open Summer Solstice Garden Ball

[Sky Warden 2,243]

@@Silverwisp the Bard.

 

Asnee winced when he saw how the sharp edge of the shoe stabbed Joan's right foreleg. His eyes used to catch any sudden movement like this, and he couldn't avoid to see it. He stepped forward by reflex to catch her before she fell, but her waving wings forced him to pull back. He watched worriedly as Joan hobbled and sat near the fountain.

 

Almost at the same time as the request came, he quickly trotted to her and grabbed her wounded foreleg. He moved his hoof around the broken shoe to find a perfect grip, "Hold on a second Miss Joan. Exhale heavily, and take a long breath before I took this off. This won't hurt much."

 

He didn't wait for her to respond. He didn't even know if she even did his instruction. He just wanted to take that frightening shoe as soon as possible. He found a perfect grip on the shoe and hit her on three points between her right shoulder and chest with his left hoof, right on her meridians. "She shall not feel any pain now." In a swift movement, he pulled the shoe off and quickly pressed the wound with his left hoof to prevent it from bleeding.

 

"Are you okay Miss Joan?"

Edited March 4, 2013 by Sky Warden

[Silverwisp the Bard 2,354]

@@Sky Warden,

Joan, disentangled her hoof from Asnee's as politely as she could manage. The cut looked harmless enough.

"It's alright. Believe it or not, being a guardpony is not all sitting around Pony Joe's and eating donuts. And I believe we're past the "Miss", just call me Joan."

Then she noticed, that she didn't feel anything in her foreleg. She lightly pricked it  with a canine and felt nothing more than a numb sensation of pressure."

"How did you do that?"

[Sky Warden 2,243]

@@Silverwisp the Bard.

 

Asnee unleashed an awkward laugh to the question as he rubbed his mane behind his head. He wasn't sure that explaining what he just did was polite enough, "It's just, uhm, energy stream Miss--I mean Joan. Pardon." He softly lifted the pterasi's wounded right hoof, pushed and dragged a line from three points he hit earlier further to her foreleg quickly. He pulled his hoof back soon after that.

 

"I-it's nothing. Really. I-I just blocked it, so the pain pulse wouldn't...wouldn't hurt," he shrugged, "It's back to normal now. Sorry." He glanced around to find another topic. His gaze stopped at the wound, "I think you may want to wash that."

Edited March 6, 2013 by Sky Warden

[Silverwisp the Bard 2,354]

@@Sky Warden,

Joan shook her hoof a little. The feeling was back.

"That's amazing. Are you sure, you're not hiding a horn somewhere under your mane?"

She struggled out of the other shoe before examining the cut. Doesn't look like it's gonna leave a scar; heavens know I got enough of those on my legs.

She shifted around, taking care not to get the dress wet, until she could lower her froreshins into the water. She gave a sigh as she felt the soothing coolness.

"Oh, you must try this."

[Sky Warden 2,243]

@@Silverwisp the Bard.

 

"No. I swear I don't have a horn." Asnee sat on the fountain next to Joan. A cold shiver ran throughout his body as he dipped his hoof into the night water. He stared up at the sky filled by stars and the shimmering moon. He caught all the space, all the freedom in the sky that night with his gaze.

 

"I see." he said without thinking, feeling the chill of the water. He kept staring at the sky, "Dream about the whole wide world. I wonder what it feels like up there."

Edited March 5, 2013 by Sky Warden

[Silverwisp the Bard 2,354]

@@Sky Warden,

Joan was surprised.

"I didn't know daylight ponies looked at the stars."

She looked up , searched for a moment, found the Ursar Major, then the Archon, the Sagitari, before her gaze was drawn to the full moon, radiant and untarnished.So very beautiful.

She could feel tears in her eyes and blinked them away.

"We all used to dream, but not of the world, not only."

Edited March 6, 2013 by Silverwisp the Bard

[Sky Warden 2,243]

(OOC: Sorry. I had to study for an insane test yesterday.)

