Cradle of Dreams

by AterHut

Chapter Fourteen — Big News

After Miss Velvet left, I closed the bakery and spent the next few days trying to find ways to use my new magic.

At first, it seemed completely useless to me, but after two days of practising I was convinced…

“This magic is complete garbage!”

The only thing I've learnt so far is that it "shows" things I imagine. Who would've thought?

For example, if I step into a dark room and imagine it lit up, then me and the other ponies will see the room the way I imagine it, but if my imagination and reality differ, then we'll easily bump into the wall or something like that, so it's of no use in those situations.

It might be useful for design or architecture ponies, maybe for theatre shows, but other than that - it's completely useless!

“Ugh, even some cleaning magic would feel better to have, at least it'd be useful…”

Maybe I should've stayed under Mrs Waver's wing…

I slapped my cheeks.

What's done can't be undone. I'm the one who chose this path and I won't regret it.

I looked at one of the imaginary orbs of light floating around my horn.

*sigh*

Well, maybe I will regret it, just a little…

It makes me want to peek into Mountainhoof's notes, but as Miss Velvet said - I can't rely on them forever.

But… I can rely on my own experience, right?

I opened the 70th page of the notebook.

“Ah, sweet blank pages.”

I definitely should've been more diligent with my plan to make this part of the notebook my diary.

“Welp, better better late than never, right?”

. . .

A few hours later, I finished filling the pages with things that had happened to me recently. At least one that I could remember.

“Only a page and a half, huh?”

I probably shouldn't have written it all down so briefly, but meh, who cares.

I took a good stretch and quickly read through notes I had made.

“Mhm, mhm, I see.”

I closed the notebook and nodded.

“Still no clue what I'd use this new magic for.”

Maybe I could hide from the timberwolf if I covered myself in imaginary bushes, but they probably have a good sense of smell, so I doubt that would work either.

Just for fun, I “turned” myself into a bush.

“Ouch, bigger objects are much harder to"show "."

At least now I know how a green bush with an orange horn would look like.

“Yep, that thing totally wasn't supposed to stick out, still a long way to go.”

I'll also have to learn to somehow hide the light from my horn if I'm going to use that trick to hide from anything.

I could just imagine the surroundings and my horn without any light, but I feel like there should be an easier way.

That's another thing to add to my practice list. Seriously, why is there no magic way to just get better?

Maybe one of the Princesses will create such a spell one day.

On the other hoof then everypony will be good and there will be no fun in it anymore because everypony will be good so “good” will be “normal” which means that everypony will be normal which means…

I shook my head.

“Ugh, better stop here on that…”

Now I'm bored, tired, almost burned my horn again and it's only noon.

“Great.”

. . .

I spent the rest of the day cleaning the not-so-oftenly used corners of the bakery. Without magic.

“I almost missed that feeling of physical activity.”

Almost.

A few minutes after I had finished and washed my hooves of all that dust and dirt, I heard a knock at the door.

“Oh, that must be Tea.”

I lost track of time because cleaning by hoof takes so much longer than with magic.

“Hi Rettie! Are you feeling well? Do you recognise me?”

Another weird way to start a conversation, seems like somepony is worried about something again.

“Uh, hi, I'm fine, why?”

My horn doesn't burn anymore so it doesn't count, right?

I let her in as we continued that weird conversation.

“A couple ponies in the cafe today mentioned a strange disease in the neighbouring town! They said that several stallions there have ended up in hospital in the last few days with a severe fatigue, dehydration and memory loss! Can you believe it?!”

Wow, sounds serious, but…

“I mean, thanks for your concern, but it happened in a neighbouring town, and if I got it right that disease affects only stallions, and I'm, you know, sorta still a mare?”

“Oh.”

What does that “oh” is supposed to mean?!

“Right, ha-ha I'm, uh, just making sure! No pony knows what it is yet, right, ha-ha.”

“Yeaa…”

The bakery door opened again and Miss Velvet walked in.

She looked very happy, relaxed and… enlightened? Even her coat seemed to have lightened.

Or maybe I'm just seeing things again.

Teadrop immediately tried to save her face by asking Miss Velvet the same questions she'd just asked me a few seconds ago, although you could tell that Miss Velvet was more than fine.

“Hm, are you talking about Appleside? I've just come from my, let's say, relaxation trip there. Don't worry, these stallions will be more than fine in a week or two~.”

Why does she sound like she had something to do with it?!

“Oh, good then!”

And how did that answer satisfy you? Ah, never mind, I'm too tired to care…

“The bakery seems to be in better condition than when I left, well done Rettie. Now go and enjoy your walk with Tea. As for me, I have a lot of things to prepare~.”

“Uh, no problem!”

I can't say that I only cleaned this place out of boredom, can I?

Anyway, Miss Velvet seems to be up to something, so I better go out with Tea to get out of her way.

. . .

Although Miss Velvet assured Tea that the stallions would be fine, she was still acting weird.

Weirder than usual, I mean.

“Relax Tea, if even Miss Velvet says that stallions will be fine, then you have nothing to worry about!”

