Chapter 18: Stuck Inside in the Cold, Part 2
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An hour passed. Then two. Azure Courage spent the better part of the next few hours reading the book Twilight got him when he wasn't eating something or shivering bitterly in front of the fireplace in a slightly overexaggerated moment of weakness. The colt's disdain for winter always affected him, but it seemed to be a bit less after that snowball fight.
However, if Rainbow started grilling him about it, his answer would be the same thing he mumbled to himself when he teleported back home: "Once was enough."
The colt had just tended to his fire, when there was a knock at the door. A sudden jolt of nerves suddenly blasted through him, believing that Rainbow Dash was about to cream him with a snowball as soon as he answered the door. However, the unicorn blew out a sigh, getting to his hooves.
"Let's get it over with, Azure," he mumbled to himself, getting to his feet. He kept his breathing even as he trotted up to the door, fully expecting the oncoming projectile.
Three...two...one...
"I thought you'd be here..."
"Twilight?!" Azure was shocked to see Twilight Sparkle, still wearing those glasses...and wearing two saddlebags full of books in addition to a scarf and winter boots. "What are you doing here...and what's with the books?"
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Twilight Sparkle had come to this conclusion hours before, when Azure had left the library and went home. Somehow, she knew it would have had to come to this anyway. One of them would have to stay over at the other's house and together, they'd have to really delve into the material they needed to counter the Shadow Ghouls.
"Well, you said you felt guilty about leaving me to all the studies earlier..." the mare answered, "So I came here to help you clear your conscience..."
Azure didn't immediately have a response, but, sure enough, he found his voice, "Oh. Come in, I guess, but why didn't you ask me to stay earlier when I brought it up? Why'd you come over here?"
The mare inexplicably stumbled over her own answer. However, she knew what she was here to do, and she wasn't going to turn back now, especially since she was here now. Besides, there was a very good reason she had in mind, and now was the time for her to state it as she passed inside.
She'd known Azure long enough to know some of his weirder quirks. They wouldn't have been weird on any other colt, but...
"Even though you said you felt bad," Twilight responded, walking past him, stepping inside, "I know not everypony can handle studying for prolonged periods of time. If I wanted you to help, I knew I had to find a way to keep you in one place. I merely closed the library for the night and told Spike not to answer the door for anypony while I was out. I also know that because you can't stand the cold, you won't leave your own home to try to get out of it. And, since there's going to be a snowstorm tonight, I know your 'code' won't allow you to kick me out into that."
Something odd happened to the cyan colt at this moment. Usually, even if he agreed, he'd have to get one shot in against her for some reason. Those instances decreased as they got to know one another, but it still happened often enough that Twilight found the silence a bit disturbing. It dawned on her that Azure was absolutely unable to respond to her logic.
Twilight couldn't discern exactly why she said what she said next.
"Oh look," she said, "You're speechless. How adorable."
There was an awkward pause. She didn't exactly know what to take it from there, but...somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew she was telling the truth, or at least, being honest about what she thought about the sight of a speechless Azure.
"...Um...okay..." The colt sounded a little embarrassed, any reply that he may have had to her previous statement completely shot away, "I guess we can make this work, then..."
She turned to him, to see the faintest traces of pink fading away from his cheeks.
"Go on, Twilight, make yourself comfortable. We'd better get going on this..."
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For Twilight Sparkle, it was just a little bit more than the average research report she'd had to write. Only difference is, the research period was a lot longer than she'd anticipated, and she didn't have to turn in any reports save for Princess Celestia when she'd finally reached a breakthrough on this.
The sun princess did seem awfully worried when she'd heard about it, but at the same time...seemed a little assured that help would come from the bonds they shared. The unicorn found herself not particularly surprised with her mentor's attitude towards the incident; however, she'd have preferred it if her reply was a bit less vague...
For Azure Courage, it was only slightly preferable to being in the cold. He found himself fighting the urge to nod off as he pored over more and more reference materials trying to find something that could be used against the Shadow Ghouls. However, he had said something about how he'd felt guilty forcing all the work on her, and he actually did feel a little bad.
A Twilight unable to read wasn't exactly a Twilight he could ever picture in his mind, so he did whatever measures he could to keep himself from falling asleep, including smacking himself with a hoof, drinking something, and...at one point, shoving his head out of one of the windows into the whipping winds so the frigid air would shock him back awake.
