Part II: The Mundane
Chapter II: Get a Grip
I woke up to the sound of the crusaders chasing a chicken outside. I opened my eyes to see Fluttershy sleeping peacefully beside me. I didn’t remember her slipping into my bed last night, but her bed was further into the room, and she was probably too tired to make it the extra four meters. I kissed her on the forehead and turned around to check the time.
I had a hard time since coming here switching to the Roman Numeral system they used, but after staring at the clock for a minute, I found out it was about 07:42. Nearly 15 minutes before Twilight said she was coming to take Fluttershy to Zecora’s. I brushed her hair out of her face.
“Fluttershy,” I whispered quietly, “Come on, it’s time to wake up.”
She stayed still, her soft breath billowing past my neck. I put my hoof on her shoulder and shook her gently. Her head bobbed loosely with the movements of her body.
“Fluttershy,” I said a bit louder, shaking more roughly, “Fluttershyyyyyyy”
At this point I started getting worried. She was always a light sleeper. I stepped over her out of the basket-like bed and tried again to wake her. I shook her a bit more violently, saying her name louder. I looked at her side, her ribs slowly rose and fell. At least she was still breathing. I ran down the stairs, trying to keep my wings down, which tried to splay themselves (Pegasi’s wings stretched out when the pegasus feels one emotion very strongly). The wings won the battle and a flowerpot fell to the ground.
I looked outside and yelled to the crusaders, trying to keep my voice under control, “Hey, girls, why don’t you run and find Miss Twilight?”
“Okay!” They all started rushing off into town towards the library.
I filled a cup with water and carried it with my teeth up the stairs. I had to force my wings closed to fit up the narrow stairway. I set it down when I got up there and tried once again to shake her awake. I pounded my forehooves on the ground in my nervousness. Fuck it.
I picked her up with my forelegs and set her on the floor, knowing the water would ruin the bed. I picked up the cup and splashed it on her. She sputtered for a second, but went straight back to her calm, peaceful breathing. I dropped the cup to the floor and started stamping my hooves again and looked outside to see Twilight trotting towards the cottage, not more than two minutes away. I picked up a piece of cloth and dried Fluttershy off, afraid she would get a cold, and picked her up, carrying her outside to meet Twilight halfway.
As soon as I was clear of any objects in the way, I let my wings spread with the nervous energy pent up in them, “Twilight!”
About seven meters away, Twilight ran quicker toward me, “What’s wrong.”
“She won’t wake up,” I said, not worrying about the panic in my voice.
Twilight’s face turned further down in worry, “Let’s hurry and run her to Zecora’s.”
“No, no, I can fly faster than I can run,” I said, my large, powerful wings could rival even Rainbow Dash, who can just barely beat me in a race, “Just point the exact direction.”
Twilight looked at the forest thinking, and then pointed, “I believe it’s that way, if not, just fly higher and look for a clearing with smoke. She’s always brewing something.”
“Great, meet me there,” Twilight nodded and teleported five meters towards the Everfree Forest and broke out in a run. I looked back to the crusaders, who had worried looks on their faces, and I realized I was hovering about a quarter meter off of the ground, “You girls be good, we’ll be back soon. Go have fun, and don’t worry.”
I probably didn’t sound very convincing with the quivering in my voice. I didn’t care. I gave a powerful heave of my wings and I ascended several meters very quickly. I flew above the tree-line and sped forward. I moved my hoof slightly so that the wind would not take Fluttershy’s breath away like it did to me—who knows what side-effect that would have. The normally fifteen minute walk to Zecora’s was cut down to just under two minutes. I landed in front of her house and caught my breath while putting my sleeping fillyfriend on my back so that I could knock on the door.
The zebra answered the door quickly, “Ah, you are here earlier than expected, per—“
“Sorry, Zecora,” I said quickly and sucked in another breath, “Fluttershy won’t wake up.”
She nodded, “Come in, come in, quickly.”
I walked in behind the zebra and set Fluttershy on the cot Zecora pointed at, “And what of your good friend Twilight? I had received a message from her late last night.”
I finally caught my breath, “She’s on her way. It was faster to fly here.”
“Then I suppose you should go find her,” Zecora said, looking Fluttershy over, “The forest, after all, is filled with danger.”
I pounded my hoof in nervousness, “Okay, okay.”
