“MAGNA!”
There was a loud tramping of hooves as Translite, her mother, came up the stairs and practically barged into her room. The thin door rattling as she violently pushed it open with her forehoof.
“MAGNA… oh for goodness sake, can you even hear me?”
As she finally took some stock of her daughter she realised her yells for her attention were most likely fruitless. Eyes closed, completely absorbed in whatever music she was listening to and completely splayed out on her bed. She moved directly in front of her, and gingerly waved a hoof in front of her face to see if the sudden wafting of air might get her attention.
Nothing.
A small prod on her side then.
Still nothing.
‘Oh well, nothing for it…’ she thought, finally deciding to bite the bullet and just push down so the cables pulled the headphones from her ears. Her daughters eyes opened and her serene smile immediately turned to a slightly annoyed frown as she raised her head from the mattress and looked up into the face of the mare who had spent the last minute trying to get her attention.
“Mum! I was listening to that! Urgghhhhh.”
Before Mags could shove the headphones back into her twitching ears she decided to give her the spiel she had been saving for the last week. She hated seeing Mags lie around her room doing nothing, it was such a waste of the young lady’s time. Oh sure she had the odd piece of work from time to time but this had been an especially long break and she had decided, as her mother, something needed to be done…or at least said. She only reserved calling her Magna when she was slightly peeved and her daughter knew that, the full name came for times when she was angry with her.
“Magna…Mags, dear. You’ve been cooped up in this room for a solid week. I mean what are you even doing? Listening to music? I’m sure that’s a useful way to pass the time.”
“Works slow mum, everything in town is working for a change, what am I supposed to do? Go out and break ponies stuff just so I have a job to do? I don’t think that would be very smart…”
She hated it when Mags actually had a point, but that was the trouble with her chosen path in life. If everything was working there was nothing for her to go out and sort… Still it didn’t mean she should be lounging around in her room all the time.
“Yes, well that’s no excuse to be stuck in here all the time. There is a whole town and by extension, world out there you know. Have you even looked out the window, or drawn your curtains in a week?”
She trotted over to the single window that occupied the outer wall and tugged on the curtains with her teeth. Not blessed with Magic like her daughter she pulled back the fabric the traditional way. Rays of sunlight entered the room and illuminated it. Translite smiled and looked round, to see Mags covering her eyes with her forehoof.
“…Thanks mum, really helpful… There’s a light you know.” Mags scowled at her slightly, dropping her hoof back on the bed and rolling her eyes.
“I’m just trying to well… Wake you up dear. You’ve hardly moved in a week. Have you even bathed?” She moved in and gave her mane a sniff. “Hmm, I thought not. Right, that’s it. I can’t have you in the house all week without at least getting out for a small break from it. Go bathe, and then I want you to go out. It’s a beautiful day. I don’t care what you do, just go do…something, anything! And I don’t want you back here until Princess Luna raises the moon, is that clear young lady?”
“B-but mum! Seriously? I don’t know anypony in town unless it’s something for work. What the hell am I gonna do?”
“I already said it doesn’t matter, and don’t take that as a means to do literally anything! Trouble is not what I meant and you know it! Besides I’ve not been able to get into your room properly for a week. The dust in here must be unimaginable, it needs a clean and I can hardly do that properly with you in it.”
“Fine, I’ll go – but I’m taking an extra-long bath and you can’t stop me!” Mags huffed, fairly annoyed at the prospect of having to go out. She had no idea what to do. She hauled herself off the bed and made her way towards the bathroom. Her mother with eyes on her watching her leave.
“You could probably use it after not bathing for a week! And don’t go out buying lots of food, I have a meal in the oven for tonight!” Translite shouted after her as she kicked her bedroom door closed behind her and slowly made her way across the upstairs landing towards the bathroom. A whole afternoon and early evening having to go out…what was she going to do? What indeed…
“And remember what I said, no returning at least until the moon is up! Now off you go.” Her mum said, practically pushing her out the door and quickly shutting it behind her. Magna looked around and sighed, usually she went out for 2 things. To go and do some work, or to eat – the second one being the preferred choice and she couldn’t even do that. She mentally sighed this time before starting a trot down the street and trying to desperately think of somewhere to go or something to do before she made it into town. It was a nice day, perhaps something outdoors?
Go to the park? No that really needs friends to be of any fun. What about just a nice stroll around town? Hah, what a terrible idea, she’d be bored after 5 minutes and be looking for somewhere to plonk her behind down.
Well okay, just because it’s nice out doesn’t mean she has to do something outdoors. Bowling? Nope, friends needed for that one again. What about stopping by Princess Twilight’s castle and seeing if she has any new books? Hmm, can’t do that either, she still has one of hers out and she’s such a strict pony. No way will she allow her to take another one out before the one she has goes back, and she couldn’t get it now.
