Your Wings Were Made For Angels

by Still Breeze

An Average Year Of Onslaught

Chapter 18: An average year of onslaught

“Aagh!!” Cantor bleated in pain as he slammed his rear hooves as hard as he could into the tough bark of his first apple tree of Applebuck season. The apples fell carelessly into the already prepared buckets below. Cantor fell untidily to the floor, landing on his flank, breathing heavily and clutching his throbbing hooves.

Upon further inspection of one of her many trees, Applejack soon cried out in great alarm.

“How the hell can you do this two hundred thousand times!?” The white alicorn exclaimed, his poor hooves feeling as though they were going to burst.

“Cantor!?” Applejack started, sounding astonished. “Are you wearin’ horseshoes?”

“What? No, we never wear horseshoes!” Cantor exclaimed dramatically, the pain in his back hooves mercifully subsiding.

“We do when we gotta buck thousands a’ apple trees every other day!” She yelled back. “I thought it was obvious!”

“Well you don’t look like you’re wearing shoes either!” Cantor argued back.

“That’s because they’re the same colour as my coat!” She proceded to thrust the underside of her hoof right under Cantor’s face. Sure enough, there was a tanned orange ‘U’ shaped piece of metal attached to her hoof.

“And… You’re all wearing horseshoes too?” Cantor addressed his group of friends, the five other mares and Big Macintosh. They all simultaneously showed the underside of their hooves, and sure enough, wore iron semi-circles the same colour of their fur upon their hooves, except for Big Mac; he didn’t much care for colour correction, favouring the practicality over aesthetic quality. And besides, being a cart pony by breed, his fur came a little short of his hooves anyway, exposing the great cloppers and displaying his mature breed to all onlookers.

“Well… What do we do?” The white stallion asked, returning to Applejack for answers.

She let out a gruelling sigh. “I can get ya’ some horseshoes…” She muttered. “But now we gotta go all the way back to the farm to fit 'em.” She was quite obviously flustered, even though they had begun Applebuck season a day earlier than usual, she was as eager as ever to get started.

“Heeeey…” Said Cantor, getting a brilliant Idea. “Couldn’t I just use magic? I could harvest the-“

“No.” Applejack and Big Mac scorned simultaneously, though it was Applejack who explained herself.

“Here at Sweet Apple Acres, we do things traditionally, without magic, and preferably without flying.” The last notion was directed at Rainbow Dash, yet she was somewhat oblivious to the threat.

Cantor sighed and scuffed the dirt. “Ahhh… Sorry, Applejack. I’m just a hindrance.”

“No, you’re not, Cantor.” The farm girl replied, switching to a more comforting tone. “Ya' just don’t think.” She smiled, putting Cantor slightly at ease.

“Thanks, Applejack.” He said softly. “Look, I know you said you don’t use magic, but can’t we just teleport to the farm to put these horseshoes on and then back again to get started quickly?”

Applejack glanced at her brother and he nodded slowly with closed eyes. “I suppose that’s alright…” She answered, stepping over to Cantor and giving a little nod of confirmation that she was ready. Cantor touched her forehead with his horn, and instantly, the two were enveloped in showers of purple sparks. The next second, they were gone.

“Did ya’ tell him they hammer them on?” Asked a grinning Rainbow Dash towards Twilight.

“No…” The purple unicorn explained solemnly. “I really hope he’s brave about it…” Rainbow met her glance with confusion. “It’s another one of his fears. One of the really bad ones: not nearly as bad as the restraints thing, but… he hates even the thought of, as he described it: ‘brutal pain’.

“Ha, ha!” Rainbow laughed. “Pussy…” She muttered.

Twilight responded to the comment with a disgusted scowl. “You know, Rainbow…” She began, arousing Dash to her displeasure in her attitude; intended merely as a joke, she wasn’t aware that Twilight had had to calm Cantor down multiple times each night during the last week due to the onslaught from that horrific accident…

One week ago…

“So this is the weather factory, huh, Rainbow?” Asked Cantor as he slipped into the white lab coat, following the sky blue pegasus mare through a door made entirely of clouds, matching with the cloud walls, cloud floor and the cloud ceiling. In fact, everything was made from clouds, or at least based on the fluffy white objects, but what could one expect in a city named quite provocatively: ‘Cloudsdale’?

“Yup!” The rainbow maned pegasus replied, a slight hint of pride in her tone. “Let’s start the tour with the simple stuff: ‘varying degrees of storms’.” She read aloud from the little plaque next to the entrance to the catwalk overlooking the stations in which increasing severities of weather would be generated.

“This is bay 1,” Rainbow began, “the sort of weather made here is light, misty showers, mainly used for adding frost to winter mornings, no real purpose other than that…” Explained Rainbow Dash.

On the platform, Cantor could see very few ponies doing nothing really distinctive. There were two or three who looked like they were doing maintenance work, one had his head buried in a large machine which, it seemed to Cantor, was being repeated. Another two ponies were simultaneously mopping the floor with amazing efficiency. Obviously the weather factory of Cloudsdale was very modernised and ran like clockwork.

“Over here we have bay 2…” Rainbow continued as the only two ponies on the catwalk came to a second observation window. They didn’t stop moving, though, seeing as this room was completely empty. Not a single pony was seen on the soft cloud floor, yet there were some different machines. There was one in the far corner, very similar to the one in the middle of bay 1, only, it was a little bigger and four great steel pistons jutted from the side instead of two.

“Bay 2 is basically very light showers.” The blue pegasus explained. “The reason there’s nopony here is because… well, it’s Summer; there’s no need for ‘light downpours’.”

Cantor looked back down to the factory floor. The observation platform they were standing on must have been about twenty feet off of the floor, and even though ‘bay 2’ was deserted, three large strip lights illuminated the room very well…

“That brings us on to bay 3…” Said Rainbow Dash. No sooner had she pushed open one of the two swinging doors which cut off that section of the walkway for one particular room, that the pair were hit with a mild uproar of voices. Cantor and Rainbow both peeked through the ‘window’ to see the bustling station below. On the floor, there were some thirty pegasi, all rushing around to either check on machines or flip switches and levers.

“Here!” Began Rainbow Dash, having to raise her voice to be heard over the din. “Is where we’re making a downpour for tomorrow afternoon!” She continued, not looking at Cantor as she spoke, but rather observing the pegasi clear themselves from the wall at the far end of the platform.

“What are they doing?” Asked Cantor, not having to shout as the noise of the pegasi had become a low murmur.

“Just watch…” Dash replied with an air of eagerness.

