The second day was the hardest.
Toxic was still out cold, only waking for a brief moment to eat, drink, and visit the local Pit of Despair, as he still managed to mumble out in joking.
Seeing him suddenly so weak tore at Gelliana’s heart more than the ever thought possible. She hadn’t slept much that night, dreams punctuated by uneasy, borderline nightmares. The short classes she had with SMAL helped pass the time while they waited; the entity checking on Toxic regularly.
And yet there was still plenty of time to think, plenty of time for the gryphoness to fully come to terms with what she was feeling.
Sitting next to Toxic, Gelliana couldn’t help but smile with a few tears in her eyes as he slumbered, the pony actually relaxing whenever she held his hoof.
It wasn’t a secret, no intricate puzzle of her own feelings to figure out. It was right there, glaring in front of Gelliana’s eyes. It had been for some time.
That simple four-letter word that she had been scared of letting into her life, scared that it might be just a ruse for some ulterior motive.
Yet now she couldn’t even talk with the one pony who needed to know.
Her grip around Toxic’s hoof tightened at that thought. He had risked everything for her, all because he cared. And all he hoped for in return, all Gelliana had seen present behind his piercing green eyes was the same longing that she had unwittingly guarded too closely.
The desire to be loved, to simply be accepted.
To be wanted.
A few tears tricked down Gelliana’s cheeks at that. She had let that part of her heart open too late it would seem. And now…
“You wanted a remind to begin classes again?” SMAL interrupted in a kind tone.
“R-right. Give me a second.”
I’m not leaving you, Toxic.
The remainder of the day passed in disturbing uneventfulness. The gryphoness exercised as best she could, did a bit of reading from the books SMAL had on file, and then organized their shelter for bed. The inability to help was nearly driving her mad, Toxic still unresponsive to most stimuli.
Yet he still smiled when she held his hoof. That sight nearly brought on the tears again, the guilt of realizing how much Gelliana hadn’t shared with the one pony who wanted to learn about her.
After eating a simple ration of dried fruit and bread (which was surprisingly tasty all things considered,) Gelliana settled down on the sleeping pad on the ground; Toxic remaining on the raised portion. The SMAL glowed softly, a simple night-light as requested by the gryphoness.
In the near darkness, the despair and fear were nearly a physical force crushing the gryphoness’s chest, and yet something warded it off. A steady sound Gelliana had grown to love; a nearby heartbeat that made her own breathing steady.
Somehow it was impossible to completely break down, to freeze in fear.
Who would be there when Toxic woke up then? I can’t break, not yet. Not until I know he’s safe.
It was an afterthought, a simple, strange impulse that caused Gelliana to reach over and grab Toxic’s breastplate and hold it tight against her chest. Now the tears flowed, that familiar warmth flooding her body as gold and pink sparks ignited across the metal.
You have the name of a protector, Toxic. But did you ever wonder who would be your shield?
Gelliana’s eyes cracked open at that, the breastplate sparking fiercely.
Did you ever dream you’d have somecreature like that?
‘I don’t want to be the bad guy anymore…’ the young gryphon chick pouted, the other ponies shrugging as the youngsters walked around the playground.
‘Well, it’s easier since you’re the gryphon! They’re usually the bad guys in the books!’ a colt piped up.
Seeing the chick’s beak quiver sadly as her wings drooped, a Pegasus filly trotted over to the group, rolling her eyes and picked up a stick.
‘Yeah, but Gelly has been the bad guy like, three times in a row! I’ll be the evil queen if I get to play!’
Gelliana sniffled, managing a smile to the filly.
‘W-what’s y-youe name?” the gryphoness managed to ask, the filly grinning in return.
‘Marigold.’
Gelliana was pulled from her dozing memory as a soft mumbling echoed around the shelter. The SMAL was already activated, running a magical beam over Toxic as he stirred.
“Apologies for the noise, Gelliana. Simply a nightmare,” the Entity stated.
