A Love To Remember

by SapphireWings999

Chapter VI: Ponderings Over Peppermint Tea

Waking up the next morning, I tossed my blankets aside before standing up from my bed. However, no sooner had I stood up then I immediately fell down flat on my face. Trying to stand up again, I had the same result as last time.

That’s weird, I thought to myself. Why can’t I seem to stand up straight?

Looking down at my legs, much to my horror, I finally found out why this was the case: my left leg from the knee down was entirely gone. I realized in that moment just how this process of me vanishing from existence was apparently going to go about. Thinking through my options, I remembered that I at least still had my wings for getting around if need be, but for how much longer? I only had about 4 or 5 more days left before Hearth’s Warming Eve and my complete and utter erasure from reality.

As I was thinking this over, another thought occurred to me that I hadn’t realized until now. I’d spent a lot of time thinking about being erased from existence in Equestria and what a tragedy it would be for my friends who knew me here, but what about my family back on Earth? How would they feel if I vanished out of their lives without any form of notice or foreknowledge to even alert them of my dark, tragic fate? I hadn’t really thought that much about something like this since the first time I’d visited Equestria when I was worried about how I’d actually get back to them and my late love Savannah.

For the time being, I realized that I might have to invest some of my bits into buying a crutch so that I’d at least still be able to get around on foot without worrying about exhausting my wings too much. But how long would that truly last for? How long would it be before another part of me started to vanish? And what about my job? I couldn’t very well do my work properly in the condition I was in now.

These thoughts and more swirled through my mind in rapid succession, nearly providing me with a bad headache in the process. Trying to quiet these thoughts, I instead focused on the most important detail in that moment: getting a crutch for myself as soon as possible. Flying over to the safe I kept in my room for all the bits I’d earned, I opened it up and grabbed a pouchful of bits that I figured would help cover the cost of my crutch. With my pouch secured and my safe of bits locked up, I then made my way out of my house back towards Ponyville on swift wings. With it still being relatively early in the morning, not many others were out and about quite yet and several stores were only just now opening.

Before long, I arrived at a store in Ponyville quite appropriately named “Canes & Crutches” that had just opened up.

What great timing, I thought to myself upon flying through the front door.

It wasn’t long after entering the establishment that I was noticed by the shopkeeper: a middle aged female Unicorn with a rich tan coat and a bright orange mane.

“Good morning, David,” she greeted.

“Mornin’,” I replied, still hovering above her on my wings.

“What can I do for you today?”

“Ah’m jus’ here lookin’ fer a proper crutch fer maself as Ah seem ta be missin’ a leg here,” I answered back, showing off where my left leg used to be.

Much to my shock, though, I found out that my left leg was now entirely gone, not just from the knee down.

“Oh my!” the shopkeeper replied upon noticing my now missing limb, moving a nearby chair with her magic towards me. “Here, let me sit you down in this chair and I’ll bring you over a selection of some of our best crutches we have.”

“Ah ‘ppreciate that a lot,” I answered back, settling down on the chair that she’d provided.

She then went over towards one of the racks along the wall that had a vast display of crutches of varying sizes. Using her magic, she drew several choices from the rack before bringing them over towards me.

“These are the tallest ones that I could find. Try them out to see which one works best for you.”

Taking the first one in my hand, I stood up from the chair to test it out. This crutch was a rich shade of mahogany and quite sturdy. Attempting to walk around with it, I unfortunately realized that it was a little too short for someone of my height and stature.

Next up was a crutch that smelled very strongly of cedar and was a much taller crutch than most others, but was also kind of skinny by comparison. Trying out that one, it seemed to hold up pretty well at first. However, I heard a slight creaking coming from it under my weight and I feared that this one wouldn’t be strong enough to properly support me if I were to go out and about with it. This crutch was a definite pass.

The next crutch that I tried out was thicker and had the fresh scent of pine emanating from it. It also appeared to be of proper height for me to use it beneficially. Hobbling along with this one, I found it to be a perfect match. With my selection made, I brought my purchase over to the shopkeeper pony in order to pay for my new crutch.

“Ah’ll take this one,” I stated, pulling out my pouch of bits to pay for it.

