Expanding Horizons
Expanding Horizons
“Okay, that’s the last one.”
Giving the last baby bird a fond pat on the head, Fluttershy drifted back down from the tree branch, her translucent golden spell wings beating softly in their almost delicate runework frames.
“You sure do have a way with animals," Graves idly commented as he brushed downy feathers off the top of his hat. The girl with the coral pink hair just giggled as she smoothed out the front of her lilac-colored sundress.
“You do too, Mister Marshal," she smiled. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen the bears as fond of anyone as you.”
“Please,” he muttered dryly, “don’t remind me.”
As she always did at the beginning of every season, Fluttershy had gone through the neighboring woods to take a census of the animals. What this would accomplish, Graves had no idea, but things had been peaceful enough that he didn’t have much to do. Plus, the young lady had looked like she could use some help.
It had been pleasant work for the most part, a lot of bouncing bunnies bumping about, bunches of bubbly baby birds - who all seemed fond of perching atop his hat - and all other manners of other adorable little woodland creatures. The only problem was that not all newborns were so small and cuddly, as several infant bears had decided it would be great fun to wrestle with the marshal. One was fine, and two was manageable, but six? That was another story entirely.
“So, how come I rarely see you fly?” Graves asked as he knuckled the small of his back. The shy girl blushed slightly and let her light pink hair obscure her face before answering.
“Well, I was born in Cloudsdale like Rainbow Dash, so I was taught to fly from an early age. But honestly? I was never really good at it.” At this, her cheeks tinted to near the same shade as her hair. “That’s why I only wear them when I need to work with flying animals and stuff: they’re terribly heavy otherwise.”
“Makes sense to me,” Graves shrugged as he cracked his spine. Loudly.
“Oh my goodness, you’re not hurt are you?” Fluttershy asked in alarm, eyes widening as she jumped at what had sounded like snapping tree trunks.
“Meh, I’m fine,” he said offhandedly with a dismissive wave of the hand. “Just a little sore. Not exactly used to bear wrangling.”
“You are? I’m so sorry,” Fluttershy whimpered, looking like she was about to burst into tears. “If I had known that this would happen, I would never have… would never…”
“I told you, it’s fine,” Graves repeated hastily in even greater alarm than her; the last thing he wanted was for the shy girl to begin sobbing over nothing. “It’s just a little stiff: a good night’s sleep, and it’ll be all better.”
“… Really?” she sniffed, now only looking upset instead of abjectly forlorn. The young man nodded and gave his most convincing smile, which in retrospect, probably didn’t help. He still wasn’t very good at the whole reassuring thing.
“Well, if you say so,” Fluttershy smiled faintly, then suddenly, very, very broadly indeed. “Ooh! But instead of waiting for it to get better, what if I helped make it better right now?”
Graves blinked.
“Come again?" Before he could figure out heads from tails, Fluttershy seized him by the arm and took off, flying with a force that made him very dubious of her ‘weak flyer’ story.
*****
The formerly hesitant girl now dragged the young marshal through the town square, getting not just a few odd looks as they passed. Fortunately, nobody watched long enough to see them arrive at the final destination: Graves probably couldn’t have taken that.
“No. Absolutely not,” the young man said, eyes glued in disbelief to the building before him.
“But you really should,” Fluttershy pressed on earnestly. “It will make you feel a lot better afterwards.”
“That may be so,” he admitted with great reticence, “but… the spa? Really?”
The demure, young lady just squeed in delight as she flushed another delicate shade of pink.
“Well, I thought that it would help your back feel better. And I’ve been meaning to go myself recently, but I couldn’t find anyone to go with me, so…”
Ah, so that’s what it was.
Graves really wanted to say no. There were lots of things he was willing to put up with, but walking into a beauty salon to get a pedicure? He’d rather go back, call the baby bears several unpleasant names, and then wrestle the mama after taking a dip in brown gravy.
But Fluttershy had brought him here out of good intentions - well, good enough at least - and refusing might send her into tears again. Besides, the way she was looking up at him with big, hopeful pony eyes that could have put any of the Cutie Mark Crusaders to shame, well…
He sighed, a deep, heavy sigh of weary defeat.
“Not one word of this. To anyone. Clear?”
Fluttershy just squeed and dragged the young man in.
*****
The sun was already on its way down the horizon by the time the two came out. Between the full body massages, saunas, seaweed wraps, mud baths, and hair styling, it wasn’t surprising to see so much time had passed.
