75 - The Party has Begun
Celestia quietly excused herself to attend to matters of state, leaving Twilight and her companions to face the Pinkie Party without her. When they arrived at the dining hall, lively music could already be heard spilling out of it. The lighting was bright, the tables were covered with snacks, and festive signs were covered with Pinkies rambling thoughts of happiness. 'Howdy Applejack' 'Keep it fabulous, Rarity!' 'We saw so many new animals, Fluttershy!' and other similar remarks were hanging from everything.
But no Pinkie Pie was in sight.
Applejack walked into the room with confidence, "Say, anyone see Spike, or RD, to say nothing of the party mare?"
Willing to wait, they began to relax, chat, and nibble on the provided foods. It wasn't until half an hour had passed that concerns began to mount again. Twilight shook her head as she surveyed the room, "This is the first time Pinkie Pie isn't at one of her own parties. This isn't like her at all."
Rarity agreed with a soft nod, "And if Spike and Rainbow Dash are gone too, they're likely together, darling. Now whatever would have possessed them to not arrive?"
Long Road frowned then, a sudden collapsing of his expression, "They are likely doing something... ill-advised. Rainbow struck me as a pony willing to do bold things if they thought it would help, and I doubt either Spike or Pinkie Pie would stop her, rather than going along."
Soft Mane began to look worried. She put down the fizzy drink she was nursing and approached Twilight, "So how do we find them?"
Twilight smiled despite the lowering moods, "We don't. We'll just have to make this party ourselves."
Applejack raised a brow at this, "Come again?"
"This," said Twilight, gesturing around the room, "is still important. Pinkie wanted us to have a good time, and we're going to do it, Pinkie or no Pinkie. I'm sure they didn't get into too much trouble. Now let's play some games." She grabbed a game of pin the tail on the pony with her magic and had it affixed to a wall in short order. "Who's first?"
Long Road looked at the smiling, tail-less, earth pony displayed on the picture, "Huh."
Applejack came up alongside him and nudged him, "What's got you worked up, partner?"
"It's nothing," said Long Road, "They're just usually donkeys back home. I always thought it was a bit cruel as a foal, all those donkeys missing their tails."
Applejack gave him a pat on the shoulder before suddenly wrapping a scarf over his head, "Enough sad thoughts. Ah say it's yer time t' play." She guided him a little away from the hung up pony and gave him a good spinning before putting the tail in his slack mouth. "Have at it!"
Long Road staggered dizzily before advancing. The others cried out help. "Left, left!" shouted Twilight. "You're almost there," came the voice of Soft Mane. He moved through the darkness, encountering the wall lightly with his nose. He felt the edge of the paper with some exploration, then thrust forward, nailing the tail to the wall. When the scarf was removed, he saw he had gotten the tail a few inches high, but in approximately the right location. Applejack was applauding with vigorous hoof claps and the others soon joined in to make Long Road blush lightly in pleased but awkward pride.
Fluttershy approached Soft Mane while the party went on around them. "Excuse me, if you don't mind," she spoke in her soft way, "I've never met a pony human before."
Soft Mane nodded, used to this idea from an early age, "Did you have a question, Fluttershy?"
Fluttershy froze before she nodded quickly, "I was hoping to look at you, if it's ok, to see how the pony and the not pony come together." She awkwardly gestured with her hooves. "I study animals of all kinds."
Soft Mane gave a slow sigh, "You're lucky you're a friend of a friend, Fluttershy."
Fluttershy shook her head quickly, "No! I mean, if it's any trouble, you don't--" Soft Mane had placed her hand on Fluttershy's snout, quieting her.
"It's OK," said Soft Mane, petting back along the snout and across that pink mane in gentle attention. Fluttershy began to relax, melting into the soft pets. While one hand kept Fluttershy calm, the other worked off her shirt. She only had to pause the scratching to finish folding the shirt, "There."
Fluttershy looked over the exposed pony satyr curiously. She raised a hoof to point at her flank, "What a pretty cutie mark you have. What does it mean?" she asked, looking at the two hearts bound in silver wire.
"Well, It's... not the one I was born with," confessed Soft Mane.
"Born with?" asked Fluttershy, growing confused, "But you're not born with cutie marks. You earn them when you learn your special talent." She gestured with a wing at her own, the three butterflies. "I got mine when I learned just how special the animals were to me."
"Different world, different rules," said Soft with a light wave before she reached and began petting Fluttershy around the ears. Fluttershy's eyes half lid at the attention, but she was still intent on looking Soft over. When she pointed at the brand of destiny again, Soft Continued, "That's the mark of my god, Lashtada. We... kind of rescued her. She's very nice, and gives me the power to heal hurt people, er, ponies."