“That’s reason enough for disturbing me,” Gelly replied, levering herself up onto the dirt and foam-padded platform. The tight grimace on Toxic’s face made the gryphoness’s heart ache, and she slid over to sit next to him, half-bracing against the wall.
“Can he be moved?” she asked, and received a simple, almost curious nod from SMAL.
Reaching over, Gelliana shifted Toxic to let the pony lean against her chest, half on his side, back facing her. To her utter surprise, the stallion’s expression softened, the pony letting out a content murmur.
“Fascinating,” SMAL remarked.
Toxic relaxed further as Gelliana shifted to hold his upper half in her arms, rocking him back and forth. A clear smile was on the stallion’s face now, but that quickly tensed along with his limbs.
More bad dreams?
Her hypothesis was proven correct as Toxic snapped abruptly awake. His chest heaved, green eyes wide and darting about in genuine fear and confusion.
A single word left his lips.
“GELLS!” he cried out, taking deep breaths as his eyes refocused. “Gells?” Toxic asked in a softer and sleepier tone as the gryphoness still held him in her arms.
“Right here, Tox.”
Toxic was already nodding off again, snuggling closer into Gelliana’s embrace with a sigh of relief.
“Just a dream,” he mumbled, “thought I lost you again. Still here, not gone…”
Gelliana felt her heart crack at that.
Tox.
“I’m right here. I’m not going anywhere,” she whispered in his ear, the pony already falling asleep in her arms.
As Toxic slumbered, a simple phrase flickered through Gelliana’s mind unbidden. When before it would have been accompanied by trepidation, fear at saying a simple word, it now was bolstered by a foundation. A firm friendship, a complete trust.
“I didn’t fall in love with you to leave at the first sign of trouble,” Gelliana whispered without a single stutter. “Even if the trouble is rather big right now.”
I love him. I can finally say it to myself. And that means he deserves to know it too.
“You’re my coltfriend, Toxic. You’re mine, u-until you let me know otherwise.”
Toxic must have heard something, because he burrowed a bit deeper into her feathers with a happy sigh.
As Gelliana drifted off to sleep, she didn’t notice how the breastplate on the ground continued to spark, nor how SMAL briefly re-formed and looked at the pair with a curious, almost confused smile before vanishing.
The third and fourth day passed in state of worry and intense distraction. Toxic had barely spoken; only waking up to relieve himself and eat for but a few minutes like before.
And then he was gone, flopping onto the foam and dirt ‘bed’, leaving Gelliana alone in their shelter.
With nothing to do but learn from SMAL and think again, Gelliana had indeed learned quite a bit; and not necessarily just about medical treatments. When the life of a pony she cared about was in danger, Gelliana found out very quickly that her feelings from the previous day were not a fleeting thing. If anything, they burned all the brighter. It was almost frightening how fierce some of these emotions were, but at least the gryphoness had all the time in the world to process them.
That said, Toxic very well could die; and that genuinely terrified her. It wasn’t the fact of being stuck alone, of having to flee from these reptiles; that was a mere afterthought.
Being left without the one pony who cared about her, who made her laugh, who was there for her in a way no other creature had ever been, who had done so much for her and wanted only to be loved in return.
To have him quite suddenly ripped out of her life, that scared Gelliana more than anything. If the price for Toxic’s well-being was to run from reptiles through an unfamiliar forest, she’d gladly pay it.
And that was another surprise; how much the gryphoness realized she was fully content going through just to get him back safe and sound. To know he would just wake up and be alright again…
I love him.
Gelliana’s claws clenched at that thought, a few tears welling up in her eyes. She didn’t know any magic, no special spells, but the gryphoness would yank Toxic back from Tartarus itself if she had to. She now said those simple four letters to herself freely.