No sooner had she said this than the entire wall at the far end split in two horizontally across the middle. One half of the door sunk into the floor and the other half disappeared into the ceiling. Out of the new opening came a howling wind which reached the two ponies on the catwalk almost instantly, lashing their bodies with damp, chilly winds and fluttering their lab coats around them. Beyond the huge door was a pitch black room, but Cantor could just about see something swirling within it. All of a sudden, the huge copper boiler – type machine expanded before belching out a huge trail of wispy slate coloured cloud into the dark room. The two huge doors hastily slid closed again, silencing the wind and allowing the pegasi workers to return to their business as quickly as they had stopped.

“That’s the heavy downpour you’re going to be setting up over Sweet Apple Acres tomorrow,” Rainbow explained, “Just to give the Apple family’s trees one last drink before we harvest em’.”

The pair began walk onward again, passing through onto bays 4 and 5, the likes of which resembled the very first room they observed, three or four ponies checking up and / or cleaning the far more complicated looking machines. Rainbow Dash explained how bay 5, which generated complicated and violent forms of weather such as tornadoes and super cells, was really only used in ‘cleanup situations’. These types of weather would only be needed to be used if there was some type of emergency: a forest fire or what not…

“And that concludes the tour of the ‘varying degrees of storm’…” Said Rainbow Dash, quoting the sign at the start of the tour. “What do you think?” She asked eagerly, an expectant smile etched onto her face.

“It’s fascinating, Rainbow.” Answered Cantor, making the blue pegasus’ smile broaden. “It’s great to see where it’s all made.” He added, looking down to the many machines, conveyer belts and glass spheres which made up nearly the whole floor of bay 5.

Rainbow giggled with pride for her home town’s praise. She fluttered her wings a little and motioned for Cantor to follow her. He obliged, following Rainbow Dash off of the main tour line, which given the fact that it was Summer, would be deserted and really rather boring.

“Now this station isn’t included in the tour…” Said Rainbow mischievously as she pushed open another cloud door, which opened up into a room of dazzling rainbow – hued waterfalls and puddles.

“Whooooa…” Cantor awed in the majesty of the place. This new production line boasted a much larger area than any of the five storm bays. Cantor estimated that it was a tiny bit bigger than four of the previous rooms joined together in a big square, not by much, but definitely no less.

“This is the rainbow factory…” The cyan mare beside him proclaimed, rather unnecicerally however, and the two ponies made their way across the soft white floor to a conveyor belt, where tiny globs of colour were being manipulated by several ponies into small mounds right in the centre of the rubber belt. There was no real reason for doing this except to make the machine cope with the curious material a lot smoother.

“Hey, Rainbow Dash! Long time, no see!” Was the call from an unannounced mare behind the two ‘tourists’.

Upon turning around, Rainbow instantly recognised the mare as the supervisor for the rainbow branch of the weather factory. The light pink mare also happened to be one of Rainbow Dash’s friends since they were both young.

“Airheart!” Exclaimed Rainbow as she embraced the other pegasus tightly. “I haven’t seen you in years!” She added as she pulled away from the chestnut maned pony.

“I know, right!” Airheart agreed. “How have you been?”

“Great, thanks! How are you holding up?”

“Really well, thank you, Rainbow Dash.”

“Great!” Rainbow Dash beamed.

“You must be Cantor.” Airheart said kindly, turning to the white alicorn. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“You have?” Asked Cantor, somewhat expecting that response. After all, he was 'the' weather team.

“Yeah, how are things in Ponyville?” The friendly mare asked, her bright blue eyes sparkling. It was plain to see that this mare was obviously extremely likeable, and indeed that was probably a main factor in her supremacy in this business, as well as being seemingly mature for such a young age. She appeared to be about twenty or twenty one and how she carried herself made her seem like such a ‘genuine’ pony, radiating natural beauty, inside and out.

“Things are going pretty well in Ponyville, ma’am.” Cantor answered politely.

Airheart giggled into her hoof cutely. “You can call me Airheart, Cantor; no need to be polite!” She smiled and giggled once more.

“So, Airheart,” Rainbow began, “Do you want to go and see a movie sometime?” She asked, but upon catching her friend’s troubled expression, quickly clarified. “Just as friends, you know. To catch up.”

“Oh, right! Yeah, Rainbow, that sounds great!” Replied Airheart, giving a happy flutter of her wings.

“So anyway, Air,” Rainbow Dash started, “I’m taking Cantor on a tour of the factory and just thought we’d swing by the rainbow sector.”

“We already have a rainbow sector right here!” Airheart joked, throwing a hoof in the direction of the multi-hued pegasus, drawing laughs from both the girls.

“You’re so dirty, Air!” Rainbow giggled, blushing slightly as she giggled with her childhood friend like a little filly. Some sort of inside joke Cantor was pretty sure he understood, yet decided to dismiss the thought.

“How are you liking the weather factory so far?” Airheart asked, turning towards Cantor, using a slightly raised voice over the enormous heavy cogs clunking behind the stallion.

“It’s fascinating, Airheart.” Cantor praised. “Especially here.” He said looking towards the many blobs of glowing colour making their way along the conveyor belt. “What uh… what’s going on here?”

“Here,” Air began to explain, “We are compressing the photonic hue plasma into a nucleonic state in preparation for pressurisation of the spectral refraction process.”

A moment of relative silence passed.

“…Whoosh.” Cantor replied, skimming his hoof over his head.

Airheart laughed. “We’re getting the colours ready to be made into rainbows…” She paraphrased, chortling a little again.

“Now see, I can understand that.” Cantor smiled. “Can I… Can I touch some?” He asked, seeing a gorgeous glowing purple roll past into a large box sprouting two huge metal cogs.

“Yeah, go right ahead!” Air openly asserted, gesturing for Cantor to go ahead to the conveyor belt.

He waited for another one of those spectacular purples to come past. He didn’t need to wait too long before he scooped up a little hooffull of the glowing substance. It felt remarkably like jelly, yet it was runny, and slimy, Not quite as thick as syrup, but not nearly as thin as water. He leaned against the unmoving edge of the conveyor belt and rubbed his hooves together, slathering the strange glowing substance all over his hooves.

“What is this stuff?” The enthralled stallion asked, absolutely mesmerised by the vibrancy of the colour, the glow and that very curious consistency.

“It’s a very long process, Cantor…” Airheart began to explain, “First of all, we take in light from right at the top of the factory using solar-“

“You!” Came a strangely familiar male voice from across the room. Cantor turned to where the sound had come from to see a dark green stallion surging through the other workers towards him menacingly.

“Storm?” Asked Cantor, watching the stallion’s dangerous golden eyes approach rapidly.

