//------------------------------// // Out With the Old // Story: Out With the Old // by PoppyThePegasus //------------------------------// “I don’t know how you do it Twilight, but you’re a goddamn miracle worker.” Ada exhaled with a sigh of relief, hanging up the call she’d been in. “Three weeks. Three whole weeks of paid time off. Are you sure you don’t work for some organised crime group? Cos you probably could.” Twilight laughed as a box floated through the air in her purple aura. Placing it down on a pile next to other assorted boxes and bags, she turned to me. “Alright, that should be the last of it.” “Thanks. Twi.” I leant forward and nuzzled her in appreciation. I had been helping as much as I could to move my possessions from storage and pack everything up in preparation for the move, but unfortunately, pegasus wings were nowhere near as helpful for lifting heavy boxes; all of which were double in comparative size to what they were when I was human. “Has Sunset gotten back to you yet?” My laptop lifted over in Twilight’s magic, tabbing through webpages to find her messenger window before typing in a quick message. “Looks like she’s just wrapping up now.” A little beep, and Twilight looked closer at the screen. “Hmm, she says “Make sure the hall is clear”. What does that mean?” With a bright teal flash, a large collection of boxes and bags poofed into existence behind us and fell to the ground, filling up the hallway with various junk as it scattered loosely from their containers. Twilight rolled her eyes and groaned. “She could’ve given us more notice.” Ada muttered, scratching her head. “How are we gonna move all this stuff?” Twilight grinned and her horn began to glow, the same aura spreading to the collection of boxes that Sunset had teleported in. She lifted them through the house and out the back door to the yard where we were preparing to open the portal. Ada watched in awe, turning to the few remaining boxes that Twilight had left. Her own horn lit up with an amber glow and she smiled happily as she carefully lifted the much lighter load outside. I followed behind, my own single bag with me between my teeth. I felt somewhat pathetic, carrying not even a quarter of what Ada was, but I also didn’t get a horn or magic, so I could hardly blame myself. I ruffled my feathers happily and felt my sides immediately become slightly warmer with the extra insulation. With these wings, I wasn’t complaining. I made my way outside and spat the bag onto the floor next to Ada with an audible ‘pwah!’. Twilight was seemingly engrossed in something else, a pencil scribbling back and forth, and I turned to Ada. She was in the middle of flipping a colander around in golden orange magic, eyes sparkling with joy as it twisted around. “Finally found something about being a pony that you like?” I started, my interruption causing her to lose focus and drop the colander on her head. She looked over at me with a blush, lifting the implement back into its box with another glow of her aura. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to make you stop.” “No, it’s… ugh, sorry, Poppy. I know I said I would try to be more open about this stuff. I was having fun.” “It’s okay!” I said genuinely. “I’m happy to see you learning how to do more stuff with your magic.” “It’s cool, right?” Her eyes lit up and she turned to me. “I can lift things, of course, but Twilight started teaching me to turn an apple invisible! I can’t manage to get it to disappear yet, but it’s getting there!” “Woah, really? That’s so cool!” “She’s a fast learner. One of the first pupils of mine to grasp illusion magic so quickly.” Twilight interjected, trotting over to us. “So, you’re all packed?” I glanced over to my tiny pile of possessions, dwarfed by Sunset’s veritable trove of stuff. She had packed all of her gaming gear and PC setup, despite Twilight insisting that they didn’t have electron based power and instead used magical power for equipment. Sunset had insisted, promising that she’d find a way to do it with her magical talents. “You’re not bringing anything else?” Ada asked, “That's not a whole lot of stuff, and you haven’t brung any furniture out.” “Well, the scale is a little off. The coffee table alone is tall enough to be a dining table.” I chuckled, remembering how big everything had seemed compared to my new body size. “But mostly, I just kinda want to… make this a fresh start.” Ada