Saturday, September 6th, 908 AB

Cure shuts the door behind him and starts trotting towards the park. He’s a few minutes early, but he figures his parents are probably thrilled to have him out of the house for a slightly-late nooner.

Eh, I always preferred to let the food digest a bit. Nothin’s worse than poundin away and having to pause to let out a huge belch. Well, there are worse things, I suppose, but that was still a major turn-off for her.

Wait… I haven’t belched once like… ever that I recall. It can’t be a “no soda pop” thing, even babies get reflux and burp. Of course milk has lactic acid; I remember it will dissolve a tooth too. Maybe pony dam milk is lactose free? Nah, it can’t be. We wouldn’t be able to stomach cow’s milk if our bodies couldn’t handle lactic acid. Still, not one burp in my entire life I can recall. It must be tied to the whole “ponies can’t vomit” thing.

Looking inside himself quickly finds that there’s absolutely no acid leakage from his stomach. With a mental shrug he can only assume that something is there that humans lack that makes sure the esophagus is a one way street.

Well whatever it is, I sure as hell won’t miss acid reflux. Pony Esophagus-slash-Stomach Engineer dude is getting an altar right next to the Pony Butthole Engineer dude once they bless me with their visages. No Prilosec, no Tums, no Pepcid, no problem.

Approaching the park, Cure immediately spots his current two favorite fillies tearing up the playground equipment. Amethyst is sitting near some other mares watching over the girls and occasionally chatting with them. Once Cure gets close enough for her to spot she smiles broadly and waves him over.

“Well howdy, Cure. How’re ya doin, colt?”

“Pretty good Mrs. Blossom. Glad to see you’re up and about. My mom says she bumped into the four of ya yesterday before the rodeo. Sorry I didn’t come to follow up on ya, it musta just slipped my mind. Yesterday was pretty busy.”

“Yah it sure was. Shame I couldn’t make it to tha rodeo. That fine stallion Thunder Whip won the show ‘n I woulda love ta meet ‘em.”

“Yeah, my mom didn’t know who he was, so she bet against my sire and lost when he lasso’d that green stallion in the finals. She ended up havin to give him a massage when we got home.”

“HA! I bet yer thick headed sire didn’t even think ta give her one, even if she’s carryin his foal.”

Pointing at her with a hoof he shouts, “That’s what I said! I gave him a bit of a hard time for it then told her I’d take care of her after my dam. Huh, I feel kinda cheated… everypony else got a massage but me.”

Snickering next to Amethyst is a light yellow earth pony mare that Cure doesn’t recognize.

“HA! Ya gave both yer dam and mom a massage while that lazy stallion jus laid there? Oh I’m gonna have to give ‘em a whoopin,” she says while glancing towards the house. Looking back to Cure with a smile and a nod she adds, “At least one stallion in that house knows how ta treat a mare.”

“You bet, Mrs. Blossom. A stallion’s gotta treat his mares like the gems they are!" he insists with a serious nod. "To be fair to my sire, though, I think I give a better massage than most ponies ever could.”

Snorting out a laugh, Amethyst turns and pokes the yellow mare while laughing, “Gems! Get a load of this colt, Daisy! Iff’n I didn’t see it while he was talkin I’d swear his tongue’s pure silver!”

Laughing along, Daisy, apparently, nods in agreement. “He sure is a charmer, Amy.” Looking to Cure she adds, “Better watch out, young colt. Yer gonna make the others jealous if you steal all the lil fillies’ hearts.”

Feeling his ears pink a little at the two mares’ teasing, Cure simply nods saying, “I’ll keep that in mind, ma’am. I don’t think there’s enough of us around for anypony to feel left out, though.”

Amethyst turns back to look Cure in the eyes. Letting out a sigh she flicks her snout at him saying, “Hmm… I reckon ya give one Tartarus of a massage, can’t ya colt? Damn I’d pay good money ta find out. Bet yer dam barely survived it, yah?”

“Went two for two, actually. Poor dad didn’t get much of one before he had to cart dam up to bed. Mom was a bit impatient when I offered to get her next. She conked out on my bed before I even made it to her second hoof, same as dam,” Cure explains while keeping an eye out for the fillies. Off in the distance he can see Rising and Sapphire are headed his way.

“HA! Such a good colt.” Following Cure’s eyes, Amethyst spots the girls as well. “Yer gonna make some fillies real happy some day, son. Meeting a couple here today, ainchya?”

“I ran into a few classmates of mine at the rodeo. There should be two others on the way too, but they wanted to all start exercising with me.”

Looking him over Amethyst thinks for a moment. “You look a fair bit leaner’n toned than ya were before.” Motioning him closer, she leans over and whispers, “Cheatin with yer talent?”

“More than any cheat’s ever cheated before, Mrs. Blossom.”

With an approving smile she says, “Good. You master that and nothin’ will ever stop ya. Jus don’t lose yerself, colt. Someponies let that kinda thing go to their head.” Sittin back up she glances towards the girls. “I think yer fillyfriends are ‘bout here, so go have yerself some fun. Take ‘em to the shop later. I’m on foal duty today, but Lemon wants ya to stop by.”

“You bet Mrs. Blossom. Take care.”

Farewells exchanged, Cure heads to meet Rising Pitch and Sapphire Sprint a little ways from the playground equipment. He spots Delta Coast off in the distance and coming from the direction of town is Dawn Glow… along with a slightly familiar looking unicorn stallion.

“Hey Cure!” Sapphire shouts while running up. “Was that yer mom?”

“Nope, just a neighbor I helped the other day.”

Rising glances towards Amethyst and looks over the playground equipment. “Oh, is that the mare that was sick you were foalsitting for? I think I see the same fillies on the slide.”

“Yep, that’s Amethyst Blossom. The girls do stand out, what with their mirrored colors, don’t they?” With a nod from Rising he mentions Amethyst's offer, “After we’re done she wants us to go to her wife’s shop. Remember I said her and Lemon Sweet own a candy store in town?” At Rising’s “yep” he continues, “She said to stop by when we’re done and to bring you all along if ya want to.”

Sapphire looks like she’s about to light up. Apparently somepony has a sweet tooth. Rising is all for it too, and when Delta Coast gets close enough to be filled in she's excited to go also.

Looking in Dawn’s direction, Cure cycles a bit of magic through his eyes. They’re still over a half mile away, but from the looks of it the stallion, or maybe older colt, with Dawn looks far too young to be her sire. “Do any of you know if Dawn has an older brother?”

Following his eyes, all three fillies look towards the approaching unicorns. Coast nods and explains, “Yep, that’s Solar Strike, her only sibling. She said he’s gonna join the guard after the new year when he turns sixteen.”

Cure turns his enhanced vision off and looks to the girls. “Huh, neat. I’m considering maybe doing that some day. Have any of you thought about it?”

Both Sapphire and Coast nod with “dunno, maybe” answers while Rising seems to be wholly disinterested. As a group, Cure and the three fillies go to meet up with Dawn and find out why her brother’s tagging along.

