Sleepless Nights

Chapters

Chapter 2: Miscalculation
Chapter 3: Revelation
Chapter 4: Duality
Chapter 5: Inebriation
Chapter 6: Duplicity
Chapter 7: Complications
Chapter 8: Assimilation
Chapter 9: Broken
Chapter 1: Awakening

Chapter 2: Miscalculation

What is a dream? Is it an elevated level of desire for an end result that may or may not be possible? If they were definitely possible, they would then be goals, when either achieved or failed merely gets replaced by yet another. I believe that dreams are endgame outcomes that we desire. Perhaps they are simply not supposed to exist outside of slumber. Could it be that the only similarity between real world dreams and the ones we imagine whilst unconscious is the level of impossibility of such things.

Is it insane yearn for a dream even after acknowledging the fact that it cannot come true? Even so, should one lie to themselves and relegate these to the back burners? It makes me wonder if things would be better off if dreams didn't exist, though it is possible that we experience them in sleep as a way for our minds to keep our body's pursuing new heights. Or... Could it be that our minds are trying to keep us in our place, taunting us with worlds that will never be? Cruelty or compassion. The line appears dynamic at times...

“Fae!... Hey Fae… HEY FAE!”

As I rouse from my slumber, I see before me a peach colored mare with a rather unkempt golden mane down to her shoulders… roughly 3 inches from my face…

“Mrghmm…” I won’t lie, I don’t even know what I was attempting to say.

“Your alarm is about to go off” she whispers in a pitch that could shatter glass.

I brought myself to raise my head to see past the obnoxious pony at my bedside.

“Its only 7:15…. My alarm is set for eight.” Saying this took a great deal of effort.

A few moments later…

*beep*beep*beep*beep*

Immediately, my eyes shot wide open while my brow stubbornly refused to move.

“I was getting bored waiting for you to wake up, so I set it for 7:16.“ She says this like it's not crazy.

“Why wouldn’t you just wake me up instead of changing the alarm and doing it anyway?” I was growing tired of this alarm that keeps going off, but it was across the room. I couldn’t risk using my magic in front of somepony.

“I didn’t think it through?” Came yet another whispered reply with a crisp questioned end.

“Do me a favor?” I mumbled.

She blinked in response.

“Destroy that damn alarm clock.” It was starting to damage my soul at this point.

With a determined look, she glided out of my field of vision.

After about 10 more beeps, there was quite the thunderous boom followed by the sound of metal bits pelting the hardwood floor.

Afraid to know what the hell just happened, I rolled out of bed landing promptly on my face. A sharp pain shot through me, but I hardly noticed in my haste. In the quickest I’ve ever done so, I shot right up to see what the hell just happened.

On the floor was a obliterated jumble of metal with a gleeful looking pony standing over the remains, wielding a microwave.

I have to admit, I’d find this rather funny if I now didn’t have to buy a new alarm clock AND a microwave.

I was speechless. I reached into my bag of reactions just to find myself empty hooved. So, I just skipped a scene and didn’t react. I don’t think I was mentally prepared to deal with such a situation this early in the morning.

Me and my half assed ideas…

My new roommate’s name is Clarion Days. I don’t know how ponies can have such suitable names, its uncanny. I just call her Clare probably because it annoys her. She much prefers Clarie. I'm assuming she is around two years younger than me (mentally though I’d say that the gap was larger) she moved to Ponyville around a week ago, and has found work as an assistant party planner. Her cutie mark is a simple one of a sun with a smile.

I don’t like her, but in a weird way, I do find her to be entertaining. Well, when she is not demolishing my possessions. It is a relief on how not particular she is. My apartment really only has two rooms, a bathroom and a kitchen/living room/bedroom hybrid. Two beds take up a very large portion of the mostly bare living room.

One great quality is that she finds it so hard to be still, she usually ends up doing most of the household chores. So that’s pretty good for me. I usually put them off until the situation becomes dire.

One bad quality is that, in the week she has been here, she never leaves me alone. She just keeps talking at me until I exhibit some form of response, then keeps going. This is a new experience to me, as I usually require lots of alone time. Most of which involves me trying to sleep.

In actuality, I sleep very little. It's never enough. If I devote 12 hours to sleep, I may get up to 4 hours of actual sleep. That ratio never seems to change for the better no matter the circumstances.

I’ll be honest, she’s not exactly the pony I’d have chosen to annoy me, but I didn’t have many options, half rent and all.

I think that my lack of reaction upset her slightly because her face drooped and she managed to not talk for 30 seconds (a new record), but again, I was too tired to care.

I walked by, acting like she wasn’t there and proceeded to the bathroom.

"Fae, are you ok?" She questions in a worried tone.

"Ughh..." Zombie...

Upon gazing into the mirror, I noticed my face was very red, like crimson red. In all the excitement, I didn’t realize that I must have hit something on my way to greet the floor. A solid third of my face was covered in blood from my forehead. Nothing that water and a bandage wouldn’t fix.

After showering, I stuck my towel under the door to block any light I was about to give off. I finished my rituals with the aid of my magic, spending extra time to make sure there was no blood left in my hair before braiding. Doing this long braid has become so second nature to me, I can braid the whole length of my hair in under 5 seconds. I struggled while first learning to do it, as you have to telekinetically grab 3 separate locks of hair and move them all around in different directions. After admiring my hair in the mirror, I walked back to the main room.

Clare was cleaning up a puddle of blood with the splintered remains of my kitchen chair scattered about.

“Why is there a chair next to my bed?” almost afraid of the answer.

“While I was waiting for you to wake up, I got tired of standing.” She says this like it's obvious why it was there.

“How long…?”

“About 2 hours” followed up with a smile.

…

“Uh-huh”

Goodbye chair, I’ll never forget you...

This was a perfect chance to leave while she was preoccupied though.

“I'll be back, I’m going to look for work.” I stated during my departure.

Clare's ears drooped a bit “Oh OK…”

Still one bit to my name. I’ve never been good with money. I don’t know whether is poor planning or just plain bad luck, but I never seem to have any money whatsoever. The fact that I managed to save the bits to move here was nothing less than a miracle. Well, I don’t know if you can actually call it "saving" as I pretty much just sold everything I owned.

I set off for the bulletin board, since finding a job was proving to be such a hassle, I decided that maybe I could just take on requests when I needed the money. After all, it had already proved useful once. Maybe I could milk this board for more.

Daytime in Ponyville gave me a headache. So many ponies, I have to carefully monitor all of their eyes and subtle body movements so that I can alter mine in such a way to dodge any potential conversations. Avoiding ponies is too much effort.

Let’s see…. No. No. No. Too much work. No. Sure why not.

***************
Help wanted:
Temporary research assistant needed for the duration of 1 week.
Duties involve; locating and replacing various texts, note taking and must have an understanding of the arcane.
Please see Twilight Sparkle for details.
Pays 1000 bits.
***************

Holy crap! 1000 bits??? That’s enough to live off for 4 months (at my current level of finances) that is definitely worth 1 week of work no matter how much effort is involved.

Only problem is that there is no location written here… I guess I’ll ask somepony.

I was standing in the middle of town, so finding somepony wouldn’t be the problem. But I had to pick a pony that looked too busy to stand and talk.

Carefully scanning the area, I noticed that Apple… ugh… Apple…Dash? That’s not right. I’m really horrible with names. Screw it, she is freckles from now on, it's a bit easier to remember. She is out of the question, as she seems to enjoy talking.

While surveying the street, I happened to spot a rather massive red earth pony carrying a hay bale on his back. Also, he was wearing a yoke around his neck that appeared to weigh a ton. Perfect! He seems busy.

Trotting up to this mammoth, I approached him with an “Excuse me”

Silently he stopped moving and gave me his attention.

“Do you happen to know where I can find Trial-like Shackle?” that didn’t sound right… Quickly examining the parchment from the board, I corrected myself “Err, Twilight Sparkle?”

After a few seconds, he replies with a “Eyup” and gestures towards… A treehouse? Not like a tree with a house on top, but a building carved into a tree.

“Oh, uhm.. Thank you” I was almost caught off guard by how simple it was that all he did was say a word and point coupled with the fact that I was pretty much already there.

“Eyup” And like that he was off.

I couldn’t get a read on that stallion. I didn’t like that, but I still felt that he was probably the correct choice.

Making my way towards this tree-building, I couldn’t help but wonder if I overlooked something. Oh well, wracking my brain isn't going to help.

I approached the door to the tree and noticed there was a line in the door. Obviously the windowed portion can open separately from the bottom half, but I couldn’t help but wonder why. This seems like somepony put too much effort into making a door with practically no use for the extra feature. Wasted effort annoys me.

I opened the door and was promptly greeted with a bell ringing above my head. Inside there was a purple unicorn with a long straight deep purple mane with a bright pink and purple streak hanging from her bangs.

“Excuse me, but do you know where I can find Firefight Sprinkler?” That was no good. I’m glad I kept that paper. Glancing at it again I corrected myself “I mean Twilight Sparkle”

The response I got came in the form of a stifled chuckle, followed by “My name is Twilight Sparkle, welcome to Golden Oak library, may I help you?”

She seemed very polite in her demeanor.

“I came about the job listing… and I… umm… would like to apply for the position.” I reached out my hoof holding the parchment.

She gave me a very curious look that made me curious as to what the look was for.

“Oh, are you sure? I research some very advanced materials. But if you think that you are up for it, I could give you a shot,” she said almost apologetically.

What?

“Do I look uneducated?” I asked sincerely.

“No, no it's nothing like that, it's just that… I just. You are right. I made a silly assumption, and I apologize. I’d love to have you as my temporary assistant, miss…?”

“Fae.” I was a little confused but I decided not to pursue it. “And that’s great! (Forced smile) when would you like me to start?”

“Well if you are fine with it, we can get started right away.” She said this with a tone of excitement.

“Twilight! I’m getting ready to leave!” came a mysterious boyish voice.

I looked over to see the source of this new voice only to find myself staring at what appeared to be a dragonling. Not very old, nor very intimidating, more cute than anything. Scraping the ground behind him were a couple suitcases.

“Are you a dragon?” I asked very nonchalantly.

“That’s what I’ve been told!” he states with pride, poking his chest with his thumb.

“Neat.”

Twilight interjects “Spike, this is Fae. She’s going to be filling in for you while you are on vacation.”

He looks at me. “I know it's some pretty big boots to fill, but I’ll only be gone a week. I’m going to a comic convention being held in San Diecolt.” That explains the luggage.

“Neat.”

“I really wish I was able to make it Spike. But I am sure you and Button Mash are going to have a great time” Twilight sounded genuinely sorry.

“Pfft, maybe if his mom wasn’t chaperoning us…” Spike spoke through his pouty face. This face made his threat level drop below zero. I thought dragons were supposed to be scary.

“Spike, you are to young to be traveling all over Equestria unsupervised.” She stated boldly.

“Yes, MOoOM!”

“Are you his mom?” I am so confused.

“I, well, uh, kind of?” Twilight looks so flustered. It's kinda cute.

“Neat.”

The two exchange a hug, then spike heads out, hauling two suitcases bigger than him. I wonder what he packed, because he isn't wearing any clothes.

After his departure, Twilight explained. “I received him as an egg from Princess Celestia when she took me on as her apprentice.”

“Neat”

“Well let’s just dive on in, shall we?” Twilight said with much enthusiasm.

“Right, what would you like me to do first?”

“I am in the middle of trying to invent a way to recycle damaged mana batteries without the use of an industrial strength compression array. The process is extremely complicated as you have to break them down into their base components without letting the crystals absorb any of the magic or else it could set off a very nasty reaction.” She talks too much, but I follow.

“Right now I need to research arcane splitters to see if I can use those in my plans, they only split enchantments and artifacts into two base forms, magical and non-magical. The trick is that I need to further break down the non-magical without breaking the link for these gems to contain magic. If that link is broken, depending on the strength of the magic imbued in it, it could explode with disastrous results “ she was really into this

She trails off and looks at me for a moment and says “Sorry, could you find me some books on arcane splitters?”

“Why don’t you just imbue a tank of water with an arcane barrier, giving the water the ability to contain and block the transmission of mana.The water will not be able to change states from liquid to gas while enchanted either. Place the batteries in a silver bowl with the same enchantment and melt them down with time released heat stones with an amplifier spell on them. Let them melt, then cool. Once they harden, you should, in theory be able to safely remove them. There is no need to remove the magic from them, all you need is to let the magic merge at its own pace. Plus, It is much safer as every tool involved will act as a safety net to prevent...”

Aw shit…..

Twilight looks at me, wide eyed and open jaw.

“What!? OMIGOSH! I’ve been working on this for over a week and I didn’t think of that! I was horribly wrong with my assumption, but how do you know this much of arcane science? Most earth ponies aren't very knowledgeable about magic.” Twilight was beyond shocked.

Damnit! I didn’t mean to do that, I just got caught up in the conversation.

“I, uh… well… you see… my father was a unicorn so I grew up around this stuff” I managed to make this lie up on the fly.

Her jaw was still agape.

“Wow, I am so impressed, but at the same time I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed. If this works, I can’t possibly publish my paper on it. You single hoofedly solved this within minutes. You HAVE to let me publish your paper on this!” It was obvious that Twilight didn’t care about the credit, only that ponies knew of this. She seemed to be a pony who didn’t care about fame or glory.

“I’m sorry, I can’t. I didn’t mean for this. Please feel free to publish a paper with your name.” This was going to be tricky.

“I can’t take credit for somepony else’s work. What if I write and publish it with your name?” She is very persistent.

“Please, no… I don’t want any credit. I really don’t want to be mentioned.” Think Fae! I know that she’s not going to let it go.

"I don’t understand” Twilights ears droop as she said this.

“What if you publish the paper and credit anonymous?” Please let her go for this.

“I can, if that’s really how you feel, but I still feel bad.”Twilight's eyes lowed as her body slanted.

“I am sorry to put you in this position. I guess I screwed up the job on the first day…” Sure I felt a little guilty, but the purpose of this remark was an attempt to control the conversation. I needed to get her mind off of the credit topic, and get her feeling bad about me feeling bad. If I can get her to try and cheer me up, then I can navigate this conversation.

“No, you didn’t screw up. You did an even more amazing job than I requested! Look, how about we put this to the test, and we can discuss the rest later.”

Success! Now let’s just get this over with.

Perking up, I said “Ok then, where do you want to do it?”

“It's getting a little late, why don’t we put this to the test tomorrow?”

Even better! I guess it was getting rather late.

“Alright, what time do you want me here?

“Noon seems fine.”

After saying goodbye, I left the library. The sun had already began to set. It was only a 10 minute trot to my apartment and yet I was still annoyed by the distance.

Twilight in Ponyville is a very pretty sight. Everything stagnates in mild illumination without being too bright. Dark trees, hill and buildings in the distance in the contrast of a still bright sky.

My apartment was no fancy one. It could be worse I suppose. The cheap rent was really the only selling point. I could do without all the neighbors, but one day when I am rich I'll just rent all the rooms so that I won't have any. Then, the world...

The door to my apartment was a very scratchy looking door with a off-center, slanted "3B" hanging near the top. Upon opening the door to my apartment, I was instantly blasted to the ground in fright.

“HI FAE!” Clare sprung from the ceiling hanging upside down, right on the other side of the door.

“Sweet Celestia! Are you trying to give a filly a heart attack?” I panted.

“Did it work?” She said wobbly, still upside down.

“Yes!.... Kooky!”

“Yay!... Um… Hey Fae… Would you help me down?”

I entered my home and inspected the ceiling to see that she had duct taped her hooves to the it. That raised several questions about physics. I don’t own any step ladders and the table is a good 10 feet away.

“How long?”

“3 and a half hours,” with an even wider smile than before.

That explains the redness to her face.

Well she is dedicated. I decided to pay her back at least a little by retrieving her from the ceiling in the form of a tackle. I won’t admit that I took every precaution to ensure I didn’t hurt her.

After a few minutes of laughing, we got up and ate dinner together. I see that Clare decided to replace the microwave and in addition bought a few chairs. Technically, I was the one who broke the only chair, but I appreciate her ability to clean up after herself. That and she was an amazing cook. She had somehow figured out or guessed that I love lo mein. I haven't eaten a meal that didn’t require "nuking" before consumption since I was a foal. I haven’t eaten dinner with anypony in years, but I didn’t dislike it…

There was something just so comforting/yet offsetting about this mare. She gave me this weird vibe, almost as if I what I'm looking at and seeing are two different things. Why was she going so far out of her way to be friends with me when I made it clear that I only wanted someone to split rent with? I am not easily motivated, but I really wanted to get to the bottom of this.

I think not having a clock was driving me crazy. Not only am I laying here, sleeplessly staring at the ceiling, I don’t even know how long I have been doing it. At least before, I could approximate so many hours until I can fall asleep. The more I try not to think about it, the more my mind won't stop thinking about it. The more my mind won't obey me, the more annoyed I get.

What felt like several hours later, I gave up. As quietly as possible I got up, and ninja'd my way off the bed and reached under my bed to retrieve a chest from under my bed. I carried it with me to the bathroom and shut the door behind me.

The chest looked almost like just a wooden box that was not meant to open, plain and ordinary. I fired up my magic and pointed it my horn towards the box, with a click it opened. I lifted the lid to reveal hundreds of tiny glass vials filled with blue liquid. I removed one and emptied the contents into my mouth. *BLEGH* That taste is horrible. I placed the empty vial back inside and replaced the spell I had laid on the container, sealing it. No one could ever tell that this wasn’t just a plain block of wood.

Stealthily returning to box to its home, I returned to my bed and assumed the sleep position. Last thing I need is for my roommate finding out and trying to tell me divine secrets of the art of sleeping that's just more common sense than anything. Or worse, she could go on a tangent about how sleep potions are bad. If I'm going to have to tolerate somepony on a regular basis, it would be easier if they didn’t have a superiority complex.

This stuff is supposed to have instantaneous effects. 30 minutes later, I fell asleep and what a great sleep it was. I had a great dream too, though I cannot recall what it was about. Only thing I can remember is that I was very happy.

“Beep, Beep, Beep, Beep, Beep!”

I opened my eyes and prayed to Celestia I was wrong.

Clare was 3 inches from my face repeating the words “Beep” in a very obnoxious tone.

“mrphghh?” Again, I have no idea what I had attempted to say.

“Beep, Beep, Beep, I’m an alarm clock, Beep, Beep, Beep”

Delicately, I went to pat her on the head, but my arm dropped harder than I meant for it to.

*Whack*

“Snooze…” I played it off. CRAP! I didn’t want to hit her. It's too early for these feels.

She regained her balance and backed away from the bed silently and stood there watching me.

“Are you seriously going to stand there for 10 minutes to do it again?” I knew the answer.

She replies in a shrill whisper “I can’t speak, you hit snooze.”

“How do you even know what time it is?”

“…”

“Im getting up” I rolled out of bed as usual but this time was greeted with a very comfortable landing. There was a huge fluffy warm pillow that had rescued me from my fall. It smelled so nice. But, where did it come from? And why was it warm? Was this Clare's pillow imbued with her body heat? Wow, even though all ponies body heat is the same temperature, This pillow feels warmer than any of my pillows ever have.

“Thank…you”

The warmth, combined with the smell of a new twist on lavender. I couldn’t pick out what exactly was enriching this scent though. Some sort of sweet crisp...thing? Its going to drive me crazy until I find out what that smell is! It was more than enough to quickly send me back to sleep. I could care less about the cold hard floor, this pillow was nothing less than godly.

…….

“Beep, Beep, Beep, Beep”

No! I wasn’t ready for this to end. I’ve never been so at peace in my life! But this time the beeps were followed by a new aroma.

Sitting up, Clare was holding a steamy muffin. She joined me on the floor where we ate our breakfast, propped up against our beds facing each other.

"Clare?" I broke the silence.

"Yes, Fae?" She perked curiously.

"I didn’t mean to hit you. It was only supposed to be a tap. I am sorry."

"I know" She replied "I didn't give it a second thought."

She sat down her plate and scooted over to me, and gave me a quick hug. This is new. Wow, she's so... Soft. Looking down to see her face, I couldn't help but notice the blend of my blue coat and her pink one. It would've warranted more attention if I wasn’t wanting to see her face. All I saw was a smile before she departed. I felt disappointed when she backed away. I rather enjoyed that.

What is going on? I didn’t care, I wasn’t going to question it. This actually turned out to be a pretty bearable morning…

As I walked across town with Clare in tow, I couldn’t help but hate myself for not shutting up and telling her of this experiment at the library. Clare was not working today and begged to tag along. After 47 consecutive “Please?”-“No.”s I gave in.

Clare had a weird skip to her step whenever she walked, almost as if pronouncing her limbs with each bounce, alternating 2 legs at a time. What a waste of energy. If I tried that...no, just thinking about it is too much effort.

We approached the library in what seemed a shorter time that what it took me to get home the night before. I opened the door and made my way inside. Well, I did anyway, Clare stopped in the doorway and stuck her head in.

Twilight was there to greet us very promptly.

“Hello Fae. Oh, you brought a friend?” She was possibly the most polite pony I had met in this town.

“She is my roommate,” I corrected. “Why are you still in the doorway?” I asked turning to Clare.

“It's rude to enter somepony's home without permission” she stated.

“Do you live here?” I asked Twilight before realizing I accidentally proceeded the conversation.

“Yes, but this is a library first. Please feel free to come in. My name is Twilight Sparkle. What is your name?”

“Clarion Days, but my friends call me Clarie!” She said entering the room.

“Oh I’ve heard of you, don’t you work as Pinkie Pie's assistant?” Twilight asked with a very calm tone.

“Yup Yup! Are you friends with Pinkie?” Clarie was very excited at this revelation.

“Everypony is friends with Pinkie” she said with a slight chuckle. “If you would like to watch, I’d be delighted to have you, but please don’t touch anything, for safety reasons.”

“Yes Ma’am” Clare responded.

“Ma’am? Nonono, please just call me Twilight,” corrected the unicorn.

“Alrighty!” she said with a bounce.

I'll never remember that. I wonder if I can get away reducing that to one syllable?

"Care if I call you Twi?" I asked.

"I've read about this in one of my books. Calling me by a nickname must mean we are becoming friends! I don’t mind one bit!" Twilight seemed to get very giddy over my request.

"Y-yea..."

I hate being social.

After flipping the sign on the door to closed and setting up all the materials, we got to work. I actually felt really nervous for some reason. Why? Was it because Clare was here? Granted, this whole time she had managed to not make a peep, but she also was watching me. More than that, she was studying me. Twilight was doing much more interesting things. Thinking about this just make me even more nervous, damnit.

“Alright, everything is in order, let’s start the experiment!” Twilight was ecstatic.

As her horn began to glow violet, she began enchanting the tank, full of water, with a barrier and proceeded to place the silver bowl inside. Carefully lowering the mana batteries in, using a string, because telekinesis would be cut off by the water, she began trembling with excitement. She placed the enhanced heat stones on top of the batteries. They were round flat slabs of stone with a rune inscribed upon them. The character shown was the Zebran symbol for fire.

My role in this wasn’t an active one. I was really only hoofing Twi things occasionally when she asked for them, yet I was still very on edge. I was even beginning to sweat. Why was I sweating? Did I see this as a performance with an audience? Or is this the results of a sloth doing manual labor, albeit light labor. I don’t believe I am that out of shape so it must be a mental thing. I hate being the center of attention.

After a few minutes, the bowl started shaking. Slightly at first, but rapidly gaining vibration. A loud him was emanating from it, getting louder.

“Oh no, no no no no no, this is not good, they are starting to react. You two stand back!” Twilight was very worried. She had good reason, for I knew what was happening.

“Did you remember to place a anti-magic enchantment on the bowl?” At this point I was yelling because the him was so loud.

Twilight’s eyes widened. Damn, how did I let that happen, I was supposed to be assisting her, but I was too focused on not wanting attention that I missed it. With the bowl not enchanted, it can allow displacement of mana. Soon, the mana will begin to flow into the bowl. With nowhere else to go, it will build inside of it. Metal is not meant to contain magic, as it absorbs more mana, it will begin to destabilize, then explode.

“It’s OK, I prepared for this!” Twilight shouted as her horn began to glow a bright violet. Out from her horn shot a beam over the tank, trickling down to form a see-through bubble around the tank.

The hum had become a roar. The whole tree was shaking.

Gauging her barrier, there was no way that was going to be enough. Damnit, Damnit, Damnit! This explosion is going to destroy this whole building. Maybe even the whole block!

No, I can’t do it. I can’t ostracize myself. Bad things happen whenever somepony sees my magic! I can’t.

I started thinking of a way to abort the test way without using my magic. The only ways I could think of however, involved other ponies.

Shit! Clare!

I looked over to see a trembling little pony scared out of her mind. Tears had started forming in those amber eyes of hers.

Screw it, I’ll deal with the repercussions later!

“Twilight, that’s not going to stop it! Not even close. Listen get back and throw your barrier around you and Clare.” I took charge. Not knowing if I could stop it or not. This was going to be tough.

“What are you going to do” Twilight shouted with worry.

“Trust me” I have her the most determined look I could muster.

“But...”

“JUST DO IT!”

“Oh, I hope you know what you are doing!” She retreated to Clare's side and threw up a barrier, dissipating her previous one.

I planted all four hooves and let out a low breath. My eyes lit up into a bright sky blue. Out from my forehead came my ethereal horn dancing with blues of all tones. When it finished emerging, it was about 6 inches out from my forehead.

“What are you…” Twilights voice became overwhelmed by the rumbling noise that had become a screech.

“Damnit!” light shot out from my ghostly appendage over the tank forming a translucent blue bubble around it.

I cannot stress enough how difficult and draining this is. Barrier magic is not something I am particularly good at. My barriers are adequate at best. Luckily I know of a cheat to make them stronger.

I'm much better at transmutation, that is my specialty. I can cheat the rules and manipulate my weaker magic if need be. Most of my effort has been spent on this school of magic.

I redrew my breath for a second time. Doublecasting is so taxing on my body and soul, that I rarely do it, but I have to if I am to ensure the safety of Clare.

“ARGHHH!!!” I shouted, sweating profusely.

My horn grew, doubling in size as a second teal overglow engulfed it. The light that came this time was not as focused, hitting the whole bubble, making it much harder to see through. The density of the shield increased as its permeability decreased. Now there were two hues of blue surrounding the tank, almost as if lines forming a spherical web inside of glass.

“Did you just doublecast!? “ Twilight was screaming at this point. Doublecasting was not extremely rare, but it did show great arcane aptitude.

Not enough, this isn’t going to work. Double barrier strength might save the tree, but its inhabitants still wouldn’t survive. There's enough mana stored in those batteries to take out half the town. What a pain...

Pain was coursing through my mind. I needed more. I swear, this is what happens when I go against my laziness. If we survive this, somepony is going to pay my rent for me!

“AUGHHH” My voice had gotten shrill, clearly carrying my pain with it.

My horn began shrouded in an overglow again as I prepared the same spell I had just cast. I was going to have to cast another empower spell. I was already at my limits. I had poured everything in that last spell, but I have to try.

Sparks began to spew from my horn. The pain was overwhelming, almost as if a hundred needles began piercing my horn and exploding over and over.

Another beam of light stretched out engulfing the bubble, fortifying it. There were so many blues filling the sphere that it was no longer translucent.

My whole body had started feeling it. Every muscle tensed with the pain of a thousand needles.

“Tetrabarrier, secret technique…” It really wasn’t a secret technique, but I do enjoy adding that line to things, if only for myself. It took all the willpower and strength I had left to say that, but hurray for little victories.

And like that, the sphere puffed out momentarily with a muffled 'BOOF', followed by a thud.

The second noise had come from me having collapsed onto the floor. With the last of my strength, I moved my head slightly, using all the energy I had left in an already empty reservoir. In the middle of the tunnel vision I now possessed, I saw a peach colored mare galloping towards me with tears following in her wake.

Sound vanished as the universe faded away. Everything except for a lavender scent. That stayed with me for a very long time.

Author's Note

Chapter two, hope it was to your liking. Hopefully I'll get another chapter up before too long. Thanks for reading :3

Chapter 3: Revelation

Fate is a funny word. To most, it has a fixed meaning: Predetermined outcome. I’ve always had difficulty believing that there was any power that has ultimate control of my own “free will.” Instead, I choose to view the word in a different light. I see it as a current or past result viewed from the standpoint of the past. The only time I acknowledge that something is “fated” to happen is after it has already happened.

Prophecies and destinies are little more than educated guesses that seem to attract more followers the more they are disproven. In what world does this make sense? I refuse to accept anything without definitive proof, yet others truly believe things based on the fact that they want to believe.

Still, I can say that I believe that I am not destined to be happy. I have spent a long time on this planet after having accepted this. I am more than OK with this. I don’t wish to be happy, all I want is to not be unhappy. I don’t believe that is too much to ask of one’s self.For the most part, I’m not unhappy, nor am I happy. I am content.

I have also realized the possibility of never having moments of happiness while having brief moments of unhappiness. But nothing is ever perfect. Ambition can lead to two outcomes; satisfaction or disappointment. I choose to not take either of those. With no expectations, there is no disappointment.

Why is it that others see this as such a bad thing, when it makes perfect logical sense? Other ponies can be happy believing in prophetic illusions of grandeur or shaken to their very core with regrets and misplaced blame, while I remain content relying on logic and myself.

That was a much needed sleep…

I had woken up roughly 15 minutes ago, but my eyes remained shut. I was fully coherent and able to remember the events that transpired. I still felt weak, very weak. At this point, I was pretending to still be asleep to gather as much intel as I could, while trying to formulate a plan.

I thought of many lame excuses and reasonings I could tell that may increase the duration of my time in Ponyville. However, none sounded good enough to guarantee anything.

I could feign amnesia, but that wouldn’t stop them from trying to figure out my magic.

I could say my pendant was a magic receptacle, and was a last resort gift from a relative. Any but that wouldn’t explain my knowledge of the arcane. Also, Twilight seems more intelligent than most. I do not think I could get away with it. It does sound cheesy though, I do like cheesy.

I could insist that they had blacked out from the explosion and the rest was the minds way of making sense of things, but that wouldn’t work because they obviously moved me to my current location.

I hate lying. Yea sure, lying is morally wrong, but I hate it because they require a lot of effort. You have to make up the lie, maintain the lie and more often than not, lie yet again in defense of the initial one.

I was in a moderately sized room, with a good amount of shuffling and talking beyond a door. It was safe to say that I wasn’t in my house, or in the library. I tried to make out what ponies were talking about, but there was too much commotion to single out any one voice. Considering that I overexerted my magic and blacked out, it was a fair assumption that I had been taken to the hospital. That would also explain the paper feeling of my pillow and blanket.

From what I could tell, the only thing different feeling about myself was that my head was wrapped with what feels like a bandage. My pendant was still around my neck.

I smelled… lavender.

“How long have I been asleep?” I asked with a very direct tone, eyes still shut.

“Fae!” Cried a very innocent and worried voice “I was so worried!” The voice sounded as though it was still damp with tears.

I felt the forced embrace of a rather petite young mare as the smell grew stronger.

“How long?” I repeated.

“Four… Four days.”

“Feels about right.” I opened my eyes, only to see that the only thing visible were strands of golden hair. She was holding me with all four limbs in a very tight grasp that kind of hurt a bit.

Releasing me from the hold, Clare withdrew mere inches to look me right in the face.

Celestia, she looked like hell. Massive bags hung from her eyes, probably from a combination of sleep deprivation and crying. She even had some dried blood on her face, though I saw no wound. That would explain the bandage on my head and also made me aware that she hasn’t showered and from the looks of her, probably hasn’t eaten.

“Clare… I have to leave” I was cut off by a familiar purple unicorn entering the room, carrying a fruit basket.

“I am very glad to see that you are awake” Twilight said with a sympathetic smile.

I wasn’t hiding anything with my expression.

Silence filled the room for what seemed like the longest time.

I decided to break the silence “I’m sorry. It was my negligence that…”

I was interrupted again

“Stop that. I won’t let you do that. We wouldn’t be alive if it weren’t for you.” Twilight was stern, yet compassionate “You have left me a lot to think about though.”

Damnit, it's already starting again.

“Look, for reasons that I can't go into details on, I have to leave town. Please”

Interrupted again. I could see that Clare was starting to tear up. She was still inches from my face after all.

“Why? When that explosion happened, my barrier was able to protect us, but only because you received most of the blast in our place” Twilight sounded rehearsed.

“What…” Yet again I couldn’t finish my sentence.

“At least that’s what the police report and hospital charts say. I'm afraid me and Clarie were too scared to remember anything.” She showed absolutely no intention of letting me speak.

“But…” I’m about to give up trying to get a word in.

“I put two and two together. You obviously have your reasons for not wanting anypony to know about “stuff” and I respect that. Nopony outside this room knows what happened, and that having been said, I want you to know that your secret is safe. Clarie has been so devoted to your bedside, I hardly think that she would be willing to break your trust. And me, well, I won’t force you, but I would like you to know that you can talk you can talk to me about things.” Twilight, was she… telling the truth?

A tear formed in the corner of my eye while my face remain unchanged. Was this hope I was feeling? I didn’t want to leave Ponyville. I had nothing left. I couldn’t repeat my departure from Manehatten because not only did I have practically no possessions left to sell, my ability to put up with the hassle just wasn’t there anymore.

It would probably be less work in the long run to stick it out here and find a way to make things work. Besides, if I manage to move again and get back on my feet, things could just go this way again. How many days before something happens and somepony sees my magic? I would be in this boat again, or a worse one. If that happens, there is no way of knowing if I will even be able to sit down and think long and hard about resetting my life again, or making it work. The enemy you know is always better than the enemy you don’t know.

“Is this true?” I looked at Clare.

“I promise.” Clare wasn’t lying. Eyes tell truths, and her eyes were that of somepony who had just sworn their life. "I don’t think it's really that big of a deal, but if you don’t want ponies to know, I'll make sure they don’t. I will do what it takes, please don’t leave, Fae."

I looked back at Twilight. “Thank you” I felt very uncomfortable with this entire situation. I wanted out fast.

Twilight resumed “I will say I am very impressed. Not only was that the strongest barrier I have ever seen, you doublecast 2 buffs on it. Very few ponies can cast spells from more than 1 school of magic. That second spell, I believe it was a take on 'Empower spell', a high level spell by itself. The amount of strain knocked you out four days.”

*High pitched quick scream*

“That only leaves me with two days to make rent!” This was one of the most devastating realizations yet!

Twilight pulled out a sack that was very fat and very jingly.

“Here is your pay for being my assistant.”

That cant be right, in the end all I did was give her a idea of what to do and hand her things. Oh and unsuccessfully assist in setting up the test. Oh Luna save me from what I’m about to do…

“I cannot accept that. I only helped for 1 day.” Damn my integrity!

“You did what I hired you for and more. Please accept the pay. You were more than satisfactory and I even threw in a little bonus,” Twilight persisted.

"I do like bits, but it feels like I didn’t earn them.” Just shut up and take them! Stupid conscience…

“I won’t take no for an answer.” She wasn’t budging.

“Well, how about I at least have you write that article? You can take all the credit, or split it 50/50 between you and an anonymous assistant?”

“That seems like a fair deal, though I want no credit. I never cared about that, I just want ponies to know of this research. This is a very big deal in the world of science and magic. It allows mana batteries to be recycled in all corners of Equestria, reducing waste and biohazardous scrap.”

"Are you going to be running the test again?" I asked.

"Not right away, I have sent a request to Princess Celestia requesting a proper place to run the experiment, as well as a few personnel to oversee safety. If she approves, I will be testing this again with every possible caution checked."

"I see, well I hope it goes well for you." At least there was nothing more needed from me.

“I am terribly sorry, but I really must get back to the library.” She sat the bag down on a bedside table. “Please feel free to come see me whenever you would like. I am very curious to know more about you, but only if you want to. Besides, I feel like I am interrupting you two,” she said with a blush, on her way out the door.

What did she? Clare! She was still straddling me and her face was close enough to feel her breath. My eyes shot back to her. Even in this defeated state, she was just… So pretty.

My face turned beet red as I slid back on the bed to buy more room between the two of us while averting my gaze to the fruit basket.

“SO, ugh… how about some fruit? Heh…heh.” Why did I feel so nervous? Stupid question, I knew the answer, but these types of situations make my head go dumb. GAH! I hate awkward situations!

“Let me get those for you!” Clare backed off with a blush.

After some much needed feasting, Clare asked me about my magic. I guess there was no harm in telling her, she already knew.

“I discovered I could use magic around the time I got my cutie mark. I don’t like attention and there was no way I wouldn’t get it if ponies knew. Once they found out, it was totally different than what I thought would happen. Instead of trying to figure it out, or encourage me to pursue new heights, they both hated and feared me.” This was a very sensitive topic for me “I’ve never cared if ponies liked me, but I found that I couldn’t handle them fearing me. It was almost as if they were ready to burn me at the stake. That led to much vandalism and acts of violence towards my family and I.”

“What does your cutie mark symbolize?” I could tell she was trying to avoid sore subjects.

“I have no idea. Probably that I hold a record for causing the most destruction with my face every morning” I said with a genuine chuckle. This was indeed something I have thought a lot about, but ultimately gave up. Even if I did unravel the mysteries of my mark, it wouldn’t have any effect on my daily life or plans.

“That’s really impressive” Clare's response came encompassed by a 'heehee' sounding chuckle.

“You wanna know something?” Clare face seemed to lose what little shine it still held.

“Sure?”

“We have a lot in common.” Her face was more stale than I’d ever seen. “I moved here hoping to one day find friends, that's all I've ever wanted. During my early years, I was so awkward around other foals. Nopony ever paid attention to me, but when I did something silly, I got a brief moment of acceptance. All I wanted was a friend, I started acting more and more over the top joyful. Then I realized that not only did no pony want to be my friend when I wasn’t being silly, none of them could take me seriously anymore. The very few times I reached out, ponies just wrote me off.”

“Jerks…” I said as I lowered my eyes. I feel that this is one of those times where there is no appropriate response. It is not socially acceptable to not respond though. This is not a type of conversation I have much experience in dealing with.

“It wasn’t their fault. The more depressed I got, the more I tried to get attention. Any attention, good or bad. I ended up going too far, and a bunch of ponies got hurt because of me. I wasn’t trying to hurt them I swear, I was only trying to be what I thought they wanted. I ended up changing my name and moving away.”

Her whole body was starting to show signs of apathy.

I didn’t want to see her like this.

“What is your real name?” We really do have a lot in common.

“Ever Hope” she revealed.

"That is a very suitable name for you, I like it." I don’t know which name is more befitting of this mare. One reveal deserves another.

“My full name is Forlorn Fate. It's not really a secret though. I just do not tell ponies.”

“Really? That sounds so sad, but very pretty” she looked at me with both empathy and guilt.

“Depends on how you look at it.” I deflected "But the only reason I don’t tell ponies my full name is because it's kind of a negative conversation starter."

“I wanted a fresh start, but the mare I pretended to be then, seems to be who I am now. I'm still doing the same things as before. Back then, I always saw my behavior as an act, never being allowed to be the real me. Now, I'm not so sure.”

Clare fled too. Am I really so pathetic that somepony two years younger than me with similar circumstances, not only mimicked my actions and still had such energy and hope? Her real name was spot on.

“Whatever the case, I like Clare. If you were then as you are now, then it sounds like they didn’t deserve to be your friends.” Was I trying to make another pony feel better? I was kind of just winging this whole conversation. I never have had these talks, let alone the want to make anypony else feel better.

I think this conversation has gone on long enough. No need to dump everything out all at once. I think I need to do some introspection.

I hopped off of the bed we were laying on and grabbed a banana from the basket. Knelt down and raised the banana over my head.

“Clare, I would like to be your friend. No! Best friend! Please accept this sacrificial fruit as tribute.”

“You think such a simple offering would appease me?! Teehee” Clare questioned with boldness.

I looked up and with the most confused look I said “I'm sorry” I grabbed the bag of bits. "Then please, accept this bag of bits. Wait! No, those have value!"

I swapped the bag of bits for the fruit basket and dumped it out on the bed. I held it out towards Clare, upside down.

"Please accept my hat" I smirked

She was trying not to start laughing and not to start crying at the same time. She locked eyes with me and said “Deal!”

