Twilight groaned as the sun of the new morning shone against her eyes. She didn't want to wake up, she was too busy dreaming about books, words, complex mathematical equations and magic, but with the constant and subtle nagging of the sun and the fact that her curtains were not doing their job and blocking out the morning light, she just couldn't drop back into her dreaming state.
She rolled into her stomach and used her forelegs to lift herself up, the cracking of her joints started up her bodies reflex to then crack everything else with a big stretch, every pop that her body made including her wings, only improved her comfort making the desire to just drop back down and go back to sleep stronger.
Resisting the urge to give up and doze back off, she slowly flipped herself over and sat up on the bed, looking around her room while her eyes adjusted to the light levels and the occasional loss of focus. Positive that she was awake enough to make basic coordinated limb movement, she removed the blanket and shuffled over to the edge of the bed and slipped off. The moment of contact between hoof and wooden floors nearly made keel over, but with quick reflexes, she was able to balance herself, straighten up, and slowly but surely move on.
While passing the bathroom, she could feel some heat coming from the open door and further curious-driven investigating allowed her to discover water droplets in the shower and on her sink. Not really in the right mind to think about it all just yet, she continued with her morning routine with only one thing on her mind: Get Coffee.
Halfway down the stairs, she was greeted by two voices which drew her attention to both Sapphire and Steel who was holding a book in front of the former. “That explains the water droplets.” she muttered before yawning and saying “Good morning” back to them.
After a quick trip to the kitchen to brew two cups of coffee, she returned to the main room where the book holding finally triggered as something new in her mind. She glanced at it before looking at the two. “What are you doing?” She asked while placing one mug of coffee in front of Sapphire who happily began to sip at it. Steel replied simply. “Learning how to read.”
“Who’s learning how to read?” Twilight asked curiously.
Both Steel and Sapphire answered the second question in unison. “Both of us.”
Twilight only squinted her eyes a little, but as she opened her mouth.
“Neither of us know how to read. Sapphire said she was interested, and I told her I’d help out as much as I could.”
Then Sapphire followed on after Steel. “Steel told me to select a book, and after looking around for a little bit, I grew impatient.”
Then it was Steels turn while Sapphire tried to quietly slurped up her coffee from the cup. Slurping it was her only option as Steel was still controlling her forelegs. “Unfortunately, it looks like she picked a difficult book for someb- Pony at her reading level, and we're slowly but surely making progress. Surprisingly enough, she's making a fair bit of progress for two hours of trying… I think.”
The last bit caught Twilight by surprise. “Two hours?” Looking at the clock. “You've been up since Five Thirty?” She looked back at the two with wide eyes and an open mouth.
“Technically, Sapphire was up, I don’t sleep. And she actually woke up at Four Thirty.” Steel corrected.
“Three hours?!” she yelled in surprise.
“Easy Twilight, Easy. No need to yell.” After a moment, Steel continued. “Yes, three hours. However she did sleep for more than 12 hours, so it's expected of her to wake up that early." Sapphire only finished off with a nod, not adding anything else to what Steel had said.
“Oh, yes, I forgot about that.” Twilight shied her head a little before getting a proper look at the reading material which she instantly recognized. “So how far have you both gotten with learning how to read?”
“I think we have both made a fair bit of progress.” Steel answered. “However, there are a few words that we can’t really match to any that we know of just yet.” Sapphire raised her head from the coffee and smiled with a small offer.. “I can read what we’re up to if you’d like.”
Twilight smiled and sat down in front of the two. “Well, it has been a long time since anypony has read anything to me from a book. I don’t see why I should say no to an offer.” Twilight knew the whole book off by heart, so at least she can help the mare in front of her if she got stuck. Sapphire smiled as Twilight accepted the offer and looked down at the book, reading up to where she was.
After clearing her throat, Sapphire continued from where she was. “A few other differences that stood out of the reports of this ally were that they also had the same digits that the invaders, dragons and diamond dogs have on their…“”
Steel suggested ‘Arms’ and Sapphire was about to continue with that word, but both were corrected by Twilight. After looking at the word on the page and remembering what the symbols meant, she resumed. ““Forelegs while the hind legs were longer, slim, almost straight. Their hind legs had a joint almost in the middle of their leg instead of the usual pony anatomy. Other details were included in the reports, but enough of that has been explained.””