I took off running outside, but I did not fly along the path—my large wings would clip every tree on the sides of the path. After a couple minutes of running, I found a very tired Twilight about halfway through the path.
“Where’s… Fluttershy?”
“I left her… at Zecora’s…. to find you,” I probably looked pretty disheveled the way she
looked at me.
“That was quick,” She said and gave a wheezing laugh, “I am really out of shape for this kind of thing.”
I smiled and heaved a laugh. I looked up and realized we were in a clearing. I looked back down with a wicked smile on my face. Twilight looked at me with question, but then with horror as she took a step back, “Oh, no, no, no!”
I stepped forward and picked her up and jumped into the sky, above the tree-line in a second. Twilight screamed and covered her eyes, but slowly revealed them when I stopped and hovered in the air.
She smacked my shoulder, “Jerk! Don’t do that!”
I laughed evilly, “Aww, but this is the quickest way to get to Zecora’s, and you get a break!”
She huffed, but she seemed grateful for the break. I flew slower than I did with Fluttershy, and my nerves returned after being quelled by a couple moments of laughing. We made it to Zecora’s a couple minutes later, and Twilight thanked me for the ride. We stepped inside to see Zecora brewing up a small pot of herbs on a small flame next to Fluttershy.
“Ah, so you have returned,” The rhyme-happy zebra said when she spotted us, “I believe I know what has occurred.”
“I assumed some sort of sleep powder or sleep spell,” Twilight said, “and those can be pretty dangerous.”
“Not so much a powder, but a poison of sleep,” Zecora pointed to a cut I had not noticed before on the back of Fluttershy’s hind leg, “Contracted from that cut, and it looks fairly deep.”
I kept pounding my hoof nervously, “So can you cure it??”
The zebra nodded, “It will only take a few hours to make, but we must first sew that cut on her flank.”
Twilight found, sterilized, and threaded a needle and floated it over to Zecora. Zecora lifted her washed hoof and the needle attached to her hoof like a magnet, “If you are squeamish I do suggest you leave. And you two are quite, I do believe.”
Twilight pushed me outside, and I tried to resist, but she persisted. We sat outside for a while in silence.
“So, Twi…” I said, breaking the silence
“Yeah?”
I thought back to all the times my hoof was gripped by some weird force during hoofshakes, how Sapphire could hold crayons with her hoof while laying down coloring, or how Zecora held the needle like a magnet on her hoof, “How do ponies grasp things with their hooves if they don’t have fingers..?”
Twilight looked at me with a confused look as I dug at the ground. A realization appeared across her face, “Oh you mean Grip?”
“Sure,” I said, “Why not?”
“Hey,” Twilight said, putting her hoof on my shoulder, “She’s gonna be okay, Shade.”
“Shock’s setting in. Adrenaline is long gone.”
Twilight remained silent. I couldn’t feel a single emotion. This always happened after shocking or frightening incidents. My emotions just up and leave. I stamped my foot in the hole I made in the dirt, “Anyway, this Grip thing?”
She shook her head as if clearing her thoughts, “Well everypony has some sort of magic in them, even though unicorns and alicorns are the only ones who can express it freely with our horns. With pegasi and earth pony they are expressed mostly in Grip, but also in a few other places.”
I nodded to show that I was still listening and she continued, “Pegasi have magic that make them strong, powerful, and fast fliers. Before Celestia came, they were strong warriors that protected Equestria. From what you’ve told me about your world, you were a protector, which explains why you were drawn to turn into a pegasus. Without really knowing, you’ve been using magic since you learned to fly, maybe even before you came to Equestria. Your wings are your magic. That’s why you guys can walk on clouds.”
I nodded, “And earth ponies?”
“They are tricky ones,” She said, looking up into the sky in thought, “While everypony can grow plants, earth pony use magic to make them grow quickly and healthy. Earth pony normally make things. Furniture, houses, food, gardens, you get the picture. Their magic makes things last a long time and maintain its usefulness. Their magic is in their hooves. Heh, why do you think Pinkie’s treats taste so delicious?”
I felt a smile spread across my face, which made Twilight loosen up a bit. She let her shoulders slump, “I figured you already knew how to Grip things, since Sapph picked up on it so quickly.”
I nodded, “And speaking of Pinkie, did you consider my request?”
She smiled, “If you can write it down, we can learn it fairly quickly. Two days tops. And since you gave us a head-start by writing them out last night after the party, we should be ready the day after tomorrow.”
