//------------------------------// // 23 - My Closest Friends // Story: Soft Reset - A Novice Chronomancer's Guide to Tempomancy // by Foxvolt //------------------------------// MY CLOSEST FRIENDS “You would not nourish your plants with blood, no?” Sombra asks with a bemused grin. It’s not malicious in the slightest, but nonetheless it’s infuriating. I feel his hoof on my shoulder as I try to catch my breath for yet another attempt, but I shrug it off and begin charging my horn again. “In such a way, power not your spell with mana, but your will.” “If my subjects needed my blood I would provide it, yes.” I respond curtly, ignoring the second part he’s repeated a hundred times in an attempt to be helpful. It’s not what he’s trying to allude to, but I’m too exhausted to play my usual bout of verbal charades with him right now. We’ve been at this for over a month, and I’m barely closer to mastering Umbrum magic than I was the first day. I can summon short bursts of such will, but as quickly as it appears it dissolves into a dark wispy smoke, taking a shard of my fortitude along with it. The hoof finds purchase on my shoulder once more, though it’s more insistent in its’ presence this time. With an annoyed huff I look up at him, and he has a look of understanding about him, with more than a little pity sneaking through. “And if it were you who needed it, would they give the same?” He rebukes softly. I grit my teeth and close my eyes in a tempered and practiced zen, keeping my tone level despite my racing heart working hard to keep up with my repeated efforts to rewrite myself. “If I needed my subjects to reciprocate my love I would be unfit to lead them.” Noble, pure, selfless; Words of a martyr falling on their sword. They’re beautiful in a way, but far from true. “Every creature needs love Sol. Even you. And rest, at that.” He sits down beside me and I see a flash of green light over my eyelids before my mind begins to swirl and swim. “Wh- stop this, I can… keep… gnh-!” I mutter before my body falls over to its’ side uselessly. I pry my eyes open and see Sombra looking back with a kind smile, laying across from me on the ground. His eyes, however, are glowing a dull green, tendrils of black and red flowing in and out of existence between us as he takes control of my mind. “You push yourself too hard, my beautiful princess. Strike me down in the morning if you must, but for now, rest.” My eyes begin to close against my will, and I don’t have the will to resist the pull of sleep any more, the hours of invoking the draining power showing their toll on my spirit. ‘I’m going to kill that pony…’ I groan internally, before consciousness leaves me. My dreams are mercifully blank. The last year I’ve been plagued with awful night terrors, subjected to any one of my many horrific encounters with Nightmare Moon before little Luna finally overcame it long enough to make it right. Reliving the torment, bolting awake to the phantom feeling of a wingblade piercing my chest, seeing that damn spell circle that took her away from me. Umbrum magic is the only way I’ve been able to sleep since she left. It’s a twisted solution, but it is a solution. Unfortunately not everypony in the Everfree has an Umbrum companion to ease their minds, and the rampant unchecked fear and uncertainty has begun to take its’ toll on the population. It’s my hope that I can master Umbrum magic to ease their minds in her stead. It’s not nearly as gentle, but I hope to refine it from a power of mind-bending and will-shattering control into the beautiful serenade sister wove night in and night out. I suck in a sharp breath and my eyes dart open. Red velvety-smooth covers are draped over me, and I’m laid in the center of a large circular bed. My bed. Sombra’s nowhere to be seen, much to my disappointment. It’s a little easier to wake up when he’s there, I’ve come to find. No matter. I force myself shakily onto my hooves and climb forward out of the bed, standing tall and stretching my neck and wings. I don’t need him in my head to practice. I begin to summon my magic forward in a physical manifestation of my will, feeling the dark energy trying to find footing in my mind. I try to push it forward, but as hard as I try it never quite catches. It ricochets back against my wellspring and knocks me off my hooves, back to the floor like it always does. So I get up, crack my neck, and try again. - - - - “-Total component output: Two point five Vix. Total spell capacity, Ninety-three Vix. Accounting for acceptable variance, this spell safely remains in line below one Vis with all casting guidelines set therein by the council.” I raise my head a bit higher than usual as I end the sentence, giving a show of confidence to the pony staring back at me matching the cool mannerism. Upon closer inspection, I see her jaw lock up and her tail is whipping around behind her like she’s been caught in a lie. I shake my head and lean against the sink, lowering my gaze from my own reflection. ’If I have to defend myself to the council, I’m going to be an absolute mess.’ I come to terms with the thought. It’s been just shy of two weeks since Spike left to train with Captain Crescent Slash’s new trio of trainees. I wanted to see him off, and hopefully get a look at his training buddies, but that’s apparently off the table in the name of secrecy. So instead I find myself sitting alone at the library, waiting for some sort of news. Goldfish escaped, so that’s great. How a stunted pegasus mare escapes nearly a battalion of trained stealth-oriented lunar guards with nothing but a bucket of water is beyond even my unrivaled imagination. That put a damper on my plans to ask her to help identify Star Swirl’s spell, and ever since Princ- I mean since Luna and her personal guards have been sweeping the country looking for him. Sometimes in the daylight, though primarily by surfing through pony’s dreams searching for anypony who might have seen her. Unsurprisingly, with the massive population of Equestria versus the dedicated efforts of only one Alicorn of the Night, no leads. More surprising, however, is the fact that Princess Celestia’s divination failed when she tried to locate her. Divination and scrying spells are fickle at best when cast free-form and without some sort of biological hoofprint, but even with a feather and several hours of ritual casting, the spell once again failed. “The pegasus Goldfish is likely deceased.” That was the best guess Luna had, though Princess Celestia countered that she could be under a scrying ward, or even be under the effect of Star Swirl’s ’Delay’ spell. Both were valid and proven ways of thwarting her locating spells, as time had shown, though the arguments to support that she could still be alive were contingent on her having gone to see Star Swirl again. And Star Swirl was the one who tried- and succeeded- to kill her in the first place. It just wouldn’t have made sense even for a cultist, which I still maintain that Goldfish hardly seemed like a mindless thrall the label would have you presume. So both Princesses spent the day searching in their own ways, but eventually Princess Celestia had to go back to the ‘running the country’ part of her status, leaving Luna to dreamsurf and me with time to search for an alternate means of learning how to weave this mystery spell. After a few days of quill-to-parchment theorizing at home with my parents (Or more accurately rambling at the dinner table while they nodded politely,) I had to come back to Ponyville. Not only because I have all my casting components and pre-arranged ritual circles here, but there’s something I’ve been wanting to do since the very first day this all started, and today’s that day. I feel my lips curl up into a smile as I stare down at the dry, unrunning sink. Today I can tell the girls all about what I’ve been going through. They’re all making time later this afternoon to come by, and Fluttershy’s been here since last night when she heard I finally came back to Ponyville. I didn’t get much of a chance to tell anypony I was even leaving, though Pinkie filled everypony in on the fact that I supposedly “Went ‘shi-pop!’ And slammed my hoof into the cupboards, then had a daymare!” (Her spontaneous word for a nightmare while awake.) So everypony probably thinks I’m crazy. Again. So that’s gonna be great. But beyond that, I’m just happy to see my friends again. But nopony wants to hear a story from a pony with bad breath, so I turn on the sink and get to brushing, humming a tune to myself quietly. When I step out of the bathroom I’m surprised to find my bed empty. I don’t have a guest bed save for Spike’s, and that’s hardly pony-compatible, so I shared mine the same way Spike and I have on occasion. Fluttershy was curled up at the top end, and at some point in the night I ended up on my side at the bottom end with my head dangling over one edge, and my hind legs over the other. There’s a light clacking from below the alcove and left, towards the kitchen, betraying where she must have headed. Curiously, I trot downstairs to investigate. Fluttershy has her back turned to me as she tosses some lettuce into a bowl, flicking her tail back and forth in a content rhythm. She seems oblivious to my presence, so I hang back around the wall and watch her for a minute or two as she prepares the food. After a minute one of her ears twitch and her tail whips straight down as she turns to face me, then the tension ebbs back out of her form as her mind registers that it’s just me standing here. "Oh, good morning Twilight! How'd you sleep?" She smiles back at me for a moment, then continues chopping lettuce, going back to humming. “Alright, I got killer a crick in my neck though. Must’ve rolled the wrong way in my sleep. How about you? I didn’t know you were such a morning pony. Not that you wouldn’t be, I mean, just