“So? What did you think?” Fluttershy smiled, her face positively glowing after the luxurious treatment. Graves glanced down at her, and then looked straight ahead once more, his face stern and impassive as usual despite his newly acquired glow: exfoliating skin treatment for the first time since, well… since ever, would really do that.
“It was… fine,” he mumbled, a faint touch of red coming to his face. While distinctly odd, he couldn’t say that the whole experience had exactly been unpleasant. Of course, the first hour or so and definitely been absolutely awful; apparently, his muscles had been so tense, that Vera had to resort to using a pair of hammers to work out what seemed to be knots in his knots in still larger knots. But after it was all over, the rest had been a marked improvement. A definitely marked improvement.
“In that case, I’m glad it wasn’t totally a waste of time for you,” she giggled, her tone much too innocent to be anything but teasing. “But since you don’t really like it, I won’t bother you by inviting you next time I want to go.”
“Well, you don’t need to go that far,” Graves interjected as he awkwardly scratched his head: it felt oddly light now that he’d been relieved of so much of his hair. “I mean, if it’s just on occasion, that'd be fine. Just to keep you company, you know.”
Of course that’s all it was. It’s not like he actually liked going to the spa or anything. And so what if and he now felt more refreshed and more relaxed than he had in years? That just meant he’d be able to do his job more easily and be a better marshal. Of course. That’s all there was to it.
Fluttershy was no fool, though, and merely chuckled as the marshal stiffly kept his gaze forward while his cheeks grew even hotter.
As they rounded the corner into the town square, the two of them came across Rarity, arms laden with bags as she returned from a shopping trip.
“Graves! Fluttershy!” the violet-haired girl called with a smile, “How are you today?” Fluttershy smiled as she rushed forward and gave her friend a quick hug.
“We’re doing very well, Rarity. We’re just on our way back from… taking care of the animals,” she finished with a sheepish grin as the marshal shot her a sharp warning glare. There was teasing, and then there were just cheap shots.
“That certainly sounds like a wonderful time,” the seamstress nodded. “Would you like to stop by my shop for afternoon tea?”
“Oh, I’d love to,” Fluttershy grinned apologetically, “but I have to go home and feed Angel. You know how he gets when he’s hungry.”
“But of course,” Rarity nodded as she returned a wry look: Opal could be just as bad, if not worse. “Well, I won’t keep you then. Say hello to the animals for me.”
“Will do. Bye!” With that, the kindly girl activated her spell wings and took off, gracefully sailing off into the sky and leaving her two friends behind.
“Need any help with your bags?” Graves asked as he turned to the pretty, young lady next to him.
“Why, thank you!” Rarity smiled graciously as she handed him several parcels. “I trust you won’t turn down my invitation as well? Tea is always more enjoyable with company.”
“I’m in no rush,” Graves shrugged as casually as he could despite the sudden thrill that arose upon hearing those words. He tamped that down quickly however, as it was just silly to get so excited over tea. Honestly, all that fancy spa stuff must have knocked a screw loose. Maybe two.
As the marshal and the seamstress headed back towards the dress shop, Rarity glanced up at the marshal and smiled.
“So, I take it you had fun working with the animals?” she asked with a sly smile.
“Pretty interesting,” he replied in his typical, gravelly rumble. “It was an experience.”
“A good one I’d gather, considering how you’re positively shining at the moment.”
Graves almost tripped at those words. Curses, how could he have forgotten? With that keen eye for detail, there’d be no way Rarity would overlook such obvious signs of his most recent excursion. He scrambled to find an answer.
“Really? Hadn’t noticed,” he lamely responded and surreptitiously turned to face the other way. She couldn’t see the badly concealed nerves on his face, but neither could he see her very knowing and amused smile.
“I see,” she grinned. “And I suppose you also didn’t notice someone had trimmed your coiffure?”
“Guess not,” he finished weakly.
“Well I did, and I must say, it looks splendid,” she smiled warmly as she reached up to touch his jet-black hair. “I do wish they’d shortened your bangs so I could see your eyes better. But, I guess they do give you a certain mysterious charm. Plus, do you look good with a bit of length to your mane.”
If Graves could have seen the grin on his face right then, he’d have slapped himself for being such an air-headed spring chicken. Or maybe not. He was also quite busy filing that piece of information away for posterity. Just because. Not like he had any particular reason to remember the young beauty next to him liked longer hair. Nope, no reason at all.
“And one more thing, if I may?” Rarity smiled, her sapphire eyes sparkling as she looked. He turned to her, his gunmetal grays giving her full attention.
