Chapter 5
Chapter 5
Morning Routines and a Vampire
The Sun started rising on another beautiful day in Equestria. The beams of sunlight crept slowly through the curtains of the Ponyville Library. Twilight began to rouse, as the beams of sunlight hit her closed eyes. She rolled over on to her other side briefly before waking up. She opened her eyes slowly, still a bit tired, and then sat up in her bed. She glanced over at Spike and Moka across from her, both still asleep in their own beds. She then looked over at her alarm clock and saw that it was ten o’ clock.
She stepped out of her bed and started stretching, and then walked over to her mirror. Picking up her brush in her levitation magic, she started to comb her usual ‘bed head’.
When she was finished with that, she walked over to Moka and Spike, to wake them up. “Come on, you two, get up. It’s morning.” She spoke softly, but not too softly that they couldn’t hear her.
Moka began to stir as soon as Twilight had called her. She woke up without a fuss, blinking her eyes a few times, and started getting out of bed. Spike however, just waved Twilight off and pulled his sheets over his head. “Ten more minutes.”
Twilight just rolled her eyes and smiled playfully in response to this. Without missing a beat, she then activated her horn and quickly pulled his blanket off of him. Spike’s eyes shot open immediately. “Alright, alright. I’m up, I’m up.” He said in an annoyed tone. He then sat up in his bed, stretched and rubbed his eyes.
Once her number one assistant was up, Twilight then looked over at Moka, who was stretching as well. “Did you sleep well, Moka?”
“Like a log,” Moka responded. With a spring in her step, she then hopped out of bed, on to the floor, and then turned back to make the bed.
Twilight smiled at her response. When everypony and dragon had made their beds, Spike more begrudgingly than Moka, the three of them made their way downstairs for breakfast.
Once they reached the kitchen, Spike set about making them breakfast, and Twilight started writing the letter to the Princess. Wanting to be helpful as well, Moka started setting the table.
While Spike was heating up some hay bacon and eggs, he turned to address Moka, who was setting the table. “So Moka…” he began, acting a bit nervous. “I know that you’re a vampire pony and all, but do you still eat regular food too?”
Moka looked up from her work to answer Spike. “Oh, yeah. I only drink Tsukune’s blood about once or twice a day. I still have regular meals like everybody else.” She then turned her gaze to the breakfast that Spike was cooking up. “Although, I’ve never exactly had food quite like that before.”
Spike looked at the food and then back to her. “Would you like me to make you something else?”
Moka just smiled back and waved her hoof dismissively. “Oh no, that’s okay. Please don’t trouble yourself on my account. Besides, I’m actually interested to see what it will be like.” When it looked like she was finished speaking, her eyes then suddenly widened, and she added, “But no water, please.” She then finished by giving him a friendly smile, before returning her attention to setting the table.
Spike returned her smile and then returned to his job of making the breakfast.
When Spike and Moka were finished speaking to each other, Twilight finished writing her letter. She then rolled up the scroll with her magic, and turned to face Spike. “Spike; when you’re ready, could you send the letter to the Princess, please?” She then turned to face Moka. “I explained to the Princess that you and your friends are from another world, and asked if she knew anything about helping you all get back there. Don’t worry though; I didn’t tell her about your real identities.”
Moka just smiled back at her. “Thank you so much.” She said as she continued setting the table. Her expression then slipped a little, making her look a bit worried. “So, do you think that the Princess knows how we can get back to Yokai Academy?”
Twilight bit at her lip, not wanting to upset her, but also not wanting to give her false hope. “I’m not entirely sure, but if anypony knows how, it’s Princess Celestia.” She finished by giving her a reassuring smile.
When the two of them finished speaking, Spike then waddled over to the two mares and placed two plates of food on the table in front of them. “Here you go.” He then took the scroll from Twilight, inhaled deeply and blew out. The scroll was enveloped in a small, green flame; the wisps of the fire then sailed through the air, against the wind, and out the window.
Moka looked at this in awe. “Wow.”
Twilight smiled a little at this. The two mares then sat down at the breakfast table properly. They were soon joined by Spike, who came back over with a plate for himself; his plate, in contrast, was filled with hay fries, small ruby shards and a glass of milk. The three of them then all sat down and had their breakfasts together.
Twilight levitated a fork and started eating her hay bacon. Spike simply grabbed his food in his claws and started stuffing it into his mouth. He got a few glares from Twilight about his poor table manners, especially since they had a guest, and he started eating a bit more controllably. Moka had adjusted to having hooves instead of hands very quickly, and was able to hold her fork in her hooves without a problem.
While they were eating, Twilight looked up from her food and turned to address Moka. “Moka, if it’s not too much trouble, would you mind if I study your powers for a bit before we go and meet with the Princess later? I’d be very interested in learning more about how you’re so strong.”
Moka chewed her hay bacon and waited until she had swallowed before she responded. “No, not at all. I’d be happy to do anything I could to repay you for your kindness.”
Twilight beamed. “Thank you. You have no idea how much that means to me. You see, I’m kind of an egghea… err, well read,” she recovered quickly. “And I’m always looking to expand my knowledge. I was amazed at the kind of power that you showed when you faced down that Ursa Minor, and I would be very interested in learning more about it. I noticed that you transform when you use your power, so once we’re finished with our breakfast, could you transform again so I can study you?”
Moka’s smile suddenly dropped at that last part, and she lowered her head in shame. “I’m sorry, but I’m afraid I can’t.”
Twilight looked at her with a look of confusion on her face. “Huh, why not?”
Moka then raised her hoof to lift up her rosary so that Twilight could see it. “You see, I can only transform when I take off my rosary, and Tsukune’s the only one who can turn it off.”
“Huh.” Twilight was now even more confused. She then looked down at Moka’s rosary to get a better look at it. Twilight’s face then shifted to a much more serious tone and her horn lit up in a magenta aura; the same colour aura then also enveloped Moka’s rosary. Twilight concentrated hard and started pulling at the rosary with all of her mental strength to try and take it off. However, it wouldn’t budge. She concentrated harder and started pulling at it more, but it didn’t seem to make a difference. Moka just stood there silently while she did this, being familiar enough with unicorn magic after spending all yesterday with Yukari.