And yet he didn’t know. Gelliana had been too late in realizing it herself, and by the time she had confronted Toxic about it…they were at this point. The past few days had made it abundantly clear that she had guarded her heard a bit too much; something she knew was a possibility. What had once been a healthy precaution built from past experiences had blossomed like a cancerous vine, strangling the progress of tender feelings until now.
Toxic showing her time and time again that he was interested in her had chipped away at the vines, but the past few days had destroyed it faster than Gelliana realized was possible. She thought that she had trusted this stallion before, but now? It wasn’t even comparable.
She knew this stallion would give his life to save her, and Gelliana was still struggling to comprehend the weight of that realization, the simple fact that she hadn’t been nearly as open with her coltfriend as he had with her, even though she had long-since yearned for such a trust.
It was easy to slip into self-loathing, so the gryphoness had forced herself to soak up everything SMAL taught her. She could feel the crushing weight of their situation on her shoulders, the fear that threatened to make her limbs freeze over Toxic’s condition.
She wouldn’t let it. Not again. She wasn’t a chick anymore, helpless and crying out for help. She could at least do something, even if it couldn’t help Toxic in the immediate sense, no matter how much Gelliana wanted it to.
Taking a lunch break from studying the EFR course, Gelliana’s claws drifted over to hold Toxic’s hoof. He smiled in his sleep, something that still seemed more common than not.
After a time, Gelliana reached over to pick up another item, one that had as of recently, puzzled SMAL to no end.
Toxic’s symbol-etched breastplate sparked in her claws, pink tendrils of magic running across Gelliana’s talons and up her arms in a warm embrace. SMAL said it was something about an energy compatibility, but had not said anymore.
There was something more, something SMAL was hiding. The entity had started to act a bit twitchy every now and again. But it was experimental, so she let it slide. The energy though; the gryphoness was hardly stupid.
Pink usually meant a very specific thing in terms of emotional magic. The warmth, the tears that always sprang into Gelliana’s eyes when she hugged the breastplate close.
She knew what this magic was, this feeling. The fact that Toxic responded when she held the breastplate was another clue; his limbs twitching slightly as though she were hugging him…
I love you, Toxic. Don’t you dare leave me until I get to say those words along with a kiss!
The sparks only intensified at that. The gryphoness didn’t know why or how, but the armor continued to glow.
“You’d better wake up, Toxic,” Gelliana whispered as she set the breastplate aside, reaching over to brush a bit of black mane from his sleeping face. “I still need to t-tell you how much you mean to me. I wish it hadn’t taken all of this to realize how much you didn’t realize it!”
Gelliana felt a tightness in her chest; tears threatening to fall.
“You’ve given so much, this just isn’t fair,” she whispered. “How much more do you have to take? When do you get to rest, even for a little bit? When will you get to lean on me without all the doubts?”
Her ears then picked up a disturbing sound; Toxic’s usual heartbeat weakening with his breathing.
“Gelliana, please stand back. His vitals are destabilizing,” SMAL stated sharply, making Gelliana’s eyes widen in horror. The entity attached two pads to the prone stallion’s chest, a defibrillator starting up with a soft hum.
“No, no no no…” Gelliana whispered.
“Analyzing.”
Gelliana was struck with an odd sense of familiarity; is this was Toxic went through? Standing by as he attached pads to her body and was forced to watch? Horror rooted her limbs to the ground.
“Shock advised. Please stand by,” SMAL stated in a robotic tone. “Shocking.”
As Toxic’s body twitched, the gryphoness felt her claws shaking in fear and dread.
“Analyzing; shock advised.”
“Tox, come on…”
The SMAL then dashed over to one of the medical kits, pulling out an array of pre-loaded syringes and pushing the contents into Toxic’s veins.
“Administering aid. Stand by,” SMAL reported.
Gelliana couldn’t take it any longer, slumping down as she cried.
“Toxic, please,” she whispered, limbs shaking with fear. “Please don’t leave me!”
Not him.
“Starting CPR.”
