Out and about in the noon sun, I breathed out a content sigh. My eyes would never forgive me for what happened a few moments ago, but it was refreshing nonetheless. I’m still seeing spots, wherever I look.
Smiling, I spun a little and turned around to see Rarity standing next to me. She gave a small titter at my exuberant state, taking the lead with me falling behind.
It was nice having such a nice lady being my guide after all the crap I went through to get out of the Everfree Forest. Finding out that the damn thing was off-limits by royal order was at least a small relief, but I was sure I would somehow get roped into going in there again at some point. I just knew it.
Boy, was I glad I got out of there alive, being chased by two kinds of nightmarish monsters is enough for a lifetime. Barely clinging on to a ledge with however far of a drop wasn’t my idea of fun either. But it left me more alive than ever, and a small part of me longed for that feeling again.
I was sure I could do without, though.
After getting out and finding a town full of skittles colored hair, I barely made it into the town limits and passed out. And that left me here, the hospital behind me getting further into the distance with my male half still lying sick to death in the bed.
I touched my necklace again, feeling the comfortable weight around my neck. The lucky charm was a thing I took with me on my last day in the forest while staying at the castle there. I had two of them for my respective bodies, Sol and Lux.
The moon on the star-steel chain was the one I was currently holding in my hand with Lux. Sol had a sun pendant on his necklace. But enough with the recap, I had to admit, I was a bit jealous of Rarity’s figure.
Yeah, it didn’t help that I, as a former only male, had now also a female body. The best I could describe having two bodies is like... playing a two-player co-op game on your lonesome, trying to manage two characters at once. It was the most difficult thing to accomplish. Well, not counting the genius prodigy cases out there. They had an unfair advantage, but they also didn’t have two bodies, so there is that.
Managing to move both independently was getting easier, though. Lying still with the other body helped me concentrate on the other better. If I tried to do two different things at the same time, though, it ended almost always up with failure. But differentiating between Lux and Sol got super easy, what with one being to sick to stand.
Admittedly, the town looked nice in its rural design. If you get used to people having weird mixes of hair colors. What I noticed though, were the cars that seemed to be few and far between to encounter here. Most people still used horses around here to pull their stuff around. Although, I think I saw a guy carrying a sofa on his shoulders. That strength, man. I wouldn’t ever try to beat him in an arm-wrestling match.
So, technology, huh? It seemed only the truly rich had the really advanced stuff I was used to seeing daily on the streets. What a weird world I ended up in.
I guess assembly lines haven’t gotten invented here yet, then. That would be a thing to look into, but for now new clothes sounded more of a priority.
Following Rarity’s hypnotizing gait into her boutique, I apparently had passed out in front of some days ago, I took a look around all the fancy dresses. You know, I was actually impressed with the sheer quality of those. And she even told me she hadn’t had her break yet, what the heck man.
Were that genuine gems on that one?
Shaking my head, I got led to a spacious workroom cluttered with all kinds of tools and fabrics, sheets of papers with designs on them, and half-assembled clothes. Most of them were a bright and shiny color, some had that exotic dark shimmery look that I couldn’t help myself, but to marvel at.
These fabrics had to have cost a fortune. The first thing I would do was earn enough money to repay her for her kindness and generosity. And maybe get some of that fancy clothing, these fabrics looked and felt really comfortable.
A small image of Lux in a cute dress popped up into my head at that thought. I wasn’t sure if I could go with something as cutsie as what I imagined, but swallowing my pride for something a bit less over the top feminine? That I could possibly manage. It wouldn’t be strange, right? I mean, I was technically a girl now, too.
My face was tomato red for the next minute or two.
For now, a simple repair of my current clothing would have to do until I could get the necessary money. This town was in need of a librarian, I can feel it. And no one would get out of a late turn-in, mwa-ha-ha-ha! Evil cackling aside, I was looking forward to convincing the mayor of this small town to allow me to work there.