“Storm Surge, what are you doi-“ Airheart began to ask before the infuriated pegasus swung his hoof through the air, which Cantor ducked to avoid just in time.

“The hell are you doing!?” Cantor protested, raising his leviathan wings above him.

Airheart looked astonished, raising her own wings which were a little over half the size of Cantor’s. “Storm! Get back to your sta-“

“You stole Twilight from me!” The murky green pegasus shouted into Cantor’s face.

“What!?” The alicorn exclaimed. “I didn’t ‘steal’ Twilight from you! And how dare you say that you owned her! She owns herself!”

“Don’t raise your voice at me!” Storm Surge growled, squaring up to Cantor, despite his wing – aided size. “I’ve heard about you!" He threw his gaze skyward, and continued in an uncannily cheerful tone. "Ooh! You and Twi reunited after two weeks of loneliness and instantly proclaimed your love for each other…" His heavy scowl re-surfaced. "What foal’s tale bullshit!”

“Storm!” Airheart snapped, her eyes wild with anger. “My office, now!" She intensified her frown, sucking in air violently through her nostrils. "You’re lucky I’m nice…”

The envious pegasus grumbled some profanity under his breath, but felt as though he hadn’t shaken Cantor like he had intended to. With one last outburst to show his disgust for the alicorn, Storm Surge leaned forward and bucked Cantor hard in the chest, causing the white stallion to stumble backwards, the very tip of his wing catching in the great metal cogs.

Cantor went to pursue Storm, but those plans changed once he felt the stinging pain through his entire right wing as it was sucked into the teeth of the machine. Cantor yelped in pain and horror as the powerful metal jaws relentlessly ate up his wings with petrifying speed, eliciting a gruesome churning noise as the cogs became dis-aligned. Cantor was yanked off of his hooves as even more of his wing was crushed to oblivion in the great metal maw.

“Rainbow!” Cantor cried out in desperation, his panicked tone easily distinguishable over the loud din of the many other workers who had abandoned their posts to watch.

The speedy blue pegasus was right on it though, dashing to the top of the machine where a huge red button labelled ‘stop’ was openly positioned. Rainbow shot towards it, slamming her hooves down upon it, stopping the great steel cogs just in time as Cantor’s body was being pulled into the centre. Cantor screamed as he felt the last sliver of his wing become crushed in the giant mechanical vice, when all of a sudden his torture stopped. The machine ceased instantly, the next set of teeth inches away from his chest.

Blood was pooling around the base of the gears, and was rapidly increasing, drawing anguished gasps from everypony who looked, which just so happened to be everypony. The trapped alicorn was panting heavily through clenched teeth to halt himself from crying in the agonizing pain and dopamine dump.

“Reverse it. Reverse it!” Airheart ordered, and an old grey mare hurried over to the centre console and flipped a switch.

To Cantor’s great dismay, the machine slowly whirred back into life, the cogs drawing him in once more, the sturdy iron teeth like great metal bricks coming down on his ribcage. Once again, Cantor screamed as a deadly concoction of pain, fear and helplessness racked his mind as his ribs splintered and snapped, creating a sound like somepony stamping on bubble wrap inside his head.

Once again, Rainbow Dash slammed the emergency stop button at the most dire time. If only a fifth of a second more was wasted, the gears would have crushed cantor’s lungs and heart, and if one second had passed, the unstoppable cogs, which were about two feet wide would have effectively churned Cantor into mincemeat.

“I said reverse it, you stupid mare!” Airheart scorned with fury in her voice before she twisted a knob to the left and restarted the machine.

Cantor groaned and emptied his stomach as the sensation of the steel jaws spitting him out became overwhelming. Upon the slightly tarnished cogs, Cantor’s blood was clearly evident as his machine of torture unwound, throwing a crying teenage alicorn onto the floor. He landed with a fluffy puff on the cool, comforting cloud floor and lay there for a moment while the pain and tears faded to a throbbing nuisance rather than a crippling agony.

He lay on the ground and peered over his shoulder at what could no longer be described as a wing. Rather, the thing poking out of his back was just a bloody piece of meat with some smashed bones and feathers stuck through it. The sight made Cantor vomit again. Rainbow Dash rushed to his side and knelt down beside him.

“Are you okay?” The rainbow maned pegasus asked softy, obviously on the verge of tears from panic - even Rainbow Dash was nearly in tears.

Cantor looked over his shoulder at his ruined wing, the sickening sight doing far less to his stomach now as he knew what to expect. He took in the sight of the shredded flesh, nearly complete baldness of feathers and the large pool of blood forming around him.

“Yes, Rainbow, I’m perfectly fine!” He groaned sarcastically.

Rainbow Dash gave his joke a tiny laugh before he continued. “In all seriousness though, Rainbow Dash,” He began, still laying on his side, fearful of what the broken ribs which were floating around inside his body could puncture. “You saved my life… I… thank you, Rainbow Dash… Thank you so much.” He lifted his head a little and Rainbow embraced it. The gesture was the best Cantor could muster with his broken ribs. Even just lifting his neck elicited great pain.

“Well what would I do if you died, Cantor?” Rainbow laughed. “None of the others can fly and Fluttershy’s afraid of heights!” She joked, to which Cantor chuckled lightly, causing pain to flare up around his entire mid section.

“Are you… Going to be okay?” Rainbow asked, stealing a peek at her friend’s mauled ‘wing’, beginning to feel queasy herself.

“I’ll be fine, Rainbow…” Confirmed Cantor with a little nod as he began to heal himself.

“Cantor! I’m so sor…” Airheart began to apologise for Storms actions as the stallion had already flown off, but she stopped once she caught sight of the new pony lying on the ground before her. His rusty orange mane and tail were now great golden plumes of cloud, billowing around him as his body was enveloped in a lustrous glow.

Slowly but surely, the mangled piece of flesh straightened out again before an intense point of light ran the length of it. Cantor had his eyes closed in concentration: wings were rather complicated structures as it turns out. Once the tiny light had reached the tip of the wing, the blood began to peel off, revealing pale skin sprouting a couple of scraggly feathers. With a judder of pain, Cantor plucked the rest of the feathers from his fleshy appendage before, like some kind of white moss, the hair climbed from the pit of his wing and rapidly made it’s way along the great spindly arm to the top.

No sooner had this happened then the enormous primary flight feathers erupted from the very tip of the wing. Seeing as though these feathers were the largest and longest of all the feathers, their size seemed to be enhanced as they were momentarily the only quills on the new limb. All of the onlookers had forgotten about the conflict as they observed the spectacle with awestruck eyes, holding their breath as the alicorn effectively re-grew a wing in the space of three minutes. The feathers layered themselves, after the awesome primaries came the still rather large secondaries followed by the stubby little tertials. The next layer of coverts came, soon to be topped by two more, and finally, the tiny little scapulars nestled in around the base of the new wing, completing what could not be described as anything less than a work of art.