He'd basically said he'd help her, and no matter how much he wanted to, he would not fall asleep here. He would take whatever notes he could see, and call Twilight over if he thought he'd found something interesting...
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To put it simply, Azure Courage found himself bored. He knew he said he felt bad, and he intended to make good on his word by assisting Twilight somehow in her studies, but he was feeling dangerously bored, almost to the point he was going to pass out. There were two things keeping him from becoming rendered unconscious due to the study session.
One, his resolve. He was not about to have Twilight damage her eyes any more on his behalf because he wasn't able to help her gather what she needed.
Two, the fact she once said he wouldn't be able to last through a hardcore study session without passing out. But by Celestia, he was bored, and he needed something, anything, to take his mind off the boredom, at least for a moment. He rubbed his eyes, and decided he needed to talk to Twilight.
"Twilight?" Azure asked, half-expecting her to not pay attention to any of his statements since she was deep into the book.
"Huh, did you find something?" Twilight looked up from the book she had been looking at.
"I feel like asking something, actually..." the colt responded, standing up.
"Hmm?"
"I know we've been trying to find a light-generating spell and all, but, if we want to counter the summoner..." Azure found himself asking a question he never thought he'd be asking, but he was so bored he didn't see the harm in asking it. At the very least, he wouldn't be bored anymore. "Why not fight fire with fire?"
Twilight's neck craned bolt upright, and she stared straight at him, wide-eyed for a moment. It was obvious she was in disbelief.
However, as Azure expected, her eyes quickly narrowed, and her brows arched. "You're kidding, right? Please tell me you are..."
For some reason, the cyan colt didn't feel like taking back his statement just yet. Maybe it was the way Twilight's face pinched when she was mad. Maybe it was the fact the last hour or so of research hadn't turned up any spells powerful enough to affect an area equal to Sweet Apple Acres' land mass. Whatever the case, Azure continued to argue the point.
"No, I'm being completely serious..."
Twilight's horn stopped glowing, and she proceeded to manually slam the book shut with a hoof. The glasses came off for a moment, then she immediately put them back on, likely realizing she'd want to see him to ream him out for it.
"Of all the--I thought that even you wouldn't think of something like that!" She stood straight up, and took a step forward. Azure faced her, standing straight up and taking a step forward of his own.
Thought processes were a funny thing. Even though the unicorn had no intention of seriously suggesting it, he had a sudden burst of inspiration. He hadn't quite thought of it before, but now that he'd actually said it...it actually seemed like it'd be a good idea! It'd even the odds, for starters...
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Twilight thought the peak of Azure's brainlessness was standing up to an Ursa Minor while injured, and to his much more experienced cousin while still not fully healed. However, she had always found the colt had a funny way of proving her wrong. Sometimes, it was beneficial...however, this was not one of those times, under any circumstance.
"Just hear me out for a second, Twilight!" Azure said. There was a quality to his voice that wasn't there on their other arguments, but Twilight couldn't pinpoint it, too distracted with the larger picture to notice, "The summoner's able to summon an entire army of the things...and the best way to counter it is with an army of our own..."
Azure, if that conclusion was actually reasonable...would we even be here? Granted, since he didn't do the research and likely skimmed the notes, Twilight was convinced her friend didn't see the footnote on the summoning spell itself...
"Do you even think before you speak?!" Twilight asked, still a bit clouded due to her own anger at the situation. Azure had a way of being impossibly hard-headed when it came to things like this, but there was no way she was going to back down from this. "Why would you want to control them when you've seen what those creatures can do firsthand?!"
"Oh, I don't know, maybe just that I don't want to see my friends...your friends, too, mind you...get hurt!" His anger intensified, and if Twilight hadn't been caught in the moment, she might have noticed the dim, blue glow to his eyes when he said what he did. "If history is anything to go on, that unicorn's summonings are only going to get stronger and stronger as time passes. Who knows when he'll strike again...if I can just learn this spell, I'll be able to match him..."
Something inside Twilight's mind broke. Listening to Azure when he was like this was bad enough, but it was starting to become clear that this latest bout of recklessness, while infinitely more reckless than anything else he'd done...he was doing it out of concern, but there were so many logic holes in his plan of action that it was concerning her to see him like this.
