Table Top Opens Up

I woke up in the middle of the night, my back and neck sore. Looking around, the moonlight coming in through the window showed somepony laying across me. Then, my heart did a somersault. It was Ditzy, laying on my belly with her hooves wrapped around my midsection. For a moment, I just let her be, but I soon found more discomfort. Having been caught in the moment hours earlier, I had not taken off my scarf nor my jacket, and the spot where Ditzy lay was pushing a button into the soft skin.

Not wanting to wake her, I used my magic and levitated her an inch above me, allowing me to quickly shed my clothing. I lay her back down, and thought of what had transpired, of the tears we had shed for both our broken hearts, and how my own heart was faring. I still loved her, and in that instant, I knew I always would. I would just never be able to express it. She was in love with another stallion, who was gone, but I felt sure her heart was set like mine: to pine for the one we love, but never be able to tell them.

I resigned myself to enjoy the rest of this night by being close to her, then help her the following day in whatever way I could. Before I could do this, though, I had to call somepony about prior arrangements. She would understand, though. One weekend without gaming wouldn’t make Luna angry… At least, I hoped.

I didn’t feel tired at all, and for the rest of the night, I watched over Ditzy. Sometimes, she would make a face as if she were troubled, and I’d pet her mane slowly, whispering that everything is alright in her ear, and she would return to her peaceful sleep again. A few times, she said something, but I couldn’t hear what they were, but I had a suspicion it had to do with him… But I diligently made sure she got plenty of rest at the cost of less sleep than I was used to. The things I do for love…

Finally, the window started getting less blue and more orange as Celestia’s sun began to climb over the horizon. It probably had to be eight o’clock, meaning Ditzy had been asleep for nearly twelve hours. I slowly shook her shoulder, partly to wake her up gently, but, honestly, mostly to feel her soft fur against my hoof. After a few minutes of shaking and saying “Ditzy, it’s time to get up” a few times in a normal voice, she began to stir. Finally, wiping the sleep from her eyes with one hoof, she leaned herself up on her other, pushing in against my ribs. She mumbled “I’m up” a few times, then opened her eyes and looked around.

When her eyes got to me, she stayed still for a few seconds. Then, suddenly, she jumped back, hovering in the air as she said, “Table Top! I’m sorry I didn’t mean to cry on you and fall asleep on you and use you as a pillow, though you make a nice pillow, and I’m sorry you had to see that, I lost track of time, I was trying to pull myself together for our get together, but you showed up earlier than I had thought and…” Her voice trailed off as I sat there with a small smile on my face. She was always so cute when she got flustered.

I got up and stretched, moving my head jerkily side to side, making it pop multiple times on each side, followed by an almost pleasurable-sounding moan as the stiffness disappeared. This followed by the systematic popping of all my legs as well as my back. I probably needed a visit to the spa after that night. That’s when the thought struck me.

“It’s alright, Ditzy,” I said, turning towards her as she came back down. “If you’d like, we have today that we can hang together. Just, let me have a little while first, alright?” She nodded, and I smiled at her. “I think after that night, you deserve to be pampered to help soothe your heart. How does a spa day sound? We can hang at my place after, and we’ll play some games. That sound like a plan?”

She thought for a moment, then nodded, saying, “Yeah, that sounds good. Dinky will be at our parents’ place for the weekend. I had thought to spend it…” She trailed off, then I saw tears form in her eyes.

I quickly went to her and hugged her, feeling a few sobs escape her as I rubbed her neck and back. “Shhh, it’ll be alright. I promise…”

She sobbed a few times, each one lessening. Then she mumbled into my neck, but it was close enough to my ear for me to hear. “Will the pain ever go away?”

Oh, Ditzy, if only you knew how many times I asked myself the same question ever since I knew I loved you. I answered as truthfully as I could. “I don’t know. It might, if you find somepony else… But, other than that, I think it’ll dull away, but it will always be present. Just, don’t think about it, alright?”

She nodded against me, then pulled back and nuzzled along my muzzle. I clenched my teeth a little to keep the blush from showing. Sometimes, white fur was a curse.

“Now, I need to go and prepare, so I’ll see you in… Two hours, at the spa, alright?”

She nodded and smiled at me, wiping the last stray tears away. “Thank you.”

I got my jacket and scarf on, then put my bag on my back, and headed out. There were three places I needed to visit. The first was the spa, to set up our appointment. Saturdays tended to have more traffic for the place, but with enough bits, you can get through anything. And with how much I saved, that wouldn’t be a problem.