Fluttershy reached out a hoof, gently touching Soft's tail. She examined it and her pony legs. They felt like a normal pony's, just rearing up onto their hind legs. She could see the balance was good, and everything seemed to be in order. Advancing upwards, the fur gave way to the brown skin. Most critters had feathers, fur, or scales to cover them, but Soft Mane was just bare skin where the fur faded out. She saw that her breasts were in the wrong place for a pony, high on her chest instead of where a foal could easily reach them. She had a mane like a pony would, despite the top of her being otherwise sparse of hair. After looking over everything, even those petting hands, Fluttershy sat back on her haunches. "You're a very special mare."
Elsewhere in the room, Rarity was soliciting Twilight for information, "You simply must show me some of those tricks. Just think of the favors you would be doing the fashion industry as a whole!"
"It's not that easy, Rarity," Twilight demurred. "It's not that I don't want to show you. I do! But you can't learn it in a few minutes, and not at a party of all places."
Rarity pouted at Twilight, "At least show me some of what you've learned, dear. I simply know you must have some amazing things to share."
With a sigh, Twilight waved at Applejack, getting her attention. When Applejack arrived, Twilight held up a hoof, "Alright, now, I'm going to knock over Applejack."
Applejack blinked and jerked back a little, "Say what?"
"And I won't cheat and pick her up to do it," said Twilight with confidence, backing away from Applejack, "You just get ready." She began to glow with her power. It all seemed to come just a little easier now that she had access to her full reserves again. She drew hungrily from them as her book floated into view. The knowledge of the spell she wanted came to her mind and she reared up, hooves cycling in the air, "Here we... go!" She came down with a loud clop, and the floor seemed to ripple on its way towards Applejack rapidly, heaving violently beneath the earth pony. Applejack tried her best to ride the wave, but was tossed onto her side with an oof.
Rarity gave a polite clopping of her forehooves, "Quite a show, Twilight dear. But do you have something a bit less... violent?"
"Yea," agreed Applejack as she quickly stood back up and recovered her fallen hat, "Ah reckon that's enough knocking ponies around fer one party."
Twilight shook her head, "I confess not really. Everglow was a dangerous place, so I focused on fighting magic, but!" She smiled radiantly, "Once we take care of those elementals, I'll have plenty of time to study the archives. I can't wait to get started!"
Applejack gave Twilight a soft poke with a hoof, "After ya start teaching me, right?"
Twilight tilted her head a little, "During. Learning how to read and write magic is the first step, long before we start with the doing. It's like baking an apple," A metaphor she assumed Applejack would appreciate. "You have to learn how to care for an apple tree if you ever want to be able to make pies consistently, so we'll start with learning how to plant those trees up here." She tapped Applejack's head with a hoof, "Then learn how to water and care for them. Once they're big and strong, then we can start harvesting and making tasty treats."
Applejack burst into laughter as Twilight finished, "That's the first time ah ever heard magic explained as apple trees before."
Rarity moved beside Twilight and bumped her side to side, "Our little Twilight has a talent for teaching when she gets her heart set on it. It's simply fantastic. I'll have to attend these classes as well, I suppose, or you'll never show me how to get magic to stick to clothes. But if you'll excuse me..."
Rarity moved away from Twilight and Applejack and found the quietly drinking Long Road. "What do we have here? A dashing gentlecolt all by himself, why, this is a travesty and I will not stand for it."
Long Road perked his ears up at Rarity when she began to speak, then looked sheepish. "I wasn't trying to hide, ma'am, just enjoying the punch."
"Pinkie makes a fine punch, dear," agreed Rarity, "But it's time for dancing." Her blue magic softly detached Long Road from his drink as she asked, "Now you won't keep a lady waiting, will you?"
"No ma'am," he replied. He escorted her out to the dance floor with rapidly building concern. "I've never... really danced before, Lady Rarity. I don't want to embarrass you."
Rarity made a quick dismissive motion with a hoof, "Think nothing of it, darling, just do as I do." She began to lead him in pace with the music, which was mercifully less fast beat than many of the other songs that had played. Though he stumbled, she patiently guided him back into step, "See, just go with the flow dear." Her words were soft and encouraging.
From across the room Twilight stole glances at the dancing couple, unsure how to feel about it. "Say, uh, Applejack," she asked.
"Yea?" she replied before taking a bite of a soft cookie.
"I... think I may have made a mistake, but I don't even know where to start," confessed Twilight. "This is between us, OK?"
"You know ahm good for mah word," said Applejack with a smile, "Now what's on yer mind?"
"I... think... no, I know that Long Road," She pointed her horn at the donkey subtly, "has had feelings for me, but I didn't really... know what to do with it, but now..."
Applejack glanced over at Rarity and Long Road dancing together, "Well, did you like him back, or not? Way ah see it, if you didn't, Rarity's doing a favor."
Twilight just blushed, going silent for a few moments as she struggled to put it to words, "I... don't know, I mean... seeing them dancing..."
Applejack suddenly hugged Twilight, pulling her close. "Yer feeling jealous huh?" Twilight nodded into the embrace, burying her face into Applejack's strong neck.