smiled and nodded knowingly. I was very happy to have felt us growing closer together again over the last few days, and seemingly Ada’s understanding of my needs with it. Our talks and subsequent time spent around each other was far less stressful than I thought it would be, and being around her without the secret I was keeping from her was far less passively stressful. Only now that the secret was out did I truly understand how hard it had been to keep everything hidden. I had been sleeping on the couch since before the barbecue, mostly to give Ada some space and avoid any awkwardness. Not that I had any problem with sleeping on the couch, but Sunset had unspokenly continued to sleep next to me, coming and cuddling up with me even when I had fallen asleep before her. Even thinking about it now, the weird anxiety mixed with bubbles of happiness filled me. I cursed myself, knowing now what these feelings were, and how they had increased in intensity since my conversation with Ada. I almost wanted to kick her for putting the thoughts into my head in the first place, if it weren’t for how weirdly correct she was. Over the last week, Sunset had absolutely been getting closer and closer with me, and if I was being honest with myself, I was letting her. I couldn’t deny that she was kind, smart, and extremely funny, her quips earning a loud laugh from me every time. She had been treating me with an open warmth I hadn’t been prepared for, but was welcome all the same. Just this morning I had woken up with a plate of pan fried tomatoes and baked beans with a coffee that Sunset had prepared just for me. It filled my heart with warmth, even thinking about her now, and I had to mentally slap myself to bring my attention back to the others. “So,” I turned to Ada. “You excited? Remember, treat this like a vacation.” She nodded nervously and smiled receptively. “Y- yeah, as long as I have a way of getting back afterward, I’ll be fine.” “Well, we won’t be having any issues in that department; I got here in the first place, with enough magical power, another portal is no issue. Speaking of which, have you been practising the magic syphon spell I taught you?” “I have, but I’m still not sure how it works. I can feel it open up, but my magic just stays there, almost like a spigot that needs an extra push.” “That’s perfect, Ada! The magic will flow out when I start my side of the spell, so all you’ll have to do is keep it up and I’ll be able to open the world gate.” Another teal flash like the one we saw before came from inside the house, and I felt my heart leap as I saw Sunset stepping out the back door with another bunch of packed equipment. “Sunny!” I squealed and ran toward her, nuzzling her familiarly as she stopped to return the affection. I blushed and turned away, glancing over to Ada. The smug expression on her face was unbearable and I rolled my eyes playfully, feeling the heat rise to my cheeks regardless. “So you’re all packed now? No more teleporting?” “Yep!” She replied with a smile and a light trot, her magic lowering down the few boxes she had held aloft. “The house is sorted too; all empty and ready for the next people who are gonna stay there. I hope they don’t mind the horse smell.” I laughed out loud again, earning yet another knowing look from Ada. I ignored her this time. “Are you two ready?” Twilight said, a familiar glow beginning around her horn in preparation. “This might tire you out a little, so fair warning.” I felt my heart skip a beat. It was happening. It was finally happening! I couldn’t help but reminisce on the week past, thinking again to how unlikely our situation was, but infinitely overjoyed at where it had led us. Twilight turned and the light from her horn intensified, glowing brightly. Ada and Sunset’s horns began to do the same in their Amber and Teal coloured auras, familiar ribbons of magic flowing forth and collecting in a spiral toward Twilight. It twisted around the bony protrusion, the glow becoming stronger and stronger until a massive violet emission exploded outward in front of us. The same boom I had heard a week ago filled the yard, bouncing up against Twilight's perception filter; hopefully it held fast this time. The tear in space opened before us, and for the first time, I was able to get a proper look at it. The edges sparked with bursts of flowing purple magic, spiralling inward toward the centre of the portal. The