Chapter 14: They are watching…and it’s kinda creepy…not really
“Beginning virtuous mission” a voice hiding in the shadows said quietly. The pony behind the voice knew that its mission was vital and dangerous; stealth was of the utmost importance; for it and the two ponies accompanying it. They would have to sneak through the town full of civilians unnoticed and retrieve their target from the designated spot…in broad daylight. They quickly maneuvered through the shadows and alleys between buildings; making sure not to bring any attention to themselves.
Within a few minutes the three had managed to go undetected and had come within range of the location of their target; the Ponyville Library. Stealthily they made their way over to one of the ground floor windows to see if their target was inside. And they weren’t totally sure of what they saw when they peeked inside.
A Few Minutes Earlier…
Well it had been a few days since the Grand Galloping Gala and we were approaching Hearthswarming time; and in just a day or too the weather patrol would make the switch to the winter weather. So in these last few days they decided that today would be really really hot. But thankfully my marefriend lives in a tree which apparently doesn’t collect much heat unless you want it to; and plus Twilight can change the temperature inside with her magic.
So both of us took today to relax inside where it was cool…well at least I was relaxing in the definition of the word. Twilight on the other hand was going through a bunch of spell books trying to put something together. Now normally I wouldn’t try to bother her but every once and awhile she looked at me. Not the kind of look at me like a mother would to check on her child, but more of a look that gave the impression the she was measuring me and somewhat undressing me with her eyes…so I decided to ask what was up.
“Hey Twi?”
“Mmhmm what is it Dan?” she responded.
“Watcha doin?”
“Oh I’m trying to figure out how to create and perform a new spell.”
“And does that spell have something to do with me?”
“Yes…how did you know?”
“Well your kind of giving me that hungry academic look like I’m a test subject or something.” I saw her blush from my statement; which told me that I was close to the answer.
“Oh…well I was thinking that maybe if I studied your form that I may be able to use my magic to transform myself into a human…is that ok?”
“Sure I don’t really have a problem with it; but can I ask why?”
“Well… I thought that now since we are dating that if I could turn human since you don’t have any magic; that we would be closer…was I wrong?” she gave me one of those cute looks that showed her worry as she moved towards where I sat on the couch.
“No no; besides the fact that I feel close to you regardless of who looks like what I think it’s cool if you wanna try it out.”
“Thanks Dan.” She said giving me a nuzzle on the cheek. I would have thought that she was fine then if she hadn’t given a little twitch when she moved her neck a certain way.
“Are you alright Twilight?” I gave her a look of concern.
“I think I’m just a little sore from the constant turning to look at you for measurements. Don’t worry I’ll be fine; it’s nothiHEY!!!” she began to assure me right before I picked her up and laid her over my lap. “What are y…” she started to say as I dug my finger into her fur.
“I’m not going to let my girl go around with a pain in her neck when I have perfectly good hands for massaging her cares away.” I said cheerfully as she started to basically melt into my hands and lap.
“Ah but…ahhhh I was mmmm my work mmmhhh…” She tried to argue with me but relented after less than a minute. “How are you so good at this?” she managed to say after a couple of minutes.
“Back where I used to live I had cats and sometimes I would massage them whenever they decided to lie down near me.” I told her as I continued my massage on her back, neck, head, and flanks.
“Are you comparing me to your cats?”
“I’m saying that if you were a cat that you would be purring right now.” We both laughed at the joke. As I made sure my marefriend was content with her massage a bit of an evil idea popped into my head.
“He Twilight; do you want to know the one thing I never figured out about my cats that I’m going to figure about you?” I gave an evil smile that she didn’t see because her eyes were closed.
“Hmm what’s that?” she wasn’t expecting anything.
“If they were ticklish.”
“Oh ticklish alright…” she said as she was about to fall asleep from the massage; then her eyes shot wide open. “Wait what!?!?” her voice cracked as she got the message to late.
