Verve

“Welp, there goes my night.” Arin frowned, running his hand along Umbra’s back. She closed her eyes, almost like a cat would at the affection - a warm smile creeping up on her face. “I don’t suppose you’re in the mood for cuddling, huh? A nap would be wonderful right now.”

“...I do not understand. I have heard the word before, but what is this… ‘cuddling’ ponies speak of? Is it what the Princess did to you, against your will? Holding you in her hooves?” Umbra’s smile shifted to a worried frown; she didn’t want to hold Arin against his will. She saw him as a true equal, and… she never wanted to take that from him.

“Huh? I mean, yes and no - cuddling is a loving gesture between two individuals who care for each other immensely, but uh… it’s not a sexual thing; you just curl up and hold on. Snuggling is the part where a couple… you know. They hold each other, and do less than wholesome things.” Arin scratched the back of his head; it was hard to think that Umbra, despite her thousand years of life, had never even thought of embracing another. Or did she?

“Have you ever thought of like… loving anyone else before? Or am I really your first?”

At the question, Umbra looked a little… embarrassed, her eyes falling to the sheets. “It is not a thought I could reliably attain when fighting the Umbrum voices clawing at my mind. When they were quiet, I would use those moments sparingly - to turn to civilization for niceties, and sustain myself. If I was not careful, I could expose myself to the world.”

Arin pulled himself onto the bed after stripping his armored vest - laying his head against the soft pillows, inviting her forward with a wave of his arms. Her blush grew, as she eventually turned from the door - stepping on the sheets to her lover’s arms.

His wings slid out, the soft feathers wrapping sweetly around her back as she laid down on his chest. Luckily, her time in the comfort and safety of Silversun led to a rather quick recovery on Umbra's part; her once exposed, bony ribs were already covered by natural pony softness and fluff again. Nose to nose now, her locket pressed to his own - golden eyes gleaming up at her emerald irises

“Several years ago, I never thought I’d find love,” he whispered, stroking her cheek with a thumb. She settled in rather nicely, feeling… comfortable. Warm. Cared for. An emotion she hadn’t felt in over a thousand long years, since she was nothing more than a foal.

“Several years ago, I never thought love would fall at my hooves,” she whispered back, as the Seraph gently guided her body to lay against him. He gently bumped her nose, arms helping guide her - until they lay on their sides, facing each other fully.

Their breathing mingled, as gently - they both met in a sweet, soft kiss. A supple touch that filtered out their thoughts into quiet. Arin wasted a flick of his magic to draw the sheets over them both, simply keeping his closest friend - his shadow, warm. Their eyes drew closed, Umbra’s hoof chancing a gentle, caring stroke of his cheek. Simply feeling him against her, made the thousands years alone seem that much longer.

How could she go so long without this? She felt like she was blind, or… stupid. This was so natural, so warm - so sweet. It filled parts of her soul she didn’t know she had, as his hands did everything in their power to keep her safe.

This is what she was missing. Love. Love. And with every touch he gave, she knew it was the piece she needed to fill that hole in her heart. This is where she belonged; next to him.

Arin felt much the same; for years, he had whittled away hours for love that had none of the depth of their relationship. He was blind, too - young, inexperienced, her ‘fledgeling’ she would call him, as he was still growing and learning. To finally, finally have someone to hold on such a close level, it really filled a hole in his heart.

He had everything he wanted now. Here. In his arms. Everything else - it didn’t matter compared to his sweet shadow.

She may be a thousand years old, but nearly every year of that was spent hardly in her own control. Now, she was experiencing life for the first real time; she was growing, right alongside him.

“I love you, Umbra. I should have known this years ago,” Arin said in regret, holding her so sweetly in his hands. By the Feathers, he could stare into those wonderful eyes for the rest of eternity.

