//------------------------------// // 12. A Great Day // Story: Like Fireworks in the Sky // by SpyroForLife //------------------------------// It wasn't much longer before they were able to safely go outside. They spent the next few hours clearing sand away, going into houses to sweep up everything that got in through the windows. Work went on until sunset, and Tempest's legs and back were aching by the time Curly called for a stop. Even Discord seemed tired, and that was saying something. As the storm creatures had given him dirty looks every time he cleaned things with magic, he had grudgingly started working by hand, and now he was just as dirty and sweaty as everyone else. “It was a great day,” Curly said proudly. “We can finish cleaning tomorrow, and then keep building. But our little village is finally looking like a home, and I'm proud of all the work you've done.” The storm creatures nodded and smiled, and headed inside to wash up. Tempest lingered to see if she was needed, but she was soon told to leave. “Seriously, you've worked hard today, you deserve some rest,” Curly said, looking her over. “And a bath.” “Yeah, you're right. Well, see you tomorrow.” Tempest said goodbye to her and Grubber, and then reached a hoof over to Discord. “Let's teleport back.” He took it, and they teleported across town, arriving outside Capper's house. Tempest gave a few knocks, and he soon answered, letting them in. “Glad to see you survived the sandstorm,” he said, closing the door behind them and locking it. “Yeah, it was pretty intense though,” Tempest said. “Tempest blasted a sand wyrm with fire magic,” Discord added. “Oh, did you now?” Capper asked. “Heh, yeah,” she replied. “Some idiot decided he really needed to be somewhere right after the storm and started walking down the street. Wyrm came right for him. It threw him into the air, but I managed to push it away before it could eat him. I got its attention, and shot fire right into its mouth. It left after that.” “Well yeah, if someone shot fire into my mouth, I definitely wouldn't stick around.” Capper walked over to the kitchen. “So, you two look tired and hungry. What are you up for?” “Just make whatever you want, I'll eat it,” Tempest assured him. “I don't want to serve you anything that'll make you sick. Are you okay with chicken?” Tempest certainly didn't want to have a lot of it, but she enjoyed the taste. “That sounds fine. Maybe with a salad on the side?” “You know what, I'll cook us up a chicken, and cut out some meat to make you a chicken salad,” Capper decided. “Sounds delicious, thank you.” “Mhm. Oh, and to both of you... feel free to use my shower. Just don't spend too long in there, there's only so much water available.” Tempest nodded and looked at Discord. “Do you want to shower first or should I?” He raised a brow and snapped his fingers, all the sand disappearing from his body. Tempest rolled her eyes. “Well yeah, you can do that, but it's still refreshing to actually take a shower,” she said. “You go on ahead, I'll hop in later,” he said. She went to the bathroom. It was a small room, with no windows, which trapped heat and made her sweat just from stepping inside. She decided to make this quick, closing the door and turning on the shower. She didn't even wait for the water to warm up, just jumping under the cold spray and rinsing off. She shivered, but it was pretty refreshing. She turned her face up, ears laying back as she felt the streams of sand run off her fur, going down her neck and dripping off. She turned about to make sure her entire body was clean, and turned off the shower. She stepped out, and realized she had left her brush back in her saddlebags outside. She sighed and picked up a towel, drying off. She looked at her reflection, at how her mane hung down around her head and neck. It will stand up straight as it dried, but she needed to start styling it quickly or it'll look completely unruly. Deciding she was dry enough, she hung the towel and stepped out, going over to her saddlebags. She pulled her brush out, and when she turned to go back to the bathroom, she caught Discord staring at her. “What?” she asked. He blinked, and adopted a more casual pose, lounging on the bed. “Nothing, I was just thinking, you look funny with your hair down.” “It's just wet, it'll be back to normal when it dries,” she replied. “Alright but I think it looks cute like this.” Her cheeks grew hot, and she darted back into the bathroom, grooming her mane. Discord just called her cute. Part of her didn't like the idea of being cute, but the other part was flattered by the compliment. She watched as her mane slowly stood into its usual mohawk, wondering if it was time for a change. It naturally grew this way, but she had to admit, she did exaggerate it a little. How would she look if she just started brushing it down instead of up? She almost moved the brush to try, then decided