I had actually wondered if ponies were ticklish; and as it turns out Twilight was a very good test subject to try this out on. Reaching underneath her I began my attack and she was powerless to resist me. She immediately broke in hysteric laughing and started squirming ferociously.
“AHHAHHAHHAHAHHAHHAHAHAHHA STOP!!!” she begged. “HAHAHA PLEASE!!!”
After a minute or two I finally gave her rest. She was out of breath and panting from her spot in my lap.
“Well I think I can conclude this study and say that ponies are indeed ticklish. Do you think we should try to publish a paper on this Twilight?”
“You…Get...I’ll…” she said gasping for air with each word.
“Shh rest now and save you strength.” I said picking her up and heading to her room. I laid her on the bed and left the room saying “I’ll let you take a break and then you can start scheming your revenge ok?” a tired nod was all I got before I closed the door to let her get her energy back.
Without Twilight looking up things in five books at once the library had gotten substantially quieter. It seemed peaceful but I think that maybe I shouldn’t have put my marefriend into a post tickle coma. As for Spike he was with Rarity doing something; obviously anyone with eyes could see that he was trying to get her attention. Maybe one day I should help him.
My thinking and the silence of the library was suddenly stopped when I heard the creaking of the floor board come from behind me. I looked back thinking that maybe Twilight was trying to get back at me quickly. But instead of seeing my favorite lavender mare I saw three small black shapes. I say that because they only paused for a second when they noticed that I noticed them.
“HE’S SEEN US SMOKE BOMB!!!” one said as it threw something to the floor. In an instant everything turned white and my state of panic set in as I tried and failed to climb over the back of the couch. Upon crashing I felt hooves touch me and something started to constrict my movements. And as quickly as everything went white everything went black and now I could not see because something was covering my head. After that it went back to being quite and from how I was moving I could tell that I was already out of the library and going somewhere else.
Meanwhile…
“Oh I am so going to get him back for this.” Twilight huffed as she made her way out of the bedroom and moved down the stairs.
She knew that it had all been in good fun; but he said she could have revenge and she was going to take it. Well he actually said she could try to take revenge on him she reminded herself; always being one to be detail oriented and specific. Maybe she could find a way to use the transformation spell in her revenge.
While she was in the middle of thinking while going down the stairs she suddenly noticed that everything in the library was covered in a layer of pure white dust.
“Oh what happened here…Dan?” she called out and got no reply.
She walked forward and then saw that there was a large kind of smudge in the dust where it looked like something large had wiped it away. As she looked on she could see that it then made a trail which stopped at the door. And at the foot of the closed door was a note.
“Dear Twilight Sparkle…”
In A Different Location…
In the time I had been kidnapped and moved out of the Library I did something that most kidnapees would probably never do…I took a nap. For some reason I didn’t feel like I was in any danger; I couldn’t tell why but something just felt right. So with my head inside of whatever was creating the darkness around me I closed my eyes and rested. Coming to a sudden halt was what woke me up after what seemed like minutes. I tried to say something but stopped when I heard a familiar voice.
“Now what in tarnation is this?” I picked up Applejack’s voice and tried to respond but was cut off again.
“We got Dan just liked you asked?” I heard Applebloom’s voice answer.
“And why is he all tied up and has a bag over his head?”
‘Well Applejack that would be because the snuck into a library, used a smoke bomb to blind me and then tied me up and brought me out to what I am assuming is Sweet Apple Acres.” I finally managed to get a word in.
“Girls!!!” I could hear her starting to say something to the Cutie Mark Crusaders who were the ones that kidnapped me.
“Applejack it’s ok.”
“Wha? Are you sure Dan?”
“Yeah as long as someone unties me now please.” And in less that a minute the ropes and the thing over my head came of and I could finally see again. I gave a smile to Applejack before looking to the Crusaders and seeing that they were wearing costumes.
Sweetie Belle was wearing a camo suit with what looked like an empty knife holster on her side; her hair was held back with a large bandana tied around her fore head with the tails hanging and sometimes swaying in the breeze, and over one eye she had an eye patch.
