Summer Bound

by Windsocks

Chapter Six - Adventure Bound II

A roar of thunder awakened me from my slumber. As my eyelids snapped open I looked up at the ceiling. The sound of falling rain filled my ears as I shuffle to get up. I, however, wasn’t able to as I came to remember a certain white coated pony laying on top of me.

Letting out a large sigh, I looked down upon her. She had her hair undone, and covering a portion of her face. I could feel her chest rise and lower as she took in short breaths before harmoniously pushing them back out.

The entire scene I found myself in was actually quite soothing. The pouring rain and distant thunder relaxed me. As the mare sleeping peacefully kept me warm. But this was not how it was meant to be, and I knew it. I was a stranger in their lands. The sooner we figure out what is causing all this chaos, the sooner I get to go back home for good.

So, with a large amount of joy and a little bit of regret, I push Celestia’s sleeping form off the bed.

“Whaaa!” Was all I heard before she impacted the wooden floor.

The sight was quite entertaining to watch. Her wings shot straight up in an attempt to save herself. This, however, only served to worsen her predicament as she pushed herself to the side, hitting the rooms wall in the process.

“I’ll give that a seven out of ten in the ‘bad morning scale’,” I chuckled getting up off the bed.

Celestia shot me the evils as I walked towards her, “I have you know an act like that could have you thrown in the dungeon.” Celestia complains as I reach out my hand to help.

Taking her hoof in my hand I pull her in. What I forgot, however, was that she wasn’t light. In fact, since she herself gave no effort to help herself to her hoofs. I found myself being the one pulled towards her. As you can imagine, within seconds I was now the one laying on top of Celestia.

“My, my, aren’t we a bold one in the mornings,” Celestia chuckled at my embarrassment. The laugh ended when we both looked into each other's eyes. It has seemed that the metaphorical tables were turned. Is it getting hot in here? I pondered to myself, pretty sure that my face looked like a strawberry at the moment. This was getting quite out of hand fast.

Quickly, I stumbled off Celestia and get back onto my feet. Looking behind me towards her I can see I was not the only one with a beet-red face. Clearing my throat, I say, “So, River Breeze?”

“Yes,” Celestia quickly replied getting back to her hooves by herself, “but I think we’re due for a quick meal before we continue our journey.”

Nodding my reply, the two of us adorn our apparel and head out into the hallway.

To say that the walk to the lobby was awkward was an understatement. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Celestia snatching quick glances at me.

Thankfully, the owner of the Inn was still up. Seeing as we’ve only been out sleeping for a couple of hours. I was about to speak up to break the awkward silence, but I was beaten to the punch from the inn-keeper himself. Of course, when he spoke out. I quickly came to the conclusion that if I were to speak, nobody would understand me. Rolling my eyes at the language barrier, I once again let Celestia do the talking.

Their conversation was short and to the point, at least that’s what I assume. Only a couple words were exchanged between the two before I found myself being seated beside Celestia at a large table. Other patrons were also here, eating large bowls of what looked to be vegetable soup.

“So, what’s on the menu?” I question as a large stallion to my right belches.

Celestia giggled at the act, “Potato soup with bread.”

At least I got the soup part right, “So what makes this your favorite Inn?” I question trying to break the ice that had formed between the two of us recently.

“Simple, I enjoy the atmosphere. At first, ponies may be hesitant to be themselves around me, but here they seem fine with doing what they always do, no matter who sees.”

As if to nail that very thought home, the same stallion chugs the last of his soup before letting out another burp. This time, however, when he finishes he passes out right there on the spot. The stallions and mares at the table all laugh at his expense. The next pony over carries him into the hallway that I and Celestia had just come from.

“I see,” I state with an amused tone. At least they were all pretty accepting of me, besides the odd glare here and there.

With that said, a mare in a dirty apron walks on by and places two large bowls in front of us. Turning back around she grabs a loaf of bread and places it between us. She says something before leaving, but I pay no mind to it, not knowing the language and all.

Taking the spoon they gave me, I take the first bite. It was actually quite good. In fact, it reminded me of my grandmothers cooking back home.

Seeing the smile on my face Celestia levitates the loaf of bread and splits it into two. “The best part is the bread,” She claims before dipping it into the soup and taking a large bite. A smile instantly graces her lips as she does it again and again. It isn’t even seconds later before it’s all gone.

