//------------------------------// // Chapter 10 // Story: The Mage's Jump // by Marvelous Cheshire //------------------------------// THE MAGE’S JUMP BY GENOSABER CHAPTER 10 (Laura) ‘What happened to you, Croma?’ I wondered as I heard her let out an angered shout as she worked on the Seeds. ‘Trace spoke highly of you in the past. What happened to the Croma that taught him to control his magic? The one that was like an older sister to him.’ I sighed as I looked around the crystalline pool. While it offered me access to this place from the afterlife, I couldn’t move beyond it’s borders. With a final sigh I left the Void and returned to the Spirit realm. “Anything to report?” Zero asked in a calm tone. “She seems to be experiencing... difficulties,” I said. Zero smirked as he walked around the “room” he had constructed in this realm. “Prefect, that should give me the time I need to prepare Trace,” He said before turning back to me. “Thank for your assistance Laura, I know you care for him.” “Yes. Though I can’t help but wonder why you have taken part in this,” I sighed. Zero stopped and turned to me, his expression a bit somber. “Let’s just say I owe his family a great deal,” he muttered before disappearing. “Just as he always is, Zero the Enigma,” I muttered before lying down on a cot. “Just what do you have planned for Trace?” (Trace) “So the reason Emerald was annoyed was that you didn’t ask him before coating a portion of the floor in chalk.” Twilight raised a brow. “Why did you do that anyway?” “I was fixing Fei’s clothes, simple resizing enchantment to help them fit her new form,” I replied as I waved my hand to the child in question. Fei ignored me, more concerned with trying to remain unnoticed. “Relax Fei, there’s no reason for you to be afraid of anyone at this party” “I know, but I just can’t help but be nervous.” She said with a frown, her ears dropping slightly. I gave a faint sigh and picked her up, bringing her to eye level. “What the-” I placed a hand over her mouth to stop her. “Fei, listen to me. Everything will be fine, you have nothing to fear. I can assure you that everyone at the party will be friendly, and if anyone has a problem they can come to me. Understood” She nodded slowly. I set her back down before continuing. “And besides, I’m sure you’ll get along fine with the children there.” Her eyes widened at that. "W-what?" she asked in a slight panic, her eyes darting around the area as if the objects of her fear were about to pounce on her. I shrugged before responding. “Fei, you’ve been given a second chance at having a decent childhood. you’re ten, why not try and make friends with some of the children in town.” I turned to Twilight. “I’m sure the, what did they call themselves, ‘Cutie Mark Crusaders?’” Twilight nodded. “I’m sure they’ll be there, see if they’d want to be friends with you.” “Fine,” She sighed, her ears twitching. “But what if-” she stopped as I placed a hand on her head, looking down at her with a calm smile. “Sorry, just worrying too much.” She quickly turned and wrapped her arms around me, almost knocking me over. “Thanks... dad.” This was strange, I hadn’t felt this kind of responsibility for another in years, it's crushing yet it makes me light as a feather. "It's odd, being called that, but I like it. I really do," I said as I gave a hug in return. Fei stepped back and chuckled nervously. “Yeah, it’ll definitely take some getting used to,” Fei agreed. “But I’m still happy to say it. Now, I know that I have a family again.” I smiled as I placed my hand on her head and rustled her hair a bit, scratching near her ears. She yelped slightly and started giggling, before quickly knocking my hand away. Twi looked back with a raised brow. I gestured to Fei to explain. "...I'm ticklish," she muttered quietly. I raised a brow and moved my hand towards her again. “Stop! I’m ticklish okay!” she half-shouted. “You’re a jerk sometimes, you know that?” I chuckled and placed my hand back in my pocket. “What kind of father would I didn’t embarrass you once in awhile? And since I can’t really tell any embarrassing stories, I’ll just have to tease you a bit,” I said with a smirk. Twilight giggled and Fei held a pout for a couple seconds before joining in. “We’re here,” Twi said suddenly. I looked over to her to find we had reached Sugarcube Corner. I looked at one of the windows and saw that the lights had been turned off. I sighed a bit when I noticed a few shadows moving amongst the darkness. Do they honestly need to do a surprise party? Pinkie said it would just be a few friends. “You seem to underestimate how the pink one’s mind works,” Zero said, his voice resonating throughout my mind. “Wait,” I said, stopping Twilight from entering the bakery. I held my index and middle finger up, allowing a small ball of wind to gather. “Aero.” I released the ball in a horizontal slash, cutting the sling the doctors had given me. ‘Though, forced on me would be a better way of putting it.’ I grabbed my shoulder and applied a bit of pressure as my arm hung limply at my side. With a satisfying pop! I felt the tension in my arm fade. “My arm always end up sore as hell when I wear a sling.” I looked down at the green cast, thankful I wasn’t experiencing any itch. “What is this stuff anyway? I’ve never seen anything like it.” “Gelatinous, Antimicrobial, Ailment-Healing, Cellulose,” Twilight said. “Otherwise known as G.A.A.H.C.. Emerald uses it on patients when healing magic isn’t an option.” “Gaahc,” I muttered. Mulling it over for a second. “Name leaves an odd taste in my mouth.” Fei took a sniff, giving it a thoughtful look. “Smells... odd, kinda like those herbal ointments miss Cecilia makes,” she said. I blinked and looked down at the cast for a second before shrugging. “Ready?” Twilight asked as she placed a hoof on the door. I nodded as I glanced back at the window, just in time to see another silhouette move out of sight. “SURPRISE!” a small crowd of ponies shouted at nearly eardrum shattering level as we entered the building. I waited for my ears to stop ringing before checking out the situation. The crowd was more than double what I had expected. A quick glance at Twilight showed she was just as surprised, and the shaking behind me told me Fei had taken to hiding in fright. I pushed her back, keeping a hand on her shoulder. After a second Alex and Matthew walked over to us. “You have anything to do with this?” I asked. “Do you really think someone wearing this much armor and weapons thinks a surprise party is a good idea?” Matt shrugs. “Nope,” he said simply, gesturing to the crowd. “Pinkie thought it’d be easier for you to get used to the town if you met more ponies.” I nodded in understanding. After a few minutes I had gotten used to the strange ponies and had taken a spot at an empty table. I had just finished talking with a brown earth pony stallion, apparently Pinkie’s “coltfriend,” when I noticed a familiar group of fillies walking over. “Hello girls,” I said, giving them a polite wave. “Hi!” they replied in unison, smiling brightly before turning to Fei. She looked up from what I could only assume was a quarter of a blackberry cheesecake, bits of cake around her mouth, and stared back at them, a mix of curiosity and nervousness in her eyes. “Hi,” Sweetie Belle spoke up, smiling at my daughter. “Uh... hello,” she replied cautiously, eyes darting slightly between the fillies and myself. I gave her a small smile and gestured to the group. “My name’s F-Fei. what’s your’s?” “I’m Applebloom.” “Sweetie Belle.” “I’m Scootaloo” Sapphire beamed happily, using her odd form of thought projection to make herself known. Fei gave a slight smile, her ears twitching. This seemed to get the fillies’ attention as they looked up towards her head. “My daughter is a fox,” I stated simply, earning the attention of all five of them. “She doesn’t really look like a fox,” Scootaloo said. “Except for the ears.” “I’m a kitsune, a type of fox that can change it’s shape with magic,” Fei replied, finishing off her treat before sitting up and standing beside me. With a small burst of smoke, Fei returned to her true form. I grabbed her clothes and quickly stuffed them back into her bag under the table. “There,” she said, now looking up at the crusaders. “Fei, why don’t you go play with your new friends,” I said absently. The kit looked back at me, unsure of what to do. “Go on, shoo,” Fei sighed and followed them as they trotted off towards the other end of the bakery. I turned back to the table and prepared to take a bite out of the chocolate chip muffin I had until- “Ahem.” I turned around to find Emerald, the annoyed look on his face matching my own. “Mr. Trace, do you humans have something against slings?” he asked, lifting up the aforementioned item with his magic. “Yes,” I deadpanned, quickly taking a bite out of my muffin. ‘A little too sweet for my tastes, but still quite good’. “Slings tend to irritate my shoulder. If I wear one too long it becomes hard to move my entire arm,” I explained while taking a second bite. “Well of course it does. Your shoulder becomes stiff because the muscles need to rest while the rest of the arm heals itself. Constant movement disrupts blood flow, so the body restricts movement in the tendons. As for the irritation, what is that saying? ‘It has to hurt before it gets better’,” the doctor continued. “I get it, doc,” I finished the muffin and took a sip of water. “I’m guessing one of the other humans avoided wearing a sling, so the nurse chose to use one that proved difficult to put on or take off. It would have been hard to remove it without irritating my shoulder any more than it was from just wearing the damned thing.” Emerald opened his mouth to retaliate, but I cut him off. “Before you try and lecture me again, I was smacked around like a ragdoll less than twenty four hours ago, my head is still hurting a bit from that. So if you want to lecture me on something, drop by the library tomorrow, because honestly, I’d like to go the day without feeling the urge to rip someone's head off!” my voice took an edge at the last few words, making Emerald flinch. He nodded reluctantly and trotted away. Matt tapped me on my uninjured shoulder and handed me a slice of apple pie. “Do me a favor, cut him some slack. He’s got it a lot rougher than you’d think and doesn’t deserve to be shouted down by people he’s got no reason to help,” he said before heading off after the dear doctor. “Something wrong?” Twilight asked as she sat down beside me. I sighed and rubbed my temples before replying. “I’m still not feeling too great after that little run-in with the dire bear. I snapped at Emerald.” Twilight frowned. “I’ll apologize