The Ballad of Midnight Edge

The first two days after Midnight Edge's arrival to Manehattan were mostly uneventful, he spent those two days making a mental map leading to certain points of interests, museums, bakeries, parks, and any other place he considered relevant enough. Of course there was no point on locating everything, the city was vast, too vast for him to explore completely, he just marked some specific places near Golden Horseshoe, Babs Seed's house, and Steel Arm's Meats, the only place in Manehattan where a pony could buy meat. Once known as Bernard's Smoked Meats, the place was now managed by Steel Arm, a minotaur who was the previous owner's right hand. That previous owner was Bernard, a griffin who was living in retirement away from Manehattan. Midnight Edge found the whole story fascinating and considered that place was not just any meat deli, but an important part of Manehattan, even though there were few customers.

With the map in his mind, and a physical map scribbled on his journal, Midnight Edge was ready to set in motion his plans. Restocking on meat, mostly cured, fermented and smoked meats since they lasted longer and did not require cooking. Going on dates with Babs Seed, which included visiting an arcade venue near her house. Earning Sunflower's respect and acceptance, which was only possible by interacting with her in an honest manner. Those were his objectives, and knowing his way around the city would make it easier.

...

It was a calm afternoon, Babs Seed was on her way back home from school, the place was a four story condominium building, a common middle class house in Manehattan, her family lived in the third floor. Often nothing relevant happened in that neighborhood, that day was different, once she reached the building she saw a familiar face, Midnight Edge was standing there, waiting patiently for her arrival. She gave him her address on their way to Manehattan. He seemed nervous, she grew used to guess how he felt even when he tried to hide it with his frown.

"Did you miss me, or should I leave for a few weeks?" He spoke as he waved his hoof.

Babs Seed sprinted toward the entrance and greeted him with a kiss. "Nice to see you too. I hope I didn't make you wait."

"To be honest I had no idea when you would return from school, I guess I timed it right."

"Why didn't you ask me? You could walk with me to my place if you wanted to".

"I have been a bit busy with this." Midnight Edge showed her his map, he could read it with little effort, but to her those scribbles and words made no sense, it was just a bunch of lines and some names on paper.

"What's that supposed to be?"

"A map of sorts. I marked every important place I will visit. See that red spot over there? That's your house." Midnight Edge pointed at a small red spot surrounded by black lines with his hoof.

"You look tired. Is everything O.K.?"

"Well... I actually rang the doorbell, but your sister won't let me in. She said I should wait for you here. She must hate me."

"She'll get used to you. I promise. She'll have to let you in now anyway. Your mane looks like it could use a bit of help. Where have you been?" She looked at his mane, it was rather unkempt, ever since his last adventure he would just let it grow unchecked, and now it seemed it reached it's limit.

"Let's just say I managed to sneak in a gentlecolt club party and my mane could not keep up the pace."

"Well, let's go. I'll fix your mane." Babs Seed opened the entrance door and pulled Midnight Edge in, he was still surprised at the uncanny might earth ponies had, a filly was strong enough to pull him without effort, and he knew some earth ponies even smashed rocks with their bare hooves.

...

Babs Seed's bedroom was a rather common bedroom for a filly, adorned with simple yet pretty furniture, a comfortable bed, a nightstand, a chest of drawers, there were three things that seemed more relevant than the rest, skating equipment, a small television connected to a video game console, which reminded Midnight Edge video games were in a rather early stage in Equestria, and an orderly dressing table with a rather large mirror. The air in the room had a pleasant smell, a combination of hair products and a sweet scent of undetermined origin, it reminded Midnight Edge of his sister, it was the room of a girl who balanced girly and tomboyish traits.

Babs Seed smiled and took a brush and a pair of scissors. "Well. How would you like me to style your mane?"

"I trust you will come with a fitting style, just do your best."

"You can sit there." Babs Seed looked at the small stool in front of the dressing table, it was meant to fit a filly, but it was solid enough for a large stallion to sit on it without breaking. "It's a bit small, but sturdy, it can take you on without breaking." Babs Seed winked after her statement, it was surprising to see her mastering innuendo in such way, maybe it was an urban filly thing.

Midnight Edge blushed, understanding the meaning of her words, he approached, and sat on the stool. It felt firm, and seemed to be made of quality wood, it was completely different to the furniture he crafted, his work was crude, and mostly made of scavenged materials. He wondered how could such a fancy filly enjoy his presence in her bedroom, not so long ago he was covered in wounds and spider silk, and now he was in a filly's bedroom.

