Recherche

by Crescent Pulsar

Chapter 15: Quality Time

When Celestia and Marshall reached the outskirts of Ponyville, the former thought it safe enough to part ways with the latter. Before she did, she gave Marshall the task of updating Twilight Sparkle on the situation, since she would be addressing the matter with her sister and the rulers of the Crystal Empire.

After she left, Marshall continued to hover in place, in order to have a moment to regain his equilibrium while he had some time to himself. He was fairly proud of how he had handled everything that had happened in the past few hours, all things considered, but he still found it difficult to believe that he had been involved in such events at all. That included his experience with Celestia and her larger-than-life presence, whose absence he felt rather keenly.

He was determined to be helpful and engaged, however, so he regained his focus on the present with a shake of his head and set his sights on Twilight Sparkle's castle, since he had a request to fulfill and figured that was the best place to start looking for his quarry. When he got close enough to see the front door, he saw a white figure pacing back and forth in front of it. Said figure soon resolved itself into Rarity, who ceased her pacing and hurried to meet him at the base of the steps when she noticed him.

Before he could settle his hooves on the ground, she looked him over with evident concern and asked him, "How did everything go?"

As touching as her concern was, he decided to allay it so he could address his own concern. "As good as it could have gone, I guess." Not wanting her to have a window to follow up on her question, he quickly added, "You haven't been here the whole time, have you?"

Rarity paused, perhaps due to the question being unexpected. "Yes, I have. Why do you ask?"

With a sigh, Marshall looked off to the side and said, "It's just that I've yet to help you for an entire shift yet, and now you're losing your own time."

"Oh, you're worried about that?" Was Rarity's initial response, which came off a bit more dismissive than she had intended. Partly to make up for that, and because she appreciated the importance that he placed on their working relationship, she sidled up alongside him and gave him a one-legged hug. "While I'm grateful for the sentiment, we shouldn't lose sight of what's more important."

"Speaking of which," she continued, as she disengaged from the hug and gave Marshall an expectant look, "what happened with Chrysalis?"

Marshall rubbed the back of his neck and said, "We got our foot in the door... I guess? Chrysalis said she'll listen to our proposals if we can feed a hundred changelings to her satisfaction."

Rarity's eyes widened upon hearing that. "A hundred changelings?" Her expression quickly turned to one of worry. "When is this supposed to take place?"

"Tomorrow," Marshall replied, who saw Rarity's eyes widen once again, only to a greater degree than last time. "Chrysalis said she'll bring them here in the afternoon."

"Tomorrow!?" Rarity exclaimed. "Here!? Sounds more like having the door slammed on your hoof, if you ask me!" After forcing herself to calm down, she asked, "What did Celestia think about that?"

Marshall shrugged his shoulders. "Chrysalis didn't really give her an opportunity to respond, because she left right after she made her demand, but it didn't seem to bother her."

"...It didn't?" Rarity replied, with an incredulous expression on her face.

Quirking an eyebrow at that, Marshall queried, "Do you think it should?"

"Well..." Rarity temporized, who worried her bottom lip for a moment before continuing in a more prudent manner. "Far be it from me to question the princess, but... it's hard to imagine finding enough qualified ponies on such short notice."

Marshall nodded his head and said, "Yeah, I guess I can understand that. I mean, I hardly know anyone around here, so I have no idea if fulfilling Chrysalis' request is possible or not." Wanting to be optimistic about it, as well as pay his friend a compliment, he smiled and added, "Still, you've been really kind to me, and you're the element of generosity: I bet you could feed a lot of changelings all by yourself."

Rarity smiled and said, "It's nice that you would think so, but I doubt that I could do as well as you're suggesting."

Whether it was due to his connection with Rarity, or getting better at spotting the subtleties of a cartoon pony's facial expression, Marshall noticed that the nature of her smile was a strained one. There really weren't many things that could explain the reason for it, and he still wasn't sure if he was just imagining things, so he tentatively asked, "That's not just modesty speaking, is it?"

Rarity maintained her smiling visage a bit too long for it to be natural, as she regarded him searchingly, then sighed and turned her head away from him. "I knew I wouldn't be able to keep this to myself..."

Thinking that he might have overstepped his bounds, Marshall's ears folded back as he contritely said, "Sorry, I didn't me—"

With a shake of her head, Rarity quickly interrupted with, "No; it's better that I get this out now, rather than when I'm expected to feed the changelings." She lowered her head, looked down and placed a hoof upon her chest. "As ashamed as I am to say it, I don't think I can help." She closed her eyes, and appeared to apply more pressure to her chest. "I want to give the changelings what they need, I really do, but love is the one thing that I don't have for them."

Marshall felt a pang in his chest as he watched Rarity hold herself together, who was no doubt dreading having to disappoint Celestia and her friends. While he had never been in a situation that was comparable to hers, he did have some idea of what it was like to anticipate someone's disappoint when he was sure that his help would be inadequate. So, with his thoughts racing, he reached out and placed a hoof upon her shoulder, hoping that whatever came out of his mouth would make her feel better. "Then... Um... Why not just do what you love to do?"

Rarity raised her head and looked at him questioningly, not understanding how his suggestion would make a difference, then smiled gratefully at his attempt to cheer her up. However, before she could voice said gratitude, and try to convince him that he didn't have to worry about her, he was inspired to speak further, only with much more surety and enthusiasm than before.

"Yeah!" Marshall plowed onward, inwardly relieved that a good idea had come to him after going in blind. "You could make clothes for them. I'm not sure if they can take in ambient love, or if objects can hold it, but they can definitely eat it if it's projected toward them." Seeing realization dawn on Rarity's face, he smiled encouragingly. "So, if they wear what you make for them..."

"...I'll be directing my love toward them!" Rarity finished with delight, who proceeded to embrace Marshall with enough strength to compromise his ability to breath. "Recherché, you're a lifesaver!"

All that Marshall could do was croak out something incomprehensible in reply, torn between listening to his survival instincts and not wanting to ruin Rarity's moment. Fortunately, she pulled away before things could get complicated, then cast her gaze into the distance while he rubbed at his throat, her expression turning to one of worry as she voiced her latest concern. "Oh, but will I have enough time...?"

"Don't worry," Marshall tried to reassure her. "You're not going to be alone, right? And maybe you could — I don't know — have a fashion show or something, so multiple changelings can try wearing the same thing."

Rarity stroked her chin thoughtfully and absently said, "Yes... If the aim is for me to love what I create, it will be paramount that I focus on quality instead of quantity." Her face brightened a second later, as something promising occurred to her. "Oh! With some adjustments, I suppose I could also use some of the stock that I intended to ship to my other boutique." Now anticipating the work ahead of her, she returned her attention to Marshall and enthusiastically asked, "So, are you ready to work?"

