//------------------------------// // Chapter 17: Under Siege by Fuzzy-Eared Ponies // Story: The (Mis)adventures of Nava: Book One // by Navanastra //------------------------------// Chapter 17: Under Siege by Fuzzy-Eared Ponies Edited by: Chrome Masquerade Proofread by: Soul Fire, Midnight Gear “Well… last night was a pretty… interesting one, I suppose. Though what it lead to was me having to wake up in the middle of the night… which really screwed with my body (my NEW body, no less!) for some reason. Because now, I feel like crap and not well rested at all.” I thought as finally woke up with a yawn. I sat myself up and began rubbing my eyes with a hoof before looking over to the tiny clock next to me. “7:34 am… pretty normal wake-up time for me, even in this new body of mine.” I muttered as I started to gently roll myself off the bed. I got onto all fours as I grabbed my glasses. I decided to just leave my hat and scarf alone for today as I wasn’t really in a mood to go outside anyway, regarding the fact that I was still feeling somewhat tired thanks to last night. You would imagine that being in a new body would have eliminated the problem of still feeling off if you somehow don’t sleep through the night on one go, but nope that seems to be not the case at all, as the previous annoying problem I had back in my world still persist in this world as well…somehow. I opened the door of my room and stepped outside… or more like dragged myself out the right corridor of this home and casually made my way to the bathroom. After having done my morning ritual I began to wash my face in front of the sink and dried myself with a towel that was hanging nearby. With all of that done I simply began to stare at the reflection in front of me as i usually do almost every morning now, observing my new features as usual as i still somewhat have problems fully believing the fact that I am a pony now while also mentally recapping everything that happened last night. “Something was tracking my magic, according to Silver, and after he so forcefully woke me up he told me that he would take care of everything else.” I mentally recited as the memory of what happened last night fully returned. What exactly was tracking me to begin with? Was it a pony, a dragon, a gryphon? Or even some sort of villain, maybe Discord or something else? Though to be honest Discord couldn’t possibly be the suspect here, since it’s still waaay too early for him to be freed. I mean, Nightmare Moon was only 6 days ago now, so it really can’t be. “If it wasn’t Discord then who could it possibly have been?” I muttered to myself. “Well at least whatever Silver did seems to have worked, I wasn’t kidnapped and am still here and breathing.” I thought to myself as I moved away from the mirror and made my way over to the kitchen. One of the reasons (I guess) that I didn’t get much sleep last night was probably because I felt too worried and paranoid to even fall asleep in the first place. I think it took me like, 2 hours and a half to finally fall to the sensation of sleep automatically. “Stupid Silver, stupid magic and stupid Alicorn senses. All of those just seem to producing more and more problems in state of fixing them, and yet still not a centimeter closer to finding answers and finding a way back home as well.” I thought as I spotted Flitter cooking in the kitchen, as she usually does. She spotted me and greeted me with a friendly smile. “Good morning, Nava! How was your night?” She asked cheerfully before going back to cooking. I sighed as I sat myself on a chair that was near her. “Not… really good.” I basically answered. “Really? What happened?” She asked while she was still focused on her cooking. I sighed again while resting my head on my left hoof and rubbing my forehead with the other. “Magic related, that’s all I can say.” I simply replied with a yawn. That though quickly made Flitter stop whatever she was occupied with and looked at me with both a shocked and worrisome expressions. “Se-seriously? Me and Cloud haven’t felt anything unusual last night. Were you ok? What happened?” She asked all concerned. Again, God bless her habit of worrying and caring for others, especially those she seems to hold dear, which I have somehow (thankfully) become part of. Though one mental debate still existed. “Should I tell her the truth, or should I not?” I mentally mulled. I shook my head. “You know what, No, I SHOULD tell her the truth because building trust with one another comes by telling each other the truth first. Besides, hiding mayor things like those from them won’t be beneficial for neither of us and will just make things even more problematic in the end then needed.” I decided mentally before fully facing her to tell her everything that happened last night. From the manifestation of my magic being a sapient individual named Silver to my supposedly close encounter with… something or someone who was tracking my magic last night. At the end of it I sighed as I went back on resting my head onto the counter while Flitter looked somewhat lost and thoughtful after my