After all, managing a library was always easier with someone else to help. The Golden Oaks Library even had an apartment on the upper floors, I’m sure we could split the rooms to our needs, once that librarian got here on the Summer Sun Celebration.
“Could you take your clothes off, so we can get started, my dear?” Rarity’s voice snapped me out of my musings, leaving me with a red face both on Lux and Sol in the hospital. Gosh, the poor nurse thought something was wrong with me.
“Sure,” I hesitantly said, taking the hoodie jacket off first, slipping the shirt over my head afterward. I set my shoes to the side and pulled the white pants off, leaving me standing there in my underwear. I didn’t even notice until now that I had a black bra on. It was way too soft to be real, I tell you. The strips going over my shoulders holding the cups didn’t bite into my skin in any way, these were of some good quality.
A measuring band flitted across the room in a blue aura, making me follow it with my eyes. Magic, man. This would take some time to get used to, but after being subjected to some kind of ritual for the next Chosen One, it didn’t surprise me much anymore.
Scribbling on paper got my attention, as a notepad began to float around Rarity, taking notes of the numbers she got from the tape. She had some really cute glasses on, making me blush once more. Come on, body! Get yourself together. Having a crush on someone older than you was nice and good, I don’t judge, but my situation would just complicate things.
Not even mentioning the debacle of telling her that Sol and Lux were one and the same person, the fact that she would be in a relationship with two people, in this case, would get too much attention on top of it.
That I wasn’t worthy of such a beautiful woman was tempting to overlook, admittedly.
Standing still for a few minutes wasn’t that hard, and with a goddess like her seeing me half-naked, I really couldn’t complain. After that, I was left to sit on a stool, while she worked on the ripped clothing and making it look good as new.
She had some serious talent there, man.
“That’s an interesting talent mark you’ve got there, dear,” she said after a while of silent working, making me wonder what she meant by that. What in the nine rings of hell was a talent mark?
Looking in the big mirror on the wall behind me over my shoulder, I saw what she meant, but didn’t understand how they got there in the first place. Or what they were for, if they have this fancy name. Obviously, it had something to do with talents, duh.
On my shoulders was a blotch of black with a crescent moon on it, overlayed on top of it was the bow I got from the chamber under the castle. I really should’ve starved to death in that chamber instead of taking these damn weapons, man. If I squinted really hard, I could make twinkling stars out in the splotch.
That tattoo was animated, holy shit. Magic, tell this humble mortal all ye secrets, I beg of ye! There was no doubt that they were just that, magical.
Silently in the hospital, I looked at my shoulders there. Sol had the stylized sun with the sword going diagonally over it. Did these weapons come with free tattoos, or what? What kind of talent would they even represent? I sure as heck wasn’t good swinging around that sword, even if it weight absolutely nothing. Archery wasn’t my forte either, now that I thought on it.
“I guess,” I answered, focusing back on Lux. Hopefully none would see that as confirmation that I was this Chosen One that took one thousand years to find, because old Gandalf was bat shit crazy.
“What does it mean?” Rarity asked in that nonchalant way, all the while concentrating on her work with the clothes of Sol and Lux.
I had to think about that question for a moment. What does it mean, indeed... The sarcastic side of me wanted to make it out as a joke that I was the destined savior of mankind and didn’t want the responsibility. The rational part of me beat the shit out of my sarcastic part. There was no need to risk getting exposed over a stupid joke.
I didn’t want this, and if crazy Gandalf couldn’t put a warning sign at the damn entrance of the chamber, then I didn’t feel like I should put up with that crap either.
“I don’t know, really,” I answered, not having come up with anything better than my sarcastic reply I would’ve gone with if I hadn’t had the restraint to prevent that.
“Oh you poor dear, not knowing what your talent mark means must be awful. Why, I couldn’t imagine if I didn’t know what mine meant,” she said showing me a patch of three diamonds sewn into her blouse.
If it means you’re an absolute beauty, I totally agree.
She gave me back my shirt after she finished repairing it, beginning her work on my pants. We chatted idly about this and that, getting to know each other more. I kinda admitted to her that I lost over half of my memories in that forest. It was also true, I suppose.