Magna scrunched her face in annoyance slightly, was it really this hard? Just thinking of something, anything to do? She had nearly reached the centre of town and unless she wanted to stand there looking silly because she couldn’t even think of anywhere to go she decided she had better get on and pick something. Okay, so mum would be mad but she had some bits in her pocket. Old habits die hard and all she could think of was stopping by the usual haunts for something to eat. It had been at least 2 days since she went to that nice little hayburger stand that had set up shop just down the street from Sugarcube corner, and that would also give her an excuse to go there for something afterwards to take home as a snack.
The grey pony smiled and flicked her tail as she started to make her way down the road from the town hall, the usual hubbub adorned the streets as she duly took some notice of the happenings around her. The town was actually unusually quiet for such a nice day, usually when then sun was shining and the birds were singing as they were today there were noticeably more ponies around. Not to say that there weren’t any, but Mags only spied 5 or 6 as she trotted on towards her target. She did wonder where they might have disappeared off to, but that thought quickly disappeared when the succulent smell of frying hayburgers crossed her snout.
Quick Fry was doing a good trade, he had made a name for himself in the short time he had been set up in Ponyville. He’d probably come across the one place in all of Equestria that didn’t have a street Hayburger stand. Oh sure the town had fancy restaurants that served them, but ponies had to sit down, wait, eat there and finally pay a bill. It was… not the fastest of transactions. At his stand they ordered, paid, and in two minutes they were trotting away with a meal of their choice either suspended by magic, or between their teeth, however they took it didn’t matter. It was quick, easy and he had yet to receive any negative feedback. Ponies seemed to love them and he had already earned a number of regular customers. Even on a day like today where trade was a little slow one of them had already come and ordered and another was just trotting up the road towards him.
His keenly trained nose suddenly snapped him back to reality from his train of thought and he pulled the finished burger off the grill and placed it between two buns. A bit of seasoning…some sauce and finally a small square of cheese on top. Wrapped up and then placed in the bag he turned around to his customer and gently dropped the bag on the counter, which hardly even touched it as the mare who had been waiting eagerly grabbed it between her teeth.
“Thanks again Miss Felicity, come back soon okay?”
“Mmm-hmmm!” was all the mare could manage to get out, having the bag firmly wedged between her lips. As she turned around she never even noticed another pony had gotten in line behind her, and after just one step their heads bonked together in unison as both of them rather ungracefully tumbled to the floor.
Mags was the first to speak. “O-owwww…”
“Oh dear…I’m so sorry, are you okay? I didn’t even see you there, I thought I was the only one at the stand.” Felicity rubbed her forehead slightly, it was a little sore from the bump but nothing too serious, she stood up and pulled the grey unicorn she had sent reeling to the floor up with her, who was now scowling at her…and clearly cross.
“I’m fine, but watch where you’re going. That wasn’t exactly a pleasant experience. Are you in a rush or something?” The grey unicorn replied. She was still frowning slightly. Felicity hadn’t come across this pony in town before, but then she didn’t get out too much. The only thing that was noticeably different about her was the purple jacket. Ponies didn’t usually wear so robust clothing, but it matched the purple streaks in her hair somewhat. Before she started to wonder about fashion her mind brought her back to the present situation, and she realised the mare was now eyeing her oddly. Most likely because it had been a good 30 seconds and she hadn’t replied and had just been staring at her without saying a word.
“…R-rush? Oh no! Sorry I’m a little absent-minded sometimes. I really didn’t see you there.”
‘Absent minded Pegasus, I bet that makes for some fun flying…’ Mags thought. She had taken stock of her while this Felicity had been staring into space. Mostly unremarkable apart from the coat colours. Green and blue certainly was an interesting mix, and her cutie mark had piqued her interest…rather plain red blocks arranged in a pattern on her flank. It really wasn’t a clear indication of what this pony did, but sometimes they weren’t. Mags wasn’t really one to be complaining about that, hers was a bit of an enigma sometimes. She had lost count of the amount of times she had to explain to ponies what it was supposed to be. The wristbands were interesting as well, at least she wasn’t the only pony in town that wore something there.
“Alright, but just be careful. You’re not the only pony in town you know.” Mags huffed, her day wasn’t going great and this hadn’t exactly made it better. She trotted past her and decided now was the time for a comfort hayburger to ease her mood. She hardly heard the almost whisper of a “S-sorry…” as Felicity picked up her burger and disappeared down the road, not wanting to give her anymore grief.
“Some ponies huh Quick Fry? Just the usual please.”