explanation. Seriously, though, I was more prepared to have her look at me funny for stating that my magic was sapient within my mind and that I was able to converse with my magic self whenever I sleep, not to look thoughtful as if she were actually believing and buying my story. But then again I am an Alicorn, who can’t fly or use magic AND who just recently suffered from a magical surge that caused city wide disaster...well a disaster in ponies terms at least. I mean heck, even for ME anything seems to be possible at this point, if I somehow managed to magically give birth to a changeling or gryphon then… well, so be it, I guess. Again, I am currently the physical embodiment of magic as an alicorn pony here, so really, what else could possible surprise me at this point? Magic is a force that is still not fully understood,not even close, even to this day, according to all the books I have read so far. So really, when it comes to magic everything seems to be possible here, and that thought alone is actually worrisome and concerning, to be honest, because that just means that more unexpected surprises are just going be the norm from now on and judging by the last surprise I had to go through regarding magic in general, then yes. Yes I have every reason to feel worried about this. “Well…” Flitter began before the sound of the main door opening assaulted our ears. We both turned ourselves around and were a bit surprised to see none other than Cloud entering the living room. “Cloud… what the? I thought you went to work this morning? Why did you come back?” Flitter asked, confused, which was somewhat mimicked by me since I learned of their work schedule a few days back. Cloud simply trotted over to us before dropping her saddlebags onto the floor besides the counter. “Well the reason why is because of the weirdest thing I have seen in years.” She replied with a sigh as she sat herself down on a chair. “What do you mean?” Flitter asked again. “Well…” She began as she rubbed her hind legs together. “The entire neighborhood is surrounded and patrolled by a bunch of gray, bat winged, sharped toothed, and predatory-eyed ponies in armor.” She explained which made both me and her sister raise an eyebrow at that. “Oh, and also according to them, nopony is currently allowed to enter or exit the district and are instructed to stay indoors. Which is why I came back in the first place… .not that I was intimidated by these sharp toothed ponies or anything.” She also added which made Flitter look at her even more suspiciously while I began to think on her explanation. “Bat winged, sharp toothed and predatory-eyed ponies? I know those. I think the show described them as simple bat ponies, or Thestrals in other sources.” I thought to myself as a realization promptly entered me. “Wait… is it possible that it was one of THEM that Silver was talking about last night? It has to be, otherwise why the heck would they be here blocking off an entire section of the city like that? The section where I happen to live in.” “Well this than just got a whole lot more serious than I originally expected. I always knew that the government was going to show up to investigate the magical phenomenon that I created sooner or later, but I always thought that it was going to be the more golden clad day guards and not the night guards that would investigate this. Also, it’s in the middle of the day as well which just makes it ironic.” I finished my musing. This really had gotten a lot worse than I originally imagined, even more so because i have a strange feeling that these guys are going to be vastly more serious than there golden clad counterparts. If Cloud Chaser’s story is right then I basically have an entire legion of Thestrals breathing down my neck, ready to bite it! This is a serious, serious issue now! What exactly is going to happen if they DO find me? To be honest I don’t know, but what I DO know is that I will ’100%’ be presented to the princess, and she’ll see that there is an UNKNOWN alicorn running loose in her kingdom, and then at that point all bets are off, because again I have absolutely no idea how my fate is going to go. It could go all rosy as far as the show itself is concerned, but it has been already proven time and time again that THIS is NOT the show, this is a real world with its own real events and possibilities that are surprisingly similar to that of mine. Which honestly makes me even more wary and determined to stay away from them. Never really liked those two in the show and I am sure that I won’t like them here either. WHY? I have my reasons, simple as that. I shook my head. Getting all panicky on this isn’t really going to help anyone, especially me. Plus, doing so will most likely just get me caught even faster, so I need to approach this calmly and think this through. The obvious first hand on solution would be to simply stay in the house and keep my jacket on indoors at all times. Beyond that… well, I am not yet sure. Again need to discuss this with the two sisters when I can, IF Cloud’s report is true or not, because as far as I heard from Flitter before, she