Of course, I didn’t need to use bits. As soon as I walked in, the sisters Aloe and Lotus nearly fell on me, eager to cater to a celebrity (though, I never think of myself as one), but when I explained to them I needed it set for two hours later and that it was an emergency, they got into action, calling ponies that had appointments set for that time, asking if they’d like one earlier or rescheduled – free of charge, of course – for that opening. I smiled softly. The things some ponies do to suck up is amazing. But this was for the one mare that meant more to me than anything, so I was alright abusing my “power”.

With that taken care of, I made my way across town, coming up to the library. The sign on the door said OPEN, so I let myself in. What met me confused me.

Books flying everywhere, all encased in a purple haze, was the main scene, but what was odd was the cyan colored pegasus with rainbow mane and tail also in a purple haze, sitting on the far ceiling, book in hoof. And then, out of nowhere, a small dragon came running in with a pile of books in his arms that was three times his size.

“Twilight, these were all in the wrong place too!” Spike exclaimed to nowhere in particular. The books in his arms suddenly leaped in the air, enveloped in the magical aura.

Twilight Sparkle, librarian and protégé of Princess Celestia, strode in from an adjoining room, a list trailing behind her. She huffed loudly and angrily before bringing a quill to her to write on the list. She was rambling about “those fillies”, and I had a few guesses who she meant. Only three certain fillies had the special talent to get on somepony’s nerves like that.

“Need some help?” I asked, humorously, of course. I couldn’t stay here for long. But, upon hearing my voice, Twilight yelped, and all the books in her grasp came crashing down, including Rainbow Dash from her sitting place. Despite all the sadness I had been feeling, I couldn’t help but let out a huge laugh at the sight of a frightened Twilight, and a Dash that was now upside down in a pile of books, her head stuck in them with her wings rapidly flapping to get her out.

Spike came up to me, to which I held out a hoof. He made a fist, and bumped my hoof lightly. “Sup, Top? Haven’t seen you round here in a while.”

“Not much, just needing to look up a recipe for tonight. And to bother Twilight while she attempts to fix a Crusaders’ mess.”

Spike fell over and started rolling around, laughing. “I hear that. Look! She hasn’t moved!”

He was right. Twilight was standing in the same spot, with the same look on her face, as she looked at me. Rainbow, however, had gotten herself loose of her literary captors and went up to Twilight. Dash then waved a hoof in front of Twilight’s face, but this elicited no response. So, deciding it’d be the only way to get her attention, Dash grabbed Twilight’s head and gave her a full on kiss.

This had the desired effect, as Twilight jumped away and looked around, remembering what had happened. She sighed, then looked at me. Rainbow, however, was doing a poor job of not laughing at her marefriend.

“Hello, Table Top. What brings you to the library today?”

“Just needed to stop by and get a better look on a recipe that I scanned across. Looked interesting, but I’d like to put it to use tonight, so I need more detailed instructions.”

She sighed and visibly deflated. “Oh, thank Celestia. The Crusaders didn’t manage to get to the cuisine section during their tirade last night. You know where it is.”

Dash had recovered from her laughing fit and came over to me. “So, what’s the grand occasion? Gonna woo some mare into your bed tonight?” She waggled her eyebrows.

Her smile quickly vanished once the hardened look on my face made its way across. “Hardly.”

I pushed past her and into the cuisine section. I quickly found the book I needed, and wanting to have the task done quickly, used my magic to grab the book, paper, and a quill with ink over. The book in question I had used many times. It’s title was “East meets South: The Cajun/Asian Combination Cookbook”, and every recipe I had tried from it made my mouth burn in that pleasant way only truly spicy foods could attain, while keeping its flavors in full integrity.

Little did I know, I had an audience.

Twilight chimed up, “I’ve always wondered, why is it your magical aura doesn’t have a color? I mean, you can’t even see the magic sparkles.”

Why the question? Why today? “Think back to elementary magic studies, Twi. What do the colors usually get represented by?”

“Well, usually the pony’s color, or if they have a certain area that they use their magic for, such as Vinyl Scratch, who’s aura is a light blue because she uses telekinesis for her performances.”

