The Same Night

Chapters

A Long Way From Home
The Storm Beckons
Truth and Descent
Reprimanded
Beguiled

A Long Way From Home

A Long Way from Home

A butter yellow pegasus mare with a cotton candy pink mane gracefully walked through a meadow, enjoying a beautiful summer day in Ponyville. 'Oh, it's just so nice out today,' she mused, 'maybe I could-' Her thoughts were cut short when she spotted a deep, royal blue unicorn stallion with pitch black hair and a comet cutie mark right in the middle of her path. She let out a small "Eep!" and slowly backed away a few steps. His chest was slowly rising and falling, and it was obvious he was taking a nap. His eyes sluggishly slid open and Fluttershy hid her face in her mane.

The stallion jumped back when he saw the pegasus standing in front of him and abruptly fell flat on his face after losing his balance. He shakily got back to his feet and blinked a few times.

Fluttershy peeked out from behind her hair at the now awake and alert pony, giggling softly about his clumsiness. 'Maybe he's afraid,' she pondered, 'I know I would be if someone startled me like that.' Having decided that the least she could do would be to introduce herself, the mare slowly worked up a voice. "Um, excuse me, I mean, I'm not usually so bold, but I was just wondering if, you know, you didn't mind... would you be so kind as to, um, tell me your name? I'm Fluttershy."

He blinked at the soft voice, almost too quiet to hear at the end, and quickly went to introduce himself. "I'm, uh, Nato. It's... nice to meet you, Fluttershy."

She looked down at the ground, played with the grass, and tried her best to make polite, if quiet, conversation. "So, um, are you new around here?"

He glanced around, jaw still hanging slightly open in shock at the raw beauty of the landscape. The sky, picture perfect, carried in it a sun that he could only call beautiful and kind. The grass seemed to smile and wave at him, its sweet scent drifting through his mind, while the dirt felt like a cozy blanket after a long day of work. 'Heh, even the dirt here is warm and welcoming,' he thought to himself. He returned his deep indigo eyes to the mare and sighed. "Yeah, I suppose you could say that. To be honest, I'm really glad that the first pony I've met is so kind."

Nato smiled warmly, and Fluttershy wondered if being so forward was as bad as she thought. "So, um, since you're new here and all, would you like me to take you into town? One of my friends just loves meeting new ponies. Well, that is, if you're okay with it..."

"That would be wonderful, thank you." He didn't know how to get home or even how he got here, but he was sure that if he stuck with the locals, something would come up.

A pair of yellow eyes carefully studied the new unicorn arrival from the edge of the Everfree Forest. As the pair paced away, the eyes retreated back into the forest.

Pinkie Pie, bubblegum mane bouncing with her down Ponyville's main avenue, puzzled herself with the absence of Fluttershy. 'She said she would be here around noon. But where is she?' Just as the thought crossed her mind, Pinkie spotted the elusive pegasus making her way into town. Oh ho! What was this? At the sight of the new unicorn, Pinkie gasped and rushed off.

Fluttershy glanced around the square, hoping to find the party-loving pony where they had planned to chat. She didn't spend time with Pinkie much, and she had vowed to change that after all that had happened in the course of maybe a few years since Twilight Sparkle had made residence in the library. Thinking that she might have some idea as to where Pinkie happened off to, she set off to find the party pony's partner in pranks, Rainbow Dash, who would most likely be out practicing her latest trick to get into the Wonderbolts.

Just as she was about to turn and search for the rainbow-maned trickster, a familiar voice sounded from behind her. "Boy howdy, Fluttershy, looks like y'all done gone and made a new friend. Care to introduce?" She jumped at the noise at first, then shied around to face the orange-coated apple farmer.

"Oh, hi Applejack. Well um, you see, this is, uh..." Fluttershy could feel herself shrinking back, face flushing with pink embarrassment, when the unicorn took over and saved her the trouble.

"Nato," he stated evenly, in a voice neither too deep nor too shrill, as he lifted a hoof for a shake. Not one to turn down her manners, Applejack obliged, startled at how firm the grip really was. 'Not a frilly frou-frou unicorn, then.' "Well, nice to meet ya partner. The name's Applejack." The Stetson-wearing cowpony glanced around before resuming. "I was actually on my way to see if Rarity could fix up Applebloom's bow." At this, she extracted a stark red bow, torn in multiple places and smudged in at least three different kinds of dirt and tree sap. "The last thing those three fillies did ended up a little badly for this piece of work."

"Well," Fluttershy conceded, "I was about to look for Dash, but I suppose I'd better introduce our newcomer to everyone. He doesn't know his way around, I'm sure, and it would be so mean to just leave him here." The two mares started off, and Nato made haste to follow behind. He really couldn't seem to remember a thing about before. Maybe just going with the flow would help things along. He certainly enjoyed the thought of meeting more ponies.

Applejack glanced back toward the stallion before leaning in to Fluttershy and whispering in her ear. "I'm mighty glad your makin' good friends with our guest and all, but be careful, sugarcube. Something just seems fishy about this. I'm not too sure, but I think something bigger's going on here." The earth pony gave her friend a resolute nod, and the pair refocused on their goal: the Carousel Boutique.

As the trio came up on the fashonista's dress shop, Nato's mind started to clear from the morning's thick fog. The scene had become even more beautiful, even more perfect than before. It stirred up feelings within him, almost as if he had seen a place like this before, but the thought escaped him just as the orange mare rapped on the door of their destination.

Her carefully curled violet mane shifting just a tiny bit as she used her magic to prepare to set the final gem in her latest order, Rarity called out to the taps on her door. "Be with you in a moment, darling!" With pinpoint accuracy, the single ruby completed a work done mostly in various blues and greens, and gems of their respective colors. Carefully adjusting her glasses, she whisked open the door, a smile gracing her lips as she greeted two of her friends. "Welcome to Carousel - oh! Fluttershy, Applejack, what a pleasant surprise! Not getting into trouble, are we?" Rarity winked, inviting them in and about to shut the door when she caught a glimpse of the stallion that had apparently accompanied them. She stepped aside to allow him in. When the door closed shut, the designer showed them all to seats and started a pot of tea.

Nato looked around at the sitting room, eyes pausing on dress designs that seemed to beam fashion. He didn't know much, but it was almost blatantly obvious that this unicorn knew what she was doing. Other than the magnificent fabrics, the room itself just breathed order. Every little thing seemed to be placed just so, and he could only speculate that one of the reasons she seemed to be so successful was that her shop radiated professionalism. It twinged a string deep inside his heart, reminding him of somepony - he almost teared up when he couldn't remember precisely who.

Applejack was the first to speak up. "First things first, I moseyed my way on down here because of this," - Rarity gasped at the sight of the absolutely devastated bow - "and I was wonderin' if'n you could fix her up."

Still taken aback by the completely dreadful state of the cloth, Rarity paused before finally answering. "Oh, well yes, of course. Just... let me get some water first." She filled a washbasin with water, and gingerly magicked the bow into it to soak. "So, I take it you also wanted to show me someone?" She gestured over to Nato.

Fluttershy perked up. "Oh yes, well, you see, this morning I was on my way to get a new bucket because the other one, um, broke, and I stumbled across Nato here. I figured that I just had to show him around, seeing as he looked really lost and didn't seem to be from around here." The pegasus was smiling gently, in a way that just melted away any tension in the room.

Rarity nodded, taking in the details, pouring everypony a cup of tea. "Well, I'm not surprised that you did that, it being the right thing to do. And I am very grateful that you decided to show up with him when you did! You see, I've had an order for a tuxedo on hiatus for a while, and I just couldn't make it happen. But this fellow," she gestured at Nato, "gave me the -perfect- idea!" Remembering that she never actually introduced herself, the unicorn curtsied. "Oh my, it seems I've forgotten my manners! I'm Rarity, destined to be the greatest fashion designer in all of Equestria!"

Nato cracked a smile at the pose Rarity was now making, one hoof stretched toward the sky in a grandiose manner. Then the rest of the words came crashing down, lowering his smile into a thin line. Equestria. The name hit him like a brick wall, bringing back the name of his home, Requinnta, and he realized how far away he actually was. Deciding that it would be best not to mention exactly how far away he was, or that he remembered where he was from, he moved to go for a peaceful exit. His stomach conveniently grumbled. "It's a pleasure to meet you all, really. But I've been wondering, is there any place where I could get something to eat?"

All three of the girls chuckled, but Applejack was the only one to offer information. "Well, I could take you to Sweet Apple Acres. We've got some of the best apples you could ever find. It ain't too terribly far. Maybe on the way we could show you around a bit more.

"I love the idea."

"Oh, it wouldn't be trouble if I stayed and worked on this tux, would it?" Rarity's eyes brimmed with innovation and she just couldn't keep it all cooped up without them passing.

The stallion chuckled. "Don't worry yourself. I'm not like royalty or anything. By all means, continue. I'd love to see the finished product later on, seeing as I've never inspired someone to make clothing before." 'At least not that I can remember,' he added mentally.

Rarity fluttered for just a moment before leading the way to the door. "It was so wonderful of you all to visit. I always love seeing my friends... and new ponies." She chuckled, those last words perhaps carrying a bit more meaning than anyone realized.

"Bye, sugarcube."

"Goodbye, Rarity."

"It was a pleasure meeting you."

The three ponies stepped out into the early afternoon sun, setting out for their next stop. The Ponyville library, where a certain lavender unicorn and her baby dragon assistant were most likely busy keeping up the treasure trove of books.

When the sun dipped below its apex in the sky, Rainbow Dash blinked her eyes open and stretched, yawning loudly and rising to her hooves. She then shook her violently ruffled rainbow mane back into place, flapping her wings a few times before taking off from the small cumulus that she took an afternoon nap on.

The cyan pegasus cruised lazily through the air, doing a few loops and rolls on her way to ask Ponyville's resident unicorn librarian about some of the finer points of cloud formation – although she decided long ago to generally avoid books, she had a good feeling that it would be a good idea to find out if her latest idea for a trick carried weighty consequences.

As her wings carried her lower to the ground, Dash recognized a pair of her friends, one wearing her practically trademarked hat, and sped up, ready to meet them maybe a few dozen yards from the library. However, she altered course and dove when she noticed a dark blue figure behind them.

"Applejack! Fluttershy! Look out, he's right behind you!" The two named ponies turned their head to the voice, but before Nato had a chance to even be shocked a rainbow blur slammed into his side, knocking him unconscious from sheer force.

Cyan hooves beat away at the blacked out unicorn as their owner pounded out words between punches. "Who. Do you think. You are. Trying to mess. With my. FRIENDS!" The blows became furious as Applejack spoke up after seeing a certain pegasus with her head in a bush.

