-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ Two Hours Later -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
There is no way! Absolutely no way! I mean, she is fast and agile but no one could- “WHOA! LOOK AT THAT! HELL YEAH!” I shouted as Spitfire did a twirling dash through not one, not three, but ten fiery rings that got smaller with each one. “How in the world did she do that?!?”
“You would be amazed at what a pegasus can do with enough experience boss” Barnes said while her eyes were glued to the show as well, while scarfing down popcorn.
“Papa! Papa! Look, look!” Maelstrom said while bouncing in my lap, pointing at Fleetfoot. Taking a glance over, I saw that the white haired mare had just got done ascending and was now free falling through multiple obstacles.
“WOW! Now that has got to take some serious guts and determination to pull off a stunt like that! Amazing!” I said with an almost over-enthusiastic voice. All around me, I could hear my group shouting similar wows or just simply going ooh and aah.
“Wait, what is he?” I heard Cloudhoof ask out loud. I took a look around and I saw that Soarin was doing some strange maneuver before landing somewhere off to the side. I couldn’t see what was going on but soon after he can back out to the field with a black cylinder strapped to his leg. Once he was flying around again, I saw that one by one all of the wonderbolts had similar devices on.
“I wonder what those are” I also asked out loud.
“Oh! Oh oh oh! Trixie knows what those are! They are-” I heard Trixie suddenly being cut off, looking down I saw that Maelstrom had flown over and literally shut Trixies mouth with her paws.
“No spoil! No spoil!” my adorable daughter said before just as swiftly returning to my lap with a smile on her face. I leaned my head over to a flabbergast Trixie and mouthed ‘sorry’.
Looking once more to the show, I saw that they were now all flying in a V formation inside the stadium and thank goodness the inside of the Square was rounded, or else a square flying pattern would be just silly and very slow. But suddenly I saw black smoke starting to form behind them as they started to fly faster and faster in smaller circles and when they almost ran out of room they shot up to the sky, forming a pillar of smoke.
Once they peaked, each member split up and did a twirling back spin right into the smoky pillar. I gasped at this cause I thought they were going to smash into each other since they would be blind in the black, billowy smoke. But they didn’t as they came back out, unscathed and I breathed a sigh of relief. Which was very short lived, since they did it again and again, all the way down to the base before making a semi-tornado with their smoke.
What amazed me the most was that the swirl, the intertwined pillar, and the tornado seemed to perfectly form together and started to morph together into some kind of shape. Once the tornado was fully formed they broke it off at the top and had stopped smoking, they began to form a circle in the sky, watching as the smoke continued to take shape.
It was barely a minute before the smoke clearly formed a giant lightning bolt with even larger wings joined at the top. I am not familiar with the symbol, but I do recall seeing it somewhere before. But apparently the rest of the audience knew exactly what it meant cause the second they saw the winged bolt they bursted out into yet again another round of applause, one that could probably be heard from the very edges of Manehatten. Of course, I was one of them as well. In fact, my hands were starting to turn red due to me clapping so hard.
I had actually been starring at the symbol so hard that I totally lost track of where the wonderbolts disappeared to and I began to turn my head back and forth trying to find them. Suddenly, I saw them fly through the smoky image, making it dissipate into the air as they hovered in an upward V formation, waving at us with a smile and wiping away the sweat from their foreheads. All except for Spitfire, she seemed as clean and pristine as the moment she flew in.
“The Wonderbolts everypony!” said the stallion announcer at the start of the show who has now taken up the central stand on the ground floor. It took another minute or two for us all to calm down and retake our seats before the announcer spoke up again.
“Well done, well done as always! Another performance for the history books! And certainly one that we will all remember, especially for those ponies who have traveled all the way from New Leafton with our one and only human Adrian. Once again, if any of you would like to help with his cause, then please feel free to find Captain Spitfire, the human Adrian, or Mayor Manehatten. Any help would be greatly appreciated. If any of you would love to view another great performance, then stop by for wondrous merchandise or go see their next show in Las Pegasus!”
