The Dawn of a bright, new life.

by Hallowedsoul

Ch. 9: "When the Heat is on"

Chapter Nine
“When the Heat is on”

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After the revelation of my feelings for Twilight, things have gotten a little complicated for me. I was visiting the library more and often found myself sneaking glances at Twilight (she really is quite attractive). Anyway, I’ve spent a couple more weeks trying to work up the nerve to talk to her about my feelings… and maybe help with my magic. And unfortunately, I suffer the normal guy syndrome of “can’t talk to the pretty lady” ‘Wuss.’

Despite what you may think, she does not sit around the library and mope all the time. If anything, she runs herself ragged, making certain everything is in place (I once sat and watched her reorganize the entire library… twice… in one day ‘Yeah, that was fun… slash sarc.’) or that every waking moment of her day is scheduled (actually, I think she’s just OC about that though her depression doesn’t help things ‘No, I’m pretty sure that’s all OCD.’).

Oh yeah. Nica’s still here and she has been a royal pain in my ass. ‘Ok, dude? I can still hear your thoughts, just in case you forgot.’

I had a brief moment of intense worry once when I visited Twilight one morning to find her barely standing on her hooves because she’d stayed up all day and night making a checklist and three backup checklists along with checklists to make sure she’d made checklists ‘Now that was hilarious’. Despite her protests that she was going to be too busy, I turned her sleep-deprived mind against her by convincing her that a few minutes of rest wasn’t going to kill her. I helped the mare to her room, laid her down in her bed and ended up spending the night downstairs on the couch.

She was unconscious until the next day and she was pissed when she woke up. She refused to speak to me for couple of days, but I didn’t press the issue. She got over it and said that what I did was necessary, if rather under-handed.

It was sometime between spring and summer that I noticed something odd was occurring.

The stallions around town suddenly began to disappear. When I went to Sweet Apple Acres, Applebloom told me Big Mac had gone out of town on vacation. This was unusual, because the big red workhorse never left the farm for more than a day or two and to suddenly leave on vacation was… strange.

‘You ever get the feeling they know something you don’t? ’ Nica’s voice chimed in my head.

I decided to go to the library and see if Twilight needed some help. As I did, I became uncomfortably aware that the various mares around town would stop whatever they were doing and stare at me, some with unnerving smiles on their faces.

‘Hey, Leon? It’s probably within your best interests to follow Big Mac’s example and skip town for awhile. Y’know, see the world or some junk.’

I shrugged it off as just a normal bout of Odd for the town of colorful ponies. This assumption would bite me in the ass later (‘Boy, did it ever!’), when the day turned into one of the single worst days of my life.

Regardless, I began to notice I was being followed by Lyra, who was looking at me like a hungry wolf being presented with a fat, juicy steak. Her face was also strangely flushed.

“Hi, Lyra, is something wrong? You’re looking a little flushed, do you have a fever or something?” I asked her, to which her smile grew wider.

“Nope, everything’s all right.” She replied, her voice low and, if I had to guess, sultry. My warning bells were going off in my head.

’All units, we have a Code Red, I repeat, we have a Code Red! Sound general quarters, all hands to battle stations!’ Nica was shouting urgently ‘Leon, why the hell are you still standing there, RUN!’

“So… Lyra. How’s your morning been?” I asked her carefully, while beginning to back up slowly. Lyra kept smiling at me while beginning to stalk forward, her hips swaying seductively.

“My morning’s been just fine…” She replied, her smile stretching from one ear to the other “But it’s about to get so much better now that I’ve found you!”

“Oh, is that right?” I said with a nervous chuckle “Would you care to explain why?”

As if on cue, my backwards progress was interrupted by me bumping into something. I spun around and saw Roseluck, Lily and Daisy standing behind me, all with the same smile on their faces that was on Lyra’s. It was also at this time that I noticed several other mares beginning to approach me, closing me off into a circle.

“Because I’m gonna take you home with me, and I’m gonna play with your feet a little and then…” Lyra said slowly, before her smile became suddenly manic and her voice changed to something crazed “You’re going to give me Human babies!”

