One Week Later…
“Ooooooowwwww…” Eventide groaned long and loud from his place on his bed, haphazardly splayed out on his back and looking up at the ceiling. Beebee wasn’t far away, standing on top of the chest of drawers next to the bed and watching Eventide with an expression of deep sympathy. He would have gone over to him and snuggled with him to try and make him feel better, but hooves and really sore muscles did not mix well, apparently.
Although, thankfully, this was far from the worst case of body ache Eventide had experienced in the last seven days. No, that honor went to the morning following his first day at his new job. He had seemed fine the previous evening, if perhaps worn out and quick to fall asleep. But when he had woken up, it had been something of a disaster.
He had been hesitant to even move, complaining that he was hurting all over. Trail maintenance was a hard job, apparently, and Eventide’s body was not used to the intense workout. Still, he was getting better with each day he spent keeping at it, thank goodness, and this evening was a clear continuation of that trend.
That didn’t make his groans of discomfort any easier on Beebee, though. It was made even worse because he could see the pain that Eventide was feeling. Or, to be more precise, his misery at having to suffer through it. It came off in thick waves of purple, and it filled the air with a sour and bitter taste.
Beebee saw a fresh wave of the unpleasant colors rising off of his father’s body. His face contorted into an uneasy cringe, and he shuffled uneasily on his hooves. “Are you sure I can’t come over there and hug you?”
“I’m sure…” Eventide weakly replied before lowering his gaze to look at his son. He forced a tiny smile to appear on his face in an effort to appease him. “But thanks for the offer, bud. I appreciate it…”
Beebee shuffled back and forth on his hooves again and nodded, spying just the tiniest bit of love drifting up through the clouds of pain. There was no way for him to get to it through the bad stuff, though, and it soon dispersed, lost forever. With a feeling of profound defeat, he turned and lightly hopped down from the dresser to land on the floor. “I think I’m gonna go to my room and play with Wuvvy, Dada.”
“Alright, Bee,” Eventide called from his bed before another uncomfortable moan slipped out of him. “I’ll be here…”
Beebee hesitated by the side of the bed, looking up at the rising purple clouds. His posture sagged, and he shuffled out of the room. He paused once in the hall to look around the house. He spotted Buddha by her food dish, happily scarfing down some dog food that Eventide had left for her when he had gotten home that day. The setting sun outside cast blocks and stripes of reddish-orange light on everything, and the way it reflected off of Buddha’s blond coat was quite eye-catching.
After a minute of just watching Buddha eat, Beebee turned and flew up to the basement door handle to pull it open. Soon, he was descending into his room, his blue eyes illuminating everything. The overhead light was out, but that wasn’t a problem for the little bug. Not this time. He wanted the lights off for what he was up to...
Thanks to his night-vision, he had no problems navigating into the center of the room. He sat down onto his haunches, only idly taking note of an action figure of a knight by his hoof. He took in a deep breath, licked his lips, and then closed his eyes, plunging the room into total darkness.
Several seconds passed in complete and utter silence. Nothing moved, and Beebee barely even dared to breathe. “Come on, little guy…” he thought to himself, trying to relax and clear his head of anything else. “Come on out… I won’t hurt you… I wanna be your friend…”
Almost a minute ticked by, but Beebee remained completely still and completely quiet, shutting out everything else and focusing on the stubby, sharp-pointed horn that stuck out of his head. He knew that was what he had to focus on...
Then, it happened. The green flame slowly began to emerge within him, flickering dimly in his mind. He couldn’t stop himself from smiling as it appeared, in spite of the small pressure he could now feel in his skull from the effort and the intense tingling building up just inside of his horn.
“Hi there…” Beebee thought in as gentle a voice as he could imagine once he felt the spark’s presence grow a bit brighter. “What’s your name?” One of his hooves twitched reflexively at the excitement of finally finding the spark again, after an entire week of trying and failing to get it to reappear as anything more than a brief shimmer behind his eyes.
