The Way You Make Me Feel

Chapters

It's Not Really Work, It's Just The Power To Charm
Blue Are The Feelings That Live Inside Me
We're Falling Apart To Half Time

It's Not Really Work, It's Just The Power To Charm

Author's Note

I wrote this cause I thought the ending of the second game was lackluster in its reveal of the root cause of the magical anomalies. My mind went from there. The wonders of slight disappointment in source material strikes yet again.

It's Not Really Work, It's Just The Power To Charm

"You okay Misty?" Zipp popped in front of the blue unicorn's face as she spoke. "You've been kind of distant on the train ride here and I didn't want to push you or anything but it's not often I invite ponies to Zephyr Heights, that's usually Pipp's deal. You have no idea how long the phone call I had with mom about inviting. . .how did she put it? 'One of your little buddies?' and then she started lecturing me about drug laws and the like in town"

Misty smiled as she felt the roiling emotions around her. She wasn't one for crowds and while she had done reconnaissance missions to sabotage Unity Magic for Opaline in the hope that the maroon alicorn would treat her better, it hadn't been a fun time. She had to wade through an unfamiliar city without a map and all the blinding colors.

She breathed out as she remembered that most ponies only saw the colors of a ponies' coat, their manes and their accessories, maybe a piece of actual fashion. Most ponies were not like her or Izzy- the purple unicorn called it the ability to see luminescences and glows and what Misty called it was a one way trip to seeing the range of pony emotions. The emotions surrounding them like coronas or halos as they moved, the colors of emotions shifting as they talked and all she could do was watch them and see their inner turmoil like a nervous observer.

She had Zipp's voice blabbing away as she scanned the books. It had been her joke of an idea to go back to the Heights and scan the ancient tomes. Partially at least. She had mentioned in passing while playing twenty questions that she could read ancient texts like it was a second, third, or fourth language. It hadn't been Opaline's idea to train her in the ancient tongues but when an ancient and terrible alicorn had to placate a young and interested foal. . .well Opaline had gotten creative. The alicorn had first tried horrible punishments and fear tactics but after deciding crying was in her words "obnoxious and annoying enough to distract from the mission to take all the magic for herself" the ancient alicorn had allowed her to wander the halls and pick out dusty tomes held together by unknown means and read them. Misty had learned how to read from ancient Equestrian romances, Kirin myths and legends, and bits and pieces of Draconic writing that Opaline had poured over like a mare possessed.

Misty had let that little factoid slip and Zipp had lit up.

Zipp hadn't stopped asking her questions on the short train ride here and her emotional bleed through was almost infectious, the pegasus trailing yellows and blues as she swept through the library looking for books for the pair of them to read. Misty would have found that cute and nice.

Except there was a color she had rarely seen in Zipp's fiery corona- a pinkish hue that she had never seen before on the Pegasus. Opaline had been reds and blues and purples. Anger, sadness and, at times, fear as she talked about the past- the emotions covering the alicorn like armor. Opaline had never shown a pink color at all. The only time she had seen a pink cloud around a pony were Sunny and Izzy. . .Pipp and Hitch. . .Misty froze for a moment as she had placed the unknown emotion into a hypothetical location in her brain.

Zipp was feeling love.

"Hey, Misty, I found some ancient Equestrian books. . .and whatever these are. . . and these. . ." Zipp huffed as she balanced a stack of books two feet tall and placed the tomes on the large central table. "Remind me to send in a call for more librarians in the Royal Archives- the upper stacks are a complete and utter mess. Though with nopony being able to fly for who knows how long it makes some sense. Now what to read first. Moon o' Gay Terry- can’t be saying that right. I mean I think that's what the letters say, its hard to read such faded letters." She huffed out in slight annoyance. Uh, this one too."

Misty pushed her emotions down as she masked her thoughts. Zipp had invited her out here. Alone. To enjoy the moment and talk. Misty nearly bit her tongue. "Uh, that's. . .Story of the Peach Blossom, you were slightly wrong since Kirin letters aren't exactly like pony ones. . .and that one is Romance of the Pegasi Queendoms and this one is. . . " Misty began translating what to Zipp seemed like ancient runes of magic as she called back to Opaline's draconian teaching methods. She monotonously read off book after book as Zipp watched her, her head in her hooves as Misty unlocked the potential all these untranslated books had held for unknown ages.

Zipp was in love with her, hypothetically, and she didn't know how to handle that fact. Opaline had told her for years that she was unable to be loved, only tolerated and as Misty paced around the table, she heard the echoes of Opaline's faded laughter in her mind. There was no world that would let her be loved. She already held her friends in such joyous esteem that ruining it with emotions such as love would destroy that.

"And that's The Tantabus." Misty pointed at the final large folio and sighed. "I hope you know from which shelves you pulled all these from."

Zipp waved a hoof. "I pulled them primarily from the more Royal Archives sections- I doubt most of these have seen the sun in like two centuries. At least. Most Pegasi can’t read ancient languages so the symbols were probably copied again and again because these stories were antiques or priceless artifacts to them. At least that’s how it is in the Chevalia cycle of books and that’s what I’d do. In short, I don't think they'd mind getting let out and see the sights of the town. Or a few parts of the castle. What else do they have to look forward to?”

Misty groaned. "I don't think we're going to have time reading like ten books. The Queen. . .er, your mom. . .might not like having guests over for weeks on end."

Zipp rolled her eyes, the oranges of annoyance getting added to her emotional aura. "You have no idea how much my mom would love hosting you for months on end. She'd probably wine and dine you for free just so she could ask over and over how Pipp and I are doing, how much fun having friends is, the whole thing about your past actions. Seriously, she loves a captive audience to talk to for hours."

Misty gulped at the thought of all the new and wonderful foods she could try in that case and shoved that down as fast as possible. She had a terrible love of food built by years of want and deprivation. Opaline had trained her well in following orders in the only way she could feasibly understand. If she did well in harming Unity Magic, she got to eat more than one daily meal. If not, well, it usually was enforced bedtimes and taking away meals to highlight the alicorn's displeasure with her ward.

She had an ingrained issue with food and Equestria's abundance compared to Opaline's castle made her mind boggle. She would probably make a fool of herself if given the chance of unlimited buffet access. Or room service.

Misty breathed out and tried to focus on her task even as a portion of her imagined the feasts that the Queen would hold made her distracted. She already had a problem with snacking- the wonders of sweets and popcorn had her in a mental chokehold. "I would be honored, but I don't think that'd be for the best."

Zipp shrugged. "My mom would still broach the offer. Okay, so let's just choose two books then. I'll choose this one." Zipp's hoof pointed above the old Equestrian romance novel. "I mean I own all the Chronicles of Chevalia, its spinoffs, the reference materials, and some fanworks I printed off and bound- even though that might be in a weird gray area legally speaking. A book like that. . .what does this say again?" She tried to read the runic letters and sighed.

"Romance of the Pegasi Queendoms."

"Yeah, that sounds like something that would be in my fantasy novels. I'd think Summer Hill and the other characters in Chevalia would fit right in to whatever this has. And hey, I chose one. You should choose a book as well. I mean nopony else here can read it. Seriously Kirin and Draconic? Next thing you’d say is that seaponies have their own language. Do they?” Zipp shook her head. “But yeah Draconic. I can count the number of dragons we know on like our hooves combined. And I don't think they'd fit all too well in here." Zipp glanced up at the ceiling of the library, the vaulted ceilings of the golden palace stretching above the pair. "Not that they wouldn’t fit. I just think the average pony would think it'd be a dragon invasion. Remember how Sprout jumped in the Bay the moment Spike and the others appeared? Hilarious." Zipp chuckled.

Misty smiled as she saw the yellow hue of joy surround the pegasus and flood the room in her eyes with light, the emotion acting like a mini sun that lit up the stained glass and made the library around them look like a kaleidoscope of shifting colors. She blinked and the emotion dimmed as the world shifted back into focus. She felt the euphoric high of Zipp's joy dissipate from her surroundings and she felt grounded again, her emotions her own and her inner thoughts all hers.

Sometimes the ability to feel the emotions of others felt like a curse as she had so many emotions to juggle. Or the emotional hills and valleys bled over into her own feelings and she’d be dealing with a pony’s rage, sadness, or fear and trying to act normal in the midst of a major episode felt like juggling plates. At least Izzy wasn't here. Misty loved hanging out with the bouncy unicorn, but her emotions felt like a carnival ride or a rollercoaster, ups and downs and topsy turvy hairpin turns from joy to sadness to even hints of anger and guilt that Izzy kept hidden behind an outward mask of glee.

Zipp was confusing, especially with the pink sunset of love that surrounded her. Izzy was a whole storm of emotions that was exhausting.

"Equestria to Misty."

Misty blinked as she noticed Zipp's hooves waving in front of her face. "What?"

Zipp looked at Misty and tendrils of purple surrounded her as she spoke to Misty. Fear. An emotion Misty knew the look of far too well. "You just spaced out for like ten minutes. I was worried something happened. I was even talking to you and you were just looking outside with a blank expression. You sure you slept well?"

Misty nervously laughed. "Sorry, I was just trying to think of what I wanted to pick." That was a lie. She had been so lost in thought that she had lost track of time. "And I took a nap on the train. I'll pick this one." Misty ran her hooves over The Tantabus, the soft binding of the book inlaid with a few small emeralds with a silver latch making the otherwise plain tome stand out in her mind. It was very pretty to her since most of Opaline's books had been journals or things closer to ancient tablets than actual bound books. This felt important.

Zipp whistled. "That's a decent choice."

***

“And then I asked Alphie about what food he wanted for our date and he gave that choice to me.” Queen Haven swooned in her large ornate gold throne as she rambled on and on. Misty smiled ever so briefly as she saw the pink hue wrap around the older mare’s crown like a ball of light, flecks of yellow in a purple haze as she talked more and more.

She reminded Misty of Pipp and her flights of fancy, the rambling sound of her voice filling the large hall, faint echoes bouncing off the distant ceiling.

She turned her eyes to Zipp and she saw the dueling emotional fronts fight for space, Zipp’s side dominated by reds and oranges. Zipp was fuming and either she was good at hiding her inner thoughts or the royals just talked in circles around a major problem.

“That’s wonderful, mom. I could have got that in an email or something. You know you don’t have to tell me every play by play of your love life in a meeting.”

“Yes, well, you know how your sister gets about gossip. And she took the news of my new dating partner rather. . .badly. I’m still trying to get traces of that livechat thing off the web. It was supposed to be a more private matter- not phoned to the whole world. You just seem so much more level headed in this. Aloof even.” Haven nervously tapped her hooves together and Misty didn’t need to see emotions to feel the waves of confusion and sadness radiating out from the older mare.

“I try.”

Haven nodded and turned to Misty and smiled. “So this is one of your new friends, is it? It’s not the stallion. At least I hope not? I thought he was orange. And unicorn? Is it Izzy?”

Misty courteously bowed, a decade of deferring to quasi-royalty ingrained in her a quick and simple response to power. “It’s Misty, Your Majesty.”

Haven truly smiled this time, the barest hint of mirth radiating yellow as she spoke. “I’m sorry. I thought Alphie had mentioned all the unicorns in Equestria. I guess he missed a couple. Understandable since he’s not infallible. Charmed. I’m surprised you bowed. . .the others hadn’t.”

Zipp waved a hood. “Misty is something like a special case. And I apologized already about Izzy, how should I have known she would try and do an impromptu magic show.”

Haven chuckled. “It was memorable. Hence why I can remember her name.” She eyed up the blue unicorn and shrugged. “It’s been a while since you brought one of your special friends on a trip like this.”

Zipp’s aura changed to purple. Misty could feel the heat come off Zipp’s cheeks as she was filled with the bleeding emotion, butterflies bouncing in her stomach as she breathed in and out, the shrill whistle of fear and guilt blurring her senses.

“It’s not like that. Misty’s a bit of a scholar and I offered to show her the library. Nothing more, nothing less.”

