House of the Rising Sun

Today's client had been a real sweetheart, but I was glad to be off the clock. I gave her one last wave goodbye, then stepped back inside to clean up the bedroom.

After bagging the linens and setting them out for laundry, I sprayed everything with the mite stuff the pest control pony had given me. Turns out I should have been doing that all along, but no one thought to tell me. He also sprayed the whole apartment down for good measure while catching me up on things they taught ponies in kindergarten.

A quick shower later and I was dressed and heading out the door.

“Hey, Shane,” Strawberry called to me as I neared the House’s café. With quick steps he left the table he’d been sitting at. “Ready to go?” Not waiting for an answer, Strawberry tilted his head and led the way.

Following behind him, I stayed quiet for a moment, waiting for the prickly energy to fade from him. I’d lived around horses most my life, I knew what a spooked pony looked like. After about a block he began to relax back to the grumpy nocturne I was used to.

“You okay, man?”

Strawberry looked back at me. His confused scowl faded to a sheepish grin. “Yeah. Just a little uncomfortable back there. Too many mares looking at me like I’m meat.”

Huh... hadn’t expected that. “Yeah, they can be a little needy. At least one didn’t nip at your butt.”

A laugh escaped Strawberry. “That would have sent me flying right out of there.”

I laughed along with him, then thought for a moment. “You know, I’ve never actually seen you fly.”

Strawberry stared at me, then unfurled his wings. With a flap he jumped into the air, hovered a moment, then landed. “Tada...”

I shook my head with a grin. “If I had wings and could sleep on clouds, I don’t think my feet would ever touch the ground again.”

“I know some pegasi like that.” Strawberry turned a corner and began leading towards the winding trails that lead up the mountain. “I like weight on my hooves, though.” He touched the edge of someone’s flower bed as he passed it. “Nothing like being cannon deep in rich soil.”

We walked in silence as the steep trail narrowed. The homes we passed were more often flown to than walked. It wasn’t a dangerous path, but I still felt compelled to watch my step.

“Here we are,” Strawberry said sooner than I expected. We’d stopped in front of a natural opening in the mountain. Calling it a cave was a bit wrong though. Polished wood floored the entrance, and where it narrowed, a door of glass was framed by intricate stone work.

“Fancy...”

I followed Strawberry up to the door. He knocked once, then opened it. “Night shift is probably still sleeping,” Strawberry whispered back to me.

I expected to walk into a mine shaft, but instead stepped into something closer to a hobbit’s greeting room. A couple of nocturne nodded a quiet greeting to us. They looked to be winding down or just waking up. Lounging around a little table, they were nibbling on some fruit while reading the paper.

“This is cozy,” I whispered. A short hallway led into a huge, dimly lit space; a living room of sorts, though with a barrack’s feel. Some scattered toys spoke of children living here though.

As we passed through the room, I began to realize what I had taken as a pile of laundry in the corner was actually a dozen ponies sleeping in a lump. Looking around again, I noticed more piles of sleeping ponies in the darker parts of the room. With a little blood and a sprinkling of flies, it would be easy to confuse for a pile of corpses; even the walking dead, if I really wanted to stretch it.

I was a little unnerved, to say the least. Instincts told me I should not be here and most definitely should not wake the sleeping creatures.

“Don’t worry,” Strawberry whispered up to me. “They’re used to ponies walking though the sleeping room.”

I nodded, but made an extra effort to be quiet.

The eerie silence passed as we went through a curtain. Music and voices murmured through a heavy door at the end of a long hallway.

“Wow...” I flinched stepping back out into the sunlight. As my eyes adjusted, I found myself at the back of an amphitheater. Or at least it had been one at some point. The great crescent carved into the mountain now took the role of a backyard. “This used to be a theater,” I said, stating the obvious.

Strawberry nodded. “The princess gave it to the nocturne after the new one was built.”

I looked to the massive stage, then to the endless sky behind it. “Kinda sad I missed seeing a play here.” I’d taken a couple clients to the new theater, ‘new’ being relative to Canterlot; I’m pretty sure it was at least a hundred. It was a nice place, something like how I imagined an old opera house.

“We clean it up twice a year,” a new, feminine voice said. “Invite ponies in for a Nightmare Night and Hearth's Warming play.”

I didn’t exactly recognize the nocturne. Her mark was familiar, but I couldn’t remember talking to her.

“I’m Jasmine Breeze,” she said with a little bow.

