Chapter 40: Day on the Town.
Chapter 40: Day on the Town.
"So, the Day Spa first, Trixie?" Rarity asks, head turned to Trixie, the latter walking behind the former, as the six of us head out from the library. Rarity and Twilight are leading, both mares bearing their respective saddlebags, Spike riding atop Twilight's back. Shining Armor is to Trixie's side, walking behind Twilight, while I take up the rear, cloak drawn shut and hood down. My cowboy hat and armor pieces are left behind at the library, leaving me feeling, admittedly, a bit naked, considering I also lack both my weapon and my bangle.
"Ah, yes!" Trixie replies. "Though, I'm surprised a small town like Ponyville even has such a facility."
"We have lots of cool stuff in Ponyville," Spike cuts in, "like a joke shop, a costume shop, and a bowling alley!" Why would they even have... well, any of those, in a small town like this?
"There's also that marvelous café, Spikey-Wikey." Rarity turns her head to him. "We simply must go there for lunch!"
"Don't forget Sofas and Quills!" Twilight chimes in.
"Wait," I can't help but comment now, "Sofas and Quills?"
"Yeah..." Twilight turns and raises a skeptical eyebrow. "They sell sofas and quills. What's so strange about that?"
"What do sofas have to do with quills?" I ask in reply, giving her a skeptical eyebrow of my own from under my hood.
In response, all four unicorns and one dragon turn to me, perplexed, as if I've just asked an incredibly stupid question. "They don't sell sofas and quills together where you're from, Cloud?" Twilight asks tentatively.
"Nope." I reply. "We don't even use quills, technically."
"...You come from a strange place, Cloud." Twilight says, face scrunched in thought, before breaking out into a smile. "When everything's settled I have so many questions for you at this point!"
"The feeling's starting to become mutual..." I mutter, still trying to understand the logical connection between a sofa and a quill.
Sadly, Twilight hears me. "Oh! We could play Twenty Questions! It'll be great!"
"Twilight..." Trixie turns to Twilight, her face masked from me by her mane at this angle. "What kind of pony actually enjoys playing Twenty Questions?"
"My crazy little sister, that's who." Shining Armor quips, laughing slightly and shaking his head.
"Hey!" Twilight protests. "What's so weird about liking to learn stuff?"
"Hey, Rarity!" A high-pitched, girl's voice calls out from our right, causing all six of us to turn, cutting off whatever rebuttal would have met Twilight's question. Quickly homing in on us are three younger-looking ponies - an orange-ish pegasus with a purple mane, a yellow earth pony with a red mane, and the speaker, a white unicorn with a two-tone purple and faded-pink striped mane.
"Sweetie Belle!" Rarity calls back as the trio reaches us. Sweetie Belle... I think Rarity said that was the name of her younger sister? "You three are out bright and early for a weekend. Crusading again, dears?"
"You bet!" The orange one replies. "We won't get our cutie marks if we don't!" Her voice is a bit raspier than the others'.
"Hey, wait a gosh-darned minute..." The yellow one says, in an accent I've become familiar at deciphering thanks to Applejack, though hers isn't quite as thick, pointing a hoof between Twilight and Rarity, directly at Trixie. "Aren't you tha' magician that came ta Ponyville that time?" This... is going to go badly, isn't it?
"Yeah!" The orange one affirms, the three moving to Rarity's side so they can get a better look at Trixie. "She was performing in front of the library with Twilight a few days ago!"
"Ah, yes!" Trixie cuts in, taking up her stage mantle now that they've confirmed she's not getting another round of 'oh god why is there a bear stepping on our town' from them. She puffs herself up and presses a hoof to her chest in her characteristic manner. "Trixie did indeed perform in your fine little town of Ponyville earlier this week alongside the Magnificent Twilight Sparkle."
Twilight smiles sheepishly at the title while the yellow one speaks again. "Hey! Can ya show us a magic trick, Miss Trixie? All that stuff ya did with Twilight was super cool!"
Trixie's stage-swagger falters ever so slightly as Rarity answers for her. "I'm sorry, girls, but Trixie is... very tired, after some back-to-back performances, so she's with us to relax for the day."
"Aww!" The three grumble in unsettling unison, making me pray I never need to babysit while I'm here.
"Can't ya just show us a little bit?" The yellow one insists.
"Yeah!" The one I assume to be Sweetie Belle adds. "What if it's what helps us get our cutie marks in stage magic?"
"But you're the only one with a horn, Sweetie." The orange one turns to her, pointing out the anatomically obvious. "Bloom and I can't do that stuff."
"Hey." Trixie steps in, cutting off potential bickering as she leans her front hooves down to speak to them at eye level. "What're your names?"