“Once again, I hope you all enjoyed….. THE WONDERBOLTS!” he wrapped up as the team zipped by and skimmed the audience, though I saw that Spitfire had her hoof down as she approached me, I smirked a bit as I held my hand up and high-fived her when she zoomed past us. Or maybe it is high-hoof? Once they completed another round I saw them land and walked inside, probably to the dressing room and with them gone, the audience started to thin but didn’t really seem to leave.
I started to leave our booth, with group in tail as we made our way outside. Well, I guess I should say tried to, because in the blink of an eye, almost like magic I can say, I was surrounded by a horde of ponies asking a million questions a minute. It was very overwhelming and almost intoxicating, but I slowly raised my hand to try and settle them. Took a while but I appeared to get my point across as a hush fell over them.
When it was quiet enough for me to hear my own thoughts, I spoke up to say “Thank you, thank you everyone. I am most likely assuming that you are all here to help, which is wonderful by the way. But right now, I am not quite ready to take everything down. That and I am only one person and would need a little help in assisting you all”
“Which is where we come in” I heard a voice say. Glancing over the sea of manes, I saw Spitfire and company slowly fly over to me, dressed in semi-formal clothing. They all glided beside me as they faced the crowd. “I already informed my team to be ready at a moments notice to come and assist our friend here, though I wasn’t quite expecting for you all to turn up this fast. Quite a speech pony you are Adrian” she said before ruffling my hair a little with a laugh. “If you are here to help, then follow me to the conference area, there we can split you into multiple groups as we take down your info and what sort of help you wish to provide”
“One question! What is the name of his organization? So I can prepare my bank statement!” said a stallion.
“Oh yes, I guess we never did ask. Wait one!” Spitfire said before she hovered to the side of my head and whispered “Do you have a name?”
Hmmmm, that is something I guess we should of done. But then again, I could never of hoped to have been in this situation. Enough of that though, I need to focus on a name. A name. Let’s see, human, ponies, traveling group, different species, ugh. Name, name, I need a name! Gah, travel, traveling, travel by star? Stars, stars, celestial, celestia, luna, lunar, astral. Astral! Ok, Astral what? Astral….astral….astral. Whatever kind of name this is will certainly be an odyssey. Odyssey? Not what I meant. Meant oddity. Duh.
Wait! Odyssey! I remember that from English Lit., lets see. I think, besides being the epic poem, that it meant something like a series of adventures. Like the poem, but in literal meaning. Yeah! I can use that. Odyssey….astral….yeah! Astral Odyssey! Man, that certainly sounds like a D and D group all right. But in a world like this, I think it will have a great impact and be unique.
“Kid?” Spitfire said which made me jump a little since I was concentrating so hard.
“Oh, sorry. Was lost in thought. But I think I have a name. What do you think about ‘Astral Odyssey’?” I whispered back to her. She seemed to ponder the name before peaking over her shoulder, look at all the curious and expecting faces of my group. I saw her smile before she nodded her head in approval. With that I cleared my throat to catch everyones attention, well, not like they lost it in the first place.
“I would like to make an official declaration, from this day on, this group will be official known as the ‘Astral Odyssey’. I hope that helps” I announced, which got them all abuzz and they all became even more excited. “All right then, let’s go ahead and follow the wonderbolts and get everything started” after that, I got an unexpected round of applause as they slowly followed the team, slowly emptying the lobby area.
“-Would you like to join them Mayor? We believe it would be most prudent if you and your Secretary accompanied the wonderbolts during this process-” Devi said which brought some attention to said Mayor. He was now wearing a forced smile as he went along with the crowd. Hatters gave Devia a mean look before following the portly stallion. Boy, are the two of them pissed.
Soon enough, the lobby was cleared of helpers and all that was left was our group, our little group of Oddities. My little Astral Odyssey. That is when I heard someone behind me breath a bit erraticly, looking around, I saw a few of the ponies in tears, being consoled by the others. But they all had smiles and soon, even more had a tear or two on their fuzzy cheeks.
I went over to Dumpling Bits, knelt down and used my thumb to wipe away some of her tears. I felt her grab my arm and brought it into the crook of her neck in order to nuzzle it. I could feel more tears starting to form and drip on my arm. “Thank you Adrian, thank you. Thank you” she quietly told me, before mumbling the rest. I couldn’t help but shed a few tears myself, I even felt my magic swirl up inside of me a little. But this was good though, I felt as if I almost radiated this feeling inside of me to everyone else. I wonder if this is how Celestia feels sometimes. Celestia…..