"Rainbow." The punches continued as the orange pony trotted up to her friend. "Rainbow!" The pony being called didn't even notice the voice until a pair of hooves yanked her away from the stranger. "RAINBOW DASH! That is ENOUGH! He ain't no creep, he was just lagging behind us. Fluttershy met him in the morning and was bein' kind, showing him around and all!"

She took a breath and looked over at the nearly bloodied stallion, lucky enough that his bruises and the small cuts wouldn't be too obvious. "And I'm not sure, but I think you've gone and made him feel very UN-welcome here in Ponyville. What were you thinkin' anyway? When was the last time a creep like the kind you thought he was came into town, no, all of Equestria? People like that just don't show up here. It ain't their bushel of apples."

Rainbow Dash, spent of adrenaline and now fully realizing what she just did in anger, stepped back and looked at her hooves, a few streaks of red sitting there, staring back at her. Blood. What did I just do? She continued to backtrack before spinning and breaking into a full gallop as she extended her wings and took off in flight.

The farm pony sprinted after her, stopping when she took to the air. "Consarnit, Rainbow! Where do you think you're goin'?" Her words died in the air as she turned back around to go retrieve Fluttershy. Darn Rainbow, always going all overzealous and whatnot. Even as she thought about it, Rainbow's sheer devotion to protecting her friends warmed the earth pony's heart. Fluttershy still had her head stuck in a bush as Applejack put a foreleg around her. "It's okay, sugarcube. Nothin' to worry about, there wasn't no creep."

Her form trembling as she slid her head out of the bushes and her eyes coming to rest on the prone form of Nato, Fluttershy gasped. "Um... d-did..."

A bubbly voice, coming from a pink pony who seemed to have materialized a few feet away, provided the answer. "Yepperooski! Our little Dashie went in and FWOOSH KABAM, then came around with a SWOOSH, and ended it all by playing the drums on that guy! Too bad he wasn't really a meanie-mean-pants, or that would've been just SUPER DUPER HEROICY!" Pinkie Pie looked off to the sunset, suddenly a thoughtful look on her face. "And we were planning his party for sunset, too. Sorry guys!"

"Awwwww..." The crowd of ponies behind her sighed in unison. Wait, what? Applejack nearly jumped into the air when she noticed that a crowd with probably everypony in Ponyville standing behind the cotton candy maned partyhorse. As she turned her head toward Pinkie, the crowd began to disperse and go home, undoubtedly for their dinner.

With the ponies gone, Pinkie Pie trotted straight to Nato. "He... he is going to be okay, right?" She looked him over, the bruises and scrapes becoming more apparent. "Gosh... Dashie really did a number on him." Suddenly, she perked up once more, smiling widely. "I know! Once we get him help and he wakes up I could throw a combo Welcome-to-Ponyville-and-Glad-You're-Better party!" She bounced off, already in her own party planning world as Applejack just stared, agape.

"Did... did I just see her go from... nevermind." She continued to rattle her brains for any answer other than 'It's just Pinkie being Pinkie,' but failed. Noticing that Fluttershy already ran off, presumably to get bandages, she trotted up to the library door and knocked...

…just as Twilight Sparkle opened her door.

After sorting out a mess and staunching Twilight's new nosebleed, Applejack shared the details of Dash's little endeavor, ending with the librarian standing next to the unconscious unicorn, absolutely flabbergasted. The orange earth pony waved her foreleg in front of the lavender unicorn. "Equestria to Twilight Sparkle. Return to base. I need you to help me carry him." She shook herself back to reality and nodded, using her magic to gingerly lift Nato onto the strong country pony's back.

"Easy does it... SPIKE!" The purple dragon snapped into the doorway when called by his friend, shortly afterward scooping his jaw up from the ground. "Spike, I need you to fetch a bucket of water. Warm, preferably, but not hot. Get a clean rag too. Hurry!" In his style, Spike snapped a sharp salute and ran off into the depths of the great tree, followed by the sound of a running tap. The two mares followed slowly, Twilight breaking off to fetch some cushions for them to set Nato on.

Fluttershy rushed into her cottage, quickly moving to where she knew her first aid supplies would be. As a white bunny bounced up, she spoke clearly without stopping her search. "I'm sorry Angel, but I really need to be here as short as possible. Could you fetch the antibiotics for me?" He quickly saluted and bounded off.

She found the bandages she was searching for just as Angel hopped up with a bottle carried in his mouth. Fluttershy nuzzled him before taking the bottle and starting to head out the door. "Thank you. Remind me to get a special treat for you later." The white ball of fur ushered her out, shutting the door behind her and making a mental note in his head.

As she raced back to the library, Fluttershy hoped dearly that Nato would be okay. It didn't look bad, but sometimes... No, don't even think like that. She forced the thoughts out of her head by speeding up, hoping to get back as soon as possible.

Applejack was right... I had no reason to assume the worst from the start... Rainbow Dash streaked through the air and plowed right into a cloud, staying there and shoving her face into the unjustly fluffy surface. I could've hurt somepony really bad... just because I went overboard. All that anger...

Even being loyal wasn't enough of an explanation. When she suspected Twilight of being a spy, she didn't just take her out in one hit, she confronted her. Why didn't I just defend them instead of attacking him? Afterward, Applejack defended him almost like... a friend. I just outright knocked him unconscious!

Tears began to form in her eyes as the thoughts reached their inevitable conclusion and she began to voice them aloud. "What... what if h-he..." At this, her eyes shrunk in horror. "No, no nononono! I didn't hit him THAT hard... did I?"

She considered the image in her head. At top speed, she could easily shatter a ribcage, and maybe... "NO!" After vigorously shaking her head, the tear-stricken cyan pegasus wiped her eyes and flew as fast as she could back to the library. No matter what, that stallion was going to be A-okay, because she decided that it wouldn't happen otherwise.

The Storm Beckons

The Storm Beckons

~~ Nato glanced about, frantically searching for detail in the completely white area he floated in. As he continued to focus, he felt solid ground beneath his hooves and a scene formed around him, slowly at first but quickly closing in on him. Grass tickled his legs as an orange sun warmed his coat. Looking up, he noticed a pony much taller than him smiling down.

After gazing at the gargantuan pony for almost a full minute, Nato's eyes traveled down to meet those of a … filly? As he stared at those entrancing, young, yellow eyes, her mouth turned up in a warm smile. It then dawned on him that because she met his eyes on level, he must be the size of a colt. Immediately after this realization the scene dissolved into vapor before his eyes and began swirling around him, transforming into a hole that he promptly dropped into.

He noticed a floor rapidly approaching, and braced himself for the inevitable –

But it never came. As he blinked open his eyes, Nato's vision blurred, and he noticed what seemed to be a mare, laying on the floor, and … So much red. Shakily standing, he carefully tread over to her body, shaking all the way, and quickly noticed a mortal wound before turning away and nearly emptying his stomach. The door to the room nearly flew off its hinges as a blurred form stood in the frame. Once more the scene vanished before his eyes, and Nato collapsed. ~~

Rainbow Dash careened towards Ponyville, now only a minute or two away from the library. Before she put on an extra burst of speed, Drizzle, a pony from the weather team, struggled up to the cyan speed demon with sweat bursting from her sides.

"Rainbow... Dash..." she gasped, and motioned for a slight slow down. Rainbow didn't enjoy the concept of slowing down, but the look on her teammate's face didn't spell 'casual talk.'

"Heh... thanks." Drizzle caught her breath before continuing. "You remember the storm scheduled soon for the Whitetail Wood?" Rainbow nodded her head in acknowledgment. "Well, it got a little too big. Nothing major, but Ponyville's going to get a bit of unscheduled rain, and maybe some lightning."

After looking over to the horizon, Rainbow Dash nodded once more. "I'll make sure to let everypony know." She then blasted ahead at a breakneck pace, now altering her first stop in the cozy town.

Mayor Mare sifted through the last of her paperwork for the day. She absolutely loved every aspect of being mayor, especially the frequent visits by Princess Celestia. Ever since Twilight Sparkle, the Princess' prized pupil, had taken up residence in the library, visits from royalty skyrocketed and the small town even received mentions in the national news, with headlines from "Brave 6 from Small Town Stop National Threat" to "Equestria's Heroes Crash Gala?"

When she heard a knock at her door, she quickly tidied up her desk and cleared her throat. "Come in!"

Rainbow Dash practically burst into the room. "Miss Mayor?"

"Yes?"

The pegasus dropped down to the ground before stepping up to the desk. "Ponyville's about to get some unexpected rain, in about an hour. It's not too much, but I wouldn't want to be out in it."

The eminent earth pony nodded quietly and shooed Rainbow out of the town hall as she turned on the town's PA system. "Fillies and gentlecolts," she boomed in a well-practiced voice, "We are due to receive some unexpected rain in the next hour. It is expected to be a medium to heavy rain, so bring in anything that would be in danger of damage. Thank you." As soon as she finished, the mayor opened her windows and pulled her potted plants inside before retiring for the night.

Twilight finished cleaning the last of Nato's scrapes. There were surprisingly more than she first thought, but none were any more than shallow. Just as she set the rag aside to be washed, there was a light knock at the door. "Um, can I come in please?"

No sooner had Twilight opened the door than Fluttershy zipped over to the stallion and began to disinfect and bandage the wounds. She took this opportunity to turn to Applejack. "So, what do you know of our little punching bag?"

Applejack scratched her head. "Well, I know his name's Nato... And he seemed really friendly and all..."

"But?" Twilight cut in.

"But there's just something off about him. I honestly don't think he's a bad pony, I'm just... unsure about the whole situation. He just appears plum out of nowhere, don't even mention where he's from, and to top it all off Fluttershy took to him like caramel on a candy apple. I'm not certain of how she found him, but I know that she wouldn't be that comfortable around a pony she just met. Unless..."

Twilight jumped forward. "Unless what?"

The cowpony chuckled. "Nevermind. It was just a thought, that's all."

Spike strolled out of the kitchen with a tray of sandwiches. "Anypony want one? They're daffodil and dandelion."

Applejack's stomach grumbled and she gave a nervous smile. "Aheh, I guess I will..."

"I'll take one too, I suppose," Twilight conceded, remembering how long it had been since she last ate.

Soon after the ponies finished their impromptu meal, the door rocketed open with an unexpected BANG as Rainbow Dash careened into the room. "Okay, first, there's a storm coming. It won't be really bad, just rain and maybe some lightning. Second, where's that guy? Is he okay?" Her voice nearly tripped over itself as she rushed to say it all at once.

