A Visitor From Beyond

Twilight stood there, unable to believe that Ben had used magic to give her permanent wings... that were actually a part of her! Years of study & being Celestia's student never unearthed such magical abilities. She was overjoyed to finally live the dream so many others could not. As she unfolded her wings and started to flap them, a grin as wide as you'll ever see was spread across her face. She thought this day would never come, but come it has. Twilight Sparkle, the unicorn everyone thought needed to get out more, could finally fly.

"Ben, this is amazing!" Twilight exclaimed as she began to hover in the air, if only slightly.

"Always glad to be of help." Ben replied, smiling. "Besides, I didn't even know if it would work, but it did. How does it feel?"

"It's, well, as Rainbow Dash would put it, so awesome!" Twilight tried to replicate Rainbow Dash's face as she said it, but soon found herself faceplanted on the floor. She knew it would take some practice before she could fly effectively. Even if she had to practice, though, just knowing you have the ability to fly at all was the best feeling in the world. Twilight couldn't wish for a better day.

"Well," Ben added, "I'll just head out & see what the other ponies are doing. Maybe say hi to Rainbow Dash."

"But, Rainbow Dash is up at her cloud last time I checked," Twilight said. "How are you gonna get up there?"

"Come on outside, I'll show ya."

As Ben led Twilight outside, he readied a purple rotating cube in his hands. Once they were a sizable distance away from Twilight's house, Ben charged the spell in his hand, then casted it. Nothing seemed to visibly change until he took a step upwards, as if climbing stairs. Nothing out of the ordinary, Twilight thought, until he took another step. Normally, if somepony did that, they'd likely fall flat on their face. Ben didn't. He kept climbing up, hovering in midair. Twilight was in awe as Ben turned around and looked down at her. "So, how do you like my levitation spell? Pretty nifty, eh?" Ben asked to Twilight, her jaw gaping open.

All of the recent goings on was too much for Twilight to handle. One moment, she suddenly has wings, and the next she watches as Ben walks on air as if it's nothing. It's too much to take in! Succumbing to the sheer astonishment of Ben's abilities, Twilight falls to the ground, out cold. "Erm, okay, I'll see you later!" Ben said to the unconscious Twilight.

As Ben walked amongst the clouds, looking for Rainbow Dash's residence, he realized his levitation spell would wear off soon, so he recasted it, and continued to search. The hard part about searching for a cloud 'house' is that he didn't know what he was looking for. There were clouds everywhere. He wasn't even sure if he heard Twilight correctly when she said Rainbow Dash's home was a cloud. What reassured him that it was possible was the fact that he saw other pegasi standing on clouds as he walked in the sky.

After a few more recasts, he found a cloud that looked an awful lot like a room. He saw holes in the cloud, and upon further inspection noticed an interior. He presumed the holes were windows, and took a peek inside. Sure enough, he saw furniture, as if it was a bedroom. He had never seen cloud furniture before. As he was basking in the moment, he noticed the sound of somepony humming, so he ducked and hid. After listening in, he found that it was indeed Rainbow Dash, most likely looking at herself in the mirror. He recasted his levitation spell, then casted an invisibility spell, then snuck in. He didn't know if the cloud wall was really a solid surface, so he just walked through it. As Rainbow Dash was stretching out her wings after a long day of practice, Ben stepped ever so closer. he was going to do the same thing he did to Twilight, and poke Dash in the flank. As he was almost in the right position, the blue pegasus trotted off in another direction. Ben followed, careful not to touch anything, and realized his invisibility would wear off soon. No matter, as he was ever so close. Now the time was right. He readied his finger, and gave Rainbow Dash a good, solid poke on the flank. Rainbow Dash let out a gasp and turned to find Ben giggling. "Oh, it's just you, Ben. What's up with you goin' around, poking me in the flank?" Rainbow Dash asked with a smirk.

"Oh, I just figured I'd make an entrance. So what's up?"

"Nothing much," Rainbow Dash replied before letting out a sigh. "I'm pretty beat from all the flyin' around I've been doing."

"Ah, I see. If I was flying around all day, I'd probably be exhausted, too. No such luck, though."

"Yeah... wait, if you don't have wings, how are you up here?" Rainbow Dash asked, confused.

"You're right," Ben answered before falling through the cloud with a scream of terror.

Rainbow Dash jumped in surprise, then went under the cloud, trying to find where Ben was. The look of fear was in her eyes as she thought of what could happen to Ben. The look of fear was suddenly replaced by confusion as she didn't see Ben falling. That was odd. Rainbow Dash could've sworn she saw Ben plummet through the cloud just seconds ago. She wondered what could've happened as Ben appeared behind her and poked her in the flank again. Rainbow Dash gasped again and turned around to find Ben giggling again, only this time he was floating in midair. "Wait, how are you floating in midair?" Rainbow Dash asked, looking puzzled again.

"Levitation spell," Ben replied, still giggling, then floated up to Dash's cloud room. Dash followed soon behind, then let out another sigh of exhaustion. "Pretty tired, eh?" Ben asked her.