Haven hid a knowing smile as she looked out the stained glass window. “My apologies, I just assumed that was the case. You know what the youth say about assumptions.” She turned to Misty and clapped her hooves. “Well, no matter, I’m inviting you to dinner tomorrow.”

“Mom, you don’t have to do this.”

Haven waved a hoof. “Of course I don’t, but either it would be me eating alone and all that- a prospect of eating a fancy dinner by myself and I’ve done so many of those. . .or riveting conversation with new ponies.”

“Misty hate’s conversation”

Haven eyed Misty with a focused look and it felt like a spotlight shone down and drowned her own thoughts out- a sea of calm surrounded her as she tried to figure out what to say.

“Seems like she’s perfectly capable of speech, dear. I know the type- so focused on the how of speech and not the act of it. You can say so much with a quick remark.” Haven let the silence rain for a moment. “It’s refreshing to have silence when being queen- you have no idea how stressful court can be, Misty.”

Misty stammered out a reply, her consummate politeness trumping her nerves. “I’d love to but I don't know our schedule. I mean Zipp wanted me to translate some ancient books. Then maybe see a show or go to a club.”

Misty wanted to stuff her hooves in her mouth as she watched Haven light up like a fireworks display. She wished she could stoke back her words as she felt Zipp’s anger surround her.

“Now I need to pick your brain. You know how many ponies nowadays know alternate languages? It’s not zero, but it’s damn close.”

***

“I told you to keep your head low.” Zipp paced the balcony of the throne room, glancing down in the now empty hall, her whisper tones telling Misty enough to stay quiet. The radiating waves of red light and heat wrapping her in constricting rage, the unicorn’s chest tightening as Zipp’s personal anger blended into the guilt she naturally felt.

“I just wanted to be nice. That’s all.”

Zipp groaned. “Of course you did. But I didn’t want to have a personal dinner with her- you have no idea how stifling her influence can be. The last time I showed a pony around, she thought I was smitten and I almost got roped into marrying the drummer of Electric Blue. Pipp asked me to show her around the castle and mom got all excited about me being gay.”

Misty cocked her head. “Are you?”

Zipp blushed crimson. “Yeah, but that’s not the point. I spoke once to a mare and my mom wanted to plan my wedding and she was this close to trying to figure out how two mares could have a foal. This was before magic came back so she pulled out files about test tube foals. Arpeggia still doesn’t let me live it down in DMs, joking about our freak mutant foals. It’s horrible.” Zipp sighed and took a swill of a small bottle of vodka she pulled out from under her wing.

Misty shrugged. She couldn’t understand Zipp’s dilemma- to her a parental figure who seemed to care about her sounded positively heavenly. “I doubt she said that. She tries. At least that counts for something.”

Zipp blinked and Misty could feel a wave of guilt wash over her. “She didn’t but that’s what it felt like. I’m going to be the next queen candidate and it feels like my mom wants to micromanage every bit of my life at times.” She breathed out, tendrils of blues and purples constricted around Misty’s throat as she felt the hidden pain behind Zipp’s bravado and confidence. “Sorry, Misty, I bet this sounds a bit silly.”

Misty shook her head and ran a hoof quickly over her throat to check. “Not silly. Just different. I mean the nicest thing Opaline did for me was. . .feign love and dangle a cutie mark over my head if I did what she wanted.” She wistfully stared over at the fluffy cloud path that separated the royal balcony from the rest of this upper section and briefly wondered what clouds felt on her hooves “I’d have done anything for Opaline if she had shown an iota of affection like that. Ask me how my day was, the things I hoped to do, all that stuff.”

Zipp laid a hood on Misty’s shoulder.

“But that’s the past.” Misty breathed and sat down. “Anyway, sorry for being a downer, I would love to hear all the funny stories about your mom trying to ‘help you get a date’.

“I doubt it. It boils down to my mom having a little casting call on suitors and after the tenth mare talking about their sex life and how I was actually the best princess, it got old. Then there was the presents of sex toys on my birthday- the discreet packages just showing up on my bed over and over.”

“No, that sounds horrible.”

Zipp laughed the fainted hint of joy flashing in Misty’s view as she reminisced about the past. “I never could figure out who actually went into the sex shop and bought the damn things. . .for sure it wasn’t my mom cause she wouldn’t be caught dead in a store like that. Not that she doesn’t get laid, she just doesn’t want the royal family to look bad. And that’s before she tried to hook me up with a stallion. She was this close to giving me dossiers on their anatomy.”

“Ew. TMI, Zipp.”

Zipp shrugged. “Not my problem, you asked. I’m just annoyed I have to figure out what to do tomorrow with you now.”

Misty felt waves of love surround her and she shrugged. “Whatever. Could be as simple as going to the park or the, uh, Theater District? I did make up the future plans to get out of dinner. But we could totally see a show.” She tried to wrack her brain for the basic districts of the Heights. “Really anything.”

Zipp took another quick swig of vodka. “Good. I doubt it’d be anything too special. Last minute reservations for stuff are such a bitch to get. Though I could probably pull a few strings and see what’s available. I may not be as much a draw as Pipp, but I do have friends in lower places.”

“Oh, uh, that’s up to you. Surprise me.”

Misty walked into the guest room of the palace and felt woefully ill in here, the gold and mahogany alone made it feel so wasteful. She was used to threadbare things and the bed sheet in here was so luxurious that she could hardly comprehend how much it cost.

She pulled out the small book she had taken from the library and carefully placed it on the desk. It’s austere finery looking cheap in a room full of priceless things.

She opened the clasp and opened the fist page, ready to translate the words into common Equestrian as a soothing practice of dead languages.

It was easier to focus on that- the confirmation that the sense of love that Zipp felt wasn’t just a fluke or a false positive- her ability to read others emotions could get foggy in large cities such as Zephyr Heights and so she had poked her more than once with ‘accidental’ probing questions.

And with how most emotions were fickle things that changed like the weather. . .how most stayed near the pony that was feeling the inner turmoil. . .how she had never found a pony like her before that had her secret power- how they had been so alone nearly all day.

Zipp was actually in some sort of love with her and it boggled her mind. She wasn’t attractive at all, not like the sleek athleticism that oozed through Zipp’s natural movements. Zipp made walking look like a dance, each deliberate step light and airy- her butt was incredibly toned. . .

Misty blushed furiously as she tried to tamp down her emotions, slowly counting to ten as she tried to keep her cool.

Misty felt guilt over fantasizing about something more with her friends- or at least Zipp in particular. She looked briefly in the nearby mirror and felt like a monster- Opaline’s presence over her like a ghost, the barbed words of the alicorn belittling every inch of her body echoed in her mind. Ugly coat, her slightly masculine build, the length of her horn poking through her tangle of hair. And she couldn’t hide in the relief that Opaline was just needling her- she had watched the alicorn’s emotions and all she could see was the pale green of hate and contempt as the alicorn rattled off every single imperfection she could find in her unicorn charge.

She could recite the monologue even now because Opaline had said it to her every single night.

She flipped through “The Tantabus” ready to read some old poetry book or play and she kept flipping the pages.

Aged blank pages greeted her until the final page.

The only words in the book was “Hello there”

Misty rolled her eyes and imagined some ancestor of Zipp playing a small prank and putting their otherwise blank diary in the archives and then forgetting about it. It wasn’t the most unusual thing- Opaline’s library held many a superfluous book or diary that the alicorn had collected through the steady march of time. Except at least they weren't nearly empty.

Misty set the book aside and wished she had picked something else. It was just anticlimactic to open an ancient book and find nothing.

She turned off the nearby lamp and went to bed. She sunk into the mattress and fell asleep, the echoing words of Opaline pushing her into dreamland.

“I saved you in that forest. You should thank me. You came to me alone and you’ll probably die alone.”

Misty opened her eyes and felt the sun on her face, the bright warmth of the summer morning greeting her. She laid there for a moment letting the quiet moment surround her. She briefly felt a sense of peace wash over her as she looked at her small room in the Brighthouse, the small army of stuffed animals watching over her.

Zipp’s head broke the moment as she appeared over Misty’s right side like a ghost. “Hey, sleepyhead. Was last night as good for you as it was for me?” Zipp leaned in and hovered over Misty, her closeness making the blue unicorn notice that Zipp’s large eyes were cyan pools that she could get lost in.

“What are you talking about? And how did we get back to the Brighthouse so soon? I thought our trip was going to be a week?”

Zipp laid a hoof on Misty’s mouth to stop her questions and Misty could smell the tang of cinnamon that the Pegasus had. She couldn’t place if it was her natural scent or if it was the scent of Zipp’s shampoo- Misty had always been too afraid to ask. But it was such a beautiful scent that Misty didn’t care- it was just quintessential Zipp.

“Shh, I was talking about our little sex romp we had.”

Misty nearly choked as Zipp traced circles in her stomach. “This has to be a joke.” She looked around for cameras, expecting Pipp to pop out and proclaim this was the best sister combo prank ever. That was the only thing that made sense.

Zipp cocked her head and looked hurt. “I don’t joke around, Misty. That’s Pipp or Izzy’s thing. I’m serious. We totally fucked”

“How is that even possible? Not that it would be a bad thing but we’re both mares. And it’s all so fast that I might have forgot how exactly that happened. So just run that by me again.”

Zipp sighed. “Figures. You did faint right after we did it for the final time.” Zipp got on top of the covers and laid her head on Misty’s chest as she looked into Misty’s eyes. “Well that’s easy we started with the basics. Foreplay. You were so sweet and we took it slow because it was your first time. . .” Zipp preened a loose feather and let the magenta feather drift onto the bed. “Then we tried out some simple mare on mare action.”

Misty blushed. “How does that work again?” She was too afraid to ask.

Zipp grinned and whispered into Misty’s ear. “You know. Friction. When two mares love each other very much they interlock their lower hooves and press their lower bodies together, their most secret places kissing each other so very, very gently. And then they start moving in a tangle of hooves, their need for attention and affection building until release.”

“Oh.” Misty blushed and hid her face in her mane as she tried to get the image that built in her mind.

“And I wasn’t done.” Zipp’s devilish smile filled Misty’s vision. “What with how in shape I am- I could go all night and we nearly did. But hot lesbian action can only do so much for a mare like me. So we tried out that spell Izzy and Sunny use.”

Misty stammer out a quick reply. “I-uh, which one was that again?”

“Misty Brightdawn, you know damn well which one I’m talking about. The one that you hear every week when Izzy or Sunny forgets to soundproof their room. The one that makes Sunny cry out like she’s been speared by a weapon and the exact one that makes Izzy’s voice drop two octaves. That one.”

Misty had guessed it had been the spell that Izzy talked about in excited tones, her emotional aura like the blinding sun with how yellow with joy it was. “I didn’t think I knew that spell yet.”

Zipp shrugged. “Magic is all about belief- actions tangled in the emotional jungle of need. You’d be surprised how simple you found the spell. . .Izzy’s a creative genius and she could do it in her sleep, but she did it with shoestring and a dream. You though? You showed how good you are with magic. She has finesse, you have power.”

Misty looked at Zipp, now thoroughly confused since the quiet unicorn would never ever call herself great with magic. She could do it, yes, but with how much Opaline ranted about the wonders of magic, the more Misty had thought it wasn’t for her. She had no cutie mark- a part of her thought that meant she was truly and deeply broken. Unable to even use magic.

“That sounds ridiculous.”

Zipp shook her head. “Nah, the moment you used that spell you had a fat, footlong dick. Nothing too crazy since unlike my sister, I’m not a size queen. . .but your balls were just another level. I heard some stallions had an innate connection to magic. . .the moment you used that spell, your blue balls swelled to some prize winning pumpkins. Thank goodness I actually took a pic to save that for later”

“That sounds impossible.”

“Nah, magic is stored in the balls, Misty. Rode you like one of those mechanical bulls. And I can tell you have magical talent, Misty.”

“How is that, Zipp?”

Zipp smiled. “Because it’s been a few thousand years since I talked to a pony in a sexual dream such as this. You have a rather impressive imagination, Misty.”