Preparing to depart the hospital, I grabbed the sack of money and started counting.

“Holy Tartarus! There’s 1500 bits here! SCORE!” I couldn’t believe this. That’s 6 months of expenses! No friggin way!

I was doing a newfound victory jig when the nurse walked in.

“I'm glad to see you're feeling better!” The nurse had caught me in the most heinous of acts. “But I do hope you will take better care of yourself in the future,” she added with a smile.

She handed me a piece of paper and walked out.

“Ooh~ What’s that Fae?” Clare bounced.

Upon inspection, my pupils shrank and eyelids fled. Dropping the paper to the floor, all I could muster was “It can’t be." Following the example of the parchment, I dropped to the floor in defeat, eyes wide and jaw agape.

Clare darted over to the paper and looked at it.

“It’s a bill for 1, 300 bits.” Clare pointed out.

Goodbye my bits. Our time together was much too short…

In high voice, I screamed “NOO!!!”

On our way back to the apartment, I stopped by the landlords building to pay the rest of my rent before my bits vanished. Now I was left with two weeks to make another 200 because this is technically for last months rent.

I pulled out my last bit to examine it..”Well, at least I still have you, lil' buddy”

We made our way to the apartment. Despite being knocked out for 4 whole days, I was still beat. 96 hours of sleep is exhausting. Clare looked like she needed the sleep too. It was probably somewhere around 4pm but I couldn’t be sure. For some reason my only clock stopped working.

“How much work did you miss because of me?” I asked trying to own up to my actions.

“Oh it's fine, Pinkie didn’t have any parties to plan anyway. So she is working at sugarcube corner in the meantime. When I asked her to let me know when we had more work, she responded with “You will know when the time comes.” Then back flipped out the window. Teehee, she is so random!” Clarie really looked up to Pinkie. I was afraid of ever being in the same room as both of them. And I just hopped that it was never in my house, I’m running out of belongings.

We prepared dinner (just a humble few sandwiches) and afterwards, I went to shower. I smelled just awful and my hair was such a mess, it wasn’t even a braid anymore. Maybe it was time to pamper myself just a bit…

I turned on the water and let the tub fill up. Reaching in my cabinet. I grabbed several different bath oils and started mixing them in the bath water. Maybe a few bubbles too. Ok, lots of bubbles. BUBBLEGHEDDON! So many bubbles! Bubbletopia! Bubbles bubbles and more bubbles. I really like bubbles.

The sensation of steamy water was a feeling my body had been wishing for. I took my time to carefully sift through sections of my hair to make sure all were free of dirt and grime. A good two thirds of my time in the tub involved me catering to my mane's needs. I don’t just wake up with my hair looking this good. It takes a lot of work and it is worth it.

I stretched back and surrendered to the tub, finally relaxing. I still couldn’t set still though. So I took my washcloth with a cute minimalistic smiley face on it and started buffing every inch of myself in case I missed a spot. Keeping myself clean is not a task I shirk my duties in.

I submerged the cloth in the water and continued scrubbing.

Clare seemed like such a good pony. I started thinking about the fact that I have just made the first friend in my life. Not only did this fill me with a sense of unfamiliar warmth, but it was scary at the same time. Now I had to go through the trouble of being “socially acceptable.” What a hassle.

Still though, I think I kind of like it. It seems to be a change of pace that I may not ENTIRELY hate. A rolling stone gathers no moss and whatnot. Wouldn’t logic dictate that it picks up more scuffs and dirt though? I guess no system is perfect. Leave it to me to poke holes in a perfectly good proverb.

She was just so sweet, innocent and so pretty. Really she was appealing to all major senses. I started wondering about why she chose to be my roommate. There were many other ponies looking for roommates, with even bigger houses. I couldn’t put my hoof on it, but the theory I found myself hoping for was that maybe she just thought I was cute.

“What am I thinking??? That’s not it!” I said to myself.

After a few minutes I snapped out of it and realized I had been scrubbing part of my body a little more than needed. Feeling embarrassed even though I was the only pony in here, I quickly jumped up and out of the water.

After draining the tub and using my magic to dry as much of my body as possible with my towel, I wrapped my hair up in it and proceeded to the mirror. I got lost in the mirror trying to make facial expressions. One thing I almost always wear is either a fake smile or no expression at all. I often try to rebel against my limitations and pursue curiosity to see if I had the capacity for other expressions.

It did not appear that I did. That’s disappointing.

With a yawn I exited the bathroom.

Clare was sitting on her bed waiting patiently for me to vacate the water closet. She appeared to be reading a magazine that caters to fillies, gossiping about celebrities.

“It's all yours Clare. Sorry I took so long, I started to doze off.” I lied. To her, yes, but mostly myself.

“That’s okay.” She said with a cheery smile. “I don’t mind”

She really looked worn down. Normally she would have laid a trap to string me up by haunches and maim me or something. Hopefully a bath will revitalize her.

Or maybe I could do something to cheer her up. Maybe I’ll wait for her to come out and ambush her. Good idea Fae, I’ll wait along the wall while wielding my pillow and give her a good whack. She does that kind of stuff all the time, so she must enjoy it.

I should’ve waited until I heard the water cut off, as I have been waiting in attack position for 15 minutes. My arms are starting to get tired. I was brandishing my pillow high above my head while standing on two legs against the wall.

The water stopped.

Damn, now I have to remain vigilant. I hope she is quicker at her post shower rituals than I am.

The door opened... Almost there...

What I saw made me freeze in place. I’d never seen her with a wet mane before. Her hair was straight and coordinated. Almost as if each strand finally agreed to aim for the same target, the floor. Plus, she was wearing a black T-shirt. Ponies rarely wear clothes, but seeing her in this state, it was pretty damn hot.

She didn’t notice me as she stumbled over to her bed. With a loud 'PLOP' she collapsed onto the sleep zone facedown. She was out.

I had to take some time to regather all the pieces of my blown mind. Did I just lose? I put so much effort into this attack! I stubbornly trotted over the give her a gentle thump of the pillow. I may have imagined it, but I swear I saw a smirk on the corner of her buried face. Victoriously, I resigned to my bed as well.

I can only assume it's around midnight now and I still can’t sleep. It's not an uncommon scenario. My brain won’t shut up despite how tired I am. Sometimes I'm analyzing situations, counting the bumps on the ceiling, or just calculating how many undead cyborg zombies I could take out before eventually succumbing to the relentless assault of an army...They can't all be winners.

As I lay there trying to slow my breathing, attempting to trick my body into thinking it was asleep, I heard some movement coming from my left. I looked over to see the culprit was Clare. She was getting up. I silently waited and watched as she shuffled to the bathroom.

Minutes later she emerged eyes still shut. Is she sleepwalking or squinting? She blindly creeped across the room but she wasn’t heading to her bed. She was getting closer! Does she know I’m awake? Oh crap, time to play dead.

My heart rate increased as I continued to act like I was asleep. Next I felt movement on my bed. Was she crawling into my bed!? Oh crap, oh crap, what do I do?

“Clare, are you asleep? This isn’t your bed.” I whispered while poking at her shoulder that was still inching closer to me. Wait, was that thing about waking sleepwalkers a myth or truth?

No response. Oh man, what in Luna's name am I supposed to do???

“Clare!” I sharply silently screamed.

I felt a pair of hooves glide past my shoulder and around my neck. Simultaneously another pair of limbs became intertwined with one of my legs. As they reached their destination, they seized up and became a mechanical death grip device.

I was starting to sweat bullets. “Clare wake up! Clare, Clare” the more I spoke, the tighter the hold became. Oh man, what do I do??? Her face was right up to mine. I could feel her breath in my ear and it was making my whole body melt. If I fight this any longer, the situation could very well become a life or death struggle.

Maybe I should just let this run its course. I’m afraid if I keep trying to wake her up, she will asphyxiate me.

How am I supposed to sleep now? It is impossible for me to get to my stash and my heart is about to beat its way out of my chest. I guess I will not be getting any sleep tonight. I will have to figure out a new potion delivery system.

The death grip started to relax a little now that I am not resisting. I was very comfortable though. And she is very warm. Clares scent, it's so strong. As I focused on it, the world became fuzzy and my eyelids became heavy.

How will I explain this in the morning?

Author's Note

This chapter was a little shorter than I was shooting for, but the next one should be much much longer :derpytongue2:

Chapter 4: Duality

Hope is such a wonderful thing. It's a constant reminder that things won't always be bad. Many ponies like to play on the word by adding 'false' in front of it, just to make it easier to accept or disregard. Why would they? If I didn’t have hope, what would be the meaning in anything I do? If I couldn’t go to sleep hoping that tomorrow would be a better day, I don’t think I could drag myself out of bed in the morning.

No matter how bad things get, you cannot give up on hope. It exists for a reason. It's there to be the light that guides your actions into a better existence. At the same time, I can see how it can be a sore topic to those who can't see it.

I hope one day I will be able to help others find hope.

"Mmmhmmm"

So comfortable, I don’t want to wake up if it means having to actually get up.

Wait, this isn't normal. I am smelling this delightful aroma that I'd swear that it smells like rain. Rain during a thunderstorm. The scent of water soaked blades of grass, mixed with the pure smell of ozone. It's so entrancing.

I open my eyes to reveal a wonderfully light blue mare wearing a delighted smirk on her face. She was asleep and so at peace.... And very beautiful. I had never seen this before. She almost looked happy. Wait, why am I seeing this?

As I started to regain my faculties, I slowly began to realize that I was completely entangled with Fae. My heart started pounding. What? Oh my Celestia, did I sleepwalk again? How am I going to explain this? I can't explain what happened if I don’t know what happened! Sleep Clarie strikes again.

I just need to carefully unwrap myself. Maybe she has been asleep this whole time and doesn’t know that I ended up in her bed. Please let that be the case!

I slowly started withdrawing my limbs, almost as if they were navigating an unseen labyrinth. I successfully managed to free an arm and a leg. The unlocking of half of the restraints caused Fae to show signs of life.

"Umhphmm" Fae murmered.

OHCRAPOHCRAPOHCRAP

I paused myself and attempted to let her regain her usual deep sleep state.

After a few minutes I continued. Just one more.....

As I freed my remaining leg, I felt my back lose support from below. I slid back and touched down on the floor with a powerful *THUD*

Panicking, I shot up to see if Fae had awoken. Wow, she isn't even close to awake, though her smirk had been replaced by her typical expressionless face. For a pony with so much trouble falling asleep, she sure has no problem staying asleep.

That was close. I don’t think I could have explained this. I'd be better off if I just pretend this never happened.

My name is Clarion Days, but I just go by Clarie. Just a few weeks ago, after eating through most of my money staying at the Ponyville Inn, I decided I should look for an apartment, but by the time I found a suitable roommate, I had very little money. We worked it so that my rent is 200 bits. Leaving me with a net worth of 40 bits.

My roommate is Fae, a light blue mare with gorgeous blue and teal streaks in her braided mane, which is crazy long. I don’t think I have ever seen a mane that long. She is abnormally quiet, probably because she lives in her head. But I swear she is the nicest pony I’ve ever met. She is just socially awkward. I’ve made it my mission to get her to open up. I know I can do it!

I managed to find work as Pinkie Pie's Party Planning Assistant. As soon as I arrived in town, within 5 seconds of seeing her, she tackled me and told me that I was perfect to be her apprentice. That pony is ridiculous, but in the short time I’ve known her, I really admire her. I wish I could be more like her. I’ve had some uh... Booboos when it comes to trying to be wacky and zany. I’m just never going to take it that far again.

It's only 5:17 AM. I know this because I have a very accurate biological clock. For some reason, I always know what time it is. I'm not sure why, but I never questioned it.

Now, how should I mess with Fae today? Hmm... Oh I got an idea.

I crept over to the cabinets, I pulled some carrots, potatoes, broccoli and noodles out silently, lining them up on the counter. In ninja mode, I started slicing and dicing each vegetable, while preparing the noodles. I had to do this just right.

Once finished, I placed the noodles in a pan with the other ingredients and set them to a low simmer and stirred in the secret ingredient, peanut butter.

5:57 AM I have a little time left. Making sure that the concoction was safe to leave unattended, I crawled across the floor and pulled myself under Fae's bed. This was going to be AWESOME!

Now I wait...

6:30 AM...

She sleeps so much! *pouty face*

My boredom got the better of me and I started looking around while I was down here. Ooh, I found munies! I slid the bit out to the open so that Fae would find it on the floor in front of her night stand.

What else? I found a spare blanket, a block of wood, a few articles of clothing and I also found a magazine stuffed under a box. It was kinda dark and hard to see. I couldn’t really make out the title...Bar...Barely....Barely Mares? I have never heard of this one. Couldn’t really see the image on the front, so I peeked inside.

I could feel the surface temperature of my face begin to skyrocket. It was incredibly difficult and required a lot of eye straining, but I was able to make out some very shapely figures. I quickly closed it and returned it to its hiding place. I feel so ashamed. I shouldn’t have snooped through her things, but it gave me something to think about for the next 45 minutes. Despite how hard I tried not to.

There came a faint scratching noise from above.

Finally, movement! Not much movement but a little. The aroma of the food was filling the house for quite some time now. I am so hungry, I should have eaten some first.

"Mphughh... We have food?" I heard a struggling voice fighting off sleep from above. Zombie Fae is so cute!

No! Clarie, stop that! Focus! This is what you’ve been waiting for!

A few moments go by after the movement ceased. Did she go back to sleep? Darn her!

It started back up and appeared to be heading off of the bed.

"Need... Fooood"

IT'S TIME! I prepared myself both mentally and physically for the mission at hand.

*THWACK!!!!*

Fae slammed down on the floor face first! Oh my, that looked painful. I haven't seen it from this angle before, but she appeared to try and break her fall with her face. Come to think of it, when I was cleaning up the other day, there was a good amount of dried blood around that area. Mystery solved.

Movement stopped momentarily. When it resumed, She was starting to lift herself up. The moment she brought her face a hairs width off of the floor, I lunged with all my strength and shot out head first.

"GOOD MORNING FAE!!!!!!!!!!!" I shouted

Fae let out an incredibly shrill scream as she pushed off the floor with enough force to land her on my bed. Mission accomplished. I stood up and dusted myself off with the widest grin I could muster. Fae was wrapped up in my blanket, that was fast. Only the top of her head was poking out. Something was on her face though. Affixed to her forehead was the money I had re-positioned. Oops…

"Good morning" I repeated.

After a few moments her eyes lowered and she removed my comforter.

"How long?" She asked in the dullest of voices.

"About 2 hours!" I was very proud.

She got quiet for a minute. She does this a lot. She is in her head right now probably trying to decide how to respond. Now she will avert her gaze, and trot off like this never happened.

"The smell of food was a nice touch. You scared me half to death," she unpredictably spoke.

She wore a slight smile that was very different from her usual one. Was this one was real? I think it's real!

This is what I wanted! Every fiber of my being brimmed with unbridled joy. I would have gladly waited for 2 months if it got me this reaction. I've been living with her for two weeks. It took me two full weeks of hard work to get this smile!

"BII'IIG HUGG" I pounced on her and squeezed with all my might.

"No hey, Stop it! Put me down! Cut it out! Damnit Clare!" Fae struggled rather well. If I wasn’t so elated right now, she might have been able to get away.

After a minute or so, I relinquished her and inspected her face. Despite claiming that she didn’t want that, she wasn’t expressionless. I would be willing to bet that she secretly loved that. That filly is so easy to read if you know how. I'm learning pretty quickly, mostly through trial and error.

"I made breakfast. Let's go eat!"

“Y-Yeah. Let me go fix my hair first.” Fae was totally obsessed with her hair. She often plays with it when she thinks she’s alone. Well… she think she’s alone because I’m hiding and waiting to surprise her a lot. She caught me most of the time for the first week, but I adapted pretty quickly.

Fae trotted into the bathroom, but this time, she didn’t close the door. This was slightly different than normal. She usually has a routine and never breaks it.

Curiously, I peeked inside. A sharp looking horn emerged from her head as her eyes became bright. Her hair magically began to lift and fold as she braided it with expertise. My heart sank. Her magic knocked her out for 4 days last time she used it.

Even if she didn’t use it as ferociously as before, it had to still be taxing. Earth ponies can’t do magic. They shouldn’t, it's not natural. Who knows how it is affecting her. What if the more she uses it, the more it drains her in a way she will never recover.

As I stood there looking at her, she noticed me and looked my way.

“What’s wrong Clare?” Fae's face was showing the slightest bit of concern.

My eyes did feel kind of funny. Was I… Crying? Oh no, now she’s going to worry about me. I could lie and play it off, but that would only cause problems. Honesty is best.

“Is that Really OK? Using your magic?” I managed to squeak this out.

“You already know I can do it, it would just be wasted effort trying to hide it from you now.” Fae misunderstood me. Maybe I’ll just bring it up later, I don’t want her to think that I hate her magic.

Knowing her secret and that she trusted me with it was enough to cheer me up. I just wish it were under different circumstances. There is a lot I don’t know about Fae. I want to though. I just don’t know how to go about it. The last thing I want is to push her away. With her, it almost seems like if I do something that she hates, she will disappear from my life in five seconds. Then forget about me forever in the next two. Maybe I am being paranoid, I haven't had a friend before and maybe this is just me being scared.

She turned to the mirror. “Oh, hey a bit! Luna damnit! It’s the same one from before.”

Heheheh, my bad. The bit came flying out of the bathroom, landing with a *dink* and rolling across the floor.

I went over to the stove to prepare us some plates. Oh, I hope Fae likes it!

“Wow, that was really good Clare! I didn’t even know we had food and you managed to scrape things together to make an incredible dinner... For breakfast.” I liked it when she complemented me.

“It's no big deal, I’ve had to cook for myself for a long time. I’m just happy that somepony else actually likes my weird foods.” After all, I’ve been alone my whole life. No, don’t think about such things! Fae is able to read me too well.

“I usually just get something delivered and make it last a week.” Oh no, Fae's voice dropped back to its usually somber tone. Do something!

"Well why don’t you cook?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

"It is unnecessary. I don’t have to impress anypony and this way is easier." Fae sounded defensive.

"I can teach you how." I was just trying to find something for us to do together.

"I am not an idiot. I know how to cook...Probably. It's not rocket science." Fae's pause was slightly shorter than normal. If I'm learning to read her right, that means I just struck a nerve.

What do I say now? Do I apologize? Or maybe try and explain that I just want to do something with her? Think Clarie! You’ve already paused for longer than is normal and she is going to deconstruct this whole conversation and read way too into things!

Owie! Thinking hurts!

Don’t think, just do something!

I grabbed my plate, shoved the rest of its contents in my mouth and gave her a big bulging smile.

…Smooth….

“Right…” She appeared to be restraining a laugh, but that’s probably wishful thinking.

I admit, I panicked. So far, I think I have learned that her biggest pet peeve is questioning her intelligence, even if not directly. I guess that’s not all bad though, that means she does have feelings and is not a robot. She is more like a plant that doesn't want you to know that its not a robot. A young plant, a sapling. If i care for this plant just right, one day it will grow into a mighty banana tree. When the culmination of her repressed feelings manifests, it will be in a delicious bundle of emotions. I shall blend these emotion fruits together with some milk. As Celestia as my witness, I WILL drink a Fae milkshake.

Oh no, I can’t chew.

“Inmf goa oh chack da mayall. “ I sophisticatedly stood up and excused myself. I broke out into a sprint for the door, quickly exiting the apartment. I emptied the contents of my mouth behind a bush, drawing many strange looks.

“DO NOT…(pause for dramatic effect) EAT THE NOODLES!”

There, that should confuse them a good bit, teehee.

I should check the mail while I’m out here though. It was my excuse for running out and all.

I lifted the latch to our mailbox. Yay mail! *squee*

It appeared to be a postcard of sorts. Let’s see here.

Something, something, party, something, invited.

Good enough for me! Parties are a great way to make new friends! And one day I want to beat Pinkie's high score in friend count! Maybe Fae will go with me. Probably not though. I don’t want to force her to be social, but maybe I can persuade her to in a way that’s her decision.

My face scrunched up as I rubbed my chin. This is my scheming face...

I trotted back to the apartment. As I walked inside, Fae was nowhere to be seen.

“Fae, did you leave?”

…

“Oh well.” I dropped the card on the table and began to look over the empty apartment. My eyes locked onto the nightstand. Fae's necklace was laying on top. This was curious. Would Fae really leave without it? She loves that thing.

*Sniff* *Sniff*

Fae's scent. I can smell it. I never really noticed that smell before today. I followed it to the bathroom.

I closed the door behind me and trotted to the sink.

*Sniff* *Sniff*

“You’ve got to try harder than that if you want to scare me Fae” I said victoriously. The scent I just recently become intimate with was a dead giveaway.

I heard a quiet “Damnit!” From behind the bluish green shower curtain, followed by a flash of aquamarine light.

I pulled back the shower curtain to reveal… Nothing. Fae was gone! Stupid non-unicorn arcane trickery.

How can she think that didn’t witness that?

While brushing my teeth, I couldn’t help but wonder if I should have let her scare me. I didn’t want to discourage her from trying to connect with another pony… or would it encourage her?

Man, I wish I was smarter.

I stood there for a minute just looking at myself in the mirror. I got lost looking at my mane, it was pretty messy. I try to brush my hair once a day, but right after I do, you wouldn't be able to notice that I did. I just stopped trying, it always looked the same anyway.

Remembering just how much Fae liked hair, I wondered if I should attempt to maintain mine a little better. Maybe this messy hair was hair for a friendless mare. I need a new look for a new life! Spotting a few ponytail holders on the sink, I grabbed them and attempted to style my hair for the first time in my life.

This was not an easy process. I started getting more and more annoyed with each failed attempt at placing a ponytail holder in my mane.

How can any non-magical creature do things with their hair? It took me a little over 15 minutes, but I finally got it. I think I like it. I look so different now! I'm not sure if anypony else will like my new golden twin tails, but I sure do. They were higher on my head than normal pigtails are, almost pointing diagonally up and arced from the top corners of my head.

There were a few stray hairs that I just couldn’t get in the holders. In an attempt to quickly make it look slightly better, I ended up just plucking them out.

Well let’s see if my first friend likes them.

As I stepped out of the bathroom, Fae was doing dishes. FAE WAS DOING DISHES!? That’s new, something is up. I wonder if I should inspect them later to make sure they don’t self destruct?

She hasn’t noticed me yet. Does that mean it doesn’t look good?

As my eyes fell to the floor in my depression, I hear a plate shatter. I quickly looked to see what happened and saw that Fae was standing there with her eyes trying to eject out of her face, jaw hanging low.

Oh, does she really hate it that much?

“I'm sorry, I was just trying something new, I’ll take them out.” I turned to go back into the bathroom in a state of gloom.

“N-no!... You look so amazing! I love you!” Fae blurted.

!!!

“I mean, I love it! Your hair… I love what you did with it. The hair… I love... the hair and what happened to it. I mean, I don’t like how it was as much as I do now. I mean it's better than before! Not that it was bad before, it just is better now. That is why I said love. Your hair, that is... I… Hair… Please don’t take them out.” Fae was utterly flabbergasted. Teehee! I didn’t mean to break dinnerware, but I like this response. That’s probably the most I’ve ever heard her speak. And this time, she didn’t have that pause before each thing she said. I can tell she didn’t overthink anything this time. Or think at all, haha!

As much as I enjoyed this response, I don’t think I should milk it anymore.

“Are you sure? I don’t think it looks very good.” I lied.

OK, maybe a little milk.

Longer pause than normal, looks like the effects of my mane wore off.

“That’s because it's so hard to have the tails be neat when you do attempt to handle such tasks without magic.” Fae slowly began to stumble closer. Something was different about her. Her eyes looked so menacing. I felt like I was in the presence of a gorgon/demon hybrid. My limbs were stricken with fear as the hair on the back of my neck stood. The air around me seemed to increase in density. The pressure filling the room was enough to drive a pony insane. What was this? This fear...

Somehow, I overcame the obstacle of silence and managed to squeak out “That’s okay I’m sure I’ll get better with practice.” Too late, her horn was a really starting to form and 3 separate brushes and a comb were already floating out of the bathroom past me.

“Eeep!”

She was already frightening enough without that razor sharp lance poking out of her face.

I didn’t want her to use her magic! Time to flee!

As I started to bolt for the door, I saw a blue aura form around me as the floor fell from below.

“No, really its fine!” I pled in vain, suspended in mid-air.

“Hehehehehahahaa” Holy crap! That is the most sinister laugh I have ever heard coming from behind me. It was the sound of the universe screeching to a halt. The room began to fill with darkness.

The world spun around me until there was a madmare with an azure fire in her eyes somehow staring down on me from above, despite the fact that she was below me. The pitch black windows behind her briefly flashed with lighting as the room shook with thunder.

“Fae you are scaring me!” I screamed in futility.

That diabolical laugh turned into one of the most sadistic villainous voices I have ever heard.

“Shhh… I’ll make you perfect.” SO CREEPY! Her movements were that of a doll, almost as if she was playing puppeteer to her own body of a medium. Her face was emanating a creepy joyful smile that seemed to stretch beyond her illuminated, unblinking eyes, void of eyelids.

Ding ding~ dong~... ding dong...

Ding ding~ dong ding dong dong dong~~

Was that a music box? Where did that come from? And what's with this tune? It's macabre melody felt like it was slowly ripping my soul from its host. That eerie chiming was haunting. It sounded like a chorus of the damned.

“It will all be over soon…..” I didn’t just hear that statement, I felt it. I had no trouble believing it either. Her body swayed from side to side as she approached me with sporadic movements.

Am I going to die? I don’t know what I did to deserve this!

Please somepony help me! What? My voice, I can't speak! As I float there in mid air, Fae began to flicker as she reached the halfway point.

In one last flicker, she disappeared. Where did she go? I began to frantically flail, but to no avail. I was stuck in midair, dangling in the middle of an empty field of darkness.

Abruptly, the music stopped. The last note continued to ring inside my mind, cracking the solidity of my sanity.

There is no more fighting it. I am dead. That has to be it, nothing on earth could ever be this horrific. That is what is wished for, the true terror in my mind was not had transpired, but what had yet to be.

As I came to this realization, I heard the shriek of a banshee as Fae reappeared instantaneously in front of my face. Her eyes were lacking pupils, instead they were bleached white.

I blacked out...

I came to with Fae holding a mirror in front of me.

I'm alive? WHAT WAS THAT?! Was that a dream? To call it a nightmare would be an understatement. All of these thoughts stopped the moment I saw my reflection.

“No way!” It was flawless. My hair was amazing. Not a single strand was sticking out. All my split ends were gone. No, not gone. Restored. There was absolutely no curls in my currently straight hair and it felt… Different.

“What was that!? I don’t think I have ever been so scared in my life!” I was still shaking.

"What was what? As soon as I grabbed the brushes, you fainted. You appeared to be ok, so I figured I would go ahead and finish your hair." Fae's explanation sounded genuine, but the terror I experienced was real!

"What exactly did you do?" I was still trying to grasp the concept of reality. I think it would be in my best interest to lock that experience in my mental vault. Then throw away the key.

“First I used a restoration spell to restore your dead ends, then I used a straightening spell. Heh yeah, there is actually a spell for that. Then I hit it with another spell I made myself. I call it mane-shield. Now your mane is protected from water, fire, ice, electricity, acid, most offensive forms of magic, and even your own scalp oils. It also increases your hair strength 500 times. Not only that, but it can now withstand high impact ballistics and small to medium scale explosions. Plus, it also refracts light giving a minor twinkle and shine. It is an incredibly high level spell that I don’t know if many others could ever understand, let alone cast!” Fae rambled off sporadically.

“That… uh… wow. That is so impressive," but Fae. She looks worn out. “I'm grateful, I really am. It's amazing and so much more, but you look tired. Was that too much magic?”

Fae was sweating, and breathing heavily, but that may have been from her speech. Her eyelids were drooping, but she also looked happy. That's not a sight I am often privy to.

“Nah, it's fine. It's nothing a little sleep won’t fix. I do it all the time to my hair”

“Fae, please don’t. I don’t want you to strain yourself because of me.” I couldn't help but let my eyes sink to the floor.

“Clare, it's fine really. Please let me do this.” She regained her breath. “There’s not a lot of things I am willing to put effort into, but please let me do your hair for you.This is the first thing in a long time that I’ve actually wanted to do. Your hair is the most amazing I’ve ever had the privilege of working with. Almost like an untapped resource." The fire in her eyes was burning bright.

Fae began to scratch her cheek and look off to the side. "If it helps, you can just see this as something I am doing for myself. I like how you look and I would like to continue to see this... Since, y'know we will be seeing one another quite often."

This must mean a lot to her. She likes hair more than I thought. If she likes to do hair so much, who am I to stop her? Besides, I don’t think I’ve ever looked as good as I do now. Something about Fae getting excited when she sees me is just too great to pass up. But, I feel guilty about all this. Maybe I can find a way to work this into a good thing for us.

“Fine. On three conditions.” I tried my best to sound adamant. “1) you never overdo it. Please don't overexert yourself. 2) As payment, you let me cook for you every night. And 3,” I pointed to the table. ”You have to go to that party with me tomorrow night”

“Sure. Hell yea and WHAT?” Fae sounded distraught. “I don’t do parties. I don’t think I even have the capacity to party.” With a sapphire tincture, the invitation floated at eye level in front of her.

“Are you old enough to drink?” she asked almost whimsically.

“Of course I am” I didn’t lie. Technically I am old enough. Even if I just turned 21. Even if I do look like I’m still 15 and sound like I'm 12. I am kinda small for my age. And I am a little immature. And I do have my hair done up in a schoolfilly fashion. And my speech can be childish. And sometimes my voice squeaks. And I….

“Oh I didn’t mean anything by it, I’m sorry!” Fae must have read my face again. I’ve got to stop that. "I was just curious. I’m just not exactly sure how old you are.”

“What about you?” I am pretty certain she is older than me, but I wonder what answer I’ll get.

“I am old enough, I just have not drank before,” Fae admitted.

“Really? Why not?” Now I’m more curious.

“I've never had a reason to. I don’t need alcohol to live and it costs bits.” Fae confessed, but it wasn’t bad logic. It actually made sense. “But I guess I can give it a shot. Might make people more tolerable. Heh. Let’s see, Lights and Sounds Festival tomorrow night 8pm Ponyville fairgrounds. Live performances by DJ Pon3 and Octavia, Neon lights, Bringers of Bass, Liquid Ear Candy, Electric Mayhem, and fireworks by The Great and Powerful Trixie. That last name is in bold and underlined. Alcohol consumption encouraged. Followed by a hoof-drawn picture of Octavia yelling the name Vinyl.”

“Wow really? That sounds like so much fun, we have to go!” I actually like many of these artists. I don’t really like alcohol all that much, but it should be fine so long as I don’t overdo it. I’ll have to make sure I look after Fae seeing as though she has never drank.

“Yea… fun… Sure, I’ll go with you….*grumble* If you promise you will let me do your mane from now on?” She stuck her hoof out in the air towards me.

“Deal”

*hoof bump*

You know, it's really hard to play pranks on her in a one room apartment if she never leaves. In fact, she doesn’t even drink when she is thirsty. She has a bottle that she fills with soda 3 times a day. Sipping on it a specific intervals as if she is calculating and limiting the number of trips to the bathroom she takes. As much laziness as she possesses, she does some pretty insane calculations, which I am convinced takes more effort than just doing the things she’s avoiding.

She could probably do my taxes in no time at all. I wonder what all she could be good at if she applied herself?

I have to keep changing up the methods and execution of all my surprise attacks. I ran out of tactics a few days ago, but I’ve managed to keep creating new ones on the fly. This is way too much effort. Oh jeez, almost two weeks with her and she is already rubbing off on me.

I went to the market to buy some supplies for dinner. Being a dummyhead, I forgot to ask what she likes. I’ve got about 20 bits left after purchasing supplies for my pranks, so I need to cook on a budget. Shouldn’t be too hard though.

As I walk down the dirt street, I can't help but notice all the mares looking at me with envy, stallions either tripping or colliding with stationary objects while looking at me, or wives yanking their husbands ears. I’ve never been pretty before. The effects of Fae’s handiwork are clearly having an effect on everything around me.

About the time I was purchasing some loaves of bread, I heard a very elegant “Oh my word! Darling, your mane is absolutely marvelous!”

I turned to see who those words belonged to. She was a very pretty marshmallow white mare with long flowing purple hair that curved as much as it shone. Her flank was adorned by a cutie mark of 3 sparkling diamonds. On top of her head, sat a pure white bonnet that matched her features to a T. She also carried with her a saddlebag that only hugged one side of her glamorous body. It was white with light purple frills and embroidered with the same symbol she bore on her flank.

“Oh, hehe thank you, miss?”

“You may call me Rarity, dear. I’d be simply delighted to learn your name, along with your stylist's.” Rarity gleamed with excitement.

“Oh, umm, my name is Clarie. Actually I’ve never thought I had pretty hair until my roommate forced me into submission and styled it.” I tried my best not to remember the events leading up to such an encounter. I must take great caution not to poke at the vault!

“It sound to me as if you are a very lucky mare, miss Clare.” Rarity sounded twice as envious now.

“Actually it's Clarie, if you wouldn’t mind.” I hate Clare.

“Of course, my apologies Miss Clarie. I can assure you that it won’t happen again.” Rarity's voice sounded so naturally regal.

“Oh it's fine, really.” No sooner than I’d said it, a businesspony was trotting by with a cardboard housing for four cups of coffee in his maw. Having been too busy looking at my new hair, he tripped, sending multiple piping hot cups of coffee flying. They landed right on the back of my head, searing the back of my neck. The sensation of burning flesh was intolerable.

"Ow ow ow ow tsss ahhh" That really burned.

Oddly the only part that burned was my neck.

As I sprinted in place, Rarity was delivering some very harsh words to the businesspony.

“How could you be so careless as to ruin a lady's mane when she is obviously having a terrific hair day?” Rarity seemed as if he had spilled the coffee on her instead of me. Wait, was she only concerned about the hair?

“I am so so sorry miss, let me run and fetch you a towel.” The assailant said apologetically.

He quickly dashed off in search of something to help me.

“Oh my stars, dear! Your mane!” Her eyes became emboldened.

“Oh no, did it ruin my hair! Fae put so much work into this.” I was starting to panic, the pain on my neck I could deal with, but Fae strained herself to give me perfect hair.

“Not at all dear!” she said with a pronounced crisp. “It is just as lovely as before!” Rarity practically pounced on me to get to my mane.

The coffee had mostly had bounced right off with the rest falling right out as if there were no adhesion.

“Come to think of it, my head doesn’t burn, just my neck,” I realized.

That mane-shield really worked and saved me from a good deal of pain. Though, I guess it may have been the cause of the coffee ending up on me to begin with.

“Why, it appears your mane has been imbued with some form of magic. This is extraordinary! To think that such a magic exists. You simply must introduce me to this “Fae” immediately! I run the Canterlot boutique, and now that I see this roommate of your's master craft, I would love to have a pony on call to add to the exuberance of the dresses and gowns that I create.”

Oops…

“Well, I can say something to her, but she’s not a very sociable pony. Actually I don’t think that she wants me to tell anyone she is the one who did it.” I think I messed up.

“Social or not, it would be a crime to let this individual not style hair as a professional under my employ. I beg of you, please promise
me you will ask her to come by my boutique. Now that I’ve been made aware of such artistic genius, there is just no way I can ever be satisfied if I didn’t at least speak with the pony responsible for this work of art.” She had a very desperate tone to her voice.

“I promise I’ll say something to her just as soon as I get home, miss Rarity. I can't promise anything though.”

“In addition, if you get her to come, I would be happy to make the both of you some fashionable garments, free of charge.”

“That’s very generous of you. I'll do everything in my power to send her your way.” I don’t know if it will happen, but it wouldn’t hurt to try.

“As much as I’d like to discuss this matter further, I must take my leave. I have other matters to attend to.” She spoke with both sincerity and regret.

“Alrighty, it was a pleasure to meet you miss Rarity. I look forward to seeing you again!”

“As do I, dear. Ta-ta!” She trotted away with the grace of a princess.

Did Fae just inadvertently make me a new friend? She is awesome! Thank you, Fae. You have just been upgraded to best friend status.

“Umm, miss… I’m so sorry about that, here please take this towel.” Business pony came back and hung with head low, holding out a freshly purchased towel.

“Don’t worry about it, it's not a big deal. Thank you for the towel, mister.” He expressed relief in this.

“It was the least I could do. I have to excuse myself, I am going to have 4 angry ponies with the power to fire me if I don’t get back soon.” He didn’t even finish talking before he started to run off.

Now I've got to make her something amazing for dinner. While looking around at all the various stalls lining the streets, I made my way past them, carefully scanning for anything that looks good. A produce stand caught my attention. On the other side of the stall was a scruffy looking stallion that appeared very bored. Having noticed me, he immediately straightened his posture and gave me his undivided attention.

"Good afternoon young lady. Can I help you with anything?" Despite his appearance, he sounded rather professional.

"Um... Hello. I was just browsing around looking for something to make dinner with."

"We have only the finest produce in all of Equestria."

After a little debate, I decided to pick up some sweet potatoes, walnuts, milk, flour and various spices.

"That will be 8 bits little lady." That didn’t sound right, surely that amount is far too low.

"Umm... Is that right? I think it should be closer to 16 bits." I don’t want him to undercharge me.

"I've never seen you around. Most of my business is from repeat customers. So everytime I see a new face, they get a nice discount. It helps bring them back. But to be honest, you look so cute, I thought I would cut you a bigger deal" OMYGOSHOMYGOSHOHMYGOSH, I've never had something like this happen to me before.

"Oh, thank you mister? I'm sorry what was your name?" It was taking everything I had not to just start squealing with excitement.

"The name is Market. Market Place." He said with a hint of irony.

Wow, that pony's parents really hit the nail on the head with this guy.

"That’s very fitting Mr. Place. Thanks a bunch, and I promise I will become one of your best customers!"

"That’s what I like to hear!" He said as he started bagging my newly purchased groceries. "What are you planning on making with these?"

"I think I am going to try and make a soufflé. I've never made one before but I need this meal to be special." I said with determination in my eyes.

"My, my. You wouldn’t be trying to impress a special somepony would you?" He asked with a grin.

"What??? No no, what? No. I just want to make dinner for my roommate. I mean I do want to impress her. I mean I just want her to like me. Er... my cooking! That is." This conversation was getting away from me.

"Woah, calm down." He waved his hooves back and forth in front of him. "I was just teasing. But this mare must be something special if she made you fly off the rails like that." He gave me a reassuring pat on the head "So long as you try your hardest, I'm sure whatever you make she will like, regardless how good it is."

"Thank you, Mr. Place. I was really worried that I wouldn’t be good enough." I put on the biggest smile I possessed.

As I grabbed my bag, I began set out, back to the apartment.

"Such a sweet and innocent filly. I'll have to remember to ask her how her date went." Market said to himself with a chuckle.

The sun had already started to descend by the time I reached the house. I guess I spent a little to much time at the market today. The lights to the apartment were all off. I wonder if Fae is asleep yet?

I entered my abode to see a lump curled up on Fae's bed under covers. As I flipped on a light and sat the bag of food things on the counter. I had a weird feeling, something was off...

I quietly sneaked over to Fae's bed and peeled back the corner of the covers to reveal that underneath, there were a few pillows sleeping peacfully.... I see... I went back to the kitchen and silently maneuvered my way on top of the refrigerator. I was a master of sneaking, after all. I reached down to open the refrigerator barely opening it before withdrawing my hoof.

The door flew open and out sprang Fae "SURPRISE ATTACK! What?"

The ambushing pony stood still in confusion. GO TIME!

I leapt off the top of the fridge performing a belly flop on my ambusher, as I yelled "Cross-Counter"

Moments after my crash landing on Fae. We remain on the floor. As I lay on top of her, I could feel that she was really cold. Really, really cold.

"How long?" I asked with sadness in my voice.

"T-t-t-two hours." Fae teeth were chattering as she spoke.

"I'm sorry I took so long." I re-positioned my body so that more of me was in direct contact with her and remained there in an attempt to warm her up. "I am really impressed at your conviction though."