Scootaloo was wearing a ninja suit which was sleeveless and had holes in the back for her wings. On the top of the hood was a kind of enlarged ninja head band and there was also a black scarf wrapped around her neck which was tattered in the back. And also for some reason she had a katana on her back.
As for Applebloom she had one a variation of the cat suit I know Twilight used when she snuck into the Canterlot Archives, this version had hood which like Scootaloo’s but instead of a ninja head band she had a nice size pair of night vision goggles which had a nice bright green glow.
“Well Applejack…” I said taking ma attention away from the Crusaders as they gave me some apologies which I took because curse pony cuteness. “I guess you wanted me for something?” I asked the mare.”
“Oh yeah that’s right. Big Mac and some of the other stallions are doin some construction for the farm and I was wondering if you would be able to help them out.”
“Oh sure no problem just show me where.” It was never a problem for me to help anyone when they asked me. I thought it was a bit weird that it was Big Mac and some of the other guys working on this; but I just pushed it out of my mind.
“It’s just a short walk that way.” She pointed out with a hoof.
“Thanks AJ.” I said turning to walk in the direction she pointed.
After Dan was out of earshot Applebloom turned to her sister. “You said we needed to get him secretly Applejack.”
“Does Twilight know that he’s here?” her older sister asked her.
“Yeah we left her a note.” The three fillies said together.
“Alright then you girls did a great job how about you gals head back to the house for some snacks.” The fillies cheered and ran off towards that house while Applejack chuckled at what had happened and how the later events of the day would play out. “Ahehehe this is gonna be a fun afternoon.”
After walking for a couple of minutes I heard the working sounds of tools and grunting so I knew that I was close. A little bit more walking found me looking at Big Mac, Caramel, Thunderlane, Doc Whooves and another pony who I didn’t expect to see here.
“Well look who finally showed up!” Shining Armor said; he was wearing a tool belt instead of his normal guard or royal clothes.
“Hey Dan it’s about time you showed up!” Caramel was excited to see me.
“Eeyup” Mac gave his usual greeting
“I guess Shining is right you did take your sweet time getting here.” Thunderlane said hi in his own way.
“Well since time is relative and all that wibbly wobbly…” Doc Whooves started to say straightening his tie but stopped when he got glares from most of the group. “Nothing never mind how’s it going Dan?”
“It’s fine, sorry if I’m late I guess my kidnappers took the scenic route. I said getting curious glances from the guys. “Crusaders; long story; tell you later…So what are we doing?”
“Well since the amount of crops we produce every year keeps getting bigger were just raising a storage shed today; and since we got you with those fancy hands and the prince with his magic it’s probably going to go a lot easier with all the parts that need screws.” A rare amount of words came from Big Mac; but I think when it comes to work he can speak for as long as he needs to.
“Mac I told you; you can just call me Shining like everyone else here does I think we’re good enough friends after the gala.
“Sorry Shining it just takes awhile for me to break out of habits and such.”
“Well ok then… This sounds fun; does anyone have a screwdriver?” I asked.
“Oh sure you can borrow mine.” The doctor said reaching into his collar.
“One that works on wood Doctor?”
“Oh never mind then.” He said blushing and returning back to his work with fervor.
We worked for awhile getting all the wood sorted out and building the frame of the shed and we setting up the roof. While we worked though a question popped into my head about Shining Armor; so I asked him after we got the structure of the roof set up.
“So Shining I never asked but; why exactly are you here?”
“What the captain of the royal guard can’t help the people?”
“No not that I mean that I would just never expect to show up to Sweet Apple Acres and find you here helping us on a whim.”
“I’ll let you know that I volunteered to help” he said to me before turning the other way; and I would have taken that answer if I hadn’t seen him look quickly upwards.
“Oh I get it; when you say “you volunteered” you mean Cadence volunteered you right?” he literally jumped when I said that and turned around ready to yell at me but then Thunderlane intervened.