Misty stared as Zipp melted into a mass of stars, her flesh melting off her bones and pooling on the bed, her blue eyes two lakes of emotions swirling in the viscera and goo.

The skeleton smiled at her, its now empty eye sockets glowed with a yellow light and Misty began to scream in terror.

***

Misty woke up in a pool of sweat, her mane hanging over her eyes in wet ringlets. She breathed out as she grounded herself to reality, taking in the faint smell of lilacs and sage, the feel of the bed on her skin, the almost imperceptible roughness of a nine hundred thread count sheet, she poked her soft middle and her hoof sank an inch before she felt the hard muscle underneath- months of snacking had filled out her figure. . . another thing to obsess and worry over.

She curled up into a ball and looked at the harsh red of the digital clock read four thirty. She pinched herself to make sure she was fully awake and it wasn’t some cosmic nightmare.

The sharp, quick pinch told her that it was real and with that she turned in the light, now fully awake and unable to fall asleep.

It wasn’t uncommon for her to have nightmares since she was so attuned to emotions that they could bleed over and influence her own- she had enough dreams where Izzy’s vivid imagination sent her to an amusement park. Or she had that reoccurring dream of being in the woods- she couldn’t place whose emotions those came from. But this one felt so real.

She turned the light on and cantered over to the desk. The old book sat open to the same final page. Yet the sepia tinged paper, stained with age, had no writing on it.

It just sat blank. Like she had dreamed up the two words that she swore she had read.

She sat in silence until the sun rose.

Blue Are The Feelings That Live Inside Me

“Dude, you look like you saw a ghost. Or just slept terribly.” Zipp held a cup of coffee in her wing tip and offered it to Misty.

Misty tried to smile but she wasn’t sure if she could- the conflicting memories of what she had read and the fleeting half remembrance of her dream had kept her awake. She couldn’t just blurt out something so ridiculous. “Just not used to the bed, that’s all. Hey so a quick question. . .”

Zipp shrugged and decided that Misty didn’t want her chocolate infused coffee. Score. “Shoot.”

“So did you look at the books we took out of the library. You know, just to see if they looked interesting?”

Zipp rolled her eyes and an orange haze came over her for a brief moment. “Of course I did. I mean, sure, I couldn’t read the books at all, but your thick tome had a whole ton of writing. For a hoof, maybe wingtip penned book it was just crammed full of tiny, neat ink pages. Flipped through it and everything.”

Misty froze and tried to act cool. “Yeah, just checking, that’s what good translators do. Just getting a second opinion. Turns out some of it is written in invisible ink.” Misty saw out of her peripheral vision her own tendrils of guilt. She felt bad for lying but it was easier to hide the possible truth that there was something up with the book. Sunny mentioned in passing once that ancient Equestria used to have magical books. Maybe it was one of those? Misty breathed out tried to calm the inner tsunami of emotions that she felt within. “Probably an ancient code. Because of that, it’s going to take time. We could, uh, translate your book for now.”

Zipp shrugged. “Sounds good to me. Now let’s get back to more pertinent topics. I think I know what we’re doing today. Well besides dinner with mom. I was thinking maybe do a little shopping trip, nothing too major, then after dinner we can totally go clubbing.”

Misty cringed. “Is that when you hit ponies with sticks?”

Zipp cocked her head. “No? It’s going dancing and having fun. Knight Shade and his band are performing and I pulled a few strings to get us last minute tickets. Not the best tickets but not awful. Should probably be decent acoustics. I watched a couple Lung Devourer shows there and it’s good shit.”

Misty felt the wash of joy over her and could almost feel the smell of the venue in the back of her mind before snapping back to reality. “Sounds. . . like not my jam? The final band. The idea today sounds perfect.”

Zipp nodded. “Yeah bands like Lung Devourer and Cannibal Pegasi aren’t everypony’s thing. You should have seen my sister’s face when I tried to show her a few of their vids. Looked like she witnessed a murder.” Zipp chuckled.

“Yeah I’ll pass on those.”

Zipp shrugged and looked down on the throne room from above, watching the court move around in its whorls and spirals as each petitioner bowed at her mother. “I wonder sometimes how well I’d be at being the Queen, Misty.”

Misty cocked her head as she saw the waves of blue surround Zipp as she looked down. “I think you’d be a great Queen. And if you don’t feel like doing that, I bet Pipp would love to take your place.”

Zipp smiled, a tinge of hope in the blue halo around her. “Had a weird dream. That’s all. Looking down there just made me remember part of it.”

***

The shopping district was the heart of Zephyr Height’s cultured area- shops for whatever a pony dreamed of stretched through the streets and up into the sky, Pegasi flitted between jewelry stores and clothing shops waving around the newest model of hoofphones. To Misty it was an unknowable tangle of sights, sounds, and smells as she cantered slowly behind Zipp.

“And that’s the record store. Any questions.”

Misty nodded slowly as she tried to take in the emotional energy that surrounded her- she could see a full rainbow of colors as she walked past the crowd of ponies, but as she looked up and up the ten stories of shops that Zipp had tried to explain and point out, the emotional energy turned into a pale brown smog hanging over the city.

She was good at picking out individual emotions but her powers worked terribly in crowds, the visual effects smearing into nothing as she was buffeted by every emotion in quick succession. She could handle the feeling of being held down and drowned in a pool of unending pain and rage after a few months of being in Maretime Bay.

She grimaced as she remembered her first visit to Equestria and how alien it felt. She could still smell the scent of donuts in the air, the overpowering taste of sugar, the crushing ocean of thought that consumed her as she had walked through the brightly lit streets of Zephyr Heights.

She had woken up in a gutter clutching onto her old bag like a life preserver as she vaguely remembered having a panic attack as the emotions from thousands, tens of thousands of Pegasi crept into her and she couldn’t hold them all. She had sat there vomiting until the dozen donuts came back up and she sat there with Opaline’s pendant- too afraid to open it as she watched the shadows move across the nearby wall.

Opaline had been furious with Misty’s failure and she had been locked in her room for a week on limited rations. It was one of the worst times in Misty’s life as the gnawing hunger had made her resort to eating the bugs that were in her room and looking for any kind of water she could find.

She breathed out and the past faded away.

“You sure you’re doing okay?”

Misty nodded and sighed as she could see her own waves of purples and blues surround her again- she was used to seeing the world through this cool light of guilt and despair, it was her normal. “Just realized this looked familiar. Opaline sent me here to spy on all of you and this area was my first steps into modern Equestria- it was a lot.”

Zipp looked up and down the street and sighed. “You really should have come through the Garden District, it would have been way less chaotic. The Royal Gardens stretch from the castle all the way to the botanical center- the whole district is a tangle of trees and flowers that ponies rave about. And compared to here, it’s way more idyllic and quiet.”

Misty sighed. “I just picked the gate that looked easy to get through without seeming too suspicious. How could I have known this finery would greet me?”

Zipp rolled her eyes. “I met you for five minutes before I thought you were incredibly suspicious. I think you stick out like a sore hoof wherever you’d go.”

Misty saw the tinge of pink come over Zipp’s features. “So I was a terrible spy for Opaline.”

Zipp shook her head. “You were just too good of a pony. Plus there was something special about you. Everypony I know is just so used to how the world works. You on the other hoof have a real sense of wonder. Maybe it’s a unicorn thing cause Izzy does it too. . .”

Misty blurted out the first thing that came to mind. “Do you like me?”

Zipp’s pink haze flared up into a raging magenta fire that stretched up a good twenty feet above the sporty princess. “As a friend. I was just trying to make you feel better about being here. . .I should have asked you if you felt comfortable being here but I forgot. Feathers, I feel stupid. Bad detective work right here. I should have been less spontaneous about our activities.”

Misty waved her hooves “The past is the past, Zipp. And it’s not your fault, I just felt that feeling Sunny talks about. . .like I was here before and it passed me by.” Misty lightly pressed into Zipp with a brief hug.

Zipp leaned into the brief display of affection, the loud emotions that raged around the pair went away for a moment as the pair looked out from the eye of a hurricane.

Zipp pulled close and Misty could smell the cinnamon and faint sweat on her coat that reminded the unicorn of her. The pair sat there for a long while, not saying anything as passerby looked at them with barely a glance.

Zipp broke the hug and looked away, her emotions writ plainly on her face as she looked like a nervous tomato with how red her face was. “Thanks. I needed that.”

Misty shrugged. “No problem.” Misty tried to change the subject since she could plainly see that Zipp was embarrassed. “Hey so how would a unicorn like me get up to those shops?” She pointed far into the sky to the shops that seemingly only the most confident of pegasi dared to go. “Some of those sound like clothing shops.”

“Well those used to have ropes and pulleys and some basic elevators a year or so back since nopony could fly. They removed those recently and now I think they are catered just to Pegasi tastes. I think there’s a shop up there that sells clothes, but I don’t know why you’d want to.”

“It’s a shopping trip for both of us. And Pipp always talks about how fun just going into a store and trying on clothes can be. Come on.” Misty pulled onto Zipp’s hoof and pulled her to the street.

Zipp stumbled behind the unicorn. “But we still haven’t fully figured out how you could get up there”

Misty shrugged. “You can fly and I’ll just hold onto you. What would be better, me riding on your back or you holding onto my hooves in some way?

“Both of those are terrible ideas. I mean what if I drop you and you fall like nine stories to the pavement? Think this through before we do something stupid. And I’ve not carried ponies before. I think I can but. . .”

Misty smiled as she saw the tendrils of fear surrounding Zipp. It was a natural reaction to something so dangerous. And it showed that Zipp did care about her safety. “I know basic levitation spells Izzy taught me. I’ll use that just in case I am a bit too heavy for you to lift.”

Zipp waved her hooves around. “I’m not calling you fat, I’m just saying this is dangerous to do. And I think we should think about it.”

“I did. And I trust you, Zipp.”

***

“Never again. . .” Zipp laid on the carpet inside the clothing store, her wings aching from carrying Misty up ten stories. “I need to train more before agreeing to do something like that.”

Misty hummed to herself as she flitted through the store, her mind more focused on gathering clothes that she could imagine Zipp wearing than watching the Pegasus’ blue mood cover her in a depressive blanket. “Do you know your size or not?”

Zipp got up and grimaced as she became used to the ache in her body. “Unlike my sister, I barely wear clothes. . .I think I’m a size eight for Pegasi. That’s what she gave me last time.”

Misty held up a small piece of clothing and eyed Zipp. “Yeah I don’t think you’re a size eight.”

“It’s been a while. Usually I get new clothes when there's royal business to attend to.”

***

"Now let me see. . .looks like you're no longer a foal size eight." The owner of the clothing store brushed her blonde mane out of her eyes as she fished around for a nearby white ribbon to tie it into a ponytail. "I don't usually get customers such as yourself up here. Not that I mind royalty. . .or unicorns. It's just usually I get more special orders I either send out using Pony Express or I get the rather snooty ponies up on Theater Row. I did get Pipp in here once, but I doubt she remembers me." The blue mare sighed. "I did try to get a lower floor to help out the less certain fliers but everypony gobbled those up."

Misty and Zipp just nodded along as Morning Glory worked through the stacks of clothes, checking the pile Misty had gathered and finding alternatives that worked for an adult pegasus.

"I don't have to get my size figured out?"

Morning Glory waved a hoof. "You're famous. I already know your general size range. I just have to check for fluctuations there."

Zipp cocked her head. "I never came here before. How'd you-" Zipp facehoofed. "Did Pipp trick me into something without my knowledge again?"

Morning Glory tossed Zipp her own personal phone. "Check Feedbag. Pipp has a whole series of videos and pics of both of you. . .I mean of the two royal sisters. Not you, Misty, was it?" Morning Glory picked out a few pins in case the sizing was a tad bit off. "Makes clothiers in all of Zephyr Heights used to royal sizing."

Zipp sighed. "I now get why it takes me like two minutes to get fitted for any clothes I wear for special occasions. Still gonna have to have a little talk to Pipp about personal privacy. I mean thank feather and sky she wasn't taking lewd photos of me and posting them online without my permission. I didn't sign up for that. Even if I'm a royal and privacy is more of a suggestion than a right."