“No problem Miss Magna, but she’s here as often as you are you know. I’m surprised you two haven’t bumped into each other before.”
“Mags is fine Quick, I’ve told you that before, and seriously? As much as me? I was starting to think I was your best customer.”
“Hmmm, too close to call between you girls. Couldn’t say.”
A small brown bag was placed on the counter in front of her as Quick Fry finished speaking, the smell of the hayburger assaulting her snout again as she grabbed it with a levitation spell.
“That was speedy.”
“Hah, I think that bump on your noggin did something to your sense of time.”
She raised an eyebrow at him, it always got him to confess to his little shenanigans, and Mags always found it fun when he tried to get one over on her.
“…plus I knew you’d ask for the usual and I started preparing it as you two were speaking. Jeez Mags gimme a break.”
“I’ll give you a break when you stop making such great burgers.”
“Hah, and on that day I’ll take a long vacation because that will be the day I retire. See you later.”
Mags manipulated the burger with the spell and pulled it from the bag, unwrapping it and taking a large greedy bite. She didn’t even know why Quick Fry bothered to wrap it, he knew she was going to eat it as soon as she left. They were just too good to keep in the bag and wait until she got home, and today especially she wasn’t taking this one home.
‘Well that used…10 minutes. Auugh!’ Mags mentally groaned, she still had no idea what to do. The next logical move was Sugarcube corner as it was only a short walk away, she turned away from Quick Fry’s stand and made towards another of her favourite spots in town.
Still very few ponies came towards her as she continued her journey, although she didn’t have far to go. Quick Fry wasn’t just a clever pony having set up his shop in the only town without a Hayburger stand, but placing it so close to another well-established eatery was a stroke of genius that most would have dismissed as monumentally stupid. Mags recalled the day he had set up and as he did, even though all the permissions were in place she remembered the words Mayor Mare had uttered to him as he put the finishing touches to the stall.
“Well we are glad to have you here mister Fry, it is just, of all the locations in town you could have picked I don’t know if so close to Sugarcube Corner is the best idea. You’re going to have a hard time competing for business. Ponies have trusted them for snacks for years.”
“Don’t worry Mayor, I do have an idea. Nothing un-sportsman like mind you…” was all he had said in reply and winked at her, leaving Mayor Mare confused to trot back to the town hall.
Turns out the plan was ‘Kill the competition with friendship’. In that as soon as he had finished setting up shop, Quick Fry had marched straight into Sugarcube Corner and laid down his intention to have to two premises work in co-operation. A simple deal, he would only deal in savoury food items of Sugar Corner and the Cakes would also promise only to deal in sweet. That way he figured it would work like a symbiotic relationship where the two businesses could bounce the same customers off each other. Ponies would want something sweet after a savoury snack from his stand and oddly it worked the other way round too with the ponies who didn’t have such a sweet tooth but went to Sugarcube Corner with their friends and then wanted to clean their palette.
The plan had worked, Quick Fry had no previous sales to compare to but the Cakes told him that they had a number of extra customers come in asking saying things along the lines of “I fancy something sweet to snack on after just having a hayburger”. Both businesses benefitted and for now they sold their treats in harmony alongside each other.
Her recollection of the day that seemed like a lifetime ago now came to an end as her hoof made contact with the lower step on the entrance to Sugarcube Corner and made her way inside. It had for her, like many other ponies in town become such a familiar stop. She hardly took notice of the familiar surroundings anymore. The cutesy treat-inspired tables and entire décor that just screamed ‘Everything here should remind you of a cake!’ just became a very obvious part of the already overly-themed building after a while.
The place was again…empty. Aside from one pony at the counter talking to Mrs Cake. Green and Blue coat…Pegasus…
‘I am not making the same mistake, or rather, I’m not giving her the opportunity to bump into my like that again’. Mags decided, still taking a position in her very own one pony long queue behind Felicity but a bit more of a distance back this time.
They were just chatting about…well not a lot, but the questions were the sort of things she might ask herself. “When are you making more of those double chocolate chip cookies?” “Do you think you’ll ever make those blue cupcakes again? Those were my favourite…” “Got any plans to expand the shop? I bet then you could get even more customers!” Okay maybe she was a bit more chatty, Mags usually asked about 1 or 2 treats if she noticed they were sold out and that was it.
5 minutes…
10 minutes…
The questions seemed to be going on forever, now they were discussing plans to expand the shop twofold and add on a deli? Okay this was getting ridiculous and she was still hungry.
“Eh-hem?” she tried making a gentle little Hey I’m waiting! polite cough and when that didn’t work, decided to tap her assaulter on the back, who was so deep in conversation she practically took off.
