Chapter 2: Forging a Bond
Passion kept her head low and eyes fixated on the ground as they walked through the town, not looking at anypony on their way. Somehow the place had gone even more eerily quiet than before, though, Passion suspected it was possibly because they silently judged her. Along with the calm of the town, she could also feel their stares piercing her, and more so Allington for walking with alongside with her. The stares however didn’t bother Allington as much as Passion. He just kept on walking with his head held up high, and his nostrils flared, still unable to believe the stupid superstitions held by the townsponies, and how they ruled their lives.
"Thank you once again for taking me with you. I really owe you something for this," mumbled Passion quietly as they came to the edge of the town, heading towards the direction which Allington had traveled from to get to Hollow Shades.
“What do you say that for?” asked Allington as his attention was drawn away from the villagers. "I see nothing that you owe me, provided you help me procure food and set up shelter when appropriate."
"Really? Are you sure?.. That's nice of you." A warm smile formed on Passion’s lips while she mulled over the words. With her head raised back up, she moved a little bit closer to him as they walked further and further away from the place she had once called home.
"I can find some food on my own and I can definitely help set up shelter. I've gotten really good at that." She grinned proudly at him.
"Well, help me with those two items, and we are set to go then!" chuckled Allington while smiling.
The two of them went a few good minutes without exchanging a word with each other, it was obvious that Passion didn’t have much experience conversing with other ponies, and was more used to responding than starting conversation. Though, as they trotted along into one of the few clearings outside the hollows, far off into the distance peaked through the unmistakable figures of the mountains, and although they could see them clearly, there was still a long way to go before they were even close to them.
Although Allington had been travelling around with Passion through the forest for an hour or two before they left, it was first now that he noticed her limping having disappeared. He had seen her jump, run, and crawl through small openings after seeing her limp, but ever since he mentioned it being worried about it, it was gone. He couldn’t help but feel like she was hiding her discomfort because it caused him some mental anguish, though it was an issue he didn’t feel quite ready to press on with. So, he chose to bring up something more comforting to their conversing.
"So, miss Passion." He looked over at her while they walked. "Do you have any questions for me? Surely you must be curious about something by now."
His words almost fell on deaf ears as Passion stared at the mountains with big bright eyes and a goofy grin on her face, barely being able to catching anything said to her. Her fascination with the tall earthly structures had her walk a bit in front of Allington just to get a bit closer to the sight.
"Huh? oh, right! You can just call me Passion, and I'm curious about lots of things. Like, are we crossing those mountains?" She pointed at the ones in the distance. "How many places in Equestria have you been to? Were you born and grew up in Trottingham? Do you have lots of friends in your town? What kind of stuff do friends do? How is your family like? What is your house like? Where will we be stopping at on our way to your home? How nice are the ponies of Trottingham?" Curious did not even describe this mare. She was a fountain of never ending questions once asked, though it seemed like she had the mentality of only really talking when spoken to.
Allington raised his eyebrows and chuckled softly, not sure if he could respond to the barrage of questions threatening to topple him over.
"Slow down, Passion! I’ll do my best to answer you, though I cannot answer all your questions at once. I understand your excitement, but I don’t think I can track more than three questions at once. Yes, we’re indeed crossing the mountains, so you’ll get to see them closer as we get there. Trottingham is where I was born and raised, and where most of my family resides as well. We live on the outside of town in a small parish called Cob though, so the atmosphere there is slightly different than the town proper… erhm, what else did you ask? Like I said, I didn't catch all that."
Although he was happy about sharing some information about the outside world with Passion, another issue pressed in the back of his mind now that the sun was slowly settling down in the distance, sleeping arrangement. The small tarp in his pack was only big enough for himself and judging from Passion’s behavior, it was very unlikely that he’d get her to sleep in such close quarters. Then again, life usually had a way of working out for Allington. His initial thought was that perhaps somewhere up the road they’d find something else to help expand their sleeping arrangements. But, unfortunately he remembered that the Hollow Woods wasn't the home for many ponies, outside of Hollow Shades that is, and it seemed like Allington would have to make due without a proper place to stay for the night.
"S-sorry! I didn't mean to overwhelm you with questions," giggled Passion a bit before mumbling, "oh wow, my first mountains! That'll be exciting. Trottingham sounds better and better the more you talk about it, and erhm, how is the atmosphere different? I-I think I'll stick to one question at a time now, and I already asked one!"