When Twilight had failed to pull of the rosary with her magic, she then reached across the table with her hoof, and started pulling at it herself. She gritted her teeth hard as she pulled at it with all of her might, still being careful not to hurt Moka. However, no matter how hard she tugged at it, it simply wouldn’t come off. She then let go of the rosary and returned to her seat. “Sorry about that,” Twilight said.
“Oh no, it’s alright,” Moka responded.
“Why is it that Tsukune is the only one who can take it off?”
Moka raised her hoof to her mouth in thought. “I’m not sure exactly; he just can.”
This seemed to puzzle Twilight greatly, as she didn’t like answers like, ‘he just can’ or ‘it just is’. Then suddenly, she got an idea and she perked up. “Hey, I know. Once we’re finished with our breakfast, how about we go over to Sweet Apple Acres and visit Tsukune and Applejack?”
Moka lowered her hoof from her mouth again and smiled back at her. “Sure, that would be great.”
Spike then suddenly swallowed some more of his breakfast and spoke up. “So if you guys are going to Sweet Apple Acres, does that mean that I can take the day off?” He said with a hopeful smile.
“No Spike.” Twilight answered, while giggling slightly. “I still have some chores for you to do around the library while we’re away.”
Spike slouched down in his seat, with a defeated smile on his face. “I knew you were gonna say that,” he said jokingly. He then shrugged his shoulders. “Oh well, you can’t blame a guy for trying.”
The three of them all laughed together as they continued eating their breakfast.
---
Sunlight entered through the window of the top floor of Sugarcube Corner, which was shaped like a cupcake, as a certain pink pony was sitting up in her bed, staring intently at the alarm clock next to her. The time on it was 10:29. As the second hoof complete its rotation, the clock now reading 10:30, it suddenly flared to life in alarm, but it was immediately silenced as Pinkie brought her hoof down on it. “Ha, beat you again.” Pinkie said with a triumphant smile, as she had bested the small appliance.
Once that was over, the pink party pony hopped out of bed and walked over to Mizore’s bed, which was right beside hers. She nudged the ice queen with her hoof, and she immediately rolled over to stare back at her, blankly. Mizore stared at Pinkie with her usual stoic expression, but Pinkie still smiled back at her.
After about five seconds of silent staring, Mizore lazily threw the sheets off of her and stepped out of bed. Pinkie then zoomed out in front of her field of vision again. “So, how long have you been up, Mizore?” Before she respond then suddenly raised her hoof and pursed her lips. “I still need more time with coming up with your nickname. Mizore’s not something that I change easily. No offense.”
Mizore just stared back at her for a few seconds before responding, with “A while.” She spoke in her usual icy tone, completely ignoring the second thing that the pink earth pony had said.
“Well that’s good. Come on, let’s go get some breakfast. You can’t start a new day without a big breakfast and a big smile, right?” She then leaned in close to her, only half expecting her to say something in response. “Riiiiiiiiiiiight?” she repeated, a bit more hopeful this time. After a few seconds, she pulled away from her again and looked serious. “Yeah, I didn’t expect that to work, but you can’t blame a girl for trying, right?” She then turned around and leaned in closer to her again. “Riiiiiiiiiiiight?” She repeated in a joking manner. She then let out another chorus of laughter. “Come on, let’s go,” she said as she made her way downstairs, bouncing as she went. Mizore slowly followed after her.
Pinkie and Mizore made their way downstairs. In the dining room, Mrs. Cake was putting the twins into their highchairs, while Mr. Cake was in the kitchen, getting their breakfasts ready for them, before they opened for business.
When Pumpkin had finally stopped fidgeting, and Mrs. Cake had gotten her into her highchair, she turned around to greet Pinkie and Mizore. “Oh, good morning, dearies.”
“Good morning, Mrs. Cake,” Pinkie replied in a perky tone.
Mrs. Cake then turned to face Mizore. “So, you must be Mizore. Pinkie told us all about you last night.” Her facial expression then shifted slightly. “She also explained that you and your friends are ‘circus performers’ and that you used your ‘circus tricks’ to defeat the Ursa Minor last night.” She started trailing off the more she spoke, trying to recall exactly what Pinkie Pie had told her.
When Mrs. Cake was done talking, Mizore turned to the side to face Pinkie. “Circus performers?”
“Yes indeedy. I also explained that the reason you don’t smile much is because as a circus performer, you have to train yourself when to smile and when not to, right?” She ended with an inflection in her voice, and she nudged her with her hoof, indicating her tone.
Mizore just looked away from Pinkie and faced forward again. “Whatever.”
As she faced forward, Mrs. Cake walked up to her and took the lollipop from her mouth. “Alright now, dearie, let’s get you some proper food. You can’t just eat sweets for every meal. I already had that little lecture with Pinkie Pie a few months ago.” Pinkie waved from behind them and smiled when her name was mentioned.
Without missing a beat, Mizore simply reached out her hoof and grabbed her lollipop and put it back in her mouth again. “I don’t suck on this all the time because I want to; I have to suck on this. I need it to regulate my body temperature.”
Mrs. Cake looked at her quizzically after hearing this. “Oh…” she began. “Do you have a low metabolism?”
Mizore simply responded, “No.”
“Oookay,” Mrs. Cake started. Then, before she could say anything else, Pound Cake suddenly shot out of his highchair and flew into the air. Mrs. Cake turned around to look at this. “Pound Cake! No! Get back down in your chair right this instant,” Mrs. Cake scolded him.
Pound Cake just laughed in response to this. He then reared back in the air, with what looked like a cocky expression on his face, and zoomed out of the room, towards the kitchen. Mrs. Cake ran after him immediately. “Pound Cake’s coming at you, dear.”
“I see him, honey bun,” a voice from the kitchen called out.
When Mrs. Cake had left the room, Mizore then simply walked over to the table and sat down. When she reached the table, she looked to the side to see Pumpkin Cake staring at her. Mizore simply stared back at her. The two of them simply stayed like this for about ten seconds, and then Pumpkin suddenly smiled at her and started giggling. Mizore didn’t outwardly react to this in any way, and just kept staring at the baby pony, with her stoic expression.
