Chapter Five
In Which I Meet the Bug-Moose
About a month after the “Letter Incident,” as it came to be known, I was sitting in an armchair in the castle library, copying equations out of a spellbook in front of me. It was still slightly ironic to me that magic of all things would be math-based, especially so as the spells became more advanced. This further reaffirmed my theory that the gods had a weird sense of humor. Twilight believed that just because I couldn’t actually use my magic didn’t mean I shouldn’t get the theory down cold. I’d tried explaining to her that a Draconequus trying to learn unicorn magic might be like a fish learning to bicycle, but she’d have none of it. I think she just wanted to keep me busy, and out of trouble. It did help me not accidentally destroy things, when I was working on it anyway. She was a great teacher, and always over-answered my questions.
A whistling sound in the sky made my ears perk up. “Mail’s here,” I muttered without looking up. I then hit the dirt.
“Huh? What’re you talking abou-” *KEE-RASH!!* Twilight was so close to finishing that question.
I picked myself up, and dusted myself off. I walked over, and helped Derpy Whooves to her hooves. “My dear, they really don’t pay you enough for this hazardous a job,” I said, dusting broken glass out of her mane. It wasn’t said condescendingly, I meant every word. I was still amazed that Derpy had walked away from some “on the job” accidents I’d witnessed. For being so cheery and friendly a town, Ponyville could be a freaky-dangerous place to live in.
“Anything for me?” I begged. Derpy smiled, and shook her head. “Can’t blame a Draconequus for trying.”
Derpy stuck her head in her mailbag, and held a letter in her mouth out to Twilight, who was finishing magically repairing the window. The letter had some sort of seal on it, I thought it might be from a Princess, except they usually used dragon-fire to send mail.
“Say ‘Hi!’ to the Doc for me!” I called. Derpy waved, and flew out the (mercifully open) window.
Twilight read the letter. “Spike! Spike!” Spike ran into the room. Twilight held up the letter with a smile. “Thorax is coming!”
The little drake pumped his fists. “Eeyes! Awesome!”
My ears flicked at the name. “King Thorax? The Changeling King?” I asked.
Twilight nodded. “Yes, he’s coming here to ask friendship questions from the rest of the Changelings. They want to learn more about some of the finer details of interpersonal relationships. It’ll be great to see him.”
“Oh. Well, I hope the four of you enjoy yourselves. I’m sure Starlight will be happy to see him again. You all are pretty close.”
Twilight lightly punched my ribs with her hoof. “Come on! I’m sure Thorax would like to meet Equestria’s second resident Draconequus! I think you’d like him a lot. You two might actually have a lot in common.”
“Oh. Thank you for the invitation.”
“Don’t mention it. Actually, he’ll be here very soon. I’m going to go tell Starlight. Spike, roll out the royal welcome mat!” Spike snapped a salute, and rushed off. Twilight trotted out of the room with a smile. I glanced down and my work, and circled the answer of forty-two.
We waited for Thorax in the Thrones Room. I hung back by the far wall, I wasn’t part of Twilight’s team, and the King wasn’t here to see me. I was wondering what Thorax would be like, when a magical aura opened the door, and he walked in. My jaw dropped. Oh. My. I thought, He’s gorgeous! I had seen insects on Earth who sparkled like jewels in brilliant colors. Thorax put them all to shame. He seemed to almost glow in shades of yellow, green, purple, and orange. His long wings/tails that dragged behind him caused small rainbows to flicker around him. On his throat, three jewels like cut diamonds sparkled. His moose-like antlers were also jewel-toned, and even his fur glittered slightly. He was a walking work of art, almost like a living stained-glass window. His eyes were the deepest shade of amethyst I’d ever seen, and seemed to catch the light just right. I found my eyes tracing and retracing every part of him, before resting for an uncomfortably long time on his flank. At that point, my brain caught up with my wandering eyes. Aauugh! What are you doing?! He’s a stallion! You’re a stallion! You’re not into stallions!
Nopony had noticed my ogling, because even though it had felt like several minutes, it had in fact been several seconds. Thorax hadn’t even made it down the hall yet. When Thorax approached the thrones, he bowed formally. Twilight waved a hoof. “Thorax, there’s no need for that. Ever.”
Thorax straightened up, and rubbed the back of his head with his hoof. “Heh. Sorry. Old habits, I guess. It’s great to see you Twilight! I have so much to-” At that point, he noticed me. “Oh, wow! A Draconequus!” He rushed over, and stuck out a hoof. “Hi! I’m Thorax,” he said with a smile.