 

@@Silverwisp the Bard.

 

Asnee chuckled, "I believe there's no big difference about it. It doesn't rely on daylight ponies or nighttime ponies. It relies on how we see the world." He said, again without any second thought.

 

His sight was still to the map of universe above, feeling the space and the freedom of the bright night sky with his eyes, "You must be very grateful of your flying ability Miss-- I mean Joan."

Edited March 8, 2013 by Sky Warden

[Silverwisp the Bard 2,354]

@@Sky Warden,

Joan emerged from gloomy thoughts of the past.

"My what? Oh my wings."

She unfolded one and looked at it. The light reflected off the water played in strange patterns on the membrane.

"To be honest, I've never thought about it like that. I guess it is something to be grateful for."

Then another thought struck her.

"How do Earth ponies hug?"

The question was out before she could stop herself, courtesy of the fruitpunch no doubt.

[Sky Warden 2,243]

@@Silverwisp the Bard.

 

Asnee felt a small blush on his cheek. He glanced at the mare quickly and glanced around again, not sure what to say. He should answer the question somehow, for the sake of politeness, "I-it's uhm...just like," he lifted his foreleg to show her, but stopped immediately as he realized that it would be very awkward, "Well...just like usual ponies."

[Silverwisp the Bard 2,354]

@@Sky Warden,

Despite herself, Joan had to giggle.

"Really? With the forelegs?"

She tried to get serious again, but the expression on Asnee's face didn't help much: For the first time this night he seemed genuinely off balance. She took a few deep breaths.

"I'm sorry it just seems.. weird to me."

[Sky Warden 2,243]

@@Silverwisp the Bard.

 

Asnee blushed when Joan giggled, "Did my hug look that weird?"

 

"Uh? No no. No need to say sorry," Asnee kept staring down, so that the mare couldn't see his face. His mind raced to find a way to escape the situation, "D-did my hug look that weird?"

 

He bit his tongue at the end of that sentence, "What the hay brain?"

[Silverwisp the Bard 2,354]

@@Sky Warden,

Despite her efforts, Joan couldn't hold back a grin at the sight of Asnee's squirming.

"No no. I'm sorry. It's just that we do it differently."

He looked up, bewildered.

Oh, what the hell.

"Okay, please don't punch out my nerves."

She leaned over and rested her head against his shoulder over and carefully wrapped one wing around his neck.

His mane smelled a bit like woodchippings.

"Kinda like that. I'd use both wings if we were facing each other properly."

Edited March 14, 2013 by Silverwisp the Bard

[Sky Warden 2,243]

@@Silverwisp the Bard.

 

Asnee's whole body strained and his eyes widened. For a second he wanted to pull back, but odd, the hug warmed him and it felt relaxing. He glanced at the mare on his shoulder, but quickly turned his head to the previous posisition as he realized that their heads were very close to each other, "I-I see. T-that's good." he stuttered, not sure what to say. He tried to relax his shoulder so Joan wouldn't get a hard place to rest her head.

[Silverwisp the Bard 2,354]

@@Sky Warden,

Joan smiled and closed her eyes.

"Consider this a cultural exchange."

She adjusted her head a little, burying her nose in Asnee's mane. There were muscles under his skin, but not the hard muscles of a guardpony. They felt smooth and somehow lean.

"Tell me a story.", she murmured into the mane.

"One of these short one to make you think. You martial art ponies got these, don't you?"

[Sky Warden 2,243]

@@Silverwisp the Bard.

 

Asnee couldn't help but blushed harder as Joan burried her muzzle in his mane. Even his usually-steady breath became distracted. He relaxed his neck muscle as well, giving Joan a better place to lean. He only concentrated his energy on the other side of his body, balancing the other relaxed side so they couldn't fall.

 

With mind messed up with unusual feelings, he couldn't find any interesting story to tell, but he didn't want to disappoint the mare, "I-I don't know, but my great grandfather once made a song."

