Destroy yourself or... Destroy YourSelf

Name: Fluttershy.

Title: Animals Caretaker, Little Flame.

Age: 16.

Plane: Material.

Location: Equus, Equestria, Ponyville, Fluttershy’s Cottage.

Date: Ponysesho-day - 9th - Hayprance.

Time: 10:28

Releasing the human from her hug she smiled brightly at him.

The man on the other hand huffed, ignoring the pain in his ribcage.

Rolling his eyes he suddenly remembered something.

“Shy.”

A silly smile formed on her muzzle.

“Yes future best friend?”

He held back the urge to sigh.

The pony’s will was, not noteworthy but somewhat remarkable, she… managed to surprise him.

Even if she doesn't truly comprehend what she said, it is still a rather… impressive statement.

Without speaking about the danger.

To let someone else see your soul?

That is not something insignificant.

Others wouldn't understand, not many know about the workings of the soul after all, its quirks, or even what it truly is.

He does.

Well, not truly, but he knows enough.

Enough to understand the significance of the pon- of Fluttershy’s words.

Souls are… themselves, there's nothing besides the essence of self in them, they are everything, there’s nothing smaller or bigger in a soul because in itself it is everything.

For a soul to lie is… impossible, it can't pretend to be something else.

Because it would then be that.

A soul simply… is.

And it will never be something else.

There’s a reason why he finds them so beautiful.

Even if he cannot truly comprehend what he is seeing.

No lies means nothing is hidden, from the moment she was born to the present day if she goes through her word she will let him see everything.

Feel everything.

Know everything.

Not that he thinks she’ll make that deep of a connection, perhaps just one enough to discern her honesty and true intent but...

Even then, that would be a rather absurd thing to do, extremely so in fact.

One he still doesn't understand why she’d do it.

Wanting his trust… for what? He will not do favors, fight for her, or even care about her, even if trust is established that will not change.

All he has are words, nothing more.

Being happy with his presence is a laughable concept, he is selfish, considerate only because of his own feelings and creed, and unfeeling to the point calling him apathetic while not correct would not be far off.

His eyes wandered to the pegasus.

‘What do you want?’

He doesn't understand.

He’d break that woman’s skull in any other situation, her actions, gestures, and cowardice reminded him of his past self far too much.

The only reason he bothered to speak with her was her nascent soul.

He was rude and violent to the point he is sure she thought he’d hit her.

He doesn't understand.

He truly doesn't.

Not that it matters now, he will do so in the future.

For now, to fix his mistake.

“I am… mildly sorry for breaking your furniture, and for it, I will fix it, but first, do you have wood glue, clamps, wood filler, and sandpaper?”

He gestured to the armchair and sofa.

“I will need at least that to do it, rest assured I will pay you back for everything, just… I don't know what I can do to earn some bits in this country but I’m sure I can find something t-”

“hehehahaha~”

Turning his head toward fluttershy, he lifted an eyebrow.

“I did not know my humor was so… big, perhaps I should become a clown to entertain you?”

Acting quickly she shook her head and tried to hold her laughter.

To a limited success.

“No, haha~ no Star, it's just, not even Ponyville is that backward, what do you think we are, Arimaspi?”

A deadpan expression formed on his face.

She stopped laughing.

Scratching her head she started to sweat.

Star, she came to understand, did not like stupid questions, at all.

‘Of course he doesn't know what they are!’

Thinking fast she pointed toward her cabinet.

“He~ I mean, look!”

Snapping his face toward the place she was pointing Dean’s frown lessened.

Before he could say anything the Yellow pegasus shot out of the couch and appeared in front of the wooden cabinet hanging on the wall

Opening it quickly she took something out.

SLAM!

Slammed the door close, and just as quickly came back.

For a second he wondered how the thing's door didn't explode.

A small, embarrassed smile plastered on the pegasus face as she extended her hoof.

‘Oh?’

Mmmn*

His curiosity peaked as he observed the pink crystal on her hoof.

And… are her hooves heart-shaped?

‘...cute.’

Shaking his mind he refocused his vision on the crystal and then hummed.

His interest peaked.

“Oh?”

Only to increase ever more so as he saw kanjis written on the crystal’s surface, he recognized them immediately Revert 返す (kaesu) and repair 修理する (shūri suru).

For a moment he thanked his past self for forcing staying on those damned lessons.

He opened his mouth and before he could do so much as speak, Fluttershy interrupted him.

“This is a Kesshō, a crystal containing a specific pre-runified spell.”

He tapped his chin.

Runes? That could be helpful.

“Truly? And… out of curiosity, would this spell have anything related to reverting or fixing things?”

Her head tilted.

“...Yes? But, how do you kn- oh.”

“The language is called Japanese in my world, what would it be in yours?”

“Griffish, it's an old language, I don't know its history, just that it existed before Equestria was even founded, no, wait the creator’s name was… Isabeau? Isaacorn? Isadorus? Ugh!”

Her hindleg slapped the sofa.

“I don't remember, but, never mind, the important part is, Griffish is the main language used for runesmithing.”

She paused.

Her wings ruffled.

She frowned.

“You know Star I… don't see the world the same way as other creatures.”

Briefly, she glanced at her cutie mark.

3 butterflies.

As always.

Something normal, expected.

So why is she feeling anxious after seeing it?

“Ever since getting my cutie mark I could always understand them you know, outside of the most mindless creatures I could always hear them speaking loud and clear to me.”

Sigh*

“This, weirdly enough, made it so It was harder to understand any other written language, my cutie mark makes it so the translation from one to another is perfect, my talent is to understand others after all, not translation.”

He tapped his chin.

A brief feeling of worry enveloped him.

Would she be able to explain her language to him?

Perhaps the blue one’s help would be needed.

‘More importantly, is the talent of her cutie mark incapable of being turned off?’

He lightly shook his head, no time to get distracted.

“I see, we will follow up on this later, for now, explain what this crystal is, what it does, and who or what created it.”

Jumping on the sofa Fluttershy took the cushion on the ground, put it on the far side contrary to Star, and sat with her hind legs pointed toward him while her tail stood between her legs.

One… embarrassing time was enough for a lifetime.

Star might not ridicule her for it, or even show a mediocrium of attention but she can still feel mortified.

That was something only her husband or foal should see!

“Oh, oh! I know this, you wouldn't believe how many curiosities are there in those little packages Star! So! This is a simple magic crystal, a crystal made completely of crystalized magic.”

She lifted her hoof as her voice changed to a didactic tone.

“Everything starts through something called magical crystallization that in itself involves a phenomenon known as ‘Aetheric Nucleation’.”

“You see Star, when magical energy moves in any way it releases minuscule ethereal particles into the environment, in time they dissipate, that is to say only in magically dense areas will those particles be numerous enough to actually do something.”

He nodded.

What she said didn't seem like common knowledge for him still… he noted something.

She seemed to be reading a text rather than explaining something.

‘Memorization, but not understatement? Perhaps too afraid to go off the books?’

He lightly shook his head.

There's no need for him to analyze everything.

“By themselves, they don't have any physical substance, still, their gathering begins a process called Aetheric Nucleation, it occursby them aligning in a precise geometric pattern creating a seed structure purely composed of crystallized magic.”

“This initial magical lattice serves as the nucleus, attracting and organizing more magical particles with a resonance matching the seed's structure, as these particles adhere to the latti- ah.”

She stopped.

“Just in case you don't know Star, a lattice is a three-dimensional repeating arrangement of points or nodes that makes a framework for the organization of atoms, ions, or molecules in a crystalline substance.”

He rested his head on his palm.

He enjoyed this, the pony’s words that is.

They always proved to be so… enlightening.

‘Their scientific knowledge seems to be rather close to humanity's, maybe they are passing through the early industrialization and steam power era.’

‘If their understanding is closer to 20th-century knowledge, it could correspond to the era of electricity, modern physics, and the early stages of technological advancement.’

‘But Ponyville appears to be a rural town, and as Fluttershy said, one dominated by tradition, most likely meaning significant less access to common technology.’

He hummed.

It was good that she knew so much.

He doesn't know whether or not they have something similar to computers.

The most advanced thing he saw was something that resembled a corded phone, a modern one.

Appearances revealed nothing conclusive however.

Still… he couldn't help but note.

A slight feeling that something wasn't quite right.

After all.

‘One does not memorize simple curiosities.’

“No, I did not know this, thank you for the clarification Shy.”

A smirk formed on her face, only for a serious expression to appear a moment later.

“The crystal grows in a self-sustaining manner, with each layer of magical energy reinforcing the integrity of the crystalline matrix.”

“For this reason, the bigger and older a magic crystal is, the more complex and powerful enchantments and runes can be put into it.”

“Of course, remind yourself that I am speaking about naturally occurring crystals, those hornheads in Canterlot can probably make crystals much more efficiently, and alter them too.”

She rolled her eyes, just as a small smile formed on Dean’s mouth.

He had the feeling the term hornhead equated to ‘nerd’ in Equestria.

Ironic considering how she is explaining everything to him.

“In essence, Aetheric Nucleation is the catalyst for the spontaneous generation of a crystal made exclusively of crystallized magic, devoid of any conventional material.”

Clop!*

“And that's how magic crystals are made.”

He held the urge to clap mockingly.

Bringing misery to her just because of his past self’s habits would leave a bad taste in his mouth.

He isn't miserable, not anymore.

The pony seemed proud of herself.

Happy too.

He wouldn't take it away from her.

“Yes, yes, a good explanation, but still, what are those symbols for?”

Lifting her right hoof she presented the pink crystal.

“Good question! You see, as I told you, magic is a metaphysical thing, it only makes sense because of self-imposed rules, NOT limitations, taking that in fact if we write something in a culturally significant language or an old one its history will give it meaning.”

“The older a language is the more history it has and hence the more meaning, griffish existed even before Equestria was founded and common equish was created after the annexation of the three pony tribes, before that the tribes spoke variations of ponysh.”

She stopped for one moment.

“The Pegasi, Unicorn, and Earth Ponies, I’ll speak about them later.”

“Now, not just anycreature can write something in an old language and call it a rune, to do it one first needs magic, high concentration, a complete understanding of that same language.”

“Yes, including slang words, and most important of all, devotion.”

His expression turned into an intrigued one.

Learning about this world was turning out to be rather captivating.

Maybe in the future he can explore it more? Staying in Ponyville for a time is the best option of course, but after it? After he learned everything he needed it?

Yes, he can explore this wonderfully, hellish world.

Mirroring Star’s smile she relaxed even more and continued.

“Magic needs meaning and intent to work, someone who does not love their work will find that it doesn't love them either, hence not working as intended.”

He lifted his hand.

Fluttershy stopped.

“Wait, the runes are sentient?”

“Hehe~ no Star, I said it before, Magic needs emotion and intention to work, runes are mirrors of their makers, if they hate what they are doing magic transports that hate into the intention of that rune.”

“For example, hate would make a healing rune not only heal somepony but keep doing so, creating more and more muscle until.”

PoP!*

She clopped her hooves.

“They pop open.”

“Hmmn, if I were to try to make these runes, how would they be activated?”

“It's very simple Star, you see, ambient magic interacts with our bodies, filling them with energy, every muscle, organ, and vein is filled with it.”

Her breath suddenly hitched.

“This… includes the brain.”

Her eyes widened.

For a moment she… stopped in place, her eyes glazing at nowhere.

Thump!*

Snap!

Only for Dean to snap his finger at her face.

“Worry about it later, for now, continue to explain.”

Shaking her head she slapped her temple two times and then made a determined expression.

“yes, Yes! Neural pathways enhance synaptic transmission, In turn resonating with emotional frequencies.”

The pegasus quickly continued with her explanation as Dean walked toward his armchair, sitting he wriggled around making himself comfortable.

He almost smirked.

The Pegasus was experiencing repeated existential crises in quick succession.

Even in this, they were similar.

Even more.

For the first time since his earlier years, he was actually interested in a ‘class’.

If the Pegasus’ emphasis on some words and her excited tone are any indication she likes to teach too.

“Those are unique patterns of neural activity in the brain, which in turn are associated with specific emotions.”

“Joy, fear, courage, love, hate, sadness and others have a distinct electrochemical signature within the brain, each represented by the frequency and intensity of neural firing, all of this creates a metaphorical spectrum of emotional frequencies.”

She tapped her chin and looked curiously at Star, the human in turn looked captivated by her words.

She had to hold a smile back.

“Your confirmation of harmonic magic’s sentience does make me wonder if magic allows itself to react in a conscious form instead of creatures imposing self-made rules on it by their own subconscious through belief.”

“Oh?”

He leaned forward.

She couldn't hold the smile back anymore.

“Yes, magic’s self-imposed rules are widely believed to be there due to the influence of sapient creatures, their emotions and thoughts interacting with it and in turn altering the way it acts toward them.”

“Much like how two people who start knowing each other will act differently after they understand more about one another.”

She smiled softly.

“Just like how we started Star.”

Hmph*

…Hmn*

He snorted while humming.

“You are acting more freely than before, something… good, don't let anyone or anything di-”

“-ctate how I act.”

His eyebrow rose.

Her smile stood.

“I know Star, I won't, promise.”

He leaned back.

Maybe he should stop repeating himself.

The pony is proving to be smarter than she seemed.

Then again cute things don't give off an air of intelligence.

Just cuteness.

But going back.

“Magic… has no rules then, it is in actuality a… how to say it, a creature of many faces, that acts in different ways to different creatures?”

He spoke in a curious tone.

Clop*

“Yes! Exactly, Pegasi, or Day Pegasi can fly, move clouds, control the weather, reduce their weight, see better than most, and accelerate to incredible speeds.”

“Night Pegasi, also known as Bat ponies have all the abilities of day Pegasi besides some more, like superior night vision, but poorer eyesight during the day.”

“They have sensitive hearing, are capable of hearing and speaking in frequencies too high for a standard pony hearing, and can use echolocation, they also have a night cycle style of life.”

“For this reason, most stores from the big cities have two owners, one from the day cycle and the other for the night cycle.”

“Earth ponies are strong, can understand and grow plants better than anypony else, they have a strong connection to the Earth, besides having natural bodies better and more durable than any other tribe.”

“Unicorns have their horns allowing them to sing to magic, some might not know but the inside of a unicorn’s horn vibrates in a frequency only magic can understand.”

She extended her arms up as if reaching for something not there.

“Imagine that they are singing to magic, making it dance to their tune, the result is a spell, well if the tune isn't pleasing the result is failure, or an explosion, do know that their horns are connected to their hearts.”

“And magic might just not like the tune solely because of the caster’s heartbeat… metaphorically speaking of course.

“All of them, despite their differences, have the same type of magic frequency, and movement, everything besides quantity is the same but it acts differently for each of them.”

A smile formed on her face as she realized something.

Her tone turned rapid as she tried to hold herself back from jumping.

“For example, a creature doesn't need to have wings for magic to let it fly, but most do solely because when the-”

She froze, for a second she stood still, suddenly, her eyes moved to stare at Star.

The smile on her muzzle did bring bad memories of when he stayed up late and had the bright idea to watch a horror movie.

He was 12.

“-y have wings they believe MagicWillLetThemDoImpossibleTricksAndFlyImpossiblyFastWithThem!

“EEEEEEEEE!”

Fluttershy screamed as she shot up from the sofa, standing upon it with her four hooves and smiling excitedly.