That led to her smothering me against her chest like an overprotective mother being reunited with her long lost child. Yeah, it didn’t help my blush in any way. It was a nice feeling though, being cared for like that. She was nice to hug, that much I can say. I wondered how it could be that she still waited on her breakthrough in the fashion world, someone like her should be showered in praise, man.
Once she finished her work, we got on our way to the town hall. Glad that I had such a nice tour guide, we ended up in a companionable silence greeting the townsfolk with waves as we passed by. The air was really crisp here, making me enjoy the fresh smell all around me. This kind of air was long lost to Earth, I guess. At least around cities and such.
The thatched roofs of most of these houses certainly added to the atmosphere. The patchwork style houses reminded me a bit about old classic houses in Germany, that you would see everywhere in older parts of cities and in most rural towns there. Just without the straw on top of them.
Seeing most signs on the various shops following a theme of cute stylized ponies, gave this town a unique touch to it you wouldn’t be able to find on Earth. I wasn’t sure how the rest of this land did in regard to these things, but I’m sure it would be similar to this here. I mean, this town is called Ponyville and no one seemed to mind. It left me wondering what the names of the other cities around here were.
Probably also puns of the equine kind.
It was understandable, though, what with their creator deity being a winged unicorn. Although, why they wouldn’t be ponies themselves in that case, I didn’t know. Maybe Horse God found humanity after they already started playing with fire around here. Suddenly the myths and lore book became all the more interesting to get my fingers on.
This world was a little girls dream come true.
The townsfolk were nice and it seemed like everyone knew each other, which was a stark contrast to the city I grew up in. I don’t remember the name at the moment, but I certainly know it wasn’t on this much of a friendly basis around people that I was seeing right here. A family-friendly environment for sure.
I wouldn’t mind living the rest of my life here.
Sure, I was sad I wouldn’t ever get to see my own library, friends, and family, even though I don’t remember that much, but this? This was a place you would be proud to call home. The people talking to each other and haggling at stalls selling produce just found a spot in my heart. Even if they had weird hair color.
On our way, Rarity made a few purchases at a few stalls while we were at it and I offered to carry her bag for her. She gave me a grateful smile for that, so I was happy about that. She took the time out of her day to help me, it was a small thing to do to repay her kindness. It wasn’t like it was heavy, and it was nice to hold onto something with my fidgeting fingers.
I was a tiny bit nervous about talking with the mayor.
If I didn’t make a good impression and good arguments, my daydream of working the local library wouldn’t even have a chance to get off the ground, so to speak. I was afraid my dream would come crashing down in a fiery blaze like a phoenix forgetting how to fly.
The town hall was a round building with a small terrace going around it under a roof held up by wooden beams, easily the tallest structure around the town. Well, maybe, I wasn’t sure how tall the clock tower was that I saw in the distance.
Rarity held the door open for me as we made our way in, coming into the room taking up the majority of the ground level with a small stage at the far end and a small balcony overlooking the floor up above. Probably for the really big announcements.
A small part of me wanted to get up there and announce the end of the world.
Finding a small reception area with a bored employee playing with pencils, I introduced myself and asked to see the mayor of the town with a request to talk about the library and got asked to wait for a moment in the lounge through one door. Sadly, Rarity excused herself at that point saying she had to get her sister from the local school.
You know, if this didn’t work out, I could still ask if I could go teach there. I wasn’t half bad with maths and chemistry, even though I doubted that was something they taught to little children here. At least maths could work, and on the level needed here, it would be easy as pie.
I couldn’t go mad scientist on little children, sadly. Even if they would find it funny, but I digress. The receptionist came back and escorted me up to the first floor into an office.
On the walls were the typical folder cabinets and these ring binders you would see in any office, a few plants, some chairs and a desk in the middle of the room, an old computer that looked like the equivalent of the ones out of the eighties on Earth on top of it. Only not old in this case. Still massive leaps behind from what I’m used to.
