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Chapter 12,904 words
Chapter 24,604 words
Chapter 35,235 words
Chapter 41,788 words
Lovers Embrace854 words

Chapter 2

MLP: FiM

Getting to Know You

Chapter 2 “

Bliss had been trying to keep herself busy with anything she could to keep herself away from the front desk. Every time she walked past it, her eyes would automatically fall on the blank sign-up sheet.

Bliss sighed to herself.

“I mean, it isn’t like it will be the end of the world or anything right? I’ll sign up, have some fun, get on stage … sing, mess up, and get horrible looks and haveeveryonemakefunofme - “

She stopped herself long enough to sit on her haunches and put her hooves to her temples. This shouldn’t be that difficult. No one is going to hate you for getting a bad score. Just pick up the quill, and sign your name. Bliss gave off yet another long, drawn out sigh.

Bliss stood up and made her way back to some boxes. She needed more time to think, or at least she thought so. She normally hated when the store was this slow, but today she took it as an opportunity to vent her thoughts to herself.

“Look, it’s just a simple competition. No one is out to hurt feelings. It’s all for fun! Why is this so difficult?” She opened the box up to busy herself as she had her little self-conversation.

Sure it’s all for fun, but look. Bliss stopped and obeyed her inner thought for a second and sat a bit puzzled.

Look at your cutie mark B. What does it mean?

“It’s my love for music, what - “

What I’m getting at is if you find out that no one likes your music and ends up disliking your songs, then what else is there, hmm?

“What if I’m no good? W-wh- what if my cutie mark is wrong? What if -“

Bliss shook her head for a few seconds and stopped, returning her hooves to her temples with a pained look on her face.

“Ow, all this is doing is making my head hurt.”

She stopped for a second and walked slowly back to the counter, picking up the sheet in the violet glow of her magic and stared at it for a bit.

“There’s no need to do this to myself. I won’t need to worry about signing up because there are far better ponies at this than me. I just need to stop stressing myself about this.” She gave a very exaggerated shrug. “ I mean seriously, I’m happy here.”

Bliss set the sheet down, turned and gestured with an outstretched hoof.

“Copper is a good pony to work for. He’s polite and nice and I get to meet all sorts of new ponies just sitting in my nice little comfy, cozy shop.” She gave herself a half-hearted smile.

Still, she couldn’t help but feel that something was still wrong. She could feel that burning desire for more than just sitting around and promoting other ponies’ talents while she let hers slowly burn out and fade.

What if we really aren’t any good and they notice?

Bliss had to sit. That last thought really felt like it took the wind out of her sails. She sat for a moment taking a few deep breaths and slowly stood, making her way back to the box she was using to refill the inventory.

“I guess… being here isn’t so bad. I mean, Copper looks pretty happy and I can make it work. It isn’t terrible to be a shopkeeper. I just wish it didn’t hurt this much-“

“Who’re you talking to?”

She was then interrupted when she turned to nearly run into a very pink pony.

Bliss jumped a bit, dropping some of the CDs she was holding and moving a hoof on her chest. “Goodness, Pinkie Pie. You surprised me.”

“Ooops, sorry. I should have said something before, but just so you know, she’s wrong.” Pinkie said seriously.

“Who was wrong?”

Bliss tilted her head a bit.

Pinkie smiled as she looked through a few of the CDs on the shelf.

“Well, first she was talking about how ponies won’t like your music, and then your cutie mark will be wrong. And Oooh, then there was that last bit with her saying what if you’re not any good and the others notice!”

Bliss stared at Pinkie for a bit as she tried to process what she just heard. Did she just read my thoughts?

“He he, no silly, I just read what the writer wrote a couple paragraphs before and that little bit just now. It’s actually kind of funny cause he’s been scrolling up and down and up and-“

Pinkie! Stoppit! Keep to the story.

“Oops, sorry. Uh, lucky guess?” Pinkie shrugged and smiled.

Bliss started to rub her eyes and just stopped trying to think too much into what Pinkie was saying. She could be a bit odd but she was a great pony to know.

“Look Pinkie. I’m just having some trouble. Nothing I can’t handle, just need some time to think, that’s all. But since you’re here, is there anything I can help you find?”

“Well, since you mention it, has the new OctoScratch CD come out yet?” she said with a giant smile.

“Hmm, well let me see,” Bliss said as she made her way to the counter.

