//------------------------------// // Light and Love // Story: The Odd One // by theOwtcast //------------------------------// The buttercup sapling was growing nicely in its new planter. I watered it daily, and every now and then, a pony or two came to me and struck up a conversation. Most of those revolved around two things: either they admired my flower, or they wanted to let me know they’d grown past the distrust they’d had for me originally and wondered if I’d like to hang out with them. The invitations were nice enough on the face of it, but whenever I asked for particulars, the replies were something along the lines of ‘I’ll get back to you’. Though somewhat disappointed, I took it in stride; at least they were making an effort to be polite, and it didn’t feel right to me to force the matter just so I could say I’d spent time with somepony new! Having many friends would be great, and though I’d used to think purely in terms of quantity, I’d learned since that having a few close, genuine friends meant more than being on just okay terms with everypony. Of course, that didn’t mean I was going to dismiss further chances to forge friendships, but I wanted those friendships to grow spontaneously from the heart rather than be forced into existence out of a sense of obligation, which, I was beginning to discover, was mostly the case with the ponies stopping by my flower when I was around. Not all of them fit that pattern, though; groups of fillies and colts had asked me to join their games a few times when they were short on participants, and I’d obliged and had a wonderful time! Some of the little faces had been familiar: one or two I’d played in the snow with, and I was pretty sure a few had run away from me in my first days here. It warmed my heart to find that they’d gotten past their initial fears and decided to include me in their lives! A few adult faces made their return, too. Spotless brought fertilizer potions for my buttercup and promised to bring me along to his next hangout with Sapphire and Lush as soon as all of us could make it, which could take a while now that Lush had found a new job at which he needed to leave a good impression and Sapphire reconciled with his marefriend and was trying to make it up to her for what he’d done, but I was willing to wait. Diamond had made a habit of stopping by for a quick chat on her way to work, and a few days ago, she’d invited me to her house. I’d spent a nice afternoon with her and Opal and learned that they made cheap jewelry together; Diamond’s job at the spa made it easy for her to follow the trends and inquire about her customers’ ideas and wishes, and Opal sold the finished pieces at the market. They’d shown me some of their work, and I had to admit, they had talent! If I had any romantic interest in mares, I’d know now where to buy gifts for my special somepony! But that wasn’t all: they’d still felt bad about our first encounter and made me a decorative piece inspired by my buttercups to compensate for their initial reaction! I hadn’t been sure at first what to do with the thing so I’d placed it on the windowsill next to the leaf cutting until further notice. I looked at it every day as I examined the leaf but didn’t pay much attention to it otherwise. But when the newly-formed roots grew big enough to fill the cocoon and I decided it was time for the leaf to swap the cocoon for a flowerpot, placing the potted plant onto the sill next to Diamond and Opal’s jewelry gave me an idea: I tried to attach the jewel onto the flowerpot and it snapped perfectly as if it had been specifically made to fit that very flowerpot! Well, since they knew about my hobby, it wouldn’t be impossible that that had been the idea in the first place… A knock sounded at my door just about then. “Come in,” I said. Sunburst trotted in and sat next to me. “Do you have any plans for the next weekend?” he asked. “Not at the moment. Should I have any?” “That depends. Crystal Faire is to be held that Saturday. I think you were interested in seeing it when I first told you about it, weren’t you?” “Yes, of course! I’d love to! Can we go together?” “I’m afraid that might be difficult. Don’t get me wrong, it’d be great to hang out with you, it’s just that I’ll probably be too busy.” “How so?” “I’ve been signed up as one of the hosts. It’ll involve a lot of mingling with everypony, and though we could in theory spend some quality time together, I can’t guarantee that I won’t be too distracted. It all depends on how many ponies will show up, which includes the tourists, and how talkative they’ll be, and how much encouragement to partake in activities they’ll need, and whether or not I’ll be the most popular host, that kind of stuff. And being the Royal Crystaller, I’m not really in