//------------------------------// // 10. Return By Soaring // Story: Good Things Come // by Sweet Tale //------------------------------// The sound of tweeting awoke me from what was an amazing night's sleep. I opened my eyes to see an unfamiliar room around me. Everything was shaped and coloured to look like objects in the night sky. "Where the hell am I?" Something nudged my ribs. I turned to see something I wasn't expecting. 'I'm in Luna's bed?!' I screamed internally. Luna was gently snoozing away with her front hooves splayed out across my chest. Her quiet snores and mumbles were quite cute to listen to. 'Ohhh, of course. I remember now.' The previous night's events replayed in my mind. Comforting Luna and talking about our lives. Her asking me to sleep in her bed with her. I turned my head back and lay it down on the pillow, waiting for Luna to awaken. I muse over a thought. 'Should I? I'm sure she won't mind...' I reached my arm around her body and slowly pulled her close to me and embraced her in a light hug, with her head laying on my chest. The feeling of her chest rising and lowering felt soothing against my body. Her fur was incredibly soft - it felt like I was hugging a giant teddy bear. We lay there for a while longer before Luna began to stir and opened her eyes. Raising her head, her gaze immediately met mine. "Morning Luna. How'd you sleep?" "I slept well, all things considering." Luna lowered her head onto my chest again and stared at me with a contagious smile. "Thank you for coming last night. I really needed some cheering up and you made it happen." "You're very welcome, I'm glad I helped." "How did you sleep Owen?" "Like a log. That was probably the best night's sleep I've had in a long time. Your bed is incredibly comfortable and soft - I could stay here all day." I said, snuggling down into the bed, making myself comfortable. Luna raised her head a smirked at coyly. "Well then, let me-" Luna mover her head very close to mine. "make it better for you..." Her horn glowed blue and I immediately felt something. "Hmm...Ohhh...." ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Celestia walked into the dining room where Twilight was already seated, waiting for everypony else to arrive. "Good morning my faithful student. Any sign of Luna or Owen?" "No, not yet. I did try and awake Owen earlier but I didn't receive a response." Celestia pondered this for a moment. "Hmm...very well. I will awake them both myself." Celestia then vacated the room and walked towards where Owen was sleeping. Approaching the door, she raised her hoof. *KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK* "Owen?" No response. *KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK* "Owen?" Still nothing. *KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK" "Owen?" Yet again, no response. Celestia opened the door with a flash of her horn and entered the room. "Owen, it's time to arise! We are waiting for you and Luna to join us for...breakfast?" Celestia trailed off as she noticed the bed empty and the human nowhere to be seen. Celestia checked every inch of the room before walking back out. "Strange...maybe he already went to the dining room...but he couldn't have got past me with me knowing..." Celestia walked back into the dining room to see that Owen still had not arrived. This worried her slightly. "Where could he have gone? I do hope that he's alright..." She ascended the spiral staircase and approached Luna's room. She went to raise her hoof but a voice interrupted her. "Ohhh...Ohhh...that feels wonderful." Celestia recoiled in shock and held a hoof to her mouth. "That's Owen's voice and it sounded like he was-" "I learnt that a long time ago, I've always wanted to try it out. How about this then..." "That's Luna! It sounds like they are--" "Oh Luna! That's amazing! Ohhh...." Celestia immediately put her hoof down and turned around. She raised her back hooves and lashed out at the door, kicking it open violently. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The pleasure I was receiving was cut short by Luna's bedroom doors being forced open. Looking towards the door, I was met with the angry face of a particular royal pony. Luna levitated the covers over my head in an attempt to hide me...yeah...like that ever works. "Sister! It isn't what it looks like!" Luna blurted out. "Silence Luna!" The covers covering me were flung off quickly with a golden aura, exposing me. "Owen! How dare you engage in mature activities with my sister...whilst...fully clothed?" Celestia's face turned to confusion. "Celestia, seriously. It REALLY isn't what it seems." I offered. "But I heard the sounds you were making. All of the moans and groans. She was pleasuring you, was she not?" "NO!" both Luna and I replied loudly. "I was trying out a couple of new spells. This spell increases the softness of material, in this case, the mattress and bed covers. The other was a warming spell for said material." Luna explained. "I can safely say that they both defintely work. The moans you heard from me were of pleasure but of a comfortable pleasure." I added. Celestia, Luna and I all stared at each other before we all shared a laugh at the confusion. Celestia abruptly stopped her laughter and pointed a hoof towards me. "Wait, what are you doing here anyway? And in Luna's bed?" I was about to respond but Luna beat me to it. "That was my doing sister. Owen came to visit me in the early hours of the morning to comfort me. He offered his kind words to me while I was contemplating my actions. We shared our life stories and talked for a while, mostly about how similar our lives are. When we both got tired, Owen was making his way back to his room but I asked him to stay with me for the night, which he accepted." "It's true. I couldn't sleep last night due to my mind racing with all the facts of the situation. I realised Luna must have needed cheering up as you mentioned she was very upset." Celestia walked towards me, knelt down and put her hoof on my shoulder. "I apologise for jumping to conclusions. I do hope you can forgive me." "Of course Celestia. I'm happy I was able to help your sister." "It seems to have helped, am I correct? Breakfast will be served soon so please come to the dining room as soon as possible." Luna and I nodded and Celestia walked out of the room. I looked at Luna who was trying her best not to laugh. My lips began to form a smile as I tried not to laugh as well. "Now that I think about it...*snigger*...it really did sound like we were..." Luna said before collapsing back in the bed and laughing loudly which I soon followed suit. After using what breath I had to laugh, i got out of her bed and went back to my own room to change into some fresh clothes. Dressing took minutes and I quickly made my way to the dining room, escorted by a guard. We arrived and I thanked him for his duties. Looking around, I saw that I was the last to arrive. I took a seat next to Twilight. "Sorry for being late. I had to change." I got smiles in return as the waiters came out with many carts, laden with many beautiful smells and flavours wafting from them. A female pegasus waiter walked up to my side. "Good morning Sir. What would you like? We have fresh fruit, pancakes, waffles, toast, oats, many sorts of--" "Some pancakes would be lovely, thanks. And some fresh strawberries." The waiter hovered in the air and picked up a plate. She dished 4 decent sized pancakes onto the plate along with a generous heap of strawberries. She place the food in front of me. "Here you are Sir. Enjoy!" she said with a smile. "Oh, don't you worry. I most certainly will." This caused her to laugh quietly as she pushed the cart out of the room, followed by the three other waiters. I looked over towards the three mares to see what they had chosen. Twilight had gone for the oats with half an orange. Celestia chose some toast and Luna chose...exactly the same as me. Or I chose the same as her. 'Hah, like we're on the same wavelength and all!" I thought. Luna looked over towards me and nodded her head. I smiled at her in return. 'Wonder what that was about.' I stared at Luna and focused my gaze. 'I wonder if LUNA...chose the same breakfast as me for a reason...' Luna nodded in response. 'Oh my god, can you hear my thoughts?!' "We both can Owen." Celestia chimed causing me to cover my mouth with my hand in shock. "That would have been nice to know!" I said in a joking tone. I glanced at my breakfast and drooled over the sight of it. I picked up a fork and cut a small portion of the pancake and stabbed some strawberries to go with it. I lifted it to my mouth and smelt it...it smelt amazing. The food was put into my mouth and I waited for the taste. 