in the way that-“ “Oh, I’ve been awake for a while. I didn’t want you to wake up and see I wasn’t there, and then maybe you’d worry you snored too loud, or tossed around too much, or woke me up somehow, so I just stayed put.” “That’s… Kind of you, Fluttershy, but you don’t have to worry about something like that. Spike lets me know I snore every chance he gets.” I start to roll my eyes, but then I pause and hold the motion as a though occurs to me. I click my tongue and I feel my forehead crease a bit. “…I totally woke you up, didn’t I?” She looks over and quickly shakes her head no, but I’m not buying it. I tilt my head at her and she takes a quick glance around the room before relenting the truth. "It's not your fault Twilight. Mister Bear wakes me up sometimes too, it doesn’t bother me, really.” “So you’re saying I snore like a bear?” I snort. She gets a little flushed and quickly stammers an apology, but I interrupt her in return. “I’m joking, Fluttershy. Sorry for waking you up anyway, I probably should have warned you when you asked to stay over.” A smile spreads across her muzzle and she nods once, then goes back to chopping vegetables without another word. A few moments later she flaps her wings gently in an even hover a foot off the ground to reach the bowls on the top shelf, bringing two down to the counter as her hooves reconnect with the floor. “Do you like carrot shavings or chunks in your salad?” “Oh, um… Sorry, I don’t think we keep carrots in- Wait, did you pack lettuce when you came over?” I inquire, realizing there’s no way even the freshest heads would have kept for the weeks I’ve been away in Canterlot. Her head continues calmly nodding side to side to some quiet rhythm she’s humming, but her tail starts to flick back and forth excitedly. “Oh, I just thought that maybe I could do a little shopping for you on the way over, it’s really no big deal. I thought it would give Spike a break, but since it’s just you for now I’m even happier that I did. Not to be rude, but those hay burgers aren’t the best for you, you know.” I nod in a hesitant understanding as I circle around to a seat on the other side of the counter, but raise a brow at the level of concern only she could show for something as harmless as eating out twice a week. Well, maybe three recently. In my defense, they are great hay burgers, even if they do pack a few extra calories. “Well yeah, but they’re so worth the marginal increase in health risks. And I’ve got seriously pressing magical research to conduct; Half the benefit of fast food’s the fast part, right?” She must hear the grin in my voice because she turns around and gives me a very disapproving look. I raise my forehooves off the counter and into the air in a metaphorical surrender and avert my eyes from the powerful stare. Eventually she relents, briefly turning back around to portion the salad into two smaller bowls and setting one in front of me. Lettuce, carrot shavings, and daffodil petals. “Didn’t you just say I shouldn’t be eating the good stuff?” I ask, looking up at her curiously and levitating a daffodil petal in the air. Her mouth opens a bit as she looks for a response, but she pauses and takes a bite of her salad instead, thinking as she chews the single leaf of lettuce. “I mean, daffodil isn’t the worst flower to snack on. Well, it’s not very nutritious in comparison to azalea or maybe dandelion, if you can get past the texture, and it’s certainly better than some of the more exotic ones like lavender. But,well… I remembered it was your favorite, so…” She trails off and shakes her head back and forth quickly, staring down into her bowl. I feel my jaw lower just the slightest bit before I clamp it shut again, a warm feeling spreading in my chest as my friend shows such consideration for me. “I don’t remember ever talking about favorite foods before. I mean, I know you’ve always been big on salad, and Angel would explain the carrot disposition… Sorry- I keep jumping into puzzle mode. It’s about all I’ve been doing the last couple weeks.” I shake the plaguing thought process out of my head and look back up to her, but she’s nowhere to be seen. “Fluttershy?” There’s a quiet mumbling from the floor on the other side of the counter, then nothing. “Fluttershy, why are you hiding? Did I say something?” I hop off the seat and circle around into the kitchen proper with more than a little confusion. Sure enough, the little yellow pegasus is sitting on her haunches, face completely hidden behind her mane. “I- I said I asked Daisy…uhm, what your… favorite was…” Her voice dies out and there’s a little whimper as if she’s afraid I’m going to be upset at her for some undivinable reason. “Oh, well that makes sense. But… Why are you cowering on the floor?” I place my hoof on her shoulder, and she looks up at me with wide eyes. “You’re… Not… Weirded out?” She asks, sniffling and- ‘Oh, come on, she’s crying?!’ “Uh… No? Should I be?” “Well, it’s just that Rainbow Dash said… Well, it’s only- She thought maybe it was, uhm… ‘uncool’ to ask somepony about somepony else’s favorite food.” She raises a hoof up and wipes at her eyes with a pastern, but she keeps looking up at me expectantly. “Why would she say that? I mean, you can always just ask me if you want, but-“ “That’s what Rainbow said, too-“ She interrupts, bringing her wings up and knocking my hoof away as she cocoons herself on my kitchen floor. I blink a few times, looking up and around the library for any indicator of this being some elaborate scheme or illusion. Just for good measure I prod at my own wellspring to make sure I’m not dreaming. There’s plenty of resistance, telling me I’m very much awake. I take a deep breath, quietly so she doesn’t assume I’m annoyed or getting impatient, and sit down on the floor next to her, tilting my head curiously at the display. “I really don’t get what you’re fussing about, Fluttershy. You asked somepony what flower I liked. I’m not mad or ‘weirded out,’ we’re friends. I’m sure all the girls ask about each other constantly. Come on, you’re gonna ruffle your feathers if you keep this up!” I lift a hoof to pull a wing away but stop myself just in time, remembering that touching a pegasus’ wing is a big taboo. So instead I just sit and wait patiently for her to come out of her shell. It takes several minutes before she does, and in the meantime I hover my bowl of salad from over the counter and munch on bits of it every few seconds. The daffodil really does bring a lot of flavor to it. “You’re really not upset?” Fluttershy asks over a lowering wing, peeking through her mane with a face that’s red with embarrassment. “Like, really really not upset, you’re not just saying it?” I tilt my head one last time, making my confusion as plain as I possibly can. “Fluttershy, I really, as in really really, am not mad, upset, ‘weirded out,’ bothered, bemused or otherwise befuddled that you asked somepony what my favorite food was.” I say in a flat but sincere tone. Thankfully I see her wings begin to furl as she pokes her head back out. “O-oh, okay then… If you’re sure, I’m sorry for overreacting. I just, I- Oh, shoot.” Her muzzle scrunches up and she lightly taps a forehoof against the floor. Or maybe that was her stomping. It’s hard to tell, but I’m more than happy to take progress at face value. I stand up and help her to her hooves, and after a few minutes of awkward silence we get back to chatting about nothing in particular over breakfast. It’s a welcome change of pace. She points out the painting still toppled onto the floor, and I give it another cursory glance before picking it up in my magic and turning it around to face the wall. - - - - “Ya’ reckon’? Shoot, an’ I’ve been all riled up ‘bout it, too.” Applejack sighs in relief, adjusting the brim of her hat idly to keep her hooves busy. “Cheerilee never turns away students for her AP curriculum unless she thinks they really couldn’t handle it. I’m sure Apple Bloom’s more than capable of showing she’s willing to learn, even if she is a bit of a troublemaker.” I smile a bit thinking of Applejack’s younger sister. She’s bright, and just like all the crusaders very dedicated once she finds something she feels she needs to do. “Quite so; I couldn’t imagine any of the little rascals being turned down were they to volunteer for it. I’ve suggested as much to little Sweetie Belle nay a dozen times over, alas she can’t be persuaded unless the lot of them do so together!” Rarity pipes up from a plush beanbag she blinked into existence a few minutes prior upon her arrival. “Ooooh-kaaay, so what’s the issue?” Dash interjects from the air. She sat on the ground with the rest of us for about two whole minutes, but once Applejack and Rarity showed up she took back to flying to burn the excess energy she generates by the barrel. “Why Dashie, come now. If Apple Bloom wishes to apply, and Sweetie Belle won’t without all three, who does that leave us with, hmm?” Rarity raises an impatient eyebrow at Rainbow as she starts flying small arial laps to keep her brain moving. “You mean Scoots doesn’t wanna do it?” She finally realizes, hovering back down onto the ground beside Rarity. “Why wouldn’t Scootaloo wanna do it? She’s smarter than ten of those fillies combined! She’d be a hoof-in!” She leans over Rarity, displaying her passion in tandem with her volume. “Whatever the reason-“ Rarity places a forehoof at the end of Rainbow’s snout and pushes her a few inches away, “that’s how it would seem. Perhaps you should have a chat with her some time, I’m sure she’d listen to you without question.” “What? Why should I be the one to- Oh.” Rarity and Applejack both give her a blank stare. She rears back a bit and chews at her lip in contemplation, but a few seconds later she nods. “Yeah, alright. I’ll see if I can track her down before it gets too late, see what’s up. Probably just