A Strange New Pony in Town

Chapters

Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 4

Prologue

The Strange New Pony in TownByDarkHeart the MagicEater, Alticron,FreelancerArt By2135DProofread and Edited ByIcudeadnow
Prologue

It was yet another beautiful, summer day in Ponyville. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and the entire town was abuzz with its usual bounty of life; colts and fillies joyfully laughed and shrieked as they played in the streets, vendors and stall owners vocally advertised their produce and wares with vigor from their roadside stands, and many a wandering mare or stallion found themselves caught between these competing sides, though not minding in the slightest.

All in all, it was just another pleasant day in the small town. But, even on a pleasant day such as this, as fate and fortune seemed all too happy to have it, Mayor Mare still found herself stuck in her office, sitting at her desk, and hard at work with her duties as usual.

“You want to put in a statue of Princess Celestia doing that? Really?” She muttered, staring over the ‘blue request for expansion of a business premises’ form before her with a look of bewilderment, “At the risk of having an angry Twilight Sparkle on my case, I think not.”

With that, the form was promptly struck with a red ‘denied’ stamp, signed in black ink, and then shoved firmly into the ‘rejected’ box.

It wasn’t like she didn’t have a choice in the matter of being there, the hay, as her name basically announced to anypony and everypony who heard it, she was the mayor of Ponyville, and frankly could’ve knocked off and gone home at any time that she wished, or just not come to work at all.

But, in the same way as the title of mayor had its perks, so it logically had its pains, of which there were far more than she would’ve liked to admit; construction requests to approve, town council bills to sign off on, rates to check and readjust if needed, and various kinds of forms for this and that, the other to stamp, all formed a bare few of such pains.

Yes, she might’ve had the ability to choose to be there, but the paperwork basically demanded her to be there, no ‘ifs’, ‘buts’, or ‘maybes’ about it.

These pains though, she’d always like to think to put her mind at ease, were simply a necessary self-annoyance for the future betterment of everypony. After all, It was through them and constant good management that the town, her town as she somewhat liked to believe, had come to grow and prosper over the years, gaining more than its share of importance and respect throughout Equestria as it had done so.

Well, mostly due to her efforts… the presence of the Elements of Harmony probably formed some of that respect. She couldn’t help but smirk at that particular memory; if Ponyville hadn’t been on everypony’s map before, then it sure as hay was after that Summer Sun Celebration.

The Mayor’s office itself, if somepony new in town were to be looking for it, was a small room tucked away on the second floor of the town hall, connected to the main building by an equally small waiting room. Said joining room, nowadays, formed the office of one Ruthann Inkedquill, or just ‘Ruth’ as she insisted on being called, a chocolate brown and silver Earth pony who served Mare’s secretary mare.

Mayor Mare’s office itself, upon inspection, wasn’t exactly the place of elaborate splendor that a visitor might’ve expected from one of her station… but then again, this was the Mayor of Ponyville’s office, not the Mayor of Canterlot’s. Besides, most earth ponies preferred beauty through simplicity.

A simple but more than adequately large desk sat in the middle of the room, said desk being flanked by a number of bulging shelves, filing cabinets, and the occasional wall-mounted painting or award, and backed by a single window overlooking the bustling Ponyville market district.

And it was at this desk that Mayor Mare presently found herself. Allowing a soft yawn to escape her muzzle as she signed off on another building submission, and replaced yet another snapped quill, the middle-aged mare momentarily stopped her work to glance up at her office clock…

…and then sighed upon seeing that it only read a quarter past four.

“Hmmf, I swear that clock has it in for me.” She muttered to herself, sitting up in her chair and stretching out a few stiff kinks. A small moment of Heaven.

Once the last cracks and groans of her middle-aged body subsided, the earth pony turned to reface her still lingering adversary, the adversary that had turned her humble office into a jail cell, the adversary that would’ve driven each and everypony in her position to the brink of rage upon seeing it.

A heap of colored papers, scrolls, and alike that presently called her desk home, all asking her permission for one thing or another.

“Why do you only ever seem to get higher?” She grumbled, her question gaining no answer from the pile of parchment as she reached for it yet again, “Huh, oh well, I guess I’ll just rest when I’m retired.”

And that, as fate would have it, was when a rapid chorus of knocks resonated from her door; the sudden intrusion of sound caused the earth pony to jump, and almost send the stack of papers tumbling for the floor.

Years spent saving such piles of work allowed Mare to grab them in time, but only just.

Mare huffed in mild agitation as she set them aside.

Now who could want me at this hour?

"Ehem, Come in!" she called; running a quick hoof through her mane to make sure it was somewhat neat. Admittedly, having ponies come knocking without an appointment wasn’t an uncommon occurrence, but at four fifteen in the afternoon? Really?

After a few more short seconds spent waiting, mare received her second startling in the same amount of minutes.

The door ended up being practically thrown open with the rough force of a hurricane, and an all too familiar grey and blonde pegasus came happily flying in, proudly dressed in her signature mailmare uniform.

Mare couldn’t help but wince as said mailmare narrowly missed crashing into the doorframe, then her polished oak shelf, and a metal filing cabinet, before finally landing a little shakily in the middle of the room.

Still, she kept her composure, and smiled warmly at her visitor all the same; Equestria had enough bitter politicians as it was.

"Why hello there, Ditzy.”

"Hi Mayor Mare,” Ditzy replied with an equally wide smile as she approached the desk, “Whatcha doing cooped up in here on a day like today?”

What with being the unfortunate end of more than a few ‘Derpy!’ shouts during her day to day routine, a little kindness always went a long way with the mailmare.

Mare chuckled at the younger mare’s question, “My dear, this town doesn’t exactly run itself.” She replied, indicating to the now, once again, teetering tower of scrolls and alike, “But enough of that; now then, why don’t you tell me what’s brought you here? It must be important."

“Well, I was just making the last of my rounds when a cloaked pony flagged me down on Mane Street… and asked that I give you this."

The earth pony felt her eyebrow rise as Ditzy began digging around in her mailbag, said eyebrow managing to rise even further when, much to her surprise, the pegasus actually pulled out a rolled up scroll and placed it on the desk in front of her.

What with the mention of a ‘cloaked pony’, most of her had initially believed that this supposed scroll was simply, more than likely, a prank pulled by the likes of Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, or some other cheeky local mischief up to no good… but if this was some kind of prank, then it sure seemed legitimate enough.

It wasn’t a conventional scroll that lay before her hooves, by any means, or at least not by most pony standards anyway; the parchment itself looked to be far too rough, was colored an unusually dark yellow in color, and, if her eye was correct, was at least double the thickness of regular paper.

And just why did it feel so… cold?

“He said it was important that you got it today.” Ditzy went on as Mare examined it, her mismatched golden eyes betraying her own curiosity.

Gingerly holding it up between her hooves as Ditzy looked on, and not entirely sure what to expect, Mare huffed and unfurled the parchment.

Greetings and salutations to you, Mayor Mare, Mayor of Ponyville.

I would assume, no doubt, that time is of the essence in your line of work, so I will be quick in my request. My name is Xarzith Ixen, and I am looking to move to Ponyville in the near future.

I am interested in buying a block of vacant or cleared land on which to build a house, which I will be looking to fund and oversee myself. I request this not in offence to your town’s current dwellings, but I simply have needs, which they would not be able to fill.

As you probably would’ve already guessed from what you’ve read, I have been searching your town of late for possible options, and I believe that, in my hunt, I saw the perfect block just past your town's library, made vacant of the former resident by the dragon greed-growth rampage your town was subjected too not so long ago. Forgive me if the way that comes across offends you.

I will be spending the next two days getting my things in order, after which I hope to meet with you face to face to discuss my potential purchase. I would like you to think my proposition over and give me your answer once I come see you.

May your fire always burn brightly.

Xarzith Ixen

Mare re-read the letter a few times over once she’d finished the initial reading, her sharp eye for detail, trained and honed from hours spent reading the fine print at the bottom of thousands of legal documents, scrutinizing each and every written word.

It seemed sincere enough from a glance, and the request to purchase land was hardly something unusual… but something about it was still biting at her nerves.

Xarzith Ixen. It was perhaps the most unusual name she’d ever heard in her life, and that was saying something, given her many experiences with the likes of creatures that came through Ponyville every other week.

Then there was the knowledge of Spike’s rampage, an incident which she, the elements of harmony, and both of the princesses had made sure to keep low in terms of media coverage.

And then there was the whole ‘house needs’ thing.

Strange.

“Hmm… you wouldn’t have gotten a look at this… hooded pony, by chance?” Mayor Mare asked, looking up at the patiently waiting pegasus, “Did he say anything to you other then ask you to deliver this?”

Ditzy put a hoof to her chin, “Well… I didn’t see a lot of him, but I think he was a unicorn, he was maybe a bit taller than me, and his coat was really, really white… oh! And he was wearing these black coverings over his hooves!”

“Coverings?”

“Yeah! Kind of like those boots that Rarity wears in winter time,” Ditzy nodded, indicating her hooves for effect. “But his were a lot less fancy than Rarity’s. I remember because I kept thinking that he was silly for wearing them, since it’s not winter.”

And it also happens to be rather warm at that.

“Well… that’s… something at least,” Mare said simply, her mind mulling over the words. “Thank you for your help Ditzy, you may go now.”

With a final parting smile, the grey pegasus was quickly gone and out the door, once again narrowly missing the doorframe as she flew off. Mare couldn’t help but chuckle softly to herself as she slumped back in her chair.

Still, the situation as a whole left an undesirable taste in her mouth.

"Well now, this is all more than a bit odd." The Mayor sighed to herself, her mind trying to paint a face with Ditzy’s descriptions. All that it tossed up was somepony who looked to have done something unfortunate and was running from the law.

She shook the stray thoughts from her head; perhaps the long hours of work were finally catching up with her.

With yet another tired sigh, the earth pony headed for her bottom drawer, the long un-oiled rollers squealing in protest as she pulled it out; her hooves soon enough plucked a map of the town from its cluttered depths, and then spread the parchment across the top of her desk. As the scroll had promised prior, there was indeed a vacant piece of land located a short distance behind the library, although ‘vacant’ actually translated to ‘presently covered in a pile of rubble’ and ‘heavily uneven due to giant footprints’. If Mare’s memory served her right, it had been one of the first homes to fall to Spike’s greed during his… growth spurt, given its close proximity to both the library and Sugercube corner, the two places between which his rampage had ‘technically’ began.

"Ruth, would you be a dear and make sure I don't have any appointments two days from now? I'm expecting somepony to arrive to talk business, although he hasn’t designated an actual time. His name is Xarzith Ixen."

"Will do Mayor Mare,” was the reply from just outside the door, followed by the tell-tale scratching of a quill in the appointments book. “And that is… a rather odd name."

Mare just chuckled and shook her head. "Thank you dear, and on that matter our opinions are the same."

Well… this afternoon had just gotten somewhat interesting.

Chapter 1

Waiting.

It was one of the most hated pastimes known to ponykind, a pastime loathed no matter if the pony in question was a foal or a grown adult. Understandably then, to be told one had to wait for an entire two days, for a meeting that would more than likely last barely an hour, if that, would’ve normally resulted in at very least a spate of utter fury from said pony.

Luckily, for Mayor Mare anyway, the mere idea of having time to just sit, wait, and do nothing was almost non-existent.

Since receiving Xarzith’s letter, she’d managed to push herself through the review and signing off of another two hundred and eighty four request forms, a personal record.

Given the pure amount and complexity of the fine print alone, plus their own individual subtle derivatives and connotations, which a reader could only figure out if they were to read close enough… huh, well, one would be inclined to say that such an amount of work in such a space of time, likely would’ve either broken a lesser pony, or driven them flat out crazy. Seriously. One of them for example, a residential application for a new road-side flower garden, even had a clause whereas if a passing mare picked a flower from said garden, she owed the owner a kiss.

Fine print, Discord’s favorite language.

All of this work was done in order to achieve a single goal; to push all stray questions and thoughts of the mystery stallion from Mare’s mind.

Still, the work eventually dried up all the same, and it was at that point in time which Mayor Mare presently found herself; leaning back in her chair as the day passed by outside, her steadfast companion being a cup of coffee as she now patiently waited for her mysterious guest in the comfort of her office.

Two items of interest currently lay on her desk. The first was the official zoning map of Ponyville town site and the surrounding areas, with each block of land colored according to its classification as suburban, semi-rural, or rural. To most ponies such an item would’ve been considered a virtually useless thing to have on hoof… but when each land classification had its own building code, and a grouchy somepony was trying to sue your flank for allowing their neighbor to build a wall they felt was far too high, it was a lifesaver.

Sitting directly next to said zoning map was the deed belonging to the block of land recently brought into question, along with a stack of all the relevant paperwork needed for Xarzith to buy it. She wanted to say there wasn’t much there… but that would’ve been a blatant and outright lie; after all, she’d gathered all the damnable forms together herself.

“Xarzith Ixen,” She murmured between mouthfuls of caffeinated liquid, running the curious name off her tongue. “Ugh, I swear, if this turns out to be some kind of prank…”

She snorted and shook her head of the thoughts before they progressed any further; neither second guessing nor questioning the unknown ever got anypony anywhere.

Still, given its nature, that didn’t mean she was suddenly at ease with the whole situation, as it stood then and there. There was just so much left unanswered and unexplained, and the letter honestly raised more questions than it could ever answer. So much mystery surrounded the letter and the as of yet faceless sender; why now? Why Ponyville? Why that particular block of land? Why build his own house instead of purchasing an existing one?

And just who was this character?

………………………………………………………………………………………….

Out at the front desk, Ruth was alternating between her usual paperwork, taking bites out of a hay and salad sandwich, and making sure that nopony who came in could disturb the Mayor, the middle-aged Earth pony humming quietly to herself as she did so.

If somepony were to enter, and glance upon the quaint brown and silver mare at work, they might’ve said there was no way that this pony could even hurt a fly… nothing could be further from the truth.

There was a saying amongst the Ponyville populace that if there was one pony you didn’t want to be on wrong side of, bar perhaps the likes of Twilight Sparkle or Rainbow Dash, it was Ruthann Inkedquill. Having previously worked as an assistant to the mayors of Canterlot and Detrot, before apparently deciding it was time for a change of scenery after the mid-life crisis set in, it was readily assumed and accepted that Ruth had seen, heard, and dealt with it all before.

By those in Ponyville who had connections in Canterlot, It was even rumored that the upper-crust unicorns of the capital were outright terrified of her. Apparently, it was something about how she’d dragged a particularly self-important noble out of the Mayor’s office by his tail, and then used her back hooves to send him sailing out into the street, all the while threatening to break his horn off and use it against him in… questionable ways… should his high and mighty flank ever turn up again.