Twilight nodded, and Steel commented that ‘arms’ sounded like it could have worked as well, which the Alicorn agreed to after some thought.
““Within moments of the appearance of this ally, the suit was pulled into combat against the strange ally who swiftly dodges any swings the armour made while crippling the suit with the magic they were casting on top of the physical hits made against it. Within roughly an hour of fighting, the invaders started to retreat, many of the guards were confused as to why their enemies ran until they spotted their unique ally standing on the corpse of the suit in their Pegasus form.”
“One of the reports say that the guard who wrote it saw the words ‘Neon’ written on one of the forelegs of the suit and had decided to call the un-named Pegasus ‘The Neon Guardian’. After mentioning the name to their fellow guards, they began to idolize it and speak highly of the individuals achievements while later turning to them for orders despite what those of higher power had issued.“
“Many more reports brought to light that between battles and times of recuperation, the mare would distance themselves from the other soldiers. Some didn’t think much of it, while others began to put together the idea of this theory: The mare was more quick to move, growing more reckless, and coming up with plans that made her become a much larger target to the aliens while fellow soldiers pushed on; She was putting herself into a...
Sapphire looked up at Twilight, and she assumed Steel would be doing the same. “Suicidal” She then took a mouthful of her coffee while Sapphire continued.””Suicidal role. The theory was slowly spreading through each and every rank, and it made those above her position turn heads and slowly cause conflict between the leaders. After this was discovered, researchers went to discover that the change of tactics and behavior seem to happen not long after the death of Lieutenant Blazing Trails. Many wondered if there was a connection between the two, but there was lack of evidence to suggest anything.”.”
Twilight remembered back to the night when she visited Canterlot to discuss with the Princesses about Neon. Spitfire was there as well for a visit and both guests had dinner mostly with Celestia. Then Spitfire had brought out her items she kept with her: the picture and the Pinion feather. That picture alone could suggest both Neon and Leut.. Blazing were friends with eachother. But then there is the Pinion.
From Twilights knowledge, a pegasus sharing their pinion feather with another was a sign of affection to whom was receiving such a gift. If Neon had given their pinion to somepony, and Spitfire now has it as a motivator. Is it possible that the Lieutenant and Neon were in a relationship?
Twilight returned to reality to find that Sapphire was looking at her. Twilight looked around her before looking back at Sapphire. “What?”
“Twilight, are you okay?” Sapphire asked as she tilted her head to the side.
Twilight answered with “I’m fine” but then asked why.
Sapphire only looked at the floor, and Twilight did the same to find her coffee cup was on its side and what ever was left in the mug had dripped into the carpet. A large number of towels was quickly pulled over by magic, laid over the spill and sat on by the Alicorn. “Well, that was pleasant…” She said, looking slightly embarrassed. She looked back up at Sapphire to see her finish off her cup. “I will admit, you have done very well with reading Sapphire. Although I am curious about how you’ve made so much progress in learning to read with very little help by somepony who knows how to read.”
“It’s both simple but not so simple at the same time.” Steel answered. A screen was projected into the air and displayed what Steel next said. “Following the idea of ‘Straight-forward lettering’ or characters of the alphabet being where they should be to make the sound at the right moment, we started off with the two single character words: I and A.” Twilight thought about the idea and nodded as it made a little sense. Looking at the screen, both I and A were displayed separate from each other in equestrian text. “We looked for words that had a symbol that matched either letter and then using what I know, generate words that matched the length while keeping the two known letters in their appropriate position. It’s a long process, but that alone has gotten us this far… Sort of.”
“Sort of?” Twilight questioned, looking like she didn’t expect the last two words. “You’ve progressed so much with very little help from anypony, why say that when you have done such an amazing job?”
The word ‘Forelegs’ replaced what was on the screen and a circle was drawn around ‘or’ which was a more complex piece of text compared to the rest. Underneath that was a simplified version of the word, using the symbols Steel currently knew. “Our method has worked the majority of the time, but there had been a number of cases where I couldn’t match the lettering to a word. One example would be what is currently displayed: Forelegs, as you have told us. Instead of using the simplified version of the word underneath it,” The simplified version begins to flash. “It uses an entirely new symbol or some sort of combination to represent the word.” The ‘or’ from both versions of the word were bolded, making them stand out from the rest.