It was certainly well made in the craftsmanship kind of sense, though. Not like the cheap rickety plastic garbage some people tried to sell you back on Earth, no this looked like a lot of time went into this little machine.
The desk itself was made of hardwood with a nice glossy finish. Also, there were a few imprints of dried coffee where someone wasn’t that careful with their cup, evidently. Who doesn’t know how fast something like that could happen, man.
Behind it was your typical office desk chair everyone played around with at least once in their life and hurt themselves in the process of being silly. I took a seat on one of the cushiony chairs that stood in front of the desk while a somewhat middle-aged woman entered through a door behind the desk to the left.
Man, she ended up with the short stick, if she already got grey hair like that. How old was she? Based on her appearance, barely forty. That wouldn’t lead to grey hair, right? So she either dyed it for some reason or she was really unlucky in that department. Poor woman. Although, it gave her that kinda sexy mature look, that promised you pain if you said the wrong word to her.
“Hello, I’m Mayor Madam, how may I help you, Miss?” she introduced herself offering me a handshake. Was that really her name? Seriously, her parents must’ve hated her or something.
“Lux, ma’am. I’m here hoping to ask if it were okay for me and my brother to work the local library,” I reciprocated her handshake, giving a smile. “We know that a new librarian is rumored to arrive with the Summer Sun Celebration, but we would like to know if it were possible to share the responsibility?”
“I don’t know about that, the Princess specifically requested for the apartment to be ready for her student coming to overlook the festivities with a possible continued stay,” Mayor Madam answered, pulling on a small frown on her face. Ah, crap, this was already getting out of hand. I need an argument and fast. Think! Think! Think!
“Well, I could perhaps clean up in the meantime and we could see from there?” I asked, knowing it was kind of a pathetic argument, but I needed more time.
“Pinkie Pie could always use a bit of help setting up for her welcoming party, certainly, but this isn’t that good of an argument to allow me to request a change of agreements with Princess Celestia and her protégé,” she kindly informed me, and I get it, she wanted to let me down gently, but I wasn’t done fighting. Not yet!
“Okay, I guess that would be a valid point. But perhaps I could at least work there part-time to sort and tidy up the bookshelves?” I requested, and this time I was certain that I made a quite good argument. It would mean that I would have to look for another thing to do, but there was always the school I could hit up next.
“That would be easily manageable, I would still like to have a word with the princess, of course, but I could present your case to her if you have experience with working around a library,” Mayor Madam said, showing a small smile this time. Okay, now I could go in for the hit and bring up how working together is always easier, and maybe I would get a permanent stay there!
“Oh, absolutely. I operated a small library back home on my own and I always found it easier if someone was there to help. Working together would doubtlessly lessen the workload the student of Celestia would have, wouldn’t you agree, ma’am?” I said, grinning in victory because arguing against that would be hard. Hah, take that!
“I see where you’re coming from. It would keep the stress down, and from what I heard about Twilight Sparkle, that would no doubt be invaluable. So long as you don’t fall into any disagreements?” she asked, raising her eyebrow. Well, she got me there. Would I get along with a complete stranger living in the same building day by day? I saw no problems, as long as we don’t try to rip each other apart while doing so.
“I would see no problems there, I’m sure we will get along splendidly,” I said, not sure if it was the complete truth, but I needed a job. Preferably one I did well in.
“Alright, I will send a letter this day up to Canterlot and see where we go from there. In the meantime, how about you get started cleaning up a bit?” she asked me with a friendly smile, glad that we came to an agreement. I returned it readily, nodding my head.
“Then that is settled. I’m guessing you recently moved here with your brother?” she asked me. Well, moving here is a bit of a stretch, seeing that I had no choice in the matter. But it would be best if I went with that.
“Yes, from Manhattan. We planned a bit of a camping trip and got lost in the forest just outside of town while we looked for something more permanent. Our uncle threw us out after our parents died,” I said, sticking close to the story I spun explaining my whereabouts here.