does have the tendency in the past to sometimes make out some really bizarre and silly stories just to skip over her responsibilities. Something I actually believe after having known her for this long. “It’s true, I swear… I am not trying to skip work this time.” I heard Cloud reply as I faded back into reality. I shook my head again, as I watched these two argue once again in front of me. “Yeah sure. Sharp toothed ponies my flank. That has to be the most ridiculous cover story I have heard from you so far.” Flitter replied with a glare. Cloud Chaser at this point seemed to get pretty frustrated as she threw up her arms and started to whine. “ARRRGH, NO! for the LAST time I am NOT making it up! In fact, I can prove it too. Just… just look out the front window in our living room and tell me if I am still lying or not. There was actually a patrol of six trotting up our street when I came in, and I bet that they are still there as well, since I also saw them knocking on doors and questioning ponies.” Cloud announced as she quickly got up from her chair and made her way over to the living room herself, beckoning the two of us to follow her. We did so as and followed her towards the large front window of the living room. Cloud immediately began to carefully look past the curtain before flinching back and turning back around to face the two of us. “They are actually just across the street now. Be careful or they might think suspiciously of us and knock on our door next.” Cloud whispered before she stepped away from the window. Flitter sighted. “This better be true or I am NOT going to cook dinner for you for a week.” She replied in a deadpan manner as she moved towards the window and slowly parted the curtains aside. I quietly followed her as I peered out the small slit with her. My eyes rapidly went wide at what I saw. Cloudchaser was right all along! Outside, just across the street in front of our neighbors’ house were 6 bat ponies, two mares and four stallions all clad in the familiar looking night guard armor that I am familiar with, which also quickly meant that my previous theories were correct and I was in deep trouble right now. Both me and Flitter slowly retreated from the window in complete silence as she carefully moved the curtains back together. She turned over to Cloud as she began to rub the back of her neck. “Well…I guess I owe you than an apology, Cloud. You weren’t lying after all. “She apologized while pawning the ground awkwardly. “Apology accepted.” Cloud replied smugly and turning up her nose, which only made me shake my head at her milking it. After a while of silence Flitter spoke up again. “Well… what are we going to do now?” She asked as she looked up between me and Cloud. Cloud shrugged. “Don’t know, but I do have a feeling that all of this might have something to do with our stud over here.” She suggested as both she and Flitter suddenly gave me their full attention. I started to uncomfortably fidget a bit in their gaze and thought of something to say. Though that got quickly dashed out as a knock on the door quickly made all three of us jump in surprise. “This is Sergeant Hawk of the night guard. Please open this door. We have a few questions to ask.” A deep and rough sounding voice announced from the other side, making all three of us go stiff and quiet. “Shit… they’re already here. What am I going to do? They are definitely going to be interested in me, presumably being the only “Unicorn” in a city full of Pegasi.” I thought to myself in panic which was mirrored by both sisters as well as they looked at me. “Crap… what now?” Cloud whispered as the knocking continued at the door. “Hello? Canterlot night guard here. Cooperate and open this door. We are just here to ask a few basic questions, so there is nothing for you to worry about.” the same muffled voice announced again which really didn’t help the pressure all three of us were now exposed too. Out of the blue Flitter suddenly grabbed me by the hoof and started quietly dragging me away from the door and around the corner left corner of the house. “What are you doing?” I whispered as we stopped in front of a set of stairs that I had long since learned lead down into a basement. She hushed me before she moved close to me to whisper something into my ear. “You are just going to stay here and stay quiet, obviously. If they ever asked for a house search you are going to quickly sneak into the basement and lock it with this.” She explained as she suddenly pulled out a small key from her mane with her left wing. The fact that she was hiding a small key in her mane was already raising questions, but those were quickly drowned out by another set of knocks from the door and bringing me back to the seriousness of our situation. I looked at her with a questionable look. “Wa-wait…you two are going to stand up to me? Against your government and possibly risk everything if it backfires?” I whispered in slight disbelief. I knew these two cared for me a lot, but never would I have thought that they would go as far as lying to a bunch of armed guards who could very