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Well, Twilight's definitely holding out on Magic Hand... but I'm not sure it's the same as a hand-making spell.
5590932 Naw, she has 'Human Way'. It gives a pony hands instead of hooves for a while. I have a picture of it, it is amazing.
5590938
You say amazing, I say nightmare fuel.
5590982 i.imgur.com/Hq60jQO.png
Lyra, what are you doing Lyra? Stop Lyra! Stop!
Never mind the material component/focus necessary to cast it in the first place. Ew.
5591268 Fortunately, they have a human hand right over there. They just have to hold Soft Mane's hand for a moment or two, in their mouth. It's like a kiss, sort of.
It'd be significantly worse if it was a component instead of a focus.
Ah! Good to get the fluff right from the horse's mouth, so to speak. I'd been a bit worried it was more like the video, tbh.
5590989
It's... it's glorious. I can't look away.
Nitpick: Only the hands are glowing, but clearly the entire forelimb has been modified.
5591489 Just assume it's the spell finishing up. Those hands look awfully finished to me.
Slack moth?
5591586 Look, he was hungry, it was a party. Don't judge him!
Fixed.
5592862 yeah you may be right but i suppose i read to many stories where she is completely obliviouse to violence and very reluctant to fight i just found it weird thats all
5590938
Lyra is going to hump the fur right off Twilight's leg until she either gets that spell or something enchanted with it.
5593004 Lyra will get her chance to learn magic the Everglow way, then she can cast it herself.
Think of it like motivation. Twilight can show up first the first day of class with hands, walking upright. She'll make vague hints but never speak of her state. Lyra will be a good student.
5593024
Groovy. Though on a tangent.. now that Twilight has access to the funds of Equestria as well as it's bountiful supply of weird reagents, she can pretty much afford to make anything she wants now yes?
5593055 Not quite. She has to learn magic! Before she learned a lot of techniques that let her read spells and cast them, and quickly forgot them afterwards. Now she can translate these spells into 'standard' notation in her own spellbook and have access to them later. She is going to be raiding the spell archives with a new and unquenchable thirst as soon as Equestria isn't burning.
5593060
So she's now a Gestalt Arcanist/Alicorn Princess?
HAX! HAX I SAY!
5593064 yes but i apologise because you are supposed to hear it in the mos unmanly nerdy voice you will ever here with a lysp
5594775 watch it buddy NOPONY slaps best pony
5593071 Twlight, a Mary Sue? It could never be!
5590938
Oh. I thought she'd been studying the works of not-Bigby.
In any case, some very interesting developments here. Soft Mane is tolerating Fluttershy's curiosity and has likely found a new friend. Long Road, meanwhile, clearly has no idea what to do with all the respect he's suddenly garnered. Makes me wonder if he'll even want to return to Everglow. And then there's Twilight, bless her heart. She has no idea what to do with this strange phenomenon you ponies call... "love."
Meanwhile, I must admit, I'm very concerned about where Pinkie, Dash, and Spike have gotten to. This could be very good or very, very bad...
Only one typo found:
The "is" is part of the same sentence as the "this" and shouldn't be capitalized.
more you appear to be an active author when can i expect more of this delightful storie and how often do you update
5594847 I update once a day for approximately 2000 words. That's my schedule and I plan to stick to it.
5594851 good i approve its a lot better than waiting 6 months for 1000 word chapter *grumble* stupid lazy authors *grumble*
5594839 Soft Mane has had a lot of practice with curious ponies. Curious doesn't bother her nearly as much as fear or disgust. Heck, Lyra was almost envious, that was new.
Typo cleaned up off the party floor.
We'll find out what happened to those three in the next chapter, which I'm writing now, muahahahaha.
Thanks for reading!
her
5609023 Rainbow struck me as a pony willing to do bold things if her thought it would help.
What?
If that is the end of the sentence, there should be no "but"
"Everglow was a dangerous place, so I focused on fighting magic!" She smiled radiantly, "Once we take care of those elementals..."
If it's not the end of the sentence, there should be no "!" and "Once" should not be capitalized.
"Everglow was a dangerous place, so I focused on fighting magic, but," She smiled radiantly, "once we take care of those elementals..."
or
"...fighting magic, but..." She smiled radiantly, "...once we..."
"...fighting magic, but-" She smiled radiantly, "-once we..."
5657874 You've got into the past to haunt me! This is bad sentence structure, but it's spoken bad sentence structure. She said 'But!' emphatically and with a pause, hence the way it's written out.
Everybody say 'love triangle!'
5886217
love triangle!
5609023
wouldn't that be "she"
Harnessing lightning's an impressive feat, even for Pinkie.
6768481 Fixed.
I knew about the hand spell but I have the Book so ;)
I think you're going for "sparse" there.
8080526 Fix'd!
Good. A jealous boy/girlfriend (within reason) is a faithful one.