'Mmm...ohh...these are incredible! So fresh!' "I'm glad you like them. Our chefs always make the meals with the freshest ingredients." Luna informed. "So much taste, so much flavour. Compliments to the chefs indeed!" I declared, raising my fork as a salute. This emitted a small laugh from Luna which I secretly craved. Once breakfast was over, we all made our way to the throne room. Celestia levitated a small bag towards me which I took hold of. The bag was slightly heavy. "Owen, as you are going to be staying in Equestria, I supply you with some local currency. These are called bits and are the only currency that is used." I opened the draw-string bag and looked inside. Many small gold coins were inside. I showed it to Twilight who gasped when she saw them. "Princess, how much did you give him?!" Twilight asked. "A few thousand bits. This will keep you going for at least a year, taking into account that you will be purchasing your own items and foodstuffs." "I...I don't know what to say. Thank you so much!" I happily said, bowing to Celestia. "You are most welcome. Now, I'm sorry to say but both Luna and I have a full day ahead of us and we should have been holding royal court over ten minutes ago so I will need to cut this visit short." Twilight's ears drooped at the sound of this. "Oh...well, it was nice seeing you again Princess." Twilight sadly said, walking up to her mentor. "You are both more than welcome to visit again, any time you want." Celestia replied, kneeling down and hugging Twilight. "I have organised a chariot to fly you back to Ponyville. The cart is waiting just outside." "Thank you Princess. Come on Owen, let's not keep them waiting." I nodded and followed Twilight towards the door. "Actually, Owen. Could I speak with you for a moment?" Celestia called. "Of course Celestia. You go on ahead Twilight, I'll catch up." Twilight walked out of the room, followed by Luna. The doors shut behind them. Celestia cleared her throat to catch my attention. "I want to thank you again for helping Luna in her time of need. You really knew what you were doing, didn't you?" "To be honest, no. I've never had to comfort someone like that before. I just said what came to me at the time. It seemed to work though...and I gained a great friend out of it." "Regardless of you knew what to do or not, you really helped her out. And you're right, Luna will be a great friend to you. Although...I can sense that you want to be more, am I right?" My throat dried up as she said that. Was she right? Did I want to be more than friends with Luna. I mean, she was pretty and all but she's still a pony. I'm not sure how that would go down with the other ponies living here. "Well I...she is great to be around...and she's an amazing pony..." "I overheard your thoughts last night. When she kissed you...you felt the same about her didn't you?" She knew about that?! "Wait, you knew I was there the whole time?!" I asked in confusion. "I did. Everything you did, everything you said and thought, I knew it all. Apart from the noises this morning..." Celestia said, sniggering at the end. "So why did you act like you didn't know?" "To find out the truth from you. A little test it seems. I was aiming to see if you'd try and lie about why you were there in the first place. But you didn't, you were truthful and I thank you for that." "So...you heard my thoughts...even when I was thinking about her?" Celestia nodded. Damn, she had me. There's no way to deny it now. "......I...I felt attached to her when we were talking last night. I felt an instant connection when we talked about our lives, how similar they were. Because of that, I felt I could relate to her. When I first saw her at the dining table, I thought of how beautiful she looked, how her mane sparkles like the night sky and how it flows in a non-existent wind. I suppose spending some personal time with her in her hour of need made me realise how well I thought of her. I just...I feel that this friendship has been made because I took advantage of her when she was vulnerable..." "But you didn't. What matters is that in her worst hour, you cheered her up and helped her feel better. That's an amazing friend if I ever knew one. I know you feel strongly about her, especially when she kissed you. Tell me, when she kissed you, you thought she was more beautiful, correct?" "Yeah..." I softly said. "And when you woke up next to her this morning and she made you comfortable, did it look like she felt the same way about you?" "Yeah, I suppose." "No 'suppose' about it. I know my sister so well. How she spoke when she was with you, how she acted during breakfast, how she was always staring at you. She feels strongly about you as well. I'm sure of it." "She does?" "Of course. Don't you believe in love at first sight?" "I don't know...I've never really experienced it." Celestia put her hoof on my shoulder and leant down towards my ear. "You have now." she whispered. That was all I needed to hear. I could tell by her voice that this was truth. She wouldn't