“What’s that?”
“… You might want to ease off on the strawberry-cream conditioner. It’s quite… obvious, if you know what I mean.”
"…”
“…”
“… I’ll keep that in mind.”
Rarity couldn’t hold it in any longer and burst out into her musical laughter as Graves blushed a deep crimson once more.
And yet, strangely for once, he really didn’t mind.
**********
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Cute. I'm surprised the people at the spa didn't freak out at his scars, since apparently they're that bad.
Here is a question.
Rarity was shocked beyond normal when she saw Graves body.
Graves was at the Spa were you most likely don't wear much clothes, Fluttershy should be in a worse shock then Rarity (for being so emotional).
So WTF happen?
EXPLAIN YOURSELF J
GAH! Graves! Rarity! Altar! Now!
768230 768124
I'd assume they're mostly on the front of his body, since that's how Rarity was viewing him when she saw them. Most masseurs let you undress in private and don't come in until you say you're ready. Since Graves would have been lying down, they wouldn't have seen his most of his scars. Sure he probably has one or two on his back, but not in any number that would horrify someone. I doubt Fluttershy would have seen any of his scars, since she wouldn't have been there when he undressed and he'd have been wearing a bathrobe at any time afterwards.
Though I will agree that Graves should have thought something to that effect, rather than having the reader infer it.
768539 That was only ONE of the manys thing that Graves did there. Some are understandable but other do not like the sauna for example: How does one NOT see the scars of a guy without something to protect it's upper body? No?
768230
Ya' know, as editor and pre-reader you would think that I would think of these kind of things...
Possible Explanation from the editor:
The massage: Graves would probably be laying face down before anyone would see his scars, not to mention the masseuse would leave and allow him to get dressed after they were finished.
Sauna: separate male and female saunas, Men don't ask that kind of question nor do they mention it.
Seaweed Wrap/Mud bath: similar to the massage in that you can go with as much or as little exposure as you are comfortable with
Hair styling: you're still dressed for this one.
769469
themavesite.com/TMS-Pictures/Epic/SeemsLegitToMe.jpg
But wouldn't he have some scars and stuff on his back? I mean come on, guy serves them army for years, go on missions all the time, encounters wild animals and enemys. He is bound to have some scars and shit on the rest of his body, sides, arms, legs, back, Im quite surprised that the one that is doing the massage on Graves hasn't had a seizure
772644
I'm going to assume professionalism or just plain politeness on the masseuse's part. Plus, Graves really never found out that others had a problem with how he looked, scars wise, until he overheard the couple of nurses talking during that flashback in the previous story, the ponies/people can keep their reactions to themselves.
But yes, I can see what you're saying, I will make sure to keep this story aspect in mind as I continue to work with GentJ on the rest of the Graves Saga.
773392 Good, no need for plot-holes (No, get your head out of your ass you sick bastard).
773483>>773392>>768539>>768124
Ah, I see I've almost incited a riot here.
I didn't mention it because I didn't want to go into too much exposition for a fluffy short story, but I shall endeavor to elucidate the situation.
I expect that after getting back, Rarity would have given the mane 6 a slight heads up about the situation to avoid creating another issue. Keep in mind that it's not so much gossiping about him as letting certain close friends know about the situation so they can understand him better and avoid hurting his feelings. As a result, Fluttershy would have been made aware that Graves had scars, so even if she had seen them, it wouldn't have come as a shock (which as we've seen, is the only real emotion that has to be watched out for in this situation). Overall, I think that this is something Rarity (as a highly tactful person) would do to make sure an incident like that wasn't repeated.
Spa workers, as professionals, probably wouldn't be riled by the sight, and even if they were, wouldn't show it because it's their job. This is doubly true in Ponyville because the creed of all is "love and tolerate" after all.
Also, in both cases, Graves would be the kind of guy to keep his bathrobe on as much as possible so as not to put himself on display. I think MrBackpacks right in that most things at the spa could be done without exposing oneself unduly, but since I'm no expert on spas, that shall remain conjecture.
Lastly, I'd like to take a moment and address psychicscubadiver's theory. Yes, the majority of Graves's scars are on his front. Why? Because wounds to the back are a warrior's shame, and he's a baller, that's way.
But really, it has something to do with his specific role as a marshal, what his job and specific skill set involve. I'm not going to go too much into it now because it's part of the later stories, so for now just keep in mind that Graves isn't the kind of guy who'd let an enemy get to his blind spot.
Hope this clears things up. If you have any other questions, please let me know.
