The Beauties of Youth, the Adventures of Parenthood

by Sol Daybreak

Rating: mature
Tags: Twilight Sparkle, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Rainbow Dash, Other, Romance, Original Character, Comedy, Cutie Mark Crusaders, Adventure, Sex
Length: 70643

Aurora Sparkle has been born into a world of beauty, she loves her home, she loves her town, and most of all, she loves her parents Daybreak and Twilight. But even as a young filly, she is able to see there is a dark side to this world of beauty...

(This is part three in a series, if you haven't yet read the other two fics, turn around and do that first before continuing on to spare your brain the confusion. Character tags and Story types may change later once if I decide otherwise.)
Being parents is no easy task even for a prince and princess, as Twilight and Daybreak discover very quickly. Their little filly is a perfect combo of their best traits...but also their worst. Her magical tantrums rock the library and send many of Twilights friends shying away from ever foal sitting for them. So they have turned to the only three fillies they know they can always depend on for destruction, but also destruction control. The Cutie Mark Crusaders! Together these three fillies just might be able to handle the responsibility of helping the newest prince and princess with their parenting...or they might accidentally discover what happens when they help curious young foal open a door that should have remained closed...forever...
A warning for all, Button Mash will be a character in this fic, and there may or may not be clop scenes involving him I haven't decided yet, if this bothers you skip over the clearly marked chapter (aka the words Clop in the chapter name). You have all been warned. Have fun

Published 2014-05-03 06:00:04 UTC
Last updated 2014-10-31 00:11:20 UTC

Peeping Dragon (clop)

There was nothing more satisfying than being back in her own bed again...well except the feeling of her stallion snuggled up under her in that bed. Over the past several months leading up to Auroras birth, and the first month after, she had spent more time in a hospital bed than in her own. The feeling of her warm covers, fluffy pillow, and cool summer breeze at night time, was something she had seriously missed. But all that paled in comparison to the feeling that she was feeling now, the warm satisfaction and love of her stallion underneath her body, touching and rubbing her stiff form in all the right ways. She could feel him underneath her, gently circling his hooves against her sore and achy thighs, all the way up to her hips. She was amazed he could massage her so well from underneath her, while still managing to look up into her eyes like that.

He stared straight into her eyes, amethyst met emerald as they stared into each others souls, neither one willing to look away as Daybreaks hooves worked their magic on Twilights sore body. His hooves traveled the length of her form out to the tips of her now erect wings, and back down to her flanks. She gave the smallest of twitches when his hooves brushed across her hindquarters, one benefit of being healed by magic after giving birth, she was still super sensitive in all the right spots. Which meant her perfect figure was still just as ticklish and cute as it was before they had their little bundle of cuteness.

Daybreak noticed Twilights eyes looking into the distance, he could he tell she was slipping into her own thoughts during his massage, and decided to regain her attention. Gently lifting one of his hooves from her form, he whisked it back down upon her flank cheek, swiftly and sharply. Twilight yelped in shock and glared down at him

"You're so mean..."

He gave her the most innocent look he could muster, even attempting to fake some tears.

"I am?..."

But unfortunately she didn't buy it

"Yeah...what was that for?"

He subtly pressed his hooves against her flank cheeks, squeezing them together quickly and loosing a sharp moan from Twilight.

"What was what for...?"

She attempted another glare, but he squeezed her flanks again causing her to let out another moan, and flush a very cute pink

"Quit it..."

"I have no idea what you're talking about sweetie"

Although, even he couldn't hide how much he loved her moan of delight, as his member was beginning to grow and press against the inside of her thighs. She felt his shaft against the inside of her leg and blushed even more

"Can't you control yourself Daybreak" she said with the faintest of giggles

He smirked "Nope"

Squeezing her flank again, he began to squirm underneath her body, trying to get himself into a decent position. Twilight did anything but make it easier on him as she continued to writhe under his hooves assault on her sensitive rear. Daybreak eventually settled for just lifting her up in his magic, and setting her down straddling his now full sized erection. As she twitched about on his chest, under the continued assault of her flank, Daybreaks shaft managed to lay itself upright, against her chest. Finally taking notice of how absolutely hung her stallion was for her, Twilight took hold of his massive girth in her hooves and began to lightly stroke it up and down its length. It wasn't as good as her tongue or other parts, but it was certainly enough to grab his attention and cause Twilight to give him that look that always managed to make him even hornier. He called it her bedroom eyes; she would half lower her eyelids at him and practically call him to her with them, sometimes even adding in a slight or ever so subtle flutter for extra effect. As she gave him her famous look, he felt his own erection throb and grow in her hooves grasp. She smirked through her look

"Somepony's a horny stallion today...is this what you want Daybreak?"

She leaned her head down and licked the tip of his member with her tongue. She gave his member the swiftest of licks then looked back to him. She could see the pained expression in his eyes as he writhed beneath her. She could almost feel how much he longed to grasp hold of her head and force her to take in his whole length at once. But that was something she loved about Daybreak, he would let her play with him sometimes, and be the dominate one for awhile. It was exciting for her, and so he held back every urge that was building inside of him as his purple lover bent back down and took another lick of him. This time starting at the base of his shaft and dragging her tongue his whole length, before stopping and making delicate circles at his tip. Then pulling back again to see his expression.

She almost felt bad for him as she looked at the expression in his face, she always was the best at teasing him. He was in a place of pained ecstasy. It felt so good while she worked that tongue, but he needed her to keep going, he longed for it to continue and was in torment when she just left him like this. Twilight herself was beginning to feel her own arousal drip onto her lovers chest, as he would no doubt feel soon. So she took her time teasing the big guy as much as she could before he broke, and she knew he would brake. That was the moment she loved the most, when he couldn't take it anymore and would grab her (hopefully by the mane) and force his entire length in and down her mouth.

Unfortunately for her, his endpoint came at a different time than she was expecting. Right when she was half way through lifting her head away from him for a third time, and working her way up to his lips for a kiss, he broke. He grabbed her by the shoulders and attempted to pull her forward to force her mouth back onto his cock, but as she was already far from it and closer to his face, he only managed to make her fall forward and straddle his cock with her soaking marehood. She was practically sitting on his length with her lips, but not in the way he wanted. She was grinding against his length while it was crushed against his own chest, her soaking lips rubbing the whole length of his shaft and sending his nerves into overdrive!

After only a minute of her grinding against his dicks length, he couldn't take it anymore. He lurched himself forward and practically tackled Twilight onto her back, flaring her wings outwards and sending her mane into a tizzy...she looked positively hot! Her legs were spread wide from grinding against him, and her wetness would have been visible at a distance. The small look of brief shock on her face, mixed with the rush and excitement of it all only made him want her more. He climbed on top of her, pinning her front hooves to the top of the bed with his own. She kept her legs spread wide, not daring to close them when he was about to give her the rutting of her life, with that look in his eyes, she was almost scared for her pelvis. She squeaked out at him in a mock chuckle

"What? Can't take a joke sweetie"

He lowered his eyes a her, and then allowed his lips to drift down next to her ear and whisper

"I'm going to make you scream my name Twilight"

His voice sent shivers down her spine.

"B-but Daybreak...Aurora is right downstairs with Spike...they'll hear us.."

"It's late Twily...I'm sure they're both asleep on each other by now"

"B-but Daybreak-Aghhhh!"

Without a warning he slammed his length inside her body with merciless force! She was so overtaken with the sensation all she could manage was a gurgle! Her tongue rolled out of her mouth as his hooves grasped her flanks tightly and he drove himself back into her again and again. He could hear the wet sloppy sounds of her arousal as his hips smacked against hers repeatedly, the best part being that he hadn't even given her his full length yet, and was waiting to hear her reaction as he shoved his final inches into her swollen lips. As he pulled back, he could almost hear her whine as she was filled with emptiness momentarily, then the gasp and gurgle of pure lustful pleasure as he slammed himself back in. However, this time once he slammed himself back in, he waited for a moment, then without backing up, slammed himself forward harder than before crushing his final inches inside of her marehood. Twilight let out her first scream of pleasure then, as her body was filled to max capacity by his enormous length!

Her eyes widened beyond normal means and Daybreak dragged his tongue along her neck as she tried to gasp for breathe. He denied her anytime for recovery though, for he quickly pulled back and slammed away again, this time using his full length and once again eliciting another involuntary scream from his lover! Still not hearing his name like he said he wanted, Daybreak ceased his thrusts and pulled himself completely out of Twilight, a soft pop eliciting from her lips as he exited quickly. Twilight moaned in sadness

"Oh no Daybreak please, give me more...I'm so close, I'm so close..."

"You didn't scream my name yet"

Even with her eyes closed, Twilight could hear the smirk behind his voice. She felt like begging some more, but managed to restrain herself. Daybreak noticed her biting her lips and decided that it was time to really give it to her. He lifted her up and crawled under from behind, then slid her down so her back rested against his chest and his dick was pressed in between them. He slowly lifted her by her flank, slightly off the bed

"Well...since you don't wanna scream my name like I asked...I guess I'll have to force you to...won't I?"

She felt him spread her flank cheeks apart and began to panic in spite of herself

"No wait Daybreak, don't...not there...I'm still sensitive remember...please anywhere but there..."

"I don't think so.."

She heard him chuckle and felt his tip press against her anus, she tried to resist but she was already so wet that his cock was practically covered in her own self made lubricant. He slid inside her with a quick thrust, taking all of her breath with him. She thought he had made it all the way in, but then felt him buck into her roughly, again, and again. She gasped loudly and whimpered out a plea for mercy, then she heard something that made her break inside

"Halfway in Twilight"

Her eyes went beyond normal limitations of wideness at that moment

"Only...Only halfway...Dear Luna has he gotten bigger than before...oh I'm not gonna last long like this...I'm gonna...I'm gonna...!"

Daybreak suddenly felt Twilight slam her hips down taking the full length of his member in all at once and she squealed at the top of her lungs

"Ahhhh I'm Cumming Daybreak!"

Her whole body tightened around his shaft and he felt the juices of her orgasm drip down from her lips to his legs. He found the thought too much to take and began to thrust in and out at a wild pace, completely losing himself to his urges then. Twilight was beyond words as her tongue hung from the side of her mouth while he dominated her ass. Daybreak gave several hard bucks into her rear before she felt him too, reach his end. He groaned loudly as he began to climax in her ass, and she felt her second orgasm reach her as his liquid touched her insides. She once again squealed loudly

"OH DAYBREAK YEEEEEES!"

Their orgasms reaching their peaks, the duo barely noticed the bedroom door open and close in an instant. In fact they were so caught up in their continuing climax that they didn't notice their guest until he made a small moan from the doorway. Twilight and Daybreaks eyes shot back open from their relaxed state and stared at the closed doorway, where Spike now stood, also wide eyed!

The small dragon bore a huge blush on his face as he eyed the pair. His eyes couldn't help but drift to one certain spot on Twilight, that was displayed for the world to see in all it's gleaming wetness on account of their current position and Daybreaks hooves holding her legs wide. Twilight immediately tried to shut her legs but found they were still held in place by Daybreaks hooves, and so she was forced to endure Spikes stare as she felt all her decency fly out the window. Her face was beyond red and might have rivaled a ripe tomato. Twilight barely whimpered out her next sentence

"Spike...please...look away"

However the young drake found his eyes glued to Twilights glistening lips, and was unable to turn away, or hide the two large problems now forming between his own legs. Daybreak could hardly blame Spike for being so awestruck, he certainly had been the first time. Daybreak found it increasingly hard to focus on anything other than himself though, with Twilights body now tensed around him even more with Spike looking, she was squeezing him so tight he felt another orgasm coming. Twilight attempted to get Spikes attention again, Daybreak could hear the struggle she put into her words, like she was trying got hold back tears

"Spike...please...look...awaaaahhhhhhhh!"

"Ahhh!"

Daybreak felt another orgasm flood into Twilight's rear as she tensed again, he wanted to moan an apology to her, but she seemed out of it now and was slumped against his chest as his seed ran down from her rear. As Daybreak finally finished pumping his seed into Twilights flank, he found his ability to move again and managed to disconnect himself from Twilight. A quick spell removed most of the fluid and smell from his coat and hers, along with cleaning his shaft as well. But there wasn't much he could do for the seed leaking from her rear, they normally showered after any anal play...but she seemed in no condition to move right then. She had just curled up on the bed and covered her whole body with her wings and tail, a heavy blush too easily discernable, even from behind. The fluid still continuing to leak out of her onto the sheets, which he knew he'd be cleaning later.

Spike was still frozen in the doorway, his erection now painfully obvious even to Daybreak, who was none to thrilled to have to tell him about it. Although he would never be saying it out loud, Daybreak had to give the little dragon props...he was definitely a dragon where it counted. If his and Rarity's relationship ever got past more than the few dates they had together...Daybreak knew Rarity was in for a surprise. Regardless, Daybreak shook Spike out of his stupor and brought him back to his senses. The little dragon was extremely embarrassed and tried to apologize to Twilight instantly, but Daybreak refused to let him near her and escorted him out quickly. Then told him to wait downstairs and go back to watching Aurora sleep for a minute. Daybreak approached Twilight's side and leaned his muzzle over her neck, then planted a light kiss

"I'll be right back sweetie...it'll be ok...he'll come apologize soon"

She shifted slightly to her side and tried to bury her face in the sheets of the bed. Daybreak felt much the same way, but somehow, being walked in on by Spike didn't bother him the same way it did her. He would have been more terrified if had been little Aurora, even though she's too young to ever remember it when she's older. Daybreak shook away the fearful thought of their little filly aging, and turned his attention to the current problem. It was in the form of a young drake, probably terrified downstairs, waiting to hear a punishment that probably wouldn't come. Daybreak sighed to himself, then made his way downstairs, he took extra care to quietly shut the door to their room and slowly descend the stairs so as not to wake Aurora. Once he made it to the lower railing that overlooked the bookshelves, he spotted Spike sitting on the couch, with his legs crossed and his claws in his lap. Next to him, quietly gnawing on a cushion in her dreams, was little Aurora sound asleep and snuggled under a number of blankets that had been given by their friends as presents for the filly.

Daybreak quietly made his way over to Spike, the drakes breathe froze in his lungs as he spotted him calmly approaching. Daybreak was relieved to see any arousal Spike had previously harbored between his legs had retreated for the foreseeable future.

"Oh thank Luna...that makes this sooo much less awkward than it already is gonna be.."

Spike practically dove to Daybreaks hooves when he was finally in front of him, and attempted to apologize repeatedly. Daybreak jumped back in surprise, Spike had given no indication of such intent, and Daybreak was forced to retrieve the dragon from the floor with his magic. He lifted Spike to eye level and stared at his eyes, they were darting all over Daybreak and his whole body was shaking with fear.

"Relax Spike...I'm not gonna punish you"

He immediately felt Spikes body unclench after her spoke, Daybreak took in a large breathe to prepare for the lecture he was about to give Spike. He hated giving lectures, that was Twilights job, but he had spent enough time around her to pick up on how to do it right.

"Spike" He stared sternly at the young dragons eyes as he spoke. Making sure that Spike was also staring back at him, he leveled their eyes and continued his stare. Spike gulped

"W-what?"

"Do you know how upset and embarrassed Twilight is right now, because of that little stunt?"

Spike lowered his eyes in shame, but Daybreak gave him small shake with his magic

"Look at me" His voice came out slightly harsher then he meant, but he got his point across, Spike looked back to him and his gaze never moved again.

Spike's voice came out softer than a whisper "Yes...I know..."

"Do you?"

Spikes eyes quivered and Daybreak saw a hint of water forming in the corners. He didn't wanna make Spike cry, that wasn't the point, but he needed him to understand that he couldn't do that again.

"I don't think you do Spike...You do know it's not cause you walked in on us that she's upset and embarrassed right?"

"What? It's not?"

Daybreak rolled his eyes then replanted them back to staring at Spikes

"Of course not, that used to happen all the time with Rainbow Dash, and already happened with you once before...remember?"

He gave a brief pause allowing Spike to recall when he had walked in on them before. He opened his mouth to continue when he saw Spikes eyes show he remembered but the drake cut him off.

"Well then...if that's not it, why is she so upset?"

Daybreak really didn't wanna have to spell it out, but it was obvious the young dragon really didn't know, so he had no choice.

"It's cause you kept watching Spike...you didn't just turn and leave, you stared...you...watched me...climax inside her like that...with her privacy on full display...and you still kept watching and even got aroused by it in front of her...and that alone was pretty obvious to us both."

Spike's gaze dropped again, and Daybreak didn't try to retrieve it, he really didn't wanna meet eyes right now anyways, he was a bit embarrassed himself. Spike began to blush while he floated in Daybreaks field and started stuttering.

"B-but...I...I couldn't help it Daybreak. I've never seen something like that before...and it was just...Twilight was...she was just so...wow..."

Daybreak raised an eyebrow to Spike, which immediately made him blush more. He quickly tried to recover

"No! No! that's not what I meant, honest...it's just she was all...umm she was really...Agggggh! I've just never seen a mare so wet before!"

Spike claws shot over his mouth in surprise of his own words, Daybreak actually dropped Spike out of surprise. He crashed to the floorboards, but did not move. Instead he kept his claws sealed over his lips to keep him from saying anymore and his eyes looked to Daybreak, almost pleading to him. Daybreak facehoofed himself, then dragged the hoof down his face with a sigh.

"Well this talk had certainly been...informative. Look..." He paused, he wanted to word this just right so that he conveyed his meaning without encouraging any bad behavior.

"...Look Spike...I think I kind of get what's up with you...but you can't spy on me and Twilight, or watch us like that anymore. But...And this is to stay between you and me, cause Twilight would have a cow if she knew I was about to say this...I think the best thing for you to do is to...ummm...get it out of your system?...Maybe that's the best way to put it...What's happening with you now...well maybe it's time you and Rarity move past just a few dinner dates...do you catch my meaning?"

Spikes eyes grew wide with surprise

"Are you saying that me and Rarity should...I mean that I should...ya know...with Rarity.."

"I didn't say anything, I'm merely sharing my thoughts out loud, how you take them is up to you little man...however, if I or Twilight ever catch you peeping on us like that again...I'll take you out into Ponyville and publicly announce to the town and Rarity, that you've been peeping on us."

The fear defiantly was obvious then, Spike shook his head so fast, it looked like he was turning it completely around. Daybreak smiled, happy his message was received. Spike on the other hand, was still a bit scared

"Soooo...We good?"

Daybreak smirked "Almost, there's still your punishment..."

Daybreaks horn ignited a flaming brown and he wiggled his eyebrows at Spike, who seemed to shrink in fear

"B-but, you said you weren't gonna punish me"

"Yeeeeeeah...about that...I totally lied!"

He fired his canon of magic before Spike could squeak out a plea for mercy. Although there was a plenty high squeak of fear when he was struck. It was so loud Daybreak feared he would wake Aurora, but the filly never budged an inch. Not even the loud sizzle and flashes of light from his magic seemed to bother her.

"Just like her mother" Daybreak thought to himself "Could sleep straight through a hurricane"

Spike's squeal of expected pain ended as briefly as the magic itself did. The young dragon stood where he had previously sat, with seemingly no change about him. When he could find nothing wrong he looked at Daybreak inquisitively

"Give it a moment" Was the only reply he got.

Suddenly Spike's lower body was in agonizing pain. He dropped to the floor and grabbed at his crotch, wailing in pain. Daybreak cast a spell over Aurora's ear just in case and simply watched as Spike rolled about on the floor, grasping at where his balls and twin penises would appear when he was aroused. He rolled and squealed, then looked to Daybreak in between cries of pain

"What did you do?!"

"Hm? Oh that? That's nothing, I could have made it so much worse, that's just slightly more then what a normal stallion experiences when he gets a massive hard on, and maybe even some foreplay, but can't get off...I believe it's called being blue balled. Painful yes?"

"Oh for the love of Equestria yes! Please make it stop!"

He rolled about on the ground with small tears welling up in his eyes. He didn't even bother trying to stand, and the pain would have only gotten worse if he had anyways. Daybreak felt slightly bad, but also felt this was at least appropriate...although he hadn't considered that it might be worse for dragons, considering they had two, and he had strengthened the spell...hmmm..

"Pleeeeeeeeeease!"

Daybreak looked down at the young drake

"Go apologize to Twilight for peeping like that, and Pinkie Pie promise you'll never do it again." Daybreak cast a small brown field over Spike's head

"When you do that, this field will fall on you and deactivate the spell"

Spike immediately jumped up and took off up the stairs, whimpering as each stair caused him more pain. Daybreak frowned slightly...maybe that had been a little harsh...although it's not like he wouldn't experience the same thing naturally someday, and at least now he was sure not to do it again.

Daybreak heard the upstairs door open, then shut quickly. Suddenly Aurora rolled over on the couch and yawned, cutely smacking her lips together as her eye lids fluttered open. Daybreak quickly negated the hearing spell on her and watched as her ears flopped playfully up and down on her head, as though she was testing them. Once she was satisfied that they were functioning properly, she looked at Daybreak and gave him a big wide grin. He couldn't help but chuckle

"Shouldn't you be asleep cutie?"

Aurora spread her hooves out wide in the air and squeaked loudly

"Daddy!"

Daybreak felt his heart melt in his chest. The small filly continued to flail her legs about, Daybreak quickly understood that this meant she wanted a hug and dipped down to satisfy her. She wrapped her hooves around his neck and refused to release, Daybreak quickly realized she wasn't going to let go and was forced to raise his head with his new companion still happily clinging to his neck. The sight was rather comical, until Aurora started to nom on Daybreaks neck like a vampire fruit bat. Then he decided he would put the little chewer in her place. He quickly turned his head so that Aurora was instead daggling below his neck and over his chest, then he plopped himself down on his back against the cushions and looked at his filly.

"You like nibbling on Daddy's neck don'tcha you little cutie?"

"Daddy!" She exclaimed loudly again and bounced atop his chest

Daybreak smirked then let his tongue fall out of his mouth and gathered as much saliva on it as he could. Then with a swift and fluent motion, he licked his filly full in the face like a young puppy. The filly was stunned into stillness, did her daddy just lick her...only she was aloud to do that.

"Ewwwwwwwwwwww...bleeeck bleeeeeeeck Daaaaaaaaaaddy?!" She whined with annoyance

Daybreak chuckled, he could almost hear the "WTF" in his daughters whine. He smiled mischievously at her and she began to bounce and prance on his chest to show her annoyance. Daybreak laughed and begged for mercy

"Ok ok I'm sorry, geez sweetie...you've your mothers temper"

She gave him a pouty face which only made her cuter. Daybreak began to nuzzle her neck with his teeth, which he knew was tickle torture for her. She immediately began squeaked and giggling again, until her tummy began to rumble. Her face dropped and she attempted to grab her belly and place her ear against it. Daybreak chuckled to himself, only to have his own belly gurgle a moment later too. Immediately Aurora decided his was more interesting and pressed her ear against his chest, listening for more tummy speak. Daybreak took up his filly in his magic, which he knew she loved, and began to trot her over to the kitchen for a bottle.

"Ok sweetie, one bottle of milk right now, then bed time for you fuzzy flank...alright?"

Aurora did not respond until she was given her bottle, to which she immediately showed her thanks for by snatching it out of Daybreaks hooves and instantly sucking the life out of it with a big grin. The sudden sounds of a door opening upstairs told him that Spike had completed his task. With a grin goofy enough to match his filly's, Daybreak scooped up Aurora in his hooves, who had already defeated her milk menace and returned the empty bottle to the table...on its side. Daybreak marveled at her eating speed

"Well...at least I know you got one thing from me...other than my mane" He gently nudged her small green fluff of a mane, a single purple streak was becoming more and more visible in her hair as the days went by. Daybreak liked it and thought it would look beautiful once she was older.

"Hey there cuteness...you wanna come sleep with daddy and mommy tonight?"

Her unending grin gave him the answer he wanted, and he quickly trotted up the stairs to Twilight with their filly hugged closely against him.

"Hope Twilight has cleaned up a bit" he chuckled as he ascended the stairs, passing an exhausted looking Spike along the way, and finally made it to their room. With the pair grinning at each other, Daybreak threw open the door and hopped into bed with his mare and filly. Ready for a comfy nights sleep.

A New Friend

A New Friend

One of the many curses of becoming parents is being idolized by your children whilst they are young. It makes many unprepared souls realize that, for the first time, they have total influence over the life of another. Daybreak and Twilight were no different, royalty or not, they constantly found themselves second guessing what to do and how to do it for fear of giving a negative influence to their daughter. Daybreak was able to escape this fear mostly because of his duties as a prince of chaos, which were much more than one might think in such a peaceful town, but for Twilight, who had not had an exciting royal duty in awhile, it seemed she somehow had more time than ever. This was a plus because it gave her plenty of time to train the Cutie Mark Crusaders in foal-sitting with a live test subject (that being her daughter). Although it did unnerve Daybreak whenever Twi would call her that by accident, he knew she would never harm their filly. He had seen how overprotective...how cautious she was about their filly already.

After Aurora's first birthday, Daybreak had tried to scoot the little magic monster outside for some fresh air and a new atmosphere, but Twilight had been almost one hundred percent against it, and Aurora wasn't too thrilled either. With Twilights rambling about safety precautions and the little filly's every attempt to secure herself to the floor, Daybreak was at wits end by the time he finally talked them both down (and for those of you that haven't ever tried to reason with a one year old filly...know that the are hard to argue with).

Eventually Twilight submitted to sending Aurora outside to play, but only on the condition that Spike be present the whole time, and that she wear "protective gear" as Twi called it. This gear consisted of a very intricately crafted pillow suit which looked so fluffy by the end of its creation, Daybreak would have felt comfortable diving off a cliff side with it on. Not that he would be encouraging it anytime shortly, he assured Twilight of this after receiving the glariest of glares when he mentioned the thought. Luckily for him, Aurora loved pillows so her gear was just a plus for her...she really reeeeeally loved them. He had no idea why, but all the filly ever seemed to want was more of the white things. Daybreak found at one point, that Aurora had more pillows in her bed than they did in the whole rest of the house combined.

Once outside, despite her previous protests, the small mare had a blast...literally. After two hours of not checking up on Aurora, Twilight finally cracked and went outside to see how things were. Moments later Daybreak heard his name being yelled throughout the house. Assuming fire, flood or worse, his father, Daybreak raced outside to see what the yelling was for, but found himself frozen once he stepped out the door. His hooves seemed to glue themselves to the welcome mat, right next to Twilight's as he stood in the open doorway looking out. Right there, in the center of town, was little Aurora Sparkle floating in the air, surrounded by a powerful magical field (sour apple in color) that was causing the most peculiar things to happen. Several items from around the town were floating alongside her, bobbing up and down as though in dance. Moments later the sound of music reached the couples ears and they saw Pinkie Pie prance out of the nearest shop with a boom box on her back, and toss her bags upwards into Aurora's field of view. Instantly the objects were caught in the magic and began to dance along with everything else. Pinkie Pie giggled and the surrounding ponies applauded the feat, while Spike ran around underneath the filly with a huge stack of pillows (her previous safety suit) in case she should fall. The boom box was loud and sounded like Pinkie's ten-instrument machine she had at times, but Aurora seemed to love it. That was enough for Daybreak, who attempted to stifle a chuckle with his hoof. Twilight on the other hoof, was not so amused, especially when she watched Sweetie Belle appear out of the crowd and jump into the field herself. Instantly seized and pulled into the air, the marshmallow colored mare screeched with laughter as she rose up and was spun around Aurora like the many other objects. If he hadn't seen it for himself, Daybreak would never believe it if somepony came up to him the next day and said Sweetie Belle had been dancing through the air surrounded by a large assortment of Ponyville merchandise all controlled by a young filly.

Daybreak turned, expecting to see Twilight smiling next to him, or at least hiding a smile, but instead she was fuming. In fact, she looked downright angry, he knew things could not end well if Twilight was angry, so he decided to intervene before anything was said. Daybreak gently patted Twilight on the shoulder motioning his head towards the crowd and then began walking towards the excitement. Twilight sighed with annoyance and decided to wait for his return inside, where she didn't have to watch her daughter fly around the town. Retiring herself, she shut the door behind her, Daybreak waited until he saw her move away from the window before he acted.

Daybreak approached the crowd and put his right forehoof to his lips, then (with a whistle bursting into existence at his lips) whistled as loudly as he could. The music ceased almost immediately, Daybreak shot a glance at Pinkie Pie and found her regarding him with an inquisitive smile. The crowd parted ways for him as he approached the area below where Aurora was hovering, still spinning many objects and Sweetie Belle, who looked beyond happy to be there. Raising his eyebrows at the crowd, Daybreak realized many of them were waiting for his reaction. Truthfully, he had had no problem with the stunt as long as Aurora didn't get hurt, but he should have been supervising if this was going to happen. Not like he could have predicted his one year old filly would suddenly start her magic bursts in the center of town, but still, next time he'd leave more than just Spike if she was outside. With a small sigh, Daybreak cleared his throat to speak above the squeals of Aurora and Sweetie Belle.

"Alright everypony, the little filly had her fun, but we all know she's gotta come back in sooner or later, so thanks for watching her...but we gotta go now" He ended with a smile, attempting to sound as sincere as possible.

He didn't wanna put Twilight on the spot by voicing she was uncomfortable with this, but he did have to return with their filly or risk another long lecture about safety. Weighing the options in his head, he was quite happy with the way he handled it as he activated his own magic around Aurora and her many new toys. He slowly lowered his filly and the other objects to the ground, one by one releasing them from her influence. Her little horn eventually went out by itself, and Daybreak scooped her and Sweetie Belle onto his back once everypony had retrieved their items. Sweetie Belle had managed to keep a few of the items with her from the magic show, including a wild looking propeller hat and a teal blue scarf that she was currently snuggling. Sweetie Belle was out like a light once she was on his back, and Aurora went out right behind her. Daybreak could only imagine what he looked like with the pair napping on his back

"No more drinks for you tonight ladies" he mumbled under his breathe

"Don't let Twilight hear you say that" Pinkie Pie was suddenly right behind him and nearly sent him skyward with surprise.

"Geez Pinkie, don't sneak up on me like that"

"How should I sneak up on you then?" She giggled cocking her head to the right as though she was curious.

Daybreak attempted to roll his eyes but found himself stutter out a chuckle halfway through. Pinkie was once again, right beside him and her bright smile refused to leave his vision.