“EEeeeeeeppp!”
“Um, I’d like to order something if you’re done talking?”
The Pegasus looked at her, slightly embarrassed. “Oh I’ve done it again, to the same pony! I’m so doubly sorry. C-can I make it up to you somehow?”
Mags was hardly the one to turn down something for free, and money was a bit tight not having had much work recently so she decided not to refuse the offer.
“Oh um, sure – what do you like from here? I’ll have one of what you’re having.”
“Oh great! That makes it easy, and we can wait together. Sorry that’s why I’m standing here like a klutz not taking in my surroundings. Mrs Cake can I have a second strawberry milkshake for um…what’s your name?”
“Magna-Save.”
“For Magna-Save. Hey that’s an interesting name. What’s a Magna? And do you save stuff?”
“Uh, I don’t know my parents gave me the name, I never really questioned it…”
“Oh um…well that’s okay. I’m Felicity Stars, are you new here? I don’t think I’ve seen you around town before…”
Mags hated this question, because it was always the same answer, and she always got the same level of feigned shock in the response.
“No I’ve lived in Ponyville all my life. I just don’t get out very often. Um, got any appliances? Electrical things? Broken things? I fix them. You’ve probably never seen me because when I go do a job I just go do it and sorta lock myself away to get it done, eheh…”
Suddenly the green and blue mares eyes widened slightly…here it comes…
“Ohhh you’re the fixer everypony talks about! Yes I do know you! Well I mean I know about you, I’ve heard from lots of other ponies who have used you to have their things mended. I might have to ask for your services later on…”
Huh, things were looking up – a free milkshake and a potential job. At least mum couldn’t be so mad now she’d actually found something to do.
“Oh sure, whatever it is, I can probably fix it.”
“Great!” came the totally non-expected enthusiastic reply, she seemed to have glossed over the fact most ponies focus on, that Mags had lived here her entire life and only just now were they noticing her. She put it down to the absent minded-ness. Just as it looked like Felicity was about to spill the beans on what she wanted looking at, two frothy and rather pink strawberry topped tall glasses were pushed in front of their muzzles as Mrs Cake had finished their order.
“Four bits for two deary, and oh hello Mags, nice to see you again. Would you like your usual?”
“Oh of course, thanks Mrs Cake.”
“I’ll just go prepare it, in the meantime why don’t you enjoy your shake with your friend here. I’ll be a few minutes at least.”
“Aha…what a great idea…thanks Mrs Cake.” Felicity didn’t seem to detect the slight edge of sarcasm she was attempting to lay on her reply. All she did was smile at her as she took her shake and made her way towards the nearest table. Ah brilliant…more conversation with her, well at least it would lead to work.
There wasn’t actually any audible sound of a jaw drop, that would be silly. But Mags had hardly parked herself at the table and well…the milkshake was gone. Poof! Drunk within seconds, and all that seemed to be left was a very empty glass and a Felicity with a grin so wide it looked like her mouth might actually go off the edge of her face. All that seemed to be left was the cherry which had once adorned the top, which Felicity was now rolling between her hooves…savouring it. Although at the speed the milkshake had disappeared she wasn’t sure if this pony was capable of savouring anything, at least not for a long while.
“…You mentioned you might have had something that needed fixing?”
“Oh yeah, right! So I have this toaster, and well – I wanted to see what would happen if I tried spreading a super-thick milkshake on bread and toasting it. I was trying to make a toasted milkshake…thing. But the toaster sorta went pop about a minute in and it hasn’t worked since.”
“Well I can probably guess what’s wrong before I even look at it, but I still need to look at it. You know how these things are.”
“Oh sure! You know I’m really glad I found you, I seem to break things a lot. Up until now I just bought new stuff but if it can be fixed that would save me so many bits…and that means more milkshakes!” At this point she expertly rolled the cherry to the tip of her hoof, flicked it at the last second and the cherry almost pirouetted through the air before landing on the tip of her tongue, which retracted into her mouth at lightning speed before her maw started to work on chewing. Mags took her first sip of milkshake, she wasn’t sure how long it would be before the inevitable ‘You gonna drink that?’ question appeared.
“So yeah, I really don’t have anything planned today…or any work. What are you doing today? I could take a look if you want this afternoon.”
“T-today? B-but my place is such a mess! Oh um…I wasn’t expecting so soon…do you mind mess?”
“I fix things, I practically live in mess – so a little mess is no big deal. I’m more impressed you have your own place, you seem kinda young.”
