The First Journey: Feelings of Etherealism

by Kaille

Chapter 17

~Chapter 17: Symptoms~

"Hey Chroma, I would like you to meet Spurspark!"

We walked back to Chroma's place for me to introduce her to my long-time friend, and were greeted comically. The last thing she new was that we had both gone to bed a few hours ago, and suddenly, here I am, wide awake, bringing a stranger to her door, when she didn't even hear me leave; there was a loud exclamation and a popping noise, and when she checked my room, I was gone. She panicked a little, wondering where the hay I disappeared to without telling her, in the middle of the night, and then there was a knock on her front door, leading to the present moment.

". . . Why the hay are you introducing me to someone so early in the morning, Ink?" She groaned, rubbing her eyes with a hoof.

I grinned sheepishly. "Yeah. . . His arrival here was kind of spur of the moment. Sorta like his name." Spurspark chuckled next to me. "Twilight and Rainbow Dash found him, and Twilight teleported me to her place to meet up with him."

Chroma groaned again. "And she couldn't wait until morning?"

Spurspark smiled slightly. "Well, I was somewhat out of sorts. Even managed to scare myself to the point of accidentaly blowing off my tail." He turned slightly to show off his seared rear.

Chroma's eyes widened. "Uhh. . . I don't know how to react to that."

Spark and I laughed at this. "Well, I think I might just hang out with him for a bit before returning. Get him set up in town and the like. Mind if I borrow a key for when I come back?"

She smirked. "Fine, fine. . ." She disentangled the one form her wing and passed it over to me, and I retangled it into my own. Spark stared at us questioningly all the while.

"Uhh, Ink, Chroma. . . Are you two. . . You know. . . A thing?" He said awkwardly.

Chroma and I blinked, and our eyes widened. "Oh, no, we're not-"

"I mean that would be weird-"

"Yeah, we hardly know each other-"

"I'm just lending a helping hoof-"

"Yeah, just in return for me doing so. . ."

An awkward silence stretched for a few seconds before Spark burst into uncontrollable laughter. Chroma and I blushed, trying to not look at each other. "Oh, man, Ink, that was good! Well, we should let you get back to bed, Chroma. I will catch you around town, then!" Her and I nodded, and we parted. We started down the road in Ponyville, heading to the hotel.

I turned to my friend. "That was kinda uncalled for."

He blinked and looked at me. "Huh? What?"

I looked forward again, the corners of my mouth turning down slightly. "I have never thought of her that way. That made me pretty uncomfortable."

He frowned. "Sorry man, you two were just kinda familiar with each other. Hell, you LIVE together. Kinda hard NOT to get that sort of idea."

I closed my eyes and sighed. "Yeah, I see that, but she is just paying me back for helping her. It is completely innocent." However, in my mind, ideas were churning, and opinions examined. How DO I feel about her. . ? Have I grown more attached to her than I realize?

When I opened my eyes again Spurspark was staring at me. "What did you do to help her that she is letting you stay with her?"

I stared forward again and walked silently for a few seconds, wondering how to put it. "Well, I found her injured in the woods. I splinted her and brought her to the hospital, and then visited her as much as possible for about two weeks. I wanted to make sure she was alright."

His eyes widened. "What kind of injuries?"

I turned to him again, looking him in the eyes. "Broken wing, broken foreleg, blood loss, head injury."

His jaw dropped and he abruptly stopped in the path. "Holy shit, dude."

I nodded. "Yeah."

We resumed walking again, continuing in silence, until we reached the hotel. I opened the door and let Spark in first, then followed. Bill wasn't at the counter, but the little bell was there. I walked over and rang it, resulting in a little peal of sound that announced our presence. I heard a slight groan and the shuffling of sheets, followed by the first door down the hall opening. Bill walked out, rubbed his eyes once, and then turned to us. He smiled when he saw me.

"Ink! Well, I didn't expect to see you here! Whats the occasion?"

I smiled in return. "Sorry for waking you. My friend here needs a room. Is the one I used still available? I will pay for his first few nights until he has a source of income."

He walked over and glanced at his book, sliding down the page for the room number. He stopped on one line and then looked across it, and smiled. "Yep! It's free."

I grinned and nodded, turning to my friend. He was smiling back to me. "Well, there you go. Come by and see me tomorrow at Chroma's; there are a few things we are going to need to work out, but sleep comes first. I will see you then, alright?"

He nodded. "Sounds good bro."

I turned back to Bill. "Do you mind if I stop by tomorrow with the first payment?"

He waved his hoof dismissively. "Not a problem Ink. I will see you tomorrow then." He turned to Spurspark. "So, shall I show you to your room, Mr. . ?"

My friend smiled and walked over, offering a hoof to shake. "Spurspark. And you are. . ?"

Bill smiled back and accepted the outstretched limb. "Bill Ledger. Great to meet you."

They nodded to me, and I nodded back. They started down the hall towards his room, so I turned and left. I needed to return to my interrupted beauty sleep.

~

When I woke up later that day, it was not a pleasant way to do so.

Explosions.