"Oh look I made Twilight's hubby smile, glad to know all that book time hasn't sucked the spirit outta you"

Daybreak lowered his gaze in a mock glare, but found it difficult to even pretend to be upset at Pinkie

"Ooooor, maybe that isn't the thing she's been sucking out of you...hmm big boy?" Pinkie's eye brows jumped up and down wildly, Daybreak found his face break into a bright shade of crimson.

"T-that's not funny Pinkie Pie.."

"I don't hear you denying it"

"You've been in bed with her before while she was pregnant...why you teasing me when you already know this..."

"Because you look so cute when your blushing"

He turned away, trying to make himself seem angry, even stooping to making a little hmph sound as he turned his head. Pinkie just snorted

"Calm down grumpy pants, don't worry I won't be humping your wife anymore anyways...I have a special somepony now"

Daybreak jumped, startled that she was just now informing him of this so casually

"Y-you do?...Who? I haven't seen you with anypony lately?" He put his hoof to his chin, attempting to remember if he saw Pinkie being more affectionate than normal with anypony, but he drew a blank. Pinkie merely giggled

"Silly, he doesn't live here...I'm not even sure he lives anywhere actually..."

Daybreak raised an eyebrow "You dating a vagabond or something?"

Pinkie erupted into giggles "No silly, it's Cheese Sandwich"

"Who?"

"Cheese Sandwich...remember...Dashies birthday last year?"

"THAT Cheese Sandwich!"

"Do we know another?"

"No it's just...I mean I guess it makes sense actually...but how do you two...ya know...get affectionate if he's never here"

Pinkie began rummaging through her saddlebag at his words "Oh that's easy silly, we write to each other" she pulled out a letter for proof "...and he's coming to Ponyville soon...Then I'm gonna show him a real party...hehehe"

"Umm...Pinkie...I'm still here you know"

Pinkie blushed "I know...What? I can't help it if I want somepony to cream my pie..."

"Pinkie!" Daybreak gasped he looked over his shoulder at the sleeping fillys on his back "There are children present"

"Ya I know, he's been standing there since everypony cleared out, you just noticed?"

"Wha-Who are you talking about?"

"Who are you talking about"

"Sweetie Belle and Aurora...You?"

"That brown colt over there" She pointed to where the crowd had been previously been gathered, but all that remained was single young earth pony colt, who was indeed brown, a little more so than he was, and was just standing there shyly gazing over at them. Daybreak turned to Pinkie

"Who's that"

"That's Button Mash, he lives a couple houses away from you with his mom, his brother and his dad. But his dad is almost never home cause he works all the time, his brother always stays out late and isn't home much either, and his mom is a stay at home mom."

"Umm...Why do you know all that?"

Pinkie turned and poked him in the nose with her hoof

"Aww come on Daybreak, you've known me long enough to know I know everypony in Ponyville...They've only been here for a year or so...but I rarely see him with anypony...he's always playing on some weird looking device by himself"

Daybreak raised his eyebrows "Oh look...he's coming over"

Pinkie looked, and indeed he was "Well, I gotta go Daybreak, I gotta get to the Cakes place before it get's dark for some Cake sitting"

She snorted at her own joke then began to bounce away humming to herself. Once she was gone, Button seemed to approach much quicker, and eventually made it over to Daybreak. Once he was in front of him, the young colt shyly nudged Daybreak's leg

"Excuse me...Prince Daybreak...I think Sweetie Belle has my hat"

Daybreak looked on his back, the scarf was still swiftly wrapped around Sweetie's neck, and the mystery propeller hat was still buzzing away on her head. He smiled and took it from her head within his aura

"So this cool looking hat is yours little guy?"

Button nodded slowly "You think it's cool? Most pony's say I look dorky in it"

Daybreak gasped, how could anypony not love this hat...then again his fashion sense wasn't exactly the best according to Rarity. Still he did really like the hat, he smiled as he placed it on Button's head with his magic

"Yeah little dude, I think it's awesome...in faaaact.." He quickly directed his eyes above his own head and lit his horn. With a small pop, another propeller hat just like Buttons appeared above his head and softly landed atop his mane already spinning wildly.

Daybreak struck a semi sexy pose  and fluttered his eye lashes like a mare "What do you think"

Button covered his muzzle with his hoof and attempted not to laugh "I um...Looks great your highness"

Daybreak rolled his eyes "No need for that Button"

The hat vanished from his head in a flash and was replaced by a royal looking cape and staff, along with the royal necklace baring his Cutie Mark and miniature Fire Ruby. "I'm just like everypony else see?"

He struck an elegant pose that would have passed Rarity's approval, even going so far as to tuck his right foreleg back like he had seen her do before, and succeeded in releasing a chuckle from the young colt. He smiled, his mission was accomplished

"How old are you kid, like eight or nine?"

Button looked offended "Noooooooo...I'm much older than that, I'm as old as Sweetie Belle"

"Oh so you're.."

"Button sweetie!"

Both Daybreak and Button turned to see a young looking mare trotting up the block toward them. Button began to wave

"Over here mom"

"Mom?" "Dear Celestia that's his mother...she looks so young, I would have said sister...she must take good care of herself"

As the mare approached, Daybreak quickly vaporized the robe and staff he had been wielding to amuse Button, he also made his necklace vanish as well. The mare was very young looking despite being a mother, her light brown mane was tied towards the end in a small pony tail (hehe puns) that draped over her side. The mare quickly trotted over and seized up her son in a hug, not even noticing Daybreak for a moment. Then Button pointed at him

"Hey mom look who I got to meet today"

"Hm...Oh my! Prince!" She instantly dropped to the ground in a bow

Daybreak rolled his eyes again, he truly tired of ponies doing that

"There's no need for that here ma'am, I was returning your son's hat to him, and admiring his excellent fashion choice"

Button's mom looked over Daybreaks face to see if he was faking his love for the hat, surprisingly she found no such evidence and smiled at him

"How sweet...Button didn't cause you any trouble did he? What was all that commotion earlier about?"

"Hm? Oh that...my little filly got her first wave of magic juice...in front of the whole town, and I'm afraid Button's hat may have fallen victim to that" He suppressed a chuckle but saw Button open his mouth to speak, Daybreak nodded to the colt

"Actually...Sweetie Belle took my hat before that started..."

Daybreak was surprised "Really...I must have missed that, why would she do that? Sweetie Belle's not a bully..."

"No no!" Button quickly cut him off, which would have normally irked him quite a bit, but he was ok with it from this young colt

"Sweetie Belle wasn't bullying me your highness, honest...we were playing and she snatched it off me and ran, it was just fun, honest"

"Calm down Button, remember you don't have to call me that. Anyways, I believe you don't worry, it's pretty easy to believe Sweetie Belle was playing rather than bullying...But I've never seen you with her before...Are you a Cutie Mark Crusaders too?"

Buttons mom seemed to have excepted being left out of the conversation, and was now just listening intently as though she had never heard of the Cutie Mark Crusaders before.

"Well...Sweetie Belle normally just comes to my house to play video games..." He glanced back at his mother as though fearing his next words. Daybreak seemed to get the idea, but nodded him on, he doubted Buttons mom would get upset in front of the Prince if he was hiding what he thought he was, so best to say it now.

"Well...whenever we hang out outside I do hang with her friends...but the stuff we do is sometimes pretty dangerous..."

He glanced at his mother, who wore an unreadable expression, Daybreak decided to help out and test the waters as it were, speaking more to Buttons mother than to Button himself

"Yeah, I can believe that, I know the Cutie Mark Crusaders personally, they can do some pretty crazy stuff sometimes...but I still trust them enough to leave my little filly with them for foal sitting, they can be a little over the top when it comes to getting their Cutie Marks, but they're good ponies and responsible when they need to be. I personally am glad that they welcomed you in Button...how long have you been a member?"

Buttons mothers expression seemed to soften out of unreadable at hearing Daybreak speak for the Crusaders, Button wasn't oblivious to this

"I've only been an official member for a week, but we've hung out lots before then, they only started letting me in on the extreme crusading recently...I don't really care about my Cutie Mark...but I do love hanging out with Sweetie Belle, she's really funny and great at video games."

Buttons mom began to smile, Daybreak couldn't help but mimic her. He'd bet twenty bits that Button only joined because of Sweetie Belle, but he wouldn't embarrass him in front of his mother by asking, even though he was pretty sure she was thinking the same thing.

"Does she like video games Button?" He quickly glanced on his back, to assure neither of the fillies had awoken

Button beamed "Yeah, and she's really good too...kinda...she especially loves Minecraft...but she hates Creepers though"

Daybreak looked to Buttons mother for answers, but she merely giggled

"Why does she hate Creepers?"

Button began to laugh to himself, as though the memory was humorous enough to warrant him rolling on the dirt and laughing. He spoke in between laughs

"Well... she was digging for diamonds the other day, she loves diamonds, and one came up behind her and blew her up, and the diamonds she was mining"

He continued his fits of laughter on the ground as though it was the funniest thing since Pinkie Pie. Daybreak was confused, but noticing Buttons mom chuckling too, he gathered it must be pretty funny.

"Such a cute kid...bet they're perfect together"

"Well Button, your welcome to come over to our house anytime, any friend of the Sweetie Belles and the Crusaders is a friend of mine"

Buttons eyes lit up like lights "We're friends?"

Daybreak patted him on the exposed part of his mane that was free of the propeller "Of course, just cause I'm a Prince doesn't mean I don't make friends...trust me dude, I think I know just how you feel" He stole a glance back at his door, where he knew Twilight was no doubt waiting inside to greet him with hugs, and a lecture. He smiled

"Ok Button sweetie, it's time to get going, it's getting late"

Daybreak turned back as Buttons mom and Button began to turn to leave. He looked up, indeed it was becoming twilight out, the sunset was beautiful as always.

Button waved goodbye along with his mother

"Very nice to meet you Prince Daybreak" His mother called

"Byyyyyyyye Daybreak"

Still smiling, he turned and headed back towards his home after waving goodbye. Before he got to the door, he smirked and materialized another replica of Buttons hat on his head

"This really is a cool hat"

Wrapped in his own thoughts, Daybreak nearly tripped over the many piles of books that were cluttered around the library as he trotted inside. Looking up from his near death experience, he noticed Twilight was sitting on a cushion with a peculiar looking book levitating in front of her, but that wasn't the weird part. The weird part was that his father was sitting on the cushion right next to her, seemingly reading the same book, and pointing at specific pages as he turned them.

"Umm hello?"

The duo looked up and simultaneously said "Hey Daybreak" then dropped their heads back to the book

"What's up? You just popped in for a visit or something father?"

Discord and Twilight glanced at each other, Twilight motioned to Aurora and Sweetie Belle

"Honey...we only have one child...and what's with that hat?" She giggled "Maybe you should go put them upstairs in the bed, Spikes already asleep in his. It's upstairs for tonight...we've got some stuff we need to talk about so hurry back."

Daybreak was confused, finding Twilight and his father reading together was odd enough. Now being told Spike would be sleeping up by their bed for the night...that implied a long night in the books...he was already tied just thinking about it. He quickly traveled up the stairs and tucked in Sweetie Belle and Aurora, lightly setting his hat atop Sweetie's mane. Immediately after touching the bed, Aurora was already cuddling Sweetie Belle, any other night Daybreak would have taken a picture, but Twilight had hinted at urgency, so he quickly set them under the covers and retreated downstairs.

Once he made it downstairs, a cushion had already been placed for him in between Twilight and Discord. Twi looked up and ushered him over.

"There is something you need to see Daybreak"

.....

Five Minutes later

"Whaaaaaaat!" His reaction was just as Discord had predicted it to be. Daybreak stood dumbfounded as he glanced down at the pages upon pages of photographs.

Every photo was full of either Daring Do or Rainbow Dash, they were in some cottage beyond normal Equestrian boundaries. But that wasn't the part that got him riled, no what really made his brain break was the little colt in the picture with them. The little colt seemed to have Daring's coat and Rainbows hair, but for being so young his Rainbow mane already was in full appearance and just as dazzling as his mothers. Luckily the scrapbook had come with a letter, and according to Twilight had arrived early that day but Discord had beaten them to it and decided to look through it himself. The letter stated Daring Do and Rainbow Dash and taken Twilights "advice" (whatever that had been, Daybreak had no idea) and used the magical potion spell she had given them. The result had been Daring Do becoming pregnant after a very heated night of passion. The colt couldn't have been more than a year old, but that did explain the complete absence of letters over that time, Daybreak had been considering going out to find them himself if they didn't write soon.

Thinking back, before Aurora's birth Daring had seemed a little heavier, so that might have been the start of their timetable. Apparently they had stayed out of Ponyville, and Equestria in general to avoid the publicity either of them having a child would bring. According to Rainbow's letter she had only told Spitfire about the child so as to not compromise her situation with the Wonderbolts while she was away. The letter also set congratulations to Daybreak and Twilight for having Aurora, news had reached outside of Equestria that the newest princess had a filly, and upon hearing that, Rainbow decided it was a good time to write to them. She had planned on remaining away for another year and would have written soon anyways, but the news of Twilight and Daybreaks kid made Rainbow wish to come home, and Daring had agreed to come as well, although that meant that while lingering in Ponyville she would have to be in disguise.

Aside from sharing child based news, the part Discord kept returning Daybreaks attention to, was that both Daring Do and Rainbow Dash had been paid an unexpected visit a month prior. According to Daring Do (as Rainbow Dash had been asleep at the time), Shining Star had appeared at their doorstep wearing Aecious' cloak and seeking directions to an old temple Daring knew of. Daring had of course, given said directions without hesitation to the pegasus, but after he had left she decided to write to Daybreak about the odd encounter. Oddly, the letter apparently never made it to Ponyville, and when Rainbow had gone to the old temple herself a few days later, their was no sign of him anywhere. Daring asked if Daybreak would check it out for himself and see if he could pick up anything, according to Daring, the way Shining Star had acted and spoken made her worry what the pegasus could be up to, and his dressing like Aecious didn't help much.

Daybreak stared at the letter, at the very bottom corner, scribbled in obvious quick-hoof writing, Rainbow had written something else "P.S Our colts name is Dusty Feathers", clearly she had forgotten to add that in the letter. Daybreak looked it over one more time, then looked to the scrapbook of photos. He set the letter aside

"Well...at least now we know where they've been all this time. It's too bad though...I'm gonna have to say no to Daring"

"Why?" Twilights voice was inquisitive, but not in a pushy way, more like she already knew the answer but wanted to hear it, kind of way. He turned

"I have a family to watch over" He motioned upstairs with his hoof, where Aurora slept soundly snuggled in the coat of another marshmallow colored filly, and then to Twilight, who gave a slight blush. Discord patted Twilight on the head mockingly

"Isn't that cute Twilight. Daybreak needs to stay home and watch over the helpless, little Princeeeeess." A bib appeared around Twilight's neck with a miniature version of her face embroidered in the center and a baby bottle in her open hoof. "It's clear who wears the pants in this relationship" A pair of jeans appeared on Daybreak's hind legs, but he quickly shook them off, Discord chuckled to himself as he made for the door. As he excused himself from the house, a suit of armor suddenly appeared around Daybreaks form, further aggravating him

"Good thing you'll always have your stallion in shining armor to protect and watch over you princess, you might chip a hoof without him around, ta-ta" He waved as he shut the door behind him, then opened up an umbrella a few feet from the door and floated away into the night.

Daybreak muttered something unsafe for fillies to hear under his breathe, but quickly attempted calm himself. He made the suit of armor melt off his coat, and reshape itself into a decently sized cider mug, then quickly set it on the empty cushion beside him. Turning to Twilight, he said

"Well sweetie, now that my father is done pestering you, how about we turn in for the night...Umm Twilight...What's with that look"

Finally taking a good look at Twilight's face, Daybreak could see the redness in her face as she glared at the front door. Daybreak half expected the door to burst into flames simply from her stare.

"...Honey? You ok?"

She quickly turned to face him, dragging the whole cushion with her "Pack your gear, you're going to that temple Daybreak"

"Aww buck..."

A Trip Down (Bad) Memory Lane (Clop)

"But Twiiiiilight"

"No but's Daybreak, you're going"

"Seriously Twi this isn't funny"

"I'm not joking! Now hurry up and finish packing, we're on a tight schedule here."

"Uggggggh!"

Daybreak found himself in another one of those situations that he so frequently wished his father would stop creating. Now he was being forced against his will to go explore a temple with him in the middle of who-knows-where, because he had managed to piss off Twilight yet again. Daybreak didn't understand why Twilight let him bother her so easily, nor could he fathom that she didn't know he did it on purpose. Reformed or not, father or not, hay even grandfather or not, he was still the lord of chaos, and that meant mischief twenty-four seven. Nevertheless Daybreak had tried to convince Twilight of the many reasons he should not go, but none had made any progress within the past hour.

From behind the dressing box which Rarity had provided for him, Daybreak made another plea for freedom

"Come on Twily, you know he's just trying to get under your skin..."

"Well...it worked...he wants to pretend I can't take care of myself without you around...fine! I'll show him!"

From behind the box, Daybreak rolled his eyes "Like you haven't done that a hundred times already...what makes this so special"

"But Twilight, what about Aurora, what if something comes up while I'm away and you have to go out or something?"

"Oh come on Daybreak, that's what we hired the Cutie Mark Crusaders for remember? Plus Sweetie Belle is already here anyways, so there won't be any problem."

"Can't this at least wait until morning, I'm tired Twi, seriously...I think you're taking this a little too far. If I didn't know better, I'd say you were anxious to get rid of me" He added a depressed sigh at the end for extra effect and waited.

After a few moments, and some loud fumbling to move aside the changing box, Daybreak turned to find Twilight directly in front of him, staring deep into his eyes. It was actually quite awkward, considering he had been halfway through beginning to pull on his explorers outfit (also courtesy of Rarity) and was merely in a explorer top (much like Daring Do's outfit) and white boxers when she appeared before him. Granted they had been in much more exposed situations with each other...but the fact he was only in boxers...somehow made this embarrassing. Twilight leaned forward without a word and locked her lips with his. Her tongue dove past his lips and locked itself against his tongue, then instantly began attacking it furiously. She licked and dashed her tongue all around the inside of his lips and mouth, aggressively urging him to return the favor. The brief shock from being attacked by her in a fashion box wore off and Daybreak began to kiss her back. Loud sucking noises flooded their ears as they slapped their saliva against each other passionately, each fighting to maintain dominance in the kiss.

Twilight was rarely a dominate mare, but when she had those few and far between flares of sexy assertiveness, Daybreak couldn't help but pounce. He was suddenly becoming uncomfortably aware of the tightness in his boxers. With all this action so quickly, anypony could easily make out the outline of his balls and now, raging boner, in his underwear. Twilight did not fail to notice this moments later, when she won the fight for control due to his unfocused thoughts, and pushed him up against their wall, on his hind legs. With them both standing on their back legs, his girth was now all to obvious in his boxers and he failed to hide his embarrassment as his face flushed. Twilight smiled mischievously, her hoof slowly ascended from the wall and cupped his balls through the boxers

"Awww, would you like me to take care of this?"

A blush spread across his face, the sultry lust behind Twilight's voice made his cock quiver within the cloth. Keeping him pressed against the wall, Twilight's face instantly dropped out of immediate view, but he knew where she was the moment he felt hooves gripping his boxers. She pulled roughly and his cock sprang out from its prison, fully erect and awaiting her touch. Her tongue fell out of her mouth in hunger as she took in the magnificent sight of his member. Her hoof once again came under him and cupped his balls, while her tongue extended and dragged itself over his length. Without a word, she took him into her mouth, running her tongue around the center of his shaft with constant little swirls. Daybreak moaned, allowing his hooves to drop onto her head and rest atop her mane while she attempted to take in even more of his length. She tried several times to take in more, but found her body unable to do it without gagging. The only downside to his increased size as a stallion, in her opinion, was that he finally made her gag.

Daybreak sensed her problem, he firmly grasped the sides of her head with his hooves, and began to thrust slowly, pushing deeper and deeper within her mouth after each thrust. Quickly Twilight picked up on the rhythm and Daybreak increased his speed to match her enthusiasm. Twilight emphasized loud moans as she sucked, attempting to bring him to the edge quicker than usual. The sight of her head bobbing up and down on his dick didn't help either. He could feel a small pressure beginning to form within his balls and knew he wouldn't last much longer under her tongue. So to make sure he got the last laugh, he found the strength to pull her head away, she looked surprised at first but it was nothing compared to what he did next. Still remaining on his back hooves, Daybreak activated his magic and surrounded Twilight in his field, then lifted her into the air a few feet. Once she was hovering over the edge of the changing station, he spread her back legs wide, then spread her lips too. She realized what he was going to do and instantly began to shake her head. But before she could voice her protest, or teleport away, he brought her down quickly on him! She grasped the edge of the changing station coming down and held on for dear life. This caused only half of his member to bury itself within her walls, but it was still more than enough to elicit the reaction he wanted. Her eyes went wide and she released a magnificent squeal as he filled her with his length! He grasped her rear and released his magical hold on her form, just watching her attempt to keep her head and front legs over the edge of this thin little station while impaled on him was humorous enough. Daybreak began to wonder what the sight might look like to somepony who walked in, only her head and front legs would be visible, but he imagined the look on her face would be priceless.

Just then their was a firm knock at the door, followed by the unmistakable voice of Rarity calling through it

"Twilight dear...Daybreak...are you home?"

Twilight looked down at Daybreak, and watched as his face broke into a wide, but all too obvious, evil grin. She shook her head, but his smiled continued

"This is early payback for making me go to this temple"

She whimpered as his horn ignited and the lock on the door clicked out of place. She turned as the door began to open and she struggled to pull more of her body over the thin changing wall, but Daybreak held her in place, with his hooves firmly dug into her flank and half of his shaft still inside her. Once the door was fully open, Rarity strode inside, already talking but not really paying any attention

"I was just coming to check on Sweetie Belle, I passed Button Mash on my way to retrieve her and he said you brought her here for the night. That was very kind of you but...what are you doing Twilight?"

Daybreak couldn't help but snicker, he could only imagine how it must look to Rarity, with only Twilights head and front legs hanging over the edge. Twilight on the other hand attempted to fake a normal look, despite the clear redness covering most of her face

"Oh you know...just hanging out...testing the changing station you left me..."

She could feel Daybreak stifling his laughs below her but she didn't care, as long as he didn't move she could keep a straight face, despite how much her pussy was quivering and leaking as it tried to take in more of his length. Daybreak heard Rarity sigh

"Well dear, the first thing you ought to know is you don't climb on it, you change behind it...I know you're not really all that into fashion but I thought you knew that..."

Daybreak had to physically shove his own hoof into his mouth to keep from laughing now as Twilight faked some laughter of her own

"Oh really...I umm... had no idea...Hehehe silly me..."

Rarity's face seemed to grow slightly suspicious, but she made no verbal showing of it

"Rrrright...well, perhaps I'll just go check on Sweetie Belle and be on my way"

Twilight froze, if she went up the stairs,  she would pass right over them and if she looked over the stairway into the room, she would see. Twilight opened her mouth to speak, but Daybreak chose that exact moment to give her a hard thrust with his hips causing her words to come out in a high pitched squeak

"NO!....I mean ummm...Sweetie's already asleep Rarity...you might wake her"

Rarity halted as her hoof hovered above the first step, then lowered it slowly

"I suppose your right Twilight, Sweetie Belle does hate it when I wake her before morning...I have no desire to relive that grumpiness again...perhaps I'll just go"

Twilight sighed aloud with relief, but Daybreak wasn't done with her yet. He slowly pulled back, causing her to believe he was finished, then quickly shoved himself back in, burying more than half of his length inside her this time, and began to thrust inside her hard. Twilight let out a long series of squeal that immediately drew Rarity's attention away from the door

"Eeeeep! Ah! Ah! Ahh! Ahhh!"

"Darling, are you feeling ok"

Twilight struggled to sputter out words as involuntary squeaks and moans escaped her lips, causing Rarity to gain a worried look

"Ohhhh Don't...Ah! Worry Rarity Eeeep! I just have a bad caaaaahhhhhuse of hiccups...that's all..Ahhhhh!"

"Those don't sound like any normal kind of hiccups dear.."

Crack!

The sound echoed around the room, Twilight looked down in fear.

"Oh no"

The thin dressing board began to crack along the middle, any good surge of force would likely snap it to pieces...luckily, or unluckily for Twilight, Daybreak had that surge of force...he pulled against her hips hard causing her to attempt to grip the board tighter, the effect was instantaneous. The board snapped and shattered to pieces in one quick crack, like whip had been loosed. Twilight was pulled straight down onto Daybreak and he immediately pushed her forward onto her belly as the brief explosion of wood kicked up some resting dust into the air. Rarity shut her eyes and coughed loudly, she waved her hoof wildly to clear away the small amount of dust. All the while she heard wet slapping sounds echo through her ears. She began to slowly open her eyes and gasped

"Twilight what is that sou...Oh my!"

It was possibly the hottest, yet most awkward sight she had ever seen. Twilight was on the ground, with her behind raised in the air, while Daybreak was laying on top of her back thrusting his hindquarters against hers repeatedly. His face was buried against the side of her neck, planting soft kisses along its base. While Twilight on the other hand, would have been staring directly at Rarity if she hadn't been covering her own eyes with her hooves. That didn't stop the blush on her cheeks or the expressions her mouth made from telling Rarity exactly how she felt though. She was taking it hard, Rarity could almost hear Twilight's pussy quiver each time he slammed into her, and judging by how far Daybreak had to pull back to fully pull out and slam back in again she could understand why. The sound of their bodies wet juices slapping against each others as Daybreak slammed himself against her purple plot was enough to make any mare wet between her legs.  Rarity found herself wishing she could take Twilight's spot as another loud moan escaped her purple friend. Twilight felt every single inch of him as he split her apart with each thrust, every nerve within her walls screamed with ecstasy. Rarity found her body moving behind the duo so she could achieve a better view, she was certainly pleased with what she saw. The sight of Daybreaks girth pulling back from Twilight's swollen pink lips, then slamming back into her causing spittle to fly from Twilight's mouth as more involuntary squeaks escaped her.

What Rarity didn't understand, was how much her stare was turning Twilight on, even with her eyes covered, she knew Rarity must be looking directly at her exposed lips and that only served to arouse her more. Suddenly Twilight felt her hooves being pulled away from her face by the very stallion now destroying her marehood. With her hooves pulled back while she was rutted, she had no choice but see for herself, that Rarity was indeed behind her, and staring intently at her swollen lips as they were plowed by Daybreaks cock. The result was Rarity beginning to blush as she uttered, barely audibly

"Wow.."

That was too much for Twilight, her orgasm galloped through her body almost immediately as Rarity spoke. She let loose a high pitched yell of pleasure making her lips to squeeze tightly around Daybreak, and bringing him to the end as well. Both their eyes ignited in white light as a familiar electrifying feeling flooded through them, causing both of their horns to shoot tiny sparks in every direction. He flooded her insides with his magical seed adding even more pleasure to the amazing orgasm running through her. Once they finished they both collapsed to the library floor, Daybreak wrapped his hooves around Twilight from behind and snuggled her gently.

Rarity found it hard to speak after watching such a display, and found herself slightly jealous that Twilight had gotten so lucky with a stallion, even if he was Discords child. She coughed awkwardly and said

"Well...Umm I can see you two are...busy...so I'll just leave Sweetie Belle here for the night...don't let her catch you and...ummm...have a goodnight..."

She quickly galloped out the door without another word, though judging by the quick flash of her marehood Daybreak had gotten when she bolted away, he was pretty sure he knew what she was gonna do when she got home. Daybreak looked over Twilights face and found that she was out cold. He chuckled lightly to himself

"Victory achieved, I'm staying here tonight"

He climbed off of Twilight and picked up her sleeping form in his magic. He began to gently ascend the stairs so as not to wake anypony with it's creaking. Then again, with all the noise they had just made, he doubted the stairs would be what awoke them. Once he made it to the door of their room, he gently opened it with magic and levitated Twilight into bed alongside Sweetie and Aurora. He tucked them all back in, gently kissed Twilight on the cheek, then retired himself downstairs to clean up their mess.

It took him little under five minutes to clean up any fluid they had left behind, and the broken changing board took only as long as his horn did to activate. He contemplated going back up to bed with Twilight, but considering where he would probably be headed tomorrow...he decided he'd be better off doing some research on his destination now. With his mind made up, he began to slowly fly any books he could remember they had on ancient temples, over to him. Taking a seat over at Twilights study desk, he neatly piled all the books in a circle around the desk, casing them to build into a fort-like structure. He smiled at his own lack of originality, this small fortress of books reminded him irrevocably of the one he had made all those years ago, in the Princesses study.

He cracked open the first book with magic and stared down at the ancient symbols upon the page, the images began to swim before his eyes. His mind drifted back to those days, back when his whole purpose in life seemed to have been to serve Twilights every whim. Running around the Princesses study room, gathering books and items and food and objects for little filly Twilight. It seemed so long ago...but he could remember it all perfectly. He remembered that night with perfect clarity as well...the night he had convinced Princess Celestia to allow him to assist her in attempting to revive Princess Luna from Nightmare Moon, and then free her from the moon.

He had cornered the princess outside Twilights room, just before she was about to ask Twilight to help her instead of him. He remembered how he had spoken to her...the only other time in his life where he had acted with authority towards the Princess. He hadn't asked...he had demanded she use him instead, then apologized profusely. Somehow that had worked though, and soon he had found himself outside the castle of the two sisters in the Everfree forest. He had watched Celestia power up the stone Elements with her alicorn magic...then she asked him to assist her. He began to feed his own magic to the Elements...he could still hear Celestia's voice echoing across his mind...full of need and hope

"Daybreak...It's working...Our magic is fueling the Elements...I can see the portal opening..."

Indeed the portal had began to open, a portal straight to Luna/Nightmare Moons prison so it had seemed. They had both peered through the portal, their horns aglow shining away the darkness of the night and of the black portal. On the other side Daybreak remembered seeing a surge of darkness moving about on a barren land, then Celestia had told him to step back as they strengthened it enough to allow passage. That's when things had gone wrong...

