Chapter 7: Friendship is magic
Cantor re-entered the room after hearing the explosion. He watched sorrowfully as Twilight and Spike crumpled into a heap together on the floor. The drapes were still billowing from the explosion. Celestia turned her attention towards the other alicorn. “It was the right thing to do.” She muttered.
“How long will they be out for?” Cantor asked, observing Twilight’s chest slowly rise and fall.
“Around an hour. They’ll forget everything that happened during the last two hours.” The princess answered softly.
Cantor sighed. “Well, I’d best get her home.”
“Of course.” Celestia added. She proceeded to clear her throat softly and instantly the two white pegasi that had assaulted Cantor appeared at the doorway. Needless to say they were about as happy to see Cantor as he was to see them.
“Yes, your majesty?” One of the guards spoke.
The princess turned to face them and said: “Please could you prepare a carriage for my subjects to depart within ten minutes?”
Looking into the room, the guards noticed the purple unicorn and a baby dragon sleeping on the floor. Cantor outstretched his chest to partially block their view. “At once, your majesty.” They replied simultaneously as they backed out of the door.
“Thank you, princess.” Cantor declared.
“For what?” she replied, looking down towards the stallion.
“For giving me a second chance.”
“Everypony deserves a second chance.” She acknowledged in return.
Cantor nodded in agreement and picked Spike and Twilight up with magic and placed them gently onto his back. He managed to stay standing. However, Twilight was a lot heavier than he expected.
The princess sighed contently through closed lips; “Mmmh” and both alicorns left, leaving the room completely empty.
The carriage lifted off smoothly and Cantor gave a farewell wave to the princess as it dove under a layer of clouds, obscuring the castle from sight. The fancy box was being drawn by two different pegasi to the ones who assaulted him, their great muscles of flight hardly having to exert any effort at all as they soared through the open sky. The alicorn turned his attention to the other two sleeping passengers in the transport with him. Spike slept soundly by himself on the opposite end of the roofed carriage, snoring gently in a little ball with his head rested upon his arms. Cantor was glad about being boxed in; it made the whole ride a lot warmer and… cosier. Twilight slept to Cantor’s right and when the carriage jolted, she stirred and her head fell onto Cantor’s warm chest. The stallion froze before slowly reached behind Twilight’s neck with his right forearm and began gently stroking her striped mane over her soft ear as she slept. And he didn’t stop until they landed.
The carriage touched down gently just outside of the library. The impact shook Cantor from his trance and he hastily carried the two sleepyheads out of the golden carriage on his back, Twilight’s legs pressing into the soft cushions of his wings under his light-brown vest. He thanked the pegasi who pulled the carriage and said he would repay them. They politely declined and explained that it was part of their job. Cantor found the key located inside Twilight’s mane and unlocked the wooden door. He waved the pegasus ponies farewell before stepping inside the library. He gently set the unicorn down on her sofa before carrying the dragon up the stairs to his small basket beside Twilight’s perfectly made bed, draping the soft blue blanket over Spike and left him sleeping peacefully in the sunlight.
Cantor tip-hoofed his way down the curved stairs – which was actually a lot easier than it sounds – and returned to the side of the dozing unicorn on the two-seater cushy sofa, observing her eyes flitting around under her thin lids. He stayed there for a while, watching her sleep peacefully, a serine smile etched onto her face. This made the alicorn smile too; whatever she was dreaming about, it was pleasant.
After what felt like twenty minutes of watching the mare slumber, Cantor began to feel like some sort of a creepy weirdo. He relayed the room. No trace of the struggle was evident and everything was as it was when the two were sat on the sofa with tea. Cantor glanced at the coffee table at the cold cup of muddy liquid atop it. Looking from Twilight to the tea and back to the sleeping mare, Cantor decided to make her another, carrying the cup with his magic, he poured the cold tea down the sink and watched it disappear with a gurgling sound. He replaced the cup on the work surface and searched for the kettle. It was sat, looking lonely on a gas hob. He half-filled it with water and set it neatly back down. Impressed with how quickly he was learning this magic malarkey, Cantor flicked the gas onto the number 6 setting and pressed the spark button with his hoof. A blue flame burst into life under the kettle.
Assured that the water was beginning to heat up, Cantor leaned through the doorway and stole a peep at Twilight. She still slept soundly in the same position he left her in, her forelegs still limpat her sides. Drawing himself back to the kitchen, Cantor gazed out of the four-pane window. It was truly a beautiful sight. There were fillies and colts playing outside in the sunshine; all mannerisms of physical entertainment like hide and seek and tag. It wasn’t hard to see why everypony looked so fit and healthy all the time; no X-boxes or computers, just innocent, childlike fun. A year away, he remembered Celestia saying, this world was due to end. Cantor opened the kitchen window and allowed a soft, fragrant breeze carry with it the sounds of young laughter. He leaned on the windowsill and observed the world. This is what he was here to protect; he must, at any cost… Failure, was not an option.