Needless to say, you did not lock horns with Ruthann Inkedquill. Ever.

Upon finishing the last of her sandwich, Ruth’s ears were greeted by a sudden and unexpected knock, prompting a slight groan from her muzzle.

Upon looking up to investigate the invasive sound, however, Ruth’s annoyance morphed into something stuck between curiosity and confusion.

“Hi there… um, I’m assuming that this is the Mayor’s office, right?”

Ruthann blinked a few times at the sight of pony standing in the office doorway… or the stallion standing in the office doorway to be exact, given his tone of voice.

Though with the cloak he was wearing, nothing was a certainty.

He stood perhaps a little taller than the average stallion, say an inch or two, if her estimates of the common stallion served her right; not quite the likes of Earth ponies such as Big Macintosh, but perhaps very close to the size of Prince Shining Armor (Mare’s Weekly loved having photos of him), with an apparent build to match if his bulging saddle bags were anything to go by. Either way, he was still a rather respectable size for a pony.

Where his cloak allowed it to be revealed, his coat appeared to be a very pearly white in color, kind of like drifts of snow almost, but slightly lacking the ‘luster’ of Rarity’s… then again, that unicorn put on enough product each morning to fill Ponyville Lake twice over.

Ruth shook her head. "Ehem, it is sir… but I’m afraid the mayor isn’t seeing anypony today, she’s preparing for the arrival of a business guest in the next few hours." she told the pony as he proceeded to cross the room, using a hoof to wipe a few stray crumbs from her muzzle. “Uh… sir…”

“Hehe, sorry… see, that’d actually be me.”

It was then, as he stopped in front of her desk, that the concealing hood finally came off.

Ruth's mouth dropped open, and almost reached the floor, as she looked at the unicorn stallion in front of her. Her initial once over had been correct in one assumption, as his pelt was indeed almost as white as snow… but that was not what her eyes were presently glued to.

His own eyes were a little lighter than crimson in color, in a way mistakenly giving the impression of a rather chronic lack of sleep, and set into a fairly young face; late teens or early twenties perhaps. Admittedly, red eyes weren’t unheard of, but such a color was considered one of the rarer ones at best, and Ruth couldn’t help but find them surprising as well as somewhat unnerving.

Something that was, apparently, supposed to be akin to a light blue mane emerged from between his ears and ran down the length of his neck, but it just seemed… a little off. Ruth couldn’t confidently put her hoof on it, but its style and the way it hung just seemed a little unusual or unnatural. Perhaps it was just her imagination.

His horn though was what really caught her attention, what with being the most peculiar of his features, without a doubt; not only was it curved back where a common unicorn’s was a perfect lance, but it was two-toned; white with a blue tip.

"Well, name’s Xarzith, and I’m guessing that Mayor Mare’s been expecting me?"

Ruth’s jaw worked itself up and down. “Bwah?”

“Umm… you know; the letter? Xarzith Ixen?” The young stallion just grinned sheepishly, indicating to himself with a hoof. “Appointment concerning me trying to buy some land here in little old Ponyville?”

“Ah, yes, my… ehem… apologies for that,” Ruth murmured as quickly as she could, making a hasty scrawl in her appointments book despite her initial, and still ongoing surprise at the visitor. “One moment, sir.”

.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................

*knock*knock*

Mayor Mare had been spending the passing minutes looking out her window when the knock at her door came, her mind, at that particular moment in time, lost in its own little pleasant fantasy world while her trusty cup of coffee sat nestled in her front hooves.

As such, and as one could’ve expected, she didn’t react well nor gracefully in the slightest to the sudden input of noise into her thought patterns… in short, about a quarter of the steaming coffee, which had previously been awaiting her thirst idly in the cup, ended up splashing outwards as she almost jumped out of her fur coat, said coffee soaking the fur around her front hooves.

But before she could say anything more on the matter though, or even grumble out any choice Words for that matter, Ruth’s head appeared in the doorway.

"Mayor, a mister Xarzith Ixen is here to see you."

“Ah, yes,” Mare replied through slightly clenched teeth, hurriedly shaking the hot liquid from her hooves. “Please show him in.”

I hope by Tartarus this doesn’t stain.

“Of course. If you would please step this way, sir,"

Mare’s eyebrow rose as the mystery stallion, whose letter had been doing her head in for almost two days now, finally entered the room, the oddity of a pony slowly walking towards her desk before taking the seat opposite of her, neither his red eyes nor youthful grin ever leaving her.

Mare couldn’t help but scrutinize the pony from behind her glasses. What with the rather formal nature of the corresponding letter, as well as its material, this Xarzith… didn’t exactly fit with the pony she’d initially expected; the style of writing and suggestion of wealth had suggested somepony, well, perhaps a bit older than the one before her. This one looked barely out of his younger years.

And what’s with the cloak and hoof coverings? she wondered, momentarily glancing between the respective items of black clothing.

Ugh, Rarity would have a fit.

Well, he was certainly a character either way, if that smirk of his was anything to go by.

"It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Mayor Mare."

“Yes… likewise, Mr. Ixen,” Mare cleared her throat, warily shaking his extended hoof. “Though I must say, with all due respect, you’re not exactly…”

“What you expected?” The white stallion finished as he took a seat. “Eh, I get that a lot.”

Mare’s ears flattened as he smirked and rolled his eyes; ugh, youth these days.

“I’m sure you do,” "Whatever the hay that means," Mare muttered, crossing her front hooves as she returned on formality. Being Mayor didn’t mean you couldn’t be laid back, but there was a proper time and place for such things. “Now then, Mr. Ixen, on to business. I’ve thought your proposition over for the last two days, and seeing as the land in question is not currently in use…”

“Bit of an eye sore, huh?”

Mare just huffed at his sense of humor. “More like a rather painful reminder if anything… ehem, and being situated in a residential area anyway, I see no reason not to sell it to you. The current price is eighty thousand bits non-negotiable. As I am required to do so by law, I must inform you that there will be various fees to go with everything you intend to do, all of which you are required to pay within the set deadline or you risk forfeiting your ownership of the block. Do you understand everything I have said thus far?"

“Perfectly,” The unicorn replied, apparently content to gaze around her office. “And trust me, money isn’t an issue."

“Just covering my flank from the law here, Mr. Ixen,” Mare assured; a pony his age not caring about fees draining away his hard earned bits? This stallion was proving to be quite an oddity.

“Anyway, that’s good to hear,” the Earth pony said flatly, pulling the pile of forms to the center of her desk.

If Mare wasn’t mistaken, and the stallion’s change in facial expression represented what she thought it did, then Xarzith regarded the pile of paperwork with just as much vigor as she did.

Sweet buck it all.

“Ehem, now, I have all the relevant paperwork here and ready for you to sign it. First and foremost is the land contract; this simply states that you’re buying the land from the Ponyville Council for the intention of personal residence, and not something like a future business premises… though I would think it’s a bit more then I think you wanted.”

Xarzith’s head tilted sideways in apparent confusion, his cyan mane following suit. "How so?"

"Well… It is a full acre of land… and you’re only one resident, so you alone will be responsible for all aspects of its maintenance, various utility rates included. Just a forewarning.”

“Hehe, thanks, but I’ll be fine.” Mare just rolled her eyes again.

Gingerly, she slid the green form out in front of him, along with a bundle of grey ones. “Alright, here is the respective deed and your utility agreements,” and then a copy of the zoning map. “And these are the relative zoning rights and restrictions for the block… just so you know what you can and can’t build.”

“And this one is registration of residence,” Mare explained, pushing forward the final yellow form, along with a quill and inkwell. “By filling this form out you apply to officially become a resident of the town of Ponyville, and thus accept the laws, rates, and community expectations that come with living here.”

“Huh?” Xarzith glanced up and regarded her oddly. “Um… quick question, what kind of community expectations are we talking about here?”

“Ah, of course, my apologies. There are a number of community events over the year that require everypony’s involvement in one form or another, a ‘whole town pitch-in’ if you would. These events include season changes like Winter Wrap-up, and celebrations or festivals like Nightmare Night. If you want more information on any of them, or what’s expected of you during these events, I would suggest seeing Twilight Sparkle; she’s the local librarian and chief organizing officer in that regard.”

“Hehe, thanks,” He smiled sheepishly, the quill once again beginning to scratch. “Just wanted to know what I was signing up for.”

Mare sat patiently for the next few minutes, either sipping her remaining coffee, or idly playing with her hooves, as Xarzith appeared to look over each of the forms carefully, and then fill in what information was needed. Her eyes, for the most part, spent the time darting between the scratching quill in his mouth, and his horn… which for some reason he wasn’t using.

Come to think of it, he hasn’t used it at all since this meeting began… meh.

"Um, I think I’ve filled everything out correctly.”

“Here, just let me take a quick look.” Mayor smiled, taking the form from him and hastily running her eyes over it line by line…

Or rather, up until her breath slightly caught in her throat. “Um… Mr. Ixen… might I quickly inquire as to your birthplace?”

“Oh, the Crystal Empire... why do you ask?”

She lowered the form. “Well, it’s just that from what I’ve read, and don’t take this the wrong way, but aren’t crystal ponies supposed to be, er, sparkly?”

The chance of this particular colt being a criminal on the run was minimal, but when you ran a small town in the middle of Equestria, you could never be too careful with outsiders moving in.

Much to Mare’s surprise, Xarzith just chuckled and shook his head at her question, cyan mane moving a little... unnaturally... as he did so. “Yeah, they‘re actually really, really sparkly. But you see, uh, the truth is that I grew up in the mountain’s surrounding where the city sits now, so I never got exposed to all that crystal magic that makes them sparkle… eesh, kinda’ glad too, my coat would probably blind ponies if it did.”

Mare nodded as she put the form aside. "Makes sense."

But… isn't that area a frozen wasteland? How the hay would anypony even survive in conditions like that?!

“That wouldn’t happen to be where your peculiar name comes from, would it?”

The stallion, along with his ears flopping back, suddenly went as rigid as a hitching post.

“Um, kind of; it’s drawn from my mother’s side.” He answered stiffly, seeming to suddenly find his hooves rather interesting.

Mare simply nodded in return and perused the matter no further; his behavior was giving the impression she was treading on an unsavory topic. “A-anyway. Now, this all looks to be fairly much in order… so, uh, your payment…”

“Sure. Here’s payment for everything, in full as promised,” The stallion went on after a tense moment, hefting his weighted saddle bags onto her desk, and spilling out the gleaming contents of the left one. “Um… I didn’t have a chance to get this exactly valued, but I think this should be roughly enough.”

All Mayor Mare could do in answer was sit and stare, her jaw working its way up and down a few times as her brain tried, and subsequently failed, to wrap her head around what she was seeing.

There, sitting on her desk like they were nothing but a consolidated mound of stray office paper clips, was a small pile of pale-bluish gemstones that scattered the light as it fell on them, each one measuring about the size of a bit in diameter.

Now, Mayor Mare wasn’t exactly a graduated geologist and mineral expert from the University of Canterlot, but with one of Ponyville’s primary sources of income being the gemstone deposits in the surrounding hills, the respective mining licenses of which she was responsible for… well, she had enough experience to tell a ruby from a fire opal any day, and thus could say with relative confidence just what the stones before her were.

“Bwah?!”

Eh… she could attempt to, anyway.

Ice diamonds. The same stone, the same rather valuable stone that was said to be the symbol of the Crystal Empire.

Jewelry and fashion magazines often called them the staple of the northern city-state, and it was common knowledge that they were sought after by the nobility like anything, given their limited supply….

It was kind of hard to get the crystal ponies to mine the very stone that had led to their enslavement, after all.

“Hehe, yeah, my mother’s got a knack for digging these things up back home,” Xarzith answered as he rubbed the back of his neck, apparently unsure. “Trust me though, those are the real deal…”

Mare just shook her head, trying to regain some sense of composure as she scooped the pile aside.

“I-I don’t doubt that, Mr. Ixen. I will of course need to get these properly valued and then exchanged before your purchase goes on the registry... but I’m quite confident that this will be more than enough. Besides, I’ll know where to find you should I be required to chase you down.”

“Phew, that’s a big relief. Thought I’d be in hot water for a minute there.” Xarzith smirked as he rose from his seat, pretending to wipe sweat from his brow. He extended a hoof and shook her own once more. “Well, it’s been a pleasure and all, Mayor Mare, but I know you’ve got better things to do besides talking to me all day. I’ll show myself out.”

Mayor Mare could only nod dumbly in return.

First the strangest horn she’d ever seen, then casually saying he’d been raised in an apparent frozen wasteland, and now just dumping a sack’s worth of rather rare and expensive gemstones like they were naught but spare change… after this, she was going to need a drink, a strong drink and plenty of it.

Just before he reached the doorway, however, his head abruptly turned back. “Oh, one more thing before I go, do I have to apply for a lumber license or something if I wanna cut down some trees from the Everfree?”

"Er, well… no… but I wouldn’t really suggest such a thing. The Everfree Forest is a rather dangerous place, and we do have a local construction firm if you need building materials… why?"

Xarzith chuckled, his cyan tail flicking from side to side. “The license? Heh, funny story, but not a very nice or appropriate one. As for the lumber… eh, let’s just call it a personal thing.”

And with that he was gone.

Mare just stood there for a few more seconds, her mind storing all that had happened for later recollection if need be as she watched the doorway, before virtually collapsing back into the embrace of her chair. With a final long sigh escaping her muzzle, she went for the bottle of hard cider in her bottom drawer.

What was it with Ponyville and attracting all manner of weirdness?

Chapter 2

“Well, that went about a thousand times better than I expected it to,” Xarzith sighed to himself, allowing his gaze to lazily drift about as he trotted down the street, though keeping most of his face concealed beneath his cloak’s hood.

As one might’ve- no, probably should’ve expected, the sight of a mysterious, black cloaked stallion parading down the street, and rather casually at that, was met with more than a few odd looks and murmured glances from the locals….

But then again, this was the town of Ponyville; hundred hoof tall dragons and annoyed bear cubs the size of small mountains were apparently, if the stories were anything to go by, considered the ordinary, every-other day visitor. Suffice to say, they generally all just muttered a few words, and then went back to their business.

“Kinda wish there were more towns like this one.” Xarzith huffed with a slight flick of his blue tail.

It was kind of like something out of a foal’s storybook really. Nopony seemed to have a bad word to say to their neighbor, nopony seemed to act aggressively towards others, or acted with their own interest solely in mind, they all just seemed to get along like everypony was best friends with everypony else. The marketplace bustled with ponies aged anywhere from fillies and colts to older stallions and mares, no one minding the other, but rather embracing the presence and atmosphere that each brought with them, joyful shrieks and amused chuckles echoing to prove so.