"Princess...my horn feels funny"

He remembered feeling a tugging sensation on his horn, like some force was reaching out to him and pulling on his head. He had voiced this to the princess, but her expression told him it was too late to stop, she wanted this...she wanted her sister back and nothing else seemed to grasp her full focus. Back then, had she fully heard him, maybe she might have stopped, but all he had gotten was

"Keep going, we are almost there...I can see her...I can see Luna"

Ignoring the growing ache in his horn and sickness in his belly, Daybreak also wished to see the famed Lunar Princess whom he constantly had heard stories of before she was banished. So he had moved closer to Celestia and peered inside the portal. He too, had seen something, but it had not been Luna, instead he saw darkness inside the portal, and within that darkness he remembered seeing something...something terrible. Something he could not remember, but it had seen him...and it had lunged from within the portal! He remembered he had screamed and panicked, then it all fell apart. His panic caused him to have one of his many magical fits which he had frequently experienced as a young colt. He had been very unstable, which was why he had been studying with Celestia in the first place, to control his powerful magic which, at the time, neither he nor the princess could understand. He remembered his eyes filling with white light and Celestia yelling for him

"Daybreak No! Not now!"

Celestia had ended the spell then, probably in hopes of closing the portal before anything got worse, but it was too late. Daybreaks huge output of raw power caused him to fuel the portal by himself. The darkness from within the portal had seemed to sense his instability...he remembered blackness extending out from the portal and engulfing him within itself...then he had felt his body being pulled towards the portal. He remembered the fear he had felt then...

.....

Tears ran down young Daybreaks face as the blackness engulfed his body, leaving only his head exposed in the translucent matter. His eyes were white with power, but even still, tears streamed their way down his face as he watched the darkness pull him closer and closer to the portal. He yelled out in fear

"P-Princess! Help me! Help me please! I don't wanna go in there...I don't wanna die!"

He kicked and screamed against the darkness binding his young body! He flailed his hooves wildly, trying to reach for Celestia's outstretched hoof. Her horn lit several times, but Daybreak never noticed anything happen and began to fear the worst. He was going to die. He was going to die as just a young colt, he didn't want to die, he wanted to go home, he wanted to go back to Celestia's library, he wanted to go back to Twilight. Twilight...after all that time being her servant and test dummy and target practice...through all that time he had never gotten to know her, until today when he felt like he had finally gotten close to her...and now he would never see her again. She had said she'd see him tomorrow...he wouldn't even be there to greet her with tea like usual...he couldn't even say goodbye.

He screamed for Celestia to save him as he was pulled inside the portal, he screamed for her and Twilight over and over but nothing happened! The last thing he saw before the darkness of the portal swallowed him was Celestia's tear stricken face and her voice screaming out for him...and then nothingness.

Inside the portal...inside the portal was total blackness, nothingness. He couldn't see anything, he couldn't hear anything, he couldn't smell anything...but he could certainly feel things. Smokey things, slimy things...all manner of things seemed to be touching him. Touching his hooves, poking at his Cutie Mark, wrapping around his horn. He couldn't see what any of these things were, but he could feel them around him. He whimpered and cried in his binds, he couldn't even see what was binding his body, he suspected it was still that smoky blackness that had taken him moments before. He felt his tears start to fall, then simply float from his face and evaporate, he could feel the many things around him poke and touch at his face as he cried. He whimpered for Celestia and for Twilight, he wanted one of them to wake him up from this terrible nightmare and say it was ok, that he had just been dreaming...but as more and more objects began to touch and poke him in the blackness, he knew it could never be. He was going to die here, alone and in misery, just like he had always lived.

Suddenly sound erupted through the emptiness, and Daybreak became alert. It was not loud, but in silence even a whisper seemed like a rockslide of noise, and he heard many whispers. He began to listen, hoping that these whispers might be some form of rescue...but he immediately knew that it wasn't. The whispers came from nowhere, but they flowed through his ears, hissing and screeching.

"Join us Daybreak"

"Become one with us"

"Make us whole Daybreak"

"We want you Daybreak"

"We need you Daybreak"

He crushed his hooves over his ears and attempted to shut out the horrible grotesque voices, but their moans and cries continued to echo through his head, tormenting his every thought

"No one is coming for you"

"You're with us now"

"You're a part of us now"

"You *are** us now"*

"We are you"

"AHHHHHH! STOP IT! STOP IT STOP IT STOP IT!"

Within the darkness Daybreaks horn exploded into a eerie green light, igniting the abyss with the gift of sight. Daybreak gave a momentary sigh of relief, then realized his eyes had been closed. He opened them...and screamed! His eyes fell upon the most horrid thing he had ever seen in his life. The indescribable horror of what he was being bound by and in caused his light to instantly diminish and cease. But the sight of what was before and around him did not leave his mind, nor did it fade from view. For it seemed now that he had seen it, he continued to see it perfectly. The terror seemed to be widening suddenly, and Daybreak could somehow see it perfectly even in the utter darkness. The Dark split apart, and within it he saw, rows, upon rows of serrated, razor sharp teeth. Each one at least half the size of a teenage dragon, and very capable of severing him in two should it try. the teeth seemed to move closer to him in the dark. The invisible mouth moved closer, and closer until the teeth were mere feet from his body. Then the mouth began to open, and the young colt could no longer maintain himself. Daybreak screamed as loud he could, and the teeth descended upon him!

.....

Daybreak screamed and fell back from his chair! Twilight jumped back from his shoulder and barely caught him as he sprawled backwards, landing on top of her flailing his limbs as though he were on fire! She pulled herself from beneath him, then turned and pulled him into a hug as he continued to struggle and yell

"Daybreak! Calm down, it was just a dream...you're alright...you're ok. I promise."

He froze instantly, allowing her to hold him against her body more steadily. Daybreak turned his head to the left slightly, and Twilight could see the tear lines on his cheek and where a fresh batch was attempting to brew at the top of his eyes. She couldn't imagine what he had been dreaming about to make him like this, but she knew she had to help him. She planted soft kisses along the base of his neck, and up to his nose. Tenderness fell onto him with each peck of her soft lips, like every fear and worry melted away more and more as she touched him. When his breathing finally returned to normal and she could no longer feel his heart beating just by touching him, she released her grip on him and turned his body around to face her. She pulled his face against her warm chest for extra emphasis

"Daybreak...what happened? What were you dreaming about that made you scream like that?"

He twitched against her chest "I screamed?"

"Yeah...you were yelling so loudly you woke up everypony in the house...Sweetie Belle woke up first and heard you...she saw you twitching in the chair and yelling. She said she shook you and tried to wake you but you wouldn't move, so she came back up and got me, by that time your yells already woke up Spike and Aurora. Aurora started to cry and Spike had to take care of that while I checked on you...do you know what you were screaming Daybreak...?"

Nervously, Daybreak nodded, he had a pretty good idea of what he might have said.

"Why were you yelling things like that?"

Daybreak felt the tears brimming his eyes begin to fall free as he pulled away from her chest and sniffled loudly

"Well...I wasn't dreaming Twi...I was having a memory flash...in the form of a dream I guess"

"What could you have possibly been remembering sweetheart?"

He gave a visible shudder

"That night...that night all those years ago, when I got sucked into the portal and came here...I've never remembered so much before...I remembered some things from inside the portal"

Twilights ears perked up at that thought, they had each discussed several times what they thought had happened to him while inside that portal. At first Daybreak had thought he had just gone in one side and out the other, but if he had just been thrown eight years into the future, then how had his body aged too. Twilight's theory had always been that he had floated in limbo for eight or so years and that explained the aging. But their were still so many unanswered questions, and not enough facts to find out the truth, so this bit of news was like candy to her, and she momentarily forgot he was upset.

"Really, what was it like? What did you see? Was there anything else there with you? How did it feel?!"

"Twilight.."

He actually had to lean his head back for breathing room, she was making him hyperventilate with all the stress to his head.

"I'm sorry..."

"It's ok Twily"

He got control of his breathing and pulled her into a hug before she could start to feel bad

"To answer your questions...well...it was terrible...I think some horrific things may have happened to me while I was in there Twi...and I think my mind has just suppressed it...I always thought It was some kind of magic keeping me from remembering, but just from the little bit I saw in that dream...I think maybe I'm doing it myself...I'm not sure I even want to remember now"

Twilight was slightly disappointed to hear this, but nevertheless comforted him

"Don't worry Daybreak, you don't have to remember if you don't want to...if it was that bad, maybe it's best to just forget, we've been fine until now without knowing, we can live without it"

He smiled "I have the greatest wife ever"

He wrapped his hooves around her and squeezed her tightly while she blushed. The cries of a young filly brought a very distressed looking Sweetie Belle down the stairs, she came bolting down, clearly in a hurry, but stopped when she saw them

"Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwww" she squealed "That's sooooooo cute"

Blushing, the couple released each other "So what's wrong Sweetie Belle?" Twilight asked sheepishly

The little filly suddenly remembered she had indeed come down for a purpose

"Oh right...well Aurora is upset again...and she refuses to stop, she keeps yelling for her daddy to come up"

Twilight giggled "Aww, looks like your up sweetheart...tell you what, considering last night, how about you wait until tomorrow to go on that adventure with Discord? Spend today with Aurora and I'll tend to your supplies ok?"

Daybreak smiled weakly, still very shaken by his dream "You sure that's ok Twi, I'm sure I can at least pack on my own"

Twilight waved him away with her hoof as she stood up "It's fine it's fine, besides, I'll be better at your packing than you will anyways" She snickered as she left the room

Sweetie Belle giggled too "Can I stay a bit longer Daybreak? I said I'd meet up with Button and the others later, and it would be much less stressful getting ready here than at home with my sister"

Now it was Daybreaks turn to laugh "Sure Sweetie Belle, help yourself, I'm gonna go play with Aurora for a bit, try not to burn down our house while I'm upstairs...we live in a very flammable tree remember"

Sweetie Belle looked offended but laughed anyways, little did she know Daybreak was serious about it as he quickly ascended the stairs to save Spike from his grumpy filly.

Friend Like Me

The full brightness of morning broke through Daybreaks blinds quicker than he would have liked. It seemed like he had only just laid down with Aurora seconds ago, and the sun was already in full form. Granted everypony else was already up due to his incident earlier in the morning...but he still wanted to recover the sleep his nightmare had deprived him of. Though it seemed that would not be happening now, moments after he opened his eyes, Aurora opened hers as well and that told him his sleep was over. The little filly smiled brightly and extended her hooves to the sky, squeaking as she allowed the world to witness her morning stretch. With a yawn and quick rub of the eyes, the mini mare determined she was ready for another day, and demanded in her own language that her father get up and carry her to breakfast.

Judging by the flailing hooves directed mostly towards him, Daybreak deduced that Aurora wanted a piggy back ride from him, and no amount of magical power could save him from her cute little stare, so he gave in without a fight. One quick roll and fumble later, the stallion was out of bed, on his hooves, and ready to transport his passenger. Aurora wasted no time in mounting her stead, her sea grass green curls bounced as she jumped on his back, awaiting his response. With a very stereotypical neighing sound, Daybreak stood on his back hooves, flailing his front ones in front of his daughter and quickly bounded through the door down the stairs to the kitchen.

He zoomed past the kitchen too quick to stop, there was a quick yelp and a crash as everypony in the kitchen watched the brown stallion slide by the door and keep going, straight into the wall of the next room. Twilight, who was busy making pancakes, merely giggled without turning. She was sure she already knew what had happened

"Told you there was too much wax last night Spike"

Blushing, the young dragon ran from the room to retrieve Daybreak. He returned a moment later with the beaming stallion and his even more cheerful daughter riding on his back. Aurora didn't seem to mind in the least that her father had just driven her straight into a wall, as long as the ride continued, crashes were acceptable. Daybreak momentarily paused in the doorway to the kitchen, there were more ponies here than he remembered from the previous night. His eyes fell on the little brown colt siting next to Sweetie Belle at their breakfast table, his ever familiar propeller hat zooming away atop his head. Neither of the young ponies even noticed Daybreak, as they were both completely consumed by the little device beeping and blinking in Buttons hooves.

"Good morning Button, good morning Sweetie Belle"

Daybreak sat at the table with them, but they paid him no mind, he wasn't even sure they knew he was there. He shot a worried glance at Twilight, who was carefully balancing the spare dishes into one neat stack inside the sink with her magic. She looked over and waved her hoof dismissively

"Don't worry Daybreak, they always do that whenever he gets it out I'm told. It's called a...Joyboy...it think that's what Sweetie said"

"Did somepony say my name?"

Sweetie Belle looked up from the blinking device, seemingly unaware of where she was. Her eyes wide as though the morning light was only just registering to her. She looked over at Twilight, then to Spike, expecting an answer. Daybreak on the other hoof, was baffled

"Oh, so you notice when she calls you, but not when do it?"

"Oh hi Daybreak, good morning"

He smacked himself in the face with his hoof, Aurora began to giggle madly on his back, which finally seemed to grab Sweetie's full attention.

"Oh...wow how long have we been playing Button...Button?"

Sweetie looked back and saw that Button was still absorbed in his game. She shook her brown companion by the shoulders causing his body to do the worm in his seat. He persisted in his attempt to not look up from the game for several more seconds, but then Sweetie had a bright idea. She reached her arm out and placed it around Buttons neck, pulling the young colt close to her warm fur. She placed her lips neck to Buttons ear, Daybreak watched intently, anticipating a kiss...but was quickly caught of guard as Sweetie yelled at the top of her lungs

"BUUUUUUUTON MASH!"

"Waaaaaaaa!"

Button squealed, flinging his arms wildly in fear as he scrambled out of his chair and took most of the table with him! Daybreak quickly caught all the silverware in his magic, but merely watched as the table went down with Button instantly covering his whole body in its white cloth. Daybreak opened his muzzle to snatch the sheet from his head, but was stunned into paralysis by an earsplitting yell

"Ahhhhhhhh! Help I've gone blind! The darkness is everywhere, it's all around me! Help Help Heeeeeeelp!"

"Dear Celestia" Sweetie mumbled. She quickly hopped down from her chair, and pulled the sheet from Button. His faced morphed from terror to glee the moment he was greeted with light

"Oh thank you thank you Sweetie Belle"

She rolled her eyes but couldn't help and giggle at him. Daybreak was still rubbing his ears painfully, no male pony should be able to hit a pitch that high without a Cutie Mark for singing. Aurora seemed to be nothing but pleased from all the silliness, even Button's overly loud wails didn't seem to bother her. Daybreak found this astounding, as Buttons yell even made him tear up in pain.

After they quickly righted the table and Spike replaced the silverware back onto it. Twilight brought over breakfast, then gave Daybreak a good morning kiss on the cheek, which she held a little longer than usual.

"Ewwwwww!" Button made a disgusted face as he watched Twilight peck Daybreaks cheek. Twilight giggled while Daybreak attempted to sit Aurora in a high chair.

"What's the matter Button Mash?"

The brown colt was clearly unaware at how intently Sweetie Belle was staring at him as he responded to Twilight's question, otherwise he might have worded it differently.

"You kissed his cheek...that's gross."

Twilight put her hoof to her mouth to cover another giggle as Sweetie Belle violently stabbed her fork into a piece of pancake in front of her.

"What's gross about me kissing him?"

"Well...umm...It just seems really....weird I guess."

"And why is that Button Mash?"

Sweetie Belles voice had come out sour and rough, clearly forcing an upset tone, but Button didn't seem to pick up on it. He spoke up before Twilight could stop him

"Well...she's putting saliva all over his cheek...I guess that just seems really gross to me. Maybe it wouldn't if it was me or something...but it just seems yucky to watch."

Sweetie Belle stabbed another piece of her pancake with much more force than the last one and practically inhaled it into her mouth, with a rather sour look on her face that Twilight was sure had nothing to do with her cooking.

Meanwhile Daybreak, who had been attempting to listen while wrestling Aurora into the high chair, decided now was a good time to change the subject before Sweetie Belle used her fork on something other than food. Finally succeeding in restraining his struggling filly into the chair, Daybreak sighed with relief and took a step back from the table, as though afraid Aurora might escape easier if he was near her.

"Sooooo...Twilight....Umm...Doesn't estrus start soon for mares?"

Twilight had just picked up a stack of hay fries with her magic, but immediately dropped them onto Spikes head in surprise after Daybreaks question. The small dragon was not pleased as he quickly exited the table to clean himself, choosing not to return for some time. Twilight looked at him, shocked

"Daybreak?! I'm relatively sure that's not something we should be discussing over breakfast...and especially not with Sweetie  Belle and Button Mash sitting right here...How could this talk lead anywhere good for them?"

"Better than where the last one was leading."  Twilight opened her mouth to argue, but found that she had nothing to say as she saw the hostile look on Sweeties face. That was very blunt, but true in it's own way, at least for Button Mash.

"What's estrus?"

Twilight's momentary optimism vanished the moment the question left Buttons mouth. Her eyes lids lowered menacingly as she shot a glare of death at Daybreak. He attempted a smile, but it came out relatively weak and obviously forced, leaving him to merely shrug and hope for the best. Twilight gulped, she could only wonder how to avoid this talk. She hoped the "go to" response would work

"Umm I'm not really sure your mother would want us talking to you about that Button"

Scooping up a stack of hayfries with her magic, Twilight quickly began shoveling food into her mouth so as to avoid any talking. Daybreak wasn't sure whether to wince in disgust or chuckle at Twilights face. The fullness of her cheeks was both adorable and disturbing at the same time, though the sight of Twilight's terrible manners would have probably traumatized a pony like Rarity.

Button looked down at his plate slightly disappointed, then scooped a slice of pancakes for himself "Oh ok then..."

Although the disappointment in his voice was obvious, Daybreak was sure Button would get over it quickly...or probably would have if it wasn't for Sweetie Belle

"No it's ok Twilight! His mother trusts me with him and I wanna know too. Rarity said this year would be my first estrus anyways, so who better to hear it from than you?"

Twilight shot a worried glance in Daybreaks direction "Really? It's already you're first year...I guess that means it's about time for Applebloom and Scootaloo as well?"

Sweetie beamed "Yeah! We were all gonna get together to see what it was like and what to do, since nopony will really tell us about it other than calling it some really powerful heat thingy...we thought we'd just take an ice bath or something all day."

Twilight ceased chewing her most recent batch of hay fries, she quickly grasped at her throat to keep from choking as she struggled to hide her laughter and swallow. Meanwhile Button continued to look more and more confused.

"So it gets really hot for mares or something?" Daybreak could see the chaos this situation could easily brew for Button and Sweetie Belle, so before anything got out of hoof he decided to act.

"Hey Button, how about you come with me and Aurora out on a walk to the lake, I think Twilight and Sweetie Belle have some girl talk to...umm...talk about..."

"Awww but I wanna learn about this heat thingy"

"Trust me you will" Daybreak mumbled under his breathe

"What was that?"

He pretended to cover over his last words with a cough "I said you can some other time, but for now come walk with me, you can teach me about video games. Come on dude, think about how many other ponies get to say they played video games with the prince?"

Button considered this for a moment, gently tapping his fork against his chin. Clearly this was a hard offer to refuse. After a moment of deep thought, Button began to smile wildly and nodded his head

"Ok, let's go!"

Daybreak exited his seat and looked to Twilight. After receiving a nod of approval, he whisked Aurora away from her prison-like chair, and with the help of Button, was able to set her in a safety seat upon his back. She looked more like his rider than his filly, but nevertheless grinned happily. It didn't matter that she couldn't trot around next to her daddy, as long as her hooves were free to grab the many wondrous items of the world, she was content.  Her grin showed Daybreak she was ready to depart, with one final click, her safety belt magically locked itself in place along her tiny chest, securing her firmly on her daddy's back. Daybreak began to strut in place pretending to try and buck off his filly

"I am the very model of a modern little unicorn" he said in a sing-song voice, lightly kicking out his back hoofs to bounce Aurora in her seat.

"You are anything but little Daybreak"

"Aw you're just saying that cause it's true" he replied with a wink

Twilights smug smirk along with the flutter of her wings told Daybreak of his success in humor, along with the small chuckles of Button and Sweetie Belle on the side.

With a small bow, Daybreak kicked open the front door using his back leg, and began his exit.

"See ya later Twily...come on Button" He waved, ushering Button along. Quickly grabbing his Joyboy from the table, Button quickly followed after Daybreak as he made his way towards Ponyville town square.

Almost immediately after the door shut, Twilight let out a sigh of relief, slumping down slightly in her chair.

"Phew, I thought he'd never leave."

Sweetie Belle was surprised to hear Twilight say something like that. It seemed like Twilight loved every moment Daybreak was around, now she was glad he left?

"You're happy he went out?"

"Well of course.." She stood up from the table and began to collect the dishes within her magic "I know you're not around here very much Sweetie Belle, so you don't know, but...trying to do dishes with Daybreak around is an absolute nightmare."

"Oh..." She had been thinking along a completely different line. She mentally noted to herself that she had to stop taking the way relationships went with her sister into comparison with everypony else.

"So...Why is it a nightmare?"

A small blush quickly formed on Twilight face "Well...ummm...Daybreak is a very...umm..."

Her mind jumped back to the last morning she had tried to do the dishes right after breakfast.

.....

"Oh! Oh ohhhh! Daybreak! Ahhhh! Not nngh! Here...we could get seen by Spike...or anypony who looks through the window ahhhhh!"

"That's what makes it exciting Twilight...don't deny, you like it too...I can feel how wet you are around me right now"

"Ahhh ahh Ahhhhh! That's because you won't...mmmph stop..."

Twilight let out several moans as Daybreak buried himself over and over again inside her marehood! She was bent over the sink with half her chest soaked in water while Daybreak laid over her back and plowed ever deeper into her rear! She had only bent over for a second to retrieve the dish soap...and he had leapt on her that quickly.

.....

Twilight shivered as the memory ran through her spine, causing a tingle to linger in her neithers.

"Hor...Active...he's a very active stallion Sweetie Belle"

"Oh...does he like...knock over the dishes when he's around or something?"

Luckily it seemed Sweetie hadn't caught what Twilight had almost said.

"Yeeeeeeah...something like that..." "There had certainly been a few broken dishes after that..."

Luckily that thought stayed in her head.

"Oh I guess that makes sense...Rarity says I'm a train wreck with the dishes...she rarely lets me help with them anymore..."

Twilight smiled despite Sweeties very clear disappointment, happy at the quick change of subject away from her and Daybreak

"Oh I'm sure you aren't that bad Sweetie Belle. Come on, you can help me put these ones away. Plus it will be good magic practice of you try it with your horn."

"But..."

"Don't worry about breaking them Sweetie, don't forget I have a filly and a stallion who live with me...the dishes have a self-repairing spell in them since the last incident."

This clearly brightened Sweetie's day, as her eyes lit up like miniature green candles at the news

"Ooh that's awesome, ok!"

She gracefully hopped down from her seat and began to attempt moving the dishes with her own magic. Her horn ignited in its own greenish color, hers was slightly brighter than Aurora's  but Twilight still couldn't help but note the similarity between them.

Sweetie clenched her eyes shut, pressing her eye lids together with an extreme force as she attempted to surround a small amount of the breakfast plates in her spell. Her clenched face, combined with the small beads of sweat she formed on her brow gave off the distinct impression that she seriously needed the restroom. Were she not so focused on watching Sweetie's attempt, Twilight would have found it hard to suppress her giggles at the sight.

Luckily it seemed Sweetie had kept up with her practice like she had promised, for a few moments later after a series of small grunts from Sweetie, the plates were surrounded in a bright green field of magic. Then they began to levitate, shakily, into the air and set themselves in a neat pile inside the sink. Although several of the dishes gave some dangerous wobbles on the short trip through the air, Twilight was impressed to see that Sweetie managed to keep a grip on every plate, and stack them all in the sink without a single one breaking.

Once she was done, she made her way back into the library's main room and collapsed to her haunches on a cushion. She chuckled to herself as she panted, Twilight joined her a moment later with a smile of her own

"What's so funny Sweetie Belle?"

With a light giggle, Sweetie said "I was kind of hoping I'd break one...so I could see the spell put it back together"

Twilight facehoofed herself and immediately turned to head back to the kitchen. "Oh Sweetie Belle..." She shook her head, laughing to herself "I better finish washing the dishes...you can practice more in here and I'll join you once I'm done"

Sweetie Belle answered her with a grin, waiting until Twilight left the room completely before starting on some larger objects...like the bookshelves.

.....

The walk to town square transpired just like any normal walk might...if one had a young colt and filly with them. Button trotted by Daybreak's side the whole time playing his Joyboy, with a surprising ability to not run into anything while he walked. Meanwhile Aurora attempted to grab at everything that passed by her face, her hooves were constantly outstretched and seeking to embrace the world.

However, it was when they made it past town square and into the markets, that things got interesting. It seemed striking up a conversation with Button was the only way to remove his attention from the Joyboy, so Daybreak did just that, and luckily it worked. Button stowed the Joyboy in the small pack he had brought hanging from his neck, apparently it was made specifically to hold his console when it was not in use while he traveled.

Hoping to understand the small colt better, Daybreak asked him to tell some things about himself and what he liked, knowing right away that it would lead into video game talk. Although he knew he could learn if he wanted, Daybreak truly didn't have the drive to become as "hard core" at it as Button and Sweetie Belle supposedly were. While Button talked about his games and what each of them was about, Aurora took in the sights of the town. Having only traveled out of the house a few times in her year in Ponyville, she was mesmerized by everything she saw. On more than one occasion, a butterfly would flutter by and land atop her small nose for a moment. Aurora would stare at the creature with cross eyes for as long as it would linger. Then eventually she decided that she must catch the next one she saw, after which every butterfly landing became a small game to her.

The insect would land on her, or Daybreaks back somewhere, and Aurora would stare at it like a hungry predator, waiting for the right moment to pounce upon it's prey. Sometimes she would stare for several minutes, but then, eventually the same thing always happened. She would slowly raise her hoof, or both hooves above her head. Then in a lightning fast sweep or strike, she would bring down her hooves and attempt to snatch up the elusive insect. Sadly she never seemed to succeed, but that didn't make her any less determined, in fact it only seemed to make her try harder the next time.

Eventually Daybreak and his duo made it past the markets, after a small incident involving Aurora snatching up a random pillow from a stand and refusing to give it up. Daybreak ended up paying for the thing and allowing her to continuing squeezing it all the way to the meadow. The pillow was about the same size she was, so she was completely entertained by it, which made Daybreak confident he could set her down once they were settled near the lakes edge. He wasn't foolish enough to believe he could ever take his eyes off her, especially around the lake where they were heading, but at least she would get to experience one of Dash and Pinkie's favorite hangout spots.

.....

Arriving at the lake was the first moment of relief Daybreak received from Buttons talk of video games. He was beginning to wonder if the young colt did anything else with his spare time other than gaming and occasionally hanging out with Sweetie Belle. The plus to his nonstop gabber was that he seemed so enthralled by their talk, he didn't realize half of what he was saying. So the few times he drifted away from video games and talked about the Crusaders, Daybreak was able to get a very clear image of what he thought of each of them. He clearly admired Sweetie Belle, that much was obvious, and Daybreak was relatively sure he was crushing hard on her and she on him, but neither one realized it. Just by his description of her "perfect pink and purple curls, that flowed down her head with the grace and elegance of a princess" and her "harmonic and alluring" singing voice, Daybreak knew the little gamer was in deep with the mushies for the mini marshmallow mare.

He was also able to find out that Button was terrified of any plan made by Scootaloo during their crusading, and that he thought she was the craziest of the three. He also seemed to admire Appleblooms relationship with her sister Applejack, apparently him and his brother weren't quite as close as those two and that made Button slightly envious of their relationship. However beyond the basics feelings for the Crusaders, Daybreak could never seem to keep Button on one subject for long before he would drift back to video games (and occasionally Sweetie Belle), Daybreak preferred the latter to the former.

After awhile, a series of whines from his back gave Daybreak reason to turn away from Buttons talking, Daybreak craned his neck back to see his filly desperately reaching out for a squirrel a few meters away. The small rodent was sitting next to the tree Daybreak had intended to set up camp next to for a picnic. It was clearly uninterested in Aurora as it focused its attention on something much more important, the succulent acorn in its tiny paws. As it gnawed away on its treat, Aurora struggled desperately to free herself from Daybreaks safety seat. After several failed attempts at tugging and pulling, she began to whimper softly in Daybreaks ear, apparently she had already discovered one secret of the universe, cute crying fillies usually get what they want...Daybreak knew his heart wouldn't take the sight of his filly crying, so he quickly released her from her prison, saving himself the heart trouble. He held her in his hooves and brought her close to his muzzle

"Now listen sweetie, don't go running off too far ok? I'm gonna put you down now and you can go play with the animals...but don't wander far, you don't know how to swim yet so you gotta be careful ok?"

He knew their was little chance she understood everything he just said, she was smart, but not a genius...at least as far as he knew. However she either understood enough to comply, or just knew to nod, she nodded her head quickly and squeaked to be released. Daybreak smiled and set her down in the soft grass. Aurora yipped with glee as the soft blades tickled her hooves, but she quickly brought all of her attention to her target of choice...the squirrel menace. She dropped low into the ticklish grass as she spotted her prey, still noming on his acorn. She stared and began to slowly stalk her way towards the small rodent, carefully and slowly making her way through the brilliant cover of the grass.

Daybreak found the sight extremely cute, he would have loved to take a picture, but sadly he had not elected to bring a camera. That's when he remembered

"Oh right!...Duh!"

With a small fizzle of his horn, a black camera popped into existence around his neck, and he quickly snapped a photo of Aurora stalking the now alert squirrel. Button had stopped his video game talk long before this and merely watched in awe every time Daybreaks horn lit up and did something.

"Man...I wish I could do that too...just imagine how much better I'd be at video games if I could just think about something happening, and then it did! That would be so coooool!"

Daybreak raised an eyebrow "Doesn't Sweetie Belle use her magic when she plays?"

Button shook his head, his smile growing bigger "Naw, she says it wouldn't be fair to me if she did something like that...plus I don't think she's practiced enough with her horn to do that yet..."

Daybreak had to give Button some credit, he had probably already seen first hoof how Sweetie Belle could get, especially when she's competitive or dead set on something...and he hadn't run in fear...or maybe he had and just came back, he couldn't really tell.

"Ya know Button...I think you and me are alike in a lot of ways"

Button actually began laughing right then. He full on, completely fell over in the grass and began laughing hysterically! Even clutching at his chest as though he was in severe pain! Daybreak was so surprised at the instant reaction he didn't know what to say for a moment.

Aurora's ears perked up from her hiding spot within the grass, even she was interested in why Button would be laughing all of the sudden

"What's so funny?" Daybreak felt as though he was missing some inside joke. Button rolled over onto his belly and continued his laughter

"Y-you said we were alot alike...that's rich!"

