//------------------------------// // Chapter 32: Picturing A New Home // Story: The Bug In The Basement // by Skijarama //------------------------------//     Three Months Later…     “I believe in you!” Fluttershy cheered Beebee on in her characteristically quiet voice, giving him a small wave from her place on the bottom step of the basement stairs. Beebee nodded back at her, grinning confidently, then looked ahead to focus on his target. They were in the basement with the light on overhead, and Fluttershy watching him practice with a small smile.     They had been at this for a while, now, with Beebee trying to do more with his magic than before. Making it appear on his horn wasn’t really a problem anymore. Where he was having trouble was doing anything with it after that point. Surprisingly, Fluttershy had offered him a few points of advice when she was the one supervising, and more often than not, her advice actually helped.     In fact, their current objective was one which she had suggested. ‘Try to move the action figure with your magic,’ she had told him. Considering her track record so far being pretty good, he was inclined to do as she instructed. And so he focused on the old toy he no longer played with, his forked tongue poking out one side of his mouth.     “Okay… here goes…” he said quietly. With only a small wince of discomfort, his horn lit up with a snap and a hiss. Green magic flared into life along its length, casting a soft glow across the room. Fluttershy’s smile widened, and she had to hold herself back from offering a loud cheer at how easily he could summon it up now.     Beebee winced slightly as he felt the beginnings of a headache, the signs that he was pushing himself to his limit, but he ignored it for now. He wasn’t going to stop until Fluttershy told him to. He pushed all other thoughts and distractions out of his mind, focusing on his target and the energy built upon his horn.     His face lit up with a big grin as he felt something shift in the energy on his horn. It was a strange feeling, of that there was no question. It was as if he was reaching out with his hoof, but it wasn't really his hoof. It was an invisible appendage that could change its size and shape at will. Sadly, the larger he made it and the further out he sent it, the more painful it became. He winced as he tried to send it for the action figure, and he realized he couldn’t reach that far.     His headache flared. He grunted in pain, and the light on his horn sparked and fizzled out at the same time. He stumbled back a few steps and fell to his haunches, slightly short of breath. Fluttershy frowned slightly, tensing as if to stand. “Are you alright? What went wrong?” she questioned softly, observing Beebee’s condition with scrutiny.     Beebee shook himself and looked back at her. “I dunno… I just can’t reach that far. And it’s so hard to concentrate on it when I reach out. It keeps getting more painful the more I do it,” he explained while scuffing a hoof on the floor. “It sucks… I wanna do magic tricks!” Fluttershy couldn’t help the tiny smile that spread on her face at his choice of words. She then gave a low, thoughtful hum while looking over at the figure. “It’s too far away, huh…?” she mused out loud. With a nod to herself, she rose to her feet and walked over to where the action figure was resting. She picked it up and then set it down right at Beebee’s hooves. “Okay, then try from right next to it,” she suggested with a small smile. “You can work on your reach some other time.” Beebee looked up at Fluttershy with a grateful nod, then looked down at the knight to try again. Like before, his horn sparked into life easily enough, and he began to reach for the figure. It was still a strain, and a bead of sweat was starting to roll down his neck from the effort, even with such a short range. But he was close enough, now. He felt the figure in exquisite detail, enveloping it with his metaphorical hoof. He could feel every single lump and bump, every nook and cranny, and even the hollow space inside of it. He could feel how the joints connected, how the accessories attached, how the paint was applied. He could feel the tiny imperfections left in the plastic surface by his hooves after months of hard play. Scratches and dents, erosions and bends. He felt everything. As it turns out, everything is too much. He let out a sharp gasp, his horn letting off a few sparks and fizzing out again. This time, he fell onto his back in a heap, on the verge of going into one of his hyperventilation fits. Fluttershy’s face grew concerned, and she quickly kicked the knight aside before kneeling down and tenderly scooping Beebee up into her arms. “Are you okay, Beebee?” she asked in a soft voice, rocking him back and forth. Beebee took a few seconds to catch his breath, taking comfort in the gentle rocking motion then nodded. “I’m alright…” he said between his pants before groaning in frustration. “I almost had it!” “You did, but I think that’s enough for today,” Fluttershy advised in the voice she used when there was no room for argument. Granted, it