One Step at a Time

by -Wolf-

Move out/Move in

Author's Note:

Thanks for taking your time out of the day to click on my story. Updates won't be fast sadly. Got stuff going on behind the scenes, but I'm hoping that I will find the time to write again. I'm not planning on making this a full blown story, probably only three chapters and then I'll move on to other stories that I have planned.

Sorry if there is any grammar mistakes. It's kind of late and I'm tired so I'll fix those when I have the time.

Enjoy!

The rhythmic sound of liquid pattering on the ground reverberated through the air as your plants drank the life giving water it needed from the watering can. You hummed a small tune as you washed over the roses and then over to the daises, swinging the can from left to right in a concentrated motion. The ground underneath was already becoming a little muddy from the excess water, leaving a smushing sound every time you walk across the dirt.

"Just a little more... aaaannnndddd, there."

The downpour of water slowed to a small trickle as you pulled back and admired your garden patch that you've been slowly building up for the past couple months. You weren't a perfectionist by heart; you can give or take on most things, but the way the daisies rose over the roses, didn't look too appealing. While this sort of activity wasn't exactly your forte, the lack of technology and other job-related opportunities has caused you to pick up a couple hobbies to pass the time. Not dying from boredom in this rainbow-filled land was difficult enough as it is; it was the fact that being in a rainbow-filled land was the cause of said boredom.

Who knew being whisked away to a fantasy world can be this boring. Isn't this every kids dream?

You shrugged away the dull thoughts and focused on your plants. With the summer sun shining brighter than ever, making sure your plants get the water they need was a top priority.

"Hmm, you need a little more—w-woah!"

The watering can in your hand was unceremoniously dropped when a strong pair of arms wrapped around you from behind, heaving you up into the air in the process. A familiar muzzle pushed into your sweaty hair before letting out a big ol' sniff, taking in your scent with gusto. Any person would've panicked if they found themselves dangling a good foot off the ground—that is, if you weren't already used to this.

"H-Honey, I'm a little sweaty, at least let me get a shower first."

The answer you were given was another deep sniff into your scalp, "*Sniff... Your smell isn't foul my king..."

You blushed at the nickname, raising a singular arm to reach behind and give those fuzzy ears a good scritch. The large figure didn't object as she leaned into your hand, sighing as her grip slowly loosened. Once your feet found purchase on the ground, you turned around to inspect your sneaky lover.

By looks alone, some might call you crazy, mad, or even deranged for even daring to call this pony your lover, but you didn't care.

Yea... you're dating a pony. A unicorn at that... Crazy...

Your love stood a solid foot above you—not putting her horn into account—causing you to crank your head back whenever you wanted to speak with her. While it wasn't too big of an issue, it has caused you to become the brunt of some jokes by your marefriend, when you accidentally wander into her chest when you're not paying attention. Hell, her biceps are probably half the size of your head, makes sense if she used to be the leader and queen of an entire empire.

Damn, you're getting off track here.

Shaking your now blushing face, you forced your eyes away from her muscles and... chest area, and looked up to the grinning features of the unicorn standing before you.

"Getting a little lost there my love? It has been a while since our romp in the bedroom."

"When you mean 'a little while,' you mean last week, right? I dealt with your heat already, my hips still aches you know..." The blush that was on your face burned out, but began anew when the memories of what happened in the bedroom started to reemerge. "You're not... staring up again... are you? Is that even possible...?"

Now it was her turn to blush, "No... but I can use my magic to speed up—"

"—I'm good, I'm good." Your bruised hips will thank you later.

She tilted her head before shrugging, "Are you done now Anon? We still have to move all my stuff to your abode."

Wiping the sweat from your forehead, you gave an exasperated sigh, "I still don't understand why we don't just hire some unicorns to use their magic for us." You then raised your arms in a sarcastic manner, "Orrrr, somepony may perhaps have some magic of her own. The dark magic kind, but I'm not sure where I'd find one... Do you know anypony of some kind, my love?" To top off your little display, you placed a hand under your chin, giving the best "thinking" face you could muster up.

To say the unicorn was unimpressed is an understatement. She crossed her arms and looked down at you. "Well, on the contrary, Anon. I'm not allowed to show public displays of dark magic whatsoever—"

"—You're just moving boxes—"

"—AND, I can't be seen in public without my magic dampener—"

"—You hate that thing!—"

"—ALSO, we mustn't use our bits on mundane things, such as moving and packing unicorns."

Jeez, the sass on this woman. You rolled your eyes and picked up the watering can, which was already empty at this point. "Whatever am I going to do with you, Umbra..."

"Nothing from what I can see."

With your free arm, you wrapped around the tall pony waist and reached up to give her a small peck on the cheek. "To be honest, I'm glad the universe spat me out to these lands; otherwise... I would've never met you." Leaning your head onto her arm, you both made the short trek back to your house.

Umbra took advantage of the closeness and returned the kiss to your head. "My return here to Equestria may have been for... other purposes. But I won't deny that my time with you has been the best of my entire 1000 years of living."

"You don't look a day over 1000 my queen."

She gave you a snort in response.

With the backdoor in view, you quickly shook off any dirt that was stuck to your gardening shoes and laid the watering can right next to the steps leading up to your house. With a quick swipe on the doormat, you both were inside.

"I'm going to take a shower now. Once done, we can go to your house and bring your stuff in." You turn to her and awaited a response, only for her to tilt her head and frown a little. "...What?" No, not again...

"You know what I'm going to say," She crossed her arms.