The kettle began to whistle loudly, taking it from the hob in a silver aura, freezing before he noticed that temperature didn’t matter when using magic, Cantor placed it on the opposite burner and opened all the cupboard doors at once, seeing whether Twilight had teabags or leaves. His eyes rested on a lime-green box that read “Bridlewood Green Tea”. Closing all unnecessary cupboards, Cantor drew out the box and flicked the lid open to reveal no more than five pouches with dark leaves nestled inside. The porous paper sprouted a tail of thin string with a thick paper tag at the opposite end. Cantor dropped the teabag into the white cup which bore a repulsive floral design and draped the string over the rim. He carefully poured the still piping hot water into the cup, followed by a splash of some sort of weird ‘yellow-capped’ milk.
He let the flavours of the tealeaves infuse with the water for a moment, watching the colour gradually darken to a suitable shade of bronze. He lifted the saturated bag with more magic and compressed it, releasing a stream of amber liquid into the cup. “Sugar or not?” He asked himself in a voice just above a whisper. He decided not to as Twilight seemed like the kind of sophisticated girl who only really drunk this sort of stuff and water; if she wanted something sweet, she would go to the other end of the scale and have a soft drink. The cliché phrase sprung to mind: “she was sweet enough already…” Cantor stuck his equine tongue out at that cheap line and slowly guided the cup back towards the saucer resting alone on the bulky wooden table.
Cantor hoped the tea he made was to Twilight’s liking. He found humour in the fact that the sole reason he was here was to prevent global collapse and he was concerned at whether or not the tea was good. He smiled and watched Twilight breathe deeply for a few more minutes, although it could have been longer as before he knew it, the mare stirred broadly, stretching out her limbs before opening her eyes to find herself slumped on her sofa staring at the ceiling.
“Wha- what happened?” She asked, sitting up drearily. Cantor held his breath. If the spell hadn’t been executed correctly, she would wake up to find another – much larger male unicorn sat next to her in her house. Twilight turned to face Cantor and repeated with eyes half opened: “What happened?” After she said this, Cantor sighed in deep relief. “I was just talking to you and then… I was down here.” She finished, looking completely bewildered.
“I don’t know…” Cantor replied in mock surprise. “You just stopped talking and fell asleep!”
“But… why?” Twilight asked.
“No clue.” Cantor shrugged. “Maybe you’ve been overdoing it lately…”
Twilight frowned at the floor. “Not that I can think of…” She pondered all the seemingly plausible questions, tapping her hoof on her chin, staring at the floor.
Her gaze suddenly shot towards the clock on the wall when it chimed and cuckooed once. Cantor jumped at the unexpected sound. Twilight didn’t notice though; her eyes were wide with panic. “Is it one o’ clock!?” She cried, standing to attention, nearly knocking the whole coffee table over in the process. “Oh, Celestia! I’m so late!”
Cantor stood up as well, a lot slower and calmer than the other pony who was now frantically galloping from one end of the library to the next shouting for her dragon – assistant to “Get up now!”.
“Would you like me to-“ Cantor started.
“How long was I asleep!?” Twilight interrupted, stopping to ‘converse’ with Cantor in the middle of the library.
“Uhhhhh…” Cantor thought as he counted the numbers on the clock. “About three hours.”
“THREE HOURS!?” Twilight bellowed and returned to her frenzied pacing, muttering to herself adaptations to her list such as “Well, I could skip lunch; that would bump up the time for surveying the food storage for today. Oh, and I’d better leave enough time to make dinner. Maybe I could change dinner. Ah, but today is vegetable stir fry: Spike’s favourite dish that doesn’t contain gemstones, did you know?” She asked, directly addressing Cantor, stopping in the middle of the room again some distance from the stallion, giving him an unnervingly wide smile.
“Umm, okay.” Cantor replied, watching Twilight closely with mild anxiety. “I could help you with some-“
“Speaking of which, where is that lazy dragon? SPIIIIIKE!”
“Twilight!” Cantor snapped, causing the unicorn to fall still and silent. “I’m sorry” He started, “Look, if you need any help, I’d be happy to lend a ha- hoof.”
“Ahhh! You’re a lifesaver!” She sighed.
“Of course!” Cantor joked. “So what’s first on the list?”
Twilight and Cantor hurried out the door, leaving the purple dragon on his own to tend to the library. The second introduction to the small reptilian had been a lot more successful – and a lot less painful – than the first, both boys striking up easy conversation about things that only apply to guys. Twilight insisted they left once the conversation topic turned to girls; once Spike got going about his 'secret' crush, it could be hours before he stopped. Cantor bid farewell to the dragon as Twilight was practically shoving him out of the door, reassuring him that they would catch up later. The front door slammed behind Twilight and caused several books to plummet noisily from their shelves. Spike sighed and set about cleaning up the mess, not expecting Twilight to be back any time soon.
