The Problem With Magic

by deathtap


Day 13: Ursa Minor Issue

Applejack nuzzled my chin. We had been sitting together at the lakeshore for what seemed like hours now, gazing at the magnificent view. The moment could not have been more perfect. Her warmth, her breath, her everything… nothing in this world could spoil this moment. Nope. Nothing at all…
 
“Oh! My! Gosh!” Came a sudden shout from behind us.
 
Instinctively we pulled apart and looked back only to see Amethyst Star staring at us, her mouth half open. We stood there like children caught red-handed (hoofed) with our hands in the cookie jar. She stared at the two of us as we stared back at her with smiles in an attempt to look innocent. I don’t know why we did that. Amethyst then giggled, gave a little wave and ran in the direction of Ponyville.
 
“Well, I hope you don’t mind the whole town knowing by tomorrow,” I stated at Amethyst’s receding figure.
 
Again Applejack nuzzled me, “I don’t mind one bit.”
 
If I had skin, I would have goose-fleshed at that moment. She leaned up against me pressing her form against my body, and I did the same to her. It just seemed that I couldn’t get close enough, so I put a hoof around her and pulled her closer to me. She didn’t resist as she buried her face in my neck.
 
“We ought to be gettin’ back. My family might be worried ‘bout me.” Applejack said quietly after a while. She tried to pry herself loose from my grip but my body refused to let her go. She giggled at me and nipped my neck, “Let me go, Forest. It’s hard enough as it is.”
 
Through sheer will, I released her and watched her stand up. We walked back together towards Sweet Apple Acres in relative silence, but I unconsciously tried to get as close to her as possible again.
 
“Forest, you got to let me walk properly! You keep pushing me off the road!” Applejack commented, giggling.
 
I blushed and moved away a step, “Sorry, I just… wanted to be…” I mumbled the rest.
 
“What was that?” Applejack asked looking at me with those beautiful green eyes.
 
“I said…” I mumbled again. My face felt hot. Really hot. Why was I so shy?
 
“I missed that.” She had on a mischievous grin, and I could tell she was enjoying every minute of this emotional torture session.
 
Can’t say I didn’t enjoy it.
 
“I said,” I took a deep breath, “I. Just. Want. To. Be. As. Close. To. You. As. Possible!”
 
My face was boiling. It felt stupid to say something so… so… stupid! But it was how I really felt.
 
Applejack licked my cheek, “Yer cute when you blush, y’know?”
 
I thought I felt steam exit my ears when she did that. I had to sit down.
 
“Race you home…” Applejack taunted, and bolted before I could recover from my shock.
 
It didn’t take me long to catch up, but I let her take the lead. Frankly, for some reason, I was enjoying following her, staring at her fla-
 
“Oh my,” Applejack whispered, coming to a sudden halt.
 
I nearly bumped into her, “What’s wrong?”
 
She gestured with her hoof towards the house. There we saw Amethyst Star conversing with Applebloom and Big Mac. Applebloom was grinning from ear to ear. Big Mac’s expression was harder to read. A lot harder. I couldn’t tell if he was please, happy, furious or livid.
 
I shuddered.
 
“What’s the matter?” Applejack asked noticing me.
 
“This is a scary moment,” I blurted out.
 
“What?” Applejack looked at me confused.
 
“Your big brother is scary when he’s mad. And he looks mad. I think. I can’t tell.”
 
“Naw, he’s just protective,” Applejack replied, “He wouldn’t harm a fly.”
 
Typical ‘little sister’ logic – ‘big brother won’t harm the guy I like’. Big Mac would have no problems beating the living daylights out of me if I so much as hinted at hurting Applejack in any way, shape or form. And I had a feeling he’d beat me up for less, if need be. The way he chewed me out a few hours ago was still pretty fresh in my mind. And although I understood why but it still was one of the scariest things I had ever gone through.
 
After a few minutes Amethyst waved goodbye and was making a beeline for us. Since we were at the edge of the farm, we were concealed in the darkness. But she noticed us as the distance between us closed. Neither of us hid as she spotted us flashing a huge grin, “Hello you two. Enjoying yourselves?”
 
“Darn it, Star! What’cha say to my brother?”
 
