//------------------------------// // Chapter 27 // Story: Home Again // by drnkntst //------------------------------// Chapter 60 The seven entered the spa and were instantly greeted, as any group with two princesses would, by extremely friendly and helpful attendants. They were shown the different stations they could enjoy. There was the crystal mud bath, which was green and translucent somehow. There was the hooficure area, both Rick and Rainbow decided to pass on that. There was the mane styling, again Rick would pass since his mane was only a couple inches long anyway. And finally, there was that thing no spa should be without, the massage tables, that, Rick could use. Twilight, Cadence and Fluttershy headed for the hooficure station. Pinkie and Rainbow went for the stylist. Applejack got into the crystal mud bath and Rick stopped Rarity at the door, “um, Rarity?” “Yes, Dear, what is it?” “Uh, not to be insensitive, but you’re, uh, not in, um, I mean Fluttershy is, if you were it’d be fine, but-” “Rick, are you trying to ask if I’m in heat?” “*Ahem* yes.” Rarity smiled and kissed him gently on the lips, “no, I’m not in heat. My cycle ended the day before I came here. There’s nothing to worry about.” “I’m… I’m not worried. If we were to have a baby, I’d be fine with that, happy even, I’d just want to wait a little while first, that’s all. I mean, I love kids but-” Rarity placed a hoof on his mouth to stop him, “Darling, you’re babbling. Now, let’s not keep the girls waiting any longer.” “Right, right, okay then, let’s get in there.” Rick followed Rarity inside, then they both went for a soak in the crystal mud bath. They green, Jell-O like mud was surprisingly relaxing and soothing to his tired muscles. All the girls were enjoying their typical girl talk. While they were being pampered and groomed, Rick, Applejack and Rarity cuddled up next to each other, well, as close as the spa ponies would let them. After about half an hour, they switched stations. Fluttershy and Rainbow plopped into the bath. Rarity, Twilight and Applejack went to the stylist. Rick and Cadence went to the massage tables while Pinkie decided to get a hooficure. While Rick bordered on unconsciousness, he overheard bits of a conversation at the stylist that didn’t quite seem like the same girl talk that was going on before. “…weren’t you worried...?” “…was it like…?” “…at first, but then…” “…sounds kinda like…” Rick turned to Cadence, “what do you think they’re talking about?” Cadence giggled and replied simply, “I’m sure I don’t know.” Thirty minutes of bliss later, and it was time to rotate again. Rick decided to simply relax and wait for the others to finish as he didn’t have a mane long enough to need styling and as far as a hooficure goes, well, it was bad enough he permanently had a heart on either side of his butt. Twilight, Fluttershy and Rainbow went for a massage. Cadence climbed into the bath with Pinkie and Applejack, who chose to climb back in. Rarity went for a hooficure and Pinkie Pie hopped over to the stylist’s chair, which she hopped into. After a couple minutes, one of the masseuses, the one working on Twilight, started to get a cramp and had to stop. They were about to call for assistance when Cadence stopped them. “Rick, why don’t you try? I’m sure she’d love it.” “Sure, I can give it a shot.” “What, are you sure you… ooh, that does feel good.” Rick was rubbing her shoulders and Twilight was positively melting under his touch. She could feel it like it was spreading beyond the simple contact of his hoofs. In fact, it was almost like he had fingers again. “Rick, I think you should try a little lower. Try the flight muscles. They tend to carry a lot of tension.” Cadence suggested from the bath. “Alright, if you say so.” Fluttershy tried to interject, “oh, but that area is-” “Relax, Fluttershy. Let her enjoy it,” Rainbow Dash told her with a smirk on her face. “So where, right here?” FWOOMP!!! “Yep, that’s the spot,” Cadence and Rainbow called out at the same time. “Um, why did her wings do that? ” “Uh, that’s a reaction that pegasi get when, um…” Fluttershy looked extremely uncomfortable. “It’s okay, Shy, I think I get it,” Rick stopped her before her face combusted. Rick leaned down and kissed Twilight on top of her head, “I’m sorry, Twi, I didn’t know.” “Uh, Rick, the base of the horn is also very sensitive,” Twilight’s wings were so rigid, they were starting to ache. “I’ll just go sit back down.” “No-no, you can keep going.” Twilight was trying to suppress her blush. She was failing. “Are you sure? You seem to be… preoccupied,” Rick was smirking as he approached her again. “Yes, I think it’ll be fine so long as you avoid the fli-HEY!” “What?” Rick was stifling a laugh as best he could. “These muscles are about as far from your flight muscles as I want to get.” “You can easily go lower than that!” “I said as far as I want to get, not as far as I could get.” Fluttershy’s face exploded, again, and every other pony in the spa laughed. “I could always stop.” “Mmmmnnno, I suppose it’s ooookay…” The room was full of giggles again, but Rick was just able to hear a ‘me next’ from about three other voices. After about an hour and one more station rotation, and a ‘special’ massage for Rarity as well as Applejack, they went for lunch at a local café for a bit of a late lunch. After their comped lunch, two princesses were in the group after all, they enjoyed some shopping in which Rarity obtained some ‘lovely’ crystal fabric as a gift from Cadence. Through the course of the day, Rick discovered that shopping with a mare, or seven, was just as tedious as shopping with a human woman. Either way, he couldn’t think of anywhere else he wanted to be at that moment in time than with his family, surrounded with love, nearly literally in the case of Cadence. Chapter 61 After the long day of shopping was over, they all returned to the castle for dinner. Due to