“Adrian?” Someone said which caught me by surprise. I was able to regain my arm since she lost her grip, dried my eyes up a bit and turned to see it was the announcer from earlier.
“Ahem, sorry. What can I do for you?” I politely asked.
“I just wanted to come by to thank you for what your doing. It means a lot to me to see someone doing this” he told me.
“Ah, I was kinda curious as to why you started going along with everything. I maybe thought Spitfire had informed you as well” I replied.
“Nope, I was unaware of what was going on. But after hearing your speech and what your doing, I felt incredibly happy that this is being done. I have a bit of history with this as well, long story short is that I was once in a similar position. Had nothing or anyone to go to, but I had to do everything on my own. I had always wished that I had the right circumstances but I never fit any other support groups criteria”
“So when I heard you were doing this for all of them, I felt happy that they have someone to rely on and have a better start then what I had. Of course, I am happy at where I am now but I would have been happier to have had support. So, thank you again for your kindness and generosity. I am going to head over to offer my support as well. See you around” he said, waving goodbye.
Wow, today has certainly been quite a day indeed. I can’t really put my finger on it, but magic is quite an astounding thing. That is the only way my luck could ever be this...this….intense! On Earth, something of this magnitude would, for one, never happen to a man of my standing or even happen this fast! I would say at least two weeks for even a small group! I know that this kind of thinking would jinx everything, but still.
Taking another look around, I saw that they were all starting to calm down. “Barnes, Cloudhoof, Devia, and Trixie. Can you come with me and try to find some water for everyone. I think they could use a little something to drink after all that” I asked.
“Right away boss!” Barnes and Cloudhoof said with a salute before flying off.
“We suppose the Great and Supportive Trixie could be inclined to offer such a service” Trixie said before she started using her magic.
“-It shall be done, our Master-” Devia informed me.
-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ One Hour Later -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
“Thank you so much for helping. We all greatly appreciate taking your time to do this. We will let you know when anything big happens” I said to the final guest. They offered a possible spot at their tailoring shop and even donated a few bits. He left with a grand smile as he hurried home. I kinda wonder if a majority of these ponies did it out of the good of their hearts or if they had ulterior motives as well. But, help is help and even if they are trying to garner favor, it still allows my group a good chance. And I will take it, with due consideration of course.
I strolled over to Spitfire who was wrapping up the last of her paperwork before she leaned back in her chair, with a stretch. “Hey there kid, how you holding up?” she asked.
“Me? Are you holding up? Doing that fantastic show, which I loved by the way, then right after doing an hour or so of paperwork. That takes a strength befitting a strong mare like you to pull off, that and convincing all of her teammates to so as well” I explained myself.
She let off a hearty laugh before she rested her head in her hooves, leaning towards me with a sincere smile “Thanks for the compliment, best one I have ever heard. But this? This right here?” she used both of her hooves to exemplify her words “This is what I live for! A cause! A show! A chance to give light to those in darkness, this is what the Wonderbolts are meant for boy!” she began to hover in the air “The Wonderbolts bring hope, that is why we perform at any show. Not reserving ourselfs for big fancy shows or for the rich, snobby, and haughty upper class that demand our attention”
“No matter the age or their circumstance, we perform so we can make everypony happy. That charity event we went to last? Not only did they reach their desired donation, but they even got twice and almost three times as much than expected AND a child, who is burdened with two lame legs, had the biggest smile on their face”
“Tonight though? Not only did we perform for a full house, but we are helping a group of ponies who are down on their luck, searching for a new life, a chance to rebuild from nothing. Being led by a stranger to our world, who had no inclination to offer help while he searched for his own path in life. That kind of strength and selflessness, that is what we look for. That is what is a true Wonderbolt is boy, that kind of spirit, that kind of heart”
“This is what I try to teach at the academy, though I can admit I can be harsh and overbearing but I want everyone to know these basics and have them etched on their very soul. So no matter where we are or what unexpected turn of events occur, we can always be ready to give one hundred and fifty percent and show the world who we are” she seemed to stop before giving her team a nod.