 

He began to sing. It was awkward at first, but turned smoother as he continued. He sang slowly, and tried to sing gently,

 

"The martial arts world laugh
Kindness and harted end
People exchange blows
Smiles hide blades..."

 

He sang the last part with a pitiful melody.

 

"The martial arts world laugh
A lonely laugh
The heart is too high
It can't be reached."

 

His tone turned higher and sadder, but faster.

 

"Shines the bright moon, the road is long
People grow old, the heart does not
I can't love, can't let go
Can't never forget...your splendor."
 

The more tragic and sadder he sang.

"It seems a flower, yet is not
Appear as a mist, yet is not
The rushing river water, can't be stopped
Full of righteousness, and iron nobleness
So it turns our heroes are solitary."

 

He lowered his voice and sang slower.

 
"The martial art world laugh
Love is carefree
Lute or flute, come pour the wind."

 

He ended his song and stole a glance at the mare, slightly nervous.

[Silverwisp the Bard 2,354]

@@Sky Warden,

Joan smiled, even though she knew Asnee couldn't see.

"A mechanic, a martial artist and a decent singer. You're full of surprises, Master Hoof."

For a while she just listened to his heartbeat, soft and steady.

Then, with some reluctance, she carefully disentangled her wing from around his neck and lifted her head so she could look him in the eye.

"It has been really nice, Asnee. Maybe- Maybe we could something like this again? Not the part where my footwear tried to kill me, but the stuff after that."

[Sky Warden 2,243]

@@Silverwisp the Bard.

 

Joan's wings felt warm and relaxing on his body, and a slight disappointment darted in his mind as Joan slowly pulled back. Her head movement caught Asnee's attention and he looked at her by instinct. Their gaze met each other. In one side he wanted to glance away, but in the other side he wanted to keep staring at her eyes. Those shining eyes, deeper and brighter than any eyes he had ever seen, "Uhm well of course Joan," he paused, trying to say something important, but he couldn't somehow. Instead he just smiled at the pterasi and nodded slightly, "Anytime."

[Silverwisp the Bard 2,354]

@@Sky Warden,

Did he phase out there for a second?

But then Asnee actually answered and suddenly she could feel the butterflies in her belly.

You got insects in your belly all the time, you are a pterasus.

But she was in no mood to let her brain get in the way of this moment.

She smiled, not caring if her teeth showed or not, got up from the circumference and stretched.

"Well, I think your neighborhood needs some more nightly guard presence in the near future. I think a one-mare patrol should do the trick."

The eastern horizon had started to brighten, soon it would be dawn.

She picked up the shoes and, with some difficulty, managed to interlock the metal laces and hang them over her neck.

Asnee had gotten up as well, so she went back to him and hugged him again, this time with both wings.

"Maybe you can show me that business with the frontlegs next time.", she whispered in his ear before slowly letting go.

Then, because the butterflies were still fluttering and to show her brain who's boss, she leaned back in and kissed him lightly on the cheek.

Before  he could say anything, she unfolded her wings to their full width and lifted off, past the tree branches and then towards Nightwatch Tower.

[Sky Warden 2,243]

The kiss froze Asnee on where he stood, stopping him from grabbing Joan's hoof before she flew away. It left a tingle sensation on his cheeks, especially where Joan kissed him. The corner of his mouth expanded, stopped every second before expanded even wider. It turned into a smile, and a grin. He chuckled, couldn't help the burst of feeling inside him.

 

He narrowed his eyes to the flying pterasus, still with a big grin on his face. He stared down for a while, remembering Joan's smile, which looked very sweet despite her sharp teeth, and he remembered the sentence after it. They would meet again, more often, and he could show her the Earth Pony hug the next time they meet. He chuckled again and his gaze turned back to the mare in the sky, then moved to the sunrise, "No grandfather...we can love, we can let go...no matter how different."

 

With that he stood there, enjoying every second of watching Joan flying, with a big hope of the following days.