their train leaving early, the six Elements decided it would be best to turn in early. This meant that they should be able to wake up early enough to enjoy a big breakfast and some free time with each other before they had to leave for Ponyville again. At the train station the next morning, Rick said his goodbyes to the girls, “I’ll miss you all, but I’ll see you in six days. That being said, can one of you pry Pinkie off me?” “I got ‘er,” Rainbow pulled the sobbing pink pony off the stallion. “Thanks, Dash. Now, who wants to get Fluttershy?” “Right here,” Applejack walked over and tickled the pegasus until she slipped off him and started rolling around on the ground laughing quietly. “Thank you, AJ,” he rewarded her with a long kiss on the lips. “Just know, that I’ll be thinking of all of you during my training and that will be what drives me.” “Just so long as you don’t let those brutes beat you again,” Rarity told him before she kissed him. “That’s the idea, to never let that happen again. Not to me, or anyone else.” “So, you really are doing all this, just for us?” Twilight asked. Rick wrapped her in a hug, “yes, Princess, because I need to protect you. I love all of you like family, at the very least, and I also love everyone else in Ponyville. This is the only way to insure that all of you stay safe.” This statement turned Rick’s body into a pony magnet as the six girls squeezed him in a group hug and a chorused ‘dawww’. They reluctantly separated and boarded the train. “Remember, to help out Fluttershy. Cadence said the next few days would be exceptionally rough on her,” the mares all nodded their acknowledgement. As the train left, Rick waved at the girls sticking out of the windows until the train was out of sight. “*Sigh* another long week without my loves. Back to the grindstone I guess.” Rick resolved himself to enjoy what was left of his Sunday before the next week of training with Shining Armor. This week would involve Luna’s Night Guard. Rick enjoyed the rest of the day as best he could. He spent time with Cadence and Shining. They enjoyed a large lunch and plenty of down time. After dinner, Rick laid down in his room and read a book left behind by Twilight on low level magic defense. The next morning, it was back to work. “I must say, it certainly puts my mind at ease, Celestia’s too, to see that you are going to such lengths to ensure the safety of these ponies.” “Thank you, Luna,” Rick sat in a field in his human form at the bottom of peaceful valley watching the clouds roll by, “but to be perfectly honest, I’m not just doing this for them, it’s also for my own peace of mind.” “Oh, care to elaborate?” Luna, also in human form, joined him in cloud watching. “It’s not the easiest subject, but you have done so much to help me, you deserve at least that much.” Rick took a deep breath, “I’m scared, Luna. I already told this to Fluttershy, but I held back. When I first arrived, I managed to keep Apple Bloom from becoming lunch to a timberwolf and was hurt badly for it. That night I first met you and found Twilight hurt in the woods, I passed out from exhaustion bringing her back to town. When we went to visit Cadence and Shining after he blasted me in the chest, I got hurt in an avalanche. I even nearly broke my ankle jumping in a river after the Crusaders. All this proved one thing to me, my human body wasn’t strong enough to keep protecting the ponies I loved. Then, I got a pony body. I thought that from then on, I could protect them from anything and I did.” Rick sighed and looked back up at the clouds, they slowly changed shape and became six equine-like, puffy blobs floating through the air. “Just when I thought I could protect them from anything, I was proven wrong. That monster came along and, in just a few hours, drove them all away from me. Even when we found her out, I still couldn’t do anything to stop her.” “But you did. Princess Twilight and her friends were able to drive Chrysalis away because you held her at bay.” “That’s one way of looking at it I suppose. Another way is, I barely managed to keep her distracted long enough only because she was toying with me. I could accept that, but for one thing; Chrysalis blasted my damn horn right off my head with ease. Just when I thought everything and everyone I loved was finally safe, I was beaten with a minimal effort. This training won’t prevent that from ever happening again, but I’m still just human, er, pony… you know what I mean.” “You care so much for those fillies, my sister definitely made the right choice name you their protector.” Luna looked from the clouds to the surrounding field. To her surprise, they were not alone. Down the hill, she saw two other humans setting up a picnic. She watched as the two laid in each other’s arms and pointed at the clouds, apparently naming their shapes. There was something familiar about them, “Rick, do you know who those two are?” He didn’t have to look, “that’s Hanna and myself. This was our honeymoon.” He propped himself up on his elbows, “we came back here every year on our anniversary. In a way, Annie was with us this time too.” “Oh, where is she? I do not see her.” “She was conceived here.” A look of panic started to take shape on Luna’s face as she tried and failed to look anywhere but at the two lovers. Rick saw her apprehension and began to laugh himself silly, “don’t worry. It didn’t happen right here. It was later at the cabin we rented.” Her relief was obvious, “I see, thank you for sharing this memory with me. It is very touching.” “You’re welcome, Princess. I only wish I could not only share this with the others, but show them the real thing. My world may not hold a candle to Equestria, but it holds its own beauty.” Luna grinned at him, “one does not what the future holds.” “Huh, what’s that-” “OFF YOUR RUMP AND ON YOUR HOOVES!!” Shining Armor’s unwelcome awakening ended the dream before he could get an answer.