I returned the nod. “Shane.”

I noticed her smile grow a bit as she looked to Strawberry. “The fish is on the way, but the beer is already cold. You and your friend want one?”

“Sure,” Strawberry answered.

There was definitely more sway in Jasmine’s hips than necessary as we followed her to the more crowded side of the amphitheater. It wasn’t for my benefit, but I couldn’t help but watch. Strawberry seemed oblivious though.

Up on the stage a few more nocturne greeted us. A pony I recognized as a night guard struck up a conversation with Strawberry while I followed my nose to the familiar scent of hot oil.

Off to one side I found a few ponies watching over the frier, a table set up neatly beside them with bowls of flouring and trays to let the fish cool. I was just about to go get one of those beers when a mare and a stallion landed with a basket of dressed fish.

“Can I help?” I asked.

A stallion with a ladle for a cutie mark gave me a curious look. “You done this before?”

I grinned. “Lots.”

With a nod, the cook invited me behind the table. “Then help Moonshadow with the breading.”

Moonshadow and I quietly settled into breading the fish while the cook dropped the prepared fish into the grease and another got the plates ready. It was a good little assembly line. I couldn’t help but smile, the sounds and smells taking me back home. Fish Fry had alway been my favorite time of year: the food, the rodeo, and the fair rides.

“How’s that flying machine coming?” Moonshadow asked.

I blinked. “Umm... Good.”

He laughed. “I helped get it out of the rigging. It’s a pretty interesting machine. My uncle works at the airship yard too. He said you came by and bought some fabric for it.”

“Oh,” I gave him a genuine smile. “Thank you for saving Baron.” I flowered the fish in my hand, then got another one. “And yeah, that fabric is great. I think I’ll have him flying again soon.”

We chatted between ourselves and the ponies that came up to grab a plate as the fish started coming out of the oil. Strawberry brought me a beer and hung around to join the conversation after a bit.

Across the room I noticed Jasmine talking with a few other mares. They seemed to be having a good time with their own food and drink.

I elbowed Strawberry “You should go flirt with Jasmine.”

Strawberry looked at me like I was stupid, then shook his head. “No...”

“Oh? She’s in a relationship already? I got a single vibe off her.”

“Nope.” Moonshadow took a sip of his beer. “She’s single. Was in a small herd, they didn’t follow her when she got transferred from New Pegasus.”

“See!” I grinned at Strawberry and nudged him again. “Single, new to town. Go for it.”

He moved a few steps at my push, but didn’t go any further. “She’s out of my league. We wouldn’t have anything to talk about anyway.”

“Fine,” I sighed. “You finish this then,” I said, pushing what few fish I had left towards Strawberry.

I washed my hands in a bucket of water that had been brought out for just that, then walked towards the group of mares. Behind me, I could see worry on Strawberry’s face and a smirk on Moonshadow’s.

I waved as Jasmine and her friends noticed my approach. “Having-”

Fun, was going to be the next word out of my mouth, but instead it was a mix of gibberish and cursing as something tangled my legs.

As I fell, a whimper distracted me from my own plight. The thing tangling my feet was a foal. With no grace what-so-ever I managed not to land on the little guy as I fell.

“Enbarr!” Jasmine scolded the colt. “Be more careful!”

With fearful eyes, the colt looked first to Jasmine, then me.

“You okay?” I asked, waving to Jasmine that I was fine.

He nodded, but winced when he put weight on his back leg.

I’d probably kicked him pretty hard. “Come here.” I sat down and patted the ground in front of me. “Let me check that.”

He started to step towards me, but paused. I was strange enough that he waited for another adult to give him a nod of approval. When Jasmine did, he limped a step closer to me.

I picked him up with one hand. Holding him like I would a cat, I made sure nothing was broken. “How old are you?” I asked to distract him.

“Four,” he answered. Deciding that I wasn’t a threat, he twisted his head to better see Jasmine. “I was almost flying, Sis!” he cheered. “I could feel my hooves getting lighter.”

He seemed to only have a small bruise, so I sat him back on his hooves. “Still learning to fly?”

Enbarr nodded with a grin.

I couldn’t help but mirror his smile. “I miss flying. Hopefully we’ll both be in the air soon.”

The little colt tilted his head in confusion. “You can fly too?”

“Sort of.” I scruffed Enbarr’s mane and patted his withers before standing. “Your brother?” I asked Jasmine.