"Well, the atmosphere is different in that Trottingham is a rather large city, while Cob is a small parish. Our orchard sits on a nice stretch of land far enough from the city that it's peaceful, and you can still see the outlines of the city proper,” answered Allington with a warm smile on his face, glancing over at Passion every now and then as she seemed to have closed the gap just a bit more between them during their walk.
"I would love to tell you more about my home Passion, but I think we need to set up camp for the night. Would you help me look for a suitable spot to sleep? We can set up a small fire as daylight wanes."
Passion immediately gave him a little salute with her right frontal foreleg, the gesture was however far from correct, but still close enough for Allington to see what she had tried to do.
"Yes, sir!" giggled Passion once more in her rather bubbly way before trotting around in the nearby area to find a suitable spot for them to sleep.
Allington watched her move about as he slowly carried on walking down the path only getting to do it for a few more minutes before she called out for him. She had taken them both a fair bit off the dirt road path to a small clearing in the woods.
"I think this spot is perfect for sleeping in!" Beamed Passion, smiling happily as she went about to point out where there could be a campfire, a tent, and then some stuff they didn't have or need, like a watchtower. It became very clear from this bizarre scenario that she had some very strange ideas for commonplace things, like she knew about it, but didn't at the same time. Allington did however recall her mention about reading things, so it was possible she'd learn a lot of concepts from stories, and had to extract from that.
"This looks like a lovely spot to camp, though, I’m afraid we don’t have the time or resources to construct a watchtower, Passion." He giggled a bit before scanning the area. It was quite perfect, a small open area with trees around them to secure things onto.
"Oh, okay, no watchtower, got it,” mumbled Passion with slight disappointment in her voice.
Unsure of what to do, she sat tentatively on the ground as she listened to him explain and watched him levitate a large piece of cloth out of his bag which she quickly realized was going to be used for the roof of his tent, or in this case, their tent.
"Alright, first item on the list: shelter spot. I see that over there is a suitable area to sleep." He turned to face her. "Passion, I must ask you this now. How are you comfortable sleeping? I don’t deem it wise that we build two separate shelters. So, if you’re fine with it, I suggest that we bunk together for the night.”
"I only have one roofing cloth with me too. You must know how cold it becomes at night in the shades. I assure you, it is colder in the mountains, so heat is essential," said Allington as he began setting up a small nest-like area under a low overhang.
She nodded determinedly before looking up at him. The soft flicker of her eyes gave the notion of a million thoughts racing through her mind, with her desperately trying to put one into words. To a point, his question had been very surreal to her, almost having broken her thought patterns for a moment.
"Well, I know how cold it can get around here, but I’m used to it as I usually sleep alone. But," She paused for a moment, "If you don't mind it, I can sleep near you."
Although her voice was soft and sweet, the reluctance in it was still very apparent. Though, it wasn’t a surprise to Allington, she had after all kept her distance to him at all times during all the time they had known each other.
"Well, it becomes more of a practical matter, Passion. I usually sleep alone myself. I assure you though, I mean you no ill will. You can always refuse the offer and I won't hold it against you. I simply mean that for our best interest, we should remain close." He helped gather what firewood he could, carrying on his back the wood he did not levitate over to the fire area. After they had successfully set up camp, he built a small angled pile out of the wood and lit a fire.
Passion quickly joined in with helping Allington set up things, and although she was a bit inept using his equipment, she still managed to help get their sleeping area up in almost no time at all. After the tent had been set up properly, she proceeded to continue with setting up a fireplace, which she was pretty quick at finding big branches for, but waiting for Allington to light it up.
"Close... well… I trust you Allington, you're my friend." She finally moved close to him after having mulled it all over for a while, now sitting down barely three inches away from him. "I'm actually okay with the sleeping arrangements. I've experienced a lot worse than sleeping closely to somepony." She couldn’t help herself from quietly laughing at her memories.
"There we are. Camp is set, and in good time too. We have a little daylight left it seems," said Allington while sitting down near the mouth of the little den, ignoring her last comment about worse experiences for the moment. "Are you hungry at all, Passion? I have some rations inside my bag we can share."
"Oh no, I'm doing just fine, not hungry yet." She gently stroked her hind leg with one hoof, letting it repeatedly run along the groove of her leg, where most pressure would be put when using it. Her facial expressions gave way to masked pain while she asked calmly. "I'm just tired from walking, and I’ll only need sleep for right now."