“And who are we?”
“WE ARE THE WONDERBOLTS! WE ARE THE WONDERBOLTS!”
“Damn right we are” she said with a smirk before flying up to me and placed a hoof on my chest “And that is why I would like to give you something”
“Give me something? After a speech like that? I think I am going to be knocked back on my ass after this” I said with chuckle, still absorbing all she has said.
“I had to do a little bit of digging to find this on short notice, but it was defiantly worth it” she started to say, but before I could ask she adopted a stern and quite serious look on her face that demanded my full attention.
“Now, Adrian. I, Captain Spitfire, fifteenth captain of the Wonderbolts, do hereby name you an honorary member of the Wonderbolts. You have exemplified the truest of qualities that befits the name and I know that you will always bear our name in grace and dignity. This-” she unveiled a small, silver badge that had the same symbol from the show, but with a golden wreath wrapped around the outside and a small plague that read ‘Honor’ at the bottom “-will show others your dedication”
She then swiftly pinned the badge to my chest before flying into formation with the others and shouted “SALUTE!”, with that all of the Wonderbolts saluted me for a brief few seconds before dropping and began to applaud. I felt like I had just been struck by a runaway carriage as I viewed the newly acquired badge with my fingers, I then starred wide eyed at the very mare who gave this to me.
“Wha- but I….I-I don’t-” I tried to say but words failed me at the moment.
“Please accept it Adrian, it is a great honor to have and not one many have. You really do deserve it, you did save my life after all and now you are saving their lives now” Fleetfoot suddenly said as she pointed to the starry eyes ponies behind me. “I could think of no one else who deserves this more than you. And no need to overthink things, this is our way of saying thanks for all the good deeds you have done. I think even Princess Celestia herself would be proud” she told me with a gracious smile.
‘Princess Celestia herself would be proud’ those innocent words rattled around in my brain while I gave a slight smile. “Yeah, yeah she would” I mumbled to myself, much to the confusion to the team. I shook my head and beamed a much bigger smile “I don’t really have the words to describe how thankful I could possibly be and shocked about all of this. So, I guess I shall just say…. Thank you. Thank you for, well, for everything. Heh, thank you for being my guardian angels. I think that kind of role suits you very well” I informed.
“Now your just being silly” Fleetfoot said with a hint of a blush but this got a good laugh out of her fellow teammates who slowly came up and shook hands or gave a hug and congratulations. Once they all had their chance with me, I saw a clock on the wall and saw how late it was. Spitfire noticed this and glanced behind her as well, she grabbed everyones attention with a cough.
“All right Wonderbolts, I think we have all earned a good nights rest. Plenty of work done today, we will be taking the next few days off to rest up before returning to our daily regiments. So head on back to your rooms and get plenty of sleep. We have time to play tomorrow, so no need to get greedy tonight. So, no pies for you Soarin” Spitfire declared, accompanied with a quick laugh at the blue haired stallion.
“Ooh come on!” Soarin whined while he flew off with a slump in his shoulders. The rest of the team followed suit, waving goodbye.
“So, Mayor Manehatten” Spitfire suddenly said which seemed to spook the rounded stallion “These are a copy of everything that has transpired tonight, I will be keeping the originals as to ensure our involvement remains professional and for safety. Since this is a co-operation effort between the city of Manehatten, the Wonderbolts, and the future advocacy group Astral Odyssey, we will ensure that all records and transcripts will be submitted through the proper channels and will personally see to it that it reaches the courts of Canterlot. Miss Surprise, our long distance flyer, is already flying to Cantorlot as we speak”
“And Adrian, I apologize if I overstepped my boundaries by also sending in the paperwork for the creation of your group without your consent. I was on a role and couldn’t help myself once I indulge into work, I hope you can forgive me” she quickly said. But I simply laughed as I pulled her into a hug.
“It is quite alright, mother hen. Always two steps ahead and looking out for us all. Although, to be honest, I am grateful since it would of taken me forever to properly learn how to do it or how to get started. And, to be perfectly honest, I would have been quite lost doing so” I said with a sigh.