"Did you listen to what I said a few months ago, Azure?!" Her voice was cracking just a little bit. More emotion that she ever realized was coming through in her words. She was almost overcome with it, but it came out mostly through her frustration. "That spell requires a lot more skill than you have right now!"
"I'll practice..." Azure said. He sounded so sure of himself and so full of self-righteous anger that Twilight wanted to hit him. Even then, she doubted he'd listen to that. The two unicorns had been advancing on each other as their argument intensified, and their noses were nearly touching now due to how close they were. "I'll do whatever it takes if it means other ponies don't get hurt!"
There was something she'd seen in his eyes only twice: pure anger, firmly etched into Azure's features. Twilight sighed. She knew he wouldn't believe it if he told him, so she searched the books she had on hand, knowing she brought some previously used guides with her on the actual spell. She turned her back on him, still very mad she had to put up with this Azure...
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Azure watched as Twilight turned away from him, no doubt trying to catch her breath or something. The mare's horn lit up as she temporarily went away from his personal space. No doubt she was going to do some fact-checking...
The unicorn's eye was instantly drawn to a mirror atop a nearby cabinet. He found himself compelled to look at it. However, as the winter wind howled outside, Azure felt a sudden creepiness well up in him. The reflection he was looking at...was that unicorn that had attacked Fluttershy, Rainbow, Applejack, and himself.
While he and that unicorn looked nothing alike, it was the absolutely hateful look that got him. Azure found himself recalling the livid look he'd received from the mysterious pony as he looked up at himself.
"You think you've won?!"
A sickness welled up inside him. The look he'd just shot Twilight and the mirror was almost a dead ringer for that filthy look that his enemy had shot him right before vanishing.
Get a hold of yourself... Azure thought to himself, his gaze easing up. Maybe he shouldn't have gotten so carried--
The force of a book being jabbed into his chest snapped him from his thoughts at once. Twilight was at the other end of the book, still looking quite sour.
"Page 220, paragraph 3, read it aloud..." she said. There was still that strange tone she'd had in her voice just a few moments ago when she'd yelled at him, but it seemed to be better controlled. Azure took the book for himself and did as Twilight instructed, feeling a bit emotionally disturbed himself, not only because of the realization he'd matched the anger of a possibly insane unicorn colt, but also because he was responsible for bringing about the mare's emotional state.
Soon enough, he found it, and read it.
"Prolonged use of the summoning spell can..." He halted mid-sentence, silently reading the latter part to double-check if what he was reading was in fact true. When he realized it, the air came flooding out of him faster than he ever felt possible. "It can cause corruption of the caster..."
Azure could say that only Applejack knew his most deep-reaching fear: the fear of being unable to help his friends, a fear so great that it made his past fear of chimeras seem small by comparison. It was a fear that had just about undone him here. He was so willing to take the shortcut and learn the dangerous spell without pausing to think of what it could actually do to him. He would only do more harm than good, he feared...
He looked back to Twilight, who didn't look angry, but was now looking at him with sad eyes. That, combined with the glasses--
"I understand that you want to protect what's important to you," she finally said, "but I can't let you lose sight of who you are to do it."
There was a silvery object at the corner of her eye, but Twilight turned away again before he could fully discern what it was. It could have been glare on her glasses for all he knew.
Azure sat down. It was true. He really couldn't sit still for a long time, let alone for a study session as hardcore as the one that Twilight was putting him through. And from the looks of it, he got so bored and so tired during the first hour he'd fooled himself into thinking he'd made a breakthrough. Instead, he had proven himself to be foalish, reckless, and...and...stupid.
By Celestia, no wonder Twilight wasn't enthusiastic about it...and the worst part of it all was, it was probably somewhere in the notes she'd written before, but he didn't notice it, far too focused on the prospect of a counter-spell...
"I-I'm sorry, Twilight," Azure finally spoke up, "you're right. I guess that's why you're the prodigy while I'm the mediocre unicorn." He closed his eyes and looked down, more ashamed of what brought this whole thing about in the first place. Silence reigned for a while.
"You're not mediocre," Twilight spoke up. The next thing Azure realized, there was a hoof on his shoulder that wasn't there before. He looked up, seeing the mare smiling to him with no evidence of smugness in her features. "Just hard-headed. You're kind-hearted and you don't want to see innocent ponies get hurt...but you can't take shortcuts if you really want to help them."