"Alright, just let me know if you ever get hungry," said Allington as he took a small pot out of his bag and then filled it with some water, floating the pot over the fire so he could prepare something to drink for them.
“I will…” mumbled Passion ever so quietly as she didn’t really want to be a bother to her friend. She opted instead for just sitting quietly next to the crackling fire, watching him as he started to brew some tea for them.
"You know... It slipped my memory once or twice, but I have not completely forgotten that you have an injured leg," said Allington in as calm and sweet a voice as he could, still watching the fire while talking to her. "It will be very taxing when we reach the mountains. If you so desire... I can take a look at it and see what I can do to heal it. I have healed myself before on several instanced, one time being a badly sprained ankle." He floated a small bag and put it into the pot. The teabag smelled of aromatic spices.
“Remember,” mumbled Allington before turning his head to look at Passion." It’s just an offer. ...You can always decline you know."
"Oh, well, yeah... I guess you can look at it,” answered Passion as she made a silent gulp. She was a tad reluctant to share any wounded body part with him or anypony else for that matter. But, the reassuring smile and all the kindness he had shown her so far somehow convinced her to act against her own instincts, letting him see the leg more closely.
"I don't want to decline my friend's offer..." she mumbled quietly as she stared into the fire which’s image reflected back in her eyes.
The atmosphere had suddenly become a lot more tender with Allington carefully approaching Passion’s leg, but even so, her first reaction was an instinctive flinch upon him touching her limb. It was only for a second, but he could have sworn her coat to be softer than anything he had touched before. It carried a resemblance to fine silk, however still felt as natural as normal coat hair would feel. She remained still as the slightly baffled Allington tried again to touch her leg and this time was allowed to do it as she managed to keep it from retracting
"I promise, I will try to make the pain as low as I can,” said Allington in a reassuring tone.
"Now, I want you to focus on the fire. This next part may feel a little odd to you, so I will say what I am about to do. I’m going to put a magical field on your leg and perform an internal scan of it. I use this same scan to heal trees, so I know what I am doing. Just... thought I'd warn you."
"It's okay, Allington. I can handle A LOT of pain!" She grinned proudly before looking serious again. "Okay, I'll look at the fire and concentrate on that. Do what you have to do…"
The sensation of the magical field was strange one. It wasn’t a painful feeling, it was more like as if a fog seeped through the veins of Passion’s leg, allowing Allington and his closed concentrated eyes to find the exact spot her leg was injured at. Passion on the other hoof just stared intensely into the flame as he cast his spell. She barely moved as he scanned her, she didn't even make a sound at all despite feeling strange.
Allington's magic, although designed to find sickness in trees, allowed him to find the spot she was injured in just a few seconds. All her pain radiated from one particular bruise that ran across her upper thigh which had a long cylinder shape. The perfect indentation of the shape gave the impression that somepony had whacked her with a rod of some kind.
"Is there a way to fix it?..." mumbled Passion quietly as she was afraid of disturbing Allington while he used his magic.
"Well... I can make the wound a lot smaller to where it should heal naturally within a day, as opposed to a week or so. ...You were hit very hard by some kind of rod-like object, weren’t you?" Allington’s concentrated face had descended into a concerned frown as he imagined what had happened to her.
Passion lowered her head some, smiling awkwardly as he mentioned the shape of the bruise. "Y-yeah... I was dumb enough to cross through somepony's property. He got me with his rake before I could get out,” mumbled Passion while slowly scratched the back of her head.
Though Allington didn’t comment on what had happened, he sighed and scoffed internally at the fact that somepony would hit her like that for such a stupid reason. He couldn’t talk for the moment, as he was deeply concentrated on the wound, locating the burst vessels and tracing a pathway with which to reconnect them. The process took about six minutes, of which Allington remained silent to make sure he didn’t make any mistakes.
"Now, this next part may hurt considerably. I am going to reconstruct your burst blood vessels and damaged tissue to the best of my ability. In my satchel is some concentrated poppy seeds I wish for you to take to dull the pain a little before I start." He pointed towards a satchel which only lied a foot from where she sat, definitely within reach of her.
"This feels, weird... o-oh, and that's okay, Allington. I can take whatever pain it causes!" She gave him a timid look and a weak smile, "No need to waste your concentrated poppy seeds on me."