I reached out my hoof and slid her toward me in a sideways hug, “You’re the best, sis.”
She rubbed her head on my chest to return the hug, and I could sense the smile in her voice, “I try.”
*
Zecora called us in about an hour later while Twilight was trying to teach me to Grip. The cut on Fluttershy’s hind leg was now stitched together, and Zecora said it should heal by the time the antidote was finished. I figured to ask her why it took so long to sew up the cut, but then I remembered she was making the antidote at the same time.
Zecora shot a quick glance, “An inquiry if I may? Yesterday was your birthday?”
I nodded and she continued, “Perhaps her diet projects how she feels. Could you relay to me yesterday’s meals?”
“Uhm,” I started, “Well, we had tofu bacon and daisy melon for breakfast. She did eat quite a bit of Pinkie’s sweets she made for the party to give her sugar and protein to keep awake for the day.”
Zecora shook her head and gave an evil grin, “Well then I must say that it was good for her to not give a present in bed. To put it bluntly, more protein to absorb and she may have been dead.”
I could feel my face flush and Twilight looked away with a red face of her own, “We don’t—I don’t—“
“Oh, my dear pegasus, there is nothing to be ashamed of,” Zecora interrupted, “It is a very common theme between ponies in love.”
I shook my head, “I don’t care if I ever do that the rest of my life. That was never in my mind until now, and I still don’t care. Now can we please move on to why you brought this up?”
“I needed to know how much of this next herb to add,” Zecora said, crushing up some herbs with a mortar, “And with teasing, there is much fun to be had.”
Twilight walked over and nudged me, “She likes to mess with us.”
“You ponyfolk are much more forward than we zebra,” Zecora said, “But lessons were taken from the creatures and Libra.”
“Who’s Libra,” I asked.
“It’s a constellation creature,” Twilight said, “Kinda like an Ursa Major, which you told me you knew about. Libra’s are little barrels of knowledge that live here in Everfree forest.”
Zecora dumped the herbs she was smashing into the small boiling pot. The pot shot up a beam of smoke as soon as the last fleck of herb hit it, “A good fifteen minutes to cool. I must apologize for being cruel.”
“Don’t worry about it,” I said, “Kinda opened my eyes a bit.”
She nodded and we sat in silence. Twilight started looking through an herbal remedy book, and I sat next to Fluttershy. I noticed that the stitching on the back of her leg had started to dissolve and the cut heal. I lie down with my chin on the cot and her warm breath on my cheek. I closed my eyes, and, after what seemed like an eternity, Zecora said the brew was ready. I sat up and moved a bit so that Zecora could feed the liquid to Fluttershy. Twilight stood next to me and used her magic to make Fluttershy swallow, since she couldn’t in her sleep state.
When the liquid in the small bowl was gone they stepped back and let me step forward. After another eternity, Fluttershy’s breathing became deeper and her eyes drifted open and shut like an ocean tide pulling and pushing the water on shore.
A weak smile spread across her face. Her voice was soft and also weak, sounding like an angel, at least to me, “Good morning, Shade…”
I smiled and resisted the tears of relief that started forming. I leaned in and kissed her. The taste of ginger lingered on my lips after I pulled away. She stared dreamily at me, “I had the most wonderful dream… I dreamt we were flying through space and swimming in the stars… It was beautiful…”
Fluttershy’s eyes opened fully after a few dreamy-eyed minutes, and she looked around behind me, “Where are we?”
She spotted Zecora, “How did we get here?”
I shook my head and tried to explain, “We brought you here when you wouldn’t wake up. You had sleep poisoning.”
She looked up at the ceiling, “I thought that vine looked odd in my garden.”
“What vine?”
“The day before yesterday,” She explained, “There was a blue vine growing from the Squirrel family tree.”
“And?”
“Well, I started pulling on it, and I fell back and cut my leg on it,” She said, “I didn’t think anything of it. I’ve had worse cuts. Oh, I’m so sorry to trouble you…”
I leaned in and nuzzled and kissed her neck, “It was no trouble at all, Sweetie.”
“Shade…?”
“Yes?”
“Why can’t I move my legs?”
I looked at her legs and realized she didn’t move a single muscle other than her face since she woke up.
“The sleep poison paralyzes your body,” Zecora said, “but use of your limbs shall return shortly.”