Azure breathed in and out. No wonder she took her studies so seriously...
"You're right...thanks..."
The two merely looked at one another. The colt didn't immediately get it, but he realized his face was warming up and his heart was beating faster. Twilight's own face turned red, and they merely looked at one another. The purple mare winced and quickly took back her hoof, looking just a little guilty.
"W-well...I guess that's enough of a break!" she called out, sounding nervous. "Get back to the books, Azure! We've got a lot of work to do, you know!"
"Twilight...?" Azure asked, his heart starting to slow down and his face returning to normal. "Alright, back to work it is..."
W-what was that just now? I thought for sure that stuff only happened around Applejack, so why'd it happen now...?
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The study session continued anew, with Azure looking to the books with a renewed vigor that not even he expected of himself. Twilight found herself getting more and more surprised when Azure actually appeared to be staying awake this time during the study session without the aid of inane techniques. They had gathered some light spells, and after testing some of the more basic ones, had to return to the books.
Twilight found herself both at a loss and...strangely, excited. As she was growing up, she'd never met another pony whose nose was in the books as much as she was. While Azure typically spent time with books when he couldn't stand to be outside, it still came as a shock and a relief that he actually read. It was also surprising to see he did know a thing or two about where to look when it came to a problem he didn't know a thing about.
But, of all her friends, she'd never imagined that the one that liked reading too was Azure.
"Hey, Twilight, I think I found something," Azure said. Twilight looked up from the book she was reading.
"I'm coming..." Twilight responded, getting up and walking towards him. However, there was a small problem with her vision. Though she could still see clearly with the use of her glasses, there was a problem. Her face pinched in annoyance, and her horn lit up.
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Azure looked over the section he'd found. It seemed promising enough in terms of light spells. The only problem with it was that it only illuminated the area in front of the caster. However, the light it gave off was essentially the same as if you were to look at the sun through a telescope. He was surprised to find that the book used that exact terminology, as if the writer knew precisely what it was like to do that.
The sound of Twilight's hoofsteps stopped. Confused, the colt turned to look at her...
And saw her cleaning the fogged lenses with a rag she probably had on her since she'd come here. The mare put the glasses back on, though it was clear in her face that she'd probably had to polish them quite a bit daily. She looked annoyed with it.
At least, until she caught him looking to her, "What?"
"Oh, it's nothing..." Azure said. "It's just that the glasses fit you..."
"Yeah, I'd bet," Twilight responded, now sounding just a little snarky on the issue.
"Oh, come on, at least it's only temporary," The cyan colt realized that he'd better cut himself off there before he said anything else that caused another argument. For some reason, that last one ended on an awkward note though nopony broke them up mid-argument this time.
"Yeah, I guess, though if this had happened when I was in magic school..." Twilight said, "Who knows what kind of hazing I would have gotten from other students...I read a lot and I didn't have any interest in other ponies...the glasses would have--"
"I wouldn't be too sure of that..." Azure found himself talking before thinking now. Even if he wanted to stop himself, he couldn't.
Azure Courage, what are you doing?!
"How do you know how they would have treated me?" she asked, now sounding curious...and slightly less acidic.
"Just a hunch, Twilight," Azure found himself once again unable to move his gaze away as quickly as he could. His eyes were firmly locked on her face. Apparently, she didn't quite notice what he'd said before was a sort of compliment. She'd taken it as an insult.
"How do you think I look in glasses?"
"A lot cuter than Rarity when she wears hers..."
The words echoed throughout the house, bouncing off all the walls. Somewhere along the lines, Twilight's eyes widened, and a moment later, Azure blinked, and realized precisely what he vocalized, and he felt his face grow warm for some unknown reason.
The purple mare stood there, almost in disbelief, trying to process what he just said. Azure's stomach started to do all those familiar gymnastics. He turned away, back to the book he'd been looking at, trying to find the words to restore their focus on the task at hand, but he felt himself trip over his words long before he could force himself to speak consciously.
"Oh...um...uh," Twilight finally found her voice, and sounded...incredibly flustered. "Thank you..."
"N-no problem," Azure responded, still wondering exactly why he said it. Even if he really thought Twilight looked cute in those glasses--
"S-so, did you have something to show me?"
