Anonymous in Nu-Questria 2

You are in the haphazardly thrown-together workshop that Zipp set up in the cargo hold. There are cardboard boxes filled with random bits of junk piled up everywhere, and a few metal tables sit covered in a variety of tools, components and different lengths of wire.

Zipp is rummaging around in one of the boxes with a hoof. You and Izzy are watching her.

“Hm... I’m sure I left it somewhere in here,” She says. “Aha!”

Zipp yanks out what appears to be a nearly-deflated exercise ball from the pile of junk. It looks to be about one foot in diameter.

“Here we are.” She says.

“Oh, are we going to play a game?” Izzy says excitedly.

“Well, actually,” Zipp says. “It’s for training.” She pulls out a small hoof-powered pump from the box as well and attaches it to the ball.

“Training?” You ask. “For what?”

Zipp starts pumping up the exercise ball with her hoof. “Well, I figured that if we encounter any... unfriendly creatures, it would help to be prepared, right?”

“So you mean combat training?” You ask.

“Think of it more like defensive training.” Zipp says. She looks at Izzy. “Izzy, do you remember when we talked about trying out that spell?”

Izzy tilts her head. “Uh, the bubble one?”

Zipp nods. “That’s right. A shield spell.” She finishes inflating the ball and detaches the pump.

“Oh yeah!” Izzy says, nodding.

Zipp seems to want to test Izzy’s capabilities with magic through the tried-and-true method of dodge ball. You remember unicorns guards would often learn various shield spells as part of their duties. While not the most difficult type of spells master, they still required a pony with the diligence to study and practice it thoroughly.

And, you know Izzy does not quite have the same level of aptitude as those stone-faced stallions and mares...

“But, uh, I dunno, Zipp.” Izzy says. She looks down, rubbing a hoof over her foreleg. “That spell seems really hard to do.”

“Well,” Zipp says, cocking her head. “That’s why we have this guy here.”

Suddenly, Zipp tosses the ball in your direction without even looking. You catch the cobalt sphere in your hands, and it resonates with a sharp ping as your palms slap its sides.

“Oh, I see.” You say. “You want me to throw some heaters at Izzy, huh? Make her learn the hard way?”

You imitate throwing the ball in an overhand pitch at Izzy. She gasps and moves to the side. You smile at her.

Zipp exhales through her nose. “No, you big dummy. You’re going to be the one she protects.” She smiles wider.

You start to piece together her plan and nod.

“Alright, so you want me to be the target to help motivate her, is that right?” You say.

“Bingo.” Zipp says.

“Huh, I dunno.” Izzy says, taking a few steps up towards you. “I don’t want Anon to get hurt.”

You purse your mouth to the side and think for a bit. Zipp raises her eyebrows at you.

“Hey, we’ll give it a shot. Why not?” You say.

It could work. Who knows? You would definitely appreciate not dying a gruesome death if Izzy can prevent it.

You step over to the open space in the rest of the cargo hold. The room spans the breadth of the ship, so there’s plenty of space to practice. You make it over to the far wall, with Izzy following hesitantly behind you.

You turn and heft the ball back towards Zipp. It bounces once before she deftly catches it with an outstretched forehoof.

“Alright, you ready, Izzy?” Zipp says.

Izzy is standing next to you. She seems a bit timid, but she nods and her horn gently glows.

“Just picture a big bubble around you, alright?” Zipp says, rolling the ball in front of her gently.

A moment later, Zipp spins and bucks the ball quickly with a single, powerful hind leg. It speeds through the air directly at your chest. Izzy’s horn shoots a stream of sparks and she shouts “Bubble! Bubble!”

The ball curves in the air a bit, its surface rotating at a high velocity. It impacts your chest and you instinctively wrap your arms around it. It doesn’t hurt, but it does make a loud PANG!

Izzy’s horn sputters out and she droops her head. She sighs.

“Alright, let’s try it again.” Zipp says.

You throw the ball back to her. Zipp catches it in midair with a push from her wings to gain more lift.

“Hold on a sec.” You say, raising up a hand.

You lean down to Izzy and put a hand on her withers reassuringly.