“Be quiet about that mother hen stuff, I am nowhere near being done with my career to even consider settling down with a family. My team is my family, and being an honorary member, means that makes you family as well. Ya big lug” she smugly said while she playfully jabbed my shoulder.
“Now your just being mean” I embarrassingly said with a pout while crossing my arms. She laughed before giving me a hug. I dropped the act to return the hug “Thank you, again”
“No problem kid, now I best be off. I need to drop off these copies to a couple different ponies before my night is done. Would hate to interrupt your chat with the mayor, I am sure you two have a lot to talk about. Be sure to keep an eye out for Adrian Devia, your skill is most valuable” Spitfire said with a determined and stern voice, which caught Devia off guard.
“-We would think of nothing less for our dear Master, Captain-” Deva informed her.
“Excellent, see ya around kid” said the mare with a wink before taking off.
“See you later Adrian, I am sure we will catch you in town. Your not that hard to find” Fleetfoot said with a wink of her own.
“Yes, that does seem to be my curse as of late” I replied with a roll of my eyes before we hugged goodbye. That finally left my group and the flabbergasted Mayor and secretary. Taking the initiative, I let out a loud yawn “Well, we should probably be heading off as well. We have had quite a big day, more so for some, and you all need to get settled into your new home! Lead the way Mayor Manehatten!”
He floundered around for a second before forcing another smile on his face “But of course, right this way. Shouldn’t be too long, it is rather close. After all, a mansion of this size was built close to the more...higher class district. This actually happened when my grandfather was mayor, there was a major outbreak of class on class and the result was a great divide of lower and higher class. For some reason, the rich sought this area out, perhaps since there is more sun here, therefore meaning Princess Celestia favored this area more. Well, in their opinion at least, in fact-” the Mayor continued to talk about facts and stories while he walked.
“With all due consideration, you have to at least admire his historical knowledge. He at least took some time to memorize all that” Cloudhoof silently whispered to us.
“Yes, he does somewhat care. Unfortunately greed and power has wormed its way into his heart. Such a shame” I said back.
“The Great and Knowledgeable Trixie already knew that before!” Trixie boasted with a loud voice, to which she swiftly covered her mouth but was too late.
“Already knew what, Miss Lulamoon?” Hatten curiously asked.
“I already knew all about how lovely a night this is, as Cloudhoof so obviously pointed out if you had been paying attention at all” Trixie huffed as though she had been insulted. I heard Hatten do a little gasp, under his breath before turning his head and walking forward.
“Nicely done Trixie” I informed the haughty mare.
“But of course, tis natural for one such as I” she retorted with a bit of a smirk. I think I could feel the collective group rolling their eyes but rolled along with it, since it is normal at this point. Much to our dismay.
After that we walked pretty much in silence, since most of the kids were already drifting off to sleep. Though, that didn’t stop them from trying to talk to me and ask about what it means to be an honorary Wonderbolt. But after barely forming a sentence, I had all four of them snoozing away in my arms, with my own daughter drooling on my head in her usual spot. I must have had a silly look of disdain on my face cause the foals parents were laughing as they walked beside me.
“So sorry Adrian, they were just so excited. As are most of us, but you know how kids are” Sour Lily said, mother of the far left colt.
“I guess I should be used to it by know, not that it is an entirely bad thing” I admitted with a smile as I gazed at the little ones.
“I don’t know if you know or not, but I feel like I should tell you that most of these kids look up to you as their hero. Especially after today, being able to talk on stage like that and being awarded by the famous Wonderbolts, you are akin to a legendary figure straight out of a book to them. So I hope you don’t mind if you allow them to continue to do this” she told me.
I felt my cheeks heat up a bit when I heard this “I guess I can believe why they think like that, but I don’t know if I could keep up a facade like that for them. I really am no one special, this luck of mine will run out and when it does, I fear that you all might not like me anymore. And certainly be a disappointing hero” I sadly said.
I felt something tug at my pant leg, looking down I saw Misty Drop smiling at me “I don’t believe that for one second. Even without luck, we still followed you and will continue to do so. We all would had gladly been behind you even if it took two years to get where we are. My heart is aflutter knowing that your kindness has brought forth such good fortune and we are all lucky to have you with us. You are our hero, Adrian. And you always will be” she said without a moments hesitation.