"Are you sure? I cannot determine exactly what level of pain this may cause, Passion. I suppose I have given you ample warning though..." He took a deep breath and closed his eyes again, his magic amplifying. "Just note: the process will take some time. As you have seen, my horn is, well, shorter than the average unicorn's. I cannot perform spells as rapidly as other unicorns can. Therefore, this will take longer than usual. Now, try to relax your leg to the best of your ability, ma'am."
She wiggled around a little bit as she mentally prepared herself and got into the position she wanted to be in for the spell. "Y-yeah, I noticed it being a bit shorter, b-but I thought it was cute and just how some unicorns were, and o-okay, I'm ready for it. Let's do this, Allington." She closed her eyes tightly and bit her lower lips in anticipation of the pain.
“Huh... she thinks horn was cute, interesting…” mumbled Allington under his breath
He tucked that thought aside for the time being as he began to focus all he could on the spell he was about to perform. Taking another deep breath to ready himself, he began. The feeling inside Passion's leg was odd, to say the very least. It was almost as if a microscopic slick thread was running along inside her muscle and making points before wiggling around more. It was soothing and itchy at the same time.
This sensation lasted roughly ten minutes before she felt the strands thicken. Allington was reforming her blood vessels to the best of his ability, and the growing process felt as if the threads were ballooning up with something hot. Not burning, but it still hurt.
Passion opened her eyes suddenly with a quizzical expression on her face. She had waited waves of pain to rush over her, but instead she only got some itching, soothing, and minor pains. It made her laugh, rather loudly at that. She turned her head to watch Allington work his spell, being rather amused by the lack of pain. Her leg being hot or itchy didn't bother her any.
"Allington… this doesn’t hurt at all. I was expecting a lot worse than this. I think you’re a lot better with magic than you think!" she chirped happily. “My leg already feels a bit better.”
"Mmm, thank you. However, I am not actually done yet. The muscles are what actually hurt to be healed." The magical glow around his horn dulled a bit in intensity as he held her leg in a state of pause so he could talk. "The fact that I heal slowly does help to lessen the pain a bit though. Since the change isn't as sudden, the reaction isn't as drastic either. Now, I need you to relax again so I can work on the muscle. I am happy to say that the vessels were reconstructed successfully." He smiled a bit. "Now, are you ready for the last part?"
"O-oh! Okay. I'm really glad to hear that my vessel thingies are good again." She nodded once as she took on the same strained face and closed eyes as she did before when she was expecting a lot more pain. "Let's get this over with, Allington! I can handle it..."
"Alright, then I shall begin." He took another deep breath before his horn lit up once again. The feeling this time in her leg was different than previously. This time, it felt like a hot liquid was slowly filling her muscles and slightly bulging them. The area of her wound began burning as the muscles began reforming, pushing the escaped blood together and drawing it to right underneath her skin. The sifting blood added some pain to the process, though it was tolerable. Still, the reshaping muscles hurt a lot more than when Allington had reconstructed her vessels.
This process lasted about the same length of time, and after ten or so minutes, Allington took a needle from his satchel and pierced her skin above the wound, letting the escaped blood from the bruise exit her body before he closed her skin back up. Setting the needle aside on a small rock, he ended the magical aura surrounding his horn.
"...There, finished."
Her eyes slowly opened once it was all over, barely having allowed a single whimper to escape her lips during the entire ordeal of pain. Being pricked didn't bother her that much either, though watching the blood flow out did make Passion a bit woozy.
"T-thank you for the help," said Passion as she smiled weakly at him, quickly having moved her eyes away from the dripping blood.
"How did you learn this stuff? It seems so difficult and challenging. Is your special talent actually magic?" She asked a bit curiously, moving her newly healed leg around more freely as she scooted around to face him. "Oh, and, my leg feels really good compared to before!" Her smile shone with the intensity of the sun as she showed off her gratitude towards his help.
Allington chuckled a bit when he heard the question, smiling sincerely at her as his way of showing his appreciation for her gratitude.
