//------------------------------// // Chapter 33: Love is in Bloom // Story: Chaotic Harmony: Do Over // by shirotora //------------------------------// Caution: This chapter has underage ponies talking about mature subjects, as well as implied sex Jynx and I were talking to Scootaloo's mom and aunt, Holiday and Lofty while the kids played with Razor. And by 'kids' I mean half of the Crusaders' class. I couldn't blame them. Tiger cubs are the cutest little things ever. Add the pegasus half and you have the world's greatest chick magnet. "You know, a part of me wants you to put one of those in me," Lofty said, teasingly. "Lofty!" Holiday scolded. "You know how awkward that would be." "That's why I said 'part of me'," Lofty returned. "I wouldn't do that to her." "Yeah, let's not," I chuckled. "Anyway, Ah take it she took the news well." "Of course," Holiday said. "Well, most of it, anyway. Of course she's glad she's no longer at risk, but... We all hoped her mana pathways would have healed enough for proper growth, but my little Scootaloo will always be this size." I looked over to the kids. When I first came to Equestria, Scootaloo was already smaller than her friends, but while they've all hit growth spurts, she hadn't grown an inch. "At least they healed before anythin' serious could develop," I offered. "Thank Celestia," Holiday said. "We were so terrified that she would develop something awful." Damaged mana pathways were one of the most serious conditions a pony could have. Being magical creatures, mana was more important than blood. Having damaged mana pathways, especially when still growing, often leads to serious or even fatal conditions. Scootaloo got off easy with just having her growth stunted. Of course, though she was no bigger than a filly, she was obviously becoming a mare. Her hips were more pronounced, her legs were slightly thinner having lost their baby fat, and her snout a tad longer. I was brought back with a throat being cleared.  "You know, we could go down to the mayor's office and fill out the consent forms, if you'd like," Lofty said with a grin. "No no!" I said, waving a paw, defensively. "Ah was just… thinkin' about how hard this must all have been for her. Ah mean, Ah can't imagine livin' so long thinkin' that at any moment…" "Yeah, she's a tough filly," Lofty said with a proud smile. "She gets that from my brother. She can handle whatever life throws her way. That's why we actually already filled out those consent forms." "Wait, what?!" I asked, shocked. She rolled her eyes. "Oh, you don't have to do anything with them right now, or ever. I'm just saying, we trust you and her to make the right decision." I winced, and rubbed the back of my neck. "Yeah, thanks for the thought, but Ah'm still tryin' to convince mahself to go through with it in a year. Ain't no way Ah can do it now." I'm guessing that by now, you can figure out what we were talking about. Scootaloo wasn't very good at hiding her crush. It didn't take me, or anyone else, long to realize why she was trying to spend so much time around me. The problem was twofold. First, I was still weird about dating someone else. With Fluttershy, she's just so amazing that I can't bring myself to care. With Scootaloo, well, she's amazing, too, so I was sure I could get over that. It was the second reason that was making it difficult. Three guesses what that was. Sure, I understood that ponies develop faster than humans. The Crusaders showed me that every day. They were only twelve (thirteen, for the birthday girl) but they were already more mature than many adults I knew back on Earth. Still, it wasn't something I could just decide to overlook. It didn't help that her being so much smaller than me just drove her age home. "We figured as much," Holiday said. "We just thought we would let you know so that things can happen naturally. We aren't telling you to make it official right now-" "Though don't let that stop you," Lofty interjected. Her wife glared at her as she continued. "- We're just asking that you do what you feel is right when you feel it's time." I sighed. "Ah'll try. Ah can at least promise it won't happen before then." "In the meantime, why don't we start some of the games," Holiday said. "Before the kids get restless." Scootaloo couldn't stop smiling, even as they worked to clean up after the other foals went home. "Someone had a good time," Sweetie said. Scootaloo shrugged. "A day of my best friends, presents, and a whole table of my favorite foods, why wouldn't I be? Oh, and the fact that I'm not going to die of mana rot. That's nice, too." "Are you sure it ain't a certain someone that put that smile on your face?" Applebloom teased. Scootaloo blushed. "What about you? Why haven't you asked Midnight out?" "Ah didn't want to take away from your birthday," Applebloom said with a pout. "Well, the party's over, and he's right over there," Sweetie pointed out. "I-it's still your birthday!" Applebloom excused.  "Well, as the birthday girl, I want you to ask him out," Scootaloo demanded. "Hey, Midnight," Sweetie called. "Applebloom wants to talk to you!" "Sweetie Belle!" Applebloom growled. "Just ask him," Sweetie said, rolling her eyes at Applebloom's threatening glare. "What's up?" Midnight asked as he approached. Sweetie hip bumped Applebloom forward, nearly right into Midnight's face. "Uh… hi," Applebloom said, awkwardly.  "Hi," Midnight replied. "Uh… l-lovely weather, huh?" Applebloom stammered.  Midnight scrunched his brow in confusion, glancing up, before his eyes widened. "Oh… I see. Uh, yeah. I'd love to." "Wait what?" Applebloom, Sweetie, and Scootaloo said. "Dad said when a girl acts all weird, and says random, mundane things, like about the weather, even though you talk to them all the time, she's trying to ask you out," Midnight explained. "And… well… I'd like that, too. Would Sunday work? Mom has company coming over, and wants me out of the house anyway." "Y-yeah," Applebloom said, absentmindedly. "Sunday." "A-alright… I'll see you then," Midnight said before running off with a pep in his step. "Wait… who asked who?" Sweetie asked. "I got no idea," Scootaloo replied. "Then, who won the bet?" "I got it," Jynx said when a knock came from the door. It was just us at the moment. Midnight was out on his first date/school report and Razor was with Fluttershy. That left just me, Jynx, and… this guy. "Birch!" Jynx said with a smile. "Come on in." This guy was a problem for me. Not because he did something wrong, or because he was a bad guy, but because he represented a social hurdle for me. "Shiro, this is Professor Birch Seed," Jynx introduced. "Birch, this is my husband, Shirotora." "Call me Shiro," I said, reaching out a paw. "Birch," he replied, taking my paw, albeit nervously. "Why don't we sit down?" Jynx offered. I struggled to keep from glaring at the guy. He seemed like a good pony, so far, and Jynx wouldn't have invited him otherwise. Still, he was everything my human mind rebelled against, what it wanted to hurt. Jynx's new boyfriend. Okay, so they weren't actually dating, yet. That was what this visit was for. It was to introduce the prospective boyfriend to the husband in order to get his okay. With Twilight and Fluttershy, we both knew them so there was no need. I liked Twilight and think she and Jynx are great together, and Jynx felt the same about Shy and I. This guy, though, I had never met. Of course, even if it were Big Mac, or Carrot Cake, I would have probably been feeling the same way I was. It wasn't just that I didn't know him, it was another old social norm of Earth that didn't really apply here. It was that another male was trying to move in on my female. Okay, if it was Big Mac, I probably wouldn't have minded, but let's face it, he's like the George Clooney of ponies in that there's nothing gay about a man saying, "damn, he's sexy". If you came home early and found your wife having an affair with Big Mac, you wouldn't even be mad. You'd just say, "that makes sense". And carry on with your day. This guy, though, was no Big Mac, so I was going to run him through the ringer if he wanted my approval. He was an attractive stallion, if my judgment was any good. He fit his namesake with a birch-bark-gray coat and leaf-green mane, cut short and slightly mussed. He wasn't particularly muscular, but clearly put an effort into his physique.  He was also a bit older, I guessed in his thirties. That and the fashionable square rimmed glasses gave him an 'friendly approachable teacher' look. "So, it's nice to finally meet you, Shiro," Birch said. "Jynx has told all of us at the university a lot about you." "All good, Ah hope," I said with a warm smile. "Oh, heavens no. She complains non stop about you," he said with a smirk. Okay, maybe this guy wasn't so bad. "I kid, of course," Birch said. "Yes, the vast majority is good. I hated it." "Oh?" I cocked an eyebrow. "Every good thing she said just cemented the fact that I had lost my chance to be her husband," he said. "I was honestly surprised when she said you agreed to meet with me. Few terrans would be willing to give a stallion a chance." "Ah'm not gonna lie, part of me wants to snatch you up by the throat and tell you to stay away from mah wife," I said, pausing a bit to let that soak in. "But, Ah'm tryin' mah best to adapt. This isn't Earth, it's Equestria. Things are done differently here, and they even make sense. Ah actually like how Equestria does things, but twenty five years of livin' a certain way ain't easily forgotten." Birch nodded in understanding. "Yes, my grandfather went through the same thing. Though, it took him nearly a decade to get where you are." "Ah was already kinda open minded," I said with a shrug. "At least, Ah like to think Ah was. So, what exactly do you do at CU?" "I teach reagentology and botany," he replied. "Reagentology?" I inquired. "The study of the magical properties of reagents and their interactions with each other and other magics," he explained. "He actually helped with a few issues with my engine," Jynx added. "Well, then, thank you for helpin' make mah motorcycle possible," I said. "Why don't you boys talk a bit more while I go check on dinner," Jynx said before getting up and heading to the kitchen. As soon as she was gone, I turned back to Birch and said, "Ah'm sure you can guess, but if you hurt her in any way…" To my surprise, Birch laughed. "Oh, please. We both know if that happened there wouldn't be enough of me left for you to do a