Cantor relaxed as the next stage was much easier than the previous one. He realigned the ribs, which fortunately hadn’t strayed too far from their proper places, and closed the break up.

Like a sunset, the light emanating from his mane faded and began to collapse and lose it’s shine. The alicorn climbed to his hooves, cracking his new wing and giving it a few test flaps.

“Good as new.” He confirmed as it folded neatly to his side.

“Now you’re just showing off…” Rainbow commented with a sly little smirk.

Cantor chortled softly in agreement. “Maybe a little…” He replied.

“Listen, Airheart… I’m really sorry about-“ Cantor began, looking around him at the massive crowd of ponies and the utter catastrophe all over the cloud floor, stained a putrid colour by a combination of bodily fluids. “About this mess…” The alicorn finished, hanging his head shamefully.

“Sorry!?” The pink mare managed to blurt out. “If anything we should be apologising to you!” She took several steps closer to Cantor. “Don’t fret. Storm Surge won’t get off lightly for this…”

Even though that stallion had nearly been the cause of his death, Cantor couldn’t help but feel like he understood how Storm felt. “Thank you, Airheart…” Said Cantor. “But let him keep his job… He’s just love struck.” The stallion smiled as the image of the lavender unicorn came into his mind once again. “Twilight is one amazing mare…”

“Twilight?” Airheart asked. “Twilight Sparkle, the element of magic?”

Cantor’s body flushed with shock: Airheart was the first pony he’d met except for the elements of harmony themselves and the princesses to mention the elements. He quickly collected his thoughts and answered swiftly. “That’s right.”

“Wow…” Airheart sighed. “I hope you two go a long way.”

“I know we will, Airheart…” Cantor replied, gently smiling.

Air then proceded to slide her hoof under Cantor’s wing and pull it out. It was as if she was stretching out a long thin screen made from feathers. “How in Equestria did you grow your wing back!?” She exclaimed, examining the crisp new feathers of the limb.

“It- it’s uh… It’s an alicorn thing…” He finally answered. “Just a special type of magic…”

“I see…” Muttered Sky, folding the appendage back in and smoothing the feathers down.

Air looked apologetically into Cantor’s eyes and begun a second apology. “Once again, I can’t describe how sorry I am for the way storm acted. You're our guest in the weather factory, and please know that all of us are outraged at Storm Surge’s behaviour. We would sack him, but since you seem fine about the situation, he can keep his job. But don’t think he’s getting away scot-free: no sir! I’ll be having a very strong word with him about his actions and he’ll receive a fine.”

Though Storm effectively nearly caused the end of Equestria, Cantor couldn’t shake the thought that this ‘justice’ was unfair.

“Thank you, Airheart.” The alicorn replied with a smile. “What are we going to do about-“ He turned to see two pegasi wearing tight – cut royal blue overalls and caps discreetly mopping up Cantor’s mess.

Airheart turned and took off into the air slightly, her long brown bangs whipping behind her as she addressed the workers. “Alright, fillies and gentlecolts, back to your stations, we’ve got a factory to run!”

...

The first day of Applebuck season…

“So this looks like a…” Applejack mused as she examined Cantor’s right forehoof, allowing it to rest on her own so she could see the dusty underside. “…A thirty six.” She confirmed, dropping the hoof and meandering towards a corner of the broad red barn.

“Is that big?” The stallion inquired.

“Uhh… It’s about average…” Applejack said as she rooted around in a storage cupboard.

She swiftly discovered what she was searching for and turned from the knee-high unit. She turned around with four metal horseshoes in her mouth and wandered back towards Cantor. The dusty barn harboured a much more comfortable heat than the great outdoors, yet due to it’s ridiculously dry atmosphere, both ponies were eager to get back outside and into the hot afternoon. There were many particles of dust and hay fragments being illuminated like thousands of tiny fireflies buzzing around in the shafts of light filtering in through the barn’s high windows. Warm gusts wafted in through the open barn doors and unsettled the loose hay on the ground, bringing with them the powerful aroma of Sweet Apple Acres’ impending harvest.

“Perfect…” Applejack hummed as she cupped one of the heavy iron shoes over Cantor’s hoof. She left it hanging there and scurried around behind where Cantor was sat on a stout bale of dried grass and reappeared almost instantly bearing a small metal hammer and a hooffull of short metal nails. She rested the nails down on the ground next to the shoes and sat on her rump, taking Cantor’s iron-clad hoof and inserting a nail into one of the holes at the top.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Cried Cantor, pulling his hoof away.

“What!?” Asked an alarmed Applejack.

“Were you going to nail them into me!?” Cantor continued to protest.

“O’ course! That’s how you do it, see?” The earth pony replied, holding up her own hoof. Sure enough, there was the orange piece of iron and five nails of an identical colour worn on her hoof.

“Does it not hurt?” Cantor enquired, being filled with a lot more confidence by the farm girl, even going as far as giving his hoof to Applejack again.

“It does if I get it wrong.” She answered. This statement didn’t help ease Cantor’s anxiety. “But that won’t happen if you hold still…”

Cantor released some of the fear in the form of a long exhale through pursed lips, as if he were a train letting off steam.
Applejack leaned backwards, prodded the tip of her Stetson to give her a clearer view and pulled Cantor’s hoof into her lap, clamping her rear legs around his foreleg.

Cantor blushed perversely as he realised how perilously close to the mare’s heat his hoof was. This notion distracted him, until he noticed the strong earth pony take aim with the hammer. She swung. Cantor reacted involuntarily and attempted to pull his hoof away. The orange mare’s knees gave a little and his hoof slipped a bit, but Applejack’s swing was already in full motion and she hit the nail with perfect precision, driving it straight into the middle of Cantor’s hoof.

“AAHHHHH!” Screamed the stallion, pain searing through his entire right foreleg like lightning. He wrenched his hoof out of Applejack’s clamp and clutched his injured hoof with his good one. “Fuck me!” He cried again, the initial stinging sensation now a harsh throb in the lower part of the limb. “You said it wouldn’t hurt!”

“You moved, ya’ bloody fool!” Applejack snapped back.

“Ahhh… I’m sorry, I’m just ‘jumpy’ towards this stuff.” Cantor admitted, pain still laced in his voice. He clasped the misaligned shoe between his chest an his left hoof. Cringing, he tore his right hoof from the shoe, the wound emitting a spurt of blood.

