Two days, it had been a full two days, and I still hadn’t seen nor heard from Cheerilee. I thought for sure she would at least be out around town getting things for her home or…something. Fang had been right about one thing though; the mares were a bit more flirtatious around some of the single stallions I had come to know. It only reminded me of my fuck up and drove a nail into my heart.
“Still thinking about her?” Twig asked as we ate lunch at one of our favorite restaurants. “Yeah…never had this problem before so I’ve got no idea what to do,” I sighed.
“Talk to her?” Twig suggested.
“What would I say ‘hey Cheerilee, sorry you woke up next to your student” I replied with an eye roll.
“Just trying to help,” Twig shrugged taking sip from his drink.
“I know, it just sucks feeling this way,” I said.
“You might want to say hi first,” Twig smirked.
I was about to comment until I noticed he was looking past me. I turned around to see Cheerilee, standing there awkwardly on the other side of the street. Her expression seemed to fluctuate between neutral and nervous. I assumed seeing me in public probably didn’t help, but if she was upset, why didn’t she move on?
As I watched he, I saw her put a hoof forward cautiously, but quickly retract it from the road as if it had harmed her somehow. All the while her eyes were locked on me; the usual confidence they carried within was now missing. Yet I sat still in the chair, not sure of what to do myself after our awkward break from one another’s company.
“Well, I think it’s about time I started making my way back home,” Twig said, rising from his seat.
“You can’t leave me here,” I said, trying my best to prevent my voice from wavering. “I don’t know how to deal with this.”
“It looks like neither of you do,” the griffon commented before taking off into the sky.
I looked over to see Cheerilee on my side of the street now, her ears folded back against her head. Both of us were unable to really make eye contact with the other after what had happened. I took some comfort in knowing that I wasn’t the only one feeling conflicted.
“Hi,” Cheerilee said, barely audible over the background noise.
“Hi,” I replied, forcing myself to keep my eyes locked on her.
Cheerilee let out a sigh as she took the seat Twig had occupied a few minutes ago. There was no avoiding her now; this had to be addressed one way or another. Perhaps things could just go back to the way they were before we both got drunk.
“So…about the other day…” Cheeriee started.
“I’m sorry,” I said before she could finish.
“I am too,” Cheerilee’s expression seemed to shift into one of relief for a split second before being swallowed up by fear once more. “I wish I could say we weren’t being ourselves…but, all alcohol really does is tear down one’s mental filters.”
I sat up a bit straighter in my seat as she finished her sentence. While there was a bit of teasing between friends, I hadn’t actually considered it truly “romantic” and was curious if I had really been so dense as to not notice any subtle hints that had been dropped. I would be lying if I didn’t get a bit turned on trying to envision what that night had looked like, living out a fantasy I had when I was young.
“So what happens now?” I asked. “I’m still learning your pony norms.”
“Well, if you were a stallion…you’d have to decide if you want to keep things…mutual, or…or,” Cheerilee gently rubbed a hoof against the table. “Or see where this takes us…since you’re the first…and that’s how it’s supposed to work…”
“Are you saying you want to give this an honest shot?” I found myself stunned that she would even be considering this after the way she had chased me off. “And…I’m really your first?”
“Big Mac and I…never did anything, even though a lot of ponies thought we did,” Cheerilee confessed.
“How have you kept your sanity?” I asked.
“A mare has ways of getting by…though there are some hard times,” Cheerilee seemed to be fighting back a very, very small smile as we talked about things that I didn’t think we ever would.
This brought back the bigger question of if there was anything there between us, emotionally. After a literal fuck up Cheerilee saw us as attached, or so she claimed. I would have probably tried to work through this and see if it went anywhere, but I knew Vesper had feelings for me as well, and she had been around a lot longer than Cheerilee had.
I was no pony, but I wasn’t comfortable to just leave Cheerilee hanging. She had done so much for me, and endured silly questions that only served to prove how ignorant of their ways I was. The thought of abandoning her was repulsive the more I thought about it.
I closed my eyes in thought as the mental tug of war between the two mares continued to pull my heart back and forth. Vesper would be home soon, and Cheerilee was probably not in the mental state to wait…unless…
“Cheerilee,” I said opening my eyes. “I’m willing to give this an honest shot,” I said, my heart aching a bit less when I saw her eyes gain a bit of their former confidence.
“I didn’t think you’d say yes,” Cheerilee smiled.
“That being said, there is another mare that has been vying for my attention and I don’t think I have it in me to break her heart,” I said, bracing myself for an upset mare.
“Oh, I see,” Cheerilee averted her gaze. “Well, I’m not going to go behind her back so-“
“I wasn’t asking you to, I was wondering if you would be up for the whole herding thing?” I asked.
“Herding,” Cheerilee seemed to mull on the word for a bit before replying. “I guess I could give it a try, I’d at least like to meet this mare first, but if you’re willing to find room in your heart for us, I’m willing to work with you.”
