There are some that would probably argue that pain is merely a point of perspective, a signal from the body to warn you and that it is merely a question of will to ignore it.
I would argue that those people are full of crap. And anyone that ever cut himself with a razor or stubbed a little toe on a hard piece of furniture would probably agree.
Fun fact number seven; don't cut yourself with a griffon-made razor. Seriously. Just don't. I'm pretty sure I hit bone at some point, though it's hard to be sure with me screaming at the top of my lungs.
"Now," Luna gave me a gaze that was a mixture of both concern and something that somehow reminded me of a scolding. "I will have to refresh the spell twice a day, but other than that the wound should be fine." She let out a small sigh. "Though I strongly advise from shaving until the area is completely healed," she cast me a small frown. "You do realize such dangerous tasks are much better handled by magic?"
Next to her, Silver Blossom frantically nodded in agreement; still a bit pale from the panic that had passed only a few minutes ago.
"I know, I know..." I carefully poked the large band-aid now adorning my face. "But I don't have magic, so I have to make do with what I can," I saw Luna open her mouth. "And I am not growing a beard."
The thing with magical healing is difficult to explain, so I'll try to boil it down to the important part: Any healing magic is only temporary. A healing spell will only hold for a short time, unless renewed regularly. This means that instead of directly healing injuries, they instead concentrate on aiding the natural healing process. It will shorten the time considerably, just don't expect any miracles.
"Well, yes," Luna gave a small sigh, "though what I meant to say is that I could simply help you with the shaving part. Magic is much more gentle concerning such delicate matters."
I briefly shuddered at the though of her handling my razor with telekinesis. Even with her being an alicorn princess, getting a shave from a stranger is not something I'd do without concern. Not in a long shot.
"Yes! You should definitely consider having us help!" Rarity had seemingly found her point to pick up the conversation. I wonder to this day what they think how I managed to handle my life without them. Admitted though, the first impressions weren't necessarily speaking in my favor. "And I still have to apologize!"
"It's really no problem," I sighed and leaned on the counter of my shop, giving her a small smile and trying to block out what cleaning still awaited me upstairs. "Things like this can happen. It was just a little accident."
"Oh, no it was certainly not!" Rarity all but wailed at me. "You seriously hurt yourself because of me! Any lower and you would have hit your throat!" I could see Silver Blossom's already pale face turn even paler at Rarity's sentence. "And I will not leave without doing something to show how deeply sorry I am for it!"
"Really, it's okay," I held up my hands and tried to sooth her. "I accept your apology. You don't have to go out of your-"
"Something so terrible cannot be settled by a simple apology!" she interrupted me with a small glare before smiling at me. "This evening, I shall cook for us. Then, you may accept my apology."
"You'll cook?" I raised an eyebrow in surprise.
"You cook?" Silver Blossom asked with an equally surprised face.
"Of course I cook!" Rarity held up her head a bit higher and her smile grew a little. "I do look after Sweetie Belle often enough, don't I?"
"I always thought you only made dresses," Silver Blossom gave her a blank look, "and stuff like that."
"Oh, don't be silly, darling. Nopony is simply limited to their talent," Rarity smiled at Silver Blossom and chuckled. "We all have our little hobbies. You should ask Applejack about her knitting once in a while. She's very good at it."
Silver Blossom gave Rarity a dumbfounded look. "Applejack knits?"
"Uhm," I tentatively interrupted them and held up a hand. "Who exactly is 'us'?"
"Well, all of us!" Rarity gave me a warm smile. "Princess Luna, Silver Blossom, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Twilight Sparkle, me..." she pointed a well-manicured hoof at me. "And of course, you." Rarity started to head around the counter towards the door leading into my kitchen. "I will start straight away! Silver Blossom, could you go tell the others we'll be having dinner here this evening?"
"Uhm..." Silver Blossom answered, still baffled, "I guess I could..."
With that and a final smile Rarity vanished into my kitchen, with me still wondering how I was going to fit all of them into my kitchen less find seats for everyone.
"Well," Luna spoke up with a small sigh. "Since that seems to be settled, I will head back upstairs and take care of..." she grimaced a bit. "Cleaning."