The point was true and Twilight was able to now understand why Steel said what she did. “Yes, I forgot about that. The younger levels reading use that concept, where text written for the older aged are written like what you both have gone through.” Twilight then had an idea and grew a smile. “If you’re both happy with the idea, I could teach you how to read both versions.” She began to look excited as she finished.
The comment of “Uh oh…” came from the stairs, which drew Steel and Sapphires to look up and find a slightly concerned and frightened Spike stopped halfway down the stairway, was shaking his head from side to side while mouthing ‘No’ repeatedly. Surprisingly, Twilight didn’t hear it, but the offer was too good to refuse. Both agreed and Twilight grinned, but at the slight movement of Sapphires wings, Twilights excitement dropped and attention redirected to the feathery appendages. "How are your wings?"
It took Sapphire a few seconds to wrap around the sudden topic changing question. "Oh..." She looked back and watched one of her wings as it moved slightly. "They're... Fine I guess? Why?"
Twilight stared at the blue mares wing while her memory went over the time Sapphire had spent at the library. "You've been living here for two days now, and I haven't seen you even stretch them once. So I wanted to know if they were okay."
Steels projection appeared and sat down next to the two of them. "She does occasionally let them relax, but I don't think she knows how to use them as of yet." Sapphire nods, agreeing with Steel. She then sighed. "It might be the lack of use or me not actually knowing the right muscles yet, but they just feel foreign to me. And when I do get the right muscles, it becomes... difficult to move them, I guess?"
"Hm." Twilight pondered for a moment. "Is it possible they could be tense?" She then stretched out her own wings, raising and lowering them casually while looking back at them. "I tend to have difficulties moving them myself when mine are tense, and a good massage tends to free them up. Maybe giving your wings a massage will help them out?"
Sapphire pondered the idea as she looked at one of her wings, and opened it a little with difficulty. After some thought, she tucked her wing back against her and looked at Twilight. "Okay, how do we do that?"
Soarin didn't like the Leader role, there was too much involved in the job that never came with a description or even a manual. Not that he’d even read it if there was a manual as it’d be too big, have too many words and pages, and likely to give him a headache very quickly. It’s a position that has to be filled and maintained though, even if it is temporary.
It happens every time Spitfire goes out on either a job away from the academy, visits the royals, has meetings with managers for future shows, and many other ‘Not here’ type tasks that had her out of the campus. Unfortunately, ‘Not showing up for work’ had rudely wedged itself into the number of reasons why Soarin had to play the ‘I’m-the-Boss’ game.
He was annoyed that Spitfire hadn't shown up for work over the past two days, but at the same time concerned as he has heard nothing of her since that night in Ponyville. He didn’t have the time to think of it too much though due to his current responsibilities; even as he walked down the hall towards his temporary office with a load of books, papers and other items being balanced on his head.
His vision was obstructed by some leaflets that had covered his eyes, so he had to solely rely on timing and memory to guide him. Luckily, he made it without bumping into anything, but he wished he had bumped into someone for a chance to actually talk to ponies. He was tired of serious talk.
“Guess my luck wasn’t that good today either” He said softly as he backed against the door, pushing it open. All the stuff he had balance on his head dropped heavily onto the desk and being able to see again, looked to find that everything was there.
He sat still for a few seconds, only to follow with a head slam against the desk feeling all too tired from the morning nightmare. “I hate this part of my job. If Spitfire wasn’t being so lazy as of late and came back to work, I wouldn’t still be in this nightmare.” He groaned. Then his nose was hit by an odor that made him instantly backpedal away from the desk. Once the smell of booze became notable, he covered his nose with his wing and cautiously went around the desk.
Laying on the floor, with a bottle only just in front of their mouth, passed out was Spitfire. ‘Well, this explains how she felt after what I said to her… or at least the bottle does. Odor, not so much.’ He thought to himself as he focused off the bad smell, and picked up the passed out mare.
It was a good thing today was evaluation day, meaning all the trainees and supervisors would be out off campus. On top of that, the showers were only two rooms down, as Soarin doubted anyone would want to see or smell what was being carried on his back. Carefully sliding Spitfire into the ‘Assisted Spray’ cubicle, he removed her uniform, reached up, grabbed the nozzle with his mouth and turned the taps to a temperature that would both wake and clean the mare in front of him. Tightening his grip, he used his tongue to press the trigger that released a strong torrent of hot water that did the former of the job instantly.