Biting her claws to stop herself from crying out, the gryphoness felt her own heart thudding in her ears.
Please.
He’s given so much; he doesn’t deserve this. Does he never get to rest?
Something odd then flashed through Gelliana’s mind. It was the oddest thing. It was a thought that refused to leave, a warm urge, as if some strange voice was trying to tell her something. That urge increased to a near deafening roar in her mind.
Gelliana scrambled over to the pile of armor, grabbing a piece of the side plating even as tears ran down her face.
“Dangit Toxic!” Gelliana said fiercely as she sat next to him, pink sparks flickering around her talons holding the armor. “I didn’t fall in love with you to have you die in some cave! Get back here!”
She slammed the piece of armor onto Toxic’s side, magic sparking around the item as it latched onto the stallion’s frame.
“You’ve been a protector to so many,” she said, still pressing the armor for some unknown reason. “For those kids, for creatures who don’t even know your name. For me…” Gelliana could barely get out her words now. “But who is your shield? You don’t have to go this alone anymore; don’t you dare leave me before you figure that out! I’m not going anywhere, TOXIC!”
As she yelled his name, the armor in her grasp seemed to explode.
As if called by name, an arm of white arcane energy punched up from the ground and into the SMAL, the golem pirouetting and directing it into Toxic smoothly as Gelliana was shoved aside. The Entity’s frame grew and expanded, a lanky, armored mare erupting from the SMAL’s figure like a snake shedding a skin.
Her bright green eyes drifted over to Gelliana, the mare’s mouth parting into a firm but kind smile.
“You finally realized it,” she said softly, voice a bit deeper than the average mare’s but still carrying with it a feminine tone. There was an edge, a power to her voice however, like a commander in an army.
“I think this has gone on long enough. You now understand.”
With a sickening sound akin to sucking up a bunch of cake batter with a vacuum, the mare directed the magical tether to pull something out of Toxic’s mouth. Twisting black fluid hung suspended mid-air, the sludge sparking with a rainbow of colors and making Gelliana’s head throb from just looking at it.
“You are not alone, Gelliana,” the mare stated calmly, banishing the substance with a flick of her hoof. “I could not allow him to die under such unfair terms. But now, Toxic’s life is in your own claws.”
Gelliana scrambled over to her stallion, eyes wide as his sweat-stained figure breathed normally. She looked over to the mare in shock, head shaking briefly.
“W-who…?”
The mare bowed her head once at that.
“A friend,” she said softly, then meeting Gelliana’s gaze. “I could not act until you understood what needed to be learned. I could not rob that progress and lesson from you. We will speak again.” She then paused, a fierceness entering the mare’s eyes. “Be his shield, Gelliana. Relay this message to Toxic; he can trust me. A Phoenix always rises.”
As the mare vanished, a dinner-plate sized item ‘plunked’ to the ground, the SMAL then flashing into existence, the familiar mare blinking in surprise.
“Most odd. My systems have restarted. Performing diagnostics.”
Gelliana could only stare in shock, a tired groan then drawing her attention.
“Ow, my chest.”
She at least had the mind to not hug Toxic too tightly, the gryphoness sobbing into his arms as the stallion levered himself slightly upright.
“Hello to you too,” Toxic winced, gently holding the gryphoness in his arms as she continued to cry, that beautiful voice soothing her heart.
“T-toxic.”
It was only after no fewer than a dozen reassurances that Gelliana let Toxic doze peacefully as the SMAL healed his chest from the CPR, the gryphoness giving the sleepy stallion a very brief peck on the lips.
“T-that’s so you w-wake up,” she stuttered, a bit of her nerves coming to the fore.
“Mmm, not going anywhere,” the groggy stallion replied with an adorable, cheesy grin as he drifted off to sleep, obviously forgiving the ‘no milestones reached’ rule.
She didn’t move for some time, grateful tears falling from violet eyes as her stallion slumbered peacefully. A few times he shifted in his sleep, a smile still on his face.