"Ah'm Apple Bloom!" The yellow one replies, grinning.
"I'm Sweetie Belle!" The white one says, confirming my assumption.
"And I'm Scootaloo!" The orange one idenfifies.
Then, all three decide to yell at once, proving they definitely have the lungs for Trixie's job, at least. "And we're the Cutie Mark Crusaders!" Definitely not babysitting while I'm in this place, ever. I'm surprised Rarity does so well just being related to one of them, though her sister does seem to be the most docile of the trio so far.
"Well, Cutie Mark Crusaders," Trixie replies, beckoning them to come a bit closer, "come here, and The Great and Powerful Trixie will share a special secret with you three. But no telling, okay?"
The three younger ponies get closer to her as the three older ones and a dragon watch her curiously. "No telling! We promise!"
"Okay. Look at this." Trixie says, giving them a stage-smile and reaching her right hoof up to her mane, sliding it back strategically so her hoof covers the place her horn once was while still revealing her forehead. "Still think you and your friend can't perform some good stage tricks just because you don't have horns?"
"Huh." Apple Bloom blinks. "Yer.. not actually a unicorn?"
"But you had a horn before..." Scootaloo trails off, equally caught off guard.
"Ah, little ones!" Trixie flicks her mane, standing back at her full height. "The Great and Powerful Trixie is but what the show demands. No more, and no less."
"But how did you do all that magic?" Sweetie Belle asks, a question I'm equally curious to see Trixie pull out an answer for. "Twilight didn't do all of it, did she?" Oh boy, that's some bait in the water if I've ever seen it.
Trixie, however, impresses me by not taking it. "Normally, a magician never reveals her secrets, but..." Trixie makes an exaggerated thinking face, pausing for a moment. Her eyes glance noticeably at her lapel for a moment, then she closes her eyes, sighing. She reaches into the coat's visible pocket and pulls out the deck of playing cards I've seen her use at every show so far. "Maybe a demonstration will help you fillies understand a bit better."
"Oh, cool!" Scootaloo declares as the three sit, Trixie taking a seat on the ground across from them as the rest of us gather around.
"Let's start with something simple." Trixie starts, nodding as she flips five cards from the top of her deck and displays them to the girls across from her. From my position, I see some sort of Equestrian face card in Diamonds, a Three of Hearts, an Ace of Diamonds, a Nine of Diamonds, and a Six of Spades. "Now, without saying a word, each of you choose one of these five cards and keep it in your minds." The three fillies nod, taking a minute to look over the five cards in front of them. "Got one in mind, girls?" They nod, and Trixie collapses the five cards back together, flipping them face down as she begins shuffling the five cards in her hooves, her eyes firmly held on those of her three audience members. After some twenty-seconds or so of shuffling, she flips over the current top card of the stack - the Three of Hearts. "Is this your card, girls?"
"Eeeeyup." Apple Bloom replies, blinking.
"Mine too..." Sweetie Belle confirms.
"Huh." Scootaloo looks curiously at the overturned card, essentially confirming it as well. "How'd you do that?"
"It's not time to explain yet, little ones." Trixie shakes her head, scooping the five cards up and returning them to her deck. She begins shuffling the entire deck in her hooves, her eyes never leaving her audience of three as she holds out the deck to them. "Would you girls like to shuffle the deck as well?" Sweetie Belle nods in reply to Trixie's question, taking the deck in her magic aura and shuffling the cards thoroughly herself, before passing them back to Trixie. "And now, watch!" Trixie flips the entire deck face-up, fanning it out for all to see. She quickly slides out a red face card and places it in front of the rest of the deck. "Using this Princess of Hearts, The Great and Powerful Trixie shall make a grand prediction!" She flips the deck back face down, and slides it to Crusaders. "Now, girls, choose any number of cards from the top of the deck and count them into a pile."
This time, Apple Bloom takes control of the deck and begins counting off cards from the top, making a pile of them in reverse order. "One, two, three..." She continues, eventually putting nineteen cards into a pile, handing the remainder of the deck back to Trixie when prompted. After a second set of instructions from Trixie, Apple Bloom takes her pile and begins splitting it into two, laying them out alternatingly, one in the left pile, one in the right pile, then one in the left again...
"And now, for Trixie's grand prediction!" She picks up the Princess of Hearts again, and places it between Apple Bloom's two piles. She then places her right hoof forward, in front of the corresponding pile of Apple Bloom's. "This pile's top card shall be a Princess!" She declares, and Apple Bloom flips it, revealing the Princess of Spades. Trixie then places her left hoof forward. "And this pile shall be a Heart! But not just any Heart! It shall be the previous card you chose together - the Three of Hearts!" Apple Bloom flips the second pile's top card, indeed revealing the Three of Hearts, of all cards.