The flame did not answer, and upon his hoof twitching, it began to retreat and disappear, the static on his horn flaring and then fading away. Beebee screwed his eyes even tighter. “N-no! Wait, I’m sorry! I…” too late. The flame had gone, and the sensation on his horn had entirely faded. Beebee let out an annoyed huff and briefly opened his eyes to sulk at his toy. “Dangit…” he grumbled before kicking the toy with his hoof and sending it rolling a few feet away.
After a few moments, Beebee took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and tried again. For several minutes he sat there, focusing on his horn and the memory of how it had first appeared. That spider scaring him, the green glow that had followed, and how scared he had been in that moment. Eventually, like before, the spark appeared, and his horn tingled. Being extra careful to not move this time, Beebee tried to relax his body and focus entirely on the spark. “Hey… my name’s Beebee. Do you want to be my friend?”
The spark rippled at the thought, as if enticed, but it did not answer him in any other way. Instead, after several seconds of nothing, Beebee let out a startled gasp as a bead of sweat that had formed on his brow rolled down his forehead and into his right eye, shattering his concentration. All at once, the spark fled and his horn went cold again.
Growling in frustration and with his wings buzzing in furious agitation, Beebee rose to his hooves while rubbing the sweat out of his eye. He’d been so close! He had almost had it! “Gah! Why is it so hard to do this?!” he all but shouted before opening his eyes and driving his hoof into the floor.
What happened next happened so quickly he didn’t have time to process it. Beebee’s eyes narrowed as he growled in frustration, and his horn lit up with a deep, putrid-green light. Now wide-eyed in surprise, he took a step back and gasped as his room was suddenly illuminated. After a moment or two of processing, he let out a yelp as the light fizzled out, a few sparks of emerald light springing off of his horn to drift for the ground.
Beebee cried out as a sharp pain raced through his skull and chest, sending him falling backwards onto the ground in a panting heap. He quickly rolled over onto his hooves, though he kept his belly low to the ground as he watched the green sparks drifting through the air.
They soon came to a rest on his floor, where they sizzled for a second, and then faded into nothingness. Beebee recoiled, and his ears splayed back instinctually as the smell of fresh smoke filled his nostrils only a moment after the sparks disappeared. Finally, after a few seconds, Beebee said all he could think of.
“Ow… that hurt…”
He slowly rose up to a standing position and poked his horn. “Why did you do that, you big meanie?”
The horn and spark within him were both utterly silent, drawing an indignant pout out of Beebee. Still, after a moment, he sat back down, closed his eyes, and focused. He was going to get this right sooner or later. He focused and tried to remember how that had felt when the light had appeared on his horn, how it had felt when the sparks went flying. A few minutes later, the flame appeared to him again.
“Come on…” he thought more to himself than the spark this time, trying to replicate the feeling from before. After a few moments, the spark grew in size, and the sound of a deep static filled the air. He felt the tingling on his horn, and through his closed eyelids, he could just make out a faint green glow. He didn’t dare open his eyes, though, not yet. “Come onnn…”
Sadly, whatever it was he was trying to do, he just couldn’t. He didn't know how. The spark started to recede and fade away, as did the tingling. Already, Beebee could feel his frustration building up alongside a pounding headache, and he rose to his hooves by instinct. “Oh, come ON!” he growled through clenched teeth, his temper flaring.
Something surged in him, like before, but stronger this time.
Beebee’s eyes went wide, and he let out another gasp as something inside clicked into place. There was a sound like a fire whooshing into existence, a snap of electricity, and then a long, gentle hum. It almost reminded him of wind chimes that he would sometimes hear through the window. But instead of several lovely sounds in rapid succession, this was one long droning note that changed up and down in pitch while distorting with static.
Beebee stood there for several seconds, breathing heavily and letting himself calm down. Moving slowly, he turned his eyes up and towards his horn, and was just able to see the edges of the source of the green light. It pulsed and flickered on his horn in a steady rhythm. The glow was bright enough to light up the entirety of his bedroom, even if only slightly.
Finally, Beebee let out a quiet laugh, the realization dawning on him that the flame inside wasn’t going away this time. It was there. Still, he had to ‘hold it’ there, and he could feel the pain in his head getting more intense as he held it. His breathing was getting heavier, too, and it was becoming difficult to stand. Easing himself down to a lying position, Beebee focused entirely on just maintaining this light, memorizing the feeling of it on his horn.