Fae was shivering. Oh my, she must be colder than I thought. Wait, this wasn’t shivering. Was this... nervous jittering? She is cute when she is nervous.

Maybe a little more milk...

I lowered my muzzle to her and whispered "I'll warm you up."

And with that her, whole body seized and I ended up flying off of her, rolling across the kitchen, smacking my face on the table.

Ouchies! Milk only makes bad things happen!

"Clare? I'm so sorry, I didn’t mean to do that!" Fae's voice shook with concern.

"It's fine, I had it coming," I said holding my nose that was dripping with blood.

Fae's forehead started glowing and out came that celestial horn of hers. Fae took a couple steps closer and bent down just far enough so that her horn was just barely touching my nose. With a quick flash, the pain stopped and blood disappeared.

"Fae! You didn’t have to do that!" I objected.

"Yes I did, it was my fault." Wait, her nose was bleeding as well.

"Did you hit your nose too?" I asked.

"What? She dabs her nose with her hoof to inspect it. "Oh this, no it's something else. " she started to blush as she said this.

"Does it hurt?"

"No no, I just get nosebleeds from time to time." Now she was really blushing and now avoiding eye contact."So, ummm..... How did you know I was in the fridge?"

"Oh, it's simple. After I knew you weren't in your bed, also that you had tried the shower ambush already. The empty fridge is literally the only place you could hide." I explained while gesturing to the empty apartment.

"Oh right... Mark my words Clare! I will get you sooner or later. You will let your guard down one day, and that shall give rise to my victory!" Fae spoke as she would be attempting to ambush me forever until she succeeds.

"Well until then, I need to get started on dinner. Please, no ambushes while, I am holding a knife." I said as I began removing groceries from their thin plastic prison.

"Yea, that sounds like a smart move. So tell me Clare, what do ponies do at parties?" She stood on the other side of the counter watching me as I started preparing ingredients. She propped her head head up on her forearms, crossed on the counter while leaning over.

"What do you mean?"

"I dunno, we go to the party listen to music and sip on cider, but is that really enough to be considered fun?"

"Well there is more to it than that. There is also dancing, usually some games, lively conversation and perhaps my favorite, watching drunken ponies make fools of themselves. Teehee."

"What do I wear, do I have to dress up as something?"

"It's not a costume party," I said with a chuckle .

"Cut me some slack here, I've never been to any form of party before!" Fae took the defensive

"Not even a birthday party?"

"My parents tried to throw me one every year, but I was always able to get out of it. After a few years, they stopped trying." She spoke as if parties are bad things.

"Well, we will change all that tomorrow. This is a festival, it's like a huge party for the whole town. I'm sure there will be great food, music, and games galore! As far as dress code, there isn't one, haha."

I finished preparing the food. Now to just throw it in the oven and let the heat handle the rest.

"I still don’t know about this...."

"Don’t worry, I promise I'll be right by your side the whole time. And if ponies try to force you into a conversation, I can jump in and pull you out," I protectively stated.

Fae's face was still expressionless, but I think I'm getting better at reading it, because I'd swear that she just perked up.

"Really? You'd do that?"

I affirmed with a smile and a nod

Her eyes met mine and locked. Her eyes are so beautiful. As if they were crafted from the highest quality emerald and surrounded in the purest ivory.

Snap out of it, Clarie. You have stuff to do. Rushing to return to my work, I accidentally knocked the partially empty container of milk on to the floor. With a loud *KSHH* the glass bottle split into a dozen pieces, creating a huge mess all over the floor.

"Oh no!" I cried.

Fae got up and walked around the counter that was separating the kitchen from the rest of the apartment.

"Here let me help you with that."

"That's okay, I got it." I didn’t want to step in any of the milk or broken glass so I spread my hind legs out and lowered down on my front ones so that I could wipe the floor with a towel. That milk was taking forever to get up. "Fae can you hand me another towel" I lowered my head and peered through my legs seeing the world upside down at Fae. My tail kept getting in the way so I had to sway it back and forth.

Her face was red. She looked like she just saw a ghost. Not only that, but it appeared her nose was starting to bleed again.

"Fae?"

Fae quickly snapped out of it and ran to the bathroom saying "I've got to take a shower"

In an instant the bathroom door shut and the water started.

"Weird, she's weird." I shrugged and continued cleaning the mess caused by my clumsiness.

After dinner, Fae kept complimenting my soufflé, even though I felt that it didn’t turn out that well. She must really not eat a variety of food. Either that or it was really that good. I guess an artist is their biggest critic.

After my shower, we stayed up late, talking to each other about our likes, dislikes and successfully finding some common ground between the two of us. I've had more fun with Fae since i moved in, than I have in my whole life combined! Well, I guess I am exaggerating a bit. But I have enjoyed it more. I got really lucky in finding her.

"We should get going to bed, it's already 3 in the morning" I said sleepy yawn.

"It's amazing. Your ability to tell time." Fae looked tired as well.

"Nighty night" I said while flipping off the table lamp.

"Goodnight Clare," Fae said as she lay back with her elbows in the air hoofs under her neck.

I can't believe I made such an amazing friend so quickly after moving to Ponyville. As I cuddled with my body pillow, my body started to get warmer and warmer the more I thought about this. It prevented me from sleeping for a good while.

Just before I fell asleep, I heard Fae get up and start digging around. Then I heard her make her way to the bathroom.

ZZZZzzzzZZZZzzzz

***Clarie slides out of bed with her eyes remaining closed.***

Author's Note

Thanks for reading and I hope that you enjoyed it :3

Chapter 5: Inebriation

Have you ever had a dream that felt so much more real than reality itself? One where you feel every emotion, for better or for worse, regardless of how much sense it makes? One where you experience every little sensation within every muscle you possess? Those dreams are far and few between in occurrence. However, that only adds to the excitement and emotion. The ability for your mind to tell you that you are feeling something, while your body in the real world, merely lies in wait. I had one of those dreams. I can't remember the events all that clearly, but the thing that stuck with me was the feelings. The raw unbridled emotion surging forth, almost to a level of which you thought wasn’t possible.

Those dreams have lasting effects on ponies. They can make or break even the most strong willed equines. Oh how I wish they could go on forever.

I don’t want to wake up, I am in heaven right now.

I would be feeling so perfect right now if it weren't for one thing.

I feel...Moist.

Oh no...

I reluctantly opened my eyes to reveal me an unconscious mare in between me and Fae's bed. I couldn’t see her face, only the side and her mane sprawled out underneath, taking up a majority of the empty space of on the bed. Some even went down to the floor.

Oh no no...

I peeled my face from her shoulder and very delicately sat up.

!!!

Oh no no no...

Sleeping beauty's rear left leg was under me, in between mine. As I sat up, I heard the faintest *squish*

Oh no no no no no...

What in Celestia's name happened?

What do I do?!?!?

I slowly eased off of this damp leg as I attempted a dismount.

I really hope she is a sound sleeper right now, because I won't be able to explain my actions.

I climbed off of the bed and silently scurried to the bathroom where I obtained a washcloth. Running the water in the thinnest stream possible, I waited for it to warm up and dampened the cloth.

This is bad... This is very bad...

I snuck back into the main room and found that Fae was still knocked out. Applying the least amount of pressure possible, I dabbed at the soiled fur and slowly wiped this lecherous leg.

While attempting to purify the tainted fur, I couldn’t help but think how disgusting I am. I finished up and inspected for any more violated areas.

I stepped back and stood there for a few seconds just staring at the floor.

"I'm a monster," I whispered through my wide eyed guilt ridden face.

"Why are you a monster?" FAE IS AWAKE. NOW IS AN APPROPRIATE TIME TO FREAK OUT!

"Eek!" I squealed while launching the evidence that now rested inside the sullied washcloth across the house, into the bathroom landing it in the hamper. Luck was on my side however, Fae had not opened her eyes yet.

“Oh, well you see, I was going to play a prank on you, but decided last minute that it was too much.” I lied.

“You lie,” she stated in an apathetic tone.

“How can you tell?” My heart was racing.

“It's written all over your face.”

“You haven’t even opened your eyes yet!” I yelled in defense. She can't read my face if she can’t see it, can she?

“And, you just told me.”

Oh, shoot!

“I'm getting up…” Fae began to roll.

Without hesitation I leapt through the air, performing a double front flip, landing on my bed. I grabbed my pillow as quick as my tiny hooves would allow and flung the pillow towards the floor. Just before Fae hit the ground, a violet rectangle of cushion worked its way between her face and the floor. That was the plan anyway.

It sounded better in my head.

In actuality, I stumbled and summersaulted onto my bed. I successfully attempted to grab the pillow and flung it, but in my dizzy haste, I had missed the intended target entirely. I also had overlooked the fact that the current book I was reading had made its residence there.

The Lightbringer is no thin book. Spanning 1200 pages, it was one of the lengthiest works of literature in existence. It had succeeded in hitting its mark, where the pillow had failed.

Fae faceplanted the floor with a mighty thud. Mere milliseconds later, The Lightbringer crashed into the side of her face with enough momentum to spin Fae around on the floor so that the front half of her body was forcefully shoved under her bed. She never even made a noise.

Fae had left the realm of reality once more, resuming her slumber.

Holy Celestia I killed Fae!

I immediately scrambled to her corpse, yanking her out and into the clearing between our beds.

"Fae! Fae, wake up! Fae!"

As I sat there sobbing, she resurrected long enough to utter "Ow" before experiencing the pain of re-death.

Wait, she's alive?

"Yay! Fae is alive!" I celebrated. "But she is out again."

Knowing Fae, I’d say I have at least 10 minutes before she stirs again. I really hope either Zombie Fae doesn’t remember what happens while she is in such a state, or the book gave her short term memory loss. The first one would probably be better.

I hurried to the bathroom to see if we had any medical supplies. Under the sink was a metal box that had a large red cross on the front, labeled as "Head Injury Kit."

Well that is convenient.

I took the handle in my jaws clutches and returned to Fae's side to tend to her wounds that mysteriously appeared with no culprit behind them whatsoever.

There was a trail of blood from where I dragged Fae, along with some platter on the nightstand. She bleeds so much! From the head too! How can she still be alive after losing so much accumulated blood over the years?

Fae appeared to have a pretty nasty bruise along with a gross looking gash. I opened her eyes to try and check to see if she had a concussion. Under her eyelids were two pupils. Let's see, they are round, and had a shine to them... I don’t know how to check for concussions. I really hope she is ok.

I cleared most of the blood from her face and floor. The gash looked pretty grotesque. I don’t know what to do for that one. I wiped it with some alcohol and put a band-aid on it. Using all of my medical expertise, I decided to go with the band-aid that had a little heart on it. Love will make the ouchie better.

I'll find a way to make it up to her. I was only trying to help.

No prank today. I need to focus on finding a way to prevent me from sleepwalking. Usually, I just end up eating food and returning to my own bed. Why was I crawling into Fae’s domain instead of my own? I may have to resort to hoofcuffs.

I went to the kitchen to prepare breakfast, but got discouraged quickly upon the realization that we no longer had milk. Well, I guess toast will have to work for now. I get paid again today, though I feel guilty as I haven’t done any work in days. Pinkie says that just because there are no parties, doesn’t mean I don’t have bills. She is a very nice boss/mentor.

I gathered the bread and popped it in the toaster while I retrieved a few plates and some strawberry jam.

As Fae began to stir, I approached cautiously and held out a plate with a few slices of toast to her. She took it and sat up against her bed.

“Thanks.” She spoke with no emotion, as a robot would.

I took my spot beside my bed across from her and we began our new breakfast routine.

Upon finishing, I took her plate and she proceeded to stretch, raising her hooves high into the air. Even before fixing her hair, this was quite the sight. Fae is so pretty, and she doesn’t even try to be. Somepony with her looks could do some serious damage.

She lowered her arms, and started to get up, but right before she stood, something caught her attention. She began looking at her leg.

“Why is my leg all wet?”

Oh no no no no no, please no.

Fae rubbed the wet fur with her hoof.

Oh dear Celestia no.

She raised her hoof up to her nose.

Somepony kill me. Right now. Just kill me.

*sniff**sniff*

“It smells sweet.”

My face turned pale while at the same time bright red.

Fae brought her hoof down and rested it in front of her mouth. Her lips divided as her tongue started to appear.

NopeNopeNope ABORT!

“I have to go check the mail!” I dashed to the door in the blink of an eye, disregarding anything that may be in my way. In one fluid motion I flung open the door and shot outside.

Leaning against the wall, I tried to regain my breath.

“I am a monster…”

15 minutes later, I regrouped my nerves and returned to my home.

“What took you so long?” Fae inquired.

“I just was doing some morning exercises.” I really hate lying.

“You are ly-ing." She said with an odd enunciation. "I don’t really care what you were doing, I was just curious because it looked like you bolted because of something I did."

Damn, she is really perceptive.

I couldn’t hide my regret from lying.

"No... Yes, I'm sorry. I just" I had begun to say right before Fae cut me off.

"It's fine if you don’t want to talk about it. Besides, I'm really not that upset about the book. These things happen and you were only trying to stop me from hitting my face."

Fae thinks that’s why I ran? Talk about a lucky break!

"Fae, I am very sorry for what I did." I apologized with relief.

Her horn began to emerge and a powerful lime colored light outlined her body. A few seconds later, the cocoon of light faded and Fae appeared with no wounds.

"Wow! That's amazing, Fae. You healed your wounds?" I spoke in awe.

"Nah, I'm not so good at healing. I just cast an illusion spell that changes my appearance. I still have the injury, but now nopony can see it."

"But you healed my nose before, How could you do that without healing?" I questioned.

"WELL... I cheated. I wasn’t going to tell you, but it's fine now. I can't heal wounds, but I can alter them. I can transfer them to myself. Technically not healing. Just absorbing any ailments I choose to. The only limiting factor is that I need to know of the injury and be at least somewhat familiar with it. My magic is rather versatile because my specialty is alteration. Just knowing how things work is sometimes enough to make spells up on the fly."

"You... You hurt yourself to heal me?" This magic is horrible if she uses it for things like this.

"I mean, I was the one who hurt you in the first place and it really wasn’t that bad. I promise." Fae's apathetic appearance was wavering.

"Promise me you won't do it again." Tears were beginning to form in my eyes.

Fae released a sigh.

"I promise I won't do it again unnecessarily. That’s the best I can promise." I trusted her words, but still.

"I don’t want you to do it at all." My voice was beginning to shake.

Fae moved in, crawling towards me. She placed her hooves around me in a very gentle caress.

"Then you are a hypocrite. If you could do it and I was hurt, wouldn't you?" That’s just not fair! Fae, she smelled so amazing. I think that was the softest and most direct voice I've heard her use.

"Well played, Fae. You win." I accepted this response and repaid her somatic gesture with increased strength in my returning hug. After a minute we broke apart. Fae retreated to her bedside, where we sat in silence for a few moments. Very awkward moments.

"I… Ugh... Need to go take a shower." Fae spoke first. Thank Celestia, I couldn’t bring myself to do it.

"O-ok. Wait, don’t you shower at night time?" I'll accept the deflection, I am no good in these situations.

As Fae approached the bathroom, she cocked her head and said "I'm feeling quite dirty this morning." When she finished speaking, she licked her lips ever so slightly.

The door to the bathroom shut behind her.

I am glad she only half looked at me. I must have looked like I had seen the ghost of a mythological creature.

“So, were you still going to go with me to the Lights and Sounds Festival?” I wanted to talk to take my mind off of what had happened.

“Sure, I wish I had something to wear though. The closest thing I own to clothes is my pendant.”

“Oh, that’s right! I bumped into this pony yesterday that went bonkers over my hair. She made me promise I’d try to get you to visit her at her shop. The Carousel Boutique, I believe it was called. I didn’t know whether or not you would want to considering you did my hair with… Your thingie.” I had almost forgotten about this request.

“That sounds weird, just call it magic when it's just you and me.” Fae continued, “I don’t get how this is connected to clothes.”

“She said that if I could convince you to visit her, she would make us something pretty to wear” I can’t read her face. Is she upset with me?

“That does sound like a pretty sweet deal. What does she want with me?”

“I think she wants to hire you to do hair at her shop. But, I imagine more than anything, she just wants what you did to my hair for herself.”

“I could pick up a few bits that way, but I also don’t know how I can get away with using my magic.”

“I thought about that, what if you blindfold her, and just spray some scented water in her hair, and tell her that its, I dunno, dragon tears or something?” I suggested.

She hesitated for a moment.

“That is pretty damn smart. I'm impressed Clare. Yeah sure let’s do it. We may need a few more props though.” Fae never ceases to surprise me, well, except for when she is trying to surprise me that is, teehee.

“We should go right away, I don’t know how long it will take whatever she is making for us and we have a Festival to attend.”

“Y-yeah” Fae’s expressionless face appeared nervous to me.

“Just one thing before we go.” She added.

Color left my face as she got that look in her eyes.

*Gulp*

We arrived at the entrance to Carousel Boutique. To my surprise, it actually looked like a carousel. Fae still looked very nervous, so I decided to take the lead. “Come on, Fae.”

Upon entering the building we were created by the sound of bells from above. There were mannequins lining the windows all equipped with extravagant gowns and adorned with tiaras or various hats.

“Welcome to Carousel Boutique, where everything is chic, unique and magnifique! Oh Clarie my dear, I am ever so delighted you both came.” Rarity turned to Fae, who was almost trying to use me as a shield. “You must be the genius hair stylist Clarie was telling me about.”

“Y-yeah, though I hardly believe I quality as a genius,” Fae humbled.

“Nonsense I've see your work first-hoof,” She said while admiring my hair. “Though, I will say I am a bit surprised to see that you are not a unicorn. No offense,” she added.

It's on you, Fae. I know you can do it. Fae blinked slightly longer than usual and when she opened her eyes, they appeared much sharper.

“Actually I have a solution I created that can be commonly misconcepted to have magical properties. Some of the ingredients are components to many magical spells, while the others are from creatures with magical abilities.” Fae flawlessly feigned facts.

“You don’t say. Either way darling, I’d like to experience your talents myself. Then we can discuss future employment. How much would you charge for a session?” Rarity seems to know what she wants.

“Actually, Clare says that you may make us some apparel for no charge. I thought maybe we could just trade services instead of bits,” Fae suggested.

I didn’t see that coming. Fae is turning down free money?

“Yes, I do suppose that sounds rather fair. Shall we get started right away?” Rarity impatiently urged.

“That is fine, but first I need to go purchase a spray bottle, as mine has ceased function as of this morning.”

*Facehoof* She forgot the spray bottle didn’t she?

“I have plenty laying around here dear, please take one of mine.” Rarity levitated over an empty spray bottle.

“Er…Yes thank you, now I must use your water closet so that I may mix my ingredients in private. It is a secret family recipe passed down for generations.” Fae seemed to have gotten back in control.

“Why certainly, if you go down this hall, it’s the second door on the left.” Rarity directed with the gesture of her hoof.

“Clare would you mind getting her set up?”

“Alrighty, will do!” I said. Okay, now it's my turn.

Fae set off for the bathroom, leaving me alone with our client.

“Miss Rarity, if you would take a seat please and lean back. The solution can cause some mild irritation of the eyes, so we are going to protect them with a towel.” I was pretty good at this trickery thing.

Rarity glided over to the barber-esque chair with the elegance of a queen. Her hooves were silent and precise as she strode. She laid back in the chair and stared at the ceiling. Light appeared to radiate from her body, she was stunning.

As I positioned the towel over her face, Rarity spoke “She is quite the looker isn’t she? Tell me dear, how long have you had a crush on her?” As she said this last part, I slipped falling flat on my face.

“Wh-What do you mean miss Rarity? I don’t have a cr-crush.” Where did that come from?

“You say that, but action speak louder than words. When I addressed you as Clare yesterday, you became quite adamant that it is to be pronounced Clarie, not Clare. Yet, when she did it, your ears twitched happily.” Rarity was incredibly perceptive, I didn’t even know I did that.

“I think you are reading to much into things, miss Rarity.”

“Perhaps, but I still have reason to believe otherwise.” Rarity grinned, moving the only visible portion of her face.

“Ok, are we ready?” Fae called out upon her return.

My heart skipped a beat but I quickly stammered “Y-yes everything is good to go!”

Rarity’s grin grew wider.

“Ok miss Rarity, I’m going to put these ear plugs in for your protection.” I thought of this part last minute, we didn’t need her hearing any magical sounds.

“Very well dear. I do hope that this is not harmful to one's hair.”

"None whatsoever, I can assure you." Fae's demeanor was very professional.

As soon as I finished securing the plugs, Fae got to work. I haven’t had a chance to see this from the outside before, but Fae, she was in the zone. It was as if nothing in the universe outside of that chair existed. Her mystical horn was so entrancing with differing blue lights spiraling outwards to form the tip. It was so big and long…

I snapped out of my stupor after realizing that I had been drooling. Oh right the spray. I sprayed up in the air just enough to give miss Rarity the sensation of mist falling down around her.

Fae had cast several spells with incredible finesse. She wasted absolutely no time at all and moved her body around while casting multiple spells and styling with her hooves. The whole scene looked like dance. In fact, many of her movements seemed like unnecessary effort.

I couldn’t look away. My eyes were trapped by Fae. Her movements, her agility, the many colors dancing alongside her. Her braid trailed in her wake, following the previous location of its source. It's almost as if gravity forgot about her mane. This was the most magnificent dance I had ever witnessed. I could watch this for hours.

I even felt tears begin to form as I was blown away by the sheer beauty of this caper.

Every few skips, Fae would twirl on her rear leg, braid following suite creating a cone around her. She would dip down and the cone would rise, then flawlessly skip to the next step.

It was over in less than 2 minutes.

After Fae’s horn resorbed into her head, I stood there, still in a state of trance. Fae looked at me and... Is she blushing?

I began to vigorously shake my head. Once I reclaimed my composure, I broke the silence.

"That was beautiful." I was in awe. "But why did you move around so much? I thought you disliked extra effort?"

"Actually, when I am doing hair, I need to constantly obtain new vantage points. Plus to see something fresh you need to look away and then back. By merging all necessary movements into fluid motion, I eliminate the amount of effort it would take to constantly halt my momentum, only to start it up again. This way, there is no start and stop." Fae adequately rationalized.

"Teehee, I figured you would have some logical explanation. Still, it was beautiful and I would love to see it again."

I pulled the earplugs and removed the towel.

Rarity's hair had been mildly reshaped. It kept the same form it had prior to the treatment, but its curls were more strategically placed and was glowing with health and shine. It was hooves down much better than before, even I could tell that.

Wasting no time, Rarity quickly sprang up and made a break for the mirror.

“This is. The best. Thing. Ever! You have such a resplendent gift! You have turned what was great into something simply breathtaking.” Rarity was ecstatic.

“You flatter me Rarity. Your hair deserves the credit, I just brought out its potential.” Fae sure does look uncomfortable right now.

“I must have you under my employ. Would you be interested in working for me full-time?”

“My apologies miss Rarity, but I make it a point to not do what I love as a career.”

“I don’t understand what you mean dear.” Rarity’s voice lost some of its edge.

“I like what I like. I dislike what I dislike. I like hair. I dislike work. I don’t want to see one of the few things that I like become fused with that which I dislike. In other words, if I did this for a living, I would lose what enjoyment I get out of it.” That actually makes sense, in a weird way.

“I see now. I don’t know what I would do if I started to see my work as a burden.” Rarity clearly understands this as well.

“But if you would like, I don’t see why I couldn’t offer my services from time to time.” Fae was shuffling about uncomfortably. I can't tell if she is just trying to act polite, or if she actually knows what she just said.

“Do you really mean it? Thank you so much, Fae darling. Now as for your payment, what can I make for you?”

Fae shot me a look. Message received. Through that simple gesture, Fae was bowing out and passing the baton of conversation to me.

“Well, you see Miss Rarity, we are going to the festival tonight and thought maybe you could make us something fitting to wear?” I stepped in. We make such a good team.

“Oh yes, everypony in Ponyville is looking forward to this event. I tell you what, I shall see to it that you two will make an impact on everypony who sees you.”

With this remark, Fae sent me another expressionless facial signal.

“Actually, we don’t want to stand out. We just want something to make us blend in.” I think I got that right.

“I see, yes I guess I could do that if that if you are sure that is what you want. Let me get to work right away. Stop back around 4 or 5 tonight and I should have just the thing to make you exquisitely blend in.”

“Yes miss Rarity, and thank you.” As I turned to leave, Fae held back.

“Actually, I’ll catch up with you in a moment Clare.”

“Oh...OK, I’ll be right outside.” Oh man, I’m super duper curious to know what’s going on.

I left the boutique wearing my pouty face.

*****RARITY*****

“Excuse me, Rarity?”

“Yes dear?”

“I don’t have good social skills, and I have a phobia about drawing attention. But that doesn’t mean Clare can’t look great. Please, make her the prettiest outfit you can.”

“You are quite interesting miss Fae. Clarie is very lucky to have a friend like you.”

With a nod, Fae leaves the boutique.

“I never thought I’d see an earth pony use magic. What an interesting pony, that one. I almost feel it necessary to unravel this enigma that is Fae. Better be careful Clarie, if you keep insisting that you don’t want her, I might have to take her for myself.”

***************

After some window shopping, Fae and I returned to the Boutique at 5pm on the dot, to receive our goods from Miss Rarity.

"Excellent timing, you two. I just got done adding some finishing touches to your garments." Rarity was covered in sewing supplies. She wore a pair of sharp red glasses that were pretty attractive.

"Yay! Im super excited to see what you made for us." I could hardly contain myself.

Rarity shot Fae a nod, then walked over to a standing folding partition and closed it revealing what was behind it. On the left was a beautiful hoodie, white with a breathtaking pink floral design lined with orange trim and a bright orange-ish pink coral silk lining. The material used on the outside appeared possessed a brilliant white shine that really made the embroidered hibiscus design stand out remarkably.

On the right was a black hoodie that was for the most part plain, with navy blue trim and silky blue lining and a drawstring on the hood. Though it looked pretty basic, the fabric used was clearly top quality. Im no expert on fabric, but it looked like pretty expensive stuff.

Both hoodies appeared to be made in the exact same style as the other, just with a big difference in visual aesthetics.

"Oh my Celestia, Miss Rarity, it is amazing! It is so … so... I can't even think of words that would be good enough to describe how much I love it." I couldn’t contain myself. I ran over and threw both arms around her thanking her with a hug.

"I really like mine too. You made it look very cool, yet casual. I doubt I could have thought of anything that would better suit me." Fae was on the verge of a smile.

"Your words are very kind, but this is nothing compared to the work you did with my mane." Rarity said as she flung her hair with her hoof.

She disrobed the mannequins with the help of her horn and floated them over to us. I wasted no time in getting mine on. I slid my arms through the sleeves with practically no resistance. The silky interior felt so smooth and cool as it hugged my limbs. I left the hood down. I didn’t want to cover up my new hair. I want everypony to see it! Zipping it up, I trotted over to the mirror to see that I was awestruck yet again.

My eyes bulged as I squealed in delight.

Fae had gotten hers on as well, only she decided on making use of the hood and brought her braid out in front dangling from her shoulders, and she was... "So hot..."

"What's that Clare?" Fae asked.

CRUD, did I say that out loud?

"I said that yours looks very nice on you," I said stifling a nervous chuckle.

"Thanks. Yours really brings out the color in your eyes." Fae complimented.

"I … Uh... I...I.." Oh no, I was starting to freeze up.

"Well, I am certainly delighted that you both approve. The two of you look fabulous." Rarity to the rescue "You two run along now, I must prepare for the festivities myself. I do hope you will pay me a visit the next time you find you are in need of grand garbs."

"Thank you so much Miss Rarity" I said with a final hug.

"I appreciate it as well. I've never seen a finer article of clothing forged. Thank you." Fae said with sincerity. She turned her head to rarity. "You are quite perceptive."

Rarity replied in the form of a wink. "By the way Fae, how long will this hair last?"

"It should last about 2 days. If for some reason you want to cancel it, just pull a strand of your hair out," Fae explained "But to do that, you would probably need the assistance of a train. Your hair is quite strong in this state."

"I doubt that I shall have the need to perform such a task," Rarity replied.

We left the shop with ourselves in high spirits. As I bounced along, I felt something in my pocket.

"What's this?" I asked, pulling the foreign object out of its hiding place.

In my hoof was a hair-clip that was a blue curved rectangle and while it appeared to be plain, it was minimalistically cute. I promptly placed it in the upper right corner of my face clipped into my hair, not holding any hair back. The hair was more or less just there to hold it in place.

"Wow Clare, that's cute." Fae said without pause, before realizing what it was she said.

Fae reached in her pockets and retrieved a piece of paper. With an annoyed look, she returned it to her jacket.

No jewelry for Fae? Wait, Fae's necklace is gone. How did I not notice that?

"What happened to the pendant you were wearing before? You always keep it near you, but haven't said anything about forgetting it, and that is not like you." The curiosity was strong in me.

"I... Don’t wear it all the time. Sometimes it can irritate my neck.… Nevermind that, lets get going to the festival. The concert doesn’t start until 8 but we can always grab a bite to eat beforehand." Fae deflected.

She is hiding something. I will have to investigate further another time.

"Alrighty." I said with reluctance.

As we approached the fairgrounds, we got many many looks from all kinds of ponies, I could tell Fae was feeling rather uncomfortable. It was 7:30 now, and we had made our way over to the back of the crowd in front of the stage. I've been to concerts before, but none like this. There had to be at least 7,000 ponies here. On the stage were massive speakers forming towers on both ends. Lights of all colors flooded almost everything in sight.

"I'll be right back, I am going to go get us some drinks." Fae said.

"Ok" I was unsure about letting her go off alone, but she is a big girl who can take care of herself.

"GOOOOOOOD EVENING PONYVILLE!" A booming voice came over the speakers while a white unicorn wearing a pair of purple shades hopped about on stage. Her short, two-toned mane almost formed a shield around the side of her face. Her voice was a little boyish and clearly relayed that she was there to party.

The crowd erupted in cheers and squeals.

"WELCOME TO THE ANNUAL LIGHTS AND SOUNDS FESTIVAL!!!!! I'M YOUR HOST DJ-PON3, AND HERE CO-HOSTING WITH ME IS THE CHARMING CHAMPION OF THE CELLO, OCTAVIAAA!!!!

"Ugh, Vinyl, it is hardly an annual event, the is the very first one. Do you even know the meaning of the word annual?" This earth pony was a dark gray mare, with long flowing black hair wearing a simple pink bow on a collar around her neck. Her foreign accent was astoundingly cute.

"Of course I do, Octi. It means … uh... that this concert is going to go down in the history books!" Vinyl said with a wide smile.

"Not even close." Octavia buried her face in her hoof.

"No I'm pretty sure this is going to be off the hook." Responded the DJ.

"That’s not what I mean and you know it!" The cellist was beginning to get flustered.

"Your pretty when you're angry," Vinyl said as she ran a hoof through her co-hosts mane.

"And you are just insufferable." Octavia said while rolling her eyes.

Vinyl turned her attention back to the audience "We are here to have a good time, everypony grab a drink and cheers, if you are old enough. If you are not, then find an adult to buy some for you!"

"HA-HA, That's a good one Vinyl, of course we do not want underage colts and fillies to be consuming alcohol. That would be illegal... and bad... and just not a good idea, so foals please stick to juice." The cellist seemed very nervous and on edge at that comment. Her eyes looked as if she wanted to slap the unicorn for that comment."

"Buzzkill. Hey Octi, get it? Buzzkill?" Vinyl broke out in laughter upon this realization.

*Sigh* "Yes Vinyl, I get it. Somepony has to keep this show from getting shutdown!" Octavia defended.

"I guess that’s why we are such a great team! I provide the fun and you make it so that I can keep providing the fun." Vinyl lifted a party cup up to her muzzle, taking a victory sip. "You guys stick around while we get the last few things ready to go, WE GOT A GREAT SHOW AHEAD. THIS PARTY IS GOING UNTIL CELESTIA RAISES THE SUN!" As she screamed this, the audience began an uproar yet again.

Fae returned with two red cups in tow. "Here you go Clare, one cup of hard cider."

I took a cup with gratitude. "Thank you Fae, you just be sure to not overdo it! The thing about alcohol is that it can make you have fun the more you drink, but if you take one sip too much, it will be hell."

We Cheers'd and began to drink our fire water. The moment it touched my lips, it burned, causing me to expel the liquid in a mist form.

"This isn't cider, this is straight liquor!" I stated with surprise

Fae lowered her cup and said "Wait, what?"

She said this through a wince. She must be trying to withstand the impact of the alcohol.

I rushed over to look in her cup to see that it was nearly empty.

Oh no...

"You just drank a full cup of liquor!"

"It's not cider? What's the difference?" Fae looked puzzled.

"Liquor will get you more drunk, more fast. And this is very high proof."

Faes eyelids drooped slightly and her eyes became less focused. "Aren't we supposed to get drunk?"

"We are supposed to drink and maybe get drunk! You are going to get wasted!!!"

"Oops..." *Hic* "I am sorry. I messed up didn’t I?" Fae was wearing a new look. She looked hurt.

"No, no its fine." Oh Celestia, I just hurt her feelings. Something tells me those may get amplified before too long. Without thinking I did the only thing I could think of to make her feel better. I downed the rest of the cup full of drunk.

"Teehee, now we can be wasted together"…...... *hic*

I was trying not to get drunk tonight. I, like most other ponies, get retarded when I get inebriated. Fae hates idiocy. I will have to work my hardest to ensure that Fae doesn’t think I am dumb. After all, I just drank enough to get hammered.

Well, it worked. Fae seemed to cheer up. I ran over and threw my arm around her "Now let's tear this festival up!"

We began by heading to the vendors lined up along the streets, There were all kinds of colorful items everywhere. Including: kimonos, fans, snacks, accessories, glowsticks, alcohol, photobooths, street performers. Hay, even a few celebrities were scattered about.

Fae looked at me. "Clare... Iz my new life mishion to get glowthings. Will you help meh with such a task? I dunno if I can grasp the concept of currency at the momunt."

"You madam, make quite a auticulous request that I vicariously accept. I, you and I shall obtain the esoteric journey." I was trying to sound smart. I'm doing a pretty good job so far, but this is tough.

"Clare, yer brain is sexy. Let's go!" Fae grabbed my hoof and trot to the closest pretty light accessory vendor. They were not hard to find, they were everywhere.

As we were purchasing many lights to place all over ourselves, a rainbow colored pegasus hovered over to buy some LED tips for her wings.

"Skittles, Iz been so long, how have you been?" Fae said while flagging her over. Her entire personality was different. I want to see more!

"Oh hey, it’s the mare I almost killed. Check out my sweet wing tips!" Skittles said. "Who's the date?"

"We arent dat-" I interjected, only to get cut off by Fae.

"This here is Clarie, she is awesome!" Was I like, being inducted into a group or something?

"Hiya!" I greeted. "May I be so recalcitrant as to interpret how you know Fae?" I tried to ask that without sounding possessive, but I don’t think it worked. My brain was not working all that well.

"Haha, direct and drunk, I like that! The name is Rainbow Dash. Relax Clarie, I didn’t even know her name. I crashed into her a while back by accident." Skittles' light bulb went off as she perked up. "Oh that’s right, stay right here."

She quickly flew off in a flash.

"What is it Clare?" I didn’t even realize I had been very obviously studying her face.

"I didn’t know you had friends. Oops. Subtract any condescension from that last statement," I quickly corrected.

"Hey you got one right! Heh. I don’t. I think the only reason I said hi is because I saw her once and am drunk."

"You have a nickname for her, she didn’t *hic* introduce herself with a nickname," I pouted.

"Haha, no I just can remember names. Wait, no. Can't is the word I was looking for. I can't remember names. If I use the first word that comes to mind, I can at least be consistent when I addr...ad... address them." Drunk Fae was surprisingly cool. She was not in her head at all.

Rainbow Dash flew back with a cup of liquid in tow.

"Here, I'm sorry about crashing into you. Hopefully this will make up for it." Rainbow apologetically gestured.

"Hey, I held nothing against you. So as farz I'm concerned, you are at +1 right now. Thanks you," Fae accepted.

"I would have brought you one too, Clarie. But I didn’t want to risk spilling. I guess you two will just have to share." She slyly winked at Fae before flying off. She didn’t even wait for a response from either of us before departing.

"Well, we have acquired more alcomohol Clare, my dear." Fae took a swig and passed the cup to me.

I don’t drink after other ponies. That’s disgusting, but...

"Thank you Fae, I like your accountant. She seems amicable." I said as I lifted the cup to my mouth. Subconsciously I twisted the cup to match where Fae's lips had been previously. I took a sip and it was sweet!

"That's deciduous. I wonder what this drink is fabeled."

Fae straightened up, fighting her drunken state to the best of her ability.

"It's called malaprop," She said wearing a smirk.

"Wow. I am surmised. I like it. We should get more!" I wonder how she knew what the drink was called?

Fae slacked down again, throwing her arm around me.

"Don’t ever change Clare. Lezzgo find some moar malaprop, filly!"

"Yee it's much better than the one you got earlier, teehee" I said with a playful jab.

"I will do bitter next time Clare-bear." Fae didn’t look apologetic or sorry, she seemed determined.

"I don't articulatedly care for bitter tasting conclusions. I find them to be Incandescent. I absurdly enjoy the more inclined sweet taste." Man, trying to sound smart was hard. It will be worth it though if Fae can see that I don't get stupid when I am drunk.

"Clare, you so funny!" Fae said through a veil of laughter.

We finished our accessory hunt and headed to the food stalls next. We went to get some cotton candy and ran into a very pink bubbly pony with cones of cotton candy sticking out all over her mane.

"Hiya, Pinkie Pie! I didn’t know you'd be here!" I engaged the bundle of cheer.

"OOH Hey Clar-ie~ Oh Fae! It's been a while. I'm super excited to see you again. It's been so long. I didn’t know if I would ever see again." She bounced over to Fae.

"Pinkie? Pinkie Pie is that you? My, my how you have grown. It's been almost 10 years now. It's great to see you!" Fae responded.

"It looks like you have taken a special liking to my apprentice. This isn't because of that thing I did with your friend, is it?" Pinkie locked in on the conversation with Fae.

Wait! They know each other? What did Pinkie do?

Fae paused for a very briefly longer time than usual.

"Pinkie, I have moved on. Please don’t bring up things unnecessarily." Fae said with a distant look.

"I understand. Here please have some cotton candy and forgive me?" Pinkie said with sorrow.

"Oh I can't stay mad at you, Pink-Pink. But I will take the candy. Thanks. I guess this is always going to be a recurring event in our lives. You handing me candy. Hell, I'm starting to expect it from you now."

"How do you two know each other?!" I said with a voice that was probably at an inappropriate level.

Pinkie continued to ignore me as she went on.

"Where is that thing you always used to wear?" She said while pointing to her head.

Fae seemed startled at this question.

"I-I lost it..." Fae stuttered.

"OOH! I can totally help you find it! I'm like super good at finding things. I have an seventh sense about these kinds of things. I find things I lose all the time, without even knowing I lost them. This one time, I found a cupcake my mane. I didn’t know it was there or where it came from or how long it had been there. After I ate it I realized that I had been saving that for when I take a shower. Nothing beats eating cupcakes in the shower!" Pinkie started to ramble.

"You seem more hyper than normal Pinkie. How much have you drank?" I asked, afraid of the answer.

"I havent drank anything at all. I just ate a lot of cupcakes. Twilight told me she found a way to put alcohol in the cupcakes without them getting soggy. They were delicious. She told me they came out too strong and not to eat more than 3 in one night, so I ate 3 of them. Then I ate another 5." My boss was definitely a high strung individual. "Wanna try some? They are super duper uber yummy."

Pinkie pulled out a paper bag out of her mane. She picked out two cupcakes and shoved one in both mine and Fae's mouths at the same time.

"Ack. Welf fure wa'h aught." I said with a baked good filling my mouth. So much, it's really hard to chew. It does taste good though. I love sweet things.

"That was great Pinkie. I have always wondered how I could make eating even easier." Fae seemed to get hers down quicker than mine. She also appeared unphased by my boss's very rude gesture.

"Oh! That reminds me, I am on my way to meet with Twilight." Pinkie began to bounce in place. "Have a great festiparty!"