Following in suit, we soon find ourselves sitting back on the bench, a satisfied look stretching across our faces.

“That was some good stuff, but now we need to go,” I state bringing Celestia back to the world of the living.

“It would seem so,” she replied as she got up from the bench and started towards the door.

I followed closely behind, another question itching to be asked, “So aren’t you going to pay for that?”

Celestia looks back at me as she motions for me to walk beside her. Accepting her command, I increase my pace a bit so we’re walking next to each other.

“When I, or any other royal member purchases something. The funds are immediately taken from the royal treasury.” She states opening the front door to the Inn.

Like all the times before, the wind is the first to slap me across the face, “So what!? You take money from the taxpayers to pay for everything you get!?” I yell over the wind and the rain.

Closing the door behind her, the two of us once again walk out into the cobblestone streets. No pony could be seen wandering the paths. The storm doing a good job at halting all progress.

“I like to think of it as a payment for my ruler-ship!” Celestia replies back with a smirk on her face. Of course, she would find a way to make it sit well with her conscious. Then again, this could just be viewed as her own little pay-cheque. Everyone has to make money somehow, it’s just that she has a easier way of doing it.

---

It didn’t take long for me and Celestia to get back into the groove of things. The sting of the rain numbed my body as we continued onwards. The little town named Saddle Lake slowly growing smaller behind us.

With another two hours of walking, we found ourselves re-entering the forest. This one was quite different then the one on the other side of the town. The trees here had large arching branches that steemed from their thick trunks. Leaves on these trees reminded me of oak trees back on earth.

“This is whitetail woods, the border between Saddle Lake and Ponyville,” Celestia commented, “It is home to the running of the leaves. When we could control the weather, the running of the leaves signified the end of summer and the start of winter.”

I looked over towards her with a confused expression, “so you’re fall and spring are basically one day long?” I question.

“What is this fall and spring?” Celestia answers with her own question.

“You know the season between summer and winter. All the leaves turn color,” I lecture back.

Celestia looked at me with an intrigued expression, “I guess you could say that this ‘fall’ and ‘spring’ are only a day long here in Equestria. We very rarely get to see the colored leaves on the trees. Usually, by the end of the day, everything is cleaned up.”

“Huh, maybe next time I teleport it’ll be fall or spring so I can show you what it looks like,” I replied taking my gaze away from her and back to the forest ahead.

Celestia, however, stopped in her tracks.

“What?” I question.

“You’ve yet to Teleport? Yet the storm still goes on?” She points out.

“Yeah, I count it as a blessing in disguise. This way we can continue on the journey undisturbed,” I reply.

Giving me an odd look Celestia goes back to walking. It seems like she has something she’s not telling me, but then again, there’s probably a lot she’s hiding from me. After all, I could still be considered and enemy to her, even though I highly doubt it with her past actions.

Walking a couple more hours, I catch something off the corner of my eye. Turning my head, I come to see a small white orb off in the distance.

Intrigued by this weird orb I stop in my tracks and turn my whole body towards it, “Hey, Tia what’s this?”

“Tia?” Celestia questions with a smirk, “What happened to ‘sun butt’?” she continues, walking up beside me.

“Got old, now shut up and tell me what that is,” I state pointing towards the mysterious orb. Its light was so beautiful that I was starting to be drawn by it. Almost as if it was calling for me to come get it.

Celestia looks over to where I pointed as she lets a small smile appear on her lips, “That’s a rare flower called midnight sun, it only blooms like that during daytime. What makes it unique is that it only blooms in the dark.”

“Is it dangerous?” I ask walking off the path towards it.

“No, but we really must be getting back to the path ahead. This is no time to be playing around with flowers.” Celestia calls out still on the path.

Not listening I keep up my pace, pretty soon I find myself right over the flower that emitted the light. It looked a lot like a white lily back on earth. I could hear Celestia calling out to me from the main path, her voice drowned out by the rain.

Bending down, I pick up the flower and twirl it by its green stem. Now, I was never a flower person, but something about this flower hit all the right places.

Looking up from the flower I almost drop it. Bellow a shallow dip in the earth a few feet away from where I stood, lay a blanket of the same flowers. It looked like stars in the night sky were all scattered across the forest floor.

“You said this flower was rare, right?” I yell back at Celestia not taking my eyes off the beauty in front of me.

There was a long pause before she replied, “Yes, why do you ask?”