“From Manehattan? Must be quite a change of scenery coming from a big city like that,” she said surprised. I thought back on what I said and mentally facepalmed. This could’ve gone so wrong, mentioning a city from Earth, damn it! I need to be more careful, but at least a city like that existed here in this world. I remember a few times where I was actually there, so it was the first thing that came to mind.
“Yes, and sadly we lost most of our things in the forest in the process. We barely came out alive as it is, and my brother is held up with a nasty cold in the hospital, so I took the liberty of arranging our stay here,” I said, while my male half sat there groaning in bed with a book in his hands. You know, multitasking was kind of neat in that regard.
“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that, dear,” Mayor Madam said with a sympathetic smile. “I take it you lost your identification?”
“Erm, yes,” I muttered and tried to appear as embarrassed as I could. The one thing that I could have really needed in these damn bags, man. They wouldn’t have worked here, though. Most likely.
“I take it you’re eighteen years old?” she asked me, pulling out a few files. Now that I think about it, how old are these bodies anyway? I trusted her estimation on that, going along with it. It would only be a few years of difference, anyway.
“Okay, and you moved here from Manehattan. Parents deceased, Uncle not wanting to further take care of you both...” she muttered as she filled in our files to make us once more a legal citizen. Hopefully they wouldn’t search through the archives of... wait, was that Mane-hattan? Aww, how cute. Either way, I could do without getting accused of forging government documents, but maybe I should place some there for good measure. It was that or having to answer for false identity.
She asked me a few more questions and I also answered on behalf of my male half, seeing that he wasn’t here for it. After we got through with every question, she gave me the keys to the Golden Oaks Library and bid me a good day.
Smiling, I made my way out of the town hall, relieved that I could at least get a start on cleaning up the disused library, even if it was only on a temporary home until word got back from the capital.
I found Rarity on her way back from school with her sister in tow. The shorthead had some interesting hair colors, but not the weirdest I have seen yet. It could be mistaken for candy, man. She looked cute in her own way, though, but with a goddess of a sister like that, I guess it ran in the family.
“How did it go, darling?” Rarity smiled as I jingled the keys, happy for me that it worked out. I told her that it was for the time being only temporary, but that I had a pretty good feeling that it would get more permanent.
So, she told me how to find my way to the tree library, I kid you not, and went on her merry way with her sister, Sweetie Belle, as I found out. The little girl going on about finding her talent mark the whole way as they got out of earshot.
I guess it was a coming of age thing, then. Magic tattoos, gosh this was ridiculous.
It wasn’t long before I found myself in front of a majestic sight, indeed. It was glorious in a way that any child wanting a treehouse would be jelly of, and it was mine to live in! Well, temporary. But it was mine! God, I would fight to the death for this glorious house and then some. This was a dream come true for any fantasy fan.
It was a house in a tree, and it was a library! I think I let out a squeal at that as I raced to the door like an impatient calf getting to drink for the first time in their life.
Opening the door, I was hit by the dusty smell of well-used books. And I stood there breathing happily while daydreaming about scenes of popular movies and games where books flapped their way around you to and from bookshelves and so on.
It was like I was standing in the grand library of Dalaran in World of Warcraft, only it was made out of living wood. You could feel the arcane might vibrate your very skin in a pleasant greeting. I wondered what it would be like to cast magic yourself, and if it felt as nice as this, I couldn’t wait to find a book about it!
This place felt like it was the home meant for me in the universe. Well, I would have to share, but that wasn’t my concern right now.
Right now, I needed to clean this majestic beauty up.
The floor was showing footprints in the dust that had accumulated from however many years that no one worked here. Shaking my head, I thought about it with grim determination. This wouldn’t do, oh no! No, this wouldn’t do at all. Finding a closet with a broom, some buckets and brushes, I sought out a way to get some water.
Well, the kitchen didn’t look good either, but at least there was a working water pump connected to a basin. I would need to get someone in to get this a bit more modernized, but first all this filth must go.