After pulling herself away reluctantly, Gelliana walked over to examine the item that had fallen when the strange mare vanished.
To her utter shock, a large piece of odd, blueish-tinted was lying on the ground formed in a familiar shape. Turning it over made the gryphoness tear up again, making her promptly walk over to Toxic and spread a wing over him protectively. Gelliana didn’t know who that mare was, but she did know what lesson the mare had been talking about.
It was a lesson she had spent so much time yearning for, she hadn’t realized when she needed to be the one to teach.
‘Be his shield, Gelliana.’
Engraved on the blue metal chest plate with a fiery pink magic shone a lighthouse protected by two feathery wings. And in the middle of the symbol, a large blooming flower sparkled as if having been newly wet by morning dew.
“Nothing?” the King of Shadows asked his Bringer, the gryphon shaking his head.
“No. I apologize, Highness, I’ve personally been look as well. We can’t-”
“It matters not,” the King replied dismissively, a shadowy appendage waving off any discussion. “I trust you have been giving your efforts all of your energy, but it’s simply not feasible for me to expect results within a few days.”
Both praise and an admittance of incorrect expectations in the same sentence? The Bringer was unsettled quite quickly at that.
“In accordance with my other half’s idea, it is time that we escalate our plans, at least to the testing phase,” the King mused. “Recall your troops and deploy the Cloak. Make sure none of our forces are outside when they are released. I have assurances they can tell friend from foe…but I personally have my doubts.”
“At once, Highness.”
Varti could barely contain himself, the Yak almost bouncing with excitement as Nacreous chuckled at his side.
“Well done, Varti,” the Emperor said softly, not able to keep a smile off of his face as dozens of miniature suns ignited in the distances, mirrored surfaces reflecting the noonday light.
“It couldn’t have happened without you, Highness,” Varti said softly. “I still don’t know how well it worked. I couldn’t be there for the last part; none of us could. But Course Pen said…” his voice drifted off on a hopeful note.
Celestia and Luna trotted up to them as a teleportation spell faded, the Yak having requested their presence as well, much to their surprise.
“Thank you for this,” Celestia whispered, this being one of her first times on the Island.
“Princess, I know you and Toxic, and myself for that matter, don’t have the greatest of trusting relationships,” Varti said in a surprisingly upbeat tone. “But he would want you here for this. Without you and the Emperor, this would not be possible.” The Yak then turned to the Princess, bowing respectfully. “I cannot thank you enough, and I know Toxic would say the same; I know him well enough for that. Without all of your help and care, I believe our efforts would have failed. The imbalances were not something we could have corrected without your delicate touch.”
In the distance, the shield flickered a few times, the distant objects growing in size. The dozens of airships, a full fleet, jockeyed into position for docking at the Island, magical exhaust trails marking their path. The vessels were an odd conglomeration of newer designs coupled with a rebuilt Storm King vessel. The now-redone hulls shone like a gem with reflective surfaces across an odd, crystalline hull, the vessels having been housed at remote and rather secretive docks on the western coast. A golden lighthouse was emblazoned along the side of every ship, another sun reflecting the larger body’s glory.
Many of the ships bristled with weaponry, ballistae dotting the railings as recessed ports clearly concealed what were likely cannons of some sort. Odd circular metal cylinders dotting the sides of the vessel angled this way and that with recessed enchanted gems, combining magic and turbine technology to form an odd, powerful air thruster Celestia had never seen. They looked like gemstones zipping through the sky, punching through the clouds as they angled towards the island. A good third of the vessels bore the universal sign of aid; a red cross etched on their sides, no armament adorning their railings.
To say Celestia was a bit jealous was an understatement. It was a marvel of engineering to say the least, and in raw numbers alone the Last Light organization outclassed Equestria’s airship fleet easily thrice over. It was fairly clear that the Island had not been the only thing Toxic had been investing in.
