//------------------------------// // Wings Itch // Story: Eclipse Born // by Seeking Dusk //------------------------------// “This was why I warned you not to act so rashly!” Twilight chided as she probed at me with her magic, her horn glowing as she lectured. Fluttershy and Spike were busy tending to the fainted Rarity, having moved her to the couch. “Honestly! After all the trouble we had just getting you to accept your magic, and the grief you caused, you act so wild and careless with it!” Tuning out Twilight wasn’t an easy thing to do, but I tried anyway. She was worse than my dad sometimes. Applejack, Lyra and Pinkie hung back, watching us with mixed expressions. Focusing instead on my magic, I tried to work out the same answers Twilight was looking for. I… didn’t like what I was finding. I was still churning with extra power, my personal melody accompanied by a complex and ‘loud’ pattern that was clouding my ability to pick out details, almost masking my magic signature itself. I concentrated a bit more, moving from the ‘audible’ state to the deeper inner one. Multicoloured streaks were racing through the green glow of my inner being, flashes and sparks of colours that weren’t supposed to be there. Cringing, my ears were assaulted with the foreign rhythm and the streaks and flashes left conflicting signals; a chemical like heat, a frosty chill, a spicy smell, a sour taste on my tongue and itchiness. Sometimes my magic sense was just plain confusing. I was pulled from my focus by some nagging ghost sensation. I blinked irritably as my awareness moved back to the regular spectrum, the colours and sensations of the inner lingered for a moment before getting lost as standard vision reasserted itself. Something was still causing a str- Right… got wings… I glared at Rainbow Dash as she pulled on my new appendages; extending them and ruffling my feathers with her hoof. I’ll be honest; I never really expected that phase to be literal one day. I tugged my wing from her, a stray feather drifting from it, and folded it against my side with a trace of irritation. “Cut it out, Rainbow! It’s pretty distracting.” “Got to make sure they are in good condition,” Rainbow said, pointing at the green feather floating to the ground. “Your feathers are a mess, even if you’ve got decent wings. You won’t get any good wing power from them if they are like that.” “Your wings are in a state,” Fluttershy agreed quietly. “Rainbow… I’m not sure how to break it to you, but I really don’t plan on flying with these anytime soon,” Rainbow looked scandalized at my grumbling claim. I ignored her and gave Twilight a plaintive look. “Twilight… I can’t find the structure for the morphing spell.” “I’m not surprised… I can’t figure it out, either,” Twilight grumbled. The glow on her horn and the accompanying patterns cut out. “You just have too much interference going on at the moment and the spell itself seemed to have changed from the first time you used it. I’m surprised you even managed to cast a spell with your magic like that.” I started hyperventilating. Lyra took Rainbow’s place at my side and laid a foreleg over my back. Fluttershy shot a look at me, but Rarity was coming around and held her attention. Lyra glared at Twilight. “Twilight: why do you sound so darn calm about this? Aren’t you saying that Caleb’s stuck as a pony?” “WHAT?” I was too busy hyperventilating to make out which voices in particular contributed to the chorus. “Lands sakes! Caleb’s stuck as a pony?” Applejack exclaimed as the commotion started. “Sweet Celestia…” Rarity looked as if she wanted to swoon again. “Oh, I can see why you’d think that, but no,” Twilight said, shaking her head. She was remarkably calm considering the state of the room. “He’s only stuck like that for a while.” I paused on an inhale and looked at Twilight. The others did too, calming enough to let confusion colour their expressions. Spike motioned for her to continue. “Meaning?” “Oh, sorry,” Twilight took her seat and reached for a cookie with her magic. “The reason I was trying to tell Caleb not to use the spell was that it wouldn’t work the way he wanted. True, it might use a lot of his magic, it issue right now isn’t solely having too much magic, it’s having too varied a magic in him, as well.” “I’m not sure I understand,” Fluttershy whispered into the silence that followed. I exhaled heavily and started gasping and coughing for air. Lyra patted me on the back and helped me to a seat, one of the pony ones. I slumped into it gratefully. “How to explain this simply,” Twilight murmured, pouring herself some tea. “Okay. Normally a pony has a single type of magic in them. Their own magic, determined by their tribe.” Lyra, Spike and I nodded. Rainbow exchanged a glance with Applejack and shrugged. Rarity looked a bit on the confused