It was like… harmony.

If this was proving to be the average day in Ponyville, then living here was becoming a more and more attractive prospect.

Given Ponyville’s middle-of-no-where location, and his subsequent expectation of it being like a green midland version of Appleloosa, the stallion had to admit that this town was so far proving to be a rather pleasant surprise. It was far from the backwoods backwards town he’d initially expected it be, as were to town’s ponies, if he was being honest.

Still, that may be subject to change. He thought sourly, a snort and a tiny bit of mist escaping his nostrils. He quickly stopped and shook his head of the unpleasant thoughts. No need to go there… hmmf, what to do? What to do?

As if on cue, Xarzith’s stomach growled like an agitated manticore whose tail had just been stepped on, the sound earning him a few looks from a couple of passing ponies due to its volume.

“Hehe, alright, alright, no need to get noisy on me. I can take a hint,” He chuckled, patting his barrel before heading off again. “Find some lunch, I guess.”

The stallion’s subsequent quest for food, as well as his keen nose, led him on a winding hunt through the gravel streets of Ponyville, his cloaked appearance drawing the occasional murmur or whisper, but nothing more… he was pretty sure somepony even mentioned the name ‘Trixie’… just who in the hay was that?

Said hunt, eventually, brought him before perhaps the oddest looking building he’d ever seen, though the description of ‘oddest’ didn’t mean it was an unpleasant sight. If anything, the sight caused his tail to flick in excitement as he stared up at it, barely noticing the other ponies who walked passed him.

Brown walls resembling layers of chocolate, white trimmings giving the impression of icing and frosting, and even what were apparently supposed to be mock cherries and sweets for decoration. It literally looked like some kind of giant desert. From within came a thousand different telltale scents and smells of various freshly made baked goods, all of which wafted into his flaring nostrils as they drifted out into the street, and prompted a few drops of drool to fall unceremoniously from his maw.

“Sugarcube Corner huh?” He grinned at the apparent name, marching up and pushing the door open. “Tch, I wonder if they do gem cakes.”

It ended up being a stupid question, as the stallion quickly discovered upon entering the establishment, dropping his hood, and admiring what was on hoof. There was a wide- no huge variety of displays of sweets all over the place, including gem decorated desserts, literally in every direction he looked. Most of them he didn’t even recognize the type of.

What he did recognize, however, and subsequently rolled his red eyes at, were the odd looks he was getting from the other customers… of which there were virtually none, thankfully. Said other customers consisted of two ponies, one a purple unicorn with a streaked mane, and the other a pink, pink, and more pink Earth pony, as well as young, pale-purple dragon.

All of whom were presently sitting at a window table in the corner of the room, having apparently been sharing treats and talking amongst one another before he’d come in and caught their attention… or more than likely either his concealing cloak or his unusual horn. He just ignored them and went about examining what was available.

“Can I help you there, dear?”

He glanced up to the counter at the vocal intrusion. A blue pony with a two toned pink mane was presently looking his way, an empty cake dish and a cleaning cloth grasped in her hooves; a bit on the heavy side perhaps, or possessing ‘curves in all the right places’ as one might otherwise say, but a seemingly nice enough pony nonetheless.

“Just browsing for now…” He answered, aware that the previous three onlookers were still staring in his direction. “Um, you wouldn’t happen to take gems as payment, would you? Kinda all I got at the moment.”

The older mare just smiled and nodded. “As long as they’re authentic, my dear, then yes; we happen to have a customer who quite enjoys them on his sweets, isn’t that right, Spike?”

With a glance over his shoulder, as well as a raised eyebrow, Xarzith noted the dragon in question was blushing and nodding at his mention; so this was supposed to be the dragon that’d gone on a greed-fueled rampaged through Ponyville? With said rampage subsequently resulting in his block being vacant?

Really?

“Oh my! Where are my manners? I’m Mrs. Cake, dear, and welcome to Sugarcube Corner."

"Xarzith, and, hmmm, can I get two pieces of that savory roll?"

Mrs. Cake momentarily stopped. "That’s… quite an interesting name,” she said as she eventually went for the confectionary in question, a slight tone of curiosity coming through in her words; he could tell she was now staring at his horn. “That will be four bits, and would that be for here or to go?"

“Hehe, you’re not the first to say that,” Xarzith smirked somewhat awkwardly, going for his saddle bag. “And for her, plea-BWAH!”

Now, Xarzith often liked to think he didn’t scare that easily, a fact he based on his… not exactly normal upbringing, amongst other life experiences; but he couldn’t help but yelp as he suddenly found a pink face and a pair of sapphire blue eyes, and unnaturally wide ones at that, staring squarely back at him barely an inch from his face… from the inside his saddle bag?

“Hi!”

The stallion blinked. “Um… hi?” He replied tentatively, taking a nervous step back as an entire pony, somehow, jumped out… the same pony who’d previously been sitting beside the window…

What?

The pink mare apparently found his utter confusion amusing, as she just burst out into giggles while proceeding to bounce… literally, bounce… circles around him.

"You silly, hi isn’t a question, it’s a greeting!” She giggled. “Aaannnnyyy way, I don't know you! Which means you must be new! But if you’re new then you probably don't know anypony and that’s so sad so I'm here to say ‘hi, I’m Pinkie Pie!’ and be your friend! Sooooo, what’s your name?"

"I'm… Xarzith… Xarzith Ixen," The stallion managed, barely, to sputter out, silently feeling that he should’ve been looking for the nearest point of escape.

“Heehee, that’s a funny name! Silly authors and their OC’s…” She giggled, still cheerfully bouncing in circles. “Hmmm, Oh! Oh! I know! I should call you Xarzy. Now come on, you should come and meet two of my bestest friends!”

Xarzith only had a second, during which he could only blink, and momentarily look for something of an explanation from a now grinning Mrs. Cake, before he was forcefully dragged across the room by his tail, savory roll still grasped in his teeth… and then literally, and rather unceremoniously at that, shoved before the obviously confused purple mare and dragonling, the stallion quickly finding himself sprawled across the floor like a doormat.

Ok… just… what had just happened?

“Spike! Twi!” The pink mare bubbled, apparently oblivious. “I want you to meet Xarzith Ixen, but I think we should call him Xarzy! Xarzy, these are two of my best and closest friends, Spike and Twilight!”

“Pinkie! You could have least been gentle with him,” The mare, apparently named Twilight, snorted in her friends direction, the stallion feeling one of her hooves prop him up. “My sincerest apologies; Pinkie Pie tends to get a little excitable around new ponies.”

“Yeah, no kidding,” "Note to self, this ‘Pinkie Pie’ is a Faust damned crazy mare!" Xarzith muttered as he got to his hooves and glared at her, thanking Celestia his roll was still in once piece.

Apparently taking no notice of him, Xarzith looked away from Pinkie to find the dragon, apparently named Spike, staring up at him with an arched eyebrow, a small claw all the while rubbing at his chin like he was presently pondering one of the universe’s great many unknowns.

"Why exactly is your name Ice Fire?" he asked flatly.

Almost as soon as the words had left his mouth though, and before the stallion had a chance to answer the question in any way, a pink-purple aura grabbed onto his ear fin and pulled it, prompting the dragon to yelp.

"SPIKE! Where are your manners? His name is Xarzith." The purple mare snorted, drawing the drake alongside and scolding him like a pupil; Xarzith couldn’t help but blink at the sight of her horn… and wings! An alicorn?! "Once again, my apologies for what just happened. I'm Princess Twilight Sparkle, and this is my number one assistant, Spike."

Should I… be bowing or something?

"Well… umm, wow… nice too meet you, Princess Twilight,” He replied uneasily, surprised that any words at all managed to come out. “Name’s Xarzith, Xarzith Ixen.”

“Which just so happens to mean Ice Fire…” Spike muttered.

“SPIKE!”

Xarzith just chuckled at the squabbling pair. “Heh, I wouldn’t go flaming Spike here too much with my name, princess; he’s… technically right.”

The mare blinked in surprise, apparently not even hearing the snarky ‘told you so’ from the dragon beside her. "He is? How?"

Oh boy.

"Well… long story short, my name happens to be draconic in nature, and when a dragon hears me speak my name, or any other word in their tongue, they understand what the word really means… kind of like you would with a translation spell. In dragon-tongue, Xarzith means water-stone, or ice, and Ixen means fire."

"Oh, wowie zowie! That’s pretty neat!" Pinkie giggled, still happily bouncing in circles; Xarzith just shot her a glare.

Twilight, on the other hoof, just frowned. "I didn't even know dragons had a language of their own, or that Spike knew draconic for that matter… and just where and how the hay did you learn it?"

“It’s… something of a secret that dragonkind guard pretty jealously… heh, as crazy as it sounds though, my mother actually taught me. As for Spike knowing it... well, like I said, all dragons can understand their native tongue from the time they hatch... hmm, kiiinnnd of like how us ponies can understand what different neighs and whinnies mean by nature; here, I’ll give you a demonstration," He looked back at Spike, his heart rate now thankfully somewhat under control.

"Zyak moxt ir dout ominak ui Spike bensvelk ominak ihk vi darastrix. Si clax coi wux re pony jimosa?"

The dragon just smiled and laughed. "Yeah, I like to think Spike’s a good name, and yeah, I am; Twilight’s like my big sister in that regard."

Xarzith grinned and went on. "Zyak svabol ui dout fayivor gemstone? Si itov xarzith diamonds wer throdenilti astahii re zyak vorel."

"I like emeralds the most, I've never had a Ice Diamond before so I wouldn't know." Spike grinned, quickly turning to a stunned looking Twilight. “He asked what my favorite gemstone was, and said that he liked ice diamonds the most, because he thinks that they’re the most beautiful gemstone.”

Still smirking at the purple mare’s utterly bewildered expression, Xarzith dug out one of his remaining ice diamonds and then tossed it to Spike, the drake looking back and forth between the gem and its former owner. "Tenpiswo sone svern moxt ir coi ui vi regipre de ve ekess wux."

"Really, I can have this?" Spike asked, his reptilian tongue drawing across his lips at the gem in his claws. “You know… you’re actually a pretty alright guy… and by the way, Twi’s single, if you’re interested.”

“SPIKE!”

It probably wasn’t the right thing to do to a princess, but the two males, along with a still happily bouncing Pinkie Pie, still broke down in simultaneous laughter as the mare’s formerly purple cheeks suddenly turned bright crimson, Twilight herself shying away at the mild taunt of her lackluster love-life.

Eventually, and although he was still a little disturbed by the physical phenomenon known as Pinkie Pie, Xarzith found himself drawn into the small group, the stallion taking a seat beside Spike as he finally managed to enjoy his roll… in between bouts of casual chit-chat, of course.

And, as Spike had quietly warned, and as he himself had half expected with her curious nature, Xarzith eventually became the center of Twilight’s question time.

"So, why exactly is your name Ice Fire in dragon then?" Twilight asked, apparently content to try to find out anything and everything about the stallion. “No offense or anything, but It's a little odd to find a pony with a name in a different tongue, let alone a dragon’s.”

Xarzith, a little hesitantly, swallowed his previous bite, an uneasy feeling creeping into his gut. “Well, uh, two reasons; firstly, because a dragon, heh, kinda saved my dad’s life once; she let him take shelter from a blizzard in her cave, so he thought he’d honor her by giving me a dragon name… and partly because of my magic’s orientation.”

Twilight’s eyes rose. “Both your parents knew dragons?”

“They knew a dragon,” Xarzith answered uneasily, the stallion now not exactly liking where the conversation was going; thankfully, Pinkie Pie intervened before Twilight could continue.

"Sounds neat! Um... so, what is your magic like them?" Pinkie asked as she tilted her head, a cupcake, for some unexplainable reason, precariously balancing on the end of her muzzle.

“Yeah, I'm with Pinkie on that question,” Spike put in.

“A unicorn’s magic is always attuned to their special talent, so I’ll admit that I’m a little curious as well.” Twilight added, apparently not noticing Spike roll his eyes at the words ‘a little’. “Perhaps we could have a demonstration?"

"Oh! Oh! Can we? Can we? Can we? PLEEASEE with cherries and sprinkles and icing and…?"

"Pffft! Ok, ok!" “Seriously, this mare is something else entirely.” Xarzith muttered.

Letting out a slow breath, and willing it to do so, Xarzith's allowed his eye's to glow with his magic; a heartbeat later, three small bursts of magic, of what could best be visually described as resembling tongues of blue fire, flared into existence in the middle of the table, each dancing and flickering like they were the flames of invisible candles.

"Feel free to touch one if you want, they’re at most barely strong enough to chill a mug of cider."

Pinkie Pie, apparently content to throw all matter caution to the wind, put her hoof straight into the one closest to her. "Heehee! It's cold! Feels like I got my hoof in an ice box or a pile of snow."

After hearing that, Spike too put his hand into one of the flames. "Whoa! Hey Twi, you’ve got to try this, it's so.... so cool, like… literally."

Twilight, on the other hoof, seemed to hesitated for a moment as she carefully looked over her flame, as if she was studying it with uttermost interest and perhaps a little concern. After a long few moments though, she finally reached forward and stuck her hoof in, the mare blinking in surprise as she did so.

"Oh my! That is cold." She said, moving the appendage up and down. “Interesting… this isn’t by chance element based magic, is it?”

“Element based?” Spike asked, glancing between Xarzith and Twilight in his apparent confusion. “Like the Elements of Harmony?”

“No Spike, element based magic is magic linked to an element found in nature… like the passive magic of Earth Pony’s, for example, is linked to the earth, hence as to why they can work the land so easily, and how crystal pony magic is similarly bound to crystal or stone forming.”

“I wouldn’t say it is, Twilight.” Xarzith answered, unable to stop himself from smirking as Spike mouthed the work ‘egghead’. “Hehe… in all honesty though, I’m a little surprised you three aren’t… well… freaking out right now.”

Twilight regarded him oddly. “Why would we?” she asked, her hoof still lingering within the dancing tongue.

The stallion paused and chewed his lip, quietly unsure of whether or not to answer the question. “Heh, well… let’s just say that some ponies I’ve met before found it… a bit unsettling, to say the least… and, heh, well… this thing doesn’t help either.” He motioned to his curved horn with the last few words.

"Hey now, you turn that frown upside down, mister.” Pinkie Pie said firmly, surprisingly so in fact. “There will only be smiles while Auntie Pinkie is around."

"Besides, your magic’s kinda cool, no pun intended. I didn't even know there were different types of fire besides my flames and, well, you know… normal fire."

