A Broken Flame
Day 1 Part 1
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By Luckyfanisaac, Jubal, and Bumblebeau
Day 1 part 1
Day 1
Current Time: 4:21 AM
Friday, July 8th, 2017 year 1
In the early morning The Colt started to whimper in his sleep. He was having a bad dream.
When his whimpering turned into crying he awoke Princess Cadence and Shining Armor.
“Gah….waaaah?” replied a groggy Shining Armor.
“Hmmmm?” replied a sleepy Cadence.
The Colt simply continued to cry.
“Is Flurry Heart crying?” asked a sleepy Shining Armor.
Cadence lifted her head up and looked around. She then looked down at The Colt to find he was the one crying.
“No love, it's the little colt,” replied Cadence wrapping her left hoof around The Colt. “Shhhhhhhh Shhhhhhhh wake up little guy.” Said Cadence shaking The Colt back and forth trying to wake up The Colt from his nightmare.
“Huhhh huhhh hhhhhuh,” replied The Colt, breathing heavy.
In response, now fully awake, Shining Armor sat up and turned on his lamp on his nightstand to his left, rubbing his eyes with his hooves while Cadence was still trying to wake up The Colt.
“Shhhhhhhh Shhhhhhhh,” Cadence kept repeating, starting to grow concerned as she sat up more while Shining looked on at Cadence also starting to get a little bit worried.
“What do I do? What do I do? What do I do?” The Colt muttered to himself.
When The Colt finally woke up he was full out crying heavily and heavily breathing. Cadence now fully sat up and picked up The Colt from under the covers and hugged him. Holding him on her left arm and rubbing his back with her right. Cadence soon found that The Colt was sweating a little.
“Shhhhhhhh Shhhhhhhh calm down...it was just a bad dream,” Cadence said soothingly to The Colt, bouncing him a little. “It’s over now.”
“What do I do? What do I do? What do I do?” The Colt muttered again this time loud enough for Cadence and Shining Armor to hear.
Shining Armor tried to check The Colt’s heartbeat by bringing his left hoof over to The Colt’s neck to find a fast heartbeat. Now very concerned Shining spoke to Cadence, “Cadence I think he’s having a panic attack.”
“I don’t think so Shining he’s starting to calm down.” Cadence replied as The Colt started to get his breath back.
“Plus I’ve sat foals overnight that woke up violently from a nightmare before.” Cadence also added while The Colt continued to cry into her fur. “But maybe it’s something more traumatizing. I mean he might still be shaken up after hitting the castle but I’ll ask him once he’s calm enough to talk.”
They stayed there as The Colt still continued to cry into Cadence’s fur. “Still think he’s trying to get false sympathy Shining?” Cadence conveyed to her husband.
“Alright he’s not pretending but I still think there’s something weird about him.” Shining said back.
“We’ll learn more in the morning,” said Cadence, “right now let’s get back to sleep.”
So Shining leaned back over to turn his lamp off and laid back down in the bed and went to sleep. Cadence meanwhile still held The Colt still waiting for him to calm down now in the dark, the only light now coming from the night sky.
A few minutes later, The Colt stopped crying enough to notice the warm embrace Cadence was giving him. Liking her embrace, he snuggled into her chest more and hugged her as he dried his tears on her chest fluff.
In response Cadence hugged him closer. As she did this though her right hoof brushed over his right check and felt he had a more fluffy coat than most ponies that she’s seen.
“He’s definitely no ordinary pony.” She thought to herself as The Colt took in a deep breath in and then let out a deep breath out. The Colt then gave a small smile and started to slowly move his tail back and forth against the bed sheets.
After holding him for a while longer, Cadence took notice of his tail moving happily and finally decided that he calmed down enough and decided to go back to sleep. But as she gazed a bit closer to his tail she noticed how big it was for a colt his size.
“Just another abnormality to add to the list,” she thought, adding it to the list of abnormalities of The Colt in her head.
Cadence shifted her body to lay on her right side and then laid back down in the bed while still holding The Colt in her forearms and laid The Colt down next to her. She then pulled the sheets back over The Colt with her left arm and laid her head down on her pillow. As she laid there gazing at The Colt, laying down next to her, while wrapped in her forearms stroking his back with her left arm, while he rested his chin on her right arm, his smile grew a bit bigger as she went back to sleep.
Unknown to Cadence as she slept, The Colt started to glow a soft yellow color as he happily went to sleep.