“So what’s first on the list?” Cantor enquired as Twilight levitated the ridiculously long plan in front of her. The bottom duties of the day dragged along the floor.
“Check on harvest.” Twilight relayed, prodding the empty checkbox with her hoof.
“Sooo… Sweet apple acres?”
“Yes. As it is the end of Applebuck season, my friend Applejack and her family has to get in this years harvest of apples for the winter.” She replied.
“What? You live on apples for the whole season?” Cantor asked in mild shock.
“Of course not!” Twilight replied as if it were obvious. “There’s carrots, flowers, and as you know, hay is available all year round. Apples are really only used as ingredients in other recipes like pie and cake.”
“Apple… cake?”
“Yeah, have you never tried it?”
“Can’t say I have.”
“You have to try some, it’s to die for.”
“Yeah… I bet it is…” he replied with a hint of remorse carried on his voice.
“I think you’ll get along with Applejack; she’s one of the most likeable ponies I know.” Twilight insisted.
“Okay.” Cantor replied, he seemed rather distracted, but neither he, nor Twilight could pinpoint what it was.
A long moment of silence passed, and it was only when the two ponies left the outskirts of the town and began to trek down the slightly less well-kept track that led to Sweet Apple Acres before either of them spoke again.
“Twilight?” Cantor asked, “What would you say if I told you I had certain… Abilities?”
“Abilities?” She repeated raising an inquisitive eyebrow.
“Yeah, umm…” Cantor couldn’t think of the right words. “If… Maybe, uh…” Twilight held the confused look. “Don’t worry
about it, just forget I said anything.”
“Umm… Okaaay…” She replied, turning her head back to the trail. She had more pressing matters to occupy her mind with than strange friends. After all, she already had one of those…
The two continued in silence, but it was an awkward silence, not the nice, ‘nothing needs to be said’ silence. Cantor sighed, even the violent and emotional meeting they had worked out better than this, and now, Twilight hadn’t experienced any of it.
“Well.” Thought Cantor, “I’ll just have to build this from the ground.” The foundation had been planted, now all he needed were the bricks.
“So, Applejack, everything going well?” Twilight Sparkle asked as she observed her Earth pony friend forcefully smack a tree with her hind legs, somehow causing plump apples to fall into carefully-placed buckets.
“Fine and dandy, Twilight!” The orange pony replied, picking up a stray apple by the stalk in her mouth and dropping it into the bucket. “Who’s ya’ friend?”
Cantor was intrigued by how different all their accents sounded; the new orange mare in front of him had a medium-intense southern American accent, which suited her character perfectly, all topped off by that wonderful Stetson. Twilight had the standard, sensible ‘American schoolgirl’s’ accent, and Cantor retained his English heritage, even if a little more gruff, in his opinion, the perfect voice. Cantor pondered to himself: “Do the ponies in Equestria have similar countries where these accents originate from? Must do. Rarity had nearly the same accent as Cantor, but much more well-pronounced.
“His name’s Cantor. He turned up only this morning.” Twilight spoke, once again, speaking for him. He didn’t mid it, it would just be nice to introduce himself for a change.
“Pleasure to meet ya’, Cantor!” She beamed as she shook his hoof violently.
“You too, Applejack.” Cantor returned.
“Hey! He sounds jus' like Rarity!” The cowpony exclaimed in amusement.
“Uhhhhh… A little…” Twilight remarked.
“Anyhow, I got a story that’ll interest you two.” Applejack began.
“Get ready.” Twilight quietly said to Cantor, turning her head to his ever so slightly and speaking from the side of her mouth.
“So last night, something landed in my west field. None of us heard it, though, but me an’ Applebloom came across the scene pickin’ up the no good apples for the pigs. Damn thing killed one a’ mah apple trees.” She started.
“Oh, fuck.” Passed through Cantor’s mind for the second time that day.
“What was it, a meteor or something?” Twilight asked.
“Dunno,” Applejack replied, “But, there was some hair on the broken branches, thinkin’ about it, it was exactly the same colour as yours’, Cantor.”
“Huh, weird…” He commented, hoping the conversation would change topic.
“Well,” Applejack sighed as she spoke, “It’s a little more than ‘weird’; I’m down one apple tree!” There was a hint of anger in her voice.
“Umm…” Cantor said, looking at his surroundings, “Don’t you have enough?”
“Well yeah, but every tree is special to me. It’s my whole life.” She said, looking sadly at the floor. Cantor was taken back by how much she cared for her trees, and even more so by how genuinely upset she was. He decided to change the topic himself, though not entirely off of the subject.