She nodded. We both smiled as Enbarr spread his wings and began to run around again, pretending he was flying.

“Anyways.” I collected my thoughts back to my original task of playing wingman for Strawberry. “I was curious. What’s your mark for?”

Jasmine leveled a glare at me. “I grow night flowers, why?”

I had the distinct impression I was treading close to a touchy subject. “Oh, cool.” I pointed across the room to Strawberry who was the very image of deer-in-the-headlight. “My friend planted some pumpkins for me. They’re flowering right now, really pretty.”

Surprise washed over Jasmine. “His mark is in gardening?”

“What else would a patch of vines be for?” I didn’t give her time to answer. “You two should trade notes. I know he was having trouble with the moonflowers he just planted around his mailbox,” I said, motioning her to follow me.

“Oh?” Jasmine started rambling something about potash as we walked. I nodded but really didn’t follow her. Around us, Enbarr trotted with his wings out wide, tilting his whole body as he turned circles. “Hey, Strawberry,” I called as we came back to the buffet table. “Jasmine here knows what’s wrong with those poor flowers you left to die by the road.”

Before Strawberry could stammer out a protest, I caught Enbarr’s attention. “You want an airplane ride?”

“What’s that!?” he asked excitedly, pausing his pretend flight.

I picked the little colt up with one hand and held him like an oversized paper plane. He caught on immediately and grinned ear to ear. Leaving Jasmine and Strawberry to talk, I noticed Moonshadow had migrated to a group of stallions not far away.

With Enbarr held over my head, I jogged over to the other guys. He giggled as I “flew” him up and down. He flapped his wings chaotically at first, but quickly found a smooth rhythm. Halfway there, his wings began to grab the air and I could feel him getting lighter in my hand.

Slowly, I pushed the colt up, then pulled my hand away.

He didn’t even notice. Still giggling, he flew right past Moonshadow.

“Hey, Enbarr!” I called out to him. “You’re flying.”

The colt looked back at me wide-eyed, a grin spread ear to ear. Unfortunately, the motion had thrown him completely off balance. Luck was on the colt’s side though, one of the stallions had already moved to catch him as he began to tumble.

“I did it! I was flying!” he cheered the moment his hooves were back on the ground, not phased in the least by the fall.

The stallion that had caught him smiled and patted Enbarr. “Good job. Now you just need to get a bit of practice.”

Moonshadow nodded, then looked back to me. “Hey! You’re pretty good with foals. I’m surprised a mare hasn’t moved you in yet.”

A nervous laugh escaped me. “Yeah... Maybe someday, I don’t know.” The smell of food roused a grumble from my stomach. “Right now though, let’s eat.”

“One step ahead of you,” Jasmine said behind me. I turned to see her and Strawberry with several plates and enough beer to go around.

“Oh, thanks!” I took a few extra plates and bottles off their backs and helped them over to the nearest table.

The fish was good, and the hushpuppies were amazing. If I closed my eyes, I could imagine myself back home.

“You okay?” Moonshadow asked.

“Yeah. Just... My home town, we threw a big fish fry every year. Thousands of people would come. They even let the kids out of school for the day.”

“Sounds impressive.”

I shrugged. “It was fun.”

At the other end of the table, Jasmine held Strawberry’s full attention as she talked about flowers. I needed a change of topic, so I ran with it. “They seem to be hitting it off.”

Moonshadow nodded as he chewed.

An odd question popped into my head as I watched the two flirt. “So... Do nocturne always have nocturne foals, or is it a fifty-fifty chance?”

“Depends,” Moonshadow answered. “Normally, the mother’s tribe will breed true, but a pegasus will sometimes foal a nocturne. I think that’s where Strawberry came from.”

“Huh. What about with non-ponies? Do hippogriffs exist?”

“I’ve met a few back when I traveled more. Couldn’t tell you how that works, though.” Moonshadow studied me for a moment. “I’ll be interested to see what you end up siring. Hopefully it’ll look better than a minotaur.”

I picked at my food for a moment, then shrugged. “As long as it’s healthy.”

Was I actually talking about this? About what my future child would look like. I guess it was inevitable. Eventually I was going to get a client pregnant: accidentally or not. Was I okay with that?

Across the table, Enbarr finished his meal. He noticed I wasn’t eating either, and smiled. “Can we play airplane again?” he asked, fluttering his tiny wings.

I returned the smile. “You bet.”