Chapter 62
“Why do you hate me?”
“Hey, you asked for this.”
“True, and I do appreciate all you’re doing for me, I just don’t like being woken up from a delightful conversation with your aunt on my home world. Oh well, let’s get this started.”
And that’s just what they did. The routine was similar to the previous week, healthy breakfast, aerobics, lunch, and hoof-to-hoof combat training. The combat training was even less fun than the week before. It turns out, pegasi are a lot faster and more agile than earth ponies.
Most of the training involved dodging, deflecting and redirecting. Rick learned very quickly, attacks are a lot harder to see coming when they can come from above.
The first couple of days ended with Rick being covered in so many bruises, his color matched Twilight’s. Like before, Cadence would heal his wounds. After his healing, dinner and a well-deserved rest. Rinse and repeat.
Mid-way through the week, Cadence noticed the amount of bruising on Rick was reduced. “Rick?”
“Mmm, yes, Cadence?” Rick was only barely conscious during their healing session.
“I’ve noticed something interesting.”
“Not something a guy wants to hear during medical treatment. What is it?”
“You don’t seem to be taking as much damage as before.”
“Are you disappointed?”
“Of course not. It’s just, either you’ve gotten very good at dodging, or you have some kind of shield.”
Rick thought about it for a second, “perhaps I’m just that good at blocking.”
“I don’t know, I would think that would still leave bruises.” Cadence paused to consider this some more, “I have to wonder if you aren’t making a barrier. Have you noticed anything?”
“I don’t know. I don’t feel any different.” Rick reached up and touched the nub of his horn and sighed deeply, “there’s still no change up here.”
“Magic is a funny thing, Rick. Even Celestia doesn’t know what might happen.” Cadence wrapped a wing around him and rubbed his shoulder to comfort him, “the only thing we can do, is be patient.”
He smiled up at her, “thank you, Cadence, I appreciate that. I also want you to know, that I couldn’t have made it through this ordeal without your healing. On top of that, you offered to put me up in your home this whole month.”
“Well,” she giggled a little, “it is a castle, we do have an extra room or two.”
“The size isn’t what matters,” “so says every woman,” “this is still your home and you welcomed me with open arms, er, hooves.”
Cadence giggled again and nuzzled him lightly, “let me tell you something, when you first showed up, Twilight was happier than we’d seen in a while. Then, when we lost you, she was devastated, we all were. Then, like magic, there you were again. Every time we see Twilight, she’s happier than the day before. Not only her, but Rarity, Fluttershy and Applejack as well. Shining Armor and I are all too happy to have you here with us.”
Rick leaned his head into her barrel, “thank you, that means a lot to me.”
“Every word of it is true, now let’s finish this and go get something to eat.”
That night, Rick dreamed of magic. In typical dream fashion, his horn had grown back and was as impressive as Celestia’s. He dreamed that he was fighting off hundreds of changelings with not but his magic sword and magic shield. All this with his noble, brave canine companion, Paul. And just at the height of the battle… Shining woke him up.
Rick was excited to get the day started. The possibility of him actually being able to use magic again got him amped up. “I’m going to figure this out even if it kills me.” It nearly did.
Rick was so focused on focusing, that he didn’t focus on fighting. Luckily, Shining was focusing on the fighting, “Stop, stop, stop. Guards, take five,” the night guard flew off. “Rick, are you alright? You’ve taken quite a beating today. Is something wrong?”
“Yes and no. Cadence told me that I’m bruising less now than before and seems to think my magic may be acting as a shield. I’ve been trying to make it work. Obviously, that hasn’t happened yet.”
“I see, and I can understand that. If you like, you and I can work on it.”
“Really, that would be great. I haven’t felt, I don’t know, complete since I lost my magic.”
“I can only imagine. Okay, now, you ready to get back to it?” Shining patted him on the shoulder.
“Yeah, let’s do this thing.”
Rick finished the training that day with only focusing on the fighting. Thanks to that, he actually managed to not have his flank handed to him.
The next day, aerobics was cut short and Shining tried to explain defensive fighting magic to Rick. Rick discovered that the way it worked best, was to just let it happen. The more he tried to force it, the harder it was to pull off. But, thanks to the practice, Rick had next to no bruises at the end of the day. Of course, that was before the two-on-one sparring. The three-on-one left him only barely able to walk to his treatment.
That night, he trudged to his room after dinner, opened the door and heard his bed practically cheering his arrival.
“SURPRISE!”
Chapter 63
Rick eased out of his attack pose, he had only just stopped himself from pouncing Pinkie Pie. “What are you girls all doing here?”
“Dear, do we really need a reason to come and see the stallion we love?” Rarity asked as she wrapped him in a hug.
“No, of course not, I was just curious is all.”
“Well, you’ve been working so hard these past weeks, it only seemed fair that we should come to see you instead of having you spend half your time on a train to see us.”
“Oh, that means we get to spend all day tomorrow just having fun. That’s great.” Rick looked at the collection of ponies, it was incomplete. “Where’s Fluttershy and Applejack?”
Rainbow answered the question, “they had to stay behind to get ready for Winter.”
“Shouldn’t you be doing the same, Rainbow?” Rarity asked with a smirk.
