11: Two Goals With One Pegasus
Twilight
Twilight hummed to herself gently as she reshelved the last of the returned books. It was a beautiful Sunday and everything was going to be just fine. The Library was in perfect condition with every book shelved properly in ascending alphabetical order, all books were returned on time, and Ponyville was as peaceful as ever. The only problem was a tickle in the back of her mind that kept bugging her. That little bug was Twilight's worry for Connor. Ever since she saw him working on Applejack's farm, she had told herself that he must be improving and learning to live here. She occasionally stopped by the farm to check in on Applejack and see how Connor was doing. Applejack had said Connor had taken a fondness to using her punching bag everyday after work. Outside of that, nothing seemed outside of the ordinary. However, she did hear a couple of days ago while she was out doing some errands that Applejack had given the new pony the day off while she was out in canterlot to run errands. Rumor has it, he was an antisocial ruffian or bandit hiding out at the Apple farm since he never spent more than a few hours in town and never bought anything. Twilight knew the rumor about Connor being a bandit wasn't true, but it still had some truth in it. She had tried to question some of the ponies around town if they had any more information on the new pony before scolding them slightly for spreading hurtful rumors.
The next day after she heard the rumors, Twilight actually spotted Connor out and around town through the library window. She couldn't call out to him because she was in the middle of helping a pony trying to find a book he had read before but could only remember a particular picture in it. The old pony was not helping speed up the process as he seemed to constantly change his mind on if it was the picture of Daring Do and her sidekick escaping an angry pony tribe, or the biological and molecular breakdown of a peanut, or something else. When she finally found the book he was looking for, which was a childrens' book for his grandcolt, Twilight tried to head out of the library and catch up to Connor but was too late to find him on the streets of Ponyville. She was getting worried because Connor seemed to be walking in a trance through the streets. It was possible that he was hiding his true emotions and they were slowly eroding away at his insides. Even though Ponyville was a small rural town, it was still sometimes hard to find somepony as one pony might have seen him go one way, and another pony seen him head the other. She would have to wait until a day where she scheduled an open free time to go looking for Connor and question him about his mental state. For now, Twilight would have to do with sending another report to Celestia.
Sunday was actually a day she had scheduled some free time for herself. This worked out perfectly for her because once she finished reshelving all the returned books and had a real meal at lunchtime cooked by Spike, she could head out and search the town for Connor. The last book thunked softly as it was pushed back into it's rightful place and Twilight let out a sigh of relief. Next was to get some food before leaving to track down Connor. She walked down a flight of stairs and into the main library floor and headed for the kitchen door where meal-making sounds could be heard and the smell of delicious food wafted out from the other side. But before she could place a hoof on the door handle, she heard a knocking at the door. Twilight found this peculiar because the library was a public establishment with an open door policy. Knocking was reserved to those who were from outside of town or those who thought the tree house was just that, a house. She walked over to the front door and swung it wide open with her magic to see who was standing at her door.
The first thing she was the awful condition this pony was in. bruises were popping out from behind a blue coat all over the body. The wings' edges were the unnatural color of plums and the wing joints were swollen to the size of her hoof. In fact, it looked like every joint on the body was swollen to some degree. The Pegasus before her was shifting his weight back and forth, trying to favor all of his legs. The hooves were cracked and in bad shape; their condition probably would have made rarity faint. Twilight's eyes finally made the trip up the body and looked at who was standing before her. His mane was a dirty mess and his eyes looked like they have not had a decent night of sleep in awhile. But his eyes held a new fire in them, unlike before where they looked defeated and hopeless.
“Hey,” Connor said.
“Um, hi. Are, you okay? Do you want to come inside?”
“Please.”
Twilight stepped to the side to allow Connor to enter. She winced a little as she watched him limp his way through the door. She closed the door once he cleared the entrance and joined him by his side. She guided him to a pillow to sit on near a table while she levitated a first aid box down from the bathroom.
“Are you okay, Connor? You look terrible! Not to sound rude or anything, but you look like you just had a fight with an Ursa Major.”
“Um, I’ll take your word for it, but yeah, I’ve been better. I was hoping you could help me out a little.”
As Connor spoke Twilight was working on bandaging Connor up as well as using her magic to speed up the recovery on some of the injuries that covered his body. He winced and twitched a little as she applied the medical supplies on him. She was glad that she read so many advanced medical treatment books in case she or her friends ever got seriously injured on their adventures. Most of the injuries were simple fixes for her magic to handle. However some of the more severe ones, like his wings, she was only able to reduce the overall swelling down to a common sprain. It would be a couple days before it would completely heal.
Spike called out from the kitchen, “Hey Twilight! Food's ready!”
“Thanks Spike! I’ll be there in a minute!” She shouted back through the kitchen door.