a position to opt out of it without a very good reason, most of which would prevent me from being there altogether as far as I can think of, or things could get awkward.” “Okay, I understand. I’ll ask somepony else, then. Any ideas on who might be interested?” He pondered this. “Cadance and Shining will be hosting too, Ruby will be in charge of Flurry, Berry is working the pie stand, and the Royal Guards are either performing in the jousting tournament or overseeing security… not sure about your other friends. Though, if Spike and the girls from Ponyville are coming-” “They are?!” My wings buzzed in excitement. Why hadn’t he said so already?! “They did the first two times - except for Starlight, that is - but they didn’t say anything this year. Why don’t you write to them?” “I will! Thanks, Sunburst!” “You’re welcome,” he said, but I was already writing and had barely registered his words. The reply came back a few days later. Dear Thorax, I don’t know if there’s an easy way to break this to you so I’ll be direct. There’s an Equestria-wide wizard conference going on that same weekend in Canterlot, Celestia selected the date and organized the whole thing, and all of us got roped into various assignments, and nopony realized the overlap with the Crystal Faire until you sent your letter. I’m sorry, buddy! Twilight went into a major freakout when I told her and I’m no happier about it than she is. We informed Celestia about it (she intended to show up at the Crystal Faire too, by the way, so I got nothing on how she forgot to check for date overlaps) and she promised to see if the conference can be rescheduled, but it’s pretty short-notice and everything will be booked by now so I’m not convinced she’ll get anywhere. Twilight is writing to Cadance about the possibility of rescheduling the Faire in case the conference rescheduling doesn’t work out, but if I remember Twi’s explanation correctly, the Crystal Heart’s magic is involved in keeping the Umbrum at bay and the Faire serves to periodically refresh that magic, and I think timing is important in the whole process so this might be impossible to move to, say, a weekend later unless Cadance is willing to risk the Umbrum ravaging the place. They didn’t show up when the Heart was shattered just before Flurry’s crystalling, but they only had a few hours’ window to notice and make use of the opportunity before the Heart got restored, and that might be the only reason why the city is still standing. I’m sorry I can’t offer any other solutions. I’ll see if I can get Twilight or Starlight to teleport any of us there in intervals when they’re not needed at the conference, but it’s a pretty big distance and I’m not sure if it’s feasible even with their magic. Alternatively, if any of us can find a replacement for our tasks at the conference, there might be hope to show up at the Faire, but that still doesn’t solve the problem of Twilight wanting to spend that day with her family, and she’s scheduled to hold three lectures and two practical courses on Saturday alone. We also can’t expect you to give up the Faire and come to Canterlot, disguised or not, after seeing how excited you were about it in your letter. I’m sorry, buddy. I know this is starting to look like we’re avoiding you, but we aren’t! We’ll think of something, I promise! Hope to see you again soon somehow, Spike My spirits deflated upon reading that. Why was it that, whenever I got my hopes up about seeing Spike, something turned up to crush them? The possibility of him avoiding me deliberately had never entered my mind; there was too much love imbued in the paper to make it likely! I went looking for Sunburst and found him in the throne room with Cadance. “Is that Spike’s letter?” he asked, pointing at the sheet of paper in my mouth. “Yes,” I said, setting the letter aside. “He says he can’t come to the Faire.” “The magic conference in Canterlot,” Cadance said, holding up another piece of paper in her magic. “We know. Twilight wrote to me. We’re trying to think of a solution.” I nodded. “Any ideas yet?” “None that are feasible,” Sunburst sighed. “It’s too short-notice to move the Faire any sooner and postponing is out of question or we risk the Umbrum invasion.” “Can we power up the Crystal Heart some other way to make it last a little longer?” “It doesn’t work that way, Thorax. It’s either pretty much the whole city at their highest spirits, or nothing. Otherwise we could power up the Heart gradually throughout the year and wouldn’t run the risk of losing its protection at all!” “Sounds impractical.” “Well, that’s the way it is. Whether the Heart was created in such a way deliberately with a particular purpose in mind or because nothing else had worked, I haven’t been able to discern, but it’s all