"Huh?" What was I about to-- "Oh!" He returned his attention fully to the book, and relocated the entry he'd found on that spell. It may not have been the exact spell they would need in the event the unicorn mounted another attack, but Azure had a feeling it was something that could come in handy. "Look at this..."
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Twilight managed to positively identify the spell as something usable. It was definitely something more fit for Azure's style of dealing with things, and it could potentially be used for things other than the Shadow Ghouls. The cyan colt agreed, and said he'd start working at it as soon as he could without injuring anypony else's eyes, making a joke about sunglasses in the process.
The two continued to study through the hours, though what had happened between them left them both confused to say the least. The night progressed with no further incident or Azure tongue slips. Both unicorns soon found themselves fighting off sleep as the pages turned...
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Azure rubbed at his eyes, trying to stay awake. He'd found that light spell, and it seemed simple enough for him to use, but their focus was still trying to find a source of artificial sunlight powerful enough so that the Shadow Ghouls and their derivatives and stronger summons would become inconsequential, to the point that even one of the foals could kick them and they'd vanish.
"Twilight, have you found anything?" Azure asked, yawning through clenched teeth immediately afterward. The home was silent. Twilight didn't respond at all. "Twilight, are you there?"
The fact he'd had to force himself awake for at least the past half-hour wasn't helping his mood any. He turned to where Twilight was, and said her name again, "Twilight?"
Azure got up and strode across the room to her, slightly concerned. As he reached her, he watched her "torso" slowly rise and fall, and her bespectacled eyes were shut, with light dark circles underneath the lids. It took the colt a few moments to figure out what was happening.
She fell asleep first...? Azure thought to himself, genuinely shocked. Well...hm...guess I'd better do her the same justice I did Rainbow when she crashed here...
The unicorn colt trudged over to where he was working, shutting the book after a few seconds. He turned to the open fireplace, which by now contained small, dark red embers that would soon burn out, and blocked it off so the hazard was gone. Next, he turned to his closet, aiming to get a blanket from there to drape it over Twilight before he carted her off to bed.
Azure himself would once more take a temporary spot on the couch. Sure enough, Twilight shifted a little when the blanket was put over her. The colt began to move in front of the mare to move her into his bed, but something very odd happened at that moment.
The colt froze as two foreign objects clasped around his right forehoof, and he blinked slightly, looking down to Twilight. For whatever reason, she was squeezing his leg tightly, and try as Azure could, he couldn't even wiggle his foot.
Twilight... Azure gave another massive yawn and rubbed at his eyes with his free hoof, now half-closing them in exhaustion. Ah, forget it...too tired to argue this case...
With that, the cyan unicorn laid down, being careful not to wake Twilight as he moved about. A few moments later, he pulled some of the blanket over himself, and as soon as the colt shut his eyes, he was off to dreamland...
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The night passed quickly for those that liked winter, as well as those who disliked it. The storm abated overnight, dumping quite a few inches of fresh snow overnight. As she cleared the clouds to allow Princess Celestia's sun to shine through the clouds, Rainbow Dash was satisfied with her handiwork, both in the storm and in the cloud clearing.
"I just love the look of fresh snow," she mused aloud, admiring the sights as she floated over the town. She recalled the snowball fight from yesterday, and had in fact remembered how much fun she'd had while pelting anypony that dared chuck a projectile in her direction in response to their attacks. For a colt that apparently hated the cold, Azure sure knew how to throw those snowballs...
Speaking of the colt, Rainbow was just over his house, and noticed with some level of surprise that Azure wasn't up yet. Even on a cold day like this, he'd have at least opened his door to clear the path. The only explanation was that he was still asleep as of right now.
A fiendish grin soon split the blue pegasus's face. Her weather work was nearly done, though it wouldn't take that much longer to resolve that...
"This is gonna be priceless..."
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Sunlight always had a funny way of finding Azure's face after a long, near-sleepless night. Even in the dead of winter, when days were shorter, the light would hit one side of his eyelids and force him to wake up. The colt was warm under his covers, and even though he was on the floor, he had no intention of getting out underneath the rather toasty blanket that was covering him. The colt turned his head several times, tossing it from side-to-side, in a futile attempt to keep the glare away from his face.
