The World's Most Dangerous Barista
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The World's Most Dangerous Barista

Fuyu couldn't decide what sound was more comforting: the gentle clack of her magic stone on the armrest of the chair, or the seemingly endless clipping noise that was coming from behind her. Rarity was working her magic – literal and figurative – on the pale woman's hair, causing an avalanche of black and blue locks to float to the tile floor.

"Why is this necessary, again?" she asked, being sure to keep her head still. She allowed herself to glance down at her bobbing palm once she realized she was keeping time with the music coming from the radio in the corner. "And I think I might like this song."

"It is rather catchy." Rarity paused and moved back to get a better picture of Fuyu's hair. "That's shoulder length. We'll stop there for now." She went to trimming the top of her head. "It's necessary because you simply must look good for your new job."

A substantial amount of willpower was needed for her to avoid shooting an annoyed look over her shoulder at the dressmaker. "And why is that necessary?"

"It's all part of Pinkie's plan to rehabilitate your image." Rarity flicked a tilted sneer at one set of hairs that wouldn't stay down. She used her magic to press on them until, finally, she snipped them away altogether. "That'll grow back."

"I can fix it," Fuyu assured her flatly, then her tone changed. "I don't see why my image needs rehabilitating in the first place. I feel like I'm being blamed for saving the town."

"Darling, we're a tiny hamlet in the very literal middle of nowhere. There are no secrets. Everyone is probably just mad you managed to keep such a large one for so long." A few more snips and adjustments brought a cascade of bangs in front of the pale woman's left eye. "Oh, I like that. You look mysterious."

She couldn't help but issue an uncertain smile while staring at herself in the mirror. "If you say so. I'm not used to having hair in my face."

"It's quite stylish. I think we're done with the shaping. What shall we do about the color? We can go all black, or..." She paused as Fuyu lifted her left hand, then ran it along the blue stripe that buffered her left ear. It was black after emerging from under her palm. "How did you do that?"

"I don't know. I just thought about it." She copied the process with her right hand and dipped her head to see the results better in the mirror. "I miss the blue."

Rarity could only blink with amazement at the display. "Can you reverse it? If not, I have some lovely dye we can use. Plenty of shades of blue!"

Her answer was a palm swept across the bangs that covered her eye, a motion that changed them to an icy shade of turquoise. "That's better."

"Wha—good grief, darling." Rarity stroked her chin while evaluating the new look. "I must admit, the splash of color is quite appealing. Shall we call it done, then?"

"Yes." Fuyu rose from the chair, using her magic to detach the barber's cloth and hang it on the back. "I'm still surprised you cut hair."

Rarity let a pleasant cackle slip as she started to sweep the floor with her power. "Fashion is not a bolt of fabric and thread alone, my dear. Besides, mother simply had to pass on her craft to one of us, and Sweetie cannot be trusted with a pair of scissors."

The pale woman smiled again, rubbing the back of her neck to deal with how light her head felt. "You tease your sister so much. I like her. She's one of the few people besides you guys that will even give me the time of day."

"Sweetie's a bit biased. After all, you did save her from execution." The memory of that day caused her to grit her teeth with rage. "Damn that woman." After clearing her throat and regaining her poise, she continued. "Ponyville is a stubborn bunch." She issued a few pats on Fuyu's shoulder for comfort – and also to flick away an errant loose hair – and went back to sweeping. "Pinkie knows what she's doing. Just be patient."

"I will never understand people." Fuyu reached into her shirt pocket and pulled out the gleaming medal Celestia had given her over two weeks prior. The silence made her ears prick until she was forced to take her eyes off the thing and look at her friend. "What?"

"Welcome to life, darling," she replied with a wry smirk. "You'd best be getting on. Twilight wants to give you a speech before you get started."

"I should have known." Fuyu meant to roll her eyes, but it showed up as a glance at the ceiling instead. She dropped the medal back into her pocket and started for the back door. "All right. Thank you for the haircut."

Outside, the air bore a chilly edge. Even though the sun had been up for two hours, its angle in the sky made it seem distant and weak. Autumn was just beginning the process of fading into winter, and every tree in sight that could bore some color of leaf besides green. These were seasons unlike the pale woman had ever known. Unlike the endless, muggy summers of her time in the south, her first in the center of the country was a staunchly hot period that seemed to vanish into thin air. The fall had seemingly just arrived, and yet it appeared destined to fade just as quickly. The way things changed in this region was very unfamiliar to her brain. What wasn't unfamiliar, however, was the collective attitude of the locals to her presence. There weren't many others wandering about, but the few that were all gave Fuyu looks nearly as cold as the weather. While a precious few of them were friendly – such as the schoolteacher with striped hair whose name escaped her – most of the townsfolk were distant at best, and vaguely hostile at worst. A friendly wave was sent her way; upon returning it, she found herself looking at Lyra, another one of the pleasant minority.

"How's it going?" she asked, walking up to fully say hello. Taken aback by the change in appearance, she stopped and gawked for a moment. "Whoa. Nice haircut."

"Thank you." She peered out through her blue bangs and sighed. "Where's Bon Bon?"

"Probably at the shop by now." A brief, contemplative tap on the chin preceded an embarrassed look. "I'm so late. She's gonna kill me."

"You should go, then." Fuyu thumbed over her left shoulder back toward downtown. "Tell her I said hi."

"I will." Lyra was gone with a toothy grin and an excited wave, jogging down the sidewalk. The pale woman listened to the scuffing sound of her sneakers before starting off. It was a noise which only attracted more unhappiness; the reason she was on foot herself was directly related to her standing with the locals. Her best efforts went to rationalizing and dealing with the situation, but as she had confessed to the librarian previously, it was all beginning to grate on her.

As she thought on it, she figured that Pinkie must have gotten wind of her feelings and thus come up with her idea. Shaking her head with that conclusion, Fuyu walked faster toward the library tree.

Upon arrival, she peeked through a window and found Twilight in the public room, seated with a grave-looking hardbound book in her hands. She almost dropped it when the pale woman came completely through the door. "Oh! There you-" The new look made her trail off. "Wow. Is there anything appearance-related that woman isn't good at?"

"It was a joint effort." A lifted hand, sheathed in magic, pressed the door closed. Now out of sight of the town, she finally detached herself from the floor and floated over to the nearest empty chair. "When do you think it will be appropriate for me to fly again?" she asked, complete with air quotes for emphasis. "I don't think walking is helping my image, and it's slow."

Twilight snickered and slapped her book closed. "Oh, Fu. I didn't say you couldn't hover, I just thought it might be a good idea to not, you know..." Her right hand waved around in circles, as if trying to fan the right word over to her tongue through the aether.

Fuyu helped her along while getting comfortable in her seat. "...do the Rainbow Dash thing?"

"Yes. That." She looked over and smiled, but in the back of her mind it was difficult to ignore how imposing Fuyu looked, even sitting down. "Are you nervous about today?"

"Why would I be nervous? I took on an army of mobsters, got beaten up by a tornado, then fought a magician that held power comparable to my own." Her eyes slid down as she queried herself, and up again as she realized the truth. "Yes. Some."

"It's fine. Everyone gets nervous about this sort of thing." Twilight rose and began to pace, her sensible heels gently clacking on the wood. "All you have to remember is—huh?" A snapping sound drew her focus back to the pale woman, who had crossed her legs and put on a wry smile. "What?"

"This must be the speech Rarity told me about," she replied, that grin getting a little wider.

Twilight huffed with mock annoyance, but returned the expression. "It's not a speech, it's just a word of advice. Or two. Or twelve. If I wanted to give you a speech, you wouldn't be out of here until past lunchtime." They both laughed for a moment before she pressed ahead. "Seriously." She made a brief show of clearing her throat before the pacing started anew. "Pinkie probably already filled you in on what the Cakes want you to do, so you'll be fine."

Fuyu slid an interjection in before the librarian could proceed off that fallacy. "Actually, I have no idea what I'm supposed to be doing at the shop," she said, hand raised.

"What? Um. Well." Scratching at her navy locks and staring up, her brain scrambled for new words of wisdom. "Er, then don't be afraid to ask questions. Basically, be nice – like you usually are – and dependable, and you'll be fine. Also, if someone tries to be a jerk, then you should be polite. That's the best way to defuse the situation."

During her talk, Twilight had somehow ended up behind Fuyu's chair, forcing her to look back over her shoulder. "I think I understand the social interactions, just not what I'm supposed to be doing, exactly."

"Oh, right. I'm sure she'll fill you in on the way there. Unless she's too pumped to remember, that is." Smiling, she came around and seated herself again. "I'm surprised she's not here yet, to be honest. Sounded like she was going to pop over the phone earlier."

A rapid tapping rang out from the door. Twilight answered it at range, using her magic to pull it open. A tittering Pinkie Pie burst into the room, wearing blue overalls over a pink, long-sleeved shirt and yellow sneakers. Her hair was even more poofy and erratic than usual, flying all over the place as she ran over to the two. "Ohmygosh guys I am so excited!"

Fuyu looked across at Twilight, then at the happy baker. "Really?" she smirked, her sarcasm utterly flawless.

"Yeah! Today is the first day of the town actually getting to know the real you!" In true Pinkie form, this revelation demanded an added hug for the pale woman. Like Lyra, she had to blink and take in the new hairstyle. "Wowie. You look nice!"

"Thank you." She stood up with Pinkie still attached; as usual, that made her giggle and wiggle her lower legs. "Ready to go?"

"Yep! Let's do this!" The baker was gone nearly as soon as she dropped to the floor, shooting back outside with remarkable speed.

Twilight stared out the open portal with blank eyes. "Good luck," she said, finally, waving up at Fuyu. "See you in a few hours."

The pale woman drew a sharp breath and nodded. "Mm. Here goes nothing."

By the time Fuyu caught up, Pinkie was already in her car, caterwauling to the unbearably chipper tune that poured out of the radio. She got into the white coupe and looked around. The interior was oddly gray and even cleaner than Rarity's car. It also bore little touches of color, from the red balloon air freshener on the rear-view mirror, to seemingly random stickers on the glove compartment door. Her nose filled up with the smell of some flower.

Without warning, the baker turned the radio down and gripped the steering wheel. "This is gonna be great! You're gonna make friends and make money and do stuff and help people and everything! I'm so glad Mr. Cake hired you."

"Speaking of that, what did he hire me to do, again?" she asked, cutting Pinkie off before she became too agitated to shut up. "Nobody's told me."

An explanation came as they pulled out into the street and drove away from the library tree. "Oh, it's super easy. All you've gotta do is man the register and take orders and that sort of thing. I'm gonna be in the back 'cause Mrs. Cake needs me to help with the actual baking stuff since Nightmare Night is coming and people want candy by the cartload!" By the time she finished talking, her joy bubbled up in various giggles and other assorted noises. "See, we've got like a little cafe in the front, and that's where I usually am most of the time. But the holidays are coming and I'll have to use my super confectionery smarts to help the Cakes keep up with their orders."

Most of Pinkie's frantic speech rolled past Fuyu's mind like water off a duck's back. She was far too busy picturing Sugarcube Corner in her head to get an exact idea of where the job would be taking her. "I see. So all I have to do is stand behind that glass counter with the strange pies?"

"Pretty much! There's a fancy coffee thingy I'll have to teach you how to run but it's easy too. You can use your magic and not even have to move!" They were already pulling into the parking lot by now, an occurrence that made the baker emit another happy sound. "Ready to go?" she asked, looking over with a grin so wide her face seemed ready to split open.

The expression made Fuyu a bit unsure. "Yes?" Both women exited the car. "I could have flown here. Or walked. You didn't need to pick me up."

"Don't be silly! We're co-workers now, we totally have to carpool!" She skipped ahead and entered. The pale woman only followed her after a moment and with an odd look in her eyes.

Mrs. Cake waved at them from behind the counter. "Good morning, dearie! Ready for your first day?" she asked, almost as gleeful as the other pink-haired woman.

A genuine smile arrived; while she assumed the Cakes would be on her side, given their constant exposure to Pinkie, it was nice to have actual confirmation. "I suppose." She circled the counter and stood there, peering at the register. "This doesn't seem too difficult to manage."

"Oh, not at all. We decided to ease you in." She ceded the space to the pale woman and went to find her apron. "We're at that odd little time of year where it's too cold for milkshakes and too hot for cocoa, so most everyone ends up asking for coffee and a bagel. You don't need to worry about the food, we'll take care of that. If you run out of something up here, all you need to do is call the order back to one of us." She laughed at Pinkie's forceful thumbs up, then motioned at a gold-plated contraption on the wall directly behind the counter. "This is the cappuccino machine, by the way. Pinkie? Would you mi-" She jerked back as the young baker dashed between them and slid to a stop by the machine. "I didn't even need to ask, did I. Well, I'm off to go see to that order of key lime pie. Have fun!"

"Bye?" Fuyu turned her attention back to Pinkie. "If I didn't know better, I'd say you two were related."

"You're silly. I'ma tell you a secret; before I moved in upstairs, Mrs. Cake was kind of a grumpy grump. Like, you know that old lady with the cooking show that yells at everyone? Kinda like that." She was bent down and rubbing her chin as she stared at the device. "Okay! Coffee thing 101! This is the regular coffee button. This is the frothy button, for frothiness. This is the...I dunno what this one does, honestly. I think it shoots out pure caffeine. This one is for the milk, 'cause people like milk with coffee! This is the thingy attached to the thingy for iced coffee. And this is the drawer where the cream and sugar are."

Her icy blue eyes followed along as Pinkie pointed out each little knob and switch. She filed the information away and nodded. "Okay. I think I've got it."

"Great! If you need any help, just pop back into the kitchen!" They both snapped their eyes to the rear entryway as Mister Cake yelped out about a fire of some sort. "Oh boy, I gotta go. Go get 'em, Fufu!"

Fuyu's nosed crinkled with the smell of smoke, but she nodded and waved as Pinkie dashed out of sight. "Right." She took up position at the register and lightly laid her palms on the counter top. Enveloped by the quiet – or perhaps soothed by the dulcet background tones of Pinkie and the Cakes at work – she allowed herself to think. Her hand slipped into her pocket and drew out the medal. "Where's the other stuff you promised me?" she asked the thing, brow furrowed. "What's taking you so long?" A cheerful ringing from the front of the shop drew her attention. Her eyes drifted up to see Applejack wandering through the door.

The blonde's reaction was the automatic greeting of a friend. "Howdy!" It took her a moment to realize that something was a little bit off. "Wait, what're y'all doin' back there?"

"I work here now." She dropped the medal back into her pocket and tried to put on what she assumed would be a polite, professional guise. "It's my first day."

Applejack doffed her hat to confusedly scratch at her ponytail, then slapped it on again and blinked. "Y'all gotta be kiddin." She watched Fuyu shake her head slowly. "No? Seriously? When did all this happen?"

"I believe Pinkie has been planning it for about a week. I'm not much less surprised than you are." Fuyu idly tapped her crystals on the counter and glanced about.

"She kept a secret?! For seven whole days?" Confusion yielded to shock as the blonde dramatically placed her hands on her cheeks. "I'm impressed."

The pale woman couldn't help but laugh some herself. "You're not the only one. I believe I'm supposed to ask you what you want now."

"Oh, right. Small coffee, black, straight up. None of that sissy stuff. I like my pep bitter."

"Okay." That last word tickled her mind in such a way that her shoulders slumped. Another reminder of her night with the Princess – and another reminder that she still hadn't delivered on her promise for more answers. Applejack didn't catch her wilting, so she turned quickly to the machine before it could be brought up. Smears of black shot from her upraised right palm, grabbing a cup, placing it under the correct nozzle, and pressing the appropriate button almost all at the same time. Once full, she floated the full container over and set it before the blonde. "Here you are." She glanced up above the machine at the large placard that displayed the prices. "It costs that much."

"Heh, I know." Applejack reached into her jeans and dropped a ratty-looking bill on the counter. "That's about the fastest I've ever seen anybody make a cup of coffee." She took it up and blew the wisps of steam away while watching Fuyu count out the change – another action assisted by her flying black appendages. "Dang, Fu. Y'all are gonna run Pinkie out of a job."

"I doubt it. I'm only doing this because she thinks the town will like me more if they see me here." She thwacked the register shut, withdrew the ebony streaks into her palm, and sighed, though the noise was clipped by her looking back at the kitchen. A loud crash from that direction was the thing that interrupted her, so loud it almost made the blonde drop her coffee. "What are they doing back there?"

"Sounds like they're bakin' a cake outta dynamite." Applejack took an exploratory sip from her cup and grinned. "Phew! This stuff'll put hair on your hair! Welp, I'm out. See y'all later, and give 'em hell!"

"I'm not sure the Cakes want me giving anyone hell, but thank you." She waved goodbye with a vague smirk and soon found herself alone again. While she could hear more unpleasant sounds from the kitchen, she was unwilling to abandon her post to check on things.

Orders are orders.

"Seems like the only thing I'm good at is taking orders," she mumbled in reply to her consciousness. "I'm not going to be like any of these people. I wish they'd just come to terms with it."

Another happy ring snapped her out of her muttering reverie, but the arrival was something of a surprise. A casually dressed Trixie sauntered past the chairs and tables, although for some reason or another she was wearing the gaudy hat she used for her various performances. She blinked and stopped in her tracks after laying eyes on Fuyu. "Color Trixie confused," she said, walking up. "What are you doing here?"

The pale woman was already tired of answering that question. For everyone's sake, however, she brushed aside her displeasure and tried to smile. "This is my new job. What are you doing here? I thought you were going back to your traveling shows."

"Someone hasn't been watching the news. Trixie is rather infamous these days, so she believes it best to lay low for a while until things cool off." As if to emphasize the point, her eyes darted about suspiciously. "She also managed to procure an apartment for very low rent, and is frankly tired is sleeping in a hotel. Or a too-small traveling trailer."

Fuyu nodded idly as she spoke, but the revelation of her new living arrangements was enough to snatch her into focus. "Really? Where did you end up?"

"Trixie's apartment happens to be in the same building as Rainbow Dash." Her purple eyes rolled as she uttered the name. "In fact, Rainbow is directly above Trixie, and trust her, the woman seems none too pleased with the arrangement."

Arms crossed, the pale woman put on another faint smile. "I wonder why."

Trixie slumped over helplessly, resting her arms and elbows on the counter top. "No doubt. Trixie is still trying to atone." Her head tilted up and peered at the menu. "Medium iced coffee, please." A tray of baked goods, enclosed in glass and resting on the other end of the counter from the register, caught her eye. "And that chocolate-glazed doughnut. Please." Startled, she stepped back as Fuyu raised a hand and let her awful black assistants do most of the work. In the space of twenty seconds, Trixie received her doughnut – via magic and on a small paper plate, since not even Fuyu herself knew what eating the black goo would do to someone – and her cup of chilly coffee, complete with lid and straw. "Good grief. You're even terrifying as a barista."

"I'm efficient." Both of them glanced up at the menu above. "Money, please." After a brief pause, she hastily tacked on "I think I'm glad you stayed around."

"And why is that?" the magician asked around a mouthful of doughnut, and while fishing in her pockets for cash.

"Because you understand what's like to be despised." Too much emotion welled up for her to keep facing the magician, so she spun on her heel with fists clenched and tried to compose herself.

A loud swallow preceded Trixie's reply. "Give it time. They'll come around. I came around, and you tried to kill me." Her added laugh didn't seem to have any effect, so she reached across and tapped the pale woman's shoulder. "At least you have friends. That's more than I can say."

Fuyu turned around at last, but her face was downtrodden and weary. "I don't know. Lately, I've been thinking of you as a friend. You've been nice to me a lot."

Trixie's face brightened. "Much appreciated. Think positive and be patient. Things will change."

"As Fluttershy, Twilight, and Rarity have told me respectively." More crashes erupted from the kitchen, prompting both of them to wince. "I'd better go see what's happening." She counted out the change as Trixie paid up, then slipped out from behind the counter and into the kitchen. "Pinkie? Is everything all right?"

Trixie took her leave and her coffee, finishing off her doughnut as she walked back toward the door. Once outside, she got a few odd looks from the passersby – glances that were not far off from the ones Fuyu had been subjected to earlier. "Perhaps Fuyu has a point." A long drag of iced coffee served to distract her from the unhappy populace as she headed back to her apartment. Before she could cross the street, however, a tune began to leak from her back pocket – the same one Rarity had on while cutting the pale woman's hair. "Hmm?" She drew the phone out and peered at the screen. It was the same model Twilight and company had, though hers was clad in cornflower blue and yellow stars, much like the obnoxious hat on her head. On the display was a text message.

Have you talked to Winter today?

Her cup began to float while she used both hands to type her reply. "Yes, just a moment ago," she said, speaking the words lowly as she typed them. "The way the town has reacted to her power is wearing her down. It's hard to miss. I also just found out she's gotten a job at Sugarcube Corner."

I hope that helps her get acquainted with everyone. She deserves a mundane life. At any rate, a daily check-up is not the only reason I've contacted you.

She kept her reply short and sweet. "Oh? Why, then?"

I need you to travel to Canterlot to pick up the papers. It is my intention to give Winter as much of the truth as I can slip past my sister.

Trixie looked about as if she thought she were being spied on. Satisfied that wasn't the case, she took another drink and typed in her reply. "I am at your disposal, Princess Luna."

Suppression
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Suppression

The next morning found Twilight and Fuyu seated in the kitchen at the little round table. The former was fussing with her phone, nose-deep in a furious text exchange with Rainbow Dash about the fact that Trixie had just moved in downstairs.

"Man, she is not happy about this," the librarian muttered, her head shaking at the latest profanity-laced reply. "Geez! I'm not happy about it either, but she tried to murder me and I'm still willing to move on. Then again, I guess I did the same before she made me leave. The feeling must be mutual." She looked up just in time to see her companion taking a swig of cherry soda. "You said she dropped by the store yesterday after Applejack. Who else showed up? How did everything go?"

The pale woman's thin eyebrow raised. "You're just now asking me this?"

Twilight shrunk back a little, her expression oozing sheepishness. "Well, I didn't want to seem pushy. I figured if something bad happened you'd tell me, but you didn't talk much so I didn't want to push."

A reassuring smile appeared as Fuyu set her bottle on the table. "I just had a lot to think about, that's all." As her recollection of the day began to take shape, her head tilted slightly. "Let me see. There was Applejack, Trixie, Golden Harvest, Flitter, Big Macintosh and Apple Bloom, Fluttershy, Cheerilee, Thunderlane, that strange man that never seems to wear anything but his tennis outfit, Filthy Rich, Lyra – the first time, a woman named Lightning Dust that seemed to know Rainbow, Lyra – the second time, with Bon Bon, and Scootaloo just before we closed. She was mad that I refused her coffee, but Mrs. Cake told me to."

Stunned, Twilight let her phone slip out of her hands as she processed all that detail. "You remembered every single person?"

An idle nod and shrug came and went as she took up her drink again. "Yes, although I have to admit I forgot Cheerilee's name at first. My brain is still rather empty, so it tends to cling to things. Also, Pinkie says that remembering people is good customer service, and will help them like me more."

A small smile appeared. "She's probably right. It's a nice feeling when someone recalls your name." Just as she finished speaking, her phone emitted yet another happy tone. "Wow, Rainbow. I know you're mad, but geez."

"Mm." Fuyu dropped her gaze to the floor and held it there, figuring the librarian was again lost in her texting.

While she might have been doing that, she could also detect the change in posture. "What's wrong? You're sullen all of sudden." Her inquiry, as well as the subsequent giggle, all came without her looking away from her phone. "Almost rhymed."

The pale woman looked up and across the table while placing her chin in her left hand. "It's the things I don't remember that are bothering me." Staring at Twilight for a moment changed her mind; the memory of her purpose was brought up once again, causing her to whisper lowly, "Or maybe it's the things I do remember that bother me more."

She fell silent just in time for her friend to look up. "Poor Fu. As soon as you get settled at the Corner, we can all go to Canterlot. And by the way, you never really said how your day went. I hope nobody made a scene."

"No." Fuyu decided to take another drink. "A few of them gave me some strange looks, but at least nobody decided to run away after they noticed I was at the register."

"That's good!" The librarian clapped her hands once and flashed a broad smile. "See, it's already working. You'll have tons of friends before you know it."

"I already have all the friends I need." Despite her best efforts to seem aloof, which included staring out through the doorway into the public space, her eyes shone with emotion.

Twilight giggled lowly. "Awwww!" Both of them looked at her phone as it chimed again. "Oh, for...I'd better go over there and calm her down before she runs me into the poorhouse via phone bill. When do you have to go in today?"

"In about an hour." Another chime drew their eyes down. "I didn't think she could get that mad."

The librarian slid her chair out and stood up. "She's got an incredible temper sometimes. Don't tell them I told you this, but I can't believe she and Applejack are still together. One's got a short fuse and the other is as stubborn as a mule." She turned off the device and dropped it into the front pocket of her slacks. "I'll see you this afternoon, then?"

"Yes." Fuyu drained her bottle and stood, using her magic to flick it expertly into the green recycling bin. "Good luck with Dash."

"Thanks." A wave and a smile saw her departing through the public space and out to the street where she had parked her car. Fuyu watched her drive off with a deepening frown.

"Great," she groaned lowly. "Another secret to keep."

A little crowd had gathered not long after the pale woman took up her station at the register. Her work day had started at seven on the dot instead of nine o'clock as it had the day before, so she was getting a good look at what Pinkie called the 'regular sleepyheads'. These were the people that almost invariably ordered some sort of coffee and a bagel, or doughnut, or waffle, or pancakes, and used the tables inside to read the newspaper or chat with friends as they got their own days going. This group included Cheerilee for about ten minutes before she darted off to school, but the rest were more unfamiliar outside of Fuyu's seeing them around town from time to time.

Three of them in particular had her attention. Seated together at one of the tables were a trio of women that she'd seen around several times, and in almost every instance they were together. One had starkly lime hair that curled about above her spring green eyes. Another was a straight-haired blonde with a faintly golden gaze, who looked back at the pale woman as if expecting a disaster at any moment. The last had raspberry locks in two tones which spiked up on top of her head and chartreuse eyes. In all her encounters with the three, this one struck Fuyu as the leader. In fact, upon entering the shop, she had been the one to place the orders for each of them.

And she was giving Fuyu a sour look. The regulars were beginning to depart, and while some were chillier than others, none of them interacted with her like this woman. So when it was just her and the trio – and Pinkie dashing to and from the kitchen on some mission to get something – the pale woman decided to call her on it.

"You've spent an hour looking at me like I kicked your cat," she said, pointing her words right at the redhead. "If you've got something to say, say it."

She jerked back with surprise, and suddenly they were huddled up over the table in some sort of conference. The baker noticed it on her next trip into the shop and blinked. "What's going on?" she asked, whispering to Fuyu as she walked over.

Arms crossed and visibly annoyed, she continued to peer at the three women. "I believe we're about to have a confrontation."

"No! You can't fight in here, the Cakes will fire you! Then me! They'll probably fire all my friends!" Pinkie ducked down behind the counter and peeked around, only her eyes and above exposed. She seemed to have forgotten that anyone could look through the glass case and see her there.

Fuyu blinked down at her with confusion. "They don't even work here."

"Oh yeah." Suddenly, Pinkie looked more serious than the pale woman had ever seen as she stood up. "Please, Fufu. Don't-"

Fuyu relaxed and put on a small smile as she glanced over. "I'm not, and you know it. Now get back in the kitchen before something burns down." They exchanged a quick hug before the baker disappeared. Just as she got out of sight, the redhead finally stood up and walked over.

"Lily, Daisy and I do not trust you," she said, gripping the edge of the counter and leaning across. Her eyes were gleaming with determination, but that look was met with a blank stare. Thrown off her game, she began to stammer. "W-well! We don't!" Hearing her distress, Lily and Daisy came up and stood on either side of her, although they were plainly more afraid.

"Rose, maybe this isn't such a good idea," Daisy said, grabbing her left wrist. "I mean, she seems nice enough, right? She saved everybody."

Rose snapped her eyes at the lime-headed woman. "Then why doesn't she ever talk to anyone? She is totally hiding something."

"Have you ever heard of 'speak only when spoken to'?" Fuyu interrupted, leaning across the counter herself. While she looked imposing, her tone was very even, as was her face. "All you have to do is say hello."

Pinkie, meanwhile, was peeking around the entryway to the kitchen with a hand slapped over her mouth. It was the only way she could make herself stay quiet. Despite a distinct lack of tension – at least tension that was traveling in both directions – her teeth chattered behind her fingers.

"Uh, hi?" Lily offered a trembling wave. "Come on, Rose. Let's not make her mad. I don't think we'd like her when she gets mad."

Fuyu wasn't about to let them go anywhere; she'd had enough of the cold shoulder and was intent on finding its roots. While leaning back from Rose, she pinned the redhead down with a stern look. "Hold on. I see you three around all the time. You must know why everyone is so distant. Tell me. I want to understand."

Rose scratched her head. Her face had twisted into an expression located somewhere between surprise and relief. "Dude, we didn't think you cared. Like, that you were the dark and mysterious type, you know."

She glanced away and ended up seeing Pinkie hiding very apparently behind the door frame. Smiling, she rolled her eyes before turning back to Rose. "I suppose that's true, but that doesn't mean I don't care. I've never really had a home before now, and I want to stay here. But I don't want to be a pariah surrounded by people that dislike me either. All I want to know is why everyone seems to be so put off."

Lily and Daisy exchanged glanced behind Rose's back. The latter released her friend's arm and moved up closer to the counter. "You're freaky strong. You changed back all the buildings after Trixie screwed them up. We grew up thinking stuff like that was impossible. Not even the Princesses can do what you did."

Fuyu blinked three times as she brought up the memory. After confirming again internally that she had in fact rebuilt the town with her augmented abilities, all she could do was shrug, look at the three of them, and say with absolute seriousness, "Yes. So what?"

It was their turn to stare blankly. "What do you mean, so what?" Rose demanded. "You're really powerful! It's scary!"

"I suppose. I forgot I could do it until Rarity wanted to dye my hair." She pointed at the blue bangs covering her left eye and shrugged once again. "It's not really something I think about very much."

"Are you serious?" Rose exclaimed, trying to pick her jaw up off the floor. "If I had your abilities I'd be messing with everything!"

"Well..." She trailed off, only to break out in a wicked grin when the perfect words appeared before her mind's eye. "I'm not like you."

"Obviously." Rose turned around and suddenly the three women were having another meeting. This time, Fuyu could hear their whispers, although not what they were saying. Abruptly she whirled around again. "Okay, fine." She reached into her tan purse and deposited a clutch of bills on the counter. "Just, keep the change. We'll stop bothering you."

And they were gone, skittering over and grabbing what remained of their food and coffees and zipping out the door. Pinkie arrived not long after, poking the pale woman in the side. "Lily didn't pass out! That's totally a good sign! I thought Fluttershy was bad, but that girl faints whenever somebody thinks about her too hard."

Some new feeling was sweeping around Fuyu's chest now. It wasn't quite happiness, but it was pleasant and certainly better than the penetrating bitterness she'd been swamped in since defeating Trixie. "Perhaps being different isn't so bad."

"Why would it be bad? That's just dumb, Fufu. I'm super different and everyone loves me!" Pinkie started to do the conga – with herself, and in a line consisting of one person. She very nearly fell flat on her face when Mrs. Cake called from the kitchen. "Oops. I think I forgot about the red velvet cake in the oven. Again. Gotta go!"

"Goodbye." Alone, she stared at the door while wearing a vacant smile. "That went well. I think it went well." While scratched at her left ear, she suddenly felt less than sure. "Maybe?"

There wasn't much time for her to contemplate; the door swung open, knocking around the brass entry chime and causing a cheerful racket. Rainbow Dash stalked through it, her wings flapping with annoyance. Not missing a beat, she stormed up to the counter and pointed a finger at the pale woman. "We gotta talk, Fu."

"We do?" No immediate reason presented itself, leaving Fuyu at a loss. "Why?" she asked, resting her palms on the case.

Rainbow slapped her hands down and tilted forward. "Because Trixie moved into my fucking apartment building, that's why!"

Fuyu showed her displeasure at the noise with a ghostly scowl. "I'm aware. I thought Twilight was going to calm you down."

Additional anger crept into her tanned sneer. "Nobody is gonna calm me down! The woman that tried to murder us – you too, don't forget – is right under my pad! I ain't gonna stand for that!"

"Dashie!" Pinkie streaked out of the kitchen and tackled the athlete – both would have ended up on the ground had the woman not been so steadfast in her rage. Rainbow absorbed the blow and ended up with the giggling baker draped on her shoulder. "Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!"

She kept her eyes on Fuyu, but lifted one hand to give Pinkie a friendly pat on the head. "Hey, Pinkie. Help me convince Fu to go evict Trixie."

Pinkie let go and did a little twirl, after which she had to steady herself for a moment. "Um, she can't. Kinda busy being awesome at running things and stuff!"

The pale woman tapped her fingernails on the counter top and gave both of them an even look. "I'm not going to anyway. Trixie can live where she wants."

"Tried. To. Kill us." Had it been anyone else, Rainbow would have grabbed them by the collar and attempted to physically convince them. Instead she settled for pointing out the window in the general direction of her problem. "Rarity's with me on this. So is Applejack."

"Oh, Dashie, you guys gotta live and let live. She said it was the amulet making her all evil and stuff. And she's been so nice ever since!" Even Pinkie was frowning now, but like all her expressions it was somehow chipper and bright. "Besides, we've got Fufu! Nothing's gonna happen."

Rainbow folded her arms while peering long and darkly at Fuyu. "That's not the point. Trixie doesn't deserve to stay in this town and Fu has the power to make her go. But it looks like she's forgotten everything that jerk did to us."

All of three seconds passed before the athlete realized she had crossed a line. Fuyu leaned so far across the counter that she was nearly touching noses with the suddenly stunned Rainbow. "There are some things that slip my mind, but things like that are not among them. If you'd like, I can recount for you the details of every single one of the almost five hundred people I've killed to survive. Maybe you want a review of the arguments I've heard between you and Applejack that have made her cry – or maybe the ones that made you cry. The four times Twilight has gotten a splinter in her foot from the floor in the loft. Pinkie burning her fingers on a tray of cupcakes. Rarity stabbing the tip of her left ring finger with a needle while sewing me a new shirt." She paused for an instant as the baker let out a low, unhappy whine. "I don't forget the pain I've caused, and I don't forget the pain of my friends. The three of you need to work out your problems with Trixie on your own. I'm not going to impose my will on her. I know why she did what she did, because it's not far away from the things I used to do. That's why I had to let it go." Rainbow wanted to jerk back as Fuyu placed hands on her shoulders, but couldn't execute the move. "Don't get me wrong, though. If she tries anything that has a chance of hurting you again, I will turn her into a bloody smear on the ground."

Rainbow and Pinkie were left silent, trembling wrecks, despite Fuyu's voice not raising above her average conversational volume. They clung lightly to each other as the pale woman pulled away and opened the register to see what bills she had available to make change. It was over a minute before either of them could speak. "Th-that's totally not w-what I meant when I said you f-forgot," the athlete stuttered, fearing she'd finally managed to make Fuyu mad.

She didn't even bother to look up from the money she was counting. "Of course it is."

Rainbow almost choked on her rebuttal in desperation to get it out as fast as possible. The words ended up much weaker than she wished. "Wh—okay, maybe, but I didn't really..."

"I know. I'm not mad at you." Having finished counting, she thwacked the drawer closed and at last looked up. "Just remember that she used part of my power to do all of that. If you hate her, technically you hate me too."

"Uh..." Rainbow glanced down, then over at Pinkie, then up at the ceiling. "I guess..."

"It's fine. I know a lot of people aren't fond of her, but look at it from my point of view. I understand almost exactly how she was thinking. We both had to feed different – but related – monsters." Fuyu assumed a more pleasant air, although this meant her face returned to a state of idle blankness. "If you hate her, fine. Don't talk to her. However, she has as much right to stay here as I do."

Rainbow found herself at an absolute loss. "Damn. You really know how to kill an argument." Drooping slightly, she stepped back from the counter and sighed. "Fine, I'll go handle my own business." Still feeling a little rattled, she rubbed at the back of her neck. "I, uh, I truly didn't mean it that way, Fu."

"Stop worrying." The pale woman was looking rather embarrassed herself. "Please don't tell anyone I lost my temper. I don't think it would help my image."

"If you call that losing your temper, you don't have anything to worry about." Rainbow gave her a quick salute and, swagger regained, strode toward the door. "I'm heading home. See you guys later." Before she got there, she turned and glanced back. "Nice haircut, by the way. Looks good." After pulling up the hood of her red fleece jacket, she was gone.

"Bye Dashie!" Pinkie perked up and waved both arms over her head. After Rainbow was out of sight, she turned to her other friend with her hands on her hips. "Fufu, you can be pretty scary sometimes."

Fuyu was thoughtful again, avoiding eye contact and looking vaguely tense as she shifted on the balls of her feet. "I know. Trust me, I know."

The library was empty when she returned that afternoon. A quick search turned up a note on the kitchen table; Twilight and Spike had gone shopping, and wouldn't be long. This still annoyed her – she had something to get off her chest, and the librarian was the only one who would understand her question. Sighing with resignation, she settled into one of the boxy chairs nearest the TV and turned it on. As usual, her channel surfing lead her right to the news.

As she'd watched it more and more, she had come to realize that there was a great deal it was leaving out. Twilight's initial reaction to her admission of killing and the reason – self-defense – was never entirely correct. Despite that, there were regions in the country, such as the west, where she did have to defend herself routinely. She had lost count of the amount of times someone had tried to rob her, but unless it was feeding time she'd knock them out and move on. Very few stories like those ever seemed to reach the network; on further review, it was as though they would mention a murder or something awful, then spend the next twenty minutes on purely positive reports. It prodded at her brain with a dissonance she had only encountered when refusing to eat.

And then something else hit her: in the seventeen days since she had taken out Trixie, Fuyu had seen exactly two pieces about what had happened in Ponyville. One of these was a lengthy, live chunk of breaking news, something she'd seen just after coming home subsequent to fixing the town. The second was about three days later and quite quick, flashing by in under a minute. A follow-up, Twilight had explained. Probably the last mention of the awful affair. It was all right then, because the pale woman, like the rest of the town, only wanted to move on from the whole thing.

There was a problem, however. In both instances, Fuyu herself had never been mentioned. Neither had Twilight. The rest of their mutual friends were listed by name amongst the victims, and Trixie had been plainly labeled as the culprit, but she and the librarian were absent altogether.

"Why..." Now having plenty to stew over, she turned the volume down and glared a hole into space. She got so lost in her analysis that Twilight's arrival completely went past her senses.

"Hey, you're home!" the librarian said, flipping her car keys onto a table near the door. "I heard Rainbow stopped by the shop. I couldn't get her to listen to reason, or anything, to be honest. I hope she didn't cause too much trouble." Twilight continued to shed various objects; her purse and shoes came off, although she simply exchanged the latter for a pair of purple slippers. "I dropped by the market and got us a case of that weird peach soda. You were right, it really grew on me." Once her brain had finished decompressing, her perception picked up the silence. Its intensity made her arms break out in goosebumps. "Fuyu? Are you all right?"

Fuyu squished her swirling emotion into four flatly-stated words. "Something is bothering me."

"I can tell." In the process of walking over, Spike came in and made her hesitate. His arms were laden with bags, but the pale woman's demeanor was raising a whole cluster of red flags. With a few apologetic hand motions, she explained her situation and sighed with relief as he nodded and grumbled. While he unloaded the car, she sat next to Fuyu. "What's up?"

Her icy eyes drifted over and nailed Twilight with a curious look. "We weren't mentioned in the news about Ponyville. Why?"

"Oh, um." Concern was chased away by sudden awkwardness. "Well..." Hands fidgeting, she looked at the floor and kept her eyes there.

Fuyu didn't care for the librarian's body language and tipped forward to stare her down. "Well? Did I miss something?"

"It's illegal to take pictures of us. Or to interview us. Actually, the media is supposed to leave us completely alone. I joked with Applejack about the paparazzi, but that's why there aren't any around despite my being a Princess that doesn't live in Canterlot."

"Why is it illegal?"

Twilight jumped at the hardness of her tone and glanced up. "Because we're in the Order. It's like, I don't know, a national restraining order or something. The members are not to appear on TV, print, or radio of any sort, nor can they be forced to do the same, under penalty of law."

As much as the pale woman wanted to blurt out I knew she was hiding me, she managed to keep her lips sealed and emit only a low sound of acknowledgment. For Twilight's sake she shed much of her silent intensity and took up a more relaxed pose. "I still don't understand why."

It worked. The librarian also calmed down, though she was now on the edge of her seat as if preparing to stand. "She did it to protect Luna. After a while the Order became a place for her to shield people that would have become famous for their service to the nation. Investiture isn't compulsory if offered, but I chose to enter because I thought it would keep my parents from being harassed. Now it feels like I hardly get to speak to them."

"I don't think I got a choice." Fuyu knew she'd slipped up when Twilight shot her a deeply surprised look. "Well, she didn't ask." Tensing slightly, she waited to see if she'd triggered any curiosity.

Apparently not, as Twilight snickered. "Oh. You got her will imposed on you, I guess." She stood up as Spike entered for the third time, fumbling with the case of soda. "We'd better help him before his arms fall off."

"Fine." Fuyu rose and drifted along, floating six inches off the floor. "I had another question." With her magic, she took the case from Spike and levitated it in front of her. "Do you ever forget about your power?"

Twilight blinked a few times as she watched her friend use her magic to fill the fridge with bottles. "I'm not sure I understand what you mean."

"I mean it literally. I forgot I could change things until Rarity wanted to dye my hair yesterday." They moved outside together and over to the open trunk of Twilight's blue compact. "Do you ever do that?"

"I can't say I have. Our telekinesis is monitored by something related to the sense of proprioception – that is, the thing that tells us where our body parts are in relation to each other. We should always feel it because it acts like a sixth limb." Raspberry light discolored the gray trunk carpet as she used her magic to grab a few bags.

Fuyu ran a hasty self-check and noted that she could feel her regular magic, but not the high level ability she used to alter her appearance. "No, that's not the magic I mean. I mean the kind I used to shift matter."

"Oh, well, I couldn't tell you. I don't know anyone else that can do such a thing, besides Trixie with your amulet." Twilight's face suddenly lit up as she turned to go back inside. "Makes sense, though! If it's an artificial power, you'd have to remind yourself it's there. It wouldn't act like something natural that's always connected to you."

"I see." Shimmering black waves of Fuyu's magic enveloped the remaining groceries, pulled them out, and also closed the trunk. "So I have to call on it. I guess I haven't had much use to do that."