I brushed the dirty dust into a pile in the middle of the room, working from the edges to the middle and shoveling everything into a bag to get disposed of later. Scrubbing water over the floor to get it fully clean was the next step. My knees would love me for this, I sadly realized. So much ground to cover with a small brush in each of my hands.
It took me an hour to get the main lobby almost squeaky clean, putting a smile on my now dirty face. A shower could come later, I guess.
The shelves were next, with the books stacked up on the reading table in the middle of the room. At least they seemed as good as new, magic the most likely reason for that. There must be some kind of limit on how far magic could go, man.
Once I got all the cobwebs away and scrubbed every corner clean of the bookshelves, I started sorting the books by the Dewey decimal system. I was a bit stumped on where to put the magic tomes but decided to dedicate a whole wall for that alone. There were just that many kinds of magic.
Abjuration, Conjuration, Transfiguration, Defense, Offense, Charms, and so forth, which reminded me very much of the wizarding system from Harry Potter, but these all had categories on what kind of magic you were using at the time, too.
Divine magic, opposite to unholy magic, light and dark in layman’s terms with varying degrees of power classed in tiers, arcane magic with its opposite in destructive magic, nature magic with the opposite being necromancy and pure undilated raw magical might, or just called unaligned magic. None of them were inherently evil, as the stigma of necromancy was oftentimes portrayed. Everything had its uses in the magic of this land.
Necromancy for example could be used to set bones forcefully, while nature magic would increase the rate it would heal. Holy magic could empower you with more energy, but also burn down your foe. Or yourself if you weren’t careful, I suppose.
Destructive magic could be used to light a fire while you could vanish it with arcane magic. There was no good or evil in the magic system of this world, only the user that cast the magic.
Casting magic wasn’t a thing of imagination either, you actually had to study spell formulae and before you even could begin to even get a spark out of your fingertips, you had to study the ley lines of your surroundings.
If you didn’t properly study the ley lines you were drawing mana from, the energy most often used to power spells, you would be next to useless in a different part of the world.
Things like levitation drew power from ambient magic, so you wouldn’t have to worry about something like that for small spells that anyone could learn in a few minutes. If you knew the layout of the ley lines, though, you had next to no limit on what you could levitate off the ground. As long as you could draw the energy fast enough to power your spell.
Bigger mass, more energy to lift. So even if it were theoretically possible to lift mountains with magic, it would leave your body a withered husk as you slowly got more and more dependant on magic. Most people weren’t able to draw that much magic in, though. It all depended on how strong your willpower is, and in what condition your body was while doing so.
But you could still get addicted to the torrents of magic flowing through your body for taking too much, too fast, too often. Yeah, that’s a lot of too much’s.
I put the tomes in their rightful places while looking through a few, reading while working. It really helped that multitasking problem of mine.
You know how fast computers can send signals? Or how fast you could turn a light on and off with one, so fast you wouldn’t see a difference. Multitasking between bodies was somewhat like that, only you would have to learn how fast you could switch between yourselves, without sending the signals to the wrong body or falling into synchronicity with sending them to both. The more one learned to do that, the faster you could switch back and forth. Still, I was lightyears away from getting as fast as a computer would be able to accomplish, even though the brain is a miraculous thing in that regard.
Once every book found its place, I went to work on the other rooms. There were a few that held more books in locked cases, giving me the impression that I stumbled upon the restricted access of the library. Stuff like powerful magic that you really needed a specialization in or you would end up doing more harm than good.
It was a slow progress to clean everything up to a workable condition, and the cold on Sol wasn’t helping my mood at the time either. Even a majestic library such as this one could only do so much, I guess.
Done with the main part of the library, I decided to get the apartment above ready and clean up before nightfall came in. Up above there were four main rooms, two of those were bedrooms while one was a living room connecting all of them, the other was one a study leading out on a balcony with a grand view over the local park.
It was quite a serene view, not unlike the view from the tower at the castle. I smiled and decided a small break was in order. So, I cleaned myself a bit up with a rag I found and grabbed one of the tomes from the main part of the library, I settled down on the balcony by the study and decided to read up more on the fascinating workings of magic.
