Chapter 19 - Should I Be Worried?
I took a few deep breaths to further calm my pounding heart without tearing my gaze from the single silvery object that had become my focus. My non-native ancestry thwarted my ability to attain any further serenity; I was trying to do something no one in my own world had ever done before.
I heard a gentle clop of hooves behind me. "Now, my dear, you almost had it," came Rarity's encouraging voice. "You can properly envision and hold it. Now you need to convince yourself you can move it."
Rarity had chosen a fork as the subject of my first attempt at levitation (well, technically my second attempt; the first attempt was ... less than successful). Was this a subtle hint that she wanted my table manners to improve before I lived with her? I could have been reading too much into it. We had just finished breakfast at the castle, and this happened to be an unused utensil. I still needed to stand down from the ragged edge of paranoia in which I had lived for the past few days.
I caught a glimmer of gold out of the corner of my eye as light gleamed from the pendant around Twilight's neck. Twilight had suggested I try this before I left the castle, claiming she wanted to ensure that the residual chaos magic didn't interfere with my abilities. I think she simply wanted the chance to jump in if I needed help.
I narrowed my eyes and concentrated. The rush of energy suffusing my horn filled me with the same sense of eager anticipation as it had moments before. I caught Spike cringing out of the corner of my eye. During my first attempt, I had nearly clipped the poor dragon's head and embedded the fork in the wall while still learning how to properly channel magic into my horn.
A pale blue glow enveloped the fork. This time the sensation of holding it simply with my will felt less alien. I still struggled to banish the false analogy of gripping it in a hand, as that likely had thwarted my previous attempt.
Okay, now ... lift.
I gasped as the fork shot up like a rocket until I mentally clamped down on it, freezing it in mid-air about a pony-length above my head. I heard Twilight and Rarity chuckle. I blushed, thinking it directed at me, until I heard Spike's muffled voice, "Hey, I'm just, um, cleaning under the table! Yeah, that's it! I wasn't terrified at all that she might poke my eye out."
"You need a more gentle touch, Candy, but otherwise you're doing better," said Rarity. "Try setting it down on the table."
"I'll just keep cleaning under here until she's done," Spike called out.
I giggled, and my chest no longer felt so tight, though my heart still raced. This was magic -- actual magic -- something so common in this world yet still quite extraordinary to me. I could not have conveyed my elation.
When I almost dropped the fork, it tempered my celebration. I had envisioned too many nuances of this power at once rather than letting it flow naturally. It reminded me how I still needed to let things go. I still had many old patterns of thought to dismantle.
Sometimes things really were as simple as they seemed.
With a more relaxed breath, I lowered the fork the remaining distance, and it made nary a sound as it touched down upon the table.
"Very good, Candy," Rarity said.
"I think you're starting to get it," Twilight said, smiling.
Spike's eyes peeked above the edge of the table, and the rest of him popped up a moment later. He smiled and offered me a thumb's up. "I knew you could do it!"
I giggled. "Thanks, all."
Twilight turned to Rarity. "So will you be taking Candy straight to the boutique this morning?"
Rarity stepped off her chair. "Yes, indeed. I need to finish a dress before lunch, and Candy should get in as much practice as possible with her magic now that she has the basics down."
"Do you need to take Sweetie Belle to school?" I asked.
"She'll be going by herself. Mayor Mare has lifted the restrictions concerning that."
"But I thought there's still another changeling out there. She's not worried that it might be in the town?"
Twilight smiled. "Shining Armor is taking care of that now."
"Did he find the other changeling, then?" said Rarity.
"No, but he can at least assure everypony there are no more changelings in Ponyville itself," said Twilight. "Before breakfast, we put our heads together and figured out how to use his shielding magic to cast my detection spell over a wider area. He's off doing a final sweep in town now."
My gaze drifted to the pendant. As much of a burden it had become, it was also a fixture, and guilt still tugged at me for leaving it behind. I still felt that the separation would be good for me, letting me focus on my new life, whatever it eventually turned out to be. Finally having had a night free of dreams about Michelle or the pendant gave me some hope.
"What of Strong Wing?" Rarity asked.
My ears flattened. I had to remind myself they were speaking of the real one.
Twilight sighed. "We haven't found him yet, and Shining Armor has to head back to the Crystal Empire soon. I'm getting a little worried, especially in light of what happened to Candy's friend."
I shuddered. I felt bad enough that the pendant had been indirectly responsible for one death, even if I had managed to shed the guilt.
"Surely you don't believe ...?" Rarity began, her pupils shrinking as she tried to voice what I had just been thinking.