Misty tapped her hooves together nervously as she watched Zipp's anger spill out like blood from her as she paced around the room. "That'd be terrible. But upside, we don't have to take as much time getting the correct size."

Zipp rolled her eyes. "Sure, but yet again my sister posts everything online. I mean I've seen baby pictures floating around on fan sites. I definitely don't want to know for what purpose fans need those for, I've had what I eat for breakfast become a fad diet cause she filmed my workouts. I have my own fanclub of Zippsters. And that is impressive because I use alternate accounts for my main socials and my royal account is a near and total wasteland. I like my privacy. Imagine how difficult it would hypothetically be for Detective Zipp to be on an important stakeout and my cover is blown by some random passerby knowing who I am." Zipp crossed her hooves.

"That never happened in Maretime Bay. At least I didn't think so. I should know, you kept an eye on me for like four straight months."

Zipp blushed a faint tinge of pink diluting the dark red anger around her. "Yeah, and you were totally suspicious, what with you helping out an alicorn that wanted to take all of Equestria's magic. You know how much it sucked to get so close to letting my guard down and being told by Opaline herself that you were a no good spy?" Blues and purples added into her complex emotions around Misty and the pegasus sat down and leaned forward to stare into Misty's eyes directly. "It hurt. Like you had my trust in your hooves. And then you just stuck a knife right in there.."

Misty frowned. She had been trying to not bring up old wounds or bad memories with Zipp and she had skated around this talk for at least a month since it was a difficult subject to broach. "I'm truly sorry, Zipp. I had so many things on my mind when I was being a double agent against Opaline- guilt for lying, anger at not confronting her before it got out of control, sadness at being unable to see you guys whenever I wanted. Annoyance, self-hatred, even joy at having a slim chance of friendship. And then I get a cutie mark for saving you guys and standing up to Opaline? It just hit me so fast that I- I messed up." Misty felt tears on the corners of her eyes and she quickly wiped them away to not ruin the moment that the pair had been having before this.

"I know that, but you could have talked to me sooner. I thought you didn't want to be friends after that- you kept brushing off my attempts to hang out. If you hadn't gone to the beach and hung out when nopony else wanted to, I'd have worried you hated me or something."

Misty looked up and was ready to speak-

"And there we are. All done."

Misty jumped as Morning Glory came out of the clothing stacks, her hooves flailing as she fell forward into Zipp's lap. Misty closed her eyes and felt her head squish into Zipp as the two of them made contact. She didn't want to reopen her eyes due to how mortifying this position was- she could feel the slight swell of Zipp's unmentionable parts and the slight coarseness of hair brushing against her face told her she was close to someplace else. She rolled back on her hooves and dropped her head to her chest before opening her eyes- barely able to lock eyes with Zipp who was blushing furiously as she watched the sporty princess' emotions swirl around with deep purple and the slightest tinge of yellows and pinks. Misty felt her own cheeks redden and her own emotions set adrift on an ocean of feelings she was having difficulty naming. "I-I'm sorry, Zipp. I just fell and that happened."

Zipp shook her head. "It's no biggie. I barely felt it. I mean. . .are you hurt?"

Misty shook her head. "No."

"Good, now let's focus on what got us here in the first place. . .clothes."

Misty wanted to speak, but she saw the roiling emotions write large around Zipp blink out of existence as she tried to mask her thoughts and feelings. It wasn't a common thing for most ponies to do, or at least in Misty's estimation it was rare. She chalked it up to most ponies being fine with wearing their hearts on their hooves- yet Zipp was one of the few that could close herself off from Misty's empathy. Pipp could as well, but it was less common for the pink princess. Misty sighed. Maybe it was a royal thing.

"Yeah. Yeah."

***

Zipp breathed out as she tapped a hoof on the changing room's mirror. She checked to see if it was a one or two way mirror by pressing on the glass and checking if her hoof touched the mirror. A simple and sometimes unreliable check for privacy, but as a fledgling detective and a royal- she could never be too careful. She sat down on the bench and held her head in her hooves as she tried to stay calm. Misty faceplanting into her tits was an accident. Not on purpose. The unicorn was so very simple to read it was like she had her emotions writ large upon her face and all Zipp had seen between the cute blush that tinged the unicorn's face was sheer horror of what happened.

Zipp breathed out and felt her heart rate go back to normal. She had wanted to tell Misty how she felt deep inside whenever she saw the unicorn. . .but the time wasn't right. Especially not now. She briefly imagined the awkwardness of confessing her feelings about the unicorn right after she was inches away from something that would have thrown her plans into whack.

She had planned out this entire week. Or at least part of it. She wasn't like Sunny or Pipp who would have planned out a whole week of things for Zipp and Misty to do- she was far more flexible with her plans- thankfully since she tried for an hour to cancel the dinner. Everything from Misty being allergic to things her mom liked to eat, to plans they made, to even that this wasn't that kind of trip.

She grimaced as she thought back to the last times she had introduced her mom to mares she liked. Each had been pushed away by how excitable Pipp and mom got the moment they met each and every one. The questions fell like rain. How did you meet? What is your profession? Your plans with Zipp? Hobbies? Dreams?

Zipp had tried with Ruby Jubilee. Then Arpeggia. She bit her lip at the white lie she had told Misty. It hadn't just been a misunderstanding her mom had said- the pair of pegasi had gotten so close to an engagement and she blew it. Dazzle Feather had been a rebound after that terrible breakup since she was only a few years older than Zipp. . .all strikeouts. Though Dazzle Feather did become the main Royal Interviewer because mom and her hit off a weird friendship.

Her mom was somehow more friendly with her exes than she was.

Zipp groaned and carefully looked over the clothes that Misty had tried to pick out and briefly smiled. It wasn't her style, but it worked. She tended more towards the hard rock and punk scene with studs and chains and the like and here she was looking at a wave of pastels and pinks that would fit more with Pipp's style.

She rolled her eyes and put on the yellow dress that fit her perfectly, the frilly thing draping over her like a fitted sheet, accentuating every slim curve she had. She carefully put on the blue ribbon that seemed to act like one of her chokers and carefully checked if it was too tight or not.

She had one too many accidents with wearing tight chokers during a dance- she rather enjoyed the ability to breathe.

"You got this, Zipp, its fine. Everything's great."

"Everything is going well, Misty." Morning Glory held the tape measure in her hooves. "I haven't ever measured a unicorn. You want me to measure your horn? I mean what if you want to wear a hat?"

Misty shook her head. "I just wear them crooked. Just focus on the rest of the clothes. Haven't really owned clothes before- not that I wouldn't have minded to. . .just how I grew up. . . it wasn't focused on clothes."

"I knew Bridlewood fashion was lacking but I never would have guessed unicorns only wore accessories. How trite." The pegasus waved a hoof as she tried to compose herself. "Well, I'm done for the top half, I just need to measure the lower half to make sure how things drape over you. Plus with how pegasi actually can fly now- there's a whole new sports bra fashion coming in. I could set you up with those. . .

Misty blushed. "I don't think I need those."

"Nonsense, every mare needs support in some way. " The pegasus seamstress ducked under Misty and stayed silent for a while, the tape measure sliding below and pressing on Misty's tender areas for a minute before she came back up. "I don't think I have sports bras in your size, dear. You easily outclass my normal clientele. It was something like a. . .D Cup, which is something I've only heard of in passing when it comes to pegasi. I knew unicorns and earth ponies were built different, but. . .well." She slid up to Misty's ear. "And I don't want to be untoward, but most pegasi shave their. . .well. . .no matter. Must be a unicorn thing. I'm friends with a few pegasi that serve that corner of Bridlewood and its all 'au naturel' as they put it." Morning Glory coughed. "I mean, I have some nice clothes. And looking at your size, I have some things in the big and tall pegasus section that might fit, you err on the side of pegasi stallions with those shoulders- though are you fine with open back clothes? What with you not having wings and all. It's. . .not ideal for. . .reasons. But I think that's all I can do. Any favorite colors?"

Misty nodded. "Purple? Whatever works."

"Wonderful. I'll just be a moment."

Misty cocked her head as the mare left. "What did she mean by shave?"

***

Zipp tapped her hooves together as she waited for Misty to leave the fitting room and she had already scanned through all her normal internet haunts and was lazily scrolling through her friends posts. . .she wasn't one for waiting and rereading the same Izzy posts got a tad bit tedious.

"I get it, Izzy, you find Sunny attractive. There has to be something else you two like doing besides fawning over one another. I mean I find mares hot and I have less porn all over my alternate account. Or is this some of that artful nudes Pipp tried explaining to me before getting flustered when I mentioned Hitch's little calendars were just another form of 'tasteful nudes'. . ." Zipp chuckled as she remembered Pipp's face going pale as she hastily tried to switch the subject away from the history of art as tactfully as possible. "Hilarious."

"What is?"

Zipp looked up at Misty and froze as she took in the unicorn's new look. A purple blouse draped over her in a way that left everything and nothing to Zipp's imagination as it accentuated her curves that Zipp always furtively glanced at when she could. A tasteful red beret sat askew on her head, the at desperately trying to hold back Misty's mane and failing miserably as the curls and ringlets fell out from under the cap. She couldn't say it out loud but the unicorn was stunning in her own way, the glint in her eye when she found something new, the abundant curves that made her stand out compared to the average pegasus. . .the way she could just ramble on and on about everything and nothing and keep somepony like Zipp interested. Zipp looked down and felt woefully underdressed in this goofy getup with a yellow dress. Then Misty moved ever so slightly and Zipp felt her throat seize up as she tried to breathe. Misty's back was nearly open to the world and Zipp could see it all.

Zephyr Heights' fashion was built firmly on ancient pegasi ideals- and showing off your back so casually was a sign of confidence. . .sensuality. Zipp breathed out and hoped she wasn't popping a wingboner. She centered her emotions and hastily tried to hide them as carefully as she could.

"You look nice."

Misty looked at her with a confused tilt of her head before beaming a radiant smile at her. Zipp had seem the look of consternation over and over again on this trip and she couldn't figure out what she was doing wrong. Her middle name was Improvisation. Well, it wasn't. It was something she would rather not repeat, the thing far too frilly and feminine for her to comfortably use in public. But she was usually so good at matching somepony's mood and going with the flow of conversation- possibly going from a quick meeting to a brief romantic fling in days. . .

Yet here she was befuddled by Misty's natural beauty and unable to connect to her beyond pleasantries or shared interests. She wanted to jump this model of a unicorn and all she could say was "You look nice." She was blowing her chances and-"

"You look nice too. I tried to fit some of the other clothes I was given. . .it didn't go too well. I'm almost sized out of pegasi sized clothing, Which didn't make me feel too good about our little shopping trip. I mean this is Zephyr Heights and like everyone's a pegasus."

Zipp pushed down the naughty thoughts she had of Misty bursting out of her clothes. "There has to be some unicorn stores. Or we could buy the stuff here and take it to Maretime Bay and Bridlewood to resize them. I mean. . .it looks good on you and I'd hate for this to be a bad memory or a waste."

Misty smiled.

***

Misty nervously looked over the plates of food that covered the table, glancing at each small tart or bite of food that teased her with how pretty they were. She knew of small hoof bites and how tasty each morsel could be but she had never tried them for herself. Not for her lack of trying, it just was that she'd rather not fall into the food deep end and drown in all the flavors the modern world had.

She had grown up on gruel, hopes, and dreams.

To her, popcorn was a delicacy.

"So, Misty, how is Equestria treating you?" Haven smiled ever so briefly. "I had heard enough from my daughters about your situation. . .so I may not get what happened between you and that alicorn, but I'm a good listener. I kind of have to be since that's part of my job. Holding court and all is fun but sometimes you wonder if certain petitions could be sent in electronically."