She swore she caught glimpse of a little blush before Felicity launched into her explanation. “Oh well I’ve always lived in Ponyville…mum and dad are here too but they travel so I don’t see them too often, it made sense to not stay at home in a big empty house. I kinda fancied something a bit more cosy I could call my own, I still check on their house when they’re away and stuff and visit lots. I love my parents but they’re just not here enough. Dad’s always called away to work on something and mum is kinda a big-wig teacher who travels to where she’s needed. They thought it made sense too…”
“Oh well that’s…reasonable, I live in town too but I still live at home. I don’t really want to move out, I only need a room and well, my parents are home all the time. Not that it doesn’t get a little tedious. In fact that’s why I’m out right now, my mum kicked me out.”
Felicity’s big wide smile turned into a pursed set of lips, enjoyment had quickly turned to concern. “What? Kicked out!? That’s terrible! Oh you can stay with me if you like…I’ve got a spare room.”
“…If you let me finish, kicked out for one day. Mum said I needed to get some work before I went home, and well – I’ve found it so you can stop panicking.”
“Oh uh…” the blush was back, in even more force than before as Felicity realised she had jumped the gun slightly. “Well um, perhaps for now just looking at my busted toaster would be okay? I wasn’t serious about the staying.”
“You were though.”
“Okay maybe a little.”
“Just be a little careful okay, some ponies might take advantage of that generosity.”
“S-sure…anyway my place isn’t far away. Like I said it’s kind of messy but if you don’t mind mess I don’t mind you coming over!”
“Alright, oh um…I still have a lot of milkshake left.”
Here it comes, 3…2…1.
“Well, I’m pretty fast with a milkshake. I could finish it.”
Mags smiled a little and pushed the shake across the table with her hoof in front of Felicity.
“Sure, I mean you did pay for it.”
“Ohhh, yummy! Hehe I wasn’t expecting you to give it up so easily.”
“Don’t worry, it’s nice to share.”
“Hmmm? Wharff whaasss saatt?” Was all that came back between the slurps and sucks of the shake as it was quickly disappearing, and then yet again in seconds completely gone. No jaw dropping this time.
“Ahhhhh, delicious! They really do make the best ones here.”
“I can tell, it didn’t last long.”
“Anyway, let’s get moving!” the spry young Pegasus practically leaped from her stool, beckoning her new friend towards the door.
“You’re pretty athletic for somepony who drinks and eats like I do.”
“Oh yeah, I do lots of Yoga, that’s kinda my thing.”
“Yoga?” Mags replied with a slightly perplex look.
“Sure, it’s fun! Don’t worry – if you stick around you’ll see.”
“Alright, if you say so. Lead on McDuff.”
“McDuff?”
“Um…nevermind.” Another little grin on Mags face, she hardly grinned this much and dutifully followed Felicity out of Sugarcube corner and into town.
The two of them walked slowly down the main street, side by side. The town was starting to liven up a bit as more ponies were appearing, waving their hoofs and saying the occasional “Hello!” or “Hi!” to each of them as they continued their meander towards Felicity’s place.
“It’s not too far away, I live near the river actually where the bridge is that crosses into town.”
“Hmm? Oh right.” Mags had hardly said a word since they had started their walk, she honestly didn’t know what to say. Although the reason as to why she was following this Pegasus returned to her brain, and suddenly she was curios.
“So you said it broke because you were trying to make a…toasted milkshake?”
“Oh um…yeah.”
“Can I ask why? I mean that seems a bit silly.”
Felicity blushed slightly as they continued to walk, and her eyes widened slightly as her brain tried to come up with an excuse or sensible reason, but failed.
“Yeah…it was silly. I just love milkshakes so much, they’re my favourite thing ever. I thought maybe if I could make the mixture thick enough it would act like a spread, you know? Sort of like butter?”
“Yeah but, when you make toast, the butter goes on after you um, toast the toast.”
“I know that, but even after I made it the mixture wasn’t quite thick enough to spread properly, it was still kind of liquidey so I thought maybe if I put it in the toaster already on the bread it would harder up, sort of like a pop tart?”
Mags grinned at her. “And let me guess, it didn’t, flooded the inside and now you have a toaster that’s full of milkshake?” She continued to grin, almost on the verge of giggling.
“Well, I think so. It doesn’t work anymore. I tried to get most of it out but um, no magic and hooves only makes it hard. I know not to put a knife inside at least.”
“If you did that you probably wouldn’t still be here.”
“Which is why I didn’t, and I’m really glad I found you!” she beamed again, Mags was sure her smile was going to leave the edge of her face at some point. This was clearly a very positive pony. The chit-chat had consumed some time as well, and they were very nearly at the edge of town where Felicity lived.