was still a really quiet and gentle voice, but… it was the eyes. Beebee could have sworn she looked right into his soul when she looked at him like that. “Okay…” He agreed in dejected resignation before being set down on his bed. He slumped down and let the side of his head plop onto his pillow, grunting quietly from the impact. He lay there for a few minutes, letting himself back down some more before looking back up at Fluttershy, who was now sitting on the edge of his bed and looking at him with a loving smile. “I think you’re making good progress,” she complimented him while gesturing out at the room. “You did make the entire figure light up after all. Right before your horn popped.” Beebee blinked. “I did?” he asked. He didn’t remember that detail... Fluttershy nodded, then reached out to give Beebee a few scratches behind the ears, making him coo and chitter. “Yes, you did. You’ve gotten so much better! And you can only keep getting better!” Beebee smiled appreciatively before Fluttershy withdrew her hand, allowing him to speak again. “I kinda wish I got better faster, though…” he muttered, an edge of disappointment and impatience in his voice. “Well, you made a mistake, and now we can learn from it. Do you think you can tell me what happened there, if you don’t mind? You know, when your horn popped?” Beebee nodded slowly. His lips drew back into a thin line as he rolled the sensations around in his head, trying to think of how best to describe it. “Uhm… when I reached out and grabbed the knight, I… I could feel everything about him. It was so much.” Fluttershy gave a slow nod of her head and another thoughtful him. “Hmmm… maybe you shouldn’t have tried to grab the whole thing, then? If it was too much, maybe you should have just gone for one small corner or something at first.” Beebee rolled onto his back and looked up at the ceiling. “Maybe…” he mumbled before the two fell into a companionable silence. Fluttershy absently reached into her pocket after a short time and withdrew her phone, looking at something on the screen intently. After a few minutes, Beebee sat up onto his haunches, looking at her curiously. “Aunt Fluttershy? How come you know so much about magic?” he asked, causing Fluttershy to jump in surprise, her phone slipping out of her hand to land in her lap. Beebee frowned when he noticed a small flicker of fear around her from the question. She relaxed quickly, though, and spoke while reaching down to pick her phone back up. “Oh, I have a few friends who know all about magic. I’ve been asking them questions about it every now and then so I can help you.” Beebee made an ‘o’ with his mouth and then nodded as a memory came back to him. “Oh yeah! I remember! The girl who turned into a demon! Wasn’t it, uhm… Sunset… Sunset Shammie?” Fluttershy brought a hand up to her mouth in a desperate and failed attempt to keep in a loud bark of laughter. She rocked back and forth for a few seconds, giddily giggling to herself before shaking her head at Beebee in exasperation. “Oh, no! Not that! Her name is Sunset Shimmer. And yes, she’s, uh… been answering my questions about magic for a while, now.” Beebee gave a big grin and excited nod. “She must really know a lot!” he surmised in a cheerful tone, his wings buzzing a little on his back. “I think she knows more about magic than anybody else in the world,” Fluttershy agreed with a little twinkle in her eyes and a knowing smile. “More than anyone else in our circle of friends, anyway.” Any further chatter between the two was summarily interrupted when the sound of Buddha barking happily from upstairs drew their attention. Beebee got onto his hooves and then lifted into the air with his wings, an ecstatic look on his face. “Dada’s home!” he cheered, preparing to bolt for the stairs. Fluttershy stopped him, however, reaching out and snagging him right out of the air before he could leave. This earned a severe pout from him to accompany a dejected and high-pitched whine. She gave him a stern look in response. “Now, now, you’re still tired. I’ll carry you,” she said firmly before pulling him closer to her chest. Beebee whined again in protest but otherwise complied. They ascended the steps, and sure enough, there was Eventide, just returned through the front door. He was dressed in shorts and a short-sleeved shirt that day, and his camera hung around his neck. He knelt down in front of Buddha to give her plenty of happy pets and scratches, a cheery grin on his face. “Hey, girl, you been good while I was away?” he asked playfully. “Bark!” “Thought so!” Eventide replied before standing upright and looking down the hall at Fluttershy and Beebee. His face brightened up even more, and both Fluttershy and Beebee were somewhat taken aback by just how energetic he looked. “Hey guys, I’m back!” “Did it go well?” Fluttershy asked hopefully, stepping out of the hall and into the living room proper. “You’re really happy,” Beebee noted, his eyes widening when he saw the insane amount of joy and delight radiating off of his father. He leaned forward in Fluttershy’s arms. “Like, really happy. What