"Yeah. I wouldn't worry."

They went about sorting and storing all of the food, which took virtually no time thanks to their telekinetic capabilities and Twilight's rigid organization. After they were done, the pale woman got a bottle of the peach soda and wrenched it open. "I'm not sure how much I like what being in the Order entails."

A nervous laugh preceded the librarian's reply. "Ah, you get used to disappearing. It's really not so bad." She departed upstairs with haste, leaving a less than enthused Fuyu behind.

"It hasn't been that long since I was found," she muttered, interjecting a swallow of soda, "I don't think I want to vanish again."

Resolution
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Black

Resolution

Trixie slammed a pillow down over her head as a low knocking sound filtered once again into her bedroom. She peered out at the clock on the oak nightstand – it was just after six in the morning – and growled. "Somebody is not getting the hint." Two more cycles of noise stabbed at her ears until, finally, she was driven by rage to get up and stumble out into the living room. "There had better be a fire or a plague or a man with a national lottery check behind that door."

Twice she had to brace herself on the back of the cornflower blue sofa to keep herself from falling flat onto the white carpet, but at last she reached the entryway and shot a one-eyed glare through the peephole. There stood Applejack on the other side, hat in hand and looking rather nervous. "You've got to be kidding me." While patting at her bedhead and taking a breath, she opened the door.

"Uh...howdy." The blonde looked past Trixie into the apartment. "May I...?"

The part of the magician's brain responsible for being polite had not yet woken up, and she didn't bother to wait on it. Glaring and expecting to be harassed in some way, she sneered her denial. "Why?"

Applejack shrank back a little, although the effect of her movement was lost on the shorter woman. "Look, I done come to apologize. I ain't tryin' ta cause a stir."

"At six in the morning?!" She scratched at her indigo pajamas and prepared to unload an epic rant. Her mind froze, however, when replaying the sentence. "Wait. Apologize?" Dumbfounded, she took a step back to allow the blonde passage.

"Yep." Applejack swung a quick glance around, noticing a rectangular paper something on the coffee table. She instantly recognized it as a train ticket. "What's this? Where are ya headin'?"

"Somewhere." Trixie shuffled over and grabbed it up. "Trixie is no—I'm still not entirely sure what you're apologizing for," she added, dropping her public persona with a ragged breath.

Applejack sat on the sofa and laid her hat aside. "Rainbow had a little chat with Fu yesterday. She said some things that got both of us ta thinkin'. About how if we were gonna let her stay here, we had to let ya do the same. You were usin' her amulet when ya did all that crap, after all."

The magician's stance softened as she listened, although her arms remained folded. "So that's why she didn't pay another visit to swear at me. I thought she'd moved out in disgust."

Applejack snorted and flashed a small grin. "Nah. Don't get me wrong, we ain't feelin' friendly, but..."

"I understand." Trixie returned that smile with a sleepy one of her own. "Still, who makes an apology trip at six in the morning? Couldn't you have called and left a message?"

The blonde stood up and gazed down at Trixie with a thoughtful – and somehow haughty – expression. "Ain't right to apologize over the phone. Supposed ta do that sorta thing face to face, like ma always said." Suddenly she began to chuckle. "Besides, ain't my problem half of y'all are such lazy bones. Get up earlier!"

Both of them laughed a little. Applejack strode back toward the open front door, but didn't get far before Trixie called her back. "Wait. What about Rarity? Does she know about your cease-fire?"

Applejack placed her hat back on and adjusted it while replying. "Well, yeah. She ain't too keen about makin' nice, though. Probably because of what ya wanted ta do ta Sweetie Belle."

"Again, I understand." Her folded arms loosened so she could wrap them around herself in a hug. "I wouldn't forgive me either, even if I was...under the influence."

"Yeah. Y'all two are probably gonna have to work it out on your own." The blonde could now see the train ticket in her left hand. Squinting, she leaned slightly down to examine it. "Seriously, what's with the ticket? Did Dash get ya to consider runnin' off after just a couple of days?"

"No. And again, this is my business." After tucking the thing into her pajama top, she ushered Applejack toward the door. "I would be more polite, but I'm running on three hours of sleep and I need a bit more than that to function. Thank you for being so considerate." Her left arm waved at the hallway. "Goodbye. We can take this up again when I'm not seeing two of you due to drowsiness, if you like."

Applejack burst out laughing and gave Trixie a hearty slap on the back – hearty enough to make the magician grunt with pained surprise. "Don't thank me, thank Fu. Guess I'll see ya later." Out she stepped, the door closing very shortly behind her. As she moved away from it, a hand sneaked up and scratched at her head. "The hell would she be needin' a ticket ta Canterlot for?" she asked herself quietly, jogging down the hall toward the stairs. Out of habit she reached into a pocket for her phone to call Twilight, just as she usually did whenever one of the three women thought Trixie was doing something untoward. This time she stayed her hand, shrugged, and muttered, "Really ain't my business, I guess. Gonna take some gettin' used ta, though."

Twilight had made quite a big deal out of this being Fuyu's first weekend off, but like many things her friends considered normal, the pale woman didn't get the point of the whole affair. She was demure and polite while the woman prattled on about making the best use of her free time; although she was cognizant enough to note that, given that she only napped an hour a day, Fuyu had about a third more of it than anyone else in the world. The sum total of the librarian's lecture was a conscious sort of checking out, where Fuyu heard words but wasn't really listening to them, and instead used the background noise to enter something like a daydream without the dreaming part.

When Twilight dropped her last sentence, therefore, it came as a sudden surprise. "By the way, Fluttershy is expecting you. Should I give you a ride, or do you want to make the trip yourself?"

Fuyu snapped her eyes up as the other woman sat down in the chair beside her. "She is?"

"Yep, and I think it's time you paid her a visit." Her hand rose and lit up as she magically changed channels on the TV. "You two are so similar, you hardly speak to each other. And really, sometimes I think she feels lonely. You've seen how shy she is."

The expression on Fuyu's face betrayed her rejection of that label. "Yes, but I wouldn't exactly call myself shy."

"No, I'm not saying that. You're just kind of..." The word wouldn't come, despite her eye rolling and head tilting.

"Solitary?"

Twilight clapped her hands and pointed. "Yes!" For a moment, she peered at the TV and frowned. "Ugh, this is that show Applejack likes so much. I wish these people would enunciate words." Annoyed, she magically flipped through the stations. "No, really, I think you two should strike up a conversation. Get to know each other better."

Rubbing her chin, the pale woman considered the idea for some time. "The last time we spent alone together didn't turn out very well."

An image of the cave incident popped up in both their heads, although it was more accurately portrayed in Fuyu's than Twilight's. The picture was still enough to scribble unhappy expressions on their faces. "Exactly. Now that you've moved past that...ew stage, I think it's a good time to give her a better image of you."

She nodded her agreement and stood up. "I think I owe her that, at least. I suppose I'll be back in a little while."

"Okay! You guys have fun!" Twilight waved with a little too much enthusiasm as she watched the pale woman hover to and out the door. She squeaked and frowned, however, when she saw Fuyu take off into the air through the window. "Er...I was kind of hoping you'd walk, but fine?"

She hadn't gone far. Hovering over the tree at about ninety feet in the air, her first action was to taking a sweeping look over the town. Moving cars and people of all sorts were scattered across her sight, and in spite of the latter's chilly attitude the scene made her smile. Before she could streak off across the sky, a problem jabbed at her brain: she had no clue where Fluttershy lived. In all the weeks since her nomadic life had ended, never once had she dropped by the shy woman's house – not even in the company of Rarity, who seemed to go there all the time. "This is a problem." A solution came in the form of a tiny rainbow smudge some distance away to her right and nearer the ground. "I'll ask her."

Fuyu covered the distance with remarkable speed, something that helped her ignore the shocked looks of those on the sidewalks below. In about a minute the colors congealed into Rainbow Dash, cup of coffee in hand and looking around out her apartment window. While the athlete was surprised at first, she soon raised her mug in salute and put on a wry grin. "What's up? Besides you," she greeted, just as Fuyu began treading air at eye level. While waiting on a reply, she examined the woman's clothes. The dark colored t-shirt – in this case a pleasant shade of navy blue – wasn't unusual, but the light gray capri pants were, as were the black and silver sneakers. "Nice outfit. Like the shoes."

"Thank you. You can figure out where they came from." Her eyes looked over Rainbow's left shoulder and saw Applejack lounging on the couch. The blonde noticed her at about the same time and offered a friendly tip of her hat. "Oh. Am I interrupting?"

"Nah, she popped in to say hello and never left." Rainbow turned back into the room and raised her voice in mock anger, "Popped in at six thirty in the morning like a dumbass!"

Applejack cocked a brow and snapped her wrist in dismissal. "Screw you, ya know ya love it."

Cackling, the athlete turned back to Fuyu. "Let me guess, Rarity made them?"

She nodded with a slight grin. "I keep telling her to stop. Twilight wants to cut a new closet out of the tree so I have somewhere to put them all."

Rainbow snorted, bent forward slightly due to a chuckle. "Man, you can forget it. She's generous enough as it is, but in your case she's probably overcompensating for the scissors attack."

"She does like to call it her 'most unladylike moment'." Fuyu folded her arms and looked over at the clouds that had suddenly choked the morning sun. "Anyway, I need your help."

A swig of coffee prefaced a surprised look. "Eh? With what?"

"Fluttershy has invited me over, but I don't know where she lives." A bug landed on her sleeved-covered arm; she shooed it away with a glowing hand. "Could you point in the general direction and tell me what her house looks like?"

Rainbow was deeply confused and made no effort to hide it. "Didn't she tell you that herself?" she asked, one eyebrow raised.

Fuyu tried to maintain her usual stoicism, but her face softened since she knew exactly where the athlete was going. "No. I didn't actually talk to her."

"Twilight?" They both nodded; the pale woman glanced down afterward and sighed. "So Fluttershy called Twilight and Twilight invited you over for her. Dude, you've gotta get one of those phones so she stops being your go-between."

More nodding came in response to those words, but a frown chased it. "You have a point, although that isn't the entire problem. She seems to derive great joy from watching me encounter normal things. Like earlier, she was so happy about my first day off from a job I didn't even know I had forty-eight hours ago."

Rainbow emptied her mug and set it on the windowsill. "Yeah, see, that's Twilight Sparkle. When something fascinates her, she latches on with both hands and holds on for dear life."

Fuyu folded her arms and let her eyes close. "I would kind of like her to back off, but I don't want to seem distant. And while I appreciate all the six of you have done for me, it still seems like some of you enjoy doing it without my knowledge."

That made the athlete snort. "What can I say? Sometimes we're a pushy bunch of bitches." Before either could continue the conversation, she noticed something down on the sidewalk below. "Ugh, don't look now."

"What?" Fuyu did just that; her eyes came upon two boys – one with a greenish-blue bowl cut, and the other with messy orange hair – looking directly up at them. "I think I know those two. I've seen them with Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle at school."

"Yeah. Get lost!" she yelled down, shaking her free hand. They skittered away. "And Rarity wonders why I don't wear skirts."

"Huh?" Only after a second or so did Fuyu get her drift. "Oh. Oh," she said, looking back up. "Right. I had not considered that."

Rainbow laughed so loud it caused Applejack to walk over with a questioning look. "First rule of flying, Fu: wear pants."

She folded her arms and glared off to the side for a moment. "I'll keep that in mind."

The blonde wanted in on the joke, nudging her girlfriend accordingly. "What're y'all chattin' about?"

Rainbow nudged her right back, still wearing a wicked smirk. "Forget it." She leaned out the window and pointed to her left. "River's that way. Follow it toward the orchard until you see a tree covered in birdhouses. That's Fluttershy's cottage."

"Right." Fuyu was just about to take off until that new piece of knowledge froze her and made her blink. "She lives in a tree too?"

"Sure does," Applejack nodded. "Hollowed out elm. Damnedest thing I ever saw; I didn't even think elms got that big."

"Hmm. Well, thank you." The pale woman flipped them a wave and streaked off.

Just as the couple were leaning back from the window, Applejack's eye caught Trixie exiting the building with a suitcase floating behind her. "Guess she's headin' out too."

"Who?" Rainbow peeked out as well, her face screwing up when she saw the magician. "Oh, yeah. Maybe we should have told Fu about her going to Canterlot?"

The blonde shrugged while falling back onto the blue sofa. "Maybe when she gets back. I'm sure it ain't nothin' ta worry 'bout."

Ten minutes of almost aimless flying finally brought Fuyu to her destination – or rather, above it. If she didn't know better, she'd have thought this was a conglomeration of birdhouses in the shape of a tree, like the fancy scrap metal art that would sometimes be on sale at the marketplace in town. As she descended, many birds fluttered up to and then away from her at breakneck speed, most of which disappeared into the branches of the elm. Applejack had been right; this was certainly the biggest example of the species Fuyu had ever seen in her five years of wandering.

She landed on the winding dirt path and looked up at the tree. Unlike the large windows of Twilight's library, the trunk was studded with smaller, rounder versions that were almost like portholes. The door was split in half – the top part was open and swung into the trunk – and there were various flower boxes and potted plants all of sorts everywhere. A quaint little sign was hanging from her mailbox that proclaimed something about an animal grooming service. As she walked nearer, she could hear the shy woman talking, but didn't see her inside upon looking through the half-open door. Trying to follow the voice was difficult because of the ceaseless calls of the birds filling the branches above. At a loss, the pale woman went around the back of the tree to begin her search.

Once she got past the green jeep, she finally came upon Fluttershy, at the base of a spindly birch tree, looking up at something Fuyu couldn't see. Moving over closer, a white cat became visible in the limbs. While waiting patiently to be noticed, she examined the dark, brooding forest which dominated the background. It looked just like the ones containing the cave, although she didn't think the woods spread that far. A minute passed, then two, filled with the shy woman's plaintive begging for the cat to jump down to her. Fuyu decided she'd had enough and cleared her throat. "Fluttershy?" she called lowly, trying not to scare her.

Of course, it didn't work. She squeaked loudly and crouched, hands over her head and shaking, until she realized who had addressed her. "Oh! Fuyu! I, um, I wasn't expecting you until later. I thought you would be at work." Standing with a smile, she waved cheerfully, but like most of the six women she had to look up at her friend.

"Someone ordered a hundred and forty cheesecakes. Mister Cake told me to stay home since they wouldn't be able to bake anything for the cafe." The cat had her attention now; she pointed at it. "What happened?"

Fluttershy also lifted her eyes while sighing to herself. "Oh, well, Fiona doesn't want her bath. She always ends up in this tree."

"Mm." Fuyu waited for the shy woman to fly up and retrieve the unhappy feline, but instead she continued calling for it to come down. "Can't you just pull your wings and get her?"

Apprehensive instantly became embarrassed. Fluttershy turned away from tree and friend both, squeezing her hands together. "W-well..."

Staring off after her, Fuyu's eyes widened a little. "You really are afraid of heights?"

"Terrified," she murmured, nodding firmly.

The pale woman blinked several times. "I thought Rainbow was joking." Reaching out with her right hand in sheathed in magic, she used the power to detach the cat from its perch and levitate it slowly down. "Here."

"Oh, thank you." Fluttershy let it settle into her arms with a smile. "Such a bad kitty." It meowed up at her, tail swishing. "Goodness! Mind your manners, we have a guest!"

They walked back to the larger tree together. After entering, the shy woman lead them up an unstable-looking set of stairs to a little room with a metal table, a metal sink, and counters that lined three of the four walls. She set the cat in the sink and took a breath. "Let's try this again. Could you hold her with your magic? Please be gentle."

"All right." Fuyu's left hand was alight with the black glow, though she didn't bother to raise it, and the cat lit up with the same shine a second later. Fluttershy turned on the water and began the washing process. "I don't think she likes this." The feline's movements were sending twitches through her senses. "Grabbing living things feels strange."

"O-oh." Unable to figure out any further way to respond to that, Fluttershy kept on scrubbing the displeased cat. "I meant to t-talk to you directly when I called earlier, but Twilight..."

A heavy frown yanked at her lips. "Yes, I know." Between her black magic and the shy woman's practiced hands, Fiona was washed and dried in no time at all. She watched as Fluttershy set her down on the floor and let her run off to hide. "That was easy."

"She can be so catty." The unintentional wording made her giggle and blush faintly. "I'm sorry, I certainly didn't invite you over to do more work. Let's go sit in the living room while I wait for her to dry."

And so they went, back down the rickety steps and over to a green loveseat tucked away near one of the cottage's larger windows. Fuyu noted the presence of a fireplace – something she had thought to be an odd feature in a house hewn totally from wood ever since she saw the one Twilight's library contained – and what looked to be several heavy bags of birdseed next to the front door. Something was on the small TV nearby, but the volume was down. From what she could tell, it appeared to be a cooking show.

Fluttershy tucked a strand of cotton candy behind her ear, looked directly at the floor, and spoke the longest set of sentences Fuyu had ever heard from her. "I-I'll go first. I've been thinking that you and I don't really talk much, and that's not very nice of me. I mean, if you d-don't want to be not talked to, that is. So I invited you over. I'm not really sure what we could talk about, but..."

The pale woman had a sheepish expression which grew deeper as Fluttershy spoke. "Actually, I think I still owe you an apology for what happened at the cave."

She snapped her head up, eyes wide. "Oh, n-no. It was sort of my fault. I should have run like Pinkie told me to, but there was another me! I didn't know what to think."

Fuyu hunched over and rubbed at her face. "I can understand that. You have no idea how glad I am to be past eating."

"Oh my, I bet." Fiona darted by and ducked noisily into an overturned wicker basket near the fireplace, causing them both to watch her for a moment. "Silly cat. Would you like some tea?"

Before she could reply, the pale woman inquired of her mind about her history with the drink. "I don't think I've ever had any," she said at last, straightening up. "What does it taste like?"

"Oh, well, there are a lot of kinds." Fluttershy rose, brushing off her khaki skirt. "I don't even know what to start with. Is there such a thing as starter tea?" She squeaked when her eyes landed on Fuyu, who was giving her an amused look. "Sorry, I'm talking to myself again."

She smiled more at that and folded her arms. "Whatever kind you think is best will be fine. I really don't know anything about tea."

"R-right. I'll go see what's in the cabinet." She skittered into the kitchen – the gait combined with her long skirt made Fuyu wonder how she didn't fall flat on her face like Stormy usually did. A subsequent series of low, glassy clacks and scrapes and other ambient noises caused her to relax just a little more, at least when it wasn't being broken by tinny yelps of surprise.

"Are you all right?" Fuyu asked, leaning forward to try and see better into the kitchen.

"F-fine! Just fine!"

"Okay?" Fuyu decided it would be best to wait, and it turned out to be about five minutes later when she heard a shrill whistling noise. "What is that?"

"The water is boiling! J-just a moment!" Soon she appeared with two dainty white cups of steaming liquid, each of which bore a tag hanging from a string over the rim. "H-here we go."

"Oh." Fuyu used magic to take hers from the shy woman and float it nearer so she could peer into it. "Brown?"

"Y-yes, this is just black tea. It's not really black, I guess, but—eek hot oh goodness, oh goodness!" Until then she'd been cradling her own cup in her hands, and hastily set it down on the coffee table. Despite her distress, her voice never rose above a murmur.

It made Fuyu grin again. "Be careful."

"S-sorry..." Fluttershy waved her hands to shoo away the excess heat that clung to her fingers. "I don't usually bring it out until it steeps for a few minutes."

Fuyu put her own cup aside as she watched her friend sit. "You never answered my question."

"Qu...wh-what question?" Terror flowed freely into her eyes as she groped about for an inquiry unrequited. "I don't remember any question I don't think, I—um...pleaseaskitagain?"

Her final four words were spoken at twice normal speed and three times higher pitch, and yet somehow they still lacked volume. Fuyu blinked and settled against the armrest in an attempt to assume a calmer pose – which she hoped would make Fluttershy seem less nervous. "I meant the question I asked you that day at the cave. Why do you apologize so much?"

"Oh! Um. That." She shifted gears from fear down into pensive unhappiness with such speed that the pale woman raised up with concern. "No, no, it's fine. I guess I say I'm sorry so much because I don't want anyone to feel bad." Her hands found their way into her lap and began to wring.

Her answer didn't help Fuyu much. She countered with her usual bluntness, although in as gentle a tone as possible. "But you say it for such trivial things."

The shy woman slumped over with sadness. "I kn-know. I guess I'm just so used to saying it all the time that I can't not say it."

"Now I'm sorry," Fuyu sighed, feeling as though she'd entered some touchy territory. "I was just curious. Did something happen?" She drew back with shock as Fluttershy hugged herself and began to whine. "Perhaps I should stop asking questions."

The shy woman tried her best to smile, but it didn't look right squashed together with the rest of her expression. "Don't mind me." A beat passed before she added, so quiet and quick it almost slipped by, "I'm jealous of you."

Fuyu had to make sure she'd even heard it before responding. "Why?"

Fluttershy gazed at her tangled fingers. "You don't care what anyone thinks. I think I might care too much about what everyone else thinks. I...I'm not very strong."

"That's ridiculous."

She snapped her eyes up and blinked. "Wh-what do you mean?"

Fuyu magically took up her tea, peered at it again, and took a sip. Her face screwed up with the flavor. "Bitter. If I recall, you willingly took me to the cave despite knowing what that meant."

Fidgeting harder, Fluttershy looked away again. "Well, I promised Pinkie. It wouldn't have been right not to keep it."

The pale woman took another sip, this time without the accompanying expression. "And you shot me in the head to save your friends. That isn't weakness."

"I'm still s-sorry about that!" she yelped, hiding her face. "I just thought..."

At last enamored with the bold taste of the tea, Fuyu emptied her cup and floated it back to the table. "Don't worry. I just think you don't give yourself enough credit. I liked the tea, by the way. It's certainly different from soda."

"Oh, y-yes..." Needing a distraction, she retrieved her own cup and started drinking. "G-goodness. I forgot the sugar."

"And for the record, I do care what everyone thinks. That's why I hardly show my powers." Pausing to frown, she folded her arms again. "Twilight believes it scares everyone."

Fluttershy tilted her head. "If you keep hiding them, it'll just scare people for longer." Fuyu glanced up with a look that made her squeak. "I mean, th-that's just what I think."

"No, I believe you might have a point." Before they could get any farther down that road, Fiona emerged from her basket fortress with a meow.

"Oh, you're dry! I guess I'd better call Lily." The shy woman rose to do just that, leaving her cup behind.

While she did, Fuyu looked at the feline. "You're Lily's? This really is a small town." She also stood and followed the other woman into the kitchen. "I'm going to head back. Thank you for the tea. And the conversation."

She was trying to balance her cordless phone on her shoulder, but managed a friendly wave anyway. "You're welcome. See you."

The pale woman stepped out into the cool morning air and, out of habit, walked down the path back toward the river. After covering a few hundred feet, she stopped and clenched her teeth. "She's right." A glance back at the tree helped reinforce her thoughts. "Why am I hiding the parts of me I don't need to hide? I'm not going around and hurting anyone. I don't need to conceal myself." Her hands lit up with black magic; in a second more her sneakers detached from the ground. "I've tried being passive. Let's see what being active gets me." She was off like a shot into the cloudy sky, scattering the birds who were perched and watching her from the trees.

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To describe the level of nervousness – and if she were being honest with herself, abject terror – that swamped Trixie's brain would have defied her vocabulary. Pacing back and forth along the red carpet, between the marble columns and the stained glass windows and under a ceiling which vaulted so high it could tickle the stars, the magician looked up again at the dark blue door at the end of the hall just ahead. Specifically, her eyes stuck to the gleaming silver crescent set in the center, which served both as a door knocker and an indication of just whose chambers were enclosed behind it.

Swallowing, Trixie tugged at her collar again. In deference to the gravity of her business she had donned the most formal clothing she owned, an ensemble which would have graded out at 'daily wear' on Rarity's scale and in fact looked much like the dressmaker's usual professional attire. The blazer might have been blue, and the blouse and skirt an odd shade of purple, but everything else was very similar, even the heels.

Another eternity ticked by, squashed into the space of a second which was marked by her dainty little wristwatch. She had arrived as early as she assumed necessary for a meeting with a Princess – about an hour – but now the time appointed for her audience had wandered past by nearly five minutes. The mounting delay only allowed her anxiety to deepen and twist her stomach into frigid knots.

And then the door swung open, almost causing her to jump right out of her clammy skin with fright. "Enter," a voice commanded. Its source was a barely distinguishable silhouette, backed by dim light and standing in the doorway. Trixie obeyed immediately and strode quickly through the golden frame. Only after the door was shut behind her did a light come on and reveal her new surroundings.

"You didn't have to dress up," Luna chided with a smirk. She walked past and into the magician's sight, clad in a black hoodie and blue jeans. Her socks were a different shade of blue. "I'm not my sister."

"Wh-wha?" Trixie shook her head furiously and, at last, managed a few steps forward in an attempt to follow. Her heels clacked on the black granite floor – as she glanced about, it became clear that the walls were granite too, as was the ceiling. So far as she had seen, there was nothing else like this room in Celestia's white marble bastion.

Luna was across the room by now, past her tremendous indigo poster bed. "My apologies for being late. My alarm clock wasn't loud enough to wake me," she said, drawing closed the curtains across the single, enormous window. As if to prove it, the Princess let loose an obnoxious yawn. "Maybe I should use my phone..."

"Beg your pardon," Trixie began, feeling safe enough to shed her uncomfortable shoes, "but you just woke up? I've been outside for over an hour."

Luna turned back with an eyebrow raised high. "Whatever for?" The look on the magician's face said it all. "Oh, I get it. You wanted to be early to avoid insulting my dignity?" With a porcelain hand, she waved for Trixie to sit in one of the fat chairs arranged in front of a TV in the corner. "I wish you people would relax."

Trixie blinked as she sat down, still trembling lightly. "You...people?"

The Princess sat as well, rolling her eyes and grinning. "Forgive me. Lately my sister has been feeling protective."

"I see." It took actual effort for the magician to attempt to calm herself; seeing Luna slumped into her chair, idly channel surfing, did the trick. "I guess I was expecting something more formal."

Cyan eyes squinted with annoyance, and not due to the loud car salesman on the screen. "I have no use for formalities. Not anymore."

"Right." Trixie decided it would be safest to glue her sight to the TV and wait for the first move to be made. Soon after she clammed up, her peripheral vision caught Luna reaching down under the cherry table between them. Her hand came back up with a thick manila envelope, which the Princess tossed into her lap. "The papers?" Almost instinctively, she went to open the package for a peek. A hot spark of magic slashed across her wrist and halted her. "Ow!"

Luna rolled her eyes at the magician. "Honestly, you should know better. Those are for Winter's eyes, not yours."

She shook her hand to cool the sting, setting the envelope in her lap as she did. "I can't help being curious. I'm curious about a lot of things, if I may be direct with you."

"I know. That is why I asked you to come." After turning down the volume, she turned her upper half to Trixie and rested her chin in her hand. "I can't tell you everything, but you can ask whatever you like."

The first question had been brewing for some time and came instantly. "How do you know Winter? She never mentioned being acquainted with the royal family."

Luna squinted with vague unhappiness, but allowed the question anyway. "It's complicated. I cannot be specific."

Feeling a bit more comfortable with time, Trixie folded her arms and assumed her usual demeanor. "I guess I should have expected that. Is she related to you? An illegitimate child or something?"

"No." Her expression here was more genuine, but the tone of her answer was still curt.

With the ice broken, Trixie felt ever so slightly in charge of the situation and began to press. "Really? She seems pretty strong. I thought power like that was limited to the three of you."

Luna swatted down her assertiveness with a regal glare. "No means no. She is not related to us, despite what her abilities may lead you to think. Move on."

"R-right," she swallowed, trying to regain her edge. "How did you know about the amulet?"

The Princess tucked back an errant lock of shimmering hair and sighed. "There is a registry of such artifacts. We'd been looking for that one for some time."

"I see." Trixie's eyes drifted away while she thought on the matter. "Why am I not in jail?"

"It would be easier to have you killed."

The magician almost fell out of her chair at those words. Laughing nervously, she tried to pass it off as a bad joke before panic crushed her. "Oh, come on. This isn't a movie."

Luna folded her arms and exuded just as much imposing willpower as her sister, even if it looked incongruous with her casual clothing. "Do not think I'm teasing you. You walk free because one, you are close enough to Winter to keep an eye on her without raising suspicion, and two, because you are distant enough from Twilight to not be obliged to divulge things to her. I could not trust her friends to keep their mouths shut about this."

"So I'm convenient?" Trixie squeaked, hands balled into trembling fists.

With a sigh, the hardness of her pose faded. She slumped over a little and shook her head. "More or less. As long as you keep quiet, you have nothing to fear from me." Frowning at the continued fearful reaction, Luna finally reached out and patted the woman on the shoulder. "It is complicated. Most things having to do with us are."

"No kidding." Trixie needed several moments to screw up her courage for another question. "I thought her name was Fuyu?"

That inquiry was just irrelevant enough to make her smile. "A nickname she picked up. Her given name is Winter. She'll answer to both."

"Huh. Right. Uh..." While figuring out if she had anything else to ask, Trixie stood and stretched her legs. "I have a feeling I won't get much else out of you, so I guess that's all."

"Actually, it isn't." After reaching under the table again, Luna also got to her feet. "I wanted to give you this."

Blinking, she took a small, velveteen box from the Princess. Rectangular and purple, it appeared to be a case of some sort, although for what she had no idea. Unwilling to open the thing after Luna's reaction to her curiosity, she simply held on to it. "What's this?"

She caught that hesitation and smirked. "For you. You can look inside this one."

Exhaling with relief, Trixie flicked it open with the tip of her thumb. Inside was a silver, circular medal. The obverse was an intricately carved representation of the sky, featuring a crescent moon at top center and whose empty field was dotted with stars. It was suspended, via a simple hoop and a bar of silver, to a rectangle ribbon dyed alternating stripes of indigo and white. While awed by it, the magician had no clue what it was. "It's...nice? Very shiny."

Luna burst out laughing. "This is a medal of the Order of the Evening Sky. Consider this your investiture ceremony."

"W-wait...am I a knight now?!" she yelled, jaw slamming into the floor.

"No, you're a Dame." Still chortling lowly, she turned the TV back on. "That entitles you to a monthly stipend which should help you remain in Ponyville indefinitely. It will also get you out of the media's eye – and kill any investigation into the incident."

Trixie was giggling as she pinned the device to her blazer lapel. "Look at me, I'm a martial noble! I feel like I'm in one of those fantasy novels!"

"It has been some time since either Order has raised a sword in anger, and nobility might be stretching it, but, yes. I suppose you are...special, now." It didn't take long for the giddiness of Trixie's laughter to start grating. Luna moved to knock her down a few notches – and remind her of the clandestine nature of their interaction. "Do not wear it in public. Only people that know you have it in the first place will ask for its presentation. Otherwise, keep it to yourself. Am I understood?"

Her scolding worked, but only to some extent. Trixie continued to cradle the gleaming thing in her left hand and smile brightly. "Yes, Your Highness. I can't believe it!" Unable to help giggling again, she laughed until an icicle of silence jabbed at her senses. Looking up, she saw Luna, arms crossed and a dark smirk on her face. "Why are you looking at me that way?"

The Princess' lips curled further, baring her teeth in an almost-threatening grin. "Don't get too excited. All this means is that you're officially my little secret."

Fuyu walked into the shop, her stride and visage oozing purpose unlike Pinkie had ever seen before. Only when she found her friend unnerved by her demeanor did she drop it and adopt something closer to her usual gentle aloofness. "Good morning," she offered, sliding behind the counter. "Am I early?"

"Little bit!" Pinkie shook it off and began to dance around, examining the inventory in the glass cases that lined the walls. "We both are! Oh, heads up, Mrs. Cake is gonna be by herself – not by herself by herself, I mean I'll be there too and...what was I saying again? Oh yeah! Just the two of us in the kitchen today 'cause Pumpkin's all sick and her daddy stayed home to take care of her. If people want food, just tell them it might be a while."

Fuyu translated the deluge of babbling and fished out the important pieces with a firm nod. "Mr. Cake is not here, so let the customers know that making food might be slow. I understand."

"Yep!" The baker was lost in her rounds until a random thought walked by and booted her in the brain. She straightened up and placed her hands on her hips, then fired a pointed look over at Fuyu. "Hey, why did you look so scary just now?"

Her question was smashed by a stone-faced counter. "How much money am I earning for this? Neither of the Cakes told me."

Utterly stunned, Pinkie could only drop her hands and stare for a moment. "Same amount as me, I guess. Why?"

"And how much is that?" she asked, eyes glued to the other woman. Despite her stare, she was also sorting the change in the register – or her black assistants were, piling the coins by weight and setting them into the appropriate slot. The tendrils slid back into her hands after she finished.

It had taken that long for Pinkie to formulate any answer, a span full of 'hmm' and eye rolling and toe-tapping that at last yielded, "I dunno. I let the Cakes handle that 'cause I am soooooo bad at money things. I can't even do my taxes without Rarity's help! It's boring and makes my head hurt..."

Now it was the pale woman's chance to bear a stunned look. "You've worked here for so long and you don't even know your salary?"

She beamed. "Nope!" On the way back to the counter she added, "I mean, a whole lot gets taken out for rent and whatever I might snack on that I'm not supposed to and utilities for the loft and blah blah blah. Like I said, boring."

Fuyu rubbed at her forehead and sighed. "I suppose I will just have to ask someone else."

Pinkie twirled over and wrapped an arm around her, grinning widely. "Why are you askin' in the first place, huh? I thought you didn't care about scratch."

"I need to know because I want to buy a phone like you have," she said, sliding the register drawer shut with a finger. "Wait, what is scratch?"

"You know, scratch! Paper, lettuce, bank, dough, coin, bread!" After seeing that her slang was going right over Fuyu's head, she gave up and focused on the other topic by pulling her phone out of her jacket pocket. It was a faded pink with three balloons on the back, but the same model as their five mutual friends owned. "Never mind. Getting your own phone is good idea! I think? Right?"

Fingernails tapping, she nodded at the baker and glanced about. "Yes. Twilight has been my go-between for long enough."

While putting her phone away, Pinkie offered up a slightly nervous grin. "Huh. You're scary when you want something, Fufu."

Her words made the woman blink with surprise. "I am?"

"Yeah, like, wow. It's 'stay out of your way 'cause you are on a mission' scary." An abrupt hug smoothed out the awkwardness. "Don't worry! All I'm saying is that you're super focused!"

"Right." The arrival of Mrs. Cake drew their attention. Fuyu decided her question could not wait and posed it the moment the woman walked nearer. "I would like to know what my salary is."

The tone caught her square, forcing a pause as she shed her light coat and reached for the apron on the rack by the kitchen entrance. "Goodness. Fifteen an hour, the same we pay Pinkie. So that would be..." She trailed off, looking up as she tried to wrangle with the math.

Fuyu crushed the numbers almost instantly. "One hundred and twenty for an eight hour day, or ninety for six. Thank you. That's all I needed."

Her final statement did not apply to Mrs. Cake. She looked over at Pinkie for context and got some with a poorly-concealed whisper. "Fufu wants to buy a fancy phone like mine and she will not be stopped. Just roll with it."

"I see." She finally finished donning her apron and headed into the kitchen. "Come on, dearie. I'm going to need your cookie expertise."

Pinkie exploded with joy and gave chase. "Oooooo! I love cookies! Are we gonna make the ones with the macadamia nuts? Do we even have any macada—oh crap, did I forget to buy macadamia nuts?"

The last Fuyu heard of their conversation was a laugh and assurance from Mrs. Cake. "No, I bought them yesterday." As the noise faded, she positioned herself near the register like a casually-clothed sentinel and waited for the first customer of the day to arrive. Instead, she was met by two arriving about five minutes after being left alone. Applejack appeared first, holding the door open for Rainbow Dash.

"You dork," the athlete said, grinning up at her girlfriend. "Always doing the door thing."

She tipped her hat and issued an equally wry smirk. "I can't help bein' raised right." Together, they wandered up to the counter. "Howdy! How's work treatin' ya?"

Just after the blonde asked, a loud crash and accompanying torrent of four letter words – most of which were spoken by Pinkie, whose chipper voice made the curses sound hilarious – rang out from the kitchen. "I don't know how to answer that," Fuyu admitted, folding her arms.

Rainbow grinned again, stretching. "Seems about right. Can I get an iced coffee and a box of doughnuts for the living tree?" She snickered as Applejack elbowed her in the shoulder. "Like I'm wrong."

Fuyu raised her left hand and, without even turning around, began the process of producing the coffee. Black tendrils flew out and traveled behind her to operate the knobs and switches. Both women recoiled a bit at the sight, but Fuyu kept going. "I'm supposed to say that any food orders may take longer due to Mr. Cake's absence." All three of them noticed a smell and looked up. A vague, gray trail of smoke was wafting in from the kitchen. "...a lot longer," the pale woman added.

The couple stared at the haze and unconsciously huddled together. "Geez. Screw the doughnuts, then. Guess we'll have to get some later," Rainbow said with a grumble. She shared a sudden look with Applejack, then both cast their eyes at the pale woman. Neither said anything.

It was hard for Fuyu to miss, even as she devoted some brainpower to magically making the coffee. Once it was done, she set the cup on the counter and blinked. "What?"

The blonde doffed her hat and adjusted her ponytail. "Y'all didn't drop by again yesterday, so we didn't get ta ask ya..."

Fuyu didn't wait for her to finish. "Have I been roped into something else?" Genuine annoyance marked her face.

Rainbow interjected, taking her coffee. "Nah. At least not on our end. We were just wondering if you knew why Trixie was going to Canterlot."

Now she only looked confused. Dismissing her assistants, Fuyu stared the athlete down. "I hadn't heard about this. How did you find out?"

Applejack cleared her throat in that particular way which signaled the beginning of a story. "Well, Rainbow told me what ya said day 'fore yesterday and we both felt like jackasses. In fact I felt like enough a'one to pay Trixie a visit just after dawn. Told her I was sorry. That's when I saw the train ticket. And just after ya left ta see Fluttershy, we saw her with a suitcase leavin' the apartment complex."

"Hmm." After a few thoughtful seconds, Fuyu shrugged and laid her hands on the counter. "I wonder why."

Her underwhelming reaction caused Rainbow to blink and Applejack to smile. "Told ya," the blonde said. "Ain't no big deal."

"I wish you'd stop being right." She took an annoyed drink from her cup, although a smile was in her eyes.

Fuyu smiled at their banter. "Perhaps not, but I am curious. I'll ask her when she gets back."

Rainbow smacked her lips with the flavor of her coffee. "What if she doesn't come back?"

"She will. This is the probably the only town that will have her." Suddenly, a chain of thoughts formed in Fuyu's head that made her scowl. "Which means she must have had some important reason to travel. I wonder if everything is all right."

Applejack exchanged another look with her girlfriend, but all three let the matter drop. "Well, since we're all done with that, can we get ta the orchard? Got a lot of apples ta knock down 'fore the first frost gets here."

"Yeah, and by the way, I wouldn't have needed the caffeine if you hadn't kept me up all night." Rainbow reached into the front pocket of her white hoodie and dropped a bill on the counter. "Keep the change, we've gotta go so AJ can save her precious fruit. See ya!"

"Goodbye." Fuyu offered a wave as they left and placed the money in the register. Alone again, she allowed her train of thought to bother her more outwardly. "Why would she need to go to the capital?" A happy chime from the front killed her contemplation.

Twilight was peeking around the door. She looked around a few times before finally entering and skittering up to the counter. "Good, I'm not too late."

Fuyu was a bit thrown off by the librarian's behavior. "Too late for what?"

"You seemed kind of angry at me this morning. I wanted to make sure everything was fine before a crowd got here." While waiting for a response, she started to fidget.

"I seemed angry?" Quickly, she figured out that the intensity that had frightened Pinkie was likely responsible for this as well. "Oh. I wasn't angry, I just wanted a phone like yours."

Twilight fell still while trying to resolve the explanation with her memory of the exchange. "But your eyes were terrifying! Are you sure that was it?"

A smile twisted her thin lips. "Pinkie says I'm scary when I want something."

"No kidding. I thought I'd made you mad." She smiled too, but it vanished at the same time as Fuyu's. "Why are you frowning?"

"I think I might be a little..." The word wouldn't come at first, at least not the one she felt matched her feelings best. Seconds passed before she settled for something close. "Annoyed with you."

"I knew it!" Twilight slapped her palms down on the counter top. She winced with pain and shook her hands. "Ouch. Why? What did I do?"

As usual, the pale woman got right to the point. "You enjoy intercepting as many of my interactions as possible. I want a phone so I can avoid that."

The sullen, slack-jawed, stunned look on Twilight's face said it all. Her expression did soften quickly, but a shadow of it stuck fast. "I...I see. Not the first time I've heard something like this." Her hands decided to hide in her pockets as she took a breath and retorted. "I swear there's a good reason!"

Fuyu meant to put on a receptive look, but it was made unrecognizable by her lingering intensity. "Let's have it, then."

"I'm afraid for you," she replied, starting to pace. "Not of physical harm, of course, I mean...you're still adjusting emotionally to, well," she paused, sweeping her hands around, "normal. I just want to make sure nothing hurts you while you get settled in."

Displeasure began to tickle Fuyu's brain as she listened. "I think I've adjusted well."

In her rush to be reassuring, Twilight let slip too much of the truth. "Totally not what I mean. I'm saying I don't know how you'll react to-" A hand covered her mouth to catch the words, then to conceal the gasp as she registered the dark look in Fuyu's turquoise eyes. "No, no, I don't mean..."

"Are any of you ever going to trust me?" Her words lacked volume and emotion, which only caused them to feel like bricks against Twilight's eardrums.

She scrambled to dig herself out – even her gesticulations gave that impression – but instead succeeded in deepening the hole. "We do! But you're unique and I have no idea how to handle you!"

"I do not think I need to be handled." The librarian had finally done it; Fuyu was spited full sore. Anger flowed freely from her eyes. Meanwhile, others were beginning to arrive and fall in line behind Twilight, waiting to place orders. "Now, I have work to do. Leave me alone."

"But..." The pale woman pointed at the door and silenced her. Defeated, Twilight shuffled out of the way and past the customers, disappearing out into the parking lot just as tears began to fall.

Seven hours of work cooled Fuyu's emotions off – it would have been a welcome feeling, except what they'd hardened into was a heavy lump of regret. Standing in the parking lot, her eyes fell on the crown of the library tree. She wasn't sure whether or not to go home.

