You're right...no, of course you're right." Deep breaths man "I'm being stupid, sorry." I was easing down now but was still a tad anxious. "It's just that they're powerful. I can't think of a single person or even thing that is as strong as any one of them in my world and they're all are focused on me. See where I''m comin' from?" I sent them a glance to punctuate my statement.
"I promise you have nothing to worry about," assured Twilight
"I'm sure they'll love you," stated Fluttershy
"I hope so," I replied finally reaching a place of relative calm. I stood up slowly and walked towards the back door. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to practice my strut so as to not disappoint my new adoring fans.
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After I had taken a quick bath and headed in for the night I was once again met with Twilight's presence just outside the entrance to the quaint shack.
"Still worried about me? Or did you just wanna sneak a peek?" I smirked
"NO! I just..I was...you know I-" I had learned quickly that this was the quickest (and funniest) way to fluster the purple pony.
I decided to play nice. "Just a joke Twi. I'll be fine though so you don't have to worry."
She sighed and continued, "It's not about that, there was something else. Do you remember when you told me there was no magic in your world?"
"Course, what of it?"
"Are you sure about that?"
"Pretty sure yeah, not like I have dragons or unicorns where I come from."
She bit her lip softly for a moment before continuing her thought. "Then this is a bit complicated."
"Certainly is, considering I don't know what you mean there Twi."
She closed her eyes, exhaled deeply then looked keenly up to my face. "Those tests I gave you earlier this week, some of them were used to determine your magical aptitude, resilience, and structure."
I caught on. "Twi, I don't mean to throw out your tests or anything but I can guarantee you that I am in no way magical."
She gave me a bit of a frown, "You're sure?"
"Yeah. Firm hundred percent on that one."
She sighed, "Then this is more than a bit complicated." Turning back to me she continued, "My tests showed that you're body had no form of magical inclination, and that you had no source of magical power."
"Then what's so complicated?"
"The tests did say that you possessed a magical aptitude."
"Huh, weird but what does that mean precisely?"
"Well, magical aptitude is one's ability to control magic."
That gave me a chuckle, "I guessed that much, I meant what does that mean for me?"
Twi scoffed a bit before answering, "It usually is meant to examine what species can and can't interact with magical forces and to what degree each member can influence the force of magic. There's a whole spectrum of relative magical aptitude and no one really knows all about every form it takes."
"Interesting," I raised an eyebrow and brought a hand up to my chin while thinking. "So if I don't make magic, and my body can't hold magic, how can I have magical aptitude?"
"That's why this is complicated. Through all the research I've done, I've never heard of a creature with no magical source but possessing magical aptitude."
It all seemed simple enough to me, "Sounds like I have a gun without bullets or a bow without arrows."
"Not quite, see it's more than just whether or not you can cast spells or fly around. Lack of a magic source wouldn't necessarily prevent you from interacting with magic, but there's no way for us to know what might happen."
"What do you mean?"
"It could mean nothing, but it could be more...severe. It could overwhelm your body or change your form completely, or anything really."
"Twi, I was just feeling calm again for the first time today, and now your telling me...what? I might spontaneously explode if someone casts a spell on me?"
Twilight shook her head vigorously, "No, well at least not necessarily-"
"Oh well that's encouraging," It's almost like Twilight, Rarity and even the Princesses, were all determined to keep me from passing by the next few days with ease.
"It would have to be your action that triggers it, your magical aptitude."
"But I can't use magic, so I'm safe right?"
"If you're right, then yes. I certainly hope that you are." She attempted a small smile, "I just thought you had a right to know and it should turn out to be nothing, but just in case..." Her smile faded as she continued to look at me.
I gave myself a second to think over what she just told me. Just two more days. "Thanks Twi, seriously. Better know now rather than when it could happen. I'll be careful." I gave a strong smile to assure her that I appreciated what she told me.
She gave a small smile of her own in return and we said our goodbyes. I returned to the cottage and settled in for the night.
Against all odds, I fell soundly asleep, with unclear dreaming of vague memories and possibilities. Two more days then I can go home. Right?