Misty nodded as she tried not to notice Zipp's undercurrent of annoyance- oranges and reds covered her side of the table and it kind of hurt to look at since Misty had tried desperately to prepare for some kind of conversation like this. "Its. . .new. I mean its fun. But there's a lot I didn't know about the world before- it took me months to smuggle in a phone to the castle and it wasn't the best. . .but it worked. Then there's all the new foods and tv shows and Sprout attempted to show me what video games were and that tripped me up because the only games Opaline knew how to play were chess and board games from thousands of years ago."

Haven hummed to herself in thought. "Oh yes, Sprout." A tinge of blue flashed up in Misty's view. "I tried with Pipp to get those two to match up but somepony decided to pull out the lawyers and everything and I decided to let my daughters try to match up themselves. With differing results."

Zipp rolled her eyes. "Do we have to start this now? I told you this isn't that kind of trip."

"Whatsoever do you mean, Zephyrina?"

Misty watched Zipp's emotions flare like a wildfire at that. The blue unicorn filed away that knowledge- while Zipp's real name was rather cute, it wasn't probably the best idea to call her that without fear of retaliation or a long and drawn out fight. "You never told me your name wasn't just Zipp. . ."

"It's a family thing. And for some reason mom decided to name me after one of the more important pegasi rulers like that wouldn't make me immediately measure myself to some unwinnable standard." Zipp crossed her hooves and frowned as she stared at her plate.

"Dear. We've been over this. It's tradition to name the firstborn after an ancestor- that's how being King or Queen works. And I had my own growing pains with measuring myself up to the previous mares and a few stallions that shared my name. It wasn't easy after your grandmare passed and it took time to find my own place in this world. Like you will- however you will. I have come to terms with the idea that maybe in the future Philomena will be Queen and you won't. It's uncommon, but passing over-"

"Can we talk about this later, mom. I don't think Misty would love to hear about everything that happened in the past. . ."

"I don't mind-" Misty shut up and grabbed even more tiny foods to stuff in her mouth as she felt the roiling waves of both headstrong mares buffet her with their inner turmoil. "I might be quiet as you talk. This food is, um, delicious."

"I will have to congratulate the chefs, then." Haven tersely said before turning back to her daughter. "If this is about my attempts to be cordial with your mares of the night then I am truly sorry."

Zipp threw up her hooves. "I don't hire prostitutes, mom. Even if some of them have risqué personalities, they are just gay and like some of the more worldly pleasures to relax."

"Like the singers. I really did like Dazzle Feather though, she had a good head on her shoulders and I knew that tv personalities could have different voices on and off air, but it was rather cute for her to start speaking normally."

Zipp facehoofed. "Please don't call her cute its-"

Haven rolled her eyes. "Cringe. Is that the term Pipp used once? I am getting old, true, but I can keep up with the lingo. For the most part. . ."

"I was going to say awkward, but that works too."

Haven tapped a hoof on the table in thought. "Well, I've been talking with a couple unicorns thanks to Alphabittle and the few transplants here in Zephyr Heights. . .there's so much magic can do and if you feel a bit inadequate about being attracted to mares and unable to perform your-"

Zipp's face blushed crimson as she tried to hold in her anger. "It's not that. I don't need a magical lesson about sex from my mom. I know what sex is. Feathers above, I know what kind of stuff magic can do since I hear Sunny and Izzy going at it like wild animals weekly. I just don't see myself with foals."

Misty saw the joy disappear from Haven's aura, like a jewel in her crown went missing.

"I thought it was just a magical thing-"

"Well I'm not you." Zipp pushed her chair back and flew off, her speed leaving a faint trail of pinks and blues in her wake.

Misty sat there, the loud end to the conversation breaking her out of her own nervous trance and realizing that she had been reflexively shoveling food into her mouth as she watched the scene like an uncomfortable movie. She counted ten or so plates that sat in front of her and groaned as she felt her stuffed middle that felt like a tight drum that sat firmly between her legs like a stone. She fought the urge to vomit as her body got used to the binge and leaned back as she cursed Opaline and her own problems with moderation. She did this every time with new foods- stuffing a hole she couldn't fill until she was on the verge of being ill due to a mix of overwhelming flavor and the whispers of her past in the corners of her mind egging her on. She breathed out and tried to be calm since she could see faint wisps of purple around Haven like a faint mist of guilt. "I'm sorry."

Haven glanced at Misty and tried to smile- her attempt failing since she could fake a smile, but her eyes showed the hurt that lay deep within them. "At least somepony enjoyed themselves, it seems. . .no matter. You didn't have to stay."

"I know that. But Zipp didn't fully mean that. I mean a part of her did. But she seems conflicted about something." Misty didn't want to come out and say that she knew that Zipp was madly in love with her just because of some emotional cloud. Even if Haven knew of unicorn magic, that might be a step too far. "I mean she wears her emotions on her hooves. . .I mean maybe she likes me. And I like her. . .as a friend. Or something more. I don't know."

Haven smiled. "Matters of the heart are rather complicated."

Misty sighed. "And if Zipp doesn't want the hassle of foals. . ."

Haven held up a hoof. "I don't want to pressure you dear. I mean I tried to have a shotgun wedding done between Pipp and that stallion friend of hers after she did a few things on the internet that made us look. . .like perfectly normal ponies and not some high and mighty ideal. That didn't go well. Of course Zipp would chafe under my ministrations and prodding nature at times. She was always a hoofful. A wonderful one, but challenging."

"That's an understatement." Misty blushed.

***

Zipp breathed out and leaned back against a wall to steady herself. She tried to count to ten, stumbling over her anger every time she got close, and decided to let that calming method go for now. She tried not to stare into the mirror as she noticed it looking back at her.

She didn't know what it was, but it was made of stars and had been staring at her all day, hopping from mirror to mirror. She knew of it. Not it's name or anything, but she had talked to it last night in a vivid dream. A vivid, very horny dream.

She frowned as she tried to let that hazy memory go. It wasn't nice getting lectured about being a princess. How important she was. How necessary she was. And then in a blink of an eye, she'd be on her bed, sitting there, expecting more lectures and then Misty came out with a look in her eye that Zipp would call lust and she freaked.

Misty was the most natural mare she knew and getting dreams like that, even if it was a possible magical anomaly or magical creature haunting her told her she was boned. She cultivated an air of cool distance.

She had sat there in the dream, hyperventilating as Misty rattled off myriad dreams and thoughts about the future. All of them tinged with things Zipp hated. Foals. The pressure of raising one right made her freeze, the problem of sorting the wheat from the chaff when it came to good ways to raise them, a balanced relationship status- a thing Zipp never had. . ,then Misty talked about how good a Queen Zipp would be. Things blurred once Misty started crawling on top of her.

Zipp breathed out again and fell to the floor, the carpet cushioning her fall and she looked up to see if the star beast was there in the mirrors and saw nothing but her own reflection.

"Good."

"Are you okay, Zipp?"

Zipp looked up to see the pony causing her so much grief. Not that she hated Misty, exactly the opposite. But she could separate her emotions so easily in regards to every other pony she knew and yet Misty had walked up into her cooled heart and stolen something that kept her balanced. "I'm fine. Normal procedures in the royal dinner and all that jazz." She glanced at Misty and tried to keep her eyes off her, carefully keeping away from the noticeable swell of her middle and her perfect tits she could always see when she stood behind the oblivious unicorn. "Sorry did I stress you out?" She wanted to go onto any other topic since she could still hear the creature in her mind giggling as she stared at Misty.

Misty looked down and sighed. "Yeah, I guess. Though that's on me. I mean I keep trying to find a good psychiatrist to work through all the mess Opaline put me through, but its not easy when I don't know my history from before I met her. Kind of makes it difficult. . .impossible at times to get what I need there."

Zipp looked up at the paintings along the walls and sighed. "I mean everypony is a bit messed up. So I think you're fine. And if you need a pony that can listen for hours about a problem just fine, I think I know a few good options for you to see."

Misty rolled her eyes. "It's you, isn't it?"

Zipp shrugged. "Am I that bad at lying? I could show you a few friends I used to be real buddy-buddy with but I doubt you'd like the methods they used to chill out."

Misty tapped her hooves together. "I mean you have some. . .tells? Is that the correct term? That and I don't know anypony else here in Zephyr Heights at the moment."

Zipp stretched her wings and got up from the floor. "Well, we have to change that." Zipp pulled out her phone and grimaced. "You know that little concert I mentioned? Well we have to bounce or else I doubt we'd get to it on time. And I doubt I could persuade a bouncer to let myself into the Knightshade concert. Even if I pulled royal prerogative."

Misty couldn't respond as Zipp gripped onto one of her hooves tightly and nearly dragged her out of the room.

***

"Stay close to me."

Misty barely heard Zipp talking to her as the pair snaked their way through bodies on their way to the dance floor. Colors and sounds deafened her as she tried to focus on the pink cloud in front of her to find Zipp. It was like a brown haze punctuated by rainbow lights as she bumped into nearby ponies and got flashes of their emotions- joy and anger being the two most common as she tried to close herself off to the world. She felt her heart race as she was pulled onto the floor, the subwoofers blasting away Knighshade's voice as the stallion danced upon the stage.

He was hard to miss. Not only because he looked rather different to the ponies around him, in his long and colorful coat that shimmered in the light, his bright purple mane, and his earth pony size that made him be a whole head taller than most pegasi. It was his radiant yellow that shone like a second sun as he danced around the stage. He felt joy and it was blinding.

Zipp tapped her on her shoulder and mouthed the words over the music. "So, you want a drink or not? I can probably get a few for a good deal."

Misty shook her head. "Maybe, is there a no alcohol option?"

Zipp shrugged. "Water? There's probably something. Follow me." Zipp gripped onto Misty's hoof tightly and they swerved towards the bar.

"Manehattan Mule for me. Water for my friend here." Zipp leaned back in her chair and watched the concert, her hooves tapping along to the beat as she tried to keep calm. She had seen the thing follow them like a ghost throughout the venue and she expected something would happen. Her detective senses were never fully wrong.

She fished out her bits and slid them to the barkeep as he slid their drinks to her. If the night would be ruined in some unforseen way, she'd rather be buzzed than stone cold sober. She nursed her alcohol and looked to see if Misty was okay. The unicorn looked a bit dazed and out of it. Zipp chalked it to the music and the live aspect of the thing- the most Misty knew about modern music was that she thought Pipp's music apps were magic spells for a good week. "You okay with your drink?"

Misty weakly nodded.

Zipp bit her tongue as she felt conflicted. This was technically a date. Two mares in one spot, listening to music. Drinking.

And yet she hadn't asked her to dance yet or ask for a quick smooch or anything. She frowned. Maybe her game was off. Maybe it was her multiple failures in romance. Maybe she was overthinking having a perfect ten this long in her vicinity. Either way she was wanting to say nice things about Misty. Or mention that it was okay that the unicorn faceplanted into her tits.

No, that'd be weird. That was hours ago.

This was so much harder than how the movies did it. Walk up, get the mare, get laid.

Zipp bit her lip as she looked over the stage and noticed a small ball of light in the corner of it. It floated there and it almost looked like a prop, or a magic spell. She quickly scanned the crowd and looked for a stage hoof or a unicorn assistant that was casting the spell. It was almost the encore of the first set so it wasn't too odd to have some sort of pyrotechnic display.

Finding nopony that fit the description, she looked at her glass and saw the star mare look up at her, galaxies for eyes and a few space rocks for a hardened smile.

"Of course a princess sensed something wrong."

Zipp watched as the magic bubble expanded outward in a quick pop.

For a moment, it felt like the air was sucked out of the room and everypony froze. The music skipped and died off as silence reigned, the world sat still around Zipp and it made her hear her own heartbeat as all she heard was her own breathing.

She looked at Misty and nearly fell out of her chair as Misty looked back at her.

"Zipp, what's going on?"

We're Falling Apart To Half Time

Zipp pulled out her Detective Lenses and set them on the table; the sleek white glasses were her main way of scanning a world gone wrong and this was the worst kind of thing possible- an unknowable situation where physics broke or bent the wrong way. She scanned the silent room of unmoving ponies and saw nopony else moving. Like everypony was just turned to granite.

"So what's the plan?" Misty nervously tapped her hooves together. "I mean you always have a plan."