we have, and unless we can figure out how to create a new artifact with a different recharging pattern or to modify the Heart’s pattern without destroying it permanently, we’ll have to keep doing what we’ve been doing so far.” “What about what happened at the crystalling? If the ponies powered it up then, isn’t there a chance that it’s strong enough to last a little longer than usual?” “The Heart didn’t get powered up then,” Cadance explained. “It got restored from a shattered state, and almost all of the magic went into the restoration process. I examined the Heart later that day and found that it was just about strong enough to last until the date when the Faire would normally take place.” “We’re still not sure how it happened,” Sunburst continued. “Most magical artifacts lose their magic when destroyed, so either the Heart is one of the exceptions, or the spell we used to restore it somehow modified itself to match the exact spell the Heart had before.” “Didn’t you say the Heart was powered by light and love when you taught me about it? And now you’re talking about magic?” “Didn’t I explain it then?” “I don’t think so… though I might have forgotten if it’s complicated.” “It isn’t really. There’s the light and love that powers the Heart, and there’s the Heart’s intrinsic magic that amplifies the light and love it receives so it can emit it around the world. But the two are interconnected, and a percentage of the light and love the Heart receives is used to feed the Heart’s intrinsic magic and keep it in existence. I can go in more detail if you want-” “No, this is fine,” I hurriedly said. “None of that matters right now anyway,” Cadance said. “I’ll examine the Heart up close again, but from what I can sense from here, I’m not hopeful about it lasting any longer than the Faire’s current date, and even that could be cutting it close. We might have to come to terms with not seeing our Ponyville friends this year if Celestia fails to postpone the conference.” The final verdict on the matter came the next day. Cadance summoned Sunburst and me to the throne room, and this time, Shining joined us too. The sour expression on the Princess’ face didn’t inspire confidence to expect to hear anything desirable. “I’ve just received a letter from Celestia,” she stated. “There was nothing she could do about the conference. Everything from venues to catering to the attendees’ hotel rooms is already booked, and though most of these were willing to negotiate, almost all are already booked with other things for months in advance, and the soonest available date when all parties involved could guarantee their services is so far into the future that this year’s conference might as well be cancelled.” “And it’s the most renown wizard conference of the world today and cancelling without a very good reason would seriously harm its reputation,” Sunburst added, then hung his head and sighed. “I’m sorry. I’ve been going through recent editions of Wizard’s Journal, and one of them featured an announcement for this conference, but I guess I didn’t pay attention to the date when I first read that edition because I knew there wouldn’t be any good in me going… If I had, I might have realized in time that it clashes with the Faire! We could have rescheduled the Faire to the weekend before if only I’d bothered to read the entire announcement!” “Don’t blame yourself,” Cadance reassured him. “It could happen to anypony! In fact, it happened to Celestia herself, and she knew when the Faire was supposed to be held!” “I know, but that doesn’t change the fact that I could have still done something about it!” “Why did you dismiss the conference, anyway?” Shining interjected. “You thrive on magic, maybe even more than my sister, and she’s hard to surpass!” “I thrive on the theory of magic, yes, but you know that casting spells is a whole different story for me. Theory of magic is only a part of that conference. It also includes a lot of practical sessions where all attendees are expected to perform the spells discussed in lectures and encouraged to experiment. These sessions are extremely popular and few wizards skip them, and if they do, it’s almost exclusively because a session overlaps with something closer to the wizard’s field of interest. I actually attended the conference a few years ago, not knowing what to expect, and…” He cringed. “Uh, let’s just say it could have gone better and leave it at that.” “That bad, huh?” He sighed. “I don’t think I can ever show my face anywhere near that conference again for as long as I live…” I didn’t know what to say so I hugged him. A bit awkwardly, maybe, but if it helped… “Thanks, Thorax. I’m sorry about all this. Princess, does the letter mention any chance for our friends to get some time