Chapter 36: Passing Days
Almost Two Years Later…
Summer.
The forest was beautiful and alive at this time of the year. The bright and vibrant colors of the plant life were richly and deeply accentuated by the golden glow of the steadily setting sun that peaked through the canopy. A gentle breeze passed between the many lush branches, making them rustle and sway ever so slightly. Birds sang their final songs for the evening in the treetops, and on the forest floor, a lone red fox prowled amongst the shrubs, his eyes hungrily locked onto some unseen prey that shifted in the underbrush.
Meanwhile, up in the branches and obscured by leaves, a single brown-furred squirrel was taking shelter from the fox on his perch. His ears swiveled on his head, listening carefully for predators or anything else that may pose a threat. He heard the fox stalking around down below, and knew he’d be better off staying in place for now.
His tiny stomach had other ideas, though, and growled incessantly at him, reminding him that he hadn’t eaten anywhere near enough in the last few days. His paws weakly held themselves over his belly. He couldn’t remain here for very long, he knew. He had to go and find some food, and quickly.
He cautiously peered over the edge of the tree, hoping against all hope that the fox had gone away. Sadly, it was still down there, it’s attention on something moving in a bush. All the same, it was way too close to the tree the squirrel hid in. There was no way he could safely sneak by right now. So, resigned to his fate, the squirrel settled down and held still, hoping to rest his aching muscles and praying that the fox would leave soon.
He was startled from his rest when something moved and skittered along the wood in front of him. His eyes snapped open, and he looked up, ready to flee from whatever creature had stumbled upon him.
The creature he saw, however, made him tilt his head in confusion. There was another squirrel there, one with black fur and blue eyes, looking back at him. The look on its face was strange, as well, the corners of its lips turned up.
The two remained utterly still for several seconds, just watching each other. Then the newcomer inched forward, reached up into his mouth, and pulled out a large peanut. He rubbed at it with his paws a few times, clearing away his saliva, and then held it out to the brown squirrel.
More than a little confused, the brown squirrel inched forwards and sniffed at the offered peanut. It smelled off, somehow. It wasn’t like the wild peanuts he knew. But the grumbling of his stomach left no room for skepticism or complaint. He eagerly took the peanut right out of the paws of the black squirrel and began to nibble on it with great enthusiasm.
With his hunger fading away for the time being, the brown squirrel allowed himself to relax. All the while, he kept a close eye trained on the black one. It didn’t make any sense to him; why had this squirrel just given him a peanut? Surely the black squirrel needed to eat, too?
Before the brown squirrel’s simple mind could process things any further, a voice rang through the air from some ways away. “Beebee! It’s getting dark, time to come inside!”
The loud noise startled the fox down below, as it turned on its paws and scurried off, disappearing deeper into the shrubbery of the woods.
The black squirrel looked off towards the voice and sagged in disappointment. He then shot the brown squirrel another one of those strange looks. With that, the black squirrel curled his form, then sprang off of the branch. The brown squirrel watched him with wide eyes as he sailed a few feet in the air, and then suddenly exploded in a swiftly expanding sphere of green flames.
The flames vanished as quickly as they had appeared, and an almost three-year-old Beebee emerged from the embers. His wings buzzed on his back, and a large, pleased smile adorned his face as he flew back for his home. He looked over his shoulder at the brown squirrel as he went and gave him a wink before disappearing among the trees.
The squirrel watched him go, completely dumbstruck and unsure of what had just happened. After a few moments of stunned silence, he looked down and saw that the fox had gone. Now was his chance. He stuffed what was left of his peanut into his mouth and scurried down the tree to find somewhere safe to rest.
Only a minute later, Beebee came flying over the fence and into the backyard of his home. He could see that Eventide was waiting for him by the sliding glass door, his arms crossed over his chest. He was dressed in a blue t-shirt and cargo shorts, ideal for the warm weather. His face lit up when he spotted Beebee coming over the fence, and he took a few steps forward. “There you are! Took you a while, didn’t it?” he called out with a wave.
“Sorry dad,” Beebee apologized before coming in for a gentle landing. His hooves touched down in the grass, and he breathed out a thankful sigh for the reprieve. He took a moment to catch his breath before looking up into Eventide’s eyes. “I was giving a squirrel a peanut.”
Eventide cocked his head to one side, at that. He then let out a merry chuckle of amusement. “Ha, of course, you were,” he mumbled with a shake of his head before studying Beebee for a moment.
The bug had grown quite considerably since his first birthday. Back then, he had been no bigger than a small house cat, the tip of his horn only barely reaching Eventide’s ankles. Now though, he was almost all the way up to the bottom of his knees if he stood up tall and stretched himself. His horn had grown several inches and was more of a horn and less of a stump. His wings had also gotten significantly larger.
Eventide frowned slightly when he spotted the straight crease that ran across his right wing. His mind briefly wandered back to the day Beebee had shed his larval skin, and how that wing had gotten trapped and folded in the process. He’d hoped that the mark would go away, but as Beebee grew, the mark remained clearly visible, if more so.