Solar Strike is about a hoof and a half shorter than Cure estimates Mr. Binder to be. Cure’s guess is that he’d just gotten his mark within the last year or two, assuming the explanation from his parents is accurate, so his first year in the service is probably going to be pretty rough if he has to compete with older, stronger, more mature stallions.

Approaching the group, Dawn smiles brightly and greets everypony. After a quick round of “hello”s she waves to her brother to introduce him as well. Cure can’t shake the feeling he’s met this colt, but he knows for a fact he hasn’t. Frustrated by the confusion, he finally asks.

“Hey Solar… you seem like, really familiar to me. Have we met before?”

Dawn freezes on the spot, Cure notices. The red colt smiles and shakes his head. “No, but I’m pretty sure you met our sire a couple days ago. He was one of the guards that got called out when a certain somepony called for help.”

“Ah. He’s the medic isn’t he? I remember now… he was looking at Wind Shear while Corporal Sabot was getting our contact info.” Looking at Dawn he asks, "Why didn't you say something last night?"

With a glum look she mumbles, "I didn't know if you'd be upset," only letting out a relieved sigh when he waves a forehoof with a "Pfft, no way."

“That was him. Good memory, Cure. Shame about all that mess. Our sire came home cursin up a storm at Washout’s behavior. Said it was a shameful mark against the town guard.”

“His name's Washout?” Cure asks in an amused tone.

“I don’t know his actual name… Tailwind something, I think… Washout’s just what our sire calls him. He… has a reputation.”

Cringing a bit, Cure explains, "I could see how. I didn’t like what I had to do, but I didn’t have a lot of options. I don’t think the optics were very good, though, havin a younger earth pony getting the third degree from an armored pegasus guard. That one mare almost bit his head off,” he finishes with a chuckle.

Nodding in agreement Solar gives Cure a somewhat surprised look, “That's a good point. Not one I'd expect from somepony your age, honestly. That’s the same thing dad said. Said with so many other earth ponies around it may cause distrust if they didn’t discipline him. He’s got shipped over to Fort Meadow down south just a bit. He won’t be back for a couple months, just in time for Hearth’s Warming.”

Dawn takes the moment’s pause to jump in. “Solar’s gonna jog with us if you’re okay with it, Cure. He’s looking to get in shape enough to join the guard and, since he’s younger and just got his mark last year, he’s gotta really work at it.” With a pink hue to her ears she adds, “I told him how strong you were and he said he’d like to come too.”

“Yep, she sure did,” Solar starts, “She told us your special talent is to help ponies get healthy. Well if you can lend me a hoof I’d sure be grateful. I’m worried that if I can’t pass Basic Training I’ll hafta wait a whole year to try again.”

“He’s been working really hard, Cure. I hope you don’t mind?” Dawn adds in a pleading voice.

“No… of course not,” Cure says, waving away any concern. With a smile and a respectful nod he adds, “That’s downright respectable, Solar. I’d be proud to help a future guardspony. I don’t have anything against them after that fiasco; that had nothin to do with the guard at all, just an overprotective sire. As long as you’re okay getting help from somepony so much younger, that is?”

Scoffing at the idea, Solar just grins back. “Pfft, eight or twenty eight doesn’t matter to me. If your special talent is helpin ponies get healthy and you're willin to lend a hoof I would be dumb not to at least ask for it. I'll definitely owe ya one if you can help me get ready.”

“Okay, well, before we get started I do have to talk about my special talent for a few minutes. Everypony is listening, right?”

Sapphire, Coast, and Rising had been chatting a bit on the side, but they all snap to attention with Cure’s calling for them.

“Okay, good. So the plan for today is to head south of the park, past where I live. There’s a pond down there that’s perfect for cooling off when we’re done. I know that’s more convenient for me, so if anypony doesn't want to do that, just speak up and we can run around the park instead… it’s not too warm out today, probably because of the front movin in for the storm tonight.”

Looking at the group, Cure gives everypony a chance to speak up. They all just glance around at each other, which Cure takes as an agreement. “Okay, now the next part is something I really want to keep quiet. Solar, Dawn, I don’t know if it’s the same for unicorns, but several earth pony families are always afraid that a foal with a useful special talent will have nobles come down from the mountain and secret them away.”

Dawn and Solar look taken aback. Glancing at the other three girls for confirmation both Rising and Coast grimace a bit and nod. “I don’t know if they’re serious, but I’ve heard my parents say stuff like that. I told my dam about my plans today and that was one of the first things she said, in fact,” Rising explains.

“Huh… Well, more ponies must already know about my talent than I realized.”

“The other day when you were headed to town…” Coast starts. At Cure’s look she explains, “When you and your dam were goin to the library. You told Heavy that your special talent is helping ponies be healthy and about your leg healing fast. Everypony was talking when you left… they said they gotta keep an eye out for ya so nopony comes to take ya.”

Cure can feel his ears falling at the implication. “Oh. Wow. I… had no idea.”

Dawn looks up to her brother with wide-eyed worry and asks, “Is that something that actually happens?”

Solar, caught completely off guard by the whole conversation, just looks at everypony, shakes his head in confusion and shrugs, “I’ve never heard of this at all. I have no idea. We can ask our sire if you want, Cure. You said this is something a lot of earth ponies worry about?”

“I dunno. It seems that way. My sire said something first, but I kinda wrote him off as just being paranoid. Then somepony else, completely separately, told my dam something similar." Considering the fact his neighbors are apparently covering his back, Cure can only smile in relief at the community's solidarity. "It’s kinda cool that everypony is lookin out for me. I wonder if that’s why they all came runnin when I yelled for help.”

“HA! You’re serious?” Solar asks. At Cure’s look he goes on, “Cure, I was at home. Inside. I heard you yell,” in a fake yell voice he says “this guard is threatening me” then continues, “all the way up in my bedroom while I was reading. I almost came to see what was up. How in the hay did you do that from here anyhow?”

“Uhh… a strong diaphragm?”

Looking at the younger colt’s chest, Solar slowly nods, “I guess so… jeez. You earth ponies are ridiculous with how strong ya get.”

Dawn looks between the two, then at the other fillies. “Is it really that much of a difference?”

Solar scoffs and looks at her. “In raw strength? Yes. It’s not even close. I’ve been studying up for the guard,” he pauses to wave a hoof at Cure, “I'm over three hooves taller and about double his weight and he’s probably as strong as me. Want to show ‘em, Cure?”

“What do you have in mind?”

“Nothin fancy, just come over here and put a hoof against mine and push me back. Please don’t smash my frog, okay?”

“I can try…”

Standing on three legs, Solar puts his larger hoof straight out. Cure stands opposite to him with his hoof lined up so it won’t slip and go into the gap where Solar’s frog is, reaching up a bit to meet the taller colt. Once their lined up Solar nods and says, “Go ahead, dude. Push a bit.”

Initially, Cure just uses his muscles, anchoring himself on the three hooves with his TK field. He can feel Solar pushing back, but not enough to move him. After a few seconds he channels a bit of magic into his muscles and pushes forward, pulling with his front hoof that’s on the ground.