“Where do you keep all those apples?” He asked, “I mean, you must have easily over one hundred-thousand trees here!”
“Six thousand, eight hundred and twenty one- oop, twenty trees to be exact.” The earth pony confirmed.
Cantor gaped in shock. Even Twilight, who was renowned for her organisation was taken back slightly by the statement.
“Seriously!?” Cantor asked in amazement. “You know exactly how many trees you have?”
“Sure do!” Applejack replied with great pride. “We keep the harvest in silos near the back a’ the farm.”
“How many silos?” Cantor asked, drawn in by the sheer enormity of the task she and her family succeeded in every year.
“We got ‘bout twenty a’ ‘em.”
“Chri- Go- … Celestia. How big are they?”
“Each holds around two hundred an' fifty thousand apples each.”
“Two hundred and fifty thousand!?” Cantor replied, astonished. “How many do you use?”
“Every year?” She pondered for a moment before coming to a conclusion, “we get about fifteen, sixteen, maybe seventeen silo-full’s worth a’ apples.”
“Wow.” Cantor was amazed. That meant easily several million apples each year! “Have you ever filled up all twenty?”
“Once, a few years back, we got enough money for that to fix up pretty much everything on the farm, an’ then some!” She replied beaming.
“You sell the apples?”
“A' course.” She said blankly. “It doesn’t take a million apples to feed Ponyville!”
“Who buys all those apples, then?”
“Buisnessponys from pretty much ever’where in Equestria. Here at Sweet Apple Acres, we got the best quality apples ever! Period!”
“Awesome!” Cantor commented, very impressed with the success of the humble orange pony. Who would have thought that such a... rustic girl could be involved in an enormously successful buisness.
“Try one!” She added, tossing two plump red apples towards Cantor and Twilight who each caught the fruit with their magic.
Cantor took a bite. “Oh, my God!” He thought as juice erupted from the apple, filling his mouth. It was like eating an apple, and drinking one at the same time! It tasted amazingly sweet, but not too much to make it sickly. All rounded off by an ever so slightly bitter aftertaste. It was absolutely perfect…
“Wow… You weren’t joking…” He complimented Applejack, hastily taking another juicy bite which happened to be just as good as the previous.
“I can never tell a lie.” She replied proudly.
“So, I take it you’ve got everything under control?” Twilight checked, halfway through her own apple.
“Yup!” Was all the earth pony said, making her way towards another tree that sheltered several empty buckets.
“Well, I suppose we’ll just get out of your hair…” Twilight called, starting to turn away with hesitation as the earth pony
forcefully slammed her hind legs into the tree, causing a downpour of more apples.
“Twilight, wait.” Applejack called out. “I’ve been mighty rude with y’all haven’t I?” She finished with disappointment in herself.
“Not at all.” Twilight reassured, “I can see that you’re really busy,” She giggled “As you are every day!”
“Thanks Twilight.” Applejack replied, bowing her head so the Stetson threw her face into shadow. “I’ll be free at the weekend.” She said looking back up with a smile, “We can hang out some time then!”
“That’ll be nice.” Twilight spoke, feeling reassured. “Actually, when Pinkie finds out about Cantor, no doubt she’ll invite us all to a welcoming party.”
“Welcoming party?” Cantor asked.
“Yeah, pretty much everypony who’s new to Ponyville gets some sort of welcoming party from our friend, Pinkie Pie.”
“Oh, that sounds cool…” Cantor replied weakly; he really didn’t like to be the centre of attention, but perhaps now it would be different.
“See ya’ ‘round, Twilight!” Applejack called, strongly bucking another tree as the two other ponies left, carrying their apples in front of them with magic. The orange cowpony stood motionless for a moment, watching them amble off into the distance.
“Hmmm…” Thought the element of honesty: she could tell something was off with the newcomer, probably not in a bad way, but still, something about him was just… different… She shook the thoughts from her head and returned to work. After all, it was late Applebuck season, and she still had a few silos to fill…
“Next task, Twilight?” Cantor asked, peeping at the unicorn’s list, failing to find the last box checked off.
“I need to pick up a dress my friend Rarity was fixing for me.” Twilight answered, marking a small box next to the note: “Check on harvest.” With a swift tick.
“Alright…” Cantor returned. “Fixing a dress?”
“Yeah…” Twilight sighed sleepily, though the day was young, the heat and stress had taken a little of the energy out of her.
“It happened a couple of days ago, see, I keep this dress she made for me as a keep-safe, a memoir of when we all attended the Great Galloping Gala the year before last.”
“So what happened?”
“All that happened is I took it out to look at it – I sometimes just like to do that – and it caught on an out of place nail in my doorway and tore a little.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.” Cantor said with sympathy.