"I don't like this," she muttered, watching the town go by. After asking herself if there were really anywhere else she could go, she began to move toward the tree in a slow hover. If the other people around were reacting any worse to her presence than normal, it fell upon blind eyes and deaf ears. Fuyu was too busy wrangling with her reaction to Twilight's sheltering, and the librarian's reaction to her reaction. "I think I might have made a mistake."

In no time she was at the front door, struggling to force her hand up and open it. It swung open abruptly, startling her enough to make her step back off the stoop.

"Welcome back," Twilight greeted, uncertain but pleasant. "I got you something!"

"Huh?" She was dragged unceremoniously into the library, then in the direction of the kitchen. "What did you get me?"

"Just a second!" Only after depositing her at the table did she reach into her pocket and produce a shining black phone. "Here. You're right."

Fuyu took it, turning it over in her hands. The back of the case had two blue stripes running horizontal through the center. "I am?" she asked while looking back up.

Twilight sat down and exhaled. "Listen, I really meant what I said. I don't want anyone to hurt you. I guess I was just coloring your experiences with my own because, as we both know, I'm not very good at social interactions sometimes. I...I just didn't want anything bad to happen to you."

She set the phone on the table and gazed blankly. "Do you think I would hurt someone if something did?"

It was returned with a firm look and a shake of the head. "Deep down? No. But everyone says that. Nobody knows what they're really capable of in the moment, and you're so strong. I'm looking out for others. Not that that will make you feel any better." The resultant smile from Fuyu made her head tilt. "What?"

"I've heard that you like to take charge." She looked down at the phone and smiled a little wider. "Maybe you have a point. All of this is still somewhat new to me. I would like to be allowed to handle it myself, though."

"Right. Of course." Twilight watched her play with the device for a moment. "I, uh, put in our numbers for you. So you could use it right away, I mean."

"Thank you. I think I will." She stood up and walked toward the steps, but hesitated and turned around. "I am very scary, aren't I?"

Twilight rubbed the back of her neck and nodded. "The old you is hard to forget. We try our best to hide it, but wow, is it difficult."

"Then stop trying." Fuyu floated up the stairs to the loft without a further word and settled on her bed. Her first act with the phone was not to call anyone, but instead commit the various menus and icons and screens of the device to her memory. Fifteen minutes later, she brought one such menu up and stared at it. "Now what was her number..." The digits popped up in order as her thumb flew across the display. "Yes." Once added, she called it straightaway.

Four rings passed before a voice responded. "Who is this?"

"Trixie. It's Fuyu," she replied. "I was wondering what you were doing in Canterlot."

Special Delivery
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Special Delivery

Trixie departed her hotel room the next morning, filled to the brim with anxiety. She had lied to Fuyu about her reasons for being in Canterlot – a family visit being the one given – but the pale woman's voice was even harder to read without facial expressions to accompany it. Whether or not the ruse had worked was a mystery. Under Luna's direction, her medal of the Order was safely tucked away in her suitcase, as were the precious documents to be delivered.

"What have I gotten myself into," she muttered while moving down the carpeted hall. "At least the money is decent." Someone in causal clothing was at the end near the elevator, leaning against the wall with their back turned. Trixie didn't pay them much attention until reaching the doors. Squinting, she examined the other person.

They faced her and removed their hood. It was Luna. "Surprise," she said with a smile. "I wanted to see you off. Looks like I was in time."

The magician's face wrinkled. "Oh. About that..." She turned away, pretending to wait for the elevator to arrive even though she hadn't yet pressed the button to call it.

Luna didn't like her expression. Crossing her arms, the oppressive regal air she shared with her sister came flooding out of her stance. "What's with that face?"

Realizing a lie would probably land her somewhere very unpleasant, Trixie took a breath and divulged her phone call. "Fuyu knows I'm here. I had to lie to her about why."

The royal imposition vanished; Luna suddenly looked worried for a tiny instant. "How did she find out?"

Trixie cocked her head in thought. "I have no ide-" Her eyes lit up. "Applejack saw my train ticket! She must have told her."

"I do not appreciate your carelessness," the Princess hissed lowly. "If any of those five get wind of this, Twilight will. If Twilight does, my sister will. If that happens, I may never achieve the-" She pressed her lips shut and tensed visibly. "Never mind."

Despite her wish to remain out of prison – and out of a coffin – Trixie couldn't stifle her annoyance. "For your information, I wasn't expecting her to drop in at six in the morning." While she noticed the shift in demeanor, she decided not to call Luna on it. "Relax. Applejack doesn't know any better than Fuyu does. In fact, she probably knows less."

"For both our sakes, I hope you're right." Luna moved past and hit the button. "I think this goes without saying, but do not let anyone see you drop off the papers."

She nodded, but her eyes rolled during the act. "I've gone from being in a fantasy novel to being in a spy movie." The elevator doors slid open. "Here goes, I guess."

"Good luck." Luna raised her hand in a wave goodbye, allowing the gold-edged indigo crystal on her palm to glitter in the light. "And try to be careful."

Trixie barely managed to get her reply through the closing doors. "I'll do my best."

Today was shaping up to be the first true test of Fuyu's new policy. Both Cakes were back, but Pinkie had been hired away by the Mayor to prepare a meal for some local dignitary's birthday. This left Fuyu in charge of the storefront; it was now her responsibility alone to call back orders, whereas all she'd had to do earlier was talk to the cheerful baker.

And there was a crowd. The weekend started tomorrow, so more people than usual were after a burst of caffeine to help get them over that last hump. While Pinkie had her experience to rely on to keep the line moving, Fuyu depended on something else. In a way, it was like her conversation with Fluttershy, except with even fewer words. They couldn't avoid watching her use her power – at least if they wanted their coffee – so they had to react.

It went better in some cases than others. Rose and her entourage were at the head of the pack, and issued a flurry of orders that the pale woman fulfilled almost by her magic and black goo alone. Remarkably, all three stayed, but a few people in the back of the line departed. The trio left after paying, and the next person in line stepped up hesitantly. Fuyu found herself looking at the Mayor, who was quite unsure about the situation.

"Large coffee, two sugars and one cream," she finally said, adjusting her glasses.

"Very well." The pale woman glanced over her shoulder to aim her black tendrils, which she did without moving her hands from her side. "Is that all?"

The Mayor stepped back as she watched the things writhing around. "Must you do that?"

"It is the most efficient way." To prove her point, she slid the cup of coffee across to the Mayor in a fashion so quick it would have made Pinkie blush with envy. "As you can see. That will be 3.50."

While she squinted at Fuyu, the pale woman waited for payment. She was looking down at her nails, however. She saw the black crystal on her palm. "Wait just a moment, where did you get that edging?" she asked, pointing at the gold trim.

She had to take a long moment to frame her answer; there was much the town still didn't know about the way she had taken out Trixie. "It's always been there," she replied at length, her hand still raised. "Why?" People were starting to try and cut in front of the Mayor by this point, but she refused to yield.

"Hmm. I would like to speak with you after your shift is done," she finally said, flicking a bill across the counter which Fuyu caught with her regular magic. "Just keep the change."

Fuyu couldn't even get out a curious sound before the next person in line came up and snatched her attention. What followed next was a solid hour of arrivals and departures. Three distinct groups of reactions eventually formed. The first were people that didn't care for the display but stayed. The Mayor, Rose, Lily, and Daisy fell into this one. Another consisted of people who actually seemed to like watching Fuyu work.

Not surprisingly, Rarity was a member of this group. "Darling, I have never seen someone make a cappuccino so fast in my life," she gasped, grasping the small cup with her magic.

Fuyu dismissed her ebony assistants and shrugged. "I have an unfair advantage, I guess." Behind the dressmaker, two people departed before reaching the counter – this was group number three, composed of those unwilling to brave the supposed danger for their coffee. "I'm not driving away as many as I thought I would."

"You're not giving them much of a chance to run." Rarity stood to the side to allow others to get their orders in. "The morning crush has never moved quite like this."

"Mm." Fuyu looked up at the new customer and put on what she assumed was a polite smile. "What'll you have?"

The new arrival was a blonde woman with glasses and yellowish eyes that didn't seem to be looking in quite the same direction. Fuyu saw her nearly every day when she delivered mail at the library tree, but didn't yet know her name. "Um, just a hot chocolate," she muttered shyly. When the pale woman used her black helpers to start fulfilling the order, it drew a gasp from her lips. "Those look scary!"

"I suppose they do." Fuyu had to look back a bit longer to make sure she was hitting the right switches, and so wasn't facing the woman as she spoke.

"Good morning, Ditzy," Rarity said, fanning the steam off her tiny cup. "Lovely new glasses."

"Really? I had to get a new prescription, so..." Suddenly, her hot chocolate was on the counter and waiting. "Whoa. That was fast."

"I am nothing if not quick." She looked briefly at Ditzy's silver glasses and blinked. "I like that color."

"Oh, stop it." Red-faced, Ditzy placed a bill on the counter and departed with a faint giggle.

Rarity smiled as she watched her go. "There you are! Make conversation. Nothing endears one to another like idle chatter and a good compliment."

The two people behind Ditzy, having seen Fuyu's display, declined to order and left. Frowning, she looked over at the dressmaker. "You were saying?"

She frowned hard and sighed. "You'll never win them all over. Just do what you can." A clump was beginning to form at the head of the line, so Rarity emptied her cup and deposited money directly into the register with her magic. "I'd best be off. See you later."

"Right." Fuyu looked at the next person in line and sighed. "You may be correct," she muttered under her breath, "but it still bothers me."

Once the morning crush had subsided, the rest of the day was a relative breeze. Fuyu had been called back into the kitchen to assist with the confections twice, although only after ensuring that the Cakes knew she had no idea how to cook or bake anything. Her role was nothing of the sort; instead, it called upon her magic to steady a towering chocolate construction of some kind built for a client in Canterlot. While she was standing there, holding the thing up with her magic and waiting on the batter to set, Pinkie arrived.

"Omigosh guys I accidentally snorted a piece of bell pepper," she rambled upon arrival, drawing odd looks from the three of them. "What? That can totally happen." She rubbed at her nose furiously. "How did it go, Fufu?"

"Fine. Some left. Most didn't." Her concentration was still being applied to the tiers of the enormous cake on the table. "What about you?"

"It was great! I got to grill things! I didn't know I could grill things but after a couple of fires I totally got it down." She folded her arms and glared at the Cakes, who were wearing horrified expressions. "I didn't burn down city hall if that's what you're thinking."

"Of course not, dearie!" Both disappeared behind the cake as if checking its integrity. "I don't know why you'd believe we were thinking such a thing."

Pinkie stifled a long giggle. "Pff, silly. Hey, I heard the Mayor wants to talk to you!" She darted over and hung on the pale woman in as tight a hug as her position would allow. "Are you in trouble? Is that like the grown-up version of getting called to the principal's office?"

"Not that I'm aware, and I honestly wouldn't know." Her focus was absolute, despite having the baker draped all over her back. "But I should probably go soon and see her. How much longer?"

Mister Cake leaned out into view and gave her a thumbs up. "Looks fine. Have a good weekend!"

Fuyu nodded as her hands ceased to glow. "Very well. Goodbye." Pinkie, however, wouldn't let go. "I need to leave," she said, gently nudging the baker in the arm.

She whined unhappily and continued to cling. "But I just got here! I haven't even said hello! Hi! Okay now I did, but still."

"Yes, but I should not keep the Mayor waiting." After slipping out from the hug with a magical assist, she patted Pinkie on the head. "I'll be around. You can visit me at home."

"Gosh, fiiiiiiiiiiiiiine." She walked over to the cake and waved with a smile. "Go do your boring meeting or whatever."

Fuyu smiled and waved back, then walked out of the kitchen and through the shop. Once outside, she decided to detach herself from the parking lot asphalt and hover to city hall. Whether or not the populace approved was below her concern; instead her mind wandered around in an attempt to figure out why the Mayor wanted to talk to her. Finding the place was easy, since she passed by it whenever visiting Rarity's boutique. It was a squat, brick building with as many stories as the one Rainbow Dash lived in, although not as narrow. A flagpole was stuck in a circle of concrete with bushes surrounding the base. The flag that flew from it was one she'd seen several times before – Twilight had said this was the national flag, which featured a half-sun, half-moon disk accompanying day and night skies, split in twain from bottom left to upper right. She watched it flutter for a moment before drifting up the wide steps and into the building.

Before she could even let her feet drop to the carpet, the raven-haired woman at the reception desk near the stairs got up and started in her direction. "She's already waiting for you." Her head tilted at the stairway.

"All right." Fuyu moved past her and began to climb them. They doubled back as they rose and dumped her onto the second floor, a space with many desks and a few people, none of which were the Mayor. She kept going up, until the stairway came to an end in a small reception area with two couches and a table. There was a door nearby, made of wood with a gold plaque at top center. "Mayor Mare," she read it out loud, then entered.

She was looking out her window as Fuyu came in; the view afforded was of downtown, looking toward the towering meeting hall. "Ah, there you are. Shut the door, if you would."

Magically, it was done. The pale woman settled in one of the two black leather chairs before the desk and looked at the Mayor's back. "Why did you want to see me?"

Before turning, she closed the blinds. Before speaking, she sat down as well and placed her hands on the desk, clasping them tightly. "First, I wanted to thank you again for saving the town. I didn't get a chance at the function because of the Princess' presence."

"Mm." She struggled to resist barging right through the pleasantries and to let the point of this gathering come to her. "It was nothing."

"It certainly wasn't." The Mayor leaned forward and assumed an air that was almost threatening. "Which leads me to why I asked you here. How did you do it, exactly?"

Fuyu crossed her arms and frowned a little. "You're just asking me this now?"

"I wouldn't have been curious had I not seen the edging on your jewels. In fact, if I'd not seen the jewels period. Last I heard, you had cuts on your palms that leaked some sort of black fluid."

And just like that her arms fell limp into her lap. She hadn't thought anything of her diversion; keeping the memory had, with time, become unnecessary. Bon Bon and Lyra hadn't brought it up again, so she'd assumed none of the others in their makeshift posse did either. In retrospect, she wondered why she had ever assumed her actions would stay quiet. Her mouth curled down as she inhaled. "Yes. So?"

The Mayor leaned ever farther forward, squinting through her glasses. "What did you do with the amulet?"

Now frozen with a fear she hadn't known since Rainbow Dash caught her feeding, Fuyu was silent and wide-eyed. While she wasn't a stranger to lying, she knew doing so now was probably a bad idea. There were, however, no parts of the truth she felt comfortable with giving to a relative stranger – and then, of course, there were the parts she had to keep hidden from everyone. While she fought to find an answer, her pants began to emit a generic ringtone. "Huh?" She retrieved her phone and peeked at the screen, where a photo of a smiling Twilight greeted her. "Oh. I should probably answer this."

"If you must," the Mayor relented, no shortage of disdain in her voice. Fuyu rose and strode out of the office, closing the door behind her.

The librarian was a bit too chipper in her greeting. "Hey! I hope you're getting overtime."

"Help," Fuyu breathed, glancing back at the door she'd just exited through. "The Mayor is asking me questions that I can't answer."

"Wha—why is she even talking to you? I haven't spoken to her since after the Princess left the party. I thought everything was fine."

The pale woman paced, realized she'd picked up the habit from Twilight, liked doing it, and kept going. "She saw my crystals and she knows I didn't have them before. Remember what I did to distract Trixie? Someone told her."

"Ohhhhh boy. Um. I'll be there as soon as I can."

"There's no time for you to drive." Fuyu looked out the nearest window and saw the towering branches of the library. "Go to the balcony. I'll fly over and pick you up."

"Erk. I don't think that's a good idea...then again we may not have a choice. All right. I'm walking up now."

Fuyu hung up and quietly opened the window with her magic. A peek out revealed several people on the street below, going about their business. Grumbling, she threw herself from the building and began to drop. After ten feet, her magic overwhelmed gravity and stopped her fall; in a second more it began to propel her along. The surprised shouts of those below only reached her ears for a moment until she had rocketed out of range. She alighted on the balcony not thirty seconds later, next to Twilight's precious telescope.

"Good grief!" the librarian exclaimed, coming out of the double doors. "You beat me up the stairs!"

"I'm in a hurry," Fuyu replied, pointing her left hand at Twilight, who squeaked as a sparkling black cloud of force enveloped her. "Let's go."

"Okay, just-" Whatever she had wanted to say was lost to a squeal when they went airborne. "Fuyu! Slow down!" The rooftops and trees flashed by under them at such a rate that Twilight tried to fight against their forward momentum. As the side of city hall came up on them like a charging bull, she slammed her eyes closed.

The expected impact never materialized. Fuyu gently threaded her friend through the open window, slid in after, and closed it behind them. While Twilight braced herself on the back of a couch to calm down, the pale woman took to pacing again.

Her demeanor was intimately familiar. "A-are you freaking out?" Twilight asked, finally collected enough to straighten. She issued one full-body shake, however, in an attempt to fling off the tingling of the telekinesis.

"No. Maybe." Fuyu regarded her with a tense glance. "I don't know what to say to her to make her stop so I can stay here."

Twilight's gaze hardened. "She's not going to make you go anywhere. Come on."

A very surprised Mayor stood up as the librarian entered her office. After a brief moment of confusion, she regained her composure and peered at the women. "Miss Sparkle. I wasn't expecting you."

She smoothed down some of the hair that Fuyu's breakneck speed had messed up and nodded. "Yes. I got wind of your meeting and decided to drop by." A small smile ran by as she considered her pun. "Although I would like to know the purpose. What's going on?"

"I'm simply tying up a few loose ends." The Mayor seated herself once more and looked at each of them in turn. "Such as the whereabouts of the amulet. And the jewels that I thought weren't supposed to be there. And what magic was she using before, exactly? What Lyra described to me didn't sound like the power I'm used to seeing."

Twilight was just as nervous now as her friend had been before, but unlike the pale woman she managed to recover. Her tone became somewhat akin to an attorney. "First, I have the amulet. Second, you are seeing Fuyu's hands as they were before her...injury."

That was close enough to the truth to make Fuyu squirm with discomfort, but as far as Twilight knew she was just adding to the lie being woven.

It appeared to be working. "I see," the Mayor murmured. "That still doesn't explain what was coming from her palms."

Twilight crossed her legs and looked as learned as any professor that had ever lived. "Madame Mayor, our jewels act as vents to regulate the flow of magic through our bodies. If we lose them, that magic compresses until it solidifies, and, if not dealt with, kills us. Lyra probably saw her trying to eject compressed magic out of her hands."

If there were any ambiguity about how effective the librarian was being, it vanished with the gasp. "That sounds painful!"

"You have no idea," Fuyu said, looking down at her black jewels. The truth sat heavy on her chest, but the outward expression of her pain was still vague enough to avoid triggering Twilight's concern.

"I don't think it would be fair to make her dig all these memories up again, do you?" She smiled as the Mayor nodded. "Good. Have I addressed all of your concerns?"

"Yes, but I'm curious. How did she lose her original jewels?"

Holding the answer in became too much for the pale woman to bear. Emotion bent her in half, forcing her to place her elbows on her knees and hide her face just as the tears arrived. The only other time Twilight had seen her cry like this was the morning after the tornado at Applejack's farmhouse.

It rattled her deeply. "Mayor, please," she stammered, rubbing Fuyu on the shoulder, "Don't make her relive it again." She leaned closer to whisper to the pale woman. "Are you all right?"

"Can I go now?" she replied through her shaking fingers.

The Mayor was just as uneasy and motioned to the door. "Of course, I'm sorry." Both of them watched Fuyu depart posthaste. "I truly am sorry. I had no idea," she added, looking at Twilight.

The librarian paired a weak smile with her deeply uncertain eyes and shrugged. "It's all right. Her past is a very touchy subject." Quickly, she got to her feet to see where Fuyu had gone.

"Wait, before you go...what about the edging? I thought..."

She had the perfect lie instantly; it took her far longer to frame the words just right to allow for maximum deniability later on. "That only Princesses had them?" she finished, looking down. "Well." Her tacked on expression was flawless, so flawless it made the Mayor gasp and cover her mouth. "Please keep this quiet."

"Of course."

Unwilling to wait any longer, Twilight excused herself and darted out of the office, hoping Fuyu hadn't gotten too far. She found the woman on one of the couches right outside, seated and hunched over. "You're one heck of an actress," she laughed nervously, sitting down with her.

"I suppose." Her tone lacked any of its usual strength.

Twilight tilted away and blinked. Her own mind was starting to light up with anxiety. "You were acting, weren't you?" The pale woman wouldn't answer. "Oh no, was I telling the truth by accident? What did I get right?" Suddenly, she gasped. "Did you remember something? Was it what happened to your hands?"

"Can we not talk about this right now?" Fuyu growled those words. She couldn't help it; her nerves were raw from the outburst. "Please."

"Sure. I-I'm sorry. You're just worrying me." She stood up as the pale woman did and followed her to the window. "Really, though, are you okay?"

"I'm fine enough." She opened the window with her power and flung herself through it, disappearing for a moment. When she floated back into view, she motioned for Twilight. "Come on."

"I will never get used to this..." The librarian's exit was far less graceful, and she yelped with the fall until the pressure of Fuyu's magic cushioned and stopped her. "Geez. I wish I could lift people."

"Mm." They took off together, although the trip back was slower. The distance was still covered in fairly short order. Fuyu set Twilight down on the balcony before letting herself land. "If you don't mind, I think I will take a nap."

"No, no, of course not. I need to head back downstairs anyway." In an instant she was by herself on the balcony, which gave her the chance to wrangle with her thoughts. "What did I say to set her off?" She couldn't figure it out, although running over her last words to the Mayor suddenly introduced a startling possibility. The gold trim had been thrown on the enormous pile of things that were odd about Fuyu and forgotten, but insinuating that she had it due to being a Princess – a blood-related one, not by marriage like herself – caused Twilight to think hard.

"Why does she have that trim?" she asked lowly, tapping her chin.

Trixie arrived back at her apartment long after the sun had died behind the hills, an exhausted and nervous wreck. Somehow, not having seen Fuyu on the cab ride into and through Ponyville only made her more uneasy. Too spent to unpack, she rolled her suitcase into the bedroom, retrieved only the envelope with the documents, and fell on her couch to wait for the night to grow a little older. A thought about calling the pale woman crossed her mind, but she dismissed it instead for a brief nap.

Sleep refused to come. She had the distinct feeling she was going down a rabbit hole of indeterminate depth, and imagining what awaited her at the bottom was unnerving to say the least. Muttering to herself, she rose and wandered over to her window to look outside.

"So much for the stage life," she sighed, looking at the darkened library tree in the distance. "Never even made it to Manehattan." An attempt to perk herself up had mixed success, but she smiled anyway. "At least I don't have to sleep in a glorified trailer in the creepy as hell woods."

Looking back at the table, her eyes fell on the packet. While she might have been curious about its contents, something told her that peeking would end badly; she didn't put it past Luna to have magicked the thing to explode if anyone but Fuyu tried to look inside. Scowling, she glanced back out the window. "They have to be asleep by now. I may as well get this over with." After snatching the packet up, she slid on her sneakers and walked out. Once she emerged from the building and onto the sidewalk, she snapped her eyes around to gauge how alone she was. Ponyville itself seemed to be slumbering, but the magician was too paranoid about being see to take any chances. Once she crossed the road, she darted into the nearest alley and began her trek.

From shadow to shadow she moved, clumsily at times, desperate to remain out of sight. A few minute walk from the apartments to the library turned into half an hour of hiding, whispering prayers whenever someone passed by too closely, and lying in wait for opportunities to move. When the great tree came fully into view, all the windows were dark.

"Thank goodness." Trixie ducked down behind a bush to catch her breath, and also to contemplate where to put the packet so only Fuyu would find it. A slow walkaround of the tree yielded no acceptable answer. The stoop was out; Twilight would likely find it first when she checked her mail. Anywhere else might be too well-concealed for Fuyu to see. Grumbling, she looked up through the branches at the stars. Her eyes fell on the balcony, and she grinned. "Perfect." With her magic, she slowly threaded the precious cargo through the limbs and leaves, then slotted it through the railing and let it drop. Once sure it was up there for good, she turned and moved quickly away from the tree.

Fuyu, standing on the balcony and looking up at the sky, had felt Trixie's magical spark wandering around, although she didn't know it was the magician. While she had been curious about how close the tingling had come to her, she was in no hurry to investigate until the sound of the packet hitting the deck reached her ears. She walked over and picked it up, blinking at it. "What is this?" A movement from her left made her look – it was Trixie, retreating down the street too close to a lamppost, and at a conspicuous pace. She glanced several times between the envelope and Trixie, letting her eyes rest on the latter until she vanished out of sight.

Project Winter
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Black

Project Winter

"Twilight, I sure do wish y'all would get whatever is botherin' you off your chest, 'cause you standin' around and bein' pensive as all hell ain't gettin' these apples down."

Scolded hard enough to visibly wince, she turned to Applejack with a sheepish smile. "Sorry, I'm just thinking about something."

"No kiddin'? I'm listenin'." She hefted a bushel of apples up and into the old red truck's bed. "And don't ya dare clam up, either. Ain't seen ya like this in a while." She leaned against the side of the vehicle and doffed her hat, looking up at the cloudy morning sky.

With a sigh, Twilight screwed up her courage – but not before looking down at the jewels in her palms. "I said something yesterday that's really bothering me. Did anyone tell you what happened with Fuyu?"

"'Bout the Mayor? Yeah. Heard it from Pinkie." The blonde folded her arms and glowered. "Damn that woman. Stickin' her nose in where it don't belong."

"I guess. When I was covering for her, I insinuated that Fuyu's crystals were edged because she was a Princess." While collecting her thoughts, she glanced down at her own again, paying special attention to the gold trim. "Maybe...maybe I wasn't wrong."

Applejack straightened up, eyes bulging. "Say what?"

Twilight walked over and stood on the blonde's left. Based on her body language, a ramble was coming on. "Remember when Shining got married and I became a Princess? Remember after the ceremony when Celestia took me aside?" She turned her palm and showed Applejack her purple crystal. "That's when she gave me the trim. 'The distinguishing mark of a Princess of the Realm', she told me. I've been trying to figure out why the amulet gave them to Fuyu, but I have no answers."

"Well, does Fuyu have any idea? Couldn't hurt ta ask." Applejack blinked at the firmness of Twilight's head shaking. "Why not?"

"I said I didn't have answers, but I have theories. When I left Ponyville after Trixie attacked, I went looking for the national magical artifact registry – which, by the way, is technically classified, so I didn't tell you any of this." Movement off to the right caught their attention and forced the librarian to pause. It turned out to be a flock of birds. "I wanted to find the amulet."

The blonde nodding, shifting her weight to get a little more comfortable. "I've heard this part. Then y'all talked ta Celestia and she acted all weird, right?"

"Yes!" Twilight threw her hands up in frustration. "I was just happy that everything was all right when I got back, and I didn't want to make a scene at the party for Fuyu's sake, but the Princess was acting so weird. That's where my theories come in. I think she had something to do with that amulet. Maybe it was in the registry and got out of her custody somehow?"

"Could be. So what if she lost it? I lose crap all the time." Applejack chuckled lowly, only to shrink back and fall silent under a withering glare.

Twilight's tone was just as grave. "Fuyu said it was her amulet. That's the problem. Why would Celestia have it if it originally belonged to Fuyu?"

"Uh...well..." Applejack stared off into space while searching for an answer. None would come. "Whoa. I don't get it either. Hey, what if they got into a fight and Fu got banished or something? Does that make any sense?"

"I would have heard about a fight between Princesses." Collecting herself with a deep breath, Twilight leaned against the truck again. "And on top of this, Fuyu says she remembers being in the Castle, or at least the gardens. Damn it! They're connected and I can't figure out how!"

The blonde had figured something out by this point, something that made her eyes bulge with surprise. "Uh oh."

"What?"

She snapped her fingers. "The party! Fu and the Princess talked for dang near a whole hour! I bet she knows what's up and she can't tell ya."

"Of course!" Twilight visibly perked up and deflated again just as quickly. "She's in the Order now. Conversations between its members and the Princesses are considered official business. Even if I wanted to ask her what they talked about, I can't. I'd end up in jail."

Applejack patted her on the shoulder. "This is messed up."

"Oh, it gets worse. Why did she know who I was? What is that black goo? How can she sense other people's magic? Ugh!" Twilight hid her eyes and continued to groan. "And what really gets me is that I can't make myself tell Fuyu any of this. She's dealing with enough as it is. All my crazy ideas would completely freak her out." Her hand fell away abruptly. "Wait...no wonder she's seemed so stressed out the past couple of weeks. She's had to hide whatever the Princess told her."

"Hey, why don't ya tell her ya know...uh, something?" Applejack smiled nervously against the librarian's questioning look. "Just tell her you know that she knows, but nobody has ta tell anybody what they know. That way Fu can hide whatever it is without hidin' that she's hidin' it, and you can admit that ya have questions without really askin' 'em!"

"Wh-what?" Twilight brightened up when she got it, but the process took a few seconds. "Applejack, you're a genius! Why didn't I think of that?"

"No offense, Twi, but sometimes ya can't see the forest for the trees." They both laughed briefly. "Seriously, I think y'all could do with gettin' at least a little off your chests."

"Maybe so. Fuyu's still developing emotionally. She doesn't need to be dealing with my stress on top of that, so I'd have to be careful. I wonder if she's awake." Twilight drew her phone and was just about to dial, but couldn't make her fingers tap the screen. "Nah. It can wait. She hasn't gotten much time by herself lately, I don't want to bother her."

"Hey," Applejack hesitated long enough for her to look over, "What if you're right? What if they did know her before?"

Twilight slumped again and sighed. "There's not much I can do. I can try asking the Princess, but I already know I'll get nowhere."

"What about Luna? Y'all text each other a bunch, right?" Applejack asked, rubbing her chin in thought.

Instantly she smiled and straightened up. "You know what? That isn't a bad idea."

At that moment, Fuyu was in the rear entryway of the library tree with Spike, who was sliding on his shoes. "Just tell Twilight I'll be a while. I have no idea what Rarity wants me to do at the boutique."

She nodded. "Very well. I'll tell her if she calls."

"Cool. If anyone tries to return a book, they'll use the slot out back. I posted a notice on the front door." He jerked with surprise as a car horn honked outside. "That's her. See you later!"

"Goodbye." Fuyu watched him zip out the door and, with her magic, closed it behind him. "Finally," she sighed, her face darkening. Taking to the air, she floated with haste back up to the loft. Once there, she used her magic to lift her air mattress and retrieve the manila packet. It was unopened; she hadn't bothered trying to look at it until she could guarantee being alone, although she somehow knew her flying off at random would attract unwanted attention. Biding time proved easy. She'd been doing something like it for five years.

Inside the envelope was a neatly-stacked packet of documents which she slid out and held. The first was a cover sheet, and the few words, placed dead center, were enough to set her mind afire with stunned curiosity.

Project Winter

Compressed Magic Storage Report

"What is this?" Flipping the page revealed another with a single paragraph up top, hand-written in flowing cursive that she struggled a bit to read.

Your Highness,

As per your instructions, a preliminary study of the required amount of subjects to achieve saturation of the crystalline container unit has yielded a number of approximately 4,400. Our cross-department interactions with the Ministry of Interior has lead us to believe that they can supply the needed bodies from the prison system, with the caveat that so many executions at once may seem...conspicuous. The Ministry of Interior may need to be further employed to upgrade the sentences of more violent general population prisoners. The science has been done in this regard; we only need the corpses now.

"What?" She looked down past that paragraph at a regally-scribbled sentence, the only other text on this sheet. "'Do what needs to be done.'" Despite the lack of any other context, Fuyu still knew who had written it. "You! Is this what you promised me?"

Flipping this page lead to another with printed words and a diagram at the bottom. The diagram was the amulet – not the entire thing, but the central jewel and its immediate frame – and a few notes in the margins. The text wove a tale of how the crystal had been designed to act like the human skeletal structure, which to Fuyu's surprise was where the great majority of magic was concentrated. The jewel could hold a far denser amount of magic than bone, however. As she read, subsequent paragraphs detailed the process of converting people into fuel. "'Living subjects must be crushed under extremely high pressures. Deceased subjects leak too much magic in the first twelve hours to be viable.'" What she read next almost caused her to drop the packet. "'Sufficient crushing pressure yields highly-dense magical superfluid of a black color. For purposes of simplicity, we'll call this the 'black goo'. Testing on the goo reveals that its molecules react to electrical stimuli as well as exposure to external magic. It becomes rigid or flexible under the former, and soaks up the latter like a sponge.'"

She did toss the papers down after reading that sentence, snapping a rope of ebony out of her right palm to glare at it. "You're made of people," she hissed. "Is that why you yelled at me for food? Because you needed more of them to survive?" After dismissing it with equal ire, she snatched the documents up again and started to flip through them. Some of them comprised an extensive listing of people that had been killed – ten pages in all, with over two hundred names per page – while others confirmed her earlier suspicions. "'The goo is inert unless subjected to a constant electric current.' I already know that. 'Our experiments with the jewel bearers (who were less than cooperative) show the substance will readily suck magic from living creatures.' I already know that, too." The remainder of the stack was further information about the crystal in the amulet – how it reacted with the goo, amongst other things, and both turned out to be quite similar to each other, and an emergency source of fuel in case the amulet were lost – living humans. What Fuyu hadn't found yet was a mention of herself, something that annoyed her to the point where she began to skim through to find one. Page after page of chilly scientific notes and vaguely bureaucratic nonsense yielded nothing until the very last sheet she looked at.

Here was another scribbled note, in Celestia's handwriting. As she moved the page around, something in the top right corner caught her attention. After some trial and error, it finally showed up and became clear in direct light; a ghostly representation of the sun was embossed there, a shape roughly the same as her medal of the Order. "What is this?" Blinking, she looked at the note:

I am ordering Project Winter to be re-purposed. Twilight, I believe, will be fine. I need the being for something more important now.

"The...the being?" Dumbfounded, Fuyu let the packet slip from her hand as she sat roughly on her bed. "The being?" Magically she snatched the papers off the floor and stared at the cover sheet. "My name is-" Her eyes fell on the word, causing her to slump sadly. "Winter." Before she could get too much farther down her sad path, a question tugged at her brain. "Re-purposed? For what?" A search of the documents yielded nothing; as best she could figure out they had been arranged in chronological order. Her melancholy yielded to mild anger. "Am I ever going to get the whole story from you?" Gritting her teeth, she put them back into their envelope and stood up. Once they were again hidden, she paced. "What was I doing after you decided I didn't need to kill Twilight?"

For several minutes, she traced an unhappy path around the loft, grumbling lowly to herself in thought. Suddenly, another question popped up, one that froze her mid-stride. "Where did this come fr-" She knew that already. While her magical sensor detected Twilight as it always did when she was around, it had also picked up another source of power, one that had come almost directly underneath her last night as she stood on the balcony. Upon recalling the event, she realized she had tracked it all the way to the point where she'd seen Trixie under the lamppost and retreating. The spark had been one and the same. Every other tingling notice was either still, or too far away to be the one she'd felt moving around.

The pale woman's anger flared up again, though this time tinted with confusion. "How did she get this?!" Her first inkling was to call, but somehow she knew this would be dealt with best in a face-to-face conversation. She placed her phone in her pants pocket and hovered down the stairs, moving out the front door and staring down the street at the apartment building, whose top she could barely see. It took every ounce of restraint to not fly off at breakneck speed; her display yesterday had caused quite a stir, and she still wished to ingratiate herself to the populace. It had taken a backseat to what she'd just read, but still nagged at her enough to force her into a quick, low-altitude hover instead.

Never rising more than six inches off the ground, Fuyu shot down the street and crossed it to enter the building, shedding her decorum and launching herself up the stairs with frightening speed. Once on the second floor, she peered into the peepholes of each door until her eye detected Trixie through one, apparently napping on her couch. Instead of knocking, she twisted the doorknob. It was locked, so she used the black goo to defeat the lock and enter. The magician continued to snooze lightly as she walked up to the couch. "Trixie!" she bellowed.

"Gah!" She fell off in a heap, landing back up and gasping for air. "Fuyu! How did you get in here?"

The pale woman glowered down. "Do you think a door can stop me?"

Usually even and calm, Fuyu's voice was angry and cold and demanding. It turned Trixie's blood to ice. "Wh-what's this about?" she stammered, looking over her shoulder.

"You left the envelope on the balcony last night, didn't you? Is that why you went to Canterlot?"

Her heart froze almost as solid as the substance it was supposed to be pumping. Like a crab, she scooted away from the unhappy Fuyu until her back bumped against the wall under her window. "W-what a-are you talking about?" A writhing black rope shot out and wrapped around her mouth before she could scream at its appearance.

"You lied to me about your trip, do not lie to me again." Her every word was a double-bladed dagger of seething rage. She moved closer and knelt down before Trixie, who was too scared to tremble or even cry. "I felt you moving around. I know you did it. I want to hear you say it." The rope withdrew enough to clear the magician's mouth. "Choose your next words carefully."

Trixie had only enough composure for one. "Yes!" She closed her eyes and waited for the end to come, but all that happened was the complete retraction of the cold, black goo. Her eyes fluttered open and beheld a still displeased, but somewhat calmer Fuyu leering above.

"Get up." Fuyu watched Trixie obey with immediate haste, although her stance was tense and defensive. "I'm sorry. I..." Upon realizing she had just taken out her emotions on the poor woman, she sighed and looked away. "I read some awful things. I don't know what to think right now."

She began to laugh with excessive nervousness, desperate to defuse the situation. "I hope you know that old line about not shooting the messenger?"

Her words managed, somehow, to draw a smile. "I do, believe it or not." Fuyu sat down on the blue sofa and sighed again. "Where did you get it? Is it something you found?"

"I don't really know how to answer this without dying." Trixie was unwilling to approach, and decided to sit on the floor where she stood. "Caught between two angry women. I'm reminded of that one time I stayed a little too long in Trottingham and ended up dating."

"I'm not going to kill you." Fuyu folded her arms and settled back. "But I'm not leaving until you answer my questions."

"I was afraid you'd say that." More terrified of the possible death right in front of her than the possible death residing hundreds of miles away in Canterlot, Trixie cracked instantly. "I got them from Princess Luna. I don't know where she got them, I swear. Actually, I don't know a lot of anything, so that's a good reason to not impale me on a pike! Right?"

She glanced over with a darkly curious look. "Why did she give them to you?"

At last, the magician got up and came closer, wringing her hands with anxiety all the way. "I received a letter from her about a week ago." She pointed at the smartphone on the table. "That was enclosed. We've been in contact ever since. In exchange for keeping an eye on you and delivering things for her, I would get to stay out of jail."

Fuyu blinked. "What did Celestia say about that?"

"I asked the same thing. Apparently, her sister wasn't interested in putting me in jail either. I haven't any idea why." She sat down on the other end of her couch and sighed. "What was in those papers? I've never seen such anger from you. I mean, besides the time...you know."

"Not important. I want more." Her tone was terribly stern. "When will you see her again?"

"I don't know. She arranges the meetings." Trixie caught the pale woman staring at her phone. "I'm not going to call her now, if that's what you're thinking."

"There's too much for me to digest as it is." Fuyu stood up and turned her back. "Did Luna tell you anything about me that you didn't already know?"

"Not really, and believe me, I asked several times. I thought you were related to the Princesses, but she said no, and she also said your given name was Winter. I'm not sure how she knew that, but I didn't press." She tilted her head at the tension in Fuyu's stance. "Uh, are you all right?"

Fuyu snapped back at her, the gentle volume of her words only increasing the sting. "Of course not. Why did you think I was related to them?"

"Your crystals have gold trim. Only a Princess has that. Well, and Twilight, surprisingly."

"She's a Princess by marri-" When it hit her, she stopped speaking and lifted her hand to stare down at her palms. "Why do I..." A deeply unhappy groan passed through her lips. "They're leaving things out again."

Trixie grew nervous. She decided to try and console her friend. "Luna says she's trying to give you the truth. It will take some time."

The option was distasteful, but Fuyu realized it was her best, if not only choice. "Very well. Let's keep this conversation to ourselves." As she moved toward the door, Trixie stood up and followed.

"Good idea! I'll try to urge her into giving me more stuff to give to you. I don't know how long that will take." They stopped in the small entryway. "I'm sorry. About everything. I'm in way over my head."

"I think I am too." Fuyu gave her an awkward hug and strode through the door. "I need to go. I have more reading to do."

Twilight returned to the library tree about an hour after Fuyu got back. After getting the door closed, an eerie silence swept over her. It made the hair on the back of her neck stand up, but she was unable to figure out why. From the quiet she knew Spike was still gone, but it was so quiet that she didn't immediately know if the pale woman were still around. Only after walking carefully into the kitchen did she find her, seated at the table with a book in her hand. "Oh! There you are. Didn't know if you were even home. Feeling better from yesterday?"

"Sorry, and yes, I suppose." She didn't look up. "How is Applejack?"

Something about her tone was too even; it made Twilight quiver as she went over to the fridge. "Fine, fine. We stopped for lunch, I'm heading back soon. You want to come along?"

She still didn't look up. "Yes."

Twilight had enough. There was such a concentration of tension in that single word that she shut the refrigerator door, walked over, and sat at the table. "Fuyu, listen, I know. I know about what happened at the party."

Fuyu was surprised enough to almost drop the book. "Wh-what?" she stammered, wide-eyed. Most of her brain was suddenly dedicated to figuring out how the librarian had gotten this information. "How did you..."

"Hold on." Twilight clasped her hands and took on a gentle posture. "I know you talked about something that can't be disclosed." She watched the pale woman deflate with what she hoped was relief. "I knew it. No wonder you've been so quiet. Er, more than usual. I assume, anyway, because I don't really know what usual is for you just yet."

Confusion and terror were fighting for prominence in Fuyu's brain, while relief was darting about outside the storm and looking for a way to wedge itself in. Before she lost control of her mouth, she decided to figure out what it was that Twilight knew. "Did you hear us?"

"No. But you two talked for a long time, so I'm guessing the amulet and your history came up." The librarian sighed deeply. "I have so many questions, but I'm not going to prod you for answers because you have enough to deal with. I mean, you're building a life from scratch. When you're ready, we can deal with this stuff."

"No, we can't." Fuyu looked away and down at the floor, more somber than Twilight had ever seen her.

"Was...was it that bad?" She watched the pale woman nod. "Oh. Wow. Okay, we don't have to talk about it if you don't want to. Just, uh, just know that I know that you know, and that it's fine."

Fuyu shook her head at the odd wording, but smiled. "All right."

