Aymee Parker B2 - The Cursed Mark

Chapter 48 : Relieved

It was the eve of the 4th of July and Aymee still had to push Hepzibah to participate in the activities rather than hide in a corner to sleep or practice magic. Just the day before the fireworks, Aymee had found her hidden behind the stables, her wand out and ready to change the pegasi's colour.

"But it would be fun!" Hepzibah tried to convince her. "It would be like in My Little Pony! I'm sure others will like it."

"And the pegasi, will they like it?" Aymee replied, confiscating her wand. "But hey, if you like them that much, you won't have any problem taking a little riding lesson, right?"

Hepzibah grumbled, but agreed to follow Aymee. Hecate's daughter opened the doors with enough gusto for them both. She turned to Hepzibah.

"You never rode, have you? In this case, today we're just going to take a little tour of—"

BAM!

Aymee's shoulders sagged and she had to stop herself from rolling her eyes. Hepzibah craned her neck to find out where the loud noise came from.

"What was that?"

"Probably Peanut," sighed Aymee.

Aymee motioned for Hepzibah to follow her. The girls passed in front of all the boxes before stopping in front of the last one. Aymee opened it to show the caramel pegasus lying on the floor.

"... What's wrong with him?" asked Hepzibah.

Aymee squatted down to shake Penaut a little.

"Come on, Peanut. Stop playing dead. Get up."

The pegasus did not move an inch. Hepzibah came a little closer.

"What's his problem?" she asked again, although a lot more curiously.

"That's Peanut," explained Aymee while getting up. "She always plays dead when she hears someone say they want to go for a ride. She's a big lazy—"

BAM!

Aymee jumped and turned around. Hepzibah was sprawled in the reserve haystack, eyes closed and arms in a T pose. Aymee narrowed her eyes.

"... Hepz, what are you doing?"

"I'm protesting with Peanut."

"Oh."

Aymee raised an eyebrow. She leaned over the Giant with a big smile.

"Well, since you get along so well, I'm sure you'll make an excellent team." Aymee held out her hand and lost her smile, her expression instantly turning to one of an intense coach. "Now up, let's go."

Hepzibah remained motionless for about three seconds.

"Fudge," she finally relented.

Aymee left Hepzibah the pleasure of convincing her new teammate to get up. She then showed her how to brush her and lead her to the grounds. They spent a good hour simply riding, not even flying, and Hepzibah wouldn't stop moaning about her buttocks.

After the riding lesson, they went to the arena to practice the different techniques of handling the mace. Aymee really had to push her again and again. Hepzibah's case was worse than Jackson's. He at least had some innate talent, while Hepzibah... She was just strong. Very, compared to the average, but her attacks were still way too open and obvious, so Aymee had no trouble dodging them all.

"Stop fidgeting!" Hepzibah yelled.

Aymee stuck her tongue out at her since the Hufflepuff seemed to be fuelling on provocations. The Giant continued to swing her mace in every directions in the hope of hitting her, but it was a waste of time. Aymee saw all her hits coming, even the decoys. To conclude the session, Aymee tripped Hepzibah while dodging her swing. The Giantess tripped on her own feet and rolled to the ground. She groaned as she sat up.