Fluttershy was still on the ground, wings locked up in shock, and Twilight just stood there, staring at Dash. Applejack, however, advanced on the pegasus. "'Is he okay?' What, are you wanting to know so you can interrogate him? Do a follow up on the number you pulled earlier? I appreciate that you were just trying to protect us, but you didn't have to go overboard!"

The cyan pegasus flinched. "Look, Applejack, I – "

"Don't you 'look, Applejack' me! I know for a fact that your gonna apologize to Nato over there," she stamped her hoof to indicate that it was more of a command, "But don't forget the rest of us. You hurt us all with this one, maybe not a whole lot, but at least some."

"I know, I just thought that I... that I – "

"It's all about YOU, innit?" Applejack took a step forward every 'you,' eventually ending in Rainbow's face. "YOU were flying down here, thinkin' about making sure that people didn't think less of YOU for what YOU did in YOUR ignorance!"

Rainbow Dash, already visibly shaking, shrunk to the floor under the weight of her friend's anger, voice cracking as she spoke. "I know, I thought that I... had hurt him, really bad, and I just wanted to make sure he was okay. I couldn't stand knowing an innocent pony was hurting bad... because of me."

The orange earth pony softened her tone as she sat down next to her friend, putting a hoof around her shoulders. "Look, sugarcube, I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me, but I just exploded. I know you didn't mean it, it's just... sometimes, you don't think. And I guess I'm a bit vulnerable to that too." She chuckled, patting Rainbow on the back and rising to her hooves. "Now go on, do what you came here ta do in the first place."

The pegasus walked up to Fluttershy, voice low as she looked down, and then into her eyes. "I'm sorry, Fluttershy, I just thought that he was gonna hurt you and I snapped." She looked down again. "I did pretty crappy at slowing down."

Fluttershy nuzzled her friend warmly. "I understand, Rainbow Dash. And I'm really happy that you're so devoted to us." She quickly turned her attention back to Nato.

Rainbow turned around, toward Twilight and Applejack. "And I'm sorry to both of you. Twilight, for knocking a pony unconscious in your front yard and just flying away, and Applejack, for mindlessly attacking someone you thought was a friend."

"Just make sure and ask next time, 'kay sugarcube?"

"It's fine, really. Besides," Twilight chuckled, "I'm not the one that's going to hate you when he wakes up. Speaking of..." She glanced over her friend's shoulder at the other unicorn.

"Ugh..." groaned Nato as he attempted to roll over before being stopped by Fluttershy. "What happened... I feel like I was hit by a train."

Rainbow went a little pale, pupils shrinking to the size of a bit. She rubbed the back of her neck after turning around. "Uh, aheh, see, funny story..."

Applejack took over bluntly. "Rainbow Dash here flew into you faster than a stampeding cow and beat you senseless because she thought you were a creep trying to hurt me and Fluttershy." A sly grin seeped onto her face as Rainbow grew even paler.

Nato looked over at Applejack, then back to Rainbow Dash. He busted out laughing as hard as he could without hurting himself. Seeing the confused reactions, he quickly spoke up. "I just think it's funny that I'm so good at passing out that just being speed tackled was enough to do it. Honestly, I'm just a little sore now and in the good hooves of four – well I guess three – lovely mares." He chuckled at his own joke, but noticed the blank looks all around. "What, not even a smile? Wow, I guess I'm drier than I thought. Anyway, I see no point in getting my horn in a knot over something that happened while I was down for the count."

Rainbow Dash struggled to find words, still shocked at how well he took it. "You know, I'm still really sorry about what I did. I mean, if there's anything I can do – "

Nato cut her off by raising a hoof, then grimacing when he realized that it was a really bad idea. "What you can do is to accept my apology and not frazzle your feathers over it. And maybe a nice cup of tea, that'd really help..."

Twilight butted in. "Not to put her down or anything, but Rainbow Dash isn't the best in a kitchen. I'll get Spike to make it for you." Her assistant took the message and ran off to the kitchen to start the water.

Looking over at Twilight, the stallion did his best to smile through the pain. He had lied a tiny bit to make Rainbow Dash feel better. "I'm Nato. I would offer a hoof, but I've seen that's a bad idea."

The lavender unicorn giggled. "No worries. I'm Twilight Sparkle. It's wonderful to meet you, although it could have been on better terms..."

Nato nodded as Rainbow intently studied her hooves. "It is a pleasure. Only a day here and I've already met five lovely ponies, been beaten unconscious, and nursed back to health. That's what I call a good time. Minus the soreness, but it's not that bad."

Applejack decided to act on her doubts. "So, uh, Nato, where're you from?"

Nopony could have predicted what happened next. The unicorn stallion's eyes went wide, then his head sunk as he inspected the floor. The truth stuck out at him, but he shoved it down for a little fabrication instead. "I... I don't remember. I just remember that it's... really far away."

Everypony in the room stood agape, completely speechless. Fluttershy was, unexpectedly, the first to speak. "Oh, you poor thing. You must be so sad, being this far away from home."

"Well, I don't even remember much at all about the place. I'm kinda... uh..." His vision began to swim as the ponies rushed up to him. He felt a soft hoof on his forehead and Fluttershy mentioning something about a fever before he fell back to unconsciousness.

Twilight gazed down at the once again blacked out pony. "Well, I suppose I could move him to my second bed. That way we can – "

None of those present had noticed the rain that had started a few minutes ago until a crack of thunder interrupted Twilight. Fluttershy shrieked and hid behind Rainbow, before squeaking and moving halfway back into the open. The rain became a downpour within seconds. The rainbow maned pegasus sighed. "Guess that storm got a bit bigger than it was before. I don't think any of us are getting home until this lets up." Twilight nodded and once again enlisted Applejack to move Nato, this time to the extra bed in her room.

"Well," the shy pegasus began, "We could always play the quiet game. I'm the champion, you know."

Rainbow Dash facehoofed. "Somehow... that doesn't surprise me."

~~ "You know Nato, I really miss Mom." Nato's sister looked up at him, tears shining under the full moon in the corners of her deep yellow eyes. The field behind their house swayed in the wind as he pulled her close and held her.

"I know. I miss her too." The image, like the ones that came before, dissipated into smoke.

Another image pulled itself together, much more slowly than the rest, almost as if it was struggling, being held back. His father, with a coat of forest green and a mane of pure white, stared into the fire of his study. "When I first found you in that room, with your mother... " The stallion choked at the memory, but pushed on. "At first I thought the worst. But then after the investigation..." He turned to Nato, tears brimming in his eyes. "Few have been happier than that moment. For a ruler to discover that he didn't have to sentence his own son to exile, or death... There's no other feeling like it."

Nato gazed back upon his father, tears coming to his own eyes as he walked up to him. "I know, Father."

The imposing king bent down and nuzzled Nato. "My son, I can say that I am proud of the stallion you have become. And to be a unicorn, no less. My heart swells every day that I remember that you are my son." Tears flowed freely from both pairs of eyes as the scene slowly dissolved, first around the edges and finally, the entire image. ~~

Twilight chuckled ever so softly as she tucked Spike into his bed. As hardworking as he was, he's still a baby dragon. She softly stepped over to where Fluttershy tended to Nato, watching her friend place a fresh rag on his forehead. The fever wasn't dangerously high, but that didn't stop him from breaking out into cold sweats now and again. When she could, the caretaker would get him to drink some water. Twilight smiled at the scene and walked downstairs to where Applejack and Rainbow Dash were staring out the window at the storm.

"BAHAHAHAHA! Oh, that was a good one, Applejack! Ya gotta tell Twi that!" Rainbow fell over on the floor, laughing like a maniac.

"I suppose..." AJ turned around to see the unicorn standing right there. "Oh, howdy Twilight."

The lavender pony blinked. "Tell me what?"

"Oh, heh, well it was a joke, but I'm not sure you'll like it."

Twilight took a step forward. "I like a good joke now and again." Her eyes eagerly focused in on the cowpony.

Rainbow was now grinning wickedly as Applejack shrugged. "I suppose. Okay. What did the pony masseuse say to the throat doctor?" A blank look from Twilight and a stifled chuckle from the pegasus signaled her to go on. "She said, 'I've been feeling a little hoarse recently!'" Rainbow busted out laughing as Twilight stared agape.

"A-Applejack... That joke's a little, uh, inappropriate, don't you think?"

"Oh, boy howdy Twi. I don't think it is, but maybe that's because my mind ain't in the gutter." The cowpony busted out laughing at that point, while Twilight just turned red in the face and took a few steps backward.

"Heh, yeah, I guess it really isn't... if you don't think the wrong way." The studious unicorn zipped over to the shelves and pulled out a book she had become familiar with: Embarrassment 101: All the questions about being embarrassed you wanted to ask but didn't know what others would think.

Both ponies redoubled their laughing once they read the first part of the title. Based on other books, like her guide to slumber parties, they could fairly well guess the rest. After Twilight had read a selection in the book, she started to laugh with them. Just a chuckle at first, but soon the entire room was filled with the joyous sounds of three ponies laughing. At that moment, a brilliant flash came through the window followed shortly by a thunderclap that rattled the entire library. Everypony there suddenly became quiet as they looked back out at the storm.

The first to speak was Applejack. "Gosh. This storm's whipped up something furious. I just hope nopony gets hurt."

Rainbow Dash sounded a little nervous when she spoke, setting the others on edge. "This just isn't supposed to happen. Even when we make storms a little too big the carryover isn't like this... It's like the storm moved or grew on its own." Her eyes shot wide even as she said it. "T-Twilight? You don't think that it could do that. Right?"

"Well, I'm sure there's some other reason. It could be that we all just misread the size, or – " The unicorn hung her head and sighed. "I read that in early history, before Equestria was even here, before the pegasi controlled the weather in this area, before Harmony came to the land, nature worked a good deal like it does today in the Everfree Forest. Clouds moved and formed on their own. Remember Discord?" All present shuddered at the memory. "Well, his magic created clouds that acted on their own. And since magic can make clouds revert to their original state," her voice fell as she riddled it out, "That means that some powerful, primal force of magic must have caused these clouds to act differently." She gazed back into the gaping, thundering maw. "I only hope this is a one-time occurrence."

Applejack stepped toward her. "Twilight, I think you need to write the Princess about this." Rainbow Dash nodded in agreement.

"Yes, I suppose you're right," Twilight conceded, and began to take down a letter.

Dear Princess Celestia,

After studying the strange development of an unexpected storm over Ponyville, I have come to
believe that a powerful, primal magic has caused the clouds in this storm to act on their own.
I will continue to research the matter and await your response.