Fang’s words came back to the forefront of my mind. IF what he said was true, then this would be a very tricky process that had a high probability of failing. Still, Cheerilee had said she was willing to try, and I was too. The only variable now, was how Vesper would react, and if I could get the two mares to see eye to eye.
----
Vesper had slept well during the day, or perhaps the night, she couldn’t be sure. The forest blocked out the light on a supernatural level. Thankfully, Vesper’s echolocation spared her the grief of stumbling around in the dark, but it did slow her down slightly as she tried to navigate through the dense vegetation.
Waiting for her when she had stirred, was the unicorn that had identified herself as Mother Midnight. The unicorn’s presence and condition raised several questions about the forest such as this mare’s place of origin or story behind living in the forest.
“I was wondering when you’d wake up,” Midnight said. “You must have been extremely tired to sleep half the day away.”
“Half the day?” Vesper asked surprised. “Oh, I’ve lost so much time then!”
The thestral was about to dash out the door until she was stopped by a strange aura. Midnight shook her head and put a hoof up against her lips. Vesper watched as the mare went from pleasant to chillingly serious in a matter of seconds.
Vesper was about to question her, until the faintest sound of twigs snapping made her eyes go wide in realization. It became louder and louder as Midnight extinguished the glow of her horn. Hoping that whatever was out there hadn’t seen them yet.
The noise stopped only a few yards away from where the two mares were taking cover. The only sound that indicated whatever was out there hadn’t left was the deep breathing Vesper’s ears could pick up. After what felt like an eternity of waiting, whatever was outside started moving again, the sounds of its passage growing quieter and quieter.
“What was that?” Vesper asked.
“A colossal shade, one of the many beings that roam the forest, lost to the sands of time,” Midnight explained. “You can’t stay here much longer, they’ll find you eventually. We have to get you to the tree, follow me.”
Vesper nodded silently as the light from Midnight’s horn appeared once more. Vesper followed the light as the blind mare easily navigated the forest, stopping every once in a while to let Vesper catch up. Hissing for the mare to keep up, despite her age and disability, she was able to outpace the tired thestral, even after a good day’s sleep.
Soon, even the light from Midnight’s horn started to fade in the inky darkness. Vesper relied once more on her echo location, dodging branches and brier patches to keep up with the mare that was proving difficult to detect, even with her echo location.
Suddenly the mare stopped, causing Vesper to almost crash into the mare. She briefly wondered if she had become lost, but as she continued to make subtle clicking sounds she saw the mare moving into what appeared to be a clearing. There was a single tree in the middle of the clearing. Above it was a very small stream of light coming from the sky that was blocked off by the gnarled, seemingly dead branches of the other trees.
“This is it,” Midnight said. “The tree that can give you the life you want…”
Vesper’s heart started to beat a bit faster as she approached the tree. Finally, she was looking at the answer to the obstacle keeping her from Benjamin. With this, she could finally do things with Benjamin without the pain of exhaustion. There would be no more earl alarms, no more glasses that kept her eyes safe from the sun.
“There’s something you should know about this fruit,” Midnight spoke up just as Vesper reached the trunk of the tree. “If you eat it, there will be no going back to your former life. Something to consider before you partake of it. It’s something I learned long ago…I felt I should warn you.”
Vesper carefully considered her warning. This whole time she had thought of nothing but being able to walk beside the other ponies in Ponyville. Now that she was here, she realized the magnitude of what she was about to do. She was about to leave behind her family, the ones that loved her first.
“Do I have to choose now?” Vesper asked looking at one of the small seeds that had spilt from a rotten fruit of the tree, the lack of sunlight funneled into a single stream which was just barely enough to keep the large tree alive. Its seedlings would never be able to sprout without the light. She picked it up and studied it, dropping it when she heard several branches breaking behind them.
“Time isn’t a luxury you have,” Midnight said, her ears swiveling towards the disturbance.
“What about you?” Vesper asked as she flew up towards a ripe looking fruit.
“I’ve dwelt in this forest for years now…I’ll be fine,” Midnight said with a bit of sorrow in her voice.
“I won’t forget you,” Vesper said as she pulled the fruit free from the tree. She sank her teeth into the skin and started to drain the fruit of its juices. It was a sickly sweet taste, it almost tasted like liquefied jelly beans and suckers.
Before she could even finish the fruit, she noticed her vision closing around her, causing her to panic as foreign sounds echoed around her. She could no longer see around her, even the light that had found a way past the dark canopy of the forest was becoming dimmer. The darkness was beginning to disorient her.
“Vesper, you have to fly!” Midnight shouted. “Fly up!”
Vesper shook her head in a vain attempt to focus her rapidly deteriorating vision. She flew up, her hoof brushing against a thick tree limb. She swept a foreleg from side to side, trying to find any tree limbs that she might bump into. Her actions didn’t go unnoticed, and she could hear several pops and cracks amongst the tree tops.