To her left, Pinkie started slowly rising up from underneath the table. She was wearing her usual smile, and she opened her mouth wide to say something, but then she suddenly stopped and looked serious. “Okay Mizore, listen. I’ve been trying my hardest to make you smile and I haven’t been getting anywhere. Now I don’t usually do this, and it might be considered cheating, but I’m just gonna come and say it: What does make you smile?”
Mizore’s head was facing forward, still facing Pumpkin, but her eyes were turned to the side to look at Pinkie while she was talking. When Pinkie had finished speaking, her eyes then faced forward again. A moment later, she blushed and smirked ever so slightly. “Tsukune,” she uttered.
Pinkie watched Mizore intently as she spoke, taking note of her ever-so-slight change of expression. She then raised her hoof to her mouth in thought. “Hmmm, a blush and a smirk. It’s not a full blown smile, but she’s getting there. If I’m gonna make her smile, smile, smile, then I’m just gonna have to use every advantage that I can get. Oh right, I have to tell Mizore this. Switching from internal monologue to external dialogue.” Pinkie then turned to face Mizore again, with a big smile on her face. “Hey Mizore, I just got a great idea: Once we’re finished with our breakfast, how about we go and see Tsukune?”
The ice pony stared back at Pinkie for a moment. Her tiny smirk from earlier had almost completely gone back to a stoic expression, but not completely. After a long pause, she then said, “I’d like that.”
---
Inside the cottage on the outskirts of Ponyville, near the Everfree Forest, sunlight poured in through the open windows, where a certain butter yellow pegasus had already been up for hours; the yellow pegasus with the pink mane that is. After she had finished feeding all of her animal friends, she trotted over to her guest room and opened the door. Inside, the room was mostly empty, except for a small bed, fit for a pony about Fluttershy’s size. On the surface, the bed was a mess of covers, with a small lump in the middle. Fluttershy walked over to the bed and gently poked at the small lump with her hoof. “Uhhmm, excuse me, Yukari… but, uhhmm… it’s time to get up.”
At the shy pegasus’ touch, Yukari rustled underneath the covers and groaned. “Ten more minutes.”
The shy pegasus couldn’t help but giggle a little at this. “She sounds just like Spike. She really is a little kid.”
The bed covers were then suddenly enveloped in a pink aura and quickly lifted up into the air. Once they were off her, the little unicorn stood up on the mattress and faced Fluttershy. “Hey, I told you not to call me a little kid.” She scowled at her.
Fluttershy backed up a bit at the filly’s anger. “Oh, I’m sorry.” She then faced away from her in embarrassment, hiding behind her mane.
Yukari quickly calmed down. “It’s okay.” She said in a softer tone of voice. Then she yawned. “I guess I should be getting up now anyway.”
Fluttershy then turned back to face her with a smile. “Well, come on then. I have breakfast on the table ready for you.”
Yukari smiled at the prospect of food, and jumped down off the bed and stepped beside Fluttershy. “Sounds good to me,” Yukari said. She tried to walk forward, but the older, yellow pegasus blocked her with her hoof; and it wasn’t Kurumu this time. Yukari looked at her in confusion, and Fluttershy simply gestured to the bed behind her.
“Please make the bed before you leave, please?” Fluttershy asked politely.
Yukari turned to face the bed again. She gave an annoyed sigh, but it quickly faded. Her horn then started glowing again, and using her magic, she neatly lifted up the quilt and lay it down on the bed gently, tucking in the corners. She had it done almost instantly.
When she was done, she stepped back to admire her work. “Things like this are so much easier to do with magic. Especially now that I’m a pony,” she added.
Fluttershy looked down at Yukari again. She was still finding it hard to believe that six Yokai students weren’t ponies before they came here. She didn’t dwell on this for too long though, and the two of them then made their way out of the room. Yukari grabbed her witch’s hat from a nearby stool as they walked, and levitated it on to her head.
When they reached the kitchen, Yukari sat at the table and ate the breakfast that Fluttershy prepared for her, while Fluttershy attended to the rest of her animals. Yukari held her food in her levitation magic, and glanced around the house at all of the different animals that Fluttershy took care of, while she ate.
When Fluttershy had given Angel bunny his salad, and had finished feeding all of her other animals, she walked back into the kitchen to re-join Yukari. Yukari was finishing up her breakfast when she noticed Fluttershy return. “Are you going to have your own breakfast now?” the witch asked her.
“Oh no,” Fluttershy responded. “I already ate.” After a brief silence, she then asked, “Did you like the breakfast I made for you?”
“Actually, it wasn’t half bad. The salad was delicious. I didn’t eat the hay, though. I kind of thought that would be weird.”
“Oh, that’s okay,” Fluttershy said. There was no hidden tone in her voice.
“Okay,” Yukari said after a few seconds, trying to fill the growing silence.
The two of them then both just sat there in complete silence, save for the sounds of the animals eating in the other room. After about sixty seconds of this, Fluttershy decided to speak up. “So, Yukari… we probably have some time before we have to go and see the Princess. Is there anything in particular that you wanted to do until then?”
Yukari paused and raised her hoof to her mouth in thought about what she wanted to do. She definitely didn’t want to go see Kurumu, and she and Mizore or Ryō never really interacted much in the past. The group was still split up, so they likely wouldn’t be able to all meet up together until they left to meet the Princess. She briefly thought about going to see Tsukune on her own, but as her eyes drifted upwards towards her horn, she then suddenly thought of something else. “Oh, I know. I’d like to go see Twilight again. She seemed really good with magic, so I’d like to learn more about the magic that you guys have here.”
“Oh,” Fluttershy said in response, looking a bit confused. This seemed to earn her a confused look from Yukari as well. However, Fluttershy just continued talking. “You know, Yukari. I heard from Twilight that learning about magic is apparently a long and difficult trial when you’re young. She had to spend most of her life without friends in order to get as good as she is now. You shouldn’t be in too much of a rush to grow up. You should really just take your time and enjoy being a kid.” Fluttershy then closed her eyes and smiled warmly at her.
After hearing this, Yukari just crossed her front hooves, leaned back in her chair and huffed. “I’m a genius. Why does everybody always treat me like a little kid?”
“Everypony,” Fluttershy corrected.
Yukari suddenly uncrossed her hooves, and looked up and back at Fluttershy, in confusion. “Huh?”