Pinkie turned to Fae "Fae, It was really nice catching up with you! Maybe we will bump into each other again soon!"

"I look forward to our next reunion." Fae replied with a wave and a half smile.

"I'll see you whenever we get some more work. Please let me know if there's anything else I can do in the meantime!" I said while still trying to get the cupcake down.

Pinkie bounced off and into the crowd.

"Fae, How do you know Pinkie?" I asked with some worry. They seem to have quite the history. Wait, is being drunk making me possessive of Fae?

"I don't. I just met her. She is very weird. I think Twi should have spiked the cupcakes with some sedatives instead," Fae revealed.

"But what about all that stuff you two were talking about?"

"No clue, I was just playing along with her. I doubt I could've done that sober."

"But, wait. You. She. That was so intricate that I couldn’t even tell you two didn’t know each other." I am drunkenly lost here.

"What about the pendant? She knew you weren't wearing it." Pinkie couldn’t have known that if they had just met.

"That took me a second to figure out, myself. I believe she was just trying to catch me off guard, for some reason. Still not sure why. She performed a vague action that could be interpreted as many things. Similar to a cold reading. She never actually said necklace and she didn’t exactly point to her neck. She may be some sort of genius. She played the act better than me, plus she knew that she didn’t have a consequence for flopping on the cold reading. She could just claim that she was continuing to act like we knew each other if she was found out." Fae explained this with a great level of detail.

"Well how did you figure it out? You were able to continue without having the slightest bit of doubt that you may have seen her before? She knew your name?" There's no way I could have done something like that.

"As for the name, it's not unreasonable for you to have brought me up in a conversation with the pony you work with. I had already figured out that she was trying to fool me and not you. She focused on me and ignored you. In terms of a cold reading, I only found her out so quickly because of luck. The statement that would apply to the majority was a dead end for me. She mentioned my friend. I don’t have friends. Still though, that was very impressive of her."

"I knew you over analyze every situation, but this is crazy. You figured all of this out so fast." I wonder what it would be like to live in her head for a day?

"It doesn’t take much effort. My brain just kind of does it regardless of my will. It is probably the leading cause of my insomnia." Fae winced slightly.

"Insomnia?" I asked. I was playing dumb. Though she never said anything about it, it was not very hard to figure out. She has never fell asleep before me. Sometimes if i wake up in the middle of the night, she will pretend to sleep. I was feigning ignorance in an attempt to get her to talk to me about it.

"Y-yeah, every now and then I have a very minor trouble falling asleep. It's not really that big of a deal." Fae started to scratch her cheek.

"Oh, is that all?" I was a little disappointed, but we will have many opportunities to talk about this later. I had a more pressing question I wanted to ask.

"So, what did happen to your necklace?"

As Fae began to speak, we the music that had been playing, ceased. Faintly, we could make out the voices of the hosts start talking.

"Oh come on, Clare. I don’t want to miss this." Fae started to gently tug on my hoodie, almost like a foal would to point something interesting out to their mother. It was pretty adorable.

"Yeah let's go!" I guess I can ask her later. It's not that important.

We went back to the crowd. Vinyl and Octavia had made back on stage. They were bickering again. They should really just kiss, Teehee.

We were in back. There were a ton of ponies here, and all of them taller than me. I wish I could see what was going on. I started to strain my neck and perform some tiny jumps to catch a glimpse.

"Screw this! You should be able to see the show. Come on, Clare, we are getting you up front." Fae said while grabbing my hoof and dragging me through the crowd. I would like to be closer. I'm so short, it's really hard to see anything at all.

It was a warzone in here. It is crazy all the ponies that don’t want to let you walk by. I was getting bumped and shoved forcefully. I couldn’t push past any of these ponies if I tried with all my might, but Fae was plowing right through them at a fast pace. Every few feet we would pause, Fae would look around for the path of least resistance, then make her move.

It took much pushing and pulling, but we made it to the front. Thanks to Fae's genius of not letting go of me. We were right in front of the stage!

"So Tavi, are you telling me that you don’t love me anymore?" Vinyl asked with sadness.

*Sigh* "No Vinyl, what I'm saying is that there is a right and a wrong time to 'drop the bass'. You can't just walk into a senior citizens retirement home and let loose!"

I started to look behind me in vain hopes of seeing how many ponies we just wronged. I couldn’t see much. I'm almost half the size of everypony else. *sigh*

"Hey Octi, look at this, we have a guest on stage!" Vinyl redirected the conversation.

"Yea, I believe I have something to add to the conversation." Came a familiar voice. A very familiar voice.

No...

"Well what do you have then?" Octavia asked.

"While Vinyl's ways may seem extreme, they are not. Most ponies that age can't hear very well, and I believe that she was just trying to compensate for their lack of hearing." Replied the familiar voice.

No... no, she didn’t!

I turned around to see Fae up on stage holding a mic, off to the side of the performing duo.

"FAE WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" I screamed.

The three turned to see the source of the screaming, while an additional spotlight shone down on me. Off from the side came a security pony. Oh jeez, we've done it now.

A security mare trotted right up to me and seized me by the arm. She dragged me out and picked me up.

"Wait no, please, she didn’t mean to!" I pleaded.

Security set me down on stage and handed me a microphone.

"What? How does this work, shouldn’t I be getting removed, not spotlighted?" I asked in utter confusion.

Vinyl stepped forward, and said "Your friend made a great point, so I have invited you two to join the conversation!" Vinyl turned her attention to the crowd. "EVERYPONY GIVE IT UP FOR... Uh... What was your names again?"

"I'm Fae this is my roommate Clarie!" Fae said, adjusting to the DJ's enthusiasm.

I looked out to the crowd, now able to fully see how many ponies were gathered here. I gulped as I realized that there were thousands of ponies watching me. How is Fae alive right now?

"Vinyl! You can't drag unsuspecting ponies on stage!" Octavia objected.

"If I may, Vinyl?" Fae stepped in.

"Hell yea, go for it." The DJ was apparently loving this.

"I brought myself on stage and Vinyl did not drag Clare on stage, security did." Fae said with a wink. Fae can wink?

"Under Vinyl's instruction! She may as well have!" Octi attacked.

"Tavi, everypony has free will. I cannot be held responsible for the actions of others." Vinyl blocked.

My turn! "While that may be true, the Security is your employee, you are responsible for your henchpony's actions!" I have to earn my place on stage or else they may remove me and keep Fae.

"Yea, what she said," Octavia agreed.

"Hey, you aren't supposed to help Tavi. You are supposed to help me!" Vinyl whined.

"I am? Oh I'm sorry." I didn’t know what I was supposed to do.

"That’s not very fair, Vinyl!" Fae summersaulted to Octavias side. "I'm afraid I must keep teams even in the debate."

"Fae, how could you do this?" Vinyl asked, as if betrayed by her sister.

"Thank you very much Miss Fae." Octavia seemed touched.

Vinyl ran to Clare's side. "Ok Clare, you're with me!"

"Actually, It's Clarie please." I asked politely.

"Fair enough. We'll settle this as musicians!" Vinyl declared as she hoofed her chest.

"The rules are simple. Our music will decide winner!" Vinyl levitated over a keytar from backstage while security brought Octavia her cello.

"Vinyl, don't you think this is a bit much?" The cellist asked.

"I can't play any instruments!" I began to panic.

"Sure you can, I hear you singing in the shower all the time," Fae pointed out.

"Hell yea, I got a singer on my team this time, Tavi." The DJ's excitement was spilling everywhere.

"What do I get on my team?" Octavia asked Fae.

"I think I shall keep it even and sing as well, Tavi." Fae can sing? Her voice is typically void of any and all emotion. "I can't hit the notes Clare is capable of, but I can still prove useful."

"Fae, I didn't know you could sing," I said in surprise.

"Me neither, how hard can it be? I do listen to a lot of music, it seems do-able." Fae stuck out her tongue while winking.

A generic beat and pulse started to come from the speakers.

"IS EVERYPONY READY?" Vinyl screamed. She turned to me to see a little filly scared out of her mind. She pulled the microphone away from her face and spoke to me. "Hey, relax. This is all in good fun. Just add where you can, and me and Octi will handle the rest. Just make some stuff up. I've got ya."

Octavia was the first to attack. She unleashed a wave of pure melody, amplified by the speakers. It was so soothing. I could feel it. I could actually feel the sounds resonating in my body.

After about 30 seconds. Vinyl's keytar started mixing in with it in a very upbeat tempo. These two noises shouldn’t mix well at all, but this was amazing. The audience had started moving around a good bit, overcome by the sounds.

I have to do this, not for myself. I have to do this for Fae. She believes in me. It should impress her if I win this battle. I can feel the music. I can do this.

Fae and I approached each other on stage and stared the other down. Our heads began to bob to the beat in an attempt to put our minds in rhythm.

Let's go Fae.

I began with a long high pitched vocal note. I had succeeded in matching the music. I just have to hold this note until the next time I can start words.

"Here I am on this festival night,

We entertain you with our music fight.

How, I wonder, can I overcome,

That in which I've never done.

I'm scared but I'll fight all of my deepest fears,

And try my best not to leave you in tears."

As soon as I came to a stop on the final note, Fae jumped in and what I heard next, I would have never been able to prepare myself for.... Fae began to rap.

"Hey it's Fae, and I'm not gonna lie,

I'm making this all up on the fly.

I'm out of my element just a bit,

I didn’t really take the time to think through it.

But I'm here, I'm now, I can't let my side suffer defeat.

You've heard the bass, the rhythm, the tune and the beat,

Previously the beauty, now the beast.

I'm gonna quit, I'm not gonna cease,

But just for a minute, Clare to you I bequeath,

Imma step back for a moment, I need to breathe."

Stifling my laughter at that last line took all of my willpower. I wasted no time in covering for her as I stepped in.

I went, then Fae went. We perfectly stepped up when the other needed all except the last verse. I began to sing my elongated melody I had started with while Fae rapped underneath. Timing was perfect calibrated and we finished the verse at the same time. The lyrics we sang were maybe not the best, but it sounded decent when combined with the masterful art flowing from our teammates.

We did it! We actually pulled it off! Wait the music is building up. Oh no, what's going on now?

"Let's finish this up! Clarie, ATTACK!" Vinyl commanded as the music was peaking.

I was pretty lost here, I didn’t know what to do. Don’t think! Just do!

"RAAAWWWR!!" I let out my most threatening roar. I must admit, it wasn’t very intimidating. Immediately I felt the embarrassment.

A wave of "D'AW" came from the audience as the music faded out.

Vinyl dropped her weapon, and Fae dropped the mic. They started to stagger, clutching their chests towards the center of the stage. With a loud *THUD* they collapsed beside each other.

"FAE!" - "VINYL!"

Octavia and I ran to our respective friends sides to check and see if they were alright.

"NOW!" - "GO TIME!"

The two Jumped up, cured of their fake heart attacks, planted wet slimy face-licks on Octavia and I. I could feel Fae's tongue on my face, but I was mainly feeling super embarrassed because there was well over 5,000 ponies watching us. I saw a flash in the audience near the front.

Fae and Vinyl backed off and turned to the audience. Fae grabbed my hoof as Vinyl took Octavia's and raised them in the air while bowing for the audience.

The audience exploded in a mass of cheers! The amount of noise was overwhelming, but made me feel very fulfilled! Fae would normally have hated this, but she seemed to be having a ball. I'm glad, alcohol really loosened her up.

"Hope you all enjoyed our improvised performance, next up we catch some wubs with our guest, Neon Lights!" Vinyl rallied.

The security mare walked out on stage. She was rather intimidating with her black and red mane. She handed the four of us each a picture. On this picture, Fae and Vinyl were licking two shocked looking mares on stage. Oh wow! I'm so glad I got a photo of that!

"Hey, you two, wait up!" Vinyl and Octavia ran to catch up to us as we left the stage, leaving their microphones behind.

"You two were quite the addition to the performance. That was genius!" Octavia complimented.

"Yea, I've never had one of these flash improv attempts as awesome as that. That was great and the audience ate it up. That was nuts!" Vinyl agreed. "We are actually on the road performing a lot, but we do have a radio station here in Ponyville. You should come by some time and join us for some more."

I was still a little shocked. "Oh wow, really? I was worried that we messed up your show."

Octavia pulled out a couple business cards and wrote on the back. "Nonsense! You two were splendid. Here is our phone numbers, It would be great to meet up again."

Vinyl jumped in. "Or if you just want to go on a double date with us."

Me? I blushed.

Octavia scolded Vinyl.

Fae raised her hoof in the air and said "DEAL!"

Fae and I left the crowd to have some more drinks. We probably didn’t need more alcohol, but we were having such a great time. Plus it had already made this night amazing. I wanted to keep it going.

We found an empty table and sat down. The concert was still going on, but there was still hundreds of ponies flooding the street. We sat there chatting about the performance and how we each thought the other did a better job.

"Fae, thank you for coming to this with me. This is the best night ever! I am so happy that you came with me on this date." I was hammered, but I had reached a level beyond drunk. I have ascended to a super drunk. In this state, my cognitive abilities and speech are not only repaired, but boosted.

Fae straightened up "I-Is this a date?"

Oops...

"Oh hey, look at that, you could use some more drinky drink" I quickly jumped up and went to go get more. Hopefully she will have forgotten that last comment by the time I get back.

That’s the last thing I remember before blacking out.

*****FAE*****

"BLAH! I'm soOo drunk" I yelled as I fell back in my chair.

Tonight has been so much fun, I've never been this drunk before. Or drunk at all. I liked it. Nothing seemed to irritate me, plus I ended up GOING ON STAGE, something I never thought I would do in my life. I didn’t hate it. It was almost as if the crowd wasn’t there. Vinyl is so cool, Octavia too. I hope we have the chance to hang out again.

What am I thinking? Too many new thought patterns. Where is Clare with those drinks?

"Here you go Fae," Clare said as she gave me another cup of hard cider.

I said nothing while eyeing her. Something wasn’t right.

She sat down at the table.

"Thanks Clarie."

"You're very welcome"

"Man it's late, do you happen to know what time it is?"

Clare looked around for a few seconds "It looks like it's about 11:30."

"I wanted to talk to you about something." She tilted her head .

"What's up?"

"I wanted to apologize about my tendency to sleep walk. I know that it must be very inconvenient for you," I said trying to feign guilt.

"I don’t mind. I think its kinda cute."

I leaned in close "Oh. I could just take you right here..."

She leaned in and closed her eyes "Oh Fae-"

Inches from her face I stopped leaning in, holding my position until she opened her eyes.

"There's just something I can't figure out." I leaned back "So tell me... What does somepony have to gain by impersonating my friend?"

Author's Note

Hey everypony! This one was a doozy to write. The chapters from here on out are going to start to get longer ;p

It is fine if you want to bash my horrible lyrical ability, Haha. In my defense, it was supposed to be bad.

More Art from Darkstylerz! Here is Clare!

I cant thank him enough for such wonderful art.

Thank you for reading! Let me know what you think down below.

Chapter 6: Duplicity

To me, the most prized possession I have is not my intellect. Actually, I believe that to have been a fortunate side effect of a greater quality. The ability to adapt. Life is nothing more than a field, an ever-changing field. In the survival game of life, those who do the best are not those who are the smartest, or those who are the strongest. The successful ones are those who can adapt the best to the dynamic playing field. Personally, I saw this at a very young age and have lived my life to this standard. It just so happens that the more knowledge you acquire, the better able to adapt you are.

I also do not delude myself into thinking I don’t have limitations. I have many, but I am able to identify them and either avoid scenarios where the lack of ability would prove critical or in the very least, limit them. A single sentence is what started all of this. Somepony once asked my why I could not learn to play an instrument. I had never tried, but I just didn’t feel as though I could do it. My answer was "I don't know." I felt certain that I couldn't, yet I had no idea why.

This sparked a major revelation. I accepted that there are things I do not know. That line made my universe expand exponentially. Instead of taking everything at face value, I began to question everything, no matter how trivial. I started asking myself why and why not on a regular basis.

A wise pony once said "If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle." Truer words have never been spoken.

The more knowledge I accrued, the more I learned about myself. I forced myself into the habit of pausing before every word spoken. I question things and come to the most likely conclusion based on my observations. Don't get me wrong, I don’t wish for supreme knowledge, I only want to make the best informed decisions I can. That is my answer to regret, for I have none. If you make the best possible decision you can given the current circumstances, how can you get angry or disappointed at yourself with regret?

A blade, no matter how masterfully sharpened, will always have its limits. How can anypony expect it to act as a gun? Or more to the point, how can anypony get upset with any decisions they have made, when at the time, they made the best possible decisions they could have in the given scenario?

Being able to adapt is what enables us to make it through our current mistakes. Being able to learn from those mistakes is what allow us make better decisions and prevent repeating them. Being able to question things is what causes us to grow.

I make it a point to know myself. This is a contributing factor to my borderline apathetic appearance, that and my disinterest towards everything. Gathering as much intel as possible before taking action is key to how I choose to live my life. This in turn allows me, to adapt to ever-changing requirements. Finding out the bare minimum of effort to make it through the current chapter of my life, is what I live for. I don’t want to overwork, or underwork. I just want to get by. I know what I want and I don’t lie to myself about it. But, I also have the ability to say, maybe I want something else even more and just don’t know it. Ignorance is not bliss. I would rather know and be upset than cover my eyes and ears and remain in the dark.

I am finding that now the bar of bare minimum is not quite high enough. I have new things in my life I enjoy. I am in the middle of an unknown enemy, being social and having a friend. I have begun to question whether or not I should maintain this current mindset and stagnate further, or should I chose to tackle this new enemy head on? Worst case scenario, I learn more about myself. Best case scenario, my rent gets cheaper and I may just find one of the key ingredients to becoming happy with no downsides. No upkeep, no repercussions, no sacrifice, no effort.

Talk about unrealistic goals. It would be easier to find a philosopher's stone. But if somepony makes me happy to the point where I begin to question my current life, I would be a fool to not at least investigate further.

I think full immersion is a great way to save time. Perhaps I should throw myself in the middle of the fray and let my ability to adapt kick in. That is something I can put my trust in. Whether positive or negative outcomes, I will take away the prize of experience and knowledge.

"I don’t understand. What are you talking about?" Phony Clare questioned in hurt.

"I can't tell what you are after, Fake-Clare. I can only assume that I am your target, but at the same time, I do not know why. I am poor, unpopular, non-threatening and have no 'beef' with anypony in this town." I spoke with great seriousness, almost as if I was not ridiculously drunk.

"Why do you think I am an imposter? You are starting to scare me" Fake Clare was starting to sweat bullets.

"I have 10 reasons to believe that you are not Clare." I said as I took a sip of my drink. Oh, that’s good.

"What are they?" Pseudo-Clare asked.

"1) Your smell, Clare smells of lavender, you do not. I can't smell it very clearly, but you have a sweeter smell about you."

"2) Your hair. Clare's hair was done up special today. It had a strong enchantment on it. This tells me one of two things: either you cannot copy magic, or the magic used was stronger than you are capable of."

"3) You didn’t react when I called you Clarie. I call her Clare. She is fond of it. This tells me that this doppelganger is ignorant of Clare's feelings and opinions."

"4) When I confessed about sleepwalking, that was a lie. Actually it tells me that you are incapable of copying memories. I noticed you didn’t skip a beat in your reaction, which tells me you are good at reacting on the spot, making you that much more of a threat."

"5) You haven't made eye contact with me this entire time. Basic psychology states that ponies look away when they are guilty, nervous or hiding something. Going by your demeanor, I would say that it's all three. Clare always looks me in the eyes when I speak. This tells me that either you are doing something you dislike, you are inexperienced at what you are trying to do, or are young."

"6) You had to look for a clock when I asked you the time. Clare has perfect chronoception, down to the second. This tells me that you more than likely planned to come up with a plan on the spot. But that leads me to believe that I was not a target from the beginning."

"7) When I made that sexual comment, you went for it. Clare would have stammered on and got very uncomfortable. This tells me... Well to be honest, not a whole lot. But it does satiate my curiosity to see what would happen."

"8) Clare had too much alcohol to walk while carrying two full cups without spilling any. These cups were fully filled. This tells me that you were not partying or having a good time. Rather, you had a purpose for being here and couldn’t risk being intoxicated.

"And, " I cannot believe I talked this long without getting sick.

"9) This is the biggest give away, Clare has many cute freckles all over her body, you have none."

I took another sip. Sometimes, I impress myself.

There was a brief pause. I don't know what she is after, but if she went through all this trouble, it must be important in some way. Figuring out why she is not Clare is not as important as figuring out her motives.

"I thought you said you had 10?" Not Clare looked sullied with defeat.

"Oh right... And 10) Clare is passed out behind a bush over there." I pointed across the street at a nearby bush.

Un-Clare facehoofed.

I only had 9 reasons, I was just hoping to figure out another while I was in my clever speech. It wasn’t until I got to number 8 that I spotted the hoodie poking out from the shrubs. Though, I kind of didn’t want to mention that one because it made the rest of my deductions seem less spectacular. The only thing I couldn’t quite figure out was how she knew my name. Most logical answer is she saw our performance earlier. Now that I think about it, that has to be it, because she mimicked her voice. It's just a coincidence that it seems a lot of ponies already know my name before I have met them.

"I guess I failed. I am sorry, I shall take my leave." Faux Clare started to get up.

"What for? We were having a delightful conversation." She paused while attempting to leave. "Everything about you is a lie. Except for your eyes. I know that look all to well and it's not ill will, it's desperation. In my intoxicated state, I appear to not be as disconnected as usual. So tell me, what's your story?"

I leaned back in my chair and tried to wear my most welcoming face. Welcoming face feels a lot like my regular face. Either that or I am doing it wrong. I am going to need to try harder at mustering an expression here if I want to figure this out.

Her voice changed slightly, in place of the cute high pitched voice of Clare, it shifted to a more serious tone. It was a deep yet feminine voice that almost reverberated at times. Though it was bolder, it felt weaker. It sounded... Lonely.

“I don't want to hurt anypony… I Just wanted a meal,” she said after a brief silence. “I saw your friend passed out and thought this was my best chance. I am so sorry. I watched your performance together, you two must be quite fond of one another.”

It's weird, for some reason I believe her.

“You’ve lost me. You went through all this trouble for me to buy you food?” No, that is not it. She is not far from breaking and telling me everything. She seems timid, I must take care not to say anything too aggressive.

“N-no… That’s not it.” Her face was hanging so low, I had trouble seeing her eyes.

Think, Fae! Navigate this damn conversation. Stupid alcohol. It is impairing my ability to figure out the perfect statement to get my desired result. I feel like I should have all the information required to solve this puzzle. Hmm... More alcohol may actually be the answer.

“Well, seeing as though you must have paid for the drinks, why don’t we change the topic for now as we loosen up?” I said as I sucked down a gulp.

Anti-Clare began to drink. Good, her drink isn't poisoned. I am fully prepared to force myself to vomit if I can't get her to drink mine as well.

"Maybe I am just too drunk and I've lost all sense of taste, but does this taste funny to you?" I asked through a disgusted look.

Wannabe-Clare took a drink of my ale. "No tastes fine to me, how much have you had to drink?"

Score! One last variable to eliminate before I can be satisfied. I reached for hers and took a sip.

"Still tastes funny. I guess I am drunk." I said with a concluding chuckle.

"Haven't you been drunk before? You should know how it feels" She questioned. Good, she is now willingly speaking unprovoked.

"Nope, while I can say that it is rather enjoyable, I don’t know if I will be doing this on a regular basis." I answered.

"If you enjoy it, then why not?"

"Because it costs a lot. This whole festival really damaged my wallet."

"Then why attend?" Counterfeit-Clare asked.

"She wanted to." I nodded towards Genuine Clare.

The look of guilt grew upon Fools-Clare.

"I just told you something that I will never admit to anypony about. How about something about yourself to repay me?"

“There are… Just some things I can’t discuss.”

“Don't worry, there is so much commotion around us, nopony will hear or pay attention. Let’s start off slow. What’s your name?”

“Beatrice… My name is Beatrice.”

“That’s a very pretty name.”

“Why are you complimenting me?” Beatrice was starting to crack up. “I just stole your friends identity and I was going to… I was going to hurt you! Why aren’t you hitting me? Why aren't you upset?”

“Because no harm was done.

Because I know those eyes.

Because I truly believe that you don’t want to hurt anypony.

Because if you were really going to attack me, you would have fled when you were found out.

Because Beatrice is a truly wonderful name that is quite possibly the best name I have ever heard.

Because I’m too drunk to physically move without getting sick. Take your pick.” All of these things were true.

“I don’t want to hurt ponies, I’m just so hungry. I've seen you two together. I… my kind is not welcome... Anywhere.” The imposter began to tear up.

“Your kind?”

She slammed her hooves on the table and leaned towards me with streams running down her face. “I’m a changeling!”

“I see. That does explain a lot." Damnit! Sober me would have come to this conclusion! A changeling though, this is quite rare.

“My kind is hated, sought out and destroyed. Most of the time, with good reason, but I am not like them. I don’t want to hurt anypony.”

Uh-oh, we were starting to gather some looks at this scene of drama. I didn’t expect her to start making a scene. We should continue this elsewhere. As much as I liked the security of being in public with a potential assailant, I really don't think she is dangerous.

“Haha, Clare, don’t be silly! I’m not falling for your prank this time!” I said with as much volume as I could.

I leaned in close. “There are too many ponies here. Come back to my place and we can talk there. Let me go grab Clare.”

"Now you are inviting me into your home? Are you an idiot or do you not care what happens to you?” Beatrice questioned as her eyes continued to pump out liquid.

Stay calm, Fae. She didn’t mean it like that.

"Neither, you intrigue me. I won't be satisfied if you run away now and I never figure this out. And after seeing your mannerisms, I really don’t think I have cause for alarm."

"OK.” She said after a few pre-meltdown sniffles.

We got up and made our way across the street, behind the bushes. Clare was unconscious on the ground. She didn’t appear to be hurt. My guess is that she must have passed out after finding a place to regurgitate some of the booze. I am at my limits myself and she is much smaller than me. We drank together this whole time. I should have taken it easy.

“Will you help me get her on my back please?” I requested.

“Sure.”

With a little bit of effort, we draped Clare over my back. It was a bit weird to see the pony that was on my back standing in front of me.

“This looks very suspicious. Can you change into something else?”

“Like what?”

“I dunno, anypony other than the one on my back?”

With a flash of yellow, Beatrice morphed into a spitting image of myself.

*Facehoof*

“How is that less suspicious?”

“You said anypony!” Beatrice defended.

“Anypony that isn’t in our immediate vicinity!” I said as my voice became progressively shrill.

With another flash, her appearance changed to that of the pony who had the basic image of Vinyl, but wearing the colors of Octavia. Good enough. At least she didn’t fully transform into a celebrity.

“That’s better. OK, come with me. We will go back to my apartment and continue this conversation.“ I said as I wore a genuine smile. What is wrong with me? I am getting excited to speak with somepony. I take it back, I dislike being drunk.

Beatrice nodded in response as we set out.

We made our way through the streets and headed towards my apartment, which I maintain is nothing less than a miracle because I can hardly see straight. I barely can stand up straight, let alone carry another pony without falling. I did gather more intel on Beatrice though. As I began to sway or lose balance, she would grab hold and correct my balance for me. Without her, Clare may have made it home wearing many bruises.

We entered my home and I flipped on the lights.

“Come on in, make yourself at home” I said as I hobbled over to Clare's bed and placed her on top with the grace of a dump truck. I removed her hoodie for her and placed it hanging on the edge of the foot of the bed. I felt a little wrong while stripping her, but this article of clothing was far too valuable to get wrinkled. Though, it does have a few dirt covered areas and a grass stain. I will have to clean it for her tomorrow.

She slowly walked in and shut the door behind her. She made certain to lock it once inside.

“Now, if it's alright with you, I’d like to chat with Beatrice. The real one.” I said while returning to the kitchen.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea. My real form is hideous.” She sounded upset. “It will make you hate me.”

“Hating somepony takes too much effort. Besides, I’m clearly on a role with this friend making thing, don’t stop me now.”

She started to tear up again. I placed a hoof on her shoulder. “Look, I don’t care what you look like. I just want to know my new friend. After a moment of hesitation, she briefly emitted a bright yellow light. Her appearance had changed, revealing a black equine figure with slim, lengthy extremities, riddled with hexagonal holes. She also had long golden hair that seemed very different in texture to pony hair. Atop her back she possessed wings that resembled that of an insects. I hate insects.

“You hate me now, don’t you.” She was still crying.

“Honestly? I was expecting ugly, but you look really hot! Like on fire hot. Hoof to Celestia, you are drop dead sexy. Wow.” I can’t explain it, but I was really turned on by this.

“E-excuse me?” Her face turned quite red, but she was also smiling.

“I think the alcohol has inhibited my inner monologue.” I really hadn’t meant to say all that.

“Heheh, that’s the first compliment I’ve ever received.” She started laughing harder. Her laughter almost sent a chill down my spine as it sounded a little evil yet playful.

“Look, I know how it is to live with a secret you can’t share. And I’m starting to learn that it's actually more common than you’d think.” Something about her, really tugged at my heartstrings.

“Are you telling me that you think you could live your whole life in fear of somepony finding out who you are?”

“I have.” All too well. After the first time ponies finding out about this, I made certain to never let it happen again.

Maybe it was the whole being drunk thing… But oh well, why not?

My eyes began to glow as a horn began to form. I used my magic to levitate some coffee cups and floated them onto the table in front of us. With a concentrated burst, both cups flashed. After the light subsided, steam started to rise from the cups.

Beatrice’s tears were no longer falling. She leaned over the cups to inspect them.

“It’s hot cocoa. And I think this is the first time that particular spell has ever been useful.” I explained.

She picked up a mug and brought it to her dainty ebony lips.

“Wow, it's good! But, how can you do that?” She asked in between sips, clearly enjoying this magical concoction.

“I don’t know. But let’s just say, ponies didn’t react well when they found out. Even though magic is commonplace, an earth pony using magic was enough to get my entire family chastised. They went through so much because of me. I had to leave my old life behind and move far away. I never even told anypony what I was doing. I just left.”

“Why are you telling me all this? If what you say is true, then would me knowing put your current life at risk?”

“You showing me your true self, didn’t that put your life here at risk?” I countered.

“What life? I’m just drifting through this town. I don’t have a home, and I never will. I can’t stay in places for too long. If I go without feeding for a while, I start to lose my ability to hold a form. So I try and feed a seldom as possible.” Beatrice looked desolate.

“What to you mean feed?” I have a basic concept of this, but a new firsthand explanation would be beneficial.

“Changelings feed on emotion. Love is usually the most filling and delicious, but it drains ponies of that emotion. That’s why I try to take just enough to keep me alive and no more.”

“How often must you feed?”

“I can get by with a few days before symptoms start setting in.”

“You do this instead of food or in addition to?”

“We still need to eat, it's more or less like another necessity like hunger, thirst, and sleep.”

She does appear to be very thin, almost to the point of brittle.

“Will any emotion suffice?”

“Yea, it just doesn’t taste good and would require me to feed more often. But it doesn’t bother me.”

“How long since you last fed?” I asked.

“About a week.”

"How long before it could be life threatening?"

"I think the record is somewhere around 9 days or so."

“I can't have you starving to death while I'm trying to talk to you. I am your host and all. Here, feed on me. ” I pulled my hoodie down past my shoulder.

“Heheh, I’m not a vampire,” she chuckled, “I don’t bite.”

“Oh well, a mare can dream,” I said, surprised by my words. Stupid alcohol.

“Are you sure about this? It will make you very tired. It's a very draining procedure. I feel bad“ She sounded rather concerned.

Releasing my hoodie, I nodded. “But if you can feed with permission, doesn’t that negate the iniquity?”

“Maybe a little. But it was almost easier to feed on those I don’t know. I don’t want to hurt somepony who may become the only friend I’ve ever had.”

That touched me…

“Well don’t see it as you doing something bad to me, see it as I’m doing something good for you.” I said with a smile.

She thought on this for a moment. “Ok then, I’m going to start.”

She approached me with divine grace. I shut my eyes and tensed up, waiting for the pain. Suddenly I feel a pair of lips on my own. The were so soft and warm, with a slight taste of honey. So that was the scent I couldn’t place...

I opened my eyes to see her pressed against my face, eyes shut as she continue to passionately kiss me. Up close, she had such a look of cuteness and innocence. The kiss continued for the next minute or so. As every second passed I felt more and entranced by her smell and taste, coupled with how sexy she looked. I am feeling a new feeling I have never had. She was stirring a burning from within.

Her lips began to retreat as she simultaneously opened her eyes, she has large, stunning emerald eyes. She stopped just a few inches from my face.

“Wow, uh… That is a very … Interesting method of feeding you have.” I nervously laughed.

“Oh, I haven’t fed yet.” She said.

Oh, wow. I’ve got nothing. I literally couldn’t think of a single thing to say. So I took the classy route with very intelligent “Ugaho?” which was comparable to mixing several words into one, with the coherence of an idiot.

She opened her mouth and started to inhale. a sanguine vapor-like aura began to exude from my body. Slowly, it made its way to converge in front of me and streamline into her maw. I felt the effects right away as my soul started to deflate. It became increasingly difficult to stand as my already skewed vision grew blurrier. I could see why she said she didn’t want to do this, it was a very enervating sensation.

She quickly closed her mouth biting off the stream of energy. The residual energy made its way back to my body in retreat. It wasn’t much, but the little bit that returned, eased my discomfort.

“That should be enough to last for a little while.” She said as she closed in again, this time to throw her arms around me, delivering a very heartfelt hug.

As she stood there hugging me, I could smell the honey yet again. This scent was intoxicating and made me yearn for more.

“So if that was the feeding, then what was that kiss?” I am a little confused.

“That was my way of thanking you.” As she spoke these words, her eyes were locked with my own, while smirking. "I hope my first kiss will suffice."

Again, I was speechless.

Everything began to get fuzzy. I fell down to the floor. The feeling of impotence was intense, though at least I was expecting it. I guess this must be the effects combined with the effects of alcohol. My brain is displeased with everything that has transpired tonight.

“If you don’t mind me asking, what emotion... Did you eat?” I cannot even get a full sentence out without taking a break in the middle to recuperate.

“Lust. I’ve never had a finer meal. Haven't tried that one before, it taste close to love. But this one was much better.” Beatrice stated while placing her hoof on her stomach.

“I'm glad.” She was definitely someone I can trust. Just doing this for her wasn’t enough to slake my desire to help her. Give a pony a carrot and she will eat for a day. Teach a pony to farm and she will eat for a lifetime.

“Hey Beatrice, what if I said that you don’t have to be a drifter?” I asked.

“What do you mean, Fae?”

“You could stay and live here with me and Clare. If you do that, you can feed on me as much as necessary. And I know Clare would love to be your friend as well.”

“Seriously? You would offer a stranger your roof?”

“No, I’d offer my friend one.” I know that was a bit cheesy, but cheese makes everything better.

The tears started back up as she began to cry once more.

“I want to refuse, but I can't bring myself do it. I've never had an opportunity like this before. It may be my one last shot to have a life. You are the nicest pony I’ve ever met. I don’t know what to say. Thank you.”

“It's no problem, besides maybe I’m just looking out for myself. I've never wanted friends before, but since I made my first one, I realized that it's not as bad as what I thought. There aren’t many ponies in this world that I can tolerate, they are just incredibly rare. I only found the first one a few weeks ago.” I gestured to Clare. She was still out cold, sleeping peacefully curled into a ball.

“Heheh, good rationalization. If you are sure that it's alright. I don’t want to burden you two. Where would you like me to sleep?” She asked, looking around at how bare the apartment was.

“Anywhere is fine.” I said, struggling to move my hooves to take me to my bed.

“Can I sleep under your bed?” She asked in a curious tone.

I paused and turned around.

“That is an odd choice.” I stated while reading too much into it.

“Actually, I love tight spaces. They make me feel comfortable and safe.”

“Well if that is where you would like to sleep, please feel free.” I grabbed one of my thin blankets off of my bed and handed it to Beatrice, along with one of my pillows. I have too many of them anyway.

My eyes were getting very heavy.

Beatrice slowly approached my bed, knelt down on her hind legs, then her front ones. She began to shuffle her shoulders back and forth as she began to disappear under my bed.

“Good night, and welcome home, Bea.” I plopped on my bed, face first.

Despite being dangerously intoxicated and drained of an emotion I didn’t know that I had, sleep remained as elusive as always. I don’t know how to get to my cache without Bea seeing me. But, everytime I close my eyes, the room spins in every direction at once. It was beginning to make me nauseous.

Screw it, I'll deal with the repercussions later, I need sleep. I got up and lowered my face under my bed to try and look for that box. I was trying my best to avoid making any noise. Hopefully Bea was asleep.

"Fae?" I heard a faint whisper come from the back. The voice almost carried the feeling of hope. She stuck her head out to the edge, so that only her face was visible. In this dim lighting, she was hard to see, but what I could make out was very cute. "What are you doing?"

Damnit, I was hoping to not trigger this event. My brain is too disabled to think of a lie at the moment.

"Oh, Bea. I'm sorry I didn’t mean to wake you," I whispered.

"It's fine, I was still awake. I can't sleep. What are you doing?" She asked through a yawn.

"Hey, is there like a big block of wood down here?"

"That is pretty random. Yea I think I saw one. Gimme a sec." Bea retreated only to reappear moments later. She slid the box out and whispered in a high tone "Here you go."

She didn’t immediately return to the hiding place, instead she just laid there looking at me.

"Thanks. Sorry again for waking you." I started to turn around and leave, but stopped and resumed the conversation. "You aren't going to just pretend this didn’t happen, are you?"

She shook her head from side to side. "I'm too curious."

"You can't sleep?" I asked.

"No, I have trouble sleeping in new places. After I become familiar with it, I have no problem sleeping." Well that’s nice, she knows exactly what keeps her awake. I must admit, I am envious.

"I'll make you a deal. I'll help you fall asleep, but in return, you cannot mention this to anypony at all. Deal?" I stretched my hoof out towards her. She grabbed it and pulled herself out from the underside of my bed.

"I promise."

We made our way to the bathroom while I carried my sleep crate. Shutting the door behind us, Bea was the first to speak.

"Fae, I've never done this before..." She said while blushing.

"What?" I asked.

"Please be gentle." She said, pressing herself up against the wall.

"What?! No we aren't doing that!" I was trying to watch the volume of my voice. It would be bad if Clare hears us. "I was going to give you something to sleep."

"Oh..." Bea responded in disappointment.

I pulled out the box and unlocked it with my magic. I missed the sight of all of these bottles. Just resting there waiting to be drank. Don't worry, my lovelies. Mama's here.

Bea peaked over my shoulder and began to giggle. "Sleeping potions? Why is your covert operation sleeping potions? I mean, why the secrecy?"

"Drugs aren't typically socially acceptable," I answered. "I'm just doing what is needed and having to explain to ponies is a hassle. That and everypony would feel like they are better than me if they knew."

"Why are you showing me?"

"Well four reasons; you already caught me retrieving the box, you already know a much bigger secret, I do not believe you will think less of me and you were having trouble sleeping. I can help." Granted, if I could have, I would have much preferred she didn’t find out.

"Good points. I'll take one then, how much do I owe you. I know they are expensive." She said peeking her nose in the box.

"It's all good. I am not a dealer. Besides, I made them. The ingredients are not that expensive. Just water, Mandragora and flavoring. Mandragora can actually store mana, so I just fill it with my magic. It's much cheaper than buying the ingredients for an actual sleeping potion. You may want to just take like one fourth of a bottle, they are extremely potent. Besides, I like the loophole. You can't cast a sleep spell on yourself. It defies a law of mind altering magic. It's your brain's safeguard. I can however scribe a scroll or imbue something with my magic that can affect me. It’s a neat trick around your brains limitations I discovered"

"So I am drinking Fae's essence?" Bea whispered. She quickly covered it with "That’s pretty smart. I'm not good at magic, but I am familiar with it. My magic revolves around trickery. If it's all the same, I want to take the same as you." She looked embarrassed to have said that.

"Well, normally I take one, but being drunk is hurting my ability to fall asleep. I will probably take two. I don't think I can let you take more than one for your first time and even that is pushing it."

"Oh... Ok. Are you sure that’s not too much for you?" She asked in worry.