“Ah. A very good choice,” she replied while ringing me up. “Your total for today comes up to 25 bits.”

Counting out the bits, I finally passed them over to her as she gratefully accepted them.

“Thanks fer yer help,” I spoke up, turning to leave.

“No problem. Hope you have a great rest of your day.”

“You too.”

And with my purchase made, I left the store, shuffling my way along. It was during this time that I realized that I’d need to take some time off from my work at the Ponyville Day Spa. I very well couldn’t be expected to massage other ponies properly in my condition. So I then made my way over to the spa to explain my predicament and that I’d need to be off of work for a little while. I just hoped that it would only end up being for a little while rather than never again.

* * * * * * * *

Before too much longer, I finally arrived at the spa. Hobbling through the front door, Lotus and Aloe were quick to notice my presence there before speaking up.

“Good morning, Daveed,” Lotus greeted.

“Vhat are you doing vith a crutch?” Aloe posed the question. “Are you veeling O.K.?”

“Not quite, unfortunately,” I answered back. “Apparently, Ah seem ta be missin’ a leg fer some reason.”

I already knew damn straight what the reason was for why my leg was missing, but I didn’t need any other ponies feeling sorry for me or worrying about my predicament. The last thing I needed was a pity party. This didn’t stop the twin sisters from expressing concern towards me in that moment.

“Oh my! Zat is quite unfortunate. I take it zat you vould be needing zome time off from verk here?”

“If ya 2 ladies don’ mind. Ah’m not sure how well Ah’d be able ta perform ma massages in ma current state.”

“Ov course it’s no problem,” Lotus replied. “It vould be vay too unrealistic ov us to expect you to properly carry out your verk here vhen you’re not quite veeling like yourself. Take vhatever time you need. Ve’ll be able to get by for zee time being.”

“Ah greatly 'ppreciate yer understandin’,” I followed up while turning to leave. “Ah hope ma current predicament will be taken care of relatively quickly.”

“As do ve,” Aloe concurred. “Zee you later Daveed.”

“See ya,” I spoke, before exiting the spa.

With that little bit of business taken care of, my thoughts swiftly returned back to my beautiful Flutters. Obviously, she’d show concern towards me if she were to see me missing one of my legs. However, I couldn’t very well tell her about why this was the case or I’d risk hurting the spell along with any chance of it ever being broken in time. That being said, I couldn’t very well avoid her for the rest of the time either if I really wanted to break the curse.

It truly was quite the dilemma I found myself in. Even in a situation like this where Fluttershy could no longer remember who I was, I still couldn’t bring myself to lie to her. Still, how could I go about telling her what was happening to me without worrying about negating the effectiveness of our True Love’s Kiss whenever it happened? If it ever happened? This kiss would have to be performed out of a genuine desire for both of us to do it, not under compulsion, by force, or out of pity.

I thought about this long and hard as I slowly hobbled my way over to Fluttershy’s cottage. I certainly had plenty of time to think it over as the walk to my destination was even longer with only one leg and a crutch to support me. Finally, I came up with what I believed to be a reasonable solution to my problem just as I reached Fluttershy’s front door. With my free right hand, I went ahead and knocked out my ever familiar greeting.

Tap. Tap. Taptap Tap.

After only several seconds of waiting there, the door finally opened to reveal Fluttershy standing on the other side. She looked quite surprised to see me there as she spoke up.

“Oh. H-hi David. I… I wasn’t expecting to see you here this early.”

Turning her gaze downward, she finally noticed the crutch I was leaning against as well as the fact that my entire left leg was gone.

“Oh my!” she immediately gasped. “What happened to your leg?”

“Oh it’s nothin,” I remarked. “Jus’ a little bit o’ magic gone awry. Ah hope ta have tha problem fixed within a few days.”

“Still,” she followed up, “I think you’d better come inside and sit down for a little while.”

“Ah really wouldn’ wanna intrude on ya.”

“Seriously, David, it’s no problem at all. I just don’t like seeing you having to stand around on one… hoof? Paw? What do you call it?”

“Foot.”

“Right. I just don’t like seeing you having to stand around on one foot like that. Please come on inside.”

She then moved aside to let me in to her cottage before leading me over towards one of the chairs in her living room and making sure that I was settled down there.