Twilight giggled and nodded. "And I happen to be the princess of magic, so to me magic is just magic, no matter what it looks like. Heehee, besides, I’m sure we run into more weird things in this town than any other part of Equestria… though I would like to study your magic if you’d let me, it’s not a type of magic I’ve encountered before."

“I’d be careful before agreeing to that,” Spike cautioned hurriedly, shuddering. “She did the same thing to me when I started breathing fire… eesh, not pleasant.”

Spike’s warning quickly earned him a mild glare, and a sisterly swat from the alicorn, to which he sniggered and stuck his tongue out in return.

Xarzith just grinned and rolled his eyes; siblings, gotta love them. “Hehe, sure I’ll let you, but maybe some other time than right now, Twilight,” He chuckled. “Anyway, sorry to cut things short, but I need to get going; ponies to see and things to do about having a house built."

“You’re building a house?” Twilight asked, the alicorn sounding genuinely surprised at the statement, “Where exactly?”

“I just bought the vacant block near your library,” Spike cringed a little at the statement. “And before you ask if there’s anything you can do, thanks but no thanks; I’d much rather not be a bother to anypony, and besides, I should be able to manage on my own anyway."

“Oh! Oh! I can plan a ‘welcome-to-Ponyville-party’ and a housewarming party at the same time!”

What was this about a party?

Twilight, apparently ignoring the hyperactive pink mare’s comments, shook her head. “Oh, well, it would be no bother at all… and some of our friends happen to know a thing or two about construction and interior design… well, sort of, at least," the mare smiled sheepishly as he chuckled; if her last attempt was anything to go by, Rainbow Dash's department was apparently more ‘flattening’ then ‘raising’ when it came to buildings. “We were going to meet up and have a picnic in about an hour or so; if you want, you could come along with us and talk a few things over, get some contacts and pointers.”

“Hehe, alright, alright, you win; but I only want advice from your friends, okay? No promise of physical input.”

“Good luck with convincing AJ and Rarity of that,” Twilight simply smiled, nodded, and turned to the other two. "Sounds good… well, are you two ready to head out?"

"Ready when you are, sister,” was Spike’s partly-laughed reply. “And thanks again for the gem, Ice."

"Yuperoonie!" Pinkie exclaimed as she bounced up and down… now with a picnic basket clasped in her mouth.

Ok… just where’d that come from?

The stallion just shook his head; all want to understand the logic defying entity known as Pinkie Pie was now officially dead, coffin sealed, and buried six feet under.

Chapter 3

With all in agreement to Twilight’s plan, and with passing payment for his savory roll, Xarzith soon found himself being led from Sugarcube Corner by the three. The stallion trailing a few hooves behind as he listened to the various pointers Twilight was giving him… which he had in no way asked for, one might add.

What followed were a few minutes spent in idle walk-and-talk before ‘Ponyville Park’, as Twilight had pointed out, came creeping into view. It was a park as ordinary as one might’ve expected it to be upon exploration, with grass, a small pond, a few trees scattered about the place, and a path and a stream leading through the center of it.

The park itself came into view about the same time that the rest of Twilight’s apparent group of friends did… all two of them? Their definition became clearer as they approached, while Xarzith’s unease simultaneously increased as well. The first of the two was a cyan pegasus sporting a rainbow mane, as in a literal rainbow. She was, like nearly all of the very few pegasi that Xarzith had ever met, sleek and streamlined in her proportions. Though her toned muscles betrayed the undeniable fact that she was an exceptional athlete, even among the winged ponies.

The second pony, on the other hoof, was a stetson wearing earth pony with an amber coat and blond mane. She was stocky and well-built to say the absolute least, but if there was one thing that truly stood out about her to him, it was just how big her back legs were… as in ‘these could kick down a mountain’ big. Needless to say, getting into a fight with either would generally come across as being a rather bad idea.

Unfortunately, given the way that the cyan mare was presently looking at him, such a thing seemed rather close to being unavoidable. She actually looked about ready put a hoof through the side of his face. Such a thing would’ve been impossible, but the threat itself was what mattered.

"Hey Twi… who's the new guy?" The pegasus mare asked, giving Xarzith a questioning look as she flew over, while he gave her one back. It was all but clear she didn’t exactly trust him, though for reasons that were as of yet unexplained. “He like some random news hound reporter or something? Cause if he is I can scare him off.”

Twilight just waved her hoof dismissively. "He’s a new friend, Rainbow, so please try and be nice. Xarzith, this is Rainbow Dash, element of loyalty, winner of the best younger flyer competition, and Wonderbolt hopeful. Rainbow Dash, this is Xarzith."

Rainbow just huffed and gave him a sideways look. “I’m watching you.” She mouthed.

"Simmer down ther’, Rainbow," the earth pony cut in with a chuckle as she came trotting over, apparently finding her friend’s actions somewhat amusing. Rainbow just snorted and headed for Pinkie Pie and her picnic basket in response. “Sorry ‘bout her,” the amber mare chuckled as she tilted her hat upwards, apple green eyes meeting the stallion’s red ones as a reassuring hoof was extended. “Truth is that Rainbow’s a nice gal, she’s just gotta get used to ya first is all; I’m Applejack, but friends call me AJ.”

Xarzith, after a short moment of looking the mare over, smiled and shook it. “Xarzith,” he grinned. “And thanks; for a second there, I was sure that your friend was going to start throwing hooves my way.”

“Hehe, wish ah could say that she wouldn’t, but being the element of honesty an’ all means ah’m a pretty bad liar.” The two shared a laugh before joining the rest of the small group, Pinkie Pie having already laid down a picnic blanket, and the plates holding her various assorted confectionaries.

Exactly how she’d managed it all so fast was an utter mystery, though it was one Xarzith personally wouldn’t mind remaining a mystery.

He made an effort to stay close to Applejack and Twilight. The chances of Rainbow being able to properly hurt him were slim to none, and that fact on its own would’ve caused problems and raised questions. Questions that were probably best left unanswered for the time being.

What followed was an otherwise friendly few hours of various explanations of how their little group of friends functioned, the flow interrupted only by either a bout of friendly banter, or the dishing out of yet another snack. It was during these few hours that Xarzith truly came to understand who he’d just saddled himself with; the Elements of Harmony, and Spike, savior of the Crystal Empire.

There had been mentions of them floating around the north since the empire’s return, but to hear the stories from Twilight’s mouth, to hear the tale of how she’d gone from friendship student to princess of magic…It was something of a shock, to say the least.

“So who exactly are Rarity and Fluttershy then?”

“They’re both friends of ours who live here in Ponyville,” Twilight answered swiftly, a cupcake levitating beside her. “You’ll meet them both eventually. Under normal circumstances they would’ve been here today, but every week they have a get together at the local spa to ‘refresh and rejuvenate’, and this picnic happened to clash unfortunately.”

“Eh, I guess you’re all never too far away from each other, so it doesn’t really matter… you know. I’m actually kind of surprised you’d tell me all this.” He stated once Twilight had finished her explanation, wiping his mouth with the back of a white hoof. “You do realize you’ve only just met me, right?”

“Hehe, well, if Pinkie Pie says you’re okay, then I’m pretty sure ya’ll are.” Applejack replied, with Spike, Twilight, and Pinkie nodding in apparent agreement.

“I still don’t completely trust him,” Rainbow muttered from nearby, now munching on a slice of chocolate cake while she continued to watch him. “No offense of anything here dude, but Twi’s princess status has its way of attracting hangers on.” At that particular statement, Xarzith noted that Twilight suddenly blanched and shuddered. Exactly what or who Dash was referring to, the stallion wasn’t sure he wanted to know.

“Stop being a grumpy mcgrump grump, Dashie,” Pinkie Pie chided in her usual, all-too-happy voice, effortlessly bouncing over her lazing cyan friend like there were springs in her legs.

“Xarzy’s a nice pony.”

"Yeah, it’s okay Rainbow, Ice here’s pretty alright.”

Xarzith just chuckled and rolled his eyes, "Heh, I think you deserve another gem for that Spike,” Xarzith said with a smile, rubbing Spike's head. His bag quickly opened and Spike was soon hoofed his reward, much to the drake’s chagrin. Looking up though, he found Applejack’s face now tilted a little and her eyebrows arched, her state of confusion clear for all of Equestria to see, while Rainbow Dash’s ears had swiftly perked up in equal interest.

“If ya’ll don’t mind me asking, why’d Spike call ya Ice just now?” Applejack asked, an edge of suspicion creeping into her voice.

Xarzith just shrugged and rolled his eyes; some things never did change. "Because Xarzith Ixen happens to be draconic for Ice Fire, and no, this isn’t some kind of joke, I speak the tongue fluently," the stallion replied simply, nodding to where Twilight and Pinkie Pie were sitting. “We had quite the discussion about it earlier… I’ll tell you both at a later date. Nothing personal, but saying the same thing over and over again gets tedious.”

“He isn’t lying either,” Spike offered, licking one of his claws clean of diamond dust. “Just about gave Twi a brain-attack earlier,” The mare in question snorted indignantly. As one could’ve expected, Applejack’s eyes widened ever so slightly in response, while Rainbow Dash actually sat up.

"Tch… well… heh, ah’ll be darned if that ain’t a first."

“Yeah. That’s… kinda cool, actually,” Dash put in, now looking a little more curious, and a little less wary. “How’d you end up with a dragon name? And where in the hay did you learn to speak dragon?”

“Uh, short answers; my parents gave it to me, and my parents taught me.”

Both mares shared a confused look for a moment, before facing him yet again. “Your parents gave you a dragon name and taught you to speak dragon?” Rainbow asked, both of her eyebrows rising as she spoke. “Are you trying to pull somepony’s leg here?”

“A dragon saved my dad’s life once,” Xarzith groaned. Why did everypony have to ask that question? “She let him take shelter in her cave when a blizzard came blowing through, and he decided that giving me a dragon name would be a way of honoring her.”

Rainbow Dash, once again, blinked in surprise, though this time it didn’t so much of ‘yeah right’ kind of blink. “Wow… now that’s pretty cool.” She murmured.

Applejack, however, didn’t seem to share her awing reaction. Her front hoof was now rubbing her chin while her apple green eyes scrutinized him, her unyielding gaze causing the stallion to fidget ever so slightly. Thankfully, before the amber mare could venture anywhere further down that path with her curiosity, Xarzith’s prior charity toward Spike seemed to render karma on his side, for once.

“You? Saying something’s cool that doesn’t involve either yourself or flying?” Spike asked in mock amazement, a scaly claw pointing at the pegasus pony. “Who are you and where’s Rainbow Dash?” Dash blushed, and appeared to mutter a few words under her breath, as her other three friends promptly burst out in a round of laughter at the dragon’s part-joke-part-tease. As proud as she seemed to be, Rainbow did appear to have a few soft spots.

“Well, I’d actually be really surprised at that if we, hehe, didn’t live in Ponyville.” The cyan mare snickered, sticking her tongue out in her friend’s direction. She then turned to the stallion. “You’re gonna want to keep your head screwed on around here; Ponyville is the biggest weirdness magnet in all of Equestria… hehe, no offense or anything, but I guess you’re kind of an example of that.”

Xarzith just grinned and tapped his curved horn. “I guess so.”

“If I’m stuck between being feared and being an oddity, I’ll be the oddball any day.”

“Ya know,” Applejack started, removing her hat and laying it on the grass beside her, revealing more of her long blonde locks. “I feel a might foalish for not askin’ earlier, but what does bring ya here to Ponyville anyway? Travel? Personal business?”

Xarzith shook his head. “I’m actually in the process of moving here,” he answered, a response which drew yet another surprised look from the orange cowpony. “Again, long story short, I’ve ‘bought’ a vacant block of land in Ponyville, kinda waiting for the paperwork to be processed, and in the next few days I’m hoping to start building a house for myself.”

“I did mention you knew a thing or two about construction, AJ” Twilight confessed, sheepishly looking away from her friends.

Applejack just chuckled and face-hoofed at the embarrassed alicorn, while everypony else shared a chuckle. It seemed that her prior suspicions had been suppressed, for now.

“Should’ a known you’d say somethin’ like that, Twi,” she muttered warmly, before turning her attention to the stallion in question. “Ah’ll be honest and say we Apples ain’t exactly trained builders, but we can give ya a hoof with putting building frames up and that sorta thing.”

“I made Twilight promise that you wouldn’t be lifting a hoof,” Xarzith smirked with a shake of his head. “I just want some advice, maybe a second opinion, that ‘sorta thing’, if ya’ll get me.”

Even Xarzith would admit that he did an utterly terrible Mild West accent, but it still drew an amused fluster from Applejack, as well as a few more chuckles from everypony else. Rainbow now seemed a little more at ease with him; the stallion quietly thanked Celestia’s alabaster flank for that.

As it was, Rainbow was also the first to recover from her giggles. “You know, for a stallion who’s just about the strangest pony to come through this town, you’re kinda alright,” she smirked. “So I guess we can let you stay for a little while,” then her eyes widened. “Actually, where the hay are you staying anyway? If you’re, like, building a house and all, where are you living between now and then?”

Xarzith just turned his head, and motioned in the direction of the Everfree. “Well, my initial plan was to make camp on the outskirts of the forest…”

Of all possible reactions the stallion could have provoked, he didn’t expect to be suddenly slapped across the face with a cyan hoof.

“Are you out of your feathering mind?!” Rainbow snorted as she hovered above him, her friends all sharing the same concerned look as she glared at him like an angry manticore. “Do you not have a brain between those ears? You go anywhere near the Everfree alone after dark, and there’s a high chance that nopony will hear from you ever again.”

“Eesh, take it down a few notches.” Xarzith huffed and rubbed his stinging cheek; it was officially true, Ponyville was the Equestria capital of crazy; even the mares were crazy! “I can take care of myself pretty well.” Rainbow Dash visibly fumed at the response, and looked about ready to gift him with another slap.

“And we ain’t sayin’ otherwise, partner,” Applejack explained gently, replacing her hat. “But the Everfree Forest ain’t a place you wanna be chancing at the best ah’ times, and especially not after dark… uh, tell ya what, we got a spare room or two back at the farm; ya can bunk there until ya place gets built. Ah’m not sayin it’s free, you’ll have to do a few things around the farm to earn yer stay, that’s the Apple family way, but it’ll be a roof over that head’a yers.”

"Thanks for the offer AJ, but I've been on the road enough that I'm used to sleeping on the ground. Besides, I enjoy the night sky. Kind of reminds me of home."