"Whoa, that worked!" Apple Bloom grins at the successful trick.
Scootaloo rolls her eyes. "It's just a trick, Apple Bloom. There's nothing magical about it."
"Then how'd she make us all think of the same card?" Sweetie Belle asks, turning to her companions.
"Brain tricks, duh." Scootaloo replies matter-of-factly.
"No magic, little ones?" Trixie picks up her Princess of Hearts in her left hoof, smirking as the clear day is distrupted by a crack of thunder, a bolt of lightning curving from the sky and down onto the card, charring it as she flicks the remnants away with her hoof.
"Okay, you got me this time." Scootaloo blinks, eyes on the hoof where the Princess of Hearts used to be held.
"How'd you do that?" Apple Bloom asks insistently, leaning in. "C'mon, tell us! You promised!"
"You see, girls, how to make the magic happen is more important than how to do the trick." Trixie speaks with that softness I'm still not sure I'll ever be used to as she replies. "If performing a little magic is really what you want to do in life, it'll take more than a lacking a silly little horn to stop you." She gives them a small smile. "Though, having some good friends can help, too." ...That has to be the corniest non-answer I've ever heard in my life.
"Aww!" Apple Bloom seems especially dissatisfied with her reply. I don't blame her. "Tha's the kind of lame answer Twilight would say!"
"Hey! My answers aren't lame!" Twilight protests, eliciting some hoof-covered laughs from Rarity and Shining Armor.
"Quite!" Trixie supports her. "How else would Trixie perform her clear display of magic despite not having a horn?"
"Like I've been saying, it's just tricks!" Scootaloo answers quickly. "Really cool tricks, though..."
"Ah," Trixie sweeps her hoof dramatically, "and if Trixie told you the secret to those tricks, they would cease to be magical, would they not?"
"Yeah, but..." Scootaloo trails off, not able to pull together her reply to Trixie's question.
"I get it!" Sweetie Belle cuts in, stopping further protests from the other 'Crusaders'. "It's not about the magic at all, is it, Miss Trixie?"
"Exactly." Trixie says simply. "True showmareship is about the magic felt by the crowd, not that performed by the mare."
"Oh! Ah get it now... maybe." Apple Bloom turns her head up to think, a hoof beneath her chin.
"Also, uh, Twilight, Rarity, Miss Trixie," Scootaloo starts, getting all their attentions then pointing a hoof in my direction, "you know you got a creepy cultist guy following you, right?"
I can't help but look down at the cloak I'd received from Rarity again. I... can't exactly blame the kid for that one, thinking on it.
"That is merely Trixie's assistant." Trixie explains to them, motioning her own hoof to me. "Surely you remember him from our show in Ponyville? He suffers a condition that prevents him walking in the sunlight without his cloak." Wait, what happened to the really cool 'he's a drake that lost his tail to a cursed trident at Horse Shoe Bay' thing? Now I'm just allergic to sunlight?
"Oh..." Scootaloo mouths, before looking up at me. "Sorry for calling you a cultist, mister!"
"So, Crusaders," Apple Bloom wraps her front hooves around her two friends, "whaddaya say we go get our cutie marks in showmareship?"
"But how will we set up a show?" Scootaloo asks, her and Sweetie Belle both turning their heads to Apple Bloom. "The talent show's not happening again until next year."
"So?" Sweetie Belle tilts her head slightly to get a clear look at Scootaloo. "We'll just build a stage at our clubhouse and invite everypony from school there later! It'll be great!"
"Alright, Cutie Mark Crusaders! Let's go!" Apple Bloom darts off past us, the other two close on her heels as they run off to do... whatever they're planning. As long as no one tries to convince me to climb into a cannon again, I couldn't care less.
"Heh." Shining Armor laughs once the three kids are out of earshot. "Cute kids."
"Hey, Trixie..." Twilight turns to her, pulling everyone's attention to her and Trixie, as the latter returns her deck to her coat pocket. "That was..."
Trixie rolls her eyes. "I don't need you falling over yourselves every time this comes up, Twilight. Please."
Twilight smiles and gives her a nod. "Alright."
"Though," Trixie lets out a small laugh, "if I have to keep doing stuff like that, I'll have to replace my decks a lot more than I used to."
"Let's get going." Rarity nods her head toward the center of town as we begin walking again. "The Day Spa's not too far now." Following her motion, I see a cream-colored building with a purple roof that raises to multiple steeples. A green sign with an equally cream-colored pony hangs over the door, which itself has a small heart engraved on it. Small rose bushes line the outside of the building, accentuating the curled designs trailing along the walls above them.