“You’re supposed to say ‘everypony’,” Fluttershy responded, ending with another bright smile on her face. “And you know; you kind of are still a kid. You should really enjoy it while you can.”
After a moment, Yukari just looked away again. “Whatever.” She then started thinking about what Fluttershy said, and then she couldn’t help but think about the three fillies that she had met at the party last night.
After a moment of thought, she then turned around to face Fluttershy again. “You know,” she started. “I met these three girls at the party last night, and they seemed nice.” She then turned her head to the side, trying to save face. “I guess it wouldn’t be such a bad idea to spend some time with them. They did seem pretty cool.” Her cheeks were blushing a light pink as she finished speaking, which was very noticeable against her white cheeks.
Fluttershy noticed this, but she didn’t speak up about it, and just smirked slightly to her. She then said, “I think I know who you’re talking about. The Cutie Mark Crusaders, right?”
Yukari rolled her eyes towards Fluttershy and simply nodded her head in reply.
Fluttershy then stood up from her chair. “Well then, let’s go, shall we?” Yukari turned her head back around to face her. “They should be at their clubhouse right now, trying to come up with ways for them to get their cutie marks.” Fluttershy then smiled warmly at her. “Maybe you can help them with that since you already have yours?”
After a moment, Yukari finally turned her head back to face her and smiled again. “Yeah, that’s sounds like a plan.” She then hopped out of her chair, and made her way over to the cottage’s front door, but she was once again blocked by the older pegasus’ hoof. She looked back at her in confusion again.
“Hold on,” Fluttershy started. She then lowered her hoof again and turned back towards the table. “Let’s clean up before we leave, alright?”
Turning back towards the table, Yukari huffed again and let out another annoyed sigh, but quickly relented. “Alright.”
After quickly cleaning up the kitchen, the two ponies made their way out the door.
---
Sunlight poured in through windows of the Carousel Boutique, on to the alabaster unicorn. She was wearing a sleeping mask, so the rays of sunlight didn’t hit her eyes directly, but it was enough to rouse her from her sleep. As she awoke, she sat up in her bed and started stretching. She then lit up her horn and pulled the sleeping mask up from over her eyes. “Ah, another glorious day.” She said with a smile, as she rubbed her tired eyes with her hoof.
She then stepped out of bed and made her way over to her vanity mirror. When she caught sight of her reflection in the mirror, she gasped at what she saw. “Ewww, would you just look at that? I always have the worst bedhead in the morning. I looks like somepony stuck a rat’s nest on my head and died it purple.” She then stuck her tongue out at herself in disgust, and nodded her head from side to side. “Well, this certainly won’t do.” She then picked up her beauty utensils and began fixing up her morning appearance. She straightened and styled her mane, curled her eyelashes and applied her eye shadow and various other makeups.
When she was finished, she gave herself another quick look in the mirror, which drew out into a long look. When she was satisfied with how she looked, and then some, she made her way over to the door and left the room.
Once she stepped out into the corridor, she turned and walked down the hall, towards the guest room. When she was standing in front of the door, she gently knocked on it with her hoof. She immediately received a reply from her guest. “Come in.” With that, she opened the door and stepped inside.
When she entered the room, she saw Kurumu over at the mirror, fixing herself up. The succubus turned to face her as soon as she entered.
Rarity was struck speechless at the sight of her. “Oh Kurumu, you look positively ravishing.”
“Thanks,” the succubus responded as she made her way over to Rarity. “I hope you don’t mind that I used some of your supplies to fix myself off.”
The unicorn simply nodded her head in response. “Oh, not at all, darling. A lady must always look her best. And if I didn’t allow it then what kind of host would I be?”
“Thanks again. You look really good too. My friends don’t normally appreciate the time I put into making myself look this good, and they’re not even interested in making themselves look good either.” She then mumbled under her breath, “And yet Tsukune still prefers Moka over me.”
Rarity didn’t hear that last part and just continued the conversation. “Oh, I know. My friends are the same too; particularly Applejack.” She muttered that last part under her breath. “I simply can’t understand how some ponies can be so uncouth.” She then collected herself before continuing. “But we still love them, right?”
“Right,” Kurumu responded, a bit more sarcastically than Rarity.
“Well, now that we’re all prettied up, how about some breakfast?” Rarity asked.
“That sounds great.” The two of them then made their way out of the room and down the hall.
When they were halfway to the stairs, Rarity suddenly turned to face the succubus. “Oh Kurumu, would you terribly mind waking up Sweetie Belle, whilst I get breakfast ready?”
“No, not at all,” Kurumu responded. Rarity smiled back at her and then proceeded down the stairs, while Kurumu made her way over to Sweetie Belle’s room. When she reached the door, she knocked against the wood gently. When she didn’t receive any response, she opened the door and stepped inside.
This room looked the same as hers and Rarity’s. There was a big bed in the centre, and a vanity mirror directly across from it. There were also sapphire blue curtains, pulled across the window on the far side, and a large cupboard and bedside dresser on either side of the bed.
Sweetie Belle was sleeping peacefully in her bed. Kurumu walked over towards her to wake her up. Looking down at her, she thought that the white unicorn filly looked a bit like Yukari. Preparing for the worst in case she also acted like her as well, she nudged her with her hoof and said, “Hey kid, it’s time to get up.”
Almost immediately, Sweetie Belle slowly opened her eyes and turned to face the yellow pegasus and smiled. “Okay.” She then gently pushed the covers away from her, lifted herself up in her bed and started stretching.
“Well, that was easy,” Kurumu whispered quietly, while also wishing that another white unicorn filly she knew was that obedient.
Sweetie Belle then hopped down from her bed, and they both made their way downstairs. Unlike the other two, the little filly’s mane was perfectly presentable, even just after waking up. Guess she was just one of the lucky ones. Once they reached the bottom of the stairs and they entered the kitchen, they found Rarity standing over by the counter, preparing breakfast for everyone.
When Rarity heard them approaching, she turned around to face them, happy to see them both. “Oh, good. You got her up quickly and without a fuss.” She then turned back around to focus on making the breakfast again.
Sweetie Belle let out a small sigh as she made her way over to the kitchen table and sat down. “Come on, sis. I’m not that bad for getting up.”