"I'm not sure what's going on," said Twilight. "The more I go over in my head what happened over the last few days, the more things don't add up. This is the first time we've heard about a changeling actually draining somepony to the point of death." Twilight glanced at me. "Candy, if that brings up bad memories, I could defer this for now."
"No, don't," I said in a firm if quavering voice. "I want to hear this. I want to understand as much as I can as to ... as to why she died."
Rarity touched a hoof to my shoulder before turning to Twilight. "Though you said yourself we know so little about them."
"Yes, but Chrysalis seemed adamant about denying it."
"Well, of course. A miscreant always tries to cover up her misdeeds."
"There's something else," said Twilight. "Candy, the changeling disguised as Strong Wing had tried to use its power on you, didn't it?"
"Oh, um, yes," I said, my ears drooping. "He tried to convince me I should listen to Chrysalis right when I first started to doubt her."
"And then he lied about the nature of your meeting with Chrysalis when he talked to Shining Armor."
"What are you getting at, Twilight?" Rarity asked in a curious voice.
Twilight looked thoughtful. "The changeling had obviously found a way to circumvent the spell I crafted to sense their mind magicks. Why didn't it use its power on the other guards so they would back up its story to my brother?"
Rarity smiled gently. "I really believe you're over-thinking this."
But didn't Twilight have a point? Why didn't the changeling cover its bases?
I shivered as the memory of the apartment plagued me. Had I just imagined seeing a cold and calculating intelligence to those alien insect-like eyes? It had been no different when I confronted it after the memory block had fallen away; I had seen the same ruthless, even meticulous, manipulator.
"My advice, darling, would be to focus on the pendant," said Rarity. "After all, you have only a month or so."
The mention of the pendant jolted me out of my reverie.
"I intend to," said Twilight. "Chrysalis had obviously intended to use it to forcefully absorb emotional energy from others, which gives me an important clue as to its original purpose and ... um ... wait, what did you mean by only a month?"
"Why, the Grand Galloping Gala, of course," said Rarity. "Certainly you'll want to find a way to break the binding magic by then. The gold of that pendant will clash horribly with many of your outfits."
Spike chuckled, and I smiled. The mention of this "Gala" piqued my curiosity, but it could wait until later.
"Um, right," said Twilight in a dubious voice, though she did smile faintly.
Rarity turned towards me. "Come along, Candy. It's time we head down to the boutique and get you settled in."
Despite my lighter mood, my heart still fluttered a bit as I hopped off the chair and alighted on my hooves. I still had yet to completely shift myself out of the mindset of wariness and caution that had become so ingrained in me since arriving in Equestria. I needed to let other ponies worry about things for awhile. I needed to get back to being just an ordinary teenager.
Whatever that really meant in this world.
"Candy, could you come out here for a moment, please?"
The scraps of fabric I had so carefully folded with my hooves trembled in my tiring magical grip. Some of the corners had sprung loose and dangled over the sides of what had been a neat stack. I uttered a small sigh before calling back, "I'll be there in a minute!"
A dull headache lurked just under my horn, growing slowly worse the longer I kept pumping magic through it. I had been warned to recognize that as the first sign I was overdoing it, but I had almost completed this task of organizing Rarity's scrap pile. She kept some of the detritus generated by her work for use in patches, practice, or experimentation. A more magically skilled pony would have had this tedious task done inside an hour. It had taken me most of the day.
Admittedly, I had worked the task on and off, so the entire day had not been filled with tedium. I got to watch Rarity work again, and we had a nice lunch with Fluttershy.
The bundle shook again and threatened to come completely undone. Discomfort overcame stubbornness, and I lowered it to the table, rubbing my head as I let the magic dissipate. I glanced out the window, surprised at how low the sun lay. After a march of days that had crawled by with all the speed of a snail through molasses, I had almost forgotten what the passage of time felt like.
I trotted towards the front of the shop. "Sorry for the wait." I glanced to the side where Rarity had placed the dress order she had due that day. The hanger stood empty. "Oh, was the dress picked up, then?"
Rarity smiled. "Yes, and she was quite pleased with it. Even though I had to rush a bit at the end, it turned out well."
I flicked my gaze to the side. "Er, yeah ... sorry about that."
"Don't trouble yourself over it, dear. It was I who perhaps had a bit of misplaced confidence in your ability."
Rarity had made the mistake of trusting my nascent magical skill to something sharp. Rather than placing the pair of scissors on her table, I had plunged the point through the cloth of the dress she had been working on. Fortunately, it was a paneled dress, and she needed only to redo the panel.
"I need to head over to Town Hall," said Rarity. "I wish to check on the status of my application to foster you."