“I just said that his little sister was snuggling up to that brown stallion, is all. Your sister seemed to like the news. I’m not sure about your brother…” Amethyst gave me a keen look, “And here we all were actually worried about our favourite Element of Honesty.”
 
My blood turned to ice at the mention of Big Mac’s outlook.
 
“I’m fine! We were just admirin’ the view!” Applejack countered.
 
Amethyst grinned, “If you say so, Applejack. It looked a lot more than just admirin’ to me. Kinda looked like snugglin’. Perhaps I came… after?”
 
The question was too obvious to miss. I blushed furiously. Again. Seriously, I couldn’t stop!
 
“Nothin’ like that happened!” Applejack barked back.
 
“Really?” Amethyst tilted her head at an angle, “You just sat there nuzzling one another all that time?”
 
I nodded stupidly, and looked away.
 
“Oh! My! Gosh! That is too sweet! You’re going to give me a cavity!” Amethyst giggled again and shook her head, “You can’t be that innocent.”
 
I wasn’t. I’ve had ‘relations’ before. Just not with someone I cared for this deeply. It was a very strange feeling, one that I’ve never experienced before, and I was not even sure how to describe the feeling to myself, let alone actually accepting it. All I knew was that it felt ‘right’ and that it was the ‘best’.
 
“Oh gosh, are you two… virgins?” Amethyst said the word silently, almost as if it were taboo.
 
“No!” We both cried out at the same time.
 
We looked at each other. That was perhaps the wrong moment to have opened my mouth.
 
“Okay… well, I’ll be going now,” Amethyst stated when she felt the mood change. She turned and galloped away, heading down the road towards Ponyville.
 
I did the civil thing and walked Applejack to her door. I stopped just outside the front door, letting her open it and step inside.
 
“I… I had a good time, Forest.”
 
“Me too.”
 
“We… should do it again.”
 
“Yes, definitely!” I exclaimed.
 
“That… whole thing about me being…” She didn’t finish the statement, but I knew what she meant.
 
“Doesn’t matter,” I replied, truthfully. It didn’t.
 
“Really?” Applejack looked down at the ground not able to meet my eyes, “Forest, I need to tell you something, something very important about me. Something that… you might not like.”
 
“Is it about a Stallion from your past?”
 
Applejack nodded.
 
“Are you still… involved?” Please say no! Please say no!
 
“No…” Applejack looked me in the eye.
 
“Then, you don’t have to tell me.”
 
“But I want to, Forest. I think I need to. I don’t want any secrets between us…”
 
That statement felt like a sledgehammer dealing a crushing blow to a fragile object called ‘my life’, shattering it into a million pieces. I had no right to make her that kind of promise. How could I? I’ve been lying to her all along! Not just to her, but to all her friends as well. I couldn’t tell her the truth. There was no possible way. If I did spill the beans, it would all be over. I would lose and be imprisoned in limbo forever. But she was the Element of Honesty and I understood – no, I knew – this was important to her. And to top it all off, I was the asshole who had to lie to her once again.
 
Yeah. I was quickly becoming a bigger asshole by each passing day.
 
“My life is one giant secret, Applejack. I can’t be honest with you if I don’t know who I am. It wouldn’t be fair on you to tell me your secrets when I have none… to give. I’m sorry.”
 
That was my saving grace. Two simple words. To give. I didn’t lie to her, just told her that I had no secrets ‘to give’; I only had ones to keep. That was true. Who was I really? Was I the human ‘John Smith’ from Earth? Or was I ‘Forest Fire’ from Equestria? If that was so clearly defined, then those stupid ‘body-control’ spells wouldn’t work on me. They used my Equestrian name. So in the end, who was I really?
 
“Well, when you’re ready, Forest, then I’ll tell you everythin’.”
 
“I hope that one day I can do the same, Applejack,” I smiled weakly at her.
 
I really hoped that I could, and on top of that I hoped that she could forgive me. That all of them could, all those Ponies that showered me with kindness and friendship. Not just Applejack, but Pinkie too. And there was Twilight, Applebloom, Big Mac, Granny, the Cakes and everyone else that had touched my life in their own special way. Even the Princesses, although their ‘touch’ nearly killed me, I hoped that when they found out the truth that they’d forgive me too. And Brian too, for he tried so hard to prove the truth and was right all along.
 