She really should have known something was amiss; between Toxic’s pay and Varti’s rather substantial resources, there had to have been another target for the funds. In this case, the secretive dry-docks had been unknown to any but those building the ships, and with the Golem’s help, that had not been nearly as many as one would think.
“Tie it off! You know how to do that, right?” a stallion called, another, younger voice answering as a figure jumped and slid down a massive tow-line from ten stories above the platform. The odd pony expertly threaded the ropes, waving to the stallion on the railing as the larger-than-average airship slid closer.
“I had nothing to do but practice knots for hours! Of course I do! Tied off and initiating docking!”
The stallion then swayed his body, the airship seeming to move with the individual’s motions as if they were linked, a wave of a limb making the arcane thrusters adjust their own movements.
Luna’s eyes widened in surprise as Varti appeared to be struggling to hold back tears, the yak trotting forwards as the individual finished the odd procedure.
“Learning to tie knots and scheming? I’m impressed,” Varti said, the odd pony turning to look at them.
Appearing like a strange version of a crystal pony in makeup and size, the stallion that looked at them had segmented body parts held together by powerful arcane tethers. Lightweight teal crystal armor glowed around his barrel and shoulders; a familiar lighthouse emblazoned on the breastplate. Despite the golem-like appearance of his limbs, the rest of the stallion appeared like any other crystal pony, eyes widening in recognition.
“Varti!”
Pick Shield dashed forward and wrapped the larger yak up in a hug with a laugh, then letting him go and jumping up and down.
“Ninety-nine-point nine repeating effectiveness!” he crowed, laughing as he hopped around like a young colt. “No pain! Nothing! IT WORKED!”
Pick then managed to pull himself together slightly, bowing to Nacreous, Celestia and Luna.
“Highness’s,” he managed to say, then darting forward to hug Nacreous abruptly. “Thank you,” the stallion whispered, Nacreous chuckling and returning the gesture.
“It was my pleasure. I can’t tell you how h-happy I am to see that my condition has saved yet another life, will save even m-more…” the Emperor’s voice hitched, the wave of emotion clearly taking him by surprise.
“The transfer; you’re completely alright?” Celestia asked, still not believing her eyes. It was one thing to have Nacreous tell her, but quite another to see it.
“Completely! The possibilities are endless!” Pick exclaimed, gesturing to his body. “It’s not my place to spread agelessness across the world though; thankfully that’s a problem for you all. But just imagine! Paralyzed creatures able to live again for the rest of their lives, amputees to gain artificial limbs that are nearly a perfect match! So many possibilities!”
“But you will never age?” Luna asked softly, Pick nodding firmly.
“Yes. This was the one time that such a condition could not be changed,” the unicorn said calmly and oddly without remorse. “But I’m not alone in that thanks to Nacreous’s efforts! Besides, I can do so much with all that time! A decade of living in a hospital room; I’ll take every year I can get!”
The stallion’s exuberance was infectious, all present now smiling as Pick activated a spell on his forelimb, a complicated looking keypad forming on the limb as he mentally manipulated some sort of spell.
“But first, I’m getting my brother back!” he growled, eyes then flickering over to Varti. “Is my clearance approved?”
The Yak nodded, surprising the other three royals.
“Yes. I look forward to having another brain in the lab. Well, when you’re not airborne at least. The docks are ready and waiting for the fleet; we can begin calibration immediately. I see the interface between your ship is working as planned. I’m impressed your auto-pilot design worked for the whole fleet.”
Pick turned to the royals, the individuals noticing how his armor now bore some official looking stripes and chevrons.
“I hope Toxic will forgive me,” Pick said softly, teeth gritting as the airship behind him oddly seemed to respond, crystal armor moving like the scales on a snake. “I didn’t like going behind his back, but I’m not letting him go without a fight!”