With a slight smile, Marshall readily said, "Just as soon as I update Twilight on the situation."

Pointing in the direction of the town square, Rarity helpfully supplied, "You should be able to find her at the town hall. She went there to ascertain how many ponies would be willing to have peaceful relations with changelings." After lowering her hoof, she added, "By the time you're finished attending to that, I should have everything ready for today's task."

Marshall acknowledged her intentions with a nod of his head before thanking her for the information and assuring her that he would try to not take too long. After they parted ways, he trotted toward city hall, which was tall enough for him to use as a guide. With his focus on that, however, he didn't notice that he was passing by a place both familiar and distinct until he heard Pinkie Pie call out to him.

"Recherché! Hold on a sec!"

He stopped and looked over his shoulder, where he saw Pinkie Pie already leaning over the bottom half of Sugarcube Corner's front door. Thinking that he could spare enough time to have a proper conversation, he turned about and walked up to the shop's steps before asking, "Yeah?"

"First," Pinkie Pie started, before stretching her neck across the distance that separated them, in order to give him a sidelong glance that was only an inch away from his face, "are you sure it's not 'Rushershy?'"

Marshall could only nod his head dumbly as he stared at her neck, absently wondering if anyone in a cartoon-like world could stretch their body out like that, or if it was a trait that was unique to the earth ponies of the species. He was so distracted by what he was observing that it didn't even occur to him to wonder why the question had been asked in the first place.

After her head snapped back to its natural position, Pinkie Pie continued as if nothing strange had happened, seemingly satisfied with the answer that she had received. "Anyway, what I reeeeally wanted to ask is whether or not you'd like to have a slumber party tomorrow night."

That brought Marshall out of his stupor, who regarded Pinkie Pie with confusion. "A slumber party? Why?"

"Silly," Pinkie Pie replied, who idly waved his question away as if it were a joke. "'Cause you had to leave your 'welcome to Ponyville' party early. And since parties know neither night nor day, you can still have one that's late!"

Marshall thought that wasn't a good enough reason — or reasoning — for a slumber party, largely because he was under the impression that it was something that was all but exclusive to young girls, but he chose to keep those thoughts to himself. "I dunno..."

Almost as an afterthought, as if she hadn't noticed his need to be convinced, Pinkie Pie enthusiastically said, "Oh, and I thought it would be the perfect opportunity for some of us ponies to sample that human-style cheesecake!"

That got Marshall's attention, whose ears perked up with more alertness even as his mouth began to water. "There's going to be cheesecake?"

"As well as all kinds of other goodies!" Pinkie Pie happily acknowledged, before adding, "Oh, and what would a slumber party be without games, right?"

"...Right," Marshall distractedly replied, as he considered whether or not it would be worth it to attend a slumber party for some cheesecake.

Pinkie Pie perked up as a thought occurred to her, which prompted her to eagerly ask, "Say, what do humans do during slumber parties?"

Aside from what he had heard about and seen being portrayed in movies, which — as far as he could recall — almost always seemed to involve the fairer sex, Marshall didn't really know what a slumber party was like, what with having never been a part of one himself. Regardless, he certainly wasn't going to mention anything about makeovers, talking about boys, romantic movies, fashion shows and the like. However, despite having yet to see a single television set, his thoughts returned to the realm of movies, since the ponies of Equestria seemed to have access to film at the very least. If they had a film projector and some movies handy, or he could use magic to project a movie from his own world, a slumber party might not be so bad.

With that last thought in mind, he opted to share one of the activities that he could readily get behind and see what the response would be. "Well, one thing we do is watch movies."

Pinkie Pie looked off to the side as she stroked her chin, intrigued by the idea. "I've never watched a movie during a slumber party before..." Apparently approving of it with a nod of her head, she refocused her attention on Marshall, threw up her forelegs at the same time as two blasts of confetti intersected in the air behind her and party horns were blown, and cheerfully declared, "Okay, our activities shall now include movie-watching!" Once her forelegs and upper body settled on the bottom half of the door again, she maintained her enthusiasm as she asked, "So, what else do humans do at slumber parties?"

Marshall watched the confetti drift downward as he evasively replied, "Oh, well... From what I can tell, I imagine a lot of the same things that ponies do." Fortunately, as he re-established eye contact with Pinkie Pie and turned his body aside in preparation to leave, he had a good excuse to avoid having to mention less savory slumber party activities. "Anyway, Princess Celestia wanted me to tell Twilight something important, so I better go."

"Okie-dokie!" Pinkie Pie accepted without complaint. "You can give me your answer later. Oh, I can't wait for it! Well, I can, but I'll be anticipating it like nopony's business!"

While Pinkie Pie went off on a tangent, wondering if someone could successfully run a business where its employees were paid to anticipate stuff in another's place, Marshall seized the opportunity to continue his way toward Twilight Sparkle's location. He soon found her stationed outside of the town hall, between two sets up steps, with one of them leading directly to the building's main entrance. She was sitting behind a simple wooden desk, on a pile of straw, having an exchange with the pegasus that was standing in front of said desk, who was the current head of a short line.

He slowed his approach to a walk, which gave him enough time to see Twilight Sparkle quickly hide a look of disappointment behind an insincere smile, say something to the pegasus that he couldn't quite make out, wave goodbye to him, then greet the next pony in the line with a more natural — if slightly strained — smile even as she took a quill and made a quick notation in one of the two rolls of parchment lying before her on the desktop. On one of the front corners of the desk stood a small folding sign that advertised what she was doing, which he was able to read while he bypassed the line that was between him and the princess.

Upon noticing him, Twilight Sparkle apologized to those waiting in line and excused herself before gesturing for him to follow her to one of the small trees near the town hall, in order to achieve some semblance of privacy. Speaking a bit quieter than she normally would, possibly without even meaning to do so, it was with some apparent worry that she asked, "How did it go?"

Marshall hesitated in giving an answer, considering how Twilight Sparkle was in the middle of conducting a survey that was being used to find out if any of the inhabitants of Ponyville would be willing to feed a changeling under peaceful conditions. Feeling things out with a hypothetical scenario would have been a sensible enough start, had there been time to prepare the town for such an event down the road, but now they had to hope that they would have enough willing volunteers as things currently stood. "Well... Chrysalis is bringing a hundred changelings to your castle tomorrow, and she won't listen to any of our proposals unless they're fed to her satisfaction."

Twilight Sparkle suddenly extended her wings a few inches from her body and held them there rigidly, but what really caught Marshall's attention were her eyes, due to her irises constricting alongside her pupils. "A hundred changelings... here? Tomorrow!?" Before she was able to really panic, she proceeded to inhale and hold her breath as she applied a hoof to her chest, then released it and extended the same hoof away from herself, which helped to calm her down. Still worried, but now also curious, she queried, "Was that really the best arrangement that Celestia could work out with Chrysalis?"