"Good! Good. Still driving me nuts, though." She laid her head on the table and groaned. "Hey, there's one little thing I want to ask you," she said, tilting her head to look over. "If you can't answer it, just say so."

"Okay."

She sat up. "Did she tell you why the amulet gave you the gold edges on your jewels?"

The pale woman's eyes grew suddenly dark. "No. I wish she had, but she didn't."

"Uh..." The vague rage was making Twilight nervous. She withdrew until the back of her chair stopped her. "You look even angrier than you did this morning. What's wrong?"

Fuyu rose from her chair, picked up her book and snapped it shut. "You're not the only one without the whole story." Like a tiger, she stalked up the stairs. "Let me know when you're ready to return to the orchard."

"R-right! I won't be too long." Smiling wide despite the fact her friend couldn't see it, Twilight waited until she was out of sight to let her emotions change. "Good grief," she murmured while hugging herself. "What did you tell her, Princess?"

For the first time, thinking about that, and the situation as a whole, was making her bitterly uncomfortable.

Perception is Everything
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Black

Perception is Everything

"I know that look, Luna. The answer is still no."

The two sisters were seated at the table in the dining room of the elder's living quarters, ostensibly eating breakfast. For Luna it was more like dinner; her sleep schedule never really matched up with Celestia's since she despised the sun. Growling lowly, the younger Princess used her telekinesis to pilfer an omelette. "Why not? I keep telling you it would help me to see her."

Celestia's brow furrowed, both at the reply and at the fact that she'd wanted that omelette herself. "You know exactly why. She'd start asking questions none of us can answer without...problems."

"No, that is the problem. You have serious trust issues, sister." Luna smirked at her sister's regal glare, letting the expression slide past. "Glower all you like. Your distrust of Twilight is what got us into this mess in the first place." She concluded her statement with a series of painful-sounding coughs.

"Are you all r-" The elder Princess fell silent as Luna waved her off, then composed herself and sat straight. "Good. I have a heart attack whenever you cough."

"Remember how bad it used to be?" They both fell silent and gazed at each other, wrangling with a shared memory too painful to manifest in words. "I'm fine. Relax."

"Hmm." After some time had passed, Celestia regarded her sister with a pointed look. "Why are you so keen to see Winter?"

She was legitimately taken aback and folded her arms. "I cannot believe you are even asking me such a thing. You know exactly why."

"I don't think it would help." Celestia chomped down on a piece of toast out of annoyance.

"Stop being obstinate. She needs the truth and I need the closure." Luna glared at her sister's stony visage and pounded her fist on the table. "Winter has the right to know!"

Celestia didn't even bother to raise her voice. "Winter has enough to deal with at the moment, don't you think?" She punctuated her words with a sip of tea from her magically suspended cup.

"You can't hide it forever. If she finds out on her own, the outcome will be so much worse than if we just confess. And what about Twilight? How do you think she will react?"

She tried to feign anger but lacked the strength; Luna was right, but Celestia knew no other way than to keep hiding the secret. "Leave her out of this, and none of them will find out. I have no intention of keeping my promise to Winter. Any part of the truth is too dangerous a thing to allow her."

Luna leaned back in her chair, crossed her arms, and loosed a dark snarl. "The depths of your paranoia continue to astound me. You were terrified of Twilight; she turned out fine. I believe Winter will too, if we give her the entire picture."

"I am not being paranoid!" she snapped in reply, glaring wide-eyed. "I have a country to run, a people to protect. Winter is a potential weapon of mass destruction! I dare not give her such information. Who can say what her mental state would become?"

"If she qualifies as a weapon of mass destruction, so do I. So do you."

Luna's logic cut Celestia straight to the bone. Helpless, she stared at her plate for several seconds before screwing up her resolve and looking at her sister. "That is beside the point. She is incredibly dangerous and I have no wish to set her off."

"If you choose to label her actions as dangerous, well, I have no idea how to even respond to that." They shared another series of unhappy looks before Luna pressed on. "She has twice risked her life to save people she barely knew. And by the way, I've told you repeatedly how Twilight and her friends have closed around her. This wouldn't be something she'd have to handle alone."

"No. Twilight will get curious and I can't answer her questions either. Let it go. This is how it has to be." Celestia blinked at the sudden sadness that marked Luna's face. "Wh-"

She was very close to crying out of sheer frustration. "Give me something, damn it."

It was a dagger to Celestia's heart. "What? What can I give you that won't backfire on us?"

Luna hid her eyes and slumped over. "Just let me see her in person. Just once. Is that so much to ask?"

"Why?" Her tone was so gentle now as to be almost inaudible.

"We built her. She's...she's like our child. I feel responsible for her."

While she'd heard this before, to see it affect her sister so deeply troubled Celestia to no end. For several moments, only the quiet sound of the younger Princess' crying filled the air until, finally, she could bear the noise no more. "Very well. I will need some reason to bring her here without arousing suspicion."

Luna's mood brightened instantly. She got up and threw herself at her sister in a tight hug. "About time," she sniffled, smirking weakly.

Celestia laughed, patting her lightly on the back. "You're as stubborn as any mule. I still need to come up with some reason for her to make the trip."

"I'm sure you'll think of one." Exhausted, Luna pulled away and wiped her face with the sleeve of her hoodie.

She smiled wryly and nodded. "Of course. Just be sure not to sleep through it. You'll only get this one chance."

Her face went sour, but she relented to the condition and shrugged. "Very well. At least I finally got you to budge on something."

Celestia rose with a sigh and walked past. "You know I can't stand to see you cry. Well, I'd better get to work. Where are you off to?"

Shuffling after her, Luna scratched at her hair and groaned. "I believe it's just about my bedtime. See you at dusk."

"Good...night, Luna."

They exchanged another hug before the younger Princess departed and began wandering down the hall. Her face shifted into a hard gaze just as soon as she confirmed that no one was within sight. "One chance, is it? I only need one chance to set this right." She stalked to her bedroom and quickly went to grab her smartphone off the nightstand. Her fingers flew over the screen as she sent a message to Trixie.

Do you know if she's read the files yet?

So interested in the response was she that she actually counted off the seconds in her head while waiting for one to arrive. Exactly seventy-six of those ticks later, one did appear on the screen.

No I don't. I haven't seen her today.

"Damn it." Luna sucked in an angry breath through her clenched teeth before typing again.

Find out. Discreetly. I need proof that she hasn't gone off the deep end.

The conversation was over, at least as far as she was concerned, but before she could toss her phone away a reply arrived.

With all due respect, if she had we'd probably be dead by now.

Applejack requested the help of her friends around noon, but by the time Twilight and Fuyu arrived at the orchard the rest of them were already there. This was mostly the dawdling librarian's fault; Fuyu had flown them in from town, attracting a series of oohs and ahs as they landed by the old red truck.

"Sorry we're late," Twilight apologized, trying to shake off the tingles. "I couldn't decide which shoes to wear."

"Sounds like somebody I know." Rainbow nudged Rarity in the side and cackled, only to yelp when she received a disgruntled slap to the back of her head. "Ow!"

"Shoes are an extremely important decision, I'll have you know." The dressmaker, still fuming, walked over and smiled at the pale woman. "I didn't know you could carry people. Rainbow Dash must be so jealous."

"Oh, shut up!"

Applejack rolled her eyes. "All right, all right, we're gonna have enough of a time gettin' these apples down without y'all bein' testy." She doffed her hat and gazed out over the hills. "This is gonna be the last harvest of the year. Need all the fruit I can get so we can keep money in the bank."

"How many trees do we have to get to?" Fluttershy asked. Applejack spread her arms wide, indicating virtually everything in sight. "Oh...oh my."

Rarity nodded and sighed. "Exactly. We'd better get to it if we don't want to sleep out here."

"Ooh! That would be fun! A big sleepover in the orchard with everyone!" Pinkie lagged behind the group as they started to move. "I didn't bring my sleeping bag. I hope the grass is soft."

Twilight and Fuyu moved up to walk with the blonde. "Where is your family?" the latter asked, glancing around.

She glowered ahead as the thought annoyed her. "Apple Bloom's got the flu, which is why I called y'all off yesterday. Granny and Big Mac went west again. They weren't quite done when they had ta come back 'cause of the tornado, and my idiot cousin is about as good at growin' apples as I am playin' the violin."

"I see." Fuyu watched Rarity and Rainbow continue to jaw with each other, while an extremely hyper Pinkie Pie orbited Fluttershy and waved her arms. She was speaking much too fast for any of them to understand. "If you wouldn't mind, I'd like to use my full power to do this. It'll go faster."

Twilight looked across and blinked. "Full power? What does that mean?"

An angry grin bent Fuyu's thin lips. "Let's find out."

"Whoa." Applejack withdrew at her tone and poked Twilight. "What's goin' on here? Did y'all have another talk?"

"Oh, I don't know. Fuyu's really mad at something, but she can't tell me what." The librarian exchanged glances with the pale woman and sighed. "That's why she wanted to come. I think she wants to vent."

Applejack swallowed loudly and tugged at her ponytail. "Oh, crap. Fu, please don't level my livelihood."

"I won't." She cracked her knuckles as if preparing for a fight. "Did you see how they all looked at me this time, Twilight?"

Shrugging, she jumped when Applejack broke away to stop a slowly escalating argument between Rarity and her girlfriend. "I wasn't really paying attention. Not the biggest fan of heights. Especially not going as fast as we were."

"It was different." Fuyu was still cracking her knuckles; the noises eventually got so sharp they made Twilight cringe. "Pinkie was right. They need to see as much of me as I can show them. That way they'll have no reason to be afraid."

Twilight looked down at the grass with uncertainty. "Maybe so." The group came to a staggered halt as Applejack cleared her throat.

"All right. Gonna do this hill we're on, and that one across the stream," she said, pointing first around and then across the water. "Gotta get at least these done by evenin' so we can get 'em in the crates and outta here by tomorrow mornin'."

"That's at least two hundred trees!" Rarity exclaimed with horror. "We will be here until midnight!"

Rainbow rolled her eyes at the drama. "Oh, calm down. We've got three magic users, Shy and I can just fly around and knock them off, Applejack can kick them down and Pinkie can...whatever it is she does."

"Yeah! I can..." The baker's face went blank. "Do that thing. You know, that thing I do."

A clamor of voices, save Fuyu, Fluttershy and Twilight, erupted as the other four began to plan out loud how best to tackle the enormous task ahead. Pinkie wasn't so much offering ideas as she was agreeing with every single thing said, making the planning session impossible to follow. Twilight groaned with frustration and nudged the pale woman.

"We better save them from themselves," she said, smiling.

The shy woman, who had moved over to stand with the quieter pair when the commotion broke out, let loose a tiny giggle. "Yes, otherwise they might be here for a week."

After glancing between the two, Fuyu nodded and stepped away. "Okay." Lifting off into the air, she darted to a hover about fifty feet up, peering at the multitude of apples in the branches. Below her, everyone fell silent.

"Have I mentioned how odd it is to see someone fly without wings?" Rarity breathed while staring up.

"No kidding," Rainbow agreed lowly. Unconsciously, she stood next to Applejack and watched Fuyu gain height. In a few seconds, the pale woman was a sharp silhouette against the gray sky. "What is she even doing?"

What she was doing was murmuring lowly to herself while glaring at her palms. "If I'm really wielding the magic of four thousand people, this should be easy." She pointed her right hand at the hill below and her left at the hill across the stream, and for the first time since facing Trixie she let herself off the figurative leash. Two strands of black fired out of her palms and split into an uncountable number of thin tendrils, which, guided by her magic, shot through the air and entered the leafy branches. The goo was able to travel a much farther distance than she was used to, and connected to her senses via the telekinesis, it was like having dozens upon dozens of cilia at her command. These poked about and gently detached the fruit. Apples fell like rain around the six women, who huddled together – only partly to avoid fruit. The display was at once mesmerizing and terrifying; black constructs writhed all through the air, some approaching very close. At its crescendo, Fuyu appeared to be the stunted trunk of a squirming black tree with innumerable branches. Abruptly she recalled all of the tendrils, whose travel back into her palms came with a metallic noise that made everyone but her wince. Finished, she alighted on the grass and folded her arms.

"That felt nice," she said. Her eyebrows raised at the looks on their faces. "What?"

Applejack was, after a few seconds, the first able to voice her emotion. "Damn!" After detaching herself from Rainbow and walking away, she stared at the layer of apples covering the grass around each trunk and couldn't help but repeat herself. "Damn!"

Fuyu smirked. "I guess it worked."

"No, really?" Twilight, slack-jawed, was also looking around at the results of Fuyu's magic. "How in the world did you do this?"

She shrugged in response. "I just did." A frown came when she saw the looks on Rarity, Rainbow, and Fluttershy's faces; shock smashed together with amazement and awe whose foundation was some vague form of fear. Even Pinkie was struck silent with the expression. "Should I have not done that?"

"No, darling, it's not that." Rarity's attempt to regain her composure failed as she also took in the sight. "It's just, how did you even manage to do such a thing?"

"Like you do. But bigger." She lifted a hand and looked at the black jewel in her palm. "Hmm."

"How in the hell are we gonna load all these before night?" Rainbow suddenly exclaimed. They all looked around again at the clumps of fruit huddling near tree trunks. "There's gotta be a billion apples on the ground."

"Maybe we should get a shovel!" Pinkie bounced about as the mood lightened up. "Or a front-end loader. Fufu really brought down the house on this one."

Twilight's hands lit up as she levitated some of the apples over. "It should be easy for Rarity and I to pick them up. Where do you want them?"

"Load the truck. I'm takin' 'em ta the barn. One of you magicky girls wanna help me crate 'em?" she asked, looking between Twilight and Rarity. She blinked when Fuyu waved for attention.

"Take them both. I can load these."

"Are you sure?" Rarity smiled at the nod she got. "Of course. Go on, I want to see this."

When Fuyu lifted her hand this time, a swarm of fruit began to roll, then take off and float toward the group. In a few seconds all the apples in their sight, save those across the stream, were daintily entering the truck bed. Twilight and Rarity were awestruck again, but their friends couldn't quite figure out why.

The librarian explained – it was sheer amazement that forced her words out. "I could never track and manipulate this many objects at once," she breathed. "Look at many she's got!"

Rarity folded her arms and watched as hundreds of apples wafted by. "I am incredibly jealous right now."

Applejack shook herself back to work and moved to the truck. Her hand snapped up and waved to signal Fuyu to stop loading. "All right, that's enough. Twi, Rare, you ready to go?"

"Sure." Twilight moved past the pale woman, as did the dressmaker, to get in. "Fuyu, that was amazing. You really are a Princess!"

None of the assembled understood why she slapped her hand over her mouth after saying that, nor the anxiousness in her eyes. Fuyu folded her arms and stared. "I'm a what?"

"Nothing! Nothing." She was gone in a flash and in the truck before anyone could counter her weak assertion. The other women were forced to gaze curiously at Fuyu for clarification.

"Fufu, are you a Princess?" Pinkie asked, face glowing with an excitement that was ready to explode.

"Not that I know of..." Her eyes fell on Rainbow, who made a strange noise. "What?"

"That would explain all kinds of crap, though." The athlete grinned as a murmur of agreement came and went. "Besides your, uh, feeding habits."

The expression on Fuyu's face at the reminder of her history was enough to make Applejack step in. "Okay, okay. Come on, let's go so we can get done." She nodded at Rarity and they were both off. "Back in a second."

Fuyu hardly noticed their departure. Lost in a fog of thought, she turned her back on her friends and considered the possibility. Rainbow had a point; being a Princess would explain her extreme display of magical power, but she couldn't resolve that with what she had been before. Glaring through the trees silently, her concentration was only broken when someone tapped on her the shoulder.

"Are you all right?" It was Fluttershy, who squeaked when Fuyu glanced back. "S-sorry, you hadn't said anything for a couple of minutes."

"I was thinking." She was surprised to see everyone looking at her with equal concern as she turned fully around. "I'm fine."

"No you're not." Pinkie's attempt to be huffy was, like all her speech, cheerful. "What's eating you? Er, bad choice of words. Oopsie."

Pinkie's nervous giggle was ignored. "I am. I'm only considering what Twilight said. I certainly don't remember being a Princess."

Rainbow cocked an eyebrow. "Hell, what do you remember? You haven't spent much time looking into your past, have you?"

"Now that you mention it, no. There are things I do know however, most of which I can't tell you." Fuyu looked up as something wet hit her; it was beginning to drizzle. The edge of the silence made her drop her gaze again. "I don't like it any more than you do," she added, replying to Rainbow's annoyed glower.

"Great, more confidential crap." She shrugged with a smile. "Oh well. I'm sure it's no big deal."

"Mm." The subject needed to be changed, and right now. Fuyu picked up an apple and examined it. "Who's buying all these apples? The market in town can't need so many."

"They're buying some, but most are getting put on a train to Canterlot," Fluttershy explained, nudging one gently away from her foot. "We help Applejack bring in the last harvest each year because, well, it's usually a lot of work."

"I see." Fuyu looked east, but couldn't find the city due to the clouds. A few loud crunches from Pinkie's direction made her turn.

"They really love these things up there!" she said, around a mouthful of fruit. Rainbow's unhappy visage went completely unnoticed. "You can get an apple cake from some fancy bakery place up there! An apple cake! How do they even do that?"

The athlete jabbed at her unhappily. "Stop eating the merchandise!"

Before they could start bickering too much, Applejack returned with the truck. Twilight was with her, but Rarity was not. They both got out. The librarian kept a fair distance and refused to make eye contact with Fuyu.

"Gimme another load, Fu," the blonde directed with a sweep of her arm.

"Very well." Apples began to fly again as she wielded her power. This time she pulled several from across the creek, which danced slowly through the tree trunks. Once the bed was full again, the blonde got back in the truck, but Twilight couldn't follow her without being intercepted. "We need to talk later," Fuyu said, lowly.

She cut her eyes up at the pale woman and frowned. "I know."

Even with Fuyu's help, the last harvest still took about three hours to finish. Most of this time was spent by Rarity and Twilight crating the apples. The pale woman had offered to see if she could lift and fly the truck back and forth to speed things up, but Applejack politely declined. The group broke up one woman at a time, until finally the blonde excused herself to go see to her ill sister.

Alone with Fuyu, Twilight felt incredibly awkward about her vocal slip, but felt the best way to deal with it was head-on. "So, do you want to talk now, or later?" she asked, preparing herself for liftoff.

"At home." Fuyu's hands lit up with black magic as she detached from the grass. "I won't go so high or fast this time."

Twilight yelped with surprise as she too began to hover. "Right. Thanks."

Instead of shooting straight up and off as they had on the trip here, Fuyu lead them on a high-speed float through the trees, searching for the dirt road that lead to the highway. Once they were following the asphalt back to town, she looked back at the librarian. "How's this?"

Twilight laughed with nervousness. Her knees were bent to prevent her shoes from catching the ground, even though Fuyu had her suspended firmly. "You didn't have to go this low!"

She smirked. "Sorry. I have an ulterior motive for this."

"What?" Twilight directed her efforts to figuring out what that was, but didn't have a chance before they entered the town. The persistent drizzle hadn't stopped many from completing their errands; the sidewalks were laden with people, especially in downtown. They all turned to stare as Fuyu and Twilight came hovering along.

"Watch their faces," the pale woman whispered.

She did, intently, and was surprised with what she saw. There were still pockets of disdain, but that feeling had been mostly replaced by something softer, something almost reverent in nature. As they went the people on the sidewalks parted, some of which waved, and most of which were smiling. Almost everyone said hello.

"Wow." Twilight grunted with the landing as Fuyu dismissed her power. "Uh...guys? What's going on here?"

"You should have just told us she was a lost Princess," someone in the crowd said.

"Where did you hear that?" Twilight's brow furrowed; she already knew the answer.

Bon Bon pushed through the throng with Lyra on her arm. "From the Mayor's office!"

"Uh..." Backing away, her eyes landed on Fuyu's. The questioning look made her even more nervous. "Now, listen. It's not a confirmed fact, just a theory."

"Oh, you. We'll keep it on the down low," Lyra winked. "Seriously, though! You should have just told us!" She pointed a finger at Fuyu.

The pale woman blinked and went about deflecting. "I was...trying to be discreet."

Twilight hid her eyes as a cheerful clamor erupted. "Oh boy. Fuyu, let's just go home."

"Yes, that's a good idea." The crowd scattered as they took to the air.

The moment they had gotten insde the library, Twilight lost control of her mouth. "I can't believe she said anything! After I specifically told her not..." she trailed off, swallowing when she saw Fuyu.

Her stance was more imposing then usual, even as she leaned on a support pillar. "Is there something you want to tell me?"

"Fuyu, I swear it's just a theory." She sat down in a chair nearby and slumped over. "Your crystals have the metal trim of royalty. No one else bears it. The amulet gave them to you and I don't know why."

Almost automatically, Fuyu began to pace. Her mind drifted back to what Trixie had said yesterday about her possible relation to Celestia and Luna, despite the latter's denial. "Everyone certainly seems to think I'm a Princess."

"Your power...only three women I know have ever been able to do things on that scale." Twilight raised up and groaned. "This is the Mayor's fault. I asked her to keep quiet."

Words failed them until Fuyu ceased her meandering and placed her hands on her hips. "Hmm. I had an interesting exchange about my past with Rainbow earlier. How little I've looked into it since I came here."

"Huh?" Twilight couldn't look away when their eyes met. "And?"

"I think it's time I start looking."

The librarian nodded gravely. "We need to go to Canterlot...but how can we avoid attracting attention?"

A frigid smile twisted Fuyu's lips. "There is no need to rush in. I am endlessly patient. Let's allow a reason to come to us."

Like most of Ponyville, Trixie had heard the rumors about Fuyu's supposed royal blood. She had also been part of the group that had met her and Twilight in town that afternoon, but the magician had taken great pains to avoid drawing attention.

Now back in her apartment, she immediately fired off a message to Luna; after all, she had been drafted to be her eyes and ears.

There's a rumor in town that Fuyu is a Princess. I just thought you should know.

Not intending to have a conversation, she set her phone aside and began to ruminate. "I wonder if that's what was in the documents." It didn't fit with Fuyu's reaction, though, so she tossed the notion aside. "Why would that make her angry? I'd be thrilled to find out I were a royal."

Sighing, she dismissed the whole train of thought and turned on her TV. "I don't even know why I care. I'm just happy to be-" Her phone emitted a chime. "-alive. Ahem." She picked it up and looked at the screen.

Where did this rumor originate?

Trixie tilted her head and started to type. I heard it was from the Mayor's office.

The phone wasn't even fully out of her hand when a reply came. That woman needs to be put in her place.

"Whoa. I've hit a nerve." Against her better judgment, she got curious again and sent a message back. Why?

Stop asking questions, Trixie.

A cold pit formed in her stomach. After tossing the phone away, she hugged herself and glanced about. "One of these days, Princess, I'll actually take that advice."

Wings
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Black

Wings

"I have to go to work soon."

Twilight paused banging her head on the kitchen table long enough to hear, process, then acknowledge Fuyu's words with a groan before continuing.

She folded her arms and cocked an eyebrow. "And you should probably stop that."

"I caaaaaaaan't. I have to figure this out!" Something in her tone made her feel the need to apologize. "Sorry. Not trying to pressure you into talking, just-"

"Yes, I know." Fuyu put her smartphone in her pants pocket and walked to the stairs to get her sneakers, which she had the foresight of leaving there last night. "Perhaps a nap is in order."

Shaking her head, she lightly pounded the table top. "I won't be able to sleep with this driving me nuts. I say we go to Canterlot right now and start snooping."

Fuyu blinked at the demanding nature of her voice and placed a hand on her hip. "But I have to go to work soon."

The bleary-eyed, slumping librarian wouldn't yield. "You may very well be a Princess and you are certainly at least as powerful as one. Take a day off!"

Her insistence met a half-lidded gaze of denial. "I have to ask for time off in advan—why are you looking at me like that?"

"You've really dove into this whole having a routine thing, haven't you?" Twilight issued a sigh and laid her head on her arms. "I mean, I've been up all night contemplating and it doesn't bother you any more than it does Spike."

"To be fair, you spend a lot of your nights reading, or thinking, or some combination of those." Fuyu smirked at the pout she got. "So, I would say this is normal."

"No it's not!" After dragging herself to her feet, Twilight skulked around with her hands on her head. "What is she hiding from me?! What could be so bad? She tells me everything!"

A distinctly uncomfortable weight settled on Fuyu's shoulders. "Well..."

"I know, I know, I'm not trying to make you talk...but damn, this is driving me up the wall!"

"Hmm." They paused as Spike shuffled in, scratching at his messy hair. "Hello."

"Hey. Are you two still awake? Geez." He smiled and moved to rummage in the fridge. "Twilight, you look awful."

"Good morning to you too," she said, glaring at his shoulder blades. Squinting at the sunlight, she hid her eyes and groaned out loud again. "Go ahead, Fu. I don't want you to be late."

"Okay." She used her magic to tie her shoes. "I'm sorry I can't be of more help."

"Don't worry about it." Twilight waved with a tiny smile as the pale woman floated out of sight. Once Fuyu had gone, however, she got droopy again and sat at the table. "Spike, I need to bounce some things off of you."

"Sure." He grabbed a bottle of cherry soda and sat across from her. "What's up?"

She looked over at him with drama dripping from her eyes. "I think Princess Celestia knows Fuyu."

Spike tilted his head. "Well, yeah. They met at the party."

Twilight slammed her fists on the table, then winced with the action. "That isn't what I mean! She knows her from before somehow, but I can't figure out what their relationship is. And you've seen her crystals. They've got the royal trim! What in the hell is going on?!"

"Ask the Princess?" he offered, trying to talk her down.

"I've already texted Luna and she told me nothing. If Luna won't talk, then I know I'll get nowhere with Celestia." At this point she resigned herself to setting her head on the table and groaning for a few seconds. "We're planning to go to Canterlot, but neither of us wants to attract attention while we search."

"When are you going?"

Twilight shrugged awkwardly. "I don't know yet. She wants to wait for a good reason. I want to go right now, but I'm not going to force her into the trip.."

"Probably for the best. I mean, this is her life we're prying into. She should be calling the shots." Spike took a drink, but stopped mid-swig when he got no answer. "Twilight?" He bent down and peered across the table to find she'd fallen asleep. "Pfft, of course. I'd better go get a blanket."

Fuyu drifted down the sidewalk at an idle pace, so lost in her thoughts she allowed the toes of her sneakers to bounce off the concrete every once in a while. It was a chilly morning despite the risen sun's best efforts, and most everyone she saw was bundled up in some form of jacket or coat.

And they were almost all friendly.

The shift in the town's mood toward her was almost unsettling. Trying to place just why was difficult, but the one thing she understood was the feeling of being something she wasn't.

Or was she?

"Princess! Put a coat on, it's freezing out here!"

Fuyu had no idea who said that; looking around didn't help either. She kept on floating with a shrug.

"Hey look, it's the Princess!"

"Huh?" This voice she was able to place. Across the street was Rainbow Dash. Scootaloo was flying – or desperately trying to fly – along with her.

"Can it kid, we're trying to keep that a secret." Rainbow's tone was almost mocking. She waved at Fuyu and grinned. "Headed to work?"

The pale woman nodded. "Yes."

"Tell Pinkie I said hello. Come on, Scoots, race you to school!"

They were both off like shots. Rainbow was airborne while the young girl had no choice but to run; even on foot, though, Scootaloo was blisteringly fast. Fuyu turned the corner after they were out of sight, then hovered on and turned a few more. All the way people greeted her, waving and smiling. It was as if the air had sucked up all their chill.

As Fuyu slipped into Sugarcube Corner, she had no idea how to feel about it. Nor did she get much chance to think.

"Fufu!" In an instant Pinkie flung herself from behind the counter – seemingly the whole distance to the door, almost – and latched onto Fuyu in a hug. "I've got good news and bad news!"

She hugged the giggling baker and walked on, simply carrying her. "Oh? What's the bad news?"

Pinkie rolled her eyes and whined. "Geez, why does everyone ask for the bad news first? You people are totally depressing."

"You...people?" Fuyu reached the counter and set the baker down. "Well, what happened?"

"Story time!" Pinkie began to bounce in place. "Remember when Mister Cake was home taking care of Pumpkin? Well now both of the grown-up Cakes are sick! I'm the only one here. Since there's nobody in the kitchen, I can run the shop by myself! You get a day off! That's the good news!" Punctuating her words with a sweep of her arms, Pinkie stopped bouncing. She stared when the pale woman seemed underwhelmed. "Whoa, don't use up all your happy at once."

Fuyu folded her arms and glanced out one of the large windows. "I was sort of looking forward to the time away from the library. Twilight has been driving herself insane trying to figure out why I have the markings of a Princess. I was hoping my absence would allow her to fall asleep."

Pinkie nodded furiously. "Ooooo. She does that. One time she came in here and asked for like, the biggest cup of coffee we sell and drank all of it on the spot. Then she started slurring and twitching and ran away and – honestly? – I was kinda really terrified she would die of a heart attack. I think she had been studying astro-trigo-algebranomics for three days straight or something."

"Mm. My...situation is bothering her a great deal. The fact that Celestia is hiding things from her is causing her a lot of stress. My having to hide it as well isn't pleasant either." Fuyu turned away, her expression dropping. Not a moment later, Pinkie latched onto her in a tight embrace. "What's this for?"

"Sssssshh. Shh. Serious hug time, Fufu."

She tried to turn around and finally managed it, only to find herself looking right at the baker's grave blue eyes. "Serious hug?"

Her grip increased in intensity. "It's gonna be okay, okay? I know you're trying be sooooo bad-ass and stoic and all that but I can tell it's getting you down. So just remember it's gonna be okay!"

Fuyu sank more into the hug and let out a sigh that made Pinkie frown. "No it won't."

If it had been anyone else, the dramatic gasp of terrified indignation would have burst their lungs. "Do not say that. It totally will. It will! Be positive!"

She couldn't help it any longer and let the emotion flow, at least what of it she was willing to expose. "Pinkie, if you knew what I know, you would agree with me."

"If it's so bad then stop hiding it! We're your friends dang it, talk to us." Pinkie whined again when Fuyu pulled out of the embrace. "Wh-what happened? Did the Princess tell you something?"

"I really can't say." Feeling awkward, she looked toward the door and decided to make her move before the baker got too riled up. "If I'm not needed here, I'm going. I...I think I want some time to myself."

"Ohmygosh Fufu pleeeeeeease-" Another attempted hug was gently deflected. "O-okay. Just come back if you need a buddy. It doesn't have to be me, even! Just...anyone."

"I'll be fine. I think." Fuyu offered her a weak wave and slid out the door.

The baker watched her go until she could see her no more, frowning bitterly. Her poofy pink hair seemed to lose a bit of volume once Fuyu disappeared. "Oh man, this isn't good."

Five minutes of rather high-speed hovering put a good swath of space between Fuyu and the town. She had taken great pains to avoid passing by the library just in case Twilight was still awake, taking a winding route through town, then heading toward the orchard and doubling back. Looking over her shoulder, she decided this was enough distance and dropped to her feet. Just ahead of her was another section of the massive, dark forest that she'd seen behind Fluttershy's cottage. After ensuring she had no pursers, her eyes began to scan the environment.

The terrain here was bumpy, although not so much as the orchard, which she could see far off to her left as she began walking. The highway was also nearby, but it soon vanished behind a gentle hill.

"Perhaps there is something to being alone for a while, at least." This concept continued to give her a bit of trouble. Forced solitude was one thing, but optional solitude was...she didn't quite know how to explain it to herself.

Time to think.

Fuyu glowered at a flock of birds that darted overhead. "Yes, time to think. Think about what? All the things I can't say?"

About what I am and am not.

"I don't know. I'm a Fuyu." Abruptly, she sat on the grass and folded her arms, almost pouting. "First I was a monster, now I'm a false Princess."

I can be both.

"Wh-where did that come from?" A book, most likely; she'd read dozens of them since settling at the library. They formed the foundation of her knowledge about so many things – a base upon which her interactions with her friends and everyone else was growing. "How can I be both?"

She had no answer for herself. Almost idly, a thought wandered by; perhaps the amulet had unlocked some new ghost of a memory for her to chew on. Twilight had been correct; the routine of life had swallowed her up to the point where she didn't even care about her past self. Newness surrounded her, a welcome change from her nomadic killing. That's what mattered.

And now it wasn't enough.

Ever the pragmatist, she decided to make a vocal list. "What do I know, and what don't I know?" She peered at her palms and sighed. "I don't know why I have these. I don't know who I was or what I was doing before I woke up. I don't know..." Her mind passed over one of the things she'd read in the packet. "Re-purposed. I don't even know what I was truly meant to do."

She was forced to pause as this latest idea lit a massive fire under her brain, then gave rise to another. "I don't even know the full extent of my power." Another bird flew over. On a whim, she snapped her hand at it and called on the reserve of energy she'd used to restore the town. The bird became an orange, which fell until she brought it to her with magic.

"Now you are this," she murmured, letting it float before her eyes. With a snap of her fingers it was the bird again. Seemingly stunned, it fell into her lap and hopped around, chirping and ruffling its feathers. Then it bounced right into her open hand and looked up at her. "And now you are that." It chirped again. "Did I hurt you?" Apparently not, as it flew away and continued on in the direction it had been traveling.

For a moment she watched it go. Only after she lost sight of it did the momentousness of the whole sequence hit her. "I can do that to living things?" Unsettled, she stood. "I'll put that in the 'things I know' column. What else do I know?" Her foot tapped on its own as she thought. "My name is Fuyu. I'm not like everyone else. But I have friends." Finally, a smile appeared. "I did very bad things." She frowned at that and looked at her sneakers. "Which I don't have to do any more."

She caught herself in the single-person conversation and realized another of Twilight's habits had clung to her. Smiling again, she sat back down. "What else can I do? I wonder..." Flicking her wrists, she snapped two ropes of black out of her palms and looked at them. They had always come from there, but now she wondered if they would come from anywhere else. Trying to figure that out was posing a problem, as an internal check of where the goo was yielded not the usual clump in her stomach, but a smooth feeling throughout her body. "Hmm." She chased it around with her consciousness, yanking it back in through her palms and trying to corner it in her legs. When that failed, she pursued until the path lead to her head. "Oh. Maybe this isn't such a good idea."

But at this point she'd finally latched onto it like she was used to. It felt like a physical thing inside her again, so she pointed it at the nearest hole – her mouth – and directed it to appear. A wiggling tentacle popped between her lips in response. "Mmph!" She slurped it back in and made a face at the ghastly flavor. The next few minutes were spent with experimentation; black strands peeked from her nostrils and ears in turn. Upon consideration, she realized her pores probably counted as openings too and summoned tiny tendrils from the skin on her arms. So many of them sprouted from her flesh it seemed like thick, black hair.

"I haven't been using this right," she muttered, reflecting on the clumsy, grabby nature of her interactions with the gunk. As a final test, she sent a squirt out of her left eye socket, which caused the eye to slip out and dangle from the optic nerve, while the black rope wiggled through the new hole. She winced with dull pain and gently enclosed the eye in her hand to kill its ability to see. Even in those few seconds of divergent sight, the effect made her dizzy. "That hurts," she grumbled, carefully re-inserting her eyeball. "I don't even know why I did that."

Regardless, it too had an effect on her. Images of every time one of her friends had gotten hurt cropped up. For them, pain was a big deal. For her, it was a nuisance. A trifle. Even grievous injuries, while inconvenient, were usually of little concern. More reinforcement for the truth; there was no one in the world like her. In a way, it drew back the curtain on a realization – she sunk into a routine so deeply because it seemed a good way to fit in. To become what she was not.

And never will be. Admit it.

Grumbling, she stood up and made an effort to get back to the point of her enforced solitude. "I have to figure out what I'm not being told." To that end, she moved back toward Ponyville with the intention of finding Trixie. Before she got too far, however, a final idea tickled her brain. "I could fly...hmm. If I'm a Princess, shouldn't I have wings?"

She poked at the black goo coursing through her one more time, directing it to squeeze out of her shoulder blades. Using her magic to detect the shape it took, she formed the secretion into blades to pierce her gray shirt, then into feathers, whose image she recalled from books. Five minutes of sculpting the living material yielded a pair of ebony wings that were detectably heavy. Her shoulders tensed and flexed to acclimate themselves to the weight. Squinting, she spread her new appendages and looked from side to side to check her work. They were flawless, shining examples, although more solid-looking than the wispy magical things Rainbow and Fluttershy used to fly. "Good."

Before she could take off, her magical alarm interrupted. A spark was something was approaching from high speed above. It was Rainbow, streaking through the cloudy blue until, abruptly, she dove down and came to a hover before the pale woman. "There you are! I've been loo—holy fuck." She stared as Fuyu folded her wings. "What the hell did I miss?"

"I had a chat with myself." While flexing her wings, she blinked at the athlete's demeanor. "Is something wrong?"

"I was gonna ask you the same thing. Pinkie was having a full-on freak out at the shop. Said you seemed kinda sad." Rainbow's jaw slackened as she watched Fuyu fiddle with her pinions. "Seriously! What the fuck did I miss?"

"Like I said, I had a chat with myself. Is she all right?"

She scratched at her colorful hair and shrugged. "I guess? Let's go back and check. Uh...do those things actually work?"

"I haven't tried them yet." Fuyu's eyebrows raised at her friend's continued staring. "I made them from the black goo, if you're wondering. If everyone believes I'm a Princess, then I shall play the part. For their sake."

"Right. Geez." They lifted off together and formed up, side by side. The pale woman had no issues keeping up, using her telekinesis to boost her lift. Her wings issued heavy beats. "Damn, they are loud."

Fuyu shrugged to herself. "Mm. If I'm going to feign being royalty, it stands to reason that people should know I'm coming."

Luna rifled quietly through the papers in her hand, determining what would be suitable to pass to Trixie next. She wasn't in the castle; that would have been asking for trouble. Instead she was in a clinically decorated room full of stoic gray filing cabinets. This room was in the National Academy of Science in Canterlot, where most of the project had been carried out. Everything about it was stored in this classified area, far away from the students and tourists.

As she pored over the pages, humming lowly, the door to her left opened. Framed in it was a lanky man with mousy hair, glasses, and a white coat. She peered at him with mild disdain. "What is it?"

"Ma'am, I really must stress how bad of an idea I think this..."

Luna raised her hand to quiet him before looking back down at the files. "Again, Doctor Cannon? We've been over this six...no, seven times. My mind is made up."

He wouldn't yield – then again, she really didn't expect he would. "Your Highness, we have no idea how this information will affect the subject!"

That earned him a pointed glare. "Her name is Winter."

Rattled, he made a show of straightening his red tie and adjusting his glasses. "Right. I still think this is a bad idea."

"We'll see. You and I both know that there is no clean way out of what we've done." Idly, she flicked a stack of files across the room with her magic for later reading. "My sister wishes to suppress it. I wish to get it out in the open and deal with it."

"But we never tested her mental capacity! Her emotional capacity! What if she's unstable?"

"She is a killing machine. I believe the question is how unstable we ended up making her." Luna continued to read. The document she had displayed was the order given by her sister to re-purpose Project Winter, the one that laid out its new goals. "No," she whispered, "Winter is not ready for this." Doctor Cannon cleared his throat to get her attention, which she gave. "Even if she does prove unstable...her reaction may be no less than we deserve."

Her words were too much for the doctor; grumbling awkwardly he took his leave. Sighing with relief, Luna went back to reading. "Nobody understands. I owe her too much to make her live without knowing the whole story."

Another hour passed before she forced herself to conclude her search. Being away too long would invite just as much trouble, so she collected a small set of suitable documents, placed them into a manila envelope, and tucked that under her black hoodie. In order to avoid attracting attention, she meandered through a series of hallways and corridors for about ten minutes before finally slipping out a rear service entrance and onto the Academy grounds. Before moving on, she pulled up her hood and drew it tight to obscure her face. While the evening sky above was full of those that could fly, her angelic wings would be easy to pick out. She was always forced, therefore, to return to the castle on foot. This was no easy task; Canterlot sprawled and towered before her. The castle was hard to see from this side of the city, much less reach.

Luna wasn't looking forward to the jog. She steeled herself with a deep breath. "I certainly could use the exercise."

Off she went, moving past the fountains of the grounds and onto the sidewalk. Dozens of cars crawled past in rush hour traffic. In a few minutes she was swallowed by the dreary towers of downtown. Only by looking straight up could she see a significant chunk of the sky, but she didn't dare – her main priority was to remain anonymous. Ten minutes and several turned corners more brought her past the library and before a large, ornate gate that prevented any further progress. Beyond it was the castle road, a freshly paved, winding path that would see her home. On the left was a guard shack.

"State your business," the grizzled female guard demanded as she drew near. Luna opened her hood just enough to reveal her identity. "Ah. Good evening for a run, isn't it?"

The princess shrugged and smiled a little. "I'm looking forward to the snow, to be honest."

"You're weird. No offense." Laughing, the guard pressed a button and opened the gate for her to pass.

Once through, Luna began to run up the road as fast as her legs would allow. She needed to look tired and sweaty, and sprinting up this incline would be more than enough. Evenly-spaced trees lined the pavement after a while, until suddenly a fountain appeared and the road itself became a circle that surrounded the feature. Luna kept on going past that and down a stone pathway – one of many, with statues placed at seemingly random points. There were neatly trimmed hedges and benches but no other people around. No other people save the one Luna spied through her hood as she came to a breathless stop.

"You're going to hurt yourself!" Celestia called from the balcony ahead. "Be careful."

"I'm fine!" she called, or tried to. The words fell out as a raspy yelp. To aid her quest to ram as much air into her lungs as possible, she bent over and placed her hands on her knees. "Oh my."

In a moment or two her sister was there, arms folded and smiling kindly. "I hope you didn't strain anything."

"My legs are fine, old woman." They both cackled. "Really, I am all right."

"Sit with me a moment." She lead Luna to a bench and settled on it. "I'd still like an explanation for the sudden exercise regimen."

Still panting, Luna shrugged at her and looked out across the statuary. "I guess I finally got tired of being cooped up in the castle all day."

Celestia's eyes shimmered with worry as she prodded Luna into looking at her. "...are you well?"

"Sister, I'm fine, I promise. If I were ill I wouldn't be running all over Canterlot. I'll say this, though..." Pausing, she used her magic to roll up a leg of her cargo pants. "I'll have calves to die for by new year's day."

Celestia couldn't help but smile at the quip. "Oh, you. I can't help but worry about your well being, you know that."

Luna removed her hood. As it dropped, her eyes suddenly became hard. "Then why won't you give me the thing I want most?"