“Thanks, Flutters,” I gratefully replied.

“Oh, it’s no problem at all really.”

It was then that a piercing whistle sounded from Fluttershy’s kitchen.

“Oh. Sounds like the water is finally ready for tea. Would you… like some, David?”

“Ah honestly wouldn’t wanna inconvenience ya.”

“Not at all. There’s plenty of hot water for several cups of tea if the need arises.”

“Well… O.K. if you insist,” I finally gave in.

Fluttershy then headed for the kitchen to get our tea prepped.

“I hope you like Peppermint Tea,” she called out from the kitchen.

“That sounds great, thanks.”

“Do you take anything with your tea? I’ve got some honey as well as lemon juice if you’d like.”

“Yes, please, ta both o’ those.”

It was only a few minutes later that Fluttershy finally came back from the kitchen with a teacup balanced on each wing. Walking over to me, Flutters held out her left wing for me to take my teacup whereupon I held out one hand, magic enveloping the cup before drawing it toward said hand.

“Thanks, Flutters.”

“No problem,” she replied, taking her seat across from me.

I then took a small sip of the still hot liquid, being careful not to scald any of my taste buds in the process. The tea was quite enjoyable, helping warm me up more after several minutes of having to walk here in the cold.

“How’s your tea, David?” Fluttershy posed the question to me.

“It’s delicious. Thanks fer askin’.”

“Oh you’re welcome,” she followed up before taking a sip of her own tea. “So what’s your story?”

“What exactly do ya mean by that?” I puzzled.

“Well, I’m just curious to know more about you. Being that you’re the first human I’ve ever come across, I’d like to know where you’re from, what your life is like, what’re your interests, that kind of stuff.”

“How much time do ya have?”

“Just about all day if need be.”

“O.K. Ah’ll try ta give ya as much information as Ah can.”

And so, settling in for however long it would take, I began to tell Fluttershy everything that I could think of in that moment. All the while, I was secretly hoping that this moment of bonding between us would lead up to me getting that Kiss Of True Love to break my curse. I guessed I’d just have to wait and see where the moment took me.

* * * * * * * *

About a couple of hours later, I’d just finished explaining to Fluttershy about the family that I used to have in the form of my wife, Savannah, and my daughter, Ariel, many years ago. Even before that, I’d told her about my immediate family I have back on Earth, my passions for singing, acting, and writing, how society works back on Earth, and jobs that I’d previously held while I was still living there before coming to Equestria among other things. After hearing about the loss of my wife and daughter, a look of genuine shock came to her face.

“Oh my!” she spoke up. “David, I’m soo sorry to hear about your loss.”

“Ah ‘ppreciate yer condolences, Flutters.”

“Have you ever tried looking for the one who murdered Savannah and stole Ariel from you?”

“Oh yeah. Definitely. Back on Earth, Ah spent tha las’ 5 years takin’ whatever money Ah got ‘n investin’ it inta tha best private investigators Ah could afford. Even with all that money goin’ towards them, though, Ah’ve never gotten anywhere past where Ah started out. It’s all jus’ been dead end after dead end.”

“I wish that there was some way that I could help you out,” Fluttershy stated after taking a sip of tea.

“Ah wish so too.”

“In all those years since then, have you ever considered trying to find somepony new to be your mate.”

My pupils swiftly dilated while I was taking a sip of my own tea. Her question caught me very heavily off guard with how direct she was being. Of course I’d found somepony new who I hoped to eventually be married to; she was sitting right across from me! However, I couldn’t very well tell her that she was the one my heart was set on when she still didn’t have any idea who I even was. I thought long and hard about a proper answer before finally speaking up.

“Actually,” I began, “there is this one girl Ah know. She ‘n Ah used ta be really close friends fer quite a while ‘n Ah was even gettin’ ready ta propose ta her, but, recently, someone stole her memories o’ me ‘n now she doesn’t even know that Ah exist.”

“Oh! Well I hope that you’ll be able to get her memories of you back as well as winning her heart again.”

“As do Ah. She’s a very special girl ta me ‘n Ah’m doin’ everythin’ within ma power ta get her back. Ah’d even move Mount Aris if it meant restorin’ her memories ‘n winning her love again Ah love her that much.”