“Ah, here we are. Home sweet home.” The young Pegasus chirped as they both came to the front door of a very typical Ponyville cottage. Mags may have passed by but the houses in town were all so similar that she hardly took notice apart from the street names and numbers that identified them. She watched as Felicity produced a key from inside the folds of her wings, placed in gently in her mouth and turned it in the lock to open the door.
“Doesn’t that fly out as soon as you take off?”
“Huh?”
Mags pointed with her hood to the key. “Your front door key, as soon as you move your wings wouldn’t it just get flung out?”
“Oh um, yes…I suppose.” Came the reply, a clear dodge at answering the question. “Anyway come in, this is my little home!”
The front door brought them both straight into the living room, which was spartanly furnished apart from a few things around the edge. A book shelf, a small sofa, a little table that still had a plate on covered in crumbs. There was a little fireplace towards the back wall that looked as if it hadn’t been lit in years. The middle of the room was dominated by an extremely large mat that took up most of the floor and was square in shape, it looked rather thick and more sturdy than the average rug. Despite Felicity’s earlier protests of mess the room actually looked quite clean, but then apart from the mat there wasn’t actually a lot in here.
“Well it’s…nicely furnished?” was all she could manage. It was hard to describe a room with very little in.
“Oh right! The mat! That’s for my yoga, you need a decent mat to do all the stretches and stuff.” She smiled sweetly at her.
“Doesn’t seem very messy either.”
“Oh um, the kitchen is a bit of a mess, not here. Not a lot in here to mess up!”
“Okay, well show me to this broken toaster.”
“Sure, it’s still in the kitchen, follow me.”
They trotted through a door to the rear left of the living room which opened out into well, a kitchen. At least it might have looked like a kitchen if you could see beneath all the pots, pans, dirty dishes and all the other things that seemed to cover all the work surfaces.
“I-I said I hadn’t had time to clean…heh.” Felicity was blushing yet again, clearly more than a little embarrassed at the state of the room. The walkway in the middle was just about clear enough for her to weave through and she worked her way down to the end, Mags following behind and bumping off work surfaces. She wasn’t quite as slender or had the agility of her yoga-obsessed friend. Inevitably she knocked something over, a stack of unwashed pots came crashing down behind her with a almighty WHAM on the floor as she accidentally pushed her hips into them without paying attention.
“Don’t worry, magic! See!” As she levitated the pots back into position, her horn glowing softly as she fixed her mistake.
“Sometimes I wish I was a Unicorn, magic must be really useful. I hate having to put stuff in my mouth to use it, metal always tastes…bleh.” Felicity stuck her tongue in disgust.
“I bet flying is great though, I’d love to be able to get around really fast. You could be to Sugarcube Corner and back in minutes.”
“Oh yeah, um…it’s a blast, can’t beat it.” Again the reply was filled with a nervous sort of confirmation and even more-so, the most fake grin that Mags had ever set eyes on. Her eyes were darting from left to right as well…was she trying to make it that obvious she was lying about something?
At the end of the kitchen was another small table with a single chair pushed up against it, set in a corner.
“Aha, table for one I see.” She smiled.
“Well I do live alone, anyway the toaster is there.” Felicity pointed with her hoof at the small silver box that sat squarely in the middle of the table. “Do you need anything? Do you mind if I disappear while you work? I could use this time to practice.”
“No, got my tools right here – although usually I don’t need them as the magic does the trick but they’re for stubborn screws.” Mags patted the pocket of her jacket to indicate she had them hidden away. “And practice what?”
“My yoga silly! I try to do at least 2 hours a day to keep my hoof in!”
“Sure, I’ll just get to work. It should be fine, I think it’s probably just because the insides are likely covered in liquid milkshake it’s not working. I’ll give it a clean and take it apart and see if I can fix it without having to get any parts.”
“Great! If you need me I’ll be in the front room.” And with that Felicity disappeared out the kitchen, shutting the door behind her. Mags started her work on the toaster, this shouldn’t take too long.
It was incredible, Mags couldn’t recall really seeing anything quite so…goopy.
She had popped the toaster apart, a mix of magic and using her tools to get it open. There was milkshake everywhere. Liquid tends to leak, and this had coated everything. She put a little on her hoof and brought it to her lips, licking a small part off…definitely chocolate. She started to work her horn, a light removal and then water spell should do the trick to get it all off and the insides clean at least. It took her a few moments to remove all the milkshake and then after filling a bowl she gently doused it is water to get the really stubborn stuff out.
‘Well I suppose just put it back together and see if works, better let it dry a little first.’ She decided, leaving the innards exposed. She got up, looking around, it needed time to dry and she wondered what the pony that had brought her here was up to. Glancing around the kitchen all that crossed her mind was ‘If my mum left any part of the house this messy…well, it would never get this messy, she’d go spare.'