“Sorry Shining I’m gonna have to go with Dan on this one I’m pretty sure all of us plus some ponies in Cloudsdale saw that jump so instead of taking your anger on the guy now dating your sister; just admit it and save yourself any embarrassment from any jokes we would create about you being kinda subservient to your wife.”
Shining stood in place for a minute thinking about his options before he sighed heavily and relented. “Yes Cadence volunteered me for this. Although I would have done it if asked normally.”
“Good. That’s all we wanted to hear right fellas?” I asked the group who all gave a nod except for Thunderlane.
“Actually I kinda wanted to hear him try to save himself I think it would have been funny.” I responded by giving him a light punch on top of his head. “OW!!!” now that was funny.
A Bit Farther Away…
Twilight had read the note that was left for her. She could tell that one of the Crusaders had probably left it; most likely Sweetie Belle since all the Is were dotted with little hearts. She guessed that they were also probably the ones who had taken Dan; but why to Sweet Apple Acres she wondered. She made her way towards Applejack’s house to see if she knew anything but on her way she heard a noise that sounded like giggling coming from a part of the orchard. She moved off the path and made her way into the orchard; as she went the sound got louder. She wondered what it could be and then after moving around a tree she saw Applejack.
“Oh Applejack hello.” She said as she trotted up to her friend.
“Oh hi Twilight I guess you’re here to figure out what happened to Dan huh? Well he’s here helping out Big Mac and some of the other guys putting up a storage shed.”
“Oh ok that’s nice to know but why did the Crusaders kidnap him then?”
“Well that might be a tiny bit my fault. I told him that they needed to be a little secretive about it and I think they kinda ran loose with the idea; they had costumes and everything.” The giggling sound came back after Applejack finished speaking and it sounded like Twilight was right on top of the source.
“Uh Applejack what exactly is that noise?”
“Oh that’s just the other girls.”
“What other girls?”
“Oh that’s right I should show you.” Applejack said as she turned around and stuck her hoof out like she was going to grab something which Twilight thought was a bit weird; and became even weirder when she actually did grab something that shouldn’t have been there.
Applejack the n moved her hoof like she was turning a doorknob and sure enough after she did she pulled and a door seemed to magically appear out of nowhere and opened for them.
Twilight sort of stared into space for a minute or two before her body took control and moved her forward through the entrance of the door to nowhere. As she walked in she saw that she was in a room that was well furnished with pillows and chairs and much cooler than the weather outside. Inside were many of the mares she knew in Ponyville; Lyra, Bon Bon, Aloe, Lotus, Rose, Lily, Daisy, Crystal Clear the reporter, Derpy, and even her friends. Each if them were sitting down and staring out what appeared to be a large window; they talked to each other and were giggling about something they were seeing.
“Welcome to the viewing room Twilight.” Applejack said as she came in and closed the door behind her.
“What is this?” Twilight was dumbfounded.
“Well Twilight let me start off by telling you that I do notice from time to time when certain gals are giving my brother a look or two. And I don’t blame them; I’ve looked at a couple stallions myself. So when I noticed that Big Mac was gonna start a little construction project a little idea popped into my head. I’d let Mac and a couple of guys work and let them flex their muscles and such; and all the while I’d let the girls watch for a very little and modest fee.
“Applejack that’s…well first of all brilliant from a business standpoint...but form a moral strand point…how do you think Princess Celestia would react if she knew that one of the elements of harmony was doing something like this?”
“Oh Twilight who do you think created this magic room and had already donated to your friend’s cause.” A royal voice came from behind Twilight; she turned to not only see her mentor but Princess Luna, and Her sister-in-law Cadence in the room as well.
“Princess…Celestia...” Twilight could barely get the words out.
“Twilight before you stress out let me tell you that there is nothing wrong with just watching and talking about something like this; and it is a great way to boost your friendship with your friends comparing your likes to dislikes.” The Alicorn said to her student.