“Hey Twilight,” she reassigned her attention back on Connor before he continued, “Do you think I could have some food too?”
“Sure,” Twilight turned back to the kitchen to shout again, “Hey Spike! Could you make some extra? We have somepony joining us for lunch!”
“Sure Twilight! You can count on me, no problem!”
Twilight finished up working her magic and bandaging Connor and stepped back to look at her work. It was very well done with every bandage perfectly wrapped in a neat fashion that was both compressive yet not restrictive. Just then, a purple dragon loaded with with a tray full of sandwiches and drinks came out of the kitchen door. The sandwiches were thick with lettuce, tomato, fried eggs, melted cheddar cheese, sauces and topped with dandelions with a side of celery sticks and dip and glasses filled with a sweet fruity drink. He did a double take when he spotted Connor wrapped up like a mummy and sitting before Twilight who was putting away medical supplies in the first aid box.
“Hey! Aren't you the pony that came out of the portal with Twilight about a week ago?” Spike set the food and drinks down on the table that Twilight and Connor were around.
“Um, yeah. That's me. And who are you?” Connor said in a tired tone.
Spike puffed out his chest and jabbed a thumb at himself, “My name is Spike and I’m Twilight's number one assistant and I’m also a dragon!” He ended with confidence rolling off his voice.
“A dragon, huh?” Connor cocked an eyebrow up, “Sure, and back where I’m from, I’m the ruler of a country.”
“Really?” Spike looked up at him with believing eyes while Twilight shot a disapproving stare. Connor got the message and corrected himself.
“No, I was being facetious.”
“What does that mean?”
“I was being sarcastic.”
“Huh?”
“As in I was lying to you.”
“So if you're not a ruler of a country, then...”
“I was making fun of you!” Connor raised his voice in frustration causing Spike to recoil in fear thinking Connor was going to burst out into another fit of insults. But he simmered down to put his hoof to his temple before continuing, “I'm sorry. The last few days have been tough on me and it has made me grumpy. What I want to say is, 'Hi, my name is Connor. Nice to meet you'.”
Connor stuck out his hoof in offer of a hoof shake which Spike was hesitant to take, but took with a firm grasp.
Twilight and Connor sat there and ate in silence while Spike went back to the kitchen to make himself a meal and to leave the two of them alone. The air had a tense awkwardness to it as they sat and ate. Twilight knew Connor wouldn't be here without a reason. So he must have something that he wanted to talk about. She kept watching him out of the corner of her eye waiting for an indication to start a conversation. But he simply ate his food hungrily and drank from his glass to wash it all down. When they finished, they sat there not looking at each other. The silence and stillness was agonizing. It felt like time had frozen and the seconds that ticked by were like minutes. Twilight stared at Connor who stared down at his plate and struggled with starting the conversation.
Eventually, Connor looked up from his plate, “Twilight, I need to talk to you.”
He paused, as if waiting for the right words to come to him. Twilight looked at him inviting Connor to continue, “And what do you want to talk about?”
He let out a breath before continuing, “Well, there's a lot I want to say...”
~~~
So Connor talked, and ranted, and yelled, and quivered on the verge of tears as he expressed his feelings and thoughts over the past week that he had bottled up after he arrived in Twilight's world. She sat there and listened patiently as Connor stormed around the library floor letting all of his pent up emotions out. She offered words of understanding, concern, sympathy, and even put a comforting wing around him when he was about to break down into tears. Twilight could tell Connor was not yelling at her as if this was all her fault. He was upset about the situation and needed somepony to talk to. He told her about his trip from the castle and how he arrived in Ponyville without hiding any details. He recounted his meeting with some bullies from town and how he came to meet Scootaloo and how he ended up as her foalsitter. Then he described his descent into his depression. By this point, Connor was on the verge of tears and Twilight had put a comforting wing around him. He breathed in a shaky breath several times to calm himself before continuing. When he had finished his story and told Twilight his goals he wanted to accomplish while he was stuck in this world, Twilight waited several moments, not talking or moving and just comforted him to keep Connor from openly crying. When she was sure Connor was stable, she finally let go to look at him.
“Feel better?” She asked in a comforting tone.
“Yeah,” he sniffed a little, still trying to steady himself.
“I'm glad you feel better. And I am glad you didn't keep this to yourself to hide away. The first step to getting better is to share your feelings with somepony, or somebody, else.” Twilight sat down again from across the table and gave a warm smile.
“Yeah, I know that,” He scrubbed at his eyes one final time before his usual hard expression returned to look at her.
“And I think it's great that you have given yourself some goals to aim for while I work on fixing the portal. You said that you wanted to apologize to everypony and wanted to learn how to fly?”