Not really knowing how else to put it, Marshall simply said, "She didn't really get a chance to negotiate, since Chrysalis left just as soon as she had given her terms. Despite that, she didn't seem to be worried about it."

"She didn't?" Twilight Sparkle questioned.

Marshall could only shrug his shoulders in response, since he didn't know for sure. Then, since her worried expression told him that she doubted their chances of being successful tomorrow, he decided to try and raise her spirits with a compliment. "Maybe she's not worried because she has you to depend on."

Much to his confusion and concern, his suggestion had a rather different effect than what he had been hoping to achieve, because there was something decidedly... off about the smile that Twilight Sparkle responded with. On top of that, he couldn't help noticing that her irises had constricted again, or how one of her ears twitched in a way that he hadn't seen before. Also, he had to wonder if she'd had so many hairs out of place, since he hadn't really paid her mane and tail that much attention since he had first spotted her at the desk.

"That must be it!" Twilight Sparkle loudly agreed, whose bottom eyelid ticked during the unnatural pause that followed. "Really, what's a hundred changelings, anyway? I mean, there are hundreds of ponies in Ponyville, so I'm sure the odds of finding enough love for them to eat is in my favor... right?"

Marshall took a step back before he could stop himself, not only because Twilight Sparkle's behavior was somewhat alarming, but due to the fact that she had suddenly filled his vision with her face right when her final word had been uttered. Given that he was in unfamiliar territory and didn't know the best course of action, he couldn't prevent his ears from folding back as he tentatively replied, "Um... Yes?"

Nodding to herself with self-satisfaction, Twilight Sparkle turned about and began to approach the ponies who were still waiting at the desk. "Well, I still only have a day to organize enough ponies to feed a hundred changelings, so—"

Between seeing her visage and catching those words, however, the aforementioned ponies glanced at each other worriedly before taking flight, both in the figurative and literal senses. Twilight Sparkle tried to call after them, to assure them that nothing untoward would happen, but she received no response — none that were desired, at any rate. She soon resorted to chasing them down so she could try to clear up the matter, but all she managed to do was cause a scene and spread more of the same behavior, with ponies either falling under the wrong impression or simply being scared of the idea of being visited by changelings.

Feeling somehow responsible for this debacle, even if he wasn't quite sure how, Marshall stood by anxiously for a few seconds before deciding to find someone who could do something about the situation, since he had no idea what he would be able to accomplish on his own. Rarity immediately sprung to mind, whom he immediately began to gallop toward without any other considerations: not only because he knew her the best among his new pony friends, but well enough to be reasonably sure that she could provide help in this particular situation.

However, he had barely left the town square when he heard a voice that was so distinct that he had no trouble identifying its owner when they yelled, "Hey! Rech!"

When he looked up, in the direction that he thought he'd heard Rainbow Dash coming from, he saw that she was already nearly finished matching his pace while drawing a few feet closer to him, despite having sounded much farther away only a second or so ago. Thinking that she was playing a joke on him, by calling him "retch" for short, he rolled his eyes as he returned his attention to the fore and said, "Ha, ha; very funny. Was there anything else you wanted?"

Rainbow Dash regarded him with a confused look on her face, but that feeling was quickly overtaken by her initial enthusiasm when she decided that the source of said enthusiasm was more important, which prompted her to coyly say, "Oh, I was just wondering if you wanted to play parasprite panic this weekend."

"Parasprite panic?" Marshall distractedly repeated, who continued to prioritize his plan to seek out Rarity for help.

Finally noticing that something was up, which would likely undermine the impact that she wanted to make with her announcement, Rainbow Dash switched gears and said, "Wait, where are you going in such a rush?"

The question drew enough of Marshall's attention away from his objective for him to realize that he might have already found someone who could help Twilight Sparkle, since Rainbow Dash was one of her friends. So, he quickly came to a stop and turned to the now-hovering pegasus, saying, "I thought Rarity could help Twilight Sparkle. She began to act... weird after something I said."

"Weird, huh," Rainbow Dash said in a thoughtful tone, with her head slightly cocked and forelegs crossed. "What didja say to her?"

"I just implied that Princess Celestia might be relying on her because she's dependable," Marshall supplied.

Rainbow Dash stared for a second before closing her eyes and applying a hoof between them, as if she had suddenly developed a headache. "Yeah, that'll do it." Rather than elaborate on that, she steeled herself for whatever awaited her and asked, "Okay, where did you last see her?"

Once he had the upper portion of the town hall within view, Marshall pointed toward it and said, "At the town square."

Without saying another word, Rainbow Dash flew over to the town square almost instantly, leaving a rainbow-colored trail in her wake. Having been buffeted by the gust of wind caused by her leave-taking, Marshall spent a few seconds getting his mane out of his face while he marveled at the pegasus' speed. After deciding to put his worries about Twilight Sparkle aside for the time being, in the hope that Rainbow Dash would be able to take care of the matter, he continued to make his way to Rarity at a more leisurely pace. Along the way, he briefly wondered what kind of activity Rainbow Dash had wanted him to play.

When he entered the room where Rarity seemed to do most of her work, he saw that the kimonos had been moved elsewhere, along with all but one of the tables. Other than some changes to the type and quantity of the supplies that they were going to be using, the only other thing that stood out to him was the wheeled garment rack, where a dozen or so outfits hung over several boxes that he could only guess contained shoes or hats, if not both.

He noticed that Rarity was already wearing her glasses, and had a tape measure hanging from her neck, when she turned away from the garment rack and asked, "How did she take the news?" After he gave his answer, which included the part about Rainbow Dash, she simply shook her head. Then, having taken note of the underlying question in his expression, she added, "Twilight holds Princess Celestia in very high regard, you see. She was inspired by her as a young filly, as only a young filly can, and applied herself to learning magic. Not only did she manage to be accepted into Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, and earned her cutie mark in her presence, but managed to become her protégé at the same time as well. I don't think I need to tell you the kind of impression all of that can have on one so young."

Marshall nodded his head in agreement. Having just experienced the kind of impact that Celestia could make for himself, he could see the kind of affect that she could have on an impressionable child. That, and he had come to the understanding that acquiring one's cutie mark was a special time in a pony's life. Thus, he could easily see someone wanting to live up to her expectations, even if those expectations happened to be projected onto her.

He wasn't sure if it was due to his connection with Rarity, or just his imagination, but he got the impression that something about what she had said had come from experience. Had it involved an experience with Celestia, or had she simply been influenced by something at a young age?

Before he could really think about it, Rarity lightheartedly asked, "So, are you ready to help me create some — ahem — lovely attire?"

"You bet," Marshall replied, who smiled wryly at her levity.

