//------------------------------// // Chapter Eighteen: New Tricks // Story: A Red and Green brush // by Netherweaver //------------------------------// Chapter Eighteen... Eleven years... It had been eleven years since I first came to Ponyville. Everything had been going along steadily, until today... "Dad! Wake up! I've got something to show you!" Skye said right next to my head. I groaned and tried to roll over, but Luna was in the way. My body still protested at early wake-up calls, but even over these eleven years my body had only aged about one. "Dad! Come on!" Skye repeated, grabbing me and pulling me out of bed. "What is it sweetie?" I said as I slowly gained conciousness. I slowly rose to my hooves and looked down and my daughter. Over the eleven years she had been with us the feathers on her head had started to become tinted in a blazing red. She was now bigger than most of the ponies in Ponyville, but still not fully grown. She led me downstairs to the living room. "Turn around dad!" She said as we entered. I complied, and I felt a huge surge of energy come from Skye. The surge managed to throw me out of my alicorn form. I staggered as my centre of gravity changed without warning. "You can look now!" She said, obviously pleased with whatever she had done. I turned to see a young human girl stood in the middle of the living room. Blazing red hair? Check. Deep blue eyes? Check. Three stripes next to her left eye? Check. She was wearing a baggy shirt and a pair of jeans. "So, how did it work?" My jaw was still refusing to attach itself to my face, so I just nodded to show that she had gotten everything right, as far as I could tell. "It worked!" She squealed. "I'm just like dad now!" She threw herself at me, using the wings on her back to propel herself. The wings had been folded in such a way that the baggy shirt hid them from the front. I splayed my wings and gave an almighty heave to stop Skye from sending me through a wall. I caught her, but she still managed to knock me over, so we ended up as a heap on the floor. As my voice decided to start obeying me again, I looked down at my daughter. "You've grown so much Skye..." I sighed, pulling her into a hug. We stayed like that until a very displeased looking Brusher came down the stairs. She saw the small girl I was holding and it clicked. "Skye? You can change forms now?" Brusher asked. Skye looked over, confused as to who it was that had spoken. "Oh, you've never seen my other body..." She said, unsure of how to say it. "That's mom, Skye." I said, breaking the awkward silence. They both breathed a sigh of relief, and I let go of Skye so she could go to her mother. They embraced, and Skye looked over to me and winked. I could see what was going to happen through the mischievous glint in her eyes. She hugged her mother a bit tighter and released the magic she had charged in her hand. Luna looked confused as she suddenly became a human as well. Her hair was the same colour as her mane, and her eyes were the same Icy blue. She was wearing a lilac hoodie and some grey combats. I was howling with laughter at the look on her face. "Oh god, that look is priceless!" I managed to say through the choking bursts of laughter. Luna was not impressed by my outburst, and letting go of Skye, picked me up in a magic field and then dropped me about five feet onto the floor. I grunted and stood up again. "Totally worth it!" "I'm going to make you pay for that Max..." Luna threatened. She jumped at me, using her wings for extra speed. She tackled me to the floor and started tickling me. "Ha! You're not the only one with fingers now!" She laughed as I writhed underneath her. I managed to get my arms free, and I pulled her down to me and kissed her. She stopped as soon as I did that, and returned the kiss. "Ewww, gross!" Skye said as she mimed gagging motions. We laughed. Illidan had flown in from the kitchen to see what had woken him up, and seeing the three of us all as humans, he flew over and sat on Skye's shoulder. She went outside to play with him, and left us alone. I finally let go of Luna and broke the kiss. She rolled off me and stood up. "Let's go and see where Skye and Illidan are up to." She said, hauling me onto my feet. "Yes, I think we've horrified her enough today." "Max! I just realised, it's your birthday tomorrow!" Luna exclaimed. "Oh horseapples, I haven't got you a present yet..." "I think Skye just got me the best present ever." I said, taking her hand in mine. She sighed and rested her head on my shoulder. "But I still want to get you a present." "It's not like I'm gonna stop you." I said. We got to the back door and as we went outside we looked up to see Skye and Illidan having races above Ponyville. We flew up and intercepted them on their second lap. We all flew down into Ponyville and spent the day in town, telling all our friends what had happened. Skye had just spotted her friend Dinky with her mother. "Heya Dinks!" She said, hugging the elder pony. Dinky had been like an elder sister to her. They wandered off, and Luna took the chance to go and buy me a present. I walked over to Dinky's mother, Derpy. "Hello D, how're things going?" I said, patting my friend on the shoulder. "Fine, Dinky is dealing really well with her changes, and Twilight is helping her with her magic." She said, fixing her left eye on me. "D, I think I might be able to fix your lazy eye." I said, noticing that the nexus of energy in her right eye was skewed. "Really? Let's give it a go then!" She said, hoping to finally be rid of her annoying eye. I placed the palm of my hand over her right eye, and gently manipulated the energy to straighten it. I did it slowly and carefully because it wasn't my eye, and I didn't want to mess her sight up any more than it already was. I removed my hand, and both her eyes were fixed on my face. "You did it!" She squealed as she hugged me. "I can see again!" She let go of me and started looking around, admiring the scenery around us for the first time in about seventeen years. "Thank you so much Max!" Dinky, Luna and Skye had just come back to notice Derpy looking a whole lot more normal. "Mom, what happened?!" Dinky said, worried that her mother had been injured. "No need to worry any more muffin, Max fixed my lazy eye." Derpy said, grabbing her daughter and hugging her. "Wow, thanks Mr. Reynolds..." Dinky said. "It's okay Dinky, I was just doing my bit, and you can call me Max." I said, ruffling the unicorn's hair. "Now, we'd better get home now. Come on you two!" I took Skye and Luna's hands and we walked back to the house. Rainbow Dash suddenly came out of nowhere and landed in front of us. "Whoa, when did you two know how to turn into humans?" She asked, looking at us suspiciously. "I figured it out this morning aunt Dash!" Skye said, looking pleased with herself. Elliott landed next to Dash, tapping her on the flank hard enough to get a yelp out of her. "Cool, think you could teach me how to do it?" Dash asked after shooting her husband a murderous glance. "Sorry Dash, but I think that three humans is enough. Things get violent when there are too many humans around." I said, trying to stop it becoming a fad to become human. "He has a point Dashie, humans get really violent when there are too many." Elliott said, remembering the slew of wars that earth had been in since time immemorial. Dash realised that he was telling the truth, remembering the times when I had almost flipped out when someone threatened my family or my friends. They walked off into town to get themselves a meal, and the three of us walked home.