off?” “Celestia is looking into it, but I got the impression that she isn’t expecting to find good replacements for them this late into the preparations, especially for the crucial ones like Twilight. Starlight and Spike have pretty significant roles too, otherwise Starlight might have been asked to fill in for Twilight, but if there’s a way around it, she’ll figure it out.” “They’re not coming,” I muttered to myself, deflated. “Might have known…” “C’mon, don’t be so pessimistic!” Sunburst said. “She can still think of something!” “But what if she doesn’t? I was so looking forward to spending time with Spike and the others… mostly with Spike… If there was any real chance of him being available, I’m sure he would have said so…” “Thorax…” “I guess I’d better start looking for someone else to go to the Faire with…” Crestfallen, I dragged myself out of the throne room. “You’ve been moping for days. Wanna talk about it?” I pushed myself up from the planter I’d been slumped against and looked dejectedly at Sunburst. “What’s the point?” He sat next to me. “Still no news from Spike?” “I gave up expecting any when Celestia sent that letter. I’m sure he would have figured out something by now if there was anything to figure out in case I’m wrong, but he hasn’t written a single word to me since. He’s probably too busy with preparations for the conference.” “So… have you tried asking somepony else?” “I must have asked the whole city! Everypony not running a booth or having some other role in the Faire has already made arrangements to come with their families and friends, and it’d be too awkward to tag along with any of them even if they were too polite to admit it. I even sent a letter to Appleloosa, but Braeburn and Little Strongheart said they have too much work in the orchard to plan trips. And showing up alone… I’d probably be the only one like that.” I slumped back onto the planter’s rim. The buttercup had bloomed some days ago, but this time, it was failing to relieve me of the hopelessness stifling my heart. “It’s no use, Sunburst. I might as well stay in my room the whole day!” “Come on, Thorax, don’t be like that! You wanted this! I’m sure it won’t be that bad!” I didn’t respond. He sighed. “I’ll ask Cadance and Shining if they can handle hosting without me.” I sat up and glared at him. “Why?” “So I can come with you.” “I can’t ask you to abandon your duty for me!” “And I can’t bear to see you like this! They’ll understand!” “No… They might, but I can’t expect them to obey my every whim!” I looked at Spike’s statue towering over us. “They’ve already done way more than I had the right to expect from them… giving me a room in the castle to live in and money to buy stuff with… letting me foalsit their daughter… spending their personal time with me… maybe even revising the law for my sake…” “Thorax-” “I didn’t deserve all that… probably still don’t-” “Thorax, snap out of it! They did it because they care! And I care! I’m trying to help you!” “I know, and I appreciate it, I really do, it’s just that-” “What, you ‘don’t deserve it’? I thought we were past that by now!” I dropped my gaze. “Thorax, listen to me. You’re one of the kindest, gentlest, most honorable people I know. You had the misfortune to have grown up in an environment that thought the worst of you for your good sides and it shattered your sense of self-worth, but all that’s in the past, and now you’re here, in the land that values what you have to offer, so don’t ever, even for a moment, think that you don’t deserve what we’re trying to give you!” “Okay…” I sighed. “Okay.” “You don’t sound convinced.” “I’m sorry… It’s just that, whenever I start believing that things are going well for me, something like this happens and I can’t help but wonder if it’s because I don’t deserve any better.” “It isn’t. Everyone’s lives have ups and downs, and it’s got nothing to do with what you deserve. Sometimes it can’t be helped, but sometimes there are things you can do about it, even if it’s just a change of attitude.” “But what can I do about this? Neither the Faire nor the conference can be postponed, our friends can’t be in two places at once, I haven’t found anypony who wouldn’t have to change their plans so they could spend the day with me, I don’t have any assignments to take-” “That’s it!” he suddenly exclaimed. I tilted my head at him. “We’ll find you something to do if that’ll make you feel better!” “Isn’t everything already taken?” “Not necessarily. You could be an additional host, or help oversee security, or enter a jousting match-” I winced. “-okay, not jousting… Let’s see… maybe one of the ponies running a booth will need help, or the foals’ playground, or the ewe garden… There’s normally enough ponies to cover everything, but you never know, somepony