Day 1
Current Time: 7 AM
Friday morning
July 8th
Shining Armor woke up early to get ahead of the day ahead. He expected a lot of ponies wondering why The Crystal Palace was damaged so he decided to host court for the day to address the issue.
After doing his morning routine, he decided to let Cadence sleep in more so he left a note on Cadence’s nightstand telling her that he will be hosting court for the day and to make sure she interviews The Colt. After giving her a kiss on the forehead he leaves to go get breakfast and to check on Flurry Heart.
Day 1
Current Time: 9 AM
Cadence slowly opened her eyes tiredly and let out a yawn. She lifted her head up and took a moment to look around at her surroundings. She first looked over to her husband’s side of the bed to find it empty. She then turned her head back and then looked down at The Colt that was still wrapped in her hooves.
The Colt was laying his left cheek on Cadence’s right hoof breathing steady. He laid slightly on his left side. His right hoof laid near his mouth crossing over his left. His left leg laying out towards Cadence. He laid there calmly resting giving a cute expression.
Her face warmed considerably at such an adorable sight.
“Awwww...such a cute little boy!!” She exclaimed in her mind.
Cadence carefully removed her right hoof from under The Colt so not to disturb him as she got out of bed. She scooted her body over her husband’s side of the bed so she didn’t have to move over The Colt. She pulled back the covers and laid her back legs over the bed as she stretched. She then got up and made up the bed. After she made up the bed, she went over to the other side of the bed and pulled up the sheets moreover The Colt and put a kiss on The Colt’s forehead. The Colt gave a small smile in response.
Cadence then went over to the bathroom to do her morning routine. She took a shower and brushed her coat, tail, and teeth. She exited the bathroom and went over to wake up The Colt so he could use it.
“Hey little guy, time to wake up,” Cadence spoke softly into his ear as she then gently shook The Colt awake.
The Colt rolled over to face her as he tiredly rubbed his right eye.
Cadence smiled softly, caressing The Colt’s head.
“Good morning,” she said sweetly as he looked up, blinking his eyes awake and letting out a cute yawn. Cadence couldn’t help but let out a, “Dawww,” at this.
“Hhhhhhi,” he responds tiredly and quietly staring up at Cadence.
“You can go ahead and use the bathroom now if you need to while I finish getting ready,” she says to The Colt.
The Colt then gets out of bed, grabs his clothes from Cadence’s makeup chair, and slowly walks to the bathroom with his head down and eyes barely open. He yawns as he walks into the bathroom shutting the door with his back right hoof.
On The Colt’s left were two sinks with drawers and two doors underneath them on a counter with a big mirror above them. In front of The Colt was a large Jacuzzi tub that was big enough to hold Cadence and her husband with a reclining back seat for both of them. Around the corner on the right, was a walkway and on the left was the shower and a body mirror hanging on the wall. To the right there were a few hooks with towels on them and a door leading to the toilet in its own separate room along with a bench around the corner. Straight ahead was a walk-in closet that was open containing a few extra towels and other bath stuff.
The Colt then walks past the body mirror and he catches a glimpse on the left side of his body to discover an orange wing.
“I have wings!!!?” He exclaimed surprisingly to himself as he quickly puts his clothes down and then turned his head to look at his left side to confirm this. He then quickly snaps his head to look at his right side to see an orange wing there as well.
His eyes trailed along the soft downy wings, observing each and every feather to make sure they were in place. It was like instinct, only one that he didn’t know he possessed. A few wiggles of his back, feeling a few new muscles, his flight muscles expanded, whipping the wind up next to him with a soft whoosh.
The new appendages were strange. They were long and much longer than a normal Pegasus wing. They were more the size of alicorn wings specifically Twilight’s wings. It felt like they were new and yet it felt like they have been there for his entire life.
“What else has changed?” he wondered as he turned back to look into the mirror.
His entire body had changed, his previously red coat now being orange and his hair being a blend of fiery orange and a light red stripe going down the middle. He now had red stripes going down along his face that also wrapped around his eyes going down his neck.
He stared at his new mane. His mane was a barber’s dream: silky and soft, yet firm enough as to stay in place when brushed. A few brushes and it was already set in uniform locks, which strayed down past his chin and neck.
He took off his clothes to explore the rest of his new body. The red stripes continued down his belly and wrapped around the front and back of each hoof. They also wrapped around the sides of his body and back and met up at his tail.