entrance felt cavernous, a vast scape of dark matter almost pulling us forward with its gravity. A bag flew past my head, and I blinked in surprise, feeling my own hooves begin to lighten and lift off the ground. It didn’t just seem like it was pulling us inward, it was! I kicked my hooves as they lost contact with the ground and I tried in vain to reach for anything to grasp onto. Twilight and Sunset reached out to Ada and I respectively with their magic, stabilising us before I tipped upside down, my wings ready to flap in a panic. They did the same with our piles of boxes, collecting any loose items together with their magic as they pulled both of us closer to them. “Are you okay?” Sunset shouted over the warping thrum of the portal. I nodded nervously and she grinned at me with her signature confidence, immediately invigorating my own. I let my nervous frown turn into a look of tentative excitement, staring down the barrel of the portal as we drifted with increasing speed toward it. A feeling of wind whipping past my ears, and all sound disappeared as we crossed the portal's threshold. I glanced behind us, the colour and light of our backyard ripping itself into darkness as the portal itself pulled away any light, leaving it looking similar to how it had been seeing it from the other side. Goodbye, earth. I turned back around as we shot forward in the soundless space before us, darkness eventually fading to a small pinprick of colour. The other side of the world gate, scaling up before us until a blurry vision of a room appeared, multiple colour shapes shifting around on the other side. We slowed down as we reached the portal's threshold once more, my eyes blinking rapidly as I adjusted to the bright blue room. “Twilight!” Two consecutive voices shouted and the two coloured blobs, now coming into focus, ran forward and threw their hooves around the young alicorn. With a yelp, the trio of mares tipped over and collided with the floor. I giggled, my hooves coming into contact with the crystal tiles beneath us, and Sunset’s aura dissipating as she let me down. I had the time to glance around now, staring in awe at the strange juxtaposition of the advanced looking scientific equipment around us with the ornate crystalline walls that surrounded us. Were we in some kind of castle? The nearby window let in no light; was it the evening? Twilight laughed in happiness as two mares nuzzled her lovingly over and over. One, an alicorn similar to Twilight, held both her and the other mare, a pink unicorn, close together, planting multitudes of kisses on the blushing princesses head. “I can’t believe it, we finally found you!” The unicorn sobbed with happiness through her wide smile. ”L- Luna and I, we’ve been searching through so many worlds, w-we never thought we’d find you!” “You, find us?” Twilight laughed. “I’m sorry, Starlight, but we found our way back on our own.” “Oh, you’ve adopted the royal “we”?” The midnight blue alicorn questioned. “I thought that had gone out of style.” “No, I meant them!” Twilight motioned over at the three of us, standing awkwardly and silently behind the glowing purple portal. I gasped as it slammed shut behind us, hooves crossing over themselves, tipping me forward and— A teal aura surrounded me, lifting me back to my hooves and placing me down softly. I looked over with embarrassment at Sunset as she walked over and nuzzled me. “Third time this week, huh?” Sunset laughed and I frowned at her playfully before joining in with her laugh. “Wait, Sunset Shimmer?” Starlight said, releasing Twilight from her hooves and trotting over toward us. “Why are you here? I thought you said you hadn’t seen Twilight?” “Ah, funny thing about that, I’m not the same Sunset Shimmer you know.” Sunset smiled and flicked her mane. “There’s nopony like me.” “Hmm, well, you certainly act like the Sunset I know.” “Sunset is from another alternate world to ours!” Twilight piped up as she and the alicorn I assumed was her other marefriend, Princess Luna, walked toward us to join Starlight. “She, Poppy, and Ada here, are all from “Earth”. They saved me from a monster that chased me through the portal, and I’m the one at fault for their current condition, so it’s my responsibility to change them back.” Sunset coughed. “So I can help Ada change back.” Twilight corrected herself. “Condition? They look fine to me.” Luna picked me up in her magic and turned me around “Wha— Hey!” I yelped. “What’s with you princesses and picking ponies up?” “Hmm, a scan doesn’t reveal any abnormalities. Is something wrong with her?” “Well, not wrong, but she was a human originally, and not in the same way that the Sunset Shimmer from Canterlot High is. Their world had no magic, so when exposed to it, they changed into ponies like us.” “Just to be clear, Sunset and I are happy like this.” I folded my forelegs grumpily as I slowly spun around in Luna’s deep blue magical aura. “Ada wants to change back, but not us. Hey, can you put me down now?” “If you wouldn’t mind, Luna?” Twilight grinned and put a hoof on Luna’s shoulder. I felt myself lower to the ground and I nodded back appreciatively at the dark blue princess. Her gaze was unreadable, aside from the knowledge that she was reading me just fine. “I’m just happy you’re safe, Twi-twi.” Starlight whispered, nuzzling her and Luna together again. “Aww, Twi-twi? That’s adorable!” Sunset squealed and pressed her cheeks together with her hooves. “You call me Sunny, maybe I should come up with a cutesy nickname for you too?” She sidled up to me and bumped me with her rump. “W- we’re not dating!” I stammered out and Sunset laughed loudly in response. “Nopony ever said that, Pop-pop. Ew, okay no, that sounds like something I'd call my uncle.” She scratched her chin with a hoof, ignoring the growing embarrassment showing itself in red on my face “Popster? Poppin’ off? Eh, we’ll workshop it.” “Oh my gosh, I totally forgot!” Starlight suddenly shouted, freeing herself from her partners’ hug. “I promised Fluttershy and the others that I’d let them know if anything came up! I'd say you popping in out of nowhere is definitely something, so I’ll be back!” And with a blue flash, she was gone. A few minutes had past of us sitting and getting more acquainted with Luna when a low, rising rumble interrupted our conversation. I turned just in time to see the doors to the room slam open, six colourful mares barging into the room all at once. “Twilight!” They yelled in unison, bar Starlight, who let the princess have a group hug with her close friends. “Oh, Twilight!” The pink maned pegasus said, her soft smile turning to a worried frown. “What did I say to you?” “I’m sorry, Fluttershy, I thought—“ “You ran off without telling us, Twi!” The one I could absolutely assume was “Rainbow Dash” shouted hoarsely, a pony I recognised from stories Twilight had told me. “I know, but—“ “No buts ‘bout it, missy.” An orange earth pony said with a southern drawl before a white unicorn stepped in front of her. “Really, darling, after all these years, you couldn’t trust that we have your back?” “I know, I’m sorry, everypony, I…” Twilight trailed off and her gaze drifted to a pink pony sitting still with a wide smile on her face. “Aren’t you going to get mad at me too, Pinkie?” “Me? Oh, no!” She chortled. “I’m just happy you’re back!” Twilight sighed and smiled, looking between her friends contentedly. “I’m sorry I worried you all. I should have trusted you and asked for your help before running off, thinking I could deal with the issue alone.” “So, who are these fine young mares?” The white unicorn, presumably Rarity, asked as she approached us calmly. I giggled and blushed, trying to not let on how nicely her words made me feel, but knowing by the heat of my face that I was probably failing. “This is Poppy and Ada,” Twilight motioned to us and I lifted up a hoof to wave in welcome. “They saved me from that bear, and gave me shelter after, so I owe them a lot.” “Nice to meet you, uh…” Ada strained a smile. “Oh, Rarity!” She said, with a flourish of her mane. “This is my marefriend, Fluttershy.” “Hello.” “And I’m Rainbow Dash!” The blue pegasus said, zipping in front of the two other mares and giving them a small fright. The southern sounding pony shoved her way in front of Rainbow and tipped her hat at us. “You’ll have ta’ forgive the missus. She gets excitable around new ponies she thinks she can make an impression on.” She chuckled, earning a huff and a blush from Rainbow. “My names Applejack, and the other loud one over there is—“ “Pinkie Pie!” A pink blob popped up in front of my vision and I reeled back a little before the shape shrunk from my view a little. I relaxed as I saw the pink pony being held back by her tail by Applejack, who offered me a knowing and sympathetic look. “You’re new here, which means I need to throw