could drop out at the last minute…” “One request, please, if possible. If I’m going to be involved in something, I’d rather not wait for something last-minute. What if I end up with an assignment I know nothing about?” “Good point… Hmm. Of course! You could sell your own stuff! We already have a traditional crafts booth and a sketching course, but not an art booth, and there’s no reason why we couldn’t!” “Uh… yeah, sure, I could do that. But will anypony want to buy anything?” “Why wouldn’t they?” “My art isn’t that good.” “So what if you won’t be offering a set of world-renowned masterpieces? Nopony here will be looking for that, and your art is certainly good enough to be framed on somepony’s living room wall! Now, the Faire is the day after tomorrow. Do you think you can prepare a few dozen paintings and sketches by then?” I rose early on Saturday morning to get my booth set up in time. As per Fine Line’s advice that I’d sought upon arranging things with Cadance, I’d spent the whole day yesterday creating miniature paintings and drawings - miniature so I could produce enough of them to avoid running out of stuff to sell too early, as my pre-existing collection wasn’t very big. I still had to carry them to the booth, arrange them, write out price tags, and prepare my painting gear to work on more art in between customers. The booths were distributed around the castle and extended some distance into every street. A lot of them were going to sell food, but there were others as well, such as Emerald’s flower booth, Whirligig’s toy booth, Opal’s jewelry booth, and some selling books, pottery, or beauty potions, and that was barely scratching the surface! It looked like everything imaginable was going to be on sale! Maybe even affordable saddlebags… though there was no telling whether or not I could spare a moment to go looking for any. Though numerous, the booths weren’t the only things set up. I saw a couple of fenced-off areas, one with little sheep, and one containing all kinds of toys but otherwise unoccupied. A stage was set up near Obsidian Street, and I assumed it was for music and karaoke that Sunburst had mentioned at some point, as Cadance and Shining, who had only just reclaimed his rank as Captain of the Royal Guard, were to hold a speech right next to the Crystal Heart; for that purpose, the entire area underneath the castle was kept clear save for the decorations around the castle bases. Sign posts all over the place invited ponies to a jousting tournament in the stadium, pampering sessions in the spa, literary debates in the library, and a sketching class in the museum. The booth assigned to me was located in Emerald Street, just next to Spike’s statue. It could have been an accidental coincidence, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Sunburst and Cadance had arranged it that way deliberately, so I could spend the day with Spike in spirit since he couldn’t be here in person. Whether or not that was the case, I made a mental note to thank them at the first opportunity. Setting up my stuff took a little longer than I’d expected, but the others were going at a similar pace as far as I could see, and by the time the Crystal Empire anthem sounded throughout the city, we were ready to go. “Wish you could be here, Spike,” I whispered, looking at the statue. The place was soon filled with ponies strolling about, talking, laughing, looking at the booths, buying things, partaking in games. Most of them were in pairs or groups, and though a few seemingly lone ponies passed by my booth every now and then, they weren’t really alone; every time, their companion or the rest of their group caught up with them pretty quickly and they continued enjoying the Faire together. I’d debated with Cadance and Shining whether to show up as myself or as Crystal Hoof. We trusted the crystal ponies to be perfectly okay with my real self by now, but as the city was always open to tourists and an increased number of them was expected for this particular occasion, we couldn’t predict how any of them would react and whether or not the situation would require any intervening. The tourists who had so far seen me on a normal day had sometimes made a fuss about a ‘monster skulking about’, but the locals had always managed to calm them and explain; could we count on the same thing to work now? We were all inclined to believe that we could, and that the facts that I’d been allowed to run a booth and that none of the crystal ponies were afraid of me would most likely be enough of a reassurance. The bigger problem remained whether or not any changelings would show up disguised as tourists to scout the area for any future invasions. Shining had said this would be a perfect opportunity for any scouting party, as they