His tail was now also orange with a red stripe going along the top of his tail. His tail was still long with strong muscles under all the soft long hair and could still support his whole body after he tested it and could still bounce on it like Tigger from Winnie The Pooh.
He grabbed his tail around his right side and brought it close to him like a security blanket as he sat down and folded up his wings after spending a few moments trying to figure out how to fold them up. He panted a bit after trying to workout the new muscles in his wings.
“What happens now?” he thought, drifting his gaze downwards to his right. “I will probably have to give some introduction. That kind mare Cadence deserves that much for comforting me and taking me into her home. But how much should I tell her?”
He sighs out loud in thought, “I…I…don’t want to be put on a pedestal here too.” He says nearly breaking down. “Nor do I want them to dissect me or become a science project and be locked up somewhere.” He cries holding his tail closer.
He sighs again, “I guess I’ll just stick to the semi truth and say I just come from a distant land.”
“What if she asks about my unique body?” He wonders, “I think I’ll just be pretty honest about that...minus my destiny mark.” He says looking at his right flank.
As he stares at it he can’t help but think of his rough childhood and the pain of loneliness and how lost he felt sometimes. He rubs his left cheek against his tail to give him some comfort in response.
“I won’t tell her any of that. At least not until I trust her a bit more.” He said to himself, pulling his tail away from his cheek.
He lets out a sigh. “Most of the stuff from my past is a soft subject but I guess I can talk about my family a bit. I’ll just stay away from the sore subjects.”
With a plan set The Colt goes ahead and starts doing his morning routine.
Meanwhile…
Cadence watched as The Colt went into the bathroom and then made up the bed. With that done she goes to put on her makeup but then she notices a note on her nightstand. She picks the note up and reads.
Dear Cadence,
I will be hosting Day Court today to address the public about why the castle is damaged. So you don’t need to worry about that today. I will just be saying it was all an accident by unknown means until we get more information. Please remember to interview The Colt today to get more information about this issue and if he has any relation to it.
Your loving husband,
Shining Armor
After reading the note, Cadence then folds it up and puts it away out of eyesight for safekeeping and in case she needs it later. She then goes over to put on her makeup.
She sits down on her makeup chair and continues to brush her hair as she stares into the mirror. She ponders on how to make The Colt feel comfortable and open up to her.
“I think I need to do something to earn his trust,” she pondered, “but how should I go about that?”
She ponders on this and thinks back to her days as a foal sitter and what she knows of The Colt so far.
“Let’s see: he’s shy, nervous, possibly traumatized by a magic user, definitely not from around here, and is looking for comfort.” She listed, “I guess I should try the gentle approach and be someone to comfort him.”
With that settled Cadence finished brushing her hair and was about to start putting on her makeup when she heard the bathroom door open and the little colt poked his head out.
“Um...Cadence?” The Colt calls out shyly.
“Yes?” Cadence replies turning her head to the right towards the bathroom door.
“Um, am I allowed to take a bath in your tub?”
“Of course, go ahead! Do you need any help?”
“N-no I’m fine! Thank you though!”
Once The Colt closes the door, Cadence looks back to her mirror to ponder her next move. She then hears The Colt shouting from the bathroom.
“Start…. START! … Activate?!”
“What are you doing in there?” Cadence asks as she turns her head to the door utterly confused to what is happening. Before she could get a response, she heard the noise of several items dropping on the floor, and The Colt shrieking.
“Is everything alright?!” Cadence yelled as she made for the door.
“I-I’m Fine!” The Colt replied, but it was too late as Cadence had already opened the door to see him sitting in the tub with his wings open and wearing dark red swimsuit trousers. She also saw a few bottles littered near the tub and on the steps leading to the tub. The Colt jumped in place as he stared straight at Cadence.
“I’m sorry, I just wanted to make sure you weren’t hurt,” Cadence apologized hiding behind the door.
“I-it’s alright, I just-” The Colt started fidgeting while placing his hooves on different parts of the tub.
“Is something wrong?” Cadence asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Using my voice didn’t start the bath, so I’m just looking for the button that starts the bath…”
Cadence quietly chuckles to herself as she witnesses a level of innocence she has only seen in her babysitting days. She then approaches the tub and picks up the bottles and puts them back on the shelf behind the tub. She then turns the handle by the faucet, once the water starts running she places her hoof under the faucet to test the water.
“Have you never had a bath in a tub before?” Cadence says as she peeks at The Colt who is blushing while covering himself.
“I- I just never had a bath in a tub as grand as this,” The Colt says anxiously.