After a few moments, though, he heard a knock on the door to his room before it swung open, casting the glow of the hallway light down the steps. Stifling a startled gasp, Beebee felt his focus slip, and the light on his horn faded away into nothingness. He glared up at his horn, then turned around, spotting Eventide descending the steps. He still looked like he was quite sore, but he was otherwise more focused on Beebee.
“You okay, Bee? I heard you shouting and gasping over the baby monitor,” Eventide explained once he was at the bottom of the stairs. He winced, then leaned against the support beam.
Beebee nodded and offered Eventide a big grin, despite his shortness of breath. “Yep, I’m… I’m okay!” he chirped out between pants. “Just doing stuff.”
Eventide raised a skeptical eyebrow as he reached the bottom of the steps. “What kinda stuff?” he asked slowly, studying Beebee’s clearly worn out appearance. His expression became more worried than questioning at that point. “And why are you so short of breath? Are you okay? You aren’t exerting yourself, are you?”
Beebee tilted his head, thinking about how best to explain this. “No, I’m not. I’m just… Uh… well…” he rubbed his chin and sat back down on his haunches, finally managing to get his breathing under control. “So… uh… um, lemme show you!” he suddenly blurted energetically. “Close the door and just watch, okay?”
Eventide looked at Beebee for a moment, then chuckled and nodded. “Okay, buddy, sure. Lemme just drag my extremely sore body up the flight of stairs, close a door, then walk back down in total darkness,” he responded with a slight edge of playful sarcasm before turning and dragging himself back up the steps. “Ugh, the things I do to myself for my son…” He grunted a few times as he went, but soon enough the door was closed, and Eventide came back down.
“Perfect! Now, just watch!” Beebee stated before closing his eyes and focusing.
“Bee, I can’t see anything. It’s pitch-”
“Shh! I need to concentrate!” Beebee interrupted him. Thankfully, his father decided to humor him, and fell utterly silent. Beebee took a deep breath and focused on the feeling from a minute ago, trying to replicate it one more time.
His headache came back from the strain, even worse this time, and his facial muscles started twitching with effort. Several beads of sweat formed on his forehead, and he couldn’t suppress a small groan of discomfort. But eventually, it came to him. The spark appeared, and he willed it to his horn. There was a snap and a hiss, and his horn ignited with the vibrant green light.
“Woah!” Eventide shouted in alarm, taking several steps back. “Beebee, what are you doing?! What is that?!”
Beebee opened one of his eyes, the other one refusing to comply due to the effort of maintaining the glow. “W-well, uh, you see…” he didn’t get to say anything else. It was too much. All of the strength left him all at once. The glow on his horn fizzled and died, and he slumped onto his side, gasping and heaving desperately for breath. That was it; he was tapped.
“Beebee!” Eventide shouted in concern, racing forwards through the darkness, guided by his sons glowing eyes. He gingerly scooped Beebee up into his arms and held him close to his beating chest, looking fearfully into his eyes. “Hey, are you okay? Are you hurt!? What’s wrong?!”
“I’m okay…” Beebee weakly mumbled, taking in another gasp of that sweet air he couldn’t seem to get enough of when he got like this. “Just… tired…”
Eventide gave Beebee a gentle squeeze, then made his way over to the bed. He set the bug down on top of the blankets before then heading over and turning on the overhead lights, illuminating the room. That done, he got onto his knees by Beebee’s bed and put a hand on his still heaving chest, offering his son whatever comfort he could.
Several minutes passed with the only sound being Beebee’ heaving gasps and occasional groans from his headache. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, he began to settle down, and the pain subsided. Blinking away the last vestiges of his migraine, Beebee offered Eventide a sheepish smile. “I think I’m okay, now, Dada…”
Eventide nodded slowly and withdrew his hand. “You sure?” he asked in a gentle whisper. “That looked pretty painful…”
Beebee nodded slowly, his smile fading away. “It was…”
“What were you even doing?” Eventide pressed, turning to sit down on the edge of the bed. He gently eased Beebee into his lap, where he then started to pet him on the back of his neck.