“What is there to be so happy about woman?!”

Putting his fingers in his ear he tried to block the incredibly low-pitched squee of the pegasus.

“Eeeeeeeee!”

Rather than answering, the pegasus started to move her hooves up and down in an excited dance.

Trot-trot-trot-trotrottrotrottrotro-

‘!’

Perhaps noticing Star’s discomfort her tone decreased several times over, finally allowing him to take his fingers out.

Only to stare at the excited pegasus in front of him with surprised eyes.

She continued to do her ‘happy dance’ while a stupid smile formed on her face.

Trot-trot-trot-trotrottrotrOTTROTROT!

At the same time, her backside started to move from one side to the other, together with her swinging tail.

It was… adorably cute.

He held back a grin.

‘Ponies are funny.’

“Don’t you see it Star?! You can have a completely new type of magic! You could fly, shoot lasers, Ehehehehehahah- ouch!”

Lightly flickering her snout, he smirked.

“You are far too excited dumb filly, and apparently you still think silly little things.”

His voice was playful, perhaps even a little humorous.

She did not blush, instead she smiled brightly at him.

“I know! But you can find a way right?! To use magic without letting harmony inside? Imagine the first human sorcerer, ohhh what if you could also talk to animals, eeeeeeeee!”

He rolled his eyes at the excited child.

“I doubt harmony envelops all aspects of magic, from what I can understand your species simply prefers it over any other.”

Sigh*

“Meaning it will be significantly harder for me to learn, or even find any other type of magic, much less how I’d interact with it, but…”

“I am sure I can find some way to use it for my goals… hence why I am asking you to explain about this crystal, and these runes.”

She froze.

“Hehe.”

Laughing awkwardly she sat down again, and then coughed.

“Anyway, those frequencies affect magic in a minor way, the crystal runes can ‘read’ that frequency signal and activate depending on what it is, hence molding the magic stored inside to perform a specific spell, for example, this one.”

Trotting on the sofa she put the crystal above the broken wooden arm, not a moment later a pink light spread throughout the air.

He could see it perfectly, the broken wood slowly reversing to the sofa’s arm, much like a rewind video.

His eyes unfocused for a moment as he asked for his facets to send him images of the scene.

❏❐❑❒

‘tch.’

It was as he expected.

Nothing changed, the mist moved, but not in any way more significant than before.

‘Lighter spells might not have the ability to change much, or perhaps my facets really do not have the ability to see deeply into magic’s mystery.’

Hmmn*

Even more to worry about.

‘Reaching a point where brain-soul dependency is invalid will take a long time, staying vu-’

‘No.’

To defend himself he will have to find a way to properly see magic.

‘Something only possible with magic.’

Sigh*

‘To use false power to gain true power.’

That is what he will need to do.

But the question persists, how?

His eye focused on the glowing crystal on Fluttershy’s hoof once again.

‘...Yes.’

An answer might just have been found.

“Needs care to work.”

Turning back to the sofa he saw its arm completely fixed.

‘How… interesting.’

Before he could ponder any further Fluttershy threw the crystal at him.

!

Reacting quickly he grasped it with his left hand.

As he did so he briefly noted the slightly higher temperature of the object, something almost imperceptible.

‘Even my sense of touch has improved? Or perhaps my attention to it?’

“Go on.”

His eyes snapped toward her.

“Try it, kindness, and care, it's all you need for it to work.”

His eyes wandered to the armchair’s broken arm, and then to the crystal.

Experiments in this world will demand him to be in dangerous situations.

But there is no reason to risk his own skin when the answer is already there.

If he wants to confirm it he will do it later.

“How does it know what I am thinking? You spoke about magic’s emotional resonance but I have not been here for long, can this thing read more than just emotions and intent? How about memories? Is it capable of seeing them?”

Humming the pegasus turned around and flew toward the cabinet once more, opening she took something, closed it, and just as quickly flew back.

Watching the pegasus fly made a brief sense of wonder swell inside his chest.

Perhaps some desire too.

What human has never looked into the vast sky and wanted to fly after all?

There is a reason he loves those types of dreams.

Maybe he can train to lucid dream?

‘ah.’

No.

Yuujirou is in there.

All there is to his rest are nightmares from now on.

Looking at the side he saw what seemed like a manual on her hooves, one with symbols he couldn't quite understand.

“...no no nonono n-yes! Here.”

She pointed at a paragraph.

“Here, well, it's a simplified answer but it's still useful.”

Coff*

“The Kesshō utilizes your magic pathways to make a brief and non-invasive scan of your superficial emotions to detect your intention, to use it you are instructed to grasp it closely to the damaged area.”

“Follow by inducing emotions such as care and kindness, do remind yourself to use the stored magic of the crystal to fix any damaged parts, do not force your magic into it”

Putting the manual on her side she looked at Star who in turn kept looking at the crystal.

“I see, so the magic inside it can… create a connection to any creature’s magic pathway, I assume this refers to the standard path magical energy takes throughout the body correct?”

She nodded.

“Good, in theory, this would mean I too would have one if I managed to activate it.”

Hmmm*

Pinching the crystal between his fingers he scoffed.

Something without rules, suffering only from limitations, wanting to stop him from using it unrestricted? No.

He always hated senseless rules.

He will not be made to follow them any longer.

“This damned… thing kept entering my body the second I arrived in your world, when I was able to I kept trying to expunge it out.”

He clenched his arm as he sensed the pieces of magic gunk refusing to leave his body.

“With mixed success, but now I see that I was more successful than I realized even if it used my nervous or blood system as a framework to form its pathways, even without knowing, I didn't let it.”

Slowly, she stood, she had a bad feeling.

“That is to say, magic managed to glue itself to me, but not anchor itself enough to form its system in any meaningful way.”

“In other words, If you have a perfectly built water system in your body, I have one with a thousand missing pieces, meaning this crystal will not be able to make a connection with me due to the lack of ‘information’.”

”Hehe…hehehehehe.”

He chuckled.

Her eyes narrowed.

She lowered her body, ready to pounce.

She is sure of it, the dumb colt is about to do something stupid.

“This… thing enters my body uninvited, refuses to leave and now it wants to make some made-up, ridiculous rules for me to follow? To obey?”

His voice lowered.

”No, nonononono.”

Only to go back to normal a second later.

“Unfortunately for it…”

He clenched his fist.

And suddenly everything began to glow.

For one moment she felt… something hit her.

“I don't ask things to move, I make them.”

🌟

Pink light exploded from his palm forcing both to close their eyes.

He couldn't help it, he laughed.

“Hahaaahahahaha!”

“Staaaar!”

He laughed in utter glee as he finally felt the damned energy that kept pestering him since the moment he entered this world leave him.

The pegasus on the other hoof blocked the blinding light with her hooves as she screamed at the man in both alarm and worry.

Slight wisps of warm air hit her fur as her entire world felt electrified.

If she had to compare it to something it would be like standing on a thunder-filled cloud and feeling the lightning inside begging to leave.

That is to say.

POOF!

Her entire fur fluffed out.

“eep!”

Fortunately…

I̸̡͑n̷̜̾ ̴̝͊a̶̱͆ ̴̼͐m̸̢̓o̷͎̒m̵̲̽e̶͖͗n̵̥͛t̸͈̾,̷͉͒ ̸͔̆e̸̳͝v̵̥̚ḛ̵̇r̵̛͔y̷͔͠ẗ̶̢́h̵͍̑i̶̗͝n̸̰͂ḡ̴̠ ̵̹̅w̵̫̿a̷̯̓s̴̪͗ ̶̟̕o̸̬͐v̸̯̾ė̶̤r̸̺̊

The pink light died down.

“Pwe, pwe, pff.”

Fluttershy spit out the pink mane strands out of her mouth as she tried desperately to regain her hoofing.

Thud!*

Only to fall out off the sofa, and feel nothing as her puffy coat took all of the admittedly small impact

Shooting up she shook her entire body, managing to throw her mane back and finally see what was in front of her, or she would have, had her eyes not started to burn.

“You dumb colt.”

For moments her vision stayed blurry, she held her head in pain as a slight headache started to form.

“Uuuugh.”

She twisted and rolled on the sofa, until finally, not twenty seconds later, her body slowly got back to normal.

Huff*

Huff*

Huff*

Breathing steadily she calmed herself down and looked at Star calmly.

Only for anger to suddenly blossom inside her chest as she saw the stupid colt smiling gleefully at his closed fist.

She would have screamed at him and was prepared to do so in fact, just before the smell hit her.

She staggered as her eyes slowly widened in confusion.

Instinctively, she inhaled.

Fresh paint, clean carpets, recently assembled furniture, she could even feel the smell of new, polished wood.

Quickly looking around she glanced at the entirety of the room.

Nothing seemed different, but still… something didn't seem quite right.

No, wait, everything was where it was supposed to be, yes, but, the house, her house seemed… how to say it… new?

Even without her pegasus eyes, she’d be able to see it.

The furniture looked freshly built, the floor didn't have a single dent or imperfection, Tartarus her phone looked crystalline!

She could still see dust on it all but… it didn't matter, the entirety of her house looked just like the day she had entered it 2 years ago.

‘No’

Not everything, it was almost imperceptible but beyond the doors to her bathroom and kitchen she could see the rest of the rooms completely unaffected by whatever Star had caused.

In a second, she understood.

It was clear what had happened, a strong burst of magic rapidly expanded and fizzled out.

Either the entirety of the crystal’s magic was used, or Star put everything he had into it.

‘But… he said he didn't have magic pathways, and neither did he train to externalize his magic, so… how did he do it?’

The pegasus pondered and whacked her head at what had happened, she wasn't hurt but could Star be? He grew up in a world without magic after all.

And magic poisoning is a very serious issue in denser magical areas.

While she pondered and worried, the human commemorated.

‘Yes, YES!’

His head hurt, his eyes burned, he even felt a little tippy, but he did it.

Empathic extension.

It wasn't hard, just dangerous.

Analyzing the ogre’s memories allowed him to make small theories about the higher stages of Mind Over Matter and the abilities it brings.

Even though the strongest creature most certainly didn't manage to use his power to all of its potential, an incomplete form still managed to give him a small window to view its principles.

Yuujirou Hanma’s killing intent works as a signal sent from his brain, arriving at his victim's mind, allowing it to decodify a message, hence letting them feel how much he wants them dead.

The technique can go as far as making them feel the pain of each imaginary strike as long as the signal is strong enough.

He used the same principle, it truly wasn't hard, all he needed to do was use his soul to take the electric signals on his brain’s neurons and throw them outside.

‘Well, more like spit.’

Electricity doesn't have matter, making it significantly easier to manipulate it with his soul.

Of course, at his level, Dean Tyronus Starfield could never do such a thing.

His soul would never be able to translate such complex things as concepts, images, and emotions to another place, much less extend even a millimeter outside of his body.

But it would be able to spit things outside of it.

Energy has no matter allowing his soul to interact with it orders of magnitude easier than anything else.

It is how he managed to expunge magic from his body after all, he had… minimal experience with it.

Even more, his soul can already send signals to his brain, faint and spread out, yes, but it still was a starting point.

A proof of concept per se.

Taking that in mind he had the idea of, with the strength of his facets, move his soul's self to gulp the electric signal in his brain.

Considering it was simply made up of the movement of ions it was ridiculously easy to spit it out.

His head felt lighter, and hurt too as a result of it, much like if he was on a high mountain, with little air and he shocked himself atop of it all.

The pain didn't matter however, no, he was happy, even if bastardized and butchered he achieved the beginning stages of killing intent manifestation.

Kaikou Dorian, a death roll convict was said to have a technique capable of casting illusions upon his target, an interesting concept but besides what Yuujirou himself can do with it Dean truly isn't interested.

Still, the activation mattered little, no what took his attention was the feeling of his left arm.

It felt lighter.

Before It felt much as if he was clenching his muscles but now… he finally relaxed.

During the process of activation the crystal, for one reason or another, absorbed the entirety of the magic inside his left arm.

It was a small thing, he could feel the pestering energy trying, and succeeding in entering his body again.

Harmony was persistent if nothing else.

But it was a win.

The start of his vict-.

“You. Dumb. COLT!”

Before he could do anything else something hit his chest.

Uff!*

Sending him down together with his armchair.

The impact took the air out of his lungs besides forcing his hand open and making the crystal fall.

Looking up all he could see was pink.

Uff!*

Something hit his stomach.

Fortunately, not as hard.

“What did you do?! Have you any idea how dangerous that was?! You could have died you idiot! What kind of stupid, idiotic, DULL-WITTED COLT ARE YOU?!”

The pink curtain parted ways, only to reveal the visage of a very angry pegasus.

He put his hands in front of her.

“Calm down, I was just testing something, considering I don't have any magic path- Oah!”

His hand was suddenly yanked out.

“See?!”

Fluttershy twisted his hand, moving his palm toward him.

Sig-

His eyes widened slightly, a light feeling of curiosity swelled inside his head as he saw his burnt hand.

Revert 返す (kaesu) was branded on his palm.

“Oh?”

The pain finally hit.

He ignored it, a far more important idea popped up in his head.

He is in no hurry, truly, whether today is the last day he goes to bed or not didn't truly affect him much, no, he got as far as making a point to move and act normally.

But who’d expect? The answer falling on the palm of his hand.

‘Well… a possibility that is.’

His eyes shone.

‘One with a not-so-insignificant chance of success that is.’

Of course, for his scrap of a plan to be feasible, he’ll need Fluttershy's or that rainbow-maned mare’s help to communicate with the locals in search of more information to let him survive the night.

And the others after it.

He doubts he’ll be able to draw a rune and succeed, but those ponies from the hospital? They might just be able to.

Still…just to be sure.

Clenching his fist h-

THUD!*

“Ite!”

Fluttershy bonked Star’s head with the back of her hoof.

He shook his head, finally coming back to reality.

He had forgotten about the woman.

“What were you about to do?!”

Grabbing his shoulders she shook him.

“Answer me!”

Sigh*

His eyes narrowed.

“Calm. Down, you worry far too much for far too little, I still have my damn arm functioning, don't I? And I wanted to see If I could activate the damn rune.”

“Yo-”

”I might be relaxed but I have no wish to die tonight woman.”

The pegasus froze, the next second her ears fell.

Removing her foreleg from his chest she sat on his stomach just as her arms lost strength, and her expression morphed into a saddened one.

Turning her head she avoided Star’s eyes.

Ignoring it all Dean gently moved her hair away from his head, he isn't angry.

As long as one doesn't set his trigger off it is quite hard to do just that.

“Besides, what's with that tone? Talking like I owe you anything.”

Her head snapped toward him again.

Hmph*

“You are the one who decided to worry about me, and you expect me to care about that? About your ‘feelings’? It was your decision to fret over it, not mine, live with it.”

Fluttershy’s ears twitched as her face slowly contorted into an angry frown.

‘That. Is. It!’

Beating her wings her ears shot up as she grabbed Star by the shirt and forced him up.

thump*

The man’s heart beat strongly as the pegasus lifted him out of the fallen armchair and forced him to stand up without a hint of difficulty.

He knew she was stronger than she seemed but to lift him with just one beat of her wings?

Just how strong is this pegasus?

“Yes, it was my decision to worry about a dumb colt like you Star, but you know what? You are going to have to live with it.”