you a party! Ooh, can I? Twilight says I gotta ask ever since my last surprise party sent Goldie Delicious to the hospital!” “A party?” I felt my chest sink. “I dunno, I only just got here, I don’t…” “Hey, it’ll be fun!” Sunset said, throwing a hoof around my withers. “I’ll be by your side the whole time too, so there’s nothing to worry about.” I crumpled, her trademark wink convincing me long before my rational brain could protest. “Fine.” I huffed. “You’re a menace, Sunny.” “I know.” She winked again. God damn it, that mare. “Soooo…” Pinkie Pie trailed off, head slowly tilting to the side. “Yes, you can throw her a party.” Ada said for me and I shoved her playfully. “Yay!” The pink mare shouted with a hop, her mane almost puffing out with her as she jumped straight up. “Just… not too many ponies, okay?” I chuckled nervously, watching as Pinkie Pie hopped up and down. I couldn’t help but feel a smile creep its way onto my face, her joy almost infectious. “You got it, Pop Star!” Pinkie landed after a final hop and grinned widely before turning around and bouncing out the door, calling as she left, “You can thank me later, Sunset!” “Damn, that is good!” Sunset smirked and ruffled my mane. I pouted up at her, yet couldn’t help but eventually break and smile along with the doofus unicorn. “Pop star. Poppy Star.” “S- stop!” I whinged and frowned at her, jumping when I heard a collection of mares laughing behind me. I didn’t give them the response they wanted and kept my head forward, that familiar heat filling my face. “Well, Poppy, how about we show you around town a little?” Twilight said, interrupting their giggles, and I gave her my silent thanks. “Would be great to meet some ponies too!” “Uh, n- new ponies? So soon?” I stammered, and Sunset put a hoof around me. “Not more than you’re comfortable with, okay, Pop Star?” My face flooded with warmth once more, alongside those familiar tummy sparkles, and I cursed myself again. “Fine.” I pouted, “let’s just get this over with.” Ponyville was positively idyllic. A soft, warm summer breeze filled the town with the smell of nature, wafting in from the bountiful local trees and forest. The elixir of smells drifted around the town, earthy and fresh, and overwhelmingly homely. A market stall here, a bale of hay there, and the smell of the local bakery was practically intoxicating. The others had left to get back to their days, happy to see Twilight safe, which left Ada, Sunset, and I, as well as Twilight and her partners, to explore Ponyville. Sunset looked around with similar awe. The town was somewhat similar to the place she used to live, but the lack of roads was fairly palpable. No huge machines, towering buildings, and speeding cars, meant that the only sounds around were all from nature and the ponies that inhabited Ponyville. I blinked and waved back nervously as a grey pegasus gave me a warm smile, shaking a hoof in greeting before taking off to the sky with her saddle bag full of letters. A stallion pulling a cart full of carrots tipped his hat toward me and wished me a good morning as he passed us. I was shocked; at least compared to my previous experiences, I was being treated so kindly, and with seemingly open hooves. The ponies I passed on the street at least seemed to be open to interaction, despite my anxiety causing me to shrink from conversation when the others stopped to talk. Twilight explained studiously as we walked around town, the locality and its history, the stores and their owners, the ponies and their personalities; it was beginning to overwhelm me a little, and I almost spoke up to let the others know when Twilight came to a halt in front of us and spun around. “Here we are, girls!” I raised an eyebrow, nothing but a small set of cottages in front of us, like any other we saw around Ponyville. “Uh, where are we exactly?” Sunset asked with a similarly confused demeanour. “Your new house, of course!” She said, a hoof motioning toward the front door of the closest thatch roofed cottage. “W- wait, really?” I asked, disbelief in my voice. “You weren’t joking about the whole ‘giving us a house’ thing?” “Of course not! There’s actually a few vacant houses in Ponyville for this purpose; it gives ponies a chance to get back on their hooves, still with a roof over their head, and then when they move out, the house goes to the next pony in need.” “My god.” Sunset gawked. “Back on earth, they’d call