“Good night, Forest,” The most beautiful Pony I knew whispered.
 
“Good night, Applejack.”
 
We both stood there awkwardly for a long moment. I knew what she wanted, but the three heads that were staring at us from the living room window made it really uncomfortable. It was hard not to notice them. Applejack couldn’t see them from her perspective, but I could. I didn’t want to not kiss her. I just didn’t want an audience. But I didn’t want to miss a single moment with her.
 
So, I took one step closer to her. My heart skipped a beat as my body moved physically closer to hers. My head spun. Gently, I kissed her lips. Just a quick peck. Well, she wasn’t happy with just that, so she seized my face in her hooves and gave me a proper kiss. I think I got a heart attack; I was so happy and shocked at the same time.
 
“Finally!” I heard Applebloom yell from the den.
 
Applejack and I shared a laugh at that. Our foreheads pressed against each other as she stroked my cheek with her hoof, her eyes inches from mine. They were so mesmerizing. Then, regretfully, she took a step back away from me and I took a step back away from her. She slowly pushed the door closed while I stood there smiling stupidly. She paused just before it closed and gave me a wink, which made my smile wider. Then she closed it.
 
I stared at to door for a little while not quite sure whether or not I was dreaming. This was way too good to be true. So, I tried to pinch myself, but that failed – can Ponies even pinch? So, I punched my arm. Ouch. No, this was not a dream. I turned around and walked away shaking my head at myself. I had just fallen for a pony –not just any pony, but a cartoon pony. And I didn’t care.
 
Entering my home I closed the door slowly grinning.
 
“Well, well, well, Romeo. I saw that. You certainly are the ladies-man,” A voice said. Tutela appeared in the laptop’s monitor, “But aren’t you forgetting something?”
 
“What?”
 
“You haven’t won the bet yet. You are still mine, Forest, and until you win, you will remain mine.”
 
Holy shit! She was right! I hadn’t won this bet! I was still playing and somehow I had got side-tracked. Or did I? If learning the true meaning of friendship was my final goal, then wouldn’t falling for someone special also count?
 
“And no, Forest, you haven’t found the true meaning of friendship yet,” Tutela grinned, “You’re not even close.”
 
Don’t listen to her! I yelled to myself before diving into my sofa-bed and trying to sleep.
 
“What are you, a baby?” Tutela asked, finding my childish antics amusing.
 
“Sleep time now, please!” I yelled covering my face with a pillow.
 
I heard her giggle quietly, then silence.
 
All through the night I kept tossing and turning. I was trying to get some shut eye, but I couldn’t. Every single time I closed my eyes, I’d replay my first kiss with Applejack by the lake. Each time it repeated itself without fail. Again and again, and I enjoyed every minute of it…
 
“Forest, you promised!” What? What was that?
 
“You can’t do this!” Who? What? Huh?
 
“Why are you doing this?” What is going?
 
“Forest!” Another voice screamed. I knew that voice.
 
My eyes opened. Light, blinding light burned my eyes. So much light, so much…
 
“Forest!” A voice screamed again, this time it was a little different.
 
“Wha-?” What was that? A dream? What was going on? That was no dream. That was a nightmare! And I just woke up to another one.
 
“Forest! Get your flank out here right now! Don’t make me come in there and get you!” Lavender shouted again.
 
“Coming! Give me a second,” I shouted, and pulled myself from my bed. I must have only slept for a few hours, but what was that disturbing dream? It made no sense whatsoever. All I could remember was shouting.
 
Shrugging it off, I exited my house. Dawn was barely over the horizon today.
 
“You’re supposed to meet me at the lake at dawn, you doofus. Dawn is almost here and you’re not at the lake!”
 
“Sorry, sorry,” I tried to apologize, but Lavender was being really sullen, “What’s wrong, Lav?”
 
“What’s wrong?” She seethed, “What’s wrong?” She repeated louder, “I’ll tell you what’s wrong! What’s wrong is that you’re not where you’re supposed to be! What’s wrong is that you don’t understand anything! What’s wrong is that… that… you’re an idiot!”
 
Ouch. Where did that come from? I stood there staring at her with my mouth wide open in shock, unable to say anything. I was so confused.
 
“You really don’t know, do you?” Lavender smacked her head, “Of course not! You’re a male. I forget that all males are dumb.”
 