Pinkie Pie followed and sat on the other side of the countertop. She kept smiling as she waited for Bliss to look through her inventory list when she looked down and spotted the blank sheet.

“Oooh, what’s this?”

“Oh, that’s a sign-up sheet for a singing competition that’s being held at town hall in a couple of weeks.”

“Oooh, I’d like to sign up!” Pinkie said gleefully.

“Sure, no problem,” Bliss said as she magically floated a quill to Pinkie.

Pinkie took the quill and signed her name on the first slot.

“He he yay! This is so exciting! I can’t wait! Though how come your name isn’t on here Bliss?”

Bliss’s head lifted up from under the counter. She set a black notebook in her magical grasp on the counter, opening it to the current inventory list.

“Ah, I’m sorry Pinkie, but looks like it’s not in just yet. Maybe check in a few days, but I’ll make a note in case it comes in sooner. I’ll be sure to hold a copy for you.”

Pinkie Pie smiled brightly for a brief moment.

“Okie dokie! That sounds like a great idea!” Her smile turned more serious. “But you haven’t answered my question.”

Bliss looked up from the notebook with a slightly puzzled look.

“Oh? OH! Well, I’m not sure if I’ll have time to perform.”

Pinkie’s normal demeanor deflated slightly. “Ah well, that’s ok. Next time then! Thanks for looking for my CD!” she then turned to start walking to the door with a bounce in her step.

“No worries Pinkie,” Bliss muttered softly with a deflated sigh. “Nopony would want to hear me sing anyway.”

Pinkie’s ears shot up, and she literally froze mid trot. She turned to look back to Bliss and in an instant, she zipped back, bobbing slightly like a spring that was slightly tapped.

“Whatcha mean silly billy?”

Bliss looked up with a start, her eyes wide from the shock of having Pinkie suddenly right in her face, but then she calmed down thought about her question.

“Well you know, there are sometimes that there are more important things to be done and -“

Pinkie Pie put her hoof to Bliss’s mouth and stopped her.

“I’m not talking about that silly. You said and I quote ‘Nopony would want to hear me sing anyway’, which is not true! I think lots of ponies would love to hear you sing.” she moved her hoof away from Bliss.

Bliss frowned a bit and hung her head slightly.

“It isn’t that I’m scared to have others hear me sing. It’s knowing that I’m being judged. I know I’ll get a bad score and everyone will agree and I’ll not be able to realize my dream of-“

Pinkie started chuckling and shook her head. She zipped away from the front of the counter to be side by side with Bliss.

“Bliss, Bliss, Bliss. You’re anything but!”

“What?”

Bliss was slightly confused.

Pinkie pressed her cheek to Bliss’ and continued.

“You shouldn’t be so focused on what everyone else thinks. It’s not about being judged!”

Bliss put a hoof to Pinkie’s chest and pushed her away.

“Then what is it about?”

Pinkie zipped away and jumped up in front of the counter, throwing her front hooves in the air as a small shower of confetti and streamers fell around her.

“It’s about having FUN!!”

Bliss sat back, and gave a very small smile to Pinkie. “I guess you’re right. I’ll think on it. Thanks Pinkie”

Pinkie started making her way to the door as she started to sing.

“It doesn’t matter now
If you are sad or blue
‘Cause cheering up my friends is just what Pinkie’s here to do”

For whatever reason, Pinkie’s little pep talk not only helped Bliss feel a bit better about signing up, but also about herself in general. Bliss looked down to the signup sheet. Without any hesitation, Bliss picked up the quill with her magic and signed her name under Pinkie’s. She looked up with a smile on her face and walked back to her box to continue restocking but felt an urge to continue where Pinkie had left off.

“Cause I love to make you smile, smile, smile
Yes I do
It fills my heart with sunshine all the while
Yes it does”

Copper had been doing errands all morning. First was running to get the licensing submitted for the shop, then getting a couple of the little things done for the house. It was barely mid-afternoon when he finally made it back to the shop. He stopped and rested his hoof on the door.

“Sweet Celestia I’m getting old. Well, ain’t no day like the present!”

Copper opened the door and stepped inside. He made his way to the counter to check up on the list to see if Bliss had listened to his advice, only to be shocked to see Pinkie Pie’s name first. Then right below it was Siren Bliss. Ah, thata girl.

Copper started to make his way back to his office when he heard some singing. He stopped and turned to see Bliss gleefully stocking some shelves, belting out a song that Pinkie Pie had once sang. While his intention was to go to the office, he felt strangely drawn to her voice.