---

Initially, Rarity had tried to figure out the changelings' dimensions from memory, but her attention to detail had been no match for the affects of time and how rarely she had recalled her experiences with changelings. Fortunately, Marshall had fresh memories of changelings that he could project with the spell that he had learned from Twilight Sparkle, and had enough reference points for her to be confident about what she planned to alter and produce.

Rarity had finished altering about half of the outfits on the rack when Sweetie Belle arrived. She ran up to her sister, unmindful of the circumstances as she did so, and shoved a drawstring bag into her face as she excitedly said, "Look, sis! How did I do?"

Between the interruption and prioritizing the challenge that needed to be overcome tomorrow, Rarity spared a second to peer over her glasses and distractedly replied, "It looks fine, Sweetie Belle," before pushing the bag away and returning her full attention to her current task.

Deflating at that, Sweetie Belle took a closer look at what was stealing her sister's attention away from her. Upon seeing a complete lack of kimonos, and finding it a bit odd for her sister to place so much focus on something that didn't seem all that special, she turned to face Marshall and asked, "What's going on?"

"She's preparing for the changelings that are coming here tomorrow," Marshall replied, figuring that it would be alright to be open about it, what with the likelihood of Twilight Sparkle making it public knowledge as a consequence of her actions. "The idea is to feed them love with the aid of a fashion show."

Perking up upon hearing that, Sweetie Belle said, "Oh, that's right! Mom and dad said that Twilight made a public announcement about wanting to befriend the changelings." More to herself than those around her, it was with a mixture of concern and anger that she looked askance and muttered, "I hope things go smoother than they had with those yaks..."

Before Marshall could ask about the aforementioned yaks, Sweetie Belle appeared to be struck by an idea, who whirled around and assaulted Rarity with an imploring look as she asked, "Can I help?" She proceeded to raise the drawstring bag that she had made into view. "Please? You said this looked fine."

With a sigh, Rarity deliberately removed her glasses and placed them on the table as she turned to face Sweetie Belle with an apologetic expression on her face. "Look, Sweetie Belle, I—" She paused when she noticed the meaningful look being directed at her by Marshall, who began to gesture for her to accept her sister's help in order to be more clear about his message. After looking between him and Sweetie Belle with uncertainty a few times, which was obvious enough for the latter to look over her shoulder and investigate what was going on behind her, it was with some resignation that she finally stated, "I suppose I could do with an extra pair of hooves."

Sweetie Belle whipped her attention back to the fore, Marshall's conspicuous attempts at looking innocent completely forgotten in a rush of surprise, disbelief and excitement. "R-really!? I can help?"

Rarity briefly allowed her fondness for the moment to form a smile on her face as she nodded her head in affirmation. Then, her expression turned serious as she contemplated how to fit Sweetie Belle into her plans. "Let's see now..." Her face lit up a few seconds later, as an idea began to form. "Oh, I know what you can do." Wanting some light-hearted retribution for putting her on the spot, she turned her attention to Marshall and gave him an overly-sweet smile. "And you can be of some assistance as well."

Marshall didn't really mind being given something more to do, between Rarity not being much for conversation whenever she was particularly involved in her work and the fact that he kept forgetting to bring something to read from his room in Twilight Sparkle's castle. Either way, he felt that helping Sweetie Belle out would be worth it, since he knew what it was like to be brushed off and rejected fairly well. At first, he had been too young to get involved with his older brother and/or father regarding one thing or another. Then, his brother had grown out of a lot of the same things that he had remained or become interested in, while his father had prioritized helping his brother with high school and the first year or so of college when he had time to spare. Since he hadn't had much in common with his mother and sister, he had eventually made a habit of keeping to himself while at home, which had been reinforced when the relationship between his parents had deteriorated and his siblings had both found their own places to live.

Rarity began to tell them how she had planned to make some attire that could be mixed and matched, in order to expand the variety of outfits that she would have to work with in such a short time, and figured that making even one more article of clothing for that would be plenty of help. So, she instructed Marshall and Sweetie Belle to set up their own work station, and informed them of where they could find what they would need for it in the storage room. In the meantime, she would write down instructions for them to follow, and provide some simple diagrams along with them.

Once Marshall and Sweetie Belle were in the storage room, the latter paused near the doorway, hesitating for a second before saying, "Recherché?" When she had his attention, she fidgeted a bit as she shyly asked, "You changed my sister's mind, didn't you?"

Seeing no reason to deny it, or explain why he had done it, Marshall simply nodded his head and said, "Yeah."

"Thank you," Sweetie Belle replied, smiling warmly.

Marshall returned the smile. "No problem."

It didn't take them long to get themselves set up and ready for work. Before they could begin, however, Marshall was surprised by a familiar pair of armless glasses as they were levitated into view, close to his face. When he glanced over at Rarity, who still had her own pair of glasses, she knowingly stated, "You're going to need them, dear."

It took him a second to realize why she was giving him a pair of spare glasses, because his vision had yet to become an issue before that point, but he thanked her and put them on once he did. After momentarily being distracted by them, due to wondering how they would stay on his face, he just chalked it up to being magic-related and returned his attention to Sweetie Belle and the instructions that Rarity had made for them.

As it turned out, Rarity had given them the task of making a vest and something that amounted to nothing more than a collar and lapel, which Marshall thought was kind of odd. While the motions of sewing felt familiar to him, thanks to Rarity's use of his magic, it was Sweetie Belle's knowledge and experience with doing the actual work that proved to bring the quickest and best results between the two of them. When all was said and done, though, they wouldn't have performed as well as they had if they hadn't carefully followed Rarity's instructions.

While he looked over the fruits of their labor, he felt a sense of accomplishment that he hadn't felt in a long time. On top of that, he was kind of surprised that he'd enjoyed working with a child that he hardly knew, with a craft that he'd never had any interest in before. While he wasn't about to complain about it, he had to wonder if it had anything to do with how often he had been denied doing something together with a family member in the past, since Sweetie Belle technically counted as one.

"What should we do now?" He posed to Sweetie Belle, as he looked up at the clock. While they probably had enough time to make an additional vest of a different color, not only would they need to eat at some point, he wasn't sure of what Sweetie Belle's bedtime was.

Sweetie Belle opened her mouth to reply, but her stomach chose that time to grumble. She blushed a bit despite trying to act as if it hadn't happened, and looked up at Marshall hopefully as she suggested, "We still have time to make something extra?"

Marshall smiled inwardly in response to her desire to help her sister, but knew that he would have to act as the voice of reason. It wasn't only due to his own habit of releasing stress, but because one of his primary responsibilities was to make sure that Rarity didn't overwork herself, or sacrifice too much of her social life for the sake of said work. While attaining peace with the changelings was important, Rarity wouldn't be the only one helping with that, and there was no telling if there would be further, more demanding challenges in the future.