side herself. Pinkie was just smiling. “Now, Lyra gave you a magic infusion when you suffered the mana starvation,” Twilight continued. “Normally that wouldn’t be an issue for anypony, but Lyra’s magic is pony magic, specifically unicorn magic. Mana starvation tends to be a unicorn only affliction, but common side effect with an infusion in the rare case when a non-unicorn needs it is mana turmoil while the types of magic mix. In your case, it was an extremely foreign form of magic. Your body would take a while to… I suppose ‘metabolize it’ is as good a term as any. Did you find using magic a bit difficult right after?” “… Oh! I thought that was just me straining my magic again,” I admitted. Made sense, I suppose. “Using ‘magic’ that wasn’t fit for your system caused interference. Now, the elements did the same thing, only magnified. It gave you a massive infusion of magic,” Twilight continued. “It drew magic from what it had access to; the Elements of Harmony themselves, the girls and I, as well as the environment.” “And that magic was Equestrian, some of that forest chaos, and three flavours of pony with a dash of dragon…” I winced, the picture being painting coming into startling clarity. “No wonder I can’t sense anything properly.” “You’re speaking egghead again,” Rainbow commented. “I got to admit, all this unicorn and magic talk is a mite over my head,” Applejack agreed. “Any chance the two ah you could explain it so the rest of us can make sense of it?” “Calie’s magic is all mixed up and scrambled inside like the glitter in a snow globe and he can’t see anything through all the pretty little specks of glitter until they settle down!” Pinkie grinned cheerfully, having pulled an actually snow globe out to demonstrate. “Um, Pinkie, I don’t know if…” Lyra started and trailed off uncertainly, looking at the globe that inexplicably had a small model of me in it. I decided I wasn’t going to ask. Lyra did, pointing a hoof at the ball. “How? When? Actually; why?” “Try not to dwell on it, darling,” Rarity advised. “That’s… actually fairly accurate. Simplified, but accurate enough,” Twilight nodded, hardly missing a beat. Spike shook his head and muttered something I missed. “Not only does he have a lot more magic in him than he is used to, there is the matter of the diversity of said magic. Caleb casting his spell basically shook his magic up again, which likely exponentially increased the period he’ll have to wait before his body fully accepts the magic it has contained in it. “We had a similar experience the first time we used the elements. It was why we passed out,” Twilight added. She looked at me contemplatively. “The only thing I don’t understand is why he turned into a pegasus.” “Blame the elements,” I spoke up. “I think I have a version of that spell for all three tribes now. I just… picked one when I started casting. The moment it started, I heard more a pegasi’s signature than a unicorn.” “We really need to sit down and discuss your magic sense some more,” Twilight said longingly. “I’d run, if I were you,” Rainbow teased, smirking at me. “Fly, actually. Otherwise she’ll catch you.” Twilight huffed in annoyance. “Rainbow, please. I’m not that bad.” She took a sip of her tea before continuing. “I’ll at least wait until he’s rested little more.” “Ooo! You could him a head start,” Pinkie giggled. “Like tag! We could play in the park!” “Visiting the park would be nice,” Fluttershy admitted with a delicate smile. “I could tell my animal friends about what happened in the forest.” I stared at them in confusion. Weren’t we just a little bit concerned about my issue? I said as much. “Not to be self centered or anything, but… I’ve got a little problem and all.” “All we can do is wait, right?” Spike shrugged again. His voice was still low and sounded a bit ragged. “We might as well get comfortable an- urk!” He gagged suddenly and yanked up a scroll in a wisp of green fire. It hit the table and bounced as he whimpered, tears in the corner of his eyes. “Oww… It’s even worse when it happens while I’m talking.” “You poor thing,” Fluttershy crooned. She embraced him tightly. “I’ll fix you some more tea!” Twilight snatched up the scroll as Fluttershy flew off to the kitchen. My wings twitched and started to itch again as I watched her fly off. These wings were going to get annoying fast. The ‘turning into a pony’ part wasn’t as annoying as I thought it would have been, probably because I did it deliberately, but the wings were like an itch I couldn’t reach. I shuffled them irritably. Was it weird that I was concerned that I wasn’t concerned I was a pony? Jeeze; that would have been an impossibility yesterday! And this was my second time in about thrice as many hours. Though, to be honest, I’d been getting a lot of practice in believing the impossible. Falling