Kurumu took a seat beside Sweetie Belle, opposite an empty seat on the other side of the table, reserved for Rarity. “That’s true. She was actually very reasonable.” She then suddenly thought of Yukari and grimaced. “Certainly more so than another white unicorn kid I know.”
Hearing the description of the pony that Kurumu just mentioned, Sweetie Belle figured that she was referring to Yukari, and she shivered a little, remembering how creepy she had acted last night. Not to mention when she declared Sweetie Belle her new girlfriend.
Looking over at Kurumu, Sweetie said, “So, what exactly is Yukari’s deal? She seems kinda… weird.”
Kurumu giggled slightly at her remark, and rolled her eyes. “That’s an understatement.”
Sweetie halted for a moment at that before continuing. “Yeah,” she spoke out, slowly. “And she said that she wanted me to her girlfriend; but we’re both fillies. Is she a… fillyfooler?”
Kurumu looked at Sweetie Belle strangely, trying to figure out what she meant by that. “I take that that’s a pony term for gay.” Before she got a response, she continued speaking. “Well, she likes Tsukune too, and Moka a bit as well, so technically she’s bi-sexual. She’s kind of all over the place actually. Guess she can’t just choose one gender and stick with it.”
Before Kurumu and Sweetie Belle could continue their conversation further, Rarity approached the table, with three plates of breakfast floating next to her in a blue levitation field. “Kurumu, please. This is hardly appropriate table conversation. Especially for a filly Sweetie’s age.” She then placed the three plates down on the table, in front of each pony, and sat down herself.
“Sorry about that,” Kurumu apologized, turning towards Rarity as she spoke. She then looked down at her breakfast of eggs, parsley, and juice, with a smile. “This food looks delicious, by the way.”
“Well then, what are waiting for? Let’s eat.” Rarity said.
The three of them then all proceeded to dig in to their breakfast, eating elegantly, like true mares would, as Rarity would put it. Kurumu barely even registered that she had hooves instead of hands now, and managed to hold her fork without a problem.
Rarity raised her own fork with her magical levitation, and popped a slice of her egg in her mouth. After having chewed thoroughly and swallowing, Rarity turned to Sweetie Belle. “So, Sweetie Belle. Any plans for today?”
Sweetie looked up from her own breakfast to respond. “Yep.” She responded with glee. “Today the Cutie Mark Crusaders are trying for our water rafting cutie marks.” Rarity’s face seemed to grimace in response.
Noticing this, Kurumu raised an eyebrow, while she still had her fork in her mouth. Putting it down, she faced Rarity and simply asked, “Cutie Mark Crusaders?”
Rarity again finished chewing and swallowing before responding. “It’s a little club that my sister and her friends started to try and find their special talents.” She then whispered to herself, “Although their methods do seem rather counter-productive… and destructive.”
“Okay,” was all Kurumu said in response. She then took another bite of her breakfast.
Getting ready to speak properly again, Rarity faced Kurumu. “So, Kurumu. What about you? Is there anything in particular that you would like to do before we have to leave for Canterlot?”
When Rarity finished speaking, Kurumu put down her fork and thought to herself. After a moment, she spoke up again. “Actually, no. I can’t think of anything in particular that I want to do.” She looked down a bit as she spoke.
“Oh,” Rarity said worriedly. “Well, in that case, perhaps the two of us could something together? We could give each other make-overs? Oh, or we could go to the spa?” She said in a much more excited tone.
Kurumu perked up immediately at that suggestion. “That sounds great. I’d really enjoy that.” She then picked up her fork again and continued eating. Rarity also smiled in kind.
While Kurumu continued eating, she thought to herself. “Strange. Why couldn’t I think of anything that I want to do? I feel like I’m forgetting something I usually do.”
---
High above the town of Ponyville, Rainbow Dash was still sound asleep inside her cloud house, haphazardly strewn across the covers of the bed, not even bothering to climb underneath them last night. She snored lightly as she slept soundly, completely unaware of the ray of light slowly creeping towards her, through her bedroom window, making its way slowly towards her eyes.
When the light had finally made its way to its target, the cyan pegasus squinted her eyes in frustration, the harsh light unforgiving to her morning eyes. Pulling her head away, the sudden change in her position and energy flowing through her body caused a chain reaction, causing her to wake up.
Righting herself on to her stomach, Rainbow stretched her hooves and wings as she woke up more. Then, looking at her alarm clock, she saw that it was already twelve o’ clock. While this normally wouldn’t have been a problem, since she always slept in to the afternoon, and she briefly considered going back to sleep again, she then remembered her house guest staying with her at the moment. With a sigh, she then finally decided to get out of bed.
Making her way over to her bedroom door, she exited out into the hallway, and made her way over to her guest room. When she was standing just outside of it, she knocked on the door, somehow emitting a sound, despite the fact that she had just essentially knocked on clouds, to get Ryō’s attention.
After five seconds, when she didn’t get any response, she knocked again, but still didn’t get any response. Deciding to see for herself, she pushed the door open and stepped inside. When she did, she was greeted by the sight of the pegasus-disguised-changeling sleeping soundly on the bed, like Rainbow Dash, also on top of the covers. Looking at her now, Rainbow couldn’t help but think that she looked really peaceful. “...and cute.”
With that thought suddenly coming out of nowhere, she quickly shook her head to get rid of it. Why did she keep thinking like that lately? Shaking her head to shove those thoughts aside for now, Rainbow Dash stepped closer to the bed, and gently poked Ryō on her side to wake her up.
With the slight intrusion breaking her from the sweet embrace of sleep, Ryō raised her head up slowly, her eyes adjusting to the light. Letting out a yawn, she turned her head to see Rainbow, to which the former Yokai student smiled in greeting. “Hey, good morning.”
“Morning,” Rainbow replied. “Although, technically it’s afternoon. We kind of over slept.” She ended with a smile and scratched at the back of her head.
Picking herself up on the bed, and stretching her wings and hooves, she put on a cocky smile. “Ah, no worries. I usually sleep in, so it’s no big deal to me.”
Rainbow laughed at that. “Yeah, me too. If things were like usual, I’d probably be going back to bed even. Although, we do have the meeting with the Princess later, and we also have to meet up with the others first, so we should probably get going now.”