"You think that's funny?"

Button ceased laughing almost just as instantly when he heard Daybreak's tone. He wasn't laughing back, but he wasn't upset either, he sounded serious.

"Wait...you weren't joking?"

Daybreak shook his head.

"What? You can't be serious...you're a prince, not to mention some kind of half god-like-thing that can turn into a whole other creature, so I've heard...and me...I'm just a normal, dorky, brown earth pony, who plays too many video games...How are we anything alike?"

Daybreak sat himself down in the grass next to Button and extended his hoof, gently placing it upon his shoulder.

"You aren't just another earth pony whose dorky and plays too many video games...You are much more than that...And although I admit the games seem a bit excessive at first, you're just doing what you love and there is nothing wrong with that, and don't ever let anypony tell you differently..."

"Love...yeah..." Button repeated the word back to him as though he was thinking about something, deeply. Daybreak couldn't help but smirk

"You know Button, I think the real reason you and I are so alike is because of Sweetie Belle."

"What's Sweetie Belle have to do with anything?"

"Oh Button...You're just like me when I was a young colt...completely clueless about mares"

"Hey!...That's not nice.."

Daybreak could see tiny tears beginning to form in Buttons eyes, he even saw him start sniffling.

"Oh Dear Luna he's gonna cry! Oh that's bad!"

Daybreak quickly placed his hoof atop Buttons head and began ruffling his mane through his propeller hat. Button began squirming beneath his hoof as he attempted to escape

"Ahh! Quit it!"

Daybreak chuckled "I was only teasing you Button...what I meant to say was...I know you like Sweetie Belle."

Button froze stiff so quickly Daybreak slid his hoof right off his head as he went to ruffle his mane again. He quickly regained himself and turned to see a terrified looking Button Mash staring at him.

"Button?"

Buttons eyes began filling up with tears.

"Button are you ok?"

He started sniffling, his breaths increasing in pace

"Button I'm not gonna-"

"Waaaaaaaaaaaa! Ahhhhhhhhhhh! Waaaaaaaaaaa!"

"Sweet Celestia!"

Buttons cries hit a pitch that was like hoof nails against a chalk board for Daybreaks ears! He gripped his ears down in pain and attempted to bury his face in the dirt to escape the horrible sound!

.....

Meanwhile, Aurora had finally closed in on the squirrel and was within sufficient pouncing distance by her calculations. She posed herself to attack, and reared her hind legs for the strike...then a bloodcurdling screech ripped through the air around her, alerting the squirrel to her presence! It took a single look at her and how close she had come, then scurried off towards the lakes edge into the safety of another tree. Aurora's eyes filled with water, she had been so close...what terrible monster would sabotage her in such a way? She looked around for the source of the horrendous screaming...but it had suddenly ceased. She then looked back towards the lake, where the squirrel was comfortably sitting next to a tree that a had peculiar looking contraption tied to its branch, it looked like wooden seat, but not like any she had seen around her home. Her curiosity was peeked and her desire for the hunt, reignited. She crushed the tears brimming her eyes with her eyelids and proceeded to crawl her way down to the waters edge.

.....

Daybreak tightened his grip around Buttons mouth, silencing his unbearable cries but denying him air as well. Button began to freak out even more at the sudden attack by Daybreaks hoof and struggled within his grasp. Daybreak only held him tighter

"Button, you need to stop screaming...I'm gonna let go now...just calm down ok?"

Not waiting for a response for fear Button would suffocate himself before actually calming down, Daybreak released Button from his grip. Button stumbled away and began gasping for breath with exceeded exaggeration. He took in a few quick breaths then proceeded to sit down on his haunches and begin whimpering to himself again, though not as loudly as before.

Daybreak felt awful, making Button Mash afraid of him and upset was not his intention at all, and now the poor little guy was crying again. He gave himself a mental slap on the head and vowed to never react that way to his daughter, he wanted her to grow up without ever denying he loved her, like so many kids do at some point.

He reached over and placed his hoof around Buttons shoulders and neck, then pulled him close. Button cringed in fear, afraid he was going to be smothered again and attempted to pull away. Seeing his fear, Daybreak gave the colt a sharp pull around the neck and brought him to his chest, practically enveloping him in his warm and cozy coat. Button resisted the hug for a moment, then began to slowly relax in the embrace. Daybreak patted Button on the head

"I'm so sorry I smothered you for a bit there Button, and I'm also really sorry I said that you liked Sweetie Belle, I didn't know you would react that way. I was just sure you had a small crush on her was all..."

Button sniffled loudly, rubbing his hoof along his nose "I...I do kind of like Sweetie Belle. That wasn't why I was crying."

"Oh? Then why were you crying?"

Button gave another sniffle "Because I don't want you to tell her...I'm not really sure how I feel about her...Until lately most other ponies, especially mares, were really annoying and mean to me. Sweetie Belle and her friends are so different and nice...I don't wanna mess that up just cause I like her and she doesn't like me back..."

Daybreak could easily understand Buttons fear, although his situation with Twilight back as a colt and when he first arrived had been different both times, he knew how scared Button was of being rejected. He gently removed Button from his chest and looked directly into his amber colored eyes, placing a hoof upon his shoulder

"Button...this is why I think you and I are so similar...I was in a similar situation with Twilight a long time ago when I was your age, and then again a few years later when we met up here...I didn't tell her how I really felt when I was your age even though I was sure of my feelings for the longest time...In fact I rarely even spoke to her...but you don't have to do what I did. You and Sweetie Belle are already great friends, I can tell just by watching you two talk to each other. I can't say I know she definitely likes you back, but that shouldn't hold you back, if you think she's pretty, tell her that and see what she says. If you think she's the most beautiful mare you've ever laid eyes on...tell her that...in private though. If you think she's unspeakably sexy, don't be afraid to be honest with her. If you two really are great friends, then even if she doesn't feel the same way about you, your friendship will be just fine...ok?"

Daybreak eagerly awaited a response from Button, he was quite proud of the way he had worded his mini lecture to the young gamer. Perhaps it was just from good practice with the large crowds he sometimes had to address, or maybe it was because he truly believed what he had just said. Button sat and thought for a moment, tapping his hoof against his chin. Although Button was clearly thinking hard about what had just been said to him, Daybreak still couldn't help but feel like he was on the edge of his seat, figuratively, anticipating Buttons response. His momentary patience was rewarded when Button dropped his hoof and smiled brightly at him

"OK then Daybreak, I'll tell her how I feel...In fact let's go, I wanna go back and march inside and tell her right now!"

Daybreaks fur stood on edge as Button stood up to leave. Daybreak quickly grasped him by the shoulders and sat him back down

"Whoa there Romeo! Calm down and let's talk first."

"Umm...ok?"

Button made himself comfy in the grass again and waited for Daybreaks word. Daybreak took a moment to realize that Button was waiting for him to start the talk. He cleared his throat

"Well...Um...Isn't there anything you wanna know before just charging off to her Button...I mean mares are pretty complicated creatures, you gotta know how to say what you're saying..."

"I have a question."

"Oh...well that was fast...what is it?"

"What's it mean if you think somepony is sexy?" He air quoted himself when said the word sexy as though he had never heard it before.

Daybreaks face flushed slightly "Why would you want to know something like that Button?"

"Well you said it a few moments ago referring to Sweetie Belle...I'm assuming it's like a form of pretty?"

Hesitantly Daybreak nodded, mentally slapping himself again for not being more careful with his words "Yeah, in a way, but it's like the best thing you can say to a mare" He looked at the gleam in Buttons eye and quickly added "But you should be careful about that word Button...maybe you save it for some other time? I'd stick to just being honest with her for now."

"Mmhm.."

Daybreak noticed the distant stare he was receiving from Button, he had the distinct impression he had lost him to his thoughts

"Button are you even listening"

"Hm?...What?...Yeah...yeah I heard you. Be honest with her right?"

"Yep.."

A moment passed and neither of the ponies said a word, Button continued to stare off into space, and Daybreak continued to watch him stare. For a brief moment, Daybreak considered trying to read his mind with magic, just to understand what could possibly be distracting him, but he quickly dismissed the thought. Entering another's mind wasn't something he had tried on anything with complex thoughts yet. He had only tested it on a frog so far, and surprisingly enough...nothing really complex went on in their heads.

Other than mind reading, Daybreak could only think of one other way to get this colts full attention. He wanted to help this little guy hit it off with Sweetie Belle, but that meant motivating him to try first. He had been ready and rearing a moment ago, but had no idea what he was doing. It was time to get to teaching...

"Say Button?"

"Hm?"

"There's something I wanna show you...so pay attention ok?"

"O-ok?"

Button shook his head, regaining his focus. He just noticed there was an odd amount of light building up around the tip of Daybreaks horn "What are you gonna show me"

"Just watch...I haven't done this in awhile so it'll take a sec to remember how...in the meantime, I wanna let you know something...I've decided I'm going to help you, in making Sweetie Belle fall head over hooves for you."

Buttons jaw dropped "Wait...what!?"

"I'm gonna help you with Sweetie Belle, not just bits of advice, I'm gonna actually help you do things to make her like you."

Picking his jaw up from the grass, Button stared at Daybreak, fully expecting him to burst out laughing at any moment. Oddly enough he didn't, he just kept his gaze fixed on Button while his horn continued to glow brighter and brighter with each passing moment. Button rubbed the back of his head in confusion

"I must be dreaming..."

A smirk crept its way onto Daybreaks lips

"Why would you say that?"

"Because...this is too weird...I just met you yesterday...I've heard stories about you and Twilight for a long time now so I know you're supposed to be really nice and kind and stuff...but now your just suddenly offering to help me with Sweetie Belle because...you feel like it...it's too weird..."

The smirk Daybreak bore across his muzzle broke into a full grin just as his horn tip began shooting tiny sparks from within. With a quick flash of bright green light, Daybreaks whole body began to change shape. Button shielded his eyes with his leg and saw only the outline of what transpired. Within the flash of green Daybreaks body quickly morphed from one shape to the next, shrinking and expanding in some places, while bulking and extending in others. Within a few quick seconds, the green light faded away and Daybreak was left standing before Button Mash, much taller than he had previously been.

His body had changed back into his humanoid form, (or as his father called it, his natural, chaotic state). His legs and arms had reappeared, replacing his hooves. His clawed hands cracked as he moved his knuckles around testing his old form. Button stood, wide eyed, he now had to look up significantly more to see into Daybreaks eyes. His new look was quite scary, at least he thought so...Though he could still make out plenty of features that identified him as the stallion who had previously just been standing before him. Daybreaks green and white streaked hair and tail remained.  His cutie mark still blazed across his hips as well, and even his smile seemed pretty much the same, although now it was more squished against his face without a muzzle. He was in utter bewilderment

"Now I know I'm dreaming..."

Daybreak split his lips apart into another grin. His teeth were much more obvious in this form, and they were clearly much sharper too, a detail Button did not fail to notice.

"Button, I don't think you realize what you've got here..."

"What?"

With a quick snap of his fingers, Daybreak completely changed the area underneath Button. Without warning Button found himself seated upright in a cushiony chair facing Daybreak, who was still smiling

"Why don't you just roominate, whilst I illuminate your possibilities" Another snap of his fingers caused trumpets and a piano to appear, each instrument reacted in synch and began to play as a microphone appeared in Daybreaks grasp.

*Trumpets playing*

"Well Alibaba had them forty thieves,

Scheherazade had a thousand tails...

Well Button you, in luck cause, up your sleeve you got a brand a magic never fails"

"What the-?" Suddenly Button was on his hooves, in the center of a boxing ring, holding what appeared to be...a golden lamp with Daybreaks Cutie Mark blazing across it's top. Daybreak appeared behind him and began rubbing his shoulders.

"You got ze power in your corner now

Some heavy ammunition in your camp."

You got ze punch

Pizzas!

Yahoo and how!

See all ye gotta do is rub that lamp

And I'll say..."

"What will you say?" The intrigued colt was unable to help himself as Daybreak appeared in a suit and tie, carrying a note pad and pen

"Mister Button sir

What will your pleasure be?

Let me take your order

Jot it down

You ain't never had a friend like me! Waaahaaaaho!"

Buttons vision plunged into darkness again, when it reappeared, he was sitting at what seemed like a fancy dining table. Daybreak appeared a moment later still wearing the suit and tie, but carrying a menu instead

"Life is your restaurant and...

I'm your Maitre'D!

Come on whisper what it is you want

You ain't never had a friend like me

Yes sir, I pride myself on service

Your the Boss, the King, the Shah!"

Buttons hat suddenly vanished and was replaced by a rather large and unsightly looking, yellow crown, while Daybreak carried two giant trays of what looked like...cake? Both were labeled

"It's what you wish

It's yours, true dish

How 'bout a little more baklavaaaaa?

Have some of column A

Try all of column B

I'm in the mood, to help ya dude

You ain't never had a friend like me Ohhhh!"

Daybreak grasped Buttons right foreleg and gave him a quick spin in his chair. As he spun, his clothing changed again, this time he wore a suit and tie, but with lace at the top and bottom seams of the overcoat

"Whaaaaaaaaaa!"

"Oh my!"

Daybreak spun him again, Button continued his dizzy yells as his clothing shot off and changed again

"Wahhhhhhhhh!"

"No No"

"Whhhaaaaahhhhhaaaa!

"My my my..."

"Ooof ow ouch ahhh!"

Daybreak stopped his spinning as Button's suit finally looked perfect and held out a large vase full of water

"Can your friends do this?"

Smokey air filled the vases interior, within seconds the entire inside was full of bright, red and yellow flowers of varying sizes and shapes exploding outwards in bloom!

"Can your friends do that?"

Daybreak pointed behind Button, whose jaw dropped again as a box of Germane (puns) chocolates grew from the ground and plopped into place at Buttons hooves. Button picked them up and turned back to Daybreak, who was suddenly holding a black top hat within his grasp

"Can your friends pull this..."

He reached within the hat and withdrew a diamond necklace that almost perfectly resembled the diamonds in his Minecraft game.

"Out their little haaaaaaaat

Can your friends go POOF!"

Suddenly Sweetie Belle appeared in front of Button, he was startled into paralysis as she leaned forward and kissed his cheeks, but then immediately vanished, leaving Button slightly saddened that it was only an illusion

"Well looky here, haha..

Can your friends go Abrakadabra let 'er rip!

And then make the sucker disappeaaaaaar?

So don't ya sit there slack jawed

Buggy eyed

I'm here ta answer all your midday prayers

Ya got me Bone, Fide' certified

You gotta prince for your Chaire' De Faires."

Daybreak quickly took Buttons hoof and began rubbing it quickly across the lamp that he mysteriously had once again

I got a powerful urge, to help you out

So whatcha wish I really wanna know

You got the list that's three miles long no doubt

So all ya gotta do is rub like so and ohhhhhh"

Daybreak and Button were suddenly in the sky, above the tree house. Inside Sweetie Belles voice could be heard giggling loudly as Buttons name was mentioned, but the dialogue was incomprehensible.

"Mister Button sir

Have a wish or two or threeeee

I'm on the job

You big nabob

You ain't never had friend

Never had a friend

You ain't

Never had a friend, never had a friend

You ain't never

Had a

Frieeeeeeeeeend liiiiiiiiiike meeeeeee

A liiiiiiiiiiiiike meeeeeeeeeeee

Liiiiiiiike meeeeeee

You ain't never had a friend like me

Wow!"

A flash of light blinded Button, and suddenly they were back at the grassy lake sitting under the shade of the tree. Button looked to his right and saw Daybreak sitting with his legs crossed, a huge grin on his face as a green neon sign blazed above his head that continuously flashed the word "Applause". Button took the hint and began to applaud his hooves together with added enthusiasm. The many items Daybreak had created during his small show were scattered about around the tree, he quickly began to collect them all within his grasp. Even Buttons tux was present on his body, but he felt as though he was missing something...something extremely important if this was too work. In fact, he was certain that this single item may be the key to winning over Sweetie Belle. Turning to Daybreak, who was still smiling with his sign, Button said in his most serious voice

"I need a mustache!"

"What?!"

Daybreak had leaned back on his flanks so far he had fallen onto his back in surprise and bumped his head against the tree. Rubbing behind his skull, he returned to his feet with haste and stared down at Button

"Why would you need a mustache Button? And why do you think that would help?"

"Just trust me!" His voice was still deep and serious. It actually made the young colt sound intimidating, but Daybreak found it more humorous than anything. Nevertheless he nodded in agreement and cracked his knuckles together. Extending a single finger forward shaped like a pistol, Daybreak fired a small jet of magic to Buttons upper lip. Before his eyes, a black mustache sprouted forth from Buttons face completely covering his upper lip and curling subtly at the end. Button reached up and stroked his furry companion with a barely held back giddiness

"Yay! Thanks Daybreak!"

Despite rolling his eyes very obviously, Daybreak was happy to have joyed the colt...although he couldn't let him get too caught up in his new facial hair

"Don't mess with it too much Button, it's not real. One good tug and it'll come right off"

Disappointment flooded onto Buttons face at Daybreaks words, his stroking ceased at once

"Aww...But why'd you make it fake?"

"Because I highly doubt your mother would approve of me giving you facial hair for no reason"

"B-but it's not for no reason! It's for a super important reason, there is literally no other reason more important than this!"

Daybreak was unable to suppress his chuckles "Oh really?"

Realizing his words, Buttons cheek blushed and he suddenly took a great interest in staring at his own hooves. Daybreak couldn't help but smile, he could only hope he could raise Aurora to be as sweet as the Crusaders or Button....wait a second...

"Sweet Luna! AURORA!!!"

He yelled so loud that Button actually jumped back from him in fear as Daybreak frantically began searching the surrounding area for his filly

"Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! I'm so irresponsible! How could I forget about little Aurora! Oh where is she..."

Daybreak began to mentally kick himself over and over as he sped around and up the tree searching for his filly. For fear of being trampled, Button retreated a safe distance away from the tree and Daybreak. He knew from experience that a frantic parent was a force to be reckoned with. One time as a very young colt, he had hid from his mother for a whole hour to avoid taking a bath...the results were not pleasant. His mother had panicked so badly, she had ended up literally tearing the hinges off his closet door to try and find him! Daybreak was already intimidating enough without being a frightened parent, Button had no desire to get involved in that mess.

"OhmygoshTwilightisgoingtokillme!"

He was so out of it that he was beginning to change random objects in the environment without noticing. Button however, noticed very easily...When the grass around him became a field of chocolate bars, he began to worry...

Daybreak was on the edge of his wits with fear, guilt, and sadness all jumbled into one! He was ready to turn the whole area temporarily barren to find her...when he heard the softest of sounds coming from the direction of the lake. He actually smacked himself in the face for his own thoughtlessness as he realized she must be near the waters edge, and took off at full sprint down to the lake!

Button saw Daybreak turn and sprint at full speed from his perch towards the lake and quickly galloped after him as fast as his tiny legs would take him.

He reached the watery surface of the lake in a matter of seconds and continued to run straight for the water. Without stopping he magically charged his feet and ran across the lake surface for a few feet before skidding to a halt on the smooth water. He looked around frantically for any sign of his filly, even going so far as to plunge his face below the surface of the water to see if she was attempting to swim...but still saw nothing

"Oh my gosh...I'm dead...I'm so dead...so very very very dead...Twilight's gonna kill me for losing Aurora...and what's worse...she'd be right to...How could I take my eyes off her for even a second knowing how she is..."

Just then...even with his face plunged beneath the water, Daybreak heard a squeaky voice above the surface say

"Daaaaaaaddy?"

He was above the water quicker than his ears could take, and he grasped them in pain as they briefly popped. But he didn't care, for at the edge of the lake, he saw Button Mash holding Aurora in his arms, both waving at him...and Aurora had a squirrel held in her mouth. The front half hanging out the right side of her lips and the back hanging from her mouths left side, giving her a very weird looking smile. The squirrel was alive, and clearly displeased at being handled the way it was, but he was in no position to scratch or harm anypony, but it probably thanked it's lucky stars Aurora had no teeth yet.

Daybreak quickly bolted back to the beach then zoomed over to his filly so quickly, he created a small sand castle behind him. He grasped her up into his arms and squeezed her tightly against his chest. Aurora gave several disapproving squeaks as Daybreaks wet fur, now much fluffier due to his changed appearance, soaked her as she was forcefully hugged.

"Oh sweetie, I'm so sorry I forgot about you I'm such a bad parent I swear it will never happen again and...why do you have a squirrel in your mouth?

Aurora obviously understood his question, for at that moment she smiled large enough for Daybreak to see the rest of the squirrel held between her lips. She was clearly holding it delicately, despite having no teeth she had a pretty good grip on the creature and somehow wasn't harming it either. He definitely wouldn't be going anywhere without aid. Daybreak knew better than to try and aid the squirrel for fear of invoking his daughters wrath...or worse, her sadness. Plus he kind of wanted to know how she had caught it anyways. Turning to Button he signaled for him to climb onto his back as he morphed back down into his pony form.

A brief second later he was a stallion again and still holding Aurora in his arms. Button quickly climbed atop his back, then took Aurora from Daybreak and placed her back into her safety seat, which had also reformed itself on Daybreak. Aurora didn't seem to mind in the least that she had just watched her father change shape back into a pony, Button couldn't help but notice her lack of a reaction

"Daybreak...how come Aurora didn't even flinch when you picked her up in your other form...or when you just changed back to pony? Has she already seen it or something?"

Daybreak gave a quick shake of his rear to make sure both Button and Aurora were secure on him. When no filly or colt fell from his back, he began walking with a smirk

"Well...no...she hasn't seen it before, I haven't done that since she was born. But to be honest, I'm not really that surprised she didn't freak out actually."

Buttons ears perked "Really?...How come?"

"Well...She's not exactly a normal filly in case you haven't noticed..."

Button looked at Aurora as she nomed on the squirrels tummy

"Yeah...I've noticed"

"Yeah...I've never seen a filly act the way she does...I can't wait to see how she behaves as she gets older"

Daybreak chuckled as he ignited his horn, a green mist sprang out from within his tip then quickly shot back to Button and Aurora. It surrounded the two young ponies, then seemed to just melt onto their bodies, like a sticky layer of syrup. Aurora paid it no mind and continued to play with the squirrel, Button however, freaked out and began to frantically look over his suit for signs of damage

"Agggh! What did you do?!"

"Calm down Button, It's just a health spell. In case that squirrel is sick or carrying any kind of disease, I wouldn't want you or Aurora getting ill. It's nothing to worry about."

Button stared at his hoof, he could swear he saw a hint of green on his coat. He began scrubbing his hooves together with extreme force. Daybreak could feel him vibrating on his back

"Um Button? What are you doing back there?"

"Nothing!" He continued his scrubbing, determined to rid any hint of green from his coat or tux should he find any.

Daybreak sighed as they continued their march home, this was going to be a long day when they got back...he could just tell.

The Beginning of Something More...

Craaaaaaaash!

"Oh come on!"

Sweetie Bells voice echoed across the library even louder than the crashing bookshelf did, as it made its decent towards the floor. Twilight cringed, her wings folding over her face to shield her eyes from the horrendous scene that unfolded before her. She couldn't bare to watch as the bookshelf, which contained at least twenty of her oh so precious, reading material crashed into the ground and exploded into splinters!

The crashing sound and shattering afterward implied that, not only had Sweetie Belle lost her concentration somewhere along the levitation and caused the shelf to drop...but she had also used too much power trying to save it before it crashed, and the added magic had caused it to explode into many wooden bits across the floor.  Slowly, Twilight lowered her wings from her face, revealing the gorey crime laid out across her home. The bookshelf was nothing more than a pile of splinters scattered around a blushing, yet very frustrated looking, Sweetie Belle. Twilight flew forward and began viciously rummaging through the remains in a desperate attempt to confirm her books survival.

Sweetie Belle sighed aloud and kicked the nearest piece of the bookshelf's debris in frustration.

"I'm sorry Twilight...I really thought I had it this time..."

Twilight did not respond to her and merely kept rummaging through the large pile of wooden splinters decorating her floor. Guilt began to rise in Sweetie Belles belly as Twilight continued to ignore her. She began fearing the worst, that Twilight might be upset with her...What if she yelled at her?...Or kicked her out?...What if she yelled and kicked her out?... What if she yelled at her, kicked her out and didn't let foal sit for her with the other crusaders!

"Found them! Oh thank goodness!" Twilights exclamation broke Sweetie out of her stupor. She looked and saw Twilight cuddling a large pile of books in the splinters. She was pressing them so firmly against herself that Sweetie Belle began to fear Twilight might receive splinters of her own, but it didn't look like she cared. After a moment, Twilight scooped up the books in her magic and carried them over to another shelf. She replaced them in an appropriate spot at he end of the shelf and turned to Sweetie Belle with a smile that filled her cheeks...Sweetie was slightly stunned

"Sooooo...You're not mad at me?"

"Of course not Sweetie, why would I be upset? Especially at you?"

Sweeties face dropped into a sarcastic frown, she pointed at the pile of wood scattered about the floor as though it should have been obvious. Twilight merely shrugged with a giggle

"Sweetie, if I got upset every time something exploded inside this house, I'd probably have popped a blood vessel by now"

"Oh...ok?"

"Besides, my books are ok so no harm done"

"What about the bookshelf? Aren't we gonna clean it up...or, ya know...fix it with magic?"

Twilight pointed to Sweeties horn with a smirk

"What a perfect idea Sweetie Belle, you can practice delicacy and focus with your magic by trying to use the correct spell to repair this bookshelf!" There was a noticeable hint of humor and sarcasm mixed within her voice that Sweetie Belle couldn't help but detect.

"Um...ok..What are you gonna do?"

Still sporting her unusually large smile, Twilight magically grasped one of the books she had just taken from the broken shelf and brought it close to her cheek

"I'm gonna go catch up on some reading, I haven't seen this book in a long time...and that bookshelf exploding made it reveal itself, shoved behind all the others. So I'm...uhh...gonna go read, and you can practice out here. Don't worry I trust you can get a grip on this spell Sweetie, and if you can't then just come find me after awhile...a long while"

Sweetie belle nodded and pretended to turn away to focus, but really watched Twilight turn to leave out of her peripheral vision. Once Twilight had turned more than halfway, Sweetie stole a glance back at her and caught a glimpse of the book she had. She could only make out part of the first word on the title. It read "Scapb-" and the rest was out of her field of vision before she could make out the words. Clearly, whatever that book was, it was enough to distract Twilight from helping Sweetie Belle practice magic. She knew Twilight loved books more than anypony else, but to cut her teaching short, that was weird even for her.

Sweetie Belle knew it was none of her business, but her curiosity was slowly getting the better of her. However, she knew her practice was more important than Twilights personal affects, so she forced her attention away from the door Twilight and the book had just exited through. Instead she ignited her horn and began attempting to reconstruct the bookshelf.

After a few moments of groaning and teeth grinding as she attempted to perform the spell on her first try, Sweetie Belle released her held breathe and collapsed onto her belly. She sighed in frustration, she knew her problem wasn't a lack of magical ability, Twilight had already drilled that screw deep enough into her. No, according to Twilight, Sweetie Belle was just too impatient when it came to most spells. Twilight had told her that most spells required hours of practicing before they ever worked properly on a consistent basis. Only very powerful beings like the Princesses, Daybreak and Discord were exceptions to that. Twilight admitted that even she rarely got any spell on the first try, and even then they were never consistent. She too, had to practice constantly on any new spell before she could ever use it as she pleased. Her go to example being her teleportation spell.

When she had first arrived in Ponyville she had just been beginning to grasp the concept of teleportation. She had rarely practiced it before then, and other than her encounter with Nightmare Moon a day later, she had certainly never used it while moving before. But after some time spent with consistent practicing, and several accidental travels (like running from a horde of ticket craving ponies) she had eventually reached the level she was at now. Which was, she could teleport at will and sometimes would just travel around the house that way because it was so convenient.

Knowing and reminding herself of this lecture did help boost Sweetie Belles confidence, but she still found unending frustration in her failure to repair a simple bookshelf when Twilight could warp herself across town and back. Again she focused her thoughts on the splintered pieces of the former shelf, and ignited her horn. Green aura blossomed to life around her horn and shimmered in the midmorning light of the library windows. Sweetie Belle could feel the power flowing through her body and up to her horn tip. A light tingling sensation, which she had come to recognize as meaning to proceed, flooded her brain and she thought of nothing else but the broken wood before her. Sparks fizzled from her tip as the many scattered pieces were surrounded with her power. Sweetie strained her face and groaned aloud as mentally struggled to lift up all it's pieces. Her eyes were pressed together tighter than a vice as she pushed her neck outwards with all her might, as though being as close as possible might help in her endeavor.

In the distance, a loud yelling could be heard, growing ever louder as it approached the library. Sweetie Belle blocked it out, she finally had all the pieces in the air, which was step one for her, so she wasn't going to let anything distract her now. Step two is where she always screwed up. She was never able to maintain control of all the pieces, while also separately putting other parts back together. But this time she would do it! She had to, for the sake of her sanity and patience, she had to get it this time. Or at least get past step two...

Once again Sweetie Belle's ear twitched as the outside yelling persisted in invading her mind. However she once again, ignored it, she knew even the slightest mishap would ruin her focus right then. She slowly began to break off her magic into piles, forming several circular bubbles of magic in the air. Each one contained several pieces, fragments and parts of the bookshelf. Once all the large, green bubbles had split off, there was eight identical orbs floating around the library. Sweetie Belle mentally patted herself on the back and began to focus on the hardest part, fixing it...

This was the part where she had to correctly cast the spell in order to cause the bookshelves pieces to reassemble themselves. Twilight had once told her that very advanced unicorns could just assemble things themselves, using their own magic as a glue, but that took even more practice than this. However in the future it could prove useful if she tired of memorizing spells. Once Sweetie Belle was sure of herself, she began to weaving the strings of her magic spell across her many bubbles. It was at that moment that Twilight chose to reenter the room, accompanied by her book, which was tucked neatly under her right wing. She took a single glance at Sweetie Belles progress and had to physically silence herself with her own hoof to keep from squeeing aloud. She quickly, but subtly, darted to the back of the room out of sight, just in case Sweetie opened her eyes, and stared in awe.