Rarity leads, gently opening the door, and immediately she's approached by a blue-bodied, pink-maned pony. Her mane and tail are styled back smoothly, and she wears some sort of white choker and a matching cloth around her forehead. I'm sure both have more technical names, but beautification is far from my area of expertise.
"Ah, Miss Rarity!" The mare speaks, in a thick accent I'm not sure my world has an analogue for. "Your weekly appointment with Miss Fluttershy isn't for another day yet." It doesn't surprise me that Rarity is a regular in a place like this. "How can we help you?"
The rest of us step inside as Rarity replies. "Apologies, Lotus, dear. It's a bit of an emergency visit, you see!" She motions a hoof from herself to Trixie once the six of us are properly in view. "Our dear friend Trixie has come to visit after quite an... ordeal, let us say, and I just couldn't help but think of your and Aloe's lovely spa as just the thing to help her and everypony else relax afterward."
"Well, Miss Rarity, you have indeed come to the right place, then! Luckily, our morning schedule is quite open today, so you've chosen a perfect time." 'Lotus' motions for us to follow her. "Bath for six? Shall we also do the usual?"
"I was thinking a bit simpler, this time." Rarity replies. "Just a dip in the spa and a massage, please. A few members of our group might not... appreciate some of the finer elements of our usual weekly ritual."
Lotus laughs softly at Rarity's quip. "Yes, I see. Little Spike is with you this week, as is a rather handsome stallion." She tips her head back, giving Shining Armor, giving him a wink, causing him to reply with his usual nervous laugh and rubbing of the back of his head. "No mischief in the tubs, please!"
"Don't worry, Lotus." Twilight assures her. "My big brother here is already spoken for."
"Oh, your brother, Miss Sparkle?" Lotus shifts her attention to Twilight. "I haven't seen him around Ponyville before."
"He's from Canterlot, Lotus." Twight explains. "Today's a bit of a get-together of friends who normally don't see each other, in a way."
"Name's Shining Armor, Miss Lotus." Shining Armor introduces himself, giving her a grin to match his nervous laugh earlier.
"Ah, a vacation day with friends from far away." Lotus nods. "It is even more of a pleasure to host your group, then. Though, any introduction for your mysterious companion in the back?" Of course, whether it's the poncho, the cloak, or no disguise at all, any sort of introduction does seem destined to end with the 'what is that weird thing following you' line of questions in some way.
"My assistant, Dusk." Trixie introduces before I can even get my mouth open. "I'm a traveling showmare you see, Miss Lotus, and he is my companion. He's not the most talkative, and he has his reasons to keep under his cloak when possible. Don't worry, he doesn't bite... much."
"I see." Lotus nods at the introduction, just as she did for Shining Armor's. "Well, all our facilities are free until later today, so please, enjoy yourselves, everypony."
She leads us into the 'main' room of the spa - a single, large room nearly the size of the building itself. To the left are a number of massage chairs leading up to a massive, wooden tub, a stairway on its right side leading to a raised platform behind it as steam rises from the water. To the right of me are a number of what appear to be pony-sized personal baths and some privacy screens, the screens pulled open due to us being the first customers of the day. After Rarity tells Lotus we'll be making use of the bath first, she leaves us while Rarity and Twilight set their saddlebags against the tub.
"It's too bad I have to take this off again so soon." Trixie says to Rarity as she undoes the buttons on the coat. "It's already starting to feel like a part of me."
"I'm happy to see you appreciate it that much, Trixie." Rarity nods, using her magic to undo the bow tie as Trixie slips off the coat and proceeds to unbutton the shirt. "But, your body will equally appreciate the soothing water. It'll make you feel like a hundred bits!"
I lean my back against the tub, standing with my arms folded and right foot pressed against it as I hear the sounds of four ponies and one dragon enter the waters. I'm not sure why I expected anything other than a giant, unisex spa from a place where many of both genders simply walk around naked. Though, it's a bit curious that it's essentially a giant wooden bucket when all the smaller units seem to be made of more modern-looking materials.
I tilt my head back with a sigh, looking up to the ceiling. Now that things are a bit quieter, I find myself thinking back to Twilight's desire to learn more about my world. Specifically, I think the one question I've been avoiding since Twilight made me think of it back in Canterlot. Can I even go back there? Not just in the technical sense of returning, but, I suppose... should I? This time, what Jenova said isn't a lie, so it'll only cause problems, won't it? Though, I'm sure I can't stay here, in Equestria. Maybe if I become a hermit in some place like the Everfree Forest, it might work, but...
"Hey!" Trixie comes up to my right, poking her head over the rim, nearly level with my own head due to the tub's height. "Are you gonna join us, or just keep standing there like a creeper?" I make eye-contact with her, but she speaks again before I can reply. "Let me guess. Not interested." She says mockingly, rolling her eyes.