Beebee chittered in content at his father’s ministrations before looking up at him. The colors surrounding him made it clear that he was confused, worried, and scared. A guilty look spread over Beebee’s face as he realized what he had done. With sluggish movements, he rose onto his hind legs and buried his face in Eventide’s shirt, clinging to him with his hooves. “I’m sorry if I scared you, Dada. I didn’t mean to,” he apologized in a shaky voice.
Eventide hesitated for a moment, and Beebee relaxed when he saw some of the fear fade from the mixture. After a few moments, Eventide returned the hug, squeezing Beebee close against his chest. “You’re okay, but… I still don’t know what you did,” he whispered, stroking the back of Beebee’s head. “Please, tell me…”
Beebee nodded before peering up into his father’s eyes. They locked gazes for several moments before Beebee spoke up. “I… don’t really know, Dada. There’s this… um…” he leaned back and felt at his chest. “It’s like a fire, but it’s in me. I can feel it, and… if I really focus and concentrate on it, or if I get scared and angry, then it comes out and appears on my horn.”
Eventide’s brow furrowed at the explanation. “Huh… I see… I think,” he mumbled before using a finger to turn Beebee’s head, so they were eye-to-eye again. “How long have you been doing this?”
“Since you started your new job,” Beebee replied honestly, his wings buzzing a little on his back. “It happened for the first time when I got really scared by a big creepy spider. I’ve been trying to make it happen again whenever you leave me alone, and Fluttershy isn’t babysitting.”
“Alright,” Eventide’s expression hardened somewhat, and Beebee saw a shade of red coming off of him that told him he was in mild trouble. Before he had a chance to apologize, though, Eventide continued. “That’s fine, but from now on, if you want to practice this, uh, thing of yours, you make sure you have me or Fluttershy with you, and if we tell you to stop, you stop, do you understand?”
Beebee deflated with disappointment. “But Dada-”
“Nah ah, no buts!” Eventide interrupted him sternly while lifting Beebee up and setting him down on the bed again. He rose from the bed and got onto one knee so he could be on Beebee’s eye level. His expression was firm and left no room for debate. “That looked like it really hurt you, and it sent you into a gasping fit for several minutes. So unless one of us is here to make sure you stay safe, then I don’t want you doing that. It might be dangerous. Do you understand me?”
Beebee flinched back but nodded. “Okay, Dada… I understand… I’m sorry,” he answered in a dejected voice.
Eventide slowly nodded. “Alright… now come here and hug me. Wearing yourself out like that, you must be hungry,” he said, his face suddenly lighting up with a smile while he spread his arms.
Beebee’s own face lit up before he complied, lunging forward and wrapping his forelegs around Eventide’s neck while happily gulping down the love that was starting to fill the air. His moment of guilt was all but forgotten when he felt Eventide returning the hug, and even after he had his fill, the two stayed locked together.
Their hug had to end sooner or later, and it was Eventide who finally decided to back out. He winced and hissed in pain as he did so, reminding Beebee of how sore he was. His hooves flew up to his muzzle while his eyes went wide with guilt. “Oh, no! Dada! I’m sorry-”
“Don’t,” Eventide interrupted him through clenched teeth. “Not your fault, mine. Oof, ow,” he managed to open his eyes before slowly standing up. “Ow… okay, now that that’s settled… I think I’m gonna go back to bed.”
Beebee watched as Eventide turned and dragged himself for the stairs. There was a question on Beebee’s mind, and just as Eventide’s foot fell on the bottom step, he found the words to ask it. “Hey, Dada?” he called, giving his father pause and making him turn to look at him. “Do you know what the fire is? And what the light on my horn is?”
Eventide blinked and tilted his head, his face becoming one of deep and careful consideration. Eventually, though, he smiled and gave Beebee a loving smile. “Well, Beebee… I think there’s only one thing it could be…”
He leaned forward, making eye contact with Beebee once again. “Magic."