between worlds, having nightly chats with a dream walking princess, finding out you had magic… Still, a man had to have standards, a line. Somewhere… “It looks like we will be heading to Canterlot in the morning.” Twilight’s sudden statement, having finished reading the letter, jolted me out of my musings. “You will,” Spike muttered under his breath. “We all will,” Twilight corrected. She smiled and set the letter aside, though her tone was still on the serious side. “The princesses would like to meet with us about the situation in the forest. They are sending chariots to pick us up at daybreak.” “Daybreak?” Rainbow complained. She landed and used my back as an arms rest. “Aw man, that’s early. And it’s just about sunset now!” “No kidding,” I agreed, raising an eyebrow, not even bothering to remark on Rainbow’s actions. The Princesses weren’t wasting any time. Granted, a formerly idyllic forest turning into the newest Everfree was a major incident. “Does all of us include me too, or can I sleep in?” Lyra asked, disinterestedly. “Everypony that was there,” Twilight continued. “I get to meet the Princesses?” Lyra’s grin threatened to split her face. I’m surprised she didn’t get whiplash from that one eighty. “This is going to be so much fun!” “Didn’t ya meet them at the wedding?” Applejack asked, raising an eyebrow at her. “No, that was in passing. I was there for Cadance. Then the whole changeling mind control thing,” Lyra said waving a hoof dismissively. “This is going to be a proper meeting. Meeting the princesses!” “In the morning? Oh dear, I’m not sure if I’ll be able to put together a wardrobe in time!” Rarity exclaimed. “I need something chic and avant garde!” “Um… she does realize Princess Luna and Celestia don’t care much for all the frills and such, right?” I asked Rainbow softly, leaning towards her ever so slightly. “She does,” Rainbow muttered back. “She just doesn’t care.” I couldn’t help but snicker, one that seemed to infect Rainbow, since it set her off too. Rarity glared at us over her shoulder, which only set us off more, and sound we were laughing openly. “Hmph!” Rarity said, tossing her mane in an offended manner. “Someponies might do well to learn more about fashion and the impact an impression will make, particularly on the elite.” “Rarity, I stayed in the castle for a few days, remember,” I retorted as I struggle to get the snickers under control. “And I’m from a society that wears clothes all the time. I don’t need to worry about the impression.” “Ooo! Ooo! I have an idea!” Pinkie leapt out from behind Rainbow and I as she made her exclamation. “Why don’t we have a slumber party!” “Say what now?” Applejack commented with a raised eyebrow. “That way, we’d all be here in the morning and we wouldn’t have to run all over looking for everypony in the morning so we won’t be late!” Pinkie chattered on excitedly. “We can have party games and smores, pillow fights and tell scary stories!” “It could be nice,” Fluttershy added on the tail end of the conversation. “I’d like to go and tuck my animals in for the night first, but…” “That would be more efficient,” Twilight remarked. She started to pace thoughtfully. “It would save us a few minutes to get ready in the morning, and everypony would be in a central location. I do have enough beds, if some ponies don’t mind sharing. And it would be fun to have another sleep over. Right, Applejack, Rarity?” The two blushed for some reason but laughed at the same time. And inside joke I guessed. Applejack chuckled as she trotted over. “I suppose we did have a fine time, last time. And I wouldn’t be against doing it again. The crusader’s are doing fine and are in good hooves with Nurse Redheart… Sure thing, Twilight. ” “Well, I would have liked to have picked up a few supplies from the boutique to work on a dress,” Rarity started, but she paused to glare venomously at Rainbow and I again when we started snickering. “As I was saying, I would have liked to, but another stay here would be fine.” “Sounds fun,” Lyra admitted. “And you, Caleb?” Twilight asked me. My new wings flared slightly in surprise. I glanced at them with mixed feelings before turning my attention to Twilight. “What about me? I live here…” “Precisely. It wouldn’t be nice for me to just have a party without asking my roommate,” Twilight smiled. “More a boarder, but yeah, it’s fine,” I shrugged. Sounded like it could be somewhat entertaining. At worst I could grab Spike and hide in the basement with comics, snacks and soda. With my ‘approval’ given, everyone got moving, most heading home to grab what they needed or leave word with family before returning. Spike got himself another cup of tea and occupied the seat and comic Rainbow vacated while Twilight cleared the table with ease. For my part, I got the book I never did get to finish