"It's not uncommon. Actually, the reason these are so strong is because they were basic ordinary strength, but after I had to take so many to fall asleep, I kept doubling their potency to decrease the amount of bottles I needed. One of these bottles is the equivalent of 16 basic sleeping potions. I have a massive tolerance built up, I will be fine."

"Wait, you have insomnia, or are you just looking for a high? If you don’t mind me asking. Actually I'm ok with either answer." She added a wink to that last bit.

"Insomnia. But, just because I am one doesn’t mean I can't enjoy the other. At the very least, it makes lying there awake more tolerable."

"Well, here's to hoping I can sleep tonight." Bea said as she raised her vial momentarily before putting it to her mouth. I followed suit and downed both of mine.

"That actually tasted really good. I-" Bea cut off mid sentence as she became disoriented and wobbly. "Y-you... Were right. They are.... Strong"

"Let's get you to bed, Bea." I said while ushering her to her underbed.

She was rapidly losing coherency.

"Fae... You pretty... And... You taste yummy." She mumbled as she staggered on.

I know it's just drugged up nonsense talk, but that comment made me happy. She was out before we even left the bathroom. As she laid there on the bathroom floor, many things were going through my mind. Things like, her sleeping face is gorgeous, I hope Clare didn’t hear that thud and I really hope that I didn’t just kill her. I wonder if I should have given her a weaker dose?

The following morning, as my consciousness began to stir, I awoke with a throbbing headache. I felt sick, very sick. I opened my eyes as my headache got worse. Light hurt. Sounds hurt. Thoughts hurt. My everything hurt.

"I'm never drinking again..." I mumbled.

"Good morning Fae! Hungover?" Ack! The frequency of her voice was murder to my ears.

"Yea... I think so." This was horrible! Who in their right mind would drink after having experienced this? "Make it go away."

"Quickest way to get rid of it is to get up and move around. Spend all day in bed and you will feel horrible all day." Clare offered her sage advice.

"Never. I'm never moving again." I rebelliously stated.

"Then you better get used to being hungover. You will be forever." Clare screeched. At least, I think it was a screech.

I slowly started to make my way to the edge of the bed and crawled off of the side.

As my face made contact with the floor, I felt something under me quickly retract under the bed as the whole structure bounced off of the floor with a "Ow!"

I was too hungover to process anything. This was easily the most painful faceplant I have ever had and I have left craters before.

"Fae, I think you landed on Beatrice." Clare stated with concern.

I turned my face slightly to look under the bed, As Clare said, I had indeed landed on my new roommate. "I'm sorry, Bea..." I could barely manage that, this hangover was just too devastating.

From underneath, Beatrice's face emerged and came closer to my own. She appeared to have a much deeper color to her coat and mane than she did last night.

"How did you know I was here?" Beatrice asked, turning her head to Clare.

"I was awake last night. I overheard you two talking in the kitchen." Clare admitted.

Beatrice began to wear a look of panic, but it was short lived when Clare spoke up "I made breakfast for the two of you." She said with a wide smile. "My name is Clarion Days. You can call me Clarie, but you already knew that. I am looking forward to becoming good friends with you." Her voice was nothing but genuine.

Beatrice left her hiding place, and squeezed past me on the way out. "You don’t hate me already?"

Clare walked up to her and delivered her a hug. "No way. You seem like such a nice… pony? I actually don’t know how to choose my words with that one. Teehee"

"Heheh, pony is fine. I'm technically all creature types at all times. Thank you, I'm sure we will become best of friends."

I started to rise. I sat up, feeling a trickle running down from my forehead, but that was nothing compared to the migraine I possessed.

"Fae!" The changeling ran over to inspect my head. "You are hurt!" She wore the look of concern.

"Oh it's fine, it happens." Luna damnnit! That hurt like hell.

I may not be showing any signs of it, but trust me, I was screaming on the inside. It's like my brain is trying to eject itself from my body. Given my current levels of nausea, I would say it's trying to exit through my stomach.

She got up and flew over to the table retrieve a paper towel, her flickering wings making a very low hum. Actually, that hum meagerly helped suppress my headache. I just need an army of changelings to storm my house now.

She came back and dabbed my forehead tenderly.

"T-thanks Bea."

She appeared to blush as I said that.

"I am fine really. This literally happens daily. There is no stopping it, so you probably should make sure all of your hooves are not near the danger zone."

"That’s ridiculous, why don’t you just like put a hundred pillows there? Or sleep on the floor? There is a hundred things you can do to prevent it." Bea was having trouble believing me.

"I wondered that too. Why don’t you be more proactive in preventing it?" Clare stepped in.

"I have. If I take countermeasures, it ends much much worse. I think that it is my body's way of waking me up. I tried the pillow before, I moved it right before I landed, every single time. I tried sleeping on the floor. I will never try that again. I ended up zombie-ing my way to the window and tumbled out. That was a three-story fall. It was not pretty. I have tried many ways, eventually I just gave up. My effort was wasted everytime."

"What about when I put a pillow there? That worked," Clare asked.

"I am pretty certain it is because I didn’t know it was there beforehand. So Zombie Fae didn’t know to stop it."

"I bet me and Clare can stop it. There are two of us. So long as we don’t tell you our plans, you won't know of them." Bea was overjoyed to be of assistance. I could tell from her demeanor. Also, the fact that she said "I'd be happy to help."

"I don’t know, bad things happen to good ponies when dealing with Zombie Fae, she is a bitch. I sometimes am somewhat conscious when I go zombie, but I can't really do anything of my own volition."

"We got this! We will protect you from her." Clare stated with a determined look.

"You are free to try, but don't say I didn’t warn you." I believe trying to stop them will be a losing fight. I'll let them find out for themselves and if they get hurt, I'll just take their injuries and tell them to stop. That should be the easiest course of action.

"What could possibly go wrong?" Bea questioned.

"Oh, no! Beatrice don’t say that! You will make things worse!" Clare ran to Bea and began shaking her by the shoulders.

"Fae is already getting hurt, how can it get any worse?" Bea said with pauses in between shakes.

"Don't you watch TV? You just said two of the most taboo lines in existence." Is Clare superstitious? I think will tuck this discovery in my back pocket for now. It could prove entertaining in the future.

"Why? What happens?" Bea dizzily asked.

"This mission just got harder."

"What like superstition?"

"Exactly."

"It won't happen again, just stop shaking me please."

"Oh! Right, sorry." Clare backed off of the new tenant with remorse. "Yes, like superstition."

Oh this should be quite entertaining.

I shakily rose to my hooves trying not to agitate my migraine any further and headed to the table where there were 3 bowls of oatmeal sitting there for us.

We seized the bowls and head back to sit on the floor against our beds. Clare against hers and me and Bea against ours. This Oatmeal was pretty out of this world. It was littered with various fruits and was quite sweet. I think that pony puts sugar in everything. No problem here, I love sugar.

Clare had a donned a nervous look about her. But after a few moments, she spoke up. "So you two met last night?"

Head throbbing, I answered "Yea, She tried to kill me."

"No I didn't!" Beatrice objected. "I wasn’t going to hurt you!"

"Relax, I was joking" I smirked.

"You two get along rather well." Clare looked more nervous. She was clenching her bowl with both hooves.

Oh man, she was awake last night. She saw the kiss! What do I do??? I'll just be straight with her.

"Clare, it's not what you think! There is nothing going on between us," I said without thinking.

CRAP! Now I am going to hurt Bea's feelings.

Clare looked up and her face lifted.

"Yet." Bea added.

This comment caused Clare to tense up with a psychotic smile, cracking the bowl she was holding.

"I … Uh.... Heh...heheh... Bea that’s not helping." Oh man, oh man. How do I get out of this one?

"I HAVE TO RUN TO GET HEADACHE MEDICINE! So if you will excuse me, I will be right back." I quickly fled the scene. I didn’t think that one through, I panicked.

On my way to the store, I couldn’t help but think "I'm pathetic..."

*****BEATRICE*****

After Fae escaped out the door, Clarie and I looked at each other. I hope we can get past this. She is my second friend ever. I feel I can trust her. I don’t really know her, but if she can be a good friend of Fae's, I'm sure she will be a good friend of mine in time.

"Clarie, I know you two have a very special bond. I don’t want to disrupt that. But at the same time..."

"You scare me Beatrice.... Not because of what you are. But you scare me because.... I.... I am...."

"I thought long and hard about this. I want Fae. She is the nicest and most sincere pony I have ever known. I really like her. But, I am probably just deluding myself. I doubt I could ever get anypony to think of me like that. Say the word, and I'll leave. I have no right to try and steal from you." I don’t want to leave, but I also don’t want to hurt anypony.

"Oh Beatrice... I didn’t mean for any of that. No, this is your home, and I do not control Fae's life. I meant it when I said I want us to become good friends. How about this, you stay here, live with us, you and I become best friends, and we do not let results affect the relationship between us?" Clarie was too kind. I don’t deserve to have a good life. I am an abomination.

"Why are you being so nice to me?" I asked.

"Because you are my friend, dummy. Besides, I'm sure that if we play this out, we can find a way for both of us to be happy."

"What exactly do you mean?" I asked.

Clarie stood up and reached out to get me standing as well. She was much shorter than me. She extended her hoof towards me.

She is willing to let competition infect her peaceful, carefree life? Clarie, you are either very confident or a fool. I can live with these terms and conditions. After all, I've nothing to lose. If I fail, I still will have two friends.

"Let the best girl win"

*Hoof bump*

**************

I returned to the house carrying a bottle of headache meds, though my hangover had already subsided. With my roommate count increased, I should probably carry these with me at all times. I walked inside, Clare and Bea were having a conversation about her picking a disguise to maintain while she is in public.

"I am not very good at cloning ponies. Fae knew instantly that I was a phony." Bea said with touch of shame.

"But you were only found out because you tried to copy somepony. What if you picked a look that’s all your own? Don’t mimic another, just create a identity." Clare had a really good idea. She doesn’t give herself enough credit, she can be pretty smart.

I didn’t like Bea having to hide who she is, but at the same time, it would be naive to believe that she could live a normal life without doing so.

"I … Can try." Bea looked at me and closed her eyes while she concentrated.

In a golden flash that filled the room, Bea's appearance changed. She became a navy blue mare, with light blue hair and dark streaks in her braided mane and hair left out on the sides to frame her face.

"Oh wow, Beatrice you are beautiful!" Clare marveled at the new look.

*Facehoof*

"Bea, You turned into a clone of me with just a color swapped palette." I said with my face buried in my hoof.

"But, I'm not you. I want to look like this. We look different enough so that ponies won't think I'm you." Bea was dead set on this.

"Fae, Beatrice is trying to discover her identity. If she feels comfortable in this form, then we should let her look how she wants."

"You two seem to have gotten chummy rather quickly."

Bea-Fae and Clare exchanged smiles.

"You are right Clare. But ponies will notice that we look so similar.” I pointed out.

“What if we say that we are sisters? It would help me even more if I had some kind of tie with somepony.” Bea asked.

“Even better! Fae, what do you think?” Clare inquired enthusiastically.

Yea that’s great until somepony notices me checking out my sister…

“I guess that could work, but I hope you will revert back to yourself when we are not in public. Not that I'm not flattered about your new appearance, but... I kinda prefer the real you."

Bea-Fae reverted back to her insect-esque state and trotted up to me. She put her muzzle in my ear and whispered "Thank you" as I felt a long, thin, slimy tongue slide across the outline of my ear.

In a perfectly natural response, I melted, lost my balance and promptly fell to the floor.

"Beatrice, that's cheating!" Clare protested.

I was too busy being a puddle to notice.

"Hey, I'm not stopping you from doing it. She has TWO ears you know" she said sticking out her freakishly long snake-like tongue.

"What? That's... That's not what I meant and you know it." Clare got defensive.

Still a puddle over here...

"OH, so you are jealous?" Bea said in an overly seductive tone, right before repeating the very act that incapacitated me on Clare.

"EEEK!" Clare shrieked and rocketed on to the nearby table, shaking.

"My, those were very different reactions." Bea stated while starting to laugh "MUHUHAHA"

Clare's eyes widened as she heard this. "Holy crap! That is the second most diabolical laugh I have ever heard."

This caused Bea to cease her laughter. "Second most?"

Clare grew quite the evil grin herself and raised a bent hoof to her face "My Beatrice, your hair looks so tattered and dirty."

*******Beatrice********

"I am a changeling, our hair is full of holes." I pointed out in a bland timbre.

Clarie made a beeline for her bed, wrapping herself in her blankets.

"Clarie, what's wrong?" I could see my breath accompanying my words. It didn’t feel any different, temperature-wise.

As I stood there bewildered at what was going on, the walls and floor became blurry, while all objects remained clear. Lights began to die.

"What the hell is going on?" I asked, but it didn’t sound right. It was almost as if I were trying to speak from underwater. Calm yourself, Beatrice. Stop and think. This isn't normal. Could it be poison? Or magic? I can stop this.

Fortunately, changelings are quite gifted in dealing with toxins. It's almost second nature to purge them. I began flexing my limbs as if I were bunkering down. Starting and stopping this act will expel any and all poisons.

Might as well deal with the other possibility while I can. Utilizing what little magic I possessed, I attempted to dispel any magical effects from my mind. With a flash it was over. I stopped flexing my limbs to see if I had succeeded.

I looked up to see that the environment around me seemed to have changed. Straining my eyes to see, I could vaguely make out that the walls have been replaced with what appeared to be metal. I was in some kind of tunnel that extended beyond my sight. The floor became wet as I felt a warm rush of liquid passing through.

"Why didn't that work?" I was starting to panic, and that is something I don't do. Clarie! The bed is gone! In fact nothing had remained the same as it were mere moments ago.

If it's not poison or toxin, then what is it? Was I teleported to a new location? That would require some very powerful mag.... "Fae!"

Did Fae do this? I spun around in desperation. Maybe Fae is here too!

There she was just standing there. Hoodie pulled over her face. "Fae! Thank Chrysalis, what is going on? Hey, are you ok?" I approached her and put my hoof on her shoulder. As I touched her, her body exploded in a vast expulsion of ashes.

"Heheh, Jokes over, Fae. You got me... I am scared...... Clarie? I have to get out of here!" I took flight. I don’t know where it goes, but I have to get out of here.

As I flew for my life, sounds began to echo from behind me. It was a heinous laughter the continued to grow in volume and pitch. Wait, is this what Clarie was talking about?

Speeding down this pipe, tiny shimmers of blue light started to form all over the lining of this cylindrical prison. They quickly took form and shot out becoming chains, reaching for me.

I managed to maneuver around seven or eight of them, but I was eventually impeded. Despite my vicious struggling, multiple glowing blue chains constricted each of my appendages, stilling me in midair.

The water erupted in green flames, embers floating to the ceiling. I began hearing the sounds of ponies burning and screaming. Out from the flames rose a ghostly apparition. All I could make out was a set of glowing eyes encompassed by Fae's silhouette.

"SOMEPONY HELP ME!" I screamed to no avail.

The water started to rise rapidly. Flames still shooting out, the underneath was pure black and looked like tar. I tried to shapeshift into something smaller, to loosen the bonds constricting me. No good, they just grew tighter and adjusted. The fire passing over my body was excrutiating. The water was already halfway up my body. Whatever this was, was highly acidic, my entire lower body felt like it was melting.

Well, I guess this is it. They say your whole life flashes before your eyes just before death. Mine didn’t. All I could see was Fae. The only flashes were of a future that could have been. Wait... Maybe what I feel for her isn't as simple as I thought. Could I have been running away this whole time under the wrong assumptions? I ran because I always told myself that ponies only want to hurt me. But was that an excuse to stop myself from attempting to pursue a foundation?

I have never tried digging myself in the ground and struggling through the hardship of trying to make a life. Did I try to make a friend and fail and use my race as a rationalization to stop me from putting myself out there and getting hurt again?

I don’t know why this is happening or what I did to deserve such a fate, but Fae... She showed me happiness, the likes of which I have never felt before, even if for just half a day. I just want to repay her before I go.

The water had reached my neck. To bad I've decided to put my all on the line for Fae only just before I die...I wish I could say it's been a good life. No, it's been abundantly stupid. But...

I don’t want to go.

"FAE!-Blurblgurgle" Fully submerged, I gave up and relinquished my detained breath.

I blacked out...

*********************

When Bea came too, Clare had draped a blanket over her shoulders and was holding her with compassion.

Why do ponies keep fainting when I do their hair? Actually, Rarity was fine. I am quite curious to find out what is going on. Maybe I should go see her or Twi about this. Get an outside opinion or something.

I walked over and held out a mirror. Bea's jaw dropped as she became speechless.

"My... hair.... it.... l.... Look..... Wow..."

"I must say, Bea, your hair has some pretty unique qualities to it. It took me a little while to adjust to the difference in volume and texture. I'm not trying to compliment my work, but you are breathtaking. Absolutely stunning" I didn’t lie, I felt like I was unworthy to be in her presence.

"You really are beautiful," Clare contributed.

"Fae...." Bea's eyes began to leak as she ran up to me and threw her arms around me and continued to sob.

I looked over at Clare, who returned my gaze with a nod and a smile.

I embraced Bea as she continued to weep.

After a few minutes, I was starting to lose myself in her scent. The aroma of honey was rather stimulating. I have no idea how I managed to keep myself from losing all control, it took great mental fortitude that I did not know I possessed.

She released me and looked me in the eyes. "I've always been hideous. I've never thought that I could naturally look anywhere close to good to pony standards." She gazed into my eyes with much fervor. Her eyes were intense. Her golden irises resembled those of a dragon's.

She soon snapped out of it and stepped back with a look of shock as she must have remembered that Clare was here too.

She looked at Clare and blushed. "I'm sorry, I guess that was a low blow." Clare retaliated with a hug.

I wonder how those two became so close. I was only gone for like an hour.

Clare spoke "Teehee. We can call it even for me having set you up like that."

Bea deadpanned as she began to shake uncontrollably. She turned her head to look at me. "She was right. Not even my mother comes close to how terrifying you can be."

"What are you talking about?" I don’t recall being evil lately.

"That thing you did after Clarie jumped into her bed. It was … horrible is an understatement." Bea looked as if her world could crumble at any moment.

"You fainted right after she did that." I explained.

"Actually Beatrice, it's true. Same thing happened to..." Clare froze in fright.

"Clare, are you alright?" She stood there motionless with a blank expression for about a minute.

"Silly me, I poked at the vault. La la la lala la la lala~," she sang with a blank stare as she strolled off gleefully.

"No, you did something. Something that.... I can hardly remember, I feel like I never want to relive that experience, but at the same time, I feel as though that was exciting. And that I had an epiphany or something." Bea got lost in thought. Seeing her scrunch up her face was very cute.

"I think I love..." she muttered.

"I'm sorry, what did you say?" I asked.

Clare quickly chimed in "Say, let's head into town to grab something to eat. We can try out Beatrice's new look!"

"Yea, I am getting kind of hungry." I added. "Hey Clare, mind giving me a moment to speak with Bea in private, I need to discuss something with her."

"S-sure, I'll be right outside." She seemed uneasy, but ok with it.

As Clare left, I turned to Bea. "I don’t imagine she would like this. When you fed last night, you made the comment, that should be enough. I don’t want you starving yourself. Eat up and then we will head out."

I could have predicted her response.

"Are you sure? I'll be fine with that I gathered already."

"It's fine, you know how well I can tolerate sedation, enervation is a similar process." I don’t want her to skimp on something she needs to live just because I will get a little weak.

She approached me and began. I will admit, though it wasn’t an expectation or prerequisite, I was disappointed that there was no kiss this time. Wait, since when do I have thoughts like that?

After she sucked the life out of me, she galloped over and threw her arms around me. This is a weird feeling, in my weakened state, having her hold me, made it more bearable to deal with the loss of vitality.

"Why don’t you go catch up with Clare? I just need to do my hair and I'll be right out." I said after the embrace.

"Are you ok?" She asked.

"Yea I'm fine, I'll be right out." I said with a forced smile.

"Ok I'll be right outside. And Fae, Thank you for everything. You have done so much, especially considering our first encounter. You are the best pony in the world." Bea left the apartment, leaving me alone with my thoughts.

Within seconds I fell to my knees.

Damn, that’s intense. I don’t even think I have the energy to do my hair. I will not have the energy to do the Mane-Shield and clean Clare's hoodie. I can go a day without my hair being perfect.

Following my all too brief respite, we went down to sugar cube corner to get our grub on. As soon as I entered the building I could hear a moaning coming from behind the cash register. I approached the counter and peaked my head over.

"Pinkie, are you ok?" I asked with shock as I managed to remember her name. I guess my go-to names are usually physical characteristics and hers is pink all over. I was however, drawing a blank on her last name. I know she has one. Pinkie Park? Pinkie Party? Pinkie Pastry? Whatever, she is just Pinkie now.

She was hunched over covering her head with her hooves.

"No, I've got head things." She said in a tone that was much more bland and bearable than it was at the festival.

"Did you eat too many cupcakes last night?" Clare asked.

"I don’t think I should eat more than twenty from now on." Pinkie replied with her face still hidden.

I reached in my pocket, pulled out a bottle of aspirin and sat them on the counter, nudging them towards Pinkie.

"Think this will perk you up long enough to take our order?"

"You are a lifesaver." Pinkie wasted no time in seizing the bottle and taking a hoofful of pills. Immediately, she straightened up. "Thank you, Fae. I owe you big time!"

"They could not have kicked in that fast." I said.

"Eh, it's mind over matter. What can I get for you three*Gasp* A NEW FACE!" Pinkie hopped over to Bea-Fae and started violently shaking her hoof. "I've never seen you before. You look just like Fae! Are you Fae's sister? Or are you a doppelganger of Fae's here to destroy her? Ooh, maybe you two used to be one in the past and you split into two and one day in the future you will fuse and obtain untold powers! I'm Pinkie Pie! Have a cupcake on me!" Pinkie extended her head towards Bea-Fae carrying a cupcake that was perched on top.

"Oh, I get it. The cupcake is literally on you. Thanks Pinkie Pie. My name is Beatrice, I'm Fae's sister, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

After Bea-Fae had taken the gift, Pinkie slumped back down and retreated to the counter.

"I don’t think I'm ready to be me just yet. But at least I'm not alone. Most of the town is hungover today. It turns out they had Derpy in charge of one of the drink vendors. She ended up giving everyone cups full of nothing but liquor instead of beer."

Well, that certainly makes me feel better, I didn’t mess up. I guess that pegasus I got the drinks from had mixed them up. I didn't know her name, though. I just remembered her by the perfect nickname of Bubble Butt.

"What can I get for you three?" Pinkie asked.

"Let me guess at this, I will take two strawberry cupcakes for me and Bea and an extra sweet blueberry one with extra frosting for Clare." I asked looking at looking back at my roommates for confirmation.

I was answered with two nods. I was pretty sure Bea-Fae would want whatever I was having.

Damn, I’ve already blown through most of the bits I got pawning stuff. I need to find a better way to make money.

As we were leaving, a lone cupcake came from the back, smacking Clare in the face. After pulling the assailing cupcake from her face, there was a note attached that said "It's time." Clare elaborated and told us that it meant she had to go to work. I am happy I don’t have that job.

We trotted around the main street of the town in awkward silence until, Bea-Fae jumped in front of me and asked “So Fae, what do you like to do for fun?”

“I don’t know.” I was at a loss. I never really thought about it before. “I haven’t really done fun.”

Bea-Fae looked puzzled. “What? Heheh, what do you mean you don’t know?”

“You met me when I was drunk, a first for me. I don’t have any notable hobbies except sleeping and being borderline apathetic. Well, I do like puzzles, but I don’t think they qualify as fun.” Wow, I’ve never felt bad for explaining myself to anypony before. I kind of felt ashamed.

“No, that’s not true.” She eyed me curiously. “You just need someone to show you how to have fun. Let’s go!”

Grabbing me by the arm, she took off down the street.

“Hey!” I don’t like the sound of this.

As I crouched behind a log, deafened by the sound of gunfire and screams, I couldn’t help but hate the situation I found myself in. Bea-Fae crawled up to me while carrying a revolver in her mouth.

“Are you hurt?” she heavily panted.

“No, but I am down to my last clip.” I too was out of breath.

“You are still better off than me. I’ve only got 5 shots left.” She said while placing her back against our barricade.

“This is nuts. We are up against a flock of pegasi, and a platoon of unicorns. And I could be wrong, but I think I saw a minotaur earlier... Talk about a losing battle. Earth ponies can’t keep up with flight and magic.” I screamed as we leapt over the barricade, sprinting to make it to the next barrier from a hail of bullets.

We managed to make it to a rundown building, where a majority of enemies were camped out. We planted ourselves just outside the wide entrance on both sides of the door.

Bea-Fae leaned past the safe wall of concrete and fired off two shots. Almost instantly, I heard the screams of another enemy getting wounded.

She looked me on the eyes with determination. “We will if we want to live. We have to make it out of here. We have a life to go back to. Damnit Fae! There are still too many things we have yet to do.”

“BEA LOOKOUT!” I screamed while firing a barrage of bullets at an Apache pegasus wearing an leather jacket swooped down hell-bent on taking out my partner.

The pegasus began spiraling to the ground, silent. A puff of smoke erupted from the point of impact.

“Thanks, but we aren’t going to escape by being defensive, let’s go!” Bea-Fae commanded.

We turned the corner and stormed the warehouse, I heard Bea-Fae take two more shots and down two enemies. Her aim was remarkable.

“Take cover in the room to the right” I yelled while laying down a spray of bullets.

Bea-Fae dove inside while I heard the damning click of an empty gun. Tossing the uses less scrap aside, I shut the door. I fell back against it, relieved that we had a moment to breathe.

“Fae…” she was slumped against a wall with a hoof covering her red stained chest, dripping with crimson.

“No… Please no..Bea!” I quickly ran to her side. This was bad. This was very bad. I ripped off her jacket and put my arm behind her head, while applying pressure with my other.

Bea-Fae began to cough uncontrollably. After a few moments she regained her breath.

“Fae… You know I’m a goner…*cough* There’s so much I wanted to do with you. *cough* I… love... “

“NO! Stop it, you aren’t going anywhere. We are going home and we are going to spend the rest of our lives together!”

“That …Sounds…like… heaven…” Bea-Fae's eyes closed as she trailed off, going limp in my hooves.

“NOO! BEATRICE!! I CAN'T ACCEPT THIS!” I began to sob as I held her lifeless body close.

I laid her down and placed my jacket over her. I reached over as I grabbed her revolver with 1 remaining shot.

In a dull tone I softly spoke “I’m coming for you,” as I placed the barrel against my temple.

*BANG*

My body collapsed against hers.

Bea…

“Game-over, the winners of this years tournament is team Rainbow” a voice rang out.

“Heheh, wow you laid it on a little thick didn’t you?” Bea-Fae asked while sitting up.

“Was the suicide too much?” I questioned while holding my hoof to my head in pain.

“Hahah, it was pretty sappy, but sweet.” She said, now standing up.

“Luna damnit! Paintballs hurt like hell!” I cursed.

“Well you aren’t supposed to shoot yourself point blank in the face with them.” She held out her hoof to lift me up.

“I got caught up in the moment” I averted my gaze with embarrassment while accepting her hoof.

“Bea, I’m coming for you” she mocked.

My face grew more red.

“Let’s go see the post game stats.” I suggested, deflecting.

We left the building in defeat, but I didn’t feel defeated. To my surprise, this was actually pretty fun.

We joined a crowd gathering in front of the stage. There was a pony standing on stage with his blond hair done up in a puffy fashion, wearing sunglasses. “This games winner is team Rainbow Dash!” the announcer cheered as he held up the hooves of Rainbow and a little orange pegasus filly.

“We got beat by a child” I said with a distraught face and outstretched hooves.

The announcer continued “Most kills and highest accuracy goes to … Beatrice! She had a whopping 157 kills and a hit percentage of 92.8%. A new Warzone record, earning her the title of Master of War! These sister are a monster of a team and we look forward to seeing them next year!”

I looked at her as she blushed. I knew she was good, but damn…

"It was only thanks to your tactical expertise. You make some pretty scary plans of attack, y'know?"

"Don’t be humble, you are a beast! Next time I should plan on you running out of bullets," I replied.

"Wait, how are you so good at war tacticizing?" Bea-Fae inquired.

"How are you so good at deadening ponies?" I reciprocated, cleverly verbing along with her. Though, I'm not sure if she did that on purpose or not. Either way, I like that word and I think I will steal it from her.

"Touché, let's move on." I wonder if I should investigate further? Eh, too much effort. Another time perhaps.

“First kill goes to… Fluttershy! Who got scared by a branch and accidentally shot her partner, Angel Bunny.”

Well at least someone was worse than me…

"Thanks to our sponsors over at 'The Vinyl Scratch' radio, here is the kill of the game!" On the monitor behind the announcer, a floating recording of Bea-Fae was showing. She was incredible. She had leapt into a platoon of mid-flight pegasi from a ledge and shot down 8 of them before using the final one to descend to the ground, followed by eliminating the useful pony-chute. Serves them right, damn teamers.

“We here at warzone would like to thank every pony for joining us. This year had a record smashing 524 participants! Be sure to check out our shop to see grab some photographic memories of the biggest paintball tournament in Equestrian history!”

“Ooh, Fae! Maybe there is one of us!” Bea-Fae's hope rose sharply.

“Yea let’s check it out.” I agreed as we made our way past the herd.

In no time at all, we made our way to the shop and what I saw made me deadpan.

On a monitor above the counter was a high detail picture of Bea-Fae lying on the ground dead, with me right behind here with tears running down my face and holding a pistol to my head.

“Oh crap!” I said, burying my face in my hooves too embarrassed to let the world see me.

“Hahaha! That is priceless!” Bea-Fae mocked. “We have to get that one. Please, Fae?”

She looked at me with puppy eyes. I have no choice. Handing the clerk the last of my bits, I purchased the picture, frame and all, and handed it to Bea-Fae.

*Squee*

“I’ll cherish this forever. Thank you!”

I smiled in response. That smile felt different than usual.

On the way home, Bea-Fae couldn’t stop giggling at the photo.

“You know Bea, I actually had a lot of fun. Even if I did end up with a bruise on my face” I said, rubbing my head.

"Me too, I owe you so much, Fae." Bea-Fae said.

"You don’t owe me anything."

As we walked up to the door to the apartment, she quickly glanced around and dispelled her disguise. She leaned in and whispered in my ear “I know of a way I can make the pain go away and repay you” with a lick, causing me to forget about the function and purpose of a doorknob as I slammed face first into the door.

Clare opened the door to see me on the ground holding my face.

“What happened?” She asked.

“I tripped,” I lied.

Bea shot to Clare's side “Clarie, you have to see this!” she said as she held out the photograph.

Clare broke out in laughter as she doubled over.

Walking over her, I entered the apartment, trying to ignore that.

“You have to tell me all about this!” Clare begged.

Embarrassment is a drag…

“I'm just going to go grab a shower.” I said as the two dished at light speeds.

As I laid back in the tub, I couldn’t stop thinking about how much fun I had. I didn’t know I could actually enjoy myself with others around. Even though it was very fun, I still don’t see me doing that very often, it was an immense amount of effort.

Bea… she is a blast. And so sexy… I don’t know why, but even with her physique, littered with hexagonal holes, she was quite possibly the hottest creature with 4 hooves that I’ve ever seen. And that smell. Clare's smell is so peaceful and relaxing, but Bea… hers is… the only word I can describe it with is “Enticing.”

And the way she does that ear whisper/lick… It shakes me to my soul.

Damnit, I was doing it again, pulling my hoof out of the water, I paused… but, It feels so good…No, Fae! You stop that! Filthy girl! Filthy girl!

I got out and drained the tub.

When I walked out, Clare was describing her photograph of the face licks with Vinyl and Octavia to Bea. What is this? Is there always going to be a camera around every time I do something embarrassing?

“Who is next?” I asked.

Clare replied “Bea you go ahead, you are still covered in blood” she said with a giggle.

“Thanks, I’ll do that,” Bea replied.

As I sat on my bed, Clare sat beside me.

“I-I’m glad you had a good time,” she said after a moment of silence.

“I’m kinda surprised I did, I’ve never done the things I’ve done with you two before. I never thought I’d enjoy it.”

“Hey, Fae?”

“Yes, Clare?”

She looked me in the eyes.

“I don’t want to be out of line, I want to help Beatrice, too. I like her, she is a good pony. But, I’m still a little upset. I know she has been feeding on you. I don’t like secrets. Secrets only hurt ponies.” She was starting to tear up.

“Clare, I’m sorry… I wasn’t trying to hide it when I asked to speak to her privately, it's just very draining, I didn’t want you to worry. But we are the only thing Bea has here. We have to help her in any way we can. I am sorry that I didn’t tell you, but from my point of view, it would only make you worry about me.”

"Fae, I want to worry about you. I want to be somepony who you can confide in. For better or for worse, I want to know more about you. I don’t keep anything from you, all I ask is that you don’t keep anything from me." Clare certainly was letting loose.

"I am sorry, that is just how I am. I don’t like ponies worrying about me, but I promise I will try to do better. I will try my best. I just don’t want you to take it personal if I don’t tell you everything. Given time, I would imagine you will know everything about me, I would just like for it …to happen naturally. I can give you my word, that I will never keep a secret that would be detrimental to you in any way." Damnit, here comes the social upkeep of having friends. I don’t know how to deal with stuff like this, I only hope my logic can save me here.

"I understand, and it's not unreasonable. It just makes me feel a little bad. But that’s my issue, not yours. You are right."

“Clare…” My mind was about to explode. Thoughts are pouring in by the hundreds. I don’t want anyone to be sad. This feeling was the worst emotion I have ever felt. It was tearing me apart.

“Damnit, I’m new to this. All of this. But I don’t want you to be sad. *Sigh* Remember that pendant I used to wear?”

“Yea?”

“I sold it. I sold it because I wanted you to be happy and have fun at the festival. So I used the money for the festival,” I admitted.

“Fae! Was it special?“ she had a tint of disapproval.

"It... a little. It was a gift from the only pony who has stood by my side. And a painful reminder of the past. She went through hell because of me."

Clare had a slight look of dismay at my words.

"She?" Clare asked, attempting to mask her discomfort.

"My little sister." I could see her relief set in.

"I didn’t know you had a sister. Were you two close?"

"Excluding the last few weeks, she is the only pony I have ever cared for. Yes, I like to think we were very close."

"Why would you sell the pendant?" Clare was starting to sob.

“Because making you happy is worth more than a stupid pendant to me. Besides, sentimentality is illogical. I don’t need a pendant to remember her.”

"Then why have you kept it for so long?" Her words did their job.

"I don’t know." I said with a melancholy expression.

Tears emerged from the corners of Clare’s eyes.

“Please stop me at any time, but is... is she...Y'know?”

"No, she is alive. I just... can't see her again, no matter how much it hurts, for reasons that I don’t particularly wish to discuss."

"I understand. You dummy, I would have been happy just having went to the festival with you."

“That wasn’t good enough for me. I wanted you to have the most memorable night of your life…”

"Not at your expense!" She cried.

"This is why I didn't want to tell you. It only makes you feel bad." I said.

"No I'm glad you told me. But I see that your name is pretty spot on. Your face is... So Forlorn. " She forced a smile. "I don’t want to see you like that."

Clare began to lean in, this time for real.

Clare… I leaned in as well, slowly as my eyes closed .

Our upper lips made the faintest contact.

At that moment the bathroom door swung open as Bea emerged. “That was so great! I can’t remember the last time I could take a warm bath!" She was overjoyed.

Clare and I quickly jumped away from each other in embarrassment.

I don’t know if Bea had seen that or not, but if she was trying to get my attention, she was certainly doing a good job.

Bea stood in the doorway while stretching on her hind legs, arms behind her head. She was wearing a pink towel and the contrast of her black coat made it quite the eye popper.

She is so sexy, it's doing things to me. I don’t know exactly when I started having these types of thoughts, but I need to stop it.

“My turn!” Clare said cheerfully. It looks like I was able to cheer her up.

My roommates swapped places as I remained stationary. We sat there on my bed for a few minutes without talking. I was too busy trying to stop my mind from wandering into the gutter.

Bea broke the silence.

“Thank you Fae, for everything. I don’t deserve it, but I am eternally grateful.“

“You do deserve it. You made me do the unthinkable today and actually have fun.” My mind was still racing at breakneck speeds. “You and Clare. You both are changing me. I don’t dislike it. So I really should be thanking you.”

Bea's turn to tear up.

“Clare is a very good pony, she is smart, cute, kind and innocent. I am jealous. You two know each other so well, you could tell I was a fake before I ever sat down. I want to know you like that, and you me. What I’m saying is, I… may not know you as well, but I won’t give up. Even if I can’t succeed, I need to know I tried my hardest, because I doubt I’ll ever feel this way about anypony else.” She confessed.

“Bea… I was able to figure it out purely because I’ve know Clare a little longer than you. Not by much.” I closed my eyes and turned around.

"1)You like closed spaces."

"2)You smell like sweet honey."

"3)You use sexual tension to deflect personal or uncomfortable topics."

"4)Your golden hair goes down about 18 inches below your shoulder and has 3 holes on your right side, and 4 on the left and each strand is about .005 inches in diameter."

"5) Your eyes are a royal yellow. When you think I am not looking, they drift to my flank."

"6) When your wings flap, they emit a high frequency purring sound with a slightly louder flap every 8-10 flaps."

"7) When you shapeshift, your nose scrunches up just before and your wings get stiff."

"8) Your tail sways slightly when you feel uncomfortable and bobs when you are annoyed."

"And."

"9) Everytime you hear me call you Bea, your ears twitch."

She pressed up against my back.

“What about 10?”

“Oh, you a princess.”

“What!? How did you know that?!” She was in awe.
.

“Well, firstly, you walk with goddess-like grace. Fitting of someone who grew up in royalty. Your method of speaking naturally is done with great finesse. And I read about changelings back in middle school. Most often than not, they are male. Approximately 1 in 50,000 are born female. They go on to be the new queen. You spoke of your mother at one point, I can only assume it's Queen Chrysalis.”

“You are as impressive as ever.” She said while I turned back to face her.

“See, I already have picked up on things. Even if you are imitated by another changeling, I would know. Just because I don’t say everything doesn’t mean I haven't learned much of you. Test me one day. Disguise yourself as anypony in the world, I promise I will be able to tell it's you, even if you mask the traits I just revealed.”

“I see. You know so much more about me than I thought. Thank you, for making me feel better. You really are amazing.”

Clare walked out wearing her black T-shirt and straightened wet mane. I still can’t believe how attractive she is like this.

"Clarie, you are hot!" Bea exclaimed with her wings perked.

"Wow, just came right out with it, huh." I responded in a laugh.

With a yawn, she said “Is it bedtime?”

“Yea let’s get some sleep, I have to go look for work in the morning.” Bea confirmed.

One after another we said “Good night.”

And took our places on and under our beds.

Roughly an hour in, I got up and looked into Bea's bed. My sleep crate came sliding out.

"Want one?" I asked?

"Not a full one, I think I'll take half of one. Heheh," Bea responded.
.

We headed to the bathroom and locked the door. While unlocking my chest, Bea reached up and swatted playfully at my horn, hoof passing right through. She was giggling as if this was incredibly fun for her. After a minute of an annoyed bland stare, I relinquished my horn and we began our new ritual. one and a half potions for me, half of one for Bea.

"Oh, this is much weaker, I think I can make it to my bed this time." She said with a permasmile.

"Glad I can help." If this is going to be a constant thing, I will have to make a new batch soon.

After several hours of not sleeping, I heard movement from Clare's bed. Oh man, again?

I pretended to be asleep as she crept to my bed. As she began to crawl under my blanket, I heard more movement from below. Hooves were already snaking around my neck and legs.

“Clare! What are you doing” Bea silently screamed. “You cut that out! That’s cheating! Clare!”

I could feel a pulling on my body as Bea was tugging on Clare. She must have been worked up, as I could hear the hum of her wings.

“I said stop that!”

Now, she was attempting to pry her off. How does she think I can sleep through this? She planted her front hooves on Clare's belly while planting her back on the wall, pushing as hard as she could.