With each step closer, he felt the fatigue slipping away giving way to a very energetic feeling of purpose and meaning. Copper got to the shelves right by Bliss as she continued.

“Cause all I really need’s a smile, smile, smile
From these happy friends of mine”

It faded like all his fatigue was gone, replaced by young energy. Copper, not really knowing what was taking him over. He cleared his throat, interrupting (sadly) Bliss’s singing as he didn’t want to scare her.

The two stared at each other for a bit, Bliss with a slight bit of embarrassment of getting caught singing, and Copper with a very large grin on his face. It was even more shocking to Bliss to see Copper put his hoof to his chest and pick up where she left off!

“Cause I love to make you grin, grin, grin
Yes I do”

Shocked, Bliss smiled and joined in.

“Bust it out from ear to ear let it begin
Just give me a joyful grin, grin, grin
And you fill me with good cheer”

The two stopped singing and started laughing together. After a short bit of laughing and some giggles, Bliss spoke up.

“You know Copper, you should sign up too!”

“Yeah, that’ll be the day.”

The two just stood there, staring at each other for a bit, then started laughing all over again.

Something wasn’t right. It was too dark and try as he might, he couldn’t move. What was going on?! Suddenly Playbitz jerked awake. He could barely move and when he tried, tinges of pain shot up his body.

“W…Wh…what happened? Where am I?” he said groggily.

Bitz looked around to see just where he was. He looked around to see the white room, the small TV in the corner of the room and up to his left and right were small machines, one of which had a tube that led to his foreleg. He grunted when he realized he was in the hospital. Fantastic. Ok. What happened here?

He remembered the storm, him diving in after Quickshade and then his memories came back to him in a painful rush. Him grabbing Shade and his horrible crash landing. It was as if he relived each painful moment as they struck the trees and finally the ground. He stopped thinking for a moment as he waited for all the pain to hit him again at once.

And waited.

Bitz looked back at his foreleg as he realized that he had the IV which probably had some sort of painkiller in it. He had to think back to that storm. When he crash landed, he remembered seeing something in the sky next to the storm.

What was it? It was some specks… no, it was pegasi. Then two of them shot into the storm with a loud BOOM!

Bitz was jarred from his thinking when a nurse cleared her throat.

“Ah, good… you’re awake. How are you feeling Mr. Bitz?”

Bitz looked up to the nurse and smiled.

“I feel like a bad crash landing.”

The nurse smiled and nodded.

“Well, good news is that is exactly what happened. Bad news is that’s exactly what happened. Are you in any discomfort or pain?”
Bitz looked himself over as much as he could.

“None that I’m aware of for right now, at least. How long have I been here?”

The nurse was checking his IV feeds, and the monitors. As she checked off a few notes on her pamphlet she looked back to Bitz.
“You’ve been unconscious for about seven hours. Thankfully you’ve only sustained minor injuries. A few cuts and bruises but otherwise you’ll heal.”

Bitz let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding.

“However, you did sustain a very nasty muscle strain between your wings. You overworked them which cause minor tearing of the muscles. Good news is that you didn’t completely tear the muscle, so it will heal, bad news is that you’re grounded for a while.”

Bitz closed his eyes and sighed to himself. Simply outstanding. What else can happen?!

“Oh, and also Mr. Bitz, there are some ponies here to see you. We have a visitor limit so I’ll be letting only four at a time. “

Bitz was a bit puzzled. He didn’t have any family nearby, so how did he have visitors, especially enough to hit a limit?

His question was quickly answered as four official looking ponies walked into his room, each wearing a blue flight jacket.

A white colored mare with a jet black mane approached further and cleared her throat.

“Hello Mr.?”

“Just Bitz will do ma’am.”

“Bitz, very well. My name is Shadow Mane. If you haven’t guessed, we are a squad from the Wonderbolts.”

“The Wonderbolts?!”

“Yes sir, please let me finish.”

Bitz nodded with a slight tinge of red to his fur from embarrassment

“Yes ma’am.”

“The weather report shows that you were part of the first contact group with the rouge storm. And being part of the first contact, you and a…” Shadow stopped and looked through her little notebook “Mrs. Shade penetrated the storm’s wall and from what she has told us, whipped around and around in a whirly fashion and then fell with an oomph,” Shadow then flipped her notebook closed and tucked it into her pocket.