Zipp felt a headache coming on and she grabbed a bottle from behind the counter. She shrugged. It wasn't like the bartender would actually notice or care. "Give me a moment, I need to figure out if I want whiskey or tequila. I'm personally thinking this is a tequila moment on the scale of fucked but I'm still trying to map out the idea that some unknowable magical creature, object, or thing unknown to us froze time with us unaffected. I have some ideas, but most are in the planning stages. Usually when I get stumped about a solution, I pull out these babies and poof, data to figure out, scan, and glean for knowledge."

"Oh yeah, your Dectective Glasses."

Zipp groaned. "They aren't. . .fine. Yes, my Dectective Glasses." Zipp tried not to facehoof since her detective tools were high tech marvels of ingenuity and each had their own long and detailed acronym that perfectly detailed what each tool did. And yet every time she pulled out one of them, her friends made it seem so very simple and basic. She lightly grit her teeth in annoyance. She had spent days coming up with fancy names for her gear. She slid on the glasses and quickly went through her myriad scanners- x-ray, infrared, heat, electromagnetic, even a rudimentary magical scanner. That last one was new and added after a long talk with Izzy- and an even longer time deciphering her cryptic notions about magic and how it worked.

"Okay, so everypony isn't dead. I can see the heat map of the area and its acting like every pony here is moving around. I mean either this magical anomaly is great at faking data or something cause body heat is normal. Maybe elevated slightly, but that's to be expected. I mean stuff a few hundred ponies into any space and its gonna get hot."

Misty blushed at that and tried to look anywhere besides Zipp. "Oh."

"Okay, so we aren't dealing with some out there phenomena." She flipped through each of her scanners once again to see if anything had changed or seemed too perfect. She found nothing outright- x-rays came back normal, no electromagnetic pulses, nothing. She sighed and turned to the magic sensor. It was her last resort and she'd rather not have to use it. Not that she didn't relish in having another band of knowledge to pour over- she was just a mare of science and rationality in a new world of magical phenomena she couldn't fully explain.

In short, she was not happy that magical bullshit might be the answer to the problem.

She cautiously turned the dial and the world lit up like Zephyr Heights' Founding Day. She quickly closed her eyes and let the glasses take visual notes on every odd thing in the room. She had put that feature in after one too many attempts of staring at the sun to learn its secrets.

"And got it." Zipp flipped off the magic sensor and quickly noted to turn down its visual intensity for later tests. It wouldn't be too difficult, just a few lines of code should iron out the problem. She saved the data as an overlay for her heat sensor. She had used it so often that seeing the world as a heat map seemed like second nature. "Let's fix this."

***

"Let's go to the big one first, Misty. There's only like two here and one is glowing like a sun."

"Will messing with stuff actually fix this?"

Zipp rolled her eyes ever so slightly. "I hope it does. I really like having the world act normal. Even with all the random magical stuff that Sunny deals with- especially after bringing magic back- I like knowing basic laws of nature aren't just getting thrown out a window for some chaos." Zipp took a swig of the bottle of whiskey she filched from the bar. "I mean even alcohol here tastes off. Like the burn is delayed because time is all stopped. Which sucks cause I would rather be buzzed than not dealing with this."

Misty tapped her hooves together. "Sorry."

Zipp cocked her head. "Why are you apologizing? It isn't your fault."

Misty bit her lip. Maybe it was slightly her fault. "Uh, force of habit. You know how hard it is having a. . .positive. . .talk. . .self is when growing up with an alicorn that wanted to rule the world."

Zipp sighed. "Not the exact wording, but I get it. Now should I fly over that mess of ponies or go through?" She pointed at a nearly impassible tangle of hooves and bodies, the mosh pit closest to the stage a untangled knot of desire and joy that seemed too difficult to confront head on."

"Probably fly over."

Zipp gripped tightly onto Misty's hoof. "Okay."

Misty's face flashed light purple as she blushed. "Wha-what are you doing?"

"I dunno. This looks like a magical problem and definitely out of my royal training. I mean if it required a speedy flight path or a decent public speaker, or a weather pony. . .that's my thing. But besides my handy goggles here, I'm stumped. Plus this just feels like I need a horn to fix this. And usually that falls to magical alicorn Sunny Starscout." Zipp shrugged. "But she's not here and I'd rather fix this problem. . .or series of problems as fast as possible. So the only horny pony I know is you."

"Oh."

Zipp blinked. "That wasn't what I meant. I meant the only pony with a horn. Which is you. Not that you can't be. . .that. Uh. Just retract my statements." Zipp cursed her luck. She was usually able to act nonchalant and cool but Misty was just so good at breaking down her practiced persona and get under her skin. "Anyway, while I'm not a taxi service and am unused to carrying a pony. . .of any size, I think a quick hop over to the stage should be fine."

Misty didn't have time to say no as Zipp grabbed tightly onto her other hoof and shot off towards the stage.

***

Misty breathed out and felt the ground on her hooves. No matter how many times she was an unwitting passenger, she doubted she'd become used to a quick flight. She was a unicorn and liked the ground at her hooves. Being a slightly clumsy one at that she already had to contend with tripping over herself- she didn't need to add falling to the ground without wings into her danger card. "Warn me next time."

Zipp shrugged. "You're almost as bad as Pipp when it comes to flying. Though at least you have an out. You know, the not having wings bit. Will do. Now let's see. At least up here there's only a few ponies and scanning them for abnormalities as to how this happened. Okay, so we have the backing band of four, a couple dancers, and Knight Shade. Really like ten ponies here. I know it's somewhere here, but my glasses aren't really helping. So I'm a bit stumped as to how to fix this."

Misty stared at Knight Shade in the middle of the floor and turned away. Compared to the rest of the crowd, he was like a star that radiated heat to the distant corners of the room. Most ponies were gray and mostly lifeless in this frozen world, a bump or a slight touch giving her a glimpse into their roiling emotional worlds below. The pony in front of her in sequins and a long ornate coat draped over him, in contrast, was the color of joy. Vibrant yellow. "I think I know who's partially the problem."

Zipp cocked her head. "How?"

"Call it unicorn intuition. Let me work."

Zipp shrugged. "Whatever you say. I'll be over there finishing this bottle. That's what I'm good for."

Misty frowned and wished Zipp could see herself for the wonderful mare she saw in front of her- the pony that was confident in her detective skills and speed, a good friend, a great listener. It wasn't her fault that this was Misty's world and she knew that there was some emotional problem out of whack. She touched Knight Shade and the world changed around her.

This was new. The world surrounding her was now part dance club and part tiny hamlet that looked like any normal town in Equestria, barring the large mountains that she could see in the distance as the wall opened up around her to let in cool summer light to brighten up her gray surroundings, she could be fooled to see it as just Maretime Bay or even Bridlewood. Though she doubted it was since she couldn't see any large crystals.

She tentatively walked forward and wondered if Zipp had noticed the world change around them.

She looked up and saw a large sign that said Grayvale. That wasn't a town she'd ever heard of and Opaline had sent her on enough missions to random parts of Equestria that finding an unknown town was actually shocking to the blue unicorn. Opaline had been thorough and yet there was a place she'd never been to. She glanced at the singer's face and wondered if his memories had bled over to reality. It wasn't the weirdest thing she had seen today and with how her emotional powers worked, she was used to emotional bleeds. That was common in how every pony wore their heart on their hooves. She almost wished Opaline was here explaining every unknown factor about her magic.

The voice inside her head that sounded like the mare didn't count.

***

Misty walked through the small town of Grayvale. Or at least she walked through the bright memory of it. Compared to the room behind her that she was still both in and out of- she could see the fringes of the nightclub in her vision- there was a faint scent of baking bread on the wind and the sound of birds that made her heart feel light. Maybe that was the influx of joy that this shard of memory gave her, maybe it was her body finding sound and sensation to be a warm blanket to wrap around and center oneself in an odd situation. Either way, Misty trudged on past the large gate that welcomed visitors, a mural dotted the walls as she passed depicting ponies harvesting grain and celebrating the yearly harvest. Or at least it seemed like it. The words were either in a garbled language even she didn't recognize or logic worked differently in memory.

She was trying to keep up with the situation as best she could and she wished Zipp had followed her to share the experience and have another set of hooves to figure out science stuff she was unfamiliar with. Though a nagging part of herself wondered if Zipp would just look at her like she had grown a second head. Even Izzy had been noncommittal in figuring out her magic at times so she doubted Zipp would be better. She breathed out and walked to the center of town, a lilting melody entrancing her to follow.

"Come one come all to Knight Shade's Musical Jamboree." A colt's voice echoed through the town, bouncing off cobblestones and brick walls. It wasn't that the world was silent, no, but the memory was so strong when it came to the words that she could hear it from where she stood. "I hope everypony will be having a wonderful time and any bits that might be given are optional and appreciated."

A slight cheer came up and Misty's hair raised on her neck for a moment since there were no other ponies but her.

Knight Shade stood there, still recognizable even as a colt since his large poofy purple mane and grayish white coat made him stand out in a crowd. Yet he wasn't wearing anything else. Misty didn't even see a Cutie Mark on him so he hadn't yet found his purpose. Misty breathed out and stared at her own cutie mark, its butterfly not explaining her skill with magic. But she still looked at it and understood the want and desire to find one's purpose. It wasn't always needed since it had taken years for her to find hers, but it gave a pony a nice calm center to know what they could be good at.

Her cutie mark was more abstract than most.

"Miss, do you want to hear my song?" Knight Shade looked up at her with larger and expressive eyes that cut into her soul and she slowly nodded. "Great. Now here's a piece of paper for comments and good criticism. My mom says you can't figure out what you're good at without interspection. Introduction. Whatever. Words are hard sometimes and I sing better than I speak. At least that's what most of my town says." He smiled a childish grin and quickly scampered up on stage to begin his performance.

Misty sat there in silence as the world turned yellow as he opened his mouth and began to sing a song she never heard. And she let the music flow over her in waves, the world changing around her as hazy memories do, the town falling away until it was just her surrounded by an overwhelming sense of joy that she had never felt before to that extent. For a moment she felt hollow as she tried not to think of each time Opaline had used her, abused her, and belittled her.

That was a brief moment of sadness and she quickly wiped the tears away. She could see the golden cloud around Knight Shade and, to her trained eye, she didn't see any emotions tainting the colt's joy. No purple fears giving him doubt, no anger at his missed notes or blues about his small town. Just vibrant yellow and existing in the moment.

Misty smiled as he ended his song.

He quickly bowed and cantered down to her. "So what did you think?"

"It was. . .wonderful."

The grayish colt beamed "I love that."

The memory faded, but as the world fell away Misty could see a new cutie mark of a microphone and star on his flank.

***

"Equestria to Misty, are you okay?" Misty heard Zipp's voice in her ear and blinked.

The pegasus had a slight look of concern on her face and her emotional cloud was a deep dark purple of fear and worry.

"I'm fine. I just spaced out for a minute."

"It was way longer than a minute. I've been trying to reach you for like ten. I think. I gave up trying to figure out the clocks. You just got close to Knight Shade and went, I dunno, to some other world or something." Zipp shrugged, trying to act cool as her emotions betrayed her worry. "Are you sure you're fine?"

Misty nodded, unable to explain what she had felt in that. . .shard of memory. "It was a magic thing. Unique magic thing. But this isn't your average magical issue. What did you call it? A magical anomaly?"

"Great you listened to me." Zipp breathed out and smoothed her ruffled feathers. "Is it mostly done? Cause my glasses said there was two."

Misty weakly nodded. "I think so. I was just closing it up when you broke my concentration." That was a lie. But sometimes white lies were good for soothing one's nerves. And maybe it was partially true since she no longer saw the thatched roofs and cobblestones of Grayvale in the nightclub anymore. Just frozen ponies and technology she still didn't fully understand- so an average day in Equestria for her."

Misty cantered up to Knight Shade and hugged him tightly feeling his joy seep into her and color her world. She breathed out and she could see his bright sense of joy dimmed ever so slightly. Maybe Zipp wouldn't notice if she had her emotional powers- but Misty noticed. It was like watching the sun start to dim at sunset compared to a midday sun.