“That's what you said right? To make decisions for yourself and disconsider others.”

Still flying and with her hooves grasping at the man’s shirt she forced her muzzle on his nose.

Thump*

“Well mister, that's exactly what I am going to do with you, and there's not a damn thing you can do about it! So help me Faust if you do another stupid ponypoo, Tartarus damned thing, I AM GOING TO EXPLODE!”

THUMP!*

His eyes widened, and his heartbeat quickened as he stared at the woman.

Seconds passed in silence as she breathed and huffed, her expression slowly fading into one of tiredness.

Dean simply stared at her, his eyes returned to normal as his expression stood frozen and neutral.

Seconds kept passing, when finally, he moved.

Holding his jaw, a smile formed on his face.

A sardonic one.

“Heh~”

Even while being lifted off the ground by a 120-cm-tall pegasus pony all he could feel was bewilderment and a hint of… admiration.

It was good, to see that the eyes of his facets had not failed him.

‘This pony can become a dragon~’

He couldn't feel the ground, the woman had lifted his body with a single beat of her wings, something quite impressive considering his weight.

77 kilos, in one beat.

‘So magic does strengthen one’s body depending on the intensity of their emotions~ Or perhaps she simply already had such strength, and a mental block was all that impeded her from using it?’

“Hehe”

‘Have I created a monster?’

Looking at the impatient expression on the woman’s face his smile widened.

‘I hope I did~’

❏

‘Heh~’

His smile widened at the pegasus’ irritated expression.

She did not like the way he smiled.

At all.

‘Seeing the very concept of strength and will grow is truly a beautiful thing.’

But for now, to other matters.

A 120 cm tall horse should weigh 900 to 1,200 pounds (410 to 545 kg), while yes he can see she is slimmer and radically different from one her weight shouldn't differentiate much.

If she was this heavy, lifting him with her wings would be a piece of cake, but… he doesn't think she is.

No, he is absolutely sure of it, he lifted the damn pony, with one arm, no, if he had to guess she weighs around 55 to 65 kilos.

But… just to be sure.

“EEP!”

Reflexively she released Star from her hold as something soft touched her barrel.

Her weight suddenly fell completely on Dean’s arm, he is sure that had this happened before he obtained mind over matter, she would have fallen.

“You are incredibly light for your size, you know? How much do you weigh?”

His tone was casual as if nothing was happening.

“Fi-Fifty S-six.”

“Kilos?”

She nodded.

He hummed.

“And this is normal for your species?”

“Fo-for Pegasus yes!”

Seeing her squirming form Dean released his arm.

He is no molester.

“Eep!”

Only to grab both of her shoulders as she started to fall.

Acting quickly he spun the pegasus around and put her on his back.

Reflexively she put her arms on his shoulders as her hind legs enveloped his tights.

Acting quickly he went on to speak.

It wouldn't do for her to get angry again.

“You should work on that, embarrassment and shame can be used against you, the moment someone touches you in a vaguely uncomfortable manner, punch them or buck in your case.”

He turned his face toward her and laughed at her confused expression

“You are lucky you know, being cute and all, the only reason why I didn't break your teeth in when you hugged me, something you should have done the second I touched your barrel.”

His right hand moved to her head.

“So? Care to explain why I still have my teeth?”

Slowly he started caressing her mane.

He wouldn't humiliate himself by hugging the fluffy pony, even if he really wanted to, but… he could pet her, as long as she allowed it of course.

Her ears twitched, she mumbled something.

A scowl formed on his face.

“I didn't know you became a Bat Pony, unfortunately for me, I am not one, so how about you increase that tone? You were screaming not a minute ago, now where's that brave shy~?”

His tone was playful, perhaps a little bit too much judging by the blush on the pegasus cheeks.

“I said I was jus’ worried, don't wan’ to hurt you Star, don't wan’ you to hurt yourself either.”

He exhaled.

He… has no idea why this woman attached herself so much to him, much less care about him so much.

Maybe her race is just that friendly, maybe she was just too lonely, he doesn't know.

He didn't care.

He’s starting to.

His head went up, and then moved back as he hummed.

“You do as you wish Fluttershy, worry about me, care about me, do anything you want, but put this in your mind, in this world, there is something you cannot alter with strength and will alone.”

He poked his head.

“The mind.”

“One can influence another for them to change themselves, yes, but to do it yourself? No, that is impossible, I am me, I am Dean Tyronus Starfield, and I am a man who doesn't care about losing a limb or two to get what I want.”

Her muzzle poked the side of his throat.

Sigh*

“I am not doing it on purpose, I don't take senseless risks, I am not a masochist, and neither do I want to die, but I know nothing of this world, just as it doesn't know how everything is going to react to me.”

“I am new Fluttershy so I have to test it, discover what is true, what are hyperboles, misconceptions, and plain old lies.”

Her head rested on his shoulder as he kept walking in circles.

“I’m sorry if my… test affected you in a direct manner, I will be more careful next time, but I can't stop, I refuse to stop, the only way is forward, even if it is paved with glass shards, I have to keep moving forward.”

He lowered his head and then moved his eyes toward the pegasus, similarly, she looked at him with a dejected look.

“I… appreciate you.”

Her head snapped up.

His voice kept steady.

He understands, many forget it but not him, sapient creatures are complex, complex to an extreme, just because one thing is true, doesn't mean another connected to it is too.

“You think I don't? I do, I am thankful.”

He waved his hand.

“For you sharing this house with me.”

He caressed her temple lightly.

“For you not kicking me out.”

He pointed toward the kitchen.

“For you making that breakfast.”

He touched his heart.

“For you taking care of my health.”

Finally, he looked at her.

“Understand this Fluttershy I. Am. Thankful.”

Her lips moved upward.

His voice hardened.

“But make no mistake, gratefulness will not change who I am, it will not force me to do something I don't want, and most importantly, it will not make me care about someone else.”

“You could give me all the gold in this world and I’d be thankful, but I wouldn't feel indebted to you unless you specifically said you wanted a favor in return for it.”

His eyebrows narrowed.

“Gratefulness is not a shackle, and neither are your actions or feelings toward me.”

She stated at him.

Even with her eyes, he couldn't quite decipher her expression.

‘Then again, she is trying to not show anything.’

“Still… I do not wish for my actions to result in anything bad toward you, I am inconsiderate of anything that is not related to my creed, even my own life, but I am neither evil nor a bastard.”

Sigh*

“I. Am. Responsible, I face the consequences of my actions, and believe it or not I would feel bad if something directly caused by me affected you in a negative way.”

He lifted his left palm.

She turned her head toward it.

“Your bathroom, where is it?”

“Uhm?”

“Feeling this fluff on my skin might be quite pleasing but I imagine your life will get quite awkward and complicated with this much fluff, you do have ha- Fur clippers, right?”

Her mouth formed an o.

She frowned, flapping her wings she left Star’s back, the fluff did get somewhat in the way but she could still fly perfectly well.

Flying to the cabinet she took a cream box, a spray bottle, and her band-aids, quickly she took the manual on the sofa and flew toward the entrance on the right side of her cottage.

Turning her head toward Star she called him to follow.

The human did just that.

Passing through the door he saw a small corridor, glancing at the wall he saw 3 portraits.

All of which had photos of a… green stallion pegasus with a cream mane and mustache, a yellow pegasus mare with a red mane and glasses, a younger stallio-.

‘No, they would call them colts right?’

Yes, a colt with a green coat and blond hair, and finally Fluttershy.

Or at the very least a filly version of her.

“Star?”

Fluttershy peaked her head out of the doorframe, a curious expression on her face.

Turning to her he walked slowly and then pointed at the wall with his thumb.

“Your family?”

Her eyes flickered to the wall, just for a smile to blossom on her muzzle.

“Yes, my Mother Posey Shy, and my father Gentle Shy, formerly Gentle Breeze, my brother’s name is Zephyr Breeze, dad wanted his colt to inherit his name, what about your family Star?”

Entering the bathroom he hummed as the pegasus gave way.

“Is this a relic or is your country this primitive?”

He snorted, a playful tone entering his voice all the while.

“A wood bath, sink, and you don't have a shower, something expected due to the bath but… why on the seven hells is this just a tube with a valve in it? Do you even have hot water?”

For a brief moment, she frowned, did he dod-

“Well, no matter, you said it yourself this village isn't that in tune with technology correct? “

She huffed.

Moving quickly she held Star’s hand and pushed him toward the mirror.

“As ugly as always you fat fuck.”

“What?”

“Just remind me of something, serves as motivation.”

She frowned.

He opened the mirror.

“Hair cream, toothbrush, lace, pills, aaand, a Fur clipper, now where are the scissors? And the brush for that matter?”

Ignoring Star, Fluttershy flew toward the cabinet and took the bottle of cream and spray she had.

Grasping the human’s left hand she took the spray bottle and applied.

Pssst*

The hand twitched for a second before suddenly stopping.

Putting the spray back she took the cream bottle and applied it again, lightly she spread the blue cream on Star’s hand.

Only to grimace as she saw the pink color recede, but not the rune.

Her ears fell, but she shook her head, a second later she took the band-aid and started reapplying to Star’s hand.

“You better not rip it out a second time Star, this is here for your body to recuperate, I don't care if you can stop the bleeding, this scab on your forehead is already disturbing enough.”

She frowned.

Flying to his head she put the band-aid on his forehead and slowly enveloped it.

“Don’t take it off you stubborn Stallion, please.”

Putting the scissor, brush, and clipper above the cabinet he smiled down at the pegasus.

“Well, look at the bright side, he could have shattered my skull and made my brain matter splatter all over your walls.”

Thump!*

A tingle of disgust and anger wormed into her chest.

She forced herself to ignore it.

“He did say your reaction to it would be hilarious.”

A snarl formed on her muzzle, she had never hated anypony in her life, not her bullies, not other creatures, well… perhaps herself, but never others.

Not until today.

What kind of monster would laugh at a scene like that?

What perversion of laughter would that be?

Her eyes flickered to the wound on Star’s forehead, fortunately, that thing didn't hit harder.

Star is still alive, he will continue to be so.

Still…

Her fur stood on edge.

She forced herself to ignore it.

Ignore that it is still a possibility.

“It will Scar you stupid colt, magic burn cools down quicker but tends to leave scars behind, I don't know whether or not the hospital has competent enough ponies to heal it completely bu-”

He lifted his hand.

“Leave it.”

She sighed, she doesn't know why, or how, but she expected this to happen.

Still… she has to ask.

“Why?”

He hummed, his finger tapping his chin all the while.

“I… could go with the history of it telling a tale all on its own but, no.”

He lifted his bandaged hand.

“Authenticity, that's why it's going to stay, I am… flawed, I am imperfect, I am human, and humans make mistakes.”

“And I made many, many mistakes, ones that shaped my life, that made me who I am today, honestly? Once upon a time, if you asked me if I could, go back in time and fix everything I would have said yes.”

Sigh*

“Now? I’d refuse without a second thought, erasing my mistakes would be the same as killing who I am, in the past I would like to do nothing besides that, but not now.”

“I am… happy with who I am, not satisfied, but happy, I don't want to kill my Self, and… getting rid of this.”

He pointed at his hand.

“Would be like losing a little bit of me, you know, hiding, and… looking the other way at an ugly thing I did.”

“This Is a mistake, even if minimal, even if… small in the face of all that I lived, in its own way it shapes who I am, little things that cascade into bigger ones.”

“An accident that resulted in a scar, a scar that resulted in a possibility, a possibility to see the sun tomorrow, a possibility to live so much further than just this night even.”

“If I survive, If I breathe tomorrow, and this thing is the culprit for it, then for the rest of my days I will thank myself for being an idiot, for being a fool that always does something wrong before getting it right.”

“No, I won’t, get rid of It Fluttershy, this little thing is important, maybe a mistake yes, but one that can let me see so much more than what I was fated to, than what I am fated to, ha~.”

He laughed.

“Even if it is all for nothing and I just gave myself a life Scar over nothing, at least this little thing did give me hope of seeing tomorrow after all.”

He clenched his fist, grimacing slightly as the pain hit.

“A mistake can either be taken as something to be ashamed of or a lesson to be acknowledged.”

He turned toward her.

“And I sure as hell am not ashamed of learning.”

Thump*

Her eye twitched.

She should have already been accustomed to it but…

‘How… how in Faust’s feathers does this Stallion manage to turn even the simplest of things into life lessons?! Stop changing my life you damn colt I can't handle anymore of this!’

Clap!

“Anyways! Get your ass on the ground, no, go to that bathtub, If I’m going to strengthen this chaos out I’ll need you wet.”

Her pupils shrank.

“Eh?”

Just as her mouth formed an o.

“Up up up woman, we don't have the entire day, I’m going to cut all this fluff out of you and leave you perfect for the winter, look at that, aren't you lucky?”

He spread his arms.

“No longer needing to wear kilos of robes, just because of a little oopsie right?”

“D-do you even know how to cut a coat properly Star? You could do something wrong you know!”

Hmph*

“My grandparents had a ranch, I did take care of their horses you know, never once did they buck me while trimming them.”

Her head tilted.

“Horse?”

“An equine animal, some similarities to you ponies, just, without horns or wings, or magic, or intelligence, now stop creating excuses and go to that bathtub!”

Tap!* tap tap tap tap tap tap

He slapped the back of the pegasus’ head in quick succession, guiding her away.

“W-wait Star I can do it myself I’m not a foal!”

His eyebrow went up at her panicked tone.

The woman is still feeling embarrassed, for nothing.

“What time is it?”

“E-eh?”

Her head snapped toward the clock on the wall.

“10:48.”

She answered with a confused tone.

“Well, if this is the case I doubt you can reach your back with those arms, well, perhaps you can reach the lower end but even that might be a struggle.”

She paused

“He…he”

And then blushed while laughing awkwardly.

“You should have something like a scratch pad Right?”

Coff!*

“Yes… umm, yes, I… normally ask my critters to help me so I never used it much, but they are smarter than you give them credit for Star!”

The reply came back instantly.

“Smart enough to make it easier for you to avoid other ponies I presume?”

Her ears went down.

“Stop being so embarrassed, listen to me, understand these words, I want to help you because I want to help you, nothing more, now…”

He crouched and then stared at the pegasus’ embarrassed face.

“Will you let me?”

Thump!*

”y-yes?”

His eyebrow rose.

“Will you, Fluttershy, pegasus pony, owner of this cottage, and my temporary host let me help you?”

She straightened her pose, in a moment she jumped into the bathtub, and then sat comfortably.

Coff*

“Yes, sorry Star.”

Psssssssssssssss

Warm water hit her mane as Star turned the valve.

Wasting not even a second he took the brush, briefly he pondered at how similar it was to the one he used on the horses on Earth.

“What are you saying sorry for?”

He poked the back of her head.

“Silly filly.”

Pink dots appeared on her cheeks.

“Now.”

Taking the small manual he walked back to the pegasus and gave it to her, proceeding he went toward her back and put the brush’s handle on his palm.

Lightly he brushed her coat, surprisingly, he did not need to use much strength, but then again, the water facilitated things even with the absolute mess that she was.

Hrrrrsh

“Do continue your explanation about your world, we have no time to waste.”

Exhaling he continued to brush the pony’s coat, the sensation was weirdly soothing, just like before.

Hrrrrsh

The pegasus stood still.