she didn't want to mess it up. She wasn't much of a stylist. She'll wait until she was back in Equestria and ask Rarity to do something with it. For now, it was fine like this. Tempest briefly devoted time to brushing her tail, but it didn't need as much attention. Once groomed, she set the brush down and walked back out. She found herself looking to Discord for his opinion. He was still relaxing, but his eyes went to her immediately. “You definitely look more striking with your mane like that, though.” She casually ran a hoof against it. “I don't know, it's been like this for a long time, I was thinking of having Rarity restyle it.” “Hey, why not? New you, new look. Of course I'm fond of the mohawk look myself.” He turned his head, running his hand down his black mane. Tempest laughed. “I see that.” Discord stood. “Well, I'm going to take a shower too. Be back in a moment.” He held out his hands and a bottle appeared in each, one shampoo and the other conditioner. He walked by and Tempest chuckled. Then she went to the kitchen to see how the cooking was going. Capper had the chicken in the oven and was dicing up lettuce, mixing it up with spinach leaves. He smiled at her. “You like tomatoes?” “Yeah,” she replied. He added slices into the bowl. “How about Discord?” “He eats anything,” she replied. “My favorite sort of guest.” Capper picked up a bag of croutons. “Would you mind getting the cheese out of the fridge? There should be a block of parmesan, could you get the grater and add some of it into the bowl?” “Sure,” she agreed, happy to help. As they prepared the salad and occasionally checked on the chicken, Capper said, “It's nice having company. I don't really have any friends around here. I've been considering moving, but I still have a debt to settle here.” “No one around here wants to make friends?” Tempest asked. “The people of Klugetown aren't very good at making friends. They're getting better at it, but I don't know, it feels strained. Now when I was in Equestria, those were some truly friendly people. I almost want to go back.” “You should. Finish paying your debt and then move, we'd be glad to have you,” Tempest said. “Maybe I will. Does Ponyville have any nice houses for sale?” “Heh, I think there's a few around.” Discord finished showering and stepped out, stretching. “Ah, refreshing. And how's dinner coming along?” “It's going well,” Capper replied. “We're just finishing up the salad, and the chicken should only need a few more minutes. Here, let me set out some bread.” He piled some rolls onto a plate and took it over to the table. “Feel free to sit down and have a drink, you know where everything's at.” Discord simply got a glass of water, and sat down, picking up a piece of bread to play with. Talk turned to the day's work, and Capper said that he had spent the sandstorm hanging out on an airship, as the wyrms couldn't burrow through the wood. Otherwise it had been a long day of moving cargo. “You definitely deserve a better job,” Tempest commented. “It's not so bad. It's good exercise.” He flexed. “But I wouldn't mind something better. I'm telling you, the storm creatures need to dig that quarry, I would so work there.” “Yeah, we'll definitely get that started,” Tempest promised. “Twilight just... wants me to help the storm creatures get jobs at the airship docks first. Help them integrate more with Klugetown and build positive relationships. Then we can start on the quarry.” “Hey, whatever you think is best, I'm not rushing you.” Once the chicken was done, Capper pulled it out and set it on the stove top. He poured some salad onto a plate for Tempest, and started cutting strips of chicken off and placing them on top of the salad. “There, is that good or do you want more chicken?” he asked, offering her the plate. “This is good, thank you,” she replied, accepting it and going over to the table. Capper turned back to the chicken, cutting off a big slice for himself and scooping out a small helping of salad. “Discord, dinner's done.” “Oh, wonderful.” Discord stopped fiddling with the bread, which he had managed to stack into a tower. He went to make his plate while Capper sat down. They took their time eating, telling stories, as Capper wanted to get to know the two better. They talked about O&O too, comparing their characters, and he offered Tempest advice on hers. “You know, since you're going to be staying with me, we could start a campaign,” Capper suggested. Discord's eyes lit up. “I would love to! We can get Tempest started on a brand new world. All of us start at level 1 and we go off on an adventure, and try not to die. Oh it could be so much fun!” “Maybe we can get started on the weekend,” Capper said. “What do you think, Tempest?” “I have wanted to play it ever since Discord told me about his games,” Tempest replied. “So yeah, let's play this weekend.” “Great!” After a few more minutes, they finished eating