Even though the door was closed Mags could hear a gentle rhythmic tone working its way through the door and invading her ears. ‘Must be music.’ As this time she gently and slowly worked her way through the mess back towards the door in which she had entered, careful this time not to knock anything over.
Ever so gently she opened the door, just a hare to peek into the living room. She didn’t want to disturb whatever Felicity was up to.
On the tiny table the plate was pushed aside and a small boom box had appeared, playing some sort of generic workout music that was always heavy on the bass. Felicity was smack bang in the centre of the mat, on all fours, completely motionless.
‘Doesn’t look like much of a workout to me…’ A thought quickly dismissed by what happened next.
Within about 30 seconds there was a hop, a twist and an incredible array of motions that only a very, very flexible pony could achieve. Mags eyes widened as she watched through the crack in the door as the Pegasus seemed to do things with her body that seemed impossible for the average pony. Her legwork was the most impressive thing, contorting her forelegs and hind legs into positions that seemed to defy what they were capable of without something nasty happening to whoever was doing it.
As the music continued Felicity kept on moving her body in rhythm to it, gentler motions this time to what she had been doing in that last 30 seconds, the music had calmed in tone and she had as well. Gentle turns and twists were adorning the mat as she turned 180 degrees for her next manoeuvre, and her eyes came to rest on a slightly ajar kitchen door with a sliver of grey and a single eye staring out of it. She came to a very abrupt stop in the middle of a movement, not realising she only had two hooves on the floor made her extremely unbalanced. For the second time in a day she went crashing to the floor, face first this time. There was a slight splatting sound as her face smooshed into the soft mat below her.
“Ohhhh…not again.” Came a whimper.
Mags pushed the door fully open and with a bit more speed than usual made her way over to the crashed Pegasus, she didn’t look too hurt, the mat having taken most of the force and easing any injuries she might have sustained.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to peak and startle you – I just didn’t want to interrupt what you were doing.” Mags tried to explain as she extended a hoof, gladly met on the other end as she pulled Felicity up onto all four legs.
“No, that’s okay. I just wasn’t expecting you to be there. I don’t think anypony has ever watched me do any yoga heh.” She rubbed her face with her hoof, her cheek was a little red but nothing lasting that wouldn’t disappear quickly.
“I gotta take a little break to let the toaster dry, I had to clean it a bit. I heard some music coming through the door, just wanted to see…” She trailed off, both of them were staring at each other as each one tried to explain away their reasons for doing what they were doing. There was a grin at first, then a smile before both of them burst into laughter nearly at the same time as they both realised how silly they were being. Felicity spoke first.
“Ohhhh, hehehe. Don’t worry, this isn’t the first time I’ve hit the floor today. At least this time it was only me!” she giggled. “How long does the toaster need to dry?”
“I should give it twenty minutes at least, it was only a super light dusting of water droplets but I just want to make sure.”
“Okay, hey wanna watch me practice? At least this time I shouldn’t be all surprised because I know you’re here! Take a seat.” She pointed with a hoof over towards the sofa against one of the walls, Mags trotted over and plopped herself down on it, turning to make sure she could see what her friend was about to get up to.
“So do you just move in time to the music?”
“I try, you can’t always but it makes it more fun.”
“Cool, well let’s see what you got. What you were doing before was pretty impressive.”
“Okay, here goes!” Felicity positioned herself in the middle of the mat again, the music on the boom box came back into play and she once again started her routine.
“…Felicity.” 20 minutes had passed, but the blue and green mare seemed totally into her routine, twirling and twisting herself to the beat of the music.
“Felicity?”
Still nothing, Mags knew she was going to have to shout.
“FELICITY?”
“Wha- huh?” The music came to a stop as she finally realised Mags had been trying to get her attention, as did her almost ceaseless motions.
“The toaster should have dried by now, and was that really yoga? I thought yoga was more relaxed and gentle motions?”
“Oh, well it is, but I like to give it a little bit of a kick. Regular yoga doesn’t really fit my style so mine is a little more fast paced, plus if you do it as much as I do regular yoga gets boring really fast.”
“So that’s like super yoga for the advanced?”
“I guess so hehe.”
“Ah right, well it was really…interesting that’s for sure. You’ll have to show me more some time.” Mags blushed, it really had been an interesting experience, she didn’t think she had watched another mare so much for so long but something about all those flexible movements she just hadn’t been able to take her eyes off the entire time.
“Anyway it’s time for the moment of truth. Shall we see if its fixed?”
“Oh yeah! Man I haven’t been able to have toast for like…ever! I’d really like to have some tomorrow morning for breakfast, cereal is getting kinda boring…” Felicity frowned and looked at her tummy, although no on-queue gurgle happened.