"Wait, shouldn't I do that?" I started to get up from behind the counter. It somehow felt strange to think that someone else would clean up in my house. Especially considering the mess that needed to be cleaned. "I really think that I-"
"Oh, no. I insist!" Luna interrupted me with a smile that could have stopped a train in its tracks. "After all, I cannot help but feel responsible for this as well. You just stay here, take care of your shop," she gave me another smile and headed upstairs, "and relax."
"But I-"
"Woodchuck," she stopped at the bottom of the stairs and gave me another smile.
"Yes?" I asked with a slight feeling of discomfort.
"Relax." Even with her smile I couldn't help but shiver. "You are far too tense," she started heading back up again. "This will work far better if you simply trust us. We are all here to help you."
"Help me..." I mumbled and sat down again with a sigh and turned to Silver Blossom who had been quiet the whole time. "Is she right? Am I too tense?"
"Uhm..." Silver Blossom stared at me with big eyes, seemingly startled at my sudden question. "I... I think I should go tell the others that we're having dinner over here... so," she flashed me a shy grin, "see you later!"
And with that, she too was gone, leaving me behind in the silence of my shop. Only the occasional sounds from upstairs or my kitchen reminded me that for the first time in three years, I was not alone. And for some reason, it made me smile.
At least until Rarity found the chicken in my freezer.
Silver Blossom hadn't been gone for long and I had just finished awkwardly calming down Rarity who, after having found out that me and Silver Blossom both apparently ate meat had been a bit... disturbed. Luckily she calmed down soon enough, and we both agreed quickly that a vegetarian dinner would be the best for this evening. So she had returned to the kitchen and occasionally I could hear her hum while Luna continued to work upstairs.
Strangely enough, now that I think of it she did spend a lot of time up there. I wonder what she was actually doing.
And once again, I digress. Shortly after Rarity had gone back into the kitchen, I got my first customers for that day: the Peg brothers.
The Peg brothers are the two sons of the local farmer Pumpkin Peg. Pumpkin Peg, as his name may incline farms pumpkins. Serious stallion. Hard worker, never lies, very devoted to tradition and upholding the family business. He seldom smiles but when he does, it comes from the heart.
Serious stallion then. His two sons though, not so much.
Basically, they're the pony version of adolescent farm boys. They love to laugh at any occasion, adore stupid jokes, whistle after the mares and there is nothing they enjoy doing more than spending money on cider. Luckily, as with all teenagers they're all talk and not much else. I sell them a few bottles, listen to their stories and jokes; but they behave. In the end, they're just boys.
I just make sure they don't spend all of their money on booze, which keeps old Pumpkin Peg happy.
"Woody!" Two Peg greeted me with a big grin. "How have you been?!"
"Ups and downs, ups and downs," I sighed while resting my head on my hand. "The usual. How about you two? Anything interesting happen?"
"You can say that again!" Three Peg grinned even wider than his brother. "You would not believe what's been going on out there!"
"Why?" I asked with a tiny smirk, as always amused by their general lack of concern for anything. "Did Cinder Pint forget to secure his barrels again?"
"Nah!" Two Peg laughed. "It's even better! Inside the village!"
"Inside the village?" I raised an eyebrow but otherwise remained unimpressed.
"Mares!" Three Peg grinned. "Out of nowhere!"
"Mares?" I frowned even though I already had a pretty good idea what was going on. "That's what got you so worked up? There's always been plenty of mares in Shoretrot."
"No! You don't get it!" Two Peg took over for his brother. "These aren't from here!"
"And they're hot!" Three Peg spoke up.
"Smoking hot!" Two Peg agreed with a huge grin.
The two probably would have continued by telling me which one of the new mares in town had the best flank or something along those lines. They probably would have done so while drinking a couple of bottles of cider as well. They probably would have. Except-
"Who's hot?" All three of us turned in surprise as no other than princess Luna herself had seemingly just come down the stairs. I swear to this day it's just unnatural how quiet she can be for someone who has hooves.
And while the two Peg brothers could only stare with open mouths and I couldn't help but smirk a little, Luna merely smiled at us with a face that beamed innocence. "I'm sorry. Did I interrupt something? What were you talking about?"
My smirk didn't last long though, because even as amusing as the situation was; my own mouth fell open when Two Peg, after staring at her open-mouthed for several seconds simply said: "You're hot."
If Pumpkin Peg ever heard of it, he'd probably laugh about it... after beating some sense into his boy, that is.