“Hey!” That wasn’t very fair.
 
“This is stupid. You’re just an idiot, and we have a race to train for. Let’s go.”
 
What could have gotten into her? I really wanted to know, but she was so pissed off that I couldn’t even begin to idle conversation. Every time I opened my mouth she’d gave me a savage looked, like she wanted to do nothing else other than strangle me. So we walked to the lake in silence.
 
“Ten laps. Now,” Lavender barked, pointing at the water with her hoof.
 
“But…”
 
“Now!” She screamed when I didn’t move, showering me in her saliva.
 
Yeesh. She was in a real foul mood. What else could I do but swim? So I swam.
 
A couple hours later, I crawled out of the water feeling rather exhausted. Lavender stood over me, and I looked up to her face in dread. She was still pissed off! Come on! I just swam ten laps for you!
 
“Now, run around Ponyville twenty times!”
 
“Twenty?” Was she mad? “That’s… five times more than the…”
 
“I know it is,” She rubbed the gap between her eyes, “Now go before I whoop your sorry flank.”
 
Grumbling to myself, I started my twenty laps. Yes, I could have just run away. Yes, I could have just ignored her. But I had an obligation. The entire town was depending on me to win this race, and I wasn’t about to disappoint anypony.
 
“Faster!” Lavender shouted when I wasn’t moving fast enough.
 
It was after lunchtime before I was done and I felt utterly destroyed, both emotionally and physically. Why was she so angry at me? I tried to think of everything I did to her but nothing came to mind. How did she go from treating me normally to treating like this? Did I do something unconsciously? Even the Ponies in town were acting strange. Some were really nice to me, and others were acting like Lavender, cold and a little hostile. I just didn’t get it. It felt like the town was divided into two halves for some reason.
 
When I completed the final lap I dropped to my face, too tired to even think. Lavender was making a note in a book before walking over to me, “Your time for the race is good enough, but you need to improve your stamina. Tomorrow we’ll concentrate on building that, okay?”
 
I nodded, my face still buried in lake’s sandy ground.
 
“Make sure you drink lots of water, and eat something. You need to rest your muscles. Also, you should apologize to Pinkie for breaking her heart.”
 
Wait, what? I raised my head out of the sand, but Lavender had already started walking away at that point.
 
“Pinkie,” I said the name to myself.  The first thing I saw was her lips on mine. How she had caressed my cheeks, how she had pulled me close to her. How she was my first kiss – as a Pony. Lavender was right, “I am an idiot.”
 
“Forest!” I heard my name being called, “Forest, there you are!”
 
Forcing myself onto my feet, I smiled, “Hi there, Twilight. What’s up? Are you okay, you don’t look too good.”
 
“You need to help me! We’ve… got a problem.” She sounded really panicky.
 
“We?” I asked raising my eyebrow.
 
“There was a… mistake. I was teaching Aiden some summoning spells and he had somehow teleported a something into Ponyville…”
 
“A something?” I asked.
 
Twilight looked pretty exasperated, angry and annoyed all at the same time, “I’ve exhausted my magic trying to protect the town and I need time to recharge. You need to distract the Ursa until that time…”
 
“What’s an Ursa?” I asked, “And more importantly, why me?”
 
Twilight pointed to a big blob of dark blue night sky floating in the not-so-far distance. Wait a minute! How can night sky be there on the ground when it was day? Then again, why was it on the ground? That wasn’t a sky! That was an animal! A huge blue beast with what looked like stars on its fur lumbered towards us. The fucking was thing was huge! It stood over two stories high while walking on all fours, and had a great big mouth with great big pointy teeth and extra-sharp claws.
 
“That’s an Ursa,” Twilight said, backing up, turning and running away.
 
“Wha-?” The fuck!
 
I chased the purple Unicorn while she just ahead of me, “You’re the fastest pony around! If there’s anypony that can outrun that creature, it’s you.”
 
As flattered as I was by her sentiment, I was exhausted from my training, but I couldn’t disappoint, these Ponies were relying on me, and I wasn’t about to fail them, “What do I do? What do I do?”
 
“Take this,” Twilight threw me an object, which I caught. It looked like a hexagon and was really sticky. It fit nicely around my hoof, sitting prominently over my bracelet, “And keep that on you until I figure this whole mess out.”
 