I stuck out a paw, but forgot to actually shake his hoof. “I’m uh, I’m uh, I’m, I think I’m,” My forked tongue was rolling around uncomfortably. Hey! He still has a forked tongue too! I thought randomly.
Twilight came to my rescue. “He’s sort of between names at the moment. All part of being a new Draconequus, apparently. Until he finds his name, everypony just calls him Draco.”
Thorax grasped my paw, and shook it enthusiastically. “It’s nice to meet you Draco!”
“Uh, it’s an honor to meet you, your gorgeousness – er, highness!” I quickly corrected. Thorax raised an eyebrow. I chuckled nervously. “Eh, heh heh. Well, if you’ll all excuse me, I’ve got lots of very important Draconequus duties to attend to. Busy, busy, busy, that’s me!” I made a mad sprint for my room, slamming and locking the door behind me. I almost wore a groove in the crystal floor from pacing the whole night, wondering what was wrong with me.
The next morning, Twilight knocked on my door. “You OK?” she asked in a worried tone.
“Eeyup. I’m fine.” I walked over to the window, and looked out of it. Then I looked down.
“Well, Thorax is spending the rest of the morning and part of the afternoon here, then going home to the Changeling Kingdom. I was wondering if-”
“I’d love to stay and help, Twilight, but I’ve got a list as long as my tails of things I need to do around town today!” I then dove out the window, flattening some bushes underneath me. I ran to the edge of the Everfree Forest, and climbed a tree, which I stayed in until dusk.
I returned home after dark, trailing mud and leaves. Twilight was furious. “Where have you been?! Do have any idea how worried we all were? You can’t just …” she sighed. “Where were you?”
“In the Forest.”
“You were in the Everfree Forest all day?!”
I rolled my eyes. “Barely. I was only five trees past the outer edge, not exactly the most dangerous part of the Forest. If I’d gotten into trouble, I would have come home with my tails between my legs. I’m not exactly helple-”
Twilight held up a hoof. “Just. Stop.” I stopped. Twilight sighed, and rubbed her temples. “Let’s … start over.” I nodded. Twilight continued, “I freely admit that I sometimes miss social cues, and the ones I do pick up on I can misinterpret.” She paused. “Are you acting so strangely, well, stranger than usual, because you’re attracted to Thorax?”
I swallowed, my mouth dry. “Well, I wouldn’t say I’m – I mean it’s all a matter of perspective – There are a lot of – And anyway, who can say – Yes.” I finished. I cringed.
Twilight lightly touched my paw. “Are you uncomfortable with the fact that you’re attracted to him? Your behavior was pretty extreme.” I nodded, my cheeks red. Twilight smiled. “It’s ok to be attracted to somepony, or even someling. We don’t always pick the ponies we like.”
I nodded again. “Believe me, I know that. It’s just that my parents back home wouldn’t have exactly been thrilled about my being in a same-sex relationship, even though they would have supported it, and, well, it makes me uncomfortable. That, and we’re entirely different species.” I sighed. “He is good looking, though. He’s so nice! I just …” my voices trailed off.
Twilight rolled her eyes. “Promise me you’ll think twice before jumping out of a second-floor window. Those bushes are going to take weeks to grow back. I’m surprised you even left the roots.”
I nodded, and went through the motions. “Cross my hearts and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.”
“I heard that!” came Pinkie Pie’s disembodied voice.
“How does she do that?” I muttered.
Twilight looked at me, and simply said, “So. You’re attracted to Thorax.” With that pronouncement, she walked off.
I sighed again, and stalked down to the kitchen. I didn’t physically need sleep anymore, but the human part of my mind still enjoyed it, and I honestly found it a luxury. While flipping through an old recipe book in the library, I’d come across a recipe for a sleeping draught. By quadrupling the required dose, I could actually get a decent night’s sleep.
After downing the potion, and cleaning the dishes I’d used, I went upstairs and curled up in bed. While waiting for the potion to kick in, I heard distant conversation. Even with my bat-powered hearing, I couldn’t make out what was being said. Twilight’s muffled voice spoke for a while. I was able to make out Spike shouting “WHAT?!” followed by Twilight’s voice, and more soft conversation. Twilight spoke for several minutes, followed by a faint “fwoosh!” Twilight had sent a letter, I didn’t know why, or who to. I closed my eyes, and went to sleep.