easily arrest them and drag them away on the spot if they suspected anything fishy of them. Flitter simply nodded as she promptly handed (or, rather, hoofed) me the key before she casually trotted back around the corner. “I’m coming I’m coming.” She called out as she disappeared back into the living room. I heard her open the door and converse with the guards who were standing on the other side. “Sorry for the long wait, I was in the washroom.” Flitter lied to them in a surprisingly calm and normal tone which I honestly didn’t expect of her. I began to swivel my ears in the direction of the conversation while trying to keep quiet as instructed, clutching the key in between my hoof and hoped that Flitter had a plan if things would go South. Thanks to my now really good pony ears (or Alicorn ears, I have yet to know) I was still able to listen to the conversation. “Well, what about your sibling over there?” I heard the guard pony asked. “Let’s hear how Cloud handles the pressure. Hope she can think of a believable backup story.” I thought nervously as I mentally crossed my fingers (hooves) for her. I could hear Cloud trot up before answering the guard in a nervous sounding voice which immediately set off alarm bells in my head as she spoke. “Well…I so…sorry but…I was just kind of scared to… open it when I… first saw you guys through the window. I am sorry for the… delay as well.” Cloud explained to my surprise, especially with how well her stuttering nervous tone helped her explanation as well. Of all this time I have come to know Cloudchaser as a pony, acting as a coward was really one of the last things I imagine she would ever do, and she just did it for ME, to cover me up in exchange for some of her pride, which she sometimes like to put on a pedestal. Or she actually was intimidated by them, who knows, but at least it did the job… or I like to believe it did the job, since I was still waiting for the guardspony’s reply, which by the way were some of the longest few seconds of my upturned life, as I was greeted with utter silence after Cloud’s explanation. I tensed up when the guard finally replied. “Well, don’t worry miss. It’s actually not the first time ponies were too scared to even cooperate with us. We Thestrals are… quite intimidating looking for you Equestrians. So no surprise or disrespect there.” The guard finally answered which made me sigh internally in relief. “Thank god these ponies are literally scared of almost everything.” I thought to myself as the exchange continued between the three. The guard asking questions regarding the incident and if they knew anything about it or had any clues on its source or owner. And with both Flitter and Cloud (mostly Flitter) telling him lies about not knowing anything and even coming up some possible ideas (which were also lies) of what it could have been and so on. After a short while though the conversation finally drew to a close as both Flitter and the guard finally did their final remarks. “Well, again, sorry for the intrusion miss Flitter, we are just very concerned for the safety of Equestria’s citizens, which is why we are conducting these actions. We can promise that normal day to day activities will resume soon once we have make sure that Cloudsdale is safe from any future disturbances. Have a nice day.” The guard say before I heard a set of hoofsteps moving away and the front door closing. I could hear both Flitter and Cloud sigh in relief as I carefully dared to peek my head around the corner to see if the coast was really clear or not. Thankfully it was, as I finally let go of a breath that I could swear I wasn’t holding as I made my way back into the living room. “Well that was somewhat nerve-racking.” Flitter commented while rubbing her forehead. I couldn’t have agreed more. Cloud nodded as she seemed to be on the edge still. “Yay! I didn’t know that you were such a good liar, sis. That’s normally my job.” Cloud added with a small chuckle at the end. “Yeah, I am pretty surprised as well. But I think you still hold that title pretty well with that wonderful performance you did in looking and acting all scared of him and such.” Flitter praised back which made Cloud’s chuckle turn into a more awkward one. “Yeah… that was… totally acting back there. Let’s go with that. Heh heh…” She replied sheepishly while rubbing the back of her neck and looking away. Flitter and I simply chuckled which turned Cloud’s cheeks red as she looked off and huffed from the embarrassment. “Thanks for…well standing up for me like that. You… you have just been… amazing to me since we met and… I just can’t thank you two enough for it.” I sincerely said as I smiled at them. Flitter smiled back. “Hey no problem, that’s what we are here for anyway. We wouldn’t have done it if we didn’t know that you are a good pony deep down, which you are.” She explained while placing a hoof onto my shoulder before continuing. “Whatever you did wasn’t really your fault, and was in fact completely out of your control and understanding, and I just couldn’t stand by and watch you get punished for something you weren’t