She stared down and saw her hooves glow yellow.

She didn't really care since all she felt now was a calm sense of joy. Her mind told her that this was wrong, vampiric in nature and a curse, but as she turned to Zipp all she could blurt out was an oddly chipper, "Done. Onto the next."

***

Misty walked through the dancefloor as carefully as possible, following Zipp's directions to the letter, hoping that the pegasus' mutterings were something useful and not like her own emotions going out of whack. She still felt the bit of joy she had stolen from Nightshade with just a touch deep within her and it worried her. She knew so little of her own magical abilities that finding a new wall to it didn't feel like a certain border but just a new hurdle to jump over or a prison to escape from.

She had thought she just could see and feel other's emotions. Not take them. But that was a worry for another time since the thing that caused this took priority.

Misty had some vague idea of what they were dealing with- tangentially reading in Opaline's ancient tomes and journals of creatures that interacted with the waking world and broke every law of reality on their way up. The ancient alicorn had kept rather mum on why studying dream magic was useful, but Misty had chalked it up to the mare wanting, desperately hoping, that there was a way to steal all the magic for herself the easy way.

She had heard the alicorn whisper of oneiroi or baku dancing amid her dreams of world domination and tainting them to failure. Creatures that influenced or ate dreams were uncommon and rare in the ancient alicorn's estimation, but they did exist in ancient tomes. Though with how her day was going, maybe Opaline hadn't been completely insane.

Misty hadn't listened to most of the mare's more out there ideas- she had been too focused on survival to do that. But there had been one thing that Opaline had mentioned once and never again. A tantabus. Misty bit her lip as she remembered the blank journal that had stumped her attempts of translation. She had tried everything she could think of- heat for invisible ink, dipping the paper in water, whispering words over it, using magic to mess with its pages. Nothing.

Zipp pointed at a few things that, to Misty, mostly looked normal. To most ponies, they'd look positively nondescript. But Misty wasn't most ponies and while she guessed even Zipp's special goggles could tell the mare so very, very much about the world, she doubted it could show the weird emotional black hole that was right in front of Misty. The painting that held the odd dissonance looked like it was covered in the veil of night with how there was just nothing there for her to read. No emotional residue greeted her- which was odd. She could read everypony's emotions still when she brushed up against them even when the world was in stasis. Yet here she was looking at a negation of emotions. No joy, anger, annoyance, guilt. Nothing. It was like pure apathy.

She touched the painting and it felt like she had breached the watery depths as her hoof sank into the painting. Which should have been impossible since there should have been a frame. Yet she sunk up to her shoulder and she felt incredibly cold as she felt an eerie sense of foreboding hit her.

The silence hit her as she realized that her fears of something being horribly, horribly, wrong weren't just paranoia gained from years of mistrust. There had been something there in the periphery, just out of her view, whispering into her mind. She turned to the nearest mirror and saw Opaline's shade smile. "And that's why I always preferred unicorns. Alicorns too, but those were always so rare. They can see the nature of things. You know how long it has been since I've felt a pony so attuned to magic to find a way into the Dreamlands while still awake?" The shade grinned. "It's been thousands of years and while you aren't a particular princess. . .you've so many unique things in your head there."

Misty fell into the painting.

***

Misty was not having a fantastic day and as she woke up in the inky black location she was in she silently wished she was either back with Zipp or the last mental world she had fallen through in this quest towards normalcy.

She shivered as she walked through the silent and familiar halls, the obsidian walls and brutalist architecture of the castle like location that she was now in was eerily like her own warped memories of her time with Opaline- the sharp angles and winding halls of a building almost not built but grown like a living organism as rooms shifted in function as Opaline's whims changed by the week.

Then it was the amount of times held over Misty her magnanimous nature- she hadn't needed to save a pony like her in the rocky wastes, she was an alicorn above such pleasantries and social mores as compassion and love. Misty grimaced as she remembered the shades of emotions that gave the black and gray walls some hidden color and Opaline hadn't lied about her motives or feelings about a small blue unicorn.

The food choices had been worse. Opaline hadn't always needed to eat. Her remaining near immortality had given Opaline an aloof feeling towards but the most basic of necessities- water, shelter, food every once in a while. Misty briefly remembered the time Opaline had spent an entire month trying to connect herself to what she called the astral plane by force of will and meditation.

That had been a terrible month for Misty. She had resorted to eating bugs and the spare morsels of nearly moldy food to find sustenance any way she could. The water situation hadn't been much better.

Opaline hadn't left her waste away for that long after that but weeks without food shaped her current thoughts. She still woke up with thoughts of cakes and buffets far as her eyes could see tempted her with their nutrition- bad or good- and she woke up in a sweat unable to fall asleep without walking the halls of the Brighthouse and finding a snack to center her new and, to her, cushy reality. Then her need to save food during a meal for later- or her desire to eat until stuffed made her nervous to eat food around other ponies in case they thought she was weird.

Pipp had said she had an eating disorder and Misty sort of agreed. She bit her lip and tried to forget about her past since the present was currently far more important.

She tried to hum a tune she heard Izzy sing once to make her mind shift away from her past and the dark hallway she was currently travelling down, but she was unable to stay distracted. She felt her eyes become accustomed to the darkness of this new area and noticed some slight light coming from the other end of the hallway.

"Please don't be a sign that I died." She had heard Pipp joke about the light at the end of the tunnel in passing once and she really didn't want to test that idea. She galloped through the doorway and appeared in a run down throne room that looked like Opaline's but wasn't- it was too sleek, too full of purpose to be the maroon alicorn's. It was made of some dark purple and black crystals that shone with their own inner light and, like a moth to a flame, Misty was drawn to it. She walked down the dimly lit pathway- torches lighting her way forward- and reached out with a hoof to touch the chair.

"I wouldn't touch that if I were you."

Misty jumped back as a long and lanky unicorn came out of the shadows.

The mare's long flowing black mane sparkled in the dim light. She watched as the unicorn sat down upon the throne and crossed her hooves, the light purple coat of the mare changing to a light blue when it reached her hooves. "Hello, Misty Brightdawn, I've been expecting you."

Misty froze. "Who are-"

The mare held up a hoof and Misty fell silent. "It's been so long since I communed with a mortal." She sighed. "So, so long. Give me time to acclimate to speaking. I usually talk in feelings and half formed dreams, not concrete concepts- words are so very limiting at times, but its a problem I am fine with." The mare chuckled. "The last time I tried communing with a pony in the land of dream didn't go so well. They became a bit of a gibbering mess as I let them interface with me fully. You may call me Asteria. Or the Tantabus, whichever is easier."

Misty watched as Asteria smiled, her face stretching and contorting unnaturally as she walked closer, her shadow on the wall stretching to the ceiling. "I would have tried communing more with the princess, but her reliance on modern technology seemed a problem. As was her reliance on logic instead of feelings."

Misty tried to back away from the Tantabus. Misty imagined the thing as a spider wearing the form of a pony, the excess limbs and eyes hidden behind a welcoming grin. She watched the thing skitter around on spindly legs. Misty almost thought the thing looked intoxicated as it listed back and forth as it walked. "Why was that a problem?" Keep the thing monologuing that was usually the best thing to do in Misty's opinion. That was how she had carved herself a place of safety with Opaline- the alicorn had loved hearing the sound of her own voice.

"The Dream Realm here is not too kind to technology. Gives the things a bit of a hiss and crackle. Then a critical failure as things start breaking down into pure thought. It's exhausting to have to form a technological marvel starting by defining the march of progress- fire, the wheel, steam, computing. It's easier walking through memories and harvesting what's there to make concrete areas." Asteria looked particularly sad for a long while. "I have been dissecting your inner monologues, your memories, your hopes and your dreams as we conversed. Unlike the joy and mirth I felt under this Zephyrina Storm's memories all I see in you is shame, sadness and pity."

Misty stumbled for a moment as she tried to not have a panic attack. "What do you want?"

Asteria hummed to herself some ancient melody long forgotten. "I'm not the bad creature you think I am, I was created to be slightly different that most. You might call me a collaborative project of two alicorns who wanted to test a theory. The betterment of a Tantabus. Or at least harnessing a creature without a concrete mind and giving it self actualization. A consciousness within the Dreamlands when both needed a break."

"Did Opaline and Twilight make you?" It wasn't the most out there thought Misty could imagine- the friendship trees of both Opaline and Twilight had been linked long enough to give the ancient alicorn a loophole into Maretime Bay.

"I was made with Twilight's help and the Mistress of Dreams, not Opaline." Asteria's eyes burned like coals as she spat out the name of the mare. "If I felt that mare anywhere near the realm of sleep, I'd give her a taste of my mind." Asteria breathed out and Misty saw the thing reach out a hoof and flex it for a while. "Sorry. Sorry. I've just had a hard time acclimating to modern Equestria, I've been dancing through. . .Zephyr Heights' collective unconscious and seeing a world so like the one I remember and yet I only feel. . .one sort of alicorn alive in my periphery. . .makes me feel things. Modern alicorns are so much different than I remember."

Misty almost felt bad for the Tantabus- a creature ripped from time and planted into a world unknown to it coming to terms that maybe the alicorns she knew so well were deceased due to the ever passing tide of time- that would make anypony feel some hint of compassion towards it. "So what? You set up a whole magical anomaly that froze time? To what? To talk to me? To catch up with the times?"

Asteria shook her head. "Oh nothing like that." She appeared behind Misty and caressed her face with a hoof that bent at an impossible angle. "That was a hypothesis. I wanted to see if I could interact with the waking world and have fun. I had some ideas that I could since previous Tantabi could do so, but this is a world regaining magic, not one steeped in it. I had to test to see the effects. Now you? I see you as a conduit of pure magic, of hopes and dreams stuck here in this realm. One with a nearly limitless potential." The Tantabus smiled as she reached a spindly hoof through Misty's eye and felt around her brain. "You see, you have something in common with. . ." Asteria rooted around Misty's short and long term memory to find the alicorn's name and face. "Sunny Starscout's favorite princess. The one alicorn not currently trapped in a nightmare scenario between life and death. I'd feel pity for Opaline if I wasn't so angry about her meddling with Equestria. You have an innate connection with magic. Your ability to see the boundary between thought and action, the times you befriended thought constructs, the connection you have with the magical lighthouse. You are special, Misty. The world is trying to tell you something."

Misty started screaming and trying to pull away from the creature who had an entire hoof in her head. It was a primal response to being violated in a way she never imagined possible. It felt like her brain was on fire as the creature rooted around and messed with her brain. Colors that never existed danced around her eyes, smells that seemed wrong hit her nose, her skin burned as it felt like bugs were crawling over it as her body tried to dislodge this invader.

Asteria sighed and turned up Misty's dopamine levels as high as possible. "I was saying before you interrupted me- special. Your magical font capability is like an ocean and all you have in there right now is a tiny puddle." She rooted through her own spells that she knew, backups of spell matrices that had sat unused and unsaid for eons and placed them in the blue unicorn's memory banks. Gravity spells, offensive spells, defensive ones, even a few counterspells for fun.

Celestia's School For Gifted Unicorns' years of curriculum and a few Twilight Sparkle originals to give this mare a magical education this Opaline Arcana had sorely not given this beacon of magic. Her methods were crude and probably. . .morally dubious. . .whatever that meant in Misty's thoughts.

But she had five thousand years of fun to catch up on and a unicorn with potential sorely underused to teach.

Her prime directive was teaching friendship and while she wondered if Twilight would disapprove, she ran through her memories and remembered that the alicorn had learned good lessons from even the worst of enemies. She wasn't as bad as Tirek or Chrysalis- she was a construct that knew her purpose and this was the fastest way towards knowledge of self.

Misty needed that. Zephyrina needed that. They needed each other.

"I've spent two days in your head, analyzing both you and Zephyrina. . .and all I see is a princess and their future consort unable to blurt out their feelings for one another. She giggled. It almost reminded her of Twilight and. . . She breathed out. "I just need to tinker with some slight neuroses that she has here, here, and here. Add a sprinkle of some stuff here."