Aww, crap… ‘NOW are you gonna listen to me?! Get your ass out of there before they trap you!’

I stopped thinking about crap and fell back on my “Get out of Dodge” instincts. I turned and bolted through an opening in the circle of mares before they even realized I’d moved and started running the rest of the way to the library. After a moment, Lyra gave out a loud battle cry and the herd of mares began to chase me across town.

‘The mares are in heat and you’re running to the one who’s emotionally distressed and still sometimes thinks you’re her dead boyfriend.’ Nica said, her voice deadpan ‘Because that’s an absolutely brilliant plan, Leon. Why don’t you lay down on the road for Lyra and just get it over with?’

“Hey, if you’ve got a better idea, lemme have it.” I shot back, not caring if the whole world could hear me talking to the Nobody residing in my head.

‘Yes, actually. GO HOME AND LOCK THE DAMN DOORS!’ She snapped back at me.

“That’s not a good long term plan. They’ll eventually force their way in and then I’ll be screwed (‘Bow chicka wow-wow’), in a rather literal sense.” I replied, to which I felt Nica face-palm.

‘Ugh, right… Lyra would probably find a way to unlock your door anyway. Alright, let’s go meet up with Twilight and see if we can’t get five minutes to come up with a plan.’

“Duly noted, Captain.”

I saw Terra walking calmly down the street ahead of me. She waved when she saw me, but then her face became worried when she noticed I was running at top speed from an enormous group of mares being led by a crazed Lyra.

“Terra!” I said, pausing briefly to pass instructions on to her “Get back home, lock all the doors and windows and let nobody and nopony inside until I personally tell you it’s safe. If Vinyl’s over, tell her to leave, I don’t care how you do it, so long as she’s gone. Let her borrow my iPod if that’s what it takes!”

Terra was about to respond, but I heard Lyra give out another loud cry and I saw the crowd of mares was nearly upon me.

“Terra, I really need you to do this for me, I’ll return home soon!” I said as I began to run away, waving at her “Have a nice day, sweetheart!”

I’ll give the minty mare and her horde credit, they were dedicated to their cause. But fortunately, I’m a wily bastard and I led them on a merry chase throughout the town. By the time I reached the library, my lungs were burning and my legs were extremely sore, but I’d put quite a bit of distance between me and the strung-out mares after ducking down alleys and creating obstructions for them.

I pummeled on the door when I reached it and called out desperately for either Spike or Twilight to answer the door.

“Leon, quit trying to destroy the door, it’s open!” Spike’s irritated voice called out from inside.

Oh, right, public facility. The door’s generally unlocked. I rushed inside and slammed the door behind me, locking it and falling to the ground gasping for breath.

“Whoa, hey man. I know you like it here, but you didn’t have to run all the way from home.” Spike said, when he saw me slumped against the door panting. I shot him a glare, but explained my situation as best I could.

“Mares… Lyra… Insane…” I gasped at him, but he looked at me in confusion.

“Hey, let me get you some water.” He said before walking into the kitchen, though at this point Twilight came down from her bedroom and smiled when she saw me, which turned to a frown at my gasping for breath.

“Hi, Leon. Why are you panting so hard?” She asked me, her expression curious (however, I noted her face was slightly flushed and her eyes were flashing with… something, but I was too out of breath to put any thought into it) “You didn’t run all the way here from your house, did you?”

Spike returned with a glass of cold water, which I drained in a single go. After a moment, I got my breathing under control and explained what was going on. Twilight was quiet until I finished, after which she giggled while Spike face-palmed.

“Ah. Well, this is around the time we go into estrus, our mating period.” She said with a small smile on her flushed face “Because of the extreme mare-to-stallion ratio here in Ponyville, the mares tend to go a little… crazy when they’re in heat.”

I stared at her for a moment with a wary expression on my face, to which she coughed.

“Oh, if you’re worried about me trying to force myself on you, don’t; I can keep myself under control pretty well.” She said, her face turning red, but I could tell there was something hopeful in her eyes.

“So how long does it last?” I asked her, but before she could respond, the group of mares I’d left in my dust caught up and started pounding on the door, with Lyra screaming at the top of her lungs.