really responsible for, so I decided to do something.” Flitter finished sincerely which made my smile go even wider than it already was. “Again… thank you.” I replied again. “No problem at all, that’s what friends are for.” She replied as she removed herself from my shoulder. It was than when Cloud stepped in and sniffing the air as if something was up or something. “Hey… uh, sis? Did... did you leave something on in the kitchen? Because… I can definitely smell something that shouldn’t be here.” Cloud commented. Flitter quickly went to panic mode as a stroke of realization suddenly hit her. “OH MY GOSH!! THE MILK RICE I WAS COOKING EARLIER!! I TOTALLY FORGOT!” She shouted before watching her zip back into the kitchen. I simply stood there as a sudden tap on my shoulder caused me to turn my head and saw that it was Cloud standing next to me smiling. “Hey, as Flitter said, we got your back. Even when I have to shed some of my dignity for it, you’re totally worth it in my opinion.” Cloud announced as she playfully knocked me on my shoulder. I smiled at her. “Thanks, that was really great of you as well. I am slowly sinking more and more in debt to you two, considering how many times and ways you just make my time here a lot easier to wade through.” I admitted while rubbing my shoulder. “Don’t worry yourself about that. As my sister already said, it’s what friends are for.” She responded with a wink before trotting off into the kitchen herself. I simply shook my head, ignoring the little wink she did as I too decided to head back into the kitchen to witness the mess that poor Flitter probably had to deal with now as a thought suddenly hit me. "Wait…I just remembered. What the heck was that lullaby again that Cloud hummed for me a few days back?" I thought as I entered the kitchen. “Darn it. Flitter, you burned breakfast.” Cloud announced which made me shake my head in amusement at the deadpan look Flitter was giving her for that. “Still...i am still very much surrounded by an army of fluffy eared ponies who want me… well, want me in chains, at least. I am still in very deep shit as we speak. Well… something like this was bound to happened anyway. Fucking OP Alicorn magic. ……………………………………………………………………………………… “Well… let’s see if I can crash at Flitter and Cloud’s place tonight, could save me allot of bits for a hotel if I can.” I muttered to myself as I trotted along the streets. Today I was forced to yet again take another trip to the central weather office, but this time having to attend some boring-ass meeting with all the other weather captains from all across Equestria, talking about stuff that we already knew anyway, and by the looks of it I wasn’t the only pony there thinking that. “What a waste of bucking time. Time I could have used for training, sleeping, or, dare i say, do my actual bucking job.” I thought, annoyed. “But hey at least it’s all done now and I can just finally…” I halted as I rounded a corner. “What the…?” I said completely stumped at the scene presented in front of me. There was a large crowd of ponies in front of me, arguing and standing in a semi circling around something in front of them, by the looks of it. I trotted closer to them as I noticed some very strange looking ponies standing above the roofs of some buildings looking down at me with surprisingly unnerving-looking cat like eyes, watching my every move as I slowly got closer to the crowd. “What do you mean the Cloud District is currently closed?” I heard a pony shout as I arrived at the back. I tried to stretch my neck to see what the heck was going on,but being a mare also does have its disadvantages, as bitterly as I feel having to admit it. One of which is being obviously shorter compared to stallions which really didn’t help with the fact that almost everypony standing at the back with me was indeed a stallion. I would just easily fly over them as I usually do, but a really deep feeling told me that if I ever tried that stunt with those weird… predatory ponies above me I would have a serious problem on my hooves. So I just decided to listen on, and hope that doing so would give me all the information I need to understand what the hay seems to be the problem here. “I am sorry sir, but individuals that are not residents of the Cloud district are prohibited from entering this part of the city while investigations are still underway.” I heard a deep and muscular voice reply which was met with somepony’s groan, probably the same guy who complained earlier. “But I have to! My cousin lives in there and i have to talk to him about-” I heard the same stallion argue back before he was quickly cut off by the guard (I would say). “Sir I already told you that non-residentials are NOT allowed to enter the cloud district until investigations have finished. Now I would suggest all of you ponies leave this check point at once before I have my fellow Thestrals DRAG you off instead!” I heard him repeat himself this time in a very annoyed and slightly angry tone which basically took everypony including me by surprise. “Geez, what the hay is suddenly up with this guy.” After