“Oh, it’s fine.” Replied Twilight. “Rarity said she can fix anything fabric.”
“That’s good. Hey, do you go to the gala every year? I heard it’s spectacular.”
“Well,” She started, “The first year my friends and I attended the gala, it sort of… wasn’t.”
How come?” He asked, trying to sound clueless.
“We all did our separate things, and it kind of ruined the whole party.”
“How?” The stallion asked slowly, a smirk creeping onto his face.
“It’s a long story… I’ll tell you later, I’m really sorry, but I have so much to do today.”
“It’s fine,” Cantor said happily, “I understand.”
The walk to the boutique involved crossing the centre of town where, of all the ponies to run into, Pinkie Pie was the one to erupt from seemingly nowhere, causing both ponies to jump out of their skins.
“Hey, Twilight!” The party mare yelled ecstatically. “Who’s this?” She asked pointing a forceful hoof at Cantor from where she stood in the fountain.
Still startled from the shock, Twilight remained silent. Cantor ceased the opportunity to introduce himself for a change. “I’m Cantor. Nice to meet ya, Pinkie.”
Pinkie gasped. “You know my name! That’s great!”
Cantor hoped Twilight wasn’t paying attention. Unfortunately, this was Twilight.
“How do you know her name?” She asked accusingly.
“I, uh…” Pinkie clambered out from the high fountain wall and landed with a splattering of water on the ground. The pink pony’s coat began to dry almost immediately in the hot sun. “She’s pink, and she knows you… I just put two and two together and well… Pinkie Pie.” He finished, gesturing his hoof in the direction of the party pony.
“You’ve got a quick mind. I like that.” Twilight said proudly.
“Damn quick.” Cantor thought, silently congratulating himself.
“How long have you been in Ponyville? I’ve never seen you before. OH! I’ve got to throw you a welcome party!” She exclaimed, her voice growing in pitch and volume as she spoke the last two words.
“Actually, Pinkie, I just came here this morning.”
“Would you like me to show you around?” Her sky-blue eyes were full of wonder; she loved making new friends and giving tours. Both at the same time would be bliss.
Cantor looked at Twilight for answers. He didn’t care what he did, he would be happy to help Twilight, and felt in debt to her. However, he would love to spend more time with this hyperactive mare. “Well, it’s up to you, Cantor…” Said Twilight.
“Damn it.” Thought the stallion. He hated that phrase. He always relied on others to make decisions for him. He didn’t want to disappoint anypony. “I don’t mind.” He said.
“Do you mind showing him around, Pinkie?” Twilight asked.
“Of course not! I’d love to!” Pinkie answered almost instantly when Twilight finished talking.
“Well, I guess you don’t have a choice!” Twilight joked towards Cantor.
A wave of relief washed over him, followed by a content smile. “Sounds good to me! A-are you sure you don’t need help?”
“Cantor,” Twilight sighed. “I’m collecting a dress; if there were something that involved monotonous heavy lifting, however, the story might be a little different.”
“Oh, thanks.” Cantor replied sarcastically. “I’ll try to meet you back at the library.”
“Take your time, Rarity and I are having a spa session, so it should be around dusk by the time I get back to the library.”
Cantor gagged. “Ugh, a spa!?” Twilight nodded happily with closed eyes. “What… I don’t even… You know what? I don’t wanna know; girl stuff.” He proceeded to hang his tongue out.
“Oh, please.” Twilight spoke up. “I would try to explain, but I wouldn’t expect a colt to understand!” She began to laugh, closely followed by Pinkie, who’s infectious giggling started Cantor off too.
The group continued to chortle manically for a solid minute before Cantor asked between gasps for air: “What are… we even… laughing ab-… laughing about!?”
“I don’t know!” Pinkie cried, drawing several pony’s heads. Their joyous laughter only intensified.
As their cackles simmered down to rapid breathing, and snorts of small amusement, Cantor spoke first. “Well, that was… different…” his cheeks were burning from the smiling, yet he continued to press them in a wide, beaming grin.
“Ahhh…” Twilight sighed in felicity before declaring her ‘tardiness’ and making her swift way towards carousel boutique, leaving Cantor and Pinkie Pie to explore Equestria… Within reason, of course…
“And over here’s the river!” The pink mare said excitedly. “And that concludes the tour!”
“Wow. That was quick.” Cantor commented. It had taken the pair no more than seven minutes to cycle through all the main attractions in Ponyville and Cantor had to gallop continuously to keep up with the bounding Pinkie Pie, who rattled out her words just as fast as she moved. The two now stood one side of a stone bridge which curved over a bubbling stream. Cantor felt more at ease with Pinkie; she wouldn’t question him when he gave inside knowledge about their lives like Twilight would.
