37 - Growing Concerns
The longer I considered my upcoming conversation with Terra, the more I became convinced the Seapony’s back room was not the best way to start. At this point, I’d basically be giving her a cue to freak out. As fortune had it, we were only a day out from our usual spa day, so I figured I could just stop by early.
However, when her door swung open, concern immediately filled her face. “Oh, hi, Dusky. Is something wrong?”
I supposed I should have expected that, given that I’d somehow become the herald of trouble.
“No, well, yes, but not of the... usual variety.” I sighed. There had to be some kind of award for having a life where Aster’s ability was one of the least dangerous things. “I guess you could say it’s less immediate.”
“R-right.” Terra didn’t look too convinced. “Come in.”
As soon as I stepped in, I was struck by just how much less cluttered the place felt. Closer examination told me that Terra’s organized mess wasn’t gone so much that it had become a bit more presentable. At least, things were less scattered and made better use of vertical space. There were still no labels to speak of, but from what few things were peeking out, I could discern a vague categorization. What’s more, the living room was completely free of empty bottles and the curtains were open.
“New stock coming in?”
Terra shook her head. “I just thought I should clean up a bit.”
“Make it more foal friendly?” I raised an eyebrow.
She smiled a little. “Something like that.”
I slipped onto the loveseat and Terra sat on the sofa directly across from me. I’d been rehearsing what to say all day. Thankfully, rereading Ivory’s letter reminded me how I could make this whole thing sound a bit more normal.
“What would you say if I said I thought Aster was still having surges?”
“That’s ridiculous.” Terra raised an eyebrow. “She’s way too old for that.”
“Not necessarily. There are some outliers, who continue to have surges for several years after the usual cut-off point.”
“Then why haven’t I seen them?”
This was the part that gave me pause. I hated to bank so much on speculation, but there would be no proof unless I could convince them to look for it. “Well, I can’t be sure, but I have a theory that they only come up when she tries to use her earth pony powers.”
Worry clouded Terra’s face as she stared into the past. “But... shouldn’t this have come up every time we went gardening?”
I shook my head. “Not if she’s hiding it.”
“Why would she do that?” Terra’s confusion became shock.
“Maybe because she’s scared or weirded out by it?”
Terra frowned. “But she knows she can trust me.”
“Maybe, but how far?” I paused, trying to find words that were as gentle as possible. “I know you two have become quite close, but how long have you really known each other?”
She sighed. “I guess. So, what brought all this up?”
“Do you remember that very first pallet of plants?”
“Yeah.” A smile crept up her lips. “It was harder to get than I’d thought. But it was worth it.”
“Did you know that at least one of them was withered?”
“No? Yes?” She stared off into the distance and shook her head. “There were so many different plants, I think I lost track.”
This was the moment of truth, where I’d either convince Terra to help Aster—or that I belonged in a loony bin. I braced myself. “Well, there was, and when I came over, I saw her... reanimate it.”
She blinked as her head slowly tilted. “As in, raising it from the dead?”
“Something like that, yeah. I almost didn’t believe it myself, but when she faced me, she had this guilty look, as though she knew something wasn’t right.”
“Oh, well… um, that’s not so bad.” Terra stared nervously at her hooves. “Maybe a little weird, but foals have had more destructive surges, right?”
I couldn’t help but do a bit of my own fidgeting. “Yeah, uh, that’s actually why I wanted to talk to you about it. We have no benchmark for that incident, so we can’t say if that was her upper limit or if it could get stronger.”
Her eyes drifted upward. “I don’t follow. How could giving life be destructive?”
“Well, the magic has to come from somewhere. Aside from the fatigue issue, we have no idea what kind of side effects she could experience.” I gave her an apologetic look. Even though I knew it was for the best, I felt like some kind of fear monger—and it left a bad taste in my mouth. “The rest depends on the magnitude of her power, but imagine if she were to accidentally revive some old roots. Those things are sturdy and could easily damage any of Ponyville’s underground infrastructure. Or imagine if it reproduced an entire tree in the middle of someone’s house.”