Cadence responds with a murmur as she continues to judge the temperature of the tub. Once it was at a temperature she approved of she removed her hoof and flipped the switch to plug the tub. She then grabbed one of the bottles and added some bubbles to the bath to try to help calm The Colt more. After she added enough to the bath, she then closed the bottle and placed it back on the shelf. She then glanced at The Colt to see his wings were still open. When he noticed her glare he started to move in the tub; His still open wings knocked over some other bottles and some of the ones Cadence just put back near the tub. He fidgeted trying to collect the bottles, but his wings caused more trouble as they pushed other things out of place.
“Are you having trouble with your wings?”
“I’ll be okay I just need to-” before The Colt could finish Cadence approached him and placed her left hoof on his right shoulder. The Colt shyly looked up towards Cadence as she gave him a motherly smile.
“It’s alright, waking up in an unfamiliar place must have made you so stressed out.” The Colt offered a small, shy smile in return to her words.
“Just relax… everything is fine… just focus on the warmth of the water…” She said taking her right hoof and swirling it in the water. The Colt listened to her words and closed his eyes and soon The Colt’s wings relaxed into the water. He opened his eyes to see the results and had a big smile. Cadence gives a small giggle as she sees The Colt so ecstatic over such a simple thing, this causes him to turn his face away from her.
“Th-Thank you…”
“You’re very welcome,” Cadence said as she turned the tab to turn off the water once the tub was full enough. The water came up to The Colt’s waist. The Colt shoots a glare at the faucet as the water ceases to flow, being angry that it didn’t listen to him.
“Are you sure you don’t need any help?” Cadence’s question broke The Colt from his train of thought.
“…W-well I guess you can tell me where the loofahs are…I can’t see any.”
Cadence smiles and instead of telling him where they are she picks up a light blue and white loofah with her hoof from a drawer. The Colt stares at Cadence as she grabs a soap bottle from a small shelf across from the tub and pours some soap on the loofah. Once she poured a good amount of soap on the loofah, Cadence brought the soap bottle back to its recess on the shelf next to the tub and placed the loofah onto the back of The Colt.
“H-hey! I don’t… you…” The Colt started to protest, but soon relaxed as he felt the loofah massage his muscles.
“It’s all right, just relax…” Cadence said as she then moved from his back to his neck; The Colt stretched his neck out and seemed to enjoy the soothing warm water trickle down his damp coat as he closed his eyes for a moment.
“Arm please,” Cadence said as she moved past his shoulder blade. The Colt opened his eyes and did as he was told and stretched out his right arm next that had a few bubbles on it. There were also a lot of bubbles on his robotic fingers. After cleaning his arm and clearing the bubbles off his hooves, Cadence took this opportunity to study his robotic fingers. “These look so interesting, do others like you have this?”
“Hmm?” The Colt asked in his calm state.
“This device on your hooves, I’ve never seen anything like it before.”
“Oh, uh yeah…it’s just a training device to help us control our magic for those having trouble,” The Colt replied unstretching his fingers. “Usually we get rid of them once we have control over it but I wanted a physical reference to show where my magic is coming from. Plus it also helps to grab things and climb up cliffs.”
“They look so cool!” Cadence played with his fingers with her hooves looking over each finger closely and seeing how they moved and bent. She then let go of his hoof after satisfying her curiosity and The Colt dropped his hoof back into the water.
“Can you give me your other arm, please?”
The Colt moved his body over more towards Cadence to give her his other hoof. Cadence cleaned his left arm which was also covered in bubbles. She cleaned his arm until she shifted her focus to his mechanical left eye as she continued to scrub.
“What about your eye? I can’t imagine you received that simply to make your life easier.”
The Colt rubs his eye with his right hoof, and after a few moments, seemed to finally detect the crack on its lens; he traced the line with his fingers with a confused look on his face.
“How did this happen?”
“It may have happened during your little rough landing.” She supplies as she finishes cleaning his left arm.
The Colt was silent, possibly pondering about his landing. “Well it must have been rough to get that much damage or I just simply wasn’t paying attention,” he answered confusingly knowing that his eye piece can self repair. “Anyway the reason I have this is to help with my memory disability. Where I come from everyone has a photographic memory...but...I don’t.” The Colt’s ears then laid flat against his head.
Cadence then wrapped her left hoof around The Colt and brought The Colt close to her and gave him a hug in her hooves. “I’m sorry I didn’t mean to make you feel bad. I was just wondering.”