“Does Fluttershy live over there?” He asked, remembering hearing about how the timid pegasus lived on the outskirts of Ponyville with many hundreds of animals. He thought it strange how somepony so scared of pretty much everything could live at such close proximity to the Everfree Forest, a place famed for it’s mystery, unnatural biology and above all, it’s danger.
“Yeah, you wanna go see her?” Pinkie asked with her standard level of enthusiasm.
“I’d like to… she doesn’t usually do anything throughout the day, does she? I’d hate to disrupt her afternoon.” The disguised alicorn asked, not wanting to get off on the wrong hoof with anypony – especially Fluttershy because she would be too shy to say she was busy, even if she was.
“Uhh, I don’t think so. Usually she just stays at her cottage, looking after all her animals, aaand that’s pretty much it.” She explained, beginning to cross the bridge with Cantor at her side.
“What does she actually do? As in, how does she make money? Is she a vet or something?”
“Yeah. Ponies take their sick pets to her and she’s never not been able to fix them up!” Pinkie replied, praising her friend.
“That’s cool.” Cantor remarked.
“Her house isn’t far from here; we’ll be there in no time!” Pinkie reassured, even though Cantor was more than happy walking down the tree-carved pathway, spattered with dappled sunlight.
As promised, the cottage adorned with birdhouses and leaf – covered windows jutting from the roof rapidly came into view. It looked remarkably like Twilight’s tree house, only a lot less ‘tree-like’, resembling more of a bewildring mushroom. Another, smaller bridge made from wood arched across a stream. A large tree, bearing a few extra ornamental bird boxes stood to the right, swaying gently in the breeze. Cantor clocked his surroundings with an eyebrow raised, it was certainly peaceful, except for the sweet sound of somepony’s singing wafting through the air. Though the sound wasn’t exactly distinguishable from something that was natural as life. “It must be Fluttershy.” Thought Cantor, listening to the beautiful sound. He and Pinkie crossed the bridge and made their way towards the humble wooden door. The singing only intensified, it became apparent that the song had no specific words, yet it still hit the ear beautifully. Only very special ponies can pull off something like that.
Pinkie was the one to rasp loudly on the door. Instantly, the angelic singing was cut off and the sound of hurried shuffling ensued. The door cracked open, revealing a feeble aquatic eye.
“Y-Yes?” Came a timid voice from behind the door, causing Cantor to smile.
“Hi there, Fluttershy, my name’s Cantor.” The stallion said soundly.
“How do you know my name?” She asked shakily.
“I’m here with Pinkie Pie.” He said looking towards the pink pony, quickly realising that Fluttershy couldn't see Pinkie at all and could be fearful of an unfarmilliar face.
The door opened wider to reveal the bubbly pink mare. “Hey, Fluttershy!” She beamed.
“Oh, hello, Pinkie Pie.” The butter – coloured pegasus answered. “Would you like to come in?”
“Yup!” Pinkie answered, bounding into Fluttershy’s home and planting herself on the attractive moss-green sofa to the far wall, leaving Fluttershy respectively on her own with the large ‘unicorn’.
The pegasus let out an “Eep” and backpedalled until she struck the sofa and landed on her behind, falling into the cushion.
Cantor gently stepped through the door, closing it as quietly as possible behind him with magic. “Sooo, uh…” He said, rolling his eyes in an attempt to find a topic to talk about.
“What have you been up to lately, Fluttershy?” Pinkie asked openly. A valid question, none the less.
“Not much, Pinkie.” The pegasus answered meekly, turning her head to hide behind her light pink mane.
“Wow.” Thought Cantor, he knew this pony was shy, but this was ridiculous. Was it because he was there? Maybe if he laid down, it would make her feel more comfortable… he did just that, lowering himself onto the floor and crossing his forearms out in front of him, now only a metre or two from Fluttershy. The act seemed to ease her – though ever so slightly – enough to come out of her hiding place and meet the alicorn’s compassionate eye again.
“Just the usual,” Fluttershy continued, her voice returning to ‘normal’, even if that ‘normal’ was very soft and quiet. “Just caring for the creatures, housework, cooking. You know… the usual.”
Cantor’s ears perked up. “Cooking?” He asked, knowing his way around a kitchen himself. “You cook?” To some that would be a silly question: of course she cooked, who else did she have that would do it for her. But to bring it up in conversation showed she didn’t feel out of place in the culinary workshop either.
Fluttershy turned to face her visitor and blushed. She could tell he cottoned on to her passion for cookery and didn’t like to show it. “Y-Yes. I cook…” She answered, returning to her dampened voice.
“What sort of things do you cook?” Cantor enquired.
“Oh, nothing much.” She replied, it was plain to see that she felt uncomfortable around Cantor. This made him feel empty. He knew they would come to be good friends, but he also knew he would have to work for it and watch what he said… and did around this sensitive mare.