Babs Seed began to brush his mane, her gentle touch felt like salve in a sore wound, his mane was in such a disastrous state, it needed the touch of a professional. Babs Seed spoke in a tender and caring tone. "Did you miss me sweetheart?" Her words were not directed at Midnight Edge, but at his mane, the stallion found it amusing, it was meant to be humorous, but it was as if she deeply cared about his mane, she was a different filly while she worked on that, she was not as rough as usual.

"Come on. You will make me feel jealous, it feels as if you just fell in love with my mane."

"It needs a lot of TLC right now. Did you burn it or something?"

"TLC? What does that mean? I am unfamiliar with the term, is that some sort of chemical."

Babs Seed giggled, sometimes she felt Midnight Edge was an actual alien and not a pony, he would often use unusual mannerisms and found many common expressions unfamiliar. "Don't be silly. It means tender loving care. Seriously, what did you do? It's worse than I thought."

"Let's say gentlecolt parties are not as fancy as they are messy."

Babs Seed went on cutting the most damaged parts and carefully brushing the teal colored mane, she stopped once she noticed a knot covered in unidentified filth. "Aw! Come on! I can save this, but not here. Follow me." Babs Seed left the room with Midnight Edge following her and entered the bathroom, it was a common bathroom, bathtub with a flexible shower head, sink, toilet, nothing extraordinary, there was a faint smell of soap, shampoo, and hair conditioner.

Midnight Edge held the bottle of hair conditioner, levitating it with his magic, and began to read the label. "Cool. I need one of these... It has a rather pleasant smell."

"Don't drink it." Babs Seed spoke with a wide smile.

"What? I was not going to drink it. I just said it smells good, like fruits." In fact Midnight Edge wondered what it tasted like, he was just ashamed of admitting it.

"You sound like you could take a sip as soon as I look away."

"No, I wouldn't..."

"Wait here. I won't take long. Just want to make sure of something." Babs Seed left the bathroom and looked for Sunflower, her parents were usually away, and she knew they would not be around that day, but she wanted to make sure her sister would be distracted, she would rather avoid a misunderstanding.

...

The young filly walked through the hallway and checked her sister's bedroom, she saw her sister there, she fell asleep listening to some pop singer, Sapphire Shores, music came from one of her headphones which was moved slightly away from her ear. The nap probably would take long enough. Babs Seed walked back to the bathroom and locked the door.

"I must wash your mane first to fix it. It's so messy I'm starting to think you woke up in a dumpster." Babs Seed wondered what kind of party her beloved stallion got into.

"Not exactly, it was not that smelly, and certainly safe, let's just say it had something to do with food."

"How about a bath? You know... Together."

"I feel showers are more romantic but... Wait! No! No way! Your sister is here and I don't want to go through the whole “The Princess is O.K. with it.” routine."

"It's fine. It'll be just a bath. And my sister is asleep, so there shouldn't be any misunderstandings."

"You might want just a bath, but ever since I entered your bedroom I began to feel like doing lewd things to you. Maybe spanking your rump and rubbing your..."

"Stop there! I'm just a filly." Babs Seed winked with a grin on her face. She had no lewd intentions, but she knew Midnight Edge would start to use his silver tongue to arouse her if she allowed it.

"I even wondered what kind of underwear you keep in those drawers. Wait... I remembered ponies are often naked... I guess foreign customs rub on me quite often."

"Well. I bought a pair of panties once. I wanted to know how they feel. It was weird."

"I am aware some ponies wear lingerie and dresses. But where did you get panties your size?" Midnight Edge was curious, in his travels he saw so many things he ended up developing some fetishes which were uncommon among ponies, including an underwear fetish.

"One of my classmates has a sister who works at a boutique. She wanted to sell her own designs, but only my classmate supports her. Let's say her designs are not normal. Those ponies are a bit weird..." The story was true, she found out about her classmate's weird sister because her classmate wore long dresses to hide the lingerie she wore. Both were curious of how underwear felt like, and her classmate's sister was willing to calm their curiosity.

"You mean lingerie for fillies? I would love to see that."