make up a lie like this. "Now go, your chariot awaits." "Thank you Celestia. Can you please tell Luna that if she ever wants to visit or just to talk, I'll always be avaliable for you, for the both of you." "Of course. Have a good trip back to Ponyville!" she shouted with me walking out of the throne room. A guard was there to escort me out of the castle and into the grounds surrounding it. We came upon a large, Roman-esque type chariot. Opening the door, Twilight was inside. "There you are Owen. What did the Princess want with you?" she asked. "She thanked me again for helping Luna. We just had a small chat about when we can visit next. Celestia mentioned some time next week?" I lied. "Excellent, I'll make a date!" I looked out of the chariot window as it started to move. It was being pulled by two pegasus guards who were pulling it onto a long opening between the castle walls. "Uhh...Twilight? Did Celestia say...fly back to Ponyville?" "That's right. These pegasus' fly the chariot all the way. Why do you ask?" I leant my head back inside and huddled into a ball on the seat. "I'm so gonna hate this." "Why? We're perfectly safe." "It's not that. It's that I'm afraid of--" The chariot jerked forward and rose quickly as the pegasus' took off. "HEEEIIIGGGHHHTTTSSS! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Back in the throne room, Celestia sat upon her throne and waited for the first visitor to arrive. She didn't have to wait long as the doors opened to reveal... "Welcome my little po-- OH! Luna!" "Dearest sister. Did you speak to Owen?" "I did. I spoke to him about last night and what happened and how he felt about you." Luna lightly tapped her hooves in anticipation. "And? And?" "He said that..." Celestia narrowed her eyes at her sister who quickly averted her gaze. Celestia let out a laugh and pointed her hoof towards Luna. "You were listening to the whole thing, weren't you?" "...no...of course I...OK I did!" "Haha! I knew it! So know you know how he feels about you." "Yes...I do..." Luna said quietly. "So?" "So what?" "How do you feel about him?" Luna shuffled her front hooves before walking closer to her sister and whispering into her ear. "I feel the same about him." Both sisters let out a girlish squeal before Luna exited the room and royal court was brought into session. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The chariot landed outside of the library and I immediately got out of it and fell to the floor, kissing it. "Oh thank you, thank you, thank you. Sweet ground..." "Thank you guards. Have a nice day!" Twilight thanked the guards as she departed from the chariot. She walked over to me as I was still in a heap on the floor. "Come on Owen, it wasn't that bad." "That bad?! We were flying, at least three thousand feet in the air in a tiny chariot pulled by pegasus'! Does any of that seem unsafe to you?!" "Those guards have mastered their flying skills. They wouldn't be flying for the royal guards if they couldn't fly well, would they? Maybe next time you fly, it'll be--" "NO! Not happening! Never again!" I shouted, getting to my feet. "Was it really that bad for you?" "When I was fourteen, my carers took me on holiday to France - that's a neighbouring country to England. We had to fly there on an aeroplane." Twilight tilted her head in confusion. "It's a mode of transportation, I'll explain more later. Anyway, going over the sea, we flew into a storm and it caused the plane to shake violently for ages. It was only a few minutes but it felt like hours for me - I was petrified the whole time. I couldn't even fly back due to me being so scared so we had to take a boat. Since then, I've never set foot on an aeroplane again and I never will." "That sounds horrible! I can only imagine how you must have felt! You should have informed me of this before we left Canterlot." "I tried to but it was too late. I'm just glad it's over now." We made our way back into the library and found Spike sweeping the floors. He ran up to Twilight, greeting her. "Twilight! I'm glad you're home. Hey Owen." "It's good to see you too Spike. I hope you've kept the place tidy and kept up with your chores." Twilight replied. "Of course! I was just about to finish sweeping." Spike went back to his chores as Twilight started unpacking her saddlebags, putting many books back on shelves and sorting out her quills and parchment. "Hey Twilight. I'm gonna go and lie down for a bit. I still feel a bit dizzy." I said weakly, walking up the stairs. I reached my room and flopped down on the bed, reaching my Ipod out of my pocket. I turned it on to show the time - 11:43. I put the headphones in and pressed play. Queen's 'Don't Stop Me Now' played and I couldn't help but hum along to the tune and mumble some of the words. To be honest, relaxing was on my to-do list but it wasn't happening now. My mind once again started to ask all of the questions about my predicament. 