and tried to find a comfortable spot to perch myself. I did take a moment to check if my magic had settled down, but it didn’t seem any better than it did earlier, and I was quick to pull out and snort, an ear twitching irritably. Waiting for my magic to recover enough to change back would be much more tolerable with something to distract me from the actual waiting part. Sheesh. My Magic. I idly wondered if I qualified as a hypocrite, considering my one eighty on the topic. “Something wrong?” Twilight asked, looking up from her own book and quill. I hadn’t realized it, but it had turned into a miniature reading club the moment the rest left. I wasn’t quite sure what that said for us. “No, not really,” I sighed. “Just… do you know how long… I mean, how long do you think it will take before I can actually undo this spell?” “A few hours if my estimates are right,” was her detached response, quill still going. “Six optimistically, maybe as much as sixteen, but eight or ten is a conservative estimation. Based on how fast your thaumatic balance restored itself following Lyra’s infusion.” “Wow,” Spike commented, looking up from his comic. I stared at her blankly. Six to sixteen hours? My mouth moved silently a few times before my voice kicked in. “WHAT? That- that’s practically the rest of the night! Hay-that’s pretty much until tomorrow! A whole day like this?” “Yes, Caleb, I know that,” Twilight deadpanned. She set her book down with a sigh. “Your body is trying to work through a lot of magic at the moment. The amount of power the elements poured into you is above the capacity of most unicorns. I’m happy that you are fine despite that, but using a metamorphic spell that modifies your magic signature on top of an already irregular and tumultuous mana source only exacerbated the issue!” Twilight tended to draw on more complex terms when she was getting frustrated. I was getting frustrated too. “Why didn’t you..? Gah…. Up to sixteen hours? Come on… Anyway to make it happen faster?” “No. You are going to quietly do nothing. No more magic until your body sorts itself out!” Twilight enunciated each word clearly. “Is that clear?” “Fine, enough with the angry mother routine!” I groaned and collapsed on my back, limbs, all six of them, seven counting the tail, splayed. “This sucks!” “Really? You don’t seem to be having much trouble with it,” Twilight commented, still a bit huffy. She was actually kinda cute like that. I really didn’t want to explain to her that I was questioning my lack of difficulty with being a pony, or the alternating ‘magic is awesome’/‘Um… magic’ mentality I seemed to have, so I changed the topic. “What are you reading?” Twilight blushed and looked away. “Slumber parties 101. I’ve only had a chance to use it once.” “I know you’re not likely to be able to use all of that tonight, right?” I chuckled as I rolled over and got my hooves under me. “I know, but that doesn’t mean I can’t plan out the most effective use of the time we have,” Twilight huffed as I peeked at the book myself. “You know, I never really had a sleep over either. Wasn’t a ‘guy thing’,” I said as I read the open page, curious as to what ponies would do for their sleepovers. So far, they looked a lot similar to what I’d seen in shows. Last time I had a sleep over it was a three day Mario Kart tournament on dorm with guys taking shifts playing, getting food and sleeping. Dorm rooms reek enough without a dozen or so guys crammed in it for three days playing video games and not showering. Twilight shared the story of the first sleep over she had with Rarity and Applejack as I eventually took over the book, the antics they had gotten up to leaving Spike and I in stitches. Twilight was embarrassed about how out of it she had gotten, but that only made it all the more hilarious for us. “It wasn’t that funny, you two,” Twilight grumbled in an offended tone as she arranged the extra blankets and pillows she pulled from the store room about the large living room. We decided on making it more of a sleeping nest arrangement with the number of people involved. “Nope, it definitely was,” I giggled, a stack of pillows balanced on my back, only held up by the expanded base my wings allowed for. No, I wasn’t questioning it. “Spike?” “Definitely fun,” he agreed with a wide smile, a folded blanket in his arms. “What wasn’t funny?” Lyra asked as she came in, Fluttershy on her tail and a pair of bags floating in her magic. “Nothing,” Twilight was quick to respond. “Just that Twilight here was once so distracted by trying to figure out what instructions a book had that she didn’t notice a whole tree that crashed through her window,” I snickered. It struck me that I could hardly even make out the sound of Lyra’s magic. I chalked it up as yet another side effect. “Really?” Lyra burst out laughing as