Your Faithful Student,

Twilight Sparkle

After preparing it to be sent, Twilight tread up the wooden steps, gently nudging Spike as he slept. "Spike, I'm really sorry to bother you, but – " Her voice was interrupted by another boom of rolling thunder, and the baby dragon, just barely coming out of a deep slumber, shot up and latched onto her neck. As Spike dropped down slowly, cheeks reddening, the unicorn looked over to where Fluttershy had been tending Nato previously. Their 'patient' snoozed peacefully, while 'Nurse Fluttershy' – Twilight chuckled at the thought – hid under a desk.

"Fluttershy, why don't you come downstairs with us? There's been an awful lot of lightning recently and I have a bad feeling that it may only get worse." The pegasus, trembling all the way, slowly stepped out from her hiding place and then stepped up to Twilight.

"I-I-I'll manage. B-besides, who knows about his fever? " She gestured over to the snoozing, bruised stallion. "It may suddenly shoot up and, um, I'll need to be there. Bad fevers can... can... you know." Fluttershy looked like she might tear up at the dreadful thought.

"You know what? How about I get Rainbow and AJ up here instead? That way we can be comfortable and at least rest." Twilight placed a hoof on her friend's shoulder and nodded for good measure before trotting back down the stairs to fetch the competitive athletes.

Spike pouted halfheartedly. "All that waking up business and she doesn't even tell me what it's for!"

"Who?"

Spike turned around to find none other than Owlowicious staring back at him. "You know, Twilight."

"Who?"

"The unicorn that we help run this place."

"Who?"

Spike made to retort again, but stopped himself. "You know what? Nevermind."

Just as he began to drum his claws on the floor, the voices of three ponies floated up the staircase. As Twilight and the others entered the area, a sealed scroll floated in front of Spike's face. "I need you to send this to Princess Celestia." Spike nodded and took a deep breath, then sent the paper on its way in a burst of green flames.

Just above a flooding meadow, thunderheads roiled. A tiny, pinprick sized hole blacker than black sat inside the middle of a cloud. At just the right moment, two bolts of lightning discharged and met each other at that precise point, which grew ever so slightly in response.

Piles of letters reached dangerously teetering heights on a small study table as Princess Celestia read through them, word for word, and responded to each one. Most of her court simply rushed through their mail, despite getting much less than she, but with no family that needed going home to the ruler could ponder every one of the hundreds she got every day. Besides, the seemingly mundane task of answering letters gave Celestia a small delight, for each letter she opened reminded her of just how many ponies she watched over. Equestria's peace and harmony maintained itself, yet its borders shunned many ponies to preserve that peace. Violent crimes took place so rarely that one could literally live their entire life without hearing of them.

While she contemplated the current statute of punishment for various crimes and how it could be amended, a roiling cloud of smoke brought in a letter from her student, marked URGENT in bright red ink. After reading through the message, sent in the dark of night, she understood both the late hour and the extra care in making sure her eyes fell on it the moment it arrived.

Celestia gazed out toward Ponyville, currently shrouded in pitch storm clouds and briefly illuminated by streaks of lightning. Coupled with the strange magical disturbance she noted early in the morning, this freak storm drew her attention. Writing materials magically floated over as the princess penned a response.

My dearest student,

I thank you for bringing this to my attention. It appears that I have noticed other things which may be related to your observations.

I request that you gather your friends in the library after the storm has passed. I will be arriving there shortly after daybreak in order to discuss this in person. However, I wish this visit to be as discreet as possible, and ceremony or a formal receiving will only delay the delivery important information.

As always,

Princess Celestia

She closed her eyes and sent the letter on its way, hoping quite dearly that her ideas were both right and wrong.

Truth and Descent

Truth and Descent

Yet another lightning bolt flared across the sky, but the delay before the thunder lengthened again. “Well, at least the storm is passing,” Rainbow Dash piped up. Everypony sat on spare pillows in a circle, and Fluttershy just finished checking Nato's temperature.

“And it looks like his fever's breaking, too.” They all sighed with relief. “It is a little odd that he got over it so quickly, though.” Fluttershy gazed down at the unicorn – who recently stopped turning in his sleep – and pondered the quick recovery before deciding that he likely just had an excellent immune system. Twilight, on the other hand, glanced back at the letter that arrived a few hours ago. After divulging its contents to her friends, Twilight could nearly taste the tension that filled the room. 'This thing acts like a snowball rolling down the hill,' the studious unicorn mentally noted.

The slightly less warm and less bright fire of Equestria's sun laboriously crept onto the eastern horizon as hooves pounded on doors.

Twilight Sparkle noticed the weariness in Rarity's eyes and quickly apologized.

Rainbow Dash studied Pinkie Pie and subtly gestured.

When the ponies all arrived back at the library, Twilight had but a few minutes to explain before Princess Celestia herself popped into the room.

Their bows met a single, raised hoof of acknowledgment as the ruler of Equestria began to speak. “I am truly sorry to disturb you all so early in the morning.” Her eyes turned on each pony in turn. “However, this matter could not wait. I trust all of you experienced the storm last night.” Everypony nodded. “This storm, contrary to what some of you may think, was NOT a freak accident.” Celestia's eyes slowly traveled up toward the staircase.

Twilight naturally caught on first. “Princess, you can't think that Nato had some part in this.” Her voice nearly pleaded for understanding.

The hurt gaze returned by the Princess betrayed her thoughts. “Sadly enough, I do. I know nothing of his intentions, but his actions have already written volumes.” Her stature became more erect, more divine. “You see, in the deepest dark of the night before you found him, Nato was not in Equestria. For that matter, he was not even on the planet. The magic that drove that storm rampant, the magic that could have caused immense damage, was the very magic by which this Nato now sleeps upstairs, here, in Equestria.”

Every other set of eyes in the room stood blank, and jaws did hang open. Twilight ran the scenario through her mind time and time again. 'Time travel? No, not possible. He's been here too long. Suspended animation? No, he would need to have been here before... He appeared out of thin air, out of nowhere, just like earlier... just like Celestia!' “Long distance teleportation!” she blurted, before the chance to control herself came about. Twilight glanced around sheepishly as the others recovered from nearly jumping through the roof.

“So,” Applejack started, “you mean to tell me that in that there bedroom, there is an alien, alive and kickin'?”

The goddess of the sun shook her head. “It's not that simple. Perhaps it's time that I told all of you a story.”

“I LOVE telling stories!” Pinkie Pie bounced. “Especially the one about how Equestria was made!” She glanced around nervously. “Buuuuut I better not keep them waiting! Tell us, Princess!”

The other five Elements just stared blankly at her for what must have been three minutes before turning their attention back to Celestia. “We start, my little ponies, a long time ago, back before Discord's first appearance, back when I was still very young. I had a good friend by the name of Skyfire...”

“Celly and Luna, rulers of all Equestria?” the deeply sky-blue pegasus chuckled, “I honestly never thought I'd see the day when the bureaucrats made it happen. Not in my lifetime, anyway.” He gazed at the two young alicorns - Celestia with a long, sunrise colored mane that sat still in the calm air, and Luna, with a much shorter mane that swirled with violet and midnight. The trio stood in Skyfire's room, which would, thousands of years later, become home to a library and a very studious unicorn filly. He shook his head in disbelief, his fire of a mane shifting like dancing campfires with every turn.

“Well,” Celestia started, “they did say that it would probably take a few years to get the system ready for us. Besides, don't you have that government thing coming up soon? Maybe you won't get to see it. Not the actual ceremony, anyway.” Her voice flowed out like delicate wind chimes in a gentle summer breeze.

“I suppose you're right,” Skyfire conceded. In fact, it was his government job that introduced him two the two alicorns in the first place. “I think it was something about that weird mineral they found. I heard they were testing its magical qualities.”

“I looked at it myself, and it has some space-distorting capabilities. Its favorite trick is to make it where no matter how long you walk toward it, it's the same distance away,” Luna piped up with a voice sweeter than the ever-so-rare lunar grapes.

Skyfire nodded thoughtfully before gliding over to the enormous windows and throwing them open. “How about we go for a glide? Just the three of us friends for a good memory, just in case this government thing sends me to colonize a planet or something just as crazy.” With that, they all gracefully swooped out of the window and soared into the sky.

As the wind whipped around them, Skyfire began to grin madly. Like the storm on his flanks, he wanted thrill. “Come on, guys! Let's break the sound barrier!” The other two slowed down just slightly before getting mischievous grins of their own. As they all built up speed, flying in a tight delta formation, the air resistance began to form a cone around them, thickening and beginning to tingle with static electricity. As a Sonic Rainboom exploded out in, the mach cone became fully visible and rainbow-hued.

Twilight doubted Rainbow Dash's jaw could drop any further without damaging the floor of her library. Celestia broke the silence first. “Yes, Rainbow Dash. It was my friends and I who first discovered the existence of the Sonic Rainboom. However, take heart in the fact that it took a legendary pegasus, the first Wonderbolt, actually, and two Princesses to do it, while you were able to accomplish the feat all on your own.” Somehow, even though the words were intended to help the pegasus get over not being the first instead of sending her into self-praise of her awesomeness, it still did.

“OH YEAH! Better than BOTH Princesses AND the first WONDERBOLT!” She proceeded to start dancing around the room, occasionally lifting into the air and doing a few somersaults.

After about ten minutes of watching some of the most embarrassing dancing known to Equestria, everypony sighed in relief when Rainbow finally sat back down, even if she was still silently cheering for herself. “Anyway,” Celestia resumed, “back then, the Wonderbolts were a secret service organization for Equestria. I eventually changed the group into an aerial performance.” 'To hide the fact they still are secret service', she added mentally. “Now, where was I...”

Skyfire's trained hooves tapped on the door to Celestia's private quarters. “Celly? You in there?” Sitting in the middle of a simple room done in the colors of the sun on a large pillow was Celestia, tears trickling out of her eyes.

“Y-yes,” she stammered, desperately hoping that Sky didn't notice her crying. Suddenly, his hoof grabbed her cheek and lifted her head out of the pillow.

“You know, it's been months since they announced my next project.” He chuckled at the irony that his country really was sending him to go colonize a planet, along with a few hundred hoof-picked others. “You have a long life ahead of you, Celly. There's no way you'll be a strong princess for the ponies if you break down every time a friend is about to go away.”