So, for the sake of all present, he turned to Rarity and said, "Hey, Rarity? Let's take a break and have some dinner."

"What?" Rarity replied, who stopped in the middle of what she had been working on to look up at the clock before switching her attention to Marshall. "But—"

"You can finish that later," Marshall assured her evenly. "And if the situation doesn't look good in the morning, contact me and I'll leave work early to help you."

Rarity seemed to be a bit put out and ready to start the argument that he had interrupted, but appeared to think better of it before she sighed and said, "Alright; let's take a break. No matter what happens tomorrow, it will be a good idea to face it well-fed and rested."

As she set her partly-finished dress down, along with her glasses, Marshall did the same with his own pair of glasses before feeling compelled to duck his head a bit and make up for his prior assertiveness. "Um, I'm not all that great in the kitchen, but I'd be willing to cook dinner tonight."

Rarity's expression turned contemplative as she hummed thoughtfully and rolled her shoulders, to relieve them and her withers of some of their stiffness. Eventually, she said, "Another night, perhaps. It's been a stressful day, and I could really go for a massage right now." Looking between Marshall and Sweetie Belle, she proposed, "So, how about we unwind at the spa, then have dinner at a restaurant?"

"I get go to the spa?" Sweetie Belle asked, with a mixture of surprise and excitement.

Somewhat amused by her response, Rarity replied, "We won't have time for my usual order, but: yes; I do believe you're ready to join a light sauna session and massage."

Upon noticing Marshall's silence and discernible unease, she regarded him with some concern and asked, "Is something the matter?"

Between the unexpectedness of his feelings showing themselves enough to be detected, and being the center of attention, Marshall had a difficult time suppressing his nervousness as he tried to give a satisfying answer. "N-no, it's just... I've never gone to a spa before."

Which was true enough, but hardly the extent of what was bothering him. For the most part he had avoided or mitigated intimate contact with his current body, or had been able to distract his mind from it with something else, but accepting a massage would certainly undermine those efforts. While he had nothing against the fairer sex, he had never once thought that he could be anything other than male before a few days ago, and the change in sex was a lot more complicated and treacherous to him than being a pony was — which felt more weird than anything else, thanks in part to the "training wheels" that had helped him get accustomed to it. In addition to being weird, having a female body was intimidating in a number of ways, and that was compounded by the fact that he was technically in possession of someone else's body, which came with issues that troubled both him and Rarity.

Fortunately, since Rarity was sharp enough to notice that he was willing to go despite whatever qualms he had about it, she smiled gently and assured him, "You have nothing to worry about, dear." After a brief pause, her smile turned wry as she added, "If you're anything like me, you'll love it."

Marshall chuckled lightly in response and couldn't help feeling a mite relieved about going to the spa, now that he knew that Rarity wouldn't mind if he became better-acquainted with her body in the manner that they were going there for.

With almost palpable anticipation, Sweetie Belle asked, "So, where are we going to eat?"

"I haven't considered it yet," Rarity replied, as she began to walk toward the room's sole exit. "We won't have to worry about that until after our stay at the spa."

"We're not going to eat first?" Sweetie Belle asked, who was as confused as Marshall was about it.

After Rarity paused to turn around, and saw that she was the only one who understood the reason for why the spa would be their first destination, she answered, "Oh, well, it's due to a precaution when using the sauna, you see: if you eat beforehoof, your blood pressure could drop to an unsafe level."

"Ah; that makes sense," Marshall responded, with a nod of his head. Sweetie Belle replied to her sister indirectly by nodding her head in agreement with him, since she understood that it was unsafe yet didn't want to be the odd one out for not understanding the reason for why.

Following that, Rarity proceeded with the task of getting them all to drink an ample amount of water before leaving for the spa, so they wouldn't have to worry about getting dehydrated in the sauna. Along the way, Marshall's thoughts about receiving his first massage made him more conscious about being "naked" out in public. Since his arrival he'd had a lot of things to take his mind off of the fact that he wasn't wearing clothing like he usually would, although it had helped that his coat had initially felt kind of like a form-fitting outfit; that, and the fact that most ponies didn't bother with clothing all that often. Thankfully, after being exposed to the normality of going au naturel as a pony for a couple of days, he didn't feel all that self-conscious about doing it himself, even though he no longer noticed the feeling of his coat unless he focused his attention on it.

As with Rarity's boutique, the spa was located a fair distance from the town's dense center, connected by no path and having few neighbors close enough to really be considered as such. Another similarity was that its design made it look more at home in some kind of carnival or fair. In particular: the checkered roof that bore a strong resemblance to a tent's canopy, and how several high points along its eaves, where two concave slopes met, were capped with either a crown or something that looked like a fleur-de-lis. Another part of the building's design that stood out to him were the windows, which had horseshoe-shaped frames. Finally, above the door, and hanging from a bracket, was a large, heart-shaped sign that depicted a mare with a wavy mane and tail.

When they entered the building, with Rarity leading the way, Marshall barely got a glimpse of the lobby before he heard a pony exclaim, "Rarity!"

The mare that had been tending the reception desk rushed out of the office and was in the lobby proper a few seconds later, hugging Rarity. She had a pink coat, blue eyes, light blue hair, and her mane was held back by a white hair band. Marshall's eyes couldn't help falling upon the image on her flank, which was of a flower that he recognized but couldn't remember the name of at that precise moment.

When the receptionist stepped away from Rarity, she regarded her with elation and declared, "It has been so long, darling! How do you fare?"

While Marshall stood by with Sweetie Belle and watched the exchange, he wondered about the receptionist's accent. It kind of reminded him of what a stereotypical vampire would sound like, which made him think of a Romanian origin. Idly, he amused himself with the thought of the ponies naming the aforementioned place "Grow Mane Yee-Haw" instead.

"I am faring better, Aloe," Rarity replied with an easy smile, before becoming more serious and looking at Aloe beseechingly. "And that's why I was hoping that you could extend your services to us, even though it's so near to closing time. I would be willing to pay extra for the inconvenience."

Aloe extended a forehoof toward Rarity, to stop her from speaking further, and said in a no-nonsense manner, "The only extra payment I want is seeing you get the care you so obviously need. Did you want the usual?"

Rarity's smile returned as she shook her head. "We'll just have a short session in the sauna, then a massage."

Noticing Rarity's choice in pronoun, now that the intensity of her focus on said pony had waned, Aloe looked beyond her and saw Sweetie Belle and Marshall. Perking up with interest, she approached the latter of the two and casually introduced herself with a friendly smile, as if encountering a clone whose mind was inhabited by a foreign consciousness wasn't all that strange. "Greetings! I am Aloe. Recherché, I take it?"