later, right now I can't bring myself to do so.” She nodded, her frown lifting slightly. We remained silent for a moment before Twilight spoke up. “There’s something I want to talk to you about,” she said nervously. “Yeah, same here actually,” I replied, My tone no less nervous. I had an idea of what she was going to say, so I figured it’d be best to get it over with. “On three?” I asked, earning a confused look from Twilight. “On the count of three, we say what we want to say.” Twilight nodded. “All right.” I held up a hand and started counting silently. one... two... three- “I love you.” We both stared at each other for a second, giving me time to notice the light blush on her face. Slowly, we smiled at one another as Twilight moved closer, before taking me by surprise and quickly me into a kiss, just as she’d done when we first arrived. I placed my hand on her withers and held myself in the kiss, taking in the feeling of her emotions, the taste on her lips, and the pleasant scent I could smell from her mane. A familiar mock gag drew our attention, snapping us out of our trance and making us turn to find most of the guests staring at us. Most of the ponies looked with either indifference or slight interest, but there were a few that stood out. Twilight’s friends, as well as the crusaders all had positive expressions. Alex and Matt both smiled honestly, Alex giving a nod of approval. Emerald’s was odd, for a split second his looked... upset, but he quickly gave a smile. Spike had a look of mild of mild annoyance, but gave a small, honest smile all the same. The girls seemed to have varying degrees of happiness. Pinkie and the the fillies seemed to be most noticeable, as they appeared to be having a hard time standing still. They hopped around us chanting, "He's a special some-monkey! He's a special some-monkey! He's a special some-monkey!" I let out a small chuckle at the crusaders’ words, Fei and Twi started laughing as well after a second. Rainbow Dash calmly walked up to the table, her smile more relaxed than that of the fillies. "So, you and this guy, eh? Don't blame ya. If he’s half as awesome as Alex, you'll be real happy." Twilight smiled while I let out an amused snort. Glancing at the humans, I noticed Alex laughing slightly. Matt had a look of quiet contemplation on his face that I’d have never expected to see, or maybe it was a case of gas. Judging on how he snuck off towards the exit it was probably gas. "We need a 'Twilight's not an old maid anymore!' party!!" Pinkie exclaimed. I bit back my laughter as Twi glared at her. “Pinkie, I’m only two years older than you,” she deadpanned. everyone else chuckled before slowly drifting back into the party. I wrapped my arm around Twilight, planting a small kiss on her cheek. After sitting there for a minute I started to stand. “Something the matter?” she asked with a small hint of concern. “No, just thinking about going outside for some fresh air,” I said, giving her a reassuring smile. “You’re more than welcome to join me.” Her smile was all I need for confirmation. After minute we found ourselves sitting on a bench a short walk away from the bakery, Twilight leaning comfortably against me, my hand running through her mane. “Beautiful, isn’t it?” I said absently, staring up at the clear sky. Twilight looked up at the sky and smiled. “Yeah, it is,” she said, before shivering slightly as a cold breeze passed up by. I wrapped my arm around her tightly and summoned a small ball of flame, letting it float calmly in front of us. I returned to watching the sky while I held the mare I loved in my arms, seeing the first few stars appear. I returned to running my hand through her mane after a second, feeling perfectly content to just sit here for the rest of the party. I hadn’t felt this calm in a long time. Sitting under the night sky, someone I loved in my arms, it was nice, not having to worry about anything lurking in the darkness, just enjoying each other’s company. Eventually I heard a sigh, I craned my neck back to find Matt sitting on the roof above me with an amused smirk. “I came out here to watch the show put on by the Princesses. I didn’t think I’d be interrupting anyone. Want me to give you two some privacy or are you headed out?” “We were just taking a break from the party, we’ll be heading back inside in a second,” I replied calmly, slowly rising from my seat. “Besides, I need to apologize to Emerald for my tone earlier.” With that, we headed back inside. (Later) “That was fun,” I said simply as I followed Twilight back to the library, the little bundle of fur I call my daughter in my arms. Twilight smiled as she trotted up to the door. We made our way upstairs, Twilight taking the sleeping dragon off her back and placing him gently into his basket. I set Fei down in a similar one nearby. Turning to Twilight, I saw her writing something into her diary. “Think I’ll take a quick shower,” I said, making my way to the lower section on the room. Twi gave a quick glance at me and nodded with a smile before returning to her task. By the time I had gotten out she was already asleep. I carefully slid in next to her, placing my injured hand on her chest. She moved closer to me, placing her hooves over my hand. “Codladh go maith, mo ghrá, (Sleep well, my love)” I whispered before laying down and falling asleep beside her.