The knot in my stomach reminded me how I could not simply flip my feelings on and off like a light switch, as much as I would have liked. While I very much wanted this to go through, I still could not shake the feeling that I had caused her a lot of trouble. "Is there anything I can do to help?"
Rarity smiled. "Please, don't worry yourself about it. Let me handle it."
"Could you at least tell me what the reasons for the challenge are?"
"It's not important. Really, Candy, the fact that you're here under my roof you can take as assurance that it's inevitable that this will go through."
I smiled faintly. I had become so used to relying on nopony but myself for so long that I had forgotten how to relinquish control. I had a chance to go back to enjoying what was left of my childhood. I should be seizing the opportunity rather than finding things to worry about.
"Now, I don't expect any more customers today, but I would appreciate you keeping an eye on the boutique while I'm gone," said Rarity.
"Of course."
She narrowed her eyes. "And no more magic practice for you today, young lady."
I blinked. "Huh?"
"I can tell you're in a bit of pain. Don't overdo it again, please."
I blushed faintly. "How did you know?"
"You forget, I had to deal with the same thing while Sweetie Belle learned magic."
My heart lurched. Had she already fallen into a motherly role with me? No, I meant big sister role. That's what she had to be for me. Nopony ... no one ... could replace my mother. Even Rarity had agreed with that assessment.
"I won't be gone long," said Rarity as she turned away. Had my feelings shown on my face again? I couldn't tell. I didn't trust my voice and remained silent while she headed out of the boutique.
I trotted over to a window and leaned my fore-hooves on the windowsill, looking out over Ponyville. With the intimidating presence of the guards now gone, the country charm of this town had returned. I had lost track of how many ponies had greeted me both on the way to the boutique that morning or while we were out to lunch.
I really had to get used to that. Maybe my fellow New Yorkers back in my world had gained a reputation for being cold and harsh that was not entirely true, but they definitely tended not to be quite as openly friendly. I wondered if Manehattanites were similar.
I idly flicked my tail as I pony-watched, occasionally glancing to the side to catch anypony approaching the front door of the boutique. So how would I fit in here? Was it enough to just go with the flow for now? Where events of the past few days had carried me forward like so many leaves on the rapids, I felt I needed to take more control. I just had no idea how.
I flinched when I heard the door open without warning. I turned from the window, my hooves landing with a sharp clop as a magical glow that was not my own faded from the door after it had closed.
"Hello! You must be Candy Swirl!"
My gaze shifted down towards the source of the high-pitched voice. A little marshmallow-white unicorn filly with a curly pink and purple mane smiled up at me, a saddlebag draped across her barrel.
"Oh, um, yeah, that's me," I said. "And you are ...?"
"I'm Sweetie Belle."
For some odd reason, I had pictured her being older. She couldn't have been more than ten or eleven. I again had dreaded visions of becoming an impromptu foalsitter. "Um, hi. If you're looking for your sister, she'll be back a bit later."
"Oh, that's okay. I really wanted to meet you anyway. This'll give us lots of time to get to know each other!"
I smiled faintly. "Sure. Great."
Sweetie turned away and trotted towards the stairs. "So, you get settled in yet?"
Was I supposed to follow her? I glanced out the window and saw no ponies coming to the door. I cantered to catch up with her. "Oh, well, I've moved into the guest room, if that's what you mean." Since all I possessed in this world was a saddlebag and a borrowed copy of a Daring Do novel, I didn't have a lot of baggage to unload, but she didn't need to hear that much detail.
"Hmm. Good choice on Rarity's part," Sweetie said as we reached the upstairs hall. "I kinda like having my own room." She stopped outside said room and levitated the saddle bag off her barrel and tossed it on the bed. Several textbooks and notebooks spilled out.
Damn, the little kid had better control over her magic than I did. "Um, just because I'm curious, Sweetie, how much do you know about me?"
She turned to face me and smiled. "Rarity said you're from Manehattan and don't remember a lot of your recent past. And that you had some sort of powerful magical pendant that Twilight was keeping an eye on for you. And at school today, Scootaloo said that she heard you bravely and single-hoofedly stopped the changelings from stealing it!"
I stared. "Wait, what? Um, I don't think that's quite the whole story ..."
Sweetie's smile widened. "And you don't have a cutie mark yet!"
Was it me, or did she say that last part with ... unwarranted enthusiasm?
She obviously had old information about me (not to mention embellished). I debated whether to tell her or let Rarity handle it. I had no idea how a little kid would react to knowing she was living under the same roof with an alien.
"So what are you doing tomorrow afternoon, Candy?" Sweetie asked.