Ryō finished stretching, and still lying on the bed, turned to face Rainbow Dash. “Yeah, you’re probably right. Let’s go.” Then before she could hop off the bed, her stomach started rumbling. This caused her to blush a little in embarrassment, though her blush was almost unnoticeable against her pink coat. “Sorry,” she said while looking away.
Rainbow, however, just laughed at this a little. “It’s alright.” She said while turning her head to the side. “I’m actually pretty hungry too. I don’t have that much food here, so how about we go out for breakfast? My treat.”
Ryō then dropped her embarrassment and turned back towards Rainbow. “Sounds great.” She then hopped off the bed, and both pegasi made their way out of the room, out of the house, and flew off towards Ponyville.
Five minutes later, they both touched down on the ground again and started walking down the street together. “So, where should we eat?” Rainbow asked while she looked around.
“I don’t know.” Ryō replied, while also looking around. “I’m not really familiar with this place.” She then faced Rainbow Dash again. “Where do you suggest?”
Also turning around to face her, Rainbow then started thinking. “Well, Sugarcube Corner won’t be open for a while, and Applejack won’t have her stand open today what with everything that’s going on with you and your friends right now, and our meeting with the Princess later.” When she stopped talking and she and Ryō were both just staring back at each other in silence as they walked together, Rainbow suddenly started blushing again and quickly whipped her head back to hide it.
“Well… uhh,” she said, stumbling over her own words. “Why don’t we just head to the marketplace and hit up the stalls?” She stuttered out, while scratching at the back of her head with her hoof.
Not noticing anything off about her, Ryō just smiled and nodded. “Alright, let’s go.” And with that, they headed off with a destination in mind.
As they walked towards the marketplace, Rainbow walked a bit faster than usual, causing Ryō to fall behind a little. As she tried to catch up, she suddenly winced a little in pain, as an all-too-familiar fatigue crept up on her again, making her put her hoof to her head to steady herself. “Ugghh, not again.” She mentally groaned. “It has been a while since I last fed, and I guess one kiss can only last so long.”
Spending just a little bit longer than was necessary thinking about Rainbow Dash, she was suddenly snapped out of her trance, as her changeling sense picked up on a source of love nearby. Turning her head to the side, she spotted a beige coloured earth pony and the same mint coloured unicorn from yesterday, sitting together at a café nearby. The love that she was sensing was coming from them.
Glancing back towards Rainbow Dash, who failed to notice her falling behind, and was still walking a bit faster than usually. “I guess I can take a little detour,” she thought to herself with a confidant smile. She then very nonchalantly stepped to the side, to get closer to the two mares, without arousing suspicion.
When she was in close to them, she then leaned in a bit closer, as she could feel their love energy flow into her, restoring more of her strength. She then let out a relieved sigh. “Now that was a good meal,” she thought before giving another glance at Lyra and Bon Bon. She had to admit, they did look good together. “And some ponies in this world do swing that way.” Suddenly, her eyes widened and she pulled her head back. “Strange; where did that thought come from?”
Immediately thinking of Rainbow Dash again for some reason, she returned her attention to the cyan pegasus way ahead of her, and ran forward to catch up with her, now feeling much more rejuvenated.
---
In the farmhouse of Sweet Apple Acres, the sunlight slowly crept through the curtains of a certain farm mare’s bedroom, making its way towards where her eyes would be, with her head on her pillow. However, there was nopony there for the light to disturb because she was already up.
Applejack had woke up early that morning like she always did. Hopping out of bed with vigour, she grabbed her stetson on her bedside table, tossed it on to her head, and headed out the door.
As she walked down the hall of her home, she stopped to knock on each of her family member’s doors. “Come on, everypony. Up and at ’em.” She said with early morning enthusiasm in her voice, not the least bit tired.
She was met the different replies of her family.
“Ah’m up, AJ.”
“Hold your horse there, youngin’. Ah’m up.”
“Eeyup.”
With her family members all waking up, Applejack then made her way to the guest room to wake up Tsukune. Knocking on the door, she again spoke up with a lot of energy for so early in the morning. “Hey, Tsukune. It’s time to get up.” When she didn’t hear anything in response, the farm pony just put on a stern expression, pushed open the door, and walked inside.
Stepping inside, she saw Tsukune face down on the bed, in a big heap, with his mane all frazzled. If Rarity could see him now, she would probably call him uncouth.
Although, Rarity thought everything was uncouth, and Applejack was as unlike Rarity as equinely possible. With a wide grin, she simply marched over to the bed and nudged the former human with her hoof. “Hey, Tsukune, y’all hear me? It’s time to wake up.”
The peach coloured earth pony just groaned from the unwelcome interruption. “What time is it?” He asked.
Applejack chuckled slightly. “It’s just passed nine in the morning.”
This response just caused Tsukune to groan even more. “That’s way too early. Wake me up later.”
Applejack now let out a sigh. “Now, now, Sugarcube. You’re living on a farm now, which means ya got to get up early. Now, after a nice breakfast with mah family, we can get in some morning chores before we gotta meet up with everypony and head off to Canterlot.”
Tsukune groaned again as he couldn’t dispute her logic. Also, since she was letting him stay her, it was the least that he could do; though, that didn’t mean that he had to enjoy it. Taking his sweet time, he picked himself up and stepped out of bed. Yawning, trying to displace some of the tiredness he still felt, he then rubbed at his eyes with his hoof and turned to face Applejack. “Should we go now?”
Smiling again, Applejack nodded back to him, and then they both headed downstairs.
When the two earth ponies stepped into the kitchen, they saw Granny Smith over by the stove, making breakfast, Big Macintosh was visible just outside the kitchen window, setting some things up for their chores later, and Apple Bloom was sitting at the table.
Hearing the two new ponies enter the kitchen, Granny Smith turned to face her granddaughter and their latest house guest, with a smile. “Well, howdy there, you two. Ya sleep well?”
“Like a log, as usual,” Applejack responded with an upbeat attitude.
Granny Smith then turned to face Tsukune. “I’m alright,” the former human responded. He then slumped a little. “Though I’m not usually used to getting up this early.”
Granny Smith just chuckled at this. “Oh, well, I guess that’s something you’ll just have to get used to here. We here at Sweet Apple Acres get up bright and early every day.” She then added, “Even if sometimes, some of us gotta remind the rest.” She said, while gesturing her head towards Applejack, who blushed slightly in response.