After several minutes of failed attempts to dislodge the bed intruder, the tugging stopped. A few moments later and I could feel movement on my bed again. This time coming from the end of the bed, sliding up through the blanket. I felt another set of hooves, thinner and daintier than the others. One crept up the side of my face, while the other latched around my chest. Legs locking around my right one. I could even feel the gaps in Bea's limbs, where chunks of her body were absent. (Secretly, I've been extremely curious as to how they felt.) Bea's face found its destination pressed against my own, so close that I could feel her breath on my lips.

As I lay there trapped in multiple submission holds, I couldn’t help but think that I would never get to sleep now. I don’t think I’ve ever been this nervous before. I may have a heart attack at any moment. Their smells are both intoxicating, blending together to form something unlike any other. They are so soft and warm. And they are cuddling up to me. I can feel both of their heartbeats. Beating at different intervals. It wasn’t much later that our hearts started to sync up to one another’s.

I couldn’t help feeling like things were going to get complicated from here on out.

Author's Note

This one took a little longer than expected and for that I am sorry. Hopefully soon i will have some art of Beatrice up for everyone to see ^w^
I hope everyone enjoyed it as much as I did writing it. Leave your comments down below and let me know. (Otherwise I can't tell, lol)
I'm sure that there are a few formatting mistakes somewhere because I grabbed this from Microsoft Word. But please feel free to point them out so I can fix them. You guys are great!

Chapter 7: Complications

All I ever wanted was to be left alone. I’ve wanted this as long as I can remember. I will admit, this is nopony's fault but my own. Still, it didn’t make things any easier. I’m not used to feeling how I’ve felt. All I know is that change sucks, but I am learning that it's not necessarily change itself, but fear of change that is worse.

Fear is a new feeling to me as well. Now I have many fears, when I used to have very little. Fear of abandonment, fear for the well being of others, and the worst by far… Fear of letting them down.

It's almost as if I used to be free, whereas now I am not. The worst part about it is that now that I have ventured to the other side, I am not sure if I can go back to being content with the life I had. Everything is such a hassle, but that may be attributed to my lack of experiences in this matter. No one is good at everything right off the bat. Given time, who knows? I may become so good at dealing with these new experiences, that I just handle them without paying them a second thought.

A mare can dream. One thing I know is that I will never get better if I don’t at least reluctantly trudge through the madness. There are just so many factors against me right now. My finances for one. I have absolutely no money. Social obligations is another. I feel like I am already being expected more of than I am capable of. The worst one is sleep. I have gotten on average one to two hours of sleep every night. It wasn’t a problem when I could devote all my time to sleeping, but now it's very draining. I don’t even use my magic as often as I did because it is just too taxing on my body. My mind is quite used to running on little sleep, my body however, feels like it might give any moment.

I feel like any of these problems, I would have no problem dealing with one at a time. All at once is another story. I can't help but wonder if I'm taking the best course of action.

Another feeling I had purged long ago, has resurfaced. I miss the only friend from my previous life back before I left home. I really hope my little sister is ok. She probably hates me more than anything in this world. Feelings suck.

I awoke in a way, that I had not experienced before. I could feel the world jumping back and forth. As well as pain in my joints. I could hear shouting, from both sides of me.

The world shifted right.

“What are you doing? How can you take advantage of her in her sleep like that?” Clare screamed.

The world shifted left.

“You did it first, and when I couldn’t stop you, I decided to join you!” Bea explained.

The world shifted right.

“I wasn’t licking her face, you letch!”

The world shifted left.

“I wasn’t grinding all over her, you pervert!”

The world shifted right.

“I wasn’t grinding, I was trying to get comfortable.”

The world shifted left.

“Yea, it's hard to get comfortable when you are trying to shove a pony in your crotch!”

The world shifted right.

“You were trying to eat her face!”

The world violently shifted right once more. Uh oh.

As I was launched from my dwelling, I could feel the wind on my body, making spots on my face and thigh feel cold, as if wet. Gravity soon took effect.

ragdolling my way across the room, I took the precious time to consider my options. I could brace myself for impact, flip and land on all fours or accept the bed frame as my new opponent and attempt a headbutt. Meh, I'll choose the path of least effort.

My face planted in Clare's bed frame and I couldn’t help but wonder if I should have picked one of the first two options. One thing I am thankful for is my decreased sensitivity to pain in this state. It still hurts like hell, but it would be worse if I were fully coherent.

Still too asleep to move, I succumbed to the position my body had taken and silently lie there. I could hear sounds of two mares strangling each other for about 20 seconds before I heard Bea speak.

“Oh crap! Fae!”

They quickly scrambled off the floor and scurried over to me, picking me up to see if I was hurt. My face did feel rather wet.

“Fae, I am so sorry, that was an accident!” Clare said with great concern. Her voice was anything but pleasant this early in the morning.

“It's my fault too, I’m so, so sorry Fae!” Bea apologized.

Well at least they weren’t trying to strangle each other anymore.

I struggled to my hooves as I tried to grasp reality. I bore a face that resided somewhere between expressionless and psychotic. Eyes half open, I stared at the two assassins.

“I am still to asleep for this right now. You two! Get on my bed now!”

They quickly obeyed out of a mix of fear and repentance. Both of them sat on my bed without fuss.

“I am going to go get cleaned up. As punishment, you two are going to lay here and spoon each other. Quietly. Until I come out of that bathroom, you are not to get up. You are not to speak. Do you understand?”

I received a mumbled “Yes” from them.

I fully opened my eyes to stare them down.

“Yes ma’am!” they shouted in unison.

They reluctantly laid back down and performed the same grapples they had used on me.

I zombied into the bathroom, not before looking back to make sure they obeyed me.

I shut the door and flopped into the bathtub. My head hit the ceramic and I resumed my slumber. Thankfully, I never have a problem going back to sleep, so long as I don’t fully wake up.

Upon awakening a second time, I stretched and crawled out of the bathtub. I hoisted myself over the counter to look in the mirror to see a majority of my face covered in dried blood. First and foremost, I made sure to fix my hair. Only then did I begin to scrub my face and top it with an inadequate bandage.

I shuffled out of the bathroom to see that Bea and Clare were still caressing each other. Their heads shot up.

Clare was the first to speak “You were in there for two hours!”

“Sorry, I must have fallen asleep.” I said with a sadistic grin.

“How are you feeling?” Bea spoke almost unphased by the punishment.

“Oh. It was no worse than my usual morning spill.” I replied.

“Can we get up now?” Clare asked.

“Only after you kiss each other and make up. And I want to see tongue,” I answered.

“WHAT!?” Clare shouted.

Bea leaned towards Clare while sliding her freakishly (sexy) long tongue out and homed in on Clare.

“Woah woah woah! Kidding! Bea I was kidding. Put that thing away!” I nervously interjected.

Clare practically had a heart attack as she climbed out of bed.

“Awww…” Bea sighed. I couldn’t tell if she was teasing or being serious.

“Not that I don’t enjoy being violated by the two of you, but I am going to be late for work, I have to go.” Clare said as she started to head out.

“Wait Clare, let me do your hair.”

"Really, you don’t have to do it everyday. You said it would be good for about two days." Clare objected.

"It's less effort to maintain the enchantment rather than cast it again." I explained.

"Oh, I didn’t know that. Ok then, let's do this!"

After fixing her hair and hugging her goodbye, I turned to Bea. “Your turn.”

Bea approached with extreme caution.

"What about what happened last time?" She asked in a near whimper.

"I have no idea why you two fainted when I did your hair, but Clare seemed fine," I rationalized hoping to attain more information about this event.

For the duration of the hair treatment, Bea was shaking. Whatever happened obviously scared them both to a great extent.

Man, using my hair spells 3 time in such a short period was very difficult. My vision started to double.

Luckily, Bea was too busy admiring her hair to notice any irregularities in my behavior.

“It's terrific Fae. But it's not necessary as I am just going to shapeshift.”

“But at least you will feel better knowing that underneath, you are even prettier.” Geez, I can hardly think straight. My mane-shield is a highly advanced spell.

“Thank you, I’m sure the boost in my confidence will help me find work!” she turned to leave.

“Wait!” Oh this was going to suck, pun intended. “Eat up before you go.”

“Are you sure? I don’t need to feed everyday” she said with concern.

“I will be fine. Please, I want you to.”

Bea threw her arms around me before stepping back to began. Damn, this time hurt ten times as much as the others. Every second was utter agony as I could feel my soul getting ripped out. Bea had a look of bliss as she was performing her ritual. I held on for as long as I could, but eventually the pain got to be too much and I winced. Bea immediately noticed this and bit off the stream of energy with her fangs.

Her eyes went wide as she looked like she saw a ghostly apparition of sorts. She came close again and delivered a hug followed by an apology.

“I am so so sorry. I have to go!” She transformed into Bea-Fae and quickly fled the room.

Oh shit… Too much… Can’t stay…. Awake…

I passed out in the middle of the kitchen.

*****BEATRICE*****

As I shut the door behind me, I stood my ground to make sense of what happened.

Both times before, as I fed, I drained her of her lust because that was her dominant emotion.

This time… It wasn’t lust. That would explain why she reacted so badly this time. It must have been extremely painful. I can't keep doing this to her.

Though, that was the most delicious thing I’ve ever had by far. I could feel a surge of energy as it coursed through me.

It was love…. And not a stolen one. It was love being directed at me.

***************

I came around midday. I don’t know what time it was, for I had yet to replace my clock. As I laid on the floor, I could feel that I had recovered a good bit of my magic (and soul I think, I can’t accurately measure that yet.)

I managed to pick myself up. I can’t afford to lay here. I need to go make money. I can take it easy when rent is paid and we have a better stocked kitchen. There are three weeks remaining to make 200 bits minimum.

I threw my hoodie on and stepped outside. I still can’t get over how much I like this article of clothing. I will have to make sure I go thank Marshmallow. I departed for the bulletin board in hopes of finding an easy well paying part time job.

Ponyville was too busy for my liking. Bright rays of light beat down from the sky making everything hurt to look at. I dislike ponies. It takes a great deal of effort to blend in without looking like you don’t want anypony to talk to you. Thankfully, this hood helps a lot, though I can't help but wonder if it makes me look suspicious, thus attracting more attention. Oh well, at least I can't see the attention.

The bulletin board appears to change completely everyday. I didn't see any of these requests before. Luck was on my side, as I saw a posting for a temp job at a local pawn shop. It looked like it paid pretty well. 300 bits to move inventory from one building to another next door. Plus, I shouldn’t have to hurry because it looks like they are looking for a few ponies to help. Set for 3pm. The clock hanging on town hall says it's 11AM. Huh, I thought I was out longer than that.

I can’t go home and wait, I will not know the time. Stupid broken clock. When I get around to getting a new one, I will definitely have to reinforce it with magic.

*Thump*

As I was lost in thought, something collided with me, sending me forcefully to the ground. A pretty something at that. Upon inspection. This something was dark purple mare with a black mane that flowed down and out as if adding wings to both sides of her neck. I have never seen this hairstyle before, and it intrigued me a good deal.

She wore a black saddlebag. The latch had come undone just enough for me to catch a peek inside. She was hauling flowers. Wait… I know those flowers. Those are Lotus flowers. Not the fakes you see everywhere, but real lotus flowers. Lotus flowers can cause mild sedation, memory loss, euphoria, and apathy. Where did this mare find such a rare and evil plant?

I pulled myself up and offered my hoof to her. She grabbed it and joined me in standing. On the way up, we locked eyes, her eyes were a cute hue of pink, but surrounding them were puffy eyelids.

“I'm sorry, that was my fault.” She said in a dull tone. Her voice was very soothing.

“No, I am sorry, I was spacing out in the middle of the street.” I apologized.

“I’ll be on my way. Sorry again.” She started to leave.

I hate myself for this.

“Excuse me ma'am, I couldn’t help but notice those pretty flowers you have there.”

“Yes, they are. They are beautiful.” She said without emotion.

There was something not right…

She looked a little rough.

“I didn’t catch your name. Would you be so kind as to enlighten me?” I asked.

She perked up and replied “I’m sorry, that was rude of me, my name is Kat with a K”

“That is a lovely name, Kat with a K. I am Fae. I moved to Ponyville not too long ago.”

“It’s very nice to meet you Fae.”

“The pleasure is all mine. Tell me Kat, do you believe in fate?” I asked.

She thought on this for a moment. “Yes I do.”

“Perfect! Because I am in need of some assistance. There’s this job I want to take but I can't take it by myself. I know it seems odd to ask a complete stranger, but would you be willing to help me out? You could make yourself some coin while you are at it.” Careful Fae, you have to play this just right.

“I don’t know if you would want my help…” She said, voice trailing.

“So it's just a coincidence that you bumped into me when I was in need of help?”

“I... No, I guess you're right. Sure, I’d be happy to assist you.” She said with what I perceived to be a reluctant smile.

“You are a life saver, Kat. I’m looking forward to getting to know you. Meet me at the pawn shop at 3pm.”

Her smile appeared to turn genuine. “Ok, will do.” She said as she trotted off.

Fae, you are an idiot, just walk away...

With a job lined up and time to kill, I decided to look into one of my biggest mysteries at the moment.

I arrived at Golden Oaks library to be greeted by a familiar chime of the doorbell.

"Fae! I was beginning to wonder if you would ever come say hi to me," Twilight beamed.

"My apologies, Twi. I've been meaning to come by and thank you again."

"No thank yous are necessary. I can only assume you have other business with me as well?" Twilight said with a smirk.

"As perceptive as always, yes. I have a matter that is proving troublesome that I am oblivious to. I could use some assistance." I looked around to see that the library was empty. "It's about my magic. Whenever I fix up somepony's hair, they appear to suffer horrifying psychotic attacks. But it only happens the first time I do it to a pony."

"That is odd. What spell are you using?" Twilight inquired.

"It's one I made myself called mane-shield. It resides purely in the school of alteration. It should not have these effects. What makes it more problematic to figure out is that I did a lady named... uh... hmm... She is a dressmaker..."

"Rarity?" Twilight suggested.

"Yea that’s it. I did Rarity's hair and she was unaffected."

I revealed all the information I had about the subject to Twilight.

"That is curious. Was anything different about the scenario with Rarity?"

"Well, there was the fact that with a mare who was not passed out, I was able to... erm... perform a small dance to aid in my efforts. Also, we had to trick her so that she wouldn't find out about my magic." I was struck by a sudden realization. "She was wearing a blindfold and earplugs!"

"That’s a great lead to investigate! Let's go do it again, but this time, we will let her see you." Twilight suggested.

"That's a problem for me. I can't. Too many ponies know of my magic already."

"Rarity is one of my best friends in the world. She would never do anything to hurt anypony. I put my word on the line." Twilight proceeded to add "This sounds like the only lead you have to go on. You should do it."

I thought on this for a few moments.

"Fine, if that is what is necessary, I'll do it. Will you come with me? I've never noticed this before, I do not trust my ability to pick up on it. Another pair of eyes would be great."

"Sure, I don't mind. But, what if I am affected too?" Twilight asked.

"It has yet to affect the same pony twice. It would definitely give us more information if you were to experience it first. But, from the sounds of it, the experience is worse than death. Clare has locked the memory in a vault, just to be free of it," I explained.

"If they are fine now, I don’t see any long lasting harm. I don’t mind doing it to help you." Twilight said.

"Lets discuss this with Rarity first. Are you sure she will keep my secret?"

"I'm certain!" Twilight responded.

The doors to Carousel boutique chimed as we entered. Rarity was sitting at the front counter, bored by the looks of her. Once she noticed us, she quickly perked up to her usual self.

"Twilight, dear! How great to see you today. Oh and it appears you know miss Fae!" Rarity spoke with regal elegance.

I forced a smile and stepped back. Best to let Twilight do the talking, she knows Rarity far better than myself.

"Actually, we've come to ask you for your help, but it might be a little risky. Something is happening whenever Fae styles hair." Twilight warned.

"Is something wrong with her spell? It seemed perfect to me, darling."

"You knew it was a spell?" I asked in awe.

"Sweetie, I'm not dense. I have a scent for magic, though I will give you credit for that spectacular ruse you played." Rarity revealed in between a few playful chuckles.

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"I assumed you were keeping it a secret for a reason, dear."

"Well, Twi was right, I think I can trust you, Rare." I said with a grin.

Rarity looked pleased at this comment. The purple unicorn explained the situation in detail to the dressmaker.

"Of course, I'd be delighted to help. Plus it sounds like I will get another dose of that wonderful Mane-Shield!"

"I've already cast this spell three times today This is going to be difficult. Rarity, do you have a room I can do Twilight's hair in? It is imperative that you do not witness this first attempt."

"Certainly, miss Fae." She pointed us down the hall to a room at the end. "I will be right out here if you need anything."

The test subject an I proceeded to the vacant room. Once inside, I had to ask once more, already knowing the answer.

"Are you sure you are ready for this? It happens so fast, I won't be able to stop it." I had a bad feeling about this.

"I can handle myself. If I find its too much, I will stop it myself. Don’t forget, you aren't the only one who can do magic."

"If you say so," I shrugged.

We emerged from the room, Twilight was barely able to walk. Rarity noticed and quickly came to check on her friend.

"Twilight! Your hair is absolutely delightful! How was it?" Rarity was concerned about the hair before Twilight?

Twilight was shaken to the core. She looked around in confusion as she regained her senses.

"Rarity, don’t do it. It's bad. It's really really bad. My magic was useless. It was the single most terrifying experience in my life by far."

"Twilight... I am sorry." Words cannot express my remorse for my actions. She looked awful.

Rarity delivered a hug unto Twilight that lasted for almost ten minutes. After that, Twilight seemed to have recovered for the most part. Still a bit shaky though.

"I think I'm alright now. Fae." Twilight turned to me. "I had a mental barrier in place. There was absolutely no magic involved in... Whatever that was. If you don’t notice anything yourself, then I doubt there's anything more I could tell you from seeing it. I would prefer Rarity not go through that. I'm sorry, but I must ask you not to perform it on her."

"I understand. It's not an unreasonable request. I really don't think i could cast it again without risking another hospital visit anyway." I could feel my body fighting itself between disappointment and relief.

"I may know somepony who can help though. If anypony could have a clue as to what is happening, it's Zecora." Twilight was still a little short of breath. "She is an expert in... Unusual affairs."

"Zecora? Never heard of her. A zebra I assume?"

"How did you know?" Twilight asked.

"It's a zebran name that is passed down in every generation. When one Zecora is near the end of their life, they will train a new one." I explained.

"I never knew that. What does that title mean?" Twilight let her curiosity take hold as she seemed to rally.

"It means Keeper of the Tales."

"You speak Zebran?" Rarity joined the conversation.

"Not enough to be fluent in it, but I know a decent amount. I used to read old Zebran texts to see if I could find any leads on the source of my magic, to no avail." Most of the written language is comprised of drawings and squiggles. It took almost a whole week just to learn the damn language good enough to research those books.

"She lives deep in the Everfree forest. If you want, I can take you to somepony to guide you through the forest. It's dangerous to go alone." Twilight offered.

"Oh crap! What time is it?" I panicked.

"About 2:30. Why?" Twilight answered.

"As much as I would prefer to get this done with today, I have to get going. I have something important I need to do." I said while ducking out of the conversation.

"What could be more important than this mystery?" Twilight seemed disappointed about this.

"I have to pay rent! Raincheck!" I said while heading out the door.

"Well that sounds about right." Rarity said with a gentle laugh.

I arrived at the pawn shop at 2:45 to see that Kat was already waiting for me. Hey, I remembered her name! Hurray for me!

“I am glad to see that you came.” I said with a smile. All these damn smiles are starting to hurt my face.

“Of course, I did agree to help you after all.” Her voice still as tranquilizing as before.

We entered to see that most of the wares in the building had been boxed up. There was a stallion behind the counter to greet us. This stallion was a bigger fellow with a very shiny head. You could tell he wasn’t, but his resting face looked almost angry. His cutie mark was that of scales balancing gold on one side and silver on the other.

“Excuse me sir. We are here about the job.” I said in my most polite tone.

"Hello ladies. Say, I've bought stuff from you before haven't I?" The stallion inquired.

"Yes I was in here a while back. I thought we could use some spending money and all." I small talked.

"My name is Strict. I know it doesn’t sound pleasant, but we can't choose our names right?" He said with a bright, yet threatening expression.

"I know how you feel sir." My name is a negative one as well.

“It shouldn’t take too long to do. I just need the stuff in these boxes taken over to the building across the street. Some of these are very valuable, so I must warn you that any damaged items will be deducted from your pay.” His expression lightened while he spoke.

“Sounds reasonable. Just stop us before we get in the negatives. *Forced chuckle* We will get started right away. Do we need to unbox them or just place them over there?” I said.

“Moving them over there is enough. I will be back in my office combing over paperwork if you need anything.” This immediately made me think of several bald jokes. Thankfully none of them were audibly vocalized.

We nodded in response.

There were so many boxes…. There had to be at least 100 of them scattered everywhere.

I turned to Kat “Well let’s get started then, shall we?”

She smiled at me and said “Sure.”

We equipped ourselves with harnesses to assist in carrying boxes, with a flat surface on top that held steady.

As we carried boxes back and forth, we conversed. I had a plan for this conversation. I just need to focus on slowly adjusting the angle of the corners of the social labyrinth so that she does not catch on.

“Do you have any roommates Kat?” I began.

“No, not at the moment.”

“I have two. They are some of the kindest ponies I have ever met.”

I went on to tell her about all of Clare's pranks and Bea's shenanigans. Then, explained in elaborate detail of the festival and the paintball tournament.

“Those have been the best moments of my life.” I said.

“It sound like you have a great life.”

Lifting another box onto my back, I smiled.

“Tell me about yourself.” I suggested.

She loaded a box on herself.

“Not too much to tell. I grew up in Canterlot. Lived there my whole life.”

“That must have been… Busy,” I said trying to steer the conversation.

“It was. Never a dull moment.”

For a majority of the leg of the journey, I focused on personal questions that you would casually talk about with an acquaintance in passing. Slowly, I began going deeper.

"What do you do for work?" I continued to quiz.

"Actually, anything I can. I can never seem to hold a job for more than two weeks..." She answered, clearly distraught.

Oh crap, dodge!

"That sounds great! I bet you have all kinds of experiences in many different areas. I'm envious. Do you have any hobbies?”

“I like to read. I also play the violin. Being an earth pony in Canterlot means you either have to be really smart, or very creative.” She said with a hint of joy. Bingo! Off a sore topic on to a good one.

“I’d love to hear you play the violin sometime.”

“S-sure.” she stuttered.

"Do you play any instruments?" She asked. Great, now she is fishing for information.

"That’s kind of a personal question don't you think?"

"O-Oh! I'm sorry" She said backing off.

"I am kidding. I can play a few, but only things I have heard. I lack the creative ability to make the music. My favorite to play is the piano. No instrument brings me as much joy to play as the piano."

"Oh my. That's by far the hardest instrument to learn for a pony. Griffons seem to have no problem, but they have an unfair advantage, having claws and all. We should play together sometime." She said, breaking the normal face I have been speaking with. She seemed a little happier at least.

Before I knew it, I think I was actually enjoying this conversation. Four hours had gone by before I knew it. Four hours is the owners idea of not too long?

Almost done here, just a few more boxes. I will say that I am definitely not enjoying the effort involved in this task. At least I will not have to work for another three weeks after this.

“One last box.” I spoke with great relief.

It was perched on top of a tall hutch that has many bottles of liquid inside. Potions of all varieties by the looks of them.

“I’ll hold the step ladder for you.”

She paused but eventually nodded and climbed the ladder to retrieve the box. As she climbed the last step, the board securing her hoof caved in. In a desperate attempt to catch herself, she ended up swatting a bottle of grey liquid, shattering it in the process. I tried to catch her, but as she spun around, she socked me right in the face.

Damn that wet punch hurt. We both fell to the ground. She landed on top of me, but didn’t do any serious damage.

“Damn, are you OK, Kat?” I asked through the pain.

“Y-yeah. Fae I’m so sorry. Are you OK?” she sounded very worried.

“I'm fine, but can you let go of my face please?” I asked standing up.

She pulled her hoof away, but my face went with it sending me back to the floor.

“Owowowow!”

“Fae, I think it's stuck!”

The manager came out of the back “What happened?”

I wanted to know this as well. Kat was still holding my face.

“I'm sorry sir, I broke the stool and slipped. Now my hoof is stuck.”

He looked at the remains of the shattered bottle and broke out in laughter, though it was more of a prolonged snicker. “I'm sorry, it's not funny. But that bottle was The Flim Flam Brothers wonder glue. It’s the strongest stuff money can buy.”

“What?” I asked.

“It is quite literally, a perfect bonding adhesive and it is not possible to break it.”

Kat looked very upset.

“What???” I repeated. “Surely there must be a way to undo it!”

“Well, it’s not permanent. The magic in it will only last for 72 hours, after that there should be no trace of it ever having been there.” Strict was fighting the laughter, rather poorly.

“Fae, I am so sorry.” Kat was beginning to tear up.

“So you are saying we are stuck like this for 72 hours?” I already knew the answer.

“I am afraid so.” He said in a serious voice.

Well shit…

“It is not that big of a deal, it will give us plenty of time to bond… See what I did there?” I jest, I am actually quite upset about this.

The manager broke out in another snicker, while Kat gave a very meager chuckle.

“Well, aside from that, you two did a pretty good job. Unfortunately, that compound is worth 500 bits.”

Oh fuck me….

“I understand sir.” Damn damn damn! "It is only fair."

“Let me just get you the rest of your pay.” He walked over to the cash register and counted out two piles of 50 bits. He also pulled a camera off of the shelf and took aim. With a flash he grabbed what was ejected from it before returning it to its former resting place. "If it's any consolation, here's a memory," He said handing me the photograph.

"One last thing. Do you still have my necklace I pawned?" I asked with hopeful optimism. "I was hoping to use this money to see if you can hold it for me for a little while so that I may buy it back when I have enough."

"I'm sorry, I just sold it this morning. If I see the pony who bought it again, I will let her know you are interested in buying it, if that helps you out any."

"That works." I lost the ability to keep up my fake smile."It's my fault, I didn’t realized how much it meant to me until it was too late."

"That happens a lot around here. The best I can do is let them know," Strict stated.

"I appreciate it, thank you," I talked. That’s all it was, talk. There was no emotion or feeling in my voice.

We left the pawn shop. Kat hobbled a bit only walking on three legs and I bobbed a bit having my cheek tugged and pushed every step. The sun had set and nightfall was upon us.

“Lets go sit for a bit.” I suggested pointing to a bench near a bridge spanning a river.

“Okay…” Kat had remained silent for some time now.

Moments after we sat on the public bench, Kat started breaking down.

“Fae I’m so very sorry, it’s all my fault!”

“It was an accident” I tried to tell her.

“No it wasn’t! It was my bad luck! I’m cursed Fae!” Kat was tearing up. “My whole life, I’ve had extraordinarily bad luck. On a cosmic scale! Machines malfunction when I am near them, ponies trip, things fall from the sky, I’ve even had a building collapse. One that had just received an honor for being the safest structure in Canterlot.”

“That is impressive.” I realized after I said it, I should’ve chosen my words better.

"With me attached to you, you are bound to get hurt. I've never gone a day without several instances of bad things happening ever since I can remember."

"Are you certain it's not clumsiness?" I asked.

"It's not. No amount of clumsiness could cause windows to break without me touching them."

"I just don’t see how it's possible. There has to be some underlying cause.

“Now you probably hate me too. It's ok, I don't blame you. I hate myself. ” She was crying pretty hard now.

“Says who? I don’t hate you. I spent a lovely evening with a new friend and had an eventful ending.”

“You’re just saying that. Everypony hates me eventually. I can’t take it anymore.”

I lowered my tone and stared at her eyes trying to be serious with a hoof in my face. “So you think it would be better if you were apathetic?”

She looked at me in shock.

I continued. “The flowers in your bag, those are Lotus. They are legendarily rare plants that are known to effectively castrate your emotions. To stumble upon them is almost impossible. You looked scraped up when I met you, meaning you must have just finished foraging for them. I assume you have done your research on them before traveling all this way to acquire them.”

She looked away. “I have a miserable life. Any chance I get at happiness blows up in my face every time. If I can just change myself to a pony who doesn’t care about that...”

“Remember all those stories I was telling you about?” I asked.

“Yeah”

“Those are all from the last few weeks. My entire life before that was a boring meaningless existence. I was OK with that, until I met them. Now, I actually have hope. Hope for a better life. It scares the living crap out of me.”

“Why?”

“Because I never wanted more than what I had. Now that I do, I’m scared of losing what I have acquired and what has yet to be obtained. So why should I be given hope when I didn’t want it, yet you yearn for it and can’t seem to find any?”

"This is my ticket out. I will still be alive and can still live a life." She sounded as if she were trying to convince herself.

"Do you know exactly how those petals grant apathy?" I asked while building to my point.

"No, all the books I have found were so battered and worn out that I couldn’t make out most of it." She replied, intrigued.

"That plant will erase your memory. You cannot care about your past if you don’t have one."

"I-I didn’t know... I don’t want to lose my memory... "I-I just want to stop being sad." Her eyes told me all of this before her mouth.

"Memories make up who you are. If you forget all your life experiences, you will reset everything you’ve ever learned from experience. Every mistake will be repeated for you to relearn, many of which may prove fatal to you or somepony else. In due time, if you are extremely lucky, you will be right back to where you are now. Besides, apathy isn't a solution, it's a problem. A severe one that will make ponies hate you, but worst of all... You will not care."

"How do you know all this?" She asked in a mixed state of shock, awe, denial and sorrow.

"For a while I was fixated on things I could never obtain. Which makes me more surprised that you found them. More than anything I've ever known to be true, you finding that flower just means you are unluckier than you thought."

“You thought of all this just from me bumping into you?” Kat asked still crying.

“Tell me, Kat. Do you believe in fate?”

“I- *sniff* Yes. I do.”

“Are you still planning on erasing all that makes you, you? Because I don’t want you to. You are my friend now, like it or not. Can you accept the possibility, that maybe I can help you?”

“You think you are my fate?” her tears were starting to run out.

“Hello Kat, it's nice to meet you, my name is Forlorn Fate. But my friends call me Fae.”

She sobbed and laughed at the same time. “But why? Why do you want to help me so much that you are willing to go through all this? It sounds like you figured all of this out before you stood up after I knocked you down.”

“As I’ve told you, I’ve recently found myself in a new life surrounded by friends. It helped me when I didn’t think I needed it. If I help you, then that’s another friend I can learn to enjoy life with. If it turns out to help her as well, then why wouldn’t I do this?” I just wanted her to stop crying. “So you have two options; erase yourself and you will definitely never be happy, or take my hoof and with me by your side, you may be happy.”

She threw herself around me, except for the half stuck to my face. We embraced each other for quite some time. She smelled like hazelnut, a scent that I was fond of.

“Fae…Thank you. Thank you so much” she continued to weep.

“There is only one minor problem.” I said.

“What?”

“This is going to be VERY hard to explain to my roommates.” I said with a laugh while I tugged at her hoof.

We went back to her new home, my apartment, under the spell of a full moon.

As I opened the door, a peachy mare dove out, tackling me to the ground, taking Kat along with us.

“WELCOME HOME FAE!” she yelled in mid-flight.

Kat shrieked in surprise. I wish I could say I was surprised.

Lying on my back I responded “Hello, Clare. I am home.”

“Hey Fae, who’s on your face?” Clare asked.

Bea-Fae came walking up “Hi Fae. Hello Clare.” Noticing the extra mare she ran up to me and threw her hooves around me “What are you doing touching my love?!”

Kat looked like she had too much to absorb.

With a laugh I said “This pony is my sister Beatrice.”

“Oh, damn! I’m your sister, right!” She backed off.

“This is Kat, she is going to be staying with us for a while.” I said.

“Hello, it is a pleasure to meet you two, Fae has told me so much about you.” Kat was very polite and refined in her mannerisms.

“Hiya! I’m Clarie! Why are you on Fae's face?” She smiled while looking as if she were about to commit arson.

This was going to be a long night…

We made our way inside and sat beside the beds while I explained the circumstances of my new appendage and showing the picture, even though that "Memory" was still happening.

“Teeheeheehee!” "Muhuhaha!"

Clare and Bea-Fae doubled over in laughter when they heard. I just sat there with one eyebrow twitching.

“I’m sorry for any trouble I may have cause you all.” Kat bowed her head to the floor.

Clare patted her on the shoulder, “I’m sure this is just going to be an opportunity to make a new good friend.”

Bea-Fae joined in “Yea, Fae is an excellent judge of character, I’m sure you are going to be a blast. Besides, one more rival will just make my victory all the sweeter.”

"Let's get this picture framed and up with the others." Clare said while sliding it into a frame and placing it on the solitary shelf.

“Oh, we should probably tell her about you Bea, before she finds out and freaks with me attached to her hoof.” I suggested.

“Fae, I trust you completely with my life. If you think we can trust her. I trust you. Please Kat, don’t be alarmed?”

“I‘ll try.” Kat said worriedly.

Bea-Fae reverted back to her true form in a brilliant display of yellow.

“Eeep!” Kat squealed. “Are you a changeling? I’ve always wanted to meet one!”

“I didn’t expect that, shouldn’t you be trying to squash me?” Bea asked confused.

“No way! I can’t believe I’m actually friends with a changeling!” Kat went to hug Bea and forgot about our special connection, so I unwillingly became part of the hug.

“You are alright Kat, I think we will be goods friends.” Bea said with a smile.

*Yawn* “It is getting pretty late.” I suddenly deadpanned. “How am I supposed to bathe?”

I didn’t think things through. Kat blushed and brought her free hoof to her face. Bea and Clare grew very upset.

“If she gets to bathe with you, I want to bathe with you too!” Bea demanded.

“I think I should get too as well!” Clare joined in with great ferocity.

“I'm sorry, I didn’t want to upset anypony.” Kat started to tear up again.

“Woah, Kat, we aren’t angry at you. This is how we express ourselves.” Clare said.

“Yea, please don’t cry Kat” Bea said. “How about this? You bathe with Fae until you two are free from the glue. That’s three days. Then, Clarie takes her turn and bathes with Fae for three days. Then I bathe with Fae for the rest of her life.”

“What?! Why do you get more than three days?” Clare jumped up in anger

“Because, I’m going last, so it balances out” Bea rationalized.

“That big of a difference is insane, how about you go second and I take the rest of her life?” Clare shot back.

“Umm. Excuse me, but what if I give up going first? Can I have the rest of her life?” Kat asked.

“That’s not possible!” Clare shouted.

“How about Kat goes first but she isn’t allowed to bathe Fae. I go second, and we bathe each other and Clarie can go third only if she keeps a towel wrapped around her face?” Bea's is either really bad at logic or really good at wishful thinking.

“Why do I have a towel wrapped around my head?” Clare blew up.

“Hey girls, don’t I get a say in the matter?” I chimed in.

“NO!” Clare and Bea shouted in unison.

Kat spoke up “What if we all bathe together?”

“That could work.” Bea said.

“WE CAN'T ALL 4 FIT IN THE TUB!" Clare interjected. "Is everypony but me crazy?”

"Ok, I’m not going to lie, this is very entertaining to watch, but I’m tired and want to be clean. If you all can’t figure out a system, I’m going to magic us clean until this wears off” I said, growing weary.

“You can do that?” Clare asked.

“You can do magic?” Kat asked.

“You can’t do that!” Bea pleaded “I want to bathe with you!”

Oh Luna, please have mercy on this poor soul.

Twenty minutes later they had finally settled on a plan. I had kinda been drifting in and out of it the whole time.

“Alright, it's settled. Clarie, go buy some more of that glue and we will both attach a body part to Fae!” Bea declared.

“Yes ma’am!” Clare agreed with a salute.

“Wait what?” I just registered what they had said.

“Nope! Magic time.” I stood up taking Kat with me.

In two bright azure flashes, Kat and I became squeaky clean.

All three of them sighed in disappointment with an “Aww…”

I’ll admit, I am disappointed, but at least there won’t be bloodshed… Or magic crazy glue.

As I lay in bed, to no surprise I couldn’t sleep. About an hour ago, I started devising plans to get to my stash without a pony who is affixed to me finding out.

Unfortunately the only feasible plan I could think of required another pony as well as my magic. Clare is a heavy sleeper but Kat will surely notice a bright light from in front of her face.

I gracefully placed my blanket over Kat's face as I waited for any signs of disturbance. A few moments later, I gathered my magic.

Using a trick I'm not very experienced with, I proceeded to project my thoughts below me.

[Bea, are you awake?] I thought.

"Yea." I heard from below.

[Shhh... Im using telepathy. I still kinda suck at it though. I can't hear what you think unless you think the words 'I accept' very strongly. But just so you know it projects whatever you are thinking and it's easy to say something you don’t mean to say. I need your help to get to my potions. If you are willing, please think those words]

[I ACCEPT I ACCEPT I ACCEPT I ACCEPT!] The volume caused me to jump. Luckily, Kat was still out.

[Not so loud! Just think at a normal indoor thought.]

[Fae, this is sooo cool. You are amazing!]

[I'm glad you think so, but as far as telepathy goes, I'm still a beginner, never actually cast it before, so we need to hurry. This is quite straining.] I humbled.

[Telepathy is a very rare ability in itself. I've never met a pony who could do it at all.]

[Stay on track, this is really difficult. Ready for your mission?]

[I am yours, do with me as you wish...Damnit, I didn’t think that! I meant to think, What is the mission master? Damnit, not master! My love!] She was starting to ramble.

[Relax, Bea. Stressing over your thoughts makes you lose control of them.]

[Ok... I'm good. What do you need me to do?] Bea recovered.

[My sleep crate has a two part lock on it. It requires my magic and my touch. I need you to bring it to my free hoof while I attempt a doublecast.]

[You are so impressive, Fae.]

[I need you to fetch my box and bring it up to my hoof. Once I unlock it, bring it back down and take out three for me and however much you want.]

[Fae... Isn't that a bit much?] She thoughted concerned.

[I have a pony superglued to my face,] I pointed out.

[Fair point.]

[I'm starting the mission!]

I reached my left hoof off of the bed and waited for the touch of the box to unlock it. Light began to flood the room in a haphazard manner.

[Damn! I'll be impressed if this doesn’t wake up the others] I thought. Much strain must have been in my mind as Bea reacted to it.

[Fae, please be careful. Don’t overdo it!]

*Click*

[It's unlocked] I thought in relief as I let down the second spell.

The box left my hoof, moments later Bea emerged from the edge of the bed.

[What are you doing? You only had to hand them to me.]

[You are in a rare position, one where you can't react. Maybe I'll just take the bottles and deliver them via kiss?] Bea had a menacing look about her.

[That would be so hot! Luna-damnit! I mean you can't take advantage of my predicament like that! No matter how much I want... Beaches, parks, spoons. These are all things I hate. I am thinking this to stop my current mindset from going too far.]

Bea leaned in close as I braced myself, eyes shut.

I felt a glass bottle on my lips as my sleeping potion began to flow. Once empty, the bottle left and was replaced by another, then one more.

[Oh thank Celestia! You had me worried.] I thought.

[Relax, I just like teasing you]

[I could tell.]

[You seem exhausted, I'll let you get some sleep. One day, we really need to sit down discuss what all you can do, haha.]

[We can do that. Oh and Bea... Thanks.]

*End call*

I severed the connection and was filled with relief. That was mentally and physically taxing. Today has been... Difficult.

Damn, I am exhausted. I have done as much as I did today in an entire month of my old life. But, I have one more person in this world that I can tolerate.

I shifted my eyes to look at Kat. Now that I have the chance to notice, she is a lot prettier now that she’s not scraped and bruised. Another unique quality is her lips. They glimmer so brilliantly in the moonlight. And her midnight silky hair, it compliments every curve and feature of her face. She looks so at peace while she is sleeping. As if the troubles of reality do not follow her into dreamland. I found myself mesmerized by her. Her tail is done up in many ponytails throughout the length of it and resembles that of a feline. It also perfectly suits her mane. Her flank, there is a cutie mark of a black cat wearing a witch's hat on it.

Her smell, hazelnut…. With a hint of… Lavender?

I snapped out of my delirium as I felt the bed creak from the intrusion of another pony. Well here we go again. Time to act like a bear is attacking and play dead.