“I know...” she sighed. She wanted to tell him so badly, though, that he was more than a friend to her. Other than her sister, Skyfire was essentially the only pony who ever showed her compassion or kindness. Most other people didn't know who or what she was, and shied away as if she were some kind of mutant freak. “Sky, I want to tell you something. I - “

He silenced her with a warm embrace. “I know, Celestia. And it makes it infinitely worse that there's a very good chance that I won't be coming back. I'll be sure to at least send word back through right when I get there, telling you how beautiful it is. The astronomers called it Requinnta, you know.” He silently slipped a note that Luna had enchanted for him into her dresser, where it would stay hidden until the time came to read it. “I'm leaving tonight. For your sake, don't see me off. I wouldn't want you to do something daft, after all.”

As Skyfire pulled away and solemnly slid out of her room, out of her life, Celestia whispered the last words he would ever hear from her. “Goodbye, my fire. I will never forget you.”

Everypony in the room, including Rainbow and the Princess herself, had tears brimming in their eyes. A few sniffles went around the room as Twilight retrieved a box of tissue to pass around what had now become a circle of friends, hanging on the Princess' every word.

After a good pause, all the questions and comments came in a huge flood.

“Princess, did you really fancy that absolutely magnificent Skyfire character?”

“Didja get to read the note? Didja? Huh? Huh? Huh? What'd it say, what'd it say?!”

“Um, that story was... nice. But I would like to hear the note, t-that is, if you're okay with it...”

“I'm sure you did the right thing and all to not follow him, Princess.”

“If that story *sniff* was any more sappy *sniff* I might have to hurl...”

“How does all of this tie in with Nato, Princess?”

Celestia raised a hoof to silence them all. “I can see you have quite a bit to say. Yes, Rarity, I did fancy him. Yes, Pinkie Pie, I read the note, and yes, Fluttershy, I will share it soon. Thank you for your sentiments, Applejack and Rainbow Dash. And Twilight, my faithful student, always the observant one. I will tell you how this ties in once I read the note to everypony. Ahem.”

“My dearest Celestia,

A wise pony once related life to the cycle of day and night. If only he were a poet.

This morning I see you and set my heart afire.
This morning I see you and begin my own crusade.
This morning I see you and start to give to the world
The unbroken, everlasting, heart-stopping beauty of the sun

Today I leave you to tie two worlds together.
Today I leave you to go where nopony has gone before.
Today I leave you to explore the unknown frontier
Of eternity, infinity, and unending space beyond.

Tonight you find me as a castaway in the realm of infinite dream.
Tonight you find me as a spirit twisting free in eternal bliss.
Tonight you find me as a servant loyal to the cycle
Rising and setting, as all stars must in time.

As you read this, the last of my words, I trust you find peace in knowing that I've passed on.

Your knight until the end of time,

Skyfire”

The closing of the letter seemed to bounce around in the room, flitting through the minds of those present before finally coming to rest in moved silence. As the sun outside tipped over high noon, the Elements of Harmony quietly digested the forgotten history they were now privy to. “So,” Twilight started, “this is the part where you tell us how Nato is involved, right?”

Celestia nodded gently, blinking away a stray tear. “Yes, of course. You deserve an answer, after all. As you might have guessed by now, it's plain that what you mentioned earlier was right – it was most certainly a variant of a long distance teleportation spell that brought Nato here.” She paused for a breath before continuing. “However, I may have been a little more keen on my observations than you. When a spell so immensely complicated discharges, it's easy to trace the casting of it. What's more, I could trace it to its point of origin – coincidentally, this point of origin coincided with the place Skyfire went to, so long ago. Nato came from Requinnta.”

The group experienced another extended pause, the likes of which were becoming unnervingly common. “Wait a second,” Rainbow Dash uneasily began, “you mean to tell us that there's a chance that the stallion sleeping up there is some long-lost great-great-great(...)great-grandcolt of the love of your life?” The Princess only nodded in response. “Well, that's just awkward... in a way.”

“What's awkward?”

To say that the entire room sunk into the ground a little as everypony jumped back and stared up at the balcony would be accurate – Nato stood groggily at the top of the staircase, yawning as he trod down. As his gaze turned upon the group, his eyes shot wide – Rarity had returned to the group, but who were these two? He glanced between Celestia and Pinkie Pie, feeling a subtle tug to show respect to the former. “I-I'm sorry, I don't believe we've met...”

“I can't believe I don't get to throw him a party yet!” Pinkie Pie groaned as the entire group tread into a section of the Everfree forest that nopony had ever visited.

Nato glanced uneasily toward the perky pink pony. “I... I'm not sure I'm feeling quite up for a party yet.” He groaned emphatically to emphasize his discomfort. “It feels like I got hit by a train, then left to recover for a day and got hit by one again...”

The ponies continued to quietly trace a path deeper into the forest. “Uh... anypony else feelin' like there's something that doesn't want us here?” Applejack murmured.

“Oh, for goodness sakes, Applejack,” Rarity patronized, “it's not like we're in your orchard, where the trees have feelings.” As soon as the words were spoken, the ground began to tremble slightly.

A slow, measured voice boomed out a sonorous bass that reverberated through their skeletons. “Don't have feelings, eh? I know a few of my friends that would be greatly offended.” The creature making the voice slowly, thunderously stepped out into the clearing with Celestia and the rest.

Fluttershy gasped and the rest stood agape. Rarity trembled as she spoke. “W-Well I didn't mean to offened, good... um... sir. I apologize for my insensitivity."

Just before the talking tree spoke up again, Twilight nearly burst apart. “Oh my gosh! It's really here, and I'm really looking at it! A treant! Oh, life as a tree must be so interesting, I'd love to study the magic of living trees and find out how to -” Her voice, sharply stifled with a fresh apple, dropped away when she realized how carried away she was getting.

Celestia stepped forward and smiled up at the bipedal tree. “Archen, my old friend. How wonderful to finally get to see you again.” Her voice dropped. “I only hope it were on less serious terms.”

Archen leaned down. He stood around 20 feet tall, easily more than three times taller than even Celestia. “Ah, Celestia. Have you come to enter the old catacombs again?”

'Catacombs?' Twilight wondered. 'The catacombs... of what?'

“Yes.” Celestia replied. “Some... events recently saw me to deem it necessary that these ponies visit them.”

Archen frowned slightly. “Very well, then.” An extended pause. “Follow me, little ponyfolk.” With that, the bipedal living tree thundered toward a veritable wall of trees that suddenly lifted up and parted for their comrade. “Well, what are you standing around for?” The group trotted up to him and descended even deeper into the forest.

As an old, crumbling stone structure began to materialize out of the mist, Archen slowed and eventually stopped. “This, little ponies, is where I leave you. The magic of this ancient place will not allow me to enter.”

Celestia walked up to the tree's leg and nuzzled the knotted, rough bark. “Thank you for guiding us here, Archen. Take care.”

The wizened tree cracked what seemed to be a smile. “Anything for a friend.”

As the treant slowly stepped backward into the treeline, the entire group turned to face the imposing structure set before them. “Yeah, let's do this!” Pinkie Pie bounced. “Time to go on an adventure!”

Twilight snickered. “Pinkie, I don't think we're going to be traveling very far inside this structure...”
The vivacious pink pony merely shrugged and began bounding into the ruin.

“Hey, wait for us!” everypony called as they set off into the decrepit building, a place that ponies once called the Tower of Skies.

A dark, winding staircase spiraled down into blackness below the ponies' hooves. Celestia's horn glowed brightly with an illumination spell, yet the thick, ancient air swallowed the light after only a few meters. As the clicks of hoofsteps echoed through the stairwell, everypony started slowing down almost imperceptibly the deeper they got. “I-It's s-s-so dark...” Fluttershy breathed.

Rainbow Dash ruffled her wings. “I can't fly if I can't see where the hay I'm going...”

Rarity chuckled nervously. “Well, ah, at least this place is rather clean for an old, abandoned ruin. No critters scurrying about, as it were.”

“This place feels... so passive-aggressive,” Nato whispered.

“I agree,” Twilight stated, “there's odd magic here, almost waiting for us to stumble into it.”

Applejack glanced around and nonchalantly kicked a rock off the side of the staircase. “That sure is a long way down...” she murmured when the rock finally struck something solid three seconds later.

Pinkie Pie, however, didn't speak. Instead, she hummed, the same song that she sang back when the group chased after Nightmare Moon.

Celestia's voice then filled their ears with its reassurance. “Fear not, my little ponies. The tower simply does not recognize you. The darkness and negative atmosphere are its greatest protections, and it does not like to be disturbed.”

Twilight's eyes went wide. 'The tower has awareness? And can feel?' She left her mind to absorb the ramifications of a thinking tower that could fairly well crumble at any given moment.

After what felt like hours and hours, the staircase finally came to an end, revealing a torch-lit passage. Celestia darkened her horn. “We are not far now. Come, hurry!” At that, she began to canter down the hallway. In order to keep up with her, everypony else had to break into a full gallop.

The sun princess slowed to a trot after a few minutes, then finally a walk. The rest slowly came back down after catching up to her, and without warning Celestia stopped, causing the rest to follow suit. “This, my little ponies, is where Nato and I leave you. You six must continue on through this ruin. We cannot follow.” Just as they were about to protest, she raised a hoof. “I have faith in you, all of you. This place will not swallow you up...” '… like it did with sister,' she added mentally.

Twilight turned to her friends. “Come on guys, what are we waiting for? Together, we can do anything!” The rest cheered and followed after their friend into the bowels of the tower.

“So,” Celestia started after the group of friends vanished from sight, “I believe I have much to discuss with you, young Nato.”

The unicorn gulped slightly. “I would be happy to, Princess.”

“First, I want to know why you are here, and if you brought anybody with you.”

He sighed before starting. “How about I tell you everything I remember?” Nato then launched into a recounting of everything he remembered about his home so far. “Just recently I remembered standing out in a field just before closing my eyes, which was right before I ended up here.”

The dry grass swirled in and around Nato's legs, as if eager to whisk him away with them into the wind. “I'm so sorry, Aila,” he muttered to himself. He looked up at the night sky one last time before he began to cast the teleportation spell. 'I just want to land somewhere with a night sky this beautiful...' He closed his eyes and began focusing on his magic and his request. Just before he flashed away, a young mare ran up to him. “Nato, what are you doing? Brother, don't - “ The flash cut her off, and where once there stood two siblings, only the endlessly dancing grass remained.

“Well then,” Celestia began, “you left your home, and from what you recall your sister may have come with you?” A nod. “Then where is she?”