"Come ooonnnnnn, I need my shower, I feel dirty."

This was and still is a consistent argument you both have. It's so stupid that you can't help but dread when she sees you go into the bathroom at any time of the day.

She likes your scent. A lot.

"Marking your stallion" plays a big part in relationships for ponies. The mare would usually leave their scent all over their stallion to "mark" their lover—this is usually done by cuddling or rubbing their fur on your body—basically telling any other mare "fuck off, he's taken" without actually having to be there. When you wash yourself, your basically ridding all the hard work that your mate has put in and they have to start from square one, leading to more cuddling sessions—you didn't mind of course. When you both officially became a couple, she was aaaallll over you. Literally.

Snuggling in bed? She's basically crushing you with her body.

Walking in public? She rubs your head with hers and growls at any other mare who gets too close.

Even going to the marketplace was a problem. That poor worker... But hey, you love her and she loves you back, that's all that matters.

That being said, you never understood her clinginess. When you first got here and met her, she was a... loner, to say the least. Always staying away from the big crowds, never attending parties, that kind of stuff. The first time you attempted to start up a conversation, you were mostly given one word responses before she just walked away. Of course, once Twilight explained who she was and what she did, you kept your distance, but there was that nagging feeling that something wasn't right.

She was like you.

Not the whole taking over Ponyville and brainwashing the citizens thing, nothing like that; it was the fact that both of you didn't fit in with the crowd.

A human who was thrown halfway across the universe for some unknown reason, and an ex-queen who is now serving time in the very place she wanted to take over. Twilight's reasoning behind her stationing in Ponyville was that she hoped Umbra could learn the values of friendship in the same place where she learned them.

But it's hard to make friends when the entire populace avoids you like the plague.

Luckily you weren't shown the same treatment. Ponies were wary, but with some parties from Pinkie and a couple of good deeds, you got on the nice side of mostly every pony in the town. Same couldn't be said for Umbra.

Maybe that's where her clinginess comes from? She must be touch-starved from all the negative reactions she has been getting from the public eye... or maybe this is what she wanted all along...

Theorizing can wait, you really needed to get clean.

"Soooooo, shower?"

"...No. You smell fine."

"Well... my house, my rules-w-wait I was j-joking!"

You had the unpleasant feeling of being lifted up in the air again just as she started to turn for the door, "C-Come on Umbra! I'm not a baby, put me down!"

"No."

Uuugghhhh.

---

"Didn't know you had so much stuff..."

The walk to Umbra's house didn't take too long, probably five minutes. The once filled living room was now covered in various boxes of different sizes. To your surprise, there was a lot more than you were expecting. You've been to her house from time-to-time, but you never actually took the chance to look around thoroughly and see how many knick-knacks she really had.

"My lifestyle is not a minimalist one. I had some of my goods transported from the... Crystal Empire." Her eyes go distant as soon as she mentioned the empire she once ruled, something you always tried to not bring up.

Alright, change the subject...

"I-um-uhhh, what is this?" You grabbed a random black crystal that sat on one of the many boxes. It was perfectly shaped in a flower that shined in the light when you turned it. "Is this a... angelonia?"

Her disconnection was broken when you mentioned the dark crystal flower. Her eyes widen for a moment before she reached for the shiny crystalline. "No, it's a black petunia... My favorite." Oh? I didn't know she liked flowers.

"O-Oh! Why didn't you tell me petunias were your favorite? I could see if Roseluck has any."

She shook her head, "No. Black petunias require special care. The specific climate needed are difficult to maintain for such a plant, especially in Ponyville. They can't be naturally grown by seeds."

Noticing the confusion on your face, she started to give you the rundown of how such plants are grown, giving you details of how they needed to be made by "cuttings." Suffice to say, she knew more about flowers than you do... and you're a gardener now!

Need to talk to Rose about this. At least she's not thinking about the Crystal Empire anymore.

You now had a goal set in mind, "Hmm, I'll see what I can do Umbra."

The next couple of minutes consisted of laborious and strenuous effort on your part. You weren't the fittest person in the world, with a more lean build compared to your marefriend's muscular stature. Your new strictly vegan diet—with fish on certain occasions—removed any lingering fat that was left on your body, giving you that, "new year, new me" look that you never thought you would have if you were still living on Earth. Although your time in the apple fields with Applejack and Big Mac are slowly building up your muscles.

Who knows? Maybe you will get as strong as Umbra one day... yea no.

Wonder what this box is filled wit—

BANG CRASH

"OW, motherf... ouch." You held your curse in and inspected your big toe that just crashed into the doorway. "Terrible day to wear flip-flops... and I dropped the box." The contents of the package were thankfully not anything fragile, just a couple of books and a picture frame.

Picture frame?

"Picture frame?"

The small brown frame stuck out to you like a sore thumb, you can't really recall if Umbra ever hung any photos, she isn't the memorabilia type. Unless this is... "It can't be..." The picture in question held a moment that you will cherish for the rest of your life.

The very first kiss you and Umbra had under the moonlight.

Although you were peeved that Rarity ruined the moment by sneaking a picture without consulting you or Umbra, but you can at least thank her for the fond memory that you can look back on in years to come.

Umbra was just now coming back from the wagon from the corner of your eye, so with a turn of your head, you smiled.

Man, how'd I get so lucky...

Comments

[nicemare]

Liking the story looking forward to more

[LoserkidUwU]

Im lovin it, absolutly glorious.

[LeontheDragon42]

In the words of TF2's the Heavy, "Hmph, Good stuff." Keep it up! It's amazing!