At breakfast the next morning, Spike kept staring at me. The problem with actually managing to sleep at night was that I was very tired the next morning, almost as if the sleep was trying to catch up.
Starlight cleared her throat. “So, how are you?”
“Fine,” I said gloomily. I stirred another spoonful of sugar into my oatmeal, and continued to pick at it, I couldn’t talk myself into eating.
“T-hup!” Spike hiccupped. His cheeks bulged, and he clutched his stomach.
“You OK there Spike?” I asked.
“UURRRRPPPP!” A scroll shot out of Spike’s mouth.
“Oh. Right. Dragon-fire mail.”
Spike held the scroll up. “It’s from Cadence!” He held the scroll out to me. “It’s for you Draco!” he said with surprise.
“Really? I never get mail.” I sliced open the scroll with a claw.
Draco,
A matter has come up that I require your assistance with. Enclosed is a ticket, please take the 2 P.M. train to the Crystal Empire. You should arrive at eight. Looking forward to seeing you,
Mi Amore Cadenza Armor,
Princess of Love
I held up the golden ticket. “I get to go to the Crystal Empire tonight! I wonder what’s going on? May I go?”
“Draco, you’re my student, but you’re not a foal. Mostly. Of course you can go! You do have free will and all that. Best of luck!”
“Thanks Twilight!”
I arrived at the station early. I only got one nervous look, ponies around town knew I wasn’t about to turn them into hot fudge or something. The train rolled into the station with its ear-splitting shriek. I pawed my ticket to the conductor, and boarded.
As the train rocketed through Equestria, ponies who were from other stops stared at me in shock as they boarded the train. I guess my existence wasn’t wide-spread news, for which I was somewhat grateful. I ignored the stares, and watched the passing scenery with interest. I’d never been out of Ponyville before.
Arriving at the Empire Station, I walked casually through the permanent blizzard. The cold never bothered me anymore. Passing through the magical barrier was a surprise to witness, the Empire was actually warm and green. I meandered towards the Palace, glancing around at the sparkling buildings. Upon arrival at the Palace gate, I was met with the business ends of several spears.
“Whoa! Guys! I come in peace!” I proffered the letter. “I’m here at the bequest of Princess Cadence.”
The Captain of the Guard gave me a skeptical look, but read the letter anyway. “Hmm. Everything appears to be in order … Mr.?”
“Draco.”
“This way please.” I was quickly swept into the Palace. “The Princess will be with you as soon as she is able.” With that, the guard let. I sat down, and waited.
“Hey! Draco!” called a familiar voice.
“Shining! Hi!” Shining walked over, and gave me a light bro-hoof. I chuckled at his unkempt mane. “Flurry Heart still keeping you up nights?”
Shining laughed. ‘You have no idea! I love my daughter, but some days, that filly of mine … Have you ever thought about having kids?”
I gave a sudden start. “Well, maybe. One day.” I rubbed the back of my head. “I’m not sure I’d make a good father. Also, I’d like to fall in love first.”
Shining put a leg around me. “Tell you what,” he said warmly, “When you do have kids, if I’m still alive then, I’ll throw a Crystalling for them.”
I smiled. “Promise?” He nodded. A thought struck me. “What does Cadence want with me?”
Shining snickered. “Oh, you’ll see.”
I was about to ask what that meant, when the door behind me opened. “Draco! Hi! Hurry, come in!” called Cadence. I walked into Cadence’s office. He levitated a tuxedo jacket and dress shirt up to me. “Here, I think this is about your size, I’m sorry if it’s off. Oh, I’m really sorry, I know you’d like some, but pants are kind of rare in Equestria.”
“I’ve noticed that,” I said drily, taking the tux.
“Put that on quickly, we’re running late as it is,” Cadence said in one rush. “Do you need any help?”
“Nah,” I said while buttoning up the shirt, “I’m used to having to dress up, it’s kind of nice to do it again.” As I was tying the bowtie, I asked, “So what is up that requires a trip to the Crystal Empire and my wearing a tux?”
Cadence beamed. “I am treating you to dinner in a nice little restaurant in the Empire!”
“You needed me to come all the way up here for a dinner? Hmm. This is a little bit big on me,” I said as I examined my loaned outfit.
“I can’t pull of this dinner without you, trust me,” said Cadence. “Sorry about the outfit, it’s the best I could do short-notice.”
“It’s fine.”