“Gosh, Cantor…” Applejack sighed, “You gotta keep your hoof still, ‘else I’ll keep missin’…”

Cantor observed the blood still pulsing out of the small, but deep hole as he replied. “Try again, Applejack, I won’t move this time, please… let’s just start working: I’ve wasted too much of your time already…” He said apologetically, holding out his pierced hoof to the orange pony once again.

She swiftly took it, replaced the horseshoe over the hard hoof and relocated the nail. Even though he had every confidence in his strong orange friend, he still screwed his eyes shut and turned away. A second of torturous silence passed before the sound of metal striking upon metal made Cantor flinch. He jerked his foreleg back, but Applejack had anticipated this. She kept her knees clamped like a vice around his quivering hoof.

“It’s okay, see?” She stated quickly, drawing Cantor’s attention back to her. She released him and he hastily peeked at the underside of his hoof. He felt an enormous wave of pride as he noted the little flat circle of metal punched into his outer hoof.

“Applejack was right!” He mused to himself. “That didn’t hurt at all!”

“Thanks, Applejack.” Said Cantor humbly, giving his hoof back to the cowpony who already had four more nails between her lips.
“Ron’t nention it.” She replied around the iron needles, placing one to one of the four other holes branching from the first one she inserted at the peak of the shoe.

After she had securely nailed in the first horseshoe and Cantor had grown amused by the new weight of his hoof, she placed the second iron shoe over his left forehoof. Only this time, she began to question him as she worked.

“So what’re you not tellin’ us?” She asked, presumably enticed by her hammering, but her whole mind was focused on drawing the truth from Cantor.

“Huh?” Asked the stallion, not afraid, but still flinching a little as the earth pony drove the nail into his hoof.

“Cantor, I’m the element a' honesty.” She said blankly, stopping what she was doing and attempting to stare Cantor down. “I know you’re not tellin’ us somethin’ an’ I think it’d be best if ya’ jus’ told me right here an’ now.”

Cantor ceased up. He remembered exactly what Applejack had uncovered. He had so successfully forced the future out of his head that it no longer became an issue. But now Applejack had gone and made him remember.

Cantor sighed gloomily. “Applejack… There’s just some things that are better left unsaid.”

“But why? What is it?” She insisted, staring Cantor right in the eyes.

The stallion shook his head slowly. “Nopony needs to know.”

“But… what if it’s serious? What if we can help?” She implored, her green eyes pleading.

Cantor sighed once again. “When the time is right… I’ll tell you. For now, let’s just get Applebuck season done.”

Sceptically, Applejack placed a second nail over Cantor’s hoof and began to gently tap it in. Pretending to focus on what she was doing, but it was plain to see that she had other things on her mind; she was a horrible liar.

“So how long do you think it’ll take us to get all these apples in?” Asked Cantor, speaking casually in an attempt to lighten the mood.

“Dunno.” Applejack grumbled in response.

A frown climbed onto Cantor’s face and stayed there. “Applejack, you’re a terrible liar…” The stallion commented, still undecided whether to be humorous or sinister.

Applejack smirked. “Sorry, Cantor, I just… care ‘bout ma’ friends…” Her voice faded and her eyes dropped to the golden hay beneath her.

The next thing she knew was an iron – clad hoof under her chin drawing her face back up to the most chilling set of peepers she had seen for some time. Whatever Cantor was doing, he had caused her mentality to fail miserably, her entire being was enveloped in the stallion’s impossible stare.

“I care about you all as well.” He said, watching Applejack absorb his veracious truth. “So much…” His hypnotic stare faltered a little and tiny little tears welled in the corners of his eyes as he saw Twilight’s heartbroken face when he left her. “I can’t even begin to describe how much I care about all of you.” He blinked his tears away and intensified his stare, paralyzing Applejack into acceptance. “I love you. All of you. And if you didn’t know that before, you know it now. This is the truest thing I can ever tell you, and accept it or not, none of you should know the truth about what I must do until it’s the right time.”

The orange mare blinked for the first time since Cantor had begun speaking.

“Do you understand me?” The alicorn asked, still propping her head up with his heavy hoof.

Applejack nodded as best she could with Cantor’s hoof in the way. Satisfied, Cantor drew back his hoof and broke eye contact with the mare. “So as I was saying, Applejack,” Cantor began, clearing the dense atmosphere and re-alerting Applejack to her surroundings, the heat from the open barn door beating down on her sweaty back. Cantor allowed her to take his hoof back and continue the nailing before he finished his sentence.

“How long will Applebuck Season take us?”

A substantially shorter amount of time than it seemed later...

“Oh! That’s so… Good!” Cantor exclaimed in pleasure as he slowly lowered himself into the herbal bath in Ponyville spa amongst the six mares, the day after the six-week long apple harvest had joyously finished. Between all of the ponies, they had gathered enough apples to fill seventeen silos, which, according to Applejack’s calculations, would bring the farm thirty eight thousand bits for the next year! Everypony was pleased with themselves for giving it their all. Even the reclusive little Fluttershy showed her strength bucking the trees and causing the apples to fall. That is of course, after she apologised in advance for hurting them.

The two spa ponies, who clearly knew what they were doing, had concocted a heavenly soak of all mannerisms of soothing salts and herbs. Rarity being Rarity, had treated everypony to a session at the spa, a sort of ‘reward’ to herself and her friends for exerting themselves during the long, hot harvest.

Cantor had had some pretty awesome baths before, but this feeling was completely extra-terrestrial, who would have thought that some salts and some leaves could make a simple hot tub so divine. The powerful scent of the water infiltrated Cantor’s nostrils with a ridiculously pacifying aroma of rosemary and eucalyptus. Several pink petals floated about the surface of the tub, doing little more than scattering the surface of the water with little points of serenity.

“Uhhhooohhhhh….” Cantor whined as he sunk into the tub, only his eyes and up remaining in the humid air, the groan of tension release dissolving into bubbles.

Every mare in the bath had their heads rested on pillows, their eyes peacefully closed behind a face pack and two slices of fresh cucumber.

“Isn’t it just heaven?” Rarity asked, drawing mumbles of agreement from all of the other bath occupants.

They all lay there for a moment before somepony dared to speak. It was Pinkie Pie.

“Why couldn’t big Macintosh come with us again? Oop… I mean ‘Macky’…” The pink mare teased, making everypony giggle like foals.

Cantor opened one eye a fraction, clocking a smiling Fluttershy staring up at the ceiling behind her cucumber spectacles. Under her lime-green face mask, she concealed a meek blush.