Dear Princess Celestia...seriously, can you hold off on the sunrise for a few minutes? I'm still very sleepy... Azure thought to himself, lightly grumbling to himself. Okay, fine...I can just do this...
The unicorn reached up with his right forehoof, covering his eyes with one foreleg as he gave a small, internal sigh of relief. Victory! ...Wait...
Now Azure's eyes opened in shock, every intention of oversleeping gone from his subconscious. He noticed the hoof he was covering his eyes with was the same hoof that Twilight had grabbed hold of the night before. The colt lowered his hoof, able now to discern that at some point during the night, he was on his back. For some reason, the position he was in was awfully warm...
Azure tried to shift around in his position, but found that it was a bit hard to move. Which was funny; he never really found the floor this comfortable, and the blanket he used to cover himself and Twilight certainly wasn't that warm either, but right now, he was absolutely content...
As the rest of Azure's body slowly woke up, he became aware of the fact that there was a slight weight draped across his belly and chest. Azure slowly lowered his head to see what it was, and received a surprise for his efforts.
It was a certain studious mare, mane a total mess due to what appeared to be a night of tossing and turning, draping her upper half across his middle. Apparently, she found his body comfortable enough to use as a pillow, given that she looked peaceful when she slept. And she was still in those glasses...and oh, Celestia, she was warm...
It began to occur to Azure that at some point during the night, he felt himself get warmer. Now, he understood why. This, combined with all the awkwardness from the night before, caused the colt to blush terribly, the heat in his face dwarfing any other heat he felt at that moment. The unicorn urged himself to think, but given the fact he'd been sharing body heat with Twilight for the better part of the night, it was really hard for him to do so.
Just calm down, Azure...try to move her gently, and realize that this can't get worse...
The unicorn's horn lit up as he began to lift the mare off of him, just as he had with Rainbow Dash (only without the flustering realization that a mare was on top of him). However, Twilight Sparkle was in no way like Rainbow Dash, and as soon as her body started to move noticeably, Twilight snapped awake.
Azure swallowed hard, and internally, he cursed his luck.
Why can't I catch a break with situations like these?!
Twilight turned, realizing she had been on top of him. Exactly two seconds later, her face was bright red, and her face was pinched in absolute embarrassment.
And all the colt could think to do was lie there, staring back at her, blushing bright red.
Say something, stupid! She looks like she's about to freak out!
"Um..." Azure started, sounding as flimsy as a piece of tissue paper.
"Oh gosh, Azure!" Twilight leapt up, sounding embarrassed, her voice clearly showing it. "I--um--Oh gosh, I'm sorry, I just...I must have--" Her horn lit up, though the bright magenta light did nothing to offset the red glow on her face. Books from all over the house were picked up--all of which being Twilight's books that she'd brought with her for the study session. By the time she packed away the first book, she'd degenerated into an almost non-sensical babble that, in its own way, was adorable...and not like Twilight Sparkle at all.
Especially when she was dealing with him of all ponies. "Twilight...?"
The fact she was acting like this did nothing to reassure Azure that he'd be forgetting about this anytime soon. Not that he could anyway, given all that had happened before that.
Nor what was about to transpire...
Twilight continued to embarrassedly mutter apologies and statements of disbelief, obviously flustered at the fact she'd cuddled up with him in the night. The mare headed straight for the door. As she opened it, she looked back, paying absolutely no attention to what was going on. For his part, Azure's focus was entirely on the mare in his home, stressing out about the accidental cuddle.
"Well, it's been fun, Azure, I hope we can do this again sometime..." Twilight stated quickly, still sounding hurried.
"What?!"
The sound of several voices screaming in a unified surprise blasted Azure's composure to pieces. Now that he'd actually heard said voices, he could see very clearly, beyond the door, Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie, all looking equally in disbelief about what they just heard, and what they just saw...
Oh...Celestia...strike me down...
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Twilight knew precisely what had just happened. She was experiencing a case of deja vu, only the situation was reversed...and a lot worse than when she'd caught Rainbow over here for a completely different reason. Her face was red, and she cast a quick glance back to see Azure, face equally red, mane equally disheveled.
In every way, this was worse-looking than what it was with Rainbow. There were so many assumptions to be made here...
"Did you guys have a party without me?!" Pinkie yelled, her assumption not exactly on the list that Twilight mentally prepared for this case.