While some kinds of magic were more susceptible to corruption, any kind could, in fact, corrupt you, if you didn’t know what you were doing. Most books strongly advised to learn under a master to avoid mistakes of that kind.
Emotions oftentimes also decided the outcome of your spell. Miscasting a spell could have fatal consequences, like wrongly teleporting could lead to you not taking your whole body with you. I believe in the Harry Potter books it was called splinching or something like that. You can imagine how painful that would be. If you were, for example, feeling something like hatred while trying a healing spell, you would instead cause something like decaying and not mending.
There were different ways to go about to cast your spells. While runic circles would be a great way to ensure the magic stayed nearly permanently there, it wouldn’t help you in a hurry. Rhyming and singing were fast and easy ways to cast some spells, but you would’ve to be really specific on what you wanted to accomplish. If not, any number of effects could pop up, causing more often than not something similar to chaos magic.
Chaos magic was a forbidden art for a good reason and would actually land you in prison if you did that intentionally. Not because it was necessarily harmful, but because dispelling these effects were next to impossible. You want to heal something like a cut on your nose? Yeah, well... you could end up sprouting a second one, then the next and so forth, because it had a mind of its own.
On the opposite, order magic was also heavily restricted for the very same reason. Order magic would try to make everything be the same as to what you originally intended to do, ending in very bad ways.
Trying to play magnet with both order and chaos magic could result in something like the big bang, and for that very reason it warranted the death sentence. Yeah, this land wasn’t all magic and rainbows. Playing with god-level tier magic was something that could literally unmake you.
Magic had rules. And if you didn’t obey them, it would lead to your death. It was a bit like playing with fire. For that reason alone most people content with doing small feats of magic like levitation. True archmages would take decades of studying to get to their level of power, which was the reason why most were depicted as old grisly men in fiction. Only people with a natural talent for magic got to that level with only a decade instead.
I was half sure the protégé of the princess was an old lady like Minerva McGonagall from Hogwarts. What kind of name was Twilight Sparkle anyway?
Back on track, though, I was getting hungry, so I left the book with a sad glance on the shelf and got out the front door, locking up. Wouldn’t do for someone to try to steal from the library, would it?
Thinking of Rarity, I thought that maybe she could help me out a bit with my food problem, seeing that I had no pay yet to buy something myself. Maybe we could work something out.
Waving at the people on my way to the boutique with a friendly smile, I knocked on her front door. It took only a few seconds before I came face to face with her younger sister, looking up at me with a sparkle in her eyes.
“Heya, Lux! Here to see Rarity?” she asked me with her squeaky voice that left me a quivering puddle of goo on the inside. There was a thing like too much cute in one person, and Sweetie Belle exemplified that trait to a ridiculous degree. Her smile could cause diabetes, man.
“Yes, please. I would like to discuss something with her,” I said to her and she let me in without fuss. Not a minute later she came back down with Rarity in tow, excusing herself afterward.
“Why, hello, dear!” Rarity smiled seeing me being back here the second time of the day. I greeted her back and began explaining my little problem with having no food, nor the money to buy any.
“So, I was thinking...” I said once she got the gist of it. “Could I perhaps model for you for some pocket money?”
Yeah, it wasn’t my brightest idea to get at money in the short term, but if I had to swallow my dignity for some food, I would gladly do so and wear a dress. Goodbye, half of my man card... Hello, new female card!
As long as I stayed to the female body for attire like that, nothing could go wrong. No way would I wear a dress with the male body, though.
“Oh, darling! Of course we can arrange something like that if you’re in need of bits,” she said, and I knew what she meant with bits. They were the local currency, and a pun to boot. Go figure. After all I helped her around the market earlier that day.
Over dinner we made an agreement for me to come over when she needed someone to wear an outfit she was making and offered me a few bits in exchange and a meal if I was in need of food at the time. It was a generous offer and I readily agreed to help her out whenever she needed me.