“Aw, I can spare a couple days to hang with my friends. Besides, my crew isn’t scheduled to start bringing the cold for a couple weeks.”
“Very well, I just don’t want you to get behind and have to strain yourself trying to catch up is all.”
“It’s too bad they won’t be here. I’ll have to make it up to them when I am done here. Now, I’ve already eaten, but if I know Pinkie, there’s a cake around here somewhere.”
“You bet there is!”
And indeed there was… for a while at least. No cake is destined to last long when Pinkie Pie is nearby. There were games and music as standard with any Pinkie Party. After about two hours, it was mutually decided that it was bedtime for everyone. All the mares went to their separate rooms and Rick climbed into bed, alone and exhausted.
The next morning, Rick was woken by a knock by a knock at his door. He found it difficult to answer though. This was due to the fact that a certain purple princess had snuck into his room and was currently draped across his barrel. He smiled and very gently lifted her off him and laid her back down on the bed so he could answer the door.
“Mmyes, can I help you?”
“I’m sorry to wake you,” the crystal pony said, “but Princess Cadence has instructed me to fetch you for breakfast.”
“Alright, I’ll be there soon. Thank you.” Rick closed the door and returned to the bed. He softly kissed Twilight on her forehead. Slowly, she opened her eyes and blinked the sleep out of them.
“Mhmmm… good morning.”
“Good morning to you as well. Say, Twilight, not that I don’t enjoy waking up to someone as beautiful as yourself, but if you wanted to sleep with me, you could have simply asked, I promise I wouldn’t tell you no.”
Twilight blushed slightly, “I’m sorry, I just wanted to be close to you.”
“I understand. Now, get cleaned up, wake Rarity and come down for breakfast.”
When Rick came down the stairs, he was surprised to be plowed into by Sweetie Belle. Happy to see her, Rick picks her up and tosses her once. Sweetie Belle is giggling like crazy. Quickly, Rick realizes they’re not alone and places Sweetie onto his back and walks over to join the others at the table.
“Rick, have a seat,” he did so and Sweetie slid down his back still giggling, “I would like to introduce somepony to you. This is Magnum and Sugar Belle. They are Rarity’s parents.”
Magnum is a light grey unicorn with brown hair and a very fine mustache. He wore a blue shirt with a flower print not unlike a Hawaiian style shirt. Sugar Belle was a pink unicorn with a purple beehive. She wore a red-orange top and white pants. Rick couldn’t help but think, “there’s no way she got her fashion sense from them.”
“So you’re the stallion that’s caught our daughter’s eye, are ya?” Magnum asked.
“Yes sir, though to be fair, she caught my eye first.”
“It was the same way with her mother and me,” Magnum responds and gets a small laugh from everyone there, except Sweetie. She didn’t really get the joke.
“Mother?! Farther!? What are you doing here?!” Rarity had just entered the room.
Her mother spoke up, “well we heard so much about your guy here so we naturally just had to meet him.” Their accents sounded like Minnesota or maybe Canadian.
“It’s alright, Rarity, come on over and join us.” Rick pulled out the chair next to him and patted it. Rarity reluctantly did so while Sweetie climbed up his back and perched on his shoulders, holding his ears for balance. This hurt quite a bit, but Rick was enjoying being able to play horsey again way too much to complain about anything.
“So, Rick, tell us just how our little Rarity managed to snag such a handsome fella,” Sugar Belle asked before sipping her coffee.
“Mother!” Rarity buried her face in her palms after hearing what her mother had said.
Rick couldn’t help but laugh. “Well, I guess the answer to that depends on how much you know about me already.”
Magnum placed a hoof on his chin in concentration, “from what Sweetie’s told us, you were some kind a giant ape with no hair and ya came from some faraway place that’cha don’t want to go back to. Is that about right?”
“Couldn’t have put it much better myself. Yes, when I first arrived, as you said, I had no hair on my body. Because of this, I needed clothing. Your daughter was gracious enough to provide some excellent apparel for me. In fact, it was thanks to the clothing she made me, that I was able to fish Sweetie Belle and her friends out of the river when they fell in. I had considered her a very close friend for a long time now, I’m just lucky she agreed to be more.”
“That’s very sweet,” Sugar Belle said as Rarity leaned into Rick, nuzzling a little.
“Well I’d say you already got the approval of all the mares of the family, I guess that just leaves me then.” Rarity and Sweetie both gave their father a pout that would melt the heart of any father. “Gee whiz, I think my mind’s been made for me. Though it’s not exactly like I was gonna say no anyway.” Rarity squeezed Rick in another hug, “just make sure that’cha don’t hurt her, ya understand?”
“Magnum, I wouldn’t hurt her for the whole world.”
“You know what, I truly believe you wouldn’t.”
“Thank you. Now, what say we enjoy some breakfast and then… what do you think Rarity, spa?”
“Oh, Darling, you know me too well.”
“Oh my, that does sound like fun,” Rarity actually cringed at hearing her mother’s reply, “too bad I can’t join you.” Now Rarity breathed a sigh of relief.
“What about the rest of you girls?!” Rick called over his shoulder at Rainbow Dash and Pinkie who were just now entering the dining hall. The general consensus was that it was a good idea, provided they all get a turn on Rick’s massage table, Cadence included.