“No it’s fine...I’m used to it.”
After they shared an awkward silence, Cadence decided to move on to his chest. As she brought The Colt from her embrace she could have sworn she saw a tear fall from his right eye.
“Probably something I will have to go over with him in the future,” Cadence thought.
Cadence then brought the loofah to start cleaning his chest. As the foam of the soap mixed with his wet coat Cadence couldn’t help but notice how heavy it was.
“Your coat is so full; it would be very useful for the snow!”
“Y-Yeah? Does it snow often here?”
“Until a few years ago all it ever did was snow; the Crystal Empire is the northernmost Kingdom of the Frozen North after all, which is also the northernmost province in Equestria.” As Cadence gave her geography lesson she started scrubbing under his wings causing the colt to shiver a bit once he realized he was a bit sensitive there. “But now we only allow the snow in periodically, such as during the winter.”
Cadence rested the loofah on the faucet’s handle while she grabbed one of the faucets behind The Colt and pushed a button to turn it on.
“Really? When I saw the outside before it looked like it was summertime, how did you get rid of all the snow?” The Colt said with curiosity in his voice as Cadence brought the faucet over to get The Colt’s mane wet and to rinse the soap off his back and chest.
“We didn’t get rid of all the snow, per se,” Cadence said as she rinsed the soap out. “There’s actually a magical force field surrounding the kingdom shielding us from the snow. Without it we would be vulnerable to winter storms.”
“You decided to build a kingdom in the middle of a snow storm?”
“It wasn’t always this way…”
“What happened?” The Colt asked as he watched her put the faucet back and it turned off by itself.
“One thousand years ago its previous ruler, King Sombra, threatened to bring darkness, turmoil, and eternal winter to this land. As a result the kingdom was sealed away, that is until about a year ago when the seal broke. It’s thanks to my sister-in-law, and her friends, that love returned to the kingdom, and all its beauty returned!” Cadence said as she grabbed a shampoo bottle and then waved her hoof around the room for emphasis causing The Colt to stare at his surroundings, surely trying to picture the room looking less beautiful than it does now.
His gaze was interrupted as he felt Cadence rub the shampoo on his mane. As she moved her hooves closer to the back of his ear, she saw him close his eyes and slightly lean into her kneading. In response to this she moved her hooves to behind his ears and thoroughly massaged them. The Colt leaned his head sideways and had a relaxed happy look on his face. Soon his tail started swishing in the water, causing Cadence to wonder in that moment whether he was a colt or a puppy, either way it was adorable.
As his blissful state continued he started to glow a yellow hue. Cadence stopped as she took notice and The Colt had a look like he was trying to remember what day it was.
“Wh- what’s wrong?” The Colt asked.
“Y-you’re glowing! Are you alright?”
“Oh um…” The Colt paused for a moment before releasing a heavy sigh. “...Whenever I feel a great amount of happiness I glow like this. So don’t worry, this is normal.”
Cadence breathed a sigh of relief, not only is The Colt safe, but also because she believes he is starting to trust her a little more.
Cadence soon places her hoof on his right wing and starts scrubbing them. The Colt expands his wing as she puts pressure on it with circular motions.
“Are your wings bothering you anymore?”
“Oh, no. I feel much better. The bath really seems to help me relax.”
“Good,” Cadence says as she finishes up with his right wing before she even has a chance to lean in to do the other side the Colt expands his left wing, as though already expecting her to wash it. Cadence gives a wry smile as the Colt notices what he’s done. Cadence says nothing and scrubs his left wing all the same. After a few quiet moments Cadance finishes the job and leans next to the faucet and smiles at him.
“Unless you have a third wing I don’t know about, why don't we rinse off the shampoo? Close your eyes please!”
The Colt did as he was told and Cadence grabbed the faucet again and rinsed the soap out of his wings. She then quickly took the faucet and rinsed out his mane.
“Are you alright?” Cadence said, as he rubs his eyes, he nods his head.
“Good, do you mind if I work on your tail now?” She asks and she puts the faucet down.
“Uh huh…” The Colt raises himself on shaky legs as Cadence puts more shampoo on her hooves. Cadence starts at the base of his tail and works her way up; all the while she notices the vertebrae of the tail itself seems to be longer, and its muscles thicker than most colts have making its mane appear larger than others.
“You have quite an impressive tail! Most colts I know try to have shorter mane tails, but you make it look wonderful.”