Cadence smiled, and pushed me out the door. What was it with mares and dragging and pushing people everywhere? “The reservation is for 8:30, so there isn’t much time.” We came to a restaurant near the outer edge of the empire: The Crystal Eatery. I smirked at the name. Cadence said, “The reservation is under Cadence: party of two. Everything’s been paid for ahead of time, so eat whatever you want. If you’ll wait here, I need to do something.” In a flurry of wings, she was gone.
From the opposite direction came a loud buzzing, and somepony a bit large landed behind me. I turned, and saw Thorax staring at me. He was also wearing a tux, his was slightly too small. “Er … Draco, right?” Thorax asked.
“Uh, yes. What’re you doing here?”
“Cadence asked me to dinner for two,” Thorax said in a puzzled tone.
“Uh, me too. Wait a minute. You, invitation, 2 tuxes, nice informal restaurant, Cadence disappears, Twilight sent a letter last night …” I facepawed, hard. “So help me, I’ll gut those two mares,” I muttered softly.
“Pardon?” Thorax asked.
I sighed. “I … may have mentioned to Twilight that I’m … attracted to you. She obviously sent a letter to Cadence, and Cadence ambushed us into a date.” I groaned. “Listen, I am so sorry you were dragged all the way up here for this.” I turned back the way I’d come, and headed for the Palace. “I am going to tell her exactly what I think of her meddling in other pony’s-”
I felt a hoof on my shoulder. Most ponies couldn’t reach that high. I turned back, and saw Thorax behind me. Even though he was only slightly over half my height, he had a good reach on him. “It’s … a nice restaurant,” he said with a sheepish smile. “I’d hate to waste a perfectly good, free reservation.”
I blinked in surprise. “Are you … agreeing to date me?” I asked slowly.
Thorax nodded. “I could tell you were attracted to me when we first met,” he said with a mischievous smirk, “It helps to be able to sense emotions. Yours were a mess. Changelings aren’t very pick when it comes to relationships, or the genders of relationships, and I’d honestly like to give this a try.” He looked at me quizzically. “Does it bother you that I’m a stallion?”
“Not exactly. It’s just that neither of my species thought they’d be attracted to ponies, and well … I didn’t think I’d be attracted to stallions. It’s just a bit strange for me is all.”
Thorax grinned. “Well, it’s only our first date, so how about a compromise?” In a flash of green fire, a tall mare stood before me. She was a bright green, with a long, curling yellow mane. Her eyes were a deep amethyst. Her cutie mark was a blood-red heart. She was pretty close to Thorax’s genuine color scheme. The mare stuck out her hoof. “Monsieur Draco, I’m Ami de l’Espirit. It’s nice to remeet you.”
“Uh, likewise,” I said, shaking her hoof. “You don’t have to do this, it’s fine.”
She smiled, “Well … I could do with a break from being a king for a night.”
“You speak Prench?” I asked with interest.
She shrugged. “Only a few words.”
I worked out a rough translation of the alias in my head. “‘Spirit’s friend’ is and odd choice for a name. What made you pick that?”
Ami inclined her head. “Well, you are a Sprit. At least that’s my understanding.”
“Oh. Well, thank you. I’m flattered. Shall we?”
After checking in at the front, we were ushered to a corner table. “I should give you fair warning in case you want to flee now,” I said as I opened the menu, “I have almost no experience so I’m horrible at dating. Hmm… I’m fairly certain that if I tried to order meat in a pony restaurant, I’d get us both kicked out.”
“Ami” was eyeing the menu. “Well, I almost exclusively eat love, but the crystal greens salad looks good. She forgot herself for just a second. Hearing Thorax’s voice come out of a mare’s moth made me shriek with laughter. Most of the restaurant stared, I’d never had what could be called an “indoor laugh.”
The waiter came over. “Is everything alright sir?”
“Fine!” I handed the waiter our menus. “I’ll have a baked potato with butter and cheese, and my date will have the crystal greens salad with?”
“Poppy-seed dressing,” Ami supplied.
I broke into a broad grin. “A man after my own hearts!” The waiter raised an eyebrow at my odd choice of words, but thankfully didn’t say anything before heading for the kitchen with our orders.
Ami chuckled. “Are you always this … goofy?” she asked.
I nodded. “Usually, yes. When I’m in a good mood. It’s probably really irritating.”
Ami shook her head. “No, it’s actually kind of cute. I’ve been told I can be goofy too.” Our food arrived. I inhaled my potato in ten minutes flat. Surprisingly, “Ami” was as fast an eater as I was, and kept up with me almost bite for bite.