The young unicorn is pushed back hard enough to begin lifting off the ground before the two separate and back away from each other.

“Yeah… totally unfair. When you’re all grown up you’d be able to toss me over a building. A kilometer away. Your talent’s ridiculous, Cure. Perfect for an earth pony if ya ask me.”

“Huh… I hadn’t thought of it from that angle. Being "as healthy as possible" is a very “earth pony” talent, isn’t it? I was originally thinking a unicorn with the talent to help other ponies get back to full health would make more sense, but…”

“You realized you can heal just the same as a unicorn would, you just have to be touching somepony?” Dawn guessed.

“Yep. No horn, no range,” Cure blurts out without thinking, then does his best not to panic as it dawns on him what he just said.

"Wait... this is like... an active ability?" Solar asks.

Ah shit. I should have known a unicorn would know a lot more about magic than everypony I’ve dealt with so far.

Given the lack of props available, Cure doesn't see any way to disguise or obscure his ability. With a slow nod he answers the question to Solar's widening eyes. "Wow... Well, if I’m ever hurt real bad I hope you're not upset if I come crawlin your way."

Thinking for a moment, Solar finally connects the dots. “So… I’m guessing that your talent lets you heal muscles after each workout. That’s how you, as Dawn said,” he pauses to smirk at his sister, “got so ripped in just a week. Your getting several times the benefit of each workout... and you can just keep going and going, so each workout is way more intense." Slowly shaking his head he adds, "That's just so unfair...”

Cure can’t help but smile at Dawn’s glow, again. “Ah. Living up to yer name, there, Sunrise. She have anything else flattering to say about my hot body?” he asks while flexing a bit in his chest and forelegs. All four girls eyes immediately snap in his direction while Solar cracks up at their expressions.

“C’mon Cure, she is my sister, after all. Maybe I’ll tell ya after a week or two, sound good?”

“HA! You bet. So anyhow, part of my talent lets me see what’s wrong with a pony, okay?”

“So you can probably see everything like my sire says his diagnostic spells can, can’t you? I guess you'd have to so you know what needs healing.”

“Yes. I assume, at least… it’s not like I can cast those spells.”

“So, just to be sure, you do realize that there’s no simple spell he’s ever heard of to “heal” anypony, right?”

“I was told that no such spells exist, but that came from an earth pony, so I wasn't sure...”

“And that’s why your parents are worried somepony is gonna come snatch ya away?”

“Yep.”

“That… actually sounds like something that could happen, assuming that’s something that ever happens. Well, if it sets your mind at ease," Sitting on his haunches, Solar straightens to his full height and places a hoof over his heart, "I swear by the Sun, Moon, and Stars that, barring a direct order from Her Highness and except in situations of life or death, I will tell no soul of what you can do.”

“Actually… Yes, that’s kind of a huge relief. Thank you." Taking a deep breath, Cure lets out the worry that had been building since the start of the conversation. After a calming ten count he turns to the fillies who have been chatting amongst themselves. “Okay, ladies," he calls, once again getting their attention, "What Solar was saying is that when I use my special talent on a pony it works like a diagnostic spell. I take patient confidentiality very seriously, though, so barring life or death situations I would never betray that trust.”

Looking between the four he continues, “When I’m in doctor mode I’ll be a lot more serious, so no jokes or comments or anything like that either. If you don’t want me to use my talent on you I will understand, I promise. You’d still be welcome to exercise with us, but you’ll definitely see far, far slower progress.”

“So… you can see like… everything?” Sapphire asks hesitantly, heavily emphasizing the word.

“Yes. Everything. I’m not going to sugar coat it. I’ve used it on myself plenty, obviously. Our bodies can be kind of gross, especially all the digestion bits, but I’ll always do what I can to remain professional about it. I know how much trust it takes to let someone see you like that. I would never blab to somepony else about your medical info. Take this seriously, just like you would with an actual doctor.”

Though they were initially blushing, each one stopped to consider that.

“Well dude, I’m not worried at all. Our sire has scanned us with his diagnostic spells plenty of times and if your talent works like yer saying you'll end up see thousands of ponies in your life, so what's one more? Go ahead,” he says, holding a hoof out.

“You may feel a sensation like a breeze blowing over your coat. Let me know if you notice anything else. This is still kind of new for me.” At Solar’s nod he reaches out and touches his hoof, activating his mark and performing a scan of the older colt.

Cure can tell that he is probably at least a year away from finishing growing. His growth plates are still open, indicating he’s still in puberty, and there’s no sign of any of them fusing yet. Overall Solar’s health seems great. He clearly has been running a lot, likely for the last year, though. Cure can feel his attention being drawn to the colt’s knees and ankles.

Glancing at the girls that are keenly watching the two colts, Cure looks back to Solar. “Umm… know how to do a privacy bubble thing?”

“Nope!” Instead, the pair step away a few meters or so and Solar leans down so Cure can whisper to him.

“You’ve been running a lot to get in shape, haven’t you?” Solar simply nods yes. “It looks like you’re dealing with sore knees and ankles… I bet that sucks at night, huh?”

“Like you wouldn’t believe dude. Sometimes I just lay in bed with an icepack on each knee.”

“Want me to help with that?”

Nodding emphatically, Solar immediately agrees. “Very much yes. Please,” he says, holding out a hoof again.

Pointing out the targets, Cure lets his magic go to work. Though it’s only been a few days he estimates his magic capacity has increased by somewhere around ten percent. Mentally, he compares it to when someone first starts going to the gym and sees those initial big gains. Considering he was starting from nothing, whatever “muscle” he’s using has definitely gotten a lot more work over the last week.

Still, there’s not enough gas in the tank to completely fix the problem and still have enough left over for the exercising, fatigue removal, and recovery buffs he plans on giving out. Once he feels like he’s spent about a third of his total magic he eases back.

With the knee and ankles shored up, Cure sends a last general “remove fatigue” pulse through his hoof, then breaks the connection. “Okay, well, you will hopefully find that your knees and ankles are a whole lot better from here on out. I can’t promise they’ll be back to 100%... that may take a couple more shots, but definitely better.”

“Awesome. I’m gonna end up owing you a lot, aren’t I?”

“Friends don’t count favors, dude.”

With a smile and a nod, Solar holds out a hoof again. Being a total bro and all, Cure gives it a solid bump, returning the nod.
The two then make their way back to the girls with Cure explaining, “Patient confidentiality” to their expectant looks.

“It’s okay, Cure.” Looking at the girls he shrugs and explains, “I just get sore knees and ankles from exercise. No big deal, Cure gave them a little push and hopefully after a few more treatments I’ll be right as rain.”

“Well, it’s your info, so sure,” Cure says, waving a hoof. “So… ladies? No pressure, feel free to say no right now and think it over. You don’t have to decide right this second, just please don’t go telling everypony? I don’t expect oaths from anypony, just that I can trust you with what you've learned today.”

“Go ahead, Cure,” Dawn says, holding a hoof out.

“How about we step over to my “office” so you have at least some modicum of privacy.”