“Oh thanks, I do my best!” The Colt closes his eyes and smiles for a moment in response.
“How did you get such an impressive tail?” Asked Cadence as she tilts her head as The Colt looks back at her.
“Oh I inherited it from my mom. She comes from a family of tail dancers who can do amazing things with their tails like hold objects and support themselves on them. The best way I can describe it is to think of it like ribbon dancers but with tails.”
“Really that sounds amazing you’ll have to show me sometime.” Cadence says smiling back at him.
“Maybe.”
“Alright do you want me to do your legs?” Asks Cadence as she drops his tail back into the water and swirls it around a bit to rinse out the soap.
Worried if Cadence will get too close to his private area The Colt replies, “No, I can do it.”
“Very well, I’ll leave you to do the rest on your own.” Cadence washes her hooves inside the tub to get out the shampoo.
“Let me know when you’re done and I can help you dry off!”
The Colt nodded as Cadence left the room to finish putting on her makeup as he removed his swim trunks.
Day 1
9:55 A.M.
After The Colt finished washing himself, he leaned back into the tub and spread his limbs out, enjoying the relaxing atmosphere. For several moments the only thing he could hear was his breathing and the sound of the water swaying in the tub. The silence was broken as he heard Cadence doing something in the closet.
“Cadence, is everything alright?”
“Yes everything is fine, are you finished yet?”
“Yes, I’m done!” The Colt said as he drained the water. The Colt considered stepping out but noticed he was soaking wet; His fluffy coat seemed to have absorbed more water than he imagined.
Cadence entered the room wearing her royal necklace and shoes and saw him standing in the tub.
“Oh here, I have a towel you can use!” Cadence said as she held a fluffy blue towel with a white horizontal stripe on the shorter ends.
“No thanks, I can do it myself!” The Colt then shakes himself like a dog. Water scattered all over the walls of the tub like it was raining in every direction. As he shook his body, he failed to notice Cadence was right next to him as some of the water dampened her own coat.
“Oh!” Cadence screamed as some of the water got on her. The Colt immediately stopped as he heard her voice; his stance was unsteady as his actions made himself dizzy.
“I- I’m sorry, I didn’t see you,” The Colt said petrified, worried she would be upset at his action. But to his amazement she laughed instead; her laugh was cheerful, almost like a bird singing.
“Looks like I need to dry off too, huh?” Cadence smiled as she took the towel and dried off her coat. When she was done she placed the towel over his back.
“Now shall I help you dry off, or are you going to put shampoo on me next?”
The Colt blushed at her joke and soon found himself being picked up in the towel. Cadence placed him down at the bottom of the steps then dried him off. He could feel her ridding his coat of moisture as the fluffy towel roughly brushed against his coat. This was because the towel was enchanted to absorb as much water as it could for those with a thicker fur coat. When it was time to do the more personal areas she handed the towel to him so he could do it on his own while she averted her eyes.
The Colt took off his swim trunks and laid them on the side of the tub after he rang out the water in them. He then started to dry his legs and private areas. Once he was dried up he put the towel around his waist.
“Thank you for your help, if you don’t mind I’d like to be alone so I can brush my coat and put my clothes on,” he said as he walked over to the bench that he put his clothes on.
“Do you need a brush for your coat?”
“No, I have one in my hunch.”
“Your hunch?” Cadence asks, raising an eyebrow.
“That’s what I call this neck collar.” The Colt says holding up his yellow neck collar.
“How do you store stuff in that?”
The Colt brings his hoof up to the part of his hunch that would be behind his head and places it on it and then presses his hoof down a bit and pulls out a red brush that matches the red fur on his body.
“How did you do that!?” Cadence exclaims with her eyes bulging out.
The Colt laughs at Cadence’s reaction. “Sorry I always get a kick out of people being amazed at unexpected stuff that I would do. Anyway...my hunch has an infinite pocket storage enchantment on it that I use to store stuff like personal items, food, medical supplies, climbing equipment, and other supplies when I’m out on the road so I’m always prepared for the unexpected.”
“Okaaaaaaaaaaay then,” Cadence slowly replies. “I’ll leave you then to brush your coat and get dressed.”
“Okay thanks!”
Cadence smiles, “It’s my pleasure, let me know if there’s anything else I can do to help!”
“Yes ma'am.” As The Colt placed his hunch back down he noticed Cadence gazing at his back in the corner of his right eye. She then became alert to the fact she was staring and blushed.