"Uh, yeah," Marshall awkwardly admitted, since her foreknowledge had been a bit unexpected. A spa seemed like the kind of place for gossip to circulate, though, so it wasn't all that surprising that she knew about him. Regardless, he chanced offering his hoof for a shake and said, "Nice to meet you."

Rather than shake his hoof, she met him halfway when she grasped it and pulled him toward her, so she could give him a quick, one-legged hug. When she disengaged, she breezily assured him, "Don't worry: you're going to love your massage, darling."

While Marshall felt a bit self-conscious about how obvious it was that he was feeling out of place, Aloe proceeded to switch her attention to Sweetie Belle, her expression lighting up upon doing so. "Ah, Sweetie Belle! Are you here for the sauna and massage as well?"

Sweetie Belle hummed in confirmation while nodding her head, eager to find out why her sister liked to come to the spa and wanting to share the experience with her.

Since Aloe felt that it was important to help Rarity in her time of need, she kept her response to a giggle before addressing everyone. "Well, let's get started, shall we?"

Instead of going directly to the sauna, Marshall and Sweetie Belle discovered that they would need to take a shower first, which was a measure that helped to prevent the sauna from becoming unsanitary. Marshall still had to wonder if it was really necessary, though, since he knew enough about saunas to know that sweating was a part of the experience. It just seemed odd to get cleaned up in order to get "dirty."

The first issue that arose — sort of — involved Marshall's wings, but Rarity told him that they probably wouldn't last long in the shower, due to their fragile nature. She was proven to be correct, because the thin membrane of the wings quickly dissolved to nothing after being introduced to the shower's spray. He would miss having wings, but only because his ability to fly went along with them. Otherwise, he preferred the look and feel of pegasus wings.

The second issue was a familiar one to Marshall: bathing with company, and getting assistance with said bathing. He felt extra-embarrassed because a child got to see his need for aid, but that feeling was derailed when Sweetie Belle decided to help her sister with it instead of finding his position strange or amusing and behaving accordingly. While he still felt embarrassed about it, he was touched that Sweetie Belle had come to accept him that much. It made him wonder if he was bearing witness to the character of this particular family, the society that they were raised in, or some combination of the two, because it wasn't something that he would have expected from either of his own.

After the shower, they spent some time drying themselves off. Then, they were taken to the sauna, where they were given fresh towels before going inside. Marshall and Sweetie Belle heeded Rarity when she directed them to place their towels wherever they intended to sit or lay on the lower bench, since she was the only one among them who had any experience on what to do. In addition to the lower bench being relatively cooler, the towel was another measure to prevent the sauna from becoming unsanitary during its usage throughout the day, in addition to shielding its users from whatever such measures had failed to prevent.

Marshall found the heat to be a bit uncomfortable, but bore with it as he laid out his towel next to where Sweetie Belle had put hers on the bench, while Rarity placed her own towel on the other side. Not long after they had gotten themselves settled on the bench, Aloe entered the room and used a ladle to pour water over a pile of heated stones, in order to increase the humidity of the room. Then, after checking whether or not anything more needed to be addressed, and receiving a negative response from Rarity, she left, promising that she would return in twenty minutes, when their session in the sauna ended.

While the silence that followed may have been a comfortable one for Rarity, since she just wanted to relax after having gone without the services of the spa for as long as she had, it was awkward for Sweetie Belle and Marshall, who weren't sure what they were supposed to do for the duration of their stay in the sauna. Marshall imagined that the situation might be worse for Sweetie Belle, since he remembered having a hard time being idle as a child, and it seemed to be a common "problem" shared by most children in general.

Marshall's wandering gaze eventually met Sweetie Belle's. She smiled despite how obvious her discomfort was in being silent while she endured the heat, who probably remained so because Rarity had her eyes closed and appeared to be enjoying the peace and quiet. After sparing Rarity a glance, he decided to take a risk for Sweetie Belle's sake. However, that wasn't to say that it wouldn't be for his own benefit as well, since there was a question that had been lingering in the back of his mind since yesterday.

"Say," he temporized, in order to see Rarity's reaction to him breaking the silence within his peripheral vision. When all she did was look curious about who he was addressing, he sighed inwardly with relief and gave Sweetie Belle his undivided attention. "Can you tell me what your special talent is?"

Sweetie Belle was eager to answer him, which was largely evidenced by how she perked up and spoke proudly with a raised voice, heedless of whatever concerns she might have had regarding her sister. "My special talent is helping other ponies discover theirs!"

"She shares the same talent with Apple Bloom and Scootaloo," Rarity added, whose smile was inspired by the accomplishment in question. "They even acquired corresponding cutie marks together. It was really quite remarkable."

Happy to receive a compliment from her sister, Sweetie Belle modestly returned the gesture in order to express the same familial sentiment. "But you got your cutie mark with five others, and you weren't even together when it happened."

Marshall observed the other two in confusion, since he had been under the impression that cutie marks were personal achievements and meant to show the uniqueness of their owners. "Those kinds of things can happen? Are they common?"

"You'd have to ask Twilight if you want a definitive answer," Rarity replied, with a slight, thoughtful frown. "Personally, the only other examples that I know of are twins: the owners of this fair establishment, and a pair of charlatans. So, I'd wager that it isn't."

"Huh," Marshall voiced, intrigued but not knowing exactly what to think about the answer that he had received. He also thought that it was an interesting coincidence how the only non-twin ponies with connected cutie marks — as far as they were aware of — happened to be in Ponyville at that moment. What were the odds?

Since they were on the topic of cutie marks, and he liked the idea of getting to know Rarity and Sweetie Belle better, he shelved away some questions for Twilight Sparkle and decided to keep the conversation going. "So, how did you two get your cutie marks?"

Sweetie Belle volunteered to recount her experience first. In her case, she and her fellow Cutie Mark Crusaders had simultaneously realized that they found more fulfillment in helping others discovering their special talents and acquiring their cutie marks, instead of trying to do that for themselves. They had come to that epiphany after helping a filly that had been a long-time antagonist of theirs. When Marshall remarked that her actions had been admirable, she sat up straighter even as her cheeks flushed.

Rarity's tale turned out to be rather different, and not just due to her attention to detail and the occasional — as far as he suspected — embellishment. By "with five others," Sweetie Belle had meant that Rarity had experienced the same event that had played a key role in how everyone had obtained their cutie marks: Rainbow Dash's sonic rainboom. In her case, her horn had "abducted" and hauled her to a remote location, a full day's time away from Ponyville. There she was seemingly presented with an ordinary boulder, until the sonic rainboom had caused it to split open and reveal the precious stones within.

Aside from drawing a parallel of sorts between her magic technically not being under her control and what happened when she wanted to use his own magic, her usage of the word "destiny," to either rationalize or sensationalize what had happened to her, compelled him to ask a question that would — hopefully — avoid eliciting an answer that he wasn't ready to hear. "Is it normal for a unicorn's magic to behave like that? To do stuff without you wanting it to, I mean?"