Nato stared at his hooves. “I really don't know. She may have landed nearby, she may have woken up first, I can't say. All I know is that when I first woke up, Fluttershy was the only one there.” A tear streaked down his cheek. “What if she's hurt? What if she needs me? I can't be there for her, and it's all my fault!” He stomped the ground with his foreleg, cracking the stone underneath before laying down on the cold, unforgiving floor and sobbing. Celestia gently draped a wing over him and waited for the floodgates to run their course.

The group of six gazed at the shimmering barrier in front of them. Rainbow Dash stuck out a hoof and gently pushed through it. “Hmm, doesn't seem like it's going to vaporize us.”

Twilight opened her eyes. “The magic doesn't seem to be violent in nature, either. Mostly Illusion magic, if I'm not mistaken.”

Applejack coughed. “Well, th' Princess said that we have to keep goin'. I say we stroll right on in and just keep movin'!”

“I'll second that motion!” Pinkie Pie joyously proclaimed as she bounced forward. However, the second her entire body crossed the barrier they were all frozen into a stasis.

A chilling, neutral voice seemed to emanate from every single bit of air and stone that surrounded them. “The bearers of the Elements of Harmony have come to learn...” A slightly sickening tone of twisted joy crept into the disembodied voice. “Well then, I take it upon myself to teach them!”

“My fellow Requinntans,” Alabaster Parchment began, “today, our loving leader, our kind king, once again feels the terrible tragedy of loss. His demure daughter and his sanguine son disappeared from their country house sometime before the dreadful dawn this morning. We humbly ask that you offer our glorious Marceck your affections and your condolences to help him through this troubled time. If any of you possess information as to the whereabouts of young Nato and beautiful Aila, please come forward at this time.” Nopony did. “Then I request that if one of you does find any knowledge of the kind, that you please report to the Office of Internal Investigation. Thank you for your time; you may return to your homes.” The politician silenced the microphone and retreated to the back of the stage.

Celestia glanced down at Nato, who still had his head between his forelegs. He had stopped crying, but Celestia still found words of comfort. “I am sure that your sister is fine. In fact, it is quite likely that she is looking for you as we speak. Worry not, for you will find her.” Nato looked up at the Princess, and gave a weak smile before turning his head down the hallway and rising to his hooves.

“I'm sorry you had to see that,” Nato began, “but my sister has been my best friend since we were just little foals.” Celestia gave a slow nod of understanding. The unicorn stallion looked around the room, absorbing his surroundings. Eventually, he closed his eyes. “Where was I?”

“It all happened so long ago. I was only a young colt, five years or so old.” A young Nato looked up at what he thought was the most beautiful creature in the world. She had a silky aquamarine coat, with a flowing, blue mane that cascaded in ripples down from her head. As she turned, she noticed the little colt just staring up at her with awe and wonder.

“Nato, sweetie, what do you want?” His mother's voice sounded like the song of the sea that came in seashells.

“Nothing, Momma. I just wanted to know what you were doing.” His goofy smile melted the mare's heart.

She spoke, now with a hint of sadness to her voice. “You're just absolutely handsome. When you grow up, you'll have no trouble making friends with the mares.” She tousled his hair and started walking out of the room, motioning him to come with.

“Momma! Wait up!” The colt galloped off after her, toward the den.

“She may not have looked it, but ever since my mother gave birth to my sister, she slipped deeper and deeper into a depressed state. She loved us so much as to not want us to worry for her. But that day, she was genuinely happy. Before I was born, my father used to tell her that her smile could light up the entire kingdom at night. He saw that smile one last time that very day.”

Nato's mother started finishing her conversation with her partner. “Yes, I think I'll be heading off to my study for a small while before retiring for the night.” She let a small smile slip as she turned and walked away. Nato, who had been hiding and eavesdropping ever since his parents told him to go check on his sister, rushed off to his mother's study to see if he could beat her there and surprise her.

Nato stumbled up a pile of boxes in the study's storage closet. He stretched up, up, up, precariously perched on the highest box, just enough height to peek through the keyhole. Just as he got into position, his mother entered the room and closed the door behind her. He watched as she sighed heavily.

“I suppose it's about time, then.” She walked over to her desk, finding a single, unopened letter from her sister. “Convenient...” she muttered to herself. A letter opener slid out of a drawer and she slit the envelope open. “Sister is getting married, how delightful.” The mare penned out a response with a special hoof cuff that could hold instruments clearly meant for something other than hooves. After sealing the envelope and setting it on a stack with other letters to be sent, she picked up the letter opener once more. Nato stared on, unable to shake himself from that spot as he watched his mother lift the sharp, dagger-like object high into the air and then plunge it down -

“MOMMA!” he cried, but it was too late. The boxes tumbled and Nato fell out of the closet with them. He landed near his mother's body and stood up, shaking her. “Momma, momma, get up. Get up! Momma?” Her form went fully prone, shuddering with the last breath as it left her body. Nato slumped, curled up next to his beautiful mother, and cried.

The door thundered open, and Nato's father stood there, taking in the scene that lay before him, and started stepping slowly forward, dazed. Somehow reaching his darling Eniva, Marceck cradled her face in his hooves and screamed, a mourning, devastated tone that those hearing it would remember as a noise so terribly sad that even the sky cried that night.

Reprimanded

“The night stretches on, out into eternity.
Stars pierce the thick curtain of isolation, dotting the skyscape.
The moon peeks out from behind a cloud, silvering the land
Turning it into a midnight paradise.

Strands of light flare onto the horizon.
Glistening, golden sun graces the grains of wheat in a field.
A boy lets his eyes slip open, the first rays of radiant dawn
Breathing life into his waking body.

Meanwhile, flickers of sunny flame disappear behind the earth.
The world holds its breath for the utter perfection of the in-between.
A girl allows her eyes to fall shut, the last twinkles of dwindling twilight.
Stealing away the wakefulness to make way for the night.

Happening at the same time, eyes opening and eyes closing
Giving way to the inevitable cycle that takes all through this life and the next.
Drooping away into the endless current of time.
Sinking to where the infinite night will rest for eternity.”

Nato chuckled as he recited the poem from memory. “My father wrote it for my mother after she passed. You could say it was an obituary, in a way.” Celestia looked down at the poor stallion with tears in her eyes. He smiled wistfully. “I wonder what our friends have gotten themselves into.”

The Princess sighed heavily. “If I know the spirit, they're being tested. It always had a funny way of making sure the ponies it let in were worthy.”

Nato furrowed his brow. “I wonder, is there any way that I can help them?”

“Not directly, no...”

The Elements of Harmony stood together in a room with nothing but a floor. They all looked around, but if one of them tried to speak, no words came out. After a few minutes of waiting, the voice returned. “Ah, gathered here in the waiting chamber. Such good ponies, staying calm and not trying to scatter about. But of course, you can't move when locked in stasis!” The disembodied echo laughed, a noise that chilled the room and frosted the air. “Naturally, you won't be working together on this next bit. You see, I have a very important lesson to teach you all, and you can only learn it...” 'It,' whatever it was, paused just as the ponies instantly teleported to what seemed to be miles away from each other and darkness crept in. “Alone.” The final word hissed on for what felt like hours, embedding its venom in everypony's fading mind...

Rarity hurried into her boutique, just barely escaping the approaching rainstorm. “Whew...” she sighed, “I nearly got my newest hat ruined.” The hat in mention, made in azure silk and interwoven with threads of brilliant silver, floated noiselessly onto its carefully constructed rest. As she moved toward her work room in the back, her eye caught on a letter resting on the sitting room table. Curious, she levitated it over.

Miss Rarity,
To thine own self be true.

Puzzled by the insane shortness of the note, she flipped it over to make sure that no words hid on its backside. Finding nothing, she returned to the front to try to decipher it again – only to find that the note changed.

Dearest Rarity,

As you know, I largely appreciate all of the designing work you have done for the Hoity Toity designer line. However, it has come to my attention that the designs you so graciously provide me have become absolutely retched! If I had been paying you for this work, I would fire you on the spot! Seeing as I have not, you will simply be relieved of your duties. Please refrain from sending any more of your horrid designs. As of this letter, myself and High and Mighty Clothing, Inc. no longer hold any business relations with you. I expect the Canterlot Corner will not refrain from mentioning this disastrous event in the tabloids.

With uncouth shock,

Hoity Toity

Confused, flabbergasted, and deflated, Rarity plopped down on her cushions. “Wh-What just happened...” It seems my hard work was for naught... Noting that her life would shortly be ruined by the infamy soon to come, the alabaster unicorn slid into her pink nightgown and slippers and began to prepare a nice, warm meal intended for comfort. At that moment, a loud rapping came at her door. When she opened the door, Rarity's eyes met a unicorn with raven hair shielding herself from the first hints of a rainstorm. The mare immediately started whining and threw a mildly wet hat on the threshold.

“Your horrible hat made me a laughing stock in front of my friends! I demand a refund!” The words carried a spiteful anger that nearly brought tears to Rarity.

“W-Well of course, ma'am. What is your name?”

“Candid Prose.”

Rarity hurried over to her sales charts and studied them intensely until she found the name. “Ah! I see that you paid... oh my, 30 bits for the hat. Well, here you are then, Ms. Prose.” She levitated a small sack and filled it with the coins, releasing it into the other mare's magic.

“Thank you,” Candid seethed with mild resent. As the unicorn walked away, Rarity could swear she heard the frustrated mare call her a “dirty, greedy wench” over the worsening rain. Holding back her tongue, she kept composure and quietly slammed her door shut before sinking to the ground, in tears.

“I think the only thing that could make this worse would be getting struck in the head or something of the like,” she moaned into a freshly summoned pillow. After looking up to locate her doilies, she noticed Opalescence sitting outside her window... dry, and under a clear sky? Puzzled, Rarity went outside to recover her darling cat, only for it to run away. After a fruitless chase that lasted over half an hour, the designer returned, defeated and disheartened. Her motions were gentle, so much so that the door nearly didn't open for her. As she sank into her bed, dissonant chords of sadness rang around the room, nearly resembling twisted laughter. Her mind swam with the events of the day, first with the note that changed, and the suddenly clear sky, not to mention the sudden change of opinion toward her and her work, and... “Oh, dear Opal,” she mourned, tears slowly seeping deeper into the fabric of the bed. Rarity finally drifted off, wondering lastly about that first message – “to thine own self be true.”

Thud. As her hooves slapped against the hard bark of the tree, Applejack grunted. Sighing at the cascading roll of smooth, red apples dropping into their buckets, she moved on to the next tree and bucked. More apples. I love my work deeply, she pondered, but sometimes, it just gets downright boring....