773598 If he would be running away from a fight (Highly unlikely) he would have some scars, bullet wounds (if there is even any bullets (Magic bullets?)), and more. Like when he was fighting the chimera he is bound to have been scared when he was running for cover. ¿no? or other stuff like that.
. That teaches Graves to never let his guard down because he has been ambushed and got scars on his back for his foolishness. So you see, even I can point out your Flaws.
Don't give me that "oh he is the marshal, nothing comes behind his back unnoticed" (Ok, now thats just sick toughts, you bastards are weirds... and maybe even gay). Everyone gets their guard down and he is bound to have done it a few times. And I quote From even your story J:
“people aren’t perfect, especially not marshals. What’s important isn’t that you never make a mistake, it’s that every time you do, you learn from it and become a better person. Got it?”
Or have you just forgotten
773682
In response to your very interestingly worded query:
First, I said the majority of scars are his front; I never said that his back was blemish free. Second I'm not "giving" you anything. You had questions and I did my best to answer them without revealing too much that would spoil future stories. Finally, with regard to the quotation, I have not forgotten. The issue you seem to have is that my intentions for that statement do not coincide with yours; your theory about him having learned the lesson via an ambush is an interesting notion yet in no ways what I intend to have happen.
Since I am writing a series, there will be many issues mentioned now (if prematurely) that will be addressed later. What you see now is a partial picture that I plan to complete as the stories progress. Please keep that in mind as you continue to point out my "flaws".
Sincerely,
GentlemanJ
774204 Point being: I just wanted to write that and see how you would react.
KISS HER ALREADY!!! GRAVES WEDDING RING! RARITY! NOW!
780145
"Sha-la-la-la-la-la
Don’t be scared
You got the mood prepared
Go on and kiss the girl
Sha-la-la-la-la-la
Don’t stop now
Don’t try to hide it how
You wanna kiss the girl "
803160 Yes..Yes....YES!!! Do that ! Use that song in a chapter when he finally kisses her!
“You sure do have a way with animals, Graves idly commented as he brushed downy feathers off the top of his hat. The girl with the cherry blossom hair just giggled as she smoothed out the front of her lilac colored sundress.
Missing a quote
“You do too,” Mr. Marshal, she smiled. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen the bears as fond of anyone as you.”
Quote's in the wrong place.
As she at the beginning of every season
I think you accidentally the verb
whine complain bitch moan. Good job though! I'm liking how you're setting up the shipping.
Fluttershy just squeed and dragged the young man in.
O.O
...
Never before have I wanted to be a character in a story more so than right now... In the spa? With FLUTTERSHY?! /dies
Also... You missed the first part! xD
~There you see her
Sitting there across the way
She don’t got a lot to say
But there’s something about her
And you don’t know why
But you’re dying to try
You wanna kiss the girl
Yes, you want her
Look at her, you know you do
It’s possible she wants you, too
There is one way to ask her
It don’t take a word
Not a single word
Go on and kiss the girl
Sing with me now
Sha-la-la-la-la-la
My, oh, my
Look at the boy too shy
He ain’t gonna kiss the girl
Sha-la-la-la-la-la
Ain’t that sad
Ain’t it a shame, too bad
You gonna miss the girl!~
Yeah, he was doomed from the start. It wasn't as if he could resist Hurricaine Fluttershy, especially if she used The Look on him for being mean. Then there is Rarity who, of course, would know the scent of Aloe and Lotus's concoctions immediately.
Knotsception
769469
Fluttershy deals with small injured animals all the time. She may be demure and jumpy as heck, but that doesn't necessarily make her squeamish to injuries and scars; in fact, she would probably not be all that freaked out. The masseurs, on the other hand would be harder to explain.
1448833 harder, but not impossible
Whenever a man is horrified by the actions of a female, I might have a chance of knowing what it IS. Especially when he was taken to the spa.
You sly dog
Fluttershy has The Stare which is very scary, but sometimes she has The Puppy/Doe eyes which is far more powerful! I'd like to see the Borg or Sauron try to resist The Puppy/Doe eyes.
I would not be surprised if all of this was just a massive conspiracy to make him accept liking girly things.
7766910
They would kill themselves at seeing something so innocemt, realizing all the terrible things they've done compared to the pink haired angel.
oh no dont scar fluttershy
768124
The ladies at the spa have been in business for quite some time.
They probably took one look at his body and said, "Tuesday already?".
768230
Most spas have robes to allow privacy for their clients.
Especially in the case of mixed genders.