Twilight explained further since Zecora never stopped talking in rhymes even to make sense, “One of the herbs she used is supposed to override sleep paralysis. It should give her brain a boost in hormone to undo it.”
“How long does this take,” Fluttershy asked.
“Oh, a few minutes maybe.”
She closed her eyes and I lay my head on her shoulder, “I’m cold…”
I crawled on the cot next to her and put my foreleg over her to share body heat. She gave a weak thanks. After a few minutes her forelegs started to twitch and spasm. She pushed me away, and then her hind legs started twitching as well, and she ended up kicking me in the groin. A huge shock of pain shuddered through my body and I fell off the cot.
“Oh my gosh! I’m so sorry,” Fluttershy shakily stood up and bent over me, “Are you okay?”
I squeaked, “Yeah… never better… Glad you’re okay… fuhuck that hurt…”
She kissed my cheek, “I’m so sorry! I had no control of my legs…”
I took in a deep breath and stood up shakily. Zecora was laughing. Twilight hid her face, but I could tell she was holding in a laugh. It was about twenty minutes before I had the strength again to fly the two fillies home.
*
When we got back to the cottage, Fluttershy showed us where the vine was that she had fallen on. A dark blue and thorny vine came down from one of the branches in the squirrel tree.
“Looks like we’ll have to take the whole branch off…” I said.
“That’s a Kreep,” Twilight said, “A poison vine that grows randomly in acorn trees across Equestria.”
“Is there a way to kill it?”
“Oh, you don’t wanna do that,” Twilight said, “The princess uses these types of vines to cure insomnia.”
I nodded, but glared at the vine in contempt.
“I’ll send a letter to have Princess Celestia send Barry or Sen down to harvest it.”
We headed down to the library where the crusaders seemed to take refuge. They attacked us with questions almost immediately. Spike, who was dreadfully trying to entertain the group, slipped off upstairs as soon as the attention was off of him. We tried to explain to the group, and they flocked around Fluttershy making sure she was absolutely okay.
Sapph somehow quieted the group and she kicked Fluttershy’s foreleg, “You scared me, Mommy…”
“I’m sorry, honey,” Fluttershy said, scooping her up and nuzzling her.
“Don’t ever do that again,” She said into Fluttershy’s neck, her voice cracking, “I thought something bad happened, like with Daddy…”
Fluttershy sat down and hugged the small filly and made shushing noises, and that’s when I realized she was crying. Her ribs started expanding and deflating irregularly with each sob. Fluttershy started humming a soft tune. The other crusaders and Twilight watched in worry as the small pony cried into Fluttershy’s shoulder with a vice grip hug.
Twilight and I shooed the three young fillies into another room while Fluttershy calmed Sapph. We all sat quietly, shocked by the event. The young fillies started worried whispers after a few minutes. I told the group I would check on Sapph and stepped back into the room
Fluttershy was still holding Sapph, but she wasn’t hugging her as tightly anymore. Sapphire’s sobs had turned to shaky breaths and the occasional sniff. When I looked at Fluttershy, I noticed that Sapphire was not the only one who was crying.
Sapphire took in a shaky breath, “I thought—I thought something bad happened…”
“I know how it feels to lose somepony you love,” Fluttershy said, her voice calm even with tears streaming down her face and mixing with her fur, “But I’m still here, so you don’t need to worry.”
“Don’t ever do that again…”
“I won’t. I promise…”
“Do a Pinkie Promise…”
Fluttershy set the filly down so that she could do the motions, “Cross my heart and hope to fly stick a cupcake in my eye.”
Sapphire smiled and jumped to hug her again, “I love you, Mommy.”
“I love you too, Sweetheart,” Fluttershy’s voice quivered, even after remaining so composed for so long.
I stepped back in the room with the crusaders and Twilight. Twilight looked at me worriedly, “Are you okay, Shade.”
It took me a second to realize what she was talking about, but then I figured out why my eyes were so blurry. I wiped my eyes, “Yeah. I’m fine. Peachy keen.”
Scootaloo, the orange maned filly, spoke out, “Oh, no. If the big tough pony’s crying, we’re probably going to.”
I started to laugh even as a few tears rolled down my face, “Don’t worry, kid. I’m not as tough as you think.”
*
Twilight set a ball in front of me. She was intent on making me learn how to Grip things. I have to admit: it would make things a lot easier.
“Okay, how about this. Humans had fingers right? Just imagine you still have your fingers and try to pick up the ball,” She coached.