A keen smile spread on her lips as she looked upon the last fruit-laden tree. Just as she turned her hindquarters to the apple tree, a noise in the wind stopped her. “That's funny,” she muttered out loud, “I could've swore that the wind just told me to remember myself.” After shrugging it off as nothing more than just her mind playing tricks on her, the cowpony finished her round of work for the day. “Now for some nice, cold cider,” she sighed as she trotted toward the main building of Sweet Apple Acres.

The door creaked open as Applejack entered her home, and she made a mental note to grease the hinges later. She entered the cozy kitchen, gently patting the old, handcrafted dining furniture like she did after every hard day's work. Now for some cider... After downing a smooth glass of the perfectly made concoction, Applejack stepped into her makeshift office and sat on a cushion. Pulling open one of her desk drawers, she retrieved a pen and noted on her calendar the end of the harvest. Then, she tallied up the apples that Big Mac had sold today, and readied the numbers for him to work his arithmetic magic on them. Despite being decent at it herself, Applejack decided to leave the task to her far more proficient brother since they lacked one of the fancy new adding machines being made in Canterlot.

Just then, a sharp knocking came at the door. “Come in,” she called as she stowed her pen. Applejack looked up to see her brother standing in the doorway. “Oh, howdy Big Mac! I just got done gettin' your numbers ready for today's sales.”

The stoic stallion plodded in and looked at the paper. “Eeyup.” Then he moved over to Applejack and nudged her. “Visitor for you.” She nodded and followed her brother out into the den.

As she walked into the light of the den, Applejack took note of the pony seated at the window desk – a pure white stallion with a golden six-point star emblazoned on his flank. She stammered out a greeting. “Oh! Uh, Swift Justice, it's good to see you! I thought you'd be out investigatin' that horrible tragedy that happened last week. What brings you here?”

The somber pony stood, moving around to stand directly in front of Applejack. His mouth became a straight line as he pulled out a set of shackles.

“Now, eh,” Applejack chuckled, taking a step back as she eyed the cuffs carefully, “just what's going on here officer?”

With a resounding clack, Applejack found her front legs linked closely and uncomfortably together. “Miss Applejack, you are hereby taken into custody by the Ponyville branch of the Equestrian Police Force for your crime of murdering Mister Calm Fields. Do you understand that from now until your trial you have the right to withhold any and all information that might incriminate you of this or another crime, and that you will be held in accordance with Equestrian law until such a time as you are released from the custody of the state?”

Applejack frowned with great intensity. “Yes, yes, I understand all of that. But, I haven't done anything. Not a thing at all.”

“We have evidence that suggests you committed the crime.”

“Then why don't I remember it?” She shifted her stance downward, into the most defensive posture she could manage with her legs shackled.

Swift Justice sighed heavily before turning Applejack toward the door. “Ma'am, please don't resist. We'll be able to sort out any issues you may have at the precinct.” He trotted just outside the door. “Follow me, please.”

Applejack didn't budge one bit. “I. Didn't. Kill. Nopony.”

Her brother came up behind. “AJ, just because you don't know what happened doesn't mean it didn't. Now, I'm sure you can settle this later.” Big Macintosh pushed her toward the door. “Go on.”

“Fine,” she muttered before moving toward the door, albeit at a restricted pace. “But I'll be back soon. I swear that nopony came to harm by my hoof.”

Swift Justice gave a breath of relief as she tread over to him. “I trust you'll be able to make it down to the precinct without me having to extend the chain?” Applejack nodded slowly, beginning the first few steps in the start of a long process.

As the pair entered Ponyville's EPF office, the few officers on duty gave a few stomps and pats on the back to Swift Justice. “Hey now, it wasn't a difficult arrest. She came, even if a bit reluctantly. No need for celebration until this case is really solved.” He turned toward Applejack. “Although, I'm not sure you'll be able to deny the evidence for long. It's really stacked against you.” With that, the senior officer left her under care of the bailiff and paced into his office.

Once in her temporary cell, Applejack harrumphed onto the lumpy cot in the corner. “I just don’t get it. I don’t even know a ‘Calm Fields’ or whoever it was they say died.” With a grumble, she reached out and pulled over a bit of the hay haphazardly strewn next to the cot. Taking a bite of the slightly moist grass, Applejack sighed and curled up, occasionally scraping the wall with her hoof. “And I don’t mind too much being here, as long as I have a chance to prove that I’m innocent. But it’s just so darn boring! It’s like they want you to go bat crazy in here, cooped up with nopony to keep you company.”

She stopped herself, looking down at her hooves as a tear slipped onto her cheek. “Nopony at all... No friends, no family. Just me.”

Beguiled

Beguiled

“No, it really isn’t that important that I clean my house now,” Fluttershy squeaked as a small group of ponies began to close around her.

“I have sponges if you need them!”

“And I’m willing to help you out since you work so hard to keep the animals well!”

“My toad can wait, making sure the caretaker is taken care of takes the top!”

When her back grazed against the wall, Fluttershy glanced around at the three random ponies staring her down eagerly, smiling all the way. A breeze stirred, whisking around her house and gently tickling the tips of her wings. In a breath of wind, Fluttershy streaked away from her “aggressors” and toward Whitetail Lake.

How did this blur start?

The wretched hacking of the once proud eagle filled the tiny cottage with its despairing dissonance. I’ve had animals pass away, but that came about from old age... Fluttershy dug through drawer upon drawer of notes and small books, eventually finding the one page that could be her saving grace. The dangerously complicated recipe for a nightshade paste seemed to grin wickedly up at her. It has to be eaten, which could be really dangerous. But it’s the only way. Names of various herbs and plants dotted the page, from the namesake nightshade to calabar bean, saffron, and sage. Fluttershy’s eyes, previously scanning the page and making a mental shopping list, stopped and widened. “A blooming Dust of Twilight?!”

After carefully collecting the ingredients naturally occurring around her home, Fluttershy hastily trotted into warm cinnamon breezes and the gentle noise of Ponyville’s market. After nearly half an hour of fruitless search, blood red strands caught her eye. On her approach to the spice stand, Fluttershy’s heart fell at the price of spices.

The posh merchant running the stand turned to face his new customer. “Come for something to make your tastebuds dance, my sweet?” His hoof, done with the casual presentation of his stock, rested on the sign proclaiming prices that would put Fluttershy at least 100 bits under for the amount of herb she needed.

Feeling the measly weight of just under fifty bits in her saddlebags, Fluttershy started to turn away from the stand and its outrageous pricing. “It’s for a medicine, a-and I’m afraid I don’t have enough bits to pay for what I—”

“Nonsense! I’m sure we can agree on something reasonable if it’s for a good cause. What kind of medicine are we referring to, madam?” His suave marketing slit a smile into his trained face.

After pawing at the ground once or twice, Fluttershy came back to the stall. “I have an eagle that happens to be very very sick, and I need some specific spices to make him a paste so he can recover.”

“Well, what do you need? I’m sure that if it’s not too expensive,” the stallion gestured to a full pair of saddlebags in his stall, “the house can make up the difference.”

“Um...” Fluttershy bit her lip. “I need two ounces of saffron.”

A few minutes later, the stallion shook his headache away as he stood up. “My, I took quite the tumble. It’s not often people come asking for saffron. But what you’re asking for, it costs 120 bits, and I may not even have enough of it!”

With a dejected sigh, Fluttershy turned away from the stall again. “I know, and I only brought 45. I should’ve known that it would be more expensive, it’s just that I haven’t bought saffron in so... so long that—”

“Hush now.” After an extended pause of consideration, he finally continued. “Just pay me 40 bits.” The stall owner carefully measured out exactly two ounces of the notoriously rare spice. “It’s destined for a noble act.”

Fluttershy’s smile grew to amazing proportions. “Oh, thank you! Thank you so much!” After depositing a sack of bits on the counter, she gingerly took the saffron in her mouth and made her way back home.

Upon coming back to her small house, Fluttershy checked on the sickly eagle. His feathers, disheveled and in need of preening, ruffled slightly with every short breath. He cried shrilly yet quietly as his careful guardian pony lifted him into a small carrier designed for rapid, airborne medical transit. She then packed in a bowl with all of the ingredients, ready and waiting to be mixed. Fluttershy took one last glance at a small map spread on the table, whisked the notes for nightshade paste into her mouth, and carefully pushed her way out into the reddening afternoon sun.

As she landed on the small mesa, the sun crept ever closer to the west horizon and a tiny sliver of the moon edged the slightest hair of its light over the east. Dust of Twilight flowers only bloom for that tiny moment where it’s neither day or night... I hope I have enough time! As soon as Fluttershy mixed the ingredients she had into a smooth paste, the field around her began to open up into a rainbow. The divinely beautiful flowers beamed a cascade of colors that traversed the entire spectrum of the sky at twilight, that fragile moment where the heavenly bodies stood equal parts in the sky. Awestruck by the amazing power of the moment, Fluttershy nearly forgot why she came. “The paste!” She quickly snipped a bloom from its stem and began crushing it into the paste, the tiny wisps of highly fickle magic seeping out in visible puffs of either light or darkness. Either he’ll completely recover or he’ll die, no telling which... But he would die anyway if I didn’t at least try! With a final push of the pestle, the paste became a swirling gray that seemed to shift from indigo hues to orange ones, depending on which light struck it more fully. Holding her breath, Fluttershy fed the strange medicine to the eagle bit by bit until he had consumed the entire dose. Just as the last of the paste vanished, the entire field of flowers shed the blooms and began forming buds once again.

For the first 30 minutes, nothing seemed to happen other than his breathing becoming fainter and fainter. Just as Fluttershy got ready to pack up and head home to prepare yet another grave for her latest animal to pass, the eagle ruffled its feathers and flapped up to its feet. With a long gaze and a brief cry toward his savior, the regal creature beat its powerful wings and took off into the deepening night, toward a copse of trees where it would undoubtedly roost for a while. Carrying a spring in her wing, Fluttershy flew on smiles all the way home for a much-needed sleep.

The late morning sun spilled into Fluttershy’s room, striking its way through thick windows and spilling onto the bed. Her eyes slowly drifted open, catching the sight of Angel, who threw his arms up with a smile at the sign of Fluttershy stirring. As her eyes fully opened, Fluttershy drew the curtains open to look outside. “Oh, no!” In a flurry of motion, she flew about the house, feeding animals and giving a few some fresh bandages after a night spent protecting some scrape or another.

Within an hour, Fluttershy panted and sweat beaded off her forehead as she finally sat down on her couch, morning chores finally done. Surprisingly, Angel had eaten without fuss. In fact, he didn’t even wake her up that morning like usual. After her short break, Fluttershy trotted out of her cottage and toward Ponyville.