Looking around, I saw all the others in my group nodding in agreement. Even Roughta was in agreement, which was pretty astounding considering his usual gryphon nature. Speaking of gryphon, I wonder how Gilda is doing?
But after seeing everyone smiling at me, my own smile reflected their happiness. “I hope my luck never runs out then, if I am lucky enough to know all of you. I’ll be in your care then” I said.
“And us in yours” Misty said before she did an audible gasp. Soon followed by everyone else, and for good reason.
“Fillies and gentlecolts, may I present: The House Of Fleur” the Mayor eagerly presented and boy, was it a sight. Obviously, it was huge of course with it being a mansion and everything but it was a very light gray color, almost white and it had a light magenta accent color scattered on windows and the front columns, it certainly could give the Mayors office a run for its money. But the coloration almost reminded of a certain unicorn back in Canterlot.
“The House Of Fleur? The name sounds familiar, why was the mansion left alone?” I asked.
“Mostly because the family felt they were of higher caliber and moved to Canterlot, in fact their most recent addition to family is a well know member of society! She is a supermodel named Fleur De Lis, she has actually made a few inquiries about the estate since it was part of her families history. I think she will be most delighted to know that it is being of monumental use again” he explained.
Well, well. Looks the our paths crossed again, will have to write her a letter soon then. I have a ton of letters to write once everything settles down, ugh I can already feel my hand cramping up already.
“Now lets see, which key is for the front doors?” the mayor mumbled to himself while he fumbled with a huge ring of keys, testing out a number of them before we heard a loud chunk and the doors almost seemed to open by themselves. Perhaps it is….no wait! I am not going to jinx it, defiantly not something I need right now. “And here we are! Welcome to your new home!”
We all curiously wandered inside, half expecting everything to be covered in cobwebs and white sheets covering all the furniture. But as soon as we all had converged in the foyer, I had let out a small surprised gasp at the pristine condition the place was in. I asked the mayor “I thought you said this place was abandoned?”
“Well, it mostly was for years. But ever since Fleur De Lis starting making inquiries, I received reports that a cleaning crew comes by every month. I had no problem with this since they provided a free service and shows other ponies that this place is well kept and alive, for the most part. Which by itself is almost like free publicity!” he replied with enthusiasm.
“It certainly is sir” Hatten nonchalantly said after the fact.
“Alright everypony, for now I will show you all to your rooms. You all can decide later if you want that room or not, since there are plenty more to choose from” the mayor said while walking towards said rooms.
It took us a little bit of time to set everyone up with a proper room, mostly because I tried my best to get the parents into bigger rooms so that parent or parents had one bed and their child another. Which basically meant we had to move multiple beds out of other rooms, but I wanted to make absolutely sure that every single body had a bed instead of forcing them to share.
I thought even the Mayor would understand that simple and basic necessity, but at this point he was still supremely pissed that he just wanted to cast us away and let us flail about. Eventually everyone, besides me, had a room to call their own and once they did, I could just feel the mayor boiling over.
“Well, this is where we shall part ways for today. As much as WE need to talk Mr. Frost, I have a few more duties to attend to. Mostly as to properly sort out your group, Astral Odyssey, and file the paperwork. It is going to be a long night Hatten” the mayor said with a tired voice.
“I wouldn’t worry too much Mayor, I already know where to find everything we need, including all the proper procedures with joint collaborations for the Wonderbolts and their group. If we head back now, I would only say a good solid hour of work is needed for tonight. You need to get sleep for tomorrow, since we have that meeting with the Food Association concerning the shipment of bulk goods and certain ingredients. As well as-” Hatten started to say.
“Yes, yes my dear boy. With that said, once I have some free time again I will be in contact with you. So don’t. Leave. Town” the mayor said with punctuation.
“Why would I leave so soon? I am not the type to leave after only one days worth of work, are you?” I asked in return. I withheld a smirk at the obvious poke which clearly ruffled another feather or two of the mayors.