“And I love you, Arin. I was blind myself; do not take all the blame on your own withers,” she agreed, the former Umbrum’s cheeks no longer blushing. Umbra was simply… happy. Content. Warm and full of light, her heart steadying in her chest. It almost felt like she could cry, as all of these amazing emotions - every single thought she had, suddenly bore fruit. Centuries of solitude, and it finally… It all led to this.

The warmth and comfort surrounding the two beckoned sleep; and as close as their bodies would allow, they began to drift. Steadily, quietly… deeper into the comfort of each other’s gentle hold, until the mute of unconsciousness took them.

By the time dinner came, there was a gentle knock at the door to rouse the duo from their rest. Umbra was much too happy to even consider letting her lover go, so with a lazy flick of her horn - the door opened, revealing Pumpkin.

“Arin? A-Are you in here?” she asked quietly, pastel green eyes gleaming from the doorway. The seraph’s hand lazily drifted up, giving a small ‘mhm’ to greet her.

“Did you take one of our Banishing Orbs? T-They’re not ready yet, and they’re pretty dangerous… I-I’m sorry to interrupt!” she called quietly; it was awkward talking to two cuddling ponies! Especially since… Well, Arin was still dating Celestia, right? Was this a platonic cuddle?

“Hm? No. I’ve been with King Aster - now Umbra, the whole time. If anything went missing, check with Vee. She seems like the one most likely to take something.”

“T-That’s the thing - we did. And she said no. Also, it’s um… dinner time, you two. I-If um… okay, I-I need to know! Are you still with the Princess?” she called to Arin, rightfully confused.

“Nope.”

“A-Any reason?...”

“She ended it.”

“...Why?”

“Ask her. Tired. See you at dinner.” Arin yawned, and with a flick of the wrist - his magic gently closed the door in front of her. Gently - he wasn’t trying to be rude, he just didn’t feel like talking about things that didn’t concern him at the moment.

“Umbra, are you hungry?” he asked quietly, burrowing his nose into her mane. By the Feathers, she smelled wonderful - deer shampoo always smelled good. For now, the scent of cinnamon and blackberries greeted him. Deer loved cinnamon, apparently. Then again, deer naturally loved a lot of things - vanilla, apples, acorns… Aster did go on in length about it, during supper a few weeks ago, back when they entered the Fey for the first time. Though a curious note he added was that wild deer hated cinnamon. Strange how sentience changes things.

“Starving. And I’m tired of berries and sugary cakes. I crave meat. I don’t suppose we could go hunting sometime soon?” Umbra asked, her nose nuzzling deeper into his neck. He smiled, stroking over her cheek; there were quite a few key traits she didn’t lose in her transformation to a pony, and a carnivorous attitude was one of them.

“General Falon and I are training tomorrow outside of Silversun’s walls. I’ll see if he’s okay with me leaving a few traps here and there for some small game, or about plucking a couple wild rabbits from the brush. Or, if you’d like - you could come with?...”

“...I don’t see why not. I have little to prepare for the upcoming battle, so perhaps training with you will suffice.”

Vee held the glowing green and blue orb in her wing; yes! Wonderful, a day or two more, and it’ll be ready. Shame she couldn’t tell Pumpkin about her plan. Mostly because she didn’t have one; it was simply on her checklist.

She weighed it quietly, before gently sneaking it back into her bag. Hmhm. But now, the book. She snooted long and hard for this! Like, five minutes, really, which is a very brisk flap! Vee had never been a patient purple, after all.

She licked the tip of a fresh feather, before flicking it idly over the pages. Chapters on techniques, pages on spells, all of which were healing - blech! That magic tasted yellow, or green… maybe red, or white. But not purple. And she wasn’t here for magic. She was here for knowledge! It puts feathers in the brain, clears up the brain soup - definitely what she needed.