Our waiter came back to ask us something, and his mouth dropped open. I don’t think he’d ever seen two ponies eat that fast. “Er … would either of you like dessert?”
I shook my head. “No, thank you, I got plenty. My compliments to the chef.” I turned to face Ami. “Would you like anything?”
She shook her head. “I don’t need to eat very much.”
Because I hadn’t known Cadence’s “matter” was going to be an ambush date, I’d brought along an emergency stash of bits. My mane was too short to hide them in the way ponies did, so I usually wore them in a pouch around my neck. Few ponies would try to rob a fully-grown Draconequus, even if I was pretty powerless. Thankfully, at the present moment, I was wearing a jacket. With pockets! After a while, I’d gotten used to having to walk around naked, but it was still weird, and it made basic things like pockets seem like a luxury.
I pulled the pouch out of my pocket, and gave the waiter a generous tip. “Sorry for the trouble,” I said sheepishly.
The waiter smiled. “No trouble at all sir,” he said in a friendly tone. “You two enjoy your evening.
Ami and I were a few feet out of the restaurant when I tapped her on the withers. She glanced up at me. “Err …” I rubbed the back of my neck. “I really appreciate you changing forms just because of my insecurities, it was very kind of you, but could you go back to being a stallion? You’re a lot hott – er, I mean I like the real you better than a façade for my benefit.”
I facepawed. With that little Freudian slip, I’d stuck both my paw and my hoof in my mouth. Give me a crowbar, I could probably fit another limb in here. Yeesh. I’d never been single-minded that way in my life.
There was a faint “Fwoosh!” “Better?” asked Thorax, back in his bug-moose cuteness.
“Much, thanks.” I laughed. “That tuxedo really doesn’t fit you, your highness.”
Thorax smirked. “Back at you. Please drop the ‘your highness’ stuff, tonight I’d just like to be Thorax.”
“As you wish,” I said with a flourishing bow. I then twirled around, and examined my outfit. “Yeah, not being pony-shaped, and being twice most pony’s height makes it hard to find clothes in my size. I think this is a 4XL. Wish I could afford to custom-order stuff, but even my hoard isn’t that big.”
“Can’t you just magic up clothes if you want them? You are a Draconequus.”
I shook my head. “Nope.”
Thorax’s brow creased. “Do you have magic? I haven’t seen you use any at all the two times I’ve met you.”
“Actually, yes. Twilight and Discord tested that fairly early on. Apparently, in terms of raw power, I slightly outclass Discord, but,” I shrugged, “I can’t even use it to brush my teeth. For the moment, it’s sort of locked away inside me. No matter what way I try and use it, I can’t access it.” I smiled humorlessly. “I have god-like levels of power, but at the same time, your average unicorn foal can do much more impressive things than me. It’s slightly ironic.”
“Huh,” was all Thorax said.
“Sorry, I’m blathering on about myself, and I hate the sound of my voice.”
Thorax’s head tilted. “Why?”
“It’s annoying
It’s annoying.”
I said, heavily emphasizing the difference between the two aspects of my voice.
Thorax smiled, and put a hoof on my shoulder. “I like it,” he said warmly.
“Really? Why?”
“It sounds like two opposites working together to form a whole.”
“Huh. I never thought of it in those terms, I can see what you mean. I still think I sound like a clichéd villain from a badly-written story.” I carefully ignored the brick wall that appeared in my peripheral vision when I made a statement like that. If I ignored it, it always went away. Now that I had a fairly good idea what it was, it didn’t bother me as much.
Thorax chuckled at my words. “Maybe. It does sound like a male version of Chrysalis, but in a cool way.”
“Thank you for that anti-compliment. So, dinner went much faster than I thought it would. The evening’s still very young. What would you like to do?”
Thorax shrugged. “What sounds good to you?”
“I’ve never visited the Empire before. Would you like to explore?” Thorax nodded, with a happy, adorkable grin. I gave him a thoughtful, slightly odd look.
“What?” he asked.
“Well, it’s just that you’re a King, and a male, but you only come up to my mid-chest. To me it’s a bit weird to literally talk down to you. It doesn’t feel respectful.” I snapped my fingers. “I know!” I dropped down to a quadruped stance. I was now twice as long as Thorax, and only about two inches shorter than him.
“Uh … you really don’t have to do that,” Thorax said, looking at me like I was crazy.