As she approached town square, a few random ponies greeted her warmly. I’ve never even talked to these ponies before. Why do they seem so suddenly interested?

When she finally made it to that spice store, the merchant beamed at her. “So, how did it go?”

“He’s recovered fully,” Fluttershy said simply with a small smile, “and I’m very very grateful that you were so kind as to let me pay later.” As she pulled out a sack of bits to cover what she owed the stallion, his hoof stopped her.

“No need, no need at all my dear! In fact, how about a discount on some of the rest of my stock? No doubt you need it for some of the other poultices and herbal remedies that you make so often!” He waved to the rest of his stock in a grandiose manner, highlighting his immense stock of spices that grew all over Equestria.

Fluttershy backed away a few steps, eyeing her possible avenues of escape. “Oh, no thank you, I’m really just looking for some more cleaning supplies. I’m out of sponges, you see, and I planned on cleaning my house later.”

Almost as if on cue, another merchant perked up. “Sponges, you say? Well, for Miss Fluttershy, I can offer you 5 perfect, top of the line sponges for just two bits!”

“Um... but aren’t they normally two bits for each sponge?” As more and more ponies began looking her way, Fluttershy felt her heart begin to race.

The soft blue mare smiled. “Well, yes, but seeing as you’re such a kind person, I thought I’d do something nice for you as well!”

“N-no thanks, I really can pay what you usually charge—”

“Nonsense! Either you get 5 sponges for two bits or you get 10 sponges for three! Enough to clean your house today and for the rest of the month!”

“I’m sorry but I really must decline!” With no warning, Fluttershy cantered off toward her home, hoping to escape the oppressive market.

As she approached her house, other ponies that had chased her all the way here from the market began walking toward her.

“We came to help you clean your house!” they all spoke in unison, smiling unbearingly bright smiles that seemed to wilt the pegasus’ spirit.

“No, it really isn’t that important that I clean my house now,” Fluttershy squeaked as they began to close around her.

“I have washcloths if you need them!”

“And I’m willing to help you out since you work so hard to keep the animals well!”

“My toad can wait, making sure the caretaker is taken care of takes the top!”

Once at the shore of the lake, Fluttershy crumpled onto the ground and lay her muzzle in the grass, her cheeks not yet dry. What’s happening to everypony? They’ve become so kind, and I just don’t want them to go out of their way for me. I liked things the way they were before...

As Rainbow Dash peeled her eyes open, she noticed the sun just past its peak in the sky. She yawned, stretching out her wings and kneading the cloud she picked for nap just a few hours ago. With a few light *pomf* noises, the cloud returned to its puffy state, lacking an imprint of the pony that recently abused her ability to sleep just about anywhere, undisturbed. After a few exaggerated cracks of her bones, Rainbow took off to her house.

Upon looking inside her mailbox, the pegasus nearly squealed in fangirlish delight as she noticed the letter she had been waiting for: a signed response from Spitfire regarding consideration for the next Wonderbolts tryout session, along with another surprise. “A ticket to their show tonight? Yes!” The wind nearly ripped the ticket apart as Rainbow Dash flew multiple loops around and through her house’s airspace.

That night, in Canterlot Stadium, Rainbow sat excitedly in the VIP section of the south stand - a prime spot for catching the best of the airshow. She leaned forward, wings spread open and softly fluttering. With an opening flair, the blue-suited miracle flyers created a dynamic pattern in the sky, twisting loops around barrel rolls and spinning through reversals, finally coming to a delta point in midair. Immediately after all five ponies dove straight down, peeling off at the last second and whisking some of the water on the field up into the air.

They then proceeded to whirl around the center of the water cloud, drawing it into a thunderhead while leaving the audience to view the entire thing through a prismatic veil of mist. In a final flourish, blue blurs weaved through the cloud, drawing lightning away and bringing it into the air. As they pulled up, the five split and strafed the edges of the mist, arcing the lightning out to the tiny bits of water and creating chromatic lightning that zipped around the mist thousands of times each second. When the last spark died, the crowd broke into thunderous screams, hollers, shouts, and stomps.

As Rainbow Dash finished picking her jaw up off the floor, she turned around to see none other than Spitfire and Soarin’. Conveniently, the words that failed her seemed to be working perfectly fine for the ace flying mare. “Rainbow Dash, right? I hear next week you’ll be trying out for the team. Say, why don’t you grab a few drinks with Soarin’ and me? We like to relax after a show, and we figured that you might as well get to know us. After all, you’ll be dealing with us quite a bit if you make it.”

With a smile wider than her wingspan, Rainbow enthusiastically nodded her agreement.

The three ponies casually leaned back on their specially crafted clouds in Breezy Skies Lounge, known for being the only establishment of its kind in Canterlot that specifically catered to pegasi. An all-pegasus crew meant that the bar could get away with bringing in clouds to serve as some of their furniture. With a wave of her hoof, Spitfire brought one of the waitress pegasi over and whispered something in her ear. After a wait of a few minutes, the waitress brought back a bottle of scotch and one containing a strange drink Rainbow Dash had never seen before.

“Ice Lily Liqueur.” Spitfire smiled at the confused pegasus. “The plants can only be grown at high altitude. Naturally, pegasi have to fly up there to get it. In fact,” she pointed to a picture on the back wall, “it was my job before I joined the Wonderbolts.” Underneath the autographed picture, a small plaque read Proud former employee of Breezy Skies Lounge. “By the way, I suggest you go slow on this one. You’ll be out faster than if you held your breath in midair. Now, how about we play a little game? I’ll start by saying something I’ve done. If either of you have done it, you have to take a drink.” She proceeded to fill all of their glasses with scotch, topping it off with some of the liqueur.

Soarin’ smiled casually. “I can dig it. As long as you can hold up to it.”

Having settled down quite a bit on the leisurely fly over, Rainbow Dash grinned. “Alright, let’s do it then.”

“This isn’t really a challenge. But it’s good to see that you have spirit.” Spitfire capped the alcohol. “Take a drink if you’ve messed up preening before.” The other two drank, and Spitfire motioned for the next turn to go to Soarin’.

“Hmm, how about if you’ve woken up in midair?” This time, only Spitfire drank.

Rainbow Dash tapped her chin for a moment. “Oh! If you’ve run a race on hoof before.” To her surprise, both of the Wonderbolts drank.

The rotation continued, with the group coming out just about even in terms of how much they drank over the course of the evening. With some pauses to refill and others to generally chat it up, the group moved into the small hours just after midnight, with the moon high in the sky and the lounge slowly beginning to lose patrons. The metaphorical stick came around to Rainbow Dash, who looked between the two ponies before her and then stared down at her glass. “If... if you’ve crashed.” Two glasses rose and clinked back onto the table.

Defying the rules of the game, Rainbow simply continued. “If you’ve messed up a wing.” Two rise, two drink.

“If you’ve seized up before a trick.” Rainbow Dash looked up just in time to see the other two finish their drinks and look directly at her. After downing the rest of her own drink, she continued. “I’ve always wanted to join the Wonderbolts, you know. Ever since the first time I saw a show, I wanted to be up there in the sky, soaring around, showing ponies how amazing the air is. Seeing you guys made me want to be amazing, made me want to be strong, not just in the air but all the time. And I wanted to do for other ponies what you did for me.

“I should really be going. Thank you so much for inviting me to the show and to this place.” Rainbow Dash beat her wings a few times, hovering into the air.

Before she could leave, Soarin’ stuck out a hoof and sat her back down. “Just a second.” He made sure she paid attention by turning her face to look at him. “You’ve got fire, you know that? You truly love what you do, and you’re more loyal to your dreams than just about anypony.”

Spitfire cut in, understanding the direction taken. “And that’s exactly why I think you should decline to try out for the Wonderbolts. You’ve got the dreams, you’ve got the drive. I think you could make your very own aerial team. One that’s got less baggage than us, that’s for sure. Think about your friends. In the Wonderbolts, there’s no more time for friends or family. Or even yourself, for that matter. Us being here, doing this, could get us in big trouble. But I wanted to make sure that a pegasus with your raw potential put it to a place where it could truly shine.”

Rainbow Dash looked down at the floor for a moment, then back up to her idols. “I need some time to think. Thanks for the good time, you two.”

“Thanks for listening,” Spitfire said.

Soarin’ looked at Rainbow knowingly. “Yeah, go ahead and sleep on it.”

In a few beats of her wings, Rainbow Dash took to the Canterlot airspace and glided around for a while, eventually banking in the general direction of Ponyville. The Wonderbolts, not for me? They said that I could start my own group, that it would be better for me than theirs, but I’ve always wanted to join the Wonderbolts. Could it really be that bad? Having lost track of the time on the fly over, Rainbow Dash shook her head clear when she spotted her cloud home not too far away. As she slid in for a soft landing, her mind stuck on what they had said. I have fire, the dreams, the drive, but apparently not what they need in a Wonderbolt...

Nato sat on the cold stone floor, staring down the long hallway. Eventually, he looked to his left at Celestia. An hour had passed, perhaps more, since the last time either talked. He looked up at the sky he could not see, dwelling on thoughts of his sister and what problems his arrival had ultimately caused. Heat rose in his body as the princess simply sat there, eyes closed, almost as if she were sleeping. He stood and turned.

Celestia took notice and immediately stood as well. “Do you plan on going somewhere?”

Nato simply looked at her. “I have a sister to find, and the more time we spend here just waiting the better chance there is that she could get hurt. Not to mention that there’s no indication of exactly when they’ll be back from their trip into the belly of this dark beast. I don’t want to just stand around and let things happen. You can find me when you need me, Celestia. I’ll be out there, getting things done.”

The princess glared down at the impertinent unicorn, a fire burning within her that hadn’t been kindled for far too long. With great effort, she kept her composure. “So be it.” With a grunt, the impatient blue fool trotted back the way the group had entered. Celestia returned to her sitting position, closing her eyes and waiting for her faithful student to pull through.

Nato looked up into the night sky for the first time since he had landed in Equestria from his home world, and focused his mind. He felt the magical currents around him, familiar yet strange all the same. With little effort, he pulled in a vast amount of magical power and turned his eye to a rock approximately the size of his head. Straining, Nato slowly lifted the rock and began moving it ever so gently across the clearing. He collapsed into pants as the rock fell back toward the ground. Damn my magic! Why can’t I be precise? I’ll need it if I plan on somehow exploring this place. For good measure, he discharged the ambient magic still around and felt the world around him slowly return to an even state. Five minutes later, Nato had found a balance and his horn now lit with an icy blue light as he paced into the darkness of the Everfree Forest.