“Exactly.” Ah, there was the recipe. Thankfully, years of playing roleplaying games had taught me to talk, read, and write all at once. “My main focus of magic deals with the mind, or more specifically, the connection of minds. However, thought has no color, meaning my general color for the aura would be no color at all. Of course, I specialize in Elemental magic, using plenty of them for my games.” I finished copying the recipe. It was simple, but had potential for great flavors. I turned to face Twilight. “In such cases, my aura changes to the color associated with that element.

“Air.” The tips of my mane became white, and there was a light gust of wind that I directed around Twilight. “Water.” I called some moisture in the air to form into a flat circle of moisture, while my mane changed to blue. “Earth.” The tips of my mane turned green, and branches began to grow from the floor. Earth was always draining for me. “And Fire.” I conjured a flame in front of me, and my mane changed to red. Fire was my favorite element to use. So simple, yet so wild.

I let the magic go, my mane going back to its natural black and got my recipe. I put the book back where it went, and went to leave.

Twilight was staring at me inquisitively, which made me stop in my tracks. Finally, she spoke. “I’ve never heard of anypony being able to change their aura color, not even Starswirl the Bearded, and he was probably the most powerful unicorn ever to exist. And telepathy… That’s powerful magic that even I can’t do.”

I shrugged. I didn’t really care. “I guess I’m special that way. Other than that, telekinesis, and the elements, I pretty much can’t use other magic. I once tried to teleport myself and cut off my tail. Those years of magic school were embarrassing.”

She seemed to like this answer. She moved out of my way, and I left, calling a quick goodbye to Rainbow and Spike.

Well, that had been more time that I had cared to spend. Luckily, I had all the ingredients needed for the meal, and I only needed to go to one more place before home. Back near the center of town, I entered the only alcohol providing shop in Ponyville. Behind the counter was a very bored – and slightly inebriated – looking Berry Punch. Seeing me, she perked up.

“Hi! Can I get you anything?” I must have been the first customer of the day. Of course, not many ponies buy alcohol early in the day.

“Yeah, I need something. A wine to go with a spicy meal, but also for a… Good friend of mine. See, she’s kinda upset and…”

“Oh, you mean Derpy? What’s wrong with her?” Berry looked rather concerned.

I, however, had to stifle the sudden anger that rose in me. I hated when ponies called her Derpy like it was her name. I only ever called her by that name when joking around. I clenched my teeth, and spoke as calmly as possible. “It’s kinda personal for her, and I’d like to help her cheer up. Any suggestions?”

Berry turned around and rummaged through some shelves, turning wine bottles over to read labels. Suddenly, a triumphant, but over-volumed “AH-HA!” came from her form, and she turned around and set a bottle on the counter.

“This bad boy is what you’re looking for. It’s a harder wine, perfect for spicy food, but has a hint of blueberry, which’ll compliment the food, and Derpy does like blueberry muffins above others, so I’m sure she’ll love it!”

I nodded, keeping my mouth shut.

“Is there anything else I can get you?”

I thought to two nights previous. I needed to replenish my stash… But I also had a craving for the harder liquor made from sugar…

“A bottle of AppleJack Daniels, and the biggest, strongest bottle of rum you have.”

Berry whistled. “Someone’s looking to get hammered.” She turned around and first put the whiskey up on the counter by the wine, then went into the back room. A minute later, she came back with a bottle three times the size of the whiskey bottle filled with a dark amber liquid, with the logo “Captain Maregan’s” across the top with a pirate on front, standing on their rear legs and holding a cutlass in front of them. “Here you go, this stuff is 68% alcohol. Good for cooking, too, if you use it right.”

I rolled my eyes. Of course rum is good for cooking, and the higher the alcohol content, the more likely you’ll get that flavor into what you make.

I paid for the drinks and left, making my return home quick.

I had gotten in, turned on the lights, and put away my drinks in their places, the whiskey in its hiding spot, the wine in the fridge to chill until night, and the rum on the counter. Myself and Maregan would be getting acquainted later, and the next night, and the next…

Before I could head out, I needed to shower, if to just get the residue of the previous night from my coat. I still had an hour, so I could relax a little. Turning around, I headed into the living room, and as soon as I entered, Pinkie Pie appeared out of nowhere with her cannon. She pressed the button, and a sound not unlike one of Vinyl’s wubs drawn out came from it, accompanied by confetti and streamers and a banner that had not been there was behind her, spelling out “Congratulations”.