Spitfire, rudely awoken by a heavy spray to her face, flailed around like a drunk mare trying evade the ‘attack’ in the small cubicle easily pushed into the corner more and more. When Soarin felt like enough was enough, mostly by hearing “Stop!” being yelled out multiple times, he released the trigger and stopped his watery assault.
Seeing Spitfire standing in the corner, breathing deeply and soaked, he casually smiled and said “Morning!”. Spitfire however, looked up with him with an expression that said ‘I’ll kill you’ and jumped at him, only to be sprayed some more. Once again, he stopped and waited.
“Soarin, I swear to Celestia you’re going to regre-” Sprayed again. Every curse and threat she made against him, she was sprayed like a dog being punished for doing something they weren’t supposed to. After thirteen sprays, Spitfire finally gave up and stood there breathing heavily while Soarin stood ready for another shot. With half a minute passed, Soarin relaxed. “Better?”
Spitfire looked up at him, holding a stare for some time. All hostility was gone so her only reply was “Yeah.”
“Aww, I was hoping to spray you some more.” Soarin actually sounded disappointed.
Spitfire smirked only slightly. “Yeah? And why is that?”
“Because.” Soarin grinned. “I like making my Mares wet.”
“Can it, Soarin.” She laughed as she kicked up some water at him, making him jump back to try avoid it.
“Too bad I haven’t had th-” A hoof was shoved into his mouth before he could say any more.
“Don’t want to know about it Soarin. Now, mind getting me a towel while I shake off?”
It didn’t take long for Spitfire to dry up. After asking a favor from the cleaning staff of the academy and handing her uniform to them for cleaning, the two went to eat the only thing that was 100% free for after hour snacking, Cafeteria Leftovers. Most food made at the cafeteria was made to be fresh for each break, and most often there was little left at the end of each break, giving any lucky staff a free meal while chefs prepared the next batch of food.
The majority of the meal was quiet, and Soarin had tried to start up small talk, but all attempts had failed, so he then asked what was on his mind for the last few days. “What I said the other night, did it really hit you that hard that you ended up missing for two days?”
Spitfire paused mid bite of a Veggie burger, her eyes staring down at the table from the question. She released the burger from her mouth, placed it down on the plate and sighed. “I guess it did.” Her voice was soft which she rarely spoke with unless something was bothering her, and Soarin knew.
“Thanks, by the way.” Spitfire said quick enough to not even give Soarin a change to think of something to say. He looked at Spitfire, seeming confused. “Thanks? For what?”
The visible corner of Spitfires mouth lifted slightly. “For breaking my excitement.”
“Your excitement? Is that what made you end up like you did in your office?” He asked, mentally unsure how the two dots connect to one another.
“Well…” She nodded towards one of the lunch staff who was leaving for their break. “You know how you get so hyped up about something, and then someone says something or something happens that just breaks that hype which makes you then unsure how to feel or what to do?” Soarin only nodded. “That’s what you did.”
The dots were connected and the connection was made verbal. “Oooh…” Guilt started to grow within him.
“I was so sure that… Sapphire was it?” It took a few seconds for Soarin to realise the topic was still in progress and nodded, answering her question. “Yes, Sapphire.”
“I was sure that Sapphire was Neon, but I guess I got a little too excited and you saying what you did, just knocked down that excitement. Although it took a while for it to really hit me, I was put into what I guess was a sort of 'daze'.” She picked up the Burger and took a bite of it. Despite having a mouth full of food, she was able to still speak clearly enough. “Last thing I remember doing was laying on a cloud, and craving for alcohol. What happened after that is a blur to me.”
Between her chewing her food, swallowing it, and taking a new bite, Soarins guilt had become physically noticeable. That physical indication received a nudge from the mare. “And now you’re doing what I did when you were visiting Sapphire with me.”
“Hm…” Was all she got from him. She reached over and forced him to look at her. “Soarin, don’t feel bad about what you did. You did the right thing.” He looked at her. “You did what a good friend does, it’s not something to feel guilty about.”
He sat there, the words sinking into his mind. Closing his eyes, he breathed in, removing his guilt and smiling. “Thanks.”
