//------------------------------// // Interlude: Girl talk // Story: Awakening Pink // by Masterweaver //------------------------------// I had to grudgingly admit, this position wasn't uncomfortable. Still, the fact that I had to lay in this position at all was getting on my nerves. The initial stage of panic had been washed away by Pinkie's teasing--in retrospect, I think she was trying to get under my skin just so I had a direction to vent--and the after stage of "Oh My God I can use magic and fly woohoo!" had melted into boredom as I watched the other cars on the highway drive by. The van was silent, mostly, as Ginny kept her eyes on the road; letting Jacqueline drive was always, always, always a recipe for disaster and quite frankly I didn't want to risk a crash with a pony. Ginny was glancing at me in the mirror though. She was trying to be subtle, but I'd known her long enough to recognize the signs. "All right, out with it." "What?" Of course she would play innocent. "You have something you want to say, but you're worried it'd be insensitive or hurt me somehow. To be honest, your twitching bugs me more." I turned, giving her a resigned look. "Come on. 'What's magic like?' 'How does it feel to have wings?' 'Do you like Julien?' 'Can I brush your mane?' You've got something on your mind." "Well... I was, um...." Ginny shrugged, looking at the road. "Sorry, it's... What's going to happen to your driver's license?" That was something I hadn't been expecting. "What's going to... What do you mean?" "I mean, well, legally speaking, Cadance is kind of a nonentity. And, well, you're a lawyer so you have some idea... right?" Well, that was an unusually... practical question. I took a moment to consider it, weighing the options as I began to filter through some of the identity theft cases I had in my repertoire. "Hmm... I think, after proving my identity is the same, I could reapply for a driver's license. It'd be a bit of a hassle to handle the paperwork but... nothing too hard, just tedious." "Well that's... good, I guess." Ginny averted her gaze, focusing on the road. "Yes. Yes it is. Now what is it you really wanted to ask me?" "...weeellllll you know how I'm kind of a tactile person, and, um, you're kind of a princess--" "Yes, you can hug Cadance," I sighed. "After I can get her out so you can hug her." It was a bit hard to contact the love goddess in my head, to be honest. I... felt her, we were aware of each other, both of us knew the other was aware of us, and we could send... impressions. Vague things. I didn't like that. I preferred clearly defined things. That... may have been part of the reason Pinkie irked me so much. "....I could really go for a BLT." I held up a hoof. "I know, I know, ponies can't eat bacon. Just saying." Jacqueline unwrapped a granola bar and held it out. I rolled my eyes, but gripped the proffered treat with my magic, nibbling on it thoughtfully. it was... strangely more filling then usual. Huh. "...so, um..." I groaned. "Oh not you too Jackie..." "No no no, if it's too much I can--" "Just spit it out." "...well... I just want to know, you know... on the off chance I do gain wings... or a horn..." I facehooved. "Alright, fine. They are a bit more sensitive then the rest of my body, but I don't know about them being, ugh, erogenous zones. Is your mind always in the gutter?" "Not always! Besides," she sat up primly, "reveling in a form of expression is not something to be considered unnatural." "...I'm not posing for that sort of thing." "Darling, I would never ask you to!" Ginny coughed. "This conversation just got a hell of a lot awkward. Let's talk about something else." "Like what?" "Like Discord," I said bluntly. "He's at the end of the tunnel, and you know he's not going to go down easily." The van was silent for a moment. "...to be honest, I don't think there's a lot we can do on that." Jacqueline rubbed her hands awkwardly. "I mean, gathering the Elements of Harmony is the modus operandi right now, and... well, none of us are elements. Erishy and Pinkie... Reid... well, they have more important roles then us. All we can do is support them." "Or maybe you and Julian could love blast him," Ginny offered. "That would be fucking awesome." That comment earned her a rather annoyed glance from myself. Love and fucking, really? "What?" Oh, so she was oblivious. Typical Ginny. "Nothing. Anyway, even if we don't fight Discord chances are he's going to do... something to try to stop the Manes. We could help out there... evacuate the people of New York? I don't know. I don't like being useless." "You're not useless," Jackie said softly. "Yeah, no. My talents are in paperwork and lawsuits. If it came down to it I would SUCK at combat, and I'm pretty sure Cadance would too." I felt something of a sideways glance in my head at that. "Well, I don't know, she's a pink pony princess with the power of loooooove. Support at best." "Support can mean more then you ever realize." Jackie turned round in her seat. "You know that." "...yeah. Sorry, I'm just being a bitch." "Actually, given that you're a pony now I think the proper word is dam." Ginny grinned at her little joke.