I set my hoof against the ball and concentrated. I lifted my hoof and the ball stuck to it, but fell back to the table after a couple seconds, “Dang it…”
Twilight smiled, “Still one second better than your last try! Now, one more time and you can go home.”
“It’s been two hours, Twi,” I said.
“I know, but look how far you’ve gotten since I told you about it this morning.”
I looked up at the ceiling in defeat, “Fine… one more try.”
I set my hoof against the ball one more time. I imagined my hand was still attached to my foreleg and that I was wrapping my fingers around the small object. I slowly lifted my hoof and the ball stuck, like it did the last four tries.
But it stayed for a good ten seconds before slipping away.
Twilight gave a triumphant grin, “You have it. Now all you gotta do is practice with more and heavier things. But try not to pick up things heavier than seven kilos.”
Luna appeared in the doorway, “Hey, Twi. Supper’s my treat tonight, anything you want in particular?”
Twilight shook her head, “Whatever you want.”
“Are you staying with us, Shade?”
I shook my head, “Nah, Shy is making me and the girls a special supper and dinner tonight.”
“Well you enjoy then,” She smiled, “Oh, and that music you wrote out last night, I almost have it all down. If you haven’t heard, I’ve been practicing all day.”
I nodded, “And it sounds lovely.”
Twi jumped in, “And Dash said that she would do the drum parts.”
“What about the guitar parts?”
Twi gave a proud grin, “It’s not just vocals that I can do!”
This made me smile, “Awesome. I love you guys.”
*
Fluttershy was always an awesome cook. The four fillies and I all stuffed our faces with every delicious morsel we could fit in our stomachs. Fluttershy ate with less ferocity as the rest of us, but she smiled with every compliment about how awesome the food tasted or how great of a cook she was.
After supper, the girls all ran outside to feed and play with the animals. I helped Fluttershy clean up. I used my newly acquired Grip to pick up a sponge and wipe the plates clean.
“Hey, Shy,” I said, looking at my distorted reflection in the now-shiny plate.
“Yeah, Shadey?”
“I guess… I just wanted to say thanks,” I said, setting the plate on top of another clean plate, “Thanks for being such a great mother to Sapphire. After today… I realized exactly how much she really looks up to you.”
She was quiet a few seconds before answering, “I’m glad to take on the roll. I just don’t feel right—like I’m replacing a hole that shouldn’t be filled.”
“Jason would have wanted it,” I said, “He always believed in raising children with two parents.”
She remained quiet.
“Either way. You’re a wonderful mother,” I repeated, then added, “And a wonderful fillyfriend.”
“I had an older brother,” She said, “His name was Flashbang.”
My mind immediately went to grenades, but then I remembered, those didn’t exist in Equestria. She continued, “When I was only 20 seasons old, he took me flying. He was a daredevil. Always doing tricks. Rainbow Dash sort of reminds me of him.”
She sniffed, obviously holding back tears, “We forgot the schedule for the weather and storm clouds came in. A flash of lighting clipped his wing and were falling. There were a few cumulus clouds on the way down, so he threw me onto one. I looked over the edge just in time to see him hit the ground.”
A tear fell from her eye, and I reached up and wiped it away. She continued, “He died as soon as he hit. Broke his neck.”
“You don’t have to say anymore, hon,” I said, pulling her into a gentle hug, “I understand.”
“I know how it feels,” She said, “Sapph went through it once before and she had to go through it again. I am not a wonderful mother or fillyfriend.”
I pulled her away and looked her in the eye, “Hey, hey. You had no control over what happened. Besides, you came back, and you have no idea how much that means to us.”
She nodded and her tears stopped flowing, “Thank you…”
“No,” I said, kissing her forehead, “Thank you.”
Fluttershy served dinner a couple hours later—a small salad with slices of musk melon. After that, we washed up our plates together and the crusaders all went to occupy Sapphire’s bedroom. We made little makeshift beds for the three of them, and Sapphire shared the pillows in her bed she never used.
After that, Fluttershy and I went to bed. Fluttershy joined me again in my bed tonight, and she fell asleep almost immediately. I watched her sleep for a couple minutes waiting for the sandman to take me. I knew she would wake up again, but a small worry in the pit of my stomach wondered if that was true.
I kissed the yellow filly on the forehead and snuggled up closer to her. I was out like a light only a few seconds later.