She tried to give me her usual warm smile, but it quickly faded.

Uh-oh, looks like it's really something serious this time.

“Hey, if there's something bothering you - you've got a talented unicorn by your side, who'll chase away all your problems with her awesome magic! Zap! Poof! Splash! And they are all gone!”

“Pft.”

“Hey! I know my magic sucks and all, but at least try not to laugh at it, I'm kinda trying my best here?!”

“Ahahaha!”

“Didn't I just ask you to at least try not to laugh?!”

It kinda hurts, but at least she doesn't look so sad anymore.

“I'm sorry, I'm sorry, okay? Pftt…”

Don't turn away when you say this!

“I'm not worried about the stallions, I mean, I am, but that's not what's bothering me right now…”

“Then what is it?”

“I-”

Her ears sunken again and she took a deep breath.

“I have to move in a couple of days.”

“Oh, cool! Where are we going?”

“I know it's awfully selfish of me, bu- Huh?”

“What's wrong?”

“Nonono, I mean, you're not going to stay here and continue learning from Miss Velvet?”

“Nay, I'm an adventurer, remember?”

I pressed my hoof to my chest.

Of course, only if you could call running a few kilometres away from timberwolf until finding a safe place to stay an “adventure”.

“Besides, Miss Velvet says she has nothing to teach me now anyway, so it shouldn't be a problem. Honestly, I'm getting bored of this place already, so I'd love to go with you! If you don't mind, of course.”

“No! I mean, of course I don't mind! I'm happy to hear that actually! Geez! It's so unfair, you know?! I was so stressed out all day, thinking about how to tell you about it, how to ask you to go with me, and all mentally prepared for all the possible answers you could give me and you just… just decided to go with me in less than a second!”

“Hey! How come it's my fault now?! Wasn't it you who-”

We jokingly argued a bit longer.

“Ugh, whatever, you haven't answered by the way, where are we going?”

“I still can't believe you just decided to go with me that easily!”

“Isn't it natural for friends to go to different places and support each other and all that sweet stuff?”

She giggled.

“Yeah, I guess so! Well, I'm- I mean, we're going to the Gemini's Talent Festival in Hoofingstone!”

“...Seriously?”

“What?”

“You were so worried and called it a “move” when you're just going to some stupid festival in a town a few hours away?”

“Hey, it's not just “some stupid festival”! It's Gemini's Talent Festival! It's one of the most famous festivals in all of Equestria! And I was worried because this year they're planning on running the festival longer than usual!”

Mhm. So famous that I've never even heard of it.

On the other hoof I haven't heard of so many things that everypony seems to know about that I wouldn't be surprised if it actually was famous.

"So, how long will it last this year?"

“A whole week!”

“Isn't that just a normal festival then?!”

“No, I mean yes, but hey! They usually only run it for three days, one day per pony kind! One for earthponies, one for pegasi and one for unicorns! But this year, in honour of the tercentenary of their festival, it's more than doubled! Although that's not very good news for me…”

“Huh? Why? Doesn't that mean you get to see twice as much cool stuff in there?”

“Well, it's because I'm kinda going there to participate, and I have to take first place this year… So it's twice as much rivalry, not fun…”

“Oh… Yeah, then it's bad news for you. Well, if something goes wrong, you can try again next time, can't you?”

Apparently my words weren't very supportive, because her ears sank again, even lower than before.

“There may not be a "next time", Rettie…”

She put her hoof to her left, purple eye and sighed heavily.

“Oh, come on! Don't tell me that this purple eye is caused by some kind of deadly curse or disease that can only be cured with something you can only win at this stupid festival! We're not in some dumb fantasy book for that!”

“How do you know?!”

“For Celestia's sake, Tea! You've got to be kidding me! And how long do you have to live before the curse kills you?”

It would really, really suck if I'll lose my first and only real friend in a week or so!

“Oh, no-no-no, I'm safe!”

Phew.

“...Or at least we think so.”

Gosh dang it!

“Can you stop scaring me like that?! Who is it for if not you?”

“Well, if I got part of this curse too, then it's not hard to guess that it's for somepony in my family, my Mom, to be exact...”

Well, now the situation sounds a bit better, but still absolutely horrible.

“I see. Aaaand, why can you only get it at this festival?”

“Because the flask of essence I'm after is a product of Gemini's family relic. And since it's related to that relic, they have to strictly follow their family's rules or the essence will simply fade away.”

“Let me guess, those rules don't allow them to just sell or give that essence away?”

“Mhm.”

“Neither you can buy it from the winner of the festival?”

“Well, it's technically allowed, but I don't think anypony who would gets the essence as a reward would ever sell it. My Mom has been trying to buy it for years, but no results.”

Well, that makes the situation sound a tiny little bit better, but not much.

“Then what about stealing it?”

“Rettie!”

“I'm sorry, I'm sorry, okay? I just don't really know what to say at moments like this and I just keep trying to come up with different ideas.”

“You don't have to! Just the fact that you're coming with me is more than enough support for me!”