“See something you like?” He teased showing off his flanks towards Cadence and giving them a shake with a sultry smile, which caused Cadence to blush even more, causing The Colt to put his right hoof on his mouth and quietly giggle.
After shaking her head a bit and calming her blush down she replies, “I’m sorry, your wings just look so big and amazing, you must take such good care of them.”
“Really?” The Colt said confusingly as he turned his head more to look at his right wing as he put his coat brush down.
“I’m quite envious, what do you use to preen them?”
The Colt becomes resilient to answer her question, unable to decide how he should answer her without possibly scaring her. Cadence’s cheery demeanor drops, mimicking The Colt’s own face as she realizes he took too long to answer.
“Do you not preen your own wings?”
The Colt turns his body and looks at Cadence with a pitiful look before looking down at the crystal surface of the floor.
“The truth is… No, I don’t know how to preen my wings, in fact before I arrived I never even had wings before. I was just a red coated earth pony with a red mane.” As he expected, Cadence appeared shocked by the information. He didn’t know how much of his old life would scare her, but if his previous incident when he glowed was any indication he should be honest about his body, what if something else about his body seemed weird or scared her; it could cause her to see him as a threat if he wasn’t careful.
Cadence blinked several times before finally being able to speak. “You mean to tell me you only recently became a Pegasus?”
“I guess so, yes.”
“Wow… I heard of Unicorns and Pegasi becoming Alicorns, but this is the first I've ever heard of an Earth Pony becoming a Pegasus! How did this happen?!”
The Colt shrugged at her question, “My best guess is the machine I came here on chose this form for me to make it easier to survive in your kingdom.” Was his response, not willing to go into Time Lord regeneration quite yet and explain how he ended up having to regenerate.
“Huh, your people must have such unique magic to come up with this!”
“You’re taking this a lot better than I thought you would.” He replies with a shy smile with his eyes looking up at her while his head remains facing down.
“Let’s just say, I'm no stranger to the idea of one race of pony becoming another. In fact before my Sister-in-Law, Twilight Sparkle, became an Alicorn princess she was a unicorn, and I was a Pegasus just like you!”
“You were a Pegasus too? Do Ponies regularly change from one race to the next?”
Cadence giggles at his question. “There have been some occasions, but only for those who are worthy, or those who have undergone a special circumstance.”
As The Colt thought about their conversation Cadence moved herself over to the sink, and grabbed a long object that was previously laying in a small basket alongside her combs. The object looked like an old-fashioned letter opener, except the edges were smooth and dull, and it seemed to split at the side, most likely to imitate the design of a bird’s beak. Like the walls of her castle, it was made purely of crystal; It glistened as it refracted the light it collected on its blue and white surface.
“Would you like me to show you how to preen your feathers then?” Cadence spoke softly, with pure intention to help the child. The Colt seemed to calm down after a few moments and nodded his head while he turned around and sat down, facing his body towards the closet and raised his right wing. Cadence then guided what The Colt assumed was a preening comb with her hooves and slid the base of some of his inner feathers between its teeth. “Now remember you have to brush outwards so the oils can spread to the rest of the feather.” Once she finished speaking she gently pushed the comb away from his wings to demonstrate her example.
As Cadence spread the natural oil of his feathers The Colt found himself in a familiar tranquil sensation; The Colt estimated that Cadence was familiar around young ones, as she knew the right amount of pressure to use to make him feel safe, needless to say it worked.
“So where are you from?” Cadence said between strokes. “You don’t look like a Crystal Pony so you must come from outside the kingdom.”
The Colt snapped out of his relaxed state and tried to think of something to say. “Oh, uh, I live in a community in the north, you wouldn’t have heard of it…”
“Is that so?” Cadence digested the information as she glanced at his clothing. Once her gaze returned to his she wore a smile as she asked her next question.
“Well, what about your family? You said you had a mother, she and your father must be so worried about you.”
As Cadance finished speaking, horrible memories flooded The Colt’s mind as he winced. “I don’t think they’ll be too worried about me…”
“Why not, won’t they be curious about why you’re not home?”
The Colt was unsure how to explain his living situation without scarring or confusing his host. Apparently after a moment of silence she took it as him not wanting to discuss it anymore.
“I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to pry,” Cadence said as she decorated a sad expression on her face.
“It’s fine…” The Colt had a melancholy tone to his voice which did a poor job convincing her otherwise.
After a few more moments of silence, Cadence removed the comb from his finely preened wing and brought it in front of him.