“The tree?” she asks, brow raised.

“I'm a big fan of open floor plans," he says, motioning around then. With a shrug he adds, "I guess it could use a little decorating. I’ll hang a painting or something next week."

With a giggle Dawn follows Cure to the same spot he’d taken Solar.

Dawn’s vision was... not quite terrible, but pretty bad. Definitely bad enough that she should have had glasses. Cure was actually surprised she didn’t have them already, but when questioned about it she didn’t seem to realize how bad her vision actually was. She’d almost leapt on Cure right there when the world came into focus and sharpened to a degree she had no memory of ever seeing. Apparently being able to see really well is super important for unicorn magic, so getting a bump to slightly better than 20/20 is a huge deal to her.

“Sweet Celestia, Cure! This is amazing!” she yelled while looking around. Solar had approached when she wrapped him in a hug just to make sure his sister was okay, but was now sitting back laughing at the colt that she kept bumping against and nuzzling.

“Jeez Dawn, stop markin the poor colt!” he’d yelled, which caused her to turn almost pure crimson. The other girls were sympathetic, but even they were giggling at the embarrassed unicorn.

“It’s okay, Dawn. I know you’re excited. C’mon, we still need to go running at some point.”

Seeing him keep his promise to act mature and not talk about what he found, the other three had no objection to trusting him.

All four fillies are actually in good shape overall. They each had some minor dental issues that were brewing, all of which he offered to take care of and some minor bruises just from being active children that only committed a little magic towards, figuring they can mostly heal on their own.

“Okay, so the way I see this going down, we’ll do a quick canter to the woods near my house. I went running there with my family yesterday, so I got a feel for the area. We’ll go hard for a kilometer at a time which should take about four to five minutes, then we’ll pause to recover for a minute, then go again.”

At everypony’s nod he continued, “If we start overheating we’ll go for a dip in the pond and, if we still have energy afterwards, we can go again. Solar, since you’re so much taller, if you want to stay ahead of us you can do sprints, then double back, then sprint ahead again.”

“I’m not so sure I’m in shape for that yet, dude. I’ll stick with you all at first.”

“Alright, everypony follow me.”

The exercise had gone fairly well, though Cure had to routinely use his short range aura to buff Dawn. He also had to slow the pace as the other three fillies were not actively channeling magic like he and his parents had been. They still did far better than the young unicorn, so clearly just passive magic still gave earth ponies a rather large edge on physical activity.

Cure keeps his “Get Swol” routine off of himself, no longer needing it to ease fatigue or buff his muscles. Despite the small drain of keeping Dawn moving he is able to keep his usage at about the same level as it felt like he was recharging, only really draining a bit when he had to stop and give everypony else a pick-me-up.

The group ran for nearly a solid hour before Solar and, especially Dawn, looked like they were reaching their mental limit. Cure had estimated they’d covered at least ten kilometers, though he had no way to nail down the exact figure.

Wading into the pond with the others, he stopped and plopped down where the water would completely cover his back with Dawn and Coast on his left and Sapphire and Rising on his right in a semicircle. Solar sat opposite of them a little farther in, though no more submerged due to his taller barrel.

“Well… I’m definitely gonna need to pig out at dinner. Make sure each of you eat a bunch too if you’re going to join me for this often. Your body will need the fuel, trust me.”

“You’re freaking nuts, Cure. How often do you do that?” Sapphire asked, ignoring the other nodding fillies.

“That’s actually the longest I’ve run. My family and I did a bit less yesterday before the rodeo.”

“The farthest you’ve run?!" Solar nearly shouts. "That’s the farthest I’ve run, and I’ve been running all year to get in shape. And my legs feel fine. Still, I feel just kinda... wore out, ya know?" Shaking his head he continues, "You’re straight up ridiculous, Cure. Do you have any idea what the guard would do to have you training soldiers like this?”

“Yes, hence the foalnapping fear.”

“Yeah, that all may be made up, but I could imagine it. Stars, the princess herself would probably give you a title to keep you around. You could be a noble yourself someday. That’s what Knights are, ya know?”

“I didn’t know she ever knights a pony.”

“She doesn’t often, but when ponies do something amazing to contribute to the nation they can get knighted.”

“Eh, something to consider. It’s not like we need super soldier guards right now. Besides, I don’t have enough magic to do anything that big.”

“Just keep using it, Cure. That’ll grow as you do, especially if you’re using a lot,” Solar reassures him.

“How come we can’t use magic?” Rising asks with a pout.

“You can,” Solar explains. “As an earth pony you're using it all the time. That’s why you were able to keep up so much easier than Dawn was. It’ll also depend on your special talent, like Cure's. If your special talent turns out to be related to your name, which it often does, maybe you’ll find it easier to make great music or sing really well.”

“Huh… so that’s how that works,” she mumbles.

“Yep, for us the more we exercise the more we use,” Cure agreed. “Did any of you feel anything when I used it on you?”

“Just what you said, a breeze over my coat,” Coast says. “Anypony else?”

“It felt like our sire’s spell when you scanned us. I didn’t feel anything but maybe a little itch in my knees when ya healed me.”

“I didn’t feel anything in my eyes when you fixed ‘em. I could see it, though, obviously.”

“Yeah, I felt a little tickle feeling in my tooth,” Sapphire adds, “it kinda went down into my jaw a bit too.”

“I didn’t notice anything at all, Cure,” Rising says.

“Okay, good to know. If I do become a doctor I’ll have a better idea of what to tell patients what to expect… that way nopony is surprised when they feel something. Thanks, everypony.”

“Pfft… you’re thanking us?” Sapphire asks, looking incredulous. “I don't think running is very fun, but it felt great to just keep moving like that!”

“Well, I’m glad it wasn’t awful. Exercise can be, especially if you’re not seeing any benefit,” Cure says, only pausing while Solar mutters a “no doubt.” “If everypony else is fine with it, how about we just relax in the water for a bit and then we head into town to check out Lemon’s store before it gets too late.”

With agreements all around everypony starts piddling around in the water. Coast and Dawn head into deeper water to swim around a bit, Sapphire goes and lays on her side in the grass near the shore. Rising and Solar just kind of sit there.

“Hey Solar?”

“Hmm?”

“I’ve been wondering, have you read anything about the whole grabbing field thing we can do with our hooves?”

“Oh the touch telekinesis ponies have? What about it?”

“I was just kind of curious what you know about it. Other than "we grab things" my parents didn't have much to offer.”

“Sorry to disappoint, but same here. Unicorns and pegasi don’t benefit from it much since it gets stronger if the pony is stronger. I think you can train it like your muscles and your magic, but no unicorn ever does since we can just levitate stuff,” he explains, lifting a "bowl" of water out of the lake in his yellow aura before setting it back down.

“Why don’t pegasi?”

“Way less muscle, so it’s nowhere near as strong as yours would be. C’mere,” he says, holding out a hoof. Cure puts his hoof against the older colt’s again. “Okay, I’m going to push your hoof off with mine, grab on and don’t let me.” Cure follows Solar’s instructions and, with almost no effort, is able to keep Solar from pushing him away.