Despite the situation, she actually looks pretty happy.

“I'm sure you will win this Tea! I'll go and warn Miss Velvet that I'll be leaving soon, if you don't mind!”

“Thanks, Rettie! I actually have to pack up, buy some things, collect some herbs and tell my boss that I'm leaving too!”

“Sounds like quite a hassle, how about we do some of that stuff together tomorrow?”

“Bet!”

. . .

“Mmm, leaving soon? Pretty sad, I expected you to help me with the next big order, but it can't be helped. Hope you enjoy your time there~.”

“So, you're just letting me go?”

“I can't hold you here, can't I?”

Wow, now I get what kind of disappointment Tea felt when I just said that I'll go with her without second thoughts.

“Well, fair enough, I guess. Then, any tips on further improving my magical abilities? I'm a bit worried since I won't have you around to point out my mistakes.”

“Nah, just relax and be yourself. Oh, and maybe sell your books, you won't need them anymore. Your element is special and your magic is what you believe it is, so you're pretty much the only one who knows how to use it the right way.”

“Sounds like cheap advice from some poorly written book.”

“Because it is.”

She pulled “Twilight's Fundamentals of Teaching. Volume One.” from her saddlebags.

“And why am I not surprised?”

Miss Velvet shrugged.

“Take this and sell it while you're at it, I don't need it anymore either.”

“Oh, okay, thanks, I suppose? Maybe there's something I can help you with while I'm here?”

I still feel kinda bad that I'm leaving when she's about to get a big order.

“Well, you could go to the warehouse and ask if they've prepared the stuff I ordered and bring it here if they have. Just tell Little Bo you're my assistant and he'll get it.”

“Oh, sounds doable, will be back in no time!”

. . .

I probably should’ve told Rettie to get a cart from the shed, but the warehouse should have some, so it's all right.

“Going to the Gemini's Talents Festival, hm?”

Haven't been for a while, but it might get interesting to see now ~.

“Might try to catch Ami somewhere, she can learn a trick or two there too.”

As well as helping me deliver all those baked goods, of course~.

. . .

“One hundred and twenty-four aaand one hundred and twenty-five, yep, all the flour sacks Velvet ordered are here, along with the rest of the ingredients!”

I stood in front of the whole mountain of sacks of flour, fruit, berries, spices, oils and Celestia's flanks know what else.

Yet even compared to that mountain of stuff I couldn't call Bo “Little”!

“Gotta say that it's very sweet of you to help Velvet with all that stuff, it would take ages for a single earthpony to get it all to her bakery, but you unicorns can grab bunch of stuff at once, so it shouldn't be too much of a problem even for a young unicorn like you, ha-ha!”

“Uh, yeaah, sure, but, isn't there some kind of cart or something?”

“Well, there were two, but they were both torn down by the timberwolves, thankfully Velvet got somepony to take care of them!”

“Ha-ha, riiiight. I see...”

“Welp, I'd love to talk for a bit longer, but I've still got a bunch of stuff to unload and sort from tonight's delivery, so good luck!”

“Thanks, you too!”

With that “Little” Bo closed the door.

“Welp, let's see. It's eight pm. It takes about seven minutes to get here and back. I think I can grab about four bags, and there's about two hundred and eighty of them. So it's seventy rounds, which will take four hundred and ninety minutes, or about eight hours. For Celestia's sake, I don't want to be doing this until four in the morning!”

Okay, so if I want to finish before midnight, I just have to grab about eight to ten bags at a time. Only twice as many as I think I can carry. Ha-ha what could go wrong?

I took a deep breath and started taking the bags one by one.

“...four…”

Hey they're not as heavy as they look!

“...eight…”

I think I can manage a couple more.

“...sixteen?! Okay, what in Equestria is going on? Shouldn't it weigh like, I don't know, a bookshelf or something?”

I grabbed ten more bags.

“Oh, okay, now it feels heavy.”

It makes me kinda dizzy so I stopped at twenty bags at a time and went to the bakery.

“Five times more than I expected, not bad at all!”

It should weigh about ninety kilos, shouldn't it? That's quite a weight!

Why couldn't I levitate that big piece of rock in the backyard then?

I put the four sacks together in one magic field and immediately got an answer.

“Ouch. Stuff feels a lot heavier when you hold it in one field, noted.”

Well, it should only take fourteen rounds now, so it shouldn't take more than a couple of hours.

…Unless I burn my horn again somewhere along the way. Again.

. . .

An hour and a half later I brought the last batch of sacks to the bakery.

“Miss Velvet, I'm done! All the bags are in the kitchen!”

It's gonna be a bit cramped in there now, but I couldn't think of anywhere else to put it all.

Finally I can cool my horn in water and get some sleep.

“Oh, Rettie, darling, I didn't order these berries, would you mind taking them back to Little Po while he's not closed? We don't want any misunderstandings!”

…You've gotta be kidding me…

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[ProgAltRocker]

On to the next adventure! Pity Rettie gets a little extra time dealing with Miss Velvet