“Okay… now what?” I asked taking a good look at the said object, while still jogging by her side.
 
“Keep running.”
 
“Keep… running?”
 
“Yes!” Twilight shouted, “That’s a Muzen honey comb.”
 
“Muzen honey what?”
 
The Ursa was heading straight for me now. A lot of thoughts went through my, most of them were curses in a variety of colorful expressions.
 
“Muzen bees are the biggest bees known, they make the sweetest honey and that little bit you’re holding is probably worth hundreds of bits! Everypony loves it, everything loves it! Especially a lot of really dangerous creatures! One of them is that Ursa!” Twilight shouted moving further away from me.
 
“Aiden summoned this?” I shouted.
 
Twilight’s silence spoke volumes, “Now run! Just keep away from it until I can think of a plan!”
 
“Are you kidding me?” Bait! I was bait!
 
All arguments were settled the moment the Ursa let out an ear-deafening, gut-wrenching, fear-surging, blood-freezing, shit-making roar. Bait I was!
 
Charging across the lake, the Ursa followed me. It was so big that it just wallowed across, fording the river effortlessly. I noticed this once I had reached the other side. If it was slowing the creature down, it wasn’t doing a very good job. Not wanting to stick around, I got out of there. The Ursa was in pursuit but it was not as fast me. It wasn’t too difficult to keep away from it. But I was so, so tired. If only Lavender hadn’t pushed me so hard! This would be no problem.
 
“You should apologize to Pinkie. You broke her heart…” Lavender’s voice echoed in my head.
 
What? Why was that thought popping up in my brain now? Had I really hurt Pinkie that much? Did I really cause her pain when I vowed not to? Didn’t she kiss me to break the spell so I wouldn’t hurt her? Did she actually… was she…
 
“Forest, a mare just doesn’t jump into bed with a stallion if she doesn’t have feelin’s for him…” Applejack’s voice echoed in the back of my mind.
 
No! I was with Applejack now. There was no way I would-
 
I fell on my face, sliding to a halt. Standing up, I looked down at my chest. The Muzen honey comb was completely broken, smashed into tiny pieces, which not stuck to my chest. I tried to pull them off, but it was impossible.
 
“No! No, no, no, no, no! This is not happening!”
 
A loud growl from behind me reminded me just exactly what was going on. If I lived through this, I was going to kill Twilight, and Aiden. Not really, of course… maybe.
 
But thinking of things from Twilight’s side, I guess it made sense. I was the fastest one around. The Ursa was already keeping up with me at a pretty fast pace, and even though I was fast I didn’t have unlimited stamina. I was like a cheetah, I could use short bursts of speed, the faster I went, the shorter the distance. And normally I could go on for quite some time at this pace, but after this morning’s training…
 
I spotted Lavender walking ahead of me. Speeding up, I caught up to her in seconds, “What do you mean I hurt Pinkie? How did I hurt her?”
 
Lavender was shocked to see me, “Forest, didn’t I tell you to rest…”
 
“What do you mean? I don’t have time!” I shouted.
 
Lavender turned around and spotted the Ursa. Fear gripped her, but I deserved to know.
 
“W-w-why is that thing chasing you?” Lavender stammered in fear.
 
“Please, Lav! Tell me!” The beast was closing in on us.
 
“She liked you, Forest. She still does. But you liked Applejack, yet you still asked her to kiss you. Even if you were under a spell...” Lavender didn’t finish. She didn’t need to. I had gotten the answer I wanted, “And be careful. You’re our best chance at winning the Race!”
 
A big beast is chasing me threatening to consume me whole, and that’s what she’s worried about? She dove behind the nearest bush, but the Ursa had no interest in her and swiftly sped by.
 
On I ran. On and on and on. My legs were feeling like jelly, my mouth felt dry, and my hind muscles were burning. But the Ursa was also getting tired, I could tell. It was lumbering along, but it was slowing down as well. So, I dropped my pace. I couldn’t take much more of this. I don’t know how long I had been running for, but it Ponyville was long gone.  At my speed and direction, who knew where I was?
 
Still that stupid beast chased me.
 
The sky started to turn orange, the sun was setting. Here I was, still running, shattered, hungry, thirsty, who know how far away from home, and still being chased by that damned monster! Even animals needed to stop too!
 