I give off a little chuckle, “Well you should come and see this.”

A couple of shuffling sounds later, and Celestia arrives next to me, “Now what is it that you want me… to… see…” She trails off as she looks over towards the bed of Midnight Suns.

“In mother’s name, I have never seen so many,” Celestia states as she looks over the flowers.

Carefully walking forwards, me and Celestia position ourselves in the middle of the bed of Midnight Suns. My head starts to spin as I look at all the lights. It’s so mesmerizing I can’t seem to look away.

Beside me Celestia seems to be stuck in the same trance. Before long I fall to my knees and lay down in the flowers. Celestia instantly joins my side as we both take a little break from walking.

Hearing a faint giggle, I look over to Celestia to see her wiping a tear from her face as she suppresses another chuckle.

Not knowing how to reply to something like that I keep quite as I look up. A couple Midnight Suns block my view, their glow fading in and out.

I then hear a light sob. Alarmed I shake my head out of its current stupor and look over to Celestia. She has a smile on while tears streamed down her muzzle.

“It’s been so long since I’ve had this much fun,” She states in a hushed tone, “I’m glad you came Ken, I really am.”

“Eh, stop with the tears or I’m gonna start crying too,” I comment getting her to chuckle once again.

Deciding that was enough of a break, I get up and hold out my hand towards her. She gives me a skeptical look at first, but once again reaches out her hoof. Unlike before, I managed to get her up this time. As she’s regaining her composure I stick the Midnight Sun’s stem -that I picked up- into her mane.

I had no idea why I did that, the flower just seemed to fit her so perfectly. It would be a crime to just let an opportunity like that pass by.

Once back on her hooves, Celestia looks over to me with a small smile. Our eyes lock once again, but it was Celestia’s time to break away as she quickly snaps her head towards the trail.

“We must hurry up if we wish to regain our lost time,” And just like that the two of us were off wandering the dirt path again.

---

Even with our increased pace, we were now way behind schedule. Which meant that we would have to spend another night in another town. And the only other town that was on the way to the Everfree was this ‘Ponyville’. A name so flamboyant that it hurt me to say.

It seems that all the delays we had experienced would cause Equestria another day of horrible weather. Let me tell you, it was totally worth it.

Putting one foot in front of the other, I and Celestia stepped out of white tale woods and into another opening. The dirt path winding ahead of us eventually turning into gravel.

“It’ll be so nice to catch up with my student while we’re here,” Celestia broke the silence.

I gave her a confused look, “Student? You’re a teacher now?”

“I plan to have my student eventually rise to my status. But as for now, she has much to learn,” She commented.

Looking up ahead where the path lead, I could see the small town of Ponyville. Just beyond the buildings I could see another forest, this one much denser than the other two we had traveled through. Taking a well-educated guess, I assumed that is to be the Everfree forest. Where we would meet up with River Breeze and attempt to solve this problem.

Unlike Saddle Lake, most of the buildings were made from wood with thatched roofs. To me this made the town look more fantasy than reality. Either way, the both of us continued our walk into the town.

The streets laid barren, all the shops and stalls in the town square were closed. The entire place looked like a ghost town. Not one pony poked their head out. The only reason I knew ponies lived here was from the lights in the windows and the smoke coming from the chimneys.

“So, which one of these houses does your student live in?” I ask glancing around the different houses.

Tilting her hat to combat the rain Celestia answered, “Her name is Twilight, and she lives in the town's library.”

Talk about dedication to education, I stated with a small smirk. That rhyme was completely unplanned for.

“You think your student will know anything about what’s going on? I mean she’s got to be smart living in a library,” I ask as a large oak tree comes into view.

Celestia thinks this over a bit before shaking her head, “I don’t believe so. While she is well versed in many fields, she has yet to step into the field in which we need.”

“And that field may be?” I ponder out loud.

“Natural magic, a scientific field so dangerous that no pony is crazy enough to study.”

“Other than River Breeze,” I finish for her.

She nods ‘yes’, “Precisely.”

Getting closer to the oak tree I come to see that parts of it were hollowed out. In fact, the whole thing looked to be hollowed out. The closer I got the more I cemented that fact. Windows could be seen where branches once poked out of. A door lay at the base of the tree as two balconies sat on the top.

“That’s one hell of a library,” I state with a whistle.