happened? Where did you go? Did you get another present or something?” Eventide grinned down at his son, a twinkle in his eyes. “You could say that…” he said leadingly before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a few freshly printed photos, catching everyone’s eyes. He sauntered over and presented the photos to Fluttershy first, who used one hand to take them and look while maintaining her hold on Beebee with the other. Her eyes widened and began to shimmer with wonder. “Woah… it’s really nice…” she said quietly, her lips curling up into a pleased smile. “Is this the one?” Eventide nodded, his energy dying down to a more subdued, tranquil joy. “Yeah. They’re going to need a couple months to do some small renovations and patch up a few things, but then we’re good to go. We’re all signed off already.” Fluttershy’s smile widened exponentially. She started to reach out to hug him, then paused when she remembered she had Beebee in her arms. The bug in question was looking at the two of them with a confused look on his face. He shifted in her arms and leaned up to get a look at the photos. “Dada, what is it? What’s on the pictures?” he asked, not quite able to get a good angle from his current position. With a small chuckle at Beebee’s eagerness, Eventide took one of the photos back from Fluttershy and lowered it down to Beebee’s eye level. “Check it out, Beebee… this is where we’re going to be moving in a few months,” he said softly, watching as Beebee’s eyes widened and his expression became one of awe. “Woah…” he said quietly, reaching out to gently take the photo between his hooves. “It’s so… big.” Indeed, compared to their current house, this new one looked to be pretty large. It was a two-story house with a stylistic paneling of rich brown wood with a foundation designed to look like cobblestone. The grass in front of the building was surprisingly long, while a beautiful forest of evergreen trees loomed behind the house. There was a fenced-in yard, too. All in all, it looked warm and inviting. “Where is it?” Beebee asked after another minute of ogling the photo. Eventide lightly took the photo back into his hand, moving to exchange it with another one Fluttershy had. “It’s a ways outside of town. I could probably walk to work from there in about thirty minutes if I was quick about it. It’s kind of old and beat up, which is why the rent is so cheap compared to its neighbors. But it’s already loads better than this old place.” He presented another photo to Beebee, this one of the interior. An empty living room could be seen. Off to one side of the room, Beebee could just make out a door at the edges of the photo. He didn’t get to ask any questions, as Eventide then showed him another one. This one of a basement. “And it even has a basement…” Eventide said in a tantalizing voice. “The basement bug needs a basement, after all.” Beebee’s eyes widened, and he gave a happy little gasp. With giddiness swelling in his heart. “Woah, that’s so cool! It looks a lot bigger than the basement I have now!” Eventide nodded and reached down to pat Beebee on the head. He then got down onto one knee to look into his son’s eyes. “But the best part of this new place is… it’s far away from here. It’s far enough away from other people that you won’t have to worry about being seen anymore. That forest behind the house might be a little dangerous sometimes, so I don’t want you going out there on your own or at night, but…” He took one of Beebee’s hooves into his hand and gave it a firm squeeze. “You won’t have to stay inside anymore. You’ll be able to fly for real…” Beebee blinked at Eventide, his mind reeling. Eventide was starting to worry that he had gone into a trance or something when the bug suddenly kicked off of Fluttershy’s belly, launching himself at Eventide. He wrapped his forelegs around his father’s neck in a tight hug, his wings buzzing in pure joy. “Thank you so much, Dada! Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!” he all but shouted. Eventide was just able to keep himself from falling back as the excited bug crashed into him. He let out a loud and happy laugh while gladly returning the embrace. He rose back to a standing position and spun in a few circles, eliciting some delighted laughs from Beebee. A quiet groan coming from the floor caused them to stop and look down, spotting Fluttershy on the floor with her hands wrapped around her gut. There was a moment of silence, and a guilty look slowly started to spread on Beebee’s face. He looked up at Eventide, his ears drooping. “Dada… I didn’t mean to-” He fell silent as a new sound reached their ears. It was almost inaudible at first, but it quickly grew in volume. It was Fluttershy… laughing. She rolled over onto her back, struggling to breathe through her delighted giggle and chuckles, her eyes screwed shut. Beebee and Eventide watched her for a moment, confused. Then Eventide started laughing with her, his hands flying to his gut from the volume and force of it. The joy in the room was contagious, literally, and soon, Beebee was joining them in their uproarious laughter.