Astral Body; aha, what she was looking for. You see, for the non-witchy folk out there, the spirit is also a representation of your dream self. When you dream, your soul drifts away, connected by a thick tether that keeps it snooted in place when you wake up. Have you ever been woken up abruptly? You snap awake! That’s because your snooting spirit needs to come back quickly some nights. Ever dreamed about falling? That’s the soul tumbling back to the body~

You’d have to be certified dumb not to realize how important astral projection was! D’ohoho. Hmhm… yes, this book was definitely good for the feathers. Everypony, take a wing and preen - Vee was going to learn you some knowledge. Do I have to write it like that, Vee? Yes, Small-fry.

This book says that the soul is a fixed point in space - it is, this is true! If you’re trying to touch it in the Prime. Hmhm… but here, Resurrection; the process of glueing it back in is… partially right. Maybe. What is she, a soul expert?! Actually, Vee is!

When a pony dies, the rope connecting the soul and body snaps; the spell is really mending that rope back together, which is why you simply ‘wake up’ when you’re made not-dead, d’ohoho~ But… it puts things in a fresh perspective!

You are a material thing calling an immaterial concept. Perhaps trying to wing chop Lunar Magic was wrong - they could still be killed from the blow, and that wasn’t good for the feathers.

She snooted idly through the pages, stopping at a translated spell, Mirror Light. Oho! This magic is definitely purple flavored. And now, the page was coffee flavored. Because she spilled her coffee. Nopony will notice a couple drips here and there, it makes the paper smell good.

Hmhm… If Blessing a creature infused them with an amplification of healing magic, then Cursing them did the opposite - but how it did so, as described, is weird.

By amplifying the shell of a soul with a White Sigil, you in turn make their spirit positively inclined to accept healing magic more fluently; but by reversing this process and casting a black sigil, the victim instead finds their soul unguarded. This weakens the soul’s echo, thins the String of Life, and makes the target susceptible to injury. Casting a black sigil, in turn, stuns the physical body - yet only for a moment, as the spirit is forced to recover.

“D’ohoho, deers got brains beneath the manes! And good coffee. Hmhmhm~”

If one could weaken the soul with a black sigil, that means that the soul can be directly targeted to begin with! Which is… common sense, for a Unicorn. They have the fancy magic, after all.

Maybe instead of trying to knock the magic out of a pony, why not slap the soul? You can’t kill a soul. It’s indestructible; you can disrupt it, of course… ah, but that would still mean you have the body to deal with.

Unless…

Vee preened away a few feathers for safe bookmarking, spilling another few drops of coffee on the page. She had a feeling Tall-fry was going to be mad with her, but it’s not her fault! Coffees are afraid of heights, after all. And Neigh-mart managers. Especially Neigh-mart managers.

“Hmhm. Yes! Wonderful, great. Good. Synonym for amazing. Also amazing, just in case.” Vee finished her surprisingly empty cuppa - oh. She knocked it over. No wonder! She couldn’t read coffee-nese. Nothing a few feathers won’t fix.

Yes, this is definitely the right course of action. Don’t cry over spilled coffee, after all. She’ll have to say sorry for damaging the book. Tall-fry said no crayons, too - she’ll write her apology in marker, instead. Aha! This page has plenty of room for scribbling.

Sorry your book decided to fight my coffee, we both know who won. Sincerely, Vee.

That will do it. The feathers will soak up the coffee, and Pumpkin will throw away the evidence - oh, right, Pumpkin is off being an adult now. Shame. I am literally right here, Vee. Listening to you - pumpkin seeds, I’m writing my thoughts again!

And with that, Vee turned to the massive pile of treasure on her desk. And the dozens of mana gems she got from Eve, too. The good ones! She didn’t have the magic to waste on enchanting a hundred necklaces! What is she, a purple with wings and a horn?! Those probably don’t exist! Or something. She doesn’t read the news!

Just the important part! Like the comic section! And local sales on coffee!

Regardless, the Purple will need to get in contact with Eve. She’ll need to find their target dummy, too - and if Twinkle Crash or whatever her name is wasn’t available, a certain Ugly-mane-fry was!