that the crowd quickly dissipated, leaving only me standing in the middle of the road with the guard pony now fully visible in front of me who was guarding the bridge. I simply smiled nervously at him and his two buddies as their eyes finally fell upon me as well. Their leader (the one who was the talking earlier i would guess) was even looking quite annoyed at me. I hate to admit it, but these guys were intimidating, FAR more so than the normal golden armored guards that I have mostly seen. Probably has something to do with the fact that they all look predatory. Catlike eyes, long sharp fangs, leathery wings instead of normal feathered ones and overall a very dark tone and theme to them. I also could have sworn that one of them, for a second, was actually eying me hungrily, not in a naughty perverted kind of way but ACTUALLY seeing me as prey. Which really didn’t help my enthusiasm at all. “I suggest you leave just like all the other ponies. As I said nobody crosses these checkpoints unless they are….” The lead guy began before he was stopped by one of his goons as he started to whisper something into his puffy ears. Seriously, you would think that something so fluffy looking would make somepony look adorable or even downright ridiculous. But these guys simply shatter that with everything else that is basically going on with them. Again these are some of the strangest ponies -if they are even ponies- I have ever seen. Never in my life have I seen ponies that seem to perfectly mimic the look of vamponies so closely. In fact… now that I think about it they might actually BE VAMPONIES! At least that explains the predatory look and feel around them. But then again, if they are, how the hay can they even stay out in the middle of the day anyway? Don’t they naturally (or at least according to folklore) burn at the first touch of sunlight? I honestly don’t know and I honestly couldn’t even care less at the moment. Because I was surrounded by them with one of them seeming to stare directly into my soul as if I was its next meal…the snarls and low growls don’t help either. I shook my head, standing proud and making myself look as tough looking as possible by spreading my wings and puffing out my chest. Though that action quickly gave me an even harder more serious glare from all the other… bat-ponies on the roofs which quickly melted any confidence I might have gather just a few seconds ago. Only internally, I might add, as I was still trying to look somewhat strong from the outside regardless. It was then when the silent conversation between these two shadow guys finally ended as the lead guy again looked at me. “Are you by any chance Rainbow Dash, the newly so called element of Loyalty and one of the defeaters of Nightmare Moon?” He demanded while still eyeing me more calmly. Again… normally I would be boasting, just like I have been doing to anypony who asked the same question or called me out to be one of the new Elements of Harmony themselves. But these guys here were making it very hard for me to even stay optimistic about myself for a second in the way they seem to be eyeing me carefully, that and the fact that again one of them looked ready to pounce me at any moment, one of them even holding a hoof in front of him presumably to stop him if he ever tried. “Ye-yeah?” I casually answered and to my utter surprise (and slight relief) was meant with a nod from him as he lazily stepped to the side. “You can enter if you want.” He casually announced before he glared at me again. “BUT that doesn’t mean that you won’t be arrested if you are ever caught doing anything that might be viewed as disturbance or disruptions to our operations. So keep your hooves to yourself.” He added strongly before his features quickly softened again and gave me a hoof sign that I could cross the bridge. I was a bit hesitant for a moment but eventually nodded as I carefully trotted past him and his two wing-ponies to cross the bridge. Once I entered the district on the other side I was immediately greeted with even MORE of these night guard goons. Left and right patrolling and flying over the streets, in groups or just simply standing somewhere with spears, shields and other equipment that looked far more maintained and serious compared to their guard counterparts. They might even look ready for war, now that I think about it. “Jeez, is there some kind of upcoming war that I am not aware of? Or is it already over and they have now occupied a large chunk of the city now?” I continued my trot through the streets, ignoring and moving past a few patrols here and there while getting a few stares from them in the process before I finally reached the place I was planning to go since the beginning. Cloud Chaser and Flitter’s oversized home. Surprisingly though, there weren’t any guards on the street that the two Pegasus sisters occupied, which was a nice change of look and… feel, since I was finally away from all the suspicious stares I had been getting before getting here. “Maybe they know what the buck is going on here.” I muttered as I trotted up the front porch