well. “That’s just how a Sparkle do. Nothing is more important than the book,” I said solemnly. Something large, soft and patterned hit me in the face. Stumbled back with a squawk of surprise, I tripped over my hooves and ended up half buried under the pile of pillows I was carrying. “Wha..?” “You were asking for it, mister,” Twilight huffed. “Of course you realize, this means war,” I frowned. I snagged a pillow and whipped it towards her. Of course, I had no aim and it ended up hitting Lyra instead. She was just as surprised as I was when I got hit and her bags hit the ground with a thump. “Um… oops?” I wasn’t sure where Fluttershy vanished to, but Lyra was less than amused, and an eye twitched. Two pillows floated into the air, clad in her magic. “It’s a good thing pillows are light...” I squeaked and ducked into the pile as Lyra tossed them at me, scrambling behind a chair after they hit with soft thumps. I peaked over the chair and aimed my best puppy dog eyes at them. “You wouldn’t hit an unarmed and impaired man, would you?” I had to dodge the two pillows that sailed at me. “Pillow fights are a traditional part of sleep overs!” Twilight declared gleefully. “It even says so in the book. What kind of pony would I be if I ignored the books?” So I set her off and she was holding my quips against me. Only one thing to do. “Spike! Please say you’re on my side! I’m new to hooves! I need help!” “What’s your offer?” Spike asked with a smirk. “Dude! Don’t leave a bro hanging!” I pleaded. I grabbed on of the pillows at my hooves and chucked it their general direction. “Fine, not like my Dragon Code would have let somepony in distress be ignored,” Spike grabbed a pillow and, scrambling over my back, posed on the back of the chair as he brandished it. “Sir Spike the Brave will assist you!” He got knocked off with a well aimed pillow, quickly followed by Twilight’s cry of, “sorry, Spike!” “Some help you are!” I griped, snagging another pillow in my mouth and hurling it with as much power and accuracy as I could. Twilight actually had to dodge with a yelp. Lines were quickly drawn in the room. Chairs, tables and couches were moved to make crude fortifications, and pillows filled the air. Rarity and Applejack returned together, but decided to join the fight as their own force rather than picking an existing side. Rainbow joined us shortly after with a saddlebag on her back, and zipped out, only to return with Pinkie on her side, the latter having brought her own stockpile of pillows. A four-way war that was both exhilarating and confusing erupted. The horse head statue in the center of the room was the prize, and as of yet no one had claimed it. “Fort Dude will never fall!” I declared, ignoring the fact that we were definitely on the loosing side of the battle. Between the fact that I didn’t quite know how to pony, LLMFI or not, and Spike being a baby dragon, we didn’t have the fire power. Fluttershy had eventually turned up stuck on our side when the final field was set, but her throws didn’t have any power behind them. Faced with the power couple of Rarity and Applejack, the shocking accuracy of Twilight and Lyra, and the insanity that was Pinkie and Rainbow’s tactics, the only reason we were still standing, as it were, was the wall that formed from all the pillows they hurled that we couldn’t return. They were working together just enough to pin us down. “Surrender to the SparkleSong!” Lyra yelled. “A noble dragon will not yield!” Spike countered with a thrown pillow. I was so proud of the little guy. “Then maybe for Fabulousity?” Rarity crooned. “Oh, well, anything for-” I snagged him and muzzled his response. He glared at me and I glared back. “Not even!” I yelled. So what if they were picking on me side? “Fluttershy! Now!” “Um… okay,” she said before throwing a pillow with an adorable grunt of effort. It fell short and was claimed by Pinkie. Yep. Maybe surrender was the right move. “Surrender and you’ll get cupcakes!” Pinkie squealed. “But… you’ll still get cupcakes even if you don’t! Because really, why wouldn’t I give you cupcakes?” “Incoming!” Rainbow yelled, just before another three pillows found their mark. Pinkie waved jauntily at us as Fluttershy hid again. No matter. We more or less appointed her Princess of the Fort more than anything else. Yep. With the three other factions against us, Fort Dude was destined to fall in short order. “Spike…” I said slowly, our cobbled together Fort shook under the assault. “Yeah?” “We go down heroes.” “You have an idea?” I did. And I whispered it to him. He blinked, then grinned. “Definitely awesome.” “I guess you two have a plan?” Fluttershy asked, rubbing her arm. “Is there anything I should do?” “Not much, Flutters,” I said, bumping her shoulder. “Leave it to us. Just run right behind me.” “You three give