The sudden change of topic threw me for a second. "Working in the boutique, I guess. I, um, need more practice with my magic."
"Do you think Rarity might let you go in the afternoon sometime?"
"Maybe. Why?"
"Because my fellow Crusaders really want to meet you!"
"Er ... Crusaders?" The term sounded vaguely familiar.
"Yeah, we would've had you come over today, but Apple Bloom got a letter from her cousin Babs Seed," Sweetie said. "Babs got her cutie mark, and, well, Apple Bloom kinda freaked out a little about whether she'd wind up with a cutie mark she didn't like." Her gaze became subdued for a moment, her ears flattening a bit before she suddenly perked up. "Oh, not that I'm worried about that, of course," she said in an airy voice, waving a hoof.
"I'm really sorry, but I honestly have no idea what you're talking about," I said with a sigh.
Sweetie Belle giggled. "Aw, that's okay." She trotted past me. "Hey, mind if we talk in the kitchen? I'm kinda thirsty."
I followed along behind her. "So what are these, um, Crusaders you mentioned?"
"The Cutie Mark Crusaders. Me, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo. We all don't have our cutie marks yet, so we get together and come up with ways to earn them."
Well, that certainly sounded tame enough. I supposed it even made sense. If these cutie marks were supposed to be a sign of a skill or ability, how else would a pony attain one unless they tried out different things? "So where do you go to do this?" I asked as we entered the kitchen.
Sweetie levitated a glass onto the table as she opened the fridge door with a hoof. "We have a clubhouse at Sweet Apple Acres we use for our meetings."
As I climbed into a seat at the table, I took a wild guess that "Apple Bloom" was the little yellow filly with the big bow I had seen that first day.
Sweetie's horn glowed as she poured herself some orange juice before trotting over to the table. So this didn't sound so bad. If the clubhouse sat on the farm, they technically had adult supervision nearby. While I was not that enamored of being around a bunch of little kids, it could have been worse. Living with Rarity meant I probably should be accommodating towards Sweetie Belle and make nice with her friends. I did wonder why they would be interested in somepony who had to be at least five or six years older than them.
Well, other than I didn't have a cutie mark.
Okay, now the alarm bells were going off.
"Um, Sweetie?" I asked as she hopped into a chair. "You wanting me to come over to your friends' clubhouse tomorrow ... does this have anything to do with me not having a cutie mark yet?"
Sweetie's pupils shrank. "Not from me! No way! Not me at all!"
I simply tilted my head and gave her a dubious look.
She closed her eyes and lifted a fore-hoof. "I swear, I am not at all interested in helping you attain your cutie mark. I just want you to meet my friends, that's all."
I flicked my tail as I considered. Seeing the farm again while not under duress would be nice, if for no other reason than thanking that big stallion who pulled the cart. I had not been of the mindset to think of doing it that first day.
Besides, I really had to stop being suspicious of everything. These were just kids. I sincerely doubted they were little hoodlums, or budding gang members, or represented some other form of danger to themselves or anypony else.
Sweetie quietly sipped her orange juice as she watched me with hopeful eyes.
"Well, okay," I said. "I'll talk to Rarity later and see if she can spare me tomorrow afternoon."
Sweetie Belle smiled. "Great! I'll tell the others in school tomorrow!"
I heard hooves approaching from the hall. "What will you tell the others tomorrow, Sweetie Belle?" said Rarity in a tired voice as she trotted into the room.
"Oh, um, hi, Rarity!" Sweetie said. "Candy was interested in meeting my friends tomorrow."
More the other way around, but I refrained from correcting her.
Rarity paused and narrowed her gaze. "Indeed?"
Sweetie's pupils shrank again. "That's all I want to do, honest! Just bring her to the clubhouse and have her meet my friends. I just want to be nice to her and all."
Rarity considered for a moment, then sighed. "Very well. How did you do on your exams? You were supposed to get them back today."
Sweetie's gaze slid off to the side. "I did ... okay."
"How okay?"
"Okay okay."
"Sweetie, bring me your exam papers."
Sweetie rolled her eyes and slid off the chair. "Okay, okay," she muttered as she trotted out of the room.
Rarity watched her go before approaching the table. "My apologies. Sweetie Belle is very smart, but she sometimes doesn't apply herself in all her subjects. School is out for the summer after this week, so this is the last chance she had to bring her grades up."
"Are you okay?" I asked.
"Simply annoyed by the bureaucracy, dear, that's all. They insist on going through all the motions on this ridiculous challenge despite how silly its premise. Rest assured, I'll handle it." She glanced towards the hall for a moment. "Now I need to ask you, is Sweetie telling the truth?"