“No fair, Twilight, I saw the human first!” I heard her yell, and I face-palmed “I’ve got dibs on his babies, now let me have him!”

“Wow, you weren’t kidding about Lyra, Leon.” Twilight said with a giggle and I glared at her darkly.

“This isn’t funny, Twilight. I take one step out there, things will deteriorate so fast it’ll be like Discord’s running Equestria again.” I scolded her, which only made her smile strangely at me for a moment before her face became serious again.

“Okay. Estrus is slightly different for each mare, but it generally only lasts a week or so. However, like I said, the mares here tend to go nuts during this period and that’s why most of the stallions in town leave during it.” She explained, but then the banging on her door became more frantic “I think we should get you out of here before they break down my door. Take my hand; I’ll teleport you back home.”

She extended her hand, but I shook my head.

“Already thought of that, and decided I needed something more long term than that.” I replied, which garnered an extremely confused look from Twilight.

“Um, Leon? The only thing more long term than your house is the room where Celestia keeps the Elements of Harmony.” She stated, and this time it was my turn to look at her confused “Tell me, Leon; after staying here for an extended period of time, wouldn’t you design a house to act as a fallout shelter during a period where the mares are going off-the-wall insane?”

Nica’s voice came to me ‘Yes, I knew about it but unfortunately you can’t activate the magic so it’s dead-in-the-water anyway. No idea why she’s recommending it, though, unless…’

I continued to stare at Twilight. She sighed and rubbed her temple irritably.

“Look, just take my hand and I’ll show you when we get there.” She said, extending her hand to me. After a moment’s consideration, I took it and she helped me up, keeping my hand firmly clasped in hers “Spike, watch the library for me; I’m gonna be gone for a few days.”

“Wait, what?” I managed to say before she teleported us to the living room of my house, where Terra was sitting with a worried look on her face. Her face brightened when she saw me and she hurried over to give me a hug.

“Leon, I’m glad you’re safe!” She exclaimed happily, but then looked at me concerned “What’s going on with everyone in town?”

I was about to speak, but Twilight cleared her throat to get my attention.

“Allow me to explain what’s going on here. Leon… my Leon… had several security spells put in place for when estrus came around, which is what’s driving the mares insane, Terra.” She said, before closing her eyes and focusing her magic in her horn.

The lights flickered for a moment and the sunlight coming through the windows became tinted. Once she was done casting the spell, she opened her eyes again.

“What did you do, Twilight?” I asked her, to which she sighed and took a seat in the recliner.

“I sealed us inside the house and changed its appearance to what it was when you first saw it. It currently looks no different than a regular Ponyville home and nopony will be able to enter or exit the house for about a week. I can’t even teleport while the defenses are up.” She replied, her voice weary.

‘HA, so he did teach her how to activate it! I’m his freakin’ Nobody and even I keep underestimating his resourcefulness.’ Nica exclaimed happily in my head.

I stared very hard at Twilight, trying to decide whether to be grateful towards her for removing us from the chaos that was estrus or to be pissed as hell that she hadn’t told me what she was gonna do before she did it. But that went away when I realized something else.

Twilight was stuck with us, for a week, with no spare change of clothes, not to mention she was also experiencing estrus regardless of how well she was handling it. This was gonna be harder on her than anyone else.

“Oh, but what about the others?” Terra asked quietly “Won’t they be concerned about us?”

Twilight gave her a small smile “Maybe a little, but we have phones. We can send a message telling them what’s going on.”

At that, Terra took her own phone out (Rarity got her one almost immediately after Terra started working for her and she took to it like a fly on honey; she already knew more things about her phone than I did my own) and tapped at it for a moment as she went to sit back down on the couch.

I got mine out and sent a message to the remaining Elements explaining what happened and to keep an eye on things around town. After which, I took a seat on the couch as well and the three of us sat in silence for a moment before I decided that this would be a good time to talk to Twilight about training my magic, seeing as we were gonna be stuck together for a week and it’ll keep us from thinking about how bored we were gonna be (‘Or distract everybody from the fact that you’re essentially stuck in a cage with an anthropony in heat.’).