“He said he wasn’t fit fer all this girly pamperin’.” Applejack answered, not hiding the humour in her voice. “I just suppose some colts are more stallion than others…”

Each mare laughed at this statement, and in his watery tomb, Cantor gave a little snort into the pocket of air he had created around his muzzle. Sure, he wasn’t as masculine as one would expect from a stallion of his height and build. Nevertheless, Cantor thoroughly enjoyed the treatment he had received at the spa the past day. In the four blissful hours they had been there, the two earth pony mares, later discovered to be named Aloe and Lotus, had catered to their every desire and made it clear how well they knew their job. Which mare was which however, Cantor kept becoming confused, relying on calling each ‘miss’ so as to avoid any more unnecessary awkwardness.

…

The session had began with a hooficure, to which Rainbow Dash and Cantor immediately declined, opting instead for a wing massage each. As much as it was relaxing, the two winged ponies who had objected to having ponies touch their hooves both found humour in the reality that the beauticians had to enrol two extra chairs for Cantor’s oversized wings.

The pink one, Aloe, and another unannounced cream earth pony attended to one wing each, caressing every feather and causing an increased rate of breath in both ponies when their soft hooves drew close to the bridge of their wings.

Rainbow simply hated the feeling of anypony touching her hooves in any way, shape or form, and Cantor – albeit a slightly feminine Cantor – was still a stallion who presumably didn’t enjoy having his hoofs painted strange new colours or tampered with in any way after the tight iron shoes had come off for the first time in six weeks. Even applying a little pressure to them caused them to throb with pain.

The tantalising massage ended when both of the youngest ponies present had their wings flared up behind their back and were twitching uncontrollably as if they had a bad case of the hiccups. The effect was presumably not intentional, but how could they resist?

The three spa ponies asked the group if they would like anything before they left, whispering to each other like a bunch of schoolfillies about the awkward experience with the two winged ponies, leaving the six mares and lone stallion to chat amongst themselves. Cantor became tipsy from the slight loss of blood, saying things he wouldn’t usually say unless he'd had a few drinks. Apparently, this type of arousal, Twilight Sparkle explained which Cantor found far too interesting, didn’t make him pass out because it focused more on muscle contractions rather than causing the heart to thunder blood into the two great appendages.

Cantor and Rainbow’s feathery excitement faded at identical rates as they spoke adamantly with each other about what happens when they shatter the sound barrier. Both agreeing without a shadow of a doubt that the rainboom was at least twenty percent cooler than Cantor’s version. The five other mares were engrossed with their own conversations about anything and everything from general gossip to extremely philosophical topics such as ‘the usefulness of the skin on grapes’.

Next, the ponies filed into a small sauna, by far one of Cantor’s favourite rooms in the world: dark, steamy, and full of mares! Some would call him perverted for thinking in such a way; others would simply call him a colt. He would definitely have to take Rarity’s offers for her weekly spa visits with Fluttershy. In fact, the only reason he had come to this particular trip was because all of his friends were going and besides, he was feeling utterly beat from the hard month’s work.

The conversation in the sauna turned just as steamy as the air inside it – especially once Pinkie Pie had casually scooted into Rainbow’s lap, declaring the gesture was to give “Everypony more room.”

“Yeah right!” Was the thought passing through each ponies’ mind when the pink mare asserted herself, and they could all see it in each other’s eyes, even in the darkness and haze of the wooden room.

Cantor became a conduit of answers for the mare’s unfathomable questions. Even Lotus – or was it Aloe? – asked the occasional ‘mare question’, having to repeat herself several times due to her heavy accent. It soon became apparent that Rainbow and Pinkie were becoming a little too ‘intrigued’ by the conversation, and all of the ponies agreed to move on before a different type of union began in the room of verbal lust.

Cantor was also made aware that the spa must be some sort of sexual orientated one: the filing of the unicorn’s horns eliciting a new feeling amongst Cantor’s many heightened alicorn senses. Among the feeling of tiny teeth sharpening his unicorn anatomy, the sensation of the task was so close to pain it was uncanny, Cantor found the words to talk more about facts and figures, strategies and profits with Applejack, the two ponies finding endless points to make about how to raise a business from the ground up. Cantor began talking about a theme park, stressing the fact that he could make one out of thin air in a week, visualising it in his head and ending up pleading Twilight Sparkle to talk him out of doing something stupid, short-minded and expensive.

…

“Leave it, Applejack…” Cantor mumbled, his lips just above the surface of the water as he blushed a little at the cowpony’s comment. Applejack giggled to herself and scratched the tip of her nose as delicately as possible to avoid spoiling the mud pack. The seven ponies laid there for several long moments, allowing their aches and pains to leak into the water. Cantor was relaxed as he could possibly be. The water was steamy, hot and fragrant, yet not scalding, or so aromatic that he found it hard to breathe. It was just perfect… An ambient record played in the background – the sound of a babbling brook drifted from unseen speakers and into Cantor’s ears. Not too loud to be distracting, yet not soft enough to be unheard.

Perfect. Just… perfect…

…Pomf.

Cantor’s eyes opened slowly, falling upon where the sound had come from. All the other mares took the cucumber slices off of their eyes and joined the stallion in observing the only two ponies in the tub unaffected by the sound. Even through the mud packs, everypony could swear they saw the cheeks of Rainbow Dash and her pink accomplice boldly blushing.

“You had to bring the sexuality to the tub, didn’t you?” Cantor asked, frowning at the two lovers, not amused by the shameless display in front of the spa beautician.

“Yeah,” Applejack added, “There’s a time an' a place for… whatever you’re doing, and now is not the time, nor the place.”

The blue pegasus removed the cucumber from her eyes, her foalish smile fading as she clocked the peeved faces of the ponies around them.

“You were all talking about it earlier!” Rainbow Dash shouted to her defence.

“That’s because, Rainbow,” Twilight began, “One thing led to another, and we found ourselves talking about… stuff…”

“Ahhh… You worry too much, Twilight!” Dash sighed, eating one of the cucumber slices off of Pinkie’s face and chewing deliberately loudly.

Everypony exchanged troubled glances before deciding that this talk about lust had gone on for far too long.

“The thing is, Rainbow Dash…” Rarity began, shedding her opinion on the subject, waiting for the situation to unfold before coming up with a response. “Some of us… most of us aren’t really one hundred percent comfortable about talking about… ‘that’ and none of us want to…” Her voice faded as she had many attempts in her mind at what to say to not seem as though she was trying to stir up the conversation any more.

“None of us want to… ‘engage’… If you know what I mean…” Rarity finished, embarrassment very evident in her royal blue eyes.

“Let’s change the subject!” Cantor cried out suddenly, dispelling the constricting air around them and sinking back into the wall of the tub next to Twilight.