Applejack just gave him a look and shook her head. "I can respect that, but ah’m not gonna have no friend of mine get taken by that there forest. Ya can sleep under our trees if it tickles ya fancy that much, but by Tartarus ya’ll sure as hay ain’t sleeping out here.”

“You might just wanna say yes, Ice,” Spike cautioned from beside the stallion. “AJ’s the most stubborn pony in Ponyville. You’d have more luck trying to convince a brick wall to fall over. Twilight will second that notion.” To emphasize his point, the little dragon glanced over at the alicorn; Twilight huffed and nodded in silent reply.

The stallion ran a hoof through his blue mane. Truth be told, being caught between a rock and a hard place was nothing new to him, but Xarzith couldn’t help but feel… a bit more conflicted this time round. Applejack seemed to be a nice enough pony, and clearly seemed to have what she believed to be his best interests in mind. Which was a welcome change, but she was inadvertently venturing into territory that could very well end up causing problems. And then there was her sudden turnaround of attitude, which was still plaguing the back of his mind with questions. One moment she’d seemed unsure if not suspicious, and the next she was offering him a place to stay. Just what was going with this mare?

He mentally face-hoofed at the thought. “Now I’m just being paranoid.”

“Alright, I accept, but only because I don’t want to offend you.” He answered, taking not of the smirk and nod he received in reply. Why did this mare rub him all the wrong way?

…………………………………………………………………………………………

“Well ya’ll sure are talkative all of a sudden, now ain’t ya?”

“Just thinking to myself,” Xarzith huffed, red eyes tracing the darkening horizon through the trees. The sunset back in the mountains had always been more beautiful. Perhaps it was the height. “Just thinking about home and my family is all, kinda wondering how they’re doing.”

That statement was only partly true. There was no doubt in Xarzith’s mind that things hadn’t changed in the north, hay, virtually nothing had changed even after the Crystal Empire had returned… well, the blizzards had let up some, which was kind of nice.

Still, he knew not that much would’ve changed in regards to family life, which rarely did in that part of Equestria. Every day would’ve brought with it a challenge of some sort, more gems to be dug from the deep caves, a small hill’s worth snow to be cleared from the homes entrances, or maybe an ice wolf pack or two to be moved on.

Xarzith huffed. “Now I remember why I left.” The afternoon sun brought a pleasant warmth to the stallion’s back as the two ponies walked, a pleasant far cry to the cold that settled in the North’s dusk.

Having decided to accompany Applejack back to her farm, simply out of having nothing more too really do in town, Xarzith had since stored his cloak in his bag and then proceeded to follow her. Neither had really said much since leaving Twilight and Applejack’s other friends, the occasional comment perhaps, but nothing of any real substance. Still, he could sense the mare was uneasy about something.

Applejack like out a quiet chuckle. “Listenin’ to how ya’ll are sounding, I’m guessing that ya miss em’ all a lot.”

“When you’re a bit different, like I am,” he replied with a sideways grin, gesturing to his curved horn with a hoof. “You’re family love you no matter what, but others… well, that’s something I’d rather not think about.” Applejack nodded, but said nothing.

For a long moment, the two once again walked in a state of silence as the world passed around them, each seemingly lost in their own thoughts. Eventually though, the amber mare let out a long sigh and spoke again, though her question caught Xarzith completely by surprise.

“So how’d you actually come to get ya’self a dragon name, anyhow?” she asked with looking at him. There was no venom in her voice, but it didn’t across as gentle either. “Now before ya go an’ ask, no, ah can’t just tell when somepony’s lying, even being the element ah’ honesty… but I can tell when somepony’s trying to sidestep a question like ya did with Dash’s.”

“You noticed that, huh?”

Applejack nodded. “Kinda hard to miss, partner.”

Despite the slight jolt of unease, and a tightening of his chest, Xarzith kept his words polite and controlled when he answered. It was a question he’d been faced with before, only ever a few rare times perhaps, but a few times nonetheless. Most of those reactions had been of shock, or, if the asker saw themselves as part of the Equestrian ‘Upper Crust’, distaste. Celestia forbid what would happen if he told them the actual truth.

“What I told you wasn’t a lie. A dragon saved my dad, and my parents gave me my name… but what I didn’t say is my parents ended up making their home pretty close to that dragon. The mountains in the north where we live aren’t much better than the Everfree, so living near a dragon has its… well, perks. Uh, anyway, after my dad’s ‘incident’, they also became friends… of sorts… so that dragoness had a lot of influence on my dad.”

Applejack, much to his surprise, snickered. “If I was ya ma, I’d be wondering exactly which gal he was he likin’ more.” Her smirk died when she noticed the cold glare he was giving her. “Sorry,” she winced, looking away as they continued walking. “Look… ya don’t come across as havin’ any bad intentions, and ya seem like a nice enough pony… and I guess I just wanted to make sure that what I thought was right.”

The stallion snorted into the air. “I take that was part of the whole ‘come stay at my place’ logic?” he asked, tail giving an agitated flick. “Wanted to keep an eye on me huh?”

“Now don’t go bein’ like that,” Applejack retorted sternly. “Sure, ah’ had my qualms with ya’ll, but that don’t mean I don’t like ya as a friend. Yer’ a nice enough pony, and I really did want to keep ya safe from that forest… ah… ah just care a lot about my friends’ well bein’ is all.”

The stallion stiffened, and momentarily stopped walking, as the words struck an all too familiar cord. “You lost somepony close,” He said. Both ponies knew it wasn’t a question.

The Earth pony huffed and nodded, though not bothering to slow her own pace. “My Ma and Pa. Long time ago ah’ll admit, but still… kinda made me change the way I hold those close to me.” She seemed a little surprised when a white hoof found its way onto her shoulder, and even more so when her head turned back, and she found the stallion smiling at her. It was perhaps only a small and simple action, but it was reassuring nonetheless.

“I can understand that, and trust me, I have no intention of raising a hoof against your friends,” Xarzith chuckled, removing himself. “But look AJ, if I do the same, I’d prefer that you keep what I told you to yourself. It’s caused me a bit more grief than I’d like in the past.”

Applejack stood in silence for a moment, before, much to Xarzith’s relief, she smiled and nodded.

“Alright, ah’ think I can do that,” she grinned, gifting him with a friendly shove in the shoulder. “Now let’s get that flank o’ yer’s movin’, my dinner’s probably getting cold by now.” They both just chuckled and continued walking.

Chapter 5

Applejack huffed as she wiped the sweat from her brow, her green eyes looking out across the acres as she momentarily enjoyed the shade of the Acre’s porch.

It was a sight that brought with it so many memories. Memories of times spent with her family, with her friends, or just out having fun by herself, running between the rows of apple trees without a care, apple-scented air filling her nostrils as she cried out in delight.

There were painful ones mixed in as well, ones the farmpony seldom thought about, much less spoke of, but they were there too all the same. Those she refused to dwell on, and instead preferred to keep them stowed away in mind as deeply as possible.

She smiled as she admired the vast expanse of green, her gaze eventually drifting over the working pair of Twilight and Spike, the alicorn lifting buckets of apples into Mac’s cart with her magic, whilst the dragon skittered amongst the highest branches, sniffing out any hidden apples like the predator that he was.

There was no doubt in Applejack’s mind that if anypony in Canterlot somehow found out, then both the nobility and the press would have a field day with the new princess’s image, but even that knowledge hadn’t seemed to sway Twilight’s resolve in the slightest; she might’ve now been a princess, but she seemed content to stay a working friend of the Apple family despite her title.

Thus was the nature of the farm and her friends. Every day brought with it the ability to make new memories, good ones and the occasional bad ones, just like the apples that hung from the Acre’s trees.

Then, however, her eyes settled on Xarzith, and an uneasy line made itself present on her face as she watched the white stallion applebuck.

He’d come back from the forest roughly an hour prior, and had since put himself to work beside her brother, as was their boarding agreement. What concerned her, however, was that he’d returned from the Everfree dragging half a tree trunk, and had simply said that he was going to plank it as an explanation.

Yet another question sidestepped.

Such strength was in no way beyond a pony, Applejack knew for a fact that Macintosh could pull such a load, and probably a bit more, when he wanted to… but he was an Earth pony, and a darn big Earth pony at that.

So for a unicorn to be doing so...

She sighed. Xarzith was… something of an anomaly in her mind; not so much as something to be feared, but rather something curious.

He was so open and yet so mysterious at the same time, a pony who came across as being good and honest, but seemed to hold so much back, and those things, despite him being nice enough, weighed down a little on her conscience.

The weight beneath her hat brim seemed to suddenly become more noticeable.

She groaned and rubbed her temple. “Ah’m just getting ahead of ma’self again.” she muttered, leaving the comfort of the porch to return to work. Apples didn’t make a habit of bucking themselves.

Perhaps fortune was just looking to make her day as interesting as possible, or maybe it was just chance looking to amuse itself, but about halfway along her venture between the trees and her home, Applejack found herself forced to stop. Three rapidly approaching specks had made themselves visible in the sky towards Ponyville, prompting Applejack to pause and blink. “Just what’n tarnation?”

Soon enough, every pony and dragon else had stopped working to investigate the oncoming objects, which were quickly revealed to be three of the local pegasus ponies, their flight paths lining them straight up with Sweet Apple Acres. Each of them, for some reason, was pushing a lump of grey raincloud towards the farm.

The first of the three, made rather obvious by the rainbow trail that followed behind her, was Rainbow Dash, sporting her usual trademark grin as she noticed her friends standing below. The other two though proved to be a mystery right up until they were directly overhead.

Applejack would admit to not knowing everypony in Ponyville particularly well, but days spent at her family’s stall at the market meant that she’d at very least met nearly all of them, and learned their names. This pair of ponies was no exception to that fact; one was the spunky and rather forward mare Cloudchaser, while the other was her near identical younger sister, Flitter, by far the more gentle of the two.

Applejack huffed as she approached the three, sporting an arched eyebrow at their presence. “Not that ah’ ain’t glad to see ya’ll here, but what’s the deal RD? And what’s with all the clouds?”

The pegasus in question just shrugged. “Eh, Scoot’s said the Crusaders needed some rain for this afternoon,” Rainbow Dash replied as she landed, flapping her wings to scatter any dust she’d kicking up. Applejack gave her a flat look. “Hey, they said it wasn’t for anything dangerous.”

“Should’a seen that one coming,” Applejack groaned and face-hoofed. “And ya just went and believed ‘em? RD, we’re talkin’ about the Crusaders here,” she said, snorting. “Ugh, ah’ swear Rainbow…”

“Wait, so we pushed these all the way here for those fillies to use?” Cloudchaser asked as she landed, apparently having been previously left out of the loop. “Captain, are you sure that that’s a good idea? We still haven’t fully repaired the fire station after the girls tried to get firefighter cutie marks.”

Applejack nodded. “Ya’ll see ma’ point?”

“Well… what kind of dangerous things can they get up to with rainclouds?” Rainbow replied sharply, ignoring the other pegasus’s argument. “Huh?”

“Part ah’ me is hoping that’s a trick question.”

Xarzith just watched on whilst the two mares exchanged semi-heated words, the stallion’s ears flicking back and forth in a combination of curiosity and amusement as the conversation got more and more intense.

Applebloom had mentioned her and her two best friends’ group in passing the night before with great enthusiasm, while her older siblings seemed to find it… a little less enjoyable topic to talk about, much to his initial confusion. Until Applebloom had mentioned something about trying to get a powder monkey cutie mark… yeah, after that it kind of made sense as to why her siblings found it an unsettling topic; fillies and explosives were not a good combination. Ever.

“Just when I thought this town couldn’t get any crazier,” he sniggered inwardly, flicking his tail as he turned away from the conversation…

…Only to step back again as he came, literally, face to face with the other of the two new pegasus ponies.

She was the smallest of the three winged ponies, although smallest perhaps only by half an inch or so, with a light purple-grey coat, and a pale green mane which lay secured with a pink bow, much like Applebloom’s was.

At that moment, her rose coloured eyes were glued on him, with her brow furrowed and her head tilted in a questioning manner.

“You must be pretty light on your hooves,” the stallion commented, quickly recomposing himself of his initial shock. “I didn’t even hear you land there.”

A small, but still evident smile spread across the young mare’s muzzle. “Well, my name is Flitter,” she replied bashfully, a small giggle accompanying the words as her wings twitched. She seemed to relax a little as she continued to eye him. “Don’t take this the wrong way or anything, but who are you? You don’t really look like one of Applejack’s relatives, and I’ve never seen you around town before either.”

“Name’s Xarzith, and no, heh, I’m not one of Applejack’s family. I’ve just moved here from up North, the mountains of the Crystal Empire to be exact… you don’t seem surprised by that.”

Flitter giggled and bit her lip in reply. “Don’t worry. I was at Sugarcube Corner this morning and Pinkie Pie was acting strange… well, a bit more strange than usual. I guess you’re the reason why.”

Despite knowing that she was a good pony at heart, and practically harmless, Xarzith couldn’t help but shudder at the memory of his initial meeting of the bright pink pony-demon; anything that had the ability to defy the established laws of physics and the universe was not natural, nor normal.

“Ugh… because I know plenty about being normal, right?”

“Let me guess, she wants to throw me a party, but she’s annoyed at having to wait?” Xarzith said, huffing and rubbing his brow with a hoof. “Doesn’t she understand the concept of priority? She can throw me one once I get settled in.”

Flitter just shook her head, her bow bobbing from side to side as she did. “Pinkie’s special talent is throwing celebrations and making ponies smile, so for her to have to wait is… frustrating for her, I guess,” she offered. Her eyes then drifted upwards. “You know, your horn’s different than that of any other unicorn that I’ve ever seen. Is that a family trait or something?”

“Eh, pretty much,” he shrugged, tentatively poking it with a hoof. “It’s a part of me that I find annoying more than anything. A lot of ponies up North didn’t trust me because of it since… well, let’s just say old King Sombra’s was pretty much the same shape, and everypony in the Empire remembers him for all the wrong reasons.”

“I think it’s kind of neat.”

It took all of Xarzith’s willpower not to back pedal in surprise, even more so when the mare he’d been talking to suddenly looked at her hooves, a light tint of red in her cheeks at having apparently said something that she’d been thinking out loud.

Well… that was truly a first.

“Heh, well, um… thanks,” he managed to sputter out eventually, rubbing the back of his neck. “That’s honestly the first time anypony’s said something positive like that… most usually shout ‘Sombra’s back!’ and then make a run for it.”

It was a terrible attempt at humour, even Xarzith would openly admit that, but it still managed to draw a laugh from the green-maned mare.