“You were nice enough to change genders for me. I’m allowed to do something crazy in return. I kind of enjoy walking like this anyway. Besides, you look good from this angel.”
Thorax rolled his eyes, and sighed wearily. I seemed to have that effect on most ponies, and now I seemed to have it on Changelings as well. We started walking around the Empire, taking in the sights. Thorax was an excellent tour guide, I had forgotten he’d lived here with Cadence and Shining for a few months between being found and his ascension. It was a lengthy tour, the Empire was slightly small, but there was a lot to see. Thorax did most of the talking, I mostly asked questions.
After the tour, we wound up walking along the bank of a river that wound through the Empire and down into the Frozen North. Inside the barrier, it was running smoothly, outside the barrier, large chunks of ice took up most of it.
Thorax paused, and sat down on his hindlegs, admiring the beautiful evening. I got off of all fours, and sat up next to him. I leaned my head on one of his withers trying not to poke him with my horn. I don’t know why I did it, but it felt right. Thorax didn’t object, he simply rested his head on top of mine, being careful not to poke me with his horn and antlers.
After a while of sitting comfortably in silence, he said, “You know, for spending an evening trying to get to know one another, you’ve barely talked about yourself. I wouldn’t mind hearing more. What’s it like to be a Draconequus?”
I gave a slightly hollow laugh. “I’ll let you know, when and if I ever find out. I’m not exactly a fully-fledged Spirit yet, I’m very tied down to the mortal realm. Actually, if you really want to know more about me, I’m not a Draconequus, at least not originally, I’m really an alien lifeform for an alternate universe. One morning I woke up to find that I was pulled here and turned into a Draconequus because the gods apparently thought I might be useful somehow. I don’t know why they thought it.”
As I was coming clean, Thorax’s jaw had dropped open. I waved a paw airily. “It’s a long story, we don’t need to go into it now. It’s not exactly ‘first date’ material. I probably shouldn’t have told you even that much. My mouth tends to run off. A lot.” I grinned at him. “Still want to date me?”
Thorax was silent for several minutes. Then he grinned back. “Wwweeellllll…” I chuckled.
I put an arm around him. “Actually, just out of curiosity, why did you agree to date me in the first place? Aside from not bringing down the wrath of Cadence? We only met for,” I calculated quickly, “One minute and thirty-four seconds, if memory serves. I then completely avoided you for almost two days. I was a complete jerk. What could have attracted you to me from all that?”
Thorax moved a little closer to me. He laughed as he thought about it. “I honestly don’t know. I just … liked you. It’s not every day you meet a Draconequus. Your stutter was kind of cute too. Usually I’m the one who’s tongue-tied around new ponies. I just … I don’t know really. I guess I just was attracted back to you for some reason. Do you believe in love at first sight?”
I snorted. “Nah. In the first place, we’ve only know each other for about three hours, so I wouldn’t qualify us as ‘in love’ yet. In the second place, ‘love at first sight’ only happens in Disneigh movies. If this was a Disneigh movie, we’d both have broken into a romantic song and dance act (not that that’s unusual in this universe) and any second now a clock would be chiming midnight.”
*CLICK!**WHHHIIIIRRRRR* *DONG! DONG! DONG! …*
As the Empire clocktower continued to chime midnight, I sighed. “Sometimes, I swear the gods have it in for me. They’ve certainly got a great sense of irony.” I lifted my head, and looked Thorax in the eye. “Do you want to head back?”
Thorax pushed me head back down onto his wither, and put a leg around me. “Not yet. We could stay and talk some more. It really is a beautiful night.”
“OK, but I should warn you, I am just enough of a Sprit that the only way I can manage to ever sleep is by taking a technically lethal amount of a sleeping potion. This could be a really long night.”
“That’s OK,” Thorax said. We did say by the river, and we talked about this, and that.
Eventually, after several yawns, Thorax fell asleep. I laid my jacket over him. It was oversized enough that it could serve as a substitute blanket. Thorax actually snuggled into it in his sleep. Sheesh. If he was any cuter, I’d need several shots of insulin. Even his snore is adorable.
I watched him sleep for a while, and then carefully wound around him like a giant, furry snake, purely to help keep him warm of course. Amazingly, I didn’t wake him up. I just listened to him breathing quietly, and laid and thinking about nothing, and everything at once. As the night passed, I looked up at Luna’s beautiful hoofiwork, and started to count the stars.