“Hey Twilight, since we’re gonna be here a while, do you mind helping me to train my magic?” I asked her, but she gave me an irritated look.

“We’ve already been over this, Leon; without a focus, you can’t utilize any magical energy. You may as well not bother.” She replied exasperated.

“Actually…” I said, feeling a blush spreading on my face “I may have discovered a method that can stimulate the receptors that’ll allow me access to magic, there’s just one problem…”

“And what’s that?” She said, her expression both excited and curious. I felt my blush deepen.

“It’s, um, kind of… intimate.” I managed to say. Twilight seemed confused by this and asked me to elaborate “Well… it involves… y’know what, I’m just gonna show you.”

I got up and walked to a large enough empty space in the living room and sat in the manner Nica showed me, gesturing for Twilight to take a seat opposite me. She did (thank Celestia she’s wearing pants today or I might’ve been exposed to some upskirt, which would’ve been embarrassing as hell ‘Really? Most men would’ve cheered at an opportunity to see up the skirt of someone who looks like her.’ I can protest the missed chance later, but I’ve got more important things to focus on) but I had to scoot forward so that our knees were touching. At first, she looked like she was going to protest, but I explained it was necessary.

“Okay, now here’s the really embarrassing part; hold your hands up just like this.” I said, holding up my own hands between us with my palms facing her. She did, hesitantly, and I slid my fingers in between hers, causing her to blush furiously “I told you it was intimate, but the next part is all on you; focus your magic through your horn like you always do, but instead of casting a spell with the energy, let it flow between us like a current in the ocean.”

She was hesitant at first, but decided to try it anyway. She closed her eyes and her horn glowed purple as she gathered energy, then the glow began to flow down and through her arm.

The moment the glow touched my skin, my senses ignited.

I’m not sure how to even begin to tell you what I was feeling, it was… magnificent, painful, pleasurable, beautiful, terrifying… all of those and more. After what felt like an eternity of simply… Feeling, it stopped and I looked at Twilight Sparkle, who seemed weary but also amazed from the experience. She looked at me surprised, her eyes wide in wonder.

“That… that was…” She began, but she was at much a loss of words that I was “I had no idea somepony could do that. Where did you learn it?”

“A… friend of mine showed me how.” I replied, my voice breathless as my memory of the experience just failed me in every way possible “I… hadn’t expected to… Feel so much.”

And we spent another moment sitting there as our minds attempted to process what it was we’d just done and staring at each other. I, personally, was enraptured by how beautiful her amethyst eyes were.

A light giggling snapped us out of our trance and we realized our fingers were still entwined. We broke contact and stood quickly, both of us blushing furiously as we tried to pretend that what had happened was nothing.

I became aware of a new sensation in my body, easily noticeable as I moved my arms, and I came to the conclusion that it felt like… magic. I’d never felt it before, but the house buzzed with active magic, it was like running the back of my arm across a TV with a static build-up on the screen. I waved my arm through the air and I could feel the ambient magic in it, which felt like I was moving my arm through cool water, but without the resistance.

‘Try drawing it in; extend your will like it was a funnel to allow the magic in.’ Nica’s voice spoke from within my head, and I followed her advice.

I could feel the cool energy flow up my arm to rest within my chest, which began to feel like someone was sitting on it.

‘Now, focus the energy into coalescing into your hand as a bubble.’

I did, and was extremely surprised to see a bubble of pure, crystalline water form just a few inches above my palm, which expanded to match the amount of magic I’d drawn in. Twilight stared at me surprised while Terra drew in a breath and clapped excitedly.

“You can cast magic now, Leon!” She exclaimed, her excitement evident in the smile she was giving me “And it’s Water magic, too! I love Water; it’s so gentle and soothing. Try drinking it!”

I looked at Terra for a second before shrugging and putting my lips to the bubble, drawing in some of the water I’d created.