“Aww, shucks, Granny. You don’t have to go on about that.”
“Sorry, but you’ll have to learn how to take a compliment, youngin’. You do an excellent job of keeping us all organized and on time.” She then nuzzled her granddaughter closely, who kindly returned the gesture.
Tsukune brightened up (and woke up more) from the sight of it. “Well, is there anything that I can do to help out?” He spoke up.
Granny Smith then pulled back from Applejack to face Tsukune again. “Oh, don’t you worry none, pickle-pear. You can help out with the chores later. For now, just sit back and enjoy the most delicious breakfast you’ve ever eaten.”
The rumbling from Tsukune’s stomach told them that he was more than willing to comply with that. With all of them enjoying a round of laughs at that, Applejack and Tsukune then made their way over to the table, and sat down beside Apple Bloom.
“That seemed to go rather smoothly,” Tsukune spoke to Applejack. “I was kind of expecting her to ask some different questions.” He raised an eyebrow at her at that last part, letting her know exactly what he was talking about.
“Don’t worry,” Applejack replied. “Ah explained everythin’ to her last night, though I did leave out some of the stranger parts. I might be the Element of Honesty, but sometimes a part of bein’ honest is knowing when not to tell the truth, in order to keep people from freaking out and such.”
Tsukune simply nodded along with her, understanding what she was saying.
“What are you two talkin’ about?” Apple Bloom chimed in.
“Nothing y’all need to be concerned about,” Applejack replied offhandedly. She then shifted her expression slightly as she stared down at her little sister. “And don’t intrude on other pony’s conversations, Apple Bloom. It ain’t polite.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Apple Bloom waved her off. Her eyes then drifted to Tsukune’s flank and saw that it was blank. She was confused at this, given his age. “Hey, Tsukune,” she spoke up. “How come y’all don’t have your cutie mark yet?”
Tsukune glanced back at his flank for a second before facing Apple Bloom again. “Oh, yeah. That.” He slumped. “I don’t really have any particular special talent.”
“Ah hem.” They immediately heard Applejack clear her throat, loudly, to get their attention. The two of them both turned around to face her. “I thought we already discussed this last night. You are not talentless or worthless to your team. Ya got your own strengths, which work with your friends just fine. Try not to forget from now on. Learn to have confidence in yourself.” She spoke proudly.
This caused Tsukune to look embarrassed again, and he scratched at the back of his head. “Yeah, your right.” He admitted. “Sorry. I promise I’ll try to work on that confidence thing.” He then laughed nervously a little to himself.
Applejack just responded with another warm smile. Opening his eyes, Tsukune relaxed even more. Applejack was a really nice pony; he really liked her. Suddenly, his eyes widened in worry. “Oh, no.” He thought.
Before he could think about this further, however, Granny Smith appeared beside him and put a plate in front of him. “Soup’s on, everypony.” She said as she placed a plate in front of everypony present, and one for Big Mac, who was walking in the door.
Tsukune gave Granny Smith a thankful look; the food causing him to temporarily forget about what he was just thinking about, which he took as a good sign. “Good. I’m so hungry, I could eat a…” However, he managed to catch himself in time. “Nothing. Never mind.”
With that, everypony dug in to their breakfast.
Once they were all finished with their breakfast, Granny Smith and Apple Bloom started clearing the kitchen, while Big Mac, Applejack and Tsukune went out to the field to get a start on the chores. Big Mac then separated from the other two, walking into the barn. After he walked inside, he hitched himself up to the plow and headed out to the fields.
Applejack and Tsukune then made their way over to the apple orchard. “Alright,” Applejack started, stopping where she was and turning to face Tsukune. “We’ll start with some good ol’ fashioned apple bucking.”
Tsukune raised an eyebrow at this. “Apple bucking?” He questioned.
Applejack nodded. “It’s what the Apple Family calls harvesting.” She then walked over to the side, until she was right beside a tree, which had several buckets placed around it. “It’s when we buck the apples out of the trees.” She then turned around and raised her two back hooves in the air. “Like this!” She said as she delivered a mighty buck to the trunk of the tree, knocking a few dozen apples down, into the baskets below.
Tsukune was seriously impressed by Applejack’s display of strength. “She’s amazing,” he thought.” His eyes then widened again. “Oh, no.”
Again, before he could think about this for too long, Applejack approached him again. “And there ya have it. We already have the baskets spread around the orchard. Ya think ya can handle some apple bucking?”
Shaking his head to regain his thoughts, he then nodded in affirmation. Tsukune then went off on his own, towards another tree, while Applejack walked away in the other direction, but staying nearby.
Facing his first tree, the peach earth pony turned around, raised his two back hooves up… and immediately lost balance and fell back on his flank. After a moment, he tried again… with the same results.
After Applejack had finished her first tree, she looked back over at Tsukune, to see that he was having trouble. Smiling playfully in his direction, she then made her way over to him again.
“Hey there, Tsukune,” she said when she reached him. “You doin’ alright?”
Picking himself up again, while rubbing at his sore plot, he looked back at Applejack. “Yeah, I’m fine. I’m just still getting used to all the different ways of moving around in this body. As a human, I was bi-pedal, so it’s kind of hard to adjust.”
“Ah understand.” Applejack reassured him. “Here, let me help you.” She then came in closer to him and picked him up a bit straighter. Tsukune felt a bit uncomfortable with how much physical contact she was using. Holding him closer than he would have liked, with her own hoof dangerously close to his flank, she moved them both closer to the tree, so that she could better demonstrate how to apple buck properly.
“Tsukune!”
This moment was interrupted, and his ears perked up when he heard someone call out to him. They sounded close by, and more importantly, they sounded familiar. Turning his head in the direction that he heard the voice, he spotted several ponies approaching: two purple unicorns, a butter yellow pegasus, a white unicorn filly, a pink earth pony, and a green earth pony with a pink mane and a rosary.
With Moka and everyone else seeing the compromising position that he and Applejack were in right now, only one thought came to Tsukune’s mind. “I’m dead.”
---
In the throne room of Canterlot Castle, light poured in through the stained glass windows, as Celestia sat on her throne, going through some early morning paper work about the affairs of her country. Her royal secretary stood beside her, and there were two royal guards situated at either side of her throne.