Yup, she is straddling my left leg, and my neck. Kat seems to have woken up. She sees what’s going on and is now trying to mirror Clare, with the extra difficulty of being stuck on my face. Kats body felt so warm. And Clare’s so delicate. The two of them were gently fighting for control of my chest.

After the movement calmed, I counted down. 3…2…1… Right on cue, I felt a third body, this one lighter.

Holy crap! She is trying to take the center position! She is crawling up through the blankets! I can’t tell if it was on purpose or not, but I felt her arm slide past a very sensitive region, and as one of the holes in her arm slid past, it caused a wave of pleasure to surge through me. I couldn’t help but lightly moan. That didn’t stop her, she continued until her face was over mine, our noses touching. I felt her snake like tongue glide across my cheek in a playful motion. She then retreated under the blanket curling up on my chest. I could tell she was thrilled because her tail was wagging, and I knew this because it was beating against a very special place, sending more vibrations through me.

Lavender, honey, and hazelnut.

I wonder...

In this situation…

Am I lucky?

Or unlucky?

Author's Note

Huzzah for a new chapter! I do hope you are enjoying my little pony story. Next chapter will be delayed (or sped up) As i will be down for a week for some simple surgery. Nothing major.
Please let me know if you have any tips or comments about this chapter!
I edited this to the best of my current ability. As I have said before, I will perform an overhaul on the whole thing when I finish it. (Don't worry, this one is going to be a long haul.)

Chapter 8: Assimilation

What is perfection? If it is really unobtainable, why do ponies strive for it? If nopony is perfect, how can they expect themselves to never fail? What happens if they do fail? Either they shrug it off and say nopony is perfect, say that outside interference got in the way or they spiral into a deep depression. I chose the third with one addition, I choose to not give up. I will do better and better until I get what I want.

Society is brutal. If you don't fit in the mold of what you should be, it has no problem beating you down until you fit in. If you have a physical reason for not blending in, such as race, then they make it rather apparent that you don't belong and it's your fault.

If there is a problem with the system, then ponies should ditch the system. The fact that they don't is proof that they accept it and believe without question. Why would creatures who have such advanced brains not be able to try to accept the outcasts, the downtrodden and the failures?

If ponies don't like me for who I am, that is OK with me. It's when they hate me for what I am that makes me sad. Not sad for myself, but sad for them. They live such confined lives.

This world has deemed it a crime to be a changeling.

My struggles and my adversities only make me a stronger individual. It's sad that in this world, you are required to be unnecessarily strong.

I guess Fae has started to rub off on me, now I'm doing this too.

I stirred as Clarie crawled out of bed. Probably going to spring a trap on Fae again, unintentionally dragging either me or Kat into it.

Kat… She is definitely going to be quite the rival. I bet she somehow planned gluing herself to my beloved. Clarie and I must have not been taken into account, we won’t let her steal Fae. Wait, did I just team up with Clarie? Damn, too many rivals are in the mix now.

My advantage is a great one though. I am the prettiest, because I can look like whatever Fae desires!

As I lay on Fae, I began to plan my strategies of getting into Fae’s heart and booting the other two out. Fae was really comfy. Good thing I don’t weigh much, or else she may not be able to breath. Curling up on top of her was a good choice, although my tail is starting to get tired. I’ve been wagging it for hours, not unintentionally. There was no power-play here, I just wanted to tease her.

I do feel bad that I may be keeping her awake, but she probably wouldn’t have slept much anyway. How can she? She has a pony executing a full nelson on her, a pony stuck punching her in the face, and a changeling on her chest. She can’t get rid of Kat, thanks to that damn glue. If she tries to get rid of Clarie, she will probably asphyxiate. But she could get rid of me. She chose not to. She likes it. She loves me! I just need to make her realize it.

Something tells me, the only thing she doesn’t know is feelings of the heart. With Clarie gone, I could probably…

With Clarie gone, I spun around on Fae so that I was straddling her, sitting on her stomach. Fae’s eyes twitched. So she is awake still, good. I lowered my face down to hers. Ever so slightly, I licked the tip of her muzzle. Another twitch, but no reaction. I brought up my hooves to caress her face, still half an inch away. Nothing? Grrr…

I know her weakness though. I didn’t want to resort to this, but she asked for it. I lowered my head further, brought it to her ear.

*Nibble*

As predicted, she instantly tensed up, followed by a release of muscle tension in her entire body. She did not have the ability to resist the moan.

Suddenly, I felt a blunt pain on the back of my head as I saw what appeared to be a bottle of bath oil fly into my view as quickly as it left. Damnit, that hurt! Clarie must have seen what I was doing. Two can play this game...

I could safely assume that attack came from the bathroom, as I doubt we keep bath oil in the kitchen. I glanced back that way to see the door to the bathroom was shut. She must have went back into hiding.

I crawled off of Fae, and rolled onto the floor with a loud thud. I quickly shifted into Fae’s image.

Waiting about five minutes, I got up and shuffled towards the bathroom as loudly as possible. Upon my arrival, I opened the door only to get tackled to the ground painfully. I don’t think my head can take too much more damage.

I recollected my senses as I saw I was being pinned to the ground by Clarie. To my surprise, our lips became locked in the confusion. Oh my, she does taste good. I’ll give her about 10 more seconds.

At that mark, I shifted back to my original form. Now I wait for the shock.

How long is she going to kiss me?!

Twenty more tasty seconds later, she opened her eyes, which shot open exceedingly fast.

“Blech!” Clarie spewed as she scrambled off of me, “What do you think you are doing, Beatrice?”

“I believe you tackled me!” I defended.

“You took Fae’s looks and tricked me into kissing you!?” Clarie continued, “You were trying to get me to kiss you?” She was practically screaming at this point.

“I was trying to ruin your trap as payback for assaulting me with bottled oils!” I shot back, “I didn’t know that this was a trap to make out with Fae!”

“It was an accident! That was my first kiss! I will end you!” She screamed. She was both intimidating and absurdly adorable as she was doing this.

That last tongue lashing must have awoken Kat. She jumped with a frightened shriek and a high jump attempt. As she was still connected to Fae, she pivoted around her going straight to the floor. As Fae was still connected to Kat, she got yanked from her resting place with a great deal of momentum behind it, crashing to the floor with a dark red puddle forming around her head. This event reminded me of a slinky.

Kat realizing what she had done, rushed to check on Fae, who’s puddle was growing larger by the second. As I begun to run to her, Clarie leapt on me from behind. Was she trying to strangle me? She was trying to strangle me, how cute! She couldn’t injure anypony if she tried. In the midst of her rage, she deadpanned as she saw the puddle start covering most of the floor.

“Oh crap, that’s a lot of blood! I think she is seriously hurt!” I said before going to Fae’s side as well.

“Fae!” Clarie cried, literally as tears had already formed in her eyes.

All three of us huddled around Fae. Wait a minute, did it just get colder in here? I could see my breath. Suddenly what little light there was seemed to vanish, we were in complete darkness. I could still see Fae, what’s going on?

Fae was beginning to rise in the air, shoulders first, limbs dangling. She started to rotate until she was facing us, face soaked in blood, spilling red everywhere. Her eyes were still shut and… Oh crap, her horn!

“Beatrice, run!” Clarie screamed.

“You don’t have to tell me twice.” I said while beginning to backpedal.

We made it to the door when suddenly it became engulfed in blue flames, barring our only exit.

“Shit, this is not good!” I was starting to panic.

Fae glided to us, dragging a petrified Kat with her, stopping merely two feet away. Her right eye shot open while the other remained closed, covered in blood, staring us down with a piercing gaze.

“You two!” she said in a expressionless voice while possessing the look of a serial killer, “Four hours.”

“W-what do you mean?” I gulped.

Just after I had finished the question, a thin blue ethereal string started to emerge from the tip of her horn. It began to circle the room, eventually making its way over to the two of us. Quickly, it wrapped around us, pressing us up against each other, faces smashed against the other. Damnit, her face is touching mine! It was tight, too tight to even consider an escape. The other end of the rope shot into the ceiling taking me and Clarie with it.

“Oh come on! How is this my fault?” I protested.

"Don't care." I heard Fae respond while taking Kat into the bathroom. If she is trying to sleep in the tub again, how does she expect to do so with Kat attached to her?

So here we are, suspended from the ceiling, bound together, for FOUR HOURS! DAMNIT!

At least Fae didn’t go full psychological horror on us. But a few elements leads me to believe that she began to. Does she really not know of this "ability" or is that a lie? This time was different though. It was as if the things happening were only the things that Fae wanted to happen.

For the first fifteen minutes or so, I attempted many times to shapeshift and wiggle free, but the magical rope grew and shrank with me. How obnoxious. I didn’t do anything wrong. All I did was save Fae from a surprise kiss and a head injury. What are we supposed to do for four hours?

"Hey Beatrice, wanna sing a song to pass the time?" Clarie suggested, having moved on from her rage.

"Absolutely not, that sounds awful." I shot her down.

"One thousand bottles of cider on the wall, one thousand bottles of cider! Take one down, drop it on the ground, nine hundred ninety nine bottles of cider on the wall!"

"NO! YOU STOP THAT! YOU STOP THAT RIGHT NOW!" I commanded.

"Nine hundred ninety nine bottles of cider on the wall, nine hundred ninety nine bottles of cider! Take one down, drop it on the ground, nine hundred ninety eight bottles of cider on the wall!"

