“That was, so uncomfortable,” I say, shuddering at the recent memory, as Twilight and I walk back down the road towards Fluttershy’s Cottage.
“Thanks again for letting me do..uh..” Twilight’s face turns bright red as she turns away from me.
“It’s ok, you were just testing my physical fitness,” I reply, also blushing. We walk in silence for a while. I look over the landscape around the town. Lush, bright green hills surround the town, with a forest nearby. I look up at a nearby tree to see a red bird singing to the blue sky.
“Well, we’re here,” Twilight says, stopping in front of Fluttershy’s house.
"That was fast," I think as I turn and look at Twilight. She turns to look up at me with a confident smile. “I hope to see you soon Brogan,” She extended her hoof out in front of me. I smile and fist bump it, realizing my mistake too soon. When my bare knuckles make contact with the hard under hoof of Twilight's hoof, I winced in pain.
"Damit, I really need to remember not to do that,” I think as I rub my hand. Twilight lightly laughs as she takes flight back to Ponyville. I look up at her and watch her fly off as I hear the door to the cottage creek open. I turn round to see Fluttershy looking at me with only one eye and a small smile.
“Nice to see you, you are just in time for dinner,” Fluttershy says, opening the door all the way and holding it for me. I smile and nod as I walk into the house. She closes the door as the wonderful smell of freshly bowled noodles hits my nose.
“Is that spaghetti I smell?” I ask, walking into the kitchen.
Without a word, Fluttershy grabs the strainer with her mouth and places it into the sink. I walk over to the kitching table and sitting down on the opposite side of where Fluttershy stands. She then goes over to the boiling pot of water on the stove and gently grabs it with her youth. She lifts up the pot and slowly moves to the sink.
“Do you need any help, Fluttershy?”
She shakes her head slowly as to not spill the noodles and stops in front of the sink behind me. She starts pouring the spaghetti into the strainer very slowly. The strainer lets the water through and keeps the spaghetti in. She places the pot down on the counter, steam still coming out of the pot. Fluttershy then grabs the strainer and places it in the middle of the table.
“Thanks again for the..” I say as I grab the ladle next to the strainer. I had caught myself before embarrassing myself again. “Kindness,” I say, scooping out some spaghetti into the wooden bowl that sat in front of me.
Fluttershy smiles and lightly laughs, covering her mouth with a hoof. She then grabs the ladle from me and starts putting some food into her bowl. “No problem Brogan,”
I smile at her and start eating the spaghetti. She places the ladle into the strainer and starts eating her own food. We sit there in silence, just looking at each other and smiling. I enjoyed the silence, all except for the noise from outside to break it. Birds sing and squirrels running by with the occasional bear growl.
I would occasionally glance to the door to see Angel bunny looking at me before ducking back outside. With a wooden clank, I place my fork down inside the bowl and lean back against my chair. I smile, rub my stomach and look up at the ceiling.
“Thanks for the food Fluttershy,” I say, looking over to her. She looks up at me and smiles back. “The food was great,” Fluttershy goes back to slowly eating as I sit there looking at her.
Her hair was a nice shade of bright pink, especially when the light hits it at just the right angle. Her hair flows over her shoulders, seemingly avoiding her muzzle as to not get in the way of her eating. Her yellow fur was as bright as the sunlight outside. I blink as I see a light blush on her face starting to appear. I realize I might have been staring at her for to long.
“Sorry,” I simply stated as I looked down at the table in slight embarrassment. The wooden cracks in the table are seemingly more interesting than anything else right now as my face heats up red.
“It’s ok,” Fluttershy says, putting her fork down. I look up at her to see a reassuring smile on her face. I couldn't help but smile while looking at her. “What are you going to do the rest of the day? If you don't mind me asking?”
“I...” I think for a moment before speaking. “I think I’ll read more of my dad’s journal before bed,” I say as Fluttershy starts collecting the dishes.
“I need answers,” I think to myself as I stand up and walk slowly and leisurely to the couch. “Sadly I will not get all the answers from his books,”
"What, because your dad is dead?” I stop and look out the window in shock.
“Did I just think that or, no I couldn’t have,” I sit down as I think about what just happened.
“That voice, I can not put a finger on it, but I recognize it somehow,” I mindlessly pull one of the journals out of my bag and lay down. I flip it open to the first page to see a title in big, bold letters. It reads Draíocht an Domhain, or The Magic of The World. I flip to the next page to see a slanted title that reads, telekinesis bunúsach or basic telekinesis. Underneath is a sketch and a detailed description of how to pull off the spell.
“There is no way this works,” I think to myself as I slowly slip back into a memory of me and my father.
13 of September 2010, Kilkenny Ireland
“Come on, you can do it, just concentrate,” a man says, standing next to a ball on a tree stump. He was around his forties, tall and thin with dark brown hair. His skin was bright white. He wears a plaid red hoodie with blue jeans. He has brown stubbles on his chin and cheeks.
I stand a few feet away from him. I was pointing my finger at the ball on the ground and closing my eyes as tight as I could. Trying with all my might to levitate the ball to me. My hand shakes as I start to sweat. I fall to my knees in disappointment. I look at the dirt on the ground and start dragging my finger through it. The man silently walks over to me and kneels down to my level. He places a gentle hand on my shoulder and squeezes my shoulder.
“Mom was right, this it dum,” I say angrily, whipping away some tears that had started to form in my eyes.
“Son, whatever you do, don’t give up,” I look up at him. He smiles at me and hugs me. I smile and hug him back. “Never let someone tell you you can’t do something,”
I pull back and look up at him. "Even mom?" I ask wearily.