“There’s nothing for him to forgive,” Varti stated in reply. “He entrusted me to fill the positions of this organization. And while you lack actual, real-world experience, how many classes have you taken for this? How many simulations have you run? You’re the most qualified individual of any applicant! Name me a nation that even has an airship fleet of this size. Without your auto-pilot spell, they’d still be sitting in dry dock!”
Pick smiled at that, standing tall and looking at the Royals.
“Fleet Commander Pick Shield of the Last Light Organization, at your service!” he said with a flourishing bow.
The ship behind him flared an armored set of maneuvering fins as if they were wings, the other vessels now flying in to anchor at matching points. To Celestia’s surprise, the arcane pony seemed to guide the other ships like a set of kites, their thrusters and fins responding to his motions. The largest of the ships from where Pick had jumped continually shifted its fins, appearing to respond to his emotions and physical motions on some level.
“But first, I need to know what we’re up against,” Pick said with a determined grin. “I would humbly ask you tell me what you’ve found out, Celestia, and ask for you, Luna, and Nacreous’s assistance. Varti and I have agreed; Nocreature is going in there without a plan.”
The Alicorn found herself oddly overwhelmed. Having mortal creatures willing to take the lead, to offer and be capable of helping when she hadn’t been…
“Of course,” she managed to say, hoof giving Nacreous’s claws a squeeze. “If it will save Toxic and Gelliana, I’d be honored.”
As Varti led them to a large conference room, Celestia saw another figure fly down and stand at the edge of the platform, having been waiting up on another airship.
Who was that?
Varti seemed to know; the Yak simply looked behind them and smiled knowingly.
“Pick can get a bit hyper-focused,” Varti said with a chuckle. “I’ve been the one to remind him of the more important things in life if Toxic doesn’t beat me to the punch.
Trotting over to the individual, Pick’s eyes widened in shock as he got closer. He stopped in front of the hippogriff, words completely failing him.
“P-pick,” Salina whispered, the creamy-blue hippogriff’s beak quivering as she stared. “Y-you’re…”
“Sali? H-how did you get-”
“I asked Varti to send me here and tell me the news. He only t-told me to fly here after we docked. I didn’t know if y-you were-I needed to know if it worked. I n-needed…” the shy hippogriff’s pink eyes closed, tears falling freely as her light purple mane fell over to obscure her soft sobs. “I….”
Pick wrapped his best friend in a hug, holding the taller hippogriff close as tears fell from his eyes, the magical moisture just as real as any other.
“It worked, Salina. I’m still here, and I’m still me,” Pick said, tightening his hug. “And I don’t hurt anymore! I’m free!” he then paused, wincing slightly. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know how to tell you. I was going to send a message, but I’ve been so overwhelmed with everything- I guess Varti knew that’d happen.”
Salina was stuck between laughing and crying, the hippogriff refusing to let the stallion go as she nodded knowingly, confirming Pick’s words as he then continued to talk.
“But it worked! This means nocreature has to end up like I did! Walking after a paralyzing accident, playing sports with a disfigured limb; getting their lives back! It’s incredible!”
Salina pulled back, brushing her mane out of her eyes with a set of shaking claws.
“A-always thinking of others. You really d-did pick that up from Toxic, huh?” she asked, Pick shrugging with a tearful smile.
“How could I not? My big bro is an inspiration. But now I’m safe, and now there’s so much to do!” he exclaimed, not seeming to pick up on how Salina was still hugging him tightly.
“I can help rescue my brother, finally show that bonehead he isn’t alone in all this,” Pick said fiercely. “I’ve been cooped up for so long, and now there’s so much that needs to be done! I can actually use that list I wrote! Prosthetics to design, weapon systems to upgrade, transfer spells to write for the paralyzed creatures, ugh, I wish I didn’t still have to sleep in this form! At least I can still eat, I’d hate to not be able to taste anything.”
Salina seemed to hesitate, the hippogriff finally saying something unintelligible.