Twilight cheered up a little and then turned to her old foalsitter.
“But Cadence why are you here; you’re married to my brother.”
“The smaller multicolored smiled at Twilight and brought her attention to the window where they could see the stallions and human working on the shed. “Who do you think is out their working as well Twilight?”
Twilight looked and sure enough she could see her BBBFF working beside Applejack’s brother and her coltfriend. She also noticed that they were sweating a bit more than they should be in the current outside temperature.
“Um should they be sweating that much?” noticing that Dan’s shirt was drenched in sweat.
“Well Twilight it may seem a little weird but I think it may be because a certain Princes is using he power over a certain celestial body to make the temperature go up just slightly enough ask to make the boys outside sweat and make them look more…how should we put it in her terms…delectable.” Princess Luna said coming up beside Twilight.
Twilight looked to her mentor to find that she was blushing quite profusely at what her sister had just said and was also not trying to deny it.
“Princess!!!”
“Oh twilight I think if you look now my little change is having an affect on your cute human.” Twilight turned to see that Dan was indeed doing something. After wiping the sweat from his brow he looked down at his shirt. He moved his hands to the bottom and then pulled it upwards bringing it over his head and completely off.
All the girls in the room including Twilight herself squealed at this like little school fillies. But that wasn’t the end either; after that he took some of the water he had in a bottle and poured it on his head and let it run down in a mini cascade.
Some of the girls fainted from this While Twilight as well as the three Alicorns next to her stared in shock with their jaws hanging open and two of them had their wings at full attention.
“After collecting herself Twilight walked over to Applejack who was with the rest of her friends; planted a hoof on her shoulder and then said. “How much do I owe you?” to which Applejack only grinned.
Hours Later Back At The Library…
Working on the shed with the guys was fun. We talked bout a bunch of stuff ranging from Equestria sports to mares; in which me and Shining defended our choices in mares; much to the chagrin of everyone else. Although I had the weird feeling that it kept getting a bit hotter around us. I came back to the library to find Spike asleep downstairs on the couch. I guess whatever he did with Rarity tired the guy out.
“Dan are you back?” I heard Twilight say from upstairs.
“Yeah; sorry about that Big Mac needed my help with something.”
“Oh it’s fine…say can you help me with something up here?”
“Sure I’ll be right up.” I said making my way to the stairs. Upon getting to the bedroom I opened it up and I couldn’t see where she was. “Twi? Where are you babe?”
“Right behind you” I heard her say in a predatory. Before I knew it I flew through the air and landed on the bed; I felt magic turn me over and I came face to face with Twilight. I tried to move but felt my arms and legs restrained by her magic. She slowly got up onto the bed and then sat on her haunches onto my stomach.
“Try to get my revenge huh? Looks like I’m trying pretty good right?” she asked. A loud nervous gulp was all she got out of me. “So let’s see how you like it when your on this side!” she said raising her fore legs and then bringing them down and using her hooves to find my most ticklish spots.
The torture seemed to go on for hours; I had no clue that without fingers that a pony could tickle someone that well. Although I had that same doubt t about getting a massage. When she finally stopped I was very out of breath. She got up; and I tried to but still found myself restrained.
“Oh did you think that we were done?” I managed to see a flash of magic and moved my head to where I could see; and what in saw blew me away for a bit. My marefriend was now standing upright. He back legs still looked like her pony form but were a bit longer and slender. She was curvy in all the right places with her lavender fur still covering her completely. Aside from her fore arms which were now proper arms with hands and ten digits on each she looked mostly the same; but it was a breath takingly beautiful sight to see for me.
“By Celestia’s white flanks…” I muttered as my heartbeat became a bit irregular.
“Well she did help a little.” Twilight said walking back to the bed and retaking her place on top of me. She flexed her new fingers a bit trying to work them out before looking back to me with another predatory gaze before she bent down and gave me a quick kiss. “Now where were we?” she said with a smile.
“Oh no…” and those were probably the last coherent words I said all night.