• Published 26th Mar 2013
  • 2,873 Views, 149 Comments

Blossoming: Learning How To Fly - nanashi_jones



I woke up as Blossomforth. Then, my life got really weird.

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Because Friends Talk About It Even When You Haven't

Dustin came over while I was watching Jess beat a cloud into shape.

“Wow,” he said. “I thought you gave me diabetes before.”

I laughed and flapped over to give him a hug. Dustin was one of those guys you only hear about through the convention circuit or local party scene. A former military grunt who used to “monitor the poop truck in Dirtistan,” he returned to the states several years back and earned the nickname “Boozepack” for his camel back filled with liquor. He was average height with tanned skin, a thickening middle and sandy hair that only kept its temper under a fierce and vigilant comb, but I’d never met anyone with a mad grin or a warm heart to match him.

He laughed again in the embrace. “This is the most messedest up thing I ever did do. And it’s a pretty good hug.”

“Well, as a pony, it’s a universal speciality,” I said, moving so Jess could float over to hug him too.

“Hey Dustin,” Jess said.

“Oh man, double rainbow diabetes!” he crowed. “C’mere girl.”

Inside I could hear Phouka losing her mind. Yips, growls and plaintive barks came demanding the new person reveal herself so Phouka could deem them friend or foe.

Dustin glanced at the door and my activities.

“So... How’s...”

I held up a hoof and floated over, opening the door. Phouka was at her panic spot right near the front, her whole back half wagging with her tail, while her hackles, which I’d nicknamed “the hedgehog” were at full attention.

“Easy, spaz, eeeeeasy,” I said.

Phouka’s tail slowed its wag, but the hedgehog remained in place. She made a low growl at Dustin. Who she didn’t remember. Even though he visited about twice a month.

Dustin came down the stairs, appraising Jess. “I’m gonna miss the red head, but hey! Wings! You can totally divebomb things now.”

Jess rolled her eyes, a forehoof going to her triskel pendant necklace. After I showed her to the cloud shower I used, she put it on with a rather somber look. I hadn’t commented. I was in a cap, necklace and hoofband. We held onto ourselves however we could.

“Get in and sit on the couch so she can stop freaking out,” Jess said.

Phouka accented the point with a yip-growl. Yes, that’s what it is. No, it doesn’t make any more sense in real life.

“Yeah, doggy-face. Can’t have you chewin’ off my face if you gonna crash at my man pad.”

Dustin ambled in and Phouka danced out of his way, growling.

Jess looked over at me.

“You want to...”

“Why don’t you let me check over your cloud,” I said. Then quickly added, “Not that I think you’re doing it wrong! I just- Um. Well. Blossom’s curious to see how Cloud Kicker’s special talent translates to wild Earth clouds.”

Jess nodded her understanding and looked at what she’d been working on for the last hour.

“It’s different. Wild clouds are sturdier in some ways, and Earth’s never known a pegasus’s touch, so these are extra resistant. I’m having to go back to basics and rebuild from the water crystal layer up. And on top of that, it’s supposed to be complex and long-lasting. So it’s a real job.”

Jess blinked. “I... Just realized I didn’t know that before. That happen often?”

“I know how to take apart a steam engine now,” I said, flapping over to examine Jess’s hoofwork. Looking back to her, I added with a warm smile, “It’s okay. You get used to it.”

She nodded. “I’ll get Dustin set up then, and we can get on our way.”

I waved my hoof at her and returned to letting Blossom run a practiced eye over the cumulus congestus that would be the sustaining form we needed it to be.

Whether Cloud Kicker had been helping or not, her touch was in the formation, but I could see Jess’s attention to detail that only bolstered Cloud’s natural talent.

They complement each other, Blossom thought. Cloud’s good, but she sometimes misses little things. Jess does a much better job of checking her work. She reached out with my hoof to poke at it.

Okay, weird. We must be merging more than I thought.

She caught my sudden worry. Sorry, she cringed. I was just cloud-checking. I’ve done it before and-

Muscle memory, I thought with a dismissive mental wave. No worries.

Leaning down like I knew what I was looking at in the fluffy layers, I thought, It’s solid work?

Blossom nodded mentally. Yep. It’ll do the job.

Rockin’.

Dustin came out then, loaded with a dog food bin, two dishes and a bone. Phouka danced about him on the edge of her lead. She licked his leg then came to me.

Oh man, that reminds me- our dog licks. Everything. I mentioned the wake-up lick she gave me, but she also licked me while I was making tea in the kitchen. Then there was the idle licking of the loveseat pillow while I was teaching Jess how to walk. And then she would occasionally lick us during the day, just because.

Sorry I left that out. It’s kind of character telling about our dog and- piff, here I am, leaving it out. Just... Insert the line from Kiss Kiss Bang Bang about being a bad narrator.

Anywho, when she came up to me, I moved the cloud up out of her reach and made sure it anchored there. The cloud, which I was going to call, Suzy, was going to be our trunk for the trip, keeping our stuff dry and out of reach of 99% of things out there and we didn’t need the dog breaking it up after all Jess and Cloud’s hard work.