“What was that, Sali?” Pick asked, seemingly genuinely confused.
“Where do I f-fit into there? Among all those plans?” she asked, not able to meet the pony’s gaze.
Pick blinked, head tilting as the gears whirled in his mind.
“Huh? Not following?” he admitted. “I’ll always make time for you. You’re my best frienmmf!”
A quick kiss on the lips shut the stallion up for a few moments, Pick’s eyes widening in realization.
“Oooooooooooooooooh.”
Salina sniffled, still smiling as the stallion didn’t say anything else.
“Oh? That’s your response?” she asked, a bit of boldness entering her tone and stature as Pick shook his head.
“What? No! I mean, I didn’t- I didn’t expect, I didn’t know…”
“Yeah you did,” Salina said softly, leaning over to rest on Pick’s shoulder- armor fading at her touch so it was just his own body, crystal fur feeling just as real as flesh and blood. “You’re smarter than that. Way smarter. Some of our conversations? Remember when we sat on that ledge at my home and talked for hours watching the stars? All those ‘hypotheticals’? We both knew, but just couldn’t think about it too much, not beyond that. But I think we both knew what we were really talking about. The hope against hope ‘what ifs.’”
Pick lowered his head with a huff at that.
“Fair point,” he admitted, “I just forced myself to not think about that, I couldn’t think like that. It wouldn’t be fair to you, and would hurt too much for me. And hurt for you for that matter.”
“What about now?” Salina asked, Pick replying by leaning his head against hers.
“Now? I can’t wait to spend more time with my best friend.” Pick could feel the frown forming on Salina’s face. “Hey, no pouting. I wasn’t done. I was going to say, I also can’t wait to see where things go from here. Just,” he paused, wincing. “I’m going to need some time to adjust though, ok? A few days to realize I’m not going to die is a bit of an adjustment. And then realizing my best friend wants to date me…”
“Has wanted to date you for like, almost a year,” Salina replied with a huff. “We’ve known each other for years before that. How could I not feel that way about you?”
“Uh, want me to list the ways? The first of me being totally oblivious? Too hyper focused? Rambling on about technobabble stuff?”
“Technobabble that I actually do understand about half of, I might add, and it’s something you love. You were also actively trying to not think of me in that way. I find that incredibly sweet.”
“You find it sweet I was trying to not see you in a romantic sense?” Pick asked, Salina pulling back to nod.
“Yup!”
“So, am I no longer sweet because I’m no longer trying to see you non-romantically? It’s a pretty easy switch I might add.”
“Naaaaaah. You’re still super sweet….um…” The impact of Pick’s words made Salina blush slightly. “So, that’s ok? I don’t want to rush you, I’m just so happy you’re alive, and here, and everything!”
“Sali, can we please just go on a date in a week or two so it can be official?” Pick asked with a mock-exasperated grin and roll of his eyes.
The blushing hippogriff became a woodpecker briefly, the stallion chuckling.
“Is that a yes?”
“Of course it’s a yes. How can you be so blunt, straightforward, weird, and adorable at the same time?” Salina asked in mock exasperation, the pair now walking towards the conference room.
“Eh. Probably the same way you’re able to be equally weird, beautiful, and a greater gem in this world than the Pearl,” Pick replied without skipping a beat. The stallion was grinning widely now as Salina sputtered. “Hmm. That’s one for me, zero for you.”
“W-what?!”
“Well we did talk hypothetically that one time. How fun it’d be to make the other blush. We talked a lot hypothetically about what would happen if this worked, now that I think about it.”
The adorable grumbles from Salina were music to Pick’s ears. The things that can change in a week.
And yet there was an undercurrent, a single thought that refused to leave Pick’s mind despite the whirlwind of changes.
“We’ll get him back, Pick,” Salina whispered, the stallion finding himself choking up. Had he been that obvious? Or did she just know him well enough?
Perhaps both.
We’re coming, Toxic!