Was this honey a drug or something? Was I covered in animal cocaine? Tutela would save me, right? Tutela would teleport me back to her haven where I could recover…
 
“No! No, Forest,” I shouted to myself, “You have to do this!”
 
No. I couldn’t do it. I was too tired. My legs were dead.
 
“Shit,” I muttered as I took my slow, struggling steps forwards.
 
The sounds of the Ursa’s footsteps were closing in on me. In retrospect, perhaps running in a straight line away from Ponyville was not the brightest idea. My legs gave out. They no longer listened to me as I lay on my chest on the dry, brown grass.
 
A gush of hot air breathed over my back. Stale, rank breath filled my nostrils. Long lines of saliva dribbled around me. Razor sharp teeth surrounded me. I was too exhausted to even lift up my head, so I closed my eyes and waited. What for? I don’t know. Either I’d wake hear Tutela’s voice, or I’d not wake up at all.
 
I felt myself rise up in the air. It was dark. Pitch black. I couldn’t see anything. Did I die and was not ascending through to another plane of existence? That was weird; the beast must have been very quick in ending my life. I didn’t feel anything. In fact… all I feel is icky, slippery, gooey wetness. It was a warm wetness. And it stunk very badly, like bad breath.
 
The thing was carrying me in its mouth! Alive! The tongue was savoring the honey on my chest! To the Ursa, I was probably a really fast treat running away from it! Stupid bastard was going to eat the honey one way or another. But why was it not chewing me?
 
I don’t know how long I was stuck in that creature’s mouth, but it must have been quite a while. Soon, I heard voices.
 
“Where’s Forest?” That was Twilight’s voice, “Where is he?”
 
There was no response.
 
“Let the Ursa go back to the Everfree Forest. Twilight, he must be safe. He must have run clear to Appaloosa by now,” Applejack’s voice stated.
 
I wanted to shout out, to let them all know I was in the damned beast’s mouth, but I didn’t want to risk it. If the beast knew I was alive, or that I was moving, it might think that I was trying to escape and actually bite me in half. So I remained as still and quiet as possible. Why hadn’t Tutela pulled me out of here?
 
“What’s that in its mouth?” A voice shouted.
 
It was Aiden who next spoke, “Everypony, get back indoors, we don’t want to distract the Ursa from going back to the woods.”
 
“But…”
 
“No buts. Now go. Twilight, I want you to stay here and make sure that the beast doesn’t come out. I’ll sort out… things on the inside of the woods,” Aiden didn’t elaborate.
 
“Aiden, what are you going to do?” Twilight’s voice sounded shaky.
 
Their voices started to fade. The Ursa was more interested in making its way back home than sticking around. It had gotten what it came for, and was now content – but I wasn’t dead!
 
Then suddenly my world opened up and I fell onto the ground in a slobbery pile next to some bones of other creatures. A large rat saw me and inched its way over to me. It opened its mouth to take a bite off of me. Perhaps it thought I was dead.
 
“Don’t even think about it,” I whispered before the rat could close its jaw. It stared at me with its eyes wide open before turning about and scurrying off. It paused once or twice to take a good look at me before it completely disappeared in the debris.
 
Without moving my head I took in the surrounding area. In front of me was a giant stack of bones of various creatures. To my right were some more bones of other creatures. To my left was a large rocky wall, and below me was a red-tinted, decay reeking floor. Blood, and lots of it, had been spilt right here. This was not a good place for a Pony.
 
I heard noises coming from behind me and I very slowly and very carefully turned my head to see what it was. I couldn’t see the Ursa, so but from the looks of things this was at the very back of a cave and the only way out was through the front door. Dragging myself, I pulled my body through the sludge using my front hooves, under the pile of bones going as deep below as I could. I didn’t care about the smell, nor did I care about the fact that this place was probably swarming with opportunistic creatures. I needed rest. I needed sleep. I was cold, hungry and exhausted.
 
As I lay on that cold floor, breathing in the putrid air, my thoughts went to back to earlier this morning, before the dawn, the moment by the lake. That was perfect. Why couldn’t shit like that happen to me all the time? Why does every high come with this ultimate low? My eyes felt heavier and heavier.
 
“Good night, Applejack,” I whispered to the wind.