“Hey, Izzy.” You say, and she looks up at you with anxious eyes. “It doesn’t have to be a bubble, okay? Just focus on trying to keep me safe.”

You give her a reassuring smile. Izzy nods gently, but frowns a bit.

“Just think about how we’re friends, alright? You can do this.” You say.

“Okay,” Izzy says. “I’ll try.”

You stand back up, putting your hands to your sides and readying yourself for the next pitch.

“Alright,” Zipp says. “Here it comes!”

She kicks the ball again, and just like before it shoots through the air at you. Izzy closes her eyes and clenches her teeth. Her horn glows very brightly, this time the magic concentrating on a single, brilliant speck right at the tip.

The ball curves up towards your face. Oh shit.

You wince and turn your cheek at the last moment, but the ball collides with your head nonetheless. You stumble back and barely catch yourself on the wall.

Izzy gasps and her horn stops glowing. “Anon!” She shouts as she looks at you with a frightened expression.

You rub your cheek. It stings a bit but you’re okay. The ball bounces back across the room slowly.

“I’m alright...” You grumble. You lower your eyebrows and return Izzy’s concerned expression with one of annoyance.

“It’s okay, Izzy.” Zipp says as she rolls the ball around with her hoof casually. “He can take it.”

You stand up straight and nod. “Yeah.” You say. “Just don’t hit me in the face again, feathers. Otherwise I might throw it back at you.”

Zipp chuckles softly. “Alright, alright.” She says. “Izzy, are you ready?”

Izzy looks a bit wobbly. Her face is scrunched up and her horn is already putting forth a slight aura.

“Mhm.” She says, nodding her head. Her trembling knees say otherwise.

Zipp bites her lip for a moment, considering something. She turns and kicks the ball with much less force, and it bounces once before heading your way.

You tense your arms and get ready to catch it. This time it’s going a bit low. However, as you are just about to reach for it, the ball is enveloped in a bright pink hue and immediately slows down. It coasts up to you weightlessly, and you stop it with a single hand.

Izzy droops her head, her horn sparkling with pink magic. “Sorry Zipp, I just can’t do it.” She says. She ends the spell and you catch the ball in your hand.

Zipp walks over to you both. “Hey, Izzy. It’s okay, alright?”

She smiles warmly at Izzy, but Izzy seems despondent.

“If you keep practicing I’m sure you’ll get it.” Zipp says, leaning her head down towards Izzy.

“Yeah, or maybe she just doesn't care about me that much. How about we switch places, Zipp?” You ask with a smirk.

Zipp returns your challenge by narrowing her eyes at you. “Alright.” She says coldly.

You trade places with her and walk to the other side of the room by the workshop.

You turn to see Zipp standing by Izzy, she holds her head high with regal authority, completely calm. Izzy still looks a bit nervous and she glances from Zipp to you with wide, nervous eyes.

You clasp the exercise ball firmly in both hands and hold it at chest level.

“Alright, so the thing with magic is...” You say. “You never know when you’re going to-”

You quickly heave the ball forward, hoping to take them by surprise. You put in a bit more than you intended and it zooms towards Zipp at a breakneck speed. She remains motionless as Izzy scrunches her nose and tries to activate her horn.

Ping! In a flash, Zipp catches the ball and stops it completely with one hoof. Her narrowed eyes relax a bit and she traps the ball underhoof.

“Well shoot. That didn’t work.” You say with an amused smile.

“Again.” Zipp says. She throws the ball back to you and you catch it.

“Throw it softer this time!” Izzy whines.

You tap your fingers against the ball and look at Izzy. “Izzy, is that what you’re gonna say to a dragon chucking boulders at us? Don’t throw them so hard?” You tease.

With that remark, Izzy grits her teeth and lowers her head. There’s a twinkle of determination in her eyes, the kind you’ve only seen before when she gets really into her sewing.

You feign a throw. Izzy’s horn sparks a bit. You wait a moment and then toss the ball.

“DON’T HURT MY FRIENDS!” Izzy yells. Her horn lets off a blinding bright flash and a wave of fuchsia colored magic emanates from her body.