He was still skinny, as well, even by Fluttershy’s most generous estimates. Eventide found himself thinking back on Beebee’s hampered physicality when he noted that he was still noticeably out of breath from the exertion of maintaining a transformation, and the distance he had flown to come back.
Beebee’s muzzle scrunched up slightly at his father’s intense gaze, and his ears drooped a little. “Hey, why are you looking at me like that? Why are you worried all of a sudden?” he questioned, noting the dimly colored glow surrounding Eventide.
Eventide, seemingly taken aback by Beebee’s observation, shook himself and gave a warm smile. “Sorry, Bee. You’re just out of breath, that’s all. You didn’t overwork yourself, did you?” he asked plainly while turning to open the sliding glass door that would take them into the kitchen.
Beebee let out another breath and shook his head. “Nuh-uh. I’m a little tired, but I’m good,” he assured happily before trotting up and falling into step by Eventide’s side.
They entered the home and closed the door behind them without another word. As it clicked shut, a certain golden retriever must have heard his hooves, for she came bounding out of the living room where she had been resting. Her eyes glued onto Beebee and the air around her became filled with sunny yellow and bright pink light. Beebee braced himself and burst into a fit of laughs when the dog all but tackled him, knocking on his back and sniffing him all over.
Beebee was quick to return the affections, reaching out with his hooves and giving Buddha pats and pets wherever he could. “Hey, Buddha! Did ya miss me?” he asked between his chuckles.
“Bark!”
“Yeah, I knew you missed me! Good girl!”
As Beebee spoke, his hooves began to explore a little bit more, trying to find one very specific spot in particular on her neck. If there hadn’t been a wall of fur in his face, Beebee might have stuck out his tongue in concentration.
Then he found it, and he began to scratch. The moment he did, Buddha’s mouth fell open, and her tongue lolled out. She quickly leaned into the ministrations, and soon just fell over to one side, freeing Beebee from his pinned position. He took advantage of his newfound freedom to haul himself up onto Buddha’s side, repeatedly scratching her on and around that oh-so-sweet spot. “I gotcha, girl!” he chanted as he worked. “You like that, don’t you?”
“Bark!”
“That’s right, yes you do! Who’s a good girl?”
From the sidelines, Eventide just watched them, a small and charmed smile adorning his features. Beebee glanced up at him out of the corner of his eye every so often, taking note of the excess pink light that Eventide was radiating. Grinning to himself, Beebee opened his mouth a little and pulled some of the love down his throat.
Eventually, though, Eventide let out a relaxed breath and began to head for the living room. “I’m gonna watch some TV. Wanna join me?” he called over his shoulder as he disappeared through the archway.
Beebee, using Buddha as a launch-pad, scampered after Eventide with a loud and energetic “Yeah!” He quickly hopped up just as Eventide was sitting down on the couch, driving the poor man a little deeper into the cushions. With his spot claimed, Beebee did one spin, then two, and settled down in Eventide’s lap with his eyes glued on the television and his chin on his father’s knee.
Buddha soon joined them, taking a place at their side and resting against Eventide’s shoulder. Every so often, Eventide or Beebee would reach over and give her a pet or scratch, but for the time being, they were happy to just sit there and be together.
This right here. This was Beebee’s favorite part of the routine they had been running for a long time, now. Eventide would get up in the morning, wake Beebee for ‘breakfast,’ (which was really just a prolonged hugging session,) and then he’d head out for work for a long while. In that time, Beebee was not allowed to leave the house. Boring as that stretch of time was, he was able to keep himself busy, most days.
The books that Fluttershy had gotten for him on his first birthday were frequently revisited, and there was now an entire bookcase in his basement bedroom that stored all of his favorite stories. Everything from children’s fantasy and drama novels to something as simple and basic Pete the Big Green Dragon lined those shelves. Sharing the space were several knick-knacks and baubles that Eventide had gotten for Beebee as time went by.
Speaking of time, Beebee had gotten significantly better at magic since they moved here. Not only could he now shapeshift into a wide range of forms for almost half an hour, but he could also make some relatively competent use of his telekinesis. He didn’t exactly have the fine control needed for anything strenuous or time-consuming, so video games were sadly beyond him. But he could flick switches, push buttons, and other basic manipulations with little to no trouble whatsoever.
All in all, they were happy.
...Mostly.
Beebee didn’t know the name of the show on the Television right now, but it looked like it was an older one. The main character looked to be a high school student who had weird superpowers or something. Beebee might have really gotten invested in the wacky adventures and hijinks that kid got into if it weren’t for one very specific element of what was on the screen.
The kid’s friends.