“Would you like to give it a try now?” The Colt stared at the comb before reaching for it. Though the handle was intended to be carried in a pony’s mouth, his mechanical fingers were able to grasp its grooves perfectly. He expands his wings and tries to bring it forward.
Thanks to his inexperience at having wings he had trouble bending them the way he needed them. Cadence seemed to understand his struggle and placed her hoof on top of his wing and guided it in front of him. The Colt blushed as he used his empty hand to grab his wing and got to work.
Just like Cadence he slid the comb between the base of his feathers and brushed it outwards, however thanks to his aforementioned inexperience of brushing himself like this (or having wings at all) he had mis-swiped numerous times. After one hastily done swipe he loses his grip on the comb and drops it. After the comb hits the floor Cadence grabs the comb and The Colt noticed the tip of the comb broke off. There was a look of fear in The Colt’s eyes, he let his impatience get the better of him and broke her precious comb; Since it looked so expensive he expected her to be upset with him and possibly kick him out on the spot. Instead Cadence adorned a small smile on her face as she pressed the comb back into his robotic fingers.
“There is no rush, you don’t have to be great at this right away. Just be calm and move the comb gently along your feathers,” Cadence said with a soothing voice. The Colt looked amazed with her words and soon took the comb and tried again. Though he did mess up a few more times, Cadence continued to give him words of encouragement until he was able to accomplish it at a steady pace.
“You’re really starting to get the hang of this, aren’t you? I’m so proud of you!” The Colt looked at Cadence with a doubtful inquisitive look, but then it turned to a look of pure curiosity.
“Are you… Are you really that impressed? But all I’m doing is using a comb, something that someone my age should have learned by now.”
“Well it’s only your first day being a Pegasus, it’s only natural it would seem difficult for you. However, even if you were born a Pegasus, nopony can be good at everything they do on the first try. Even after you struggled with it you didn’t give up, and now you have accomplished learning to do it on your own! Small successes in life will always lead to greater victories!”
The Colt looks away bashfully. “I had a good teacher, so… thank you for showing me how.”
“You are very welcome!” Cadence said with a beaming smile. The Colt shied away as he expanded his wing to see his progress.
“Not bad for your first attempt!” The Colt gave only a smile as a response to her words. He then grabbed his other wing to begin work on it. Hearing her chuckle to herself, The Colt looks as Cadence heads for the door.
“I believe I can trust you to do the rest on your own. I’ll wait for you in the other room when you’re done!”
“Oh, okay… see you later then!”
As The Colt continues to preen on his own he studies the comb again, entranced by its ability to capture the light and reflect off its shiny blue surface.
“It is a beautiful comb isn’t it?” The Colt turns to see a sly smile on Cadence’s face. The Colt in turn gives a bashful expression at her words.
“You know what, why don’t you keep it?”
The Colt whips his head to her with a surprised expression. “Are you sure? But don’t you need it too?”
Cadence waves a hoof as she laughs softly, “It’s alright, as princess it would be quite easy for me to get another, plus you have only the clothes on your back, and whatever else is in your hunch, to your name. Almost literally in fact,” Cadence spies his clothes and chuckles at the irony, but then she raises an eyebrow and forces her hoof on her face.
“Where are my manners? In all this time I never once asked you for your name, what may I call you?” Once The Colt heard this he scratched his head as he mentally chastised himself for forgetting something so obvious.
“Oh, I’m sorry...um...” The Colt thought for a moment, considering what he wanted her to call him from that moment on. “You can call me…DJ…DJ Hopper.”
Cadence smiled as she registered his name. “It’s a pleasure to meet you DJ Hopper, and welcome to the Crystal Empire!”
Author's Note
Finally after 3 months of work it’s done. Sorry it’s been so long but I was having trouble with my Co-Author and with this COVID-19 stuff I wasn’t really motivated to write. I will try hard to get the next chapter, “Day 1 part 2” out in 3 to 5 months depending on if I can get some help with writing.
The reason I’m splitting Day 1 into parts is because this chapter is already over 7,500 words and I don’t want my chapters to be over 10,000 words so that’s why I’m splitting it into parts.
Also the reason why the colt’s name wasn’t revealed until now was because I wanted him to be nameless for as long as possible.
If anyone is willing to help me write in there spare time please PM me. Or if you want more chapters to come out sooner you can support me on patreon. https://www.patreon.com/Luckyfanisaac?fan_landing=true
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