"About what?"
"About her intentions concerning having you meet her fellow Crusaders."
"She told me the same thing she just told you," I said. "That she wants me to meet her friends and that's it."
"Hrm," Rarity murmured.
"Um, should I be worried?"
"I suppose not. Perhaps if you associate with her friends, it will be better for them. They could use a more mature influence, to be honest."
I guessed I was going to be pressed into foalsitting after all. Then again, compared to what I had been through over the past few days, this should be a cakewalk by comparison. "By the way," I said in a low voice. "Sweetie Belle doesn't seem to know about me being from another world."
"On the way back from the castle last night, I asked the others not to reveal that information and instead let you decide whom you wish to tell," said Rarity.
My eyes widened. "Even Applejack agreed to that?"
Rarity smiled. "While she may be the Element of Honesty, that doesn't mean she reveals personal details of other ponies' lives to whomever will listen, dear. In fact ... I would likely practice some discretion for the time being if I were you."
I nodded slowly. I didn't need to be a genius to figure out she wasn't telling me something, and it likely had to do with the challenge to her fostering application. It brought me back to the same concern I had expressed a moment ago which still lacked a satisfactory response: should I be worried?
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So, Candy's going to be a Crusader, I expect the stock of construction companies in the area to rise due to increased business.
Well hopefully Candy can keep the crusaders under control and from their typical chaos!
If only she knew...
Chapter Title: Should I Be Worried?
Chapter Premise: Candy is learning to use magic and is about to be introduced to the CMC.
Conclusion: Do I even have to say it? The answer is
.
Cutie Mark Crusader!
Interesting... Great job as always!
How tall is Candy?
Now I really want to know about this challenge.
Manipulative? Yes! Clever? Maybe not so much...
...this isn't just tempting fate, this is laying out a five-course banquet in front of fate after it's been on a starvation diet for a week.
Do the Crusaders even have capes in Candy's size?
I would be happily surprised if after meeting
she declined their antics of joining and instead provided some wisdom on Just letting things happen.
WHAT DOES THE AMULET DO!?
7073646 big question is, would the 'caped' crusaders listen
Should be fun to read whatever happens though.
7072762
7075315
These questions will definitely be answered in this part of the story.
7072741
She's 16, so she would be a little smaller than an adult. She would be a little shorter than Rarity but taller than Sweetie Belle. Essentially she's just small enough to be recognized as a teen by her fellow ponies.
7078393 NOOOOo! CURIOUSITY!
Yay, so great to see this story updating again!
7072502 Oh she will... Soon.... Soon...
lh6.googleusercontent.com/-WNNbTfwAM_I/UOClAFZF0fI/AAAAAAAAZIc/0pLa3aibN78/s1600/IsThisHowYouTreataFever.png
oh dear Candy you have no idea what you are in for with the CMC
Well, other than them being harbingers of chaos, you should be fine.
okay...going out on a limb here, but I bet Rachel's cutie mark will probably involve something closely related to knife and ax throwing at circus carnivals
7083146 Holy hell... You actually made me shiver with that picture.
I didn't think of this till now... but Candy's pendant actually reminds me of another powerful artifact that stays with it's bearer no matter what...
vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/kingdomhearts3dddd/images/e/ee/KingdomHeartsKeyblade.png/revision/latest?cb=20130807183550
It's probably not going to happen, but what if her pendant was actually a keyblade? And all it needs is for another wielder to transfer it to her.
In your hoof, take this key.
And so long as you have the makings,
Then through this simple act of taking,
Its wielder, you shall one day be.
I suspect that should be "our".
I am amazed Sweetie Belle didn't somehow cause the orange juice to spontaneously combust...
pre03.deviantart.net/5df4/th/pre/i/2013/269/a/a/applejack_the_gangsta_by_drawponies-d6o26k6.jpg
Ya sure about that, Candy?
7399512 Well, at least they didn't start with super-pointy objects, like pens, knives or spears. Conversely, I think the bowling ball would be a bad idea too. Methinks that Spike's reaction to being hit by a bowling ball would be pretty bad!
Every time I see the name Candy http://24.media.tumblr.com/f3071e0449330a28a276202fa2c57536/tumblr_mn1hj1PVCg1rny8rbo1_500.gif
The fork isn’t near Spike‘s head it is was at Rachel’s.
Aren’t they referred to tests or grade reports in public schools? Aren’t exams a college level term?
Im so excited - she met Sweetie Belle! And its funny the one time that Candy decided not to be suspicious...it'll probably come back to haunt her XD