She had not expected Sweetie to progress so quickly, let alone come up with such a unique method to her problem. This was, in fact, not the correct way to perform the spell. However judging by her progress, perhaps the phrase "correct way" was a little harsh, after all magic was like any other task. There's always more than one way to go about it. Twilight certainly had to give Sweetie Belle props, normally you were to cast the spell on a single group of debris, fragments, or parts, and let the spell spread on its own, as each piece would touch another, and so on. However this new method was not only faster, but also required more power and focus than Twilight thought Sweetie held. She wanted to ask Sweetie how many times she had actually attempted the spell before doing this, but she was more curious to see if this method worked so she could document it for later use.

Sweetie Belle was squeezing her eyes together so tightly that they had begun hurting, but she couldn't stop now, not when she was so close. At least, she felt like she was close, she slowly unclenched her eye lids to peak at her progress. Her heart immediately sank and it took all her self control not to cry out in annoyance. The spell wasn't even halfway done weaving through all the debris yet and Sweetie's head already felt like it was going to explode from all this tension!

Another high pitched yell pierced the library walls and tickled at Sweetie's ears. It was still too far away to be a bother but she could sense that it was growing ever closer, and now she was able to partially make out what was being yelled

"Sweetie Belle!"

Was that her name that was being called? She swore that's what she heard...Her concentration faltered for a moment as her ears perked to listen, the pieces of wood began wobbling dangerously in the air. Sweetie quickly pushed all other thoughts from her mind and refocused on the bookshelf. She regained control and allowed the wood to begin piecing itself together now. Each singular piece seemed to take an eternity to snap itself into place and she felt every little detail in her mind as they fused together. She felt like a puzzle was clicking itself into place within her brain. Seeing this happen from the casters point of view, she suddenly understood Twilight's fascination with magic and learning. Only a few singular pieces of the shelf had successfully repaired themselves, and yet she felt as though she was watching the creation of life. Magic truly was an astonishing thing to behold, and even more so to sense in this way.

"Sweetie Belle!"

There was her name again, and this time much clearer, but she still couldn't tell where it was coming from or who was calling her. However she dare not turn away from her work to see, lest her spell undo itself and fall to pieces again. She kept her focus glued to her magic, just a bit more and the pieces could actually form the bottom legs of the shelf.

"Sweetie Belle!" Sweetie's eyes shot open

"Button Mash!?"

The high pitch yell of her name shattered her focus, half a second later the door to the library exploded open and Button came rolling in at a speed that would have impressed Rainbow Dash! He rocketed in yelling Sweetie's name and collided into her side a moment later, taking them both to the ground. Sweetie yelled in surprise and her horn responded in kind, by overcharging the floating pieces of the shelf! A green explosion ripped through the library sending dust and debris into the air!

Twilight began flapping her wings to clear the dust from her face, she was anything but impressed by Buttons entrance and was pretty sure she knew who to thank for it. Once the small dust cloud settled she looked towards her front door confirming her suspicion. Daybreak stood in the doorway with Aurora seated upon his back, both were smiling brightly as they attempted not to laugh at the sour look Twilight now wore.

Twilight opened her mouth to comment, but was cut off by the sound of Button Mash groaning loudly

"Oh my aching head...I think that was a little too fast for me..." Button sat on his haunches, slowly rubbing the back of his head.

His hat was slightly askew atop his head, but other than that he looked unharmed from his high speed entrance. He quickly looked over himself, making sure his suit and tie were unharmed along with the various objects he held in his hooves, once he was certain everything was fine he turned his attention to finding Sweetie Belle. He slowly looked around, searching for a small white filly, but was surprised to find he could not see her anywhere.

"Sweetie Belle? Where did you go"

"Mmmph!"

Button looked about, he heard her moans, but could not see where she had gone.

"Sweetie Belle where are you? Are you invisible?"

Suddenly four flailing hooves sprouted forth from below Buttons flank and pushed him off the floor, propelling him onto his side. Underneath where he had just sat, Sweetie Belle was climbing up from a filly sized crater in the floorboards. She panted as she was finally free of Buttons bottom suffocating her face

"No you big dork...I wasn't invisible, you were sitting on my face! How could you not feel yourself crush me into the floor!?"

Her voice hit new pitches and cracked as she yelled at the now terrified Button Mash. He curled himself into a ball as she continued to scream at him

"I mean honestly! I was finally getting the hang of this stupid spell and you blast in and smash me into the ground! And just look at what happened to the bookshelf!"

She pointed her hoof accusingly at Button, then towards the remains of the shelf. Whatever progress she had made was now lost from view, for all that remained of most of the splinters now...was ashes. Button felt tears begin to form in his eyes as Sweetie's frustration poured out onto him. Daybreak stepped forward to say something but caught Twilights eyes at the last moment, she stared at him and shook her head slowly. He understood what she meant...wait it out and let them solve it.

Sweetie Belle continued to yell at no pony in particular for several more minutes before she finally seemed to burn herself out, then become content with just standing and staring at the wall, her horn still giving off a dangerous green glow. By this time Button had been reduced to a crying mess on the floor from Sweeties screaming, and was unable to tell she had stopped. Aurora, who had remained silent throughout all of Sweetie's yelling, finally decided that Button needed her help. With all the strength her tiny body could muster, she freed herself from the seatbelt restraining her body against her father. Daybreak felt the strap come undone, but did not stop Aurora from bouncing off his back and scurrying over to Buttons side.

He watched as his daughter crawled over to Button and placed her tiny hoof on his sobbing form. Button briefly looked up from his self pity and found the tiny fillies eyes, she smiled at him. Her horn ignited in a faint light, illuminating the room in a luminescent glow. Faint lights began to fizzle and spark from within her horn, then free themselves from her tip and float around through air. The lights that continued to escape from within her were a multitude of changing colors. Many of them changed through several shades of dark blue and purple, or green and yellow as they moved about. Button sniffled loudly and wiped his nose across the sleeve of his suit. It wasn't much of a suit now though, more of a sob rag on Button. However that changed seconds later when Aurora squeezed her eyes shut and lit her horn even brighter than before. The room filled to the brim with shades of flashing blue lights as Buttons suit was quickly grasped within Aurora's magic. After several seconds of green and blue flashes, from which both Daybreak and Twilight were forced to shield their eyes, Aurora ceased her spell and was left panting deeply in the center of the room. There was beads of sweat running down her tiny cheeks, both Daybreak and Twilight shot across the room to her side. Even Sweetie Belle turned to look over at the scene, her eyes widened in shock!

Buttons suit was once again, perfect. It looked like it had just been cleaned and pressed in an instant, Button examined it thoroughly and nodded with satisfaction a moment later. However he still did not smile, he merely looked past Daybreak and Twilight, who were too busy fusing over their filly's well being after such a spell, to notice Sweetie Belle run from the room, tears clinging to her eyes. Button looked around and frantically began gathering up the gifts Daybreak had given him, then took off up the stairs after Sweetie. On his way up he felt a quick burst of air touch his upper lip as he ran...his mustache was gone! He stopped his ascension midstep and nearly tripped over his hooves in his haste. Turning his neck, he looked back down the stairs from his current position but was unable to see it anywhere. He was tempted to go back down and search for it before pursuing Sweetie, but the slamming of the balcony window made him decide otherwise, and he continued after her instead.

It wasn't hard to guess where she had gone, even without any knowledge of the houses layout. He knew Sweetie Belle well enough to guess where she would go if she was upset...the roof. Whenever she and her sister would argue she would always sit on the roof of the CMC clubhouse, or high up in a tree where no pony would find her. The only reason Button even knew that was because Sweetie Belle had slipped from a high branch and fallen on him one day while he was searching for her. After that they had agreed to always meet up when they were sad, and share it with each other. He had been so happy then, to know he would always have a friend he could turn to when he was feeling down, Sweetie Belle would always be there for him. Now he had to be there for her, she was clearly upset about something more than just the bookshelf, and even if it meant she would scream at him again, he had to try.

He found his way to the balcony window with ease and pushed open the door leading to Twilights telescope. He looked around for any sign of Sweetie, but found none. He scanned the outside of the tree, searching for an extra ladder or hidden door she might have scurried through, but found nothing again. The wind began to pick up from the south, causing many leaves to fall from the branches above. Button attempted to pay them no mind, until he heard a short squeal and faint rustling above his head. Certain he recognized the squeal, Button narrowed his eyes at the trees topmost point.

"Figures...she had to go one step above just hiding...She had to make it an absolute pain in the flank to find her..." Button sighed as he realized his next quest would be the scaling of Twilights house.

Carefully, he scrambled onto the railing of the balcony, grasping the telescope for balance as he attempted to set all four of his hooves on the thin wooden rail. Tight rope walking had never been something he was into, but now he was certain he absolutely despised it. As he carefully attempted to wobble his way across the shaky wooden beams, he became certain that he would never earn his Cutie Mark in tightrope walking. HIs legs shook with fear, he urged his eyes to remain ahead of him and on the slowly approaching branches ahead, just waiting to be grasped by him. Unfortunately, he made the mistake of looking down when his legs wobbled on the beams gain. He eyes shrunk to the size of pin pricks as the ground below seemed miles away. Instantly losing his balance out of sheer terror, Button wrapped all four hooves around the railing and hung in the air, terrified. He could hear the ground below calling for him to fall, but he refused to let go, instead he shimmied his way across the rail like a worm, al. the way to the branches.

After what felt like an eternity, Button reached out his hoof, wishing to end his nightmare in the air. Grasping hold of Twilights roof, he pulled himself up into the fluff of leaves lining its top. A few meters later, Button found Sweetie Belle sitting with her back to him, knees tucked up to her chin as she rocked back and forth. Button could hear faint whimpers coming from his friend, he felt a pit form in his stomach at her unhappiness. He couldn't imagine why she could be this upset, but he knew he had to fix it somehow!

Slowly, Button crept up behind Sweetie Belle, he removed the diamond necklace from his suit, and gently draped it around her neck. The moment the cold rock touched her chest, Sweeties eyes shot open and she whipped her head around to face Button. Her face was the image of pure sadness and it did not fit her at all. Button clicked the necklace ends together smiling at Sweetie Belle even as tears continued to run down her (now) rose red cheeks. She simply stared at Button for a moment, then took up the diamond in her hoof and examined it closely. She felt the chain against her neck, then once again looked at Button. For a single moment, Button thought he saw her face hint at a smile, but then it was gone. Her hooves released the diamond, allowing it to fall against her chest, and shot up to her muzzles, covering her lips. She began to sob even louder than before and her cheeks grew into an even brighter red.

Button was in shock and barely knew what to do, he had not expected this kind of reaction

"Did I...do something wrong?"

Sweetie Belle continued to sob uncontrollably, tears water falling down her cheeks as she cried her heart out in front of the stunned colt.

"I-I'm sorry Sweetie Belle" He had no idea what he was apologizing for, but he didn't care as long as Sweetie Belle stopped crying. He couldn't stand to see her like this, it caused him so much pain inside he felt sick. Maybe she didn't like the first gift ad it had only made her more upset cause of how bad it was? He thought about it and decided he should apologize for that too

"Sweetie Belle, I'm sorry...I thought that you would like this as a gift since you love to play minecraft with me...I jus- woah!"

Button was cut off as the young filly threw herself forward into his outstretched hooves, though they had not been meant to hold her h caught and held her. Sweetie Belle crushed Buttons very being with the force of her hug, she squeezed him as hard as she could and it hurt beyond all reason. But he let her stay...and he let her cry on him...and he let her sob and sob until she couldn't seem to gather anymore tears to cry. That took several moments to happen, and when Sweetie Belle's wails finally dropped to small whimpers, Button thanked Celestia for it. His ears rang from Sweeties high pitched wails, but he didn't care, as long as she was ok then he was ok.

Eventually Sweetie Belle ceased snuggling against his clothing and pulled her head back, she left an obvious wet stain on his suit that he knew he'd have to wash later if it were to survive. She sniffled loudly and wiped her nose, which Button somehow managed to find adorable as well. Sweetie Belle sat for a few seconds, possibly attempting to decide how to say what she was thinking.

"Button Mash..."

His ears perked as she cooed his name, he had never heard her say his name in such  soft manner before, it sent a tingle of happiness through his whole body. She seemed to be staring at him, which caused a surge of self consciousness to build inside of him. he was suddenly aware of how filthy his tux had become again, it was wet with Sweeties tears, and it had several twigs and leaves stuck to it in multiple places. The sleek, stylish look it had held before was all but gone. For the first time in his life, Button actually craved a bath, if only to make himself look better now that Sweetie Belle seemed to be staring at him.

Her eyes traveled over his whole form, lingering for a moment on the two bulges in his tux, where his chest was. She could see he was hiding other objects within his clothes, she extended a hoof and pointed at his belly

"What are you hiding in there Button?"

The little colt froze with fear, he hadn't planned on giving her the other two gifts quite yet, he had wanted to cheer her up himself more first...but it looked like she had spotted them herself. He lowered his ears in disappointment, reaching inside his tux he pulled out a full bouquet of flowers inside a glass vase, which had somehow remained undamaged in his climb up the roof. Then he reached for the second item, removing it just as slowly in hopes that it too, was undamaged. Unfortunately this gift was not as lucky, the box of chocolate had several dents in it from the climb up and Sweetie's head resting on that part of his suit. Button prayed the chocolates themselves were unharmed as he set both gifts in front of Sweetie Belle. He watched her eyes dart between the gifts in front of her, and then back to necklace draped across her chest.

Sweetie's eyes jumped between the gifts, then back to Buttons clothing, her eye began to glisten again as she spoke

"Button...was all of this just to cheer me up?"

"Ummm..."

Button had to think fast, this was it, his moment of truth! He could either back out now and just say yes, or he had to come clean and embrace whatever came next. Every ounce of his sense told him to tap out and and just say yes to escape the inevitable rejection. But something within his body urged the truth from his lips

"Well...not exactly...You see I was already planning on giving these to you before cause-ummph!"

Button revelation was cut short as Sweetie Belle embraced him in her death hug once again, this time offering him no chance of escape.

"Oh Button! Thank you! Thank you! Thank You! You're the best friend a filly could ever have!"

"F-friend...?"

What happened next left Button completely paralyzed in shock, and even more confused than before. Sweetie Belle leaned her muzzle next to his, and quickly kissed him on the cheek. She held it just long enough for him to wonder...then pulled away with a blush and hugged him again. She brought her lips right next to his ear, allowing her breath to tickle his face as she gently whispered to him

"You're so sweet to me Button Mash..."

Buttons head was spinning with questions and confusion! She had kissed his cheek and let it linger for quite some time, but at the same time she had said he was the "best friend a filly could have" did that mean she only liked him as a friend, or maybe she was playing hard to get? Maybe she just wanted him to come out and say it? He was so confused, he could think of nothing else to do but just straight out ask her! He pulled back from Sweeties amazing death grip, just enough to get a slight bit of distance from their faces. Button locked his amber eyes with her emerald. He could still see the faint traces of tears lingering below the surface, ready to emerge at any moment...nevertheless he had to soldier on! He drew in his breathe and prepared for the worst

"Sweetie Belle...?"

Her eyes twinkled at him as he said her name

"Yes Button?"

"Am I...are we...are we...just friends? Is that all we are? Or...is there more between us?"

"Do you want there to be more Button?"

"I...umm...what?"

He had not expected such a quick response from her, nor in such a manner. Her eyes only sparkled brighter and brighter as he tried to force out the words he wanted so badly to say. He was beginning to think she wanted him to say it as much as he did.

"I said.." She pulled his muzzle close, till there was mere millimeters separating their lips. Buttons could smell her breath and feel it tickle against his nose...It would be so easy to just lean in...just forward a tiny bit.  "...do you want there to be more Button?"

Button felt her words whisk into his ears and tickle the fur of his face. Her soft voice sounded so soothing in his ears. He found himself tripping over his words, unable to properly say what he wished.

"I...I want..I want to..to...you...me...friends..m-more...I don't..."

"Am I interrupting something?"

Both Sweetie Belle and Buttons eyes rocketed open, they shot apart so fast that it was a miracle they didn't create a sonic boom of their own. Both of them looked up in fear and surprise to find none other than Discord hovering a few feet above their heads. Having never seen him in person before, Button did not immediately recognize who he was, but Sweetie Belle did and she made it obvious she was not pleased he had just interrupted what had almost been, her first kiss. Button however, was in awe at Discords appearance

"Woooooow coooooool! Who and what are you?! You look totally awesome, I've never seen so many animals in one before!"

Discord chuckled and lowered himself to their level, wrapping his arm around Sweeties neck, he whispered in her ear

"I like him already! Good choice Sweetie Belle"

Sweetie's face broke into large blush and she quickly pushed Discord away in embarrassment. He merely laughed, then bowed in Buttons direction

"My boy, I am Discord, Master of Chaos and Lord of Mayhem, Father of Daybreak, and troller of princesses...to whom do I owe the honor?"

Discord waved his pawed hand in Buttons direction, who immediately responded with a smile

"I'm Button Mash, Master of video games, Lord of cyberspace and troller of scrubs!" He extended a hoof outwards, which Discrod took and shook eagerly

"I have a feeling you and I are going to get along great my boy!"

"Oh no..." Sweetie Belle mumbled under her breathe, but Discord easily heard and turned to her after releasing Buttons hoof.

"What was that Sweetie Belle"

"I said what are you doing here Discord...shouldn't you be off...I don't know...causing a disturbance in the force somewhere...or something?"

Button quickly concealed his lips with his hoof, hiding the grin that just broke out across his face as he tried not to laugh. Discord was not phased, unfortunately and merely retorted

"Why would I do that when I have two great friends right here who I could hang out with instead?"

"Yaaaaaaaaay!"

Sweetie Belles face dropped as Button lookd more than excited to have the draconequous around. Discord pulled him into his embrace, ruffling his mane through the propeller hat while he shot an evil smirk at Sweetie Belle. She sighed, dropping her ears in defeat

"Fine...what do you want Discord?"

"Oh I'm so glad you asked!" He disappeared away from Button in a flash, causing the little colt to stumble to the side, then he reappeared above Sweetie Belle holding a scroll. He broke its seal and watched, to Sweetie's absolute horror, as it unrivaled and traveled down the side of Twilights house with Discord reading off its contents.

"Let's see where to begin...well there's the new sink for my dresser I've been needing...or perhaps the latest issue of Daring Do...no maybe the pet Cockatrice that I want posted outside my house every night in case of burglars, he would of course, need to be delivered pre-trained so I'm sure you'd have fun with that and...OH Yes! I forgot! I need to see my lovely little prince Daybreak and my even more lovely granddaughter...and Twilight of course...do you know where they might be?"

Sweetie Belle raised an eyebrow to him while Button attempted to read the rest of the lists contents "Well we are standing on top of her house?"

Discord vanished and appeared under Sweetie Belles hooves, rising up from the leaves and sweeping her into his arms "Ahh yes I was wondering about that? Whatever are you two doing up here anyways? Not being naughty little ponies are we?"

Button looked over from the scroll "What do you mean 'naughty'? I'm a good boy...unless I'm Crusading with Sweetie Belles friends, then I guess it's questionable..."

Sweetie Belle smacked her self in the face with her hoof, hiding her blush, and pointed inside the house "Everypony is inside ok...pleeeeeeease go away now..."

"Oohhoo wonderful" Discord threw out his arms in joy and grasped up both Button and Sweetie Belle in his embrace "Well let's go then"

Both Sweetie Belle and Button Mash's mouths dropped "Wait what!?"

Discord smiled innocently as they all rose up into the air "But of course I'll be bringing you two back inside as well. What kind of a friend would I be if I left two young ponies up on a roof alone?"

Sweetie Belle flailed her arms wildly, desperate to escape, she didn't want her one chance to have Button ask her out ruined by Discord of all creatures

"Wait wait wait waaaaaait, just set us down for one-yeaaaaaaaaa!"

It was too late though, Discord plunged straight down towards the roof, Button and Sweetie Belle grasped each other for dear life through Discords arms and screamed at the top of their lungs! The roof of the tree was fast approaching and Button could swear he saw his life flash before his eyes

"Noooooooo I can't die yet...I have so much to live for...I haven't even killed the Enderdragon in Minecraft!"

  Butoon saw the roof prepare to meet his face, he looked over at Sweetie Belle, who was also shrieking as loud as she could.

"Well if I'm gonna die I might as well tell her"

However, before Button could decide, the roof appeared inches away from them. Button could swear time slowed down as he watched the branches of his doom reach out to take hold of him...but moments before impacting the top of the tree, Discord, along with Sweetie Belle and Button, disappeared in flash of blinding light...

Magic 101

How Daybreak had managed to do this, Twilight would never understand...then again...there were alot of things about her husband she doubted she'd ever understand. Somehow, he had managed to balance a book on Aurora's horn, and if that wasn't hard enough to believe...he had it standing on the very utmost edge of its spine. Twilight would not have trusted anypony else to do this, or even think about doing this to her daughter...but Daybreak seemed to know just what to do to entertain their little bundle of chaos every time. The green haired filly bounced happily in place as she continually attempted to tip the book off her horn to no avail. Thus her giggles of joy only continued increasing until she was rolling about on the wooden floor, laughing hysterically as the book continued to glue itself to her horn tip, unmoving.

"Book! Book book booooooook!" Aurora squeaked, attempting to reach above her own head to grasp at the thick spined monster now perched atop her head. She wiggled her hooves at the just-out-of-reach object, continuously feeling the very tips of her tiny limbs brush against the smallest piece of its fabric. Daybreak sat with his back against the wall, legs sprawled out in front of him as he played with a propeller hat by balancing it on his nose. He still had yet to figure out how these things managed to keep on spinning for eternity without ever stopping, twas a mystery that eluded him to no end.

Twilight giggled at her pair of goofballs, sometimes she wondered if she was the only serious one in this family...yeah...she probably was. Aurora certainly took after Daybreak when it came to maturity. Even at such a miniscule age, Twilight could see the similarities between the two in how they played. She almost feared what her daughter would be like in a few years...a mare with Daybreaks personality and her brains...all modesty aside, it was a very scary thought.

Aurora suddenly stopped reaching for the book and looked towards the table in the center of the book room. She stared hard as though she could see some kind of invisible object there. Daybreak too, suddenly shifted from his resting position and stood up on his hooves, causing the book held in place by his magic, to fall from Auroras head. A light but very visible, shiver, ran across Daybreaks body as he turned to face the same spot as his filly. Twilight raised an eyebrow

"What-"

Bang!

Before the words had fully left her lips a loud popping sound, followed by blinding white light erupted across the room, forcing all three ponies to shield their eyes with their hooves. The sound of the popping was extremely high pitched, having the effect of a flash bang spell on the trio. A quick moment later and it was over, leaving the ponies seeing stars in their eyes...but Daybreak didn't even have to guess who was responsible for such an annoying entrance. He spoke before the brief smoky cloud that the magic had created vanished

"Nice to see you father"

"Graaaaaaandpa!"

Daybreak saw a brown blur fly past his eyes tackling the outline of his father (with a surprising amount of strength) to the floor! The sound of several ponies hitting the ground afterwards could be heard finally forcing Daybreak to rub the stars from his vision.  Once he could properly see he noticed Twilight had done the same and was already moving towards the scene before them. Sprawled out over the floor was Aurora on top of Discords chest with Button Mash and Sweetie Belle tangled a few feet away.

Despite Discords unruly entrance, Twilight was actually glad to see him for a change. Daybreak had managed to put off his temple trip for this long due to various situations and his own unwillingness to go. With Discord here, Twilight would finally be able to convince him to go spend some quality time with his father. Adding to that, Daring Do had requested Daybreak check out the temple in her letter anyways. So it was for the best that she make him go, even if he complained and whined about it later.

Twilight watched as Discord scooped up little Aurora into his arms and began tickling her tummy with a single claw. She squeaked loudly and squirmed in his grip, begging for her parents to rescue her, but both merely stood on and chuckled as their daughter was tickle tortured by her grandpa. Daybreak shot a glance at Twilight hoping to catch her eye, she looked his way and nodded. He understood and moved in to join the fun, while Twilight went to assist Button and Sweetie. Daybreak galloped towards his father and dove through the air, catching him full in the chest taking him to the ground. Immediately upon impact, both Daybreak and Aurora jumped on Discord and began attempting to wrestle him into submission all the while, all three were laughing hysterically.

Twilight couldn't help but smile in spite of herself as she attended to Button and Sweetie Belle (without really paying much attention to what she was doing)...Discord had really grown on her in the past year. He seemed to have truly found the magic of friendship in his own way, through a family. Although he still remained mischievous as ever, recently Twilight found herself more and more tolerant and even happy to have him around. It seemed having a son and granddaughter who cared and loved him, along with Fluttershys close friendship, was just what he needed to put aside his old ways for good. For the first time ever, Twilight really felt like she could trust Discord and consider him a real friend. Who knows...she might even accidentally call him her stepfather one of these days...

The sound of loud crashing, and shattering glass brought Twilight back from her daze. She looked back at the trio feeling a surge of annoyance flare up in her belly, in their horse play they had knocked over and shattered a lamp. Twilight turned away from Button and Sweetie Belle (not that she had really been much help anyways as they were still tangled in each others limbs and Buttons suit). She sighed and lit her horn, preparing to repair the damage, but Discord raised his hoof with a chuckle signaling her to stop.

"Oh come now Twilight, what kind of a friend do you think I am? I broke it so I'll 'fix' it."

He spoke while also trapping Aurora on the ground with his pawed hand, and head locking Daybreak with his free arm. He winked at Twilight, then snapped the toes of his non-hoofed foot as though they were fingers. The broken pieces shot back together with lightning speed, but the object they formed was not he same lamp as before and caused Twilight to shoot Discord an annoyed glare. He merely chuckled

"Why the angry eyes? It's sooooo much better looking than it was before" He was grasping his stomach while he pointed at the restored lamp. It had become a lamp again, that was true...but it was now a statue of Discord holding the lamp light, almost exactly accurate to the one he had made for Fluttershy back when she was reforming him. Discord levitated the new and improved light back over to its place on Twilights desk and allowed it to rest nicely there.

"Just look at that handsome devil, why I think this place looks better already with a little bit of me in the décor"

Discord thrust out his arm in enthusiasm, allowing Aurora time to escape and dash away from her grandpa. Twilight sat rolling her eyes while Discord released Daybreak from his headlock, then slithered after his granddaughter pretending to chase her like a hungry snake. That look fit Discord all too well, however Twilight noticed Daybreak subtly sneak behind the couch once he was free, with a quick flash of light following shortly after.

Discord was closing in on Aurora with his hands held above his head to snatch at her, while she ran screaming with pretend fear and glee from the "monster" chasing her. Discord made a swipe for Aurora, but she avoided it with a quick burst from her miniature legs and rounded the couch to escape. Discord skidded to a halt mere feet before the turn, he slowly slithered to the corner and pressed his ear to the couch, listening. He knew this trick, for a little filly it would seem clever, run around the couch so that she could do one quick circle, then run back to Daybreak for help. Well he was not falling for that, he would wait for her to round the other corner, then pounce on his prey. He waited for a few moments, expecting any second for a small green and purple maned filly to come sprinting around the couch...but she didn't. Maybe she was just hiding behind the couch after all?

If she hadn't run around the other side, then he would just jump over the small furniture and grab her himself. After all, he was only slithering around on his belly to make it more fair for her in the first place. Discord chuckled to himself, slowly placing a hand over the top of the couch and taking a firm hold. With a yell of "Surprise!" Discord jumped over the couch, intent on tackling his granddaughter to the floor!

Discord cleared the top of the furniture...and froze in midair, fear griping at his heart. There, in front of him... sitting with her face mere inches from the grip of his outstretched paw and claw...was Princess Celestia herself, and sitting behind her was Aurora, smiling in victory. Discords body rapidly started cycling through several different colors as though he were a color wheel while he attempted to contain his shock! For a moment they both just stared at each other, each one seemingly waiting for the other to move. Then...there was a loud pop...then Daybreaks face appeared on Celestia's body!

"Surprise!"  Daybreaks face yelled with a smirk.

Discord yelped aloud as Daybreaks face popped out from within Celestia's. Visibly surprised, Discord fell back onto his rear very ungracefully and began giving Daybreaks head a sour, pouting, glare.

"No fair..."

"Oh please how is that not fair?"

The rest of Daybreaks body morphed back to normal with a  quick flash leaving everypony, except Discord, giggling at the small prank. Even Twilight couldn't help but purse her lips, desperately attempting not to burst out with the others. Button and Sweetie Belle joined in on the laughter as well, but their situation was still the more humorous of the two. Looking at the pair, Sweetie's back left leg and front right hoof were stuck inside the fabric of Buttons suit. It would be unlikely that the two of them could remove themselves from the predicament they were in without ripping the suit in some way or another. So, now satisfied that he had one-upped his father for a change, Daybreak trotted over and resumed where Twilight had supposedly left off with them.

Several firm tugs from his teeth on both their bodies assured Daybreak that they were definitely not getting free without some magical help. He couldn't help but wonder how they had ended up like that though...

"How could you two possibly get stuck like this? I can't even think of a reason Sweetie Belle would be in a position like that on you Button."

That was actually a bold faced lie, he had a very good idea of what could cause that...or at least a reason why Sweeties face and body might be so close to Buttons. However he kept that detail to himself to save them both some embarrassment. Instead Sweetie Belle opted to answer him herself, shooting a very annoyed glare in Discords direction as she spoke.

"It's his fault!" She gestured at Discord with her face, attempting to turn her horn at him as though she was aiming.

"He just appeared out of nowhere when we were...um...talking...and grabbed us up, then teleported us in here. We weren't even like this until we appeared in the library! Honest!"

Judging by the small twitch on the edges of Discords lips, Twilight was ninety-nine percent sure Sweetie Belle was telling the truth. She looked in Daybreaks direction and saw him staring back at her with the same expression, then he nodded. He caught it too then...

"It's alright Sweetie Belle, it's not like you'd be in trouble either way. Although it's pretty easy to believe Discord is responsible." Twilight looked over at him accusingly while she spoke, he merely looked back with the most innocent face he could muster. He even had the gall to have a halo appear over his head to try and show sincerity.

Daybreak was about as amused as Twilight this time, lighting his horn, he enveloped Sweetie and Button in his field, then separately teleported them to opposite sides of the room. When they both reappeared, they were free...but Buttons shirt had still ripped anyways. Sweetie Belle must have been magically stuck to it to prevent her from freeing herself. Daybreak looked to the opposite corner and saw she was indeed pulling pieces of the tux from her fur like it was super glued to her coat.