up yet?” Applejack called out to us. “Or are we gonna have to drag you out of there?” Spike saluted Fluttershy. “It was an honour!” “Agreed,” I nodded. And then we ran out yelling. “For the Princess of Fort Dude!” we yelled. Well, Spike yelled, I sort of mumbled. Spike was on my back with a pillow in each hand, and I had a pillow pressed under each wing and a third in my mouth. Spike hit the pile of pillows that had collected with his fire and they vanished in a wisp of smoke and ash, that quickly whisked over to Lyra and Twilight. An express delivery that buried them as the mound of pillows reformed. “No way!” Rainbow exclaimed. Spike struck leapt off my back and struck out with the pillows like a dual wielding samurai. I hurled my pillows quickly at the three remaining mares even as the counter attacks came. I managed to hit Rarity. I saw two pillows score solids on Spike. The others were aimed mostly at myself and maybe Fluttershy. I took them all, dramatically falling to my ‘death’ and allowing Fluttershy to snatch the prize, darting back to our Fort with it before the others could properly react, stunned as they were. She poked her head out a moment later and exclaimed in her soft voice. “Yay!” The room was quiet for a moment. “That… was… awesome!” Rainbow laughed from her position on the ground. Spike laughed as well. “I can’t believe that worked!” “Super genius!” I declared, waving a hoof in the air. Someone hit me with a pillow. “I thought fer sure you three were out of it,” Applejack laughed as she and the others gathered in the center of the room. “Quite the gallant act,” Rarity complemented, helping me up. “Such a stallion! Both of you!” “Ah, sucks, it was nothing,” Spike said bashfully, kicking at the dust. He coughed a little. “Might need more honey tea though.” Twilight and Lyra dug themselves out with magic and joined us, Twilight giving Spike a hug. “That sending was rather ingenious.” “Caleb suggested I mail you and Lyra the pillows. I didn’t think it would work that well,” Spike admitted. He coughed a little. “Sending is way easier than receiving.” “I can’t believe it worked at all,” Lyra admitted begrudgingly. “I really wanted to win.” “Yeah, it just means Spike, Fluttershy and I don’t have to help clean up,” I grinned, shuffling my wings. The room was pretty much a disaster in the aftermath of our game. Particularly the pillows piled and scattered about. “I can’t believe Twilight had this many pillows…” “I can’t either,” Twilight admitted as she looked around. “It’s a bit out of hoof.” “You can never have enough pillows!” Pinkie cheered as she brought out the cupcakes and milk for us to share. Twilight didn’t look as if she particularly agreed. “Maybe I should take a proper inventory of the number of pillows in the library. Not now though. We’ve pretty much used up all of the time we had if we hope to get a good rest before heading to Canterlot.” “Aw, I was hoping to tell ghost stories,” Pinkie sighed as she distributed treats. “Well, I would like to do one itsy bitsy little thing first,” Rarity admitted. I raised my eyebrow at her and I took the offered treat. It was small enough that even without hands I could manage to eat it. “And what’s that?” “Your wings, darling,” Rarity stated, pointing at one. “They are simply dreadful. Rainbow is quite right in insisting they be taken care off.” “Thank you!” Rainbow exclaimed, throwing her hooves in the air. “I even brought over my preening kit for you to use since you don’t have one. My wings itch just looking at you!” “Wait, don’t I get a say in this?” I protested. I was even getting used to the itchy irritation coming from the wings. Sorta. Okay, it was bugging me even more now that she mentioned it. “Of course you do, Caleb,” Rarity remarked. “But we still insist!” “But there are other sleep over things…” I tried lamely, backing away from the two. “And it's getting late...” “We have enough time for one more activity,” Twilight smirked. “And if ah recall, makeovers are one of them sleep over things too,” Applejack retorted with a wicked grin, blocking my retreat. Wait, didn’t Twilight mention Applejack had been forced into a frilly dress? Was this some weird revenge? I tried something else. “But there are… stuff like true or dare!” “I dare you to let them fix up your wings and feathers,” Spike quickly interjected with a smug grin. “Et tu, Spike?” I whined, being assaulted from multiple fronts. I didn’t even have anywhere to flee up! “It’s like your prize for winning,” Pinkie cheerfully added. “No need to clean up AND getting pampered by pretty mares.” “Sleep over special makeover,” Lyra giggled. I sighed. There was no beating these mares. I tried to recover as much male dignity as I could, which wasn't a lot. “Fine, whatever. On one condition! I expect another cinnamon roll for this.”