Hrrrrsh

Her eyes wandered down to her wet fur.

Hrrrrsh

Star’s hand moved in a rhythm.

Hrrrrsh

It was… pleasing, the feeling of her fur being stretched, pushed and tugged at that is, she’d go as far as to say it was somewhat… comforting.

Her squirrel and bunny friends were very delicate when helping her, yes, but… having a creature so similar to her doing it was different.

Soothing in a way.

Hrrrrsh

The lightness of the brush, it felt like a… hand, a very soft, pawned hand caressing her.

Hrrrrsh

The brush moved to her side, lightly, she tilted her body.

Her eye flickered back, Star was silent, perhaps concentrated on his actions a little too much.

She has been silent for a while.

He said nothing.

Hrrrrsh

He won't say anything if she keeps quiet, she is sure of it.

He would feel it however.

Shaking her head small droplets of water shot out in all directions.

“Ouch!”

Something hit her head, just as the rhythmic brushing stopped.

“Stay still dumb filly, you are not an animal for me to need to put you on a leash.”

Swish*

“Ou!”

She flinched as a small shout of pain surged from her left ear.

“Should I truly call you Pupshy and tell you that you are a bad girl?”

Thump!*

Red dots formed on her cheeks.

This colt.

If he didn't find everything as attractive as a rock she’d be having a very different reaction now.

Sigh*

Her body slumped.

But Star isn't like that, no, he’s… perhaps not innocent but well-meanin- no, well-meaning but pragmatic.

Hrrrrsh

She breathed slowly as her eyes closed

The sensation isn't the same, not remotely close but… it brings memories, ones of her mother bathing her while she was but a little happy Foal.

She's not little, well… compared to Star she might be but she is not a Foal, although, it's…. good.

A smile formed on her face.

After so much time, she is happy, happy with somecreature else, happy with the presence of another creature just as smart as she is.

The last time this happened was when her family visited her.

It's not the same.

Hrrrrsh

It's… new, and weird… and good.

Happiness, she gets it now, Pinkie said it to her, she was too shy to do anything besides tremble before the excited earth pony, but she remembers it.

Happiness… is like a cake, with many slices, some bigger than others, all with a different taste.

Her family tastes like warmth, safety.

Her Critters taste like… simplicity, something so simple and uncomplicated even a newborn would be able to understand, the ideal taste for a shy pegasus, too afraid to confront anyone.

Her friendship with Star tastes like, well, it's still baking quite honestly but… she could smell it.

Challenge, excitement, unpredictability, fun even… pain but… warmth too like a fire that can burn her, one she doesn't want to let go.

THUMP!

Danger, her friendship with Star smells of danger, for her body, and her mind.

She can die, honestly die, as in, everything she is, everything she did, gone, her critters sad, her family devastated, it will happen if Star loses to that demon and he possesses his body it will most certainly kill her for no reason other than that it could.

Or perhaps because it would find it funny.

THUMP!

Cry… she can cry, she did cry, many times, she cried, trembled, tried to hide, became worried, angry, sad all because of Star.

He… should not be a good fit with her, not at all, she is shy, he is brash, she is a coward, he is not, she is weak, he’s strong, she’s polite, he’s blunt.

Everything that should make any kind of friendship with her impossible.

But, no, the exact contrary happened.

She loves his brashness, the courage to disregard everything and say what is in his mind.

No lies, no sugarcoating, just the honest truth, coming out of the mouth of a creature that knows what is like to be Fluttershy.

That surpassed even that.

She isn't envious or angry at his, well… courage, it boarded on disregard for life but she too wanted to be like that.

Being pushed around was… uncomfortable, but necessary, she was in her bubble for far too long.

Star is brutal, another thing that should have made her friendship with him extremely hard, and it would have, had he again, not had the same experience as her in life.

She likes him, and even if the dumb colt didn't notice, or understand, he changed her life, the way she looks at things, the way she acts toward things.

And if he was anything like her he’d understand how much that alone changed.

And now she has to make sure this same Colt-Stallion didn't just kill himself.

Snapping her head to the floor she leaned and took the manual, a second later she started to read it out loud.

The idiotic colt did something dumb again and now she wants to know whether or not he will die because of it.

There is something such as magic poisoning after all.

Hrrrrsh

“Warning, in case of extreme sudden discharge check for burns below the skin, in the scenario where the muscles below are itchy or painful immediately head to the hospital.”

Turning her head she stared at Star.

Hrrrrsh

The human hummed.

“I can feel magic inside my body little fool, like filthy sludge it enters and refuses to leave, gluing itself inside me.”

His tone was calm.

Something quite weird as she knows he is angry.

It was obvious from the way he spoke, he wants to use magic, not be used by it.

Just take, not give.

She… is weirdly neutral about it.

“I ordered the Crystal to activate by using my soul, unexpectedly It also activated something else and started to absorb the magic in my arm.”

Hrrrrsh

“My intent was not fully clear on that signal, or at least that is what I think, I can send messages, simple ones, but nothing more.”

He poked the back of her head

“Like this.”

Something hit her.

Her eyes lost focus.

Everything went blurry.

“Wha-!”

If she had to compare it to something it would be like staying below water and pushing it on her face, while at the same time somepony tried to speak with her down there.

Yes… it felt like a bubble of air made out of somepony's words hitting her face and splashing all around her fur.

She couldn't understand anything, well… not consciously.

Suddenly, her shoulders fell.

Without noticing she relaxed.

Hrrrrsh

Star’s brushing only helped more as she felt the sensation of her cutie mark being brushed.

“Your brain can't quite decipher the signal of another brain coming toward it, you have not evolved to speak telepathically or feel the emotions of others after all.”

“Still, considering your ability it should be able to understand it somewhat.”

Hmm*

“Pain… I understand how others would feel about it, worried, afraid, and other things, but honestly? I just feel… calm.”

She blinked.

Hrrrrsh

Her brain felt like fire.

She still heard Star’s words.

“When you understand that pain is a distraction, you start to ignore it more easily, after feeling it enough times I just… stood calm.”

Putting his hand below the right side of her jaw he leaned her head to the side, only to then brush the gigantic fluff of her neck.

“As should you, your worry is noted, but believe me Fluttershy, it is unnecessary, I may worry about my beliefs more than my life but that does not mean I do not care about myself.”

Hrrrrsh

“Just that I have higher priorities.”

Ahhhf*

She breathed calmly.

That was… weird, and incredible.

To feel an emotion not hers.

To know what another is feeling.

She… knows It isn't but, is this what connecting to a soul feels like.

No, it should be even more right?

THUMP!*

She's used to feeling anxious about something.

Not excited.

Knowing how the lesser of animals feel is one thing, being hit by a wave of pure emotion is another.

“I will stay away from your inner thigh, crotch, and below your tail, do it yourself later.”

Her smile froze.

Red dots formed on her cheeks.

“You are far too casual about this you dummy colt.”

Hrrrrsh

Her fur stood on edge as his brush passed through her chest.

She almost fell, her relaxed muscles combined with the warm water felt extremely inviting for her to rest.

“Now, why don't you continue with your explanation?”

Star’s words woke her up, snapping her eyes open she blinked rapidly.

Shaking her head sh-

“Ouch!”

“Stop sending water to me fool!”

She held her head with both of her hooves.

Small tears formed at the side of her eyes as she looked back at the human.

“That huuuurt Star.”

Dean staggered back.

His eye twitched.

Did she do it on purpose?

Hmph!*

Snorting, he went back to brushing her barrel.

Unconsciously his hand moved toward her head.

“Hmm hmhmm hhmmm~”

It wasn't a weakness, but Dean Tyronus Starfield could not simply ignore a cute, fluffy creature in distress.

Hmn hm-hm hu-humm*

With a stupid smile on her face, fluttershy hummed a small tune.

She didn't know why Star was petting her so suddenly but his fingers, combined with the water, were pleasing enough.

Stopping her tune she looked at the manual and continued reading.

She was feeling good!

Hrrrrsh

“Recharging this crystal is ill-advised due to the possible degradation of the material and the specific harmonic magic inside it specifically made for this version of the repair runic spell.”

“If you wish to recharge it do go on one of our Neigh-gems & Sparklestones stores – Where Ponies Rock!”

She threw a hoof in the air.

She froze and then turned to Star.

Only to find him smiling amusingly at her.

“Do go on, angry or excited you still manage to be cute, it's quite adorable honestly.”

Dean’s head tilted.

He didn't know Ponies could change color.

“I-i just li-like th-eem, their delivery times a-are quite am-amazing for such a-a l-little town like Ponyville.”

He scratched his throat as one of his eyebrows went up.

He started brushing her hair.

It is not the first time some fool just assumes the meaning and intent of his words without a second of thought.

Then again, he is not so innocent either.

He’s only human after all.

“Stop trembling fool, I don't know about other ponies but saying you are cute is a fact, not a compliment.”

THUMP!*

“Besides… I didn't know you owed me answers, when did that happen?”

A mirthful look formed on his face as he saw the pegasus finally turn to look fully back at him.

Whether her shy expression was born out of his words or his expression he did not know.

All he does know is that she is unbelievably adorable like this.

“Can't I want my friend to know more about me? That's how best friends are formed you know?”

His smirk fell.

His hands froze in place.
.

.

.

.

.
“Your words are wasted on me.”

thump thump thump

“But… do keep talking, you are interesting enough.”

A smile bloomed on her face.

A very silly one.

The rock isn't as hard as it seemed.

She shook her head.

“A-anyway, continuing on!”

Taking the manual she brought it closer to her face.

He almost laughed, her embarrassment was entertaining enough, but he shouldn't bully the pegasus.

“This crystal does not possess enough magic to be threatening to either infants or critters, hence we of neigh-gems do not take responsibility for any accidents revolving around sudden discharge or magic poisoning.”

She turned some pages.

“From here on it just explains what the runes are for, the type of crystal it's made from where they took it, and how to properly maintain i- eep!”

Plop!*

A splash of water hit her face, together with the manual.

For one moment she felt it being taken from her hooves before a hand touched her face and wiped it.

Opening her eyes she saw Star crouching and brushing her forelegs.

thump!*

‘He’s not low enough shy, calm down!’

“These runes, and crystals, was there a creature in specific that created or found them?”

She blinked.

Her hoof poked her chin, or at least tried to as the human grabbed it and put it down.

She ignored it.

“Runes themselves were discovered by all creatures at different times in history, there were pioneers in the field, and some that discovered it with the help of others, but by themselves crystals and runes don't have a single creator, at least not that I know of.”

He went to her other leg.

“Well, I can't truly give you a lesson on it all Star, we don't have time for it but I can explain a little bit.”

Coff*

“Now, pay attention, this is important on magical crystals something called quantum resonance occurs at the subatomic level.”

Dean briefly gazed at her, before returning to his brushing.

The pony was naked all the time, from what he understood, as long as he keeps away from her crotch area he will have no problems.

She is naked, from what he saw most of her race were too, her behavior seemed counterintuitive, but then again this could very well be a matter of opinion and not a generalized aspect.

She is rather shy after all.

And that is without speaking about something like conservationism.

Complex creatures, complex puzzles.

“Magical particles exhibit a resonance based on their alignment in the crystalline lattice, influencing the crystal's… affinity and potential application, for example, the crystal you had was attuned to harmonic magic.”

She paused.

“If you were to use, let’s say, chaos magic, the crystal would explode, now, the runes are what allow the magic inside it to transform into a spell.”

He lifted his hand.

She stopped.

“So… if these runes could, for example, absorb magic, would they be able to be out anywhere, on the ground, on the air, on wood even?

She tapped the wooden bathtub.

The water was being drained so a pool had not been formed.

“They… can store magic within them Star, but, it's something very insignificant, it wouldn't be nearly enough to cast a spell, without mentioning the magic inside would quite literally transform the runes into inflated balloons.”

Hmmm*

“And trees? That… would not be something good Star, Life on Equus is dependent on Magic to survive, I mean a pony can survive without it but their life won't be long, if they somehow move past losing their magic and ability to absorb more of it that is, the shock alone would kill them.”

He tapped his feet.

“I see…”

“But, continuing on, being attuned to harmonic magic means the energy inside it has an easier time flowing, resulting in faster spells and more efficient energy usage, no- oah!”

Dean turned her around just as she lifted her right hoof.

Pressing on the top of her ass he lightly made her sit again, and then went to hold her tail

“iiiiii!”

Only to suddenly stop at her whimpering.

“Sorry.”

Opening his fingers he let the pony’s tail fall.

“I never really got behind a horse, much less touch their tail before, still… I should have asked, do you want me to stop?”

She lifted her hooves, her entire body was full of fluff, doing everything alone would take an hour at the least.

“NO, no, it, just, it was just sudden, your fingers are soft Star, they tickled me, I was just surprised.”

Hmmm*

“Well then.”

Lowering himself he scooped her giant tail and started brushing.

“Do continue.”

She sighed, just as her body sagged.

The only time another creature has ever touched her tail was her father, and he was brushing her.

Well, at least now she knows she’s sensible there.

Lightly shaking her head she straightened her posture.

Miss Fluttershy's class is not over!

“Yes, as I was saying the runes on simpler crystals are programmed to only activate one spell at a standard intensity, going lower isn't a problem, going higher, well… you know what happens.”

“The crystal is… uniform, that is to say, it is only used to let magic pass through it one way, altering the runes and doing another spell is possible, but it will degrade the crystal with time, without mentioning the horrific loss of energy.”

Hmmmn*

Had he had pony ears they would have had twitched.

Fluttershy… knows too much about runes and crystals for something as simple as a curiosity.

It was interesting, honestly, to see a side of the pegasus he didn't even imagine she had.

Animal character, Nascent flame, and enchanter extraordinary.

Now that he’d love to see.

Well…

His eyes lost focus as he clenched his left hand.

‘These… runes are proving to be rather interesting’

A toothy smile formed on his face.

Magic… he won't give up on it so easily, even if it is borrowed power.

He’ll find a way to make it his.

“Now.”

Fluttershy’s words cut through his musings.

“The runes etched into the crystals utilize a form of quantum entanglement, that is to say, they become entangled with the quantum states of magical particles, creating a connection between the rune and the intended magical effect.”

“That is to say if you connect a rune with a crystal, independently if they aren't physically connected and regardless of the distance the reaction will be instantaneous.”

“Of course, only a true expert would be able to make a connection so far away and even this involves time and space magic something even more complicated, only ponies extremely smart and talented are capable of doing something like this, even then it will take decades for them to even be able to.”

His eyes narrowed.

That… could be complicated.

Magic could be more difficult than he gave credit for.

His technique, to control the subconscious through his soul, in theory, if he achieves mastery over it making himself the smartest human in history would not be impossible, just complicated.

He thought it an advantage before but… no.

In the world he is in, it is a requirement.

Even more, he will need to find a teacher.

‘And I need bits for that.’

His body sagged.

Only for it to strengthen itself again.

The road might have bumps and turns, but he will walk on it anyways.

Let this time at the very least, be with a head raised high.

“Oh, I forgot to explain Star, Quantum entanglement occurs when two or more particles become interconnected and share correlated quantum states, regardless of the physical distance between them, meaning one copies the other, like twins.”

“Now, with magical runes and crystals, entanglement is harnessed to establish a connection between the runic symbols and the quantum states of magical particles.”