“See? That’s why earth ponies form the front line. A strong earth pony is worth a half dozen unicorns up close. Probably more. You’ll never see a squad of just unicorns anywhere because of that and, again, the strength thing. Keep that in mind if you ever get in a fight, you could accidentally really hurt somepony if you hit them in the head.”

“Jeez… I didn’t realize there was such a difference,” Rising says.

“Me neither,” Cure agrees with a nod. “Just this morning I was talking with my parents about history. I was wondering how in the world earth ponies defended themselves before the unification, especially from pegasi with the whole air superiority thing.”

“They propably either paid or enslaved unicorns, or used nets, javelin, or just killed off their crops so they were too hungry to fight back. A pegasus on the ground was likely dead meat back then.” Solar explained, “and a unicorn that was too tired, hungry, or out of magic was even worse off. There’s a reason that two thirds of the guard are earth ponies.”

“I figured the range advantage or flight mitigated all that.”

“HA! They're expensive to make and maintain, but if you put an earth pony in enchanted armor most unicorns won't have the power to punch through it fast enough to matter. Put a whole squad in it and those unicorns better be throwing big rocks and logs while running, or better, teleporting away. If they even can teleport. That’s not something I can do yet.”

“And that’s not even getting into the endurance thing. I’ve been training all year and these three fillies that are two-thirds my height did better than me.” Looking at Rising he adds, “No offense,” which she just shrugs to. “I don’t know how the unicorns back then survived because magic is exhausting. If ya can’t fight and can’t run and are starving then what do you do?”

“Bargain?” Cure suggests.

“Or surrender. Or avoid open battle, if you can. Either way I’m glad we’re past all that stupidity. If some unicorn ever tries something on ya, a tiny tap to their horn while they’re using it and they’ll be hurtin bad. Just don’t snap it off. That can be fatal.”

“Yeah, the base of it is really close to your brain. It’s actually part of your cranium. That seems like something evolution would have rectified over the years. It can take a hit, granted, but with the positioning I wouldn't recommend risking it. Maybe once unicorn ancestors started using their horns they just did a good enough job avoiding hurting them that it never came up.”

“I guess so, dude. You really are smart for your age. When did they teach you about evolution?”

“They haven’t,” Rising points out, “how the hay do you know this stuff, Cure?”

“I’ve spent a lot of time reading. I’m also learning a lot from my parents. I will probably go to Baltimare to get tested to see if I can be homeschooled sometime in the next few weeks. I’ve really learned a lot just in the last week, so maybe it’s part of my talent too since biology is related to health and all.”

“So unfair…” Solar comments.

“You’re not going to be in school?!” Rising asks loudly, getting the attention of the other girls.

Cure, now somewhat surrounded, explains, “Uhh… I will be for at least the first few weeks but it depends on how well I test how long I’ll stay there, or for what classes maybe. Who knows? I don’t know how the whole homeschooling thing works right now.”

“But… that means we’ll only see you when we go running!” Sapphire whines with big pouty eyes. It is super effective.

Unprepared for the attack, Cure acts on instinct to ward off the sad pony eyes. “Umm… we walked right by my house on the way here. I pointed it out. I’m allowed to do stuff outside it. There’s no reason we can’t do stuff outside of school too, not just run.”

Solar just snickers in the background, completely unhelpful to his fellow colt. Cure looks at him for help, which makes him laugh even harder, especially after he makes a “wha-piiish” whip noise at Cure who scowls back.

The girls, ignorant of the exchange, excitedly clap at all the ideas they trade back and forth about spending time with him outside of school.

Trying to change the subject, Cure asks the group, “Uhh, well I’m all cooled off… we ready to go get some candy?”

“We’ll swing by our place on the way, Cure. It’s close to the shop. I’ll treat tonight since you’re doing me such a huge favor. The least I can do is buy your fillies some candy,” the traitor offers with a shit-eating grin.

With a deadpan look, Cure thanks the older colt. “Such a bro. Thanks dude. I’m super glad my new friend has my back.”

“HA! You bet, little bro,” he says, mussing up Cure’s mane. “C’mon,” he says, wading to the shore.

The trot to the store would have only taken about twenty five minutes, if it weren’t for the detour to Dawn’s and Solar’s house. Cure and their sire, Sergeant Gleaming Haze apparently, recognized each other, but other than a smile and a greeting nod the two didn’t interact. Sadly, that didn’t stop him from enjoying the show. Dawn’s dam, Emerald Aura, had absolutely no reservations about interrogating the colt that her daughter was obviously showing an interest in, despite his age.

“Real estate?”

“Yes ma’am. Residential only, as far as I know. He started around when I was born, but he’s had a lot more success since he and my mom met. Do you work in business, ma’am?”

“No, I work as an assistant at the clinic in town.”

“Oh, nice, you’re both in health care in a way," Cure observes, looking between Dawn's parents. "You see, there’s a very big difference between the type of personality that does good with other ponies compared to the type of personality that’s great at doing paperwork. I’m sure you’ve had to work with doctors that are brilliant from a technical standpoint, but have poor bedside manner, right?”

“Yeah…”

“Well my sire is great at the “bedside manner” part of business, but it’s my mom that excels at the "technical" side like organizing paperwork. That’s how they ended up together," he proudly declares. With a soft smile he explains, "They were such good partners on the job that they decided to become partners in life too. Since then they’ve been very successful. They closed on two houses in just the last two days, for example.”

With a thoughtful look, Emerald agrees, “Huh. I guess that makes sense. And your dam?”

Pointing both hooves at himself he gives a light chuckle. “She took on the “dealing with the annoying colt” job, the more challenging of the three if you ask me,” he adds with a smirk. “Now that my parents are having a lot more success in their business she’ll be the one raising foals. My mom’s got one on the way now and I wouldn’t be surprised if my dam does too before the month’s out.”

Pinking in the ears a bit, Emerald noted, “You’re rather blunt about that, aren’t you?”

With a perplexed look Cure stares up at Emerald, cants his head to the side slightly and asks, “What do you mean? It’d be great to have another little brother or sister. They told me to expect another sibling on the way soon. Is there something I don’t know?” he asks, briefly glancing at everypony with a confused look.

Solar is barely holding back a laugh at his dam’s conflicted look.

“Umm… don’t worry about it, you’re too young to think about such things.”

“Okay, well that’s fine. I’m just happy my sire keeps giving me bits to go get candy and ice cream every evening. I just don’t understand how bringing my dam candy all the time is going to help me get a little sister, but the first night I ran there and back super fast and he said I should really take my time because if the candy gets shaken up too much it won’t work as well.”

“Uhh.”

“Hey are those chocolates over there on the table?” Cure asks, pointing a hoof.

“Yeah…”

“OH!” Turning to face Dawn, Cure claps his hooves a couple times, then wraps her in a big hug. “Congratulations, Sunrise! Are you excited to have a little sister on the way too?” he shouts while gently twisting her back and forth.