“Great minds think alike I suppose. Sleep well, Mr. Frost and company and welcome once again to MY city. We hope you all enjoy your stay” the mayor said with a flat tone as he practically turned tail out the front doors. After waiting a few seconds, I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding. I took a few seconds for myself and breathed in through my nose and out my mouth.
“Wow, what a day. What a day indeed” I said out loud while I stretched my limbs.
“You said it! And now this! I can hardly believe it!” Cloudhoof said with excitement.
“Never thought you would ever get to live in a mansion, eh?” Barnes said with a grin.
“Well, that too. I just never thought I would get to have a room to call my own” Cloudhoof replied. His face was mostly happy, but his eyes looked a bit sad. Barnes adopted a similar look and so did many others when I took a quick glance around. That is when I heard him sniffle a little with a huge smile on his face. “And now, I do! I have a room in a mansion! I am really, really happy!”
“And a bed!”
“And a roof over our heads!”
“No more living outside!”
“No more begging for food!”
“No more rain soaking my little colt to the bone!”
“A future I can be proud of”
“Does this mean mommy will no longer be sad, mister Adrian?” said Saccharine, a small pink filly with a blue mane and bright, but gentle green eyes. I looked down at her, whose eyes now seemed to twinkle at me now and simply smiled before I scooped her up into my arms.
“Before I answer that, let me ask you. Are you happy now?” I asked the sweet filly.
“Yeah! I am super happy!” she instantly said back.
“Then your mommy is defiantly no longer sad, so long as her sweet and cute little girl is smiling and giggling like no tomorrow” I told her just before I used my free hand to quickly tickle her belly. Which got her to laugh immediately, which spread that happiness to everyone else cause I could see that smiles began to spread to everyone.
“I love you mister Adrian” she suddenly said with a hug. I was greatly surprised to hear her say that without any reservation. I looked around for her mother, Silver String, and she gave me a teary nod of her head. So I raised my other arm, since the filly was using my first arm to stand on, and I hugged her back. “Thank you for making mommy and everypony happy”
Aw crap, here comes a tear. But right now, I just let it fall as I hugged her a little more “You are very welcome Saccharine” I said with a hushed tone. That is when I felt an earthquake of hooves, looking up I saw that the entire group was rushing towards me and before I knew it, I was in a dog pile of ponies who were hugging, crying, and shouting praises. Pony pile I guess? Whatever, I was still buried and under hoof. Heh, good one.
I even saw Roughta in the pile, though by the look on his face I could guess that he got caught up in the initial rush and was squeezed in. But I saw him take a glance around and I saw a small smirk flicker before he returned to his normal grumpyness.
“No! Papa mine! Papa mine!” I heard Maelstrom cry out as she flopped back on my head and tried to grab anything she could, mostly hair in order to guard it. I laughed at her antics and I tried to reach up, but my arms were not moving.
“Maelstrom? Could you come closer?” I asked her.
“Papa?” she sweetly asked and did as I asked. When she leaned down close enough, I quickly raised my lower face as much as I could and I gave her a quick peck on the cheek. Too which she dive bombed into my neck with a hug “I love you Papa! Mae loves you more than anything!”
“And I will always love you Maelstrom, forever and ever” I said right back, to which she snuggled into my neck a tiny bit more. But something caught my eye as I saw her glow a little. I looked her over and I saw that her mane grew down more and I think her tail extended out a bit. The glow went away after that but she continued to snuggle and purr.
“Dawwwww” I heard the pony pile say in unison. I felt my face heat up but I smiled it off.
“Alright, we should all be heading off to bed now. And I gotta find a room for myself” I explained.
“Don’t be so silly boss! You gotta have the master bedroom!” Cloudhoof said from somewhere in the pile.
“-We agree as well master, this makes the most logical sense-” Devi agreed.
“Hmmph. We suppose we could give up our thoughts on moving in there” Trixie said.
“We think so too!” said the mostly dispersed pile of ponies.
“I dunno, I feel like that would be too much and that I would be putting myself on a different level than all of you” I admitted.
“Boss, we insist that you take it. You deserve it and it does make sense to do it, since you are the leader of Astral Odyssey!” Barnes said with a wink.
After hearing everyone, I let out a sigh of defeat and returned with a smile again “I suppose I don’t have much choice now. Now I just gotta fi-”
“FOUND IT!”