Then Rainbow Dash broke out laughing. Probably because now the shoe was on the other hoof. And, again, the unicorn mare just could not get over how bad the scene looked.
"T-this i-is not what it looks like!" Twilight stuttered, the situation aggravating her already frazzled nerves. By now, Azure had walked outside, though it was clear he didn't want to be out there long, but the purple unicorn had a strong feeling it had nothing to do with his disdain for the cold.
"Oh, sure it isn't..." Rainbow wiped away one of her tears from her eyes, clearly enjoying the spectacle as she hovered right next to her, putting a foreleg around her to draw her close. Twilight knew she was going to regret looking the blue mare in the eye, but curse her Canterlot upbringing, she couldn't help but do it. "So Twilight...how was he?"
That wink...that smug wink...six eyes, three ponies, one of which so happened to be another mare she'd noticed had some interest in Azure.
It was all too much...
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"I...uh..." Twilight floundered, clearly unable to formulate a response. Azure did not like the looks of this. It was bad enough she woke up on top of him and then rushed her way out right into this, but why did it have to be Pinkie and Applejack in addition to Rainbow Dash? "I..."
The next thing that happened stunned Azure. Twilight bit her lip, and immediately rushed back into the house--Azure's house, and the small click indicated that she'd barricaded herself within the structure.
...Can I just get a one-way ticket to Orion's belt...?
"Will somepony please tell me what in the hay is goin' on here?!" Applejack yelled, stamping her hoof hard on the ground. At that precise moment, Azure felt his heart stop beating; more out of fear than anything else. He knew he had weird feelings whenever he was around her, and certainly now was no exception, but now confronted with all this, and the fact there were things that happened last night that he knew would only aggravate the situation further...
Azure was in a pinch, and with Twilight having locked herself in his home, the situation was absolutely bleak, to say the least. The colt really wished he had somewhere he could think away from all this, but there was nowhere to go to allow time to give him something to say.
"Okay, okay, calm down," Azure started, trying to find his words before he got swept away in accusations again. The actual situation, while hardly any better, would hopefully at least sweep part of this under the rug. "This really isn't what it looks like at all..."
"Oh, really?" Rainbow started, "'Cause it really looks like you and Twilight found a way to keep warm during the night..."
"Rainbow!" The amount of anger in Applejack's voice was painful to hear. Meanwhile, Pinkie remained absolutely oblivious to what was going on.
Even worse is that Rainbow's right...what do I say, what can I say...?
"Well..." Azure started. "You remember the Shadow Ghoul attack on your farm, Applejack?"
"What's that got to do with--" Applejack started.
"Well, the reason why Twilight's wearing the glasses she's wearing now is because she's damaged her eyes doing a bit too much reading in poor light. I felt responsible, given I asked her if she could find a way to counter the summons so the unicorn summoning them would be weakened. Turns out light's their weakness." the cyan colt quickly said, trying to cut off any speculation.
When nopony said anything, Azure felt better. He felt like he could wiggle out of this tight spot. "So, she came over here with those bags of books on spells, and we spent most of the night looking up light spells. We fell asleep before we could make it to bed..."
"Make it to bed, eh?" Rainbow Dash asked.
And I slipped up again...
"Oh, come on!" Azure yelled.
"Then why'd she come out lookin' like that?" Applejack asked, a flood of questions leaving her. It was clear from her eyes Azure wasn't going to get out of this one so easily. "Why'd you look like that? Huh? Explain that, Azure Courage!"
...I'm honestly afraid right now...this is the angriest I've ever seen her, and it's at me...
"We fell asleep on the floor," said Azure in response. "Not exactly the most comfortable place to sleep."
"And the 'fun' that Twi' said she had...?" Applejack continued, taking over the questions. Apparently, Rainbow Dash's comments on the matter had only aggravated her more and more.
"She's the only one I know that has so much fun reading..." Azure replied again. That...actually makes sense...
Applejack scrutinized him for what felt like forever. The colt didn't know why, but he felt absolutely terrible about the fact she'd gotten that mad at him. Even if it was over an innocent misunderstanding. Eventually, though, the orange earth pony's features relaxed, and she sighed.
"Alright, Az, I guess it adds up..."