Groaning, Celestia tilted her head back to look at what few stars were beginning to appear in the sunset-reddened sky. "Are we going to argue about this again?"

The younger Princess folded her arms – carefully, to ensure no rustling came from the papers under her hoodie – and nodded once. "Until I change your mind, yes."

"You aren't going to. I know you're terribly fond of Winter, but I have this," she paused, sweeping her arm out to indicate the city beyond and slightly below them, "to worry about. Not just this, either. The nation. Our people."

Luna wanted to shrug, but she understood the gravity of her sister's words too well. "And one day, so will I."

"You have no idea how happy that fact makes me."

"If I ever get over being frail." Luna jumped as she was nudged in the side.

Her sister was grinning wide. "Says the girl who's running every day. Maybe I should join you. I could surely use the workout."

"But I'd feel so bad for leaving you in my dust." They shared one more laugh and stood up, starting toward the castle. "What's for dinner-slash-breakfast?"

"I'll let you pick this time." Celestia nodded to the two guards in blue suits that opened the doors for them as they approached. "You're going to take a shower?"

"Yes. I won't be long." Luna wasn't even looking at her, but knew she'd stopped in the hallway and turned to figure out why. "What?"

She smiled warmly, clasping her hands in front of her. "I've found a reason for Winter to come visit, but you'll have to wait a while. I hope you don't mind."

Had her legs not been aching so, Luna would have jumped for joy. As it was, she maintained a s
arcastic version of the regal composure she never used and shot a smile back. "Of course, sister. You know I am endlessly patient."

The Invitation
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Black

The Invitation

On the table across the room was a tremendous pile of clothes that Rarity simply couldn't have made in three days, and yet there they were, neatly stacked and arranged by color and style. Fuyu, seated in one of the boxy chairs, watched as the dressmaker added a few last touches to another garment with thread and needle.

"How did you do all of that in seventy-two hours?" she asked, trying to count how many articles of clothing there were.

"Do not underestimate my ability to sew, darling." She dropped the needle and held up the thing in her hand – a sliver tank top with spaghetti straps – and examined it. "Perfect. Understated, but shiny. I'll have to remember this color combination for later."

"If you keep this up, I'm going to have to find another tree just to store my wardrobe." She smiled when Rarity snorted and giggled at her joke, filing away the successful delivery to use later. "Really. You didn't have to do this."

"Shush. I will not stand idly by while your wings ruin all of your tops. Would you mind pulling them again so I can double-check my work?"

"Very well." Fuyu stood and adjusted her blue tube top before concentrating on the process to conjure her wings. The black goo squirmed out of her shoulder blades in ropes before yanking and tugging itself into the majestic ebony construction Rainbow Dash had seen. "Do you want me to turn around?"

"Yes, please." Rarity set her glasses aside and walked over. "Damn you. I've been going to the gym three days a week for three years and I will probably never have arms and shoulders of this caliber!"

Fuyu's tone betrayed no ill will, but the straight delivery stung the dressmaker right in the heart. "I'll trade your past for my physique, if you'd like."

"...my apologies," she sighed, frowning at the floor. "I meant it as a compliment, not to dredge anything up."

"I'm not angry, I'm just..." Fuyu paused a moment to grope for a suitable word. She ended up borrowing one from Rainbow. "...saying."

"Right. Er, let's change the subject." Rarity peered at where the wings sprouted from Fuyu's porcelain flesh, emitting a series of low hums and mutters. "Goodness, they're so...substantial. Have you tried producing magical ones?"

"Yes, but I can't seem to feel the ability – if I even have it." Several moments passed without any word from the dressmaker. "What are you doing back there?"

"Contemplating, darling, just contemplating." Abruptly, she clapped her hands once and stepped around front. "Time to try these on! All of them!"

"But, that's going to take-" Fuyu looked over her shoulder at the stack, "-hours."

"Then we'd better get started." She folded her arms and scowled at the look Fuyu gave her. "This is much harder than you think, darling. I am building you a style from scratch, so I have to throw fashion at the wall and see what sticks."

The pale woman dismissed her wings and issued a tiny smirk. "That's a lot of fashion."

"What can I say? I am a wellspring of excellent ideas. Now, grab something and put it on! I want to see it in action!"

"If you say so." Fuyu wandered to the table and plucked a sky blue something with virtually no back and moved toward one of the curtained booths. "I could have made my own clothes."

Rarity gave her an exaggerated wink. "Princesses do not make clothes."

"But I'm—oh. I get it." Blank-faced, she disappeared behind the curtain. Before she could start changing, however, her phone rung. "Huh?" After fishing it from her pocket, she looked at the screen and saw a picture of Trixie.

"Can you talk right now?" the magician asked just as soon as Fuyu hit the button to answer.

She kept her voice low. "Yes, why?"

"Expect a package tonight. I'm heading to the train station to pick it up about midnight or so."

Her heart rate elevated as she consumed the words. "Okay. I want to be there. I'll stay out of sight if I must."

"Darling, are you all right in there?"

"Fine," she called. "I need to go," she added lowly to the phone.

"Got it. See you tonight."

Rarity cocked an eyebrow as Fuyu walked out at last, clad in the blue top. "That took a while."

"Sorry. Phone call." She was still trying to return the phone to the pocket of her cargo pants.

Rarity cocked an eyebrow. "Oh? Did something happen or is Twilight being a nag again?"

"It was Trixie." The look Fuyu got from her friend caused a severe scowl. Without hesitation she folded her arms and returned it in kind. "She's my friend too."

That assertion was too much; she turned her back on the pale woman and hissed angrily. "I despise that woman with every fiber of my being!"

Her temper had very little effect. "I'm aware."

Sensing this, Rarity spun on her heel and spat some more. "She was going to kill my sister! Why do you even give her the time of day?"

Fuyu flicked her emotion aside with an icy glare and decided to quash her tantrum before it really got going. "I fail to see why you all feel the need to keep reminding me about what she did. I am well aware. I'll tell you what I told Rainbow Dash; she did those things with my power. By all means, hate her. But remember that she held a piece of me for a while and that gives us a relationship, like it or not. And if her presence makes you fearful, you can rest easy. If she tries to bring harm to this town again, I will turn her to ash."

Rarity had a rebuttal all ready to go, but the tone of Fuyu's promise froze it solid. Unable to screw up enough courage for any response after her failed try, she slumped over in submission and glanced away. "Fair points, I suppose. I'm not going to like her, though."

"I'm not asking you to, but our friends need not all be mutual."

Rarity smirked at her and straightened up. "Goodness me, you are the most intimidating woman I have ever met."

She just gave her a nonchalant shrug. "Most predators are intimidating."

The statement hung between them, sucking all the air and heat out of the room until Rarity thought her blood was going to turn to ice. She coughed and tried to think of something to break that glacier. "You've certainly learned the complexities of friendship, haven't you?"

"I'm doing my best." At last, Fuyu remembered her new clothing and looked down to appraise how it hung on her. "This is a bit...revealing."

The dressmaker, eager to find a less touchy subject, rubbed her chin and nodded. "The front is a bit low, perhaps...there's a bolero jacket that goes with it, though. Let me go find it. Then you can try on everything else!" Giggling with glee, she disappeared into the back.

Fuyu looked up at the wall clock over the counter. It was 4:30. "Perhaps I should call Twilight and tell her I'm spending the night here," she mumbled, looking back at the huge pile of clothes on the table.

While she meant it as a joke, it turned out not to be; ten o'clock had arrived just as she hit the library door. Twilight was sound asleep in a chair across the room with a book in her lap. "I told her not to wait for me," Fuyu sighed, hovering to the kitchen door to avoid triggering any squeaky wood. A quick rummage in the fridge yielded a strange bottle of soda that, upon testing, tasted like watermelon. "Where did this come from?" There was a note on the bottom of the bottle from Pinkie. "'This is a new formula'," it read. "'Let me know how it is.' I should have figured."

Her mind was occupying itself with little things to avoid getting anxious, and she was well aware of its attempts. Grasping the soda, she floated right back out of the library and into the sleeping town. It was cold enough for her to see her breath now, and cold enough to keep most everyone inside despite the hour. After tracking the nearby magic users for a while, it seemed safe enough for her to lift off and look around for the railroad tracks. Once she found them, she followed them east, trading the lights of Ponyville for the darkness of the surrounding plains. The highway ran along the tracks, but she only saw five cars before another, smaller cluster of lights appeared. Discreetly, she dropped down and landed behind a tree to avoid being seen from the highway, and walked the rest of the way.

The train station, like the town it served, was a small affair. It had one platform to the left of the tracks as Fuyu approached; the station itself was a pleasant brick building with a gabled roof and large square windows. As she jumped up the four feet to the platform, the whole thing seemed to be empty. While surveying the scene, she took a swig of the watermelon soda.

"You're early."

She turned to see Trixie hefting herself up onto the platform, grunting most of the way. "I really need to start visiting that gym near the soda shop," she moaned.

Fuyu shrugged, emptied her bottle, and flipped it across the platform into a trash can near the wall of the station. "Mm. Are we early?"

The magician nodded and settled on one of the iron and wooden benches against the wall of the station. "I'd say so. The drop won't be for about an hour and a half."

She didn't follow her over. "I thought Luna was giving you the papers."

"My going back and forth to Canterlot would attract a lot of attention. It only took you one time to get curious." Trixie watched as she at last came over and sat down. "You seem a bit anxious."

"I am."

For the longest time those two words hung between them, just as cold and heavy as the air. "I didn't think you could be anxious," Trixie said at last, leaning back into her corner of the bench.

"That's ridiculous. My emotions might not work quite the same as everyone else's yet, but they still work." They paused and glanced at the lights of a car that traveled along the highway behind them. "You've seen me be angry."

Trixie nodded, pulling her jacket tighter around her. "And it's something I'll never forget."

"I'm sorry, again." Sullen only for a second, she perked up and looked over. "I was genuinely angry at you for no reason."

"Yes. Yes, you were." She was getting an odd vibe from the pale woman and shifted uncomfortably. "What?"

"I never would have done that to Twilight, or Applejack, or Rainbow Dash, and so on. I was going to kill you." Fuyu was thinking out loud.

Trixie was just getting more and more uncomfortable. "Where are you going with this?"

Pieces were still flying together in her head and kept leaking out through her lips in the process. "But you're still my friend...hmm."

"Um, can I get an explanation, please?" she asked, tapping her sneaker on the concrete.

Fuyu didn't give her one. "How many kinds of friends are there?"

Thrown off entirely, she blinked and tilted her head. "...what in the wor—I don't know. A lot. Why?"

"Twilight and company want so desperately to help me. It makes me feel like I can't really...talk to them. I don't understand why."

Trixie crossed her legs and rubbed her chin. "Maybe you don't want them to worry?"

She nodded lightly and cast her eyes at her black moccasins. "Perhaps. Would you worry?"

"Some, but certainly not as much." Silence fell. She finally bent forward and tried to peek at Fuyu's face. "You want to talk?"

"Yes, I do."

Suddenly, the magician assumed the air of a therapist and gazed at her. "Let's hear it, then."

"Hmm." Nothing else was said for about ten seconds as she tried collect her thoughts – or arrange them into what she wanted to escape first. "I don't know what I'm supposed to be."

After shrugged and glancing across the tracks into the night, Trixie asked, "What do you want to be?"

"I..." She had no idea. Slumping back against the bench and staring up, she sighed. "I only know what I didn't want to be, which was...what I was before I came here."

"So, success, right? What's the problem?"

Fuyu stood up and walked away a few steps. "I don't know. I don't have the whole story," she said, turning to face Trixie. "I haven't been given the whole story."

"Oh. That sucks."

A light from their left killed the conversation. Too bright and in the wrong place to be a car, they couldn't determine what it was until it got closer and lit up the rails. "Will it be on a train?" Fuyu asked.

"I have no idea." Trixie watched the light bounce about slightly. "All I know is to expect it here at midnight."

"I see." An elbow to the ribs made her squirm. "What?"

Trixie smirked at her. "Keep talking. We've got over an hour to go."

"Fine." Another brief arrangement of her thoughts occurred. "Am I allowed to tell you what I read in the first envelope?"

"Uh...good question. I wasn't supposed to look, but Luna didn't say anything about you telling me after the fact." She needed to hug something and brought up her knees. "I'm guessing no, though."

"I'm going to anyway."

The magician swallowed hard as her friend sat back down. "I really don't want to die in jail, Fuyu."

"You won't." She whipped out a rope of the black goo. "This is made of dead people. A lot of dead people. They crushed them until their innate magic became a black paste, then they injected me with it." Only when Trixie whimpered out loud did she pause and glance over.

"Can we please change the subject?" she begged, trembling.

"No, I need someone else to hear this. They built this as a weapon, then gave it to me to..." Her mind slapped her hard. "That's as far as I can go."

Trixie winced as Fuyu recalled the substance so fast it emitted a snap against her palm. "Okay, fine. I don't know whether to be more afraid of that gunk or more afraid of whatever they gave it to you to do."

The answer to that question was very easy. "Be more afraid of the gunk."

"If you say so. Who gave it to you, exactly?"

Debating whether or not to reveal this took several moments. Figuring there was no point in deflecting the question, she decided to go ahead. "The Princesses did."

"What?!" Trixie stood up and stumbled away from the bench. "Why?!"

"I had a job to do." Recalling the sentence Celestia had written in the documents made her scowl furiously. "At least one that I know of."

"What jo—you know what, no. Don't even tell me because I've got enough to freak out about." To prove her point, she started to wander around and mutter. "Your goo is made of dead people and you're a Princess apparently. Oh, and I'm a stalker too, with the blessings of Luna. I miss pulling rabbits out of hats."

Fuyu shook her head and approached. "Calm down."

Trixie would have none of it and kept on pacing. "Are you serious? I'm stuck between two very, very powerful people that can look at me and blow my head off. Now I have to keep Luna in the dark about you knowing about her and oh boy, if she finds out my life is fucking over." Her frantic voice echoed briefly through the cold night.

The pale woman caught up and put a hand on her shoulder. "I know plenty about keeping secrets."

All she could do was wilt with the contact. "I wish I didn't."

"Mm." They had to pause again as the train went by, rumbling past at a crawl in the direction of Ponyville. It carried only freight, various low gondolas full of something that sparkled in the station's lights and looked like a mineral. Once the groaning diesel locomotives had passed around the curve, Fuyu spoke up again. "Twilight was right. Talking really does help."

Trixie didn't appreciate the chat nearly as much. "Why didn't you say this stuff to her, then? She's one-sixth of your best friends forever."

Fuyu folded her arms and watched the train. "That's exactly why."

It went right over her head at first, but something clicked and she gave the pale woman a surprised look. Fuyu wouldn't look back, wouldn't even glance over and acknowledge that expression. She knew then that she knew something, but was unwilling to say it. Instead, they both watched the train trundle along in front of them until it ended, bidding them farewell with a flashing red light on the final coupler that slid into the darkness.

"It's cold," the magician grumbled. She grumbled again after looking at her watch. "And we still have 40 minutes to wait."

Together they returned to the bench. Trixie moved a manila envelope to sit down, dropping it on the concrete. As soon as it hit, she froze with surprise. "Wait..."

"What?" Fuyu looked down at it, resting near the magician's feet. "Where did that come from?"

"I have no idea." She hugged herself and glanced around, eyes flooded with paranoia. "Did you see anyone?"

"No, did you?" After picking it up, she turned it over to find a flap for opening. "Huh. It feels light."

"I'm out. Cannot be seeing any of the contents. I don't think." Trixie stood and skittered away, stopping at the edge of the platform. "I should probably not jump off this thing in the dark." Fuyu lifted and set her down on the grass with magic, forcing a yelp. "Ah! Right. Fine. Thanks."

Once she was gone, the pale woman opened the envelope and began extracting the documents. There weren't many; 10 pages in all, only nine of which were stapled together. The tenth fell out and fluttered to the concrete.

"Huh?" Once it was in her hand, she found it to be a leaf of notebook paper with something scribbled on in purplish ink. "'I'm sorry it's not much. I'll tell you much more once we meet.'" It was signed Luna in swooping cursive. "When we meet?"

That page was set aside on the bench in favor of the others. The first was blank on both sides, but the second was plastered with handwritten notes. After a second of skimming, they caused her to gasp out loud. "This is all about me!"

They took the form of a very informal journal, with times prefacing every paragraph. There were no dates, however. Despite frowning at their absence, she devoured the text with great interest.

09:44: I've been told the subject has chosen a name for herself after visiting the castle. Fuyu. Odd name, but she really seems to like it. The moment I received her at the academy she went right back to the little room we've got set up and grabbed those dumbbells. Man, she loves to exercise. I wonder if I should tell her to stop, but she never seems to get tired.

10:39: Dr. Cannon arrived with a sample of the...whatever. It's black as night and looks like coal. He wants me to give it to her.

10:41: She – Fuyu, I mean – has no idea what it is, and frankly that's a relief. Wait, she touched it. It melted! How did she...oh, it scared her. I don't like her when she gets like this, she's too strong.

10:48: Calmed her down. Whatever this gunk is, it's now a frozen puddle on the floor. I tried scraping it up but it wouldn't budge. Fuyu wants to help me.

10:53: Holy crap. Whenever she touches this stuff it flows like water.

10:59: She's playing with it like a toy. As long as she keeps contact with it, it'll do...well, whatever she wants. Turn into a rope, a ball, a cube, stuff like that. What is this goo?

11:21: Oh man, Cannon says the Princess is coming. Luna. To check up on her 'weaponry', whatever that means. I've been sitting with Fuyu for 15 minutes. Never seen her smile like this. I think she's talking to the black stuff.

11:30: Luna and Fuyu are staring each other down, and if I weren't being paid to write this I probably would have passed out by now. I hate tension! Luna keeps telling her to do stuff with the goo, but she won't. Wait, there she goes. It's like...like watching solid magic.

The next two paragraphs were blacked out save for the times – 12:19 and 14:42 respectively. At the end of the second was a notation that read 'end of day 30'.

"Is this when I met you?" she asked herself. Or at least she thought she was asking herself, but unconsciously a wisp of black had wiggled from her palm, at which she looked and frowned. "You made me smile."

She turned the page. Something was different about this one – not the notes or their style, but the paper itself. It seemed newer than the previous page.

00:57: The injection process is about to take place. Both the Princesses are here to see it. Fuyu doesn't appreciate being tied to the bed very much.

01:11: She's starting to cry. Begging for help. I can't even look at her.

01:14: I want to leave the room but Luna won't let me. I can't even hear myself think for Fuyu's screaming.

There was an added line between that entry and the next. I'm so sorry about this. The handwriting was different from the rest, and on comparison seemed to be Luna's own.

"My dream." Unable to process any more, she slid the papers back into the envelope and stood. "I..." Her shoulders slumped. "I don't know."

Suddenly an idea occurred to her. She looked back toward Ponyville, blankly at first, then with determined eyes. After making sure she'd collected all the papers, she streaked into the sky. While the trip here had taken her a few minutes, the trip back was a two minute affair, if that. It concluded with a hover in front of Rainbow's apartment building, although one window lower than usual. She tapped on the pane and watched a confused Trixie first track the noise from her couch, then look over, and finally walk.

"Uh, hello?" she said after opening the window. "What are you doing here?"

Fuyu slipped through and landed on the carpet. "You talk to Luna, right?"

"Yeah, I thought you knew that..." When the pale woman snatched her phone off the table, Trixie started to panic. "No! You can't!"

Fuyu thrust the phone at her. "Dial the number."

That caused begging. "Please, no, she can't know that you know." The phone was thrust at her again and she took it, hands shaking. "Fuyu, please."

There was no anger to be found in her face, but as it had before her determination looked frighteningly similar. "Dial it, Trixie."

"F-f-fine." Due to her trembling fingers, several attempts were needed. "Here. It's ringing. I am so dead."

Before the magician went to cower in the corner and weep – quite literally – Fuyu took the phone and placed it to her ear. Several rings passed before a voice took over.

"This better be good, Trixie. I'm in the middle of lunch. Or dinner. Whatever you call a meal at midnight."

Fuyu squinted at the TV. "Princess Luna."

On the other end, the phone nearly slipped from her hand as the voice registered. She was shaking even worse than the magician was previously. So bad were the tremors that she had to hold the device with both hands just to keep it to her ear. "Winter? How did...how did you..."

"I know about Trixie being your spy, but that's beside the point."

"Your voice hasn't changed at all." Luna began to cry; out of instinct she pulled up her hood to hide the tears. "Did you get my packages?"

She folded one arm and glanced over at the whimpering woman in the corner. "Yes. What did you mean by your note?"

Luna could hardly maintain her balance as she walked to her bed. "You will see when the letter gets delivered, tomorrow I hope. It's...it's so nice to hear your voice."

"Hmm. Are these documents what your sister promised me?"

"Well, no. I'm picking up her slack." She sat on the mattress and tried to control her shaking. "I'm so sorry for everything, Winter."

Fuyu had no idea what to say to that and hesitated for a long time. "I'll decide whether to accept your apology after I get the full story."

"Perfectly fair. I have to go, but before I do...look at the last journal note on the last page."

With her magic, she did just that. What waited for her there almost caused her to drop the phone.

23:59: We have lost containment of the subject – I heard she escaped, somehow. Fuyu, I mean. No idea where she is. Princess Celestia told Cannon not to look, so I guess she'll handle it. Cannon said this is the last entry I'll need to write, so...end day 247 and end log.

"I escaped? But how?" Behind her, Trixie perked up as she listened.

"A story for another time. I must go. I'll see you soon enough." Luna quickly ended the call and fell back onto her bed, still shivering. "I don't know whether to hang Trixie or hug her for this."

A deep breath steered her mind toward the latter. Wiping her eyes with her sleeve, she stood and started the process of composing herself.

"Mail call!"

Fuyu hardly glanced up as Twilight scaled the stairs, clutching the mail in her hand. She flipped one of the pieces to the pale woman, who caught it with her magic. "It's from Canterlot. Any idea what it is?"

There was no genuineness in her voice. "No." With a black blade, she slit it open and peeked inside. "Hmm."

Twilight rifled through the rest of the letters and bills for only a moment before Fuyu's tone stung her ears. "Are you okay? You've been kind of quiet since the wings thing happened..."

The morning light caused the embossed sun on the stationery to gleam as Fuyu moved the letter about. She ignored the question, read the text, then summarized it out loud. "Princess Celestia wants me at the castle."

"What? Why?" Fuyu handed her the letter as she walked over. "Your presence is requested, blah blah, one week's time, blah blah blah...official investiture ceremony! Oh! This is perfect!"

Fuyu was not nearly as giddy. "I thought I already had one of these."

"You've got the medal, but usually there's a set number of dates each year when the members are officially invested. I didn't know if you were getting a chance at a ceremony or not." Grinning, Twilight handed the letter back and clasped her hands. "We get to go to Canterlot! I can show you around the city to jog your memory...while I try and ask Celestia what exactly is going on, in person."

"Mm." Fuyu folded the paper and set it on her lap.

"Geez, contain yourself." Twilight assumed her finest grumpy pose and glowered. "I thought you'd be excited."

"I don't know whether to be excited or afraid."

Stunned by the admission, she sat down on the edge of the pale woman's bed and looked at her. "Wh...why would you be afraid?" When she got only silence, the answer became clear. "It's something the Princess told you, isn't it."

A shrug of her shoulders came and went. "More or less."

"Crap. Sorry." Her eyes drifted and came to rest on the morning sky out the window. "It's driving us both crazy, huh? I don't know, but you know. It's just as bad no matter which side of it we're on."

"I don't know as much as you think." Fuyu took the letter and re-read it. "It says I can bring three people to the ceremony, if I want."

Twilight's hand snapped up as if she were answering a question in school. "I'm going!"

Fuyu nodded with an eyebrow raised. "I assumed you were. Who else should I take?"

"I dunno. You've got a week to pick. Call around and see who's up for it." Just as she was reaching for her phone, however, Twilight interrupted. "Wait just a second. Before you do that, uh...can you say at all what's bothering you? Anything?"

Scanning her mind, there was one thing that was safe enough to let out. "Everyone suddenly loves me for something I might not be. I'm not sure what to think of that."

She nodded slowly and sighed. "Oh. Well. I have to admit, it was rather...drastic. The people here love the Princesses. I guess that's part of the reason why Celestia sent me here."

Fuyu perked with surprise. "Sent you here?"

"Oh, I never told you this, did I?" After shifting around a bit, Twilight settled into her storytelling mode. "A couple of years ago I lived in Canterlot. Not in the Castle, of course, but I visited a lot."

"Why did she send you away?"

Her hand rose to hide a light laugh. "The city life was getting to me. It's so hectic in Canterlot. I suppose she saw how-"

"Stressed you were becoming?" Fuyu's eyes remained firmly on her legs as the librarian looked over.

"Yeah. Stressed." A frown bent her lips, but after a second she looked away and back at the window. "You know, she was right. It's much easier to relax out here, not to mention how much my friends have helped keep me sane." She snickered again. "Or made me lose my mind."

"Hmm." Fuyu blinked when Twilight's hand suddenly came to rest on her knee. Her eyes traveled up that arm until they reached her concerned expression.

"I should have asked this first – do you want to go? I think the excitement made me a bit pushy."

"I..." Her adamant wish to find out something had faded somewhat since she'd first expressed it to Celestia. It had flared up again last night while talking to Luna, although now it was colder again. She set her chin on an upraised fist and stared into space, fighting with herself. "Yes," she murmured at length, glancing over. "Knowing is better than not knowing, even if I can't divulge it."

Twilight beamed at her. "I'll see if I can't get her to fill me in. Well then, since you're on board...I guess we'd better get ready for our trip!"

Fuyu moved her gaze away and squinted at the bright morning light. "Yes. I guess we'd better."

Going Home
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Black

Going Home

For a moment, Fuyu found herself wondering just how many barns were erected on the Apple property. She stood in the doorway of one such structure, watching the blonde count the remaining crates of apples stored there.

"Hundred and two," Applejack finally blurted out. "Shoot, that's another trainload. Y'all did pretty well, Fu."

"I always did have a way with harvesting," she replied, a ghostly smile on her lips. "Are you finished?"

"Yep. What's up?" They walked out together into the gloomy morning light.

"Twilight's told you I've been summoned to Canterlot by Princess Celestia, hasn't she?"

Applejack's brow furrowed as she went about locking up the barn. "Actually, no."

"Good, I asked her not to. I get to bring three guests – two, since Twilight insists on going. I want you to come along."

Chuckling, she poked up the brim of her hat. "Aw, shoot. I don't get along well with them fancy folk in the capital. Why in the world do ya wanna bring me?" An extremely serious look from the pale woman made her heart skip a beat.

"I'm going to be finding out the part of my history I don't know, and Twilight might get wind of it. She needs someone there to steady her." Folding her arms, she turned and looked over the grayed countryside. "That's not the only reason why."

Worried, Applejack doffed her hat completely. "What else, then?"

Fuyu hung her head. "I may need someone to do the same for me."

"Y'all...y'all think it's really that bad?"

"I don't know, that's the problem." Turning again, she looked at the blonde and smiled. "There is another reason. You were..." The remaining words got stuck in her craw. She sat down on the grass, ignoring the dampness and peered at the ground. "You were the first person that was ever kind to me."

Stunned, Applejack sat on the grass with her. "Now wait a second. In all that time you were out there, nobody even said hello?"

Fuyu slumped over without a word.

She draped an arm around the pale woman's shoulder and frowned. "...damn, man, why didn't y'all ever say so?"

"I didn't think it mattered. I had the things I didn't have so I just assumed what happened before would...go away." The contact was making her squirm, but no effort was put into pulling away. "It all changed so fast, I just thought I could leave my history behind after I settled in town and talked to the Princess."

The blonde was taking on a very thoughtful pose, which required her to withdraw her arm. "Y'all do know each other, then?"

"Yes, from before I forgot everything. That's as far as I can go." She peeked over; Applejack looked rather melancholy. "What?"

"I can't believe y'all never talked ta anyone," she said, looking Fuyu dead in her one visible eye. "Never?"

She broke the eye contact quickly. "I never talked to someone that wasn't going to be food or was trying to do something to me, no."

"Geez. Uh..." Snatched by curiosity, Applejack asked a question she regretted the second it entered the clammy air. "How did y'all kill all them people and never get caught?" She winced at the anger she thought would be coming, but it never arrived.

"She told me to stay away from cities and towns. She told me to ambush people that were alone. She told me to hide. To be sneaky. Of course, it helped that I ate most of the evidence." Clinical and flat, her tone made Applejack's skin crawl. "I wanted to go into places with lots of people, but I couldn't. Wouldn't."

"Why?" It struck her as a stupid question, but she couldn't help asking it.

Fuyu's eyes squeezed shut as she grappled with her thoughts. "Because I hurt everyone, Applejack. It made me sad, even though I didn't understand why for a while. Half of me was a mindless robot, and the other was a terrified child."

Something prodded her brain and made her eyes light up. "I guess it's weird havin' two voices in your head, huh?"

Upon hearing that, Fuyu slumped over even further. "It's worse being alone up here."

Applejack couldn't help but clamp on in a bear hug. "You have gotta tell us stuff like this, Fu! It's what we're here for!"

"Mm." The embrace helped her in a way Trixie's neutral distance couldn't. "I don't know how I feel sometimes. I want to know about before, then I don't. I want to open up to Twilight, but she's already so frantic I'm afraid it'll hurt her. I want to open up to someone but you all seem so hellbent on being nice to me that I don't want to ruin it with what I know. I like it when people are nice to me. It's still new. It still tingles."

Although she'd loosened the hug, Applejack's arms were still draped around the pale woman. "Feel better?" She smiled gently at the nod. "That's why y'all gotta spill the beans. And by the way...don't ever be scared 'bout talkin' to any of us, okay?"

"A bit late for that. Now I feel like Twilight will be angry at me for telling you this instead of her," she muttered while looking up at the clouds.

"Pff, we don't share everything." Applejack chuckled loudly at Fuyu's surprised look. "Y'all got a lot ta learn. We love each other ta death, but we've got favorites even in our little circle. How d'ya think Rainbow and I started datin'?"

Fuyu broke away and levitated to her feet. "Are you telling me it's all right to hide things from people?!" she exclaimed. Her face bore more emotion than the blonde had seen in a while.

Applejack, blinking with shock, also stood. "Well yeah, some stuff. Friends do it just as much as strangers sometimes."

She loosed a groan and placed a hand on her forehead. "I don't understand as much of this as I thought I did."

"Ain't never gonna learn all of it. Nobody does." Chuckling, she picked up her hat, checked it for water, and put it on. "Best way to handle it is ta be as honest as ya can about as much as ya can."

Fuyu was smiling again, but her face betrayed a shadow of frustration. "Perhaps I should have stayed here with you. Now do I see why I want you to come?"

"I guess so. All right, I'll see if'n I can't find somewhere for Bloom ta stay." They began walking back toward the farmhouse. "Hey, 'bout what y'all said before. Can't run from your past, ya know. Gotta come ta terms with it. Embrace it if ya can. It's who you are."

All the humor dashed away from Fuyu's visage as she took in those words. A slightly frigid look was sent the blonde's way as they kept going. "Tell me, Applejack; how am I supposed to embrace being a nightmare?"

"Guess you had one of those talks with Applejack, huh?"

Fuyu's eyes slid over and tracked Twilight as she came up the stairs from the kitchen. "How can you tell?"

"You're still pretty awful at hiding emotion. You aren't as tense." The librarian sat on her bed and glanced about listlessly. "She's so good at that stuff. Almost as good as Pinkie."

"You're not curious to know what we talked about?" she asked, looking up more fully.

Twilight placed a hand on her chest and feigned surprise. "What? That's your business. I'm not going to pry."

After regarding her for a few moments, Fuyu went back to reading. "All right. I'll keep it to myself."

A happy chime from Twilight's pants drew both their attention. She retrieved her phone and peeked at the screen. "You know, Rarity wants to see you so she can fit that," she paused, looking down at the text again, "flowing ebony masterpiece of a gown, as she refers to it."

Fuyu glanced up at her for only a moment before dropping her eyes back to the book in her lap. "Another formal dress? She's a portal that spews clothes. There's no other explanation."

The librarian burst out laughing. "She's unstoppable. Say the words 'special event' and off she goes!"

A minute of light-hearted silence passed before the air got serious again. "I asked Applejack to come and she agreed."

Twilight nodded once. "Good. I'll call the station and have them hold another train ticket."

Fuyu closed her book and set it on the bed. "Why? I can fly us there much faster."

"I'm not thrilled with the prospect of going 700 miles at that speed. And it won't just be us, remember, it'll be all of our luggage, too. If Rarity's coming along, that'll be, I don't know, three or four dozen suitcases." She snickered at herself for a second. "Applejack's afraid of heights, too. And by the way, it's going to be cold this weekend, we'd freeze at altitude. Oh, and the scenery on the way up there is great by train, I want you to see it at least once!" A pointed look made her pause and blink. "What?"

"You're lecturing me again," she said, grinning. "Just say you want me to ride the train."

Twilight's face dropped, as did her arms to her sides. "I...want you to ride the train?"

"Then I will ride the train. I'm still not sure who else will be coming, though."

"Eh, you still have four days to choose." While tapping her fingers on her knee, an idea sprang to mind. "I know Applejack was your first choice, but of the rest of us, who would be next?"

"That's the problem, I didn't have a second choice. Now I have no idea who to ask." The answer didn't come to her after a bout of chin rubbing, either. "I should call around."

"You should! I know Rarity would jump at the chance to go show off her stuff in the capital – again. As if she doesn't get enough business from Canterlot." Twilight rolled her eyes and fell back onto her bed. "Fluttershy would be terrified of going. Pinkie would probably terrorize the-" A snap from Fuyu's direction made her fall quiet.

"Let me find out these things for myself." Her phone was out. She dialed a number and placed it to her ear. "Hello? Fluttershy?"

"Oh, hello. Give me a moment, there's a...there's a cockatoo on my head."

Fuyu stared off in disbelief, trying to picture a bird nesting in the shy woman's pink locks. "...right."

"Ouch. Ouch! You are such a naughty bird. Sorry. How are you doing?"

"Fine. I have a question for you." She waved at Twilight, who was quietly excusing herself from the loft and heading back down to the kitchen. "Princess Celestia has invited me to Canterlot for a...thing...and I am allowed to bring three guests. Twilight and Applejack are coming. Would you like to come along?"

A long pause passed by, broken only by a few short, awkward noises. "Um, well..."

Fuyu couldn't understand why Fluttershy sounded so tense, only to remember she always seemed to sound that way. "You don't have to go?"

"Oh. I kn-knew that, really, I just have so much to do over the weekend. Um...sorry."

She wondered if rejection was supposed to feel so gentle, but shrugged it off. "It's fine. I can ask someone else."

"Okay! I'm still sorry...er...have a good trip!"

Fuyu's eyebrow lifted. "I won't be leaving for four days."

"R-right. Um, well, j-just keep that in mind for when you leave. If I don't see you off, I mean, but of course I would see you off. You're my friend."

"Of course. I'll...let you get back to work." Fuyu hung up after a squeaky goodbye from the other end and stared at the phone. "This is like talking to a minefield made out of eggshells." After noting the time, she hopped off her bed and magicked on her shoes. As she reached the bottom and laid eyes on Twilight, she dialed another number. "Pinkie?" she asked, once it picked up.

"Fufu! Hi!"

The pale woman drifted over and sat at the small table. "Hello. Do you need me to come in?"

"Nope! Nobody's allowed in the shop today!"

She blinked in Twilight's direction, which attracted the woman's interest. "What? Why?"

"It's being disinfected! The Cakes are so worried they might have brought their germs in before they got too sick to come to work and didn't know it, so they hired some guy to clean everything like super hard. All I can smell is bleach and chemicals and stuff and it's making my nose really itchy."

The pale woman idly patted her blue bangs and blinked. "But we were in there yesterday and none of us got sick."

"Fufu, I don't think you can get sick. But true, I feel fine! Except for my eyes watering and my nose being on fire and my..."

"You are sick, aren't you?"

"N-no, I promise! It's just these stupid chemical-y smells!"

Fuyu's hand dropped from her hair to her hip. Twilight snickered at her stern look. "Go out and get some fresh air."

"I caaaaan't. I have to stay in the loft and make sure Bleach McCleaningguy gets done."

"Well, open a window," she offered, staring blankly.

"I don't have any! Except the one in the door, which for all its cuteness is not openable and that makes it kinda useless."

"What if you opened the door?" Fuyu's empty gaze locked onto the giggling librarian.

"Oo! Good idea! I'ma do that." A few noises indicated she had. "So, what's up?"

"Would you like to come to Canterlot with me? I have room for one more guest."

"Ooo, Fufu, I dunno. When the Cakes come back we're gonna have to go nuts to catch up on the back orders. I'll probably have to live in the kitchen until like, next Tuesday."

This form of rejection still didn't feel too bad. She nodded slowly. "I understand."

"Sorry! I'm gonna be buried under candy. And cupcakes. And cookies!" A brief pause prefaced a loud sneeze. "Ugh...ow...I wish this guy would hurry up..."

"Perhaps you should wait outside," Fuyu scolded gently. "I will talk to you later." After hanging up and putting her phone aside, she sighed. "Well, I have another day off."

Twilight made a face, marked the page in her magazine, and closed it. "The place didn't burn down, I hope?"

"No, it's being cleaned. Pinkie might suffocate because of the chemicals." Once that had been said, the two looked at each other for several seconds. "You were right about my talk with Applejack. It did help."

"Yeah, I know. She's good at steadying people's nerves." A sip of coffee caused her to make a disgusted expression. "Ugh, cold."

"I feel like I'm still two people," Fuyu blurted out. In the silence that followed, she stared down at the table top. "I'm not used to having only one consciousness."

"Er, well..." Twilight had no advice for her on that front, instead offering a short series of mumbles and shrugs as she collected her thoughts. "All I can say is give it time. You're such a unique case, I really won't know what to think until Celestia gives me some details."

"If she does. And even so, you will not want to hear them."

The sullen look in her eyes caused Twilight to scowl. "I don't care if I do or not, I have to know. We have to know."

Fuyu hearkened back to the words Celestia had said at the party about keeping Twilight in the dark and sighed. "She won't tell you anything."

The librarian was growing agitated, folding her arms roughly. "Then I'll sit in her throne until she does. I want to know what's going on!" Her emotion faded away as she watched her friend stare at the floor. "...something else is wrong, isn't there?" Fuyu lifted her hand slightly and pointed at Twilight's magazine, which suddenly became a rose. Everything about it was correct – even down to the smell. Fascinated, she picked it up and examined it. "Wow. You've gotten good at this."

"I always was good. You noted how quickly I sank into a routine; I know why, now." As soon as Twilight put the flower down, she snapped it back to its previous form. "I can shift matter. Living things. Pain is an inconvenience. Sleep is barely a necessity. I know I'm not like anyone else, but it's more than that. There isn't a rule on this planet that applies to me."

The more she contemplated that assertion, the more uncertain Twilight got. She couldn't place why it unsettled her, however. "Why does it bother you?"

"I tortured the thief that held Applejack and Rainbow Dash hostage that night." The gasp in response stung despite the fact that she expected it. "It was very pleasant, in a strange way."

"You were angry," Twilight rationalized, more for her own benefit than Fuyu's. "Anyone would have been angry." She was helpless in the face of the pale woman's penetrating gaze. "You're human. We get emotional. We do things we regret."

"I'm more than human, Twilight. I am something else entirely. If I get angry I can...I can rewrite pieces of reality." Fuyu's eyes widened as the pieces flew together in her mind's eye. Her emotional outbursts were limited in scope, but no longer; the story Celesta had given her about the librarian's panic attack – her own reason for existence – was a window into what could happen if she lost her cool now. "I was wrong," she breathed, shock still marring her face.

Twilight had no idea what was happening and didn't try to hide it. "Wr-wrong?"

"She began transmuting matter. She turned her parents into potted plants, for instance. I had to intervene and stop her."

"You and I aren't so different," Fuyu said at last, placing her elbows on the table and leaning forward. The combination of her tone and body language rattled the librarian, but left her unable to speak.

The shared glitter in their eyes made apparent their agreement on one thing, however; the pale woman had just given voice to a dangerous thought.

Three days and an afternoon crawled by, laden by Twilight's silent anxiety and Fuyu's inability to do anything substantial to quell it. The last two of those days at least brought the respite of work at Sugarcube Corner, although the Cakes had bought into the pale woman's royal identity and needed convincing to let her stay on. As she arrived back at the library at the end of her shift, she found Twilight seated in the public space, staring off into the aether.

"I'm back," she said lowly, trying not to startle her as she sat in the chair across the table. "Are you...all right?"

Twilight snapped back into consciousness and looked over. There were faint bags under her eyes. "I still don't understand what you meant, you know."

No reply to that could be forced from Fuyu's lips, and so they sat in a chilly silence for a while. This was broken by a noise from the pale woman's shirt pocket – her phone, which she answered. "Hello?"

"Are you at the library?" It was Rarity, and for some reason she sounded displeased.

"Yes, why?"

"We're on our way." After that, she hung up, leaving Fuyu to stare at her phone.

"We?" she asked herself.

Twilight was just as confused, but for different reasons. "Who was that?"

Fuyu put her phone away and shifted in the chair. "Rarity. She's coming over, and it sounds like she isn't alone."

"...crap. I should have known." She dragged herself out of the chair and shuffled to the kitchen. "This usually happens when I isolate myself...I guess I assumed you being out and about would have stopped her from worrying too much. I'm still shocked Pinkie didn't interrogate you."

"She's incredibly busy with baking." Fuyu tailed the librarian into the living quarters. "I also might have deflected every attempt she made at asking what was wrong."

"Ugh! I have about had it with this keeping secrets nonsense!" she growled, slapping her forehead. "My mind has been running laps for over 72 hours trying to figure out what you meant!" She latched on to Fuyu's shoulders with both hands. "Can't you give me something?!"

Startled, the pale woman took a step back. "I don't kn-" She was interrupted as Twilight began to shake her lightly and emit a very unhappy noise. "I..."

Tears were clinging to her eyes. "Pleeeeeeeeeeeease?!"

"I...can't." Together they slumped in defeat. She guided Twilight to the table and sat her down. "You're right, though. One way or another, we're going to have a word with Princess Celestia."

The librarian was fuming hard. "Oh, you bet we are. I will nail her to something if I have to." A noise distracted them both, then another. Before long Rarity appeared with Rainbow Dash in tow. "Here it comes..."

"Twilight Sparkle, I swear upon my sewing needle, if you don't explain what's bothering you-"

Fuyu was, for a split second, more interested in how Rainbow Dash had ended up with the dressmaker. They shared a look. "Don't ask," the athlete said, rolling her eyes.