and got up, cleaning up the kitchen. Luckily, Capper didn't mind Discord using magic to do so. “Well, I'm gonna read for a bit,” Capper said. “Sorry I don't have much to entertain you with, but I'm up for conversation if you get bored.” “Oh, I'm fine, I think I'm just going to lay down,” Tempest replied. “My back is killing me.” Discord tilted his head. “What's wrong with it?” “I'm just sore. It's nothing I can't handle.” She walked over to the bed, limping slightly as her legs ached. She knew it would be worse tomorrow, and wasn't looking forward to it. She laid down, sighing. Discord followed her and sank down next to her. “Would you like a massage?” “Hm? Do you even know how to give massages?” Tempest asked. “Of course I do, it's not hard. Here, just let me massage your back at least, it'll make you feel better.” “Mm, whatever.” Tempest turned her head forward. Then she grunted when Discord's hands grabbed under her forelegs. “Could you stretch your front legs out in front of you? Okay, there you go... and your hind legs back. Perfect! I don't want you all bunched up while I'm doing this.” Tempest grumbled, but stayed stretched out, and soon Discord's hands were on her back. He massaged firmly, kneading his palms down against her spine, and she groaned as it seemed to push the tension right out of her. She rested her chin on the covers, while Discord steadily worked his way up her back. “How's that feel?” he asked. “Good,” she replied. “Good. Let me know if it hurts.” He leaned more of his weight onto her, and while it did ache slightly, the pain brought with it a sort of numbing relief as soon as he moved on. She closed her eyes, enjoying it. Encouraged, Discord began letting his claws glide through her fur, rubbing ever so slightly against her skin. Still not hard enough to hurt, but it made her shiver. He occasionally stroked along her sides before coming back up to her back, making his way down her barrel. Tempest almost started drifting off to sleep, it was so relaxing. Then his hands went back up, rubbing the base of her neck and down her shoulders. She opened her eyes slightly in reflex, not used to having her neck touched. But Discord remained respectful, and she soon closed them again, humming. This was very nice. Discord was talented, and she considered herself lucky that she was his friend, and more than that, he had come with her on this trip. She had a feeling that Starlight wouldn't have offered to do this for her. Tempest was almost disappointed when Discord declared that he was done and pulled his hands away. “How do you feel?” he asked. Tempest sat up, rolling her shoulders. All her muscles felt loose. There was still some soreness, but it was much more bearable. “Good. That was really good, have you practiced?” He smiled. “I'm glad you liked it. Yes, I've given Fluttershy massages. She gets sore often after spending all day working with her animals, so she calls me to help her out. But I usually give her a much more gentle massage. You could take some force.” “Heh. Well, your experience shows. That was nice.” Tempest laid back down, yawning. “That about made me pass out.” “We should go to sleep anyway. We have another big day tomorrow, and many more to come.” Tempest agreed. “Yeah.” She looked over at where Capper was sitting next to his bookshelf reading. “We're going to go to sleep.” He nodded and got up, going to turn off all the lights except a lamp near his chair, which glowed too dimly to be bothersome. Tempest started to ask if that would be enough to read by, then remembered he was a cat. He had night vision. “Goodnight,” she said to him. “Goodnight. See you in the morning.” Tempest got under the covers, and Discord soon slipped in with her. She looked over at him, then said, “Hey, um... mind if I cuddle with you?” “Not at all,” he replied. He held his arms out, and she slipped into them. He slowly stroked her back. “You're being really affectionate today.” “Oh, you know. We're friends, friends hug each other!” She felt his tail drape over her. “Also you're warm, and soft, and... I really liked when you cuddled with me last night. So. Yeah. Ugh, I'm so sappy.” “Yes, you are,” he replied. Then he nuzzled her snout, making her jump. He smiled. “It's nice to see you opening up.” She scowled and hid her face against his neck, and he kept petting her. “I'm glad we're friends,” he said quietly. “You've really helped me to open up too.” Content, she closed her eyes. “You're welcome. Goodnight.” “Goodnight.” His hands fell to her back, and he gathered her just a little closer, before closing his eyes too. Tempest began to second guess snuggling with Discord under the covers like this. She felt way too warm. But she was too comfortable to move. So she just ignored the heat and let herself drift off to sleep. Being with her friend made her feel more secure than she's ever been, and she wouldn't give this up for anything.