could study the crowd, blend easily, and maybe even attempt to get admitted to areas inaccessible on other days without putting in additional effort. Though I could see his point, I’d reminded him that any such scouts wouldn’t have to wait for the Faire, as they could do their thing just as easily on a normal day, and that there was no telling that they hadn’t done so already or wouldn’t at a later time. With no way to collapse their disguises other than to knock them out or kill them, neither of which we could do unprovoked no matter how suspicious someone might be, there was no way to be sure either way! In the end, Cadance had decided that although somewhat risky, as long as I was comfortable with it, going undisguised would show the ponies from other cities that they didn’t have to fear me and help build the bridge of friendship between our species, and maybe even gain a new friend before the day was over. They were both going to check on me often just in case, and Shining had assigned extra patrols to Emerald Street. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a bit nervous after that discussion and all the risks for me it had unveiled, but as time went on, I managed to relax. Tourists were present in higher numbers than on an average day, and though most flinched or did a double take upon seeing my undisguised face, only a few went as far as to voice their disapproval and disgust. The crystal ponies managed to calm them down, though it took some effort in a couple of cases, and the Royal Guards didn’t have to intervene after all. Word about me must have gotten around the tourists, as the incidents became less frequent as the day progressed, though stares on their part never completely stopped. Sales were going pretty well, too. Some ponies only stopped to take a look at my art before moving on; others made a purchase after a certain amount of time deciding which one they liked best. Some even asked for details about a particular piece or struck up a conversation with me and the other potential buyers! A few of those were tourists, too, and their love auras suggested that they liked me! Maybe Cadance had been right after all to recommend against putting on a disguise! If I could get more of them to warm up to the idea of friendly changelings… Eventually I realized I wasn’t feeling so bad about Spike not being here. I would have still liked to share this day with him, but with how well everything was going, I’d stopped feeling alone and out of place pretty quickly, and by the time Cadance and Shining began their speech, my spirits were high and my heart content. The speech began with words of praise and gratitude to all who had participated in the Faire, either by organizing and running it, or by simply visiting. Cadance relayed apologies of the three other princesses and our friends for their absence. Shining recited a quick review of the historical events, and Cadance continued with an explanation of how history reflected itself onto the modern times in the spirit of the Faire. Finally, together, they spoke of the impact the Faire had on the world. They spoke of the Crystal Heart and its magic. They spoke of love and hope. They spoke of harmony, of friendship; they spoke of virtues that could be found in any living being if one was to look closely enough - a nod to me, maybe? - and of the power of all of us to spread the light throughout the world. All through the speech, I could sense the collective love aura growing rapidly in strength, getting brighter, warmer. The ponies were readying themselves for the climax of the Faire, for pouring out their high spirits into the crystal roads, and through them, to the Crystal Heart in the very heart of the city, so it could augment this positive energy and bestow it upon the world. It was going to be a magnificent sight and feeling, I could tell! When the speech ended, the ponies bowed gracefully and went aglow, crystal and non-crystal ones alike. I followed suit and bowed in my booth as had the ponies in booths near mine, not expecting anything to come of my act and only doing it out of respect for the ceremony. I almost leaped into the air in surprise when I saw my own forelegs gleaming and a wave of intense light pouring out from me just like from everyone else! It was a curious feeling: tingling like magic, and draining my love reserves somewhat, but not hurting at all and not leaving me hungry in the process… almost as if it was feeding me at the same time as helping itself to my love… The crystal road beneath my hooves went ablaze, and the next moment, a glorious flash of light and love spread from the Crystal Heart in all directions, transforming everypony into beautiful, shimmering, translucent, almost ethereal beings permeated with a new, and