Very loud and obnoxious ones.

And they WOULD.

NOT.

STOP!

I snarled and jumped out of bed, rushing out the door of my room. I heard heavy hoof falls and turned down the hall to see Chroma storming down, a scowl to match my own on her face. We charged for the door and went outside, only to see my friend out on the path in front of her house. He was sitting on the ground, face contorted in effort, sweat pouring from his brow, and fireworks shooting from his horn at a constant rate.

"SPURSPARK!"

His eyes shot open in surprise and his forehooves pushed off the ground flailing, resulting in him falling backwards, hooves in the air. The fireworks stopped. Oh sweet, blessed silence!

"Uhh - hey Ink. Thanks for that."

"What the buck were you doing that for?!" Chroma yelled at him.

He got back up and grinned at us sheepishly. "Sorry. Can't control my magic yet; it kinda just started out of no where, and I couldn't stop it, no matter how hard I tried."

I groaned and facehoofed. "We need to get you to Twilight for training. Stat."

"OHMYGOSHTHATWASSOAWESOME! WHERE DID IT COME FROM?!"

A bright pink blur blew over and stopped right in Spark's face, nose-to-nose. "HEY! Was that you? I don't recognize you! You must be new! And you make FIREWORKS! Ohmygoshwearegoingtogetalongsowell!"

Then, just as quickly as she arrived, she was gone.

All of us stood there in stunned silence, until we burst into uncontrollable laughter. All the ponies nearby stared at us like we were insane while they trotted by, speeding up whenever they got close to us. When we recovered, the anger of before was completely gone.

I walked over to my friend and shook my head, grinning. "Well, let's take you over to Twilight."

He nodded, and we started off. I waved to Chroma and she waved back, returning to the confines of her house. We arrived at the library and I knocked on the door. She answered and smiled upon seeing us. "I was hoping you would stop by! Please, come in!" We thanked her and entered the hollowed-out tree, filled with books crafted from mutilated trees. I reflected for a moment on the irony of that; a living tree housing dead ones.

The three of us trotted over and sat around the table in the main room in a triangular formation. We sat for a moment silently, Spark looking between Twilight and I who were staring at each other knowingly. She sighed and turned to my friend. "We need to send you to Celestia."

He balked at her. "I - but - what?"

It was my turn to sigh. "When I arrived, I needed to be brought to Celestia. She needed to make sure I wasn't a threat to Equestria. She will need to do the same for you."

Spark began to protest. "But I'm not a threat! You know that!"

"Yes I do, but she needs to know as well, and she needs to come to that conclusion herself, not based on my word alone."

He sighed. "You're right. Dammit Connor, you are too logical."

We all shared a quick laugh, and I turned to Twilight. "Now, for the next thing, do you mind teaching him how to contain his magic? He woke Chroma and I with an obnoxious fireworks display earlier."

She laughed. "So that was what that was! Yeah, we should do that just after I send a request to Celestia for a meeting. It would not be very optimal to have you walk into the main hall spewing explosions from your horn like no tomorrow."

Spurspark blushed. "Yeah. Might not give the best first impression, eh?"

I nodded. "So, without further ado, I shall leave you two to get started. I need to get to Sweet Apple Acres and get to work anyway."

My friend looked at me mildly upset. "You arent going to help me?"

I tapped my forehead with a hoof. "Kinda can't. No horn and all that, yah know?"

He shook his head. "No, with Celestia?"

I shook my head now. "Not my place. I will not allow my presence to affect her decision in any way. Besides, AJ doesn't know about you yet, and she would be wondering why I missed a day of work."

He nodded. "Ahh. Okay. You know, you have a habit of being too honourable sometimes."

I laughed. "I wouldn't call that a vice, Spark. Anyway, toodles!"

We all waved to each other and I departed.

~

Later that day, up in Canterlot after Spurspark's meeting with the two Royal Alicorn sisters, Celestia was just finishing up day court when Luna trotted in, ready to begin her part of her royal duty. Celestia smiled to her younger sibling. "Good morning Luna. You slept well, I trust?"

She nodded. "Aye, sister. We feel most refreshed. However, we have been having a recurring dream that we wish to speak of in private, if thou dost not mind."

Celestia frowned. "Of course." She addressed her subjects that she would be stepping out of the room for a moment and took her sister to the meeting room off to the side designed for only a handful of ponies to be in at a time. She nodded to the guards and they stepped out. She locked the door behind them and cast a safety spell around the room, preventing anyone from eavesdropping on their conversation in any way. She turned to Luna now, but before she could say anything, she was tackled by the midnight blue alicorn, who hugged her neck forcefully and began to cry into her neck.

She was shocked for a moment before she hugged her sibling back, now incredibly worried. "Whats wrong, Luna?"

Her sister cried for a few more seconds before managing to get a few words out.

"It's the Nightmare again."

Comments

[Halo Prime]

NEXT CHAPTER!! I NEED THE NEXT CHAPTER!!!

[Kaille]

1034057
Soon. Haven't started it yet, though.

[ArcaneAngel]

1035438

You are such a tease!