"Well, I know about healing because it is what I spend my time doing. I heal many a sick tree and plant, and though they are different in composition from pony anatomy, I discovered some time ago that I can alter my method slightly to heal wounds in animal tissue as opposed to plant tissue. Given, this is also why I can’t determine pain levels associated with my healing: my spells are designed for trees, which have a thicker composition than the flesh of a pony." He shook his head slowly. "And no, my special talent is not magic. In fact, healing spells are most of what I know. My talent lies in healing trees and inspecting their integrity. You can see it represented in my cutie mark." He giggled softly and nodded.
"Good to hear your leg is feeling good and not cramping. Let me know if you develop a severe cramp during the next two hours, as it means that I may have misaligned your muscles." He added while smiling sheepishly.
"That's a really cool talent you got there, Allington! Really good that you're helping trees like that, and even cooler that you can change it to help ponies, like me." Her eager and excited face turned a bit nervous as she glanced back at her leg while soaking in the last bit of info he gave her.
Allington in turn watched her reactions with a level of curiosity and contentment at the same time, enjoying the excitement she radiated from something he considered normal. It was refreshing to see a new perspective on things every so often, and it seemed that to him, having Passion around enabled him to view his own talents in a new light. He also very much enjoyed her smile, and was willing to do what he could to see it appear whenever possible.
"And I'll definitely tell you if that happens." Her head turned back to look at her friend. She seemed to be deep in thought as she debated something internally.
"Hhmmm... Nopony's ever been this nice to me before. I want to repay this favor to you somehow!" Extreme determination took up her entire facial expression. "So, you name one thing you want me to do, and I'll do it!" She scooted a bit closer to him as she made her claim.
"...Anything at all?" He chuckled. "My, that is certainly a large claim to make, miss. I hope you can see it through.”
"Anything at all!" She proclaimed once more, looking more determined and serious than ever. "I can definitely live up to it, mister!"
“...Though I don't believe you need do anything at all, save for continuing to help me set up and tear down camp, and help my identify plants when appropriate." He smiled warmly at his friend, letting her know that he was just happy to help somepony from a less fortunate setting out.
Her stern face dissolved into a soft and cute smile as she responded, "Okay, I will gladly help with the setting up and tearing down of the camp. I... I don't really know names and stuff like that for plants, but I'm good for looking for them!" She pepped right back up after lowering her heads as she felt stupid for a moment from not knowing much about plant names.
"It’s okay, Passion. I’m sure you’ll be a great help regardless of knowing their names. Also, I feel like I have to ask this, as I’m still unsure of what your talent is, save that you are a good steward of plants despite having no gardening experience. Tell me: what do you consider your special talent to be?" asked Allington with his head tilted and curiosity in his gazed.
"My talent? Well..." She turned to her side and got back up on all four hooves to show him her flank. The heart with a quill piercing it was plastered on her hindthighs. "Well, my name is Passion Quill, and it fits my cuitemark and talent well. I... I love writing stories, but I also love helping anypony I can!" Her smile quickly disappeared into a weak frown.
"Even if nopony wants me around to help them. Those are my two joys in life. Writing and helping," added Passion while turning back around to sit down on the ground.
"So, you like to spin yarns, then." He smiled and nodded slowly. "I see. Always a fun talent to have. As for helping ponies out, I can see you enjoy that given the enthusiasm you have already shown towards me, lass. I am glad you enjoy such things." He giggled softly.
"I try not to jump to conclusions about somepony's talent based on their name alone, so I had to be certain. I noticed your cutie mark, but was unsure of its exact meaning until the present. Now I know," said Allington while he cleaned the needle with some disinfectant before returning it to his satchel. "So, since you are a writer, how many stories have you created in your own, ma'am?"
"Thank you, Allington. I do really enjoy helping. Also thank you for not judging me in general," mumbled Passion while staring down into the fire with slightly flushed cheeks, poking the ground some with an idle hoof as she continued with, "well, I might have written a few hundred stories... Though, they were all in my leather books back at my place. I only got one little book with me, and I just started writing in it" She kept her head down and her eyes locked on the fire.
"My stories aren't any good anyway. Never been able to earn anything from them, or get anypony to read them." She sighed quietly. "Which is why I've done all sorts of weird jobs for the few villagers who’d allow me to even get near them for a minute or two… It did allow me to earn a few bits so I could eat fresh food."
"You are certainly welcome, Passion. I do not try to judge other ponies, though I’m far more guilty of it than I let on. I suppose that I err in silence then." He let out a small chuckle before nodding slowly at what she said about her stories. "I see. Well, at least you wrote your stories in craic, so they were not a waste of time for you. I certainly hope you managed enough to eat though."