Not long after Spitfire continued eating, one of the Chefs brought over a plate with a slice of pie and placed it in front of Soarin while taking away his cleaned off plate. Soarin immediately looked and smiled at Spitfire, although her reaction wasn’t what he expected. “I don’t know why you’re looking at me Soarin, I didn’t order that.”
“No one ordered it, I assure you.” The Chef smiled as they both looked at him. “We have noticed you had been working hard over the last few days during the Captains absence-” All the kitchen staff came up to the table in smiles. “and wanted to help give you the motivation to hold on. Although now that Spitfire has returned, I guess in the end, we all made a treat for you for the hard work you did.” Everyone around them nodded and agreed.
Both of them smiled, and Soarin thanked them all while mentioning that he would have needed it anyway if the day went differently. They assured him that he wasn’t alone, making it known that all staff are there when needed, and having the information confirmed by Spitfire, thanked them once more.
The Chefs went back to the kitchen and Soarin went straight to the pie while Spitfire watched. She tried recollecting what she could of the last few nights, but only a few things came back to her: Where the grog came from, how much was paid, and the flashback of that night.
Her eyes looked up at Saorin who was happily eating the gifted food. She remembered how serious he looked and sounded. And what he said, was as clear as when he said it.
“So drop the Neon Guardian thing, alright? She doesn’t need all of this pinned against her, not especially after only just waking up a few hours ago with no idea where she is or what is around her.”
“She needs friends, she needs help, not a false identity, or pressure.”
“Do you have any that isn’t a Wonderbolt?”
The last echoed in her mind. She didn’t have any friends outside the Team. At a point she did, but over time they also joined her. A seemingly recurring cycle. Her focus returned to Soarin looking at her, simply saying “What?” with a mouthful of pie, which with inspection, was the last piece.
“I was just recalling what you said the other night, about if I had any friends that were outside of our team. And it turns out that I really don’t.” She answered.
Soarin just stared at her, waiting for more. Spitfire took a little to notice, but continued when she did. “So, I am thinking of trying again.” After a short pause. “With Sapphire I mean.”
Soarin smiled and swallowed the rest of his pie. “Glad to hear it Spitfire. Now, my Question is: When?”
Spitfire just smiled, already deciding on when she would make this new attempt.
"Do you really think this will help my wings out?" Sapphire asked as she followed Twilight towards the Spa. She couldn’t help but look around nervously at all the ponies passing by her as they looked at her and passed by her much closer than she was comfortable with. Occasionally, she could hear whispers from some of the ponies as well, more so from the passing pegasi, and it gave her an uneasy chill for a reason she wasn’t so sure on. Steel however detected the nervousness and could figure out a few reasons why.
“It should, I go there myself to get my wings loosened before I go to practice with Rainbow Dash." Twilight answered as she expertly began to weave through the sudden crowd while poor Sapphire struggled to keep up, luckily for her, Steel was able to pick out the lavender guide and with an instruction to follow a set line which was brought to her view, Sapphire was able to keep up and eventually make it out of the crowd.
"Do you have to meet up with them later today?" Sapphire asked as she moved next to the Alicorn.
"No, I don't, but doesn't hurt to go anyway." She answered before spotting the spa ahead of them by a few meters. “There it is.” She announced.
“Ah, Miss Twilight, Welcome back to the Ponyville Day Spa.” was the first thing the three heard as the front door shut. Twilight turned to the mare welcoming them and smiled at her. “Thank you Aloe.”
“Did you have a surprise appointment set up for today?” Aloe asked curiously, remembering that Twilights actual appointment wasn't for another week.
Twilight shook her head at the question. “No, I don’t. I’m actually here for my friend.” She looked at Sapphire. “I’ve been looking after her for the last few days, but have noticed she hasn’t done much about her wings. I asked her if they were alright this morning and she has told me that they have been feeling tense and difficult to move.” She turned her head back to Aloe, just as Lotus entered the Lobby from the back. In Sapphires mind, she assumed both ponies that worked here were related due to their coat and mane colors. “I was hoping you, or your sister, could give her a quick service before it becomes busy here.”
Both Spa ponies looked at each other briefly before smiling and nodding to the other before looking at their clients. Lotus was the one to speak this time. “We can do that. We both owe you for introducing us to Zecora and her amazing bath remedy. Many of our clients ask for it more than the others we have available.”