“If I had the chance, I would love to have a horn of my own no matter what it looked like.” She said with a smile, finally looking up at him again. “Don’t get me wrong, I love being a pegasus pony,” she motioned to her wings. “But unicorns like you can do so much more than fly, the hay, you have spells that let you to fly… I don’t know, I guess I would just enjoy knowing what having magic would be like.”

A white hoof came to rest on her shoulder. “Trust me, magic isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be,” Xarzith explained, noting the mare’s slightly crestfallen expression. “My magic is based solely around manipulating ice, so I can’t cast all those fancy shmancy flying spells, or spells beyond my talent in general, but I get by all the same… my advice, make the absolute best of what you have, and don’t dwell on what you don’t.”

It took a moment, but a smile once again crossed Flitter’s face. “Are you sure you’re not just disguising your age with a spell? Because that sounded like something some old wise pony would say.”

“Now that was uncalled for,” Xarzith said with a mock face-hoof. Flitter just giggled and stuck her tongue out at him. “Hehe, anyway, what’s your role around Ponyville?”

“Half and half really,” Flitter offered, shrugging. “I’m on with the morning weather shift on weekdays, and then foalsit with my sister in the evenings… well, when I can anyway. Not really the most exciting of occupations I know, but the combined pay’s pretty decent… what about you?”

Xarzith motioned to the surrounding orchards. “This is where I’ll be for the time being,” he explained. “Like I said, I’ve only just moved here. I’ve got a vacant lot purchased in town, and Applejack’s housing me between the paperwork getting done and the building part getting started… until then you’ll generally be able to find me out here.”

They both shared a quiet laugh.

Flitter’s head then tilted again. “Why Ponyville anyway?” she asked. “It’s a nice town and all… but you know that we have our fair share of… uh, surprises, right?”

“Honestly, I doubt you could have anything worse than the North,” Xarzith chuckled, his words drawing a surprised and slightly uneasy look from Flitter, her wings quivering to show as such. “Frost dragons, ice wraiths, snow spirits, and the essence of King Sombra to name a few, all of those we have wandering around up North… well, not King Sombra so much anymore.”

Flitter’s lip twitched. “That actually sounds… kind of exciting.”

“Are you two done flirting yet?”

The sudden, and loud, interjection of Rainbow’s voice caused to two ponies to yelp and spin around, each taking an unintentional step away from the other.

Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Spike were all presently smirking behind their respective hooves and claws, all shying away as the two ponies glared at them. Twilight and Big Macintosh seemed indifferent to the situation, as if having been taking absolutely no notice of the pair the entire time they’d been talking, whilst Cloudchaser was giving her younger sibling a questioning look, one that seemed stuck somewhere between curiosity and confusion.

“Captain, you’re unbearable,” Flitter snorted, her cheeks still a little crimson. “We were just talking.”

“And getting pretty comfortable while you were at it,” Spike threw in, making kissing faces while Twilight glared at him.

Everypony else just grinned as Flitter’s blush deepened a few shades.

Xarzith groaned and shook his head. “Spike, if you ever want another ice diamond from me…” Spike quickly and wisely shut his maw. “Thank you.”

Unfortunately, the threat didn’t work so well on Rainbow or Applejack, who just continued to snigger and grin between themselves.

Eventually, after apparently deciding that her little sister had been subjected to enough torment, Cloudchaser decided to intervene, crossing the distance between them and giving her sibling a shove in the side with her muzzle. “Anyway, as fun as this has been, I think it’s time we kept moving Flitter; you and I still need to get the house tidy and restock the pantry before six. I have to foalsit Rumble for Thunderlane again tonight.”

Flitter, still blushing a little from her prior teasing, nodded and made her way to her sister’s side to take off.

Though not, however, before turning and offering Xarzith a small smile. “It was nice meeting you, Xarzith. If you’re interested and find yourself in Ponyville, I’d like to hang out some time, heehee, you sound like an interesting pony.”

Xarzith nodded, smiling as the two mare’s jumped into the air. “I’ll keep that in mind. Nice meeting you,” he called, watching as the two ponies flew off, and ignorant to the looks he was still receiving.

Well… that had certainly been interesting.

Chapter 6

Despite a mild lack of sleep, amongst other mildly annoying issues that he’d recently found himself facing, Xarzith could honestly say he was having to physically stop himself dancing around the street like an idiot.

The day had since started well enough for him. A shower, an early morning run along the Everfree’s boundary as Princess Celestia raised the sun, and breakfast upon his return, courtesy of a somewhat surprised pair of Big Macintosh and a coffee drinking Applejack; the red stallion had stood like a statue for a few seconds upon him coming through the door, as if trying to understand how somepony was up before him.

After telling them of his intentions, and Applejack agreeing to meet up in town a little later on, Xarzith had found himself making the trip to Ponyville, enjoying the sounds of an awakening Equestria and the slowly increasing sunlight as it had fallen across his back.

None of those, however, was what had put him in such a good mood.

This particular good mood had been caused by the reason he’d come to Ponyville so early; a meeting with the local building supervisor, just to iron out any small points before the building of his house finally got underway.

Before the white and blue stallion lay a rolled out sheet of parchment, a variety of drawings inked out across its surface along with their matching annotations, measurements, and alike. To any other pony, they would’ve been a little interesting perhaps, more so to those with a special talent in the construction industry, but to Xarzith they meant so much more.

They were the completed plans to a home. His home.

“So, as you can see kid, the foundations are gonna need vertical reinforcing rods here, here, and here,” the older stallion explained, pointing to various points on the plan. He was an oak brown earth pony named Timber Frame, with a set of crossed spirit levels and a hammer for a cutie mark no less. “You and I both know that Everfree wood’s tough as Minotaur steel, but those jocks up in Canterlot who do the regulations and what not don’t, and trust me, I’d much rather not have them trying to geld my team when some inspection officer comes down to give this place the ‘ok’.”

Xarzith just smiled and nodded. “Heh, you’re the builder here, Frame, you do whatever you have to.”

“I take it you’re not the most savvy when it comes to building huh?” Frame asked, offering a smirk of his own. Xarzith gave him a look, to which the older stallion replied with a chuckle. “Don’t you go worrying about anything, kid, I’m Ponyville bred; I wouldn’t skim something I was building in this town for all the bits in Equestria… speaking of which though, how do you plan on settling the bill for all this anyway? The timber I won’t charge you for since it’s yours, but the labour and all…”

“I’m getting a load of ice diamonds delivered from up north in the coming days,” Xarzith offered simply, eyes drifting back to the plan. “I can exchange them for you, or just let you have them to divide amongst your workers, whatever works best.”

A whistle escaped Frame’s lips as he lifted his helmet. “Well damn me to Tartarus, when Mayor told me ya’d paid her in them stones, I thought she’d been drinking a bit of the Apple’s good stuff… just how much are we talking here anyway?”

“You name the price; I’ll get you the diamonds.”

Timber Frame, now more than a little wide eyed and slack jawed, simply inclined his head in understanding, before scooping up the plans and heading back to where the trades-ponies were working, barking instructions all the while. Xarzith was sure he heard the words ‘ice diamonds’ somewhere in what was being shouted, as if it was being used to motivate his still sleepy workers.

Now alone for the time being, Xarzith couldn’t help but glance over at the surrounding piles of material, everything from the timber that he and the Apples had planked in the last two weeks, to the bags of foundation cement that had since arrived on site.

At that moment they were just piles of stuff here and there, sorted and stacked perhaps, but still placed in random locations around the sight all the same, and the white stallion help couldn’t but wonder how such differing bits and pieces would come together to form a finished piece… that, he guessed, was why there were ponies like Timber Frame.

“Well, you certainly seem to be an exception to the ‘morning pony’ rule,”

“Good morning to you too, Twilight,” Xarzith offered without turning, the alicorn in question coming up beside him a few seconds later. It might’ve been ironic, but she did smell strongly of lavender. “And might I add you’re up as well.”

Twilight might’ve been a princess, but he could tell that she was much more comfortable when spending time with her friends as an equal, not a ruler, and as such made sure to disregard as much formality as possible.

An amused snort escaped the purple mare. “Kind of hard when the block next to yours is a construction site,” she offered with a friendly shove in the side.

“Hehe, sorry, I’m not forcing you and Spike to wake up too early, am I?”

“Nope, I’m usually up this early, and Spike’s still asleep. Heehee, sometimes I wish I was dragon. I swear that Spike could sleep through a magnitude ten earthquake.”

Unbeknownst to her, Xarzith winced, but kept up a smile.

“How is Spike doing anyway?” he asked, turning to face her directly. “I haven’t seen you two around Sweet Apple Acres the last couple of days.”

Twilight blushed and played with her hooves. “I’ve been studying and reading up on a lot really, and Spike’s been trying to keep me from losing my head,” she let out a dry chuckle. “I really should give him some time off actually…”

“I could spend some time with him,” Twilight gave the stallion a look. “What? We get along don’t we? Besides, it can’t be healthy to keep a growing dragon locked up all day, especially in a wooden building.”

A few moments of silence carried on after that, during which the two friends, or at least what Xarzith hoped was a friendly relationship, just stood and watched as the various workers went about their tasks. Exactly where she intended to go with this conversation was a mystery to the stallion, but something told him that despite her general friendliness, she was still looking to find something.

Eventually, Twilight broke the silence.

“I overheard that you’re getting more ice diamonds.”

“Yeah. Working for Applejack’s family is great and all, but they pay me with board and food, and I’m in need of something to pay for all of…” he motioned to the construction site before them. “Well, this.”

“Is your mother going to bring them down from the Crystal Empire by chance? I’d love to ask her some questions about dragon tongue.”

“I’m surprised you remembered that,” he replied, huffing a little at the question. “Maybe yes, maybe no. She’s my source, but I’m not sure what her plan is, honestly. The biggest issue is that the cost of shipping a load of ice diamonds out of the empire would be enormous, but at the same time… uh, well, let’s just say she’s not so good around other ponies up north, let alone those who live somewhere like Ponyville.”

Twilight’s muzzle scrunched up for a moment, before she sighed and shook her head. “You know, Xarzith… there seems to be a lot about you and your family that you don’t want to tell anypony,” she stated, her wings twitching ever so slightly against his marble colored side. “Why is that exactly? I don’t want you to take it personally, we all have the right to keep things to ourselves… but you seem to want to keep a lot to yourself.”

“Should’ve seen that one coming.”

Xarzith rolled his eyes. “You’re too good sometimes, you know that?” he groaned, Twilight’s ears flattening back and her face falling a little at the statement. He shook his head at the action, annoyed at having scolded her for something so trivial. “Look, it’s not that I have a problem with you, your friends, or your town for that matter… but a lot of the places I’ve been haven’t reacted well to me, this thing especially,” he put a hoof to his horn. “Ugh, I guess I just find it easier to keep my defences up.”

“I can respect that, but I want you to know that Ponyville is a remarkably accepting place. Your family background doesn’t matter here. Rarity couldn’t stand her family before she moved to Ponyville, but being friends with ponies like Applejack and Rainbow Dash made her lighten up.”

Xarzith nodded, still unsure of what he thought of that particular mare after meeting her; she was nice and remarkably generous by both reputation and one-to-one experience… but she didn’t seem to like the outdoors or the outside world in general that much.

“I’ll… keep that in mind.”

A silence once again took its reign for the next minute or so, this one though carrying with it a combination of awkwardness, unease, and perhaps even a little hostility; he couldn’t really blame Twilight, she was just trying to be friendly and get him to open up; but thinking over it, opening up was not a prospect that Xarzith found particularly inviting. Given what had happened all the other time’s he’d open up… yeah, definitely not near the top of the to do list.

He decided to change the subject. “Anyway, I’ve been meaning to ask somepony about this, and I think you’d be the best source of information; do you have somepony like an apothecary here in Ponyville?”

Twilight gave him an almost startled look, before putting a hoof to her chin. “Well, we have Zecora,” she recomposed herself. After apparently noticing his own confused expression, she continued. “Zecora’s a zebra who lives just within the borders of the Everfree Forest. She can help you out with most issues involving potions, cures, or potion reagents… why?”

He shrugged his shoulders, looking away from her. “I may need to go see her one of these days,” he answered simply. “Anyway, I better be off. See you later, Twilight.”

Without another word, the stallion began walking off down the otherwise nigh empty street, leaving a confused and increasingly edgy alicorn in his wake.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………

“Spike!”

A moment passed before the young drake could reply, during which he found himself precariously close to falling from his ladder. After that moment had been and gone, and he’d managed to hold on and not end up falling, he quickly descended to the library floor.

He quickly came to regret that decision.

Twilight looked annoyed-no, annoyed probably wasn’t the right word; frustrated was perhaps a better description, as she came marching in through the library’s doorway, swiftly and loudly shutting it behind her.

Within a heartbeat her magic had plucked a piece of parchment and a quill from her desk, and then thrust them into his awaiting claws. All the while, Twilight had gone about positioning herself in the middle of the room, the alicorn now pacing in a small circle while she grumbled to herself.

Spike took a nervous step back. He’d seen her in similar moods before, which had generally been accompanied by events such as Applejack refusing everypony’s offers of help due to pride, Rainbow Dash’s ego getting the better of her, and Pinkie Pie’s Pinkie sense tearing at Twilight’s sanity.

In other words, he was expecting the worst.

“Spike, I want you to take note of everything I say, understand?”

Spike just gulped and nodded.

“Okay. Point one; subject’s horn is curved in a convex line but is otherwise symmetrical. Point two; subject appears to have an aversion to large amounts of heat or sunlight without the assistance of medication, apparently caused by environmental differences between Ponyville and place of birth. Point three; subject lacks a cutie mark, despite easily being of age…”

“Twilight,” Spike interjected, lowering the scroll he’d previously had been writing on. “These are all things about Ice… why do you want me to document these?”

Twilight, much to his surprise, actually stopped her pacing. She let out a long sigh, before facing him. “Because whether we like it or not Spike, there’s something not quite right about that pony.”

“But he’s been nice to everypony so far, what’s changed?”

There was a pause after those words had left Spike’s maw, during which Twilight did little more than breath, and look at the floor with her eyes closed, as if trying to accept a fact she found either frightening or repugnant.

“I know he’s been nice, and that’s what’s bothering me the most,” the mare said eventually, sounding almost sad at the words. “Spike, let me ask you something; how many ponies have ever been out right friendly to you when you first met them, other than Fluttershy?”

“Well… he did say that his parents knew a dragoness,” Spike countered, despite the slight stab of pain in his chest. There were very few ponies who’d had no apprehension upon meeting him, even he’d admit that.