His inquiry seemed to make her realize something, but she quickly schooled her expression and he got the feeling that her guard had gone up as she casually replied, "When foals have magical surges, certainly. It's also not unheard of for a pony's special talent to activate their magic under the right circumstances."

"Oh!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed with renewed energy, which had been sapped by the heat during the course of Rarity's cutie mark story. "Don't forget about Clover the Clever!"

Having heard about Clover the Clever just last night, Marshall had a good idea regarding what was being referred to. "Do you mean the spell that drove away the Windigos?"

"Yeah!" Sweetie Belle confirmed, who seemed happy about being able to contribute to the topic. "Everypony knows why it happened, but not how."

"I see," Marshall evenly replied.

He decided to leave that line of questioning at that, because he wasn't sure if he was prepared to receive an affirmative answer to whether destiny existed in their universe or not. It was one thing to learn that other universes existed, since the concept was inherently full of interesting possibilities, but destiny was more personal and foreboding in nature — to him, at least. On top of everything else that had changed and broadened his perception of reality in the past few days, the last thing that he wanted to do was worry about his role in the grand scheme of things, should he actually have one.

Besides which, it didn't seem like the time or place for such a serious matter. Aside from being at the spa to relax, he decided that it might be a good idea to err on the side of caution in the presence of a child, as far as such topics were concerned. Then there was Rarity's reaction to consider, which he probably wouldn't have noticed without his connection to her. The last thing that he wanted was for her to shut him out, so he wouldn't press the issue until he felt that it would be safe enough to, should he ever feel the need.

So, instead, he asked about the development of a unicorn's magic, since he was curious and it sounded like the aforementioned magical surge could cause interesting incidents. He caught a hint of relief from Rarity as she began to field his inquiry, which piqued his interest about her further. While he tried to pay attention to her as she supplied him with information, he couldn't help wondering exactly what it was that she wanted to keep to herself.

Shortly after Rarity finished telling him what she knew about unicorn magic, Aloe returned to end their session in the sauna. Sweetie Belle seized the opportunity to hurry through the now-open doorway before either Rarity or himself could finish stepping down from the bench, which inspired them to regard each other and share a chuckle. He couldn't really blame Sweetie Belle for her behavior, though, since he didn't really care much for the feeling of being sweaty despite having a better understanding of — and appreciation for — the sauna's purpose.

After waiting for them to finish taking another shower, Aloe approached their group and asked, "Would any of you like your massage in a private alcove?"

Seeing that Marshall and Sweetie Belle were looking at her for direction, Rarity replied, "I think the common room will suffice."

Aloe proceeded to lead them down a hall that was lined with alcoves on one side, and Marshall noticed that one of them was occupied by a pony who was receiving a massage. Then, shortly before reaching their destination, they passed by a pony who was walking in the opposite direction from where their group was going, and they had the look and bearing of a very satisfied customer.

The common room turned out to be rather spacious, and was primarily illuminated by lights that hung from its high ceiling. A large, round tub was its focal point, which could be accessed by the stairway that was a part of the platform hugging more than half of the tub's circumference. Said platform had a guard rail, and the panels between its posts bore the image of a rearing pony — of a mare, if he wasn't mistaken.

As far as he could tell, there were two other distinct areas in the room: one occupied by lounge chairs, which were close to the tub, and another set aside for things that projected from the wall, that looked like platforms but could — potentially — be something else. The area with the lounge chairs provided him with enough clues to figure out what its purpose might be, considering how there was a lounging pony getting her hooves filed, and a portable, hooded hair dryer nearby. The other area's purpose eluded him, even though two ponies were standing on separate platforms while chatting with each other. From his vantage point it seemed that they stood in a depression, and he could only guess that they were standing in whatever it may contain.

Aloe led them to a group of free lounge chairs. When they reached them, Rarity turned to Aloe and said, "Oh, I almost forgot to mention: Recherché's right shoulder suffered some trauma earlier today."

Nodding her head in understanding, Aloe replied, "I'll apply a balm before the massage, then. Please make yourselves comfortable while I retrieve it."

Not long after Aloe began to walk away, Rarity caught Marshall's confused, questioning gaze and responded to him by staring back evenly and saying, "You may not have been aware of it, but you've been favoring your leg ever since your... first encounter with Chrysalis."

Marshall blinked his eyes as he considered the possibility. Rarity had a sharp eye, so he wouldn't be surprised if he had continued to favor his leg a bit on an unconscious level, after he had pushed the soreness in his shoulder out of his mind. However, he found Rarity's exchange with Aloe more interesting, because it didn't appear that addressing contusions was an unfamiliar subject between the two of them.

He didn't think about it too deeply, though, since his massage was imminent and he wanted to mentally prepare himself for it. While he didn't expect it to hurt, like many comedic sources would suggest would happen, he did worry that he could end up liking it too much. He may have decided to not be too detached while he was Recherché, but he didn't want to make things complicated by becoming too attached to things, and his current body was on the top of his list of things that he didn't want to anchor himself to. The temptation from having access to magic and flight was bad enough already.

Seeing that Rarity and Sweetie Belle had already claimed their lounge chairs and were in the process of making themselves comfortable, he chose the one beside Rarity's and followed their example. It wasn't long after he got settled that Aloe returned with a fancy-looking glass jar that had a wide mouth, which had some kind of viscous substance contained within it. There were two other ponies accompanying her, although most of his attention was focused on her twin, because he had to wonder if she dyed her coat and hair for the sake of making it easier for others to tell them apart, or if it was natural for identical twin ponies to be born with different colors.

While Rarity and Sweetie Belle were attended to by the other masseuses, Aloe wasted no time in applying the balm to his shoulder, and explaining what is was supposed to do while she did so. True to her word, the soreness in his shoulder was quickly replaced by a gentle warmth while the balm was massaged into his skin, then the warmth seemed to reverse course and radiate outward even as the affected area began to feel somewhat numb. It reminded him of the times when his hands had been reintroduced to a heated environment, after the point where they began to ache from the cold, but not in a bad way.

Once Aloe was satisfied that his injury would no longer compromise his massage, she began to perform the aforementioned service after being courteous enough to offer him a little forewarning. Not knowing what else to do in the meantime, he simply did his best to relax while she worked. Much to his surprise, however, he soon got to experience what it felt like to melt under someone's ministrations. He eventually felt so good and relaxed that he couldn't help closing his eyes, and Rarity's conversation with her masseuse began to go in one ear and out the other as the world around him melted along with him.