Twilight thanked them both with a large smile as Lotus moved closer to Sapphire. “Now, if you may follow me Miss…”
“Sapphire.” she answered, sounding a little shy.
“Sapphire. A very fitting name.” Lotus smiled at the pegasus. “I am Lotus Blossom, but Lotus alone is enough.” Her voice was very friendly and calm, which slowly broke away the shyness. “I must ask you to remove your…” Lotus looked at the armor being worn, unsure what to call it. “Protective gear.”
Sapphire looked at Steels armor form and nodded. The armor hissed, cracked, and split apart, falling to the floor, all except the main component on her right foreleg and her earpiece. As Sapphire took a few steps forward, she was stopped by Lotus who was feeling a little disrespected. “All of it please.”
“I’m afraid Sapphire will need to keep that armor around her leg.” Lotus blinked at the new voice, and moved to find the source.
“Oh, I’m sorry, we didn’t know there…” She stopped as she couldn’t see any more here. “Was another…”
“You’re looking at the wrong objects to find me Miss Aloe. There is a reason why I asked for that unit to remain.” The voice came again, and both Spa mares looked around, utterly confused.
Then Twilight stepped up while Sapphire smirked from amusement. “I’m sorry, I forgot to mention our third. Steel Guard. She’s… “ Twilight paused for a moment, trying to think of what to call Steel. “A unique one.”
“Unique?” One of the spa ponies said. “I doubt she isn’t any more ‘unique’ than what we’ve met before, Miss Twilight.” A sure tone was held in the claim.
“Obviously, you haven’t met me then.” Steel let out a laugh. Sapphire looked down at her leg felt the amp jolt a little as the disks increased their rotation speed a little. A small metal stick extended from the Amp and all the pieces of armor that had fallen onto the floor, magnetized back together. Four longer and thicker rods like what came out of her Amp, extended from the right limb and made contact with the remaining boot that was still on its own and locked it in place. All four rods were the same length as what was around her foreleg. Both spa ponies stared at the armor and then everyone except Sapphire jumped away from the armor as it moved its two only limbs, lifting itself up and sitting itself upright on the base where the rest of Sapphires body would stick out when worn.
Twilight had only jumped back a meter, not reacting as bad as the two Spa ponies who can tried frantically hiding behind each other but then hid behind the counter for cover. They slowly poked their heads out from the top of the bench, one of them hesitant with their question. “Is that… The third?”
“It is.” Twilight answered, a little shaken up from the sudden surprise, but she was able to calm herself down enough. Steel then projected herself in front of them with a smile. “Sorry about that! Really wasn't expecting that much of a reaction or I would have warned you.”
“The warning would have been appreciated.” One of the two said before Lotus walked out from the counter, shortly followed by Aloe. Steel just kept smiling. “So, can she at least keep the leg unit on?” Both spa ponies nodded. Steel then looked at Twilight. “Can you put on the ear piece please?”
Twilight nodded and removed the earpiece from Sapphire and slipping it onto her ear. Both Aloe and Lotus took Sapphire into the main room and helped her up onto one of the beds while Twilight moved to just inside the door to the larger room and sat down.
It didn't take long for the massage to begin, and both Twilight and her temporary on-ear visitor watched the blue mare relax. Twilight flinched as the visor lit up over her vision, experiencing for the first time a digitally enhanced view of her surroundings that didn't last long as a smaller version of Steel appeared in her view, looking right at her with a more neutral expression. “Can I quietly have a word with you?” The Alicorn flinched again, this time at the voice directly in her ear. She nodded however, softly saying “I guess.”
Steel sat down and looked directly at Twilight. Steel went straight to the point. “I know both you and Applejack saw what Sapphire did on the farm yesterday.”
Twilight blinked, cautiously replying “I’m not sure what you’re talking about.”
“Twilight, I am not like you, or Sapphire, or anyone in this town. Because of this, I can be very observant without even having to force myself to do so.” An image of both Twilight and Applejack hiding behind a bush appeared next to Steels smaller form. The Alicorn lowed her ears. Before she could apologise, she was cut off. “Don’t think I hate you for lying to me. It would take a lot for you to achieve that. Instead, I want to ask you to do something for me. Can you do that?”
Twilight nodded, feeling grateful she hadn’t already ruined a new friendship. “What is it?”