“I know, but isn’t it a little strange that his parents knew a dragoness intimately enough for her to teach them to speak dragon, and he just so happens to have a horn exactly like King Sombra’s? The only unicorn in history I’ve ever heard of to have a curved horn. I can believe in coincidence, Spike, but not on that scale.”

Unsure of what to do, Spike asked the first question that came to mind. “Well… what do you think, Twilight?”

A hoof found its way to the alicorn’s forehead, and she let out a huff before answering. “I remember asking Applejack that very same question. Truth is, I really don’t know, Spike. I’m dealing with a pony with some of the most bizarre magic I’ve ever seen, a strange horn, no cutie mark, and happens to speak dragon.”

“You… you don’t believe he’s related to King Sombra… do you?”

Twilight gave her younger sibling a perplexed look.

“Well what if somepony in his family a long time ago was Sombra’s brother or something! And Sombra banished them so they couldn’t contest the throne! Ice did say his family lives in the mountains in the north of the empire.”

Twilight was about to deliver a rebuttal to how crazy such a conspiracy sounded, but stopped herself just before the words left her muzzle; as crazy as it did sound, given that Xarzith’s family had indeed been surviving there after the disappearance of the empire, that wasn’t a completely baseless claim.

“I highly doubt that Spike, but I’ll admit that I can’t rule it out either,” she said flatly, resuming her prior pacing of circles. “Really though, there are so many angles to look at this that’s it’s going to be impossible to figure out the correct one without any physical proof…” she stopped. “Hang on.”

Spike’s eyebrow arched as Twilight’s front hoof found its way to her chin, a strange look crossing her face… one that reminded him far, far too much of the one she’d worn when Twilight set out to disprove Pinkie Pie’s Pinkie sense.

“Xarzith mentioned earlier that he’d be needing some potion regents, and I suggested he go see Zecora… if she recognized the ingredients that he was after, and what they could be used for, then maybe we could figure out just what it is that he’s been calling ‘medication’ all this time.”

“But, why would you want to know what’s in Ice’s medicine?”

“Spike, I can accept a pony taking a few days to adjust to a new climate,” Twilight replied sharply, lowering her hoof. “But two weeks is beyond normal! Whatever it is that he’s been drinking is not regular medicine. Come Tartarus, I’m going to find out what is up with that pony.”

Spike could only swallow in no small amount of nervousness; if the past was anything to go by, this was going to get very complicated, very quickly.

Chapter 7

“Well look who decided to turn up early,”

Xarzith just sniggered and rolled his eyes as he walked, the stallion not even having to look back to know who it was that had since decided to follow him; the sound of wing beats and a new scent on the wind had answered that question half a minute prior.

Despite having gotten to know her over the previous two weeks, Flitter was still something of an anomaly to Xarzith, which was truly saying something, given that the usual ‘Ursa in the room’ was nearly always him. It wasn’t that he found the pegasus to be strange, she was nice and easy going when it came to getting along, and virtually paid no attention whatsoever to his horn, which was an added relief… but that was what had also confused him.

Part of him still believed that it was just due to Ponyville being notorious for attracting all sorts of strange things, and hence anything that was generally seen as ‘odd’ was instead considered ‘normal’ by just about everypony and anypony, Flitter included.

Either way, he couldn’t help but smile when he heard her voice. Anomaly or not, she was still a kind pony he thought of as a friend, and a good one at that.

“You know, I do technically work for Applejack, Flitter, so you can’t expect to see a lot of me around town every day of the week,” Xarzith replied, chuckling to himself as he trotted along. “Good to see you too, by the way.”

The mare giggled as she fluttered down beside him, before giving him a friendly poke in the side. “You seem to be in a surprisingly good mood for this time of day, what’s up?”

“Had a meeting with my project manager this morning, so my house is now officially under way in terms of building.”

Flitter’s face brightened. “So you’re actually going to put down some roots here in Ponyville huh?” she grinned, her prior poke being replaced with a friendly nuzzle along the neck. “You better be prepared for Pinkie Pie; once she hears about this, there’s no way in Tartarus that you’re sidestepping a party.”

The stallion rolled his eyes again and huffed. “Don’t remind me; every meeting I have with that pony makes me question more and more of the established laws of nature… she probably knows already.”

Flitter giggled, and Xarzith quickly found his own laughter joining hers.

The next few minutes were spent in idle chatter as the pair walked through the waking streets, greeting the few risen ponies they came across, and with Flitter mostly just filling the stallion in on what had transpired in the small town and her life in his absence; the name ‘Ditzy Doo’ and the word ‘destruction’ seemed surprisingly prevalent in her stories.

In turn, he told her about how life on Sweet Apple Acre’s was going, along with the house details he was mulling over and putting together in his head, from the interior cladding to ideas for the fixtures, hoping to gain some advice on who to turn to when the time came.

The two ponies made their way through town at a steady pace as they talked, stopping once when Flitter had decided she was craving a hay smoothie.

Xarzith grinned as he waved a good morning to Lyra and Bon-Bon while he waited for her, two ponies who Flitter herself had introduced him to the week prior, and they happily waved back.

It felt good to have friends, and have ‘simple’ problems to worry about for once.

“You’ll probably need to go see Rarity for some interior advice,” Flitter said, a hoof finding its way to her chin. She was now hovering at his side again, her wings keeping her a hoof or two above the ground. “And Davenport for furniture… but his stock his kind of limited…”

“Isn’t he the guy who owns that Quills & Sofas place?” He asked.

“Yep,” Flitter grinned, her tail giving a stray flick. “And that’s virtually all he sells as well, so you’ll probably need to source most of your stuff from Canterlot… which will probably cost you more than a few bits.”

“Eh, bits aren’t an issue. When you’re family have access to ice diamonds, you tend to do pretty well outside of the Crystal Empire.”

“What about in the Empire itself?” she asked after taking another drink, now sounding curious.

Xarzith sighed and shook his head. “Ice diamonds… carry a bit of a stigma in the Crystal Empire. They’re what Sombra wanted the crystal ponies to mine for when he enslaved them all, so they don’t really want anything to do with them. The small supply makes them worth a lot outside the north, but up there… well, you wouldn’t want to get caught trying to barter at the market with them.”

Apparently sensing his unease at the topic, Flitter changed the subject as they continued walking, looking perhaps a little annoyed at herself even.

“You know… I don’t think you’ve ever mentioned why Ponyville caught your attention. I mean, sure, it’s a nice place and all, but so are places like Manehatten, Trottingham, and Canterlot…”

“So you’re wondering why I picked you’re little town?” he asked, drawing a nod from the mare. Xarzith exhaled. “Hmmm… I guess… because I liked it. It’s quiet and out of the way of things, and you don’t have to ‘fit in’ like you’d have to in places like Canterlot or Manehatten.”

Flitter’s brow arched. “Really? You make Ponyville sound boring when you say it like that.”

The stallion gave her a flat look. “And that’s coming from the pony who lives in Ponyville.”

The pegasus rolled her eyes. “Fair enough,” she giggled again as he snickered and mock face-hoofed. “Hehe, you feel like finding something to eat? I’m famished.”

“Did you not buy that smoothie five minutes ago?”

Flitter playfully cross her front hooves and stuck her tongue out at him. “I had weather duty this morning,” she said, smiling and turning her attention to his side. “And you look like you could do with something besides apples.”

Xarzith couldn’t help but glance down at his barrel, a very slight sting finding its way to his cheeks; if there was one thing that could be said about living in the north, it was that ponies tended to eat as much as they could when they could…

…And if there was one thing that could be equally said about working on Sweet Apple Acres, it was that it slimmed ponies down. Fast.

“Alright, I guess I could go for something… oh! By the way, do you know where I can find a zebra named Zecora?”

Flitter’s ears flattened back and gave Xarzith a strange look, as if he had something unfortunate splattered across his face.

“She lives just past the edge of the Everfree forest, I can show you the path after we’re done if you want… but why would you want to go see her?”

Xarzith just waved a hoof dismissively. “Just need a few things, and Twilight suggested her,” he answered.

Flitter nodded, though she still looked a little uneasy.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

“Remind me why we’re doing this exactly, Twi,” Spike said grumpily, a quill and pad clasped in his claws. “Because if I’m right, the last time we did something like this we ended up having to outrun a hydra.”

“Because, Spike, no mystery is solved without intense fact finding and investigation.”

“Because spying on ponies is considered investigation right? I’m pretty sure it’s called harassment, and that’s illegal, even for a princess.”

The mare’s response was to simply turn and momentarily glare at him, before redirecting her attention to the road outside their bush-turned-hiding place, all the while murmuring things under her breath.

Spike just groaned to himself and buried his face in his claws; and Twilight was supposed to be one of the rulers of Equestria?

It was official, they were all doomed.

He’d tried, Celestia knew he had tried to reason with Twilight, but there had never really been any point.

It was a trait in her that hadn’t changed or waned since her filly years; if there was something the alicorn didn’t understand or was curious about, or if there was some knowledge to be found or gained in something, she wouldn’t relent until her hunger for answers was sated.

The attempt to understand Pinkie Pie’s ‘Pinkie Sense’ was one such example.

“Twilight, do you really think…”

“Quick! They’re moving down Bridal Street!”

One loud snap of purple magic later, a now very startled and confused young dragon found himself perched on the roof of Daisy’s house, growling and holding his head as the ringing in his ears subsided.

Twilight, all the while, lay on her stomach staring at the street, watching the pair of ponies like a manticore readying to pounce on something.

“Could you give me some warning before you do that next time, Twi,” Spike sighed, rubbing his stinging eyes.

His pleas, however, appeared to fall on deaf ears, as Twilight did nothing whatsoever to acknowledge him.

Spike huffed and folded his arms; life with Twilight was always interesting, if not chaotic.

In Twilight’s own mind there was only one thought in focus, and that was to find anything that could suggest an answer to Xarzith’s… well, Xarzith in general.

So far there was very little to suggest anything new about him, or anything that provided answers to her questions; he’d begun talking to Flitter about twenty minutes earlier, and had so far done very little that was abnormal as the two walked around town together.

She made a mental note to speak with Cloudchaser at the first opportunity, just to see if she’d noticed her sister acting strangely.

A hoof found its way to Twilight’s chin. Was this perhaps all a ploy? Was Xarzith just acting nice and normal as other motives swirled out of sight? It didn’t seem very likely… but seeing as she had virtually nothing to go on anyway, nothing could be ruled out.

“Just what are you…”

“Twilight, what are you doing?”

Knowing exactly who the voice belonged to, gingerly and with her cheeks now stinging in no small amount of embarrassment, Twilight looked back to find Rainbow Dash hovering beside her, the mare’s front hooves crossed while an expression that seemed stuck between curiosity and annoyance crossed her face.

Spike was still sitting a little higher on the roof, his head presently buried in his claws while he muttered to himself.

Twilight blushed and sheepishly rubbed the back of her neck. “Well, Rainbow, um…”

“We’re you spying on one of my weather ponies?” Rainbow asked, leaning forward and snorting. “Because that is not cool, Twi, not cool.”

“No, Rainbow, we’re investigating Xarzith,” Spike added in, sarcasm dripping from the words. “Which is totally different from spying and in no way illegal.”

Rainbow Dash’s face quickly took on a more confused look as she rapidly glanced between the two, and then shifted attention to the pair of ponies on the road below, her face giving the impression that she was now either curious, or seriously questioning her two friend’s sanities.

“So… you’re spying on Xarzith?” She asked, now sounding unsure. “Why?”

“Because Twilight is convinced that there’s something weird up with him,” Spike groaned, holding up the quill and pad he’d been carrying around to emphasize his point.

He fell silent when Twilight shot him a glare.

She then turned to Rainbow. “Dash, one way or another, I am certain that there is something up with that stallion. I don’t know what it is, and I don’t know how serious it is, but one way or another I’m going to find out.”

“What exactly do mean when you say ‘up with’ him?”

“Something… suspicious,” Twilight said eventually, the word leaving a bad taste on her tongue.

Much to Twilight’s surprise, rather than laughing her head off, Rainbow dropped down and landed on the roof beside her friends. “So… you think he’s, like, dangerous or something?”

“Oh come o-mph!”

Twilight gave Spike another glare as he undid the zipper over his maw, the dragon growling under his breath, but otherwise falling silent.

“I don’t know Dash. I would go so far as to say dangerous, but…” Twilight chewed her lip. “I can’t say no to that, as much as I want to.”

“And you have proof of this?”

The alicorn shook her head. “If you mean physical proof… not exactly; what we do know is that he’s been taking something which he claims to be ‘medication’ for climate adjustment… but I looked through all my books and found no reference to anything like that.”

Now it was Rainbow who looked uneasy, her wings giving a nervous quiver. “What are you getting at, Twi?”

“He’s hiding something, that much I know for a fact. If he was willing to lie about something as trivial as a potion, then there’s got to be more that he’s not telling us.”

Rainbow then went quiet for a moment, as if juggling a number of thoughts as she swapped her gaze between her close friend, and the stallion at the centre of the situation.

After a long moment, she sighed and held up a hoof.

“Say no more, I think I understand where you’re coming from; kinda why I didn’t trust him in the first place… something about him rubs my wings the wrong way,” she said, before she took on a more firm look. “But I’m not letting you do this alone; if somepony needs to give that stallion a hoofing, I’d be glad to.”

Twilight winced. “Don’t you think that’s a little… extreme, Rainbow?”

Much to the alicorn’s surprise, Rainbow Dash’s muzzle split into a smirk. “Hey, if somepony comes into Ponyville looking to cause trouble for my friends, they answer to me.”

All the while, Spike could only watch on as the two mares began to hatch their plan, the young dragon’s jaw loosening with each passing second and every word they said, especially when Rainbow suggested ‘getting the girls involved’.

All the while, he tried to ignore the fact he was presently sitting on somepony’s roof.

Could this day get any more crazy?

Chapter 8

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Chapter 9

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Chapter 10

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Chapter 11

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Chapter 4

Applejack could proudly say she was always the first one up on the farm. Rain, hail, or shine, she was up and about at the crack of dawn, before the farm’s rooster even on some days, the calling of her work always overriding her need for more sleep. Admittedly, there was the occasional day when she didn’t want to do so, days when the mare found herself torn between doing her chores in the early morning cold, or staying tucked up in the comfort of her warm blankets for an hour or so more. Still, responsibility always won over, even on those days.

“Can thank me fer that,” she chuckled lightly to herself, throwing back the thick covers and rolling from her mattress. “Celestia bless her soul.”

What followed was ingrained routine for Applejack. A quick shower to deal with any lingering morning drowsiness, a minute or two spent drying, then a brush of her blond mane and tail followed by neatly tying the locks up with their red ties, and finally the fetching of her Stetson from its place of residence on her nightstand before heading down for breakfast.