“Allowing for a direct influence on the particles' behavior, shaping the magical effects generated by the crystal.”

“Now quantum resonance is the phenomenon where quantum systems, in this case, magical particles within a crystal lattice, exhibit a synchronized response to an external stimulus, in magical crystals, the alignment of these particles creates a resonance that amplifies their collective effects, influencing the crystal's overall magical properties.”

Clop!

“In simpler terms, quantum resonance emphasizes the synchronized behavior of magical particles within the crystal, while quantum entanglement highlights the interconnectedness between runic symbols and the particles' quantum states.”

Setting the brush aside Dean turned the tube’s valve off.

Lifting himself he took the towel on the side of the door, came back, and started to dry the pegasus.

At the same time, he spoke.

“So that means stronger crystals would be able to handle more affinities hence stopping the degradation and loss of efficiency during each activation?”

“Even more, the functionality of each rune and crystal depends on quantum mechanics? Quantum resonance makes them act and move in sync while entanglement makes the connection with runes and the magic particle’s quantum states?”

“Mmph, peh! Yes, Star exactly that! You've got the essence of it!”

She beamed a smile even as he dried her face.

“Stronger crystals, with a more stable and intricate lattice structure, can handle a broader spectrum of magical affinities. This helps mitigate the degradation and loss of efficiency during repeated activations, ensuring a more reliable and consistent performance over time.”

Her face turned serious.

“And yes, quantum mechanics plays a crucial role in the functionality of runes and crystals.”

“Quantum resonance orchestrates the synchronized movement of magical particles within the crystal, creating a harmonious environment for the manifestation of magical effects.”

“Simultaneously, quantum entanglement establishes a unique connection between runic symbols and the quantum states of these particles, allowing for a direct and precise influence on their behavior.”

Clop!

“Now, to remind you of what we talked about, then, to the next subject!”

Standing on her two legs she pointed forward with a serious expression.

“eep!”

Only to freeze as Star’s towel enveloped her barrel.

“If you do not want me seeing anything, avoid such positions little fool, you do have the habit of getting embarrassed for nothing, so be more careful.”

Red dots formed on her muzzle.

THUD!*

Her hooves slammed on the bathtub as she forced her body down.

A second later Star removes the towel and keeps drying her.

The second time.

THUMP!*

It’s the second time she practically exhibits her Bits to Star!

THUMP!*

It feels like her heart is about to explode!

Her eyes wandered toward the human

Her feathers twitch.

She forced herself not to panic.

Slowly, she breathed, in and out.

Seconds passed as she felt the towel dry her body, slowly, it moved, below her wings, barrel, face, mane, and legs.

It wasn't uncomfortable, the fabric was not as soft as his fingers and his movement was too simple and rough for her to feel anything.

It wasn't pleasing, or unpleasing, it just… was.

Even then, her body relaxed.

She liked it, well, not the mortification of course but… what came before.

Before she became too comfortable.

Serenity.

Just… it was weird, truly weird.

Here she is being brushed and dried by an alien she met a day ago, an alien that changed her life in less than five hours and somehow convinced her to get rid of her cutie mark.

Inherently making her convince herself to connect her soul to him at the risk of a demon ripping her in half… literally.

‘Heh~’

She puffed as an amusing phrase came to mind.

‘Fluttershy, the first victim of Dean the Debater.’

“he…hehehahaha”

It was hilarious

She was afraid to do so much as talk to other ponies not even a day ago, and now she is here, tranquil as an alien Stallion dries her body.

… She is fine with it

The tranquility was enough to make her forget that Starfield isn't a pony, that he isn't a Stallion, and that he is dangerous.

He is not kind, caring, soft-spoken, or even overly mindful.

But he is someone she can be relaxed around.

Someone she can… do whatever she wants, smile, laugh, play, be silly, as long as she doesn't act like a mare she herself would hate she’d always have a place with Star.

And that alone means the world to her.

Oh, she didn't do much to resist, or even refuse his… request, not because she is a pushover, no, she did it because Star truly and wholly just wanted to do it.

Help her that is.

With her fuzzy problem.

Exactly because he caused it, he might call himself selfish, and be mostly right, but not fully.

Even if he doesn't know it, he has a kind soul.

Maybe not toward her, or even most creatures.

But she knows it.

Star has things he cares about, humans he admires, respects even.

His expectations are just a little too high but… they are good.

She understands it.

He… respects those who respect themselves and those who are like him, a version of him.

Stuck.

Angry, enraged, and apathetic, no matter his state, or his words at the end of it all Star just wanted her to not be like he was.

It was something like ‘If you can, be better, and you always can’ just… much more brutal and philosophical.

And existentially dreadful.

And extremely motivational.

One does not change a 16-year-old mare set in her misery in just hours without being so.

The towel passed through her tail, she could feel the water slowly leaving her appendage.

Thank the stars she is sitting.

Star might be oblivious, or even uncaring to most things he considers pointless but he is considerate, he wouldn't have covered her or even said he’d keep away from her… parts otherwise.

She should feel uncomfortable.

But she just… can't?

Star is honest, and well-intentioned, being angry or uncomfortable is… not something she can really feel.

‘Is this how ponies feel when they meet devoted followers of the principle of Honesty?’

Star isn't innocent by any means, but he is somehuman she knows she can absolutely trust.

Not to do good to her but to… not hide anything from her.

If he wants something, he will say it, no matter how embarrassing or how likely it is to make her buck him in the face.

Honesty does not mean kindness after all.

It is weird.

Every time he petted her it felt like he cared about her, something she knows isn't true.

Even now, being dried only makes her feel like a filly, being given a bath by her parents.

And, that's the thing, without caring, Star cares.

She can be silly, idiotic, dance around, play stupid games, do pranks, be a filly even, and Star won't say a word.

Be it on the couch, kitchen, or even here, in the bathtub, being dried, she can trust him, wholly.

He said he’d help, and that's all he will, all he will think of doing.

Because… not being honest would mean taking a step back, it would mean returning to being the human he hated.

“Done.”

Star’s words cut through her trance, glancing at him she saw him putting the towel away.

Without wait she got up and sat in front of her sink.

Hmmn*

‘Better.’

“Now, I can't read this thing, so pick one.”

Looking to the side she saw Star holding five blades.

“This one, number 4, 9.5 millimeters.”

Nodding he put the rest on the sink and put the sword in the clipper.

Turning it around he found a small button.

Buzzzzzz*

“Are you sure this will be enough?”

She smiled, a content humm left her mouth as she did so.

“Of course Star, didn't you complain about me wearing so much? Now I won't have to wear more than a beanie.”

He hummed.

“You were quiet, did my question bore you?”

She shook her head.

His tone was, calm, unbothered most likely.

Still, she can be considerate.

“No, I was just… thinking, lost in my mind and all that jazz.”

Buzzzzzz*

“Then I will leave you to it, if something hurts, be sure to tell me, it is my first time trimming an equestrian pony.”

She nodded, in a moment, her thoughts came back, together with the buzzing sound of the clipper.

Buzzzzzz*

She understands it just like Star does, looking at the mirror and wanting to break it, to buck it, to not see the reflection on it.

Being that shy, fearful, lying, weak mare would be worse than any bad words anycreature could throw at her.

She just wishes she had noticed that before.

Living hating yourself is not living at all.

Even more so when you don't change just that.

That's why she trusts Star to be honest, because she is him, in a way.

Buzzzzzz*

She… is not afraid of him screaming at her, Star doesn't care about her but she knows he can't stand seeing anycreature wasting away like he did.

And now, she doesn't either.

If being screamed at is the price for never going back to that pony, then it's something small in comparison to living as her.

Why would she be scared of progress again?

She has to be honest, act like herself, speak what's in her mind, and not hide anything from him, how else would he speak about her… undesirable parts?

Buzzzzzz*

Well, she has no intention of becoming the same as Star in every way of course but… it is best to hear the words of someone who already walked the path she is on instead of going in blind.

If she doesn't like something, no matter how much he screams at her, she won't do it.

Star has a view of what is to be strong, he shares that view with her through his words, the way he acts, but that does not mean he wants to push her around.

He said it himself, the road is for her to walk on.

What comes on the other side is completely dependent on her and her alone.

Star cares without caring, exactly because he’d throw her through a window if it meant she’d get stronger for it.

Buzzzzzz*

He cares that somepony weak is close to him, not that Fluttershy, the pegasus pony is weak.

She understands now, why her pa married her mother, they said it before, but she didn't understand it at the time.

Soft, kind, caring, handsome, rich, strong, she doesn't need any of that in a friend, no, as long as he and she don’t do bad to each other she should only search for someone that she is happy to stay with.

And… she is happy.

A tear threatened to fall from her eye.

After so, so long She. Is. Happy.

And she won't lose it.

No matter what, she’ll hold on to it, and buck any bucker bold enough to try and take it away from her.

Buzzzz-

The clipper suddenly stopped.

“Are you fine? I told you to tell me if I pulled your fur.”

Her wing shot up toward her eye, wiping the water off.

“No, I just…”

She looked at Star’s confused reflection.

“I’m happy.”

Hmmn*

Buzzzzzz*

Staying silent he went back to trimming.

The pony on the other hoof, hummed a happy song.

Having Star as a friend should feel like having a gay Stallion as one, just… Star finds her as attractive as a grain of sand.

Libido? What's that? Can I eat it?

Yes… it would be funny, had she not been at the receiving end of a creature that disregards anything he considers petty or pointless.

Like embarrassment.

And personal space.

Had he had any other intentions she would have bucked him already, but then again, actions or words, Star is honest in all.

The closest creature to an open book.

But for now… back to her class

Buzzzzzz*

“Now, as I said before emotions generate distinct electrochemical signatures within the brain, when crafting runes, the emotional frequencies associated with specific intentions are encoded into the crystal's lattice.”

“The crystal acts as a resonator for these frequencies, enhancing the effectiveness of the rune, meaning even small bursts of emotion can activate it.”

Clop!

“Now, for the last explanation about these crystals.”

“Harmonic magic exhibits a form of sentience through the interaction of ambient magic with the emotional frequencies encoded in runes, the magic mirrors the emotional intent of the creator, creating a harmonious relationship between the spell caster and the magical energy.”

“Be happy while creating, get happy results, be angry, get angry, be hateful, get hate, so on and so on.”

Twisting her hoof she shot her head back to stare at Star.

The human in turn stared at her with an unblinking, and somewhat surprised stare.

“That's all, well, all for that one crystal that is.”

His mouth formed a line.

A diminutive frown appeared on his face.

“You have far more knowledge in this than one would expect, something worthy of praise without a doubt.”

She smiled as her wings ruffled.

His eyes stayed fixed on his clipper.

“More knowledge than a simple curiosity would entrail, did you… ever want to become a… runesmith? Enchanter?”

For a moment, she froze.

Only to sigh in tiredness.

With her eyes fully open she looked upon Star’s reflection and spoke in a downed tone.

“My talent, it… lets me hear anything other creatures speak in perfect equish, with the exception of vastly different words like, horse, something that does not exist in my dictionary despite sounding very similar to… a bad word.”

“That means that while I can perfectly learn what a symbol is spoken, I can't know what it is said in their native language.”

Her body sagged just as he started to trim her legs.

“Something needed to be able to make runes in the first place, their history it's… I understand it through the ears of an Equestrian pony, instead of a Grifonian Griff.”

She sighed lightly.

“Ever since I was a filly I was terrified of heights, the day I discovered my cutie mark is also the day I discovered land, and the animals that live within it and, I know…”

Buzzzzzz*

“I know it could have simply been my destiny to like them, really everything could have been, but I liked them, I still like them you know, maybe I won't in the future, but for now, I can't abandon them, even if it wasn't me wh- ouch!”

Lightly Dean flickered Fluttershy’s leg.

“Worry about it later, continue your history, it is much more interesting, and you will need to run, I have yet to feel anything besides fat with this clipp-... oi.”

Hmph!*

Humphing Fluttershy closed her eyes and lifted her head, she might be a little sedentary, but she’s not fat!

And so the only answer to him would be a fluffy tail to the face.

Seconds passed.

No sound was made.

Her ears fell.

Slowly, she turned her head.

Only to pause.

”He..hehehehahaHaHAHAHA!”

Falling on her side she grabbed her barrel and

Star… star’s face was filled with her tail fluff!

“HahaHAHAHAHAHA!”

The human’s eyebrow went up.

She laughed harder

Oh, but that was not all, no, no, no, the spirit of laughter apparently decided she was too gloomy boomy because her tail formed a perfect goatee on the human’s face!

“No- haha, no! HaHAHA! STAR heheha, look he~ look to the other side hahaha please!”

The human’s deadpan stare became more evident.

She laughed harder.

She couldn't breathe properly anymore.

Faust why is she imagining him as a neighponese Hoof Fu master?!

He looks so ridiculous too!

“HeHahaHe-hehe…Hah-”

Her laughter suddenly stopped, from one moment to the other she shot upright, her face bearing a serious expression.

Her ears fell

"Star..."

Wiping the tail off his face, the human hummed.

"I-I d-didn't mean to laugh a-at you. I'm... sor-rry."

Her voice cracked ever so slightly.

Being laughed at for years, knowing how much it hurts, and doing the same thing, to a friend non-

Slap!*

“Ouch!”

The Pegasus held her head in pain where the human had slapped her.

“Stupid woman, mocking someone and laughing at them are two different things, even I know this, how long have you been without pony contact?”

Scratching the back of her head she laughed awkwardly.

”Seven years?”

“If I had found it humiliating it would have been another history, when something embarrassing happens you laugh together with them, unfortunately, I only find amusement in little things.”

“Besides…”

He tapped his chin.

“I laughed at your little dance did I not? And, although I did not see it, a pink bearded man does sound rather silly don't you think?”

“He…hehahahaha, yes, yes it does Star.”

She smiled.

He did not.

Her body lowered.

His eyes narrowed.

“Fl-”

With a jump, she pounced toward the human.

“You idiot!”

Who promptly screamed at her while throwing the clipper away, just in time for her body to slam against him… and do nothing.

He blinked.

The pony extended her wings and arms, in a second, she hugged him.

“I can't… I can't remember the last time I had a laugh attack Star, thank you.”

He lifted his hand.

Only to lower it

He shook his head.

Grabbing the pony’s shoulders she pushed her away and then looked at his fur-filled shirt.

“Ugh, this will be annoying to clean.”

Her expression shifted as she laughed some more.

‘Not yet shy, not yet.’

Turning around she glanced at her human.

Absently she watched as he took the clipper and walked back.

Reflexively she turned and sat in place, not a second later she felt the clipper on her fur.

Buzzzzz*

“What I wanted to ask is if you will be able to teach me your language in the first place, considering you hear everything I speak in equish and I hear everything you speak in Portuguese I imagine it will become something complicated, maybe I should ask for that blue one’s help.”

Her ears shot up.

Only to be grabbed and lowered again as the human started to trim her fur.

“Rainbow Dash?”

“Ah, yes, her, but no matter, will you really be able to explain your alphabet in the first place? For example, say A.”

Her head tilted.

“A.”

A frown appeared on Dean’s face this… would be complicated.

‘Wait.’

“Ok, I am going to say this very slowly, so pay attention, and repeat the same letter toward me, in the same way I do.”

She nodded

“A, ay, aaayyy.”