'Money? Job? Home? Food?' I rubbed my temples to try and quell the oncoming headache and tried to relax. The Ipod changed onto one of my recent favourite tunes. I sung along to song at a moderate volume. If you're strong, you can fly. You can reach the other side of the rainbow. It's alright. Take a chance. Cause there is no circumstance that you can't handle. When you use your mind. Sonic Boom, Sonic Boom. Trouble keeps you running faster. Sonic Boom, Sonic Boom. Save the planet from disaster. Sonic Boom, Sonic Boom. Spinning through a world in motion. Sonic Boom, Sonic Boom, Sonic Boooom! Time is now, you can't hide. Find the power deep inside and make it happen. Make it happen! Sonic Boom, Sonic Boom. Trouble keeps you running faster. Sonic Boom, Sonic Boom. Save the planet from disaster. Sonic Boom, Sonic Boom. Spinning through a world in motion. Sonic Boom, Sonic Boom, Sonic Boooom! *AHEM* The song ended and the sound of a clearing throat caught my attention. I turned my head to see Spike standing in my doorway with a smirk on his face. "What?" "That music is awesome." "Music? What mu--" I looked down to my Ipod and noticed my fatal flaw. The headphones were NOT plugged in. "You heard all that...even my..." "You've got a good voice you know. You could make yourself famous!" "Oh come on, my singing's awful. There's no chance it sounds as great as these guys." "I don't know. You do sing well though." Spike began to walk out of the door. "Wait...really? You really think so?" I asked "Yeah! You could give loads of singers a run for their bits!" Spike walked out of the room and I heard him go back downstairs. I looked at my headphones and plugged them into the Ipod more carefully this time. "Ugh...that was embarrasing." I leant back onto the bed and pondered what Spike had said. "Do I really have a good voice? I've never sung out loud like that before." "Well, he's right. You do have a good singing voice." a female voice sounded from the hallway. "What the...Twilight? Did you hear me as well?" As I said that, she entered the room nodding away. "I did and I agree with Spike. You could really make something of yourself with that voice and with that music. I listened to the variety of the music you had when we were at the party and some of those songs were pretty good." "You really think so?" "I know so. In fact, why don't you stop by Vinyl's club sometime. I bet she'd love to try working with your music!" I held my hand to my chin in that classic old-style thinking pose. She was right, some of the music is pretty sweet and Vinyl was interested in my Ipod. Maybe this could be a step forward. "You know what, I think I'll take that option. Thanks!" "You're welcome." she replied with a smile. She began to exit the room but a thought stopped her. "You know, you seem different since yesterday." "Different? Different how?" "Well yesterday you were told that you were stuck here and that you couldn't go back home. I would have assumed that you'd be torn up about it and depressed. But you're not. You seem more cheerful." I quickly darted my eyes around the room whilst trying to think of a quick answer. Should I tell her about Luna? "Well...I--" She's gonna find out eventually. "I did a good deed yesterday and I felt much better about myself that I was able to. I helped a pony in her time of need." "Her?" Oh bollocks. I shouldn't have said that. I sighed and sat up on the side of the bed. "Look Twilight, if I tell you this, this remains between us. Nobody else must know OK? Not until the time is right." "I promise. In fact, I Pinkie Promise. Cross my heart, hope to fly. Stick a cupcake in my eye." she recited, making various motions with her hooves, including prodding herself in her own eye. "What...was that?" "A Pinkie Promise can NEVER be broken. It's an oath you must undertake whenever you make a Pinkie Promise." "Uhh...OK. Thanks." I chuckled at the bizarre ritual but accepted it anyway. "OK. Something happened last night and today and it's made me and a certain pony feel very happy." Twilight closed the door with her magic and sat down in front of me. I retold the night's events and Twilight hung on overy word. It felt good to talk to someone else about this so I could get their honest opinion. "So Princess