"I'm sorry, Rarity, I just..." Unable to complete her statement, Twilight hid her face.

"Welcome to your first intervention," Rainbow muttered, standing next to Fuyu.

Rarity spun on her heel and glared at them. "Oh, don't think I won't get to you. Just as soon as I help Twilight, you and I are going to discuss why you keep brushing off Pinkie Pie."

Rainbow folded her arms and dug in. "Barging in and invading their personal space seems like a great way to accomplish stuff."

"I am not barging in. Twilight needs a firm hand to yank her out of her unhappiness sometimes, we all know that. Since Pinkie is busy, I've taken it upon myself to help her!"

"Um, I'm right here," the librarian interjected, waving her hand. She glanced across the table at Fuyu with an apologetic look. "Good grief, now I know how you felt."

"Beg your pardon." Rarity made a show of clearing her throat before continuing. "Twilight, please. Tell us what happened."

"Nothing did." She bristled at the dressmaker's glare. "I'm serious! That's the problem! Nobody will tell me anything and it's starting to piss me off!"

"Whoa," Rainbow blinked, recoiling at her harsh tone. "Fu, I thought you would have talked by now."

"I have no facts to give, only theories." Fuyu scowled at bit at Twilight's glower. "I'm not mocking you. I have no way to confirm my ideas."

All her emotion came out at once as she stood and pounded the table. "I don't care! What are you thinking?!"

The noise attracted Spike, who came out of his room with headphones around his neck. "What the—oh. Intervention time?" Rarity and Rainbow nodded. "Great. I've been trying to get both of them to say something all week. Good luck." He gave everyone a thumbs up and disappeared again.

Once the distraction was gone, Twilight pinned Fuyu down with a frigid glare. "Talk."

The pale woman reacted badly to her demand and rose. They ended up leaning over the table and staring at each other from close range. "Anything I say would be so much worse than your fears."

Twilight wouldn't yield an inch. "Let's find out." Rainbow and Rarity decided it would be safer to wait near the stairs to the bedroom, and shuffled over there while exchanging several nervous glances.

Fuyu's consciousness screeched at her to shut up, but she could bear no more of the tension and had to admit something. "Fine. Since you insist, I'll let you have this: I believe we have the same power, you've just forgotten about it."

"What are you talking about? The black gunk?" Twilight leaned back as the pale woman shook her head. "What, then?"

"Shifting forms of matter."

"That's ridiculous," Rarity called. "We've only seen such a thing twice, and both instances were related to you."

"That doesn't mean I'm the only one with the ability," Fuyu replied curtly, still gazing right into Twilight's suddenly uncertain eyes.

"But I would remember such a thing. I would be able to feel that power! I would..." The remaining words lodged in her throat. She broke away, muttering incoherently, and started to pace. "No, I would know. I would know. She would tell me."

"Oh, shit," Rainbow said. "I don't think this is what we had in mind when we were thinking of a heart-to-heart..."

Twilight ran laps around the kitchen at the speed of molasses, hugging herself tightly. Low, mumbled phrases continued to leak from her lips, most of which took the form of "She would tell me!" or "Why wouldn't she tell me?!" Neither the athlete nor the dressmaker could force themselves to approach, even as they watched her come unglued. Only Fuyu stepped forward, killing her walk with a hand on the shoulder. "Wh-what?"

Her words were as firm as the expression on her face, but only a little louder than a whisper. "Now you understand. She's been lying to both of us."

"She loves me," Twilight whimpered. Each word stumbled out in a heartbreaking fashion. "She's always loved me." Rarity could no longer bear witness to the scene and hid her eyes; even Rainbow, her face twisted with sadness, had to glance at the floor.

Fuyu made the librarian face her. "You're correct. She loves you dearly. That doesn't mean she's been honest with you."

Twilight couldn't formulate a response, but the wheels were turning at light-speed in her head. She gently pulled away and went back to the table to sit down. "That's why you were so brooding. She lied to you too...about whatever it is you can't tell me." After drying her eyes, she looked over the women near the stairs. "I'm fine. You don't have to hide."

Rainbow was the first to move closer. "You sure?"

"Yes. Now I understand why Fuyu was acting so..." Her hands waved about erratically, grasping for a term that wouldn't come.

"Moody?" the pale woman offered, faintly smiling.

For some reason, picturing her as moody made the other three smile, in Rarity's case, or flat out laugh in Rainbow and Twilight's. "Some moodiness," the librarian said. "I guess that fits as well as anything." She rested her chin on her hands and sighed. "I'm glad we're leaving tomorrow. I need answers."

"Agreed," Rarity nodded. "Had I known it was this bad I would have gone with you."

"It's fine. You've got to get the town ready for Nightmare Night next week." Twilight got to her feet again. "Looks like it's just Applejack and us, Fu."

"Like hell it is!" Rainbow, arms folded, peered at the librarian. "I thought I knew what she was getting into, but apparently Shy and Pinkie don't have the whole story. If you think I'm letting AJ go by herself after hearing all this shit, you're wrong."

Twilight nodded once. "I understand. I'll uh, I'll go make the arrangements now." She vanished into the public space.

"Goodness, that was intense." Rarity fanned herself for a moment while groping for her composure. "Speaking of arrangements, I've brought something you need to try on!" She too vanished, skittering toward the rear entryway.

Rainbow leaned on the wall and regarded Fuyu evenly. "I don't know if I like this, Fu."

She was busy looking through the doorway, where Twilight was visible while on the phone with someone. "That makes at least three of us. Applejack knows the purpose of our trip, by the way. I made sure to tell her."

"All right. Saves me from having to explain anything." They both looked as Rarity returned, fumbling with a long black and blue garment. "Oh, this oughta be good."

"It better be, I spent two nights on it." She handed it off with a broad smile. "We'll wait here while you try it on."

"Very well." Electing to wrangle the thing with her magic, both dress and Fuyu went up the steps. In no time she shed her clothes and slipped it on, examining herself in the mirror as she smoothed it down. It was almost all black, save two stripes of turquoise which ran from the hem near her ankles and all the way up her sides to her armpits. There were no straps – the fit was so snug these would have been redundant anyway – and its length was such that it almost dragged on the floor as she walked around.

"May we come up?" Rarity asked from the base of the stairs.

"Yes."

They peeked over the floorboards before fully entering. "Damn," Rainbow whistled, "You clean up good."

"Well. Clean up well." Rarity moved in circles around the pale woman, judging her handiwork. "I can't say I don't agree. How does it fit?"

Fuyu tracked her as she walked around. "Fine. I would say you didn't have to do this, but I doubt you'd listen."

The dressmaker hid a giggle with her hand. "You would be correct. Do you approve?"

Another long look in the dresser mirror came and went before she nodded. "I like it."

Twilight arrived behind them, the noise of her footsteps causing everyone to turn. "We're rea—whoa, Fuyu. You look great!"

Rarity smiled brightly, but it faded into a worried frown. "Dare I ask what you two are going to wear?"

"Whatever I feel like. I'm going home to pack. See you later." Rainbow pulled her wings and zipped down the stairs, leaving Rarity to emit an annoyed grunt.

Twilight shook her head and grinned weakly. "We'd better get packed too. Big day tomorrow."

Fuyu, staring at herself in the mirror, could only think of her impending audience with Luna. "Yes," she muttered, "very big." A few unhappy noises from Rarity shattered her reverie. "What?"

"Something's missing..." Rarity circled a few more times before snapping her fingers. "Gloves! I'll be right back."

"No need." Fuyu raised her right hand and excreted ebony from her skin, which wrapped around her arm like a snake until it became one solid, skintight smear that covered everything from her elbow down. She repeated the process with her left arm and looked at Rarity for approval. All she got was a dumbfounded, mouth agape stare from both women. "I told you I could make my own clothes," she said, smirking.

Friday morning arrived cloaked in clouds and frigid air. Twilight, Spike, and Fuyu all carpooled to the train station at the librarian's insistence; Rainbow and Applejack followed them in the old red truck, while Rarity's silver SUV, containing herself, Fluttershy, and Pinkie brought up the rear. To their surprise, they found that Trixie had beaten them all to the station. She was waiting on the platform as they came outside.

"What are you doing here?" Rarity hissed, trying to kill the magician with her glare.

Trixie's stance became more rigid as she stared at the tracks. "Saying goodbye to a friend."

"Please don't fight while I'm away," Twilight moaned, rolling her eyes. Once confident that the two women would remain a safe distance apart, she began issuing standing orders. "Spike, you have the library until Tuesday night. You read the to-do list, didn't you?"

He nodded and smiled wryly. "Of course. Pretty much the same thing I do when you're around, just without fear of waking you up."

"Gee, thanks." She looked over at Pinkie, who was giving Fuyu what could only be described as an angry hug, and Fluttershy. "Will you two keep Rarity and Trixie separated, please?"

"Yep!" Pinkie chirped, then whispered into the pale woman's ear. "I am so mad at you for not telling us about the thing."

Fuyu patted her on the back. "I didn't want you to worry."

"Are you sure you don't want us to go?" Fluttershy asked.

Rainbow folded her arms. "She's got plenty of backup, relax."

Applejack, who was hauling most of the luggage, set the cases down and tossed her keys to Pinkie. "Y'all take my truck back home, will ya? Don't want Mac and Granny ta get back and think someone done stole it."

Pinkie jingled the keys and bounced in place. "Yep! I'll even try not to crash it on the way!" She laughed at the noise Applejack made. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding!"

"I'll just leave my car here, I guess." Twilight fidgeted while running down a mental checklist. "We've all got our phones, right?" Her party nodded in turn. "Right. Now we wait."

The congregation split and occupied benches. Fuyu ended up between Twilight and Trixie, with Rarity watching like a hawk from the seats to their left. "Listen, before you go, I just want you to know that...well, that I know how serious this thing is," the magician said, leaning forward to talk to Twilight.

She shrugged it off and tried to smile. "I guess I'm not really surprised. By the way, um, sorry for trying to kill you."

"I deserved it."

"Mm, well. Let's hope Rarity doesn't try and finish what I started."

"I'm sure everything will be fine." Fuyu looked up at the flat gray sky. "Is it supposed to rain?"

Twilight swung her legs back and forth like a child, trying to calm her nerves. "Snow, believe it or not. Before Nightmare Night! That hasn't happened in years – if I'm to believe the local weatherman."

"I suppose that's what you get for living in the foothills." Trixie caught a movement out the corner of her eye and glanced over to see Rarity glaring. "I get it! You still hate me!"

"You have no idea." The dressmaker looked away and over at Applejack, seated by her side with Rainbow. "I'm really looking forward to having Apple Bloom, by the way. The Boutique can feel sort of empty this time of year."

The blonde tipped her hat. "You're such a sweetheart. I appreciate ya lettin' her stay over."

"I love your sister almost as much as my own. Besides, someone has to keep her safe from that woman."

Rainbow interjected with a wry smile. "You know, if you guys get into a fight and break the town, Fu's liable to fly back here and beat both your asses." Before Rarity could reply, a low, grumbling noise caught everyone's attention.

Twilight recognized it first. "Our ride is here," she said, rising from the bench and grabbing her suitcase. The train appeared a few minutes later, trundling to a halt before the platform. She, Fuyu, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash approached the train, but the librarian stopped them short. They all turned to regard those they were leaving behind.

"Good luck," Rarity offered with a dainty wave.

"We'll mind the store," Spike added. "Go get what you're after."

"We intend to," the pale woman replied. She looked over her traveling party with stern eyes. "My friends...it's time I finally went home."

Two Winters
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Black

Two Winters

The sun slipped lower into the sky the higher the train crawled. By the time the tracks leveled out again and the tunnels stopped coming, it was past six in the evening. Fuyu's traveling party was huddled together on four seats in the first passenger car.

"What did I tell you about the view?" Twilight said with a grin. "Wasn't it beautiful?"

"Yes, it was," Fuyu replied, reviewing the spiraling vistas in her mind for a moment. She blew on the window glass and gazed at the resulting fog. "I wonder how cold it is."

"Too damn cold," Rainbow muttered. Her face was barely visible from the tiny opening of her drawn-up hood. Applejack, seated to her left, had put on a jacket several miles ago.

Twilight's brow furrowed at the complaint. "It's not that bad." Despite her words, she was wearing a sweater. "I might be regretting the skirt a little, though."

Fuyu smiled as she followed the conversation. She was still in short sleeves and capri pants. "You were right about flying. I don't think Applejack and Rainbow Dash would have survived the trip.

"No kiddin'," the blonde grumbled. "Figures we get the train with the outta order heat."

"It'll only be a few more minutes." Twilight used her magic to open the window, then stuck her head out and looked in their direction of travel. "I can almost see the ci-"

"Shut the window!" Rainbow growled, swiping her arms at the librarian. "Are you insane?!"

"Geez, you're grumpy." She withdrew and closed it, grinning wryly.

"So...y'all two nervous?" Applejack asked, crossing her legs and looking at Fuyu and Twilight.

Fuyu shrugged. "A little."

Twilight was somewhat less willing to speak. She fidgeted for a few seconds before nodding. "Yeah. I don't know what to expect."

Rainbow loosened her hood to flash a grin. "It's cool. We've got your back."

"Thanks. We may need all the help we can get."

Ten minutes passed in relative silence, save for Rainbow muttering about the cold. The rails were now laid on a widening plateau, and in short order the low buildings and houses of the outer reaches of Canterlot were passing them by. In five more minutes more tracks appeared as they approached the station. The sunlight flickered as the metal and glass arch over the platforms swallowed the train, which finally lurched to a stop.

"Here we go, girls," Twilight said. She and Fuyu used their power to grab all the luggage from the overhead rack. The station was far emptier than the last time the librarian had seen it, so their trip from the train to the sidewalk took little time. Once there, Applejack, being the tallest and most easily seen, took up hailing a cab.

"I hope this hotel is decent," Rainbow said. She rubbed her arms furiously to fight the bitter chill.

Fuyu hardly heard her speak, nor Twilight's response. The city scene, braced by towering hulks of glass and steel and hundreds of people wandering about, left her dumbfounded.

"I think we've lost Fu," Applejack chuckled, still waving for a cab.

Twilight smiled over at her. "Let her take it in."

The blonde finally managed to attract the attention of a yellow van. Once it came to a stop they all piled in – although Rainbow needed to snap Fuyu out of her reverie – and Twilight gave the driver the address for their hotel. She was familiar with it; the building was near the castle road, and used by dignitaries from other countries when visiting.

"We won't get in the castle until tomorrow morning. Fuyu, do you want to wander around the city and see if you can remember anything?" she asked while peering at the itinerary.

"Yes." The pale woman was truly overwhelmed by the sight of everything outside the windows. She had never seen this many people in one place at one time, nor buildings this tall. All but a small blotch of the evening sky was consumed by their hulk. It felt like every other person had some sort of magical spark; her internal radar displayed innumerable blips moving every which way. The van was only able to enter the flow of cars after a couple of moments. Traffic was heavy and slow at best, forcing a series of short bursts of actual travel sandwiched in long pauses.

"We'da gotten there faster walkin'," Applejack complained, staring out the window at the cars that were trapped with them.

Twilight was also looking at the snarl. Her face said she was beginning to get annoyed. "This is what you get when you stick a quarter of a million people on the side of a mountain."

"Kinda figured we'd get to, you know, stay in the castle," Rainbow added. She looked to her right, where Fuyu was still gawking at her surroundings. "Never been in a city this big, huh? Trust me, it's all glitter and snobs. Twilight might be the only good thing to come outta here."

"It's not snobby! Well...some of it isn't." She used her phone to check the time. "You might be right about walking, Applejack. We've gone a block and a half in about eight minutes."

Rainbow cackled briefly, but her face dropped when she remembered what exiting the van would mean. "Hey, this thing has heat. You'll have to drag me to get me back out there."

"It's really not that cold!" Twilight surveyed the group and found that Fuyu was the only one not shivering. "...it's freaking cold, isn't it?" Applejack and Rainbow nodded furiously.

It took nearly half an hour for them to cover the distance from the station to the hotel. When they arrived, Fuyu stared at it as she had almost everything else in the city. Even amongst those buildings, however, this one stood out – twenty stories of rectangular tower that jabbed at the sky, it seemed to be cut from one solid piece of glass reflecting everything and everyone that passed it by. Its exterior had no seams save the gleaming stainless steel frames on the corners and the revolving door through which people came and went.

"Here we are!" The librarian hopped out and pulled her luggage along through the air. "It just got renovated. These are the largest single-piece plate glass windows on the entire planet." Her emphasis was unnecessary – Rainbow and Applejack were staring so hard at the building it seemed their eyes might fall out. "Girls, please. You look ridiculous." She tried to swallow the final word when she noticed Fuyu was equally gobsmacked. "Uh...right. Come on, let's check in."

They wandered inside at last, greeted by a pleasant heat and more shiny surfaces. The floors were some sort of marble, freshly polished with glittering veins of some yellow metal streaking through them. This material was also carved into the steps of the large, centrally placed stairway, which lead up to a balcony that hung over the entire back half of the lobby. The walls were paneled wood, equally polished, and the ceiling – several stories above them – was a white, rough stone. Twilight lead them to the granite reception desk.

"Holy hell, is this gold?" Rainbow whispered, staring at the floor under her footsteps.

"Yep!" Twilight rang the bell and assumed a professional demeanor. A receptionist appeared seemingly out of nowhere, patting at her brown hair and adjusting her red glasses as she walked up. "Party of four under the name Twilight Sparkle."

"Just a moment." She tapped on her keyboard until her eyes suddenly widened. "Princess Twilight?" After skimming the instructions, she leaned across the counter and spoke very lowly. "May I see your..."

"Mhm." Twilight nudged Fuyu in the side. Almost simultaneously they displayed their medals of the Order of the Morning Sun.

"Very good." She smiled as Applejack and Rainbow finally came to stand beside their friends. "Too bad you didn't get one of the summer ceremonies, Dame," she joked, looking at Fuyu.

The pale woman smiled back faintly as she put her medal away. Although her thoughts were fading from amazement into anxiety at tomorrow, she still tried to make small talk. "Oh, I don't mind the cold."

At Twilight's insistence, everyone carried their own luggage up the grand staircase, moving to a set of elevators and piling into one. "Our rooms are on the fifteenth floor. Fuyu and I are sharing one, and you two have the other."

"Great. We're gonna freeze ta death if we can't stockpile body heat." Applejack smirked as her girlfriend snorted and laughed.

Twilight rolled her eyes, but smiled all the same. "Oh, you two." The doors opened and they entered a carpeted hallway. "1506 and 1507...here we go. As soon as everyone gets settled, want to go out for dinner?"

"Sure. Let me unpack my double-thick fleece and get it ready." Rainbow bade Twilight and Fuyu farewell with a wave, which transformed into pushing Applejack through door once she'd opened it.

"They're quite a couple," Fuyu said. Once Twilight had secured the card key and opened the door, she peered through it to find a spacious room that had a sitting area, two beds, and an open door that lead into a white-tile bathroom. The biggest thing about the room was the window beyond the couch – though it was more a glass wall with curtains than a standard window – which framed the castle over the gaping maw of the river valley below it and the city. "Nice view."

Twilight walked over to stare at it with her. "Yeah, wow. I didn't think we'd get to see the castle from this floor." She rubbed the back of her neck while trying to frame her next words. "There are some places I want to go with you after dinner. If you lived here they might jog your memory."

Fuyu crossed her arms but didn't look over. "All right. I suppose it can't hurt to look around."

The sun had long faded when the four of them came out of the restaurant. Rainbow, despite being hilariously bundled up, made chattering noises was they proceeded down the sidewalk.

Twilight frowned at her shivering, even though she was beginning to do the same. "You two head on back, Fuyu and I are going for a walk."

Applejack peered at her for a moment. "Y'all gonna go see if Fu remembers anything, ain't ya?" When Twilight nodded, she poked at Rainbow to get her attention. "Lead the way, then."

"But it's freezing! Rainbow might keel over." She watched them both shake their heads. "Are you sure?"

Fuyu stared up at the stars while listening to the conversation. "Let them come if they want."

Rainbow flashed a smile while clinging to the blonde's side. "Of course we wanna come. What's our first stop?"

Twilight drew a blank and tilted her head at the pale woman. "Um, I'm not sure. Fuyu, did you have something in mind?"

"Is there an orphanage around here?'

Stunned, all three of them stopped walking to stare at her. "Wh-what did you say?" Twilight asked, hugging herself for reasons that were no longer related to the weather.

Fuyu knew she'd let too much slip, but her proximity to the Princesses, both in time and distance, dulled her concern about keeping their secrets any longer. "An orphanage. Is there one nearby?"

Applejack loosed a noise that made everyone's attention turn to her. Rainbow looked up and shook her gently. "D-don't mind me," she finally stammered, rubbing her eyes with her sleeve. "Just...unhappy memories is all."

It triggered a line of mental questions that Fuyu suddenly wanted answers to. "Is that why I didn't want to..." she trailed off, having to let the remainder of her question be silent so the people passing them by wouldn't get curious.

She shrugged weakly, hugging Rainbow to her side. "I dunno. Maybe. Maybe that's why I picked y'all up that day. I knew that look."

Fuyu didn't understand at first, but her eyes lit up with sadness once she did. "We were both left behind," she muttered, turning away and staring at the concrete. Another piece fell into place. "Perhaps I understood it at the time without being aware of why I felt so...conflicted."

"So you're both orphans?" Rainbow blurted out. She shrank back under Twilight's disapproving glare. "Sorry."

"I guess." Applejack's voice was weary. Fuyu moved over to hug the half of her not currently occupied by her girlfriend. "Thanks. Come on, let's get where we're goin'."

A tense, silent Twilight lead them through the city streets as fast as foot traffic would allow. They left the glitz and light of downtown behind, heading east toward the mountain neighborhoods. Past the Academy of Science, the city got lower and wider, which let in the sky.

Rainbow used this to try and break the silence. "Look at the stars!" It failed, leaving her to growl. "Damn it, say something! You guys are starting to freak me out!" That too failed; they all proceeded in varying levels of awkward silence.

"There." Twilight pointed at a squat, single-story complex clad in off-white stucco and consisting of three buildings. It was surrounded by a chain link fence and had a few open areas of grass with small trees. A large placard near the gate said everything: East Canterlot Refuge for the Orphaned. "It still looks the same after all this time." A questioning glance from Fuyu made her clarify. "When I was a student at the Academy, we did volunteer work. I've been here quite a few times. Believe it or not, this is the only orphanage in the entire city. Princess Celestia puts so much emphasis on finding foster homes for the children." Everyone stepped back as Fuyu approached the fence and grabbed on, staring through the links. "...anything?"

"I don't know yet." She leaned on the fence, pressing it in slightly. Her eyes consumed every detail of the scene before her brain went about seeing what rang familiar. Nothing did; the details faded into her mental dossier about the city and sat there like a lump. "No. I don't remember this place."

"You know what? I'm not really shocked that you don't." Rainbow and Applejack made a surprised noise at Twilight's assertion. "Hear me out. Fuyu isn't a regular person, why would she be a regular orphan? I bet she lived at the castle."

"I guess you have a point..." Rainbow poked idly at the blonde. "Hey, you all right up there?"

Applejack gave her a squeeze. "Yeah, I'm fine. Cold as hell."

Fuyu turned away from the fence and regarded them before waving her hand back toward the skyscrapers. "Let's go before you all freeze to death."

With the mood lightened – or perhaps stabilized – the walk back seemed to take less time. Twilight abruptly took up Rainbow's outburst from ten minutes prior and explained that the stars up here looked clearer since the air was thinner, and that she'd learned this in her year of astronomy classes at the Academy of Science – which was just coming up on their right as she spoke. Like a bored tourist, Fuyu looked as she pointed, but the sight almost passed her by without notice.

Wait.

She did, coming to a halt and staring at the building's ionic colums. Her friends were still talking and walking. Their noise faded as Fuyu began to think.

Wait...

"Shoot, I shoulda paid more attention in school," Applejack joked. "I wonder if Big Mac still has our telescope packed up in the att-" She closed her mouth, sensing that something was wrong. "Uh, we're missin' Fu." They all stopped and looked over their shoulder to find her staring off into space, or so it appeared. "Fu? What're ya doin'?"

She barely heard them walk back over. Her mind was on fire with a feeling incomprehensible, like anxiety and relief mixed together in a swirl. Moving like a robot, she left the sidewalk and approached the Academy through the parking lot.

"Fuyu! Wait!" Twilight tried to step in front of her, but was gently set aside with magic. "What's wrong?" she asked, settling for walking along with her. Rainbow and Applejack took up a similar position on the opposite side.

"I've been here," she breathed, stopping at the base of the wide stairs. "Why have I been here?"

"At the Academy?" Dumbfounded, Twilight stared up at the building and scratched her head. "I have no idea. Are you sure?"

"Yes!" Fuyu wrangled with the realization; being told was one thing, but experiencing a recollection first-hand was overwhelming. It was like seeing the picture of the castle garden, but a thousand times more vivid.

"I thought this was just some fancy scientist place or something?" Applejack looked down at the librarian for confirmation.

She nodded, mostly looking at the shock on Fuyu's face. "Mostly, but there are classes here too for advanced students."

Rainbow cackled briefly. "Figures you'd have studied here. But what does it have to do with Fu?"

"I don't know, I just know I've been here before."

Twilight's mind raced as she tried to form a story to fit with the information. "What if you were a student? I mean, it's hard to forget the smell of those classrooms..."

Fuyu was slowly ascending the steps. "Chalk and musty books." She stopped and almost glared at the door. "I must have been well off to be enrolled, right?"

"Not necessarily. Getting in is based on talent. If you and I took classes here...maybe you were right about us being similar." Twilight stared at her shoes until Rainbow jabbed her in the side. "Ow! What was that for?"

The athlete chided her gently. "I know that look. You're gonna lose it again."

"I am not! I'm just...thinking. If Fuyu were powerful enough, the Princess would certainly take notice and try to take her in as a pupil. Like me. But...we seem to be about the same age." Twilight placed her chin on a fist and started to walk up and down a section of the steps. "If that's so, then why did I never see you?" She looked at Fuyu, who was still locked in a staring contest with the front doors. "Or hear of you? Fuyu...are you listening?"

"I don't know, and I don't know." She looked away and at her friends once again. They were all visibly shivering by now. "Let's go back. You don't need to freeze while I mull this over."

"You're not the only one with mulling to do, but I guess you're right about doing it somewhere warm." Twilight looked back up at the columns, brow furrowed. "I have a lot of questions for the Princess in the morning."

Sunrise never really came for Canterlot the next day. The light was strained through a flat gray sky, so faded it may as well have been white. Twilight sat on the couch with Fuyu, watching the morning news to get an idea of the weather. Neither were really paying attention to the broadcast. Instead they found themselves locked in a circular exchange that had lasted since they arrived in their room last night.

"It would explain why you knew my name. You heard of me while under Celestia's tutelage."

Is that what we're calling it now? Fuyu rubbed at the bangs covering her left eye and sighed. Her brain had been carrying on an alternating spiral of charade and genuine curiosity for over nine hours. It was giving her a headache.

"But how did I never see you?"

"She was hiding me." Fuyu's face became blank as she felt Twilight bristle. "If I may be honest, our night would have been better spent resting."

The librarian was looking cross – or perhaps terrified and just trying to mask it with vague anger. "...how much do you know that you can't tell me?"

"Enough to be afraid." She rose from the couch and wandered over to her unmolested bed, where her duffel bag lay, to grab a new outfit. "I'm going to go change," she added, drifting into the bathroom.

Unable to muster enough willpower to stop her, Twilight waved a hand and glared at the TV. "I can't believe it's going to snow. I can't believe I only got fifteen minutes of sleep. I can't believe she kept secrets from me, her faithf-" A knock at the door cut her short. "It's open!"

"Howdy!" Applejack greeted, tipping her hat. "Ready for the rehe—geez, Twi, y'all look like ya got hit by a truck."

Twilight moaned and placed her head into her hands. "I'm running on adrenaline and three cups of coffee."

"Nervous?"

She raised slightly and looked over. "Celestia's going to tell me that Fuyu was a victim of something. Something her parents did to her. Whatever it was, it made her powerful, so she needed mentoring."

Applejack leaned on the wall and shrugged. "Sounds like your story, except for the evil parents part."

"I know. And honestly, I'm not sure whether to be relieved or terrified." Fuyu stepped out, drawing their eyes. "I'd better go splash some water on my face and try to look decent."

As she disappeared into the bathroom, a yawning Rainbow stumbled in from the open door to the hallway. "I'm up," she droned. "Fuck, it's too early."

Fuyu approached to talk to the couple lowly. "Twilight isn't ready for the truth."

Applejack shrugged again, trying to seem less concerned than she was. "I think she'd handle it better if you'd just tell her, don't ya?"

"Not this. She needs to hear this from the Princess' mouth." The pale woman returned Rainbow's grumpy look. "Even then, I have no idea how she will handle it."

"That's why we're here, Fu. As moral support. At six-thirty in the morning." Rainbow grunted as Applejack jostled her with an elbow. "Can you snort coffee? I'm about to try."

"Let's get this over with," Twilight grumbled as she stalked out of the bathroom and into the hallway. Fuyu went out after her, leaving the couple behind to exchange unsettled looks.

"I wish I know what the hell we've really signed up for," Applejack lamented.

The four of them departed the hotel on foot and moved up the sidewalk toward the castle road. Twilight took charge of the party when dealing with the guard, although both she and Fuyu were asked to produce their medals as final proof to gain entry. Once through the gate, they began the winding climb up side by side. The spires of the castle were visible ahead of them, growing closer and taller with each step.

Twilight trembled against the frigid weather – she dressed relatively lightly in hopes the temperature would keep her alert, but was now regretting her decision. "All right, if the rehearsal is anything like mine, we'll be held outside the garden entrance for a while until they're ready for us. We'll probably end up chatting with the other Order entrants. Nobody has to say anything about what actions lead to them getting into the Order, so if you are asked just decline to answer. Once we're in, they'll show everyone where the throne room is."

"Right." Fuyu's eyes were locked on the castle as she nodded.

Rainbow waved her hand to get some attention. "What do we do?"

"We are allowed to wander about once we get into the castle – to an extent. Usual stuff applies about being discrete. When it starts we'll all be called into the throne room for Princess Celestia to receive us."

"Got it. I'll make sure Rainbow don't break nothin'." Applejack chuckled at her girlfriend's whispered 'fuck off'.

Fuyu smiled at Rainbow too, if only to let in some other thought than the business she was focused on. "When can we speak with the Princess?"

Twilight's eyes became hard. "That's where I'm going to deviate from the usual. I know where she is. You and I are going to find her."

Applejack didn't care for the tone of those words and tried to walk Twilight back from them. "Whoa! Are y'all gonna have it out with the Princess?!"

"Don't be silly. We're going to have a very reasonable conversation and she is going to tell me everything."

Fuyu nodded again. "If she doesn't, I will. At least what I know."

"I've got a bad feeling about this," Rainbow whimpered, trying to hide in her hoodie.

They had entered the garden by now, and were moving down one of the stone paths lined with benches. Canterlot Castle was in full view, towering above them against the white sky. To Fuyu, the sight was vaguely familiar, but didn't strike her in the way the Academy had. The door in front of them opened as they scaled the steps; behind it was a small gathering of people clumped together on the red carpet.

"Hey!"

From a corridor to the left appeared Stormy, twice almost falling over her long red skirt as she walked over. Once stable enough, she flipped her white ponytail over her shoulder and waved. "Fancy seeing you guys here!"

"...Stormy?" Applejack blinked. "Uh...hey?"

She placed her hands on her hips and let loose an exaggerated sigh. "I know what you're thinking. 'Oh boy, Stormy must be here to steal something.' No, I'm here 'cause I've got this." Her hand slipped into her skirt pocket and came back out with the same sort of presentation box that Fuyu had received her medal in. Rainbow and Applejack's looks made her giggle, but Fuyu and Twilight were too focused to pay much mind. "Uh huh. That's what I thought."

"How the hell did you end up with one of these things?" Rainbow asked.

"I don't have to tell you. It's in the letter thingy I got." Stormy blew her off and walked over to Fuyu, giving her a hug. "I was totally gonna invite you but I couldn't get in touch. Sorry about leaving so suddenly after the...you know...thing."

The pale woman returned her embrace and smiled again, happy to think about something else for the moment. "It's all right. How is the library treating you?"

"Oh man, it's so boring. I keep falling asleep."

"How do you still have a job there?" Twilight grumbled, visibly cranky.

Stormy giggled and shrugged. "Normally I'd snap at you for being bitchy, but you know what? You're right. I ain't got a clue."

Fuyu pulled away and glared down the halls, looking for Luna. "Well, it is nice to see you again."

Before anyone could ask why she seemed so mad, the group was called to move after one of the courtesans. Moving down the same hallway from which Stormy had, it took fifteen minutes of walking and turning more corners than they could count to bring them to a set of double doors with a massive sun symbol laid in gold across the center. The courtesan explained that there would be a delay before the Princess would be able to see them and then released everyone to kill time before disappearing.

"Come on." Twilight grabbed the pale woman's hand and began to lead her as the gaggle broke up.

"Say hi to the other Fuyu for me!" Stormy called, waving.

Stunned, she went to autopilot as the librarian tugged her along. "Other Fuyu?"

"I don't know, I don't care, I have enough to deal with, and I'm sorry if that seems harsh but I am about to lose it." Despite her insistence, it was harsh enough to make her care after a moment. "Sorry. I just...I'm kind of scared." By now they were looking up a long staircase. "These are the offices. Every morning she comes up here to read paperwork from Parliament." A huge breath served to steady her nerves, but only for a moment. "I'm going up."

Fuyu started up the steps too, but stopped when Twilight blocked her with an arm. "Shouldn't I come?"

"I think I might get farther alone, but thank you. If I need you I'll call."

"All right." She stepped back onto the floor and watched the librarian ascend, then walk out of view. Alone, she allowed herself to look at the décor to see if anything was familiar. "Let's hope she doesn't go insane and I have to do the thing I was meant for."

With nothing else to do, she looked at the paintings hanging on the walls. Most were of cities or places around the country, but a few were people. These attracted her. "Prince Blueblood," she read out loud. "So that's who Rarity was talking about." Another one was of an aged man wearing an odd hat who had a tremendous beard. "Starswirl?" The texture of his facial hair was fascinating enough to make her reach out toward it.

"Please don't touch the paintings."

Surprised, she looked to her left and found a middle-aged woman with brown hair and olive skin tone, wearing the same uniform the courtesans did. A small basket full of cleaning supplies was at her right foot. On further inspection, Fuyu decided she looked a lot like Twilight, although the librarian lacked the almond-shaped eyes. She polished the small metal title tab under a painting of a river as the pale woman walked over.

The woman kept on polishing, stopping only to examine her work. "You would be surprised how many people try to touch Starswirl. The technique really makes his beard look three dimensional." Finished, she looked over with a professional smile, only to freeze and startle badly after making eye contact. "It's...it's you!" she yelped, stumbling backwards.

"What?" Fuyu was so confused she peeked back over her shoulder to see if someone else was there, but saw nothing. "Me?"

"Yes, you! I haven't seen you since that..." Uncertain, she trailed off and became tense. "I thought you'd died. That's what they told me."

Attempts at recalling just who she was talking to left Fuyu with nothing. It annoyed her. "Who are you?"

She shrank away even farther until her back bumped into a column. "My name is Fuyu."

An eternity trundled by before Fuyu registered what she'd heard. Confused, she tilted her head and stared. "What did you say?"

She slipped from the column and into the hallway, facing the pale woman all the while. "My name is Fuyu. You probably don't even remember me, we only met once and...well, to be honest I don't think I should be talking about any of this..."

"No." Revulsion swamped her brain, a feeling she couldn't quite understand but knew she hated. "My name is Fuyu."

"Oh, wow, you took my name?"

"No, it's been my name since...forever. That's always been my name." Control was slipping away from her, and it showed in her wild blue eyes. "I'm Fuyu. I've always been Fuyu."

"Not when I saw you last, they hadn't given you a name yet."

Fuyu grabbed her would-be double by the collar and lifted her with one arm off the carpet. "Who would give me a name besides my parents? Why would I not have a name?! Why do you have my name?!" she growled, eyes full of an emotion that no one had seen before and lived.

"Winter!"

Both angered killing machine and terrified courtesan snapped their heads to the right, where Luna was coming down the long staircase. "Winter, put her down."

Like a bolt of lightning her focus shifted. She dropped the other Fuyu and began moving toward the Princess. "She stole my name. That's the first thing I ever knew! My name! She stole it!"

Luna stood her ground, but being stoic was almost beyond her ability. She wanted to weep with joy and try to be comforting – however, defusing the situation had to come first. "Leave us," she ordered, flicking a hand at the other woman.

"Why does she...?" Fuyu whispered sadly, now face-to-face with Luna. "Why..."

Luna clamped on in a hug. "I'm so sorry about this. About everything that has to do with you, if I'm being fair."

Fuyu did not return the gesture. "Is any of what your sister told me real?"

She squeezed the pale woman hard and tried not to cry. "Some of it, but not most. It's time I told you the whole truth."

Regaining her mental balance, Fuyu made Luna step back so she could pin her down with an absolutely hellish glare. "You're damn right it is."

The Scratchbuilt Princess
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The Scratchbuilt Princess

Twilight knocked on the door and stepped back, teeth and fists clenched with something close to terror. When she heard the voice from within beckon, she took a breath so long it burnt her throat and entered.

"Twilight!" Princess Celestia waved from her desk but didn't stand. On the top was a gargantuan pile of documents. "Rainbow Dash didn't send you to shoo me along to the rehearsal, did she? I'll be there in a few minutes, I promise. I know she must be bo-" Something about the way her student shut the door and approached put her on edge. "Twilight?"

"I've figured one thing out," she said, sitting down in one of the chairs. "I mean, I don't have the why, but I've got the rest."

Celestia arranged the papers with her magic and set them all to one side. "What are you talking about?"

"It's Fuyu. I know." Twilight's heartbeat quickened at the look she saw appear on her mentor's face. "What? Didn't you think I'd find out eventually?"

Her priority became learning what Twilight did know; to that end she stilled her rattled nerves and searched for some leading questions. "Find out what? I'm a little confused."

Twilight issued an annoyed groan and crossed her legs. "Someone did something to Fuyu that made her powerful. So powerful she needed your guidance. She remembered being at the Academy of Science. What the classrooms smelled like. You made her your student, just like me. What I can't figure out is why you felt the need to hide it!"

"Well, I..." Celestia trailed off, feigning nervousness in hopes the delay would make Twilight reveal more.

"No, seriously. Did you think I'd be jealous? I would have loved the company!" She found herself growing more agitated despite the weight she was getting off her chest. "Just...why did you hide her?"

The Princess clasped her hands on the desk and sighed. "You saw what she'd become. I couldn't have paraded her around the city. I had to hide her – even from you."

"Because of what she had to eat, right?" Mulling this over and combining it with the story she'd built took a few minutes. "But if that was the case, you had the amulet. Why not give it to her?"

"We didn't have it. We knew it existed and some of what it was capable of. You saw what it did to Trixie. Fuyu was already incredibly strong, I was wont to risk giving it to her and risk unleashing an even greater monster. I didn't dare publicize its existence either, because we both know how many treasure-seekers and world-conquering wannabes that would have dredged up." Celestia decompressed as she saw Twilight slump over in thought. Seizing the chance to move the conversation farther away from Fuyu, she asked "Did you see yourself in her? Is that what tipped you off?"

"No, but in hindsight I guess we are sort of alike." She looked past the Princess and out the window. "How did she get away from you? Why didn't you look for her?"

The uncomfortable demeanor was no act as she replied. "Her...feeding habits caused her incredible stress."

Twilight nodded forlornly. "Yeah, I noticed. Do you realize she remembers every single one of the people she's killed? I'm surprised it hasn't destroyed her."

"She was the same way here. Being around people drove her to the point of insanity. She begged me to let her go, to give her a chance to isolate herself. I did, even though I was worried she might find the amulet. I didn't think the amulet would find her. As for not looking, well...imagine the panic that would have caused. I can see the headlines: 'Cannibal Serial Killer On the Loose'. The country is unstable enough, it surely doesn't need my help in making things worse."

"I guess that all makes sense. Trixie has a tendency to screw everything up, but she's trying to make up for...for it." Twilight hesitated as she remembered the magician wasn't the only one. "Fuyu is too, I think. She's stern...imposing, but so kind. Always keeps a promise. She hates to hurt anything – I mean, she won't even swat houseflies. Under the circumstances, she turned out really well."

Celestia deflated with relief, figuring the prickly portion of the conversation had come to an end. "I'm glad to hear it. When I found out she was living with you, I knew she would be in good hands."

"Oh," Twilight giggled and blushed. The color ran away from her face just as fast. "That's not the only thing that's bothering me."

"Hmm?"

Twilight perked up with anticipation in her chair. "Fuyu said we both had the power to transmute matter. Is she right?"

In an instant, Celestia found herself hurled right back into the thorns. "She said that to you?" A nod from her student made the blood freeze in her veins. "I wonder where she got such a thing."

Rather than seeming angry, Twilight sighed and took on the air of a disappointed parent. "Princess, Fuyu doesn't lie. Not about stuff like this. Please, just tell me?"

"Very well." She rose and came slowly around the desk, using her deliberate steps to determine if she wished to trade one secret to keep another safe. Her brow furrowed. "She was right. You once transmuted matter." Once again, she didn't quite get the reaction she expected; it appeared her student was rolling the admission around in her head like a fine wine. "Are you angry at me for not telling you?"

Twilight continued to stare at her knees. "I don't know yet. When did this happen? I can't remember doing it."

Celestia sat in the chair beside her student and looked out the large window behind her desk. "The practical applications test."

"Wow. That was ages ago." Poking at the memory – or where it should have been – yielded nothing. "Geez, is this how Fuyu feels about lacking most of her past? Not knowing would drive me insane."

The Princess let slip a sigh and smiled to herself since Twilight seemed to be handling the news well. "You were so terrified of failure. In your panic, you showed a power I didn't think existed outside the Royal Family."

Twilight snapped her gaze over. "Wait, you can do it?"

"Sure. It isn't something we advertise, of course. Could you imagine what everyone would do to get us to use it for them?" A chuckle slipped through her lips. "Why, it would be utter chaos."

"How do you figure?"