you a filthy commie.” “I have no idea what that means.” “So, we just… move in?” I questioned Twilight. “Not just yet, we need to take the dust covers off the furniture, make sure the plumbing and appliances are all clean, but that should only take a few days, then you can move right in!” She beamed, Luna walking up beside her and looking down at us welcomingly. “We’re so glad to have you here in Ponyville, you three,” the princess addressed us, "truly your presence will improve Ponyville, that I am sure of," "R- really?" I looked up hopefully at Luna, who offered a sagely nod and a soft smile in return. I had never felt like this before, coming to a place and immediately being welcomed with open hooves, and I felt the now quite common sparkles of happiness spread through me. "I don't know what to say, girls." I looked between them, feeling tears of joy begin to well up in my eyes, and they closed in for a hug, holding both Sunny and I tightly. I sobbed lightly, so not used to this type of welcome and affection that it almost overwhelmed me. Sunny leant over and pulled Ada into the hug, tears of happiness on the yellow unicorn's face as well. Ada giggled nervously, but conceded to the hug, letting herself join in wholeheartedly. I pulled myself from the hug, still remaining close to Sunset after we had parted. "Let's start moving our stuff in then!" Sunny smiled, her infectious grin spreading to me as well, and we walked back to the castle together to grab our stuff. It was evening by the time we had finished moving all our boxes into the small cottage, but we had spent far longer moving things in than we had spent taking them out of the old house. Sunset had been surprisingly particular about where her stuff went, directing the other unicorns and alicorns where she wanted her currently non-functional gaming setup placed. I silently thanked her for not saying anything about the blush on my face when she told Twilight to put my stuff into the same bedroom as hers. Sunset was getting closer and closer to me, and I was going to have to talk to her about it sooner or later, but the suspense was killing me. I was far too nervous and socially awkward to approach her about it and every time I thought about it, I froze up and began to cold sweat. I glanced over at her as she chatted with Twilight, the both of them finally having sat down after the hours of moving. Her mane was so pretty, shining with flecks of golden sparkles as It bounced when she laughed. Her eyes were the most intoxicatingly bright teal, just like the aura of her magic, and I didn't even notice myself staring into those bright blue orbs. "Equestria to Poppy. What are you lookin' at?" Sunset smiled at me with a cheeky grin and I snapped out of my stupor. "N– nothing!" I yelped, quickly averting my gaze to fixate on a particularly uninteresting portion of wall. "Sure," she said with a laugh, "don't worry Poppy, I'd be staring too." The wall became slightly more interesting as my gaze remained transfixed on it and the other mares in the room laughed at my reaction, or lack thereof. I couldn't talk to Sunset about how I felt, especially not now! But how did I feel? I knew for a fact that I was crushing on her pretty hard, but I had gone through crushes like this before. I may have related with her quite intensely when we first met, but my past experience had taught me that this feeling wasn't necessarily anything special and would have every opportunity to fade. No matter how rationally my brain thought through this, however, I could not deny the feelings I felt, and they were doing anything but weakening over time as of yet. I gulped down my anxiety and tried to change the subject. "A– anyway" I yipped again, earning a knowing chuckle from Twilight and Sunny, "when are the others getting back? They're off getting new furniture still?" "They should be back any mo– oh, that must be them!" Twilight stopped half way, interrupted by the front door being opened. Starlight and Ada backed into the room, a large, double sized bed being lifted in by Starlights magic while Ada guided her carefully through the entry. "Ooh, thanks girls!" Sunny jumped to her hooves and smiled at the two mares as they maneuvered through the hall. I saw Ada glance at me and grin as the mattress was lifted up and placed into Sunset's room, my face turning red when I realised that the bed was for both Sunset and I to share. Oh dear.