Shooting him another knife-like stare, Twilight found Discord unphased by her annoyance with him. He simply laughed like he always did, then attempted to change the subject. He vanished and reappeared next to Daybreak, a backpack and camping gear suddenly covering most of his serpent-like form.

"So tell me Daybreak, are you as excited for our little father son camping trip tomorrow as I am hm?" he gently poked Daybreaks horn with each word as he drew out the phrase 'father son camping trip'. Daybreak shooed Discords paw away from his horn, the poking causing him severe irritation.

"What do you mean dad? We don't have a camping trip planned."

Grasping his chest right above where his heart was located, Discord attempted to look hurt as he lowered his ears and head

"I am shocked you could forget about something so important Daybreak...I mean I was sooooo looking forward to exploring that temple with you. Guess I'll have to do it myself.

Daybreak could hear the chuckle behind his last word, he knew he was serious. If there was any clue in that temple to where Shining Star was and what he was doing, Daybreak certainly didn't want his father finding it before he did. He wouldn't condemn that poor white pegasus to being found by his father of all people. Knowing it was exactly what Discord wanted, Daybreak sighed in defeat

"Fine...I'll pack my stuff...see you tomorrow morning I guess"

"Can't wait" Discord waved with a sneer as Daybreak ascended the stairs to his and Twilights room. Moments later there was a bright flash of light from within the room and the sound of several objects being moved around inside.

Twilight prepared to fire another glare at Discord, but he was already making his exit.

"Well, that's it for today, see you ponies later...especially you Button"

Grasping an unseen handle in the air, Discord flung open an invisible door and walked through it, disappearing immediately once it shut behind him. Twilights curiosity and concern leaked through her voice

"What did he mean by that Button?"

Sweetie Belle cut him off before he could get the words free from his lips "Apparently Discord likes Button"

Twilight could hear the malice behind Sweeties response, she certainly didn't seem happy about that.

"Does that bother you Sweetie Belle?"

"Hm? Does what bother me Twilight?"

Twilight was baffled Sweetie would fain ignorance, but she took the bait anyways

"That Discord seems to like Button?"

A slight bit of surprise was evident on Sweetie's face then, her eyes widened slightly and she raised one of her eyebrows as though to question Twilight.

"Why would that bother me?"

Twilight too was surprised, Sweetie had clearly been upset when mentioning Discord, if it wasn't that he wanted to befriend Button, then what was it?

"Well...it's just you seemed kind of...I don't know...upset when you mentioned Discord liking Button?"

Letting out a huff of held in air, Sweetie Belles face dropped back into its annoyed look. She glared at the spot where Discord had made his exit with such a ferocity, Twilight began to worry it might burst into flames as Sweetie spoke.

"He interrupted me and Button before he dragged us back down here."

"Interrupted you two doing what exactly?" Daybreaks voice came from behind the couch, catching Twilight off guard. She could have sworn he had gone upstairs to pack...

Twilight looked over to in time to see Aurora fly up above the couch for a brief moment, flailing her limbs as she soared several feet into the air, then sink back down behind the furniture. This repeated several times before Twilight decided she had to see it for herself. She flew to the couch, landing on the closest cushion and peering behind it. She instantly needed to suppress several giggles from escaping her lips... Aurora was bouncing atop Daybreaks belly as though he was a trampoline. Each time she pushed on his stomach he magically charged her legs to push her into the air.

Seeing the look on Twilights face, Button raced over and hoped on the couch as well, followed almost immediately by Sweetie Belle. The trio watched as Aurora flew up...then back down...then flew up...then went back down. Each time landing on Daybreaks belly and causing him to exhale sharply. It was clear that even though Aurora was still barely over a year old, it was clearly unpleasant for Daybreak having her land on his chest ever two seconds. Nevertheless the trio watching found the sight too humorous to ignore, and the previous conversation was almost forgotten entirely. Until Daybreak spoke again.

"So Sweetie Belle oof!...What is it that Dis-ouch!-cord interrupted you and Button doing again?...Ouch!"

He was forced to talk in between Auroras jumps to avoid being cut off by her landing on him as he spoke. But she still managed to cut him off regardless of the speed which he talked, landing on his stomach without mercy and jumping right back up into the air again. Despite this pain, Daybreak was still able to turn his head enough to see the bright red flushes now adorning Sweetie Belles cheeks. As he looked to Twilights left, he saw Button was indeed blushing as well, though perhaps not as much...definitely not as much. Sweetie Belle had a minor panic attack

"W-well we...umm...we were j-just sitting on the a...roof...ya know cause that's where I go when I...uh...wanna be alone. That's it! Yeah!"

Twilight dismounted the top of the couch, ceasing watching Daybreak to clearly look at Sweetie Belle. She wasn't normally the type of filly to tell an outright lie like that, which meant that it was either too embarrassing for her to mention, or the fate of Equestria rested on her not telling the truth...given the fact that she was dealing with the Cutie Mark Crusaders both situations seemed likely enough. However despite that fact, Daybreak did not give up quite as easily, grasping Aurora in a magical field after her next bounce, Daybreak stood up and dusted off his coat.

"If that's where you go when you want to be alone, then why was Button Mash up there with you?"

Lowering his eyes into an almost penetrating stare, Daybreak focused his attention solely on Sweetie Belle as he released Aurora back to the floor. The little filly was gone in flash, darting into Twilights study as though in hot pursuit of some elusive creature. A small crash was heard a second later causing Twilights hair to stand on end, wings flared out in a panic!

"OhCelestianotmystudyroom!" She screeched, flying after Aurora fast enough that she left a small smoke trail behind her leading into her study. Yells could be heard within, followed by several more crashing sounds...Daybreak was sure she could handle it, so back to the matter and hoof.

Returning his attention to Sweetie Belle, he found that Button Mash had worked his way across the room and was now by her side. They seemed to shrink under Daybreaks gaze as though they feared for their lives or something. He raised an eyebrow to them, not really sure why they looked so terrified...nevertheless he pressed on

"So tell me again Sweetie Belle...If you wanted to be alone, why was Button Mash up there with you? And now that I think about it...why did you run off like that anyways? While you're here me and Twi are responsible for you two, your sister and Buttons Mom would kill me if we lost track of you two."

Sweetie Belle looked down at the floor, pretending to find a particular interest in the floor boards below her hooves. While she did this, Button Mash began to sweat profusely, his propeller hat seemed to be working overtime as though it were trying to keep him from overheating from fear. For a second they both looked at each other, then immediately looked away with bright blushes attached to there cheeks .Daybreak could not grasp what was wrong

"What is the matter with you two? What happened?...Sweetie Belle?"

Spotlight on her, Sweetie Belle swallowed loudly and attempted to speak, her legs started shaking wildly giving of the impression she had the shivers.

"W-well...I went up to the roof to be alone like I said. I...I suppose I left because I was really upset. My magic practice hasn't been going the way I want it to and it seems like everypony else is so much better at it than me...I cant get my Cutie Mark...and I can't even improve with my unicorn magic. Yet Aurora is only one year old, and she's doing all this amazing stuff with her powers...I can't even fix a shelf"

As emphasis she gestured to the dust pile where the bookshelf now rested, then dropped her head to the floor again. Daybreak at least understood now why Sweetie was feeling so down about herself, it couldn't be easy being surpassed by a baby filly, even if she was his...still he felt he should say something. Walking over to them, Daybreak reached out a hoof and placed it on Sweetie Belles shoulder affectionately, then he gently moved his hoof to her head, and ruffled her mane playfully. He sent her pink and purple curls curling up even more, so much so that her mane began to resemble Pinkie Pies. After a few shorts ruffles, and some eventual giggling from Sweetie Belle, Daybreak looked down and pulled the young filly into a warm hug.

Button looked up at him as Sweetie Belle snuggled against his chest. Daybreak caught his eye and nodded, motioning for him to join them. Slowly but surely, Button came over and allowed Daybreak to wrap his hooves around him as well, pressing him up next to and against Sweetie Belle. The two shared a blush, then quickly looked away from each other until Daybreak released them a moment later. After back away a few paces, he looked back down at them. Both Sweetie Belle and Button looked considerably calmed, no longer bordering on the edge of tears or a panic attack. Though he was certain that Sweetie Belle could still use some comforting words

"Listen Sweetie Belle..." He began softly

"I know it has to be frustrating for you, seeing Aurora do what she does and hardly ever have difficulty, while you practice and only advance at paces..."

He paused, waiting for it to sink in, when it did Sweeties face dropped again causing Button to wrap a hoof around her in a small hug. After a moment Daybreak continued

"But you're not giving yourself enough credit. Aurora is the foal of me and Twilight, it's only natural that her magic should excel at an alarming rate. And even though she still surprises me and Twilight all the time, we both know that's just how she's gonna be. Sweetie Belle, instead of comparing yourself to filly like Aurora, whose parents are a half-draconecus and an alicorn, why not compare yourself to other fillies and colts your age? How many other unicorns your age do you know that can even attempt the spells Twilight lets you practice in here? You had that shelf levitating in the air before it shattered I bet?"

Sweetie nodded slowly, obviously confused "Yeah...for like...a few seconds...then I dropped it and made it explode trying to save it..."

"That's even more impressive!" Daybreak cut across her with a grin

This took Sweetie by surprise, even Button seemed shocked to hear that, or maybe he was just confused. The tiny colt scratched the back of his mane, giving a small cough of discomfort which Daybreak did not fail to catch

"Something the matter Button?"

He shifted uncomfortably on is back hooves, his eyes darted around quickly inside his skull desperately working out what he should say.

"Y-yeah...Umm not to sound mean or anything...but how is it more impressive that Sweetie blew up the shelf when she was trying to lift it?"

Tapping a hoof to his chin, Daybreak thought for a moment on how best to explain this concept to two ponies so young. A standard explanation would probably bore them, not to mention they wouldn't understand most of it anyways. In fact...trying to make his point without actually showing them at all would be almost impossible, so he decided he'd go with the alternative...he would demonstrate his point while also explaining it as simply as possible. He motioned towards himself with his hoof, indicating they should come closer. After the dup exchanged glances, they shrugged, stepping forward.

Daybreak ignited his horn, radiant green energy flowed from tip to base as he began charging it with juice. He shut his eyes, focusing hard on the very tip of his horn...slowly, little bubbles of pure magic began to drip off and float into the air without much effort from him at all. The magic wasn't just one color, it was several and constantly changing. Daybreak continued to release these tiny bubbles of magic for quite awhile, over time he began to increase their size as well, changing from tiny bubbles to large globs, all of which were converting above the three ponies into an even bigger bubble of raw energy.

Button reached out with his hoof, unable to suppress his curiosity, and gently poked the smallest of the bubbles that had just freed itself from Daybreaks horn. The moment he made contact, there was a bright flash of light and Button aloud, pulling his back abruptly from the magic. There was a slight singe mark on his fur, which had tiny bits of green electricity jumping around it. Along with that, his hat was working some major overtime, spinning at speeds that made it seem more like he was wearing a fan on his head than a hat. The little bits of green plasma remained only in the vicinity of the small burn and never traveled anywhere else on Button, nevertheless he didn't feel safe touching that hoof to the ground so he kept it up and stood on three legs for the time being.

Although Button returned his attention to watching Daybreak, who was now beginning to sweat from the strain, Sweetie belle was still in awe at the sparks on Buttons hoof. She stared as the little bits of lightning jumped around his burn, causing it to continuously shrink over time. After a few minutes the mark was gone completely. When Sweetie Belle pointed this out to Button, he freaked out...

"Waaaaaaaaaaaahhhh! What happened!? Where did the burn mark go...oh my gosh! Do I have super powers now!? That would be soooooo coooool...maybe I have the power to heal really fast now! Quick Sweetie Belle...punch me!"

As tempting as it was to give Button at least one good whack just cause she could, she was thwarted before she could consider the idea.

"No Button you don't have any super powers now" Daybreaks eyes were clenched shut, but he was still managing to barely move his lips, even though it looked like he had to really work just to move that much right then.

"You just got zapped by raw magic, the burn was the magic trying to free itself from you, it was moving so fast that it appeared to change the color of your coat for a moment...nothing to worry about"

"Ummm Daybreak...Are you ok? You don't look so good."

Sweetie Belle was right, Daybreak did in fact look slightly more pale, as though the color from his coat had drained a little. He managed a smile, but they could see he was clenching his teeth through it

"Y-yeah *pant pant* I'm fine thanks...this is just harder than it looks. I'll explain in a moment, but it was necessary to make it this big to give a proper demonstration."

"Make what big?" Sweetie Belle asked almost too sincerely. But Button had the answer, he tapped on her hip and pointed to the ceiling. The large bubble of magic that had been forming from all the smaller ones had grown enormous. It now took up most of the ceiling space above them, it was fortunate they lived in a two story tree (three for those of you who count that weird telescope pad outside or the roof) or it might have taken up the whole room!

Finally Daybreak stopped the flow of bubble from his horn, almost immediately afterwards he began panting loudly and had trouble standing upright. But when Sweetie Belle and Button tried to help he shooed them away and pointed above them, where the massive power bubble was floating.

"Just give me a minute to catch my breathe..." He was almost exactly accurate with his statement, he took a whole minute to stand back upright and stay that way. He took several deep breaths to reignite his horn, while also pointing his hoof at the large cloud above them

"OK, so here's the thing, magic lesson 101...this cloud right above us is a cloud of raw magic. It has no set shape or mass, it's color is constantly shifting, but for most ponies stays within only a few certain shades depending on the pony. But for me it will cycle through all existing colors randomly, just like it would for Discord...my father. Our magic is special and so this rule does not normally apply to us. However as I'm in the form of a unicorn right now, it should follow most of the same principles as normal magic does. At least...that's how I set up my body changing spell, when I take pony form, normal magical laws should apply to me until I change back. But never mind that, what we are here to talk about is why Sweetie Belle is truly an exceptional unicorn, even if she doesn't understand it herself..."

Magical Noobs

Sweetie Belle's face bore a crimson blush followed by a noticeable shift in her posture. She started rocking back and forth on her hooves while rubbing the back of her head shyly. Clearly she was not used to being praised for much else other than her singing. Button, who finally decided to lower his hoof back to the ground (now that he was sure it was "safe" again) also had a small blush forming in his cheeks, before forcing a cough, and saying

"See Sweetie Belle...I told you that you were awesome...you just never believed me"

"Shut up Button..." She stuck out her tongue at him playfully, he quickly returned the same treatment. Were keeping the cloud of extremely dense magic floating above them not so annoyingly difficult, Daybreak might have let them continue on teasing until they kissed or something, but now was not the time. He coughed loudly, signaling he wanted their attention back, and he got it. They snapped back to face him without a seconds hesitation. They both noticed his horn glowing brighter than before, but neither of them commented on it this time.

"As I was saying...Button, you asked me how I found it more impressive that Sweetie Belle blew up the shelf that she was merely trying to lift right?"

"Y-yeah...I guess"

"Good, well here's why...it takes more raw magical energy to destroy an object than it does to cause it to levitate. That isn't to say it's easier to lift things, that can be just as hard, but it all depends on the situation you're in, what you're trying to do, and what you're trying to do it to. For example, lifting a pebble is obviously easier than blowing up a tree right? That goes without saying?"

Both ponies nodded, following so far but still giving him the deer-in-headlights stare

"Well, sometimes blowing up the object you're trying to affect can be easier than making it float...Now I know this seems obvious enough, but it can go both ways. Either or can be the easier thing to do. Every object has its own needs to be affected by magic in a certain way. A good example of this would be the pebble and the tree again, except this time let's pretend it's a boulder instead of a pebble, and imagine it to be the exact same height as the tree. Which do you think it would be easier to do, magically of course, blow them up, or make them levitate?"

Sweetie Belle was the first to raise her hoof, Daybreak found it unsurprising as she was probably going to look at it from a strength perspective, being a very forward filly who was relatively new to magic. What Daybreak did find surprising however, was that Button actually didn't raise his hoof along with her and instead seemed to be thinking about his question beyond just a simple answer. This was shown by the tapping of his hoof to his chin and the strain in his eyes, Daybreak could almost see him imagining a tree and a boulder of equal size in his head. He had a small hunch about Buttons intelligence and the way he thought about things, which he hoped to prove through training Sweetie Belle. Truthfully he saw a potential in Button that he hoped he could uncover through Sweetie Belle that might not only give Button his Cutie Mark, but also allow him to put his video game knowledge to real use.

Shaking his head, Daybreak focused back on the present, Sweetie Belle rapidly shaking her hoof in his face, eager to answer his question. He was beginning to feel like a teacher...that gave him an idea, but it was for later. He pointed at Sweetie

"Yes Sweetie Belle go ahead..."

Daybreak failed to notice the small patter of hooves and the creaking of a door behind him, as a certain purple mare finally reopened the entrance to her study room. She was obviously exhausted and still attempting to calm her frilled and out of place mane, but she quickly retreated halfway back inside the door to avoid being noticed by the three. Her eyes widened when she saw the large cloud of pure magic in the air, giving off faint fizzles and sparks every now and then. She knew she'd be interrupting if she entered now, so instead she opted to sit and watch from her door, quietly.

Sweetie Belle clapped her hooves together as she was given her chance to answer Daybreaks question

"I think it's obvious...it would be easier to just blow them both up with magic rather than try and lift."

She smiled brightly, but Daybreak wasn't finished yet

"Could you please explain you're answer Sweetie, perhaps like why you feel that would be the easier of the two?"

"Sure!" Her voice squeaked, she obviously loved the spotlight, which was rather adorable even to Daybreak.

"It would be easier to blow them up rather than levitate them because of their weight and size. The strain of trying to lift something with your mind is almost exactly like the strain of lifting it with your muscles. That's why unicorns aren't normally very strong, all their power is in their brain, which has to work just as hard as any of their muscles would normally when it tries to lift something through magic."

Before replying to her answer, Daybreak glanced at Button, he wasn't surprised to see that the little gamer didn't quite agree with Sweetie Belles line of thought, but he doubted Sweetie could see that. To her it looked like he was still thinking it over, but the signs were there, the change in his eyes, the slight awkward shift in his position at knowing his friend was wrong, but so exceedingly proud of her answer that he didn't wanna tell her she was wrong. Combined with the innocent and overly joyed smile she now wore, Daybreak didn't wanna say she was wrong either, but he had to...

"Well Sweetie Belle, despite the fact I can see you put thought into that answer...sadly it's incorrect...at least partially, although I'm glad to hear you-"

"What!"

Daybreaks ears twitched in agitation, her voice could really hit the right pitch sometimes! If her talent didn't turn out to be singing, their was something wrong with the universe for sure. Not that there wasn't already something wrong with it...but he didn't wanna go off on a tangent in his mind right now, he was in the middle of teaching. He noted Button was rubbing his ears as well, being closer to Sweetie Belle, Daybreak was surprised that Button had survived being at the epicenter of that shriek. Sometimes he wondered if the boy had just developed a minor tolerance to it...or was going slowly deaf, both seemed possible.

Other than the annoyed expression while rubbing his ears, Daybreak could also see that Button was done thinking about his answer. He wanted to give Button a chance to shine, and maybe even impress Sweetie with his knowledge, but he had to be careful how he went about this. He wanted Button to notice his own intelligence, impress Sweetie Belle, and realize his talents all at once...but if he didn't play it right Daybreak might cause the opposite effect. Button was known to brag, at least about his video games, Daybreak had discovered that fact on their walk through the town. He seemed like a humble, goofy colt for everything else, but he had to make sure just in case, he didn't want Button upsetting Sweetie Belle instead of helping her...that could be dangerous especially with her magic so active right now.

Daybreak looked over at Sweetie Belle, carefully deciding how to word his explanation so Button could have a chance.

"Well Sweetie, you have some of the facts right, but the main point in your answer is wrong. Unicorns are normally weaker than the other pony races due to the excessive use of their brain for magic rather than their other muscles, and it is true that lifting something with magic is very similar to lifting something with your muscles...but that's only true under the most basic circumstances...in other words, average level magic. Simply put, when a rock is only just a rock, you are doing something wrong."

Grinning as widely as he could, Daybreak hoped Sweetie Belle would at least find some amusement in his joke, but all he received from her was a lowering of the eyes and a glare that reminded him all too much of Rarity when she was frustrated.

"Seriously?"

"Super seriously" He quickly retorted, then added

"Listen, maybe it would better if I gave Button a chance first, then explain things?"

"Fine" She sat down on her flank, crossing her hooves while she pouted "But it's not like he can get the answer wrong...you already said mine was incorrect, so that only leaves one other answer..."

"Not necessarily" (italics) Buttons voice came out much deeper and sharper than Daybreak would have thought the little colt capable of.

Sweetie Belle whipped her head back to Button, it sounded like he had almost hissed that comment. The last time she had heard him lower his voice like that was when he was trying to sound serious to his mother about wearing a mustache, or when he reached the final boss of any of his video games.

Daybreak grinned with glee "So Button does understand...awesome, maybe he can make Sweetie Belle get it better than I can"

"Ok Button, tell us what you think the answer is. Is it easier to blow up the tree and boulder, or make them levitate?"

"Well I believe it's-"

"Umm Daybreak question please?" Sweetie Belle cut across Button, literally jumping in front of him to grab Daybreaks attention

Although he found it rude of her to cut over Button like that, she wasn't normally the kind to do that so he'd let it go this time.

"Yes Sweetie Belle?"

She pointed her hoof towards the ceiling "Umm are you gonna do anything with that cloud up there? It's making me kinda nervous, it keeps sparking rainbow colored lightning every time I look at it"

Looking up, Daybreak saw Sweetie Belle was indeed correct. His large bubble of raw magical energy was not only shifting to different colors of the rainbow, but it was also sending out tiny sparks as well. All of which were a varying array of colors just like the cloud itself. But Daybreak wasn't worried, that was just a side effect of it being enclosed in a small area but also free from restraint for so long, he'd take care of it shortly anyways.

"Don't worry about that right now Sweetie Belle, just focus on this lesson and you may be able to grasp why you truly are a gifted unicorn."

Nodding, Sweetie Belle took her eyes off the fidgeting cloud of power, she did want to know why he kept saying she was so special...but still she couldn't help letting her eyes dart back every so often, just to make sure it was safe. Daybreak motioned to Button Mash with his hoof

"As you were saying Button?"

Button cleared his throat, again he spoke in that deeper, more intimidating voice he somehow could pull from nowhere, while his eyes drifted up towards the ceiling.

"I think that it's both."

While Daybreaks face immediately broke into a wide and unmaskable grin, Sweetie Belle's morphed into a look of bewilderment, but Button paid them no mind

"When I say both, I mean it would be easier to destroy the boulder, and levitate the tree."

He looked back to Daybreak, not even realizing he had been staring off into space as he visualized what he was saying. Daybreak nodded

"Go on"

"Well...the tree is a more complex...organism, I guess, I don't know what else to really call it...but it's more complex than the boulder. The boulder is probably made of only one material or rock right? So that's all you'd have to think about when trying to destroy it, is that one thing, blasting rock into gravel. But for a tree you have leaves, flowers, possibly insects, the bark, the sap inside, and it's all made of different things. To destroy that with magic, you'd have to know what could destroy each individual thing that's part of the tree, right? That's why it's easier just to move the tree?"

Daybreak clapped his hooves together in wild applause "Bravo Button, that was perfect!"

Even Twilight, hidden in the back, found it hard not to applaud as well. Most ponies at his age would never grasp a concept like that so easily, and especially not an earth pony, she was truly impressed. What she didn't understand, was how he could know that, he never showed that kind of intellect before now. Looking back over, she saw Daybreak was hiding a smirk that looked just like his father did when he was plotting something mischievous, he must have already suspected this...but how?

Sweetie Belle was dumbfounded, her mouth would have hit the floor if it were possible! She had never known Button was smart, he had certainly never seemed like it before. He was always the first one right after Scootaloo to do something extreme or crazy in their crusading...it just didn't make any sense to her.

"Say Button..."

Daybreaks voice brought both Twilight and Sweetie Belle back from their stupor and their attention back squarely on him.

"Could you tell me how you were able to figure that out? I'm assuming it wasn't through studying?" the slight smirk hidden behind his question was unmistakable.

Button Mash couldn't help but chuckle "Naw it's not from anything like that, and to be honest I didn't even know if what I was saying was right, it's just a concept I took from one of my video games and it turned out to be right here too."

"WHAT!"

Luckily this time Daybreak was prepared and had plugged his ears before Sweetie's voice could further damage them beyond repair.

"Are telling me that you learned about magic through a video game?! What game was this and why haven't you showed me it yet?!"

Daybreak watched as Sweetie's cheeks grew red with annoyance. He had to stop himself from chuckling aloud, he found himself eating his own hoof to prevent an outburst. But before he could come to Buttons aid, the little gamer recovered on his own

"No no Sweetie Belle, the game didn't teach me about magic. Though that would be just as awesome."

Buttons eyes began drifting upwards again, he was lost in imagining himself as a unicorn.

"The horn would get annoying and probably get in the way of my hat, but it would be soooo worth it. Being able to play video games with my mind...so cool"

A subtle, but noticeable cough from Daybreak brought Button back to reality quicker than he left it. He quickly looked around to see they were still waiting for him to explain.

"Oh right...Well anyways, You didn't wanna play this game Sweetie Belle, remember? You said it was too complicated...then we played Minecraft together"

Pursing her lips together, Sweetie Belle thought hard about which time Button had ever offered her a game she didn't want to play, there weren't many times. Suddenly one game stuck out in her mind, and she found herself wanting to gag

"Ewwwww, you're talking about that gory puzzle game aren't you?"

The look of disgust on Sweetie's face was almost priceless; tongue extended, eyes clamped shut and flailing hooves made for a hilarious photo shoot. Button wore an expression that could only be described in two words...line face.

With a clear sigh of annoyance Button groaned "Yes Sweetie Belle, I'm talking about the 'gory puzzle' game"

He air quoted "gory puzzle"

"Clearly this was an unpleasant discussion they had before...oh well, time for some chaos to begin a brewin. I'm curious about this game and I need Button to explain his answer in more detail for Sweetie Belle, so a little bit of mayhem between the two couldn't hurt if it helps...right?...Right?"

"So Button, it's clear that Sweetie Belle knows what this game is so that should help a bit. Could you explain how it helped you think of the answer you gave me and maybe what the game is?"

Button opened his mouth to answer but Sweetie Belle once again cut him off

"Don't you dare say the name of that horrific game...it is not to be spoken of around me!"

Daybreaks hoof couldn't make it to his muzzle before he broke into giggles, the complete look of disdain on Sweeties face was just too cute and humorous, even her curls seemed to cringe within her mane at the thought of this supposedly horrid game. Add to that the look of annoyance and unamusement on Buttons face and the photo was perfect.

"She's just mad cause she sucks at it Daybreak!"

Buttons retort only served to infuriate Sweetie Belle more, but Daybreak managed to grab hold of the angry filly before she could fully launch herself at Button Mash. Restraining her against his side with his hoof, Daybreak attempted to hide his now obvious laughter through another cough

"Ahem! So anyways Button, please explain to me how this game helped you reach the conclusion you made about the 'tree' and the 'boulder'."

Nodding with glee, Button sat down and began to reenact the scene from which he was referring.

"Well there I was, trapped inside this small ship floating through deep space...Necromorphs closing in on me from all sides-"

"I'm sorry to interrupt Button, but...Necromorphs? What in the hay is that?"

Daybreak saw Sweeties face gain that disgusted look again, while Button seemed more then happy to explain.

"Well...Necromorphs are like zombiefied ponies that are mutated into a bunch of weird and ugly forms by the Marker-"

"The what?...Oh sorry Button."

Daybreak actually blushed this time, he couldn't help but interrupt, he was curious. This game already had his attention, and it managed to teach Button something useful, he had to know more about it.

"Naw it's ok Daybreak...Well the Marker is an artifact from an alien race that was on our planet long before ponies were. And being around it for too long causes ponies to go insane and eventually transform into these things called Necromorphs. I don't really know exactly how, other then one way cause I haven't played the third game yet, since it just came out. But I know one way they transform is this large bat creature stabs them in the neck or back and injects them with some kind of fluid to change them..."

"Do you see why I think this game is gross? Please tell me you see it?"  Sweetie Belle sounded almost hopeful that Daybreak would side with her and inform Button of the games grotesqueness, she tugged against his side, her eyes bright with hope...but unfortunately for her Daybreak was already hooked.

"No way Sweetie Belle! This sounds interesting...tell me more Button, then explain how it helped teach you, I don't wanna get too off topic here for Sweeties sake...and cause that floating magic cloud above us needs to get used soon...if I don't wanna blow up my house.

Back in the corner, halfway hidden behind her door, Twilight sighed with relief "Oh good he already knows...I was worried I'd have to do it myself if he didn't at least notice..."

Daybreak was sitting down by the time Twilight looked back up, already engrossed in Buttons explanation of this unknown game. While Sweetie Belle looked like she was halfway torn between smothering herself, or Button, with the cushion she was on.

"So these Unitologists worship the Marker? Even though it would cause the end of the world...why?"

Button shrugged "Some ponies are just stupid like that I guess...To be honest I think I get more pleasure out of killing them than the Necromorphs."

Stifling a chuckle, Daybreak merely nodded, eager to hear more

"So anyways...Like I was saying before, there I was trapped inside a ship in deep space, Necromorphs were closing in from everywhere! The only way out of the room was to clear some debris blocking the metal doors ahead of me. I tried using my kinesis module (that's the thing that allows me to pick up and move certain objects) on the debris and metal, but their were too many pieces everywhere and it would take too long. So I knew I'd have to use some kind of explosive to move them quicker! In the back of the room I found this cannon turret that would vaporize almost anything it hit. So I took it, aimed it at the debris...and fired! The first shot completely vaporized one of the largest pieces in an instant and hit a few Necro's along the way. So I was thrilled, like really thrilled, cause this place had been frustrating me for hours, but now I was blasting away the debris like it was nothing...then I came to the part that really started to annoy me. The metal pieces that had moving parts, or pieces that were powered by other pieces, ya know...things that weren't just giant hunks of metal anymore. I tried blasting my way through there, but instead of my cannon vaporizing a whole piece of debris like it had before, it only disintegrated pieces at a time now. I couldn't understand why until Luna got on the mic and explained the weapons stats to me better...Then I was-"

"Woah! Woah! Woah! Hold on a sec there Button...did you just say Luna?! As in Princess Luna?...She plays video games?"

"Well...yeah...?"