Rarity pokes out on my left. "I do suppose with all those extra clothes, it's quite a bother to get out of them for something like this, even if it is heavenly."
Twilight pops her head up on Trixie's right. "Why do you wear all that stuff anyway, Cloud? I never see you not wearing it."
Shining Armor's head comes into view on Twilight's right, but he says nothing.
I move my eye contact to him instead of the three mares. "Don't you have something to add?"
"Nah, I just wanted to do what everyone else was doing." He replies, grinning.
Trixie turns to him, tilting her head at him curiously. "Like sister, like brother, it seems..."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Twilight asks, turning to Trixie with a pout.
Trixie turns away from them, grinning. "Oh, nothing, Twilight."
"Right..." Twilight turns her attention back to me. "But, honestly, now I'm curious. If you're not gonna join us, at least indulge my curiosity a bit."
"Well, why don't you wear clothing all the time?" I ask her half-sarcastically, mixing in a bit of genuine curiosity with wanting some payback for the look I got when I asked about Sofas and Quills.
"Well..." Twilight either misses or ignores the sarcasm as she answers me. "Ponies only really wear clothes when they want to look nice, if they're cold, or if there's some other weather situation we can't deal with naturally. Otherwise, wearing clothes over your fur can get particularly uncomfortable, especially on a warm day."
"Right, but I don't exactly have fur."
"You could. Technically minotaurs only really have fur on their heads and their lower body." Twilight exposits. "Without you telling me or seeing for myself I don't have any reason to assume whether or not you have fur on the parts of your body you keep covered up."
"Well, I can guarantee you I don't have any fur hiding under any of my clothes, Twilight."
"It still doesn't explain why you don't want to join us in here, though." Twilight turns things back around to the original topic. "The water's warm and there's enough space left."
"Twilight." I look her in the eye. "I'm bipedal. No fur, no scales, and no tail."
"So?" Twilight asks, and I can see Trixie's poker face falling slightly as she chuckles, her head turned away from Twilight.
"Do I really need to explain the awkwardness that comes with also removing clothes from that equation?"
Trixie turns to Twilight as the latter mare tilts her head, still not understanding what I'm trying to convey to her. Trixie moves up to her ear, cupping her mouth with one hoof as she begins whispering to Twilight. Twilight's face quickly cycles through a number of looks as hints of red bleed through her lavender fur, at which point she pushes herself to the far side of the tub and dunks most of her head beneath the water, leaving only her nose, eyes, horn, and the top of her mane visible. Trixie, meanwhile, can't stop herself from breaking out into a fit of laughter at Twilight's reaction.
"Ah..." Rarity takes a small breath, choosing her words carefully, having figured out the finer details on her own. "That would be a bit... compromising, especially in a public location."
Trixie composes herself after a moment, hooves against the rim of the tub. "Doesn't change the fact they're both prudes." I shoot her a glare, and she answers the unasked question. "What? You could've just joined us. Nopony would've batted an eye if you hadn't made a big deal about it. Now, everypony is going to gawk if you give them an opportunity." ...She has a point, all things considered.
"I'll be fine." I assure her.
"Great!" Spike declares, using his feet to kick around on the surface of the water as he floats on his back. "More space for me to swim!"
Twilight finally pulls her head out of the water enough to speak. "You'll get cramps if you swim so soon after eating breakfast, Spike." She admonishes the little dragon, who waves her off with a claw.
"Bah, that's just a myth, Twilight." Spike says. "You should know that with all the books you've read by now."
Twilight silently descends back into the depths of the tub with an annoyed glower as the other three ponies begin relaxing again. I turn my head back up to the ceiling, letting myself descend back into my thoughts. Am I really just making too big of a fuss about this, like Trixie said? I'd like to think that, but the odd looks I get from all the ponies that I'm not friends with make me think otherwise. Most of the looks are merely curious, but... I'm still not exactly happy about being the village freak, at best, not to mention the many other problems that come from being the only human on a planet of pastel pony... things. It seems to be my only option, though, since going back to Gaia and having there be two 'Clouds' there is something I'm not even willing to consider, and I doubt there's miraculously some third world they can send me to that has humans on it. But even so, staying here...
"Ah, is the bath not to your liking, sir?" A voice pulls me out of my thoughts and I tip my head down, seeing a pony that looks strikingly similar to Lotus, except with the pinks and blues reversed. Her accent matches the previous spa-pony's as well. Sisters? Is this the one Rarity mentioned earlier, Aloe?
"He's just a stick in the mud." Trixie says over the side of the tub. "It'd do him some good to loosen up a bit, wouldn't it?"