“I agree.” Fluttershy affirmed, her weak voice barely audible above the sloshing of water.

Everypony sat back into the hot tub, resting their cucumber slices on the surface behind them as they awkwardly thought of different topics to chat about.

“Uhhh…” Thought Cantor before having a brilliant Idea. “So, Twilight? Have you made any interesting discoveries in your observatory yet?” He asked, looking towards the purple mare, seeing her eyes light up as she spoke of her most prised finding.

“I found…” She paused, trying to build suspense. It worked, to some degree, Pinkie and Dash who sat opposite her leaned forward on the little ledge they perched on jutting from the wall of the tub and surrounding the entirety of it like a ring. “…A new planet.” Twilight Sparkle finished.

“Really?” Asked Cantor, a little shocked to find out there were more worlds than Equestria in this universe.

“Yeah, but unlike the other planets I’ve found, this one’s-“ Twilight began, but was interrupted by an awestruck Cantor.

“Wait, there’s more!?” The stallion asked, raising his eyebrows high in surprise and wonder.

“Yes… I’ve found…” She pondered for a moment, idly watching one of the light pink petals drift over her, silently mouthing numbers as she recalled them in her head. “Sixty.”

“WHAT!?” Came the uproarious cry from the bath inhabitants, each one wide-eyed in shock.”

“You’ve found SIXTY planets!?” Asked Cantor, absolutely stunned.

“Well, sixty one if you count the new one…” Answered the purple unicorn, who giggled at the gawping ponies around her, all but one had their faces plastered with mud.

“That’s…” Cantor started, scouring his dictionary for the word to describe the overwhelming sense of pride he had for Twilight right now. “…Astounding!” He said, beaming uncontrollably from ear to ear.

“Heavens, girl! I didn’t know you found other worlds. Heck, I didn’t even know there were other worlds!” Applejack added, wearing her own little impressed grin.

“That’s the thing.” Replied Twilight, rubbing her back with a hoof. “I didn’t until I found the first one.”

“When was this?” Asked Rarity.

“Ummm… A few weeks ago. Not long after Cantor gave it to me.” The other unicorn answered, shooting Cantor a little wink.

“Anyway, as I was saying…” Twilight started again, “This new planet, the sixty-first one, by my calculations, as in, it’s distance from its sun, it’s a likely candidate for harbouring life.”

Once again, everypony found themselves speechless, the idea that they were not alone in the universe filled them with excitement.

“What?” Applejack managed to choke out. “Its ‘own’ sun?” She asked, cocking her head to the left.

“It’s fascinating!” Twilight said, then began to gush. “It’s like the planet orbits around the sun, not the other way around like normal. But, it has two moons, well, two moons that I’ve counted, that orbit it like in Equestria, but it just seems so strange that some of the physics apply, and some don’t. Oh, and if it weren’t for that new type of telescope Cantor made, I wouldn’t have even found it, well… I would have needed a much bigger telescope, but that doesn’t matter. Ohhh! It’s so exciting!”

“So… what does it look like?” Cantor asked, the most intrigued of all the ponies.

“Like uhhh…” Twilight pondered, “It’s brown. Even with that amazing telescope, it still looks really small, like a little brown marble.” She said, visualising the sight through the eyepiece once again, the memory allowed her to re-experience the joy she felt at the time. Once she had judged the distance between the sun and the planet, discovering that it was a potential bearer of life, the little purple pony had leapt around the observatory several times like a certain Pinkie Pie would.

“Hey, you’re from another planet aren’t you, Cantor?” Pinkie Pie asked, turning from Twilight to the stallion.

“Well, yeah… kind of…” Cantor replied.

“What’s it like!?” The pink mare asked, enthusiastic as ever.

“Well… ponies can’t talk and everyone hates each other.” Cantor answered, before adding more and more to the list while gazing blindly at the ceiling. “The Earth turns which causes night and day, it orbits around the sun, magic doesn’t exist, there is constantly war, barely a day goes by without someone being killed, we had a weapon system that would destroy all life if set off, basically, if you didn’t have talent, looks, or a good story, you were useless…”

Cantor continued to rattle off problems and violent events, from the tragic 9/11 incident, which he went into great detail outlining what an atrocity it was, his words stirring emotions in all the ponies, especially Fluttershy, to all the kidnappings and street crime that plagued his world.

“What a horrid place!” Cried Twilight, trying to imagine living in such a place.

“Well…” Sighed Cantor, his eyes dropping to the water as he continued light-heartedly. “It’s not all bad, in fact, there were some pretty nice people doing really nice things like devoting their entire lives to the benefit of others and sometimes huge groups of people would get together and have a party, just like here.”

“But… all that violence… all the killing… the wars…” Twilight stammered, staring at Cantor. “How could they all sleep at night?”

The alicorn sighed, and then met Twilight’s eyes. “Because it was what was considered ‘normal’… What would be stranger would be if there was no war at all. Which goes to show just what a careless world it was.” He scanned all the other ponies in the room, their minds failing to comprehend such a place. “I love Equestria so much. And everypony in it… Know that I will never let it become even one percent of what mine was.”

“I trust you wont.” Said Twilight, casting a peaceful smile. “I can tell how much you care.”

“Thanks, Twilight.” The stallion replied, mimicking the unicorn’s content expression.

“…I love you, you know that, right?”

“Of course I do!” She answered, giving a shallow sight which ended in a giggle, her face reddening due to her friends all watching. Through the corner of her eye she could see them all smiling under their face masks.

“…Of course I do… You tell me every day…”

…
…
…
…
…

“……………………………………………………..”

“……………………………………………………..”

“……………………………………………………..”

“…………….Rather mystifying, isn’t it?”

“It is…”

“It’s also strange… It feels as if a part of me is missing…”

Cantor sighed as he and the two princesses gazed out across the expanse of the pitch black sky, the only object was the single bright chunk of rock lost in the sea of inky darkness. The three alicorns all stood on the most elevated balcony of Canterlot castle, the one which pranced from the sun goddess’ private quarters. No guards would interrupt them for as long as there wasn’t an emergency. The night was hot – unusual for this time of year. Well, Celestia no longer had control of her sun, nor did Luna have control of her moon, the great grey object was destined to endlessly roam the sky in search of guidance.

A gentle breeze wafted over the three ponies, bringing a chill to their bodies and blowing their lifeless hair across their faces.

Tia’s pink hair flicked at her eyes and Luna’s milky blue mane draped over her shoulders and partly across her back. Cantor’s mane remained as everypony knew, long bangs of rust falling untidily from his body, nearly touching the floor.

“I think I prefer your hair like that, princess…” Cantor commented, forcing a weak looking smile.