“Oh, alright.” Cantor trailed off, not wanting to throw the sweet young pegasus into nervousness, or even fear. However, he noticed that no matter where Fluttershy looked, her eyes would always glance back to the bulges on his side before quickly looking away again. The next time she looked, Cantor caught her glance by narrowing his eyes ever so slightly, enough to make the pegasus keep eye contact, but hopefully not to instil fear.
“Something the matter, Fluttershy?” He asked as respectively as possible from where he laid on the large rug that nearly filled the entire room.
“Um… No, it’s nothing.” She replied submissively.
“Really?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. He knew what she wanted to know, but he wanted her to ask it. “Is it about these?” He prodded the bump on his left side with a hoof, causing a shooting pain through the entire appendage which hadn’t moved for over four and a half hours now. Cantor decided strongly against doing that again.
“No…” She replied, her voice becoming more quiet with everything she said.
“Yeah, what are those things on your back?” Pinkie chimed in. She gasped “Are they ‘hidden balloons’!?”
“Astounding.” Thought cantor; even the slightest hint towards something comical got this pony excited. “No Pinkie,” He answered, humouring her a little. “They’re the result of an accident many years ago…” He assumed it best to stick with his story.
“What kind of accident?” Pinkie asked, a seldom sense of true care was very noticeable in her tone, and so was the delightful enthusiasm only Pinkie Pie could manage to constantly pull off. From only this mare could a mixture of concern and excitement be deemed acceptable.
“Not a very nice one.” Cantor warned.
“Please tell us?” The Earth pony insisted.
“Well, when I was a colt, no more than three or four, I was dropped under a stagecoach.” The alicorn explained as abstract as possible.
“Oh, you poor thing.” Fluttershy commented with her usual caring voice.
“What made… those?” Pinkie Pie quizzed, gesturing in Cantor’s general direction.
“I’m not really sure…” He answered. Though he could imagine a few things, tumours sounded too ominous and cysts were cringe-worthy. “They just appeared after about a week and grew with me.”
“Do they… hurt?” Fluttershy asked with deep compassion.
Cantor felt relieved that he and the timid pegasus were already getting off on the right hoof. But why wouldn’t they? She had a very likeable character. “No, not at all.” He said with a smile. That also was a lie. His wings had been bound for so long that discomfort was beginning to stretch into the realms of aching pain.
“Would you like me to take a look?” The veterinary pegasus asked.
“Actually, I’d rather you didn’t…” Cantor replied.
“Oh… Okay…” Fluttershy murmured.
Satisfied that they had conversed long enough to become more comfortable around each other, Cantor brought in the next topic.
“So, Fluttershy,” He started with a light-hearted tone. “What are you cooking now?” He paused and thought of something to add that would make her feel more at ease. “If you don’t mind talking about it, that is…”
“Not at all.” Replied Fluttershy. Cantor smiled. “It’s just a little something for dinner. See, me and my bunny, Angel are eating together tonight. He loves eating with me. I wish I could do it more often…” She trailed off, slightly disheartened.
Just then, a small white rabbit with beady black eyes hopped broadly into the room. Upon catching sight of the large stallion in the room, he was taken back slightly before gathering himself and leaping onto the sofa to join his owner by her side.
“Angel, bunny,” Fluttershy began, “this is… oh, um…” She hid from Cantor behind her mane.
“Cantor.” The stallion finished her sentence for her. “And you must be angel.” He continued, throwing the rabbit a warm look.
Angel stayed motionless at Fluttershy’s side, unable to work out whether he should be cold towards the newcomer or fear him. Fortunately, Cantor’s kind glow eliminated both of those approaches, replacing them with a steady acknowledgement. He hopped from the sofa and met Cantor’s outstretched hoof with his paw. “It’s nice to meet you.” The stallion added as a small footnote. He smiled, slowly breaking the hoof – paw shake. Angel whirled around and bounded back up the thin flight of stairs he came in from, not acknowledging Pinkie Pie. The three ponies in the large circular living room sat in silence and listened to Angel’s pitter-patter of paws on the second level of the cottage. It soon became apparent to Cantor that Angel was not the only non-equine inhabitant of the house as his hearing became sensitive to a cacophonous drone of scratching in the walls.
“God, Fluttershy,” Cantor began. He assumed it would be acceptable to say ‘God’ as the ponies of Equestria looked upon Celestia and Luna as just that, and the habit of using the lord's name in vein had become somewhat of second nature. “Just how many animals do you have living here?” He asked, gazing around at the uncomfortable sound.
“Oh, I don’t actually know,” Fluttershy started, returning from her hiding place, relieved by the fact that even though she had forgotten Cantor’s name, it didn’t bother him one bit. “Definitely hundreds. And the only time I see them is when they come out if they’re feeling poorly.” She finished, gazing upon a ridiculously undersized doorway cut into the skirting of the room; the home to one of many families of mice who had an injured member.