Both Solar and Gleaming snort out a laugh at the shade Emerald turns. With a panicky "uhh" the frozen filly is even worse and, from the lack of blush, the only one not in the know is Sapphire, who’s looks at the darkened pair of Coast and Rising and asks, "Dawn's gonna have a little sister?"

Releasing the unicorn he smiles broadly back to her dam. “Well speaking of candy, I still need to get to Lemon Sweet’s store and pick up the night’s delivery. We went for a really long run this afternoon so I hope my parents aren’t upset that I've been gone so long.”

Turning to look at her husband and son Emerald waves a hoof in Cure’s direction and whispers, “Is he messing with me?” slightly too loudly to not be heard. Both stallions simply shrug in response with Gleaming mouthing “dunno” back.

Turning to give Cure a critical eye, she doesn’t immediately spot any deception on the innocent colt’s face.

“Well… you should probably go, then. Dawn?”

Finally coming back to awareness, she looks up and asks, “Yes, dam?”

“Listen to your brother. I want you back before dinner. Here’s some bits, sweetie.”

“Okay!”

With that, Solar, the four fillies, and Cure make their escape.

Once they’re far enough away both Solar and Cure start cracking up. “Dude. That was awesome,” Solar, says, holding his hoof out for a bump.

Not one to leave a pony hanging, Cure taps it while laughing, “I’m pretty sure she didn’t really buy it, but what can you really do? I’m eight after all.”

“I can’t believe you messed with my mom like that, Cure,” Dawn says with a huff. “I know I’m going to get quizzed again when we get home,” she finishes with a sigh.

“What? I’m just an innocent, naïve colt trying to help his poor parents by bringing them the candy they need so he can have a little brother or sister. What’s everypony talking about?” he says with a straight face.

Rising and Coast can’t hold back. Even though they’re blushing they burst out laughing at the load of manure he’s shoveling.

Sapphire just looks back and forth and, finally tired of missing the joke, asks, “I don’t get it. What are you all talking about?”

“We’re talking about how foals are made, Sapphire. I’m guessing nopony has given you the talk yet?” Dawn asks.

“What talk? My dam said every foal is a star that falls into the dam and gives them a baby.”

With a raised eyebrow Dawn looks from Sapphire to the other two girls. “Should… we tell her?”

“I dunno, Dawn… That’s kinda something a parent should tackle, don’t ya think?” Coast asks.

“I’m staying out of this completely. Way too cringey for me. Plus, I’m at that age where I shouldn’t be commenting at all, so good luck with that,” Solar says while distancing himself a little from the fillies.

“Chicken. Smart, though,” Cure agrees. “I can give you the medical explanation if you’d like, Sapphire, but I’ll keep it purely clinical and I don’t want to hear you twisting my words or anything. I’m going to tell you first that you’ll probably be blushing when you hear and will probably feel embarrassed.”

“That’s okay. Tell me!”

“A male and female have different body parts, as I’m sure you’ve noticed." At her "uh huh" he continues, "When a mare goes through estrus a tiny egg forms in her womb. When the male and female engage in a specific intimate act the egg gets fertilized, then stays inside the mare and eventually becomes a foal. Nine months later, roughly, the foal is fully grown and the mare gives birth. The end.”

“Oh. What’s embarrassing about that? And why did my dam say it’s a star?”

"Many ponies act embarrassed when the “intimate act” part is brought up," he explains. "They shouldn’t be, though. It’s an important part of life and something that nopony should be ashamed of."

“You seem… uhh… a little too familiar with how a baby is made, Cure,” Solar notes.

“I’ve been reading nothing but medical books for the last week. I know exactly how a baby is made. Like I said, clinical explanation, even if the egg part's not completely accurate. You’re not gonna make me blush, dude. I can promise you that. I got an entirely too ridiculous explanation from my sire too.”

“Oof. I bet that sucked.”

"Objectively, it was freaking hilarious. He went on this big spiel about the tribes and how some "closets" could be too small and it may take some "coat oil" so you don't break the "door frame" pushing more than just your "head" in so you can reach the "back shelf" where the "maple seed" needs to be "deposited" or whatever."

Solar is shaking his head and chuckling in disbelief at the ridiculous explanation, mumbling "oh my stars" the whole time. The three girls are all glowing while Sapphire just looks on confused again.

"The best part was how my dam, who was present for the whole thing, mind you, full body tackled him to get him to stop. If it wasn't coming from my own sire with my dam right there I woulda died laughing."

"HA! That's awesome. Your sire sounds pretty cool. My talk was all awkward and stammer-y and dad barely finished before he was outta the room."

Dawn, leaning closer to Coast and Rising, asks them something that Cure can't make out. Giving the girls their privacy, Solar and Cure trot a bit away from the four and chat for the rest of the short trip.

Sweet Blossom's Sugar Emporium is a cute little candy store just a little ways from the train station, and Cure is impressed with how much is available for purchase in the storefront area. He can't see into the back much, but it looks like the pair have a decent sized operation going on back there.

The shop reminds Cure of the various candy and fudge stores he'd taken his family to in the touristy areas like Myrtle Beach, Gatlinburg, and Wisconsin Dells. He isn't sure how it can do enough business in a small town to stay open, but there's no denying that it beats the hell out of the store he'd gone to the other night.

I bet, being within a minute trot of the train station, this place gets busy as all get out around the morning and evening commute times. Lemon must do a decent amount of mail-order business to Baltimare too. Then again ponies are some gluttonous beasts with treats. All three of those hogs finished the candy before bed the other night.

Walking in the store, Cure paid no mind to the four fillies that'd been deep in whispered conversation for much of the way. He'd no more than gotten in the door when, alerted by the bell, Lemon poked her head out of the back room. With a big grin she looked over the group, finished whatever she was working on, and came out from behind the counter.

Cure certainly wasn't prepared when she picked him up, wrapped him in a hug, and planted a big smooch right between his ears. "Cure! You finally made it! Oh and look at all these adorable fillies you brought!" Setting him down, she leans close and whispers "do they know?" into his ear.

"Hi Mrs. Sweet. Yeah, they know how I can heal ponies and help 'em stay healthy. I ran into Mrs. Blossom at the park with the fillies a bit ago, by the way. I'm glad to see they're all doing well."

Reading between the lines she smiles brightly and nods, "Yep! All thanks to our little miracle colt! I've got a few things for you and your little sweethearts! And, I'm guessing, you're this one's older brother?" she asks, nodding to Dawn.

"Yep! This is Solar Strike," Cure starts, then points to Dawn, "Dawn Glow's older brother and our chaperone. He's asked to join us for exercises so he can get ready to join the guard in January."

"Ah! Good thinkin, young stallion. Cure'll get ya in shape in no time. So who're these three lovely young fillies? I know I've seen ya all here before but I never got names."

Going from left to right, Cure names each one off. "Delta Coast, Sapphire Sprint, and Rising Pitch. We're going to all start meeting once or twice a week to go for runs or whatever."

All four fillies and Solar exchange greetings with Lemon.