"Loosen up, you say?" The pink pony says in reply, looking to Trixie and giving a grin. "I think we can help with that. Lotus!"
"Yes, Aloe?" Lotus replies, peeking her head back into the room from the welcome area.
"Come, Lotus!" She motions to her palette-swapped doppleganger as the latter enters the room, each standing to my left. "Our guest requires the 'loosening up', ya?"
"What are you two doing?" I look between them, doing my best to make my annoyance clear in my voice, before looking up to Trixie, who simply gives me one of her grins.
"We are doing the 'loosening up'!" Lotus declares as both grab my cloak, pushing me away from the tub and toward the massage tables to the left.
"Hold on!" I yell, trying to wriggle myself out of their grip, but the combined might of the two is... surprising. First Fluttershy, and now these two... how strong is the average pony, physically, anyway?
"Hush!" Aloe commands as the two deftly pull my cloak from my shoulders, tossing me onto one of their massaging tables with a single motion. "It is time for the 'loosening up'!" I feel two sets of hooves against my back before I can utter a protest, surprisingly keen in their aim despite not even removing my shirt, or, assumedly, massaging anything like me before. My muscles first spasm in pain, then relax and tingle as they do, in their words, the 'loosening up'. Surprisingly, if they have any comments on my physical appearance, they hold their tongues, focusing on their work. I'm grateful for that at least. And the massage, too, I guess.
I turn my head to lock eyes with Trixie, shooting her a dirty look over this situation, and she replies with her shit-eating grin and a wave of her front-right hoof. Her eyes, however... they're wrong. They're not the guarded eyes of The Great and Powerful Trixie, nor the confident eyes of Trixie Lulamoon, but rather... wistful. In just the tiniest way, either intentionally or not, her mask's fallen again.
Maybe that's the question I should be asking, instead. Not if I can stay here, or if I should, or what would happen were I able to 'return' to Gaia, but rather... if I stay here, will I be able to handle looking into those eyes anymore? I turn away from her and close my eyes, focusing on the skilled hoofwork of my two masseuses as that question stews in my mind. I'd given Trixie the bangle and all that Materia, but will she be able to handle it if she gets hurt again? ...Will I?
"And what do you expect to do?" Jenova's mocking question from the Ghastly Gorge pushes its way into my thoughts. What do I expect to do, when the chips are down? During that encounter, I was Princess Luna's second fiddle, and it took both of us and Bahamut to do any damage at all... and Bahamut's gone now.
But... I let out a small laugh, remembering Trixie's outburst at the library last night. Maybe she's right. Maybe I don't need to do anything. Things are a bit different now. This isn't her caught in the crossfire, such as in Appleloosa or the Crystal Caves. This is her decision now, and like she said, every pony and every person makes their own choices, right? I turn my head slightly to look to her again. Her back is to me now, sharing a conversation with Rarity as Twilight continues her stewing in the far side of the tub. Even if I grant what Trixie said, Jenova's still only here because of me, isn't it? She only became involved in the first place because I traveled with her, didn't she? If things had been different...
"Up!" Aloe's thickly-accented voice pulls me from my thoughts with the crack of a towel. "The 'loosening up' is complete!"
I give the pair thanks as I pull my cloak back over myself, moving to lean my back against the large tub everyone else is resting in as the pair of spa-ponies wave over for two more to come down. I hear the splashing sounds of two ponies getting out of the tub, and after a few moments, Rarity comes down the steps, mane wrapped in a towel, followed by Trixie.
"Feeling any better, dear?" Rarity asks, which I reply to with a small grunt and a shrug of my shoulders. Truth be told, my body does feel a lot better, at least.
"Now if only they could 'loosen up' your personality." Trixie says with her usual grin, flicking at me with her tail as she walks past, then resuming a conversation with Rarity.
"Right." I reply, shaking my head as she passes, then muttering. "Since when were those two so friendly?"
"They've been at it ever since those two dragged you off." Shining Armor replies, poking his head over the side of the tub again. "Talking about their times in the big cities like Manehattan and Hoofington. I wouldn't be surprised if they're trying to one up each other."
"Oh, hush, Shiny." Twilight admonishes him as she joins us at the tub rim, no longer hiding her face below the water, then sighs. "It's good to see her actually making a friend, though. Isn't it, Cloud?"
"Yeah... great." I reply absentmindedly, still stewing on my thoughts from earlier.
"You alright, Cloud?" Twilight leans over the side of the tub, craning her head to look at me more clearly.
"Hm?" I turn to her, contemplating my reply for a second. "...It's nothing."
"Right..." Twilight shakes her head, clearly not believing me, and returns to lounging on the far side of the tub, Spike backstroking nearby her.