"Not now. We still have a mane emergency. Get in that tub and let me fix your mane. And be careful with your..." Babs Seed looked at Midnigth Edge's crotch, he got aroused by their conversation. She had no intention of doing anything erotic at all in that moment. Midnight Edge's mane made her too uneasy to feel aroused, she was too focused on fixing it, the bath was too much of a distraction already.

"I guess this would normally be more awkward. Well, I can think of something that would certainly keep me distracted from those thoughts. Last night's events would certainly end it."

"Just a few days alone and you end up covered in... Seriously. What the heck is that?"

"Custard... Chocolate... Probably ketchup... And poof, I am no longer turned on. Could we take a shower instead? I feel it's more romantic... Almost like kissing under the rain."

"Fine, but you'll have to get the shower head ready. I'm too short."

"Do you use it for..."

"Whatever you're thinking about go back to the ketchup custard thing."

"But I want to think of you with that shower head shooting water streams on your..."

Babs Seed blushed, she was flustered by Midnight Edge's brash behavior. "Your willy gets in the way. Focus on that party! I'm not doing anything sexy with your mane like that."

"Sorry. I got carried away."

"It's O.K. There may be plenty of time for that later."

Babs Seed closed the shower door and Midnight Edge placed the shower head in its holder, Babs Seed opened the faucet and water began to stream down. "Sit down and stay put O.K.? I can handle this."

"Come on sweetheart, I am older than you, I can wash my own mane."

"And let you miss one of those dirty knots? No way! I'm washing it."

Babs Seed carefully cleaned and loosened the knots with her hooves. Her gentle touch untangled the stallion's mane, the teal strands looked almost silvery on their own, and they felt unexpectedly silky considering their poor condition, lumps of the unpleasant mixture fell and disintegrated as they reached the bathtub floor. Ash she washed Midnight Edge's mane she began to imagine the shape of her next work, a mane good enough for an adventurer. Once she was done she stopped and hugged the stallion with her small hooves, she just stood there holding him from behind. "Midnight... You were right... This feels more romantic."

Midnight Edge turned around to look at Babs Seed in the eye and both kissed, then moved on to wash each other, it was a romantic and intimate, yet not erotic shower, even though they touched each other in intimate places, they did not go too far. They gently caressed and kissed while soap and shampoo streamed down their manes and fur. For a few seconds they hoped they could stay a bit longer like that, but Babs Seed still had work to do

...

The bathroom door opened, releasing steam clouds upward, the couple walked out, with Babs Seed on the front, alert to any sign of witnesses, while nothing serious happened there, she would rather not end up in another situation like that at Sweet Apple Acres. Once she made sure the path was clear, both sprinted toward her bedroom.

Midnight Edge sat on the stool again, this time his mane looked different, it was no longer messy, instead it fell straight on his hide, each teal strand displaying a silvery shine, forming together a beautiful blue layer. Babs Seed still carried the shape she envisioned earlier, with it she began to shape the mane into a new shape, cutting it into a more uniform order, brushing it and observing its natural flow, after a few minutes she completed her work. "Do you like it?"

Midnight Edge's new style was more fitting. It was no longer the disorderly tangled accident result of a party. In it's place was a long flowing mane arranged in a high half ponytail, the half ponytail was tied with a dark red ribbon which Babs Seed intended to use on a customer someday, and the rest of his mane flowed straight and free. It felt orderly yet bold, the style of an adventurer, as he looked at it he began to imagine how it would look in action. "It's perfect... Do you have something like dunno, a stick, a baseball bat, something I could hold like a sword? I feel like striking a pose!"

Babs Seed handed him a small wooden sword prop she used in a theater play, she was not sure that would be good enough, but as soon as he laid his eyes on the rather pathetic prop he smiled.

Midnight Edge stood holding the sword with his magic in a defensive position, looking forward with a brave smile, his hoofs positioned ready to leap into battle, he looked at his reflection on the mirror, it was pleasing. "It's awesome! You are a natural with this!" He felt ready to take on any challenge now.

The door opened and Sunflower came in, the scene she saw was rather humorous, a grown up stallion holding a tiny wooden sword with a serious and defiant look, standing ready to battle and with a matching hairstyle, the same messy looking stallion she refused to let in now looking more convincing, except for the ridiculously small prop he held, which could barely be useful to swat a fly. Her sister looking at him with love and admiration, resisting the urge to leap and strike a pose by his side. Sunflower burst into laughter until she got close to grow breathless.

...