When his massage was over, it took a moment for his descent from cloud nine to begin. By then Rarity and Sweetie Belle had already vacated their lounge chairs, with the former having a conversation with Aloe and her twin sister while the latter stood quietly nearby. He idly wondered how much time had passed as he got to his hooves and stretched like a cat, before leisurely making his way over to the group. As he did, he noticed that Sweetie Belle was looking at him funny, while the others regarded him with knowing looks, but he wasn't in a frame of mind to care why.

Aloe said something while gazing directly at him, but her words failed to register as a language that he recognized. Not noticing anything wrong with that, he readily assumed that she had asked him a question about his experience, and answered thusly, unaware of the goofy grin on his face. "Oh, man, it was amazing. Massages are grrrr-reat!"

While that elicited a fit of giggles from the older ponies, his answer prompted Sweetie Belle to look up at Rarity with concern and say something. Whatever response she got made her return her attention to him, only now it was with a dubious expression on her face as she spoke again. Thinking that she was speaking to him, and still unaware that he was inventing what he was hearing, he replied, "I know, right?"

Rarity and Sweetie Belle had another exchange before the former motioned for him to follow them, which he heeded without question. As he followed Rarity, who served as a beacon while his environment blurred by in a blend of colors, his thoughts eventually congealed enough for him to wonder if walking on air was the way to describe what he was currently feeling. He decided that it might not, if walking on air were anything like walking on a cloud, which was something that he could now say he knew from first-hand experience. Perhaps, then, he was walking on sunshine?

Something about that last thought arrested his meandering mind, and the world around him began to come into focus, revealing an outdoor environment bathed in a warm, red-orange light and long shadows. What that meant cut through his euphoric haze and made him blurt out, "The sun is setting!"

Looking over her shoulder to reply, Rarity held back her quip when she saw that he was lucid once more and appeared to be somewhat panicky on top of that. Concerned, but also confused by the source that seemed to be agitating him, she stopped walking and turned about to face him — which Sweetie Belle mirrored — before asking, "What's the matter?"

Marshall did his best to calm himself down so soon after his reintroduction into reality as he replied, "Princess Celestia. She said that if I watch the sun set, it'll answer whether or not she's controlling it."

"You don't say," came Rarity's rhetorical response, who was now more intrigued than anything else. With a sense of urgency, but an inward grin, she continued speaking even as she prepared for a sprint, saying, "Let's make haste to my bedroom, then: you can get an unobstructed view of the sunset from there."

With that said, Marshall followed Rarity back to her house at a measured gallop. Sweetie Belle directed a sorrowful look toward the meal that they had been heading toward before chasing after them. When they reached their destination, Marshall only hesitated briefly at the thought of entering another's bedroom, and another lady's at that, before accepting Rarity's invitation to join her at a window. It helped that she didn't seem to have a problem with his entry.

Once at the window, he saw that the sun was halfway behind the horizon and descending faster than he would have expected. Licking suddenly dry lips, unaware that Rarity and Sweetie Belle were watching him more than the sun, he couldn't decide if he wanted it to be a joke or not. Fiction had familiarized him with many impossible ideas, and as amazing or fantastical as some of them were, he couldn't think of many things that exceeded the scale of moving a sun, or — for that matter — an actual instance of a sun being moved. He could only assume that the kind of power involved in such a feat would be—

The sun descended below the horizon, and he found himself holding his breath. Almost immediately, much to his surprise, the sun seemed to hop well above the horizon before falling out of view again. It was so sudden and quick that he began to think that his mind might have been playing a trick on him. Then the sun did it once more, and by the fourth time he'd seen enough to conclude that what was happening was real.

At that moment, for the first time in his life, he fainted.

Comments

[Chrome Masquerade]

Once at the window, he saw that the sun was halfway behind the horizon and descending faster than he would have expected. Licking suddenly dry lips, unaware that Rarity and Sweetie Belle were watching him more than the sun, he couldn't decide if he wanted it to be a joke or not. Fiction had familiarized him with many impossible ideas, and as amazing or fantastical as some of them were, he couldn't think of many things that exceeded the scale of moving a sun, or — for that matter — an actual instance of a sun being moved. He could only assume that the kind of power involved in such a feat would be—

The sun descended below the horizon, and he found himself holding his breath. Almost immediately, much to his surprise, the sun seemed to hop well above the horizon before falling out of view again. It was so sudden and quick that he began to think that his mind might have been playing a trick on him. Then the sun did it once more, and by the fourth time he'd seen enough to conclude that what was happening was real.

At that moment, for the first time in his life, he fainted.

lh3.googleusercontent.com/-UDib-ua9wsg/V7F5wOS7apI/AAAAAAAARX0/q2zqw6klQBsqWLdxBVjntHA77kMolDMhQ/w426-h652-p/Celestia%2Blike%2Ba%2Bboss.jpg

[Seeking Dusk]

The sun was attempting to step into the pool, but the water was too cold so it took a couple tries before it could properly immerse itself. The sun was later extremely embarrassed when it learned all those ponies were watching it's trial.

[newhope0722]

He idly wondered how much time had passed as he got to his hooves and stretched like a cat, before leisurely making his way over to the group. As he did, he noticed that Sweetie Belle was looking at him funny, while the others regarded him with knowing looks, but he wasn't in a frame of mind to care why.
Aloe said something while gazing directly at him, but her words failed to register as a language that he recognized. Not noticing anything wrong with that, he readily assumed that she had asked him a question about his experience, and answered thusly, unaware of the goofy grin on his face. "Oh, man, it was amazing. Massages are grrrr-reat!"
While that elicited a fit of giggles from the older ponies, his answer prompted Sweetie Belle to look up at Rarity with concern and say something. Whatever response she got made her return her attention to him, only now it was with a dubious expression on her face as she spoke again. Thinking that she was speaking to him, and still unaware that he was inventing what he was hearing, he replied, "I know, right?"
Rarity and Sweetie Belle had another exchange before the former motioned for him to follow them, which he heeded without question.

Umm... , so.. , what happen ?

[Snow]

I am adoring this story. I'm sad I caught up with it, and I deffinitely hope it continues to update regularly.

[Crescent Pulsar]

8108641 Thanks. I hope so, too.

8108198 The exact dialogue isn't important, which is why I left it out to illustrate Marshall's mental state, but it went something like this in my head:

Aloe: "Ah. Back with us, I see."

Sweetie Belle: "Is Recherche alright?"

Rarity: "She's fine."

Sweetie Belle: "Are you sure?"

Rarity: "I'm positive. She's just... in an especially good mood. It was almost the same for me when I was first deemed worthy of their special massages."

Sweetie Belle: "How come I didn't get a special massage?"

Rarity: "...You'll understand when you're older. Now, you're hungry, aren't you?"

[ArcaneVisions]

Wonder why they were looking at him strangely. Also yay a new chapter. I was hoping this would update again. Can't wait for more.