“Yeah...?” he leaned on his elbows on the table and gave Twilight a disgruntled skeptical look while she put a hoof to her chin in thought.
“Well, if you want a really good teacher in flying, I can only think of one other pony that might be willing to help out with that. She is really good; probably one of the best in Equestria!”
“Equestria?” Connor furrowed his brow in confusion.
“Equestria is the name of the kingdom we live in. there are other kingdoms as well, but we can talk about them later. The pony I have in mind was also at portal when we first came through, so you can also make your apology there when you meet her!” Twilight clapped her hooves in glee at her master plan to kill two birds with one stone; figuratively speaking.
[Hey, hey, hey, calm down Fluttershy! It wasn't meant sound like we actually killed birds! All your bird friends are fine!]
Twilight saw Connor look at her excitement with wariness. Twilight knew who she was talking about and thought if she could position it correctly like Princess Celestia could, everything would work according to plan.
“Come on! Let me show you the pony that can teach you how to fly!” Twilight got up and trotted over to the door with a bounce in her step. She opened the door to the bright day outside and invited Connor to join her. He stared for a second before sighing again in his tired fashion and slowly got up. Even though most of his injuries were healed, his body would still be sore for a day.
He calmly walked out and as he passed her he said, “Alright Twilight, show me who this amazing teacher is.”
~~~
It took a little searching, but Twilight finally found the pony she was looking for. Rainbow dash was just outside of town in one of the many fields surrounding Ponyville practicing her stunts. The area around the practice zone had a couple of new craters so it looked like Rainbow was preforming at usual standards; those standards being pushing herself past the point of control and crash landing somewhere nearby. Just another normal day.
As Twilight and Connor approached, they could see Rainbow Dash preforming a couple of loop-de-loops into a barrel roll before breaking off into a long sweeping turn. Twilight waited for Rainbow to come around from her turn before trying to shout up at her.
“Hey Rainbow!” she called out as the Rainbow maned Pegasus flew over them. The Pegasus did a quick split S turn and made a close flyby of the pair before coming to a lazy hover in mid air on her back.
“What's up, Twilight? Haven't seen you around in a while,” She said with an air of calm coolness.
“I've been busy with a bunch of things. But I was wondering if you could help me.”
“You? The great and powerful princess Twilight needs the help of the greatest flier in all of Equestria that has ever lived?” Rainbow Dash twirled into the air and ended her sentence with striking a starfish pose to show case her talents.
“Sounds like an awesome adventure in the making if I ever heard one! What are we doing? Do you need me to do my Sonic Rain Boom again so you can study the effects of awesomeness rushing over you? Or how about you need somepony to lead an expedition down a forgotten temple filled with booby traps just like in Daring Do?”
“Well, actually it has to do with our new friend here,” Twilight stepped back a little so Connor would be in view of Rainbow Dash. She glowered at him as her eyes scanned over his body, taking in the bandages and bedraggled look.
“Oh, him? Yeah, I saw you two coming the moment you passed by sugar cube corner. But I thought you had something else important beside him. That reminds me, this is for that 'Ms. Protein Shake' name you called me!” Rainbow zoomed off into the sky and returned with a rain cloud. She stuck it over Connor and gave it a good kick. The cloud opened up with a downpour soaking Connor from head to hoof. His coat and hair got sopping wet with water and the dirt began to run off his body. Rainbow Dash laughed at his misfortune but he just stuck a hoof in his hair to rub the water in and gave his head a shake. But other than that, he seemed unaffected by it. In fact, he looked like he was enjoying the rain and even had a soft smile on his mouth.
Rainbow Dash landed next to Twilight confused about why Connor was not shouting at her for getting him soaked. Rainbow leaned into Twilight to whisper, “Hey Twilight, is he right in the head? Also, I’ve been meaning to ask you: what's a protein shake?”
“I have no idea,” Twilight answered, “But I was hoping you could help Connor learn to fly. He told me that he wants to learn how to fly since he is stuck in this world until I fix the portal.”
Connor stepped out from beneath the rain cloud and shook himself out like a dog after playing in the lake. He was much cleaner now after all the dirt and grime was washed off his body.
“Hah! So you want me to teach him how to fly?! No way Twilight! I'd rather fight a Manticore with one wing tied behind my back than try to teach a jerk!” Rainbow took off again as if to distance herself from the terrible idea.
“Come on, Dash! You taught other ponies how to fly before! What about that one time you and Spitfire taught that class of school fillies?”
“That was a one time thing and Spitfire said it was for a secret mission. And I thought we weren't going to talk about it, It's supposed to be a secret!” Dash shouted over her shoulder, now no longer facing Twilight.