Shining Armor takes the opportunity to lean in more himself, speaking more lowly. "Pretty sure I have a good idea of what's eating you." He says, his eyes moving from myself, to Trixie, then back again. I don't bother giving him a reply. "Look. Cadance was right. About Twilight, I mean. When I wasn't looking, my little sister grew up into somepony more than capable of handling herself, even when things get rough."
"..." I turn slightly to look at him as he rubs the back of his head.
"I guess, what I'm trying to say is..." Shining Armor sets his hoof back on the rim of the tub. "You gave her all that stuff and said those things back at the library because some part of you knows she's more than capable of handling herself, too, right? So, relax. Something might happen, but if you keep letting yourself get distracted, then something will happen." He lets out a snicker. "I thought you'd know that, considering you said you were military, too."
I can't help but give a small laugh in reply. "Thanks." I say after a moment, allowing myself to slump against the side of the tub, sitting. I hear a few splashes from the rim, telling me he's set off to rejoin his sister and Spike. Maybe he's right. What is, is. If there's anything I can do to stop it from getting worse, it'll be easier to do if I'm focusing on what's ahead and not worrying about everything.
"Next!" Lotus' voice is the one that cuts me from my thoughts this time, and I hear Twilight and Shining Armor begin a similar bath-exiting ritual to Rarity and Trixie's. After a moment, the remaining three from the tub pass by, heading toward the massage tables, and the white and azure pair return, still chatting amongst themselves.
"You were right, Rarity." Trixie says as Rarity giggles into a hoof. "I'm feeling much better after all that."
"It's quite exquisite, isn't it?" Rarity replies. "I come here each week with Fluttershy, and it's the most heavenly indulgence. Maybe if you stick around Ponyville, we can add you to our little dates, hm?"
Trixie pauses for just a moment. "Yeah... that sounds great, Rarity." She replies, though her voice sounds a bit distant. She turns, locking eyes with me and pausing, Rarity stopping beside her. She takes one step toward me, then two, and before long she's standing directly in front of me.
"...What is it?" I ask, a bit confused. In response, she pulls up onto her hind hooves, placing her front hooves on my shoulders and leaning in. It's not the rough pinning from the night before, but her eyes are still locked with mine, unreadable. What is she doing...? After a few moments, she tilts her head and grins.
"Relax, this is our day off, remember?" She says as she pulls her hooves away, shifting herself and sitting at my left side, her back to the tub as well. Rarity raises an eyebrow, but after a moment decides to sit to Trixie's left.
"That's what that was about?" I ask her, skeptically.
"What?" She huffs and feigns offense, turning her head up. "You're the one whose been the party-pooper so far. I need to be sure you at least get a little relaxation in before tomorrow, you know."
"And that's your job now?" I ask, raising an eyebrow to her from under the hood of my cloak.
"Well..." She puts a hoof under her chin, in an exaggerated thinking position. "I suppose I could ask Twilight to engage in a bit of emergency itemizing to be sure you get your requisite relaxation in, instead."
"Yeah, no thanks." I reply quickly, eliciting a laugh from both her and Rarity.
Trixie then gets up, looking around for just a moment before retrieving her shirt and coat. "Team Sparkle over there should be done soon." She comments, slipping the shirt over her back and her hooves through the sleeves. "Where to next, Rarity? The café you mentioned?"
"I'm thinking so." She nods as Trixie buttons the sleeves of the shirt and starts working her way up the front. "It's a bit early, but it just has the most delightful atmosphere. We can spend a bit of time just relaxing in the nice weather and chatting if we don't want to eat right away. This place shouldn't mind."
"Chatting, right. This one never talks, though." She says, motioning her head to me as she picks up her bow tie in one hoof. She wraps it around her collar and Rarity's horn lights up to help her wrap it, but I motion for her to stop, walking over to Trixie and crouching down so we're eye level.
"Here." I say, guiding her hooves in the first steps of fastening the tie. Across, then around, then twist, then over, then twist, then behind, then pull, then secure. I guide her hooves through each of the motions, but make sure she's performing them for herself. Once we're done, she takes a step back, adjusting the tie in one hoof.
She looks from the bow tie and then to me. Then, she grins, one of her mischievous, shit-eating grins. "Why am I not surprised you know how to fasten a bow tie? You're a bigger nerd than Twilight Sparkle."
I can't help but give her a single snigger before giving her some of her own medicine. "You're the one wearing it, you know."
"Oh, shut up!" Trixie huffs and turns away from me as she tosses her coat over herself, slipping into it and fastening the buttons as Rarity laughs into her hoof behind her. As she fastens the buttons along the front, she turns her head back to face me again. "Thanks."