A shudder swept over Terra. “Oh. Y-yeah, that sounds bad.”
I stood up and walked over to Terra, placing a wing on her shoulder. “Of course, none of that is for certain. It could very well be something minor, but we won’t know without consulting a specialist. And, well, this obviously isn’t my call. You know Stalwart Stone better than me, so I was hoping you might have some good ideas of how to break all this to him.”
“Right.” Terra pondered for a moment. “I think… I think we can just tell him exactly what you told me. He loves Aster more than anything else in the world. If it’s for her health, I don’t think he’ll take much convincing.”
“Sorry to drop this on you right before our spa day.”
She smiled a little. “No better time to relieve some tension, right?”
---
The spa went as though nothing had happened. While we weren’t going to talk about Aster’s issue in public, I was still worried about the lingering effects our initial conversation might have had. I’d been fully prepared to upgrade Terra’s usual to the deluxe, but the need never arose. She was remarkably calm, especially for how little whiskey she’d had in the last few hours. I supposed between my misadventures and mothering Aster, she had to build up a tolerance at some point.
I slept a little better that night, which was good, because the next morning involved disassembling one of those large, overnight storms. Thunder clouds always require careful attention if one wants to avoid any combination of embarrassment or injury.
Thankfully, I was able to keep my focus, warding off thoughts of mental ghosts, zombie plants and sociopathic ex-fathers. Just my team, some clouds and a tough task ahead. Some might call me crazy, but as I clocked out and left the town hall, my mind felt about as refreshed as my body had after the spa.
The day was still cool, and, while the lingering dampness was starting to smell a bit stale, it compelled me to take a scenic route home. So I stepped into the park, intent on following the perimeter until it linked back onto the main road.
“You!” Aster’s voice pierced the morning serenity. I turned to see her barreling toward me, face contorted with rage. “You told them!”
What? Did Terra already—? I tossed the thought aside as I realized Aster wasn’t going to stop. Granted, I probably didn’t need to. With such an obvious trajectory, my sidestep almost felt casual.
Not to be deterred, Aster whipped around, carrying her full momentum toward me again. She lacked anything resembling technique, so avoiding her wasn’t going to be a problem. The real trick was going to be stopping her without hurting her.
I slid away as she charged past, sticking my hind leg out just enough to clip hers. She stumbled, letting out a yelp as she skidded to a half-crouched halt. That was my cue and I pounced, placing my barrel top her shoulders and forcing her to the ground.
“Nnnnngh! Get off me!” she squealed.
“Not until you settle down.”
She squirmed once, then twice, before grumbling, “Fiiiine.”
“Promise?”
“Yes! Just let me go!”
As I stood up, Aster darted away. After a few feet, she turned to give me a scowl.
I met her gaze with a stare of my own. “Now, what was all that about?”
“You weren’t supposed to tell them about my thing.”
“Really?” I raised an eyebrow. “Now, why wouldn’t you want your father to know about something like your special ability?”
Aster tried to scowl harder, but it actually made her look kind of ridiculous. “That’s none of your business.”
“Maybe you didn’t want him to know how much it wears you down?”
“No! Who cares about that? I just needed more time to make it perfect.”
I tilted my head. “So you don’t care about your health at all?”
“My family doesn’t let a little tiredness stop them.” She puffed out her chest. I couldn’t help but be impressed by her initiative. At the same time, I think that same drive made her more than a bit short-sighted.
“Aster, don’t lie. I saw you. That’s not ‘a little tiredness’, that’s exhausted.”
She simply stared back at me.
I sighed. “Besides, your father is an adult, who has a better grasp on his limitations than a foal like y—”
“I am an adult!” Aster stomped a hoof.
“You sure aren’t acting like one.” I gave her a stern look, though I’m sure it hardly compared to Terra’s.
Sure enough, Aster only hesitated a few seconds before her indignation returned. “You… you don’t know anything! You should have asked me first!”
“Maybe.” It was time for a change of tactics. “Let’s say I did. Can you honestly say you’d have listened?”