Before I could react, Pinkie was in my face gushing her glee. “Ohmygosh I’m so happy for you, you confessed! And to top it off, she didn’t say no and it’s a reason to celebrate, but I couldn’t get my friends, so I came to congratulate yo-“

I panted my hoof in her mouth. “Wrong. I didn’t confess anything, and I never will. There is no reason to celebrate.”

Pinkie looked extremely confused. After a few seconds, she reached up and pulled my hoof out of her mouth. “But, my Pinkie Sense didn’t say that. And it didn’t give me the negative sense for a confession…” Her brow furrowed deeply, confusion nearly making up her entire face.

“Don’t worry, Pinkie, sometimes we’re all wrong.”

She started sputtering as I pushed her toward, then out, my front door. “B-b-b-bu-b-b-but” the door closed behind her “my Pinkie Sense is never wrong…”

I walked back, not surprised that all the confetti, streamers, the cannon, and banner were gone. I had no idea how she pulled it off, but it’s better to just accept it and not ask questions.

I could finally shower in peace.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I had showered, then started preparations for dinner, taking out the tofu to drain juices in the fridge, and seasoned some vegetables to marinate. Then I left for the spa, arriving a few minutes before Ditzy did, and we got to the treatment.

Surprisingly, I found out that I had gotten the special treatment not for my fame, but because the sisters were gamers, and loyal fans. Of course, being sisters, they argued which games were better that one preferred but the other didn’t, and they looked to me for the deciding factor.

Ditzy got special treatment as well. She was rarely ever seen in the spa, and the sisters both delighted in making her giggle in that adorable way when she’s tickled. They made polite conversation with her as well, avoiding relationship conversations, and asked how we knew each other. We told them the tale, and they listened to it intently. They commended me for my courageous way of standing up for her, and said it was great that we kept our friendship alive even though we had years apart.

It was definitely pleasant, and I had almost forgotten my heartache.

Almost.

We were walking around, and wound up in the park, ready to just enjoy the afternoon. I called Luna on her cell, and explained to her that I probably wouldn’t be available the next day for gaming due to “unforeseen and unexpected complications.” She agreed to allow the day off from it in exchange for the next weekend we play for the entire weekend. I agreed; I knew Vinyl wouldn’t mind a day off during the weekend, and Luna said she’d talk to the others.

With all that I had needed done taken care of, I lay in the grass beside Ditzy and watched the clouds. Out of nowhere, a rainbow streak came into our field of view, careened downward, lost its handle at the last moment, and crashed and skidded along the ground. Rubbing her head, Rainbow Dash stood up and came toward me and Ditzy.

“Hey Tops, hey Derpy, sup?”

Why do these ponies insist on calling her that name? It always got under my fur.

“Just enjoying the day, Dashie,” Ditzy replied to her, being closer to Dash.

She smiled down at us. “You know, from up there you two looked like a nice couple.”

My heart stopped a moment, flipped, and restarted. Why is it things keep getting worse?

Ditzy blushed at the comment. “Well, we’ve been friends forever, we probably just always looked god together.” She started running a hoof through her mane, clearly embarrassed.

I got up and started walking away. I heard Ditzy apologize to Dash, and she came up by me. She nudged me a little as we made our way to my house. “She doesn’t know about what happened, Topsy. I don’t mind…” she trailed off, mumbling.

I wasn’t really paying attention. I probably should have, but I just wanted to get away from any more comments like that. I reached back and held her hoof, urging her to go faster. The contact sent a slight shudder down my spine.

We got to my home and we entered together. I led Ditzy – though I didn’t need to – to my game room, a third bedroom that had been optimized in equipment of a large LCD TV, several gaming systems, a computer, surround sound system, and posters and gadgets that promoted games and companies. My prized possession, an authentic, working Pip-Colt, still had the sticker on the screen of a winking colt, and was in a glass case to protect it.

We booted up whatever game system we wanted and played for the next few hours, constantly changing games and systems. Finally, dinner time rolled around, and I left to make the food.

Not long later, I came back in the room to find Ditzy looking through my movies. I set the food, plates, wine, and glasses down on the table in front of the couch, and Ditzy popped in a movie into the X-Box. It started up: The Princess Bride, one of our favorite movies. We ate, drank, and recited the movie word for word. Once the food was gone, we just sat and watched, until the movie ended.

We had continued drinking, Ditzy more so than I, and we were on the last glass for each of us. Ditzy looked at me and smiled, a blush on her cheek from the alcohol. She raised her glass. “A toast,” she said.