There were several of them, and they all talked and laughed and had fun between the moments of intensity and action. They told jokes, they played games, they helped each other with any number of problems. There were wholesome moments where they talked about something of deep significance, and emotional ones where one had experienced some sort of loss, and the others would come to try and cheer them up. They were there for each other…
Seeing them laughing on the screen over some clever remark, Beebee couldn’t help but deflate a little.
Friends…
He didn’t have any.
He had his father, he had aunt Fluttershy, though she wasn’t able to come by very often anymore, and he had Buddha, who was like a big sister to him. But… that was it. The wild animals he frequently interacted with in the forest were cute, but none of them could talk back at him, and most of them either ran away from him or made him leave them alone. None of them were his friends. To them, he was just another creature in their territory.
Whenever Eventide left for work, Beebee was more or less alone for hours on end. Buddha was fun to be around and play with, sure, but she couldn’t talk back to him. He couldn’t have a meaningful conversation with her about his favorite toys, or the cool plot twist in the book he was reading. He knew; he’d tried.
The simple truth was… he felt lonely.
A fact that he did not want to admit. “Why should I be lonely?” he thought bitterly to himself, his expression turning into a frown. “I’m sitting in my dad’s lap right now. I’m not alone.”
But those thoughts, sadly, did little and less to ease his feelings. No matter how little sense it made to him, he was lonely.
With a quiet hum of melancholy, Beebee cuddled a little deeper into Eventide’s lap, hoping that his warmth and love would stave off the grim thoughts in his mind. Thankfully, when Eventide reached down to lightly scratch at the base of his head-fin, Beebee was able to relax and put his troubles aside, at least for now.
Eventually, Beebee closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep, surrounded by the warmth of his family.
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Beebee and Evantide are getting older.
But so is Buddah.
And thats a visit by Aunt Elle that noone wants.
The girls are visiting the campsite?
Soooo cute.
Good chapter. Glad to see BeeBee finally getting a little older.
And so begins a new arc. Will Beebee and Sunset finally meet? Will he learn the truth of his origins at last?
peeked
That's actually one of the more common errors I've spotted lately, people getting peek, peak, and pique mixed up.
The squirrel part was lovely, and 'breakfast - just a prolonged hugging session' made me giggle like crazy.
Thanks for another amazing chapter.
9468369
I could be wrong but when did Sunset learn about changelings? I mean, did Twilight tell her about the invasion attempt? For all she knows, Beebee is just a weird refuge from Equestria. Although why Beebee didn't turn into something to blend in with the EqG world wouldn't be readily apparent until the shapeshifting ability was noted by her. However, if Princess Twilight does let the other girls know about changelings, I have to wonder how that would go down with Fluttershy? Since Thorax hasn't started the coup yet (I think?), would she admit to Eventide harboring a changeling? At the moment, they're all "bad guys until proven otherwise" (like Kevin who is harmless and apparently completely ignored until Cranky and Matilda's wedding).
On the domestic front, I'm a little surprised Beebee hasn't gotten into the net. It's a weak substitute for actual in-person friends but it'd at least broaden his horizons and teach him how to interact with others in a fairly safe/anonymous way-- learning anything from the TV is beyond unadvised unless you can find the educational programs that are frightfully rare these days (I suspect they have satellite TV since they're so far out in the boonies).
Friends...those will be difficult to come by in the human world
He can get a pen pal! Has Eventide given access to the Internet yet?
So did we miss friendship games and camp Everfree?
a grate time jump a vary smooth transition.
we still have one huge problem Beebee is alone.
9468473
Just lock out whatever channels aren't whichever PBS stations you can pull in. (Well, and allow Ch.3 for the VCR and potentially some game consoles, I suppose...) We get at least 3 different PBS stations around here, and one of those has several sub-channels that run different content than their main channel. (Usually food stuff and the like, on one of the sub-channels.)
Why a 2 year time skip? Why hasn't his mother come back for him? When is it going to happen?
Interesting
I wonder if a squirrel can get counselling? Maybe he'll find Fluttershy.
Well, that's ominous.
Fuck, why am I reading this now? I'm too tired for da feelz.
9468473
Rainbow Rocks (which we have seen in fic) and Friendship Games occur within a few months of each other. During Friendship Games, Princess Twilight reforms Starlight Glimmer. It is one MLP season from her reformation to Thorax's coup.
Rough estimates suggest the season in question wasn't much more than a year.
Two years have passed in the fic, so I feel that the coup most likely did happen. It isn't a absolute, but it is more likely to be the truth unless temporal shenanigans apply.
Either the hugest ankles seen or the smallest house cat ever seen.
...
I'm sorry my mind is so dirty xD
Two years...
Wow.
This'll be good, I bet.
Hmm. It's his birth mark, you could say.
He should transform into a human kid to be able to play video games, use the computer (meet friends online), and do other human/hand things.
9468473
I think changelings would not be an unknown to Equestria. Maybe not be common knowledge but the educated of Equestria would know about them.
that was out of no where
i mean i can think of a few games that he could play with slow button presses, maybe something like pokemon