"Gotcha. Well I'm glad you came by. I dunno if Cure told ya, but he and his dam helped us out an awful lot the other day. Cure, honey, go pick out a gift pack for each of ya and if you see anything else you'd like just say the word."

All five make their way to the display case and start looking through for what they'd like. Lemon offers Solar some candies too but he declines, citing his need to shape up.

Making their selections, the five bring everything up to the register. Lemon just waves them away after seeing which items she needs to restock, thanking Cure again before leaning close to whisper, "Yer dam said maybe there were some other services you could offer. Come by some time and I promise you'll never go wanting as long as I'm in business, colt."

With "thank you"s all around and a promise to come back soon from Cure the group departs, stopping at the small tables outside to crack open their packs.

"So Cure," Rising starts, "that seemed like you did more than just some foalsitting to me. This must be thirty bits worth of candy, let alone scooping ya up like that."

"Yeah, what gives?" Sapphire asks, "Did you sit for them like several times?"

"Well, the three of you remember at the park I said Amethyst was sick?"

Solar puts it together first. Leaning down he quietly asks, "Your talent cures illness too, doesn't it?" At Cure's nod he lets out a sigh and mumbles, "Of course it does. Cure, dude… " Unsure what to even say, the unicorn colt trails off speechless.

"Yeah, I know."

"What?" Sapphire asks, looking between the two.

"Cure's talent is ridiculous, Sapphire," Rising explains. "Don't worry about it. Just don't tell a soul, understand?"

"Okay!"

"What's your special talent, Solar?" Coast asks.

Turning, he shows his mark, a large yellow beam shooting down with orange lines pointing away from the impact. "I'm really good with beam attacks, especially ones with a lot of heat. I can actually melt steel if I really push it! Unfortunately that kinda taps me out for a while, though."

After a round of excited exclamations from everypony Cure's curiosity gets the better of him. "Is there an actual firing range you can practice on with a talent like that?"

"Yeah, just a little north out of town, why?"

"Eh… was just curious about something I've read in a book somewhere. I was wondering if it was close enough to your talent that you could do it."

"Well… what were you thinking about? I can try it next time I'm practicing."

Alright, let's see if I can properly butcher this idea to make it believable...

"Okay… so in this story a character finds this thing called a helios ray, okay?" Getting nods all around he continues, "Well he can't figure out what it does and even when he pushes the button on it nothing happens. Eventually he finds a way to power it up and when he hits the button a beam shoots from the sun at what he's aiming at."

"Okay…"

"Well if your talent is heat beams, and your name is Solar Strike, maybe you have the ability to summon a heat beam from the sun to protect ponies from big, dangerous monsters. You did say that our special talents are often related to names."

"Huh. That sounds kinda wild, Cure. I'm pretty sure I can't do that."

"Have ya tried?"

"I can't say that I have."

"Well, just maybe keep it in mind if you wanna try it someday. Who knows, it may work."

"Sure…"

"Wear eye protection and aim far away from everypony, just in case."

"HAH! I'll keep that in mind, dude."

"So, ladies… we have about an hour before dinner and we all need to be home. Any ideas on how we can kill some time?"

"We can go get a flying disc and go to the park. I have one at my house!" Dawn suggests.

"Or," Rising holds up a hoof, "We could play board games or checkers at somepony's house."

"I'm not sure Dawn's dam is gonna let me escape again," Cure points out.

"Yeah, and it's a ten minute trot to any of our houses," Coast says. "I think the disc is the best bet."

"Okay! I'll run home and get it, then meet you at the park so you can avoid another round, Cure."

"I'm gonna go with and probably stay in for the night. Thanks for letting me tag along, everypony. It was nice meeting you all. Cure when would you want to go again?"

"We could go every day if you want. Just make sure you're eating plenty about an hour beforehoof. What time works best for you? Also, my parents are probably coming but they're cool… yanno, for adults at least."

"How about I come over tomorrow after lunch and I can meet 'em, then we'll go from there?"

"Sounds good, later Solar."

"Later little dude. Thanks for everything."

"Hey mom, dam, I'm home!" Cure shouts, closing the door behind him. He spots both of his moms in the living room laying side to side snuggled together reading. "Dad went before dinner? Did you both already eat?"

Title says a quick greeting while Vines explains, "Sorry we didn't wait for you, honey. We didn't know when you'd be home and your sire was leaving soon. You only missed him by a little bit. There's food on the table for you."

"Oh, that's fine. Here," he offers the two the leftover chocolates and caramels from Lemon's gift, "Lemon Sweet gave me and the girls each a gift box for helping out the other day. Go ahead and finish those off, I don't have a big sweet tooth."

Title barely gets a "thanks Cure!" out before she's crammed a hooffull of candy in her mouth. Vines rolls her eyes but helps herself as well.

Cure makes a quick pit stop, washes up, eats his dinner, takes his setting to the sink, and comes back into the living room. Dragging his sire's cushion next to his dam, he hops up and lays against her side. The rain had started and, even though there was a lot of wind, Cure couldn't hear any thunder at all.

"So, did I miss anything exciting today?"

"Not really, honey," Title starts, "but I did miss you at dinner. I followed your recipe but I swear your fish was better. Thanks for letting me have both pieces, by the way."

"Eh, food is always better when somepony else cooks it. I'm sure it was fine. Did everything go okay at the store?"

"Yep. We stocked up a bit extra since we'll be eating more. We should have several fruits and veggies ready in the garden, too," Vines answers.

"Good deal. So I came upon some news today. I'm not sure if it's good or bad. Delta Coast, the filly with the pink mane and same color coat as mine? She says that all the neighbors around us have basically established an unofficial neighborhood watch to keep an eye out for me."

Considering the phrasing and the odd looks he gets, he adds, "Uhh, for my benefit, I mean... to look out for strange ponies snoopin around."

"What?!" both mares shout at once.

"Yep." Nuzzling against his dam he asks, "When we were going to the library do you remember what happened?"

"We bumped into your little friend Heavy Lift and… we told everypony you were going to be a doctor."

"Yep, but the important thing I said, which I'll remind you we agreed to be the official story, is that my talent is "helping ponies get and stay their healthiest" or thereabouts. Also I bragged about healing up my leg in just a day or two. Granted I made up the part about using bandages but that's beside the point."

"Everyone knows you have a "healing" special talent of some kind," Title guesses.

"Yep. And apparently that whole "a noble will snatch him up" thing is either real or enough stories have been made up that everypony thinks it is. At least, every earth pony."

"Oh my…"

"Oh it gets better. Dawn Glow is the unicorn filly, if you recall. Her sire is the medic pony guard that checked over Wind Shear. Her older brother joined in today because he's turning sixteen in January and wants to join the guard. He needs help getting in shape. It took him about thirty seconds before he figured out everything but the "saved scans" and biomancy part of my talent."

"Huh. Can we trust 'em or do we need to "take care" of 'em?" Title asks.

"Uhh…"

"Title! No "taking care" of anypony!"

"Bah! I was only joking!" she insists, until Vines looks back to Cure, then she drags a hoof across her throat with a nod and a wink.