The thestral began to panic as the sounds started to grow louder from all sides. Still, she flew on, occasionally bumping into the odd branch in her frantic bid to get to the top. As she flew, she thought she could hear whispering around her. Occasionally she could make out words like “stop or “stay.” She could only assume it was her pursuers that were speaking in a hushed voice.
Vesper feared that her quest was about to end horribly when she suddenly found herself unable to move. She began to lose consciousness as the warm darkness surrounded her in a pleasant heat; brought to an end by a sudden rush of cold across her coat.
The thestral began to cough cold water from her mouth as she got to her hooves. Her vision was limited for some reason; her eyes only picking up a few dim lights ahead of her. In her dazed state she started to walk towards one of the lights in the hopes of trying to get her bearings.
“What happened?” Vesper asked herself as she regained a bit of her visibility. “I was…dead, wasn’t I?”
Vesper couldn’t comprehend how she was still alive, or why she had been brought to the edge of the forest where she had begun. She briefly considered the possibility of all of her experiences being a dream, but a quick lick of her parched lips told her otherwise, the sickly sweet taste of the fruit lingering behind.
It had been real, but what had become of Midnight? Was she still trapped in the woods? Had she been attacked by the creatures that lurked within the dark woods. The thought of her guide suffering a horrible fate was one she dwelt on long, as a familiar scent graced her nostrils, she was home again.
“But…” Vesper struggled to process her surroundings with a lingering haze.
“Vesper?” the sound of her sister’s voice seemed to bring her out of her dazed state slightly.
“Ruby?” Vesper mumbled, only able to see a set of shimmering eyes approaching her.
“Vesper, where did you go?” Ruby asked, studying her sibling.
“I went to find a tree…how did I get back?” Vesper asked.
“Sweet Celestia…what happened to your eyes?” Ruby gasped.
“My eyes?” Vesper raised a puzzled eyebrow at her sister’s question.
Vesper noticed another puddle near her and looked down at her reflection. Where there had once been a pair of beautiful yellow orbs with slit pupils now sat two copper colored eyes with circular pupils; just like those that the other three tribes possessed.
“By the moon…” Vesper mumbled as she stared at herself.
“So it’s true, you did eat the fruit from the tree,” Ruby said.
“I didn’t think it would do this to me…” Vesper recalled the warning Midnight had given her, still unsure how she had escaped the forest.
“What will mom and dad think when they see you?” Ruby asked rhetorically. “Dad won’t be pleased with what you’ve done.”
“I know…that’s why I need you to get my stuff while I head to the station,” Vesper said. “Just tell them I got called back to duty at the last second.”
“Are you sure you’re going to be okay sis?” Ruby asked.
“I’ll be fine, I just need to be a lone for a while without ponies hovering over me and asking questions,” Vesper replied. “Please just tell them that I had to leave.”
Ruby nodded silently before taking off into the darkness of Hollow Shades, past Vesper’s field of view. Doing her best to make out her surroundings with her new vision, the mare stumbled through the darker spots of town, before managing to find the train station.
Vesper could see a glowing pair of eyes every once in a while as she moved about town. She was alarmed when she first saw them, but realized that they belonged to other thestrals, normal bat ponies. She could hear hushed whispers in the darkness, presumably about her new eyes.
By the time Vesper had worked her way to the train station Ruby was waiting for her with a small bag beside her. She seemed nervous about something, and wondered if she had told somepony, or if her father knew. That would possibly be the breaking point, given how much her father despised the light of the outside world.
“I grabbed what I could, before dad could begin his interrogation in depth,” Ruby said, giving Vesper her ticket and bag. “I doubt he’ll be satisfied for long with what I told him.”
“I’m sorry Ruby, I didn’t think you would get caught up in this,” Vesper hugged her sister. “If something happens, you know where to find me.”
“I know, I’m more worried about you than I am about me,” Ruby commented. “I’ll be in touch soon, please stay safe.”
Vesper nodded as the whistle from the train sounded through the town. She gave Ruby one last hug before boarding the train and made her way to the bunk train car. The lights were dimmed and only a few ponies were on the train, due to the time of night it was.
Night, it was something that made Vesper reflect on the choice she had made. She had just fled her family, in fear of what her father might think. Perhaps she could blame it on an accident, or something else with enough time. Deep down, she knew her father would just label her as weak, or worse. She hadn’t expect the change to be physical. Now, she was stuck looking like a strange thestral that couldn’t even find her way around in the dark.
Vesper found herself yawning as she reclined on the top bunk she had chosen, struggling to push the thoughts out of her mind for a while, choosing instead to focus on the positive change that would come from this transformation. She felt drained and groggy after being in the forest for so long, and just wanted a bit of sleep before she would see Benjamin again.
As the train started to pull away, a pony with a black coat watched from the tree line. A soft smile spread across the unicorn’s muzzle as she slowly faded into the dark woods; pleased that she had been able to help another who had encountered the same problem she had so long ago; having a lover that dwelt in darkness while she dwelt in light. A leathery wing fidgeted beneath the cloak she wore, before she disappeared into the forest.