yet so familiar, flavor of love. A surge of magic shot up into the air at around the same time, exploding at a certain point in the sky and sending out familiar rainbow-hued ripples in all directions. The taste of sweet, powerful love intensified; the ponies cheered, and the orchestra began playing a triumphant melody. After a few moments of collective savouring of the moment and the Princess’ heartfelt congratulations to all present, the ponies slowly returned to strolling around and browsing the booths. Those who turned in my direction suddenly went wide-eyed. “Whoa,” one of them exclaimed. “Did you do that? Cool!” “Do what?” I absent-mindedly placed a hoof on the horizontal surface of my booth and couldn’t believe my eyes! My leg holes had become kind of angular, as if they’d once harbored gemstones, and my chitin was not only gleaming in a way reminiscent of carved crystal, but also translucent! I looked myself over as best as I could and then bent to check my reflection in the crystally road. The rest of my body was in a similar state: shimmering, ethereally translucent, with multilayered wings and crystally reflections in my eyes. “Unbelievable…” I muttered. This ancient sorcery, whatever it was, made no distinction between ponies, nor did it care for differences between ponies and non-ponies! It had worked on me too! But was the change permanent, and how would it affect my shapeshifting ability? I decided to look for answers later; the Faire wasn’t over yet, and I had some more customers to attend to. After everypony had gone home, the crystallized Sunburst and Cadance came to my booth. “Looking great, Thorax,” Sunburst said. “How did you get the idea to shapeshift into a crystal changeling?” “I didn’t,” I shrugged. “It just… happened.” “It did? Fascinating…” “Are you feeling okay otherwise?” Cadance inquired. “Yes, I’m happier than I expected. I didn’t think doing this would cheer me up so easily!” “I’m glad to hear that, but I meant your physical condition. Did the Heart affect anything other than your appearance?” “Not that I’ve noticed… Hold on.” I tried to conjure up a disguise and failed. I tried again, harder this time, with the same result. “Uh, I can’t shapeshift.” “Well, at least we know there weren’t any other changelings there,” Shining interjected as he joined us. For some reason, I found it weird to see him looking crystallized like this while it was perfectly normal on everypony else. “That’s assuming they would have lost their disguise under the Heart’s spell,” I corrected him. “I wasn’t disguised when it happened so there’s no way to know for now.” “Assuming it works that way,” Sunburst added, “it’d be a bit impractical as a method of revealing them or locking them in their own forms. Though I suppose it’d be better than nothing. I wonder if we’ll be able to test it if the need arises.” “I’d rather that the need doesn’t arise,” I muttered. “Right. That too.” “How did the sales go?” Cadance asked me. “Pretty good! I sold most of what I brought along. I’ll have to count the money, but I’m pretty sure I can afford a saddlebag now and maybe even have some leftover money.” “So you don’t need help carrying your stuff away?” Shining asked. “Uh… well… actually, I think I can manage in one trip… maybe two…” “I’ll take some of it,” Sunburst offered. I shoved the unsold paintings into the saddlebag and passed it to him, then grabbed the painting gear to carry by myself. “So… this new appearance… is it permanent?” I asked after a moment. “No, it’ll wear off in a few hours. I’m guessing your shapeshifting will be back too when you revert to your normal self.” “Okay. I hope we don’t get an invading swarm by then,” I replied, only half-jokingly. “Heh, that would be a bit problematic for you. But I’m pretty sure the blast would have dealt with them!” Suddenly I remembered something. “About that. Why did the Heart transform me now when the shockwave threw me away the first time?” “Good point. Maybe it started to recognize you as its own because you poured love into it this time? Or maybe what threw you away the first time wasn’t the magical shockwave itself but the layer of condensed storm clouds that was being pushed away by the shockwave… Also, how can you be sure it didn’t transform you the first time too? You said you were unconscious for a while. It could be that the spell wore off before you woke up.” “Wow… I never considered that…” I turned back to face Spike’s statue. If it could talk, what would it tell me about that day? Whatever the case, I couldn’t wait to write Spike about this unexpected occurrence! Part of me wished again that he’d managed to show up for the Faire after all. I wondered what he’d say if he could see me like this! Maybe next year, I told myself. Maybe next year.