I floated back down and she licked my left foreleg, giving me the Big Eyes. I petted her softly, soothing.

“Now you be good for Dustin,” I said warmly.

She looked at me and whined.

“I know, I know, but Mommies have to take a trip. Look at the bright side- no Marley.”

Marley was Jess’s sister’s boyfriend’s dog. He was a big bully who ate Phouka’s food and whenever we left Phouka with Jess’s sister for the weekend or whatever, she always came back shaky and a bit hungry. I was glad Dustin was looking for company. Phouka would get the calm attention she needed.

Phouka seemed to accept that she wouldn’t have to tolerate the Jerk-man Shephard, but she still whined and licked my face, which I smiled and hugged her over. She may be the worst at being a dog, but she’s the best dog I know.

Walking back to Dustin and Jess, I could hear Jess going over the list she made for Dustin.

“So, no questions or anything?”

“Nah,” Dustin said, pocketing the instructions. “I gots it.”

He looked between us, a curiosity blooming on his face.

“Were your ponies dating before?”

“Celestia, no!” Blossomforth said.

I blinked. That was... Emphatic. And even weirder than the hoof thing. I mean, I know that sometimes I shoot my mouth without thinking, but that was a whole nother level.

Jess looked at me, concern creasing her brow.

“Um,” I said. “That... Was Blossomforth, so I’m going with a no.”

“She and Cloud are close friends, but not lovers,” Jess explained.

I worked my jaw up and down and mentally shot a questioning look at Blossom, who only shrugged.

“And now they got you two in lesbians with each other.” He arched his eyebrow. “Pony lovin’ workin’ out for ya?”

Dustin, in addition to being a geek legend in his own time, is also almost That Guy. He specializes in it. However, he has an instinctive knowledge and practice of habit so he knows exactly where the line is, and how to dance on it. He gives a class at various conventions on how to avoid being That Guy and often points to himself as being a prime example.

“You guys know what I get up to and I am never in trouble with security, the cops or especially who I’m with. Don’t be That Guy!” he’d always say.

And it was true enough now because I didn’t see his inner pervert raising its head- just his child-like curiosity.

So I answered to the base curiosity.

“We haven’t got there,” I said, shrugging, my tone indicating our sex life was not for his perusal, ponies or otherwise.

He glanced between us and shrugged dramatically with a crooked smile.

“Welp! I gots nothin! Wear pony condoms,” he said and we laughed, letting the tension fade.

Bidding him and Phouka a fond farewell, we assured him that he could join our Facebook group even though he wasn’t into “Sugar Rainbow Diabetes Creatures.” We liked allies, after all.

“Gotta keep my eye on you guys,” he said before he rolled up his window and waved goodbye.

As we waved goodbye, Jess said out of the corner of her mouth, “Sometimes, I want to strangle him.”

“It was a regular question for him, dear,” I replied out of the corner of my mouth.

When he was out of sight, we winged it back to our apartment.

“Yes, it was a normal Dustin question, but he didn’t need to ask it like that.” I noted her scowl and the way her feathers were ruffled. Wow, it really does happen.

Shrugging, I floated to the table that had our supplies and finished loading them into the supply bag.

“I’m comfortable with the subject,” I said as neutrally as I could. “Besides, if anybody we knew was going to blind ask about it, I’d figure it was Dustin.”

“Yes,” Jess hissed. “But it’s-”

She paused and her gaze got distant. So that’s what it looked like on the outside. Her expression fell and she put a hoof to her face.

“Cloud... No. Just... No.”

I chuckled.

What? Blossomforth worried. What did Cloud say?

I think that’s between Cloud and Jess, I replied.

I zipped up the supplies bag with my teeth.

Jess floated closer to me and chucked my chin up so I was looking at her.

“Hey. I love you, you know that?”

I nodded, blushing.

“And I really care about you. So I want to make you comfortable. Both of you.”

Blossomforth added to my own blush and I bashfully looked down.

“I know you always have my back,” I said and leaned in to hug her.

We held one another. Then I felt Jess’s hoof drift down.

“Cloud,” I said flatly. “Stop it.”

The hoof jerked right back up. When we parted, Jess was blushing, embarrassed.

“I’m sorry, I-”

“Have a very loose pony in your head. I’d recommend a boundaries discussion.” I tapped my hoof to my chin. “Let’s play it like the first few months.”

Jess nodded. “That makes sense.”

Sex was... Is complicated for me. So, as a way to make sure I was always comfortable when we were first getting used to each other, Jess made it clear that she’d always be affectionate, but anything more serious I had to start so she’d know it was okay. It wasn’t a perfect system by any means, but it gave me enough room to ease into her (no pun intended) and let me be honest.

Jess’s expression shifted into one of genuine apology and in a not-very-Jess tone said, “Sorry. That was out of line... I’ll watch it in the future.”

Her face resettled and Jess had what I imagined was the same bemused expression I possessed after Blossomforth grabbed the mic from my hands. So to speak.

“Thanks, Cloud,” I said, smiling.

“That was so weird,” Jess replied. And her hoof drifted to her triskel absentmindedly.

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