The question, and its tone, caught her entirely off guard – so much that she actually looked it for a split second. "Say we began transmuting things to gold or diamonds or any number of valuable things because everyone wanted it. The stuff would become worthless and everyone that had wealth already would be instantly poor. Or, say we began turning rocks into food to feed the hungry. We'd run out of land to build on, or grow on, and everyone would end up starving to death. Our gift may seem like a limitless wish-granting device, but it's not." Celestia looked at Twilight to see if she'd provoked enough of a disagreement to distract her.

She had. Twilight sat back and discharged a pointed look at her mentor. "I don't think I like your last example. You can't feed everyone, so you elect to let a few of them starve to death?"

"Of course I don't want that to happen, but...it's difficult to balance things." They shared a long silence. "Welcome to being a Princess."

Groaning, she decided to drop it and move back toward her intended topic. "Er, right. We can argue later. Does Fuyu know about...well, everything? Do you have any idea about how she lost her memory?"

Celestia decided a convenient version of the truth would be best as she rose from her chair. "I'm not sure how she got amnesia, no...and I told her some details, but not all of the story. I didn't want to burden her while she was trying to build herself a new life."

"I don't think it would be a burden. I think it'd be a relief." Twilight also rose and moved to the door. "In fact, she's waiting downstairs. Let's go talk to her right now."

She didn't like the idea one bit, but figured she could at least control the conversation. "Hmm. Very well. Actually, I was hoping Luna could meet her. She tells me you've been texting her fingers off about Fuyu." They emerged out into the hallway and began walking. "Have you heard from my niece lately?"

"I've heard from my brother," Twilight snickered, accepting the shift into chit-chat. "He's tremendously bored while she's off doing official business. When is she coming back?"

"This weekend, sometime. I think Fuyu should meet Cadance too. They haven't had much interaction." Celestia waved politely at some of the courtesans who bowed as they passed.

"I don't doubt it. I think most of her time was spent being my friend and making googly eyes at Shining."

A few moments of weaving brought them back to the staircase. Twilight went down first, scratching her head as she looked around for Fuyu. "Well, this is weird. I told her to stay here in case I needed her." She saw the other Fuyu near one of the paintings, still looking a bit shaken from her encounter. "Excuse me, miss? Have you seen a tall woman around here? Muscular build, short black hair with blue bangs covering the left side of her face?"

She looked up as both Princesses came over. "Y-yes...she went with Princess Luna."

"Oh. Looks like we got beaten to the punch." Twilight glanced up and started at the dark look in Celestia's eyes. "Wow. You're looking grumpy all of a sudden."

Her frigid mask melted into a gentle smile. "Don't mind me. Would you mind going back to the group and telling them I'll be along shortly? I'll go retrieve Fuyu."

"Sure!" Twilight moved away and disappeared behind a corner. The Princess stalked off in the other direction, pulling up her long gown with her magic.

"Whatever they're talking about better not be what I think they're talking about," she hissed lowly. "No. No, Luna wouldn't do that to me." Her gait became a little more leisurely. "Still, I'd appreciate being in on the meeting. I wanted to see your face, sister." She let her thoughts drift while approaching Luna's room. "Twilight took her own little secret very well. Maybe you're right. Maybe I should let Winter have the whole truth."

After arriving she pushed the door open and found the room empty, which perturbed her despite her best efforts to remain calm. "Luna, what are you up to..." A guard on patrol was walking by as she came out. "Have you seen my sister anywhere?"

He came to a halt and saluted her sharply. "Yes, ma'am. She was departing the castle with a woman with black and blue hair."

Celestia's blood began to turn back to ice, but her visage was the picture of calm. "Did she mention where they were headed?"

"No, ma'am."

"Very well. As you were." As soon as he'd gotten out of sight, she let herself explode just a little. "Damn you! You set me up! You..." she fell silent and wilted on her feet. "I can't leave, Twilight will know something is wrong. What am I supposed to..." A thought occurred to her that made her eyes glitter. It was unsavory, and risky, but the only way to deflect any concern from her faithful student would be to use one of her friends. "Hmm." She began walking back toward the throne room as fast as her outfit allowed.

Twilight and Stormy were bickering gently as the Princess arrived, causing the gathering to fall silent and regard her. "Forgive me for the delay, but it's going to go on a bit longer." She nodded to her student and beckoned her, and her friends, over. The ex-thief also tried to approach, but a firm hand stilled her steps. "I would like to speak to you three for a moment," she whispered, leading them away from the crowd.

"Something the matter?" Applejack asked, fiddling with her hat.

Celestia smiled warmly. "An inconvenience, really. I need to borrow Rainbow Dash."

She perked her eyebrows and moved forward. "What's up?"

"Luna has kidnapped Fuyu and left the castle." A collective gasp made her shake her head. "I'm kidding. They've wandered off and I need someone fast to find them."

Rainbow flashed an arrogant smile and thumbed at her chest. "Nobody faster than me. I'll find them before you can say...I dunno, something that's easy to say. It's too damn early for me to be sassy. Back in a flash!" She pulled her wings and hovered down the hallway at breakneck speed, looking for a door or suitable window.

Twilight watched her go for a moment before poking at her mentor. "Everything all right?"

Again, she smiled warmly – this time to mask the fear boiling in her heart. "Oh, Luna's just being silly again."

Meanwhile, Fuyu and Luna were on the Academy of Science campus, the former dressed up in Luna's hoodie to hide her face. They went around to a different side of the complex than Fuyu had seen from the street. This area was trees and fountains and benches, something like the castle gardens and just as devoid of other people. The increasing snowfall had driven everyone indoors.

"It's finally snowing," Luna pointed out. She frowned when Fuyu said nothing. "I'm sorry you had to find out that way." Again, no response. "Are you angry?"

Fuyu weakly shrugged her shoulders.

"Right. I'll stop bringing it up. Come on, there's a service entrance over here I use to get in...discreetly."

Luna guided the pale woman along beside her, past the manicured landscape and toward something that looked like a gardener's shed. Inside, however, was a long stairwell that lead down. Beyond this was a tunnel, dimly lit, at whose end was a blue door. Through that was a basement, half of which was walled off while the remainder comprised an open forest of concrete pillars. No lights were on, so Luna used her magic to cast a pall. "Here is where the sausage was made, so to speak." She jumped with surprise as Fuyu threw her hoodie over.

"Start talking," she hissed, prowling around the space like an angry cat.

Luna stood her ground as she tracked the unhappy woman. "Before I do, what story did my sister give you?"

Her words were terse, spat out with confused anger. "She told me I was an orphan from Canterlot. She said I was given the black sludge to kill Twilight Sparkle." She stopped walking to stare at Luna. "Why did that woman say I took her name? Is she my mother?"

"No. Did my sister mention how you got your name?" She rubbed her eyes at the stare she got. "The housekeeper, right? It's true. You did visit the castle once. You did meet a woman named Fuyu, and yes, that was her. You...imprinted on her."

Her fists clenched. "What does that mean?"

Luna leaned against a pillar, looking down at the indigo light that shone from the crystal in her palm. "It was part of an experiment to see if you would accept socialization. It sort of worked, but you were so childlike all you came back here with was the name. Fuyu. We ended up naming the project in your honor, sort of."

Something was stinging Fuyu's brain. It was so strong, she placed a hand on her head and winced. "She was the first person that was ever nice to me?"

"I'm...I'm afraid so." Pain bent Luna's face as she looked away. "This was before the injection process occurred. If you want to see the room, it's actually right through that door." She pointed her hand so its light shone on the wall. It was a white cinder block facade with rectangles cut out. They were covered by gray curtains. "You stayed in there for so long. We'd turn the lights on and off outside and tell you it was the day-night cycle. You never once questioned it. I don't think you ever even tried to look out the windows."

Helpless, she stared at the wall. "Is that as awful as it sounds?" She watched the Princess nod sadly. "Hmm. I had a dream about the injection, but I don't remember you being in it."

"I was in the back, out of sight. My sister was right beside you." Feeling lightheaded, Luna used her free hand to steady herself. "She didn't lie about your original purpose. You were built as a weapon to protect Equestria from a rampaging Twilight Sparkle...but then we took Project Winter in a different direction."

"What direction?!" Fuyu shrieked, throwing her arms up as she reached the end of her patience.

"You were going to be the next Princess Luna."

Fuyu froze in place, unable to make herself turn around. Were she able to, she would have witnessed Luna's weary face, staring at the cold concrete floor as she grappled with her confession. "I don't...understand..." the pale woman finally whispered.

"It is kind of my fault. I grew very ill during Project Winter. My sister re-purposed you to be my new body, in case I died." She looked up as Fuyu faced her. "I know you and Twilight must have questioned why the jewels on your palms had gold trim. You are a Princess, whole and true, because we made you one."

She dropped her eyes and lifted her hands to look down at those crystals. "But how?"

Luna sat down abruptly and crossed her legs. "The amulet. You read about how it is a storage unit for magic; that is, at our core, what Princesses really are. We contain immense amounts of power. It's why we can do the things we do. It clumps together in little bits for regular people, but for you to kill Twilight we needed a lot more. When you ingested all that power we compressed and stored in the amulet, you ascended – just like we designed. We built a Princess to kill a Princess. Then I got sick, so you were going to save one instead."

Fuyu had no words, but she also sat down and clutched at her head.

The Princess couldn't make herself approach. "I'm sorry to unleash all this on you, but I promised the whole truth."

"I don't even have my own name," she muttered weakly. "Everything I thought I was...I'm not." Inhaling the dusty air made her cough once, after which she looked at Luna. "Do you at least know who my parents were?" The look on Luna's face made her stiffen with worry. "What?"

"I do know your parents," she said, her voice wavering badly. "They are us. You're from Canterlot, but you are no orphan. We created you from scratch."

"You-" Fuyu leaned away as Luna suddenly broke down.

"I am so sorry!" she cried, hiding her face. "You were just a tool at first, a weapon! I designed the container for your fuel, I implemented the emergency magic acquisition protocol in case the amulet were lost, I did everything to you with my sister's blessing! She doesn't understand! I saw you become something else! I saw you cry when we fed you! I saw you pick up your first book and read! You became Winter...then my sister wanted to sacrifice your existence for my own and I could not let her do it." The silence made her scramble over and try to shake some emotion into Fuyu, who was rigid as a board and blank-faced. "I was the one that helped you escape into the river valley. I was the one that released the amulet. I...I hoped you'd find it, that it would somehow make you whole. And maybe give you...give you peace." She squeaked when Fuyu smacked her hands aside and withdrew. "You must hate us."

"How many more people did you feed me?"

"Why do you-" Fuyu's steely eyes silenced her. "Well, once every four days for five years. Whatever the math is there."

"So I've been doing this for ten years, not five...and that's all I was ever doing." She stood up and glared down at Luna. "I can't remember my past because I never had one. My life is and always has been taking others lives so I could be ready to take one specific life, except on a whim that changed to your sister taking my life so yours could be saved?"

Luna rose very slowly with her hands up as if being held at gunpoint. "Yes. Simply put, yes. My sister always kept herself at a lengthy distance from the project so Twilight wouldn't suspect anything. I could not do the same because I...I had so much pride in my work." She wilted with shame. "I am...I am so sorry..."

"Did you let me go because you cared, or-" she paused to ignore a vehement 'yes', "Or did you let me go because you just felt guilty for what you did?"

Hugging herself tightly, she nodded at both options. "I cannot lie and say it was none of the latter, but I really did care. In some twisted way, I was starting to view you as my daughter."

Fuyu needed something concrete to latch onto before the fires of Luna's confession turned her brain to ash. Since she found herself suddenly lacking an identity to fall back on, she instead focused on the gap between her present and past. "Why don't I remember my time here?"

"I erased your memory, but did not have the power to alter your programming." Luna's face was consumed by shame once more. "I knew full well you'd keep on killing and eating, but...maybe I thought having amnesia would have given you an escape. The prospect of a pleasant past to distract you from your bloody present."

She growled, long and low. "It didn't. You left me a machine. I had to start over from scratch. If Applejack hadn't found me I would still be out there...a clockwork murderer until the end of time."

Luna wanted to give her a hug, but stopped short when she saw the pale woman bristle at being approached. "I'm sorry again. I had to get you away from here. I knew it wouldn't be clean, but at least you were free."

"Free? You call dreading my every meal freedom? Being a slave to my stomach, and causing misery for a reason I didn't understand?! Is that your idea of freedom, Luna? Is it?!" She stormed over and snatched her up by the collar, slamming her against a pillar. "You made me a tool, then a shell, then a killer. I don't even have a name to call my own, everything came from you. My life, my purpose, my identity. It's all a lie. Now I don't have anything!"

Luna made no effort to escape Fuyu's grasp, but did allow herself to wince with pain. "If you want to kill me – us – do it. It is no less than we deserve," she wheezed. "I will not fight you."

No blows were delivered; no magic used to bring harm. She let go and watched Luna crumple to the floor, then turned on her heel and walked quickly away, disappearing through the door. After she collected herself, the Princess gave chase. They met up again just as the pale woman exited the shed and entered the stern snowfall. "Please," she begged breathlessly. "Don't take your anger out on anyone else..."

She placed a hand on her hip and snarled, but kept her back on the weeping Luna. "Here we go again with this. I'm too powerful to be trusted. She'll kill us all. It's what she was designed for, wasn't she?"

"No, that's not what I me-" The pale woman snapped her hand up and brought silence.

"I'm going home. I need to...think, cry, something, and I am not doing it in this fucking city." She produced a pair of magnificent black wings, using their thrust to push her airborne before her magic propelled her onward and upward through the weather. She blew past Rainbow Dash on the way, leaving the woman to try and catch up with her for a moment. When that failed, the athlete traced her path back to the ground and found Luna.

"Damn, there you are," she greeted, huddled against the chill. "Fu heading back to the castle, I take it?" Her face dropped when she saw the Princess crying. "Whoa, what's going on?"

"Rainbow Dash, I need you to get a message to my sister." She stared up at the flakes for a moment and frowned, teary-eyed. "What have I done..."

Awkwardly, the athlete stood a distance away and tried to trace Fuyu's flight, but had already lost her in the snow. "Um...do I even wanna know what's going on here?"

"You will find out one way or another, I suppose. Go back and tell my sister that Winter knows everything. She will understand what you mean."

Rainbow Dash delivered her message about five minutes later and unleashed a firestorm of activity in the castle. Suddenly, the rehearsal was canceled and Princess Celestia was barricaded in her office. Twilight was at the door with the athlete and Applejack, trying to coax Celestia out.

"Princess, please! What happened? Where is Fuyu? Where is Luna?" the librarian called again for the sixth time. No answer came. "Rainbow Dash, what the heck?"

Rainbow gave her a helpless look. "Don't get mad at me, I thought Fu was flying back here. She was hauling ass, man, I couldn't catch her."

"What about Luna?" Applejack asked, seeming deeply uncomfortable. "Why was she cryin'?"

Twilight rubbed her chin in thought and suddenly snapped her fingers. "Oh my gosh, Luna must have told Fuyu about her past. Wow. It must have been bad for her to just leave like that."

"Where d'ya think she's headin'?"

"She's gotta be going back to Ponyville, right?" Rainbow folded her arms and looked around for confirmation. "It's the only place she really knows."

"You're right. I'm going to call Rarity. Would you two mind waiting here?" They nodded and took up positions by the door, almost mimicking royal guards.

Just after the librarian had moved toward the outside to get a signal, however, Luna showed up coming from the opposite direction. Her face was weary and scrubbed red by the icy wind. "Is my sister in there?"

Applejack nodded. "Yes ma'am. Uh...I'm kinda worried. What's happenin'?"

She pushed the door open and walked through, growing abruptly tense. "You have every right to be afraid," she said, closing the door quickly.

Rainbow glared at it for a moment before looking up at her girlfriend. "The fuck? AJ, I don't like this shit. What the hell did she say to Fu?"

"No idea, but we need ta find her and fast." Fidgeting, she leaned against the wall and gazed at the corner around which Twilight had gone. "She ain't never run away before. From anything! This is bad, ain't it?"

"Sure feels that way." Rainbow's ears pricked as she heard noises from the room. "Whoa, hold on." They both pressed their ears to the wall and tried to eavesdrop. "Are they arguing?"

They certainly were. Celestia had spent a full minute glaring daggers at her sister after she had arrived, but now the fight was truly on. "I cannot believe you went behind my back and told her."

Luna was anxious and upset – but on this subject she remained unbowed. "I cannot believe you put me in the position to have to go behind your back," she hissed, prowling closer. "There is no clean way out of what we've done! Why can you not get that through your stubborn skull? You can rage at me all you wish, but what I've done is right, and it's the best way out of this mess."

"No! Your confession is not ripping a bandage off a cut, Luna, it's endangering the entire country! You've unleashed a mentally unstable super-weapon on a defenseless populace and heaven only knows how many people are about to die!" She quietened with the empty gaze her sister was displaying. "What?"

"She could have killed me. After I confessed, she threw me up against a pillar. I was not going to fight her. She...she let me go." The life popped back into her eyes, but her face was still tired. "She needs time. I still believe she can come to terms with everything."

Celestia wanted to shoot her belief down, but faced with Twilight's example earlier, she found it hard to do so. Instead, she fell back down into her desk chair and hid her eyes. "I never had the faith in Twilight I should have, I admit. But I learned to trust her. I know nothing about Winter and what she's capable of."

"What did you expect? You kept yourself at such a distance you had no chance to learn." Luna, just as exhausted, dragged herself to another chair and sat. "You were so aloof."

"I had to keep my distance to maintain the secret. You're not the ruler everyone sees every day, you're able to get away with a lot more than I can." A tremendously pregnant pause came and went before she could make herself speak again. "There's so much about the project I left in your hands. I couldn't make myself do those th-" Suddenly, a cold brick of realization crashed into her heart. "I knew it was awful and I foisted it off onto you!"

"Yes, and I became so depressed I almost died." She rose and went over to hug her bitterly weeping sister. "I talked because Winter deserved the truth, but I also talked because I knew it would eventually consume you as it did me."

Celestia crumpled onto her desk and whimpered. "What have we done, Luna?"

She stroked her hair and tried to be comforting, but was crying again. "We finally screwed up."

Rarity blew a wisp of steam off her mug of cocoa and glanced out her bedroom window. The snow was coming down so hard it blurred Ponyville's skyline. "Goodness. There might not even be a Nightmare Night this year." She looked over her shoulder at the pile of costume requests and groaned. "I don't think my hands would mind." Just as she moved to take a sip, her phone rang and made her jump. "Oh, lovely. I'm sure this is another costume order."

When she got to her nightstand and saw Twilight's goofy face on the screen, her lips pursed. She picked it up and cleared her throat. "Darling! How is Canterlot? I hope you've not been struck by the same blizzard we have."

"Oh, it's totally snowing, but I have bigger things to worry about. Can you go outside and see if Fuyu is around? We think she might have flown back."

The dressmaker's brow cocked as she set down the mug. "Twilight, I can hardly see the spa from here, much less anything in the air. Why would she have done such a thing?"

"We think Luna told her about her past. It must have been really, really bad, because Rainbow said she flew away. She couldn't catch her!"

She was genuinely stunned. "Someone outran Rainbow Dash? I can't believe it. Well, I'll give it my best effort and call you back."

"Thanks. I appreciate it."

After hanging up, Rarity used her magic to grab her coat and scarf off the hook. A cold knot had formed in her stomach. "Fuyu doesn't run away. I wonder what Luna told her." Once bundled up, she finally took a sip of cocoa and braced herself to head outside. "Opal, mommy will be right back." The white cat on her bed paid no attention. "I love you too. Good grief."

Despite being dressed for it, the cold still smacked the sense out of her as she left the boutique. Any time she tried to look up, her eyes were pelted with snowflakes until she dropped her head and rubbed them away. "My word, I need a pair of goggles!" She kept trying, huddling under the oak tree near her SUV and peering out. "This is ridiculous. I'll never see..." A dot of black punched through the cloud deck, moving at such a speed that she could hardly turn her head fast enough to track it. It was heading in the general direction of the woods. "Oh!" She reached into her pocket and grabbed her phone. "Twilight! I think I saw her!"

"Great! Is she all right?"

"Well, she didn't actually land, per se; in fact she was moving at a frightening speed, so I don't really know how she's doing," she replied, a bit flustered. "It looked like she was heading toward the woods. I'm going to send Fluttershy after her and drive that way myself."

"Okay. Keep me informed."

"Certainly." Rarity hung up and speed-dialed the shy woman. "Darling, I hate to ask this of you but it's something of an emergency."

Fluttershy had been watching the snowfall from her couch, but looked away as the dressmaker spoke. "Rarity? What's wrong?"

"It's Fuyu, she's flown back to Ponyville. Twilight fears she might be in some distress after hearing about her past from Princess Luna."

She raised up on the sofa and blinked. "Oh, my. Is she okay? Where did she go?"

"Heading your way, dear. Would you please go out and see if you see her anywhere?"

"Sure." She darted over and jammed her feet into the heavy boots by the door before going outside. "When did it get s-s-so windy?" Forced out from under the safety of the branches, she shivered against the blizzard but diligently searched the sky. "I don't see her..."

Rarity was already getting in her car. "It might take her a moment to get there, but she was traveling quite fast."

"Right. I'll keep loo—oh!" Fluttershy detected a black shape through the snow, dropping down and into the trees some distance beyond her backyard. It had very visible black wings. "Fuyu! Fuyu! I see her, she went into the woods!"

"Wonderful! I'm off to grab Pinkie and we'll be on our way."

"Okay. I'll go after her. Please be careful." She went back inside to don a coat, then began trundling through the snow toward where she had seen Fuyu land. The pack was dry and soft, causing her to sink in with every step. Her pace was agonizing, and only got slower as she entered the woods. "Fuyu! Where did you go?" The snow was knocking dead leaves from the branches above, resulting in a mottled rain of all sorts of airborne objects that made seeing difficult. "Fuyu! H-hello? It's me! Please come back!"

Fifteen minutes of hard trekking left her so far in the trees she could no longer see her cottage, but Fluttershy still had no Fuyu to show for her efforts. Scared and freezing, she was about to call Rarity for help when a strange noise grabbed her attention. "F-Fuyu?" she whimpered meekly, hugging her chest. Another noise followed, this one clearly a scream and certainly the pale woman's voice, but it was so full of rage that the shy woman moved to a tree and sheltered there, refusing to move any closer. Only then did she realize the forest around her seemed very familiar.

Fluttershy fumbled for her phone to call for help. "W-why did she come to the cloning pool?" she asked herself, still trembling with fright.

Winter's Contingency
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Black

Winter's Contingency

"I don't know what possessed me to let you in my car." Rarity tightened her grip on the steering wheel as the weather got worse. The snow was blowing so fiercely that the wipers could hardly keep her view clear.

Trixie, sitting in the second row of seats right behind her, waved a hand dismissively. "I'll keep trying to raise Fuyu," she said, eyes locked on the dressmaker's phone in her hands. "Nothing. If she's got her phone, she isn't answering."

"Keep trying." She glanced around through the windshield at the flying snow and growled. "Only a dusting of snow. I swear, Sweetie Belle is better at predicting weather than the lunatic on the news."

A happy noise drew everyone's attention. "Your parents have Apple Bloom," Trixie advised, reading the text message.

"Good." Rarity nodded and sighed. She then motioned for Pinkie, riding in the front passenger seat, to raise her phone closer. "Fluttershy, are you still with us, darling?"

"Yeah, you still there?" The baker was, by now, just trying to keep the shy woman company. "We're coming! Get under a tree!"

"The snow's knocked off all their leaves! I'm s-so cold..." A faint noise came through over the connection. "Wh-what was that? Did something just fall over?"

"For all we know, Fuyu could be chopping down the forest." Rarity squinted into the writhing white ahead and prayed that she wouldn't blindside anything. "Are you sure you heard her scream?"

"Y-yes. I've never heard her sound so angry!"

"Fufu doesn't even have to be mad to sound mad, I can't imagine what she sounds like when she is mad," Pinkie said, tense with worry. Her eyes drifted back to Trixie. "Anything?"

The magician glared at the phone, settled back against her seat and sighed. "No. I give up."

Rarity's knuckles turned white as they left town and got on the curvy road that went into the woods. "Forget it. Darling, I have to concentrate on driving. Go to the pool entrance and we'll meet you there."

"Okay...please hurry." Fluttershy tucked her phone away and crouch-walked from tree to tree, ears pricked for any more frightening noises. A few moments of moving brought her to within sight of the boulder that covered the cave – except she found it laying in twain, split right down the middle as if cut by a knife. Terrified, she took up a position under a nearby pine tree and huddled against the wind.

Inside the cave, Fuyu paced around the edge of the mirror pool, panting with emotion. The tears she'd cried on her way from Canterlot had frozen solid and were only now beginning to melt and run down her cheeks.

"I'm worse than a monster. I'm a machine," she lamented, loosely clutching the sides of her head. "Only built to destroy. I have no other reason to be." Every time she caught her reflection in the glowing water, it made her growl. "I can't even remember the first time I acted human. I..." It suddenly occurred to her to move to the edge of the pool and stare down. The various bloodstains from her meals dotted the floor around her like a crimson constellation. "Twilight said the clones have a distilled copy of the original's personality, didn't she?" Her arms dropped weakly to her sides. "Maybe I could get a glimpse of something from before." She darted through her thoughts to recall the incantation. "Into her own reflection she stared..."

This is a bad idea.

"Yearning for one who's reflection she shared..."

This is the worst idea.

"And solemnly swore not to be scared..."

There's still time to stop.

"At the prospect of being doubly there."

I am not ready to know.

She backed up as the pool flashed and rippled, sight glued to the vague form that coalesced at its bottom. It floated to the top and grabbed on to the edge, pulling itself up, over, and walking a step away. The two Fuyus gazed at each other for ages before the original addressed her clone. "What is your name?"

Her double sounded like a robot. "I do not know."

Grimacing at the reminder of how she used to speak, Fuyu pressed on. "What do you like?"

Her reply was a carbon copy of the first. "I do not know."

"What do you know?!" Fuyu demanded, hands clenching. The clone didn't shrink back or flinch or move, only stare. "Do something! Say something!" Her clone did neither, looking on with empty blue eyes as the original stormed around and became increasingly agitated. Too much silence finally set her off. She grabbed the clone by the back of her head and dragged her toward the nearest wall. "I will make you speak," she hissed, slamming her head into the stone.

It failed. The clone's skull audibly cracked, but she let out no wail of pain. Red liquid soaked Fuyu's hand on its way down her neck, but the clone didn't cry for mercy. The right side of her face was a mangled, bloody mess, with a destroyed jaw and cheek and teeth sticking through her upper lip, but she didn't offer any complaints. All she did was stare at her assaulter with the eye she had left, as if waiting for a command. Stung viciously by the blankness of that look, Fuyu shrieked with rage and drove her clone's head into the gray granite again. Such force was applied that the clone's skull pancaked until Fuyu smashed her brain flat with the palm of her hand. After letting go, the clone fell in a crumpled heap, bent backwards and partially decapitated.

She felt sick to her stomach. The broken corpse before her was as fragile as any regular human. Its blood was purely red, unmarred by flecks of black. She saw herself without her power, without the gifts of the Princesses, and what met her sight was a worse than anything she could picture. "I'm not a machine. I'm a..." She looked down at her bloody hand and over at the clone. "I'm just an unused tool."

Simply a means...to an end.

"No," she wailed, stumbling around aimlessly. "No, no, no, no..." Just like her clone, she crumpled in a heap to the floor and screamed into the rock. "No! No!" Overcome with frustration, she began to slam her head against it. It only bounced off each time, leaving a few quickly-healing cuts behind.

The pale woman's explosion was so loud and furious that it reached Fluttershy's ears outside and caused her to whimper with fear. Through the snow and tears she could see amorphous blobs approaching from the swamp, shapes which soon turned into Rarity, Pinkie, and Trixie. She waved rapidly to get their attention.

"What in the world?" the dressmaker asked, able to hear the noises and screaming as they all drew closer.

"Holy moley, she sounds mad. And sad." Pinkie began to fidget. If her hair weren't already matted down by the snow, it would have became even flatter.

Trixie crouched down next to the shy woman, offering her stage hat. Fluttershy, bitterly cold, accepted it and put it on without much urging. "Did you talk to her at all?"

"No, she was already down there when I showed up." They listened, awestruck and horrified, as Fuyu continued to shriek. "I-I'm scared."

The magician grinned to herself and broke away from them, trudging through the snow toward the shattered boulder. "All right, then. I'd better go see what she's throwing a fit about."

Rarity was the one to object, throwing her hands up and yelling, "Are you insane?! She sounds fit to be tied! Fit to murder! She might end up killing you!"

All she got was a nonchalant shrug – Trixie didn't even bother to turn around. "So what? Nobody cares if I die. I'll wave you three in if I still have arms."

They all watched the magician trudge through the snow for a few seconds before Pinkie let out an unhappy noise and dashed over. "No! Fuyu needs us! We all have to go!" She bared teeth at the non-committal looks Fluttershy and Rarity wore. "Are you serious?! What are you so afraid of?"

"What do you think?" Rarity shot back, lips pursed. "We've always been fearful of Fuyu." The image of her throwing the scissors in the boutique that day came rushing back. It forced her to stare at the ground. "Some of us more outwardly than others."

Fuyu's screeching penetrated the subsequent silence. They all turned their heads to look at the cave. "I get it. She can be super scary. But I know she would never hurt us. Think about it! She's got all that power and she only uses it to fly around and make coffee!" Grinning at her quip, she turned back to her friends. Neither of them were smiling. "Pleeeeeeeeeease. We finally get to help her for once. Don't be afraid!"

Fluttershy looked between Rarity, who had her arms folded and continued to stare at her boots, and Pinkie, who was begging with her eyes despite not being seen. She moved over to the baker and stood alongside. "Pinkie is right. We said we'd be her friends. This is what friends do, no matter how scary it might be."

"Rarity, come on!" Pinkie called. They collectively winced at a shrill shriek from the cave. "Before she figures out some way to hurt herself!"

At last she relented and strode forward. Her face was marred with something close to shame. "You're right. It's time we fulfilled our end of the bargain."

Trixie lead the way, but her steps got a little less sure as they approached the cave mouth. "Can't say I'm not a bit nervous, though."

The shy woman cut in front of them all and entered the cave. "It's okay to be scared." They winced again at another scream; it bounced off the stone and repeatedly assaulted their ears. "Oh my..." Their focus shifted from worry to finding some way down the ramp in the dim light. All the noises stopped – the screaming, the crying, the rhythmic thud noise that they couldn't identify all ceased. "Fuyu? We're here!" Just as soon as she had enough light, Pinkie dashed ahead.

"Fufu!" She found her on hands and knees, her head hovering over a spider web of cracks in the stone. Something dark traced paths down her forehead as she looked up. "You're bleeding!"

"Finally." Fuyu let the baker help her up as the rest of them came over. Her demeanor was beyond weary. Seeing her in such a state quickly became more unsettling than hearing her banshee cries.

Rarity approached next and bent over. "Darling, what happened?"

Now that she was silent, Fuyu discovered how hard it was to make herself speak again. "I can't explain." Pinkie clamped on so tightly she could no longer slump over. "I'm...nothing."

Fluttershy and Trixie exchanged a worried glance. "You're not nothing," the shy woman assured. "What happened? What did Luna say?"

By now, her mental burden had become so heavy that she was allowing Pinkie to hold her up. "I can't."

"Fufu, you're scaring me even worse than when you were yelling just now!" Very gently, she started guiding her over toward the ramp. "Come on, let's get-" She fell silent as her eyes finally passed by the dead clone against the wall.

"What?" Rarity looked and slapped a hand over her mouth. "Oh no." Fluttershy could only squeak and turn away.

Trixie, despite being blanched and queasy, was the only one brave enough to approach it. "What in the hell? Why does this body look so much like you?"

Pinkie took up explaining as she tore her eyes away from the corpse and got moving again. "Um, this is a magical cloning pool. I used it one time to be everywhere at once! Except it didn't work out so great..."

She scratched her head and blinked. "You know what? I'll leave my amazement about that for later. Let's just get out of here."

Fuyu moved like an old woman, shuffling weakly across the stone. Pinkie and Rarity, being the tallest, got under her shoulders to keep her upright as they scaled the ramp. Progress slowed even further once they were out in the snow. Nobody knew what to say for the longest time, so they cloaked themselves in awkward silence and tried to stay warm.

"What did the Princess tell you?" Fluttershy asked, just as they started negotiating the half-frozen swamp.

The conversation only got heavier each time it was brought up. Fuyu emitted a wobbly sigh and stared straight ahead as they moved; her demeanor was so negative that no one attempted to ask again. They finally got her to the silver SUV and all piled in, the pale woman between Pinkie and Fluttershy in the back.

"Trixie, my phone, please." Rarity set it to speaker and dialed a number just as soon as she got it back. "Twilight? We've found Fuyu but she's...not exactly feeling talkative."

"That isn't even my name," she interjected, squeezing her eyes shut.

"What do you mean it's not your name?" Twilight asked. "Please, what in the world did Luna tell you? Why was she arguing with Celestia?"

"It's...too much." Even that answer was a struggle. To see such blatant suffering on anyone's face would have been uncomfortable, but to see Fuyu crippled by it was much worse. Her eyes were hollow and icy, her demeanor withered. She fell against Pinkie's side and remained there, staring through everything.

Rarity, frowning deeply, decided to give the pale woman a way out of the interrogation. "I don't think she has enough in her right now to talk."

"But..." A couple of seconds went by before Twilight relented. "Okay. I'm going to try and make one of the Princesses tell me. Fuyu, listen, you don't have to fly back if you don't want, we'll-"

Fuyu curled into a loose ball and looked even more unhappy. "I don't want to."

"Wow, you really sound awful. Um...go home, okay? Try and rest. I'm sure someone will stay with you if you want. And don't worry, we'll handle things up here."

She hung up, allowing the cabin to fill with awkward silence again. Pinkie was dousing Fuyu with a shower of one-armed hugs that had no effect. Fluttershy fidgeted, but never took her eyes off her friend. Trixie did the opposite, staring out the window at the forest and feeling deeply out of place.

"So, off to the library?" Rarity started the car, having already assumed the answer.

"No."

Everyone looked over at Fuyu. "No?" Pinkie blinked. "We'll go wherever! Just say the word!"

"You're in charge, darling," Rarity affirmed, looking back over her shoulder.

Those turquoise orbs lit up with something that wasn't quite liveliness as she straightened up. "I want to go to the farmhouse."

"B-but there's nobody there," Fluttershy pointed out. Her face dropped when Fuyu nodded.

"I want to go back to where it all began."

"I certainly do not like the sound of that." Rarity's worry was met by an unrelenting stare. She cracked fast. "All right, but we aren't leaving you by yourself. Not like this."

Their presence was beyond her concern now. "I know."

What should have been a thirty minute drive took over forty five due to the slippery nature of the roads. The snow stopped driving down, reducing itself over time to a gentle cloud of fat, wafting flakes. As they went, conversation bounced around between the four women still able to speak, but Fuyu heard none of it. She was lost in her planning. Only when she saw the smeared-white scar the tornado had left through the orchard did she perk up and seem to be interested again.

Pinkie was the first to sense this and seized on it immediately. "I guess this was where it all started, huh?"

Fuyu seemed to be growing happier. A smile even appeared on her face, but the way it sat there was off. Everyone else was too relieved to notice. "Yes. There's something here I need."

Rarity steered the vehicle to a stop by the farmhouse and blinked. "Hmm? What?"

She didn't get an answer. Pinkie got out to allow Fuyu passage. As she exited, so did the rest. They trailed behind, watching her shamble through the snow and up the steps. An audible grumble slipped out when she discovered the front door was locked. "Hmm." She placed her palm upon the face of the knob and used the black goo to defeat the mechanism. The moment she entered the living room, her eyes drifted to the mantlepiece – and then the shotgun mounted above it.

"What are we looking for?" Trixie asked. They all looked for an item to register as out of place, a thing or things left behind by the pale woman for use in the future. None of them had any idea what it, or them, might look like.

Fluttershy was confused enough to vocalize it. "Did you leave something here?" Only when Fuyu moved toward the fireplace did pieces fall into place. "Um..."

She used her magic to gently lift the shotgun from its mounting and into her waiting hands. "This should work," she murmured, cradling it like a child.

"For what?!" Pinkie exploded, rushing over. "Fufu! No!" Her arms flew around in circles as Fuyu held her back with magic. "Put that down this instant!"

Rarity was no less concerned, although she kept something of a distance. She also moved between the pale woman and Fluttershy. "Fuyu, no, darling, this is not necessary. Put down the gun. Please."

"Talk to us!" Fluttershy begged, hands on her head and knees trembling. "Don't do this!"

Fuyu lacked any outward emotion. She looked just as she always had, half-bored and contemplative. Her eyes met Trixie's. "Well? Aren't you going to say anything?"

The magician folded her arms. "What did the Princesses do to you?" she asked, hoping to prod a conversation.

"They..." Once again, it was too much to think about. She dashed out the front door, Pinkie in hot pursuit as soon as the magic holding her had worn off.

"Great job," Rarity hissed, moving quickly after them. "We don't need your speculation making things worse."

Trixie fell in behind Fluttershy. "It's not speculation. There are a few things I know that you don't."

The dressmaker stumbled with surprise. "Wh-what?" The sight of Pinkie and Fuyu escaping spurred her back up to speed. "We do not have time for this right now!"

Fuyu lead them all deep into the orchard. Pinkie, yelling barely-coherent sentences at the top of her lungs, was not far behind. The rest lost sight of them until Fuyu came to a stop in the middle of the bare scar left by the tornado, on top of a hill. She was looking out toward the highway.

"Applejack told me to get this if I needed it. It better be loaded." Pinkie lunged at her, grabbing both her wrists. "Let me go."

Tears flowed from her blue eyes. Her hair couldn't have been any flatter if she'd just gotten out of the shower. "No! This isn't the answer! I know! Trust me!" Fuyu dislodged her grip and knocked her back, causing her to fall on her rear. "Fufu! No!"

Everyone else arrived just as she put the muzzle to her throat. Rarity and Trixie both used their power to try and take the gun, but the pale woman's black magic was too strong. She knocked them down as well, glaring Fluttershy still as she tried to walk closer. She slipped a finger onto the trigger and squeezed. In an instant her head was vaporized, becoming a hailstorm of black and red and pinkish-gray bits that flew up and fell around her body as it dropped to the snow. A circle of the white fluff became mottled pink.

Pinkie was the only one of the four that didn't look away in time. She stared at where Fuyu had been standing a moment before, blank-faced. The others scrambled to their feet, but she remained sitting and staring.

"Oh my..." Rarity groaned, trying to shake the noise out of her brain. Looking at the headless body made her wretch. "Fuyu..." Suddenly, Pinkie howled with grief and fell over, curling up on her side. Not knowing what else to do, they all moved over. "Darling, don't...don't cry..."

While they tried to stop the baker from weeping, behind them the bits of skull and brain and muscle were being gathered by tendrils of the black goo, which had sprouted from Fuyu's neck. Like hundreds of leaves of a living plant they felt around in the snow for her pieces and brought them back, holding them in place for reassembly. Fluttershy was the first to notice this process and shrieked. Horrified, they watched as Fuyu's head reformed over several minutes. Her eyes were the last thing to be restored; once she had them again, she glanced around and rubbed her cheek. "That hurt." She glared at the shotgun near her feet and kicked it angrily away. "I can't even die!"

"What the fuck," Trixie breathed. Fluttershy and Rarity both fainted, but Pinkie scrambled over on hands and knees and hugged her friend.

"You're alive!" she sniffled.

At her wit's end, Fuyu hugged back and broke down again. "I just want to die. I just want to-" She grunted as the baker punched her, full force, in the stomach.

"How dare you!" was all she could add before hugging again. "You wanna take the easy way out instead of talking to us? I'm so mad at you right now I could..."

Since her way failed, she finally tried Pinkie's instead. "Celestia and Luna created me. They made me to kill Twilight. That's why I'm so powerful...why I knew her name. I'm just a weapon," she explained, muffled by Pinkie's hair.

The baker gasped and pulled back to look at Fuyu's face. "Created you, but..." There was too much to process; she shook her head and squeaked. "How did they do that? Why would they wanna kill Twilight?! She'd never hurt anybody!"

"Because she's even stronger than I am. They're afraid of her...Celestia, mostly." She looked down at the baker's jacket. "I got you bloody again."

"Oh, that'll wash out." Pinkie smiled and peeked back over her shoulder at Trixie, whose shocked expression said that she'd also heard the truth. "This is the craziest thing ever."

The magician nodded rapidly. "No kidding." All three cast their eyes skyward as the snow began to fall harder. "We'd better wake up the sleepyheads and get somewhere warmer."

Twilight, Applejack and Rainbow Dash were seated on one of the fine mulberry couches that dotted the corridor near Princess Celestia's office, each trying to pass the time. Rainbow was visibly bored, but the other two were waiting on an update from Rarity.

"I'm sure she's fine," the athlete blurted out. "You know how she is."

"She sounded pretty bad," Applejack countered. "Tired. Kinda...broken." She drooped a little. "Still can't figure out what coulda been so bad ta make her act like that."

Twilight glared at the door. "I'm getting tired of waiting to find out." They all looked as her stomach began to growl. "Great idea to skip breakfast. I'm such an idiot sometimes."

"Y'all were probably too nervous ta keep anything down anyway." She gave the librarian a pat on the shoulder. "Bit peckish myself, though."

Rainbow folded her arms and became adorably grumpy. "Yeah, me too. There has to be somewhere around here we can eat."

Twilight rubbed her chin lightly. "There's a galley for the employees on this floor..." Rainbow suddenly got up and started to run off. "Wait! You don't even know where it is!"

"I'll find it," she said, winking. "Be right back!"

Applejack chuckled lowly as she watched her girlfriend go. "Pff. Girl just can't sit still for more than a minute or two." When Twilight remained silent, she glanced over. "What's up?"

"The Princess said I can transmute matter." She rubbed at her eyes and groaned. "I don't remember doing anything like that, but she said it happened during my initial magic test. I was nine years old!"

"Dang, y'all started early, huh?" The blonde shrunk under Twilight's unhappy look. "All right, all right, serious time. She's kept that from ya for this long?"

"Yes. Now I'm wondering what else she's hiding from me."

Applejack laughed again, although this time nervously. "Uh...well..." Twilight's phone rang and spared her from an awkward silence.

The picture on the screen was not the one the librarian was expecting. "Pinkie? Let me put you on speaker. What happened to Rarity?"

"Nothing! Um, sooooo, I have good news and bad news! Or actually kind of just bad news and worse news."

Twilight stood up and tried to calm her nerves. "What happened?"