"When we get out of this, you're dead! Do you hear me?! DEAD!" I meant every word.

~~~~~~~~

"Seventeen bottles of cider on the wall, seventeen bottles of cider! Take one down, drop it on the ground. SIXTEEN BOTTLES OF CIDER ON THE WALLLLLL!"

"Man, all that singing made me thirsty. Hey! It's been over 4 hours!" Clarie exclaimed.

"WHAT!? YOU ARE JUST GOING TO STOP AT SIXTEEN!?" I screamed with the intent to kill.

"Yup, some was enough." Clarie stated with a carefree smile

"YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME! I SAT THROUGH NINE HUNDRED EIGHTY FOUR BOTTLES, JUST FOR YOU TO STOP AT SIXTEEN!?" It was at this point that I began to thrash around in a desperate attempt to strangle the tiny mare.

"Ah! Somepony help, Beatrice is scaring me!" Clarie cried for help.

"Do you two need more time?" Fae asked from below, looking much less red than before. Kat stood beside her, still holding Fae's face and giggling.

"Yes!" Clarie screamed, "If you let us down now, she is going to hurt me!"

"NO!" I objected "I will let it go if you just get me down from here."

"I don’t believe you," Clarie whimpered.

"Look, Fae. Just let us down. I promise I will not physically harm Clarie," I pleaded.

After a few seconds of thought, Fae finally said "Fine" and with a thud, we hit the ground. Clarie was still shaking and scared, so I went over to her and gave her a very friendly hug.

As soon as the shaking stopped, I put my mouth next to her ear and whispered in a very deep voice "Don't ever be alone" I kept my word. I do have honor after all. As I backed off Clarie looked like she had seen a ghost. I couldn’t hold back a smirk as I strode to the lavatory.

I walked inside and shut the door and collapsed onto the floor. All that shapeshifting took a lot out of me. Maybe I was too careless. I was hoping to not feed until Kat was detached from my love's face. I splashed my face with water in a futile attempt to recuperate.

Staring in the mirror, I couldn’t help but feel sad that shapeshifting is required for me to live a normal life. Whatever, it's still better than what I had before. I took the form of Fae's new-found sister and scanned myself for any irregularities. Shifting usually doesn’t require that much magic to maintain, but it’s the initial burst of magic that can be exhausting if overused.

I left the bathroom and joined the others in breakfast. They were all sitting on the floor at the sides of the two beds.

"Cereal today, eh?" I observed. "Cereal is the best breakfast food. Good choice, Clarie."

She responded with a smile and a nod.

"So what are your all's plans for the day?" I asked between spoonfuls of Luna-Pops.

"I have to go help Pinkie set up a party, I'm not sure if I will stick around for the party or not though." Clarie said.

"I plan to do some slothing. I have other things I would like to try an avoid doing and having been affixed to Kat is a great excuse not to do them." I couldn’t tell if Fae was happy about this situation or not. She seemed neutral. "We can't exactly go out in public like this without drawing unwanted attention."

"Hey Beatrice, do you think I could get you to go to the library and check out some manga for me please?" Kat asked in a very sweet tone. How could I say no?

"Sure, I am going to be out anyway looking for a job. What do you want?"

Kat grabbed a pen and paper and began writing fiercely. After an unreasonable amount of writing, she handed it over.

"I doubt they will have all of them so just grab me any you can from this list please. Thank you very much, Beatrice."

"Manga is too much effort. I only watch anime." Fae joined in. "Though, I guess that could prove difficult as we have no TV."

"How do you not have a TV? Isn't that like a shirker's ultimate weapon?" I asked, shocked by the fact I didn’t notice this earlier.

"I used to, but it broke. Televisions are not on the list of things I have understanding enough to fix. I was going to read up and fix it, but lost ambition. I still have it in the closet, I may get around to fixing it sooner or later." The surprising thing isn't that she didn’t want to do something, yet was the fact that there does appear to be things that she doesn’t know how to do. "While you are at the library, could you ask Twi for a book that could teach me how to mess with electronics? I'm not doing anything else anyway I guess."

"Yay! We are getting a TV!" Clarie trotted with excitement.

"If I can figure it out." Fae added.

"Yay! We are getting a TV if Fae can figure it out!" Clarie continued, gait unbroken.

"I'll be back in a bit with your books then, I'm heading out." I announced.

I got up to go to the door when Clarie spoke up.

"Hang on, I'll walk with you!"

Clarie and I left and was on our way to the library. It's been so long since I could freely walk about. This is awesome! No more shadows and lies for this girl!

"You seem to be in good spirits, Beatrice. That makes me happy." Clarie said while traveling.

"I am. This is the closest to freedom I have ever been. And according to Fae, this is the closest I'll ever be." I explained. "Gotta live it up while I can."

"Why do you say that? I'm sure in time we can convince people to let you... um... be yourself." Clarie tried to lift spirits that didn’t need lifting.

"Oh no it's nothing like that. Fae says that since I now have a normal life, freedom is at an all time high until I get a job. She says that jobs are the restriction of freedom through the illusion of free will. I'm not like her though, I don’t mind getting a job. I'd love to be able to speak with ponies on a regular basis."

"Want me to see if Pinkie wants another assistant? She is always so busy, I'm sure she would." Clarie offered.

"No thanks. That’s your gig. I kinda want to find my own. If all else fails, I'll keep that in mind though."

We arrived at Golden Oaks Library within a few minutes. We walked inside as I heard the chime of a bell.

"Clarie! It's so good to see you again." She smiled at Clarie, but stopped as she noticed me. "You're not Fae, but you look almost identical." A violet mare was there to greet us.

"Oh, that's because I'm Fae's twin sister, Beatrice. Are you friends with Fae?" I asked.

"I think so. I didn’t know she had a sister. It's a pleasure to meet you! My name is Twilight Sparkle and I am in charge of this library." Twilight introduced herself. "What can I do for you girls?"

"Do you have any books on TVs? Fae's TV broke and she is trying to fix it, but doesn’t know much about electronics."

"I sure do. Lets see here..." Twilight pondered for a few moments before activating her magic and levitating several books out of their shelves. "A Beginners Guide to Electricity, The History of the Television, and Television Repair for Eggheads."

That looks like much more reading than I would imagine Fae would be ok with.

"Oh, also if you have any of these manga." I said while handing her the list Kat gave me.

"I'm familiar with these. I see you are a fan of yuri. Hold on one moment and I'll go gather these for you."

"What does yuri mean?" Clarie asked me after Twilight left.

"Hell if I know." I answered. "We can ask Kat later."

Twilight returned carrying dozens of small books.

"There are a few people in town who love manga, so I try and keep well stocked in it." Twilight said placing the books on the counter."

Oh geez, that’s a lot of books. This better not cost a whole lot.

"How much?" I asked.

"Oh no charge. They are free to check out, but if you keep them longer than a week, there will be a late fee." Twilight said as she cataloged the books, having me sign them out.

"Awesome, I don’t have much money until I get a job anyway. Know any places hiring?"

"Jobs are harder to come by around here than you would think. What is it you are looking to do?" Twilight inquired.

"I dunno. A job where I get to chat with lots of ponies."

"Are you really related to Fae?" Twilight asked whimsically.

Oh crap. She is on to me from such a simple comment?

"I was kidding of course." Twilight followed up with laughter. I need to calm down, if a comment like that was a joke, then my reaction could give me away. "I think there is a new bar that opened up a week ago. They may be looking for help. Bartending is mostly just conversating. I think the name of it was 7th Heaven. It's only a few blocks from here."

"Wow, that sounds perfect. I'll go check it out now!" I wonder if they will let me have free booze on the job?

Twilight finished signing out the books and bagged them up and handed them to us.

"Thank you, Twilight. It was very nice meeting you" I said.

"Good seeing you again, Twilight!" Clarie said to the unicorn.

"You too. Please come again soon." Twilight said with a smile and a wave.

"Clarie, do you have time to drop those books off before you go to work? I want to go check out that job before somepony else takes it.

"I'm sorry, I would if I could, but I am almost a little late as is and I can't use the excuse I lost track of time." Clarie said with a frown.

"It's cool. I'll swing by the bar before going home then." I said before sprinting off to find this bar.

I didn't make it far before realizing that I failed to ask where the bar was located.I wandered around, too proud to go back to the library. I'm not above asking somepony though.

Looking around I could see several shops each with it's own individual style of decor. The florist had many beautiful flowers of all shapes and sizes out front. Sugercube corner was garnished with many inedible candies. The building next to it had many umbrella covered tables as well as a TV outside. Many ponies were gathered around drinking and having a good time. I'm sure somepony there will have an idea where I can find this bar.

The first pony within my sights I came upon was a magenta earth mare sporting a buttstamp of three happy flowers. She was sitting at a table outside alone and appeared to be pretty tipsy.

"Excuse me ma'am?" I approached with a smile.

"That’s me alllright. Ma'am. *Sigh* When did I become a ma'am? I swear I was still a young adult yesterday. *Hic* What can this old lady do for you?" The mare slurred. I guess I don’t need to ask what is bothering her now.

"I'm sorry, I didn’t mean to imply anything, that's just a typical polite greeting." I said, attempting to minimize any unintentional damage.

She took another swig of her drink, setting it down with a thud.

"No no, I'm sorry. What can I do for you, miss?"

"My name is Beatrice. I am kinda new to town and was hoping I could chat with somepony for a quick minute."

"Sure, take a seat!" She said, kicking a chair on the opposing side of the table out for me to sit. "My name is Cheerilee and I am a teacher at Ponyville Schoolhouse. And don’t worry, my class isn't here drinking, I have the day off so that I can deal with the trauma that is my birthday."

"Oh wow, I bet teaching is so fun. I love foals." I continued the conversation, trying to avoid the sensitive topic.

"Gotta be careful, dear. Teaching eats up all your free time. One day you are grading papers, the next you are an old lady with no social life and has too many responsibilities to occasionally have fun. Forget about trying to find a minute to find a nice stallion." She seemed rather sore on this topic. Perhaps I should try and cheer her up before asking for information.

"Still though, I bet its super rewarding to see the children grow and flourish from the teachings you provided. You have a whole class full of children to look after. Not many ponies could do that. I love foals and I don’t even think I could."

"It's a great feeling, that’s for sure." She said while lighting a cigarette.

"Plus, you still have social opportunities. For example, we are talking now. I would like to think we are becoming friends. You could have just drank at home, but instead are doing it out in the open, socially. Just because you have not had much of a social life doesn't mean that you can't still have one. As for finding a boyfriend, it's much easier to take care of your problems without the extra pony to weigh you down and possibly complicate things further." Fae would be proud of my logic, though I'm sure she would have done a much better job.

"Y'know, you aren't too bad. The fact that you are trying to cheer me up, cheers me up more than what you actually said, I kinda drifted in and out. Thank you, Beatrix. I always enjoy making new friends. And thanks for listening to the ramblings of a mad teacher. Enough of my problems, did you need something?" Cheerilee said while straightening up and taking another drag on her cigarette.

"Oh yeah! I almost forgot about that. Have you heard of a bar called 7th Heaven? I'm hoping to get a chance to work there. I don’t have any experience as a bartender, but it sounds like a job that I would enjoy."

Cheerilee replied with a laugh. Probably more laughter than was needed, but I will chock that up to her being drunk.

"You are already here." She said pointing at the sign above the building that read "7th Heaven."

I could feel the embarrassment building within me. How the hell did I not see that?

"Oh... Right... I'm going to go speak with the owner then. Thank you very much and I hope we meet again soon." I said I stood to head inside.

I can't believe I did that...

The interior of the bar was something else. It almost looked futuristic, yet old fashioned. The bar, tables, and chairs were all made of unfinished wood. It gave a very rustic feel to the place. Mechanical decorations lined the walls. In the middle of the bar was a wide open area that looked like it would be good for dancing. Aside from that, there were TVs, neon lights everywhere and OHMYCHRYSALIS! A PINBALL MACHINE! I love pinball machines. If only I had bits... Oh right, job.

I approached the counter to find an attractive mare on the other side, cleaning a glass. She was a pure white earth pony wearing a white tank top. She had pitch black hair tied together at the end, showing off its massive volume. I couldn’t see her cutie mark from this angle.

I have a slight fascination with cutie marks, I always wondered what mine would be if I could have one. I guess technically it could be whatever I want it to be thanks to my ability, but it's not the same.

"Hi, my name is Beatrice and I came to speak with the owner of the place." I introduced myself.

"That would be me. The name's Lock Heart. What can I do for you?" The owner replied.

"I'm new to town and am looking for a job. I heard this place just opened up and I was hoping you might be looking for help."

"It's just me working here right now. I moved here to open this bar and didn’t think I would have the luck I've had. Business has been pretty good. Yeah, I think I could use some help. Do you have any experience bartending?"

She continued to work while she was speaking. I kept trying to glance over and see her cutie mark, but was afraid of it becoming apparent that I was checking her out. I mean, I wasn't. Just genuinely curious of her mark, but she was easy on the eyes. Oh, she finished talking, better respond.

"No, I don't. I haven't had a job before, but if you would be willing to give me a shot, I promise I won't let you down. I love talking with ponies and hearing their stories. To my understanding that is a big part of bartending."

"You're right. That’s a majority of the job. I'd say that you also have to be good with math for when you are closing up tabs and collecting bits, but this cash register pretty much does all that for you." The cash register appeared to be a giant screen. She tapped on the screen and the till popped out. "Electronic technology has come a long way in the past few years. It almost evens the playing field between unicorns and non-magical creatures."

"That is amazing! This whole bar is amazing actually. It has such a unique feel with a perfect balance of new-age and traditional." I spoke in awe.

"Thank you. That's exactly what I was going for. It sounds like you would be a great candidate for the job. There is only one catch to it." She said gradually shifting her tone to a more serious demeanor. "Alcohol has a history of causing violence. Not only would my employee need to be able to stop a drunken brawl, but I really don’t want anypony getting hurt under my employ. So I tell you what, if you can pass an initiation sparring match with me, you've got the job."

Seriously? I go to ask for a job and have to fight somepony? I like this place.

"I would like to think I can hold my own but sure, sounds like fun." The mere thought of this was filling me with excitement. I don’t like violence but a simple sparring match is innocent.

"You didn’t freak out like everypony else who has come here looking for work. That's a good sign." Lock Heart said with a grin.

"I wouldn’t want to damage anything in here, should we do it out back or something?" I asked.

"This bar is built for it. Literally, watch." She pulled a lever behind the counter and I felt a massive rumbling under the floor. Lights flickered on in the middle of the bar, shining down on the floor in a giant square. The middle of the floor descended slightly, and started tucking back underneath of itself, revealing a large square shaped hole in the middle of the building.

With some louder rumbling, something started to rise, filling in the void left by the hole.

"You have got to be kidding me!" I shouted over the noise of the mechanical transformation. "You have a wrestling ring built into the place! That's so awesome!"

An enormous wrestling ring had taken the place of previous open floor. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. Green ropes, black turnbuckles and a light grey mat. It's no wonder this place has had good business. I didn’t think Ponyville had much in terms of entertainment. I am so glad I was wrong.

"You can pick up your jaw now." She said with a chuckle.

"I love this place!" I said as I started prancing in place.

"I figured if you can't stop violence, at least we can make it safer and gain some business from it. I call this the Meteor-ring" She walked around the counter and strode past me heading to the ring. Finally an opportunity to check her flank!

What I saw did not bode well for me. Her cutie mark was of a red glove, with spaced metal studs along the toe. She is a fighter? Well, here's hoping I don’t get my teeth kicked in.

We entered the ring in and began to prepare for our bout. The center of the ring had an image that resembled a meteor falling. She tossed me a pair of blue padded gloves. That’s a relief, I was afraid that she would be hitting me with metal.

The customers all stopped what they were doing to watch the performance. A few even ran out to grab more ponies to come watch the spectacle.

Maybe I should hold back a bit to avoid drawing question to my own fighting abilities. I don’t care about others watching, but it would be troublesome if everypony in town began questioning how I can fight so well.

Fighting is horrible. But it is possible to take a foul act and rectify it to be good fun. When two consenting adults just spar for fun, there is nothing wrong with that.

Being a changeling, one of the first things I was taught was combat. Being my mother's daughter, my lessons were more... Intense.

I have come to enjoy fighting, so long as no one is being wronged or excessively hurt. Most of my training was done with weapons, though I don’t really like them. I prefer hoof to hoof combat. Much less chance of someone getting seriously injured. Plus, I feel that it takes much more skill.

"Don't worry, we aren't fighting for real or anything like that. Just five minutes in the ring is all. I want to make sure you can at least handle yourself if things get ugly. As well as use this as a basis for determining your pay." She winked at me while tightening her gloves.

"Then I should fight like my life depends on it?" I responded with a laugh. "I won't lie, I am really excited! No holding back! I want to prove myself."

"If you insist." She said with a smile.

We stood in our respective corners while a colossal monitor on the wall depicted a countdown timer.

3...

2...

1...

*Ding ding ding*

The owner wasted no time in closing the gap between us. I advanced as well, to prevent myself from getting stuck in the corner. She threw punch after punch at my face at blinding speeds. Instead of dodging the first few, I decided to block them, gauging the force behind her blows. After blocking the first three punches, I could feel my arms already starting to go numb. It's hard to believe that a pony could wield such an overpowering force. They didn’t feel like punches, instead they felt like a swipes of a manticore.

I'd do well to try and avoid taking an attack at all. I shifted my efforts to avoiding rather than blocking. She is a very experienced fighter, never standing in one place for more than a fraction of a second.

I began to dodge and duck her hooves, but every time I attempted to counter-attack, she was already beside me in the middle of her next attack. She left absolutely no openings as her rapid offensive kept pushing me back.

I'll have to make an opening if I want to get anywhere. I can't keep dodging her attacks forever.

Before I could formulate anything, she landed a hit on my chest that sent me flying across the ring.

"Holy shit! You are strong! But, your punches only make me stronger." I said while struggling to my hooves.

She was not only strong, but honorable. She didn’t seize the opportunity to pummel me while I was down. Instead, she gave me plenty of space to get back up.

"Hey, you are doing really well. Few people can even see my movements, let alone react to them." Lock Heart complimented.

"Thanks, I'll try not to disappoint." I said while beginning my own offensive. Her complimenting me during a fight really pisses me off.

There is no way I can match her power. It doesn’t help that her speed is otherworldly as well, but speed is the closest thing I can compete with her in.

I started to force her on the defensive, focusing on launching twice as many half power strikes from many angles. Punch after punch, none of my attacks found their mark. Dozens of failed punches in, hope started to dwindle. I can't dodge all of her attacks, while she can avoid all of mine.

She landed a fierce blow on my jaw as I lost focus in my realization. The hit was strong enough to launch me several feet into the air. The pain coursing through my face was immense. The ever-shifting world became black as I clenched my eyes in pain. Before my limp body made it back down to the mat, she reeled back and delivered a strike to my stomach, this time sending me across the ring, crashing into a turnbuckle. I hit the mat with a loud thud, completely and utterly disoriented.

This is unreal. I was one of the best fighters in unarmed combat back at the hive. But the difference in ability was just ridiculous. I was always so proud of my ability to fight. Does this mean that my opponents back then were just novices themselves? Or that she is just that talented? Or could it be that changelings just can't keep up in hoof to hoof combat with earth ponies? They are built much sturdier than the other races.

Again, she gave me much needed time to get back up. My face felt wet as I wiped away blood running from my nose and mouth. My vision was already beginning to blur and we weren't even three minutes into the fight.

If I can't beat her, then I at least need to make sure that I can still stand by the time the bell rings. Though, that would mean that my pay might suffer if I can't even land one attack. This sucks, if I were in my original form, I could attack from the air, or in the very least use my wings to hasten my assault.

I stood up, glancing at the timer on the wall. Three minutes fifteen second. I think I've milked all the time that she will let me have to stay down. I need to land an attack or else I'll be making minimum wage.

I sprinted towards her in a zigzag fashion, each step sending sharp pain coursing through my ribs. One hit, that’s all I need. Just one hit.

Rather than defend, she chose to stop any and all advances with her relentless blitzkrieg. In less than five seconds, I lost count of her attacks around 40. A few of them landed on me. All I could do was brace for impact. Before I knew it, I was defending again.

Come on, Beatrice! Think! There has to be some flaw in her attack, no fighting style is perfect.

Trying to think caused me to suffer several hits, but there is no way I can win this if I don’t use my brain. She is making it impossible to think with all those punches... Wait, punching is literally all she has been doing. She hasn’t kicked or grappled, even her defense was punching.

A small glimmer of hope appeared in the back of my mind.

Four minutes thirty seconds, only thirty seconds remain. She is leaving no openings. Screw it, I'll take a hit if that's what it takes.

Lock Heart reared back and struck my face with unimaginable force. I buckled down and pivoted, grabbing her hoof as it departed from my face. I flipped her over my shoulder and sent her to the mat, wrapping my front hooves around her arm while locking my legs around her chest, pinning her to the mat in an arm submission.

I learned this attack from Clarie. The way it puts pressure on the joint of the arm, while proving difficult to escape makes this a great hold. I could hear Lock Heart scream in pain, but I didn’t let up. Not until she taps. I just need to apply more pressure... More pressure.

"MORE PRESSURE!" I screamed, straining every muscle in my body.

*Ding ding ding*

Immediately I let go, releasing my opponent from my hold. She rolled over and clutched her arm. I decided to continue laying there on the mat, attempting to catch my breath.

Within five minutes, my entire body became tenderized. It felt like I was nothing more than a giant bruise. Like I had gotten hit with a bus repeatedly. Man do I regret accepting her challenge.

Lock Heart walked over to me and crouched down above me. She wasn't even out of breath! Screw her!

"That was amazing, Beatrice! You are incredible." She said with great joy. Her eyes shone with purpose and fulfillment. "The way you took that punch and used it to your advantage was genius and ballsy! The job is yours, if you still want it that is."

I continued panting on my back for a few moments.

"Your fighting ability has left me at a loss for words... And breath. I'll take it." I managed to force out.

She extended her hoof to help me up. The audience broke out in mass cheer. I didn’t even notice that a crowd had formed. There had to be at least 70 ponies in here watching the fight. One of the cheers stood out from the others a good bit. It was a very high pitched, hyperactive squeal. I turned to see Clarie in the front going crazy. Crap, I didn’t want her to see me get my butt kicked.

"Great, I look forward to working with you. I'm assuming you don’t want to start tonight, so how about starting this Friday? That gives you a few days to recover. I'll start you out at 13 bits an hour." My new boss said, glad to have an employee.

"Thirteen?! Isn't that a bit high for someone who just got her flank handed to her?" I asked in joy. "Not that I'm complaining."

"I was going to start you at 8, but you really impressed me. You are really good. It's rare that I get to cut loose in a fight. Even after all that I put you through, you still maintained level-headedness enough to stop when the bell rang, a trait few possess."

We walked over to the bar. I sat on a stool while Clarie ran up to me. The boss went behind the counter to turn the bar back into a bar.

"Beatrice that was super awesome! I didn’t know you could fight!" Clarie squeaked.

"Apparently a little less than I thought I could." I said while changing target to the one who opened up a pallet full of cases full of cans of whoop-ass on me. "Do you think you would be willing to teach me to fight better? If I could even become half as good as you, that would be a significant improvement."

"Really? I've never had a student before. Sure I don’t see why not. You have great potential. Can I talk to you in the back? We will fill out some paperwork," Lock Heart requested.

"I'll wait for you outside, Beatrice," Clarie said with a pat on the back that sent pain surging through my whole body.

We walked into the back room, it was much more plain than the front area. There was a desk and a poster of a cat hanging from a branch with the words "Hang in there!" on it. That was pretty much it.

"So, Beatrice. What are you?" She asked with a cocky grin.

"W-what do you mean?" I asked nervously.

"Fighting someone can tell you much more about them than words will. When I hit you, your body didn’t feel like it had the mass that it appears to. You are much lighter than a pony of your size should be." Oh no... She figured it out...

"I-I'm sorry I don’t know what you are talking about." I nervously tried to cover up.

"It doesn’t matter I suppose. Fighting you tells me that you are a good pony. It's much harder to hit an enemy that you don’t want to hurt. Had this been a real fight, I'm sure you would have inflicted more damage." The boss said.

I really doubt that. Had this been a real fight, she wouldn’t have allowed me to get back up.

She pulled a file out of her desk and handed it to me.

"Take this and fill it out. Bring it back with you when you come into work on Friday. Work starts at 8AM. Normal shift will be 5PM to 10PM Monday through Friday. I will provide you with a work uniform that I will have ready for you on Friday. As for my lessons, I think it's fair that you pay me what I pay you. I will require pay of 13 bits per hour of training. We will start your training at 5 hours a week, if that works with you. " She instructed. "Oh, your 'interview' attracted quite the business, here's your pay for today, you have earned it."

She handed me a pouch filled with bits. Eighty of them to be exact. Her terms of training were reasonable. She would just get one free hour of work from me for every hour she trains me.

"Sweet! I didn’t know I was going to get paid for that. I'm not going to turn it down though, thanks!" I graciously accepted.

I reunited with Clarie outside the bar. She was holding the bag of books for me. I barely have the strength to walk, let alone carry anything. Those five minutes in the ring equate to running an uphill marathon, then flying back with a passenger. Lock Heart really didn’t hold back, my jaw is going to be sore for a long time.

"Hiya, Beatrice!" Clarie bounced. "That was so awesome. I especially like the submission move you used. Where did you learn to fight like that?"

"Well, that one I learned recently." I didn't want to tell her that it was thanks to her that I knew lived. "Let's stop by a store on the way back, dinner's on me. Also, we should split the price of a cot."

"What for?" Clarie asked.

"I don’t want Kat sleeping with Fae any longer than she has to. Neither of us do, so we should split the price."

"Good idea, let's do it!" Clarie and I shook hooves.

We arrived home in the afternoon before nightfall had made its way over the town. I could hear talking coming from inside the apartment. Crossing the threshold, Fae was explaining her magic to Kat, no longer attached at the face. I hope I didn’t miss too much, I want to hear this.

"Actually, my magic isn't much stronger than anypony else's. I just use it more efficiently, allowing for significantly higher results. It's kind of hard to explain. See, my forte is alteration. That means I excel at the manipulation of mana, physical and magical entities." Fae explained while moving her hooves in gestures I didn’t understand. "Oh, Bea! Perfect timing. Come here please."

"What happened to the whole being stuck together for three days thing?" I asked curiously.

"Turns out Flim and Flam products are talked up quite a bit. It did not even last a full day. Not that I'm disappointed, but I had to pay for that compound. I deserve my money's worth." Fae spoke with annoyance.

I approached the coffee table where the two had been having their conversation. Clarie was eager to begin dinner preparations. She started unpacking the groceries I bought, while the conversation continued.

"So we are still on to bathe together right?" I asked earnestly, changing back into my true form. I'm lucky I didn't get knocked out of it during the fight. A strong attack has been known to unshift a changeling.

"Bea! What happened?" Fae jumped up. "Did somepony hurt you!?"

She approached me, examining my bruises.

"It was amazing, Fae." Clarie spoke before I could respond. "Beatrice had an interview today and part of the interview was a fight. She fought somepony who was so fast, I couldn’t see half of her attacks!"

"Yeah and she hit like a freight train too." My jaw was still in agonizing pain. I really hope I didn’t get fractured or anything. "It was at a new pub in town called 7th Heaven. The owner wanted to make sure I was able to defend myself. I got the job! I start Friday."

Fae approached to inspect my bruises. "Does it hurt?"

"A bit, but it's no big deal. I just need a warm bath." I underplayed.

"I didn't know you could fight." Kat said with surprise.

"She can fight quite well. When we were in that paintball tournament, she obliterated the competition. She could make an entire SWAT team weep in envy," Fae said. Perhaps giving me too much credit

"My opponent was much better than me." I said lowering my eyes. "I didn't even get a hit in. As a last ditch effort, I was only able to pull off a submission."

"I could defeat her if I wanted to..." Fae said in a deep tone.

Kat turned to Fae. "You can fight too?"

"No not at all. It was a lie in a lame attempt at a humor. I doubt I could take a child without my magic."

"She agreed to take me on as her apprentice. So there's no doubt I will get stronger!" I can't wait for that day.

"So, what are you two doing?" I asked Fae, resuming the previous conversation.

"Oh, right. As I was saying, Bea, would you please use your magic to levitate this cup please?" Fae asked as she sat a coffee cup on the table.

"Sure thing." I focused my magic on raising the cup. This was no major feat, pretty much every magical creature can do it without a second thought. A wave of yellow started to envelop the cup as it lifted into the air.

"Do you see the waves of magic flowing around the cup?" Fae rhetorically asked. "Now, watch as I perform the same spell."

I released my hold over the cup. Moments later it began to glow again, this time with an aqua hue. It rose up into the air and hovered, stationary. This time was different from when I did it.

"The glow." I said. "It's not pulsating around the cup."

It was coating the cup with see-through color. Emanating from the cup.

"Exactly. When you did it, the magic resonated around the cup. Think of it as you are the start point and the cup is the endpoint of the magic. After reaching its destination, the excess magic expels outwards. Magic acts a lot like water, it likes to stick together. When the magic leaves its destination, it binds with all the other leftover magic and forms waves. Once the spell is released, it dissipates into thin air. Well, not into thin air, but that’s for another lesson." I think this is the most I have ever heard Fae speak.

"Ok, I think I follow so far. But what is different from what you are doing and what Beatrice did?" Kat asked.

"You don’t have any leftover magic?" I added.

"Right. Alteration requires precise control over mana. Being able to so finely manipulate it, I can adjust the power of my spell to the least amount necessary to perform the spell. If any mana were to be leftover, I just pull it right back into the spell, recycling it. When Beatrice cast that spell, roughly 80% of her mana was lost in conversion and overexertion."

"Hey, I know I'm no good at magic, but come on!" I said, a little insulted.

"That wasn’t a jab at you, Bea. Almost everypony does this. I am merely explaining why my magic could be misconstrued as more powerful. No matter how much power you put behind the spell, you are still going to be losing about the same percentage of mana. Whereas my spell efficiency is around 99%. So if we possessed the same magical capacity and cast the same spell at our maximum power, mine is going to be almost 5 times as powerful. Not only that, but I would be able to cast the same empowered spell just as much as you could cast yours."

"When you explain it like that, I sort of understand." Kat said. "But why can't everypony adjust their spells to do the same?"

"Good question. It's because I have worked very hard at maximizing my spell efficiency. I would like to think it is equal parts talent and hard work. If you couldn’t tell, one of my most hated things is wasted effort." Fae said with a smirk.

"So what does this have to do with alteration? I'm slightly familiar with that school, but do you think you could explain a bit more about it?" I requested.

"Sure. There are 8 main schools of magic, I won't bore you with the list, so I'll just focus on my specialty. Alteration, sometimes referred to as transmutation, is a school that focuses on taking what already exists and making changes to it in various ways."

Fae slammed the coffee cup on the table, shattering it into many pieces.

"Why did you break our coffee cup?" Clarie asked, joining the conversation.

"To teach a lesson." Fae answered. "This coffee cup was once one solid piece. We could piece it back together, but it would just fall apart again. So we would need adhesive if we wanted to make it whole again. But with alteration, there are a few different ways I could fix this, but I will just stick with the easiest way for now."

Fae's magic surrounded all the tiny pieces of the coffee cup as they were lifted up, as before.

"Using my magic, I can put the pieces back to where they belong and essentially remove any and all matter and space in between them, fusing them together. It gets a little bit more complicated from here, so I'll use laymen's terms. I can make the matter believe that it were still connected and it will rejoin with its fellow pieces." I was a little relieved that she didn’t use more big words that I didn’t understand.

"What about that string you tied me and Clarie up with this morning, That wasn’t something that already existed. That would be... Conjuration?" I asked.

"I didn't say I could only do alteration, that is just my specialty. No, that was not conjuration. It would be if I just summoned up a regular string. I could have used alteration afterward to have a similar effect, but it is much less effort to use evocation for that one. That was a nifty spell called 'Kandata's thread'. Simple yet incredibly effective. That thread can withstand the weight of a thousand ponies." Fae looked like she was enjoying herself, a rare but welcome sight.

"One last thing." I said. "Just out of curiosity, but you said you could repair the coffee cup multiple ways. What are some other ways you could have done it?"

"I could have reversed time using a spacial bubble and restored it to an earlier point in time. I could have melted it back together. I could have placed a magical tether along all the edges and placed the pieces together. I could have liquefied it and remolded it. Or I could have just placed an illusion on it to make it appear unbroken. I am sure there are other methods to do it, but that is all I can think of off the top of my head. I used a novice spell called mend."

"Some of those sound unrealistic." Kat said. "I just don’t understand how you can cast magic in the first place."

"I don’t know, myself. I can only speculate, but for all I know, my best theory could be completely wrong." Fae despairingly said. "My best guess is that all creatures possess mana. The leylines on a unicorn's horn allows the host to take hold and compress the mana into a usable state. My body contains the leylines somehow. I believe they were somehow grafted on me from an outside source. But as I said, that’s my best theory, I would be willing to bet that it's not even close to being right."

"You are talkative today, Fae. You must really like magic." I pointed out with a grin.

"My magic has always been a secret. I never get to discuss it with anypony or get their thoughts or feedback on things. Well, not anymore... My little sister used to be the only one I could talk to about it. She always loved it when I taught her about the arcane." Fae's expression changed to one of sorrow.

"You have a real sister? You never said anything about her before. How old is she? Where is she?"

"I would rather not discuss it." Fae said, dodging my questions.

"Can she cast magic too?" I persisted

"Please, no."

I failed to notice Fae was on the verge of tears before I made my next comment.

"Come on, tell me. I want to know more about you. Why can't you still talk to her about it?"

Clarie stood behind Fae making a horizontal slicing motion at her own throat, the universal sign for "Stop talking." The look in her face was the most serious I have ever seen her make.

All emotion left her face as tears fell down the sides. She wore the thousand yard stare, a look I have seen before, when one of my clan drains a victim dry, past the point of no return. I have crossed a line I should have stayed far away from. A line that once crossed, hollowed her. Her eyes lost all shine and became dull emerald voids.

An ethereal purple plate appeared above Fae's head, shattering into hundreds of pieces with the sound of glass breaking. The pieces disappeared moments later. What was that all about?

With no change in body language, Fae spoke with no emotion.

"A year and a half ago, I almost killed her. There was an accident and she went into a coma for almost a year. She was horribly maimed." Fae rattled off words with no feelings.

Author's Note

Well here it is, this chapter was hard to write with life getting in the way and all. The next chapter is coming right up as well, I did say I would crank out two chapters. I hope you all enjoy Beatrice's perspective. It was a little tough to right, but I quickly found my groove. Hopefully soon, I will have a little surprise for everypony ;p

Please feel free to look forward to it!

Chapter 9: Broken

I went too far...

Something in Fae snapped, leaving a husk of the pony I love sitting at the table. Everything went downhill fast when that plate broke above Fae's head. I'm ill informed regarding the subject, but it appeared to be some form of magic.

"What happen-" Clarie began to ask but was cut off as Fae resumed her story, as if she were on autopilot.

"She kept wanting me to try and graft some of my leylines onto her. I was adamant against doing it. I knew the risks and kept refusing, but she wouldn’t take no for an answer. She was very gifted in making ponies do what she wanted. I caved and attempted to transfer a very small portion of them onto her. I performed a transplant that has never been done before. It worked, but the magic was too powerful for her to handle. The leylines that were now in both of us, began to transfer pure mana across the gap. There was an explosion of arcane energy as they continued to sear her body." Fae sat there lifeless, yet again.

"Is she sti-" Kat tried to ask, but was interrupted by Fae.

"I was able to reverse the process and take them back, as well as transfer all of her wounds to myself, but it damaged her soul. Those scars are hers and she will wear them for the rest of her life. Right before she lost consciousness, she handed me her pendant. That was the last time I laid eyes on my sister."

We sat silently as Fae continued revealing information. I wasn't about to say anything else. It's my fault I started this. Clarie had lost the ability to fight her tears and was audibly sobbing.

"Two months passed, I was up and able to walk again, but my sister remained in a coma for eleven. Though she had no physical damage, the strain on her mind was too severe. Her body entered a state of near-death. The doctors said that she would never wake up, but I knew they were wrong, because I foolishly had to know if my sister was still in there. I began researching ways to read her mind without being close to her. I found a spell that would suffice and performed the spell before I had a chance to recover from my own injuries. I knew it would send me right back to the hospital but I didn't care."

"She once possessed the leylines in which I channel my magic, I have no way of knowing if being near her will cause another devastating reaction. It is possible that there are remnants that could attempt to harness my mana. I refuse to take such a risk."

It seemed as though Fae was telling the story to herself for the first time. She is pausing every few sentences, almost as if she does not know what happens next.

"I performed the spell. She was not brain-dead. I was able to read her thoughts, though all I could make out was her crying. I was hospitalized for another three months. It was worth it. I discovered that my sister still had brain activity, that was enough to keep me going. But her cries caused me to believe casting that spell caused her pain. I could no longer magically interfere."

"I did everything in my power to directly contact the highest authority, Princess Celestia. Nopony would deliver any of my messages to her, telling me I need to go through proper channels. That was unacceptable. That would have taken months, maybe years. I successfully had my message delivered by threatening to blow up half of the city. My magic was burnt out, but nopony knew that. I took advantage of the fear and paranoia everypony had of my abilities. I was arrested and taken into police custody in exchange for them hoof delivering a letter directly to the princess."

As the story continued, I prayed it was drawing to a close. It kept getting more and more depressing. I couldn't even stand to hear it... But Fae lived it...

"The Princess immediately took action and transferred my little sister to the most advanced hospital in the country, Canterlot Medical Center. Not only that, she exonerated me of all crimes, but it did not matter to me. She explained that she knew of the turmoil of causing pain and suffering to a little sister and that she had a personal investment in this case."

"I received daily reports on the status of my sister that only said that there had been no change in her status. A few months later, I received a letter with a royal seal on it. It said that my sister had awoken from her coma and appeared to have no brain damage. Also, that she was going to be kept in Canterlot another three weeks for observation."

"All hospital fees had been waived and Princess Celestia personally delivered my sister Miracle a goodbye letter from me even though she tried to reassure me that further contact between the two of us should not harm her."

Fae's full name is Forlorn Fate and her sisters name is Miracle. I couldn't help but wonder if those names were precursors for this tragic event, or if they were simply coincidence. Is it because of this that she goes by Fae? I had so many questions, but it would be nothing less than cruel of me to ask them.

"I left my hometown and moved to Ponyville revealing my whereabouts to nopony. She almost died because of me. I can't be near her. I love Meryll. I spent a month locked in this room lamenting over this until one day I just snapped. I went insane, but before I could do anything stupid, I used a spell to place a mental wall between me most of the details of this story."

"I was afraid I would pick at the wall if I blocked out too much of my memory. I left the details about me needing to place a mental block and about me not being able to be near my sister intact. I must have broken the wall when I started talking about my sister."

Silence overcame the group as everypony realized that Fae was in agony. I could tell, the three of us wanted to say words to help, but given the extreme response coming from her, I doubt anything would work. Tears had not stopped flowing this entire time and had started to form a puddle on the edge of the table.

We were all crying now. Fae was dealing with this the only way she could, by avoiding dealing with it. Until I dredged up the past. I'm an idiot. I'm such a fucking idiot!

I would give anything to cheer her up...

"I'm sorry I waited this long, Fae. I was selfishly going to use this to pull ahead of the others. I didn't know the amount of sentiment behind it. I'm so sorry."

Clarie walked over to her bed and reached under the mattress to retrieve something. It looked like... A necklace?

She placed the jewelry on the table next to the puddle. It was a pretty and simple pendant with a green gemstone hanging from it.

"It was wrong of me not to return it right away. But please... Cheer up. I don't like seeing you like this. You don't deserve to torture yourself and you don’t need to deal with things on your own. We are your friends. When you are sad, we are sad." Clarie was sobbing much harder than both me and Kat.

I really wanted to say something too, but couldn't get the words out.

"Don't you dare think about recasting the wall!" Kat spoke up. "You told me yourself, erasing your memories will erase who you are. In time, you will be right back where you are right now. You knew that this would happen before you even knew that this could happen. You saved me from making a big mistake and I refuse to let you make the same one again."

I am not sure what exactly Kat was speaking of, but there was a fiery passion in her eyes I hadn't witnessed before.

"You are the smartest pony I have ever met. Please Fae, listen to your own words. A painful past is behind you. You had the strength to make it as long as you did without anyone to help you. You did what you needed to in order to get by. Things are different now, we are here for you. You have three strong pillars of support who won't let you fall." Kats words were carefully selected to appeal to the principles of Fae. She is more wise than I was aware.

I'm useless, I caused this and I can't even say anything to help her. What's worse is that in this dark time, I'm feeling sorry for myself. Fae is suffering while the one who claims she loves her takes a backseat approach.

No, Fae needs me. I can't sit here and do nothing. I have to help her! I didn't know exactly what I was going to say when I started talking, but winging a speech is better than how I had been helping.

"Fae, I am sorry I helped blast open the wall. But try considering how your sister feels. Your sister doesn't blame you. She loves you very much. Her last conscious action was to give you a gift. She was in a state where she should have been worried for her own life, yet she used the last of her energy to try and tell you that she loves you and doesn’t want you to feel bad."

Fae rotated her head towards me. I must be on the right track. I have to maintain momentum!

"You don’t need to punish yourself for this. What happened what horrible, but it happened. Princess Celestia herself understood the situation and did everything she could to try and ease your suffering. Your sister will have scars and may have 11 months that she will never get back, but those will be nothing compared to the pain of losing you."

Fae opened her mouth to speak, but no words came. I need to push harder.

"Even though I don’t know her, I bet she tortures herself, believing she is the reason you got hurt. She doesn’t have the ability to block painful memories like you do. I understand if you physically can't be near her. So long as it's you refusing to take a risk of hurting her and not you trying to rationalize avoiding looking her in the eyes."

One more shove, then I will offer support.

"Nothing of what you said is stopping you from writing to her. At least communicate with her. Let her know that you love her and that you are still alive. For all she knows, you could be dead. That mindset would crush anyone."

I hate being so harsh with words at this crucial moment, but it is necessary.

"I will do everything I can to help you. Say the word and I will fly out there right now to go check on your sister. I will personally hoof deliver every letter you two write to each other if that is what it takes. I will not let this break you! You are far too valuable to everypony in this room. More than that, you have done so much to try and make us happy. All of that will have been for nothing if you don’t allow us to make you happy. We want nothing more than for your happiness."

Fae snapped out of it, inspecting the pendant for a prolonged period of time. She placed her head through the strap, letting it dangle around her neck.

"Thank you, girls. This means the world to me."

Once the blank look in her eyes departed, the three of us scrambled to give her a hug.

Clarie's contribution probably played the most significant role in reconstructing Fae. I know this should have been her moment, but this wasn't about any stupid rivalry. The only thing any of us wanted was to cheer Fae up. Nothing else matters. Not even the excruciating pain radiating my ribs were in from the hug that lasted for over 10 minutes.

No more tears fell from Fae. While we were all cleaning our faces, Fae went about without attempting to wipe her tears. I don't think she even knew she was crying. I am not sure exactly how much anything that was said got through to her, but she returned to her usual expressionless self. We made sure that she didn’t cast any memory spells. Even if she is still avoiding the issue, at least she is doing it on her own. Something she wasn’t able to before.

"Dinner is ready!" Clarie stepped up, changing topics. "Tonight we are having salad, with pretty much every ingredient you can put in it."

Fae spoke for the second time since coming back to us.

"Sounds good. Your meal preparation skills are unparalleled." She spoke normally, as if nothing had ever happened.

I spent most of my money buying the ingredients to make an "All the Things" salad for dinner. I'm glad that we all can get an excellent meal, that definitely helps to lift any residual feelings.

Plates were dished out and we ate dinner with no further mention of magic or sisters.

"You know what I miss most about my people?" I asked. "Meat. I really miss the carnivorous delicacies."

Kat and Clarie gasped at the thought.

"I have always wondered how meat tastes." Fae commented.

"Fae!" Clarie snapped. "That’s awful!"

"It happens in nature all the time. I'm not saying I want to slaughter everything that moves for fun, but I wouldn’t mind trying just once." Fae's expressionless face showed no remorse at her words.

"I'll cook for you sometime." I said with the sexiest wink I could muster. In my own excitement, it was really more of a blink, but I turned my head towards Kat so Fae couldn’t tell otherwise. My flirt succeeded as Fae missed her mouth, trying to take a bite of the salad and unintentionally stabbing herself in the cheek with her fork.

"Hey, I prepared the meal!" Clarie objected. "Stab yourself in the face for me too!"

"It's not like I meant to do that!" Fae defended.

Kat said nothing, but looked at Fae while blinking repeatedly.

"It doesn’t work like that, Kat. I'm a natural in the school of sexiness. Though, occasionally I will use skills from the school of temptation. There are 8 schools in the art of love." I said in a mocking manner. "You use a different school."

"Considering my luck, I guess I fall in the category of dojikko." Kat said.

"What's that mean?" Clarie questioned.

"Clumsiness," Kat answered with a sorrow filled frown.

"That can be a powerful asset in the art of attraction." I attempted to console her. "But I would say that you fall in the school of compassion. When others bear witness to your luck, they feel compassion for you which can also lead to feelings of love."

"What about me?" Clarie asked, excited to hear the answer.

"Easy, you're cuteness." I acted like a professional in this made-up art.

"What of me?" Fae asked, following along with the joke.

"Hmm... I say you fall in the school of Beauty." I answered, sticking my tongue out.

Fae reached up to scratch her cheek while averting her gaze.

"Hey, Beatrice. What was that word Twilight used earlier?" Clarie asked me.

"Oh right! Kat, what's yuri mean?" I asked.

Kat's face grew pink with embarrassment. I think she tried to answer, but they came out as little squeaks. Not as high pitched as Clarie's typical noise.

Fae began to subtly laugh, a relieving action.

"Seriously, Twilight said something about me liking yuri. Why are you laughing? What does it mean?!" I was starting to freak out.

Fae spoke up after a few more chuckles. "It means girl love." She followed it up with more laughter.

"Kat! You had us rent smut?! The library has smut?" Clarie went off.

"I'm going to need to read those when you are done with them, Kat." Consider my curiosity peaked.

"I almost forgot about the books. Did you find one about television repair?" Fae asked me.

"I got three of them." I said. "I don’t know which one you needed so I got them all."

Fae laid her head on the table and covered her head in disgust.

"That's so much reading... I guess it can't be helped."

She walked over to the counter and grabbed the books. Then she went to the nightstand and pulled out a pair of rectangular glasses, returning to her seat and clearing a space at the table.

"I didn’t know you wore glasses." Clarie said.

"They make things easier." Her horn appeared as the glasses became drenched in light. After a few seconds, the light subsided. She placed them on her face and began to read.

Or maybe not. The pages of the first book flipped in rapid succession at an absurd rate. In less than 30 seconds she sat the book down, repeating the action two more times for the other books.

"What are you doing?" Clarie asked.

Fae didn’t answer until she had set the last book down. "I put an enchantment on the glasses to speed read."

Walking around the table, I yanked the glasses off Fae to test them out.

"The magic must have worn off, I'm reading at my normal speed." I set the glasses down in disappointment.

"Actually the spell enables you to read at the rate your brain. can ..process... the.... words." Fae slowed down nearing the end of her explanation.

"Did you just call me stupid?" I said with an annoyed expression.

She paused for a moment. "I worded it the best I could!" She said in a loud whiny fashion.

"Oh, you mean that I have average intelligence but you are just a genius." I rationalized.

"That sounds slightly better I suppose." Fae responded.

"You do realize we can't keep meeting in the bathroom secretly right? One of those two will find out eventually." I said to Fae as we started our bedtime ritual.

"I know, I will think of a new sleep delivery system tomorrow." Fae said as she took four vials from her crate, passing it to me afterwards.

"How much is considered dangerous?" I asked with deep concern.

Fae sighed. "Please don’t lecture me."

"I just want you to be careful." I said with sincerity.

"I know my limits. I'm fine." I couldn’t help but wonder if she does.

Fae's sleepy time juice is so delicious. I'm limiting myself to half a bottle, this stuff is just too strong. I really don't think I need it anymore, but the sweet taste and great feeling it brings on is just too good to pass up. Oh... I think I just discovered what addiction means...

I could do without, though. It's not the potion I'm addicted to. It's the special connection Fae and I share. This is something that she does with me and me alone. If I were to opt out of our ritual, I'm afraid that I may lose what little progress I have made with her.

Even though I can clone her image, I can't even come close to the sheer beauty she wears. It's almost as if somepony were to ask me to describe what I look for in a woman and Fae is a more accurate result than I could have ever imagined.

Fae is the first pony to ever so much as give me the time of day to explain myself. What's more is that she listened to my story with an open mind. I've never had anypony accept who I am, let alone attempt to help me. Even though I now have other friends like Clarie and Kat, I doubt I could have obtained them on my own. It's because of Fae.

I care very deeply for both Clarie and Kat, but they scare me. They are a threat to my plans with Fae. Every word exchanged between those two and my beloved worries me more than the last. Especially Clarie. I only met Fae because I noticed the bond between them. It's like I joined a race late, after she already made it to the first checkpoint.

Kat on the other hand joined later than I did. I can only imagine how she feels. It's true that I wanted her to not sleep beside Fae anymore, but the main reason I bought her that cot is because I feel a little bad for her. I can tell Fae likes her as well, for reasons unknown. If I can get closer with Kat and learn what it is that makes her desirable, then I can adapt those qualities and gain an upper hand in this contest. It makes me feel dirty and underhanded, but I need to win this.

This slumber ritual we now share is the only time that I get to spend with Fae alone. I don’t care that it requires me to unnecessarily take drugs, I need seize this opportunity. Carpe noctem!

"Fae, I... I" I was stuttering, unable to get out the words.

"Right. You didn't get to feed today. Since we are alone now, go ahead." She incorrectly finished my sentence for me. I was trying to tell her my feelings. No, this isn't the time and definitely not the place.

"If you are positive that you are OK with it. Last time looked like it hurt you." The last thing in this world I want to do is hurt her. But, so long as I watch myself and stop before I go to far, there will not be any lasting damage.

"It stung a little, nothing I can't handle. You are fine."

I began drawing in Fae's essence at a slower rate than last time. I know it will make the whole ordeal take longer, but it will be easier to stop if I go to far.

The emotion I was eating from Fae was overwhelmingly disgusting. I was about to stop when I realized why. I was absorbing her dominant emotion, it's not always going to be the same. This time it was composed of pure despair. Fae was acting like she was OK for our sakes?

The taste was the worst thing I have ever experienced, it had a withering effect on my mind and body. However, I the more I drain from her, the less she will have in her, in theory. It may only be temporary, but I'll do what it takes.

Fae remain unphased by the entire process as I increased the rate I stole her feelings.

I drew as much as I could before nearly collapsing. I'm sure I didn't get it all. I'm not even sure if taking it from her will relieve her of it, but I have to try.

"That hurt you?" Fae voiced her concern.

"It was just a little powerful." I lied through my fangs while delivering a heartfelt hug to her. "It's no biggie."

Halfway through the embrace, my body started to relax and I lost my footing. The potions effects were too overpowering. Even though I am only taking a half of one, that's still like eight times normal strength. That is nuts.

"You don’t need to thank me. Come on, let's go to bed."

With a nod, we left the bathroom and crept back to our beds.

I awoke in the middle of the night from the sound of a loud thud.

I poked my head out to see what the hell had happened, but due to the sleeping potion, I was very groggy and half out of it. The sound of hoofsteps made itself present, coming this way. They stopped mere inches from my face.

"Fae, my cot broke. Can I sleep with you?" I heard Kat ask in a childish tone.

"I guess, I'll have to fix it tomorrow. Sure, take the side next to the wall, something tells me that an intruder will strangle you if you do not."

Damn her! I bet she broke it on purpose! That conniving witch!

I heard rustling from above. When it died down, another set of hoofsteps, this time much lighter than before. I crawled partway out of my cave in time to see Clarie approaching the bed with her eyes shut. Without a word, she entered Fae's domain, placing Fae in an uncomfortable looking hold.

"Don't exclude me. I'm coming up there too." I declared. Though, I don’t think I am up for any more fighting today. I'm too sore for all that jazz.

I climbed on top of my den, confining myself to foot of the bed. Stealing one of Fae's inner legs to use for a pillow. I noticed something about her that I was unaware of. Her hooves, they were completely unblemished and soft. No calluses were present, they were well moisturized and looked soft. I guess it shouldn't be surprising, she must not use them all that much. They were very clean and dainty. A very alluring feature of hers.

I can't say that particularly into this sort of thing, but having her hoof so close to my face made it very hard not to be. I brought my own hoof up to it, feeling just how soft they were. They felt like velvet wrapped in silk. It it was so entrancing, I could keep rubbing it all day.

"Pfft, Hahaha stop that!" I heard her react to my actions.

I fought all the urges to find out how it tastes, despite how high on the list of life goals it had made itself. After a few more strokes, I stopped. The desire to keep going was too strong and would drive me mad if I couldn't find a way to curb them. I turned over to face the other direction, using the same leg as a pillow. Moments later I turned back around, putting her hoof back in my sights. The other direction held much stronger urges...

I definitely have my work cut out for me, if I want to come out of this on top. I swear it, I will make Fae love me as much as I love her if it's the last thing I do.

Today was eventful to say the least, but major steps were taken to better everything. I could rest easy knowing that I was able to help Fae for a change. With my body's weakened state and Fae's warmth, I had no trouble at all falling back to sleep. The sleeping potion probably had something to do with it as well.

Author's Note

Drama bomb!

I will begin work on the next chapter immediately. If all goes well, I should have it ready in about two weeks.

Let me know down in the comments if this chapter had any effect on you, I know it did me.

Chapter 1: Awakening

Recollecting memories that you didn't know you had, almost makes you question what is real, what is fake, and which of those are subconsciously altered, distorted or imagined to mask the truths of events that weigh heavily upon one's self.

If it is indeed our memories and experiences that make up who we are in the now, without any means of proving or uncovering past events or even loss of complete remembrance, is it that who we are now in only a semblance of our true selves based on misguided perceptions? The only answer that can ever warrant merit to this, is that we may never know. Perhaps it is for the better...

I wonder, is it a good thing to know your desires? Especially if the thing you most desire is in and of itself an impossibility. At least retrospectively, any wants you may have after accepting the impossibility of your most sought treasure, how can anything be rewarding? To know that even if you were to achieve your next goals, it's only due to the fact that you failed to achieve your previous mark. How can anypony be happy with settling for consolation prizes?

I wonder if it is a fault or a virtue to be true to one's self. If you can't force yourself into accepting rationalizations told by your current mindset, how does one become happy? Is it absurd to be so particular? I, for one, am not a perfectionist, however I am a pony that knows what she wants. When that no longer is feasible, is the next step to lie to yourself and pursue secondary attempts at happiness? How many dreams must one give up before realizing that they have settled time and again to the point that what they may think they want now is only the mangled corpse of a dream they once had.

I am not saying that settling is a bad thing, but I find myself unable to accept past failures and faults. It must be great to change your mindset by simply wanting to. I don't see how ponies can do that, personally. How is wanting something different, actually different from wanting to want something different. Does happiness mean continually trying to find ways to coax myself into different a different mindset every time I fail to achieve a goal?

*Beep*Beep*Beep*Beep*

Sigh...

“Another sleepless night.” I say to the empty air.

A light blue glow envelopes the harbinger of noise, alarm clock. With a click it becomes silent. Following my morning rituals, I reluctantly roll off of the bed and greet the floor with a loud thump.

My name is Forlorn Fate (I must have had some pretty cheery parents, right?) But most people call me Fae, mainly because its shortens conversations by eliminating remarks about my gloomy name. I’m a fairly new resident of Ponyville. I moved here from the outskirts of Manehatten a few months ago. Well, most would see it as running away from, seeing as though I had absolutely nothing set up upon arrival. In truth, yea, I needed to get away from there for many reasons. I've never once considered what I did running away though. I also never saw it as running to. Maybe running sideways would be the best way of putting it?

I usually have a pretty easy time blending in, mainly because I always try not to stand out. I’m OK with other ponies having the spotlight so long as it means that I’m not dragged into it. I guess you could say I don’t have great social skills or it's just my personality. I take pride in laziness. I would rather things be easier than more rewarding and that everything I do is “energy efficient.” Work smart not hard right? I would much rather stress my brain than my body.

I’m not what you would call your average pony. Everypony thinks I am an earth pony and I am, kind of. I am a hornless unicorn. Or maybe I am just an earth pony that can use magic. I haven’t decided yet. My magic is pretty versatile, even to top unicorn standards, but I try not to let other ponies know I can do magic. I’ve done some research on this, but cant find anything about magic weilding earth ponies. I don't want to accidentally end up starting a religion or cult following, that would be such a hassle. My magic puts an incredible strain on me to use it though. Sometimes, I use it to try and tire myself out so I can sleep. Though most of the time I just lie there drained for a few hours fully conscious.

Not even my sleeping potions really have much effect on me anymore. I started taking them many years ago. When I drink them, I still lay there for a while, but I get a lot more sleep than if I don’t. I think that it's only because of them, that I have any sanity left. They fight off sleep deprivation just enough to the point that it's bearable. The biggest downside is that everypony looks down or feels superior to ponies who drink sleeping potions. It makes no sense at all. How does that effect anything and why they do they even draw the conclusion that it matters in the slightest?

I don’t dislike ponies, I just find that maintaining personal relationships takes too much effort. Again, I don’t see it as a bad thing, it's just a thing. Being social is just too much effort. Hell, even after I first received my cutie mark, I hid it until after I changed schools just so that I wouldn’t have to talk about it.

Truth be told, I have no idea what my special talent is. My cutie mark depicts a hammer smashing something into dust. When I discovered that I had obtained it, it was shortly after I woke up one day. I may be that it's because of my daily routine. I wake up, roll out of bed and usually end up breaking something with my face. (I was too lazy to clear area in front of my bed most of the time.) One thought I often entertain myself with is that it is my logic hammer, easily the most deadly weapon in my arsenal.

The only other answer was that I was a genius carpenter, but I thought that was a little far fetched considering the only time I ever picked up a hammer was to see if I was any good at it. I hardly ever don’t excel at pretty much anything I do IF I manage to work up the ambition to apply myself, but that’s pretty rare. This was not one of those times. After a quick trip to the emergency room, I decided that it was probably not my schtick.

I shoot for average. Average test scores means that I’m not overworking yet also doesn’t make ponies think that I have some amazing talent that needs to be molded. I intentionally get the hardest questions wrong so that I stay in the safe zone. It takes a bit of skill to simultaneously not come off as an idiot to those around me.

After pulling myself up, I zombied my way to the sink to inspect my face for damage.

“Oh hey, a bit!” I exclaimed as I removed it from my face.

I then started to brush my excessively lengthy hair, which was about one and a half times the length of my entire body. It is a royal blue with teal streaks and braided it leaving out the sides to frame my face. Magic sure does come in handy, I don’t see how earth ponies braid their hair. Due to its length, it will drag along the ground if I am not careful, so I let it hang a bit and throw it over my shoulder.

Slowly making my way to the kitchen, I tried to take inventory of my food supplies in my head so that I didn’t waste my time having to look in my refrigerator. After a few seconds of careful mental debate, I decided to settle with a granola bar. After all, that was pretty much all I brought with me when I moved here. I try to keep food that doesn't spoil quickly, as it makes trips to the market less frequent.

I looked over at my calendar only to be upset upon seeing the date. September 15. 6 months ago I moved here with about 6 months expenses worth of bits. Until now, I have been very successful at not leaving my house unless absolutely necessary.

“I guess I have to actually find a job now. What a drag,” I mumbled.

Finishing up, I geared up with my usual attire, a semi-valuable pendant that held a bit of sentimentality. It was pretty much the only thing of value that I owned. At first glance, it looks cheap, just a rock on a rope, but the gem is a jade of the highest purity. I found it when I was in a very bad way and having it is a constant reminder that things could be much worse. It does compliment my green eyes rather well.

Reluctantly I left my apartment. Now if I was a job, where would I be?

I spent most of the morning walking around town and asking if anypony was hiring, with little success. Stopping at the middle of town to sit for a minute, I started thinking that since this town was so small that was not expanding, it’d be best if I could just find a place I may not dislike, then logic-ing them into hiring me. A stagnant town means most ponies with jobs were either born into it, or have had it long enough that they won't be leaving anytime soon.

Daytime in Ponyville had not been something I had the misfortune of experiencing yet. It was busy. Not quite as busy as life in Manehatten but the dirt streets were still bustling with ponies of all varieties and hues. Pegasi, unicorn and earth ponies, all appeared to be in relatively equal balance. One could assume that no race outclassed the others in this town. Not that it mattered to me, but life in the city certainly seemed to favor pegasi and unicorns. Not that they were any better, but stereotypically in the city, the Earthies are usually what make up the riff-raff.

While assessing my situation, a rainbow colored blur darted back and forth in the sky, obliterating clouds into nothingness. Upon closer inspection I could make out an equine body in the front with a rather colorful mane. Not a lot of ponies have more than 3 colors in their hair, but I will say that it was rather attractive. Now if only I could get a closer look without having to converse.

I should probably avoid it. Last thing I want is to start a conversation or somehow end up having to do something that requires effort.

“That looks like way too much effort” I said to myself only to get an unexpected reply from behind

“She says the same thing, but ah’d be willin' to bet she actually enjoys it. That there RD is the most lazy pony with a real knack for movin' fast,” Came a somewhat deep female voice with a thick country accent.

I turned to see the source of these words. The culprit was a orange mare with blonde hair tied up at the end, covered with a cowpony hat, standing behind a cart overloaded with apples. She bore some cute freckles as well.

I replied with ”I almost have to believe that ponies who claim to like doing anything physically exerting are just lying to themselves, or rationalizing." I hadn't really thought about the consequences of my reply until after I had said it. This is why I briefly pause before talking. I am always calculating every possible outcome of all the possible things I could say, well usually. I have a bad habit of not doing this when I get blindsided.

"Like it or not, that's her job, darlin'. An if'n there's one thing that filly likes, it's boastin' herself up. She outperforms nearly every other pony in town at her job," defended the orange one.

"That’s all the more reason not to convince yourself that you enjoy it."

“Come again now?” she asked with a puzzled look.

“It's bad to have a job doing something you like doing in my opinion. The things you enjoy will start to be seen as work instead of fun, subtracting from the pleasure you get out of it. It will just become work,” I explained in a dull tone, "but I guess that doesn’t really apply if you don’t actually enjoy the task.

“That’s just not true, I buck apples every single day and look forward to it each day”

“Then you are lucky. I ask you, what do you do on your days off?” I asked before realizing that this was an argument that did not need to be won. I was still looking at the rainbow one, mesmerized by the pretty colors.

"Well I like to spend time with mah loved ones and relax" She was talking into my trap.

I peeled my eyes off of the display of color-busting clouds to focus on the conversation at hoof. I need to stop answering without thinking if I ever want this encounter to end.

"If you enjoyed your work, wouldn’t you want to do it on your days off?"

The cowboy hatted mare took a second to think this over. It seems like she was trying to think of a way to tell me I was wrong, without telling me I have a very good point. 7 seconds later I found myself face down in an exploded apple cart, back hurting with a dull pressure, almost as if there was a pony on my back… There was a pony on my back. I recognized this color scheme.

The apple mare’s face seemed more red than orange at the moment. “Oh come on, Rainbow Dash! This is the third time this week! Are ya tryin to blow up mah business?”

“I’m so so sorry, Applejack, that last one was surprisingly elastic.” This new rainbow haired mare said with a slight scratchiness in her voice.

“If you do it again, you bought 'em” She stated whilst picking up apples from the street and tossing them into a cart that had seen better days. After the crash landing, it hardly could even be considered a cart. It was more like a beat up bin.

“Puh-lease if anything I’m promoting your business. Ponies want food and explosions! It makes for great publicity!” She egotistically defended with high energy.

Something was wrong. I couldn’t breathe, or speak to get help. I felt something big and painful lodged in my throat. While I was flailing around as much as possible, the blue pegasus and apple pony bickered backs and forth, oblivious to my predicament. Unable to breathe, I decided, I would have to do something and quick. There's nothing I can do that won't go unseen right here.

“rughk….rrr…ug” I need to relax, take a second to think.

With not a moment to lose, I scoured the area for a place to hide, deciding to dive into a nearby bush that was just big enough to hide a mare choking to death. Focusing everything I could muster, a translucent spiraled cone emerged from my forehead. This is why I can't use my magic without others seeing. It manifests itself in a similar way to a unicorn's horn. My emerald eyes morphed into a sky-blue, emanating light with their glow. This part of the process feels weird, almost as if my eyes are drastically adjusting their focus.

Almost instantly, I telekinetically seized this foreign object and yanked outwards. With a very elegant “Gluhh” out comes a bright red sphere. In the crash, an apple must have worked its way in there. How did it take me so long to notice something like this? Sitting there to catch my breath, my ethereal horn subsided. I can't say I've ever used my magic to grab something inside of myself before. It was weird, yet an effective form of heimlich.

Well no use letting it go to waste. *MUNCH*

I peeked out from the bush to make sure that nopony saw any lights coming from the bush. It appeared that I was in the clear. There were approximately 20 ponies gathered in the center of the town, but luckily most were busy watching the argument by the wreckage.

Upon my return, the two characters were still going at it, in the middle of the debris of the once-nice apple cart, arranged in a helter-skelter fashion.

“Excuse me, but I must pay you for an apple I accidentally ate.” I held out my last bit to the orange one.

“How in tarnation did ya accidentally eat an apple?” she questioned.

“I had very little say in the matter” I stated with a slight hint of annoyance, looking at the wreckage. "I guess in the confusion one got lodged in my throat."

"That may be my bad." The rainbow one stated with a hint of reluctance. "I was trying to perfect a way to hit those clouds just right, so I could use the bounce to my advantage."

“Ah can’t accept payment for somethin' that was forced upon you by accident sugarcube. Don’t worry about it, Ah've got tons of apples. The name's Applejack. Ah believe y'already met Rainbow Dash” This mare was very consoling and friendly in the way she spoke. I've got to say, those freckles were really doing it for me.

“Yeah! Rainbows the name and speed is my game! Sorry about the crash landing.” Something about this apology almost sounded rehearsed. I could only assume this is not the first time that this has happened.

I pocketed my bit, I wasn’t going to waste money unnecessarily.

“Hello, my name is Fae. It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.” It wasn’t. I wanted out of there before I got in the conversation too deep. “And I say, that was the most delicious apple I’ve ever almost been killed by.” I forced a nervous chuckle.

CRAP! Why did I continue the conversation?! It's OK, after the response, I’ll politely excuse myself. I really don’t want to get trapped in a conversation with Freckles and Skittles.

“Well that’s a pretty unfamiliar name, are ya new in town?” Applejack must be some sort master of speech manipulation. I can’t duck out in response to a question! Touche, Freckles.

“No, not really… I just don’t get out much.” Again! I didn’t have to add that last part. “I moved here about 6 months ago.”

I give up… I’ll just finish this damn conversation. Maybe I can get something out of it though.

“I still have not secured any work yet though, do either of you two happen to know of anypony hiring?” I asked optimistically.

“If you were a pegasus like me, I would say you could totally join my weather team!” Rainbow said with a sense of pride.

“I will keep that in mind.” So many responses, and that seemed the quickest route. “What about any jobs for the flight impaired?”

“Depends on what y'all are lookin to do. I believe the post office might need a helpin hoof. They seem to be losing packages all the time” Applejack offered “Course ah figure ah could use a hoof round the apple farm. “

Package delivery? Too much walking.

Farm work? Definitely not.

“I don’t think I’m quite qualified to care for strangers mail.” I responded.

“You’d be surprised” Rainbow Dash said while goofily crossing her eyes.

Applejack gave her a pretty stern look.

"I also do not believe I have many qualities that could prove useful to your farm." I was lying. I could probably be a big asset, but using magic is way too tiring. That and I don’t know how I could get away with using it.

Do I press on, or abort the conversation that was getting me nowhere?

“Oh there is the bulletin board." Applejack suggested. "That thing's always full up on requests fer help."

Success! Mission accomplished, sound the retreat!

“Well, thank you for your help, but I must be going now. I have rent to pay.” I said while retreating.

"Don't y'all be no stranger. If you ever need any apples or just want to chat, Ah'll be here.” Applejack quickly stammered to a made backing away.

“Did she strike you as weird?” Rainbow asks Applejack.

“What? She was very polite.”

“A little too polite to somepony that almost killed her.”

I guess this is what I get for waiting until the last minute before looking for a job. This sucks! Rent is due in 2 weeks and I’ve only a bit to my name. I need to think of something fast.

I spent the next hour sitting on the bench contemplating. Many ponies were traversing the street, but luckily none of them felt it necessary to talk to me. Two ponies caught my attention. They were walking side by side so close together, it was like they were joined at the hip. One appeared to wear a mark of 3 candies on her flank, while the other had a lyre. They were discussing their finances together.

I’ve got it! I need a roommate. With somepony else to pay half the bills, I only have to work half as much. Though the idea of having to be social was dreadful. But if they front their rent, I can use that as a half payment, buying me two more weeks to make half of my rent!

“Fae, you are a genius!” I exclaimed with an almost sinister grin. Realizing that I just drew some attention, I quickly took off towards the town bulletin board.

*****BULLETIN BOARD*****

Wanted: roommate

No pets

Cheap rent

Please contact the owner of apartment 3B of Broken Strings Blvd.

***************

I spent a few minutes standing in front of the bulletin board that was mostly littered with requests to adopt pets. I was trying to think if this was a good idea or not, but the thought of only having to work half as much was just too appealing. It does look a bit bland though. Maybe I will spruce it up with a smiley face.

There, done. I don't want a roommate. I don’t even know if I have the mental fortitude to tolerate one, but this is for the greater good. This thought triggered something inside my head. I think I have actually had a roommate before. I but it wasn't for very long. I can't remember who it was or why though. When I try to focus on remembering this event, it gets very fuzzy. The solitary memory I can recall is saying "Please leave me alone" right before shutting my room door, followed by "You can't live your whole life without talking to anypony!"

I can't remember the voice, whether it was young or old, or even male or female. I remember that voice was a shout. This is just too weird, how does one simply forget something like that? It must not have registered as significant to me. The thing that bothers me is mainly that I didn’t even know I forgot it until now. What else do I not know that I don’t know?

As I stood there lost in my own head trying to find answers, I hear a shrill, overly enthusiastic “I’ll take it!”

A cold chill crept down my spine. Oh dear Celestia, what have I done?

Author's Note

Hiya, I hope you enjoyed the first chapter. There may be slight formatting mistakes here and there as I had typed this up on Word and lost all the formatting when I switched it over. Please feel free to comment or message me and let me know what you think or if you have any tips or suggestions, I'd love to hear them!
I will be trying to post a new chapter every two weeks, but I cant promise a deadline.

Amazing cover art by Darkstylerz