Chuckling Celestia knocks on the door, “I’m sure if you tell that to Twilight she’ll be more than ecstatic.”

“So, what is this ‘Twilight’ pony like?” I question.

Before I could get an answer from Celestia, a purple pony answers the door. She looks like she’s been up for days with her mane all frazzled like it is.

Shaking her head, she looks up towards Celestia. The moment her eyes meet her magenta ones she instantly perks up. Eyes wide as dinner plates she begins to freak out.

She yells something in her language as she nervously looks back into her house. Looking back out she starts speaking again. This time however it looks like she’s apologizing.

“Oh, so she’s that kind of pony,” I conclude causing Twilight to look at me. I thought I had seen all the reactions to my presence, but it always finds a new way to surprise me.

Instantly I’m shot in the chest by a purple beam. Like all the other high intensive spells before, this one just sizzled away leaving behind a nice hole in my sweater.

Great just perfect. I mumbled to myself as Celestia starts talking back to Twilight. Her tone, however, is harsh like a scolding mother. A couple seconds later Twilight's horn once again lights up as she points it at me. Apparently, she wasn’t satisfied with the results from the first attempt. Unlike before, this spell hits but doesn’t do anything. Connecting the dots together in my head I speak up.

“Twilight Sparkle I presume?” I ask with a none too pleased expression upon my face.

Smiling sheepishly Twilight brings up her hoof for a shake, “Heh heh, a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Kenneth.”

Shaking her hoof, she invites both me and Celestia inside. The house was a complete mess, as Twilight warned us about. Towers of books lay all around the library floor. Scrolls and used up inkwells covered the places that lay in-between them.

“Once again, I would have cleaned up if I knew royalty and an alien were coming over.”

Celestia this time apologized, “I truly am sorry that we had to pop in on you like this. But we got a bit delayed heading over to the Everfree. We only wish to stay the night, and we’ll be out first thing in the morning.”

Twilight looked a bit disappointed at this but nevertheless jumped at the opportunity to house royalty.

“Sure, you can stay as long as you like! You can take the spare bed in my room.” She then looked at me, “And Mr. Kenneth here can take the couch.”

Not seeing any problem, we agree to the terms. Celestia immediately excuses herself as she wanders up to the bedroom leaving me and Twilight alone.

“On a scale of 1 to 10, how hard is that spell to cast?” I ask.

Twilight gives me a confused look, “The memory scan spell?”

“Yeah, that one.”

“11” she nonchalantly states with a smirk on her muzzle.

I roll my eyes, “I wish I had magic, I have to learn this stupid language the hard way.”

Twilight's eyes light up, “You know I could help you to learn some basic sayings tonight. That is, if you don’t mind staying up.”

Well I did say I would jump at the chance to learn the language, I comment to myself. Letting out a large sigh I nod in acceptance.

“Great! Then we can get started right away! Oh, this will be so much fun!” Twilight excitedly claims as she bounces over towards her pillars of books.

As she goes around picking up random books, Celestia comes back downstairs. Her coat and mane once again dried and done up. The flower from the forest still in the same spot I placed it.

Arriving next to me she smiles, “I feel sorry for you.”

“Pardon me?” I state giving her the best-confused expression I could muster.

“You will see,” Celestia ends as Twilight comes back with a pile of books in her magical grasp.

Comments

[HIEfan]

And thus the first signs of attraction between the man and the mare appeared.

[Mokrab]

RIP our new protagonist. Twilight's on a Teaching Spree.

[Windsocks]

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Thanks for the support you guys

8110451
Well it did poke its head in 'adventure bound I', but you're right it was more predominant in this chapter.

8105316
I am too, otherwise I wouldn't be writing this novel now would I.

8103922
I agree that my chapters do need some work. With the time I release them its the best I can do. I might go back and edit them all when I'm done with the book, we'll see.

As for Luna, there will be a lot more going on with her in later chapters. That is all I can really say on the matter right now.

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Celestia does what Celestia wants.

[Serenity Rising]

XD "I feel bad for you" That got me laughing.
Woohoo, the romance deepens! I am a complete sucker for romance, and an even bigger sucker for Celestia romance, so you got me hopelessly hooked :P

[tkepner]

...that steemed from their...

...that stemmed from their...

[Amos Anon]

“That was some good stuff, but now we need to go,” I state bringing Celestia back to the world of the living.

Das good stuff.