"Yeah," Dash replied, stretching her wings again. Every muscle in her body was sore from all the practice she did today. She could barely stand. Ben noticed her state of soreness, and then got an idea. You see, Ben was practicing with one of the spells he had created to soothe his pain. It was a less potent paralysis spell that could be rubbed on the body, like ointment, to relieve the feeling in your body without losing all of it. It was like lying down on the softest bed you could ever imagine, then laying there for hours on end, not moving a single muscle. "Say, I think I have an idea that can remedy your soreness." Ben told Rainbow Dash, before recasting his levitation spell once again, then readying 2 green orbs in his hands.

"What is it?" the blue pegasus asked before observing Ben's hands. "Are you gonna paralyze me again?"

"Well, not exactly,” Ben replied, “But it will relieve the soreness and tension, all while giving you a nice, numb feeling. Trust me, it feels great."

After he said that, Ben rubbed his hands together, as if he applied lotion. The orbs in his hands had soon spread out across his palms and fingers, as if he was wearing magical gloves. He then proceeded to rub Rainbow Dash's back, as if petting her. Dash winced at first contact but soon felt a surge of relief as the aching in her back started to disappear. Ben continued to rub the spell over Dash's body, and as he did so, she promptly laid down on her stomach to relax as the spell did its work. Ben gently unfolded Dash's wings one by one and rubbed them with the spell, and after he was done Dash never bothered to close them, letting them instead rest on the floor.

The feeling was pure ecstasy. She had never felt so relaxed in her life. It's as if all the aching and tension in her body just disappeared, and instead a feeling of numbness and tranquility like no other surged within her. She didn't want it to stop. As Ben rubbed the spell on her hooves, she closed her eyes and let her tongue roll out of her mouth, slowly drifting to sleep. As Ben did his work, he soon discovered that he was getting rather close to Rainbow Dash's... mare parts. He decided to steer clear and instead give her flanks a good rub. It felt awkward, maybe even downright absurd, but hey, nobody was around to judge, so he didn't care. Besides, Rainbow Dash was too relaxed to care anyways.

"Well, my work is done here," Ben said as he looked down at the now sleeping Rainbow Dash. Oh, how sleeping on a cloud makes anything look super cute.

As he said that, his levitation spell wore off and he began to free fall through the air. He casted a slowfall spell, and as he was slowly drifting down to the ground he contemplated who he should visit next. Perhaps Applejack. He was in the mood for some apple-themed loot. Or maybe Rarity. Surely she is up to something interesting. Then there's always Fluttershy, and her innate shyness that nobody could refuse smiling at. As for Pinkie Pie, well, he didn't know. She seemed like a real curiosity, even at first sight. Ben knew it would be a pretty... interesting experience with that pink mare. Ben's feet soon touched the ground and he finally decided that Rarity would be his next stop for the day.

But before he started on his way, he thought of something. That picture of Rainbow Dash, asleep and nearly paralyzed, reminded him of something. Something he couldn't quite remember. Something with the word "Psychology" in it. He shrugged it off and went on his way to Rarity's place... only to find out he didn't know where that was. After deducting what he could tell about Rarity, he decided that the ominous white & purple building that looked like someone had way too much time on their hands to build it was where she lived. He went up to the front door, and right as he threw his fist at the door to knock, he remembered the sneaky antics he used to surprise Twilight and Rainbow Dash before.

With a wide grin, he snuck behind the building and searched for a back door. Once he found it, he grabbed the doorknob and opened it... only to find it it wouldn't open. Darn. Well, Ben had lockpicks, so he tried those out instead of giving up on the sneaking act. After a few broken picks, he was in. He casted Invisibility and crept though the boutique, which he recently discovered that that was what the building was. He peered into several rooms before finding that Rarity was in the main room, working on a new dress. He crept in, and very slowly snuck up to Rarity. Oh, the fun he was having doing this. As he approached, he noticed something about Rarity. He noticed her coat was awfully white, and how she looked a lot like a marshmallow, one of his favorite snacks. Ben also remembered how he'd seen that fact being referenced before, but couldn't recall where. Where were these memories coming from? he had never even knew they existed until today.

Shrugging it all off, he crept right up behind Rarity and poked her in the flank. Rarity jumped in surprise and looked behind her to find Ben giggling. "Oh, hello Ben. So nice of you to stop by." Rarity said flatly. "What an... interesting way to make an entrance."

"Just felt like having some fun." Ben responded, still smiling. "So what's up?"

"Oh, just working on a new design I drew up. So far, it's coming out lovely, don't you think?"

"Yeah, that does look pretty nice. I'd probably wear it... you know, if I were a... pony." Ben remarked sarcastically.

"Very funny. Anyway, it's almost done." Rarity continued. "All it needs is a necklace to finish it off."

Ben perked up. "Oh, I could help with that. I have quite a bit of skill in Smithing. Maybe I could make one for you."

"Oh, that sounds lovely! But, I don't have any materials to lend you."

"That's alright. I have some gold I can use." Ben replied. "You wouldn't happen to have any gems on hand, would you?"

"No, sorry dear. But I was just about to go out gem hunting with Spike, but I'm sure he's busy with Twilight. Would you like to come, instead?"

"Sure," Ben replied. "Let's go."

Rarity went and grabbed her saddlebags, and as they walked out the door, Ben wondered, Who's Spike?