“Well, you did keep bragging about it for a week when you finally got back. But I can understand the challenge of teaching a pony can be quite difficult,” Twilight turned away in false defeat, “Not everypony is cut out to be a teacher.” Twilight glanced over her shoulder at Rainbow dash. She was still not facing Twilight as she hovered in place, but her ears were twitching and swiveling around to listen more closely. Twilight had seen Princess Celestia use this kind of reverse psychology before. Twilight could feel she was close to convincing her strong-headed friend to help Connor; all she need to do was push a little bit harder.
“I guess I could teach Connor how to fly. It's not that hard to learn.”
“Ha!” Rainbow Dash scoffed, “You teach somepony how to fly? Don’t be ridiculous! You're still having trouble getting off the ground, let alone have a steady flight path!”
“I bet I could be a better teacher at flying than you, Rainbow,” Twilight stared challengingly at her friend, “Remember the 'Running of The Leaves' three years ago? I came in 5th over all after just reading a few books on how to run races.”
Connor was darting back and forth between looking at the two mares with a worried expression as the conversation was escalating. He wasn't sure of what Twilight was trying to get out of Rainbow Dash; whether it was just a shouting match or to get Dash to help him learn how to fly.
Twilight could teach Connor how to fly, but she wanted to get Rainbow Dash to teach him. It would give them time to learn about each other and forgive one another all while learning the art of flight.
“That was just luck! If I wasn't so busy with Applejack that time, I would have beaten everypony. And me not able to teach a pony how to fly? I could teach Tank's relatives how to fly.” Dash folded her arms and turned her nose to the sky.
“Oh yeah?” Twilight challenged, “Prove it! Show me that you are a better teacher than me!” Twilight stared down Rainbow dash with savage victory in her eyes because she knew she just won.
“You forget Twilight, I'm the one who taught you how to fly! And I’ll do better than just teach. I’ll make him the best flier in all of Equestria in not time flat; second best flier, I mean.” she rounded on Connor who took a step back and braced himself for the impending insanity.
“Alright you, you... uh, what's your name?”
“Connor,” he answered.
“Alright, Connor! From now on you will be under a strict regiment of training from here on out! For the next few days, you will eat, drink, sleep, and train like you have never trained before! I’ll get those wings of yours so strong, you'll be flying circles around the Wonderbolts!”
“The who?” he tilted his head in confusion.
“Anyways! Your training begins right now, and I don’t want to hear any kind of whining. Now give me 20 laps around the track!” Rainbow Dash shouted in her best impersonation of a drill sergeant.
“Hey Twilight,” he leaned to the side to speak even though Rainbow was in the air, “What about my jobs with Applejack and Scootaloo? I still have to do those.”
“I think I can talk to applejack and let you have half of the day to train with Rainbow Dash. Does the afternoon sound good for training?”
“Yeah, the afternoons would be best.”
“Okay then, I’ll let applejack know. As for Scootaloo, you can still make your check ups on her even during training, right?”
“Yeah, I guess I could. Okay, thanks Twilight.”
“AHEEM!!” a loud clearing of a throat came behind Connor and he looked to see Rainbow still hovering there impatiently.
“Okay, okay, I’m going,” he chuckled to himself, “You sound like one of my crazy instructors.” he trotted off at a brisk pace while Twilight and Rainbow Dash stayed behind.
“Don't be too hard on him, okay Rainbow?” Twilight looked at her friend who landed next to her.
“I won't make any promises. He's got a lot to learn if he wants to fly. In the mean time, I’m going to ask him what a protein shake is. See you later, Twilight!” dash streaked after Connor in a blur of Rainbow colors leaving Twilight alone in the open field.
She stared after the two pegasi with a little doubt in her mind, but the doubt was overruled with renewed satisfaction. Connor was tough and was able to withstand everything that happened to him in the last seven days or so before breaking down and needing help. That spoke volumes about his character and perseverance. But it also said something about his willingness to ask for help. It took him to feel absolute sadness and loneliness before he finally asked for her help. After hearing his rant, Twilight realized she needed to take a more active role in monitoring Connor. She was going to need to do more than simply look in to see how he was doing at a glance. Twilight needed to talk with him and get a full understanding of his current emotional state. For now though, Connor was on the right path to accepting his new body and surroundings. Twilight could hear her teacher now saying, “Good job, Twilight. I’m very proud of you.”
Twilight smiled and headed back to her library and home, where Spike was waiting with a full course dinner prepared and a new report waiting to be sent off to the Princess.
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This story just got 20% better.
5941705 next thing to do is get better, faster, and stronger!
5942088 And it will only cost six million bits....
I was hoping you made a scene where Conner got to see RD give birth to one of those craters in the practice field
5942088 I see what you did there!
Connor's venting was a little weak, I think. Too much tell.
And you're still not capitalizing all the names.
Sadly the link doesn’t work anymore