Her eyes widened.

“Za.”

“Za equals A, ayyy, correct?”

Smiling, she nodded.

“Good, it seems that instead of a flaw you only truly failed at recognizing a quirk of your cutie mark.”

Hmmm*

“Did you… give up after learning you couldn't understand runes?”

She shook her head.

“No, I tried, I thought if I couldn't understand the language I could at least understand everything else but…”

She looked at her cutie mark.

“It seems like I went through the wrong path.”

He hummed, the clipper finally finishing her other ear.

“Understandable, if you were anything like my past self, gaining motivation to do even the things you loved or were interested in after meeting a roadblock would be hard.”

“Fortunately for you, people’s dreams never end, now, let's continue, I will speak my alphabet, and you will answer in your own language, slowly, focus on making the sound of the letter, not the letter itself.”

She nodded.

“B - bee”

“Bo”

“C - see”

“Cu”

“D - dee”

“Di”

“E - ee”

“Es”

“F - ef”

“Fu”

“G - gee”

“Ga”

“H - aitch”

“He”

“I - eye”

“Ix”

“J - jay”

“Ju”

“K - kay”

“Ki”

“L - el”

“La”

“M - em”

“Mi”

“N - en”

“No”

“O - oh”

“Os”

“P - pee”

“Pi”

“Q - cue”

“Qu”

“R - ar”

“Re”

“S - ess”

“Si”

“T - tee”

“To”

“U - you”

“Un”

“V - vee”

“Vi”

“W - dabliu”

“Wo”

“X - ex”

“Xe”

“Y - why”

“Ya”

“Z - zed”

“Zo”

“Annnd done!”

Fluttershy clopped her hoof.

Dean frowned.

“Our alphabets seem to have the same number of letters, or at least the English one does, I would have spoken of the others but… it seems pointless now.”

Buzzz-*

The clipper’s buzz suddenly stopped.

Grabbing the pony’s head he turned her toward the mirror.

“Wow.”

Her eyes sparkled as she looked at her reflection, she had no hairstyle to speak of but her long and smooth mane was something else.

Mmmmn*

Feeling Star’s fingers on her head she hummed happily.

Unconsciously her body started to move from side to side, behind her, her tail began to sway.

“Ok PupShy, what do you want your hairstyle to be?”

“We-”

“Too bad, I can only do braids, I am not a barber you know.”

Her eyes turned deadpan.

“Hey, one for one, now…”

Taking her hair Dean started to

“I will have to brush everything again, but do continue your explanation.”

Suddenly she stood up, the movement making Dean release her hair.

Not a second later she beat her wings and shot out of the bathroom.

“I’ll take something, be back in a second!”

He opened his mouth.

THUD!*

“OUCH!”

Only to close it again at the distant sounds.

Sighing he looked around, seeing the fur on the ground he went to take a broom.

“I’m back!”

Only to stop as the pegasus barged in.

“Here.”

Extending her hoof she showed a white sheet of paper, together with a pencil.

He said nothing as she walked back and sat in front of the sink’s mirror once again.

“Now I know we don't have time for it all, it's… 10:50, meaning we only have 20 minutes at maximum before I need to start making lunch.”

She stopped for a moment before her wing extended backward and touched Star’s arm.

“And you are going to help me with it mister, I don't want to make something both of us can't enjoy ok?”

Shifting his arm he took her mane once again.

“Knowing the difference between our worlds, even in the smallest of things, will be something useful for me, that and I am curious to know how you make your food.”

Hrsssssss

“Good, now, I want you to speak your alphabet, then I will write the letter after it you will write your own letter and the sound mine does ok?”

He nodded.

She smiled.

“Ok now… ⏃ za.”

✦ . ⁺ . ✦ . ⁺ . ✦

“Aaaaand, done!”

Tick!

Fluttershy tapped her pen on the sink as she ended writing the comparison of both alphabets, it didn't take more than one minute but still, some parts were confusing.

The letters for example, were completely different.

1- ⏃= (A): Sounds like "za"
2- ⏚= (B): Sounds like "bo"
3- ☊= (C): Sounds like "cu"
4- ⎅= (D): Sounds like "di"
5- ⟒= (E): Sounds like "es"
6- ⎎= (F): Sounds like"fu"
7- ☌= (G): Siunds like "ga"
8- ⊑= (H): Sounds like "he"
9- ⟟= (I): Sounds like "ix"
10- ⟊= (J): Sounds like "ju"
11- ☍= (K): Sounds like "ki"
12- ⌰= (L): Sounds like "la"
13- ⋔= (M): Sounds like "mi"
14- ⋏= (N): Sounds like "no"
15- ⍜= (O): Sounds like "os"
16- ⌿= (P): Sounds like "pi"
17- ⍾= (Q): Sounds like "qu"
18- ⍀= (R): Sounds like "re"
19- ⌇= (S): Sounds like "si"
20- ⏁= (T): Sounds like "to"
21- ⎍= (U): Sounds like "un"
22- ⎐= (V): Sounds like "vi"
23- ⍙= (W): Sounds like "wo"
24- ⌖= (X): Sounds Like "xe"
25- ⊬= (Y): Sounds like "ya"
26- ⋉= (Z): Sounds like "zo"

26 from both, apparently the same as one of the languages of Star’s homeworld ‘English’ fortunately the human knew it, it would not be significantly more difficult but the simpler the better.

While the pony hummed happily the human brushed her hair, a contemplative expression plastered on his face all the while.

“So…”

Fluttershy’s head snapped toward his reflection.

“In your language, my name would be something like… Dieszano Toyareosnounsi Sitozarefuixesladi?”

Clop! clop! clop! clop! clop! clop! clop!

“Yes! I mean, the pronunciation is horrible and the emphasis abysmal, but you did it!”

Taking a small impulse the pony started to jump up and down.

The human on the other hand, simply tapped his chin.

“You understood me in your language, correct?”

Without stopping she nodded.

“But at the same time, you heard me speaking with a, as you describe it, horrible pronunciation, something that has never happened before.”

Suddenly, she stopped.

Turning around she stared at the human with unblinking eyes.

“Meaning your talent only activates on sounds you cannot understand, implying that as long as somecreature speaks in a type of broken equish that is vaguely understandable, your talent will not activate.”

“Meaning as I progress it will become harder and harder for you to teach me, in other words, we’ll have to ask that blue Pegasus for help either way.”

Finally finishing with her mane Star let it fall, she would have admired her mane had she not realized another pony would enter her house in the future not settled in her.

Her stomach turned.

Her cottage, outside of her family, critters, and Star nopony else had ever been on it.

And for good reason.

It is her house, a place where she can go, rest, do what she wants, and live as she dreams.

She accepted Star solely because he was a creature in dire need of help, and she was the most fitting pony for the job.

Speaking with somehuman who is similar to her, lived on her hooves, understands her, never lies, has the same libido as a wall, one that somehow is a debater strong enough to change her life in less than five hours and beat her decade-old depression just as fast is one thing.

Speaking with a stranger pony who can lie, laugh at her, judge her, mock her for nothing else but the sake of it, and be overall a very mean creature with zero good intentions depending completely on how they feel like it is another one completely.

Especially when that same pony is the bucking mare that cared more about winning a race and training than saving another pony from a death fall, or even helping her marginally after self-proclaiming herself her friend.

‘But nooooooo, just tell meek little Fluttershy you are her friend and she will grab onto you like a cat on a scratch post!’

Hmph!

Not like helping the pony with wings that is screaming while falling to her death is something normal to do after all.

Not like she can't use her wings, right?

Oh, she doesn't hate Rainbow, she doesn't have the strength to hate anycreature, but even if she tolerated the mare out of patience and shyness before that does not mean she liked her.

4 years, before that call yesterday it had been 4 years since the blue pegasus had bothered to speak to her.

She doesn't think of her as a friend, for a brief year she did, but not anymore, but for a self-appointed one that Pegasus sure makes a point to act as anything but.

Sigh*

No, that's not fair, if she wanted a friend she should have gone after one, as Star said it, put the blame on no one but yourself, she just… is not as extreme as him.

“But this is for later, for now.”

Her ears twitched as the human continued speaking.

Thinking about life now was pointless.

Leaning forward he took both the paper and pen off the pegasus hooves.

Not even twenty seconds later he gave it back.

“The first is Dean, the second Tyronus, and the third Starfield, write it in your language, and then we will talk more about it.”

Nodding the pegasus started writing, ten seconds later she was done.

• Dean: ⎅⟒⏃⋏

• Tyronus: ⏁⊬⍀⍜⋏⎍⌇

• Starfield: ⌇⏁⏃⍀⎎⟟⟒⌰⎅

Feeling Star’s chest on her head as he leaned to look at the paper a sudden sense of excitement bloomed inside her chest.

It was… nostalgic, and paradoxically new.

Not him leaning forward Faust no, more like… the situation in itself, this entire day even, saying it is the best of her 16 years of life wouldn't be an exaggeration.

She remembered it, not precisely of course, so much time passed after all.

When she was a filly, before everything happened she was so curious, everything was new, and she loved to discover it.

The days she would make foalish questions, do stupid things, and have fun in the simplest of things, such as follow her tail for minutes.

She can't quite remember the feelings of it but… she is sure it was amazing, even more, she is sure that…

‘It feels the same…’

The same as years ago, after so long of doing the same, same and same thing for years, being content and thinking she was happy something new happened.

And it felt amazing, doing something new was… incredible!

Especially with somecreature else, maybe it is mean to say it but talking and playing with her critters just isn't the same.

But how would she know? It’s been so long, she forgot it, the feeling of having a friend.

‘No.’

No, not a friend but… something, she doesn't have a word for it but Star is something to her, a very important one too.

He is… dear to her.

She can trust him, with very specific things, fully even, but in others… she can't, because she knows he won't do a thing to help.

She, surprisingly enough, doesn't care, life has ups and downs, it's up to her to climb the downs and make sure not to fall on them.

She… accepts him, and that's that, maybe he’s not perfect, maybe he never will but… she doesn't need a perfect companion?/friend?/acquaintance.

Star’s enough.

Well, not that it matters, no, for now, she only needs to re-discover the feeling and be just as happy as she did the first time.

With a cheer in her tone, she spoke.

“Now you spoke Dies-zano Toya-reos-noun-si Sito-zarefui-xesladi the correct pronunciation would be Di-esz-ano Toyar-eosno-unsi Sitozar-efuixe-slad-i.”

Hmnnnn*

“I understood nothing you spoke, or at least the why.”

She smiled, and then waved her left hoof.

“No worries Star, Timbucktu wasn't built in a single day, oh, it's an ancient pegasus cloud city, much like Cloudsdale.”

While the pegasus explained the human pondered.

“Wouldn't that mean your name is Fulauntotoesre Siheya?”

She froze.

Her wings briefly fluttered.

Her eye twitched.

Hearing Star speaking felt the same as having somepony scratch a chalkboard.

It was rather… unkind to think so but… if ponysh was a pony it would wither and die after hearing him speak.

With a stained smile she lifted her hoof.

She can fix this!

“That would be… a disappointment.”

Her arm froze, just as an indignant look crossed her face.

New or not Star should know saying something bad about a pony’s name is not something to be done even if angry.

She will teach him of course, but this alone does not stop her from getting angry.

Turning around an upset expression formed on her face.

“Fluttershy is a much cuter name.”

Something hit her.

Only for an embarrassed one to form not a second later as the human spoke.

thump!

‘WHERE DID THAT COME FROM YOU DUMMY COLT?!’

“Well… not that I don't believe your name is as adorable in your language but… I prefer mine, Fluttershy, Flutter Shy.”

Thump!

He tapped his chin.

“If I had a pet butterfly I’d give her a name like this.”

THUMP!

THUMP!!

THUMP!!!

’aaaaaaaaaaaa!’

“Well.”

Putting Fluttershy’s hair aside he slowly took her tail and started brushing, the pony was sitting, there was no reason for her to make a scene.

“Not that it matters, despite having the form of one you are most certainly not a critter.”

Sigh*

Her body sagged.

Her heartbeat decreased.

“For more that I wish one like you existed in my world.”

THUMP!*

Only to shoot up again as Star kept speaking.

’aaaaaaaaaaaa!’

That stallion did not have a filter.

“Ah.”

And for more that she loved it, she also hated it.

His hand briefly stopped.

“I don't mean a pegasus, by the worlds, having a pet so similar to your race would be rather weird, I meant something as good as you.”

’aaaaaaaaaaaa! STOP SPEAKING YOU IDIOT!’

“Clean, cute, with a mouth that doesn't smell of garbage, fluffy and smart, although… having a pet that could talk to me, even if amazing would be rather upsetting, well…”

’AAAAAAAAAAAA!’

“If they wanted to keep being my pet I wouldn't oppose it, but you know right? I’d need to change how I treated them… he~”

The human lightly chuckled as he kept brushing the pony’s tail, completely missing the same mare’s expression of embarrassment.

It wasn't so much as Star telling her it, more like anycreature at all besides her family and critters doing so.

Knowing they aren't mocking her is also rather pleasing, flattering even, just….

‘Being told you’d make a good pet? Does this stupid colt not realize what he’s babbling about?!’

She is starting to realize that having a wholly honest creature living with her might cause more embarrassment than not.

“You know, I spoke with my classmates somewhat when I was a teen, our conversations would start with something as simple as a new game, and end with everyone asking whether a human or a shark in a bicycle would win a race.”

“Amusing times were those little flame, amusing they were.”

Thum-*

Her head suddenly shot up as she stared at the human’s reflection.

“Wait…”

Continuing brushing her tail, Dean hummed.

“Little flame?”

“Your soul burns does it not?”

Her head tilted.

“It… does?”

“You thought I was being figurative? Your ego was born not long ago, it is a little yellow flame inside a bigger blue one, hence why.”

He poked the back of her head.

“Little flame.”

Putting the brush aside he held her tail with both hands and separated it into three parts, slowly, he started braiding.

All the while the pony stood still.

A small smile graced her face.

Shaking her head she spoke.

“No Star in my language my name would be Fulaun-toes-re Siheya, you don't need to repeat the letter ok?”

Hmmm*

“Understood, now, I want to test something, pay attention to my words ok?”

Quickly, she nodded.

“Horse.”

No reaction.

“Horse.”

“STAR!”

The pony’s head snapped toward him with such speed he briefly thought she had broken it.

He ignored it and hummed to himself.

Hmmm*

“I see, my intent when speaking the first was to refer to a creature of my world, the second however was to refer to a certain type of… woman, or mare in your case.”

“The first time I spoke Horse back then my intention was for you to understand me, your cutie mark most likely translated it with that in mind hence you understood a word that did not exist in your dictionary but that had a similar sound.”

Her glare intensified.

He continued on, the mystery of magic much more appealing than the admittedly cute pegasus’ reactions.

“When I said horse just now I did not want you to understand it as anything besides it being an animal from my world, tell me what exactly did you hear?”

Her head tilted even while her glare kept up.

“I… don't know? It was a jumbled mess of nonsensical words I thought you were pranking me.”

“I see, would that not mean Your cutie mark can be tricked? Or is it because magic is not inside my soul? Contrary to most, if not all creatures on this world, if wholly dependent on magic it would make sense why your power does not work perfectly on me.”

"For example, woman, my intent when speaking it was to refer to a female of my species, not a mare, that is to say not a female pony, I saw your expression every time I spoke it, you were confused right?”