Her cheeks inflated a bit as she narrowed her eyes. Through gritted teeth, she forced the words out. “Yes. I totally would have.”
“Really? After today, how can you even say that with a straight face?”
“You don’t understand!” There was that angry face again.
“Well, you keep saying that, but you never say why. Care to enlighten me?”
Aster looked at me with deep suspicion. I imagined she saw me as some kind of villain, trying to trick her into revealing her darkest secrets.
When at last she spoke, there was a notable pain in her eyes, even as she tried to hide it. “D-Dad, he… he can barely afford his doctor and he already works too hard. He can’t afford this. So… so it’s on me.”
She really had grown up too fast, something I wasn’t entirely a stranger to. Considering what Ivory had said, I couldn’t help but wonder if Aster was stuck in some kind of stress feedback loop.
A soft smile formed on my lips as I spoke, “I think it’s sweet that you want to help your dad like that. It’s only natural to feel that way. But remember that it works in reverse too. When you overstrain yourself, it hurts those around you.”
“I know,” she muttered. “Doesn’t fix anything.”
“That may be true, but Terra and I happen to know a few people. We might be able to work something out. You’re just going to have to trust us.”
Aster regarded me with a mix of relief and suspicion.
I smiled a little wider. “Think on it for a bit, okay?”
Before she could answer, Terra’s voice filled the park. “Aster!”
Terra came galloping over. Despite his back brace, Stalwart Stone wasn’t too far behind, moving at a more measured canter. I could tell he really wanted to move faster, though.
“Aster, how many times have I told you you’re too young to be out on your own?” Terra’s face overflowed with motherly disappointment.
“Too often,” Aster grumbled. She shrank down when Terra’s face turned sterner. “S-sorry.”
“Miss Terrabona is right,” Stalwart Stone added. “You can’t go wandering off like that without telling me. You had me worried sick.”
Aster stole a guilty glance at me. “Sorry, Dad. I didn’t mean to worry you.”
“I know.” He nuzzled into her forelock. “You need to think things through a little more. Now come along. We need to get going.”
“Yes, Dad.”
Stalwart Stone glanced over his shoulder. “Sorry for any trouble, Miss Down. If there’s anything I can do to thank you…”
I shook my head. “Don’t worry about it. If things work out, that’ll be good enough for me.”
“Go ahead without me, Stalwart,” Terra said. “I need to talk to Dusky real quick.”
He nodded. “Okay. See you at the house.”
Terra waited until the two of them were out of earshot before turning back to me. “Sorry I didn’t wait for you. Stalwart and I just got talking and it sort of slipped out.”
“The important thing is that Stalwart Stone was informed. Any good opportunity for that is fine by me. I just didn’t expect Aster to take it so hard.”
“Eheh, well, about that.” Terra scuffed a hoof. “I thought it was a good time. Aster was asleep and I had some time alone with Stalwart. But then I guess Aster wasn’t really asleep and then… then when we went to talk to her in the morning, she was gone!”
I nodded. “I noticed emotions seemed to be running a little high there. She wasn’t exactly happy to see me.”
Terra sighed, rubbing her temples with her hooves. “Sorry about that.”
“It’s fine. She would have figured it out eventually, since she did see me see her.” I smirked a little. “And besides, after the rest of the year, I’ll gladly deal with one angry filly.”
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...Ah jeez, how many other titles were puns that I missed the first time?
Aster's growing up (or feels like she has to anyway) way too quickly. At least that's one less secret to worry about.
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Puns, nah, not too many. I am a fan of chapter titles having double meanings if I can manage it, though.
"You don't understand! You cant possibly!"
"On that note, Aster, I'd like you to meet my good friend Ivory."
Apologies for not reading this chapter sooner. (And don't bother saying anything like no apologies needed. I like reading chapters as soon as they come out, so I'm going to apologies when I don't.)
Have I mentioned yet how much I love Terra's motherliness? I always look forward to these chapters, and I can't wait for Aster to meet Ivory.
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Well, then I'll just say I'm glad you enjoy the chapters that much.
Obligatory AH-PREN-TEESSS.