"Yeah, I guess," Rainbow said, still looking amused for some reason. "But I don't think Twilight's coming out anytime soon..."
Azure now realized why the cyan mare looked amused as she did, and the cold of the winter hit him like a train. The cold penetrated his fur, his skin, and blasted through his bones and muscles.
He still wasn't through this ordeal. Not yet.
"Oh, sweet Celestia, it's cold!!" His body went into a state of violently shivering now, and instantly he wished he were back under the blanket. Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash burst out laughing.
"So...what're you gonna do, Az?" Applejack asked, all of the anger she held gone. Instead, it was replaced with concern as she watched Azure shiver.
"Well, I'm gonna have to try and get her out of there...but...I think she's a bit scared to come out now..." Azure said. "Don't think she'll be willing to if you're all here, so I'm going to have to ask you to...go..."
He desperately hoped that wouldn't immediately raise Applejack's suspicions again after all the work it took to defuse the situation the first time.
"Well, after all that hazin' a certain somepony gave her," The glare was now trained on Rainbow Dash full-force, something that Azure, had he not had all those awkward moments the night before, would have done himself, "I'm certainly not surprised."
"Oh, c'mon, I was just messin' with her," Rainbow defended, looking only slightly sheepish at the fact Applejack trained her fury onto her.
"Well, I reckon it didn't sit too well with her..."
"Guess you're right," Rainbow responded, "Well, guess I'd better get out of your mane, Az..."
With that, she flew off. Pinkie looked around, and seemed...well, disappointed about something, but Azure couldn't exactly figure out what. Applejack looked to Azure, and even though she seemed relieved to hear that nothing happened here, she was still studying him a bit.
"Az," she finally said, sounding embarrassed to say the least. "Sorry for doubtin' ya..."
"It's fine..." Azure said. This isn't exactly the first time something like this has happened...but I really hope this is the last time this will happen to me...
"Guess I'll...see ya around..."
Applejack seemed hesitant to leave, but as soon as she turned her back and trotted away, still seeming a little unsure, Azure sighed, breathing out a cloud of vapor.
Okay, situation resolved. Now to get back in my house before I freeze to death!!
Azure immediately turned to his door, and trying to keep his teeth from chattering, began knocking on the door.
"You can come out now, Twilight," the colt said, shivering all the while. "They're gone..."
There was movement on the other side of the door, and the door opened, to reveal a still very embarrassed-looking Twilight. However, she looked at least somewhat normal in that her face wasn't red any more.
"That was...mortifying..." Twilight responded at last, probably feeling exactly as Rainbow Dash felt that day after the thunderstorm.
"No kidding..." Azure had been here before, ironically enough, with Twilight and Rainbow Dash in opposite places on the sides of his door. The former now stood there in front of him, allowing him back in his house where it was nice and warm, where she closed the door again.
"Sorry about leaving you out there to explain that...I just...didn't know what to do with it..." Twilight finally spoke up after some silence.
"It's fine. This isn't the first time this has happened to me," Azure recounted, "Only difference is you were on the other side of the door..."
"No," Twilight replied with a laugh, "This was easily far worse than that was..."
"I know I'm going to regret this, but..." Azure finally said, realizing there was still important business to take care of. "At least until your eyes get better, we've got to keep researching together whenever possible."
"I-I don't mind," Twilight stuttered, no doubt caught off-guard by the latter part of his statement. "But I think we should cut it off after a certain time..."
"Right..." Azure sighed. The two unicorns looked to one another, and once again, a feeling suddenly swelled in Azure's chest. It was a bit...odd. He'd definitely felt that not too long ago when Applejack stopped being mad at him, but...why was Twilight giving him the same response?
"So...um..." Twilight responded, smiling just a little. "I guess I'll get going now, so nopony else gets the wrong idea...but, as I said, I hope we can do this again sometime..."
"Well, keep your hopes high, Twilight. Celestia knows I'm not going to be leaving home much until the weather warms up..." Azure nodded, trying his hardest to return the smile. As soon as Twilight closed the door behind her and left his sight, Azure's smile turned upside down, and he plopped down on his rump, more confused than ever now.
What's going on between me and Twilight...? And me and Applejack? This is getting insane...is Rarity right? Is there something between me and Applejack? And was Silver right? Have my words affected Twilight too...? If this continues...I think I know who I can turn to...