"Well, thank you for not judging me so quickly. I really appreciated it." She finally looked back up at him, her cheeks still being a bit radiant, though it was fading rapidly. "Oh, yes, I got to eat most of the time with what I could find, or buy." She chuckled softly. Her gaze fell upon the sun disappearing from their sight. She seemed very happy about the moon coming out, and the darkness overwhelming their surroundings.
"Hm?" she replied to his question. "Oh, yes. I get what you mean. Sure, getting some sleep sounds good to me!" she happily chirped while almost jumping her way into their tent, moving as far into a side as she possibly could. "I'll try to not take up any space."
"Well, that might be a statement in fallacy, considering that there isn't much space inside the tent to begin with." He chuckled softly before standing up to walk over to the tent, depositing his satchel near its mouth before scooting inside next to her. The space inside the tent afforded them three inches space between their bodies, as the covering was made to room one soul comfortably. Having two ponies in the tent meant that they had to get cozy or find alternative sleeping arrangements. Allington admitted that laying this close to Passion was slightly awkward, though he didn't mind it all that much. After all, once they got to the mountains, they would have to sleep closely together regardless.
"...Is this comfortable enough to you?" He asked softly as he glanced towards her. He tried to give her what space he could, but their sides inevitably were pressed softly together as they occupied the tent.
It took a while before Passion got anywhere near comfortable in the tent. She gulped slightly as they came to have only so much space to spare between them, which in turn made her lie with her back pointing towards Allington to give her the illusion of them having more. Though, despite feeling slight anxiety and discomfort, she couldn’t wash out the tint in her cheeks, fortunately it was hard to see in the light flickers of the campfire.
"I... I honestly don't mind us sleeping close to each other. Well, not a lot at least. I know you won't hurt me, you would have already if you wanted to…" Her back brushed some against his, letting him know for sure that she didn’t mind it that much. "S-so, no worries about the space. As long as there's no pain, touching isn't an issue with me." She managed a little smile, but kept her head turned away from him which made it hard to pick up what she said for Allington. Though her visual clues were loud and clear, as she scooted herself closer to him to prove she wasn't that uncomfortable with his body touching hers.
"Alright, Passion. I just want to remind you again that I harbor no ulterior motives here. I will not willingly harm you." Feeling Passion’s coat brush up against his made him once again realize how soft it was, though why he made a mental note of it felt weird to him. Most ponies' coats were soft, so why was he paying so attention to how much of her fur was currently touching his? He had slept this close to many of his friends before during long camping trips without making note of how their fur felt against his, so why the distinction here? Allington smiled faintly, unseen to Passion as his back was against hers as well.
"Once again, thank you for your assistance in the woods today, Passion," whispered Allington after a short pause. "...You have been a wonderful help today." He tilted his head upwards slightly to look up at the night sky as he rested. It was a beautiful night outside, and he was glad to be sharing it with somepony else for a change.
Passion remained rather quiet after that, and very still for that matter. It left them with an awkward tension which lasted for several moments as she processed his gratitude, letting it settle in her mind for a bit before she started to move again. Allington could feel her turn around, followed by her hooves wrapping around his body for a weak squeeze to then quickly let go again, but not turning away. Allington was still looking upward at the celestial mural himself, almost forgetting where he was at when he felt her shifting. His eyebrows furowed a bit in confusion, though, he remained looking skyward as he wondered what exactly she was doing. When she hugged him, though, his eyes widened and he blushed faintly, a bit surprise of the embrace.
"Sorry... You've just been so sweet and kind and nice to me... I felt like giving you... hugging you. I've read that friends do that kind of stuff from time to time." Passion remained in her position where she faced Allington's body, though her head was turned towards the stars as well. Her big wide eyes were beautifully reflecting the array of colors the spinning galaxies emitted, making her ponds of vision mimic the splendors of the galaxies themselves as they spun with the same festive colors. "I love the night. The sky gets so beautiful once the sun is gone. There are so many beautiful lights up there, all shrouded in darkness. I wonder if they ever get lonely up there."
"It's... It's perfectly fine, Passion. Thank you for the hug." He spoke softly, both due to the calm of the night and due to him becoming slightly more meek as he felt her forelegs on his back and side.