“Now, we do understand that you’re recovering right now and have just woken up. But please answer as clearly as you possibly can.”

Shadow made a quick gesture to the larger grey stallion behind her, who reached into his pocket and pulled out what looked like a broken piece of rock as big as a grapefruit.

“Does this look familiar to you at all?”

Bitz went from looking at Shadow to looking at the rock. Looking at it up close didn’t really help very much. Something like that was difficult to remember. And why would a rock be important anyway?

Wait a minute, that does look familiar. Bitz tried to think harder when it hit him in a quick flash. As he was trying to look for Quickshade, there was something glimmering out the corner of his vision that didn’t move. Bitz brushed it off as unimportant.
“Actually, it does, but only a bit.”

Shadow sat and gestured to a silver colored stallion, and he pulled out a pen and his notebook.

“Proceed.”

“Well, it was while I was looking for Quickshade, but as I was looking I saw something glimmer out in the corner of my eye. It didn’t move either. I just brushed it off as unimportant.”

“Mm hmm. Did you notice if it sent out any waves or pulses of energy?”

Bitz shook his head softly and looked her straight in the eyes.

“No ma’am. Like I said, I was more focused on finding my friend than to see what a shiny rock was doing in a storm.”

“Hmm. Very well. Please note Mr. Bitz, that what we shared here is highly confidential and that if you notice any such storm again, to be sure to find shelter. As you are very well aware, you’re not equipped nor trained in dismantling a storm such as this.”

Bitz flinched a bit. I try to save my friend and here I’m getting lectured because I didn’t pay closer attention to a rock? Really?

“But we would also like to apologize to you.”

Bitz was shocked, and he tilted his head slightly.

“Apologize for what?”

Shadow stood and the three other members made their way out of the room.

“We apologize for not making it to the storm sooner. If we had, you and your friend would not have needed to be injured. As I’ve said before, next time… if there IS a next time, stay low to the ground and seek shelter. Let the professional flyers do our job.”

Shadow finished as she walked out of the room leaving a very perplexed and slightly agitated Bitz lying in his bed.

Bitz then muttered to himself. “I’d like to see you guys try doing what I did. Oh wait… you wouldn’t because you would be more concerned with looking at a bucking rock than help somepony who actually needed help.” He finished by dropping his head back into his pillow, letting it poof out.

“Hey, there he is!”

Bitz looked up and snapped out of his grump when he noticed a red stallion with a bluish-white mane.

“Hey, Cold Front. Good to see you I…” then a thought dawned on Bitz. “Is Quickshade ok?”

Cold Front walked up to the side of Bitz’s bed and smiled. He turned to the door just as Quickshade trotted through the door and nearly launched herself to hug Bitz.

“Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you so very, very much! I don’t know what would have happened if you weren’t there!”

Cold Front set a hoof on Quickshade’s shoulder.

“You’d most likely not be here with us, sweetie. Be easy with him now, he wasn’t as fortunate as somepony else here.”

Quickshade gasped, backed off and looked down sheepishly.

Bitz sat up and held himself up on an elbow.

“I don’t see any bandages Shade, are you ok?”

Quickshade looked up to meet Bitz’s gaze and smiled.

“I got a few cuts, but otherwise I’m ok.”

Cold Front moved to give Quickshade a loving hug and turned back to Bitz.

“You saved her Bitz. You saved my wife, on top of shielding her from the majority of the harm from the landing. I owe you.” He then looked down to Quickshade who gave him a loving look, then looked back to Bitz. “We owe you. Is there anything we can do to help?”

Bitz chuckled to himself and shook his head.

“Not unless you guys know how to make me heal faster.” He ended his statement by laughing a few times.

Cold Front smiled and walked up closer to Bitz’s bed.

“Well, funny you mention that. Having my position has its perks and as such I get to tell you that because of your injuries as well as your actions, we at the weather bureau want to make sure you’re fully healed before you even THINK of coming back to work.”
“Well I’ll be back as soon as I -“

Bitz tried to cut in.

“I won’t be having that. You were granted paid sick leave to heal, and gain your strength back ON TOP OF paid vacation time so than you can get out and see there are more things that just work to look forward to.”

Bitz waited for a moment to be sure he wasn’t cutting off his friend again.

“Front, you know that’s not necessary. And even still, where would I go? What would I do? St. Filly is full of things I’ve already seen and done.”