Daybreak would have fallen over if he hadn't already been sitting down, the Princess of the Night...his aunt...was a gamer like Button? In hindsight it kinda made sense, I mean what else was she supposed to do all night?...Now that he thought about it...it made a little too much sense and he was more surprised he hadn't seen that coming.

"I now have the perfect nickname for her when I see her again, thank yooooooou Button Mash."

Little did he know, across the room half hidden behind a door, Twilight was doing everything in her power not to lose control of her limbs and collapse to the floor in laughter. Had she not shoved her own hoof into her mouth a second earlier, her cries would have possibly alerted the house next to them.

Satisfied with his own thoughts about the Princess, Daybreak motioned for Button to continue his story, after nudging Sweetie Belle in the flank, encouraging her to pull her head out from under the cushion. Clearly she had decided to smother herself rather than Button.

"Yeah so Luna explained the weapon to me because she had beaten that part a few days ago, the weapon could only destroy one type of material at a time. So once I got past just standard pieces of metal it was almost useless for me...well except for when I used the last few shots to blow away some more Necro's...but you know what I mean! Anyways, I eventually figured out that this was where I should use my kinesis module, even though some of the pieces were massive. I moved them all out of the way, after throwing several of them at the remaining Necro's on the ceiling, and made it to my elevator, finally completing the chapter that had me annoyed for hours!" Buttons face broke into a massive grin as he finished his tale throwing his hooves into the air for added enthusiasm to his joy. He was clearly satisfied with himself and the effect he had on his audience.

Both Daybreak and Sweetie Belle (who had surrendered herself to the inevitable halfway through the explanation) had their jaws hanging agape from their muzzles. Daybreak could not believe the simplistic way Button had come to realize one of the most important concepts in magic! His theory had been spot on about Button the entire time, sure he was goofy and a bit dorky sometimes, but Button had another side hidden beneath all of that, a side that could analyze and apply knowledge he learned to useful situations. And with his help, Daybreak was sure he could teach Button to use that hidden talent not only for his benefit, but Sweetie Belles as well.

Speaking of Sweetie Belle, Daybreak turned and closed her jaw for her, as she was clearly incapable of doing so on her own. Once he had placed her jaws together she seemed to snap from her stupor, he smiled down at her

"Well I'd say that was certainly an impressive application of knowledge, wouldn't you Sweetie?"

Sweetie Belle nodded vigorously causing Buttons cheeks to burn, he attempted to hide his face under his hat. Daybreak couldn't help but find it adorable for the colt to be the one getting all shy, Button certainly was a character. Sweetie scooted her cushion over next to Button, gently poking him in the leg, she whispered in his ear

"Hey Button...maybe you can come to all my magic practices from now on? If its ok with Twilight that is."

Buttons face lit up with glee, he didn't even hesitate in nodding his head at rapid speed, nearly sending his hat flying from its perch atop his mane

A smirk crossed over Daybreaks face as his own mane fell over him eyes, giving them a shadowy look

"Oh actually, I think I'm gonna have a talk with Twilight tonight about taking over your magical training from now on Sweetie Belle."

This was clearly a surprise for the filly as she did a double take once realizing what he had actually said

"Oh that's gre-...Wait...What?...How come?"

The disappointment in her voice was apparent, and although Daybreak had expected that, he had still hoped she would show some enthusiasm. He hid his own disappointment at her reaction behind his eyes

"Well...Twilight is a great teacher and all when it comes to fundamentals...but I think what you require, is a more action based Sweetie Belle...like hooves-on training, and I'm all about that! Not so much learning the complexities of the spell then trying it out in an enclosed library. More like practicing the spell out in an open field where your free to let it all go and focus without distractions! Of course Button will be allowed as well if he so chooses"

This bit of news made Sweetie happier, but she still looked slightly upset. Her eyes were aimed at the floor rather than him, indicating she was still thinking about or was bothered by something

"You'll still have Twilight Time once a week with your friends Sweetie Belle, it's just the private lessons where you're alone that I want to have you work with me instead.

Ah! There it was! At this news any hint of sadness in her face vanished after which she sat up bright and happy!

"Oh ok! Great!"

Daybreak looked to Button, although he had never stopped smiling in the first place, he asked him anyways.

"And what about you Button? Wanna come to the lessons too? Maybe after each one you guys can play your games here? Maaaaaaybe I'll even try and play with you...though don't be surprised if I suck at first."

Button nodded his head with extra vigor, this kids neck must have been made of steel.

"Oh boy yes! I'd love to come with Sweetie Belle and learn magically stuff here...Oh and don't worry about not playing well in video games, Sweetie Belle was a scrub once too, though her first experiences were probably much funnier than yours will be! She's still a scrub at times too, so you won't be alone."

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A SCRUB YOU NOOB!?"

Button whipped his head to face the enraged filly beside him. There was clear fire in her eyes as green sparks fizzled from her horn like a firecracker, apparently being called a scrub was quite the insult...to cause Sweetie's hair to curl like it was, it seemed to coil up like an angry snake inside a mess of vines! She was up and in his face, staring him straight in the eyes and practically blowing steam from her nostrils! Button smirked but Daybreak was beginning to worry...

"Uh Button...I think you should-"

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A NOOB YOU TRYHARD!?"

"Never mind..."

"HA! TRYHARD! ME?! THIS COMING FROM THE COLT WHO NO-LIFED THE LATEST PONIES OF WAR 3 IN A DAY!"

"Guys I don't think you should talk like..."

"HEY THAT GAME WAS AWESOME! AND YOU'RE JUST MAD CAUSE I KICKED YOUR ALIEN LOVING FLANK!"

"Now Button that doesn't seem..."

"I'M NOT AN ALIEN LOVER! I ONLY SAID THAT I FELT SORRY FOR THEM YOU DORK! I MEAN COME ON, WE INVADED THEIR WORLD FOR PONY SAKE, ALL THEY DID WAS COME UP FROM THE GROUND AND FIGHT BACK!..........AND WAIT A SEC! YOU DIDN'T KICK MY FLANK! I KICKED YOURS!"

Now Button was up on all fours as well, unable to sit for this horrific accusation, his forehead was pressed against Sweeties as he yelled back, his voice cracking like a skipping record

"LIES! AS IF YOU'D EVER BEAT ME SWEETIE BELLE!"

"Button that's perfectly possi-"

"YOU DORK! I ALREADY DID REMEMBER?! WE PLAYED VERSUS ON THAT MAP WITH ALL THE VAMPIRE FRUIT BATS THAT ONLY COME OUT WHEN YOU TURN OFF THE LIGHTS BY SHOOTING THE GENERATOR! I WAS THE CHANGLINGS AND YOU WERE THE PONIES! THE MATCH ENDED WHEN YOU GOT EATEN BY THE VAMPIRE FRUIT BATS CAUSE I SHOT THE GENERATOR WHILE YOU WERE IN THE GRENADE LAUNCHER SPAWN! I WON THE MATCH BY ONE POINT CAUSE YOU DIED ON YOUR LAST LIFE AND I STILL HAD MINE, WITH YOUR WHOLE TEAM OF AI's DEAD!"

Button opened his jaw clearly intent on providing a retort...but then he stopped halfway through forming his sentence. His jaw remained opened, as though he had been frozen in time, the little colt simply stared ahead. Until...

"WELL...YOU'RE STILL A SCRUB!"

"...Why do I even bother..."

Sweeties horn flared up, sizzling at the tip as tiny green lightning bolts jumped forward and singed the wooden floor beneath them. Her eyes and face contorted into a furious rage once again as she prepared to rush Button. She even stomped her hoof into the floor, pretending she was a bull preparing to charge!

"SAY THAT AGAIN YOU MUD COATED TWERP AND I'LL BUCK YOU STRAIGHT TO THE MOON!"

Yikes! That was the end line right there, Daybreak stepped in between the pair and attempted to block their paths to each other while pushing them away with his hooves. Button however, had sparked his own fire within and was now viciously attempting to claw his way through Daybreak to Sweetie Belle, still yelling!

"YOU COULDN'T BUCK ME TO THE MOON EVEN IF I STOOD HERE BLINDFOLDED SWEETIE BELLE! YOU'RE A UNICORN REMEMBER? ALL YOUR STRENGTH IS IN YOUR BIG HEAD, NOT THAT THERE'S MUCH BRAIN WAVES GOING THROUGH THERE EITHER! GUESS YOU'RE OUTTA LUCK ON BOTH ENDS!!"

Sweet Luna! Daybreak stared at Button Mash, unable to believe he had just said something so awful to Sweetie Belle. What had suddenly gotten into these two? He hoped an answer would hit him soon, but all he received was Sweetie Belle smashing her body against his right leg, attempting to push past him and throttle Button

"IT'S PERNOUNCED 'NOT THAT THERE'S MANY BRAIN WAVES GOING THROUGH THERE' YOU DUNCE! HOW CAN YOU CALL ME DUMB WHEN YOU HAVE SUCH TERRIBLE GRAMMAR?!"

"I'M NOT CALLING YOU DUMB I'M CALLING YOU A SCRUB! YOU SCRUB!"

"I'LL DESTROY YOU!"

She darted underneath Daybreaks chest before he could grab her. Expertly weaving in between his legs and avoiding his swipe for her, she sprung and tackled Button Mash across the floor, rage filling her eyes! Sweetie pressed her anger filled stare against his forehead, practically crushing their eyeballs against each other!

In the corner of the room, Twilight ignited her horn and prepared to intervene should anything go awry beyond Daybreaks control. She doubted it could ever get that far knowing how he handled things, but she was better off ready just in case.

Daybreak ignited his own horn as well, he was about to separate the two with a force field when he noticed something odd about them...neither one was moving. Daybreak looked harder and saw that they were simply sitting still, staring at each other. Sweetie Belle was still standing overtop of Button Mash, successfully pinning his hooves to the floor under her own.

"No way..." Daybreak couldn't believe what he thought was going to happen. He kept his horn lit and ready, but decided to simply watch and see what occurred next.

For several seconds the two ponies simply stared at one another, trading angry looks back and forth between them. Sweetie Belle showed no signs of releasing Button, and he showed no intentions of escape...which meant Daybreak was forced to watch nothing more than what seemed like, a staring contest between the two.

What Daybreak could not know, was the silent war going on between the two ponies as they stared at each other with only slightly changing expressions. Button mashed his eyebrows together in a glare

"You move first" he seemed to say with his stare, daring Sweetie to respond in turn.

Sweetie Belle immediately retorted with an expression of her own, curving her lips into an almost sneer-like expression, then stared down at Button with it, almost as if to say

"Yeah, I guess I have to, after all you clearly can't move me yourself"

Buttons eyes lowered into a stern stare as though he were threatening her, he even emitted a low growl under his breath, but nopony except Sweetie Belle heard it.

A moment later Sweetie Belle backed away from Button, a smirk accompanying her. Daybreak moved in immediately, expecting some kind of damage to the little colt...but he found nothing, both ponies were completely unharmed. It appeared that all they had truly done was stare at each other. Though Button did look slightly crestfallen, and Sweetie Belle was practically broadcasting the sneer she had to the world. Something had definitely happened...but Daybreak had no idea what it was.

"What was that all about you two?"

Sweetie Belle turned to him, still wearing her overly large smirk

"Oh I was just teaching Button who the dominate one here is, that's all."

"You two shouldn't behave like that towards each other...I thought you guys were good friends?"

He gave Button no time to retort to what Sweetie had said, seeing that he had opened his muzzle with the clear intention to do so. Instead, he simply wanted an explanation. But Sweeties next remark caught him off guard

"What are you talking about Daybreak? Behave like what? This is how we always are around each other?"

Unable to understand how that could even make sense, he began to question what she meant, but was cut off but a sharp raspy voice that sounded like it came from a serpent...it sent shivers down his spine

"He does not yet know of our ways Sweetie Belle."

Turning his neck so quickly that he was sure it cracked, Daybreak was shocked to see that the evil sounding voice was Buttons, though he was clearly dropping his voice much deeper than before. Then another voice just as creepy, but sounding more feminine, sent several more quakes down his spine

"Ah you are right, but he shall learn if he chooses to game with us."

He didn't have to look to know who it was, but he turned anyways. Sweetie Belle stood exactly where she was before, talking in her own creepy sounding voice that continued to make Daybreaks spine do the conga inside him.

"Ok you two...that's enough...you're seriously freaking me out..."

The dark glare around Button and Sweeties eyes faded away as quickly as it had appeared. Sweetie Belle chuckled while looking up at Daybreak with an amused grin, no trace of the previous destroy-the-world-look in her eyes.

"Sorry Daybreak, this is just how we are towards each other, trust me, its not a surprise if you're a gamer. You can be friends and still scream tons of insults at each other but at the end of it we're still having tons of fun, honest."

Daybreak moved his gaze from Sweetie to Button, both looked completely normal...maybe it really was just a thing they had between them. Sighing aloud, more to himself anypony else, he nodded and put out the glow building on his horn.

"Alright you two...I guess I'll understand better as we spend more time together. Speaking of which, I think I've got a good idea for some extra practice for you both to do on your own and-"

"HISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!"

A sharp hissing sound that made Daybreaks ears cringe, and his head turn towards the kitchen expecting to see a tea kettle on fire, cut across his sentence. Startled, Daybreak jumped back, horn blazing with green fire expecting to see a snake below his hooves when he found no tea kettle in his gaze toward the kitchen! Instead, looking down Daybreak saw Button Mash hiding under the rug swiping his hoof out as though he was trying to swat away a fly. Daybreak looked to Sweetie Belle, confused, and hoping for a response or explanation of this behavior. Instead he received only a few short giggles from her and a roll of the eyes. Realizing she wouldn't be helpful, he decided to confront the issue himself

"Umm...Button Mash? What are you doing?"

The little colts top half popped out from beneath the rug, his propeller hat sitting lopsided on his head as he hissed again at Daybreak

"Evvvvvvvvvil! No homework for Button Mash!"

With that, he retreated his head back within the rug. His hat was briefly knocked from its perch as he quickly dove back into his sanctum. For a moment it sat there peacefully upon the floor, but the moment Daybreak reached out for it with hope, Buttons hoof appeared from within the rug and swiped it up, leaving Daybreak with a crestfallen look and Sweetie Belle giggling more profusely than before.

Daybreak slapped his hoof to his face and dragged it down his muzzle, pulling against his lips and chin creating a worn and tired expression upon his face. These two would be the death of him, he could just tell. Knowing he would be unable to convince Button to return without first ridding him of the thought of homework, Daybreak was left with only one option.

"Oh Button Mash...?"

There was no answer from within the rug...Sweetie Belle continued her giggle fit, obviously amused to no end by their little game of hide and seek.

"Button Mash" He repeated again, this time with a little more authority behind his tone, but still not enough to sound threatening. Once again he was greeted with silence...he was beginning to get annoyed now. Deciding to simply end the game before he got frustrated anymore, Daybreak illuminated his horn in green light. The rug became engulfed in his aura and began to float away from the floor, revealing Button attempting to hold it down or go up with it.

Shaking his head, Daybreak grasped Button in a separate field and pulled him away from the rug, with minor resistance, and held him still next to Sweetie Belle, who was still giggling madly. Unable to move, Button was forced to simply stand upright next to Sweetie as he was given the one thing he despised most in this universe...homework. The dreaded creation that not only tired his mind after a long day, but also severely cut into his video game time. How could Daybreak be so cruel as to give him any?

"Now as I was saying, I have some extra work I think you two should do outside our lessons to help yourselves improve..."

He looked directly at Button, still held in place by magic, before he continued.

"...and don't worry, this isn't real homework. It's more like extra practice you can do on your own to improve."

"That's homework Daybreak..."

Sweetie Belles voice came out dull and unamused. Daybreak couldn't help but snap back, almost childishly

"Well homework isn't fun! This will be."

Sweetie Belle raised an eyebrow to him

"If you're gonna force homework on us, can you at least release Button so I don't feel like I'm standing next to a statue?"

Glancing over at Button, he sighed aloud

"Only if he doesn't try and run away again..."

Unable to actually respond due to the spell binding him, Button could only move his eyes and attempt to communicate that he understood by rapid eye movement. It didn't really make any sort of sense to Daybreak, but he figured that he meant yes, so he released the spell anyways.

The moment the green barrier fell his first instinct was to run for cover, but as he noticed Daybreaks horn was still very lit and buzzing with energy, he decided against it. Daybreak smiled as Button took a comfortable sitting position closer to Sweetie, and leaned in as though to pay closer attention.

Seeing that he had their full attention once more, Daybreak cleared his throat and continued

"As I was trying to say before, this won't be homework because for one, I can't force you to do it. Although I'm going to be your mentor for the time you choose to study under me, I am in no way your official teacher and therefore have no right to force you to do work outside this room. What I'm going to ask is completely optional and you have every right to not do it..."

"Maybe you wanna open with that next time?"

Sweetie's snarky remark took Daybreak by surprise, he opened his mouth to retort back but as he saw her flash him an innocent smile, he silenced himself. He had known Sweetie Belle a long time...and there was a very real friendship between them even through the age difference. This meant that they were on a personal level with each other and him suddenly becoming her teacher should not change that. Retorting to a snide remark that he should have seen coming in any way authoritative would only cause harm to what he was trying to accomplish with these ponies...Or maybe he was just overthinking things and he should behave as normal...

"Well I might have! But a certain brown colt decided to play cave explorer with my rug before I could get there!"

Button Mash blushed sheepishly and Sweetie let out another noticeable giggle. He smiled, he had been right to respond as normal...geesh, not even their first day and he was already second guessing himself on how to treat them...this was going to take some work. He would have to remember to ask Twilight for advice on teaching later.

"Well you two...I guess that should wrap us up for today. We should discuss when and how often per week we will meet for lessons. Any thoughts?"

He saw Sweeties hoof rocket into the air first, as usual. He nodded to her expecting to hear a very Twilight-like schedule explanation, but instead all Sweetie did was point her hoof above Daybreaks head.

"I have an idea Daybreak...can you finally show us what that big magic cloud was gonna be for?"

Directing his head upwards to follow her hoof, his eyes widened as they found his cloud of raw magic, still actively streaming rainbow colored sparks outwards in bursts! He had completely forgotten about his bubble...no wonder he felt so...drained, half his energy was floating directly above his head...well now he was in a predicament. He already had explained everything he needed through simply talking with these two...he had planned to use the magical cloud as a live demonstration...but now there was no need. But he couldn't just reabsorb it all without doing anything with it. Well, technically speaking he could, but that would render the whole process he did to extract it completely pointless. Not to mention it wasn't exactly an easy task to just absorb that much raw power, even if it was formerly his. He'd probably be unstable for several minutes before he regained control, and he didn't feel like turning Twilight's house into a giant flower or anything by accident. Which left him with only one option, use the raw energy for something, then allow it to naturally return to him overtime.

He had planned on doing that originally when he wanted it for demonstration, but now it felt like wasted time...unless he made it something really awesome. He would be left quite exhausted once this cloud was used, and would likely be no more magically adept than an average unicorn for sometime. So he had to do something really awesome with it...or really funny! Funny was definitely within the range of worth it...but that meant it had to be beyond amazing, and hilarious!

Looking around the room, Daybreak searched for an object, any object to be the subject of their entertainment. Glancing back, he noticed Twilight's study was slightly ajar, she was probably still too busy with Aurora to have any idea what was occurring out here...that made her a prime target.

Just as he was considering what to attack his unsuspecting wife with...the answer to all his problems came to him...in the form of loud snoring! From the top of the stairs and inside their room, Spike's snores carried down to the floor and to Daybreaks awaiting ears. A sinister grin spread across his muzzle as he prepared to wreak some good old fashioned chaos within his home.

"Ok Sweetie...You and Button watch closely now, I'm gonna show you exactly what to do with this big cloud of fun here hehehe...Oh Spiiiiiiiiiiiike, could you come down here please?

Sweetie Belle's eyes went wide with horror "Daybreak! What are you gonna do to poor Spike?"

The sinister grin plastered across his muzzle only grew wider as he heard the tiny taping of claws against floorboard. For a moment, Sweetie Belle swore she saw a flash of crimson within his eyes

"Why I'm only going to show you what a highly unstable magical cloud and a water balloon have in common!"

The tapping of clawed feet became louder as Spike neared the door to their room, Daybreak heard Spikes claw strike the door handle, and lit his horn, signaling the start of his joke. Looking above them, Button and Sweetie Belle watched as the stormy cloud of power started to twist as though the high winds of a typhoon were blowing against it. With green energy shimmering along it's edges to show that Daybreak was effecting it, the cloud began to clump together in a more compact form than before. As each section silently mushed itself together it began to look less like a cloud and more like one giant bubble, which was slowly coming closer and closer to the ground, like a new weight had placed upon it. The clumps disappeared and the sparks of rainbow lightning became confined to the inside of the sphere it was now becoming.

His smile stretched from ear to ear as his magical creation of havoc was born. The former storm cloud of unstable rainbow soaked light was gone, replaced by what looked like, a giant sphere.

It was massive in size and to Button, it looked like the largest balloon in the world. But it was far different from any balloon he had ever seen. As he stared closer to its ever changing light, he realized he could see through to the inside. Within its giant form, it seemed to hold all of the rainbow lightning they had seen before, but it looked completely different now. Instead of the lightning streaming and shooting out in random directions like it had before, now the power had been compressed into the center, forming a slightly smaller sphere on the inside. The smaller sphere within was also changing colors too, but at a much quicker pace than the outside, and it seemed to vibrate a bit with each color change. This gave off the illusion that it was attempting to free itself from within.

However the reality of this new form was much different, as Button would soon find out. He felt compelled to touch the outside of the sphere, just to see what would happen. He looked over, Sweetie Belle was examining the sphere herself and not paying any attention to him. Meanwhile Daybreak was staring up at the staircase above them, clearly still waiting for Spike, that meant he was in the clear. He reached out his hoof and extended it towards the ball of power. Coming up short by only a few inches, he cursed his rotten luck for not being any taller, but refused to give up and continued attempting to stretch himself enough to touch it.

As Button was lost within the beautiful radiance of the spheres glow, Sweetie Belle noticed something odd about the new form the magic had taken. It now had a small stream of lime green energy flowing down from its bottom, to the tip of Daybreak's horn, as though he were holding it in place. This was very odd to her, as he had been willing to let it float freely when it looked like a storm cloud, but now that it looked more stable he was holding it in place...why?

She never got to voice her question though, for before she could open her mouth she heard the sound of a door being shut with added force. Looking up, she was in time to see Spikes shadow begin quickly running down the stairs. She swung her neck back around to find Daybreaks eyes following the young dragons shadow like a hawk on its prey.

"This is gonna blow the roof off the place!" He quietly voiced with a sinister grin.

Old Problems Die Slow

You know...most ponies would think that being married to the son of a chaos spirit would be a full time job twenty-four seven...well they would be right!

Twilight had restrained herself from bursting into the room when Daybreak voiced he was going to prank Spike. She had restrained herself when he had condensed an extremely volatile cloud of raw power into an even more unstable and compact state. She had even held her body in place when he began to stream his own energy around the sphere to send it floating up to Spike on its own. But when she saw Button Mash reach out his hoof and viciously attempt to prod at the unstable bubble...She could take no more!

...Sadly it was too late...

By the time she flung open the door to her study and was screaming for Button to stop...the damage had been done. The second his hoof made contact with the sphere it began to ripple, sending out bursts of electric waves to his point of contact. Even as Button yelled out and pulled his hoof away, the rainbow light still clung to the spot he had touched! Daybreaks face dropped as he turned to see what Button had done. Realizing that premature detonation was imminent, he grabbed both Button and Sweetie Belle in a dive to the floor! Using the full might of his weight to keep them still, he shoved them behind the couch and dove on top of them right as the bubble burst!

.....

The shockwave that followed was possibly the most intense thing Daybreak had ever experienced in his life, and that truly was saying something! The entire room was filled with thick clouds of dust as typhoon class winds of magic slashed their way around the house, attempting to find freedom! Twilight found her whole body being lurched back inside her study room by the powerful blast! She managed to stabilize herself in the air for just a moment, which she used to grab Aurora from her crib, before she was thrown against her wall by the constant ripples of power emanating from the explosion!

Each ripple felt like it had the force of Equestria's worst storm, plus the magical power to back it up. Instead of just knocking her around, each ripple that struck through her made her feel heavier and weaker, as though the sheer weight of this magic was pulling her down. She saw her scrolls fly across the room and her papers scatter every which way. Truthfully she didn't care that much as long as everypony was alright afterwards (even though she and Spike had spent two hours organizing those), but if she had the strength to stand after this...Daybreak was going to be in more trouble than he could imagine!

Speaking of Daybreak...His entire body felt like it was on fire, as the magically magnetized winds of his own power swatted and battered against his back! He used every ounce of his strength to hold Button and Sweetie Belle in place on the ground, while the winds from Tartarus smacked his back like a whip! He could feel the razor-like gusts etch red burn marks across his back as he refused to give way to them. He found he could focus only on the faces of the two ponies huddled together beneath him, squeezing each other for dear life!

Another ripple came from within the bursting sphere, this one more powerful than the previous, Daybreak felt the floor beneath him lurch upwards forcing his whole body down, he lost his footing for a moment and felt his two hind legs leave the floor, in favor of the air! He gripped the floorboards below attempting to pull himself back down on top of the scared ponies! He urged his aching body to pull itself down, but he found the magical winds were too strong for him to make any progress. Any attempt at casting spells or even lighting his horn was extinguished when he first tried, his magic simply floated off his horn tip and joined the rest of the chaos storm raging within their house!

As if his problems were too few and far between, Daybreak suddenly felt a large mass strike the side of his gut, causing him to lose his last bit of hold on the floor! He was sent spiraling across the room into the nearest bookcases that were still standing. As his horn was impaled through Twilights copy of Advanced Equestrian Brews , he caught sight of the object that struck him, and it was coming for him again...Spike! Spike was curled up into a ball and being tossed around the room like a rag doll, not even attempting to control his flight pattern. The small dragon probably couldn't even feel a thing rolled up like that, his scales were extremely thick after all, Daybreaks stomach could testify to that.

As the young drake was hurled at Daybreak like a rocket propelled basketball, Daybreak found enough footing to take a relatively stable stance and attempt to catch him, like a catcher in baseball might do. He would have materialized a catchers mit, but his magic would only be absorbed by the sphere again...sadly...it would have made for a good picture though.

Spike soared at Daybreak with a speed that would have sent Rainbow Dash wall eyed, and struck his open hooves dead in the center of his chest! Both dragon and pony were sent through the only two remaining bookcases, the wall behind them, and into the bathroom, where the head of the toilet was waiting to greet Daybreaks face!

Truthfully Daybreak couldn't decide which of the three was more painful; Spike striking his chest at the force of a thousands hot soccer balls, being sent flying through two bookshelves and a wall, or his face being forcibly smashed through a toilet bowl! Honestly, he already knew the answer awaited him in his aching chest where he now held Spike. But once he tried to remove his head from the toilet and realized that the book, still stuck to his horn, was lodged in the bowl and preventing his escape...he changed his answer. This situation was definitely more painful...to his pride at least.

.....

Meanwhile, Button Mash and Sweetie Belle were still shoved behind the couch, legs wrapped around each other for dear life as they both screamed their lungs out! Even with all the wind and noise of crashing and breaking objects, Buttons high pitched yells of terror could be heard easily

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! I'M TOO YOUNG TO DIE! I STILL HAVEN'T BEATEN THE ENDER DRAGON YET! WHY DOES TODAY KEEP TRYING TO KILL ME!?"

Sweetie Belles screams were even louder than Buttons, but equally as terrified

"BUTTON I'M SCARED! HOLD ME!?"

"I ALREADY AM HOLDING YOU SWEETIE BELLE!"

"....oh"

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!"

"I SAID OH!"

"OH WHAT?"

"Never mind..."

"WHAT?!"

"I SAID NEVERMIND!!!"

"OUCH!...OK GEEZ YOU DON'T HAVE TO YELL..."

Sweetie Belles face grew red as she cried out in frustration "YOU'RE IMPOSSIBLE!"

"NO I'M TERRIFIED! NOW HOLD ME!"

"OK!"

The pair continued to scream out in fear, squeezing each other with all their might, until they realized something...there was no roof on the house anymore...and the sky seemed to be moving closer. For a moment the two ponies were silent in the raging storm of chaos. They looked at each other, then back to the roof where the sky was continuing to move quickly by, then back to each other again...and screamed even louder than before! That is, until a large tree branch from the former roof collapsed from above and landed on the two ponies, smothering out their yells and trapping them below a pile of merciless leaves and twigs!

.....

Realizing her situation was hopeless against the raging winds trapping her, Twilight decided instead of struggling she should comfort little Aurora. She was probably terrified with all this noise and destruction flying about. Turning over her filly in her hooves, Twilight released a yelp of shock, which went unnoticed against the high pitched winds! Aurora was not only already awake and aware of what was going on around her...but she was smiling brightly! Even as books and their cases flew by and joined the several other objects of her study room that were now impaled in her wall-turn-dartboard, Aurora continued to beam with her usual irresistible and toothless grin.

This filly of hers would never cease to amaze her...Aurora struggled and squirmed in Twilights grasp attempting to free herself from her mother. Twilights hooves wobbled as the little filly pushed and wiggled, but she refused to let her go while this havoc was going on inside her home! However Aurora had other plans, her horn ignited in its sea green light, then she was gone! Twilights eyes bulged, her daughter had just teleported right out of her grasp...and in the middle of a storm that absorbs magic...

"What the buck?! Where did she go?"

Her answer came as soon as a small burst of bright green light filled the study, and Aurora sat in the middle of the room. She stared up at Twilight with a smile, seemingly unaffected by the magic or winds that the storm carried. Twilight waved to her daughter, attempting to draw her back to her hooves

"Hey there sweetie...yes I see you...why don't you just crawl back over to mommy now hm?"

Even if she heard and understood her, Aurora seemed not to be paying Twilight any mind. Her eyes were locked on another object flying within the library...and it was heading this way.

Twilight heard a loud screech emanating from outside her study, then watched as a small creature flew through the, now missing, door and shot towards the wall where Twilight was held by the winds! She yelped in fear as the unknown creature soared straight for her face, she shut her eyes and prepared for the worst. But nothing ever hit her, and when she did finally open her eyes, she saw Aurora holding the creature within her hooves. She sat on her haunches in the center of the room, uncaring to all things but what she now held within her grasp.