"And aye, the nighttime is a bonnie sight to behold indeed..." whispered Allington in an even more hushed tone than earlier. He was thankful that she didn't move back to the position she was in before. Something about the way she lay against him was... soothing to him. He didn't know exactly how to put it though. After all, they had only met this very day and she was still relatively new to him, yet she felt familiar at the same time.
"I don't think that they ever get lonely: in fact, the stars tell stories to travelers when they get lonely. Can't you see the shapes of great heroes outlined in the constellations?"
Passion watched Allington closely in the dark, wondering why she didn't feel so uncomfortable around him, why she felt this safe around a pony she barely knew. It was as strange situation for her after all she'd gone through in her life. It wasn't long before Allington could feel a gentle warm breath on his neck, and her soft fur pressing against him as her forehead rested against his neck. She mumbled tiredly, "I don't know anything about constellations... But I know the stars are really pretty, and I'm not surprised that they tell stories about great heroes..."
"Well, they sure do. The stars tell all sorts of stories to those willing to listen..." He trailed off as he felt the gentle warmth of her breath and fur against his neck. It was relaxing to him, though he knew not just why. He liked it though, and it caused a tender smile to spread across his lips as he laid his own head down. "Ah, but those tales... are for another night. Now, I think that it is time to for rest." Wiggling his back ever so slightly further against her, He breathed a deep contented breath. "...Goodnight, Passion. May your dreams be your sweet companion to the morrow."
"Yes... another time... Sweet dreams, Allington," mumbled Passion as she nuzzled her face absentmindedly into his neck while letting out a tired sigh, already having fallen asleep right after uttering her last words.
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4510861 Aww... I liked the old cover art...
4532286 I love the cute little art piece as well, but I like this more for cover art
4532295 Well... I guess I can see that... Okay. But I still like the old one better! (It was so much d'aw- HNNNNNNNNNNG)
4532310 I will tell my friend that then
I very much love his cute little drawing as well. It is the guy I'm co-writing the story with who drew the previous icon. He's drawn other pictures of Passion Quill before, such as this one!
fc05.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2014/080/e/6/passion_quill___friend_s_oc___by_davierocket-d7b522v.png
4532353 HNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGG- *thud*
So far, the sadness in this story has been pretty subtle. It's all been downplayed by the adorable character herself, but it's still there, lurking. I like subtlety.
4532452 Don't die on me!
*Uses CPR*
4532453 Yeah, I figured her overly sad story would be best balanced with her naive, curious, and playful nature
Glad you like it 
Dafuq is Passuion?
That sounds...awkward. Mostly the part he spoke. Did he literally say "So she thought his horn" or did he mean "So she thought my horn was cute" Also, "thought" should be "thinks" and "was" should be "is" Thought and was are both past-tense. S'like saying she thoght his horn was cute but no longer does. Just a lil confusing. ["Huh...so she thinks my horn is cute. Interesting." Perhaps? =\ ]
4532485 *comes back to life* scrolls up to get to the top of the page* *sees picture* *dies* *thud*
4532510 I'm pretty sure you can guess the first is just a typo
Which I've now fixed, and with the amount of editing I do to this stuff there is bound to be big mistakes like that one sentence 
I've now fixed it. So, thanks for finding the mistakes 
4532529 Of course. S'a really good story so far. I'm looking forward to the next chapter. Also, I'll point out any mistakes that I find. :3
4532539 I'm really glad that you like the story so far
I'm unsure of how it turns out as this is a big experiment for me 
This is a RP between my co-writer and me 
I take the RP chat logs and then try to turn it into a single narrative, which means hours of editing where I move around bits to make it fit better, and change lots of things 
But it seems like my experiment is turning out fairly well so far. Still got 50k words worth of stuff to edit through 
I always appreciate it when people point out mistakes!
I can't fix them if I don't notice they are there, and I can only read through my own writing so many times without it messing with my perception of it 
4532561 If you ever need a hand with it, lemme know and I'll help however I can.
4532570 I would definitely love a second pair of eyes to proof read it before posting the chapters, so if you want, I'll let you do that
4532582 Sounds good to me. Just drop me a message whenever you need a glance-over.
4532603 Sure will do!
and thank you for wanting to help me 
i love how English Allington. even if my mind keeps trying to tell me its Arlington.
like the story so far though.
This story is so sweet. I wonder when the heart breaking sadness will start.