Timeless Rulers

The skies over Ponyville were clear with Celestia's sun filling the land with just the wright amount of heat. Perfect weather for a nice relaxing flight. A fact that most of the native Pegesi took full advantage of as well as a certain red Alicorn. Being an Earth Pony prior to his ascension, Heavy Burden didn't fly as often as the rest of his new kin if he could avoid it. However, his Pegasus traits and instincts made staying grounded consistently difficult. Normally he could alleviate his unwanted urges by hovering for a few minutes, but some times his wings demanded more. It was because of this that he found himself soaring several thousand feet above Ponyville, trying desperately not to look down.

Six hundred years and I still can't stand this, he thought with a sigh.

In an attempt to get his mind off of his predicament he thought about his forge back home. The smell of melted metal and ash. The sound of hard iron slamming into heated steel. The feeling of flames and shards of displaced alloys flying into his coat. All of it calmed his nerves as he continued to gently glide through the sky. He closed his eyes to further immerse himself in his musings, a move that allowed him to somewhat enjoy his arial jaunt.

Suddenly, something slammed into his side, knocking him out of his revelry. Startled, he opened his eyes and looked around for what had hit him. Hovering about a foot away from him was a light grey mare with a messy blond mane and tail rubbing her head with her forehooves.

"Owy," she groaned.

"My apologies Miss," he said, rearranging himself so that his front faced her. "I wasn't watching were I was going. Are you okay?"

The mare looked at him and smiled.

"Yeah, I'm use to it," she said, lowering her hooves.

When he got a look at her eyes, Heavy was taken aback. Though he could tell she was looking at him, he couldn't help noticing that she was wall eyed. Immediately he deduced that she had hit him a lot harder than she was letting on and was most likely concussed.

"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked sounding guilty.

She nodded, still smiling.

"Yeah, this sort of thing happens to me a lot."

Heavy cringed.

He was going to suggest that the mare return home to recover or visit the hospital to be safe but was stopped when she began to talk.

"I'm Derpy, what's your name?"

"Heavy Burden," he said, caught off guard by her forward attitude.

"Nice to meet you," she smiled. "Wanna hang out?"

"Hang out?" Heavy repeated, tilting his head.

"You know, spend time with somepony."

Heavy nodded in understanding.

"Ah, I see. I suppose I can manage that."

Derpy beamed.

"Goody! Where do ya want to start?"

***

"Wowwie! That was so much fun!" Derpy cheered as she walked towards her front door, a bit more of a spring in her step. "Don't ya think?"

Heavy Burden staggered after her, stopping a mere foot away from her with an exhausted sigh.

"Yeah......fun," he said between pants.

Though he spent most of his time in a forge, Heavy Burden considered himself a very well built pony. With the exceptions of Platinum Blitz and Morningstar, none of the other High Royals could match him in both strength and speed. When it came to magic, he was no slouch either, especially when it came to restoration and reconstruction magic. However, like anypony else, he had his limits. In five hours he casted over three hundred different repair spells on everything from tables to carriages, most of which were damaged by the smiling grey pony standing in front of him. Granted, none of the damage was deliberate, but it was still taxing to keep things under control. It eventually go to the point that he was starting to wonder how the pony was still breathing in the wake of so much bad luck.

The wall eyed Pegasus gave him a bright smile as she fished through her sattle bags with one of her wings. After a moment, she pulled out a key and unlocked the door. Still cheery, she stepped into her house and called out "Dinky! Momma's home!"

On cue, a small series of thumps could be heard as little hooves trotted their way from the second floor to the stares leading to the first floor. Heavy only had enough time to see a small blur shoot from the stares to his temporary companion as he stepped past the threshold. What he saw made his hard heart melt a little. Hugging tightly to Derpy's left foreleg was a little light purple Unicorn filly with a blond mane and tail.

So precious, he thought, chuckling.

The filly pulled her muzzle out of Derpy's foreleg and looked at Heavy. As she looked at him curiously, he noted that she had the same gold eyes as her mother, though that was the only similarity they shared. Still looking confused, the filly shifted her attention back to her mother.

"Momma, who's that?" she asked, pointing at him.

Derpy smiled and stepped back from her daughter.

"Dinky, meet Heavy Burden."

Heavy bowed as Dinky turned towards him.

"Heavy, this is my daughter Dinky Do."

"Hi...." she said, shyly.

Heavy smiled.

"Hello there Miss Do."

Dinky blushed and hid behind her mother, peeking out just enough to see him and still keep her concealment.

Derpy giggled.

"Sorry, she's a bit shy."

"Its fine," Heavy smiled. "I guess I am a little scary looking."

The two of them laughed before Derpy started to walk further into her house.

"C'mon," she smiled, nodding towards a door that Heavy figured lead to the living room. "Make yourself at home!"

Heavy blinked in surprise at the mare's friendly gesture.

"That's very kind of you Miss Hooves, but I really should return to Princes Twilight's castle before anypony starts to wonder were I went."

Derpy drooped.

"Oh...Okay," she sighed. "Maybe we could do this again sometime?"

Heavy was taken aback by that. In spite of the chaos he endured, Heavy Burden had to admit that he had fun that day. With a calm smile, he said, "I don't see why not. How does next Tuesday sound?"

Derpy's face broke into the brightest smile Heavy had ever scene.

"Perfect! I can't wait!"

Again, the Alicorn was taken aback, but not from shock, but something that he couldn't quite define.

"Yes, well," he coughed awkwardly. "I will see you then."

Derpy gleefully nodded and with that, Heavy let himself out.

As Heavy made his way through the still busy streets of Ponyville, he pondered what that strange feeling was. At first, he thought that it was just magic depletion, but he dismissed that theory. He'd experienced magic depletion on more occasions then he wanted to admit and it never felt like that. As the Castle of Friendship came into view, he let out a frustrated groan, before he set the thought to the back of his mind and entered the castle.

"Enjoy your day?"

Heavy stopped and looked to his left. Casually, Cascade strolled out of a nearby hallway, a relaxed smile gracing her muzzle.

"Yes, your Highness," he said, bowing in respect.

Cascade sighed.

"Heavy Burden, we have been over this. You are no longer my student."

"Of course," Heavy blushed as he rose back to his full hight. "Old habits die hard after all."

Cascade tittered behind a hoof.

"Of course. Now, tell me, have you found anypony interesting today?"

Heavy raised a brow at this.

"What are you implying?"

The sapphire Alicorn's grin shifted from casual to sly.

"Oh, no particular reason," she said, slowly trotting past him. "Just curious."

As soon as the mare slipped out of sight, Heavy frowned and made his way to his room. All the while, he wondered what is former teacher was trying to imply. Too tired to give it too much thought, he shelved the inquiry and walked into his room. For the tired stallion, his bed looked like paradise as he wearily threw himself onto it. After a moment of getting himself comfortable, he closed his eyes and readied himself for sleep to take him. As he fell deeper into Luna's domain, his mind drifted to the gray mare he'd spent that day with and her bright, pure smile.