She grinned at her reflection as she passed her nightstand mirror. The farm pony would openly admit to not being a Rarity kind of gorgeous, but given her muscular definition and curves, she still liked to think that she could look damn good when she wanted to.

“Still, vanity ain’t gonna get the chores done round’ here.”

She kept her steps as light as possible while traversing the barn’s main hallway. Big Mac would’ve been out and about working in the orchard. By then, he was always the first out in the orchard, and Granny Smith would’ve slept through an earthquake, but AB was a different story altogether; that filly was a big enough nightmare when she wasn’t grumpy, when she was… eesh.

Luckily, she made it past her sister’s room without issue, prompting a small sigh of relief from the amber mare.

When she wandered past the guest room, however, Applejack felt her eyebrow rise at what she saw.

The door was partly open, and hence whoever was using the room was probably awake at that point; that was nothing particularly new to the Apple household, and on any other morning she would’ve ignored it as just an out of pattern occurrence… except this particular time the pony inside wasn’t an Apple.

Staying light on her hooves, Applejack approached the door, her sense of curiosity overriding the small amount of embarrassment and wrong she felt for prying on a guest. And on a stallion no less. Upon sticking her head around the corner, the Earth pony couldn’t help but blink at what greeted her eyes.

Xarzith was standing up and awake, and currently standing in silence by the room’s sole window, something which was considered a small marvel in Ponyville if one wasn’t an Apple, or didn’t need to be up at an early hour… though that was not what surprised her the most; the stallion was apparently content to ignore his present state of having a scruffy alabaster coat and bedhead blue mane, either of which would’ve caused a panic if Rarity had been present, and instead watch the sun rise as he drank down gulps of blue… something… from a small glass vial she’d yet to see since meeting him.

What was more, her eyes found themselves drawn to his flank… his glaringly bare flank.

“A stallion his age with no mark?” she pondered. “Well… ah’ guess that explains the need to wear that cloak all the time… best not to tell AB.”

Having apparently not yet noticed her presence, Applejack felt an uncomfortable knot form in her stomach as the stallion corked the strange glass, turned, and then stowed it back in his nearby saddleback, his entire body giving an almost unnatural quiver as he did so, as if the stuff tasted vile.

“I know it’s your house and all, but it’s still kinda rude to go watching somepony while their back’s turned,” he said flatly to the room, going about doing the strap on his saddlebag up.

Applejack winced and bit her lip. “Ah’m surprised ya’ll heard me.”

Xarzith shook his head. “Smelt you, actually, all the way from down the hall,” the stallion offered, his body quivering once more before turning to her. “Your soap is lemon and barely scented, so it’s a bit hard to miss it in a place that otherwise smells like apples… sorry if that sounds a little weird.”

“Ya must have a better nose than ma’ dog if you can tell that,” Applejack snickered and blushed, though inwardly feeling more than a bit uneasy. She turned her attention to his saddlebag to change the subject. “If ya don’t mind me askin’, what’n the hay were y’all drinking just now? Look like ya wouldn’t keep it down for moment there.”

The stallion just shrugged. “Medication.”

“Medication?” Applejack asked bluntly.

“Eh, I’ve lived most of my life in the Northern Mountains, so my body’s basically suited to living in sub-zero temperatures all year round,” he replied, shrugging. A slight grin spread across his maw as he poked his own side. “But down here the weather’s a lot different, a lot warmer, so I have to take that stuff to regulate my body temperature while it slowly adapts… otherwise I could get hit with climatic shock and end up in hospital.”

Applejack simply nodded as the words left the stallion’s muzzle; he didn’t appear to be lying, but there was something about his story that seemed a little too… perfect, scripted almost. It was kinda of like the numerous times she’d been asked ‘where’d you get your hat?’, and she’d replied with the same, well versed answer.

“The reason I nearly couldn’t keep it down was… well, heh, let’s just say it doesn’t taste like quality cider,” he chuckled as he levitated his cloak over, nudging her as he walked past and out the door. “I’ll be out by the Everfree if you want to find me.”

“What ‘bout breakfast?” she called over her shoulder.

“I already ate,” was his reply from somewhere down the hall, followed by tell-tale wooden creak of the barn door being opened.

Silence soon took its reign over the house once again, and Applejack, as its one and only subject, just stood in the now empty room in such a state, her mind trying to make some sort of sense of what had just happened as she stared at the floor; this stallion, Xarzith… he seemed to be a nice enough pony, and a rather polite one to boot… but these little things, first the dragon part of his upbringing, and now this ‘medication’ of his… well, they were starting to paint a cloudy layer over that ‘nice enough pony’ visage.

It wasn’t like he was up to no good, that much she knew for certain… but the fact that there was so much he apparently wanted to keep to himself up until it was discovered… the farm mare couldn’t help but find it unsettling.

Applejack’s green eyes settled on his saddle bag, which still lay hung on the guest rooms’ bed frame. “Ah’ ain’t no thief or peepin’ filly, ma,” she whispered, momentarily staring at the barn ceiling. “But some things ah’ can’t just let be.” Holding her breath, Applejack gingerly approached the bags like it was a sleeping manticore, shakily unclipped the latch on the nearest of the two, and flipped it open.

Surprisingly, there was very little to be found inside the small bag. The glass vial with its small amount of remaining blue… medication… a few rolled up scrolls, which appeared to simply be the combination of a map of Ponyville, a few blanks sheets, and a few varying forms relating to the purchase of Xarzith’s block, and a quill and ink bottle.

Well… that had been rather uneventful.

“I swear, ah’m going loopier than Pinkie Pie,” Applejack huffed in self annoyance, replacing the bag’s flap before rubbing her brow. “What in the hay is wro… huh?” she trailed off as something else caught her eye.

It wasn’t a surprise that she’d missed it upon her first look, seeing as she’d only noticed it by chance, but there, on the floor beside the spare bed’s leg, was a small, glinting… something, that was reflecting the light as it trickled in through the window.

Hastily, the blonde farm pony reached down and plucked it from the floor, resting the small object atop her hoof as she scrutinized it closely. It appeared to be one of the ice-like gem stones that Xarzith had shown them all the day before, and given to Spike at one point, an ‘ice diamond’ if her memory served her right. The word appeared to come to mind because it looked to have been broken-no, bitten in half.

That was certainly unusual.

“Ah’ll… have to ask ‘im about this later,” she huffed, admiring the stone for a few more seconds, before stowing it in her hat.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

“Good morning, Big Mac!”

“Hey, Mac!”

Twilight and Spike’s greetings were met first by perked ears, and then by a smile from the red stallion as he turned and inclined his head to the two, a silent acknowledgement of having noticed the adopted siblings presence. Quickly, the half-full bucket of apples, which had been clasped in the second oldest Apple’s jaws, was first carried between the nearby tree of his families’ staple crop and his wagon, and then poured into the wooden cart.

Twilight just waited and admired the surrounding view while he went about his work, knowing that patience would reward her the same as impatience would, if not less with the red stallion; It was well known that he never said much in public, and was usually withdrawn at the best of times… but, what wasn’t well known was that if caught on his own, and in a good mood, Big Macintosh was actually a decent stallion worth a few words.

And a quiet look whilst conversing, Twilight had to admit.

“Mornin’ to the both of ya,” he replied, emptying a second bucket into an already laden cart. “What brings ya’ll out to the Acres this time ah’ day? Still pretty early, ain’t it?”

“Well you’re up, aren’t you?”

“Eeyup,” Macintosh admitted, prompting snickers from Spike and Twilight. “But that’s only ‘cause I’m an Apple.”

“We came to see how Ice is settling in,” Spike answered, sliding down from Twilight’s back as she came to a stop, before stretching his legs out. “And help out a bit if we could. We finished re-shelving a day early.”

“I think you just want to earn some more ice diamonds.”

“Hey! I’m not that shallow! Ice is my friend,” Spike huffed, folding his claws, before the edge of smirk crossed his face. “Although, now you mention it…”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “He means Xarzith,” she offered, noting the second oldest Apple’s confused expression. “Apparently it’s draconic for Ice Fire. I don’t completely understand the need for translation.”

Big Macintosh just chuckled and nodded once. “I’ll take your word for it; don’t know much ‘bout dragons ma’self. Well, anyway, last time I saw that critter, he was heading out towards the western side of the farm; don’t rightly know what he was doin’, had a rope with ‘im and that was about it… did say somethin’ about cuttin’ down Everfree trees last night though. Ya’ll might wanna go find AJ, she’ll help ya track hi...”

“Hey! Twilight!”

Twilight grinned. “Speak of Discord,” Macintosh laughed, shaking his hay coloured mane.

Sure enough, upon turning and looking up in the direction of the family barn, the three caught sight of Applejack cantering towards them, mane and tail trailing behind in her haste.

With trained ease, Applejack hit the brakes as she neared, and the mare came to a skidding halt barely a meter from the three of them.

“Ya’ll see a snake or something, AJ?” Big Macintosh grinned, stepping back from the newly created dust cloud. “Haven’t seen ya run that fast since ya’ll were a filly.”

Applejack just stuck her tongue out at her older sibling.

“Morning to you too,” she jabbed, smirking. “Heh, howdy Twi, Spike, ain’t it a bit early for ya be awake there Twilight?”

The unicorn in question groaned at the parroted question, whilst her assistant just sniggered behind a purple claw; why did everypony have to make that assumption? She didn’t stay up and study every night.

“You’re as bad as your brother,” Twilight huffed, prompting a chuckle from the farm siblings. “Anyway, we were coming to see if you needed some helping out, and hopefully to check on Xarzith, just to see how he was going… and I was kind of hoping to organize a time to document dragon tongue.”

“He knows dragon tongue?”

“Surprisingly, yes… although he’s a little tight lipped when it comes to explanations.” Twilight explained, somewhat disappointed at her own words; Big Macintosh just gave her a confused look.

Applejack gave an additional shrug. “Well, he was heading out to the Everfree the last time ah’ saw him, so I’d suspect he’ll be back here a bit later, probably ‘round lunch; ya’ll are welcome to help out while ya wait… I’d be mindful if ya’ll ar’ gonna be looking for him on your own though.”

The unicorn turned and regarded her friend oddly, the edge of a frown playing at her lips. “AJ… just what do you mean by that?” Twilight asked, looking between the two of Apples. “You seemed to think he was alright yesterday, the hay, you seemed to get along well even.”

Applejack let out a long sigh, before pulling her hat off and staring at the dirt. “Honestly, ah’ don’t rightly know that well anymore, Twilight,” she said, sounding unsure as she tipped her stetson, and allowed something small and shiny to fall into her outstretched hoof. “Maybe ah’m just being paranoid… but ah’ get the feeling there’s more he ain’t tellin’ us. This mornin’ I found ‘im drinking down on something blue he called ‘medication’, and then I found this here beside his bed.”

Twilight regarded the gemstone. “Spike…”

“Hey! It wasn’t me!” the dragon hissed indignantly, crossing his forearms.

The unicorn just rolled her eyes, first her study habits and now accusations; why was everyone jumping to conclusions this morning. “I wasn’t going to accuse you of anything, Spike, I was going to ask if you knew anything about these ice diamonds of Xarzith’s? Say… magical or potion properties?”

“Huh? Eh, well, not really,” the drake huffed, shrugging his smaller shoulders. “They taste nice. That’s about all I know.”

Twilight, despite her best efforts to avoid doing so, proceeded to face-hoof. “Ugh! Ok, once Xarzith gets back we can ask him our questions… but I do have to ask Applejack, what exactly are you getting at? What do honestly think’s up here?”

All eyes settled on the orange mare.

“Not entirely sure, Twi,” she admitted, blowing a lock of blond mane from her eyes. “A pony who’s ‘from up north’, speaks dragon, has no cutie mark…”

“Ya were looking at his flank?”

“… And lugs around a saddlebag full ah’ jewels,” she went on, ignoring her sibling’s questioning tone. “You tell me.”

A purple hoof found its way to Twilight’s chin, her tail all the while flicking from side to side as she pondered; was Xarzith capable of holding some second agenda? Was there really something he wasn’t telling them? He came across as so genuine.

“I think we should hold back on judgement for now… but we’ll keep a close eye on him, just to be safe.”

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

“Ugh! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!”

If one were to be wandering, these were not the usual sounds one would’ve expected to hear whilst out on their morning walk, even if said walk was along the edge of Everfree forest.

Still, the words rang out through the trees like the roars of an angry ursa, their echoes usually accompanied, shortly after, by either a loud crack as yet another proud and tall tree met the forest floor, or a growl that could’ve been easily mistaken for a territorial dragon’s.

The animals and birds had since departed for the protection that the deeper trees provided, all fearing just what could’ve possibly brought such wrath to their forest.

Another round of ‘Stupid!’ left Xarzith’s muzzle as his eyes began to glow blue once again. A second later, the stallion’s spell concentrated all of the moisture found inside the aged willow tree he’d been looking at, froze it solid, and then forced it to burst outwards like an axe blade, the disc of solid ice leaving the tree with a splintering crack.

Then, without missing a beat, the stallion snorted and clenched his jaw, spun on his front hooves, and slammed his back legs into the now detached dark trunk like a pair of hammers, sending the once proud timber giant crashing earth to join its already fallen brothers.

The stallion took a moment to eye his wooden quarry, five fallen trunks so far, before slumping down on of his newly created stump, a white hoof removing the few drops of sweat that had since formed on his brow as he stared out at the surrounding darkness.

“Had to let my guard down, didn’t I?” he groaned to the forest around him, continuing to rub his forehead with a hoof. “Start to get a little emotionally attached, and all sense of reason just goes straight to Tartarus; nice one scales for brains.”

The surrounding forest offered no reply.

He sighed again as the silence stretched on, each breath he took sending a small puff of mist drifting from his nostrils.

Acceptance. It was something that he’d admit to being the driving force behind his wandering travels; he’d been looking for it in every town he’d visited since setting out, and had, at long last, finally seemed to have found in the small town of Ponyville.

Xarzith clenched his teeth, annoyed at his own stupidity; he’d made the same mistake again, allowing himself to get too comfortable too quickly, resulting in a lapse in his security; a lapse which had only been saved by a well scripted and rehearsed half-truth.

He’d been able to dodge one arrow, but when more inevitably started flying as the questions built up…

“One’ll eventually find its mark,” he grumbled, staring down at his blank-canvas marble flank, which was just visible beneath his cloak; some questions had no believable half-truth, and there would come a time, just like all the others, when they would surface.

He shook his head and got to his hooves. “I’ll deal with that when it comes around.”

A few moments later, another tree crashed to Earth.