"As much as I appreciate the dedication, he swore an oath he'd only blab if her highness ordered it or it was a life or death situation. I think he's fine, and the girls were present for that entire conversation. The only one I worry about is Sapphire Sprint and that's only because she seems like a ditz. She's the mint colored one."

"What are the names of the others?" Vines asks.

"Rising Pitch is the yellow filly with the chocolate mane, then Dawn, Sapphire, and I already mentioned Delta Coast. Rising's dam made a comment to her about nobles stealing ponies with useful talents when she heard we were meeting to exercise."

"Oh stars…"

Cure can tell his dam isn't taking this well. Crawling forward, he snuggles himself between her forelegs and leans his weight against her chest while nuzzling into the bottom and side of her neck. As she wraps her forelegs around him he quietly shushes her, telling her it's going to be okay.

"Shh, dam. Don't work yourself up so much. If anything this is good news. Now at least we know that the ponies around us are keeping an eye out for strangers. We also have a potential "in" with the guard and I've learned that my talent just seems like a diagnostic spell to unicorns. None of this is bad news and it changes nothing about our plans."

Turning Cure so his tail is tucked against her chest, she lays her head on his back and mane. "I know, sweetie. I just wish we could make sure you're safe and not have all this stress." She lets out a deep sigh and rests on top of him.

"Oh! You scanned a unicorn too, didn't you? Did ya figure anything out from it?" Title asks.

"Ehh... kinda. I didn't actually find anything that helps clear up the picture. Their horns are just made from the same stuff the rest of us are, just specialized for their purpose. I'm not even close to ready to start doing brain experiments, obviously."

"So… it may be that there's an actual part of the brain that… makes magic?"

"More likely controls than makes, but I'm not even sure about that. I've yet to find anything that I can definitely point at and say, "This is the magic bits, right here." I'm hoping that as we grow stronger and I just flat out grow up I'll be able to identify something by comparing before and after scans, but I doubt it."

"Yeah, that sounds a little too straightforward to be right."

"Exactly. If there was a physical piece of us responsible for magical power then you could just transplant that part from other ponies and basically steal their magic. I would basically be a freaking god if it was that easy, just by improving that organ in myself." With a sigh he adds, "Shame... I'm okay with an easy win."

"Hrm. So your theory is that it's possible that something could be in the brain."

"By process of elimination, I would say yes. I am fairly confident I've eliminated any other source. At least, I can point at everything else and at least have an idea of what it does. The brain is a mystery, though... I don't know enough about the brain to start experimenting, nor do I have rats or whatever to experiment on."

"So… what now?"

Cure starts having a hard time thinking. His dam, apparently feeling protective, has started grooming his mane.

"Umm. Keep doing what we're doing? Maybe wait until we hear back from my great grandsire? School starts next week, so I'm planning on spending time with my friends and maybe just using the evening to study extra stuff. I don't think there's any huge rush to do anything at all right now."

"Yeah.. I guess."

"I'm going to start actually working on my tree tomorrow. I have a few ideas and the prototype doesn't need to be perfect, so a step in the right direction is better than standing still. Solar is going to be joining us for our runs."

"Okay…"

With a big yawn Cure murmurs, "Daaaam yer gonna make me fall asleep."

"Mmhmm" Vines hums as Title watches giggling.

"Ugh, anyhow, I'll run with the girls every few days and, who knows, maybe their parents will want to join some. I could see it."

"Yeah, if my filly suddenly toned up with some colt's special talent helping I'd at least come once to see how it works."

"Yep. I'm gonna get discovered within a year or two no matter what. Eventually somepony's going to notice an absurdly healthy town of ponies and come check out how it's happening."

"You think?"

"I'm sure there's a government agency that watches for widespread illnesses. The government liked changing agency names in my memory, but the Department of Health and Human Services… I think they abbreviated it HHS… they had the Centers for Disease Control, Public Health, and so on."

"Whatever department, somepony in the government watches for health trends. I bet you would do great- Ack! Dam!" Cure pauses while Vines gets his ear, to his mom's amusement. "Anyway, as I was saying, you'd probably be great at that."

Snickering, Title nods, "I sussed that out."

"Right, well a small dip won't stand out but if word spreads and the local clinic notes a five or ten percent drop in incoming patients, somepony will want to investigate."

"Five to ten percent seems unlikely…"

"If your neighbor's foal, husband, wife, whoever is sick and you heard a rumor about some colt that lives just outside of town with a healing talent wouldn't you say something? Besides that, somepony will notice the growing group of toned ponies running around the pond."

"Yeah…"

Letting out another yawn, Cure turns his head and lets his dam get his cheek and neck. Just like the morning, the relaxing motion is making it difficult to do anything but fall asleep.

"I need to potty, brush my teeth, and take a bath before you make me pass out."

"Okay, sweetie. Go get cleaned up and ready for bed. We'll snuggle on our bed tonight. Your sire will probably be a while."

"Umm… dad's not gonna come home lookin to score while I'm sleeping two bodies over is he?"

"Cure!"

"HA! No, we wore him out after lunch."

"TITLE!"

"Really, mom?

"You betcha!"

"Ugh. Well, whatever. Not looking forward to dam's hormone scan, but I'll still do my best to stay professional. Even if I'm internally weeping. You… changed the sheets at least, right?"

"Who said we used the bed?"

Cure can feel his dam's blush through his back as she shoots a glare at his mom.

"Yanno, mom… yes or no would be fine. Whatever. As long as I'm not smellin nothin. That's where I draw the line."

Climbing out from under his dam, Cure runs upstairs and gets ready for bed. He is completely unsurprised when he finds his dam followed him up to lend a hoof. An hour later the three are snuggled in the larger bed, falling asleep to the sound of rain outside.

Cure woke up just a couple hours later to find his sire snuggling against his mom. Wedged between the two mares, Cure mumbles a quick "gnite dad" and closes his eyes, falling right back to sleep.

Author's Note

So, yeah... the entire flag bit last chapter was just a goofy joke thing I never assumed anyone would take seriously at all. Deed's fine, yo. I can't promise I never will leave off with a cliffhanger, but generally speaking I will avoid that because I personally don't like them. If I do a cliffhanger it'll be because the chapter is already REALLY long and I'll probably put out the next update pretty soon afterwards. I'd more likely finish the whole sequence and rapid fire them out after leaving an A/N or comment on the chapter before.

The "skips happening" in 25 is pushed back a tad just because I've had to split a few chapters. This and 21 were going to be one, but then it woulda been like 19k which is a lot to chew on at once. I had to do the same thing with 18 and 19... they were originally one and I flat out put that in the note between 15 and 16 for the same reason.

23 and 24 take place on Sunday then we just skip a few days to Thursday in 25 before our Baltimare trip on Saturday in 26. I'm still early on in that, so it may be two chapters, depending on what kinda hijinks Cure gets into, then we'll start really hoppin forward to important meetings, holidays, significant events, random encounters, etc., some of which may take more than one chapter depending on how big a deal it is, some may be really short. No promises.

Thanks for reading & commenting, folks. Hope y'all are enjoying it so far.