Cold Front nodded to his friend and smiled again.

“Then how about you go and see Equestria some? I have a traveler’s account with a few friends. Seeing as you can’t fly for now, I want you to go to the station and tell them where you’d like to go.” He concluded by putting a hoof on Bitz’s shoulder.

“Are you sure about this? I mean will everyone be ok without me around?”

“Bitz, trust me, we’ll be there. You take the time you need and when you get back we’ll be around, I promise.”

“Alright, but only because you said so.”

Bitz let a huge sigh escape his mouth as he looked back to his friends.

“Thank you so very, very much again Bitz. You saved my life.” Quickshade was nearly in tears.

“I’m sure you would have done the same for me Shade. You guys take care, ok?”

“We will.” Cold Front turned back to look at Bitz just as he and Shade were leaving. “Thanks pal, see you soon.”

Bitz set his head back onto the pillow and felt comfortable. Soon sleep took him and he rested for a few more hours.
When Bitz woke again, a nurse was bandaging the IV insertion wound and shutting off the equipment next to him.

“What’s going on?”

The nurse looked up and smiled.

“Well Mr. Bitz, we’re releasing you if you believe you’re ready to go. If you’ll please slowly get out of bed, the doctor will tell you what you need to do for the next couple of weeks.”

Bitz did as he was instructed and slowly got himself out of the bed. Shockingly enough, he didn’t have any bandages on his wings, but there were some around his torso and they crossed over the spot on his back where his wings were attached. He felt groggy from the aftereffects of the pain killers, maybe even a little lightheaded but otherwise ok.

As Bitz was stretching his legs and other muscles out, slowly, he was about to try stretching his wings out but just before he could, a green stallion with a white coat stepped in.

“Hello Mr. Bitz. I’m Doctor Pheels Rhyte. I’m going to go over your injuries and the physical therapy I’ll need you to do while you heal, ok?”

Bitz sat on his haunches and smiled.

“Sure thing.”

The doctor smiled and nodded. He looked to the nurse.

“Nurse, please bring me the therapy vest.”

The nurse nodded as she made her way out of the room.

“Okay Mr. Bitz. Here’s how this will work. Over the next few weeks we’re going to have to rebuild your flight muscles.” The doctor made his way up to Bitz and with his magic, circled Bitz’s back between his wings with a soft instrument rod. “This is where they are and we’ll need to do a bit of weight training to build them back up.”

The nurse came into the room and set down a large duffle bag next to the doctor.

“Thank you.” He turned back to Bitz. “In here is a vest I want you to wear and do low level hovering. What the vest will do is hold extra weight for you to lift. It will be like weight training, but for your wings and flight.”

Bitz nodded and looked down at the bag.

“Uhm, not that I can’t or anything but shouldn’t that bag be really heavy?”

The doctor looked down at the bag and smiled.

“Quite the contrary. The bag is aided by unicorn magic, making the contents light as a feather. It’s made so that it’s easier to carry and transport. Now what I want you to do is wear the vest twice a day and hold a good 10 foot hover for as long as you can. Once in the morning and once in the evening.”

Bitz stood and continued to get some more information on his physical therapy he would need to do for the next few weeks. They gave him a small prescription for pain medication, but otherwise he would need to focus on getting as much rest as he could. He gave his thanks and made his way home.

Once he was at home, he thought about where he could go and what he would do. While staying around town seemed an easier thing to do, he really wanted to take Cold Front’s advice and see more of Equestria. He then had an interesting thought. He had a friend that worked in a village called Ponyville. A little white unicorn named Starlight.

The two had been pretty decent friends when Bitz was growing up. She had lived a few doors down from him and the two separated when each went their separate ways for schooling. This little trip could be a nice way to catch up.

“Hmm. So it’s settled.” Bitz stood and walked over to his phone.

After his call to Quickshade and Cold Front, he packed a small bag and then called his friend Starlight. Tomorrow he would take the train to Ponyville, settle in at a local inn, and then meet up with his friend for lunch. Bitz believed it was simple enough. See Ponyville for a couple of days, then maybe check out Canterlot, and then from there, who knows?

Author's Note:

Wow, long time waiting. Theres going to be some long pauses between a few chapters here n there cause life does happen.

Otherwise, Italics are NOT my friend. Oi. *facehoof* Crazy time trying to get it all to look right.

I appreciate y'all reading and keep your eyes peeled. theres more to come!

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