It was the cleanest, purest water I had ever tasted, untouched by the filth that comes from watering holes and the chemicals used to purify aquatic beverages. I drank it greedily, coming out for air every few seconds, until the bubble was gone. Once I was done, I felt almost as refreshed as if I’d rested for half an hour and had someone giving me a slow, relaxing massage.

“Wow… I feel like a new man, Terra. How’d you know it would do that?” I asked, to which she shifted uncomfortably.

“I-I don’t know, Leon.” Terra replied, glancing away nervously “W-When I looked at the bubble, it just felt like restorative magic. I, um… I can’t explain how I knew, but I did.”

I caught the lie but I didn’t say anything because it had something to do with her heritage, something she obviously didn’t want to talk about. She was attuned with magic on a genetic level and probably had the potential for more arcane muscle then Luna, maybe even Celestia... or both combined. ‘Give her a few years and she might give Discord a run for his money.’

We were interrupted by my phone telling me I got a text message, which it did in Vinyl’s voice. I took it out of my pocket and, lo and behold, it was from Vinyl Scratch.

From: DJ-Pon3

Hey brony, what gives? I can’t find yer house anywhere and I really wanna listen to your music.

I face-palmed, but sent her a reply nonetheless.

To: DJ-Pon3

Sorry, babe, but my house is currently on lockdown during estrus. I’ll letcha know when it’s over.

From: DJ-Pon3

Aw, that sucks. Meh, no biggie. Catch ya l8r, brony. Oh yeah, I got a gig comin up in a week and change, you down?

To: DJ-Pon3

That’s gonna depend on how long my lockdown lasts, but if it ends early enough, hell yeah. Wouldn’t miss a performance by my favorite DJ for all the bits in Equestria.

From: DJ-Pon3

Awesome, I’ll hook ya up with some tickets. None of that regular crap, either; my friends get VIP passes and the best tables in the house. L8r, brony!

I put my phone away, and looked from Twilight to Terra.

“Alright, looks like we’re stuck here for a week.” I said clapping my hands together “Anyone got any ideas on what to do?”

“Well…” Twilight replied, looking thoughtfully at me “We could practice your new magic, see what we can do with it. If it’s anything like you said it was, it may not be restricted to Water magic, but we’ll need you to get a feel for different energies.”

I looked at the wall of my house, remembering the static feel and extended my hand to it, but Twilight grabbed my hand before I could do anything.

“Leon, it’s not a good idea to take energy actively being used by magic.” She said warningly “At best, you could disable the magic permanently while at worst you could set this place off like a bomb and wipe Ponyville off the map, along with a good chunk of Equestria.”

I immediately stuck my hands in my pockets and walked away from the wall to sit down on the couch.

“You could try drawing energy from active elements, like the flame of a candle or a gentle breeze.” Terra offered, which caused Twilight’s eyes to light up in realization.

“That’s a great idea, Terra, thank you!” She exclaimed, making Terra to blush “Why don’t we get started on that?”

I took a deep breath and sighed. This was gonna be a long week.

Author's Note:

Hey everyone, sorry for the lack of updates. Just got back from yet another trip to Dallas, and am completely exhausted, but I'm gonna try and get a few more chapters out quickly to compensate, though progress will be kinda slow because I've also got some work coming up.

Anyhoo, this ain't a Facebook update so I'll just get right on the chapters while giving you this one. We press on!

Enjoy!

Comments

[Hallowedsoul]

2843404 Mmm I wouldn't say hard, more tedious than anything. It's just a little exhausting to start a match, play a turn or two, and then have about fifty more baddies with ten more bosses appear (exaggerated of course) and also have to go rescue someone on the other side of the map. Much as I love playing this game, I'm just a tad ready for it to be over. And you said you were four chapters ahead of me? Mother of pearl...

Thanks for the stache, by the way. ;-)

[EmiletheUndying]

2843800
yeah, the stage where you have to destroy the statues to not get stuck in the gain ground system, I only killed about ten enemies... and Raptor.
So I'm underleveled.
And I thought that the pattern of the game was that after the chapter title had appeared, no more people would come for either side... I was wrong.
Have faith though, It only goes to stage 40, then an epilouge, then the game is over.
Also Bosses, so many Bosses