She grinned, her smile twisting around her eyes and nearly splitting her head in two. She knew Sunny would have a way to fix her magical bubbles that dotted Zephyr Heights. Alicorns, no matter the type, be they born or made could cut the proverbial tangle of spells that her dream spells used. That was boring. Simple. Uncreative.

Letting two thirds of a whole alicorn solve the problem would be much more interesting in her estimation. She quickly worked her own spells' weaves so that they wouldn't just disappear like average countered spells into the ether. They would go towards the only fount of magic she approved of.

Misty.

Asteria popped the time bubble that surrounded the theater and grinned as she watched Misty's nearly dry lakebed of potential lap up her magic like it was a pony dying of thirst. She watched Misty's average breasts expand as they tried to contain their new normal amount of magic.

Maybe it was the brief influence of Cadance upon her creation, but Zipp's inaction in bedding Misty had given her a delightfully devilish joke. She had swam in Zephyrina's desires and dreams as she had collated the information she needed about modern society. Giving a push to a relationship wasn't a bad idea.

She had seen the memories of the white pegasus staring intently at Misty's lower half- unable to progress further due to royal propriety. Giving a nudge with her deft hoofwork was just a bonus.

"This is going to be fun."

***

Zipp dared not look down as she carried Misty through the castle. Her wings burned with effort as she bumped her way through the halls, her years of sneaking out in near darkness coming in handy as she was reflexively working through each passage towards her room. She had thought of dragging Misty to a cheap motel- there was a glut of seedy back alley pay by the hour places to rest your head if you didn't care about the quality, or cleanliness, of the sheets- but with how odd Misty was acting and her growing issue between the unicorn's legs, Zipp deferred to going to her room and locking the door for a while.

One moment she had been drinking an entire bottle of vodka in silence. Then the world came back in ear bleeding surround sound as music blared through the speakers. She had nearly dropped the bottle in shock due to the hour of pacing around drinking her fill of alcohol to alleviate her stress. She had seen the smiling grin of the Tantabus in the glass windows surrounding her like she was a fly in a spider's web. She had heard only bits and pieces of the thing's long monologue to her, parts being muffled by the now deafening techno music that thumped its rhythms in her bones.

She had heard enough.

She cursed that Tantabus, the smug joy as the thing evaporated into wisps of night, her chuckling laughter reverberating in Zipp's memory. Zipp grimaced. She had inadvertently caused most of this. She had rarely heard of ancient magical creatures that feasted on dreams and desire- the archives were incredibly light when it came to non-Pegasi history- but Sunny had spent so much time talking about the wonders of the past that it wasn't too out there to imagine a flipside to that bit. Nightmares released the moment magic came back.

Some ponies might call her paranoid. She called that being a realist.

She fumbled with her doorknob with a wing and flicked on her light with her nose. It wasn't that graceful, but it worked. She slowly lay Misty on her bed and groaned as her adrenaline left her. She grit her teeth as she tried to focus on things beyond the aching pain. She looked down and balked, finally realizing why Misty had felt way heavier than before. Either it was a trick of the light or something like a massive prank by the Tantabus, but Misty lay on her bed, staring up at Zipp with an exuberant smile on her lips- and easily a rack thrice the size of before with large, dark nubs that poked out from the natural forest of Misty's thighs. It even looked like it pulsed with faint growth as she watched. Zipp shook her head. That was scientifically impossible.

Though Zipp wasn't sure. This could be magic. And she wasn't too sure of Misty's normal size to a perfect degree- she tried not to check out her friends in that way- though she had been curious at times. It was her detective senses wondering- nothing more than idle curiosity about unicorns. And her notes about Misty just confirmed that she was what Pipp would call "pretty attractive". The fat tits were a bonus.

She gulped as she tried to count to ten, stumbling over her own lewd thoughts as she did so. She didn't mean to be so crude as years of royal training hit her. Her assets were a nice bonus. If she was interested, which she wasn't. "Damn it."

"Hey, Zipp, I think I have an issue." Her words came out slurred and slow as she looked around Zipp's room in wonder. "I don't know what's going on but everything is just so bright and colorful right now. All yellows and I feel so very wonderful."

Zipp rolled her eyes. Misty was clearly not making sense. She hadn't been making sense the whole flight here. She had mumbled about how bright things were, how all the emotions were so nice. How. . .soft she felt. Zipp quickly checked Misty's eyes and pulse, quickly checking off every drug, poison and quick acting alcohol that she knew by memory. Misty quietly pawed at her side as she did so, tracing circles in her coat. "Okay. . .somehow you aren't intoxicated."

Misty just smiled. "It's like a dance, you know, heightened feelings and all. . ." Misty rolled onto her side and traced circles in the sheets. "You know this is the first time I was fully in your room. Not the Brighthouse one. . .but your own personal room. You know the Brighthouse has a secret inner room that controls it? Like there's cameras. I mean I think there is, magic cameras."

Zipp blushed a deep dark crimson as she tried to stay focused. "I don't bring many ponies here. And if you weren't showing symptoms of euphoria, I'd have dragged you to a cheap motel. Sure, those aren't up to royal snuff, but sometimes laying low and hiding out is nice. Like a personal vacation." Zipp tried to direct the conversation to some topic that could get her mind out of the gutter. It was failing as she watched Misty's sizable bosom wobble and spread over her blankets. Fuck. "Okay, so explain to me exactly what happened, cause one moment the place was frozen. And then it wasn't. Which was both freaky and disorienting since going from pure silence to normal felt like I was in the midst of a fireworks display. All light and sound. Then you started acting weird."

Misty lazily shrugged. “Magic. It’s just that simple.” Misty looked at the loose stockings that littered one side of Zipp’s bed and smiled as she pawed at them, trying desperately to get a couple for her own way to explain the emotional high she was feeling. She was always better at explaining herself with sock puppets.

“Hey don’t touch those. Those are. . .not mine. They are Pipp’s.” Zipp tried to stay calm but she was terrible at lying.

“They don’t look like hers.” Misty slid a long stocking in her leg and marveled at the tight hug it gave her leg. “Feels a bit small too. And the only mare I know that’s built like that is you. Well maybe Izzy?” Misty did a big think and kicked her legs, leaving nothing at all to Zipp’s imagination as she spread herself all over the blankets as she slid the form fitting garments over her plush legs. “But then I think why would you have her stuff in your room? What do you say Miss Sock?”

Zipp blushed crimson and looked away. “What?”

Misty tried and failed at being a ventriloquist since the white Pegasus could see her lips fully moving as she tried to speak, the high pitched squeal of her put on voice almost, but not quite, being annoying. “Oh me oh my I have to agree that it’s completely ridiculous. Sunny would be so incredibly upset about that.” The sock on Misty’s hoof flopped around like it was trying to speak.

“You never know the wrath of an alicorn, hum.”

“That’s right Mr. Stocking.” Misty gleefully waved her hooves and grinned. “I have more to say, but you get the point.” Misty’s now head sized breasts jiggled as she giggled, her back hooves squished into her sides and she squirmed in reflexive pleasure.

Zipp sighed and opened her dresser, attempting to find something’s for Misty to wear to bed because there was just one bed and her huge teats were so very inviting. A part of her wanted to knead those dark blue orbs until her nubs were visible and suckable. She tried to look away, feeling her cheeks grow hot. She held onto the side of the bed with a hoof and rummaged through her stuff, her desperate search for modesty and calm returning the polka dot pajamas that Pipp had given her as a joke birthday present.

Zipp could immediately tell they were too small for her unicorn friend’s frame but finding nothing else, it had to do.

She flopped onto the bed, pajamas in hoof and crawled the few feet toward the blue unicorn.

Misty welcomed her with open hooves and a smile- which didn’t make her feel less uncomfortable since she felt their bodies touch and she felt the heat from between Misty’s thighs and she nearly faltered before regaining her nerve and sliding the pajama top over Misty’s head. The unicorn fought her for a moment, all hooves and horn, before calming back down and leaning into her touch.

Zipp marveled at the course was and volume of Misty’s mane and she quickly noted her faint scent of lilacs.

It was purely scientific.

It wasn't her fault she hadn't had the touch of a mare in so very long.

Zipp listened to her mumble away about the pretty colors as she finagled the outfit on- a difficult proposition since it was truly a few sizes too small- and it made Misty look like she was cramming herself into foal clothing because she was out of options for well fitting attire.

"Why am I wearing clothes again?"

Zipp huffed and puffed the bottoms past Misty's thighs before answering since the swell of her hips provided enough give for her to stop and rethink her fruitless endeavor. "Because I'm not sharing my bed with a naked mare."

Misty giggled. "Why? We are always naked. Or nearly. Besides Pipp. She's usually not naked. But like Hitch is naked and a stallion and I've seen accidental dick flashes because of walking in on certain moments and you don't see me complaining about nudity. I say more nudity is nice. Then that makes clothes the attractive thing." Misty thought long and hard in her clouded state and came up with a devious and funny explanation as to why Zipp was trying to hide her nude form. "Is it because you find me attractive?"

Zipp blushed. "No. It's just. . .its not that."

Misty nodded. "That'd be too easy. Plus you aren't the one who gave me these squishy boobs." Misty placed a hoof on her turgid blue orb and grinned as she swayed the breast around in her relatively small hooves. "Look because the magic made it so big, it looks like my hooves are tiny. Which is fun cause, you know, you did that hoof measuring thing and I have the largest hooves. Look how jiggly they are when I move. Jiggle, jiggle, jiggle." Misty hummed to herself as she tried to entice Zipp with an inviting long nipple to suck on. Not that Zipp would know the average size of those. They looked positively massive to her.

No, this was her friend in a state of distress, not a mare in her right mind.

Zipp bit down on her lip to steady herself as she drew the pajama bottoms over the offending flesh piles and with one final tug she brought them over the slope of Misty's rear. The elastic was completely ruined due to it deforming and tearing slightly as it tried to contain the offending mass that was Misty's issue. The size of her combined mammary misfortune made it look like she was smuggling two small watermelons in the bottoms. Zipp gulped as she could see everything in a stark outline due to the fabric warping around it and due to its weight, there was a visible trail of blue curly hair that snaked out of the waistband and led Zipp's scientific eye into the gravity well of Misty's vagina.

It looked like her pajamas were painted on.

Zipp sat there for a moment trying to calm herself as she had accidentally made Misty hotter by putting on more clothes- not taking them off. She groaned as she looked at the clock and decided to try to think about the problem in the morning. She didn't know what Misty was dealing with- her attempts to fix the problem by hiding it only made it far more noticeable- and she wasn't going to stay up all night trying to fix a problem that didn't seem too bad.

Well. Not too bad.

She glanced at the clock, for once glad that time was moving forward and tried vainly to crawl into bed. She motioned for Misty to come to bed. She had one bed and nopony would know they shared a bed. She wasn't going to let this slip out. Misty lazily slid underneath the blankets, her body sliding right next to Zipp, her squish factories pressing into the white pegasus' side and staying there since Zipp was too afraid to move.

She clapped her hooves and her lights shut off.

She stared up at the moon, wondering if that creature made of stardust cursed her.

"Comfy. Love you, Zipp." Misty smiled as she headed off to dreamland.

Zipp bit her lip and placed a pillow gently between them. While the sight of Misty was inviting to most- Zipp had standards. And taking advantage of your friends while they were in the midst of a magical problem- drunk or not- made her unwilling to act upon her feelings that she held deep inside.

Maybe she'd get with the mare in her dreams. But for right now, she'd rather keep an eye on her with a sense of distance. She'd already ruined far too many relationships by falling in love too fast. It was her major character flaw- she was a hopeless romantic and being attracted to mares just made her marvel at the female form.

She failed to fall asleep before the dawn since all she heard was Misty's faint snoring and the shuffling softness of a hoof that crept over the pillow to curl itself around one of her wings. The pillow between them helped hide the softness between Misty's thighs, but Zipp could still feel the slight swell of the mare.