Your eyes go wide as you see it. A translucent throw pillow shimmers in midair as the magic coalesces into a semi-solid form. It deflects the ball, reacting like a real throw pillow would, then it drops to the floor. The ball bounces harmlessly off to the side.

“Woah!” Zipp says. She steps forward to take a look, the sparkling magenta hologram reflecting in her eyes. The pillow then fades into the ether and Zipp turns to Izzy with an astonished look.

“It wasn’t a shield, but, hey! That was something, Izz!” She says.

Izzy looks a bit confused, but then slowly grins. “Hey! I made a pillow!” She says.

Huh. It’s a bit strange, but it is Izzy, after all...

Zipp laughs and trots up to Izzy. “See, I knew you had it in you!” She wraps a hoof around Izzy and pulls her into a quick side-hug. Izzy smiles softly and looks a bit relieved.

“Yep... Now we just need to work up to something that can stop a magic beam, or a hail of arrows.” You say.

Zipp lets go and walks over towards the exercise ball.

“Alright, well,” Zipp says. She punts the ball over towards you, and you reach down to pick it up as it rolls over. “Keep practicing. I gotta go look over the charts with Sunny.” Zipp says.

She walks over to the stairs that lead back up to the main deck. You stand up and look over at Izzy.

“See you soon, Zipp!” Izzy says. Zipp disappears up the stairwell.

Izzy then turns to you and narrows her eyes. “Bring it, monkey man.” She says with a renewed confidence.

Oh, it’s on.

For a while you practice with Izzy, throwing the exercise ball and letting her try to deflect it. For a few more times, she manages to spontaneously summon a pillow in the air to block the projectile. It’s always a different shape and design every time, but none of them seem to become any more solid.

Eventually you start to get a bit bored of the exercise, and you begin faking her out with different throws. Izzy starts to focus less on her magic and simply trying to dodge them.

“Block this, bone brain!” You say, winding up a hard pitch. You put your shoulder into it and the ball careens toward the unicorn.

“Ah!” Izzy says, leaning her head out of the way as the ball smacks the wall behind her. “Anon!” She says, folding her ears back.

You snicker and grin.

Izzy rears up on her forehooves and bucks the sphere back at you with a peeved grunt.

It’s moving too fast to catch, so you deflect it with your forearms and it bounces over to the back of the cargo hold.

“Hey, hey,” You say playfully. “No need to get upset, Izzy.”

You put your hands on your hips and nod towards the ball. “Now go on and get it.”

Izzy exhales loudly and rolls her eyes back. “Nah, I’m bored. Let’s do something else.” She says.

She walks over towards you. You crouch down on one knee and give her a condescending look.

“Done practicing already? You still have a lot to learn if you want to be a real magic user, pony.” You say chidingly.

“Yeah, yeah...” Izzy says, looking off to the side.

“So what do you wanna do?” You ask.

Izzy sits down on the burnished wood floor and thinks for a bit.

The hum of the engines can be heard through the heavy bulkhead of the ship along with the rumbling of the wind. The space is quiet and illuminated with only a few flood lamps mounted on the support beams.

“Do you wanna... burn one?” You ask slyly.

Izzy eyes dart towards you. “Nah, I can’t get high while I’m on the job, silly. I’m first mate!” She says.

“Ah huh. Since when were you such a stickler for the rules?” You say, grinning at her. You move to a cross-legged sitting position.

“Hey, I’m serious, Anon. I can’t let Sunny down.” She says.

You shrug and sigh. “Fine.” You say, “No fun allowed...”

Izzy turns her head and looks at you out of the corner of her eye with a smug expression.

“You know, Anon... I bet you already had plenty of fun last night with Sunny, didn’t you?” She says.

You narrow your eyes at her and your smirk disappears.

“What did you two get up to, any way?” She asks with a twinkle in her magenta eyes.

“Uh, well,” You say in a deadpan tone. “We drank some smoothies, we talked about stuff for a while, looked at the sea, took her to a back alley and fucked her. You know, just usual stuff.”

“Ooh, spicy~!” Izzy says. “You did pull out though, right? I don’t think Sunny’s ready to be a centaur mom.” Izzy says.

You laugh and slowly stand up.

“No worries about that little one.” You say. You pat her on the top of her head. “No worries at all.”