I then noticed a soft blush slowly creeping across Flutters’ face before she posed another question towards me.

“Do you think it would be possible for me to meet her sometime?”

Once again, I found myself caught off guard by her straightforwardness. For all of her memories that had been erased between the time they’d defeated Tirek and now, Fluttershy seemed to slowly be getting back that boldness and spunk that I’d come to know and love as their show had continued on as well as my interactions with her ever since the first time we’d met. I could only hope that this refreshing of her memories would continue, ultimately leading up to the curse being broken. For the time being, though, I offered the only reply I could think to make.

“Ah could try ta ‘rrange that fer ya.”

“Good. From what you’ve mentioned of her, she sounds like somepony I’d definitely want to meet.”

“Ah’m sure ya would,” I smiled back.

Flutters softly returned the smile before changing the subject.

“So do humans back on Earth have pony ears and wings like you do?”

“Not really. Humans don’ have wings at all ‘n their ears are much more like those of a chimpanzee,” I answered before taking another sip of tea.

“If that’s the case, though, then why do you have pony ears and wings?” Fluttershy questioned.

“That in ‘n of itself is quite a complicated story that Ah’m not sure if Ah have tha time ta go inta great detail ‘bout. What Ah will say is that Ah’m actually a descendant of somepony who used ta live here in Equestria long ago before she accidentally wound up on Earth as a human many years past. Ah don’ think it’s anypony you would know, though. None o’ ma other friends seem ta remember her either.”

There was a brief moment of silence between us as I let my explanation to Fluttershy sink in. Finally, after several seconds, she spoke back up with a soft smile on her face.

“Well, I don’t know what any other pony says about it, but I think that the pony ears and wings are a good look for you.”

“Thanks fer that, Flutters.”

“Oh you’re welcome.”

No sooner had the words escaped her lips then my stomach immediately growled like a manticore before I made my statement to Fluttershy.

“Well, it’s been nice bein’ able ta chat with ya, but Ah really mus’ be headin’ off ta get some lunch fer maself.”

“Oh. O.K.,” she answered back, that same twinge of disappointment in her voice that seemed to come up whenever it was time for me to leave her.

With that twinge in her voice, my heart sank quite a bit before I came up with what I was sure was a proper solution to the problem.

“If ya want, Ah can come by again within tha nex' day or 2 ‘n we can talk more then.”

“I’d like that a lot,” Flutters’ face lit up. “I’d like to know even more about your culture the next time you get the chance.”

“Will do,” I replied, reaching for my crutch and pulling myself up to my feet before making my way over to the front door. “See ya later, Flutters.”

“You too, David.”

And with that, I left Fluttershy’s cottage and made my way back towards Ponyville to figure out my lunch plans. Thinking over my most recent interaction with Fluttershy, she seemed to be warming up to me quite considerably despite not really remembering anything about me beforehand. It made me think of how she’d pretty swiftly warmed up to me the first time I came to Equestria to save all of ponykind from that hag. I could only hope that Flutters’ warming up to me would continue on and that the curse would finally be broken, allowing for us to have the life together I hoped we would.

Author's Note:

Hello Everypony. It's certainly that time again for a new chapter, but there's even more than that. About a week or 2 ago, I actually finished writing this current story as I mentioned in my most recent blog post with several chapters still left for me to post here in the coming future. As such, I'm taking a little bit of a rest from continuing my series while doing a little bit of work on some other projects. It's hard to say exactly when I'll be starting back up on the next entry, but it will be within the next few months or so. Aside from that, there's not really much else to report on my end. Got Thanksgiving going on this coming Thursday so I'm looking forward to the time with family. Also just got notified today by my manager that I have my birthday off from work so that I'll be able to focus on my America's Got Talent audition which I feel like I have a better grasp on what songs I'll be auditioning with. Anyhoo, I'm just glad to see all the love and support my stories have been getting from all of y'all and I look forward to continuing this story even more with more frequency in the near future. Catch y'all on the flipside.

P.S. Happy Birthday Miley Cyrus!!!

Comments

[flutterbd]

wow david lost a leg now lose a eye and he will be a pirate ARGGG