Her glare lessened, even while her expression morphed into a confused one she gave a nod.

“Because, not unlike the runes, your cutie mark can sense something much deeper than simple emotions, it can read intent, BUT!”

He lifted his finger, just to then go back to braiding her tail.

“It is unlikely to do so by reading the electrochemical signals reflected on ambient magic by the brain, no, no no no no.”

He shook his head.

“I didn't feel any kind of pulse in my brain, I could be wrong but speaking plainly I do not believe your cutie mark needs to use such a way to read my mind, no, I believe it can see my brain.”

A stained smile formed on his face.

“I believe it can use such a magical way to see my intent but that it does not depend on it, the second option might as well be something it did when the first didn't work perfectly.”

“All of it, neurons, signals, synapses, from the smallest to biggest your cutie mark can see everything, not only see but analyze it, understand it, and make conclusions, in other words…”

He pointed toward the pony

“You can read minds.”

A skeptical look formed on her face.

He laughed.

“I know, I know, the difficulty would be immense, it would need the ability to not just observe, but intricately scan and analyze neural activity in real-time with extremely high resolution.”

He held his chin.

His other hand kept holding the braid together.

The pony’s tail was unimaginably big.

“It would need to understand the chemical aspects of neurotransmitters and their role in modulating neural signals.”

Lifting his hand he lifted two fingers.

“Even more, it would need to have access to an individual's entire life history, experiences, emotions, and memories to provide context to the observed neural patterns.”

Three fingers.

“Not only that, it would necessitate to have advanced algorithms, ones capable of decoding complex patterns of neural activity and identifying meaningful correlations.”

Four.

“Recognize the influence of cultural and linguistic factors on thought processes, including nuances and symbols specific to each individual.”

Five.

“The ability to discern and interpret the emotional aspects of thoughts, emotions do play a significant role in cognitive processes after all.”

Six.

“A mechanism to comprehend and integrate the subjective aspects of human experience, acknowledging that thoughts are not purely objective entities.”

Seven.

Closing both of his hands he took the pink tail again and then looked at the bewildered pony.

He understood.

She didn't seem to think deeply about many things, hell, not many people did, but to understand the possibilities one has to first understand the implications.

And a form of mind reading purely supported by observation, one he cannot hope to defend against at the moment is one of them.

“You have something stronger than any supercomputer on my planet tattooed on your ass, and you are using it to speak to animals?”

She blinked.

“That’s… an interesting theory.”

He laughed.

‘She understood jack shit.’

“Let me put it in simpler words, supposing I am right, supposing I am right and you explored all of the possibilities of this braid, you would be able to know the past of any creature you speak with.”

“Understand the why they do what they do, in a way maybe even they don't, knowing if someone is lying or not would be trivial, no intent would be hidden from you.”

“Harmony landed you this power Fluttershy, it is false strength, false ability, an illusion that can be shattered at any time, one that you promised it would.”

“So hear me well, magic is more likely than not borrowed strength, but to be strong you need not to depend on it, use this false power to obtain true power, something truly yours, that can't be taken without similarly taking your life in return.”

She tilted her head.

She wasn't confused just… slow.

“What I am trying to say is for you to study this brand, understand it inside and out, so when the day comes, and you lose or remove it, the power to understand and be understood will not leave together with it.”

He paused, as a melancholic expression formed on his face.

“Your power is to understand creatures and be understood, imagine that, the power of honesty, no intention hidden from you, no action without reason, the strongest intuition of this planet, in the palm of your hoof.”

Her eyes fell.

“Oh.”

He huffed.

“It is obvious to me you do not even realize your full potential, you didn't even notice did you? Briefly, when speaking my name and yours, you spoke so in your language.”

Her eyes widened.

“I doubt you will be able to do so again anytime soon, but that goes to show hmn? Mind over matter or not, your limits really were imaginary.”

Closing his mouth he took his eyes out of the pony’s reflection and kept braiding her tail, he had to admit, the action was somewhat calming.

“You are very… smart St-”

“No.”

Snapping he quickly interrupted her.

“My facets can show me memories long forgotten, while I am knowledgeable for the moment it is simply a temporary thing, the information does not stay on my mind, not without constant reinforcement.”

“Ask me what I meant by these words an hour from now without requesting the aid of my facets and I will most certainly not know anything.”

Her ears fell.

An awkward silence enveloped the room.

“What are you waiting for? Keep talking about your planet.”

Her ears shot up.

“Yes! Of course, what do you want to know Star?”

“Time, first, count the seconds.”

“1, 2, 3, 4, 5-”

“Is this the exact speed seconds pass in the clocks of your world?”

She nodded.

“Good, we seem to have the same, now, a minute, how many seconds is it composed of?”

“Sixty.”

He paused.

“Sixty seconds correct?”

“...yes?”

His hands moved again.

“I see… that is… curious.”

“How so?”

“One minute in my world is sixty seconds, an hour sixty minutes, a day twenty-four hours.”

“Oh, so we are the same Star! That makes things simpler.”

Extending his arm Dean took a band on the sink and quickly tied it at the end of the pony’s tail,

“No, it does not, a minute is divided into 60 seconds because 60 has many divisors, making it easy to divide time into fractions, 60 can be evenly divided by 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 12, 15, 20, and 30.”

“Simplifying calculations involving time divisions and angles, a division of 60 is logical, I can believe in a coincidence such as this with no problem but…”

“23 hours 56 minutes and 4 seconds, this is the time the earth takes to turn around itself, humanity decided to adopt a 24-hour day out of convenience, although I cannot be certain of when Equus was formed, how and the velocity of its rotation even with the gigantic window of time for it to be possible it is still somewhat too coincidental…”

He tapped his feet while his hands kept working on the pegasus’ mane.

“Now approximately 1.4 billion years ago, an Earth's day was around 23 hours long, calculations determined that the planet would slow down enough for a day to be 25 hours long in approximately 50 to 100 million years from the day I left, making the 24-hour day state of the earth last for 1.5 billion years.”

He breathed in.

“While this is a rather big window of time It is sti-”

Feeling something poke the side of his stomach he looked down, only to see Fluttershy’s wing poking him.

Turning forward he looked at her reflection.

She was smiling.

An eyebrow rose.

“Princess Celestia moves the sun and the moon, previously Princess Luna did move the moon, although she is indisposed for now, in the past they decided upon the duration of a day themselves when Equestria was finally founded.”

“24 hours was the decided time for fairness sake 12 hours of day, 12 hours of night, the time was decided because most ponies stay awake for 15 to 17 hours, this way they could experience both the day and a little bit of the night.”

“The same goes for nocturnal ponies they stay awake during the night and experience a little bit of the day, well, that particular timeframe also allowed both princesses to meet each other during a small period, but from what I know this is only at the beginning.”

“Later on they didn't need to sleep every day like everypony else, and so they could spend more time together, well, after what happened 300 years ago that became impossible.”

Taking chunks of the pony’s mane, Dean let a single strand move to the other side of her head, keeping everything together was proving to be more complicated than he thought.

“I am not interested in the history of your princesses for now, but do continue to speak about your calendar, tell me how many days there are in a week, a month, a year?”

Her ears fell in disappointment, only for them to shoot up again not a second later.

“Of course, a week has 10 days, 6 work days and 4 relaxation days, now the first is Mane-day, the second Neighs-day, third Trotter-day, fourth Gallopgreen-Day, fifth Filly-fri-day, sixth Canter-day, seventh, starting the relaxation days is Stable-sun-day, eighth, Ponymonium-day, ninth Ponysesho-day, and finally the tenth Foal Moon-day.”

Absently he nodded.

“What day is today?”

“Today is Ponysesho-day 9th of the first month Hayprance.”

Hmmm*

“Now, a month has 10 weeks, that is to say, it has 100 days, a year has 10 months, that is to say 1000 days.”

His hands froze.

‘What?’

That… could change everything, but…

‘No, it will depend on something else.’

His arms started moving again.

“...Fluttershy.”

“Hmm?”

“How old are you again?”

“Oh, I’m 16, born on 979 in Clipclop, the fourth month day 25 at exactly 13:43 at Cloudsdale’s specialized foal care hospital.”

“...I see…”

Hmn?

Fluttershy’s head tilted in confusion, Star’s fingers suddenly stopped.

Looking at his reflection she could see him staring blankly at… nothing.

“Star?”

No reaction.

Extending her wing she poked him.

Suddenly he shook his head.

“Yes… hmm… Fluttershy, humans have a… well, names for ou- their development stages, from newborn to elderly, the Infancy goes from 0 to 2 years, Early Childhood 2 to 6, Middle Childhood 6 to 12, Adolescence 12 to 18, Early Adulthood 18 to 40, Middle Adulthood 40 to 65, Late Adulthood: 65 to 80 and finally Elderly from 80s and beyond.”

Her ears fell.

“Oh, you, no d-… do humans live just until 80?”

His hand froze

His eyes wandered to her form

Why was the pony nervous?

He moved again.

“No, what about you Ponies, how long does your race live for?”

A frown formed on her face.

She responded anyway.

“Ponies live on average around 130 years, of course, there are differences between tribes but outside of Earth ponies they are irrelevant, for example, the oldest non-alicorn Pony lived until her 165 years, she was an Earth pony you know.”

Hmmm*

“I see…”

Her expression fell.

Star doesn't hide anything, that she knows as a fact but… something is wrong.

“...Star?”

“Yes?”

“How... long do humans live?”

Sigh*

“Well, as far as I know, the oldest confirmed age for a human is 122 years.”

Her lips moved up.

“A woman named Jeanne Calment managed to live that long, she was a French woman who was born on February 21, 1875, and passed away on August 4, 1997.”

Her tail wagged.

“That is to say a human who takes good care of their health can live a very long time.”

She was worried for a moment.

It was good to know she didn't need to.

“Over a century in fact.”

It wasn't perfect, nothing ever was.

But Star’s world doesn't have magic, buying 8 years should be easy peasy.

“However…”

Thump*

Her tail froze.

“The average human lifespan in my country of origin was 75.”

Her lips formed a line.

‘Just… 75?... Well, he did say a healthy human can live a long time.’

Her smile returned.

She is worrying too much, there's nothing wrong, Star’s fine.

The human continued.

“Well, by that I mean 75 Earth years, have I ever told you my planet’s name is Earth? Terra too, anyway, each Year has exactly 1000 Days in your world, in mine we have only 365.”

Her tail froze, just as her expression fell.

Her body felt cold.

She stared at Star’s reflection.

“What?”

“It is a time calculated by how long the planet takes to fully rotate around the sun, considering the thing is soaring through the galaxy and dragging the entire system together with it I do have to ask myself how they managed to calculate this.”

The pegasus glanced back at Star.

“What?”

“75 would be… 27 years in your calendar? A little bit more actually.”

He laughed.

It was funny, really, he expected the time measurements to be different of course, but not to such an absurd point.

Still… discovering he is an infant by pony standards is nothing short of amusing.

“Ha! Wouldn't that mean I am 8 years old in your system, hmph~ I suppose calling me a colt wasn't that far off after all heh? Hehe…hah-”

CRACK!

“WHAT ARE YOU LAUGHING ABOUT YOU IDIOT?!”

Thud*

His hand froze.

He looked down.

The wooden floor was cracked.

He looked back at the pegasus, she had fully turned around.

His face remained passive, perhaps a little confused too.

He couldn't help it, it was so abrupt.

One moment he was joking, the next a crying pegasus stared at him.

What the hell did he do?

His eyes moved toward the strands of unfinished braids.

He frowned and then extended his hand.

Smack!

“WHAT IS FUNNY ABOUT LIVING JUST FOR 27 YEARS HUH?! TELL ME?! DO YOU WANT TO Die?!”

The pony’s voice broke.

The human stared at his hand as pain surged from it.

He ignored it and then stared at the crying pony.

This world is… a weird place.

He lost count of how many times he thought those same 7 words while on Equus.

Still… they didn't stop being true.

What other world would a pegasus be crying because he is going to die of old age after all?

‘Well… not that I will.’

Even then the strangest thing wasn't even that.

It was the fact something else cares about his life, someone who spent only hours with him.

He… knows empathy, but the pegasus race couldn't possibly have this much naturally right?

‘Maybe it is her cutie mark?’

‘Her ability does turn her into some type of empath after all.’

Even still, it kept being strange.

His grandparents died a long time ago, the feeling of being cared for did so together with them.

He doesn't care about his life, he values it of course, shows respect even, he wouldn't kill himself, code or not.

But… that still doesn't change the fact he’d throw it away in a heartbeat for the sake of his creed.

He blinked.

And then stared neutrally at the pegasus.

“19 years is still a long time to live, you know.”

His tone was monotone.

She didn't like it.

“It all depends on how you live, not how long, 23 years of my life… couldn't truly be called living, and I suppose most of your 16 Equestrian ones could be said to be the same…right?”

“.....”

Looking down he saw the pony’s fur all around the floor, using his feet he moved it away, and then sat.

“What does ‘age’ even mean?”

Her ears twitched.

She kept silent

“Is it a number? If so would that mean my 8 years of age according to equestria were irrelevant? A time so insignificant everything I passed through could be resumed as an infant’s life.”

He put his arms behind his back.

Tears kept falling.

He didn't like it.

“Is that it? Would you resume everything I lived through as a… phase?”

“N-”

“No… age is not a number, age is life, age is what you passed through, how much you grew by passing through it even, how long I have lived, and how long I have to live doesn't represent how old I am, you know why?”

Sniff*

She shook her head.

“Because age is the state of One's Soul, not their body.”

He put his hand above her head, and then caressed her mane.

“That is why I am older than you, and that is why even a single year, human or equestrian is more important than you might think, so, no, 19 years is not in any way shape, or form a small amount of time.”

He smiled.

These discussions, he was starting to like them.

“But that is not why you are sad, is it?”

He poked her forehead, just as her tears stopped.

“You like me, for some reason I doubt I will ever understand you like me, Is it the discussions? The fact I am not a pony? That I don't lie? Or simply that you think of me as a critter?”

“No i-!”

“I don't care.”

Raising his voice he interrupted the pegasus.

The pony was interesting, amusing, and cute, maybe that's why he doesn't like to see her in a bad mood.

Even though he doesn't care about her.

It was a paradox, but not one he feels like wasting time on.

“As I said before you have no need to explain yourself to me, but continuing on, for some reason, you care about me… or do you?”

He tapped his chin.

Thump!*

Her breath hitched.

“You are angry, and sad, because my death will leave you alone.”

Her eyes widened.

“It's been years you know, of me fully knowing myself, of course.”

He opened his arms and pointed his open palms up.

“Since arriving in this world that certainty wavered, but that does not change the fact that for years I fully knew who I was and why I did what I did, but.”

He lowered his arm as he pointed up with the other.

“But but but but, you.”

Her eyes crossed as she stared at the finger pointing at her.

“Are not Dean Tyronus Starfield, no, you are Fluttershy, and you don't know yourself, so! Allow me to make a guess.”

Snap!

“My guess is that my death is irrelevant to you.’

An indignant look formed on her face.

“Shh!”

Dean shushed the pony.

“I am not done, but continuing on, you are sad solely because the benefits of my presence in your life will disappear, you don't care about me, you care about the happiness you feel, the discussions we have, and perhaps even the new perspectives I bring.”