And with that, I ended up once more on a pedestal standing still while she adjusted a few pins. If I dare say so of myself, I was a very good pincushion. Probably because I made Rarity laugh a few times too many while we talked with her working on the green dress.
Red hair and green dress was a great color combination, I say. And to be honest? I kinda... enjoyed wearing it. The freedom of movement it allowed was like wearing a cloud in fabric form.
I told her of the progress I made with the library and she gave me an address to get someone in for more modern facilities in the kitchen and bathroom. She told me I could bill that to the town funds, which was kinda nice. It was after all an official property of the town. Yay for that.
As long as I let the mayor know what I was doing with the money, so I couldn’t go overboard.
Sad, I know.
I decided to hit up the mayor the following morning just for that and go to that address right after I was done there if I got the permission to go ahead with it. And with a bit of luck she would have a reply from the capital, too.
Thanking Rarity for the small bag with a few bits in it that would tide me over for the next day food-wise, I made my way back to the library at sunset. Lighting was another issue I would have to look into, I guess. But for now, the bed was calling to me, so I made my way up into one of the bedrooms.
It was the one next to the study having two beds for one person each with an empty shelf in between functioning as a room divider. I liked it, it had a distinctive feel to it. Setting my red bag at the foot of the bed, I stripped down to my underwear and got in the bed with a tired yawn.
Six more days to go and my other body could get out of that hospital. I looked forward to not feeling miserable anymore.
With that, I ended up back in the dreamless void, glad no nightmares would plague me this night. But with the void came the feeling of being caressed once more in the form of someone petting my head and what felt like a wing as a blanket. My eyes opened as I floated there as if I was underwater, but without the pressure or lack of imaginative air.
A wing was actually draped over me. Huh.
Turning my head I saw something which I had seen at the castle on the murals depicting the people working in harmony with their different traits, be it magic, flight, or strength. The white wing squeezed me in reassurance as I stared at her, lying there next to my bodies on an invisible surface. She gave me a smile as I looked at her, with eyes full of awe.
It was like the iris was replaced by a galaxy only limited by her pupil and sclera. The magnificent horn spiraling upwards from her forehead. Her fur was white like her wings, is tinted with a bit of red. The mane flowed like a river around in a non-existing current only felt be her. It changed from color to color, never staying with one more than a few moments.
She was perfection in pony form. Every feature of her was immaculate as if sculpted by a master artisan.
No words were said.
It felt like your mother was watching over you, ready to ward off any danger that dared to lay their claws on you. But her presence reminded you of the fact of why she was also there in the first place.
She showed me what could be if she wasn’t there to drive my doubts away. What could happen, were I to stay there and ignore them, if I decided to never go away from her embrace or what would not happen if I stayed like this. The wonders left unseen, the tales untold, the people never met and so much more.
The serenity had a price and my nightmares were the punishment if I failed.
But she gave me the reassurance with the embrace that she would be guiding me along the way. Being proud of what I could accomplish and disappointed if I failed to meet her expectations. Crying with me in joy or despair, laughing with me or at me if I did something particularly stupid in her view, cheering me on if I needed it and comforting me in times of need. She would watch over me along my way.
All this she told me with her gaze and I relaxed against her, feeling her nuzzle me lovingly. I would have time, she conveyed with that gesture. Time to get ready and face the things head-on.
For nightmares in the waking world were on their way.
Things were happening to the world she had taken an interest in and I was going to be her champion, whether I wanted to or not. Still, that didn’t have to mean I needed to come out as a Chosen One, right? Working from the shadows would be acceptable, I’m sure. There were many ways to accomplish something, after all. I wouldn’t look forward to it, though.
She gave a titter and hugged me at that, smiling in a way that gave the impression someone was fond of your antics. Her laugh had the quality of the most beautiful sound you could imagine and left anyone in a relaxed state hearing it.
That was how I spend my night listening to her hum a melody of her own making, lulling me slowly into a deeper sleep. The song promised one thing to me. A simple reassuring thought.
Everything would work out in the end.