damn thing to after Jynx gets through with me." I had a feeling this guy was going to be getting my blessing by the end of the night. "Okay, so, these lil guys aren't really harmful, but they eat things that can be helpful, so we still try to get rid of 'em," Applebloom explained as she pulled a little bug off a tree. They were doing a report about the ecology of orchards, and how they have become a kind of pony-made sub-biome. “What do you mean, ‘get rid of’?” Midnight asked. “Oh, we don’t kill ‘em. We try to move them to the forest,” Applebloom assured. “Ah, okay,” Midnight said, taking notes. "So, what's wrong with the tree?" Applebloom looked at him in confusion. "What do you mean? Ain't nothin' wrong with it." Midnight got closer, studying it closely. "Are you sure?" He lifted a hoof and scratched at the bark. A chunk broke off, revealing a little hole, about half an inch wide surrounded by purple veins. "Oh, shit!" Applebloom cursed and ran off toward the farmhouse, calling out, "stay there!" as she did. Soon after, she returned with Applejack in tow. Applejack examined the hole and sighed. "Eeyup. That's a void worm, alright. How'd you spot it?" "I don't know," Midnight said. "Something just seemed off about it." Applejack gave him a curious look and hummed in thought. "You got good instincts. Ah know you're a bit young, still, but if you ever want a job, I can ask your pa. So long as you two don't distract each other." "We haven't even taken one makeout break," Applebloom said, proudly. She and Applejack chuckled as AJ pulled a rune covered jar out of her saddlebag along with a crystal. "Midnight, you wanna do the honors?" Applejack asked, holding the objects out to him. "Okay," he replied as he took them. "What do I do?" "First, you place the jar up to the hole," Applejack explained and waited for him to do so. "Then, real quick like, you tap the gem to the base of the jar and as soon as the worm is sucked out, slap the lid on." "All right." Midnight took a breath. "Applebloom, can you get the lid?" "Yeah," she replied, grabbing the lid. Midnight counted down, "Three… two… one… Now!" Midnight tapped the jar and, with a squelch, a fat little worm was sucked out of the tree and into the jar. He quickly pulled the jar away and held it to Applebloom who immediately plugged it with the lid. "Nice job," Applejack said. Midnight looked at the little thing. It was only around four or five inches long and half an inch thick. He tried to discern the color, but it was hard to even look at. He thought it might have been a dull violet, or maybe a dark red. "What is it? It's giving me a headache," he said. "That there's a void worm," Applejack explained. "Some good for nothin' wannabe 'void biologist' figured he'd conjure up some void critters to study. Unfortunately, he was usin' a cage for somethin' no smaller than a cat. Unfortunately for him and every orchard in the world, he summoned these little buggers. Well, the grown up version, anyway." "So, when you say void worm, you mean they came from the void?" Midnight asked, rhetorically. "No wonder it's hard to look at. Dad said void demons normally have a form our brains can't fully comprehend, so demonology spells give them a form that we can." "That's right," Applejack said. "That 'void biologist' wanted to study their natural form, though." Applebloom added, "Ah heard they used to be worse lookin' but after so long they're closer to somethin' natural." "Don't know about that," Applejack said. "But what they are now is a pain in the tail. Dang things are harder than sin to get rid of. You saved us a good dozen trees, Midnight." Midnight couldn't help feeling a touch of pride from that. Applejack took the jar and put it back in her saddlebag. "You almost done with your report? It's gettin' kinda late." "Oh, yeah, Ah think we got enough," Applebloom said before turning to Midnight, a slight blush on her face. "So… um… d-do you, maybe, wanna stay the night?" Midnight blushed, as well. "Yeah, I would like that." Midnight and Applebloom followed Applejack back to the farmhouse. As they neared, Applejack slowed down. "Bloom, why don't you go ahead. Ah wanna talk to Midnight for a bit." "You better not be mean to him," Applebloom warned. "Ah won't," AJ assured. "Ah just want to make sure he understands a few things." Applebloom groaned. "Sorry, Midnight." "It's okay. I was kind of expecting something like this," he said with a warm smile. When Applebloom disappeared into the house, Applejack walked over to their porch bench and sat down, inviting Midnight to join her. "Ah ain't gonna beat around the bush, Midnight. Ah like you. You're a good, honest, hard workin' young stallion. Mah little sis couldn't've chosen a better fella to be her first," Applejack began. "That said, she's still mah little sister, and that means Ah'm a tad protective of her. All Ah want is your assurance that you'll take things slow and look out for her." "I will," Midnight assured. "Alright," Applejack said, getting back to her hooves. "Also, keep in mind that even though your pa gave the okay, he still ain't exactly comfortable with it, so try not to talk about it around him." "I won't," Midnight said, giving Applejack a quick hug before running inside.