“Well, let’s get back to it then.” This time Mags led the way back into the kitchen, as both of them once against eased their way through the mess.
The toaster was put back together, and Mags suddenly remembered something vitally important.
“Got any bread?”
“Oh yeah, hold on – just gotta find it.” Felicity disappeared back into the mess. Somehow she managed to pull out a bag of bread with her teeth without knocking anything over, plucking it up and bringing it back towards the toaster with the bag hanging out of her mouth. She gently eased it onto the table top next to the machine.
“Thanks, I can take it from here.” Mags said, untying the small plastic ribbon on the end and then levitating a piece of bread into the slot before finally using her magic to lower the armature down so the bread disappeared inside. Felicity looked impressed, but also gave her a slight annoyed frown.
“See, magic! You know it takes me at least 5 minutes fumbling about with this thing to get the bread in. You seem really good with it by the way.”
“I’ve done levitation spells a lot, it’s just too useful not too, but there isn’t much else I’m good at. I’ve nowhere near the ability of some ponies.” Mags huffed a little, she’d love to be as powerful as some of the princesses, or even some other unicorns, but she was a lazy pony and only really put effort into what she needed rather than putting more effort into her magic.
The toaster seemed to be working…seemed to be, as both ponies stared intently at it waiting for the bread to pop back up as nice warm crispy toast. Suddenly there was a little POP and tiny puff of smoke as the bread popped back up, thoroughly untoasted. Felicity frowned again and Mags sighed.
“Hmm, this must be worse than I thought, I bet that milkshake mixture has gotten inside one of the parts.”
“Ohhhh, I guess that means no toast for breakfast tomorrow?” Came the reply from an extremely pouty and unhappy face.
“Well, I need to take it home and look at it more. Um, how about you come to my house tomorrow for breakfast? I’m sure my mum won’t mind, and she’s always harping on at me to make friends. Maybe if I actually show her one she’d be pleased.” It was the least she could offer, having not fixed it right away.
“Oh that sounds great! I’d love to…and I’m your friend?” Her big beaming smile had returned and she swore there was the teeniest tiny tear in the corner of one of Felicities eyes as she stood there waiting for her to reply.
“Oh well…um, sure. You seem really friendly, I don’t have lots of friends, and often they’re busy so I don’t see them lots.”
“I’d love to be your friend! Oh a real friend, this is so exciting!” Felicity was almost bounding up and down, giggling with glee.
“Wait, what do you mean a real friend? Don’t you have friends?” Mags said, stopping her new friend in her tracks as she returned all four hooves to the floor, who looked at her with a slight amount of embarrassment.
“Oh um, well…no. I don’t leave the house much because I practise my yoga so much. I only really leave for necessities and maybe to get something sweet or tasty to eat, I mostly keep to myself.”
“But you could fly anywhere, why keep yourself grounded here and hardly ever go anywhere?”
“Oh right yeah, fly anywhere – that’s me all over. I just love to fly…” There it was again, that semi-sarcastic response that seemed to trail off as her voice almost faded to a whisper. Mags decided to keep ignoring it, she’d attack the reason this appeared to be flightless Pegasus when she knew her a little better.
“Well, whatever you do if you’re around town a lot I am too. We could meet up and do things, perhaps. Let’s see if I can get this toaster fixed first and actually get you some toast for breakfast tomorrow.”
“Okay! Well get home safe – oh! Home! Of course, where do you live? And what time should I be there?”
“Just the other side of town, on Trottingham road. Number 25. I’d say arrive around 9:00? Our family isn’t early risers so that’s the earliest my mum will make any breakfast, and if not I can let you in. We can find something to do.”
“Sounds great! I’ll be there. Better let you out and say goodbye, oh dear I really must get this all sorted out. If you have to come back I don’t want you bumping into things again.”
“That would be nice…” Mags replied as for the final time both ponies weaved their way through the kitchen and back to the lounge. Felicity opened the front door and watched as Mags departed with her toasted levitated by her side, waving a hoof as she left. “Byeeeeee, see you tomorrow! Looking forward to some yummy toast!” She enthusiastically said, before shutting her front door. Mags heard the boom box come back on muffled through the walls of Felicity’s house, that pony really did like yoga.
She gently levitated the still broken toasted by her side as she headed back home. Two birds with one stone! Okay, it would have been nice to have actually fixed the toaster but at least she had something to show that she had some work, and she was sure her mum would be happy she had met another pony who friendly as well. She smiled a little as she trotted onwards as the sun gently started to set over the horizon. Another day was drawing to a close.