Celestia thought you and Luna were--" "Yeah! She did!" We both laughed hard at that. I continued telling Twilight what happened until I got to a certain part. "So, when Celestia asked me to talk to her, she didn't talk about when we could next visit. She talked to me about the possibility of Luna and I. She asked me many questions and asked how I felt about her. After much prodding, I admitted that I had feelings for her since we can relate to each other about our lives. She then told me that she knows that Luna feels the same about me because she saw how Luna reacted around me." "So, does that mean that you and Luna are dating?" "I don't know yet. But we both know we have feelings for each other so it's a start." Twilight got up onto her hooves and walked up close to me. She put a hoof on my hand and smiled at me. "That's adorable!" she said in an 'awwww' kind of tone. "What, so you're not freaked out by the idea? A pony and a human having a relationship?" "Of course not!" She looked worringly at me. "Are you?" "I...I don't know. It's weird because I know she's beautiful and intelligent and I love her for that. But there's that nagging thought at the back of head. I look at her, past her beauty and I see her as a pony. Like one from my world - ones that are like wild animals with no ability to talk and no sentience. It just feels weird." "You're right. She is a pony. Let me ask you this. Do wild animals in your world talk?" I shook my head. "Are they able to communicate with you on an emotional scale?" "Not really." "Because that is what Luna is. She's not a wild animal. She's just like you but in a different form." I nodded at her words. It made sense. No animal on Earth is ever like this. No animal could ever have a strong, close relationship with me...apart from cats but they just don't give a shit anyway. "You're right. She's not an animal at all. She's just like me." "There you go! So does this mean you'll have a relationship with her?" "I...I suppose I could..." My words must have been gold to Twilight's ears and she practically squealed and jumped around like an excited young girl. "Oh, I'm so happy for you!" she cried at me. "Thanks Twilight but I'm not sure what the next step is. I'm sure Celestia will talk to Luna about what we discussed but apart from that, there's nothing more to do except wait. I really shouldn't interrupt the Princess' royal duties." Twilight nodded happily and walked out of the room. I lay back on the bed, pondering my thoughts. 'So this is it, huh? One week I've been here and I'm already in the early stages of a relationship. I just hope I don't bugger it up... ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The rest of the afternoon went by quickly. I remained lying on my bed, still feeling a bit woozy from the flight earlier. I drained the Ipod battery down to about 25% so I changed from music to reading. Still making my way through the first Daring Do book, I heard a knock at the door. Calling for them to come in, Twilight came into the room. "Hey Twilight." "Hi Owen. Still enjoying that book?" "Yeah I am, surprisingly. As I said before, I don't normally read books often but this one has got be hooked!" "That's good to hear! I was wondering if you were hungry at all as I was going to prepare dinner." Even though the dizziness made me nauseous, I could do with a decent meal. It'd defintely help. "Yeah, that sounds great. What do you have in mind?" "I could make us some steamed vegetables or some salad or some--" "Wait a minute." I reached over to my drawers and opened the top one up. An idea sprung to mind. "Don't cook anything. I want to thank you and all of your friends for accepting me so quickly and for being so nice. So..." I lifted up the bag of bits that Celestia had given me. "How about we all go out for dinner? My treat." Twilight looked uneasy. "Oh Owen, we couldn't possibly ask you to pay for--" I raised my hand. "I won't take no for an answer. You have all been so nice to me and have provided me with everything I needed. That's great friends if I ever knew them. I'm taking you all out - no arguing." I shook my finger in a mock scold. "If you're really sure..." "I am." "Then that would be wonderful. I'll inform the girls! What time do we want to head out? "We should give some time for everyone to get ready so...7?" Twilight nodded and walked out of the room. I heard the front door slam shut as Twilight has vacated the library. I lay back down on the bed and rested my hands behind my head, smiling triumphantly. 'I'm gonna make this evening the best night ever for them.'