nerves or whatever.” “I think that's probably for the best. I’m sure she could use a guiding wing with her parents gone. If she’s scared she won’t be able to handle it, I’d be happy to tutor her if she wants!” I chime in. “Uh, nice of you to offer and everything, but I’m sure she’ll be alright. She’s got brains like a philosopher!” Rainbow brags on Scootaloo’s behalf. “I don’t think philosophers have-“ I begin. “-I said like one! Probably even bigger, like a… A mega philosopher!” She takes back to the air and punches at nothing in a shadowboxing match with herself, hyping herself up over the idea of Scootaloo being some kind of philosophical genius. I blink at the display a few times, but ultimately file it away under the ‘don’t ask questions’ sub-sect of my brain, right between Pinkie’s everythingness and maternal superpowers. “You rang?” A voice squeaks jubilantly from behind me. I turn around to greet Pinkie, and I get blasted flat against the far wall by her party cannon for my troubles. I feel myself slowly peel free from the shelving units, and I fall a couple feet to the ground alongside a few books from the nature section. With a grunt I open my eyes just as an encyclopedia falls directly towards my face. “Gah!” I raise my forehooves to shield my head then ignite my horn, catching the heavy book mid-air just before it collides with me. Huh, so that’s what an alpine bullfrog looks like. “Oops! …Surprise?” Pinkie half-asks through a sea of confetti that falls down and begins coating everypony else in glittery strips of paper and balloons. “Pinkie, what did we agree about cannons in the library?” I groan impatiently, rolling over to my stomach and climbing back to my hooves. I hover the encyclopedia back to its’ place on the shelf along with the other half-dozen books that fell, looking around at the mess. I focus on the paper streamers and glitter in my mind and summon a simple criteria-based gathering spell to my horn. A second later and it’s all piled up neatly beside her on the ground, ready to be reloaded for later use. “To not to, but I had to use the party cannon otherwise it wouldn’t be a real, genuine Pinkie-pologize-party!” She bounces happily up next to me. “Uh huh.” I say absently, then I hone in on what she said. “Wait, apologize for what? You didn’t do anything.” “Nuh-uh, that’s the problem, silly! It’s a ‘sorry-you-fractured-your-hoof-because-I-spooked-you-and-forgot-to-throw-you-an-apology-party’ party! And sorry-you-fractured-your-hoof-because-I-spooked-you-and-forgot-to-throw-you-an-apology-party parties need apology glitter confetti party cannons! Duh!” Pinkie says excitedly as if it’s the most obvious line of logic in the world, bouncing in place. “I don’t think that-“ “Oh, Pinkie Pie, you’re here now too!” Fluttershy calls down from the alcove above us, being the second pony to interrupt me in so many minutes. “I was wondering what that loud noise was. And the loud noises after that loud noise. Anywho, everypony’s here, right?” “What are you doing up there? That’s Twilight’s room.” Rainbow questions, flying up to her level. “Oh, well I left my brush in my overnight saddle, and I haven’t had a chance to brush my mane since we got up, so I figured I would-“ Rainbow zips up to her and places her forehooves on Fluttershy’s shoulders, leaning in close enough that the ends of their noses press together. She whispers something excitedly, and there’s a hushed discourse between the two. I see Fluttershy shake her head and smile, then motion behind her for a second or two before Dash flaps a foot or two higher and groans loudly. I bite the inside of my lip and tap a hoof against the wooden floor to get everypony’s attention and mask my annoyance. “Whenever everypony is ready, can we get started?” Fluttershy and Dash shoot two conflicting glances first at me then at each other. They separate and Rainbow hovers to the ground floor, while Fluttershy takes the stairs. There’s a general murmur of approval all around the room as everypony begins to congregate around the main floor, looking at me expectantly. “Alright. Thanks for making the time to come here together, everypony. I’m not sure what Pinkie had told you all, but-“ “Mmm-mm mmh!” Pinkie apparates at my side with a zipper where her mouth should be, dangling a key on a string from her forehoof before chucking it out of sight. “Can I finish a single sentence without being interrupted!?” I huff irritably, whirling around towards her. Pinkie looks away bashfully, waving a hoof hastily in front of her face to ‘undo’ whatever it is she did to herself and then sits (bounces) quietly (ish) with her usual wide smile. “Sorry, sorry… But we have a lot to talk about. There’s been some issues recently, big ones. I don’t know if it’s something the Elements can handle, but I’m hoping it might be something we can..” I take a deep breath and begin retelling the events of the last few weeks to my closest friends.