Suddenly, a whiff of green smoke trailed in through the open window. As it approached Celestia, it magically turned into a scroll. Celestia suddenly looked up from her work as the scroll materialised in front of her, and she took a hold of it in her levitation magic before it fell to the floor. She unfurled the message and began reading it, with a smile on her face. As she read the message, however, the smile slowly fell from her face and she started to look more serious. She then raised her hoof to her mouth as she continued reading the scroll. Her secretary looked up at her in confusion as she continued to read the letter, while the two guards kept facing forward, with unchanging expressions.
When the Solar Princess had finished reading the letter, she placed it down beside her and picked up a blank sheet of paper and a quill. As she floated the new objects up to her, she turned to the side to face the guard on her right. “Diamond Flash?” she said, with a warm smile on her face.
The guard turned to face her immediately. He was a unicorn pony, with a grey coat, brown mane, and gold armor. “Yes, Your Highness?” He spoke, dutifully.
“Send word to Shining Armor. His sister will be arriving in Canterlot later, and I would like for him to greet her and her friends when they do.”
“Yes, Your Highness.” He saluted her and then turned back around and quickly galloped out of the throne room.
After Diamond Flash had left, Celestia turned her attention back to her own message and started writing. “My faithful student, please come to Canterlot at once…”
---
A blue unicorn with a striped mane and an hourglass cutie mark made her way along a series of dark passageways. There wasn’t even the slightest trace of sunlight; everything was silent. She eventually reached a big room, with a few steps leading up to a raised platform at the centre of the room, with a large throne at the centre of the platform. When she was standing in front of the steps, she knelt down on one knee and bowed, respectfully.
Up on the platform, a voice called out from the shadows, at the back of the room, behind the throne. “What is it, Drone 22A?” The voice spoke coldly and methodically, in a feminine tone.
The unicorn mare stood back up when addressed, and as she did so, her whole body was suddenly engulfed in a green flame. After it faded, a changeling stood in its place. “Your Majesty, I have detected an incredibly large burst of love while on reconnaissance in Equestria. I…” It hesitated slightly before continuing. “I believe it may be a Level 87 Code.”
The Changeling Queen’s eyes suddenly shot open upon hearing this. She then slowly stepped out from the shadows at the back of the room, moving slowly from lack of energy, into the centre of the platform. She looked like a large alicorn, except that she had a hard, black chitin instead of fur, and her wings were more insectoid than feathered. She also had small holes in her hooves, horn and wings, and she had a black growth on her head that resembled a crown. Now that she was more visible in the dim light of the throne room, the changeling drone could see that she appeared very weak, like she hadn’t been eating properly lately.
“What did you say?” The Changeling Queen suddenly spoke up, with more content in her voice.
The drone responded in a calm and collected manner. It stood up straight again before responding in an almost robotic tone. “I detected an incredibly large burst of love in Ponyville, Equestria. I believe it may be a Level 87 Code.”
“Are you sure?” the Queen asked immediately, in a somewhat hopeful tone of voice.
“Yes, Your Majesty. One hundred percent. To be honest, I haven’t felt a burst of love this strong since the wedding in Canterlot.”
The Queen’s left eye suddenly twitched slightly at the mention of this. “I see.” She then turned away and stepped off the raised platform, and walked over to the wall on her left. When she reached the wall, she stared up at an old, tattered map of Equestria. Examining it closely, she raised a hoof to her mouth in thought, as she looked at the map closely for several minutes, in contemplation, before suddenly speaking again. “How many scouts do we currently have in Equestria?” She addressed the changeling behind her, without turning around to face it, not taking her eyes off the map in front of her.
Before the drone could respond, however, another changeling suddenly stepped up to the first changeling’s side and handed him a piece of paper. It took it and began reading it aloud. “We currently have three in Ponyville; myself included, seventeen in Fillydelphia, thirty-three in Manehatten, twelve in Stalliongrad, and one in Las Pegasus. I believe that last one is currently undercover as a pony by the name of ‘Donald Rump’.” It then lowered the sheet of paper and looked up to face the Queen again.
The Queen’s eyes briefly drifted back to the changeling speaking to her, while she kept her head facing forward, towards the map. She then quickly turned her full attention back to the map. “I see.” She then placed her hoof on the map in front of her and turned her head back around towards them fully this time. “Send twenty scouts to every town and city in Equestria. If something major happens soon, I am to be informed of it immediately. I want to be prepared and cover all of my bases.” She then turned her head back around to face the map again, but she didn’t look at it, keeping her eyes focused on the two other changelings in the room with her. “If what you said is true, then this may be just what we need to recover from…” She abruptly stopped and her left eye started twitching again. “Recent events.”
“Yes, Your Majesty,” the first changeling said, bowing to her, as did the second one, and they both started backing out of the room.
The Queen briefly turned back to look at them, but then turned back to the map again, barely even registering the act herself. After a moment, she narrowed her eyes. Before the two changelings left, she spoke to them again. “Also, send fifty units to Canterlot.”
Both changelings suddenly stopped in their tracks and looked up in confusion. They looked between each other briefly, and then the first one said, “But, Your Majesty, Canterlot is…”
“Yes, I am fully aware!” She cut it off. “Now do as I command!” she yelled, not bothering to turn around to face them.
After only a moment’s hesitation, it responded to her again. “Of course, Your Majesty. Your will be done.” It bowed again and the two of them began backing out of the room once more.
The Queen’s eyes followed them as they backed out of the room, while she kept facing forward. When they were gone, and she was left alone in the room once more, she then turned her full attention back to the map, and a smile started forming on her lips.
To be continued…
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loved it , thanks for updating this story
;)
5530148
That's kind of like saying that a flood is wet.
Where....is the...update.
4236747 who is to say that Tsukune can't be the one to get a crush for once? after all, he may be dense in the matters of love and romance, but in the end he the same as everyone else in this respect.
hey!!!
do not diss da system
, if it aint broke don't fix it
hail anime law!!
Will there be more???
the changelings have a code setting???
6481229
That was a reference from the first Futurama movie, indicating that it was massive.
moar
Donald Rump. perfect name for a hore's ass. (wink) I don't know the anime but
I like the story. please more.
8291492
Rosario+vampire is the anime your looking for