"Er, uh...Fufu got so stressed out and sad and stuff that she tried to kill herself. She's okay though! I think. Pretty sure."

"What?!" they both yelled.

"Yeah! Not good. We're back at the library now. It gets worse!"

Twilight, growling with anger, cut her off. "Oh, I have had it with this! Is Rarity with you?"

"Yeah! So is Fluttershy and Trixie, but there's something else I need to-"

"Good. Stay with Fuyu. I'm putting an end to the whole thing right now." She was already storming toward the door with Applejack in tow.

"But but but but wait!"

Twilight hung up and shoved her phone into her bag. "I'm so mad I could punch somebody!"

"I can tell. Y'all sure ya don't wanna take a deep breath or something before ya go bargin' in?" The blonde watched her do just that and sighed. "Never mind, I guess..." Luna and Celestia looked up from the seats in front of the desk.

"Twilight, what are you-" The elder Princess blinked as her student raised a hand for silence, then pointed a finger at her sister.

"What did you tell Fuyu?" she demanded, voice dripping with venom.

"I suppose it's time," Luna sighed, preparing herself to spill the beans all over again. Celestia shook her head. "No?"

"You did everything else. I'll do this." She cleared her throat and looked Twilight dead in the eye. "Luna told Fuyu about her origins. I skirted the truth when I spoke to you earlier; we created her from scratch for a specific purpose. We gave her the black goo. The amulet was ours."

"Creat—created her?" Text from the book of banned magic she read so many weeks ago flooded her mind. "H-how? What method? Why?"

Celestia affored Applejack a brief glance – she looked bitterly uncomfortable, but was unwilling to leave Twilight's side. "One answer at a time. We used the clay golem method, which I'm sure you've read about."

"A lifeless hunk of muddy silt that we forged into a living machine," Luna added, placing her elbows on her knees as she hunched over. "Transmuted into flesh from earth."

Celestia nodded slowly. "With all the durability and strength of rock." Her face was marked with concern as Twilight, wobbly, braced herself against the desk. "You know the how, now here's the why. She was meant to be a vessel for Luna's soul in case her illness finally won, but..."

Luna, still looking at her sneakers, scowled. "Don't you dare leave out the real reason, sister."

A hand upraised assured her. "I won't. Her original purpose was as a weapon..." she paused to breathe before her heart could tear itself from her chest, "A weapon meant to kill you, my faithful student, in case your power drove you mad."

Twilight had checked out past the words 'kill you', her face dropping into a blank mask. Expecting some sort of emotional cataclysm, an unsteady Applejack moved over next to her, although she had no words to offer.

"Twilight?" Celestia prodded gently, doing her best to look composed.

"You said you loved me like a daughter," she finally murmured, her left eye twitching.

"And I do! I was only ensuring the safety of—Twilight, wait!" They watched her dash out of the room blindly, slamming into the door frame before getting past it and out into the hall. "Come back!"

Applejack gave chase, but Luna prevented her sister from going after them. "No. Let a face she doesn't despise talk her down."

Celestia struggled against her deceptively powerful grip. "Let me by! I have to make her understand!"

Luna could only shake her head. "I don't think she'll be made to do anything at the moment, sister."

Twilight stumbled around one more corner before Applejack finally caught up. She collapsed to her knees and slumped against the wall, shedding silent tears.

The blonde dropped down and loosely embraced her. "Twilight! Sugarcube, I dunno what ta..." Her voice failed as she registered that muted weeping. "I dunno what ta say..."

"Fourteen years," Twilight muttered unblinkingly. "Fourteen years of treating me like the most special girl in the whole world. Telling me how wonderful I was...how much she cared for me. My brother. My parents. Was any of it true?"

"Now, hold on. I'm sure she loves ya all the same, but...well, ah..." She scratched under her hat as if hoping to find a good explanation buried in her hair. "J-just try to calm down, okay? Breathe."

Twilight loosed a guttural noise and tried to push Applejack away. "Oh, sure. She fucking adores me so much, she broke the most sacred law in magic regulation to build someone for the express purpose of murdering me! I can't even begin to fathom how she looked me in the eye all that time while she was holding a knife behind her back to stab me with!"

Applejack held fast as she began to sob. "It probably ain't that simple, Twi!"

"I was so terrified of disappointing her! I just wanted to make her proud of me, to get stronger, to get better..." She crumpled into the blonde's hug and shattered. "The Princess was going to put me down if I...what? Had a bad day? Got too frustrated? If I was tardy?!" An idea ran across her mind that made her teeth gnash. "No, if I got too strong...that's why she did it, isn't it? She was jealous!"

The blonde did not like where this train of thought was headed. "Whoa! Ya ain't thinkin' clearly, Twilight. Celestia ain't never been jealous of nobody, far as I can tell!"

"Uh huh. Fuyu's existence says otherwise." Twilight tugged at her hair and whined. "No...wait...she said about the safety of someone, didn't she?"

"I think so, yeah." Applejack tried to urge her to her feet, succeeding after a few seconds. "Come on. Let's go back ta the hotel and...I dunno. I'm kinda at a loss for words here."

"Safety,' Twilight repeated lowly. "Safety of who? Was she afraid of me?" That concept drew out a new burst of anger. "Why would she be afraid of me?! I would never hurt anyone! Except Trixie, but Trixie's a bitch!"

Applejack laughed weakly, desperate to not seem nervous. "Right. Uh, let's just get outta here and relax and calm down."

Rainbow was hovering down the hall, approaching them with a hamburger in hand. She quickly swallowed the remainder and flew over. "Geez, what did I miss now?" she complained. "Twilight? What happened?"

She hardly even noticed the athlete was there. "She was so afraid of me she made Fuyu...Fuyu killed all those people be-because of me! I..."

"Crap." Applejack picked Twilight up and began to carry her. "I don't know what ta tell ya, RD. 'Sides that this is the insanest thing we ever got wrapped up in." They looked at the librarian as she went to muttering incoherently. "Maybe we oughta have her sedated or something..."

The hair on the back of Rainbow's neck was standing up. "Can I get the short version?"

"Well, uh, the Princesses made Fu from clay ta kill Twilight in case she snapped, I guess. I can't really get my head around it." She looked down at Twilight, babbling in her arms. "Maybe we oughta take her home."

Rainbow waved her hand in front of the librarian's face to no avail. "Yeah. I think we should."

"You don't understand," Twilight moaned to no one in particular. "Th-there were times I didn't see my parents for months...she became my mom...it's my fault all those people died!" Her thoughts fought for precedence, only to end up flying from her mouth simultaneously. "Why would she be afraid? Why did she make Fuyu do all those things?"

"Twi, shhh. Just calm down." Applejack moved down a set of stairs and found double doors that lead into another part of the garden. "Phew, all right. Hang on, we're gonna get ya outta here."

Rainbow shed her hoodie and laid it over Twilight to protect her from the falling snow. Five minutes of walking and listening to her half-constructed sentences only served to get them lost. "Hold on, I'll fly up and see where we are."

Applejack nodded as she launched herself into the air. "Man. I can't believe Celestia would do something like this." Twilight began to struggle and grunt. "Whoa! Twi! Easy!"

"Let me down!" she demanded, almost falling out of the blonde's arms. "My entire childhood is a lie! She never loved me! She just wanted to control me! And if I didn't listen, she was going to have me killed!"

Almost as stressed now, Applejack took off her hat and held it tightly. "I'm sure it ain't like that! The Princess just...she just..."

"No. Stop trying to make excuses for her. She...I...how many people's deaths am I responsible for?" Her legs gave out again. "And Fuyu...she suffered so much worse than I did..."

"Them people dyin' ain't your fault!" The words were lost on Twilight, but Applejack felt obligated to say them.

Rainbow swooped back down to help the librarian stand. "Hey, you all right?" She wouldn't take her hand. "...hello?"

Twilight was shaking violently, emitting a sound comprised of sobbing and mumbling. Abruptly, she fell still and looked up with her eyes closed. "Nothing is...I...can't..." They shot open, glowing white.

"What the..." Applejack pulled Rainbow back to her side. "Twilight! What's going on?"

Her words were twisted into an ear-rattling stereo, as if there were more than one mouth speaking. "If Celestia fears me..." Trailing off, she levitated above the ground and hovered. A pair of lavender wings unfurled from her back. "Then I will give her something to be afraid of."

"I cannot believe what I am reading."

Rarity, Trixie and Spike all had some of the documents provided by Luna, poring over them in the library's public space. Pinkie was clamped onto Fuyu as the latter occupied a chair nearby. Fluttershy was right beside those two in another chair, still trying to deal with the day's events.

"I can't see anyone," Fuyu complained, poking the baker lightly.

It only made her hold tighter "Don't care! Hugging until you feel better!"

She glared through a forest of pink hair. "That isn't going to happen."

"Oh, really. We'll see about that. Nobody can resist a Pinkie hug forever."

"Damn her!" Spike growled, tossing the papers in his hand away. "How could she do this? Twilight might not be a saint, but she's no danger to anyone!"

"We all have our...regrettable moments," Rarity agreed, "but this is a gross overreaction! And the things Fuyu went through in the process!"

"That isn't my name," she reminded the dressmaker.

"I'd want to change my name too if I were associated with something like this." Trixie pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. "Thousands of lives just used up as if they meant nothing. I don't even know what to say."

"What should we call you?" Fluttershy asked, more willing to tackle smaller things at the moment. "If you have any preferences, I mean."

"I don't know." She caught her own lie and frowned. "No. I think...Winter is the closest thing I have to my own name. Let's call me that for now."

"Of course, darling." Rarity picked up her phone off the side table and swallowed hard. "I've no idea how I'm going to break this news to Twilight. The whole thing is, as Rainbow would say – and pardon my language – fucked all the way up."

"Maybe I should tell her." Winter stood up with Pinkie attached, but this time there was no giggling. "Please get off of me."

"No! Never!"

Rarity rolled her eyes. "Don't be obstinate, Pinkamena. Let go."

The baker was full-on whining now. "She needs my hug powers!"

Spike's attention drifted from his companions to the TV during this exchange, where he saw that the programming had been broken into by a special news report. He turned up the volume and watched as the flying cameraman trained his lens on Canterlot Castle, a small portion of which had collaped and was smoking.. "Crap! Look!" Everyone turned to see what the fuss was about. Just as they did, Twilight appeared, darting through the air with wings they'd never seen before. "What happened?"

Pinkie finally let go to watch the TV. "Dashie! Applejack!" she gasped. "W-w-why is everything on fire?!"

Trixie folded her arms. "It's not on fire. Well, most of it isn't. Calm down."

Winter was the only one silent as they all gathered around the screen to listen. The anchorwoman said something about the scene being caused by an accidental explosion. As the report drew on, another familiar face appeared – Rainbow Dash, flying around like a madman in and out of the ruined castle.

"Rainbow!" Fluttershy pointed. "But where's Applejack?"

Their answer came when Rarity's phone rang. "Hello?" she answered. "...Applejack! Darling, you're on the news! What is going on up there? Where are you?" she asked while putting the blonde on speaker.

"I'm in the gardens, and besides the castle goin' ta hell in a handbasket, there ain't much happenin' ta speak of! Listen, Celestia told Twilight about Fu. And I mean the whole story. She ain't handlin' it too kindly. Fu! Ya there?"

Winter stepped forward. "Yes, I'm here, but that's not my n—never mind. We can deal with it another time."

"That'd be fuckin' terrific! Listen, I know y'all are upset and all, but we need ya! Please! Twilight's done blown a serious fuckin' gasket!" A loud noise interrupted her. "Rainbow Dash, get your ass down here!"

"I'm on my way." Winter summoned her black wings and floated toward the door.

"No!" Spike yelled, tears in his eyes. "No! She's the only mom I've ever known!"

"Fu—Winter, please, don't do this," Rarity added, just as emotional. "Twilight is just stressed!"

The pale woman pointed at the TV as a retort. "I know. And that's what stressed means for her." Before she could open the door, Pinkie got in her way with arms spread wide.

"No! No fighting between friends!" she yelled angrily. Winter easily moved her aside. "No no no no! Stop!"

"Perhaps Twilight can do what the shotgun couldn't."

Her musing silenced everyone but Spike, who walked over and grabbed her by the hand. "You can't kill her. You hear me? You can't."

She gently made him release it and opened the door. A plaintive tone weighed down her next words. "Of course I can. It's what I was made for."

Sunset
View Online

Black

Sunset

By the time Winter landed in the gardens, the clouds had broken and the sun was beginning to set. During her flight, the scene had stabilized. The castle was still belching mottled smoke, but no less of it had been standing than when she'd last seen it on the news. There was a military cordon around most of the area – one which she had ignored, or perhaps which had ignored her. All sorts of uniformed fliers plied the air but didn't try to stop her approach.

Rainbow Dash and Applejack were literally the only ones inside that cordon and not inside the castle itself. They ran up to Winter as she dismissed her wings.

"It's all gone to hell!" the athlete greeted. "Listen, I know this looks really bad, but could you-"

Winter cut her off. "Not kill Twilight?"

Applejack nodded gravely. "Please. She's emotional right now is all." They looked back at the tower that had fallen down. "Shoot, Princess Celestia probably has everything under control right now. W-we can fix this." A rumbling noise reached their ears – apparently a little more of the structure collapsed. "And that. Whatever that was."

"I can't promise anything." She stalked off toward the nearest door, but only got a few steps before Rainbow whistled for her attention.

"Please, man. Twilight's our friend...and so are you. Try to talk her out of it or something, okay?"

"Again, I can't promise anything." Winter turned and moved away. A thought made her hesitate. "Before I go, I've changed my name to Winter. What you called me previously was something I stole from someone else. Now you know the correct thing to put on my grave."

"It ain't gonna come ta that!" Applejack insisted harshly. "This is all just a big ass temper tantrum!"

The pale woman issued a sad smile. "Hm. I thought this day would never come, either, but here we are."

Entering the castle, she found no severe damage to speak of, although some of the paintings had detached from the walls. A window or two was missing panes as well, but otherwise everything seemed to be in place. There was one thing missing, however: people. Any people. As she prowled the halls looking for Twilight, it became apparent that she and the librarian seemed to be the only ones still occupying the building. Upon wandering by the ballroom, however, her magical alarm went off. It felt like dozens of people all squished together in one spot. Confused, she opened the door and looked in.

At the other end of the long room was a small pile of random objects of all sorts. There were hammers and watermelons and alarm clocks and stuffed animals and shoes all clumped together in a corner, and yet many of these things were emitting the magical spark. Winter crept over to them and picked up a pomegranate. "You're not supposed to be this, are you?" she asked it, holding the thing to her ear as if listening for a voice. It didn't speak, but she felt something strange. Like the buildings she had changed back after Trixie's rampage in Ponyville, these altered objects had a confused aura about them. Unlike the buildings, however, that aura was accompanied by faint, voice-like whispers which grew and faded in volume with the vividness of their magical sparks. "Oh, you're telling me how to change you back." Gently, she set the fruit down and moved away. "I'm sorry. I can't help you right now. Maybe I can convince Twilight to undo what she's done."

For several minutes she wandered about, trying to detect the librarian's unique signature. Despite assuming she was still in the castle somewhere, that sensation was nowhere to be found. "Why can't I feel her any longer?" At that moment she was passing by the ornate throne room doors. She pushed them open to check the area and found Twilight, eyes glowing, seated on the throne. Near the base of the steps leading up to her were two multi-colored eggs. One was pastel green and blue and pink and white with gold accents; the other indigo and black and blue with silver accents. Winter blinked at the sight before fully entering. "Twilight? What are you doing?"

The librarian tapped her blue fingernails on the armrest in perfect rhythm. "I knew you would come." She waved her free hand at the eggs on the floor and flashed a cruel grin. "I heard from Pinkie that you tried to kill yourself. It got me so mad I...well, I made Celestia tell me the truth. You see what happened after that. I can't figure out what to do with them. If you're here for revenge, I certainly don't blame you."

Winter tilted her head. "I came for you, actually."

Twilight sighed and rose from her seat. "Oh, is that how this is going to go?"

She strode along the red carpet with fingers clenched. "Half of me is here to fulfill my purpose. The other half is hoping you're strong enough to give me my death."

"Really?" Twilight fell into a peal of darkly-shaded laughter. Her wings spread as she sauntered down the steps to meet her challenger. "Not even the Princesses can escape my transmutation ability. What makes you think you have a-" A pale fist slammed into her jaw, deforming her cheek as she stumbled back. Like Winter, however, her power healed the injury with alarming speed. "Well, I was willing to give you the benefit of the doubt until you broke my jaw. If you want to be put down so badly, Fuyu..."

"My name is Winter," she interjected, dropping into a ready stance. "Now shut up and fight me."

Twilight busted out laughing again. She snapped the fingers on her left hand and watched as Winter twisted and shrank into a decorative paperweight, then landed with a soft thud on the carpet. "No one on this planet can oppose me. That includes you." The final word barely escaped her lips before the pale woman suddenly unfurled from the item and stood up again. "Wh-wh...how did you undo my spell?!"

Winter flung two ropes of black and wrapped them around Twilight's throat, yanking her over closer. The momentum carried her right into another ready fist, which shattered her nose for thirty seconds before her innate magic repaired the damage. "Is this what the power of Princesses does to people? You sound just like Trixie did." she asked, grabbing the librarian by the hair and driving a knee into her stomach.

"Let me go!" Twilight used her augmented telekinesis to launch Winter away and into a column that cracked with the impact. "Fine. If you won't accept the mercy of becoming an object, I'll give you the death you seek!" Both hands lit up raspberry with the flames of her power. She cloaked the pale woman with magic and began to squeeze. "Enjoy eternity as a bloody paste!"

For the first time, Winter felt pain – genuine pain, as regular people knew it, burning and clouding her senses with agony. She could feel her bones beginning to crack as Twilight applied incredible force with her mind. A groan worked its way out before her throat was annihilated; the black goo simply couldn't keep up with the rate of injury she was experiencing. Slowly, her form became limp.

"That's it. Stop fighting. Let yourself go."

Before her eyes turned to jelly, the last thing she saw was the evil smile on Twilight's face, toothy and mocking.

This isn't my friend.

Her skull shattered around her brain, filling it with shards of bone. Consciousness ran away, leaving a black ring that encroached on the edge of her mind and eventually swallowed it whole. She wanted to say goodbye but had no mouth to do so. Her entire body was becoming nothing but a jumbled mess of flesh.

I can't even do the thing I was made for.

"Goodbye, Fuyu." Twilight squinted with concentration as she reached for the last bit of power needed to end her foe. She applied so much force that the black goo was now squirting from the pores of the pale woman's skin. After a moment she realized that her energy was sliding past the substance. "Wait...why can't I..." Growling, she focused her power against it instead of Winter. "Get off of her! Get off!" The magic soaked into it like a sponge. "No! Give it back!"

Like a conduit, the external gunk fed energy back into that which remained around Winter's spine and brain, trying to keep her alive. Her wounds began to heal as Twilight grew more concerned with trying to kill the goo instead of the woman who commanded it. In a minute her skeleton was fixed. In a minute more her muscles were reattached. In a third minute she could see again. The vision that greeted her was Twilight, snarling with rage.

"Die! Die!" she shrieked, emptying her magic into the goo, which continued to suck it up. That power, combined with what Winter already had, was like molten steel flowing through her veins. Every corner of her consciousness was lit by its blinding glow.

What is happening to me?

Once she had enough of her faculties back, she directed the goo outside her skin to reform itself. Her clothes fell away as the ebony wrapped itself around her arms and legs, forming a skintight suit that conformed to every crease and muscle in her body – even her individual fingers and toes. The process completed itself with a half-mask over her face that ended just below her nose. So clad, Twilight could no longer hold her. Winter sprouted wings to float herself back down to the floor.

"How?!" Twilight screamed, so hard her voice broke. Her eyes shone like the sun as she tried to latch on again. "Why can't I grip you?!"

She didn't reply, but her attire did. "We gave our lives for this armor," it said, speaking with a thousand voices that bounced all around the room. "All that remains of our former selves is the woman who bears our souls. We will die long before we allow her to."

"I can't even perish correctly," Winter whispered, dismissing her wings. While Twilight grunted and shrieked, trying to turn her into various objects, or pick her up and slam her into something, she walked closer. "Turn them back, Twilight. I don't want to hurt you."

The librarian would have none of it. "She lied to me! She wanted to murder me! She didn't mean anything she said!"

Every time Twilight unloaded magic on Winter, the armor soaked it up and added it to her own pool. "Did she tell you that herself?"

"She tried to lie to me again!" Twilight finally gave up and backed up a step. "Fuyu, listen to me. She made us suffer so much! Don't you want your vengeance?"

We suffered?

"How did we suffer?" Winter asked, an angry edge in her voice. Her brain was still tingling from the influx of magic; she was thinking in ways that were still unusual to her but somehow, suddenly, felt natural. "Explain. How did you suffer? Tell me."

Twilight continued to retreat in the face of the pale woman's inexorable approach. "Nothing she ever told me was true! She was secretly holding you over my head the whole time! She was going to kill me! She hated me! She hated me!"

An influx of rage flooded Winter's thoughts, but it was not wholly her own. Much of it came from the black goo and mixed with her own growing bitterness. A hand lashed out and grabbed Twilight by the collar, pulling her until they were literally nose to nose. "Hated you? Is that all? Is that what passes for anguish in your mind, you insufferable little brat?" she asked, backed by a veritable chorus of voices from her attire. Her fist slammed into Twilight's face again, but she only let go so the woman could fall to her knees. A foot to the chest put her on her back against the stone. "Thousands of people were crushed alive to give me this goo!" She straddled Twilight's chest and punched her in the nose again, so hard the granite began to yield under her skull. "Did you ever kill children? I did. I killed people that begged me for mercy. I killed people that did nothing wrong besides be in the same place as I was at the wrong time!"

Every statement, then every word, was punctuated with a vicious blow that pushed Twilight's head deeper into the rock. Despite her healing almost as fast as the punches fell, she couldn't get the pale woman off of her.

There was only anger in Winter's heart, and she vented it on the one being that could take her punishment. "Suffering is all I brought to anyone! Now you come whining to me about your so-called agony?" Repeated blows to the face sunk Twilight's skull until the tip of her nose was level with the floor. "What happened to all those nights in the library where you told me she was like your second mother? When you told me stories of the things she did for you? You call the love and adoration of someone else suffering?!"

Winter raised her fist again and only then noticed that the librarian's eyes were closed, and that blood was pouring from her nostrils. She healed after a few moments, but the process was much slower than when her battering had begun.

"Please...I'm sorry," she sputtered, sounding like herself again. "I'm sorry..."

The pale woman was still overcome with the emotion supplied by her armor, but she stayed her hand. "Celestia told me I would do what needs to be done," she said, getting to her feet. Her mask slid away, leaving her face uncovered. "But I don't want to." She lifted Twilight with magic and set her on the carpet. "Please change them back."

She sat up and clutched at her head, trying to regain her senses. Her eyes were still glowing, but dimly – at least until she began thinking about her mentor. "I can't. They have to pay for what they did."

Teeth clenched, Winter prepared herself to fight again. Before she could get too ready, an idea appeared that stilled her mind. Her stance softened with melancholy. "I endured more than you did. Let me do it."

Breath hitching, the librarian stumbled to her feet and looked at the Princess eggs. "Yes. Of course." She changed Celestia back, stabilizing her with telekinesis until she could stand on her own.

Confused, she looked between Winter, her preternatural suit, and Twilight several times. "I see the superfluid worked. Is it...is it over?" she breathed, staring into her student's glowing eyes.

Twilight displayed another dark smirk. "For you, it is. Go on, Fuyu. Extract your pound of flesh."

"What are you talking about?" She looked down slightly as Winter stood before her. "What is going on here?"

She took both of the Princess' hands and spoke lowly. "I'm sorry, but I have no other choice." A subtle nod over her shoulder at Twilight followed.

The tears began to flow as she nodded in return. "I understand. Do...do what you think is necessary." The librarian growled; anticipating an attack, her hands lit up with raspberry flames again.

"Yes. What is necessary." Her right hand withdrew; she placed that arm to her chest, sprouted a blade of curved ebony from her palm, and whipped it across Celestia's throat.

Winter moved backward to stand with Twilight and watch. A surprised scream came out as a loud, long gurgle while Celestia tried to use her magic to seal the wound, but Twilight continuously interfered to keep her blood flowing. Streams of crimson flecked with gold stained her white dress, and within a minute she dropped to her knees and toppled over.

"Feels good, doesn't it?" Twilight asked, hand outstretched as she kept her mentor's wound open.

Considering everything that had happened to her, a tiny bit of Winter's psyche was quite pleased with the situation. "A little bit," she admitted, her eyes never straying from Celestia's death throes.

"Just a little? Feels great to me." The librarian's hand fell to her side just after the Princess drew her last breath. Her corpse lay in the center of a large red puddle, which gleamed weakly with the evening light from the windows. Neither of them spoke or moved until Twilight abruptly loosed a wail of grief. Winter glanced over. No longer were her eyes glowing, nor did glorious lavender wings hang from her shoulders. She ran to her mentor and dropped onto her body, shrieking with horror. "This isn't what I wanted! This isn't what I wanted at all!"

Winter stepped forth as the librarian jostled Celestia, screaming repeatedly at her to get up. "It worked."

"Wh-why did you kill her?" she demanded, her white blouse soaked with blood. "Why didn't you kill me? You were supposed to kill me!" She went back to trying to rouse the Princess. "Please, please, please get up. Please, I'm so sorry. Please..."

She walked past them and up the steps, taking a seat on the golden throne. "I killed her to show you what you had."

"What does that even mean?!" Twilight screamed, flopping onto the floor and crawling to the steps. "She loved me! She didn't deserve to die!"

"That's why it worked. Anger caused you to lose control; regret gave it back. I killed her because I didn't want to kill you."

She had made it up a few steps before Winter's words delivered their full effect. She fell onto her stomach, sobbing with shame. "It's all my fault. It's my fault she died. I can't...I can't..."

"We all have our regrettable moments." Twilight's misery finally punched through and brought tears to Winter's eyes. She rose and move down to hug her. "Listen to me. I would have done anything to save you. You're my friend. I only have six."

"I wish you hadn't," she whimpered, clinging to the pale woman as hard as she could. "My heart hurts...so much..."

"Yes, I know. Think of how much more it would be hurting if I'd done nothing and allowed you to kill Celestia instead." A heavy sob from the librarian confirmed her suspicions. "Now you know why. My shoulders are used to bearing pain. Yours aren't."

Comparing her own reasons for having exploded against what Winter said was only making Twilight feel worse. She managed to squeeze even tighter. "I...you went through so much more than I have and you've never lost your temper like I did. I'm so...I'm so ashamed."

She starting patting the librarian on the head. "Do you know why you reacted so powerfully? Grief has never touched you. I could see that the first time we met. I had to let it touch you to save you, but I didn't want you to get crushed. Its full weight should be mine to hold, not yours." The Luna egg caught her sight and drew a sigh. "The damage may be done, but there are things you can still fix. Twilight, you have to change everyone back."

The librarian broke the hug so violently that she nearly toppled backwards down the stairs. "Oh no! How many other people did I hurt?!"

Winter's strong hands kept her from falling. "As far as I know? None. You left them all in a pile in the ballroom."

"R-right. I remember now. I didn't want anyone to...I just felt so betrayed. I wanted to make Celestia pay." She pointed a finger at the egg. "Come back. Oh, how am I ever going to explain this to her? Her sister's dead!"

"Let me endure her wrath." Winter moved to stand, but Twilight forced her down.

"No. No, no, stop. Damn it, stop. I dug this hole for myself, and I'm going to face the consequences." As Luna returned to her proper form, Twilight got to her feet and went to meet her. "Luna? Luna. I'm so sorry. This is all my fault."

"What...?" The young Princess looked at the body for a long while before the image actually became meaningful. "Sister!" she yelped, dropping down beside Celestia. "No! Why? What happened?!" She looked up at Winter on the steps. "Were you not able to stop her in time?"

"Yes, that's exactly what happened. I killed her. Fuyu didn't get here quickly enough." Twilight closed her eyes and awaited Luna's wrath. "I know what the punishment is. Let's not put the nation through a trial." When nothing happened, she let them open again. "Um...Princess Luna?"

"You are an awful liar." Winter and Luna were staring each other down, but hatred found no place on the visage of either. "You did what you had to? Is that what you're going to say to me?"

The pale woman was as unrelenting as the bitter cold that penetrated the air. "To save my friend, yes. I did."

Twilight literally threw herself at Luna and began to beg. "No! No! Fuyu's been through enough! Let her go! It's my fault she killed Celestia! If anyone's going to get punished it should be me!" She hung off her shoulders like a cloak and wept bitterly. "Please...I have to...to pay for what I've done." The familiarity of those words stung her in the heart until she could barely stand.

Luna turned just as Twilight began to fall and held her up. The look on her face was utterly inexplicable. "Any punishment I could conceive would fall far short of the pain you're putting yourself through now," she said lowly. "Are you happy? You got what you wanted."

Twilight shook her head viciously. "No. I may never be happy again. I've done something so awful I..." Her throat clenched and she broke down in tears again.

Winter and Luna shared another odd look before the latter gave Twilight a brief hug and spoke. "Welcome to our world. Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to take my sister and...and..." Words failed; she ducked her head and skulked over to the corpse, lifting it into her arms with her magic. Twilight bowed deeply as the Princesses departed, showing respect the only way she knew how at that moment.

"Please forgive me," she whispered, unable to talk any louder. The following silence had a marked shift in undertone, but why remained a mystery to Twilight until Winter spoke again.

"Who am I supposed to ask for forgiveness?"

"Huh?" She looked back up at the pale woman and found her weeping again. "Fuyu..."

"My name is Winter," she said harshly. "All the people that died to make me who I am, the ones I destroyed to stay alive...where should I seek forgiveness for those? I don't know them. What am I supposed to do? Find out who their loved ones were and apologize?"

"Fu—Winter, no. Please don't hate yourself." Twilight's attempt to offer another hug was denied. "You've had the worst life ever, but you've handled it with such grace. I can't even fathom being in your shoes. You should be," she hesitated, fearing this was the wrong word, but went with it anyway, "proud."

Her fears seemed to be confirmed when she saw the hateful look in those icy eyes. But it quickly faded away, chased off by a sad smile. "You and the others have given me more misery than I could ever thrust upon you. Before I came to Ponyville, I didn't actually care about what I'd done. I'd burst into tears and then act like nothing happened. There was no connection." She raised a hand to stave off Twilight's regretful babbling. "No, wait. It's all right. You might have given me sadness, but you also gave me happiness."

"Yes." Twilight tried to smile as well, but couldn't. "But your past hurt you so badly that you tried to...you know. Why didn't you tell us you felt that way?"

"It only hit me after I spoke to Luna. The feeling was so sudden, I...I didn't think there was anything you all could do to help. Nobody knows what it's really like but me."

The librarian tackled Winter in an embrace. "Never think that way. You may be the only one of your kind, but you are not alone. We're here for you."

"Mm. As I said, we all have our regrettable moments." Winter picked up the smaller woman and made for the double doors. "Come on. There are people you need to save."

By the next morning, Winter and Twilight had repaired the damage to the castle and its occupants. The librarian had been released to the custody of her brother, who had arrived in the city overnight – by order of Luna, whom neither woman had seen since she carried her sister's body out of the throne room. Rainbow Dash and Applejack joined the siblings and the pale woman on a train back to Ponyville. It was the only place Twilight wanted to go.

Shining Armor poked at his little sister once they were seated. She had crawled into his lap and slumped against his chest. "You're getting a bit big for this, aren't you?" he joked. She looked up at him with hollow eyes. "I'm kidding. You don't have to move."

She groaned. "Good. I'm not going to."

"Mom and Dad said they were gonna meet us at the library. They're worried sick about you. I'm glad that old castle didn't get you hurt." His brow cocked at the strange looks Rainbow and Applejack – who also knew the truth – were tossing at each other. "Uh, you two all right?"

"Yeah," the athlete nodded. "Sure. No problems. Noooooo problems at all."

"Great. I'm glad you're all here with Twily. I've never seen her so upset. I wish Cadance were around, she could-" He looked down as Twilight choked back a sob. "Whoa! What's wrong?"

"This trip was supposed to be about Winter and I made it about myself. I'm the worst person ever," she droned, unable to look at anyone.

"Why? Not your fault the castle fell down." Unable able to figure out why his reassurances were making Twilight cry, he resorted to stroking her hair. "Now, now. It's fine. Everyone's okay. It's no big deal." He blinked when her crying got worse. "Am I missing something here?"

"Don't ask," Applejack said. "Just...don't ask. Please."

"Okay then. We'll save it for later." His attention finally went to Winter, seated across from him on the opposite bench and staring out the window. "Your Highness, I wanted to thank you for helping Twilight keep the rest of the castle stable. I have to admit, I was surprised to hear about another Princess, but Celestia sure seems to know how to pick them."

Her lips bent with faint disgust. "Yes, she certainly does."

"You should meet my wife sometime! Between you, Twily, and Cadance, we've got a little Adoptive Princesses club going!" Seeing that his cheerfulness had failed to break the ice, he frowned. "All right, look. I'm obviously lacking part of the story, but you girls don't have to feel like you need to hide anything from me. Twily's okay, everyone's fine, and that's all I care about." He pointed down at his uniform. "Trust me, being in the Army has made me used to not getting the whole picture."

Twilight hugged him, sighing with relief. "Thanks, big brother." She carefully slid off his lap and stood up. "All right, you three, we need to talk. Sorry. This is between us."

He waved and smiled. "Of course. I'll be right here if you need me."

The librarian lead the women to the other end of the empty train car, where they all huddled together on another set of benches. "This is driving me up the wall," she muttered angrily. "I hate myself. I'm going to hate myself until the end of time. Luna trying to cover everything up isn't helping me feel any better. I mean, did you see the headline in the Canterlot Times this morning?"

Winter nodded her agreement. "She might have concealed my existence, but hiding the death of a Princess is going to be impossible. I can't figure out what she's up to."

Applejack had been stowing some anger herself, and she let all of it go in one hissed rant. "I'm about fuckin' tired of bein' a part of a cover up that never seems ta fuckin' end," she said. "I coulda gotten killed. Rainbow coulda gotten killed. Apple Bloom...damn it. I can't even handle picturin' her hearin' about me dyin'. Fuck! If this shit keeps on happenin' I'm gonna slug Luna right in the mouth!"

Rainbow leaned back sarcastically and grinned. "And you say I cuss a lot?" The couple shared a wry smile. "In all seriousness, though, AJ's right. If there's more to this, then you guys have a right to know. We all do."

"Maybe not," Twilight whimpered, hunched over and hiding her face. "Celestia was right. I proved to be a danger to the whole world." She yelped when Applejack slapped her on the head.

Their eyes met just as the blonde was folding her arms. "Don't ya start. I ain't gonna listen to ya beat yourself up over this. If we all need ta take shifts so ya've got a shoulder ta cry on until ya feel better, fine. But I ain't gonna have any wallowin'."

"I'm not wallowing. I nearly killed Fu—Winter. If she had failed, where would we be right now?"

Imagining that was too heavy a weight for even all four of them to hold up. They sat quietly and listened to the rhythmic clack of the train wheels.

Rainbow, fidgeting under the silence, finally had to break it. "For what it's worth, I would have snapped too if one the people I loved the most said they had a plan to kill me."

Twilight, slumped over, offered a weak shrug. "Still doesn't justify what I did. I've changed the direction of the whole country."

"Y'all are awfully quiet over there," Applejack said, nudging Winter's shin with her boot. "Speak up. Ya have something ta say too, don'tcha?"

"What do you want to hear?" Her nerves were still raw from the interaction with her armor; it had left behind wisps of emotion that she took on as her own. One of these gifts was frustration. "I killed the Princess to save Twilight. When Luna decides what she wants to do with me, I will face those consequences." She rubbed at her eyes. "I don't know what else there is to say."

Rainbow waved her words aside. "Forget that. We wanna talk about before. Are you all right? Pinkie said you were trying to hurt yourself before you went to the orchard."

Despite all of the previous day's events, she quickly realized that nothing on her end had actually changed. She still felt as lost and unhappy as when Luna has confessed, but the rush of defeating Twilight blotted all that out. Decompression from the fighting brought her right back into the sullen muck, although it had lost some of its potency. "No. I still feel a lot like I did before coming back to Canterlot."

Twilight straightened and gave the pale woman a one-armed hug. "We'll work it out. Together."

Unconvinced, Winter shrugged away her embrace. "No. We won't. None of you will ever understand what's happened to me."

"Ain't no excuse ta keep it bottled up. Damn it, Fu, we're your friends. I know ya tend toward bein' quiet, but we're all here ta listen." Applejack waved her hat around to get the pale woman's attention before smiling. "We're in this together, ya hear me?"

Rainbow nodded and grinned. "Yeah. Even if the whole thing gives my headache a freaking headache."

Seeing that Winter was unwilling to address the subject any further, Twilight changed it. "Speaking of headaches, I wonder who's going to ascend the throne."

"It has to be Luna, right?" Something in the librarian's eyes made Rainbow question her own words. "You don't think so?"

"The throne of Equestria isn't subject to primogeniture. The ruling Princess leaves a last will and testament containing who she wishes to succeed her. It's weird, but that's how it's been done since the country was founded. She might name me as her successor. She could even name Winter."

Applejack blinked with disbelief. "Holy hell. Princess Twilight? Princess Fu?"

Winter was growing annoyed with the blonde. "You do realize that's not my name, right?"

"Sure. But it's your nickname, and it's gonna be your nickname 'til the day I finally keel over." She gave a friendly wink and smile. "Best get used ta it."

That put a smile on Winter's face, but she couldn't figure out why. "Very well."

Twilight groaned and stood up. "Anyway, I'm tired of thinking about this. I just want to get home, see everybody, and try to sleep." Tears began to flow. "If I can ever sleep again."

Their train ride home consumed most of the day's light. By the time Twilight stumbled through the library door and into her mother's arms, the sun was again creeping below the horizon. Winter stayed well clear of the crowd, watching as the librarian's family closed ranks around her and disappeared into the living quarters. Rainbow Dash and Applejack didn't stay long – the blonde wanted to go pick up her sister and see to the unoccupied orchard. Spike lingered, along with Pinkie, Rarity, and Fluttershy, in the public space. The pale woman stayed there too, trying to allow Twilight as much space as possible.

It became clear very fast that the four of them had no idea how she had emerged victorious. "You are something else, darling," Rarity praised, swishing a bottle of water in her right hand as she lounged in one of the boxy chairs. "Have you seen the news? Nobody suffered a scratch. I don't even know why I was worried."

"Yeah! Fufu saves the day again!" Pinkie bounced in her own seat happily. "You okay, though? I mean, about the whole what-Luna-said thing."

Winter stared at the floorboards and shook her head. "Not really. I have a lot of regret over the people that died in my name."

Fluttershy raised her hand as if she were in school, only to squeak when everyone looked over. "Well, this may not help, but, um...most of them weren't your fault. A-actually, I don't believe any of them were. It's not like you wanted to hurt anyone. You had to. To survive."

"Small comfort," Winter replied, rubbing at her eyes. A few laughs from the kitchen drew their attention. "Sounds like they're having fun."

"I'm simply glad everything worked out." Rarity blinked as Spike walked over and gave the pale woman an abrupt hug.

"Thanks," all was he could say.

"Don't thank me just yet. You don't have the whole story."

"What do you mean?" He sat back down and leaned forward, as did the three women. "Twilight's okay. I mean, she looks exhausted, but she's okay." Winter's stoic mask made his heart rate increase. "She is okay, isn't she?"

"Physically? Yes. We fought, but her power healed those wounds. It's what I had to do to break her anger that will never be healed." Too unsettled to keep sitting, she got up and wandered to one of the large windows. Ponyville was still socked in with snow, tinted red and purple and blue with the evening sky. "I had to kill Princess Celestia to snap her out of it. She watched her die. That's how I won."

"A-a-a-are you gonna go to jail?" Pinkie asked. She had a hard time standing, her trembling was so bad. "Are you in trouble?"

Rarity, blanched with shock, had to set her drink aside. "Are you, darling?"

"I don't know. Luna sent me home with Twilight. I don't know what she's planning." She was surprised as they all gathered around her. "What?"

"This is very serious," Rarity said. "No matter what she decides, however, I—we will be with you."

"Even if it means we have to go to the slammer!" Pinkie cheered for a split second before getting droopy. "Wait, that's bad."

"I don't wanna go to jail," Fluttershy whimpered, hiding her mouth behind her oversized sweater sleeves.

Their fear was making Winter's blood boil. "None of you are going to jail." She glanced down at a steely-eyed Spike. "Yes?"

"Twilight loved the Princess so much. I don't know how she's gonna get over this." He looked away and placed a hand on his hip. "But you didn't kill her. That's what counts. Whatever I can do to convince Luna to leave you alone, I will."

Rarity swallowed and emitted a nervous laugh. "The good news is, I'm not sure Luna can imprison Winter, to be entirely honest. Still...this could be very prickly. Do Applejack and Rainbow Dash know?" The pale woman nodded. "Thank goodness. As soon as Twilight is settled, we need to formulate a plan."

"No need for a plan! Fufu stays here, we convince Lu that we can totally watch over her – not that she's dangerous at all! – and problem solved!" Pinkie wilted at their uncertain reaction. "R-right? Guys, seriously, she can't go to jail. She's been through waaaaay more than enough."

Fluttershy nodded forlornly. "Sure, but...what can we do?"

Winter lost track of their conversation; her focus went to Twilight and her family at the kitchen table, which she could see through the doorway. The librarian's face was marked with a particular kind of hopelessness even as she smiled – one with which the pale woman was quite familiar. It was the look she could feel on her own face whenever Twilight asked a question she couldn't answer. Her expression wasn't the main reason why she'd tuned out, though; the way her family behaved was fascinating, and in a way, infuriating. Winter knew friendship. She even knew, vaguely, what Rainbow Dash and Applejack had. What defied her was the love being shown between those four people, squished together at the too-small table. One thing about it was clear, however.

"I'll never have that," she said, cutting off Rarity as the dressmaker began to answer Spike's question.

"Hmm?" She looked in that direction, as did everyone else, and blinked. "Have what, darling?"

"A family."

A nearly endless stream of sympathetic words and noises did nothing for, her, nor did the group hug brought on by Pinkie. Their embrace felt as cold as the driven snow outside. Winter dropped her head and sighed, wrangling with the bitterness that sprouted again in her heart. In that moment she understood – a little, at least – why Twilight had snapped so badly.