and began knocking on the door. ……………………………………………………………………………………… “Ugh… getting yourself clean with fur on your body is much harder than it seems, especially when a certain Pegasus splashes me with a mug of hot and sticky chocolate milk.” I thought to myself as the hot shower did its job in calming my nerves on everything that has been happening lately to me. I mean seriously, first my magic goes all apeshit, nearly causes a city wide Armageddon and nearly busting my head open in the process, than unsurprisingly the government shows up starts blockading the entire west part of the city in search of me, and now Cloudchaser somehow managed to spill my coat with sugary and very sticky chocolate and almost getting some of that onto my hat as well. By the way, did I even mention that it was bloody hot as well? The Hat is the only thing (besides my scarf and glasses) I have to remember my home with and the life I have permanently or hopefully momentarily lost since coming here. I will be crushed to see it get ruined or, even worse, lost. Plus, if its magical properties are to go by as well, I would be losing far more than just a hat. Again, a lot of things I would be DAMNED to lose at this point. “The hot chocolate still stings under my fur… Jeez that stuff was hot. How they hell was Cloud going to drink that, anyway?” I thought out loud as I poked the belly and… crotch area where it all landed, still looking somewhat red and feeling quite sore. “Thank God it missed my… well, you know.” The shower, though, did a very good job in numbing the pain while also relaxing my still chaotic mind and nerves. I personally have always liked showers, I would always stay in them far longer than it was necessary to just enjoy the warmth and relaxing feeling of it. Sure I would always waste a lot of water by doing so, but hey, it’s my thing, I guess. Plus, who can really deny the fact that taking a hot nice shower after a long and stressful day (or in my case…a few days in a row, in which I guess can be a good justification in staying in the shower just a few minutes longer than needed.) can feel like a true godsend, Another thing that still surprises me every freaking time is just how easy and natural it felt in cleaning myself with hooves. Using them to squeeze shampoo onto my noggin and wash my mane with them, to using liquid soap and rubbing it all over my furry body and how flexible both my forelegs -and by extension front hooves- generally were. Sure, I can’t properly grab something with them the same way I could with hands, but still, in terms of movement and flexibility, they seem to be almost on par with human arms and knuckles. After a few more minutes of cleaning up and simply relishing in the bliss of the warm water I stepped out of the shower, turning it off in the same way Flitter once showed me. “Huh. Got pretty good at it really quickly I have to say.” I dried myself up with a pre-prepared towel before exiting the bathroom. Both my fur, mane and tail were still all messy, but I really didn’t care about details like those, especially since brushing yourself alone without magic or someone’s aid was difficult and awkward as all heck, even more so when you consider the fact that certain… areas need to be brushed as well, like the flanks and the tail. Which turned out to be a real awkward blush fest for both Flitter and I during the first time she had to help me with that. Cloud, of course found that amusing every step of the way. Well, until she had to do it herself after Flitter simply called her over. Though, for some reason, when she was brushing me instead of her sister, I always secretly caught her staring at my flank when she thought nobody was looking. Did she… maybe develop some sort of interest in me? Well… only time can tell, I guess. Shrugging at these thoughts I made my way over to the living room while still drying my mane with a free hoof. “Hey, uh… Flitter? Could you maybe help me again with-” I announced before stopping in my tracks as I entered the living room, being greeted by a certain pony I was not expecting at all. “R-rainbow Dash?” I asked surprised as I spotted the mare sitting on a couch with both Cloud and Flitter. “Oh hey, Nava! How are you? I am here because of….” RD began before her eyes immediately went wide as her gaze fell upon me. I looked at her a bit confused at first before a realization suddenly hit me. I am completely naked, no hat, no scarf and most importantly no jacket. I was completely exposed in front of either the last or first pony I ever wanted to get myself exposed in front of! “Shit shit shit shit shit!!!” Was the only thought running through my brain as I simply stood there, the relaxation I got from the shower completely gone and out of the window at this point as I desperately tried to come up with some kind of good or, hell, ANY excuse for me having wings… and ultimately failing at it. “Uh… Hi Dash.” I greeted with a very awkward smile and waved of my hoof which unfortunately broke her out from her shocked state. “Dude… you have BUCKING WINGS??!!” “Well… the problems have just been doubled.”