“What for?”

She thought for a moment, her eyes coming into focus instead of roaming. She looked at me in the eyes, and said, “For love.”

My heart sank. I knew it. She still loved him…

“And why for love?” The question left my mouth without me intending it to. I guess I had had more to drink than I had thought… Funny, I don’t remember breaking out the rum, and there’s no way wine could get me drunk.

Ditzy smiled wide, and giggled. “If it weren’t for love, well, then I wouldn’t be here right now!”

My heart almost wanted to be elated at that. But my mind told it not to get its hopes up. She said she had planned to go with him this weekend. If he hadn’t gone, she wouldn’t be here. That’s why she said it, I rationalized.

I raised my glass, and with a half-hearted, “For love,” we clinked glasses and drained  the last of the wine.

I looked at the digital clock above the entertainment system, and sighed at the time. It was near ten o’clock, and Ditzy should get home.

I helped Ditzy up, and walked her home, careful of her being inebriated. I wished that I had the courage to say something, to even kiss her cheek goodnight, but I was a coward. I only helped her home, said good night, and left.

I trudged through the silent streets of Ponyville, my mind whirring. I wasn’t even headed home, I just wanted to walk, so I did. I eventually got to the train station, so I turned around and walked more.

I got to the edge of the Everfree Forest in what seemed like record time, and sighed. My mind was restless. I guess it was time to go greet my new friend Maregan. I turned around, but as I was doing so, something caught my eye at the edge of the Everfree, and I turned back.

Sitting there was a large black wolf, a little smaller than a pony.

I started backing up, but it came toward me, its white teeth shining in the moonlight, and its tongue lolling in its mouth.

I was frozen. I was sure I was done for.

Until the wolf came up to me, and I realized my mistake: this was no wolf, but a dog. A very big dog.

I looked at this dog. It had a black coat all over, except for a little tuft of white on its chest, and it had big brown eyes, and it looked at me as if it recognized me. I reached out a hoof, and it came up to me and sniffed a moment, then began wagging its tail.

“You don’t have anywhere to go, do you fella? Come on, I’ll take care of you tonight.”

I turned around and started trotting back home. The black dog followed me, staying to my back right leg.

I opened the door and the dog went in ahead of me. Looking closer, its fur wasn’t in the least bit dirty. I went to the kitchen and got some food that I thought it’d be able to eat, meaning tofu dogs. I fed three to it and it wagged its tail harder. I smiled. It definitely was a cute puppy. I wondered how it had come to be at the Everfree Forest’s edge.

I grabbed my “friend” off the counter and a glass and went to the living room, taking a seat in my chair. The dog had followed me and sat in front of me, just looking. I wondered if it knew any tricks… I held out a hoof, bottom up, and said “Shake”. Immediately, the dog took its corresponding paw, brought the leg around in a circular motion, and placed the paw atop my hoof. For some reason, this made me grin like a schoolcolt.

“Lay down,” I said gently, and it did. I started wondering what it was, a boy or girl..? Oh well, I didn’t want to find out the embarrassing way.

I poured rum into the glass until it was half full and held it in a hoof. As soon as I decided to get a drink, the dog was standing right in front of me, and, using its muzzle, knocked the glass from my hand. I was stunned. The dog then looked at me as if to say “I DARE you to try that again”.

That’s when I noticed a piece of metal coming from the dog’s fur. I reached for it slowly, and pushed back fur to reveal a red fabric collar with two tags on it. The first one said “Macey”, followed by a ten-digit number. Well, that answered my gender question, but raised a new question. The number looked like it would be for a phone number, but it missed two numbers: the nation-designated number for the different races.

The second tag said “Macey-Mae Christie, Vaccinated for rabies virus on…”

That was a strange name. Yet, for some reason, it resonated through me. I leaned back, and got into the sitting position so my back was against the back of the chair.

Why did I do this?

My next action still confuses me…

I patted my chest.

In response, Macey jumped up with her forelegs, her hind ones getting closer to the chair. In the same, almost fluid motion, her front paws landed on my shoulders, and her paws did a gripping motion, pulling me forward as her head came to rest on my shoulder, her muzzle below my ear. My own forelegs wrapped around her, and I hugged her close, burying my nose in her thick black fur as I silently began to cry.

A/N: Macey is someone who was important to me. If you are interested in the story of Macey, you can go here to view my blog post about her.