The pony’s expression fell, in a moment her body sagged, and she sat down on her four hooves with a downed expression.

“And that's fine.”

Her head snapped toward him.

His expression was stoic.

She still doesn't like it

“Be selfish, be cruel, be evil, be sadistic, be murderous, be a complete and utter bastard, be the worst and best of what your race can be, I. Don't. Care.”

Slowly she stood on her forelimbs.

He continued.

“I will despise you if you become a coward, I will hate you if you break your own code, I will do my best to kill you if you ever truly wish to have a true fight with me, but I won't move a single finger if you stay true to who you are.”

He exhaled.

“It is fine, for someone to do something a reward must be in place, it's only natural, why must your hard work be rewarded with nothing? Why must you care for someone if you don't get the satisfaction of doing so?”

“You only give, to receive, you know I care nothing about you, not even a little, it is understandable that you do not care about me in return, that you only seek the good things my presence brings, and that is fine.”

“All creatures are selfish, you are no exception but, don't lie to yourself, more importantly, don't lie to me, this little act, or misjudged belief that you care about me is only born of ignorance, you don't know your Self, and for it, you don't know even the reason behind your actions.”

His expression softened.

Hers stayed frozen.

“No…”

A confused expression formed on his face.

Lowering himself he got closer to the pegasus’ muzzle.

“What?”

Her head moved back

“I…”

She gulped.

“You… you are right Star, I…like you, you are the first friend I have ever had in, well… since flight camp, maybe I am sad because I don't want to be alone again, and I am sorry for making you believe I was lying to you, but no, Dean Tyronus Starfield, you are my friend, and I can guarantee you that I care about you beyond what you can give me.”

She stood on her hind legs and then supported herself on his shoulders, she wasn't quite as tall as him, but she came to his jaw this way.

She stared at his eyes as one of his eyebrows rose.

She could feel his muscles tensing.

She understands.

There aren't any intelligent creatures like her in Star’s world.

Any as big as her and so close to a human would most certainly be looking to kill him.

She took care of critters for years, of course she knows a little bit of body language.

Star was different, but similarities exist even in the most unexpected ways.

“But you said it yourself, creatures like us are complex, unimaginably so, there is not one single reason for any given action or reaction, but many, you might not believe me but I care about you.”

“I cared about you when you were in that hospital, when you woke up full of bruises, when you screamed at me that first time, when you were eating the meal I had prepared, I cared about you and I most certainly wasn't expecting anything.”

Sigh*

“And yes, I am sad because 19 years from now the creature responsible for giving me happiness in the worst times of my life won't be here.”

“Because the man responsible for making me question things I would never have thought of before will be gone, his life ending because whatever made him didn't want him to have a full life.”

Something hit his hand.

His eyes flickered.

‘Oh… she’s crying again.’

He still doesn't like it.

“You changed my life, I can't… I can't be just Fluttershy anymore, you gave me hope of being, well… not being me.”

She laughed.

A frown appeared on his face.

It was a rather self-deprecating laugh.

“You expect me not to be grateful, to not like you?”

She wiped her tears.

“Nothing is perfect Starfield, and I am okay with that, you are enough for me to be happy, you are right, absolutely right, but you forget one thing, if you died I would also be sad because my friend won't live long enough to fully experience life.”

“Because someone so similar to me will be dead, I will grieve, for the life you didn't live.”

Thump!*

“Not the happiness you didn't give.”

“...”

“Even more, you are not the only one who can make somepony else happy, idiot.”

His breath hitched.

“Why can't I make you happy too hmn? Why can't I try to make you live longer? Have a life with me?! Why can't you smile together with me in a hundred years hmn?!”

She pushed him back.

“!”

Dean stopped himself from falling with his right foot, only to be pushed back again by the angry pegasus.

“It's wrong for me to want you to be happy?! It's wrong for somEPONY ELSE TO CARE ABOUT YOU?!”

She pushed him back again.

“Ugh* Flu-!”

And again.

This time he tripped and then fell directly on the wooden bathtub.

“Oh but excuse me mister human! Who is me to want MY FRIEND to live a happy life with me like anypony else would?!”

CRACK!*

Wooden splinters shot up as the Pegasus stared at the human intensely.

He ignored it.

Opting to instead stare at the steaming pegasus with widened eyes, his hands clenched as he held the sides of the bathtub all the while.

His lips moved up.

The pony kept glaring at him

He couldn’t help it.

“He…”

He laughed.

[sise=1]“... Ha… hahahehaHAHAHAHA!~”

A hurtful expression befell the pegasus face as her ears fell.

The human quickly controlled himself.

“One, hehe~ one would mistake that for a marriage proposal.”

She froze.

Her mouth hung open.

“E-eeeeh?!”

Taking impulse he shot his body forward, only to caress the pony’s head.

He doubts she is innocent, but her words are.

Fluttershy… he is starting to like this woman.

“If you are so worried then let me assure you, I will not die of old age, little fool, relax.”

She did not, in fact, relax.

Much to the contrary as a matter of fact.

“So, let’s continue, we wasted enough time already and we still have to make lunch before I go to train with that Pegasus, if you want to continue this conversation let it be tomorrow.”

Weakly, she nodded.

‘There might not be a tomorrow for you idiot.’

Turning around she sat and then sighed, leaving exhausted from a talk with Star was becoming common.

Her lips went up

Not that she minded.

A moment later she felt Star’s fingers on her mane.

She took it as her cue.

“So, Star, to be more precise a single Equestrian Year is equal to 2 years, 8 months, and 6 days, Princess Celestia at her 1000 years would have 2671 years and 15 days of age in the human calendar.”

Dean hummed.

The pony is not happy.

It was evident by her tone, she is tired.

Perhaps… postponing this talk would not be a good idea, unbothered and somewhat apathetic he may be but he has limits.

“So as you said, that would mean 2 years, 8 months, and 6 days equal 1 Equestrian year, going even further that would mean.”

“2 Equestrian years equal 5 years, 4 months, and 12 days.”

“3 Equestrian years equal 8 years, 0 months, and 18 days.”

“4 Equestrian years equal 10 years, 9 months, and 24 days.”

“5 Equestrian years equal 13 years, 7 months, and 0 days.”

“6 Equestrian years equal 16 years, 5 months, and 6 days.”

“7 Equestrian years equal 19 years, 3 months, and 12 days.”

“8 Equestrian years equal 22 years, 1 month, and 18 days.”

“9 Equestrian years equal 24 years, 10 months, and 24 days.”

“10 Equestrian years equal 27 years, 8 months, and 0 days.”

“11 Equestrian years equal 30 years, 6 months, and 6 days.”

“12 Equestrian years equal 33 years, 4 months, and 12 days.

“13 Equestrian years equal 36 years, 2 months, and 18 days.”

“14 Equestrian years equal 39 years, 0 months, and 24 days.”

“15 Equestrian years equal 41 years, 9 months, and 0 days.”

“16 Equestrian years equal 44 years, 7 months, and 6 days.”

Huff*

He stopped, taking a big breath, he continued.

“17 Equestrian years equal 47 years, 5 months, and 12 days.”

“18 Equestrian years equal 50 years, 3 months, and 18 days.”

“19 Equestrian years equal 53 years, 1 month, and 24 days.”

“20 Equestrian years equal 55 years, 10 months, and 0 days.”

“21 Equestrian years equal 58 years, 6 months, and 6 days.”

“22 Equestrian years equal 61 years, 2 months, and 12 days.”

“23 Equestrian years equal 63 years, 10 months, and 18 days.”

“24 Equestrian years equal 66 years, 6 months, and 24 days.”

“25 Equestrian years equal 69 years, 2 months, and 30 days.”

“26 Equestrian years equal 71 years, 10 months, and 6 days.”

“27 Equestrian years equal 74 years, 6 months, and 12 days.”

“28 Equestrian years equal 77 years, 2 months, and 18 days.”

“29 Equestrian years equal 79 years, 10 months, and 24 days.”

“30 Equestrian years equal 82 years, 6 months, and 0 days.”

Fluttershy breathed calmly, her brain quickly verifying the numbers as she did so.

“Yes, correct as always Star.”

His eyes wandered, the pony was still down.

And that bothered him.

“In equestria a week has 10 days, the first 6 serve to work while the other 4 serve to relax, according to the country’s creature rights law it is prohibited for any employee to make their workers work on these days, although an employee can request overtime.”

She sighed.

“Ponies… normally live 130 years equaling… 344 human years, the oldest non-alicorn Pony lived up until his 165 years, some species live longer, others less, well…”

Her ears fell

“None outside of small critters like rats and crickets live as little as… your race Star.”

He hummed.

The pony’s tone was starting to turn depressing.

“There are 10 months in a year, each comprised of 100 days, the first being Hayprance, the second Snukkler, third Whinnybreeze, Fourth Clipclop, Fifth Hoofaroo, Sixth Fluttergust, Seventh Pranbyr, Eighth Ponybloom, Ninith Snugglehoof, Tenth Isaacust.”

Hmmm*

“My Twenty-third anniversary was 4 days ago, on day five to be more precise that would mean my next anniversary would happen on day 370, totaling 24 years of age.”

“Considering 24 years, 10 months, and 24 days equal 9 Equestrian years I would still have 324 days left for this exact date.”

“24 years, 10 months, and 24 days minus 23 years equals 734 days + 5 = 739 meaning my anniversary of 9 Equestrian Years would be of the seventh month Pranbyr on day 39, falling on a Ponysesho-day h-”

“Rushle Rushle”

Snapping his head to the window he caught the sight of a pink flower.

“Star?”

“I… thought I heard someone speaking.”

“Oh don't worry, sometimes the snow falls off the tree, and the branches start moving around for some time.”

“... If you say so.”

Turning around Dran took a bun and finally finished Fluttershy’s mane.

“You know… your hair was already beautiful, but I think I just made it better.”

Her eyes shined as she looked at her reflection.

She… can't remember the last time she did anything with her mane.

No, wait, it's not that she doesn't remember, she simply never did it.

A small smile formed on her mouth.

“That’s… amazing Star.”

“Well, I am no professional but I had to learn how to take care of this big hair of mine, it's been some years since I started living alone, human years that is.”

She frowned.

He noticed it through the mirror.

Briefly, his tone turned playful.

“What's the problem Grandma?”

Her expression stayed the same.

Her eyes wandered toward his reflection.

Sigh*

It was a pain in the back, having someone worried about him.

He’d go as far as to say annoying.

But not enough for him to want to do something about it, he already did try.

Sigh*

But then again, seeing the pegasus down brings him no joy.

Not owning her anything does not mean being incapable of doing nice things.

For him the intent matters more after all.

Using his right hand he petted her head, without meaning to, his tone turned somber.

“All creatures die you know.”

Her eyes flickered to Star’s form in the mirror.

He didn't seem sad or even bothered for that matter.

She did, she should be feeling good, like a mare that just left the spa, relaxed, confident, and prim, Star’s soft fingers really could get into troublesome muscles.

She didn't let him touch her wings of course but… even without going there she has the impression those twins from the spa wouldn't quite compare with him.

Hooves, for more that aided by their fields, are still hard.

“... I do star… I do.”

Her body sagged.

Again, he didn't like it.

‘Maybe a history will help?’

“You know… I had a friend once, one that would die before me, I… well… Since the day I was born that little man was with me, Hah~ his name was nono, you know why?”

She shook her head.

He smiled.

“Let me tell you, when he was a puppy he always did something he shouldn't, so my parents always had to say to him ‘Leelo no! bad boy’.”

“With time the little man started to think his name was no, every time someone said no he shot out like a jet and sat in front of them with his tail wagging, he~.”

Her expression turned better.

“So, so, my parents had to start calling him Nono for him to not confuse his name you know, still, he~ still every time we said no his cute lil ears would go up.”

“He was a German shepherd dog, a little more than half your size actually although…”

Wriggling his fingers he tickled the sides of her neck.

“Hehe, hahaha, StaaaAR heheha, stooop.”

He smiled.

“You a li’ll bit more fluffy than him right now, aren't you? Little pony.”

THUMP!*

Her wing shot up, hiding her face from the human.

Who in turn rolled his eyes.

“The point is, he died, and quite honestly I wouldn't be able to tell you if I was sad because the only thing that made me happy died, or because my friend passed away.”

Hmph*

“Knowing that bastard it was probably the first.”

Fluttershy blinked.

Her head tilted.

“Everything dies, the moral is, even if you don't want to, even if every part of yourself wants to just… stop, you shouldn't, you have to keep moving forward, no matter what, you have to keep walking.”

Her ears dropped.

“But! I have no intention of dying of old age! Hear me well Fluttershy Mind Over Matter allows me to, with enough will control my subconscious mind fully, meaning I can have absolute control over my subconscious biological functions.”

“Meaning that I can retard my aging to an absurd degree.”

Her ears shot up.

“This is not me imagining things, a man named Spec, he was a psychopath and a death roll inmate.”

“Eh?”

“Killed a shit ton of people, but that doesn't matter the thing is Spec was 97 years old, and he looked like a 50-year-old man, the reason for this… is ambition.”

A confused expression formed on her face.

“Huh?”

“You see, there is a history, of a man, Off the shore of California, in the year of 1976, a treasure hunter named Jack Lee Beyond discovered a sunken ship he had been searching for for 30 years, the thing was filled with treasure.”

“Gold, silver, gems all valued at a total of 636,363,636.36 U.S dollars, a truly staggering amount of money, he would never need to work again for his entire life, not him and neither his descendants for generations.”

Fluttershy’s mouth hung open, unconsciously the pony pushed herself up as her wings extended.

“He achieved his dream, anyone would say he was happy, for such a young man he surely had a bright future.”

A small smile formed on her face.

It was good to hear histories from Star’s world, even now she knew very little about it.

“14 days later, he died.”

Her mouth fell.

“Oh but he wasn't killed, no, no, no, he died… of old age, and I know what you are thinking, well, wasn't he an old human, what is wrong with it? Well, the thing is… he looked like a 40-year-old man and a rather strong and healthy one too!”

“In actuality, he was 88 years old, the man who looked like a healthy adult male in the prime of his life, withered like a grape in just 14 days, and… do you want to know why he died?”

Unconsciously, she nodded.

“Because he lost his motivation, the strength he siphoned off from the adventure and ambition of finding that treasure, all got away as he achieved his dream.”

“And so, his soul stopped feeding his body, because he no longer had any will or reason to go toward.”

She blinked.

Star’s world… was rather strange.

“I can't be completely sure but if my guess is correct I can at minimum extend my life to 500 years, 1000 at the very maximum by controlling my subconscious and retarding my aging process, that would be…”

Thud!

CRACK!

“182 TO 365 YEARS!”

Looking down Dean observed in bewilderment as the wooden floor snapped open like a nut.

Slowly his head turned to stare at the excited pegasus.

Who looked at him with fish eyes.

Grooooowl*

Turning around he slowly walked toward the door.

He’s hungry.

And most importantly.

He was done with this shit.

“Let's go hag, we have to make something that won’t kill me after eating it, 44 years of age and still as excited as a filly, I wish I had that.”

The human’s voice got lower and lower as he walked further away from the pony.

“W-wait for me you dumb colt!”

Quickly standing up she ran toward the door.

A small giggle escaped her all the while as she ran behind her human.