She returned the gesture, though hers was much more genuine.

“Thank you, Cantor.” She said, her eyes sparkling in the moonlight, her crown and heavy neckpiece also glinting in the minimal silver light which poured over them all. “You know,” Tia continued, flicking her hair to the side slightly. “I haven’t seen my hair like this for a good couple of millenniums…”

Cantor chortled, again, the movement was blatantly forced. He returned his eyes to the black valleys below and the glow of Ponyville to his left, knowing that somewhere down there was his little pony, sleeping soundly in a warm bed, unknown to what was going on.

“What’s on your mind?” Luna asked, joining Cantor in staring towards the little gem of a town nestled between two mountains.

“I just…” Cantor sighed, turning to Luna, then Tia. “Thank you.”

“What for?” Asked the once omnipotent goddess, her fragile smile still drawn upon her porcelain – like lips.

Cantor shook his head, feeling a searing heat at the bottom of his eyes. “Everything.” He answered. “You have given me the opportunity to find friendship, love… And I have found them both... In abundance.” He felt his eyes begin to well up. “You say in two weeks, that’s when Kerous comes. That’s when I…” He trailed off. For the first time unable to finish that particular sentence.

Tia simply nodded, letting her eyes close briefly.

“Will it…” Cantor continued, blinking rapidly to hold his tears at bay. He sniffled and gave a little pant of fear. “Will it… hurt?” His voice faltered and he burst into silent tears, his breathing slow, heavy and trembling.

Both Luna and Tia locked each other in a concerned glance before joined the stallion in crying, resting their heads upon his body, sinking to the floor with him where all three lay there sharing in the sorrow for five long minutes.

“I’m so sorry, Cantor…” Tia whispered, receiving only a whimper as a response. “No… it, it… it won’t hurt…” She added.

Cantor continued to lie there crying as Luna gave her notion. “I’m going to… I’m going to miss you, Cantor.” She wiped her eyes on her forearm and sniffed. “You’re my best friend. And I… I’ll… I’ll always… love you.”

“Believe me, sweetheart,” Said Tia, fairing no better than her sister, her eyes streaming tears down her face, “you will not be forgotten. Not by me, not by my sister and certainly not by your friends.”

Cantor squeaked something in response. And both mares’ hearts tore in two. He was so scared, so young. In the brief time he had been living in Equestria, he had forged unbreakable bonds. He had always been so disregarding of death, never afraid, but now he could see it close up, the thought of what would happen to him afterwards eventually had the desired effect.

But what terrified him more than being tied to something, being skinned alive and tortured, was the thought of leaving Twilight Sparkle alone. He had said so much about their future, spoken in such detail about their lives ahead of them. He just wanted to love her. He realised now that he would never grow old with her, never be able to raise a foal into a proud stallion or mare, never be able to comfort her when she was sad or scared, never be able to touch her ever again, never again would he serve her breakfast in bed, massage her shoulders, stroke her mane, lie next to her.

He would never kiss Twilight again.

Never tell Twilight Sparkle that he loved her.

“I…” The stallion choked out, keeping his head buried in his arms. “I- I don’t want t- t- to die…” He sobbed again, returning to the fearful blubbering mess.

Something inside Tia snapped, and she had a new sense of understanding, she brought her head away and spoke sternly.

“Cantor…”

“…”

“Cantor, look at me.” She ordered.

Cantor obliged, meeting the two dark indigo eyes with his own amber ones. He sucked in a quivering breath, held it and listened.

“Why are you afraid of death, Cantor?” The white mare asked, her tone void of emotion.

“I- I don’t w- want to le-eave Twilight.” Cantor croaked shakily, making Luna grip him tightly, trying to protect him from the harsh thoughts she was certain he was having.

“And why is that?” Tia asked.

“Because I… Lo-ove h- her…”

“And does she love you?”

“Mmh hmm…”

“Cantor…" Tia began profoundly. "You will not die. You will live on in the hearts and souls of the ponies who love you. Twilight, me, Luna, and indeed the entire world will never forget the one young, brave, inspiring pony who gave everything he had to save everything else. You’re so young… You haven’t had a chance to live. And I’m… I’m so sorry it has to end like this. You and I both know that it will hurt us all for a while, but just because we will stop hurting in time, don’t think for a second that we will forget you. I owe you my life, Cantor, we all do. I love you as if you were my own blood, and no amount of pain can make that thought go away… I love you, Cantor… I-… We always will…”

The princess’ little speech ended with a light peck on Cantor’s cheek; her mark of everlasting love for the stallion who would give his life for his friends.

“Thank you, princess…” Cantor sighed, his soul lifted from the pit of despair by the mare’s beautiful words. “Thank you for making me see the light. I… I just want you to know that… whatever… whatever happens to me… I’ll never forget you either, both of you.” He smiled genuinely for the first time that night. “I love you, princess… and once again… thank you…”

The princess of the sun gazed deep into his accommodating eyes and said in a voice no louder than a whisper: “Please…” She began, her divine lips curving her features into a serene smile. “…call me Tia…”

Comments

[Nightmare]

Hey Twi How Are You ? Well puu.sh/tutP

[Still Breeze]

.......

605443

[Deathpony]

yay new chapter I hope Cantor doesnt die wouldnt be cool

[MicroUltraMad]

FUCK YEA YOU USED MY IDEA!

[MicroUltraMad]

FUCK YEA YOU USED MY IDEA!

Wait... i change my idea.
They discover aliens with the ability to bring Cantor back to life.

[Bookmaster]

This story is just fucking amazing

[Still Breeze]

607793 Thank you so much!

[Almasy]

Man...poor Cantor...This is hitting me hard..

[FacelessPanda]

[bronys unite]

This is really random but right now you have 69 likes am I the only one who finds this funny

[Blazing_Mane01]

Although the chapter name has nothing to do with its contents, I still liked it.

It's too bad I already know there's a sequel. It kinda spoils what happens later... First of all, Cantor doesn't die; either that, or comes back to life. Serious spoiler, which kinda sucks, but hell.

Actually, despite this knowledge, I am anxious as to see the epic showdown that's bound to ensue.

Only one more chapter of Your Wings Were Meant For Angels...

[anzalights00]

Sauna? You mean... That place with 30-50 degrees celsius and steam? (steamy...) OR, the sacred place for a Finnish man? Y'know, 100-120 degrees celsius, beer and HK sininen lenkki (the most awesome thng evah!) If this sounds weird, my explanation is that it's midnight and I'm f-ing tired.

[Titan Commander Sebaste]

Throne, the feels at the end!
Also, Someone did a wingboner in the spa!