The image disappeared. “I want you and your friend Applejack to keep quiet about what you saw. Can I trust you both to do that?”
“You can.” Twilight responded quietly. “I can go out now and ask Applejack now to keep it quiet if you’d like.”
Steel smiled. “If you don't mind, that would be greatly appreciated.”
Twilight nodded and stood up. “I need to go out to run a quick errand, is it alright if I leave Sapphire in your care?”
Aloe moved closer to Twilight. “We’ll look after her, She will be fit for flight as soon as you return.” Twilight thanked the Spa sister and took off the earpiece. “Give this to her when her massage is done, she’ll need it again.” After receiving a nod from Aloe, Twilight left the building just in time to hear Sapphire let out a few moans from the treatment. With a very light blush, she made her way to the farm.
Half an hour after leaving the spa, and a scenic route, Twilight had arrive at the farm just in time to catch Applejack getting ready to haul the last collection of apples to the barn. Twilight caused the mare to stop as she called out her name.
“Hey Twi, wasn’t expecting you to come out today.” Applejack greeted her visitor. “I wasn’t either, but I was asked to come out here, but that can wait a moment.” Twilight looked at the remaining buckets. “Would you like a horn?”
Applejack accepted the offer. “It would help a load off, saves me the extra trip for the rest.”
Twilight quickly helped her friend put on the harness and strap two buckets of apples to it, then used her magic to levitate the remainder. The walk through the orchid was short, and the apples were quickly stored for the day as they reached the barn.
As the the harness was being taken off. “So what was the reason for coming out here Twilight?”
The Alicorn had nearly forgot and got right to it. “I had taken Sapphire to the local Spa for some treatment with her wings after telling me they were feeling stiff and difficult to move.”
“Almost like after your first proper flying lesson with Rainbow?” Applejack asked. Twilight nodded and continued. “While I was at the spa, Steel Guard asked something of me.” AJ had asked who that was, and was reminded of the armor Sapphire wore. “Okay, so what was it she asked?”
“Okay, well remember yesterday how you and I saw them both use magic?” Applejack nodded. Twilight continued. “Well Steel saw us watching, and even showed proof.” There was another nod. “So because of that, she has asked me and you, through me, to keep what we saw a secret.”
“Did she say for how long?”
“No, she didn’t.”
“Alright, I promise to keep on the quiet with this one.”
“Thanks.” Twilight smiled. Just as the two hugged, they both heard Big Mac walk up to the Barn, towing the apple cart with him.
Both mares greeted the Stallion who greeted them back. “How’d it go, Mac?” AJ asked as she unhooked the cart from her brother.
“Sold everythin’ quicker than I had hoped.” Mac said proudly, which piqued curiosities.
“Why were you hoping to sell everything quick today?” Applejack asked.
“Don’t ya remember what is happening today?” Mac countered
“Wait… What day is it today?” Something dawned on Twilight.
“Tuesday.”
“Tuesday the what?”
“Eighth.”
Both mares with wide eyed and looked at each other. “Oh no.”
Without another second wasted, both ran to the town as quick as possible.
It had been nearly three quarters of an hour since Twilight left Sapphire alone with the spa sisters who had done a miraculous job in massaging her and more importantly, her wings. They actually admitted their treatment was too good with her as she stumbled a lot when she was helped down to the ground. Sapphire had bumped into a lot of things for the first five minutes, but was able to adjust to her again foreign feeling body enough to keep steady and slowly walk away from the work table.
Steel made it easier by animating the armor, which made the sisters flinch at first, and moving it to Sapphire where it broke apart and then magnetized onto her, starting from the main unit, reconstructing itself around her body.
Aloe had gone over and retrieved the earpiece which Steel thanked for and manipulated Sapphires body, putting the small device around her ear. A quick flash of the visor showing reserve Cell levels for each part refilling within seconds and a few easy stretches with her wings that was taught to her, she was eager to meet with Twilight again.
As Sapphire and Steel thanked them, they all felt the ground begin to rumble, and the Spa mares were quickly reminded of what was occurring today. Before Sapphire could ask, a few ponies burst through the Spa doors screaming and running towards her, which kicked Sapphire into doing one thing from the pumping adrenaline and the yelling suggestions of both Steel and the Owners:
Run.