He smiles and chuckles, standing back up. He over ups his hand as he replies, "Even your mother can't tell you no on some things," I smile and grab his hand as he helps me get back up.
I blink as a tear rolls down my cheek. I had unintentionally started to drift off to sleep. The last thing I remember was thinking about my father's "training". I lift my hand up slowly and carefully to my face and torch the tear that had formed. I whip it away and blink again, clearing my eyes. I look around the room to see the fireplace is lit, with Fluttershy sitting next to it. I sit up to see that the sun had set and the moon had replaced it, along with the beautiful night sky replacing the bright blue day.
“I hope you like the fire,” Fluttershy says, looking over at me. “It was getting cold,” I smiled and stood up. I walk over to her and sit down by the fireplace. The heat worms my face and body. I now realize how cold I really was. I start to shiver lightly as I curl up into a ball to try and stay warm.
“I have a few questions for you,” I say, tightening the grip I have around my knees. “Why didn’t we use this to cook the food?” I ask, turning to look at her as she places more wood into the fire.
“The fireplace is meant to warm the house. It's not meant for cooking,” Fluttershy explains, turning to me with a gentle smile. “The house would have also smelled like fish,” I chuckle at the thought of the house smelling like burnt fish. I turn my attention back to the fire crackling in front of me.
We sit there, looking at the fire. I shiver as a brisk breeze finds its way up my back. I watch as one of the pieces of firewood breaks off and collapse in on itself, causing little orange and yellow ember to go flying into the air. I freeze as I feel something soft torch my back. I look behind me to see Fluttershy placing a blanket around my back. I smile at her and nod as I grab the blanket. I pull it around myself as Fluttershy sits back down next to me.
“Is it ok if I talk to you about something personal?” I ask, cutting the silence.
“If you're comfortable with it,” Fluttershy responds. I sit there and stare at the fire as I think. Minutes pass as I build up the courage to talk.
"Why am I about to do this?" I think as I began talking out loud, more to the fire than to Fluttershy.
“I miss my mother, my brother, and most importantly..” My voice falters as I choke up on my words. Tears start to form in my eyes, blurring my vision. They start to roll down my cheek as I sniff and swallow. I clench my teeth as I whimper in sadness. I try and stop myself from crying as all the memories of my dad and his death come pouring back into my brain. It's like the flood gaits have been opened to an over-filling tank of water. I couldn’t get it out, I placed my head onto my knees and started letting the tears flow freely. I hear fluttershy move over and I feel her place her hoof around my back.
“It’s ok," She says softly and motherly. "You don’t have to tell me,” She strokes my head slowly and gently, leaning her head against my neck. My muscles relaxed as she spoke. I feel calm, almost protected, as if someone had just taken the burden of carrying what I was dealing with. That I even didn't know the recent of the burden.
“This feels so motherly,” I think. That just made the tears worse as I remember my mother I left at home. “She’s probably worried sick for me,” We sat there, me letting my tears free with her comforting me the entire time.
“I have such conflicting feelings,” I say, lifting my head up. Fluttershy lifts her head up but keeps her arm around me. I can't bear to even look at her. “On one hand,” I say, lifting up one of my hands. “I was trying to find this place on purpose. My dad always talked of this place, but on the other hand,” I lift up my other hand and look at it. “I miss home, my mother, my brother,”
“What are their names?” Fluttershy asks softly. I lower my hands as I take a shaky breath.
“My Mother’s name is Barbra, my brother’s name is Ivan,” I say, looking over to her. She smiles and says,
“They sound nice,” I can’t help but smile back at her remark. Something about her makes me want to cry into her shoulder for the rest of the night.
“My brother is a pain in the ass sometimes,” I say as I wipe the tears from my eyes. Fluttershy lowers her arm from behind my back. “My Mother is hard but fair,” I look up at her. “And I love them both,” Fluttershy just sits there and smiles at me. “My dad always had his face in his books,” I chuckle to myself. “Sometimes me and him would go out camping and try to do some of the magic he found on his journeys,”
I start to tear up again as I remember my dad's death. "My dad died January 13, 2013. He was driving to my birthday party when he got into a car accident that killed him," The tears start to slide down my cheeks like rain. I can no longer think straight and instinctively barry my face into Fluttershy's shoulder.
She wraps her hoofs around my back as she rubs her head against the top of mine. I hug her back as I let it all out. "It was my fault.." I incoherently say into her shoulder. "If he didn't need to go back to the house to get my comfort stuffed animal, then he might still be here,"
"That doesn't make it your fault," Fluttershy says, leaning back onto her hind legs and placing a hoof under my chin. She raises my head up so we are looking at each other. "Yes, you may have indirectly caused his death, but.." She drifts off as she looks over to the fire. "It wasn't you falt you hear me?" She says, more demanding than a question.
"She's right, but why can't I accept that?" I think, bashing myself for my stupidity.
"I can't imaging what your going throw, but only you can figure it out," Fluttershy says softly and kindly.
“Thank you,” I whisper to Fluttershy before looking up at her. "Thank you for everything you've done for me and my striped ass,"
“You don’t need to thank me,” Fluttershy says, shaking her head. She slowly rocks onto her front hoof and stands up. I slowly stand up as Fluttershy puts out the fire. “The heat should last the rest of the night,”
"Again, thanks for listening to a complete stranger talk about his family," I say as I look at her with a smile. She looks back up at me with a smile of her own.
"Again, you don't have to thank me," Fluttershy replies. "We are friends, that's what friends do,"
I nod and walk slowly over to the couch and lay down, draping the blanket over my body. Fluttershy walks slowly and quietly up the stairs as I close my eyes. I drift off to sleep as a small and genuine smile creeps onto my face.