"Ah, I forgot how refreshing a trip to see Aloe and Lotus can be!" Twilight comments as she and Shining Armor walk up behind us, Spike at his usual perch on Twilight's back. "I feel great!" The three of us turn to see her stretching out each of her four legs in turn.
"Yeah. Way better than anything we have in Canterlot." Shining Armor comments, cracking his neck. "I may need to make trips down here more often. So, what's next on the to-do list?"
"Trixie and I were just discussing that, actually!" Rarity rounds our group so that she's closest to the door, essentially taking the lead. "We were thinking we'll take the day a bit slow and relax at the café for a while, if that's alright with you and Twilight."
"Of course, Rarity." Twilight nods.
"The best part is," Trixie starts as the six of us begin making our way out of the Day Spa, "after that memory spell, Dusk might actually be able to read the menu now!"
"What?" Twilight turns to me as we walk. "You couldn't read?" She asks, confused, before her face falls in horror. "Does your world not have books?!"
...I think it's time for my brain to check out for the day.
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This should've been Cid in Equestria...
7074239
...You're not wrong. That would be hilarious, to say the least.
7074307 Sit down! And write your !#&%ing spin-off!
What you did there... I saw it.
Although I'm not sure if I'd refer to something that looks like Principal Celestia as "human". Those legs man... she's a freak!
Cid would actually not be a bad fit for Equestria, despite his... language skills. There are airships to improve, and that one pony has a pipe for a cutie mark, so smoking IS a thing.
What's that supposes to mean
and having their be two 'Clouds'
1. Supposed.
2. There.
Ahh yes, the calm before the storm to which I shall call... The coming of the Twilight. Fear ye Dusk for Twilight will now assume the worst of your world for she thought you had no books. Silly Purple Smart, that's not how the world works if they have giant reactors to make processed Materias, they still need instruction manuals. Now imagine if Chocobos migrated to Equestria...
Yeah your back. I missed your updates.
I really liked the card tricks, though the mind trick on the first video failed with me.
I almost fall off my chair when I start laughing when Scootaloo called Cloud a cultist.
Also that awkward moment at the tub. Cloud as no problem wearing women clothing, but getting naked is too much? Though seriously, Cloud should had ask Rarity some swimming trunks.
As for Cid's use of language. What about Barret's use of language?
No but honestly, the FF7 character I wish the most to see is Vincent Valentine. Imagine the faces of the ponies when he transforms into is Galian Beast form or better his Chaos form.
Now that I think about it. I don't how you intend to finish your story, but I think there's room and potential to make a sequel with Vincent. Maybe just some time after Twilight becomes an Alicorn and for Vincent right after he defeated Omega at the end of Dirge of Cerberus. It fits nicely since he disappeared for a certain amount of time during the end credits.
7074480
Principal Celestia is still at least an improvement. She has thumbs, at least! Those are important for... thumb things.
7074535
Someday, there shall be a Chapter without typos. That day is not today. Thanks, as always.
Bookhorse just needs her books, man.
7075584
Back for now, at least! Yeah, mind tricks are never 100% effective. I had a draft of that scene where one of them actually chose a different card but I didn't like it as much.
As for ending/sequel, I have the ending and most of the beats needed to get there planned already. I toy with the idea of a sequel every so often. It's less of a question of if there's room and more of a question of if one's fitting, really. I hadn't thought of incorporating Vincent into that sequel before now, but he would fit surprisingly well into the skeleton notes I have for it. I'd just need to sort out a mechanism for bringing him to Equestria that I'm happy with. But again, the first question is if this story even works better with a sequel than without, once it's finished. (I also need to actually, well, finish this one first!)
Hey there. It's good to see this get more active again, this story has been so quiet recently.
I liked this bit. It really keeps you wondering just what obvious reasoning there is that connects two two things, but doesn't really say enough to make it easy to guess.
I would be terrified right about now. Finding yourself agreeing with the crusaders can't possibly be a good thing.
Still kind of sore about that.
Now there's a true vision of otherworldly horror.
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Yo. It's just as good to have the time to be writing again, honestly.
I had a much longer A/N up at first talking about all that but cut it in my fashion because it was rambly and I figured anyone who'd care had seen it after a week. Short version is: Life happened, but I'm back to writing and posting while able, and I fixed me being slightly colorblind and mentioning Cloud's eyes as green instead of blue because I didn't use a look-up chart for him like I normally do for these things and used it as an excuse to give the entire fic another editing pass.
I suppose the good part is that all the time away gave me plenty of time to sort out a bunch of the plot doohickeys I mentioned needing to work on before I stopped updating. So, now I've got (most) of the story sorted out in enough detail and write straight up to the ending. It's now mostly just a matter of having the time to do it.