“-nd….never mind. Thank you Blue Bell” I thanked the stallion who had a proud look planted on his face. Once the last pony was off, I still felt Saccharine hugging me. Looking down, I saw that she was fast asleep, with a tiny splash of drool on my shirt. Awww. I slowly stood up to deliver the sleeping filly back to her mother before wishing everyone a pleasant nights sleep.
I walked towards where Blue Bell was before and I saw the giant doors that almost rivaled the main entrances, looking around I saw that the construction of this place had the master bedroom centered in a nexus of sorts for all the rooms. Looking left, right, and forward I saw a plethora of doors and at the end of each hallway was a large arched window. I decided to walked towards the center one and was greeted to a wondrous sight.
Looking out, I saw the night time lights of the bustling city below while the glow of the moon and stars beamed above on a plane of its own. Luna is very lucky to be the Princess of the night, being able to rule over such a sight. It was amazing and I felt so proud to have lead all these ponies here.
“-This is quite a sight, our dear master-” Deva said as they strolled up beside me.
“Isn’t it? I haven’t seen anything close to this before. It is very breathtaking” I softly spoke.
“-Do you have a plan set for our next day-?” Devi asked this time.
“Yes, I have a few ideas in motion. But right now, I plan on hitting the hay. Today has been a very emotionally draining day. In a good way, of course” I explained.
“-I understand master. Do you mind if we stay in your room? We would prefer to be as close to you as possible, as to confront any misfortune that should find its way to you-” Devi asked again.
“I do not mind. Are you ready for bed little one?” I asked the cute one on my head.
“Noooooo~” Maelstrom sleepily said before she slid off my head and into my now waiting arms. “Mae can still…..play and fly and~” she tried to continue but a loud yawn interrupted her train of thought.
“Come on you, lets go snuggle in bed. Haven’t been able to cuddle with you in a long time” I told her.
“Yay! Mae loves to cuddle with Papa!” she replied in the most adorable way. So with that, I walked back to the huge set of doors in order to open them up. Looking inside, I saw that a basic setup was still in the room with a big dresser with an oval mirror attached on one side while an even bigger double doored armoire sat on the other. Looking up, I saw a huge glass chandelier with candles resting above on a gold chain. On the far left, I saw a giant glass door that led out to a balcony that was covered by a half-drawn curtain.
Then the piece de resistance was the bed itself! Oh, I think Fleur might like that one. But anyway, the bed was also huge just like everything else in this room. It was a king sized, probably even larger! It was practically an ocean of bedding that had curtains tied to the four bed posts that rose all the way to the ceiling. Guess only a unicorn or maybe a pegasus could easily manage this monster of a bed. But I am not worried about having privacy that badly.
So I laid my cute and fluffy daughter down on the bed in order to get out my pajamas and my toiletries from my bag. After taking care of business in the bathroom, which is a whole other story of grand magnitude, I felt like it took a whole minute to finally get to the center of the bed which threatened to swallow me whole. It was another cloud bed but much to my surprise, it was even softer than the one in Twilights castle! Guess it pays to be rich, though I am not sure how you can actually make a softer cloud.
Magic.
Yeah, that apparently solves any life mysteries here. So magic it is! That and any and all thoughts are slowly fading from my mind as my body was being leeched away by the miracle bed. But right before I lost consciousness, I felt Maelstrom tug at my shirt.
“I love you Papa”
Smiling, I gave her a big kiss to the cheek “I love you too Maelstrom” I said back. “I hope you have the best dream ever” I concluded by giving her another kiss, this time to her forehead. This got her to giggle, which made her do the cutest thing ever. Her giggles made her tire out faster and soon, her giggling turned into a light snore. I took my hand and gently curled a piece of her mane out of her face and tucked it behind her ear.
After doing that, I took a moment to relish this light feeling in my chest again. I haven’t felt like this in a while and I hope tonight will allow this feeling to spread throughout my entire being. Maybe it will help clear up some of these depressing thoughts.
But enough of that for now, sleep invading thoughts…...sweet, sweet sleep overpowering senses…..dreams invading…..
ZZZzzz...