“Doesn’t looking after all those animals get a bit much?” Cantor returned.
“Not really… They gather their own food, make their own homes and I’m usually always around to help them. There’s no real incidents that make it hard work; usually it’s just broken bones and…” She gulped, “lacera- lacer- cuts…” She couldn’t bring herself to say such a violent word, even if it did happen to be the correct terminology to a vetinary student.
“Oh, okay.” Cantor remarked, his eyes dropped to the floor for a moment before looking back up when Pinkie Pie spoke.
“Hey, do you know what Rainbow Dash is doing?” The pink mare blurted with unsubtle enthusiasm.
“I can’t say I do, Pinkie…” Fluttershy answered, turning to her friend. “My guess is that she would probably be practicing some sort of new trick.”
“Either that or sleeping!” Pinkie added, throwing the three into fits of giggles.
“Why? Do you two have things planned?” The meek pegasus asked, a hint of benign disappointment in her tone. Fluttershy usually didn’t get visitors, and whenever she did, they either only wanted something from her, or wouldn’t stay for very long at all.
“No, I was just wondering, that’s all.” Pinkie pie said, smiling.
“Oh, that’s… nice…” Fluttershy replied with a smile of her own.
“Do you like reading, Fluttershy?” Cantor addressed Fluttershy. He was fishing for topics by now, after hearing the disappointment in her voice.
“Well, um… a little…” She answered, shy as always…
“What type?”
“What?”
“You know, like adventure, romance, comedy…” Struggling to come up with more, he began reciting the few tags he knew. “Uh, shipping… Cr- crossover?” He raised both his eyebrows quickly, “Horror?”
The very word made Fluttershy feel uneasy. “Um, no. Definitely not…” She replied shakily.
“How about you, Pinkie?” Cantor asked, turning to face the Earth pony, who was being unusually quiet until now.
“Well, I don’t really read by myself, but sometimes Rainbow Dash reads her “Daring Do” series to me when she’s bored, but I don’t really pay attention so much to the stor-“ She stopped herself before revealing too much. But Cantor knew exactly where she was going with that. “Yeah, I do like reading!” She tried again, this time adding a dismissive giggle at the end.
“Actually, I’ve heard a lot of good things about Daring Do.” Cantor commented, slightly changing the subject as he noticed the party pony’s face somehow becoming a deeper shade of pink. “Is it any good?”
“IIII'mm not so sure, uh,” She stumbled for the right words to close the topic on her ‘best friend’, “You’ll… You’ll just have to ask Rainbow Dash. I don’t really have an opinion.” Cantor nodded in understanding. “Careful, though. Once Dashi-… Rainbow Dash gets started on Daring Do, she doesn’t usually stop.” The three ponies laughed at this point. Mainly because it was true.
“Well, I guess we’d better be going.” Declared Pinkie, pretending to stretch broadly and standing up from where she sat on the plush lime coloured sofa.
“Oh, but you’ve only just got here.” Fluttershy squeaked in weak protest.
Cantor made no effort to get up from the floor. “Yeah, Pinkie Pie, we’ve barely been here for five minutes.”
“Yeah, but I’ve still got a lot of Ponyville to show you.” She argued, stepping to Cantor’s side.
“Wh- I- Uh…” He was stuck between a rock and a hard place; he didn’t want Fluttershy to think she was boring Pinkie, but at the same time, and he didn’t want Pinkie Pie to be bored. But- he didn’t want to leave Fluttershy on her own and feeling discarded. "Oh… What should I do?” He yelled inside his head.
“That first tour I gave you was too quick. I’ll show you round better now.” She chimed, struggling to pull the heavy stallion to his hooves. He cast Fluttershy a helpless look, attempting to show that he did care about her friendship. There was no doubt that Pinkie Pie was also her friend, and she loved her. Unfortunately, the party pony was simply too lively for the quiet little pegasus most of the time.
“Uh, we’ll come visit again soon, okay?” Cantor called out as Pinkie was practically shoving him out the door.
“Oh, yes… that would be lovely…” Replied Fluttershy contently.
Pinkie shoved Cantor fully out of the cottage and turned to face a desperate-looking Fluttershy. “See ya soon, Fluttershy!” She beamed, reaching for the doorknob.
“Oh, yes, bye Pinkie Pie… Bye Cantor,” She silently rewarded herself as she said this. “I’ll see you guys soo-“
Her sentence was cut short by the slamming of her front door, causing an unfamiliar bang to rock throughout her body. She sighed deeply in her empty, secluded cottage and slowly walked across the front room to her kitchen. She stepped up to the stove, unnecessarily stirring a creamy stew and snapping her head away before a glistening tear was added to the recipe.