Even through the dust and raging winds, Twilight squinted her eyes and was barely able to make out what exactly it was her daughter was holding...a squirrel. This raised so many questions in Twilights head all at once, she didn't know which one to start with. The most obvious one was, how had it gotten in the house? But considering the present situation of her home, the question seemed foolish. Instead she wondered, how had she caught it in this wind, too bad she had shut her eyes and missed it, of course...Then again, she was sitting perfectly still as though the wind didn't even exist to her, while Twilight was pinned against her own wall by the very same winds her daughter was ignoring. So throwing all reason aside, Twilight just went on the assumption that the squirrel had appeared in her home due to the storm, and Aurora wanted to mess with it.

For now that would suffice, now back to her current problem...how to free herself from this uncontrollable storm of magic within her house? It's not like she didn't know how to stop it...but she couldn't reach it from here and her magic was practically useless at doing anything but making the storm worse. If she could just make it to the center of her home...she could burst the magical bubble all the way and end it quickly, that was her best bet...unfortunately. She knew once it fully burst, the storm and everything else would be over in an instant...but that instant would have the full power of the storm in one big explosion! She had no way of assuring herself it wouldn't end even worse than just waiting this out slowly.

With her unable to decide what to do, fate seemed to figure it would decide for her. For in that moment, Aurora Sparkle stopped playing with her new pet and looked towards her restrained mother. The little filly could see the exhaustion and turmoil etched across her face, and, almost as if she read her mind, decided that play time was over for now. Standing up with her horn ignited, Aurora released the squirrel from her grasp, sending it back into the mercy of the raging winds. The small creature was swept up instantly and sucked right out of the room to who-knows-where.

Twilight watched as her daughter about-faced, her eyes glowing white, and walked through the missing door to her study, into the worst of the storm. She wanted to call out for her, but knew her voice would never reach her anyways, so she simply growled with frustration and continued her attempt to pull herself free from the wall.

.....

Aurora Sparkle strode through the chaos storm as though it was a mere light rain, ignoring the flying objects and scrolls as though they did not exist. She could hear perfectly well, even through the deafening sound of the winds. She could hear her father trapped somewhere in the next room. She could hear Spike rolling around in the room with her, tossed about like a basketball. She could hear the muffled yells of Button Mash and Sweetie Belle, smothered under branches and leaves behind the couch. She heard it all, but paid none of it any mind. She simply strode to the center of the room, where the large sphere of magic still levitated on its own. There was a hoof sized hole in the bottom side of the sphere, where Button had touched. It was leaking out magical energy that began to flow throughout the room once it struck air.

Aurora felt herself drawn to the sphere, felt the compulsion within her body to reach out and touch the same spot Button had done. For a moment, her filly mind tried to process what was happening to her now, something was pulling her towards that sphere...but all she cared about fixing the big mess inside her home. Clearly whatever it is was making her mommy unhappy, so it should be fixed. Somehow she knew, that if she touched the sphere, everything would be alright again.

Reaching out with her miniature hoof, she closed in on the magic. As her leg came closer and closer, it began to glow green with tiny bits of static jumping along her fur the closer she got. They tickled at first, but then she began not to feel anything in her leg at all. She wanted to panic and pull away her hoof, possibly even run to her parents for an explanation of why...but she knew she had to push farther first. So, even though she could not feel it, she could see that she was making it closer and closer to the point Button had poked. With a long, and drawn out final push, Aurora shoved her hoof forward and jabbed at the hole with her leg!

The moment her leg entered inside the sphere, everything stopped. Not just the storm, or the winds, or the flying objects...everything stopped. Any movement within the house was suddenly frozen still as the little filly crossed an invisible threshold with her leg. Aurora stood still and looked around, she saw that all the things that were flying before were suddenly still in the air. She looked down at her hoof and wondered if she should pull it away...but something told her to leave it put. She was curious as to what would happen if she obeyed...so she did. Her reward for her patience came seconds later as a massive burst of purple, black and green light exploded outwards from within the sphere, destroying it entirely!

Aurora shut her eyes, feeling afraid of the heavy feeling magic she could now fully experience, and expected to be blown away by the overwhelming power she felt pass through her...but she remained still. Just like every other part of this storm, the massive and blinding wave seemed not to affect her at all. After several seconds, or it could have been several minutes, the wave ended as abruptly as it had begun. Other than her mane now standing straight up on her head, she felt completely fine. Nothing felt out of the ordinary on her as she felt herself over

"Guess dis means I fixed it?"

Satisfied she had done good, Aurora lowered her hoof, as the sphere it had been inside no longer existed there was no reason for her to keep it there. She looked around expecting to see everything looking just as it had before her daddy made the big bubble...but it didn't. In fact it looked worse than before! There were no objects still standing in the room with her, everything was either broken, knocked over or otherwise damaged in some way. But she did notice that the pretty colored winds were no longer visible, nor was anything flying around the house. So that meant she must have made everything ok then...right?

Aurora trotted around the house in search of her parents, and possibly a hug for doing a good job. The big bubble and strong winds had clearly been making her mommy sad, so they must have been bothering her daddy too. That meant both of them should be extremely happy with her for stopping it. She felt so pleased with her good deed that she failed to even notice the squirming pile of branches she was passing by, and just kept walking...

The house looked so different with everything blown around this way, she couldn't even tell where the bathroom was...and she really needed to go badly. All this excitement could really get to a filly. She had understood quickly that after her diaper had been removed, it was no longer ok to go potty without using the strange contraption that was inside the bathroom called a toilet. What was even more odd was that her parents seemed so surprised that she had figured out what it was for and how to use it in just the first several months home. It was very simple after all...why had they seemed so blown away? Then again, they always seemed to freak out every time she did something...her parents were so weird. She was one year and nine months old after all, why is it so amazing that she can do something's by herself?

Lost in her own thoughts, Aurora walked face first into what was left of the bathroom door. The smacking sound, stinging in her face, and the sudden unwanted halt in her walk brought her back to reality. She quietly squeaked in pain, jumping back from the horrid object and began furiously rubbing her nose to banish the aching now forming within it!

"Stupid door...Why couldn't the rest of you get blown off too...it's like you hate me cause I'm short, that's why you only left me the bottom half isn't it...big meanie!"

She kicked the door once out of frustration, hoping to teach it a lesson about smacking little fillies...but instead it simply fell to pieces at her hooves.

"Oops...umm...hope mommy and daddy don't get mad at me for that..."

Compared to the rest of the house, she doubted they would even notice one broken door bottom, but it was still a possibility. Speaking of her parents, she heard loud swishing sounds coming from within the bathroom. She covered her eyes with her left hoof and stuck her head around the side, into the bathroom. She had been told by her mommy repeatedly never to go inside a bathroom without knocking, in case it was being used...but she had just broken the door so this was the next best thing. With herself blinded she called out into the bathroom as best she could

"Mommy...Daddy?"

The swishing sounds ceased and she heard the pattering of hooves and...something else on the floor.

"Aurora?...Hey Daybreak!...Aurora's here!"

"Terrific Spike...meanwhile I'm still stuck in here..."

She recognized the second voice as her daddy for sure, and first belonged to her favorite playmate Spikey. He was barely any bigger than her, but different than any other pony she had met in her short life. Even though he looked completely different, he still loved to have fun, he always played with her whenever she wanted to. Although she knew she sometimes got him into trouble for playing too hard with her horns power...and he always took the trouble for her and then came back to play again. She felt bad sometimes and would say she was sorry as best she could, even give him hugs, but she wished she could say more. She wanted to learn more words quickly so she could say all these thoughts she had to her parents and Spikey...but they barely taught her any for some reason. She understood most of what they said when they talked about her education...it seemed like they thought she was too young or something, which she didn't get at all.

Again lost within her mind, it took Aurora a moment to realize she was being picked up. The rough claws gently massaging her coat told her it was Spike picking her up. She was being carried into the bathroom, she could tell by the change in sound as Spikes feet went from wood to tile floor. This meant she would get to potty, thank goodness, she wasn't sure how much longer she could wait. She felt Spike stop on the tile and her first instinct was to remove her hoof from her face, but she stopped herself before she did. What if her daddy was on the potty and she looked?  That wouldn't be very nice, after all, she hated it whenever he popped in to make sure she was ok, so there was no way she would do that to him. Therefore she kept her hoof firmly sealed against her face!

That only lasted a few more seconds though, for once the swishing and splashing sounds started again, Spike noticed she hadn't reacted to her father yet.

"Aurora? Why are you covering your face, is something wrong? Did you hurt yourself?

Aurora sat in Spikes arms, silent for a moment, wondering how to answer. She had understood some parts of his question, but some words were unfamiliar to her still. She knew he asked "why" and "hoof" and "face"...and she caught the word "hurt". So he must have been asking if she was covering her face cause she was hurt? If that was true then she knew how to respond.

The little filly squirmed in Spikes arms, successfully freeing herself from his grasp and landing on her rump with a squeak. She sat still on the tile floor shaking her head back and forth rapidly, then began flailing her free hoof in the direction she had heard her father.

"Potty! Potty!"

"Hm? You need to go potty Aurora...Um your daddy's...well...your daddy's kind of using it right now"

There Spike went again...using alot of weird words and pauses in his speech. But she had heard "daddy" and "using" and "potty" so she understood the basic. She shook her head again, this time rapidly shaking it up and down and pointing again at her father

"Potty potty potty!"

Spikes face grew a worried look "Um Daybreak? I think she really has to pee!"

In her blind state, Aurora could only listen as she heard a quiet chuckle echo from ahead. The chuckle was from her father, she knew that for sure, but it sounded like it was being muffled by some kind of object. She wondered what could be going on just outside of her hoof. Daybreaks chuckling grew into a loud laugh which seemed to cause even more swishing sounds and splashes before he finally got ahold of himself enough to speak. He chuckled in between his words a bit though, even blinded, Aurora could practically here the grin on his face.

"Oh Spike...She's not trying to say she has to pee, she's trying to say that she's covering her eyes cause she thinks I have to. She's already learned to knock before entering a bathroom...as I'm sure you know. After all, you were the one who made us teach her that...after one too many incidences involving unlocked doors I think...Anyway...without a door here to knock on she must have thought this was the best way to be polite...Such a cutie."

Despite finding the fact that this little filly could already understand manners hard to believe, Spike didn't find the thought impossible. She was Daybreak and Twilights child after all, anything was possible.

Aurora had little to no idea what her father had just said, she knew he had been talking about her and the potty. But there was too many words in between them all to understand what he said, but she could tell he sounded happy, so it must have been good. A moment later she felt Spikes claw against her hoof, then it gently pulled her hoof down and away from her eyes. The moment the ever cruel light invaded her sight, her mind immediately exploded with questions at the image before her. Her father stood only a few feet away, with his head stuffed in the potty.

Even she knew that it was not good to drink from the dirty water in there, and if he was that thirsty he could just get some water from the big cold box in the kitchen. So why was he in the potty with his head?

"Daddy? Ew..."

Spikes claws jumped to his lips, sealing them shut to keep himself from bursting out laughing. The look of confusion he saw spread across Aurora's face at the sight of her fathers head in the toilet, was just too funny! Meanwhile, Daybreak growled from within the toilet bowl, he didn't even have to wonder what she was asking about, for it was all too obvious.

"Spike, can it! Aurora sweetie...umm...daddy tripped and fell ok? Now daddy is stuck...Can you get mommy please?"

Aurora tipped her head to the side "Mommy?"

She could here him attempting to nod his head from within the toilet "Yes, go get mommy sweetie...ok?"

She nodded slowly and turned to leave...then stopped and looked back to Spike

"But...potty."

She heard a loud sigh along with several bubbles emanate from the toilets insides.

"Ok sweetie, potty in mommy and daddy's room, then find mommy, ok?"

"Yay!" She clapped her tiny hooves with glee! She turned and headed from the room, a bright smile adorning her cheeks. It was obvious her dad had just given her permission to use the bathroom upstairs in their room. That had a tub and a ton of cool pillows shaped soap thingies! She rarely got to use that one cause she would always try and sneak out with one of their real pillows...or the pillow shaped soaps.

.....

As Aurora left, Spike turned his attention back to Daybreak, who had all but given up attempting to free himself from his watery prison and instead decided to simply hum a tune that sounded suspiciously like "Winter Wrap Up" to himself while waiting for rescue. Despite the humorous scene before him, Spikes mind burned with a question that had been bothering him for awhile.

"Hey Daybreak?"

The humming ceased "Yeah?"

"There's something I've been wondering about...I didn't really pay it any mind until now...but..."

Another sigh echoed from within the bowl, followed by several more bubbles

"I think I know what it is that's bothering you little buddy...and it's been getting to me to..."

"Really?!" Spike was actually surprised, if Daybreak had apprehensions too, then maybe it really was something other than just quick development

"Yeah...You're worried about how rapidly Aurora is progressing right?"

"Yeah...I am...At first I just let it go cause she's your kid and all...hehehe...but lately I'm seeing it more and more."

Even without seeing his face, Spike could tell Daybreak was thinking just as hard about this as he was

"She said her first word in little more than a year...she's already walking...doing powerful magic...and now she's making small sentences...at least she doesn't seem to be growing any bigger. That means we can probably rule out accelerated growth..."

"Probably?" Spikes voice was tinted with concern

"Well we can't really be certain can we? It's not like a filly like this has ever been born before. I highly doubt she's just an extremely intelligent and gifted unicorn, but that's still a possibility. Without any real information or evidence we can't rule out anything or take any kind of action."

Spikes claws tapped at his chin, searching for some kind of explanation that fit well with their situation. Though nothing he thought of fit perfectly, there were all kinds of holes in any theory they could have.

"Well...If I remember correctly, from  what Pinkie Pie told me, the Cakes children were doing powerful magic and flying the first few days they were home too. So maybe the magic isn't all that weird...and they walked, I think...and come to think of it they also said Pinkies name the day she left. I guess the only weird part here is the small sentences, but that could just be Twilights brain in the genes..."

With the toilet still confining his head, Daybreak crossed his hooves under it, instead of his chin, to assume a thinking position.

"Well...I guess it's possible. Maybe I just want to believe she's extra special."

A small chuckle escaped Spikes lips "Guess the parental gene has kicked in inside of you hasn't it?"

"I certainly hope not...After all both of my parents abandoned me. I'd hate to have that trait passed on to me."

"Ehehehe...right..."

Although he didn't say it aloud, Spike was still on the fence about his current feelings for the Princess. He didn't want to believe she had banished Daybreak out of spite, or that she had turned her back on them...but it was hard to deny almost two years of no contact. Everypony had seen Aurora at least once since her birth...everypony, but Princess Celestia...

.....

With the speed of a thousand tiny turtles, Aurora bounded and leapt her way up the stairs to her parents room where the potty (and her soon-to-be collection of pillows) awaited her. Even though the stairs were wrecked and broken in several places, or held debris from the former storm, Aurora bounced around the obstacles with ease. Nothing would stand between her and her pillows. Her final obstruction lay just ahead of her, the door to her parents room.

She had never dared to go inside when they were not present, but this time would be different. Her daddy had given her permission and she intended to use it. She came upon the door and stared upwards at the handle, the final delay between her and the ultimate prize. Crouching low to the floor, she gave her flank a small shake...then sprung up and latched her tiny hooves onto the door handle. The handle fumbled and slipped in her grip as she viciously attempted to turn it enough to open the door in the air. Hanging from the door handle and trying to open it at the same time may not have been the easiest thing in the world...but it was certainly better than asking for help. Even if she could voice her need she would be unable to retrieve her pillows afterwards because whoever helped her would be watching her. So she would hang here until she could think of an idea...

Surprisingly enough, the little filly hung from the door handle for several minutes as she attempted to think of a plan. She attempted to ignite her horns light several times while she dangled, but for some reason it would not come...maybe she was too distracted...she didn't know, but she wanted in and she wanted in now! Her urge for the bathroom was growing to great and she was beginning to worry she might have an accident if she didn't get in soon!

As if on cue, the door handle snapped! Aurora plummeted all three feet of the fall and landed upon her flank with a small grunt. She looked up while she rubbed her tush, there was a hole where the door handle had previously been.

"Hmmmmmm..."

Reaching out, she gently pushed against the door...and it just slid open. She clapped her hooves together with glee, the storm must have weakened this door too. She was willing to bet if she kicked it then it might fall apart just like the other. However she had no intention of testing that, she was already worried she might get in trouble for the other one as it was...no need to add more.

Slowly she peered around the open door and allowed her eyes to wander the room before she entered, as if expecting somepony else to already be inside. Once she was certain there was nopony else, she crept on in. Her first mission was the potty, which she quickly scurried over to.

The bathroom alone looked bigger than her room, which was Daybreaks own addition to the home. Here and there he had made small modifications over the last one-point-nine years to make the house seem more spacious, or in some cases such as this, he had magically extended the bathroom to add a tub that could hold three comfortably and four on a good day. For some reason an in-house hot/bathtub had been on his list of "this needs to happen".

For little Aurora, she sought the toilet a few hooves away from the large tub. It was slightly larger than the others in the house, just like the room itself, and that made it harder to open and use for her. She approached the bowl and found that she was barely even eye level with the lid...why had her daddy made the toilet so tall? Regardless she now had a new mission...to open the potty bowl without falling inside.

Once again she tried to light her horn and open the lid with magic...and once again not even a spark escaped from her tip. She pouted and scolded her horn for denying her an easy route to her relief, but in the back of her mind she worried why it was suddenly not working for her. Next she attempted to simply lift the lid up with her hooves, but being barely tall enough to even see over the top she found this task to be quite difficult if not impossible. She pushed the lid up as high as her legs could reach, but it was not enough to reach the crescendo where the lid would simply fall the rest of the way for her. She came up short by a few inches each time, but kept at it anyways. Each time she would push the lid as far as she could, then strike it quickly and let go, hoping the force of her push would carry it high enough to make it past the elusive midpoint where it would continue on it's own power the rest of the decent. However each time it neared the peak of its climb...it would fall back down and make a loud "Smack!" as it collided with the seat again.

Several more attempts later she was still no closer to opening the lid, but she could feel her will to hold off an accident weakening quickly. Her legs were becoming shaky and she could feel how badly she needed to go soon!

"Oh...come on you stupid horn...work for me!"

Desperate to activate her magic, she began smacking herself on the tip of her horn as hard as she could with her hoof. This caused her extreme discomfort and pain in her forehead, but she could think of nothing else, she needed the lid open now!

Smack!

"Owie..."

Smack! Smack!

"Mmmph Ouch!"

Smack! Smack! Smack!

"Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow!"

She raised her hoof again as pain coursed through her head, and brought it down for a final strike. The moment she felt her hoof make contact with her horn tip, the room exploded into white! She yelped out in pain as green and gold flames escaped from her horn and flooded the room around her! Her eyes ignited with white light as a sensation of falling flooded through her body and the whole world seemed to melt away. She looked down...the floor was no longer present beneath her, in fact...nothing at all was present beneath her! She screamed in fear while the room around her disappeared and was replaced with darkness!

She shut her eyes, hoping to make it all go away. Sounds and screeches that she did not recognize flew past her ears as she attempted to curl up and shut out the world. She kept her eyes shut and her ears folded down, unwilling to look out and see what was happening. She heard screams and yells she could not understand. She heard the names of ponies she recognized being called out, but she refused to open her eyes and look. Luckily, or unluckily for her, the magic that surrounded her now wanted her to see everything. So it flooded its way past her eye lids and showed her everything inside her mind. She saw every picture, every image perfectly, as though she could see it herself. She grasped at her skull, unable to shut out the sounds, the visions, the images as they bore their way into her mind and found permanent residence within her.

She saw everything with perfect clarity, and then in one swift moment...they were extinguished. The flame that ignited her eyes faded away and her horns light burned down to a mere cinder. She felt a wetness on her legs...she opened her eyes and looked down, she must have been so frightened she wet herself. Oddly enough it didn't matter, for some reason she had made it atop the potty and seated on the seat. She had no idea how she had climbed up here, or what any of the visions she saw could mean. She barely understood any of what she saw as it was...and she had no way to communicate what she had seen to her parents until she learned more words. But she did remember one image with particular detail...her daddy and grandpa were standing in front of some really reaaaaaaally big building that looked like it was made out of clay. Her daddy had touched a stone with a picture on it and then a big light had covered her vision...she wondered what that could have been and why that vision had seemed so much more important to her than the others.

She looked around the bathroom, wondering what damage she may have caused during her vision...but there was nothing amiss. The entire room looked exactly as it had moments before, she had been expecting something to be different, maybe even some burn marks from the green and golden flames that had appeared from within her horn tip...but, nothing? Had she just imagined the whole thing, or was there something wrong with her? The pictures she had seen had been real enough, so why was there no evidence of their appearance in the room?

"What's wrong wit me...?"

Hopping down from the toilet, she climbed up to the sink and began washing her hooves in the cold water. She couldn't understand what had just happened to her, but she was even more worried it might happen again. Cupping her hooves together she scooped up some water and splashed her face. The cold water running down her cheeks felt nice, like a small bath just for her face. She scooped up more and doused her horn and mane, and although the water felt nice in her hair, she heard a sizzling sound along with the smell of smoke emanating from her head.

The mirror in front of the sink revealed the question to her newly formed curiosity. As she stared into it's depths she saw that her horn still held a bright glow that sizzled against the cold fountains water.

"What...?"

Her hoof slowly drifted up to her head, stopping to hover a few inches from her horn. She could feel the heat radiating from it without even touching it...it felt like a heat lamp was sitting on her head but caused her no pain. Cautiously, she moved her hoof closer and closer to the tip, trying to judge whether or not it would hurt if she touched it. She felt plenty of heat pulsing outwards from its tip but the rest of the horn seemed to barely be sending off any warmth at all...

Just as her hoof hovered directly above the tip, she heard the door to the bedroom burst open and the sound of hooves frantically galloping towards the bathroom! The force and speed of which the door next to her burst open nearly caused Aurora to fall face first into the sink, however she was saved before she could ever squeak in fear of the water. A pair of hooves wrapped themselves around her and pulled her into a tight embrace against their furry owner.

She turned her head to see her mother holding her tightly against her chest, nuzzling the top of her mane (to her deep annoyance). Moments after, Twilight let out a long sigh of relief

"Ohhhhhh, Im sooooo glad you're ok sweetie, I was so worried when you walked into that mess all alone. Did you stop that storm all by yourself?"

Her mothers words were nearly incomprehensible to her due to the speed at which she spoke, but she did manage to catch the question at the end. She responded with a wide smile and a very firm nod. Twilights face broke into a grin that rivaled her daughters in adorableness

"Oh wow! My little girl is a magical prodigy after all!"

Once again Aurora found herself nearly suffocated by her mothers tight embrace, she struggled to free her head from certain death, but only succeeded in making Twilight squeeze harder. Just as Aurora was certain she would die from lack of air, or being squeezed to death, Twilight released her. It wasn't sudden, but she still didn't expect to be freed from her overprotective mother so quickly. She looked up after taking in several deep breaths, Twilight was staring directly into her eyes with a very serious look

"Ok sweetie, I need you to tell me where daddy is (so that I can blast him into the next dimension)."

Although she missed the last part of what her mother said, mostly because she lowered her voice so suddenly she didn't have time to listen, she was able to understand enough of her words to catch what she wanted. She wanted to know where daddy was...this was perfect, because daddy wanted her to bring mommy back anyways.

Twilight was suddenly upon Aurora again, scooping her up in her hooves and holding her out towards the door with an adorable grin across her muzzle.

"Ok sweetheart, point to where daddy is for mommy."

Giggling at her mothers silliness, Aurora lifted her miniature hoof and pointed out the door. Immediately following, she found herself hovering in the air encompassed by a purple field as her mother bolted out the door and galloped towards the stairs.

This was her chance...if she could just move the field she was in close enough to the bed...she could reach her pillows. With as much force as her tiny body could muster, she threw herself against the side of the force field...amazingly, it moved! She repeated the process again and watched the bubble move several hooves closer to the bed. She rejoiced and backed up for another push, but this time she set her hooves on the opposite side of the bubble to give her some extra push. At her touch, the bubble zoomed to the side, opposite the direction it had before, sending Aurora tumbling around inside! She quickly rolled over and regained her footing, shaking off her sudden dizziness. Unable to figure out what had happened, she placed her hoof against the same spot she had rested her back hooves...and sure enough, the bubble took off again! She removed her hooves from the bubble just as it neared the door, which immediately halted it in place toppling her forward face first into the side of the bubble. Her face slid down the side and back into the center of the bubble.

Her cheeks burned with embarrassment, she was lucky her parents weren't around to see that. Once again righting herself, she stared at the side of the bubble, tilting her head to the side with interest. She had a small idea that she wanted to try...if simply touching the other side had moved the bubble, then maybe the same would apply to this side as well...

Her hoof drifted up from her side, slowly but surely it came to rest against the side of the bubble. Just as before, the bubble lurched forward in her desired direction and slowly drifted towards the bed side. Brimming with glee as her prize slowly approached, Aurora found herself giddy with the thought of new pillows to add to her ever growing collection. So caught up was she in her fantasy, that she failed to realize there was still one final obstacle in her way...the force field itself.

As the purple bubble of magic neared the bedside and came within hoof range of the pillows, Aurora came to realize her problem as well. But instead of stressing about it, she simply scrunched her eyes together in annoyance and ignited her (still steaming) horn. Two pillows from the bed instantly jumped into the air in front of the bubble. Perhaps with a little more force than she intended, Aurora smashed both pillows against Twilights purple bubble surrounding her. Despite the logical outcome of this feat, the pillows did not disintegrate, burst into flames, or get catapulted across the room like they should have. No, instead they were kept pressed firmly against the shield, and remarkably, seemed to be making an inwards dent in it. To any normal unicorn witnessing this feat, it would have been a remarkable achievement worthy of praise and study for what she was about to accomplish...for Aurora, it was simply the effort by which she was retrieving her prize. Seconds ticked by as the pillows further dented the slowly yielding force field.

The sheer force at which they seemed to be being pressed against the shield should have destroyed the pillows, for they were not trying to break the barrier, but instead slip inside of it. This was impossible by any normal means, unicorns can pass objects through other objects easily with magic. But never have any passed one object affected by magic, through another object affected by magic without some extreme control...or seriously damaging either object. Taking into account that this was a barrier of pure magic made by an extremely powerful alicorn, this shouldn't even be possible...and yet there it was, clear as day. The pillows were beginning to force open a small hole in the barrier. Not a hole that would be created from breaking through, but a hole made by forcing the field apart into two halves for a moment. The moment the pillows either made it through the field or were rejected by it, the shield would probably close back up right after.

One had to wonder why, if she had the power to try and force these object straight through the barrier, she didn't just drop the barrier for a moment and then bring it back up herself. Though considering her age, a quick and immediate answer probably always stuck first, and bashing them against  the shield probably seemed alot quicker to her than trying to figure out the complexities of creating or recreating Twilight's barrier, even if she could drop it herself.

Whatever the reason was it made no difference in the end, for with one final pop the pillows squeezed through the barrier and were inside Aurora's grip seconds later. She griped her prizes tight against her chest allowing her cheeks to stretch wide into an enormous grin. The joy she felt from her success was matched only by the knowledge that she now had two more pillows to add to her every growing army. She intended to head back to her room right away and add them to the pile in her crib, but a sudden loud crashing sound from across the house grabbed away her attention before she could commit to it.

.....

Bang!

"Wait! Wait! Wait! Twilight calm down! I said I was sorry!"

Daybreak yelped in fear as he dove backwards into the tub, barely dodging the magic blast that his wife had shot at him seconds before! The sink behind him exploded into stone bits across the floor as her beam missed and struck it instead! Spike had scurried out of the bathroom the first chance he got and was now cowering under a downed bookshelf outside the bathroom...Twilight was definitely the scariest of his friends when she was mad!

"Sorry!? You're sorry!? You neary blow up our house with a giant cloud of unstable magic and you're sorry?!"

"No! Wait-I mean y-yes...I mean...Oh Celestia Why!?"

He teleported away just as her next beam struck the tub, which then sprouted four legs from its bottom and took off out of the room!

There had been no greeting when she had first entered the bathroom, Spike had tried to calm her down before things had escalated beyond her initial yelling, but had no success. She had descended upon Daybreak with a fury unnatural to them and had completely obliterated the toilet while his head was still inside it! Luckily, upon realizing that magic was safe to use again, Daybreak had escaped just in time with little more than a singed mane. But Twilights fury was still far from over and she seemed determined to blast him with varying array of unpleasant magic...

Diving for cover yet again, Daybreaks head was spared by mere inches as the vase next to him was turned into an orange with frog legs...and then hopped away. He had no intention of fighting back during this little episode of hers...mostly cause he knew he deserved it, but also because he knew he might hurt her if he did retaliate and that would only make things worse. So he would just continue to duck, dodge,  teleport and scream like a school filly until she burned herself out...how long could that take right?

The bad part was, it seemed like she wouldn't be stopping anytime soon, and he was just barely avoiding her shots as it was. If he slowed or slipped up even a little he was worried what might happen to him. He continued to yell apologies and tried reasoning with his trigger happy wife as he darted out of the bathroom and into the main section of the library. Volleys of magical bolts followed him out into the main room, many of them barely missing or even slightly singeing his fur. He dropped to a roll and slid behind the overturned table in the center of the room, Twilight emerged from within the bathroom seconds after with her eyes locked so fiercely on the table that Daybreak was sure he could feel her stare.

"Twilight what are you doing!? Blasting me isn't helping...just give me a minute and I can fix this up this place I swearaaaaahhhgggg!"

The table suddenly burst into flames, sending a heat wave out that singed across Daybreaks nose. He jumped back several hoof paces as Twilight blasted the table again, this time though, the fire went out instantaneously and the table was shown to be perfectly fine. She jumped over the table with one flap of her wings and advanced upon her panic stricken husband.

"Twilight what do ya want me to say?! I'm sorry ok? I"ll do whatever you want! I'm sorry!"

Her horns blinding magic, blazing a bright violet against the rest of the room, suddenly shrunk down to a mere candle sized sliver of light.

"Oh really?...Anything?"

There was obvious satisfaction mixed in with her anger, Daybreak knew he would regret it if he continued down this path...but he dared not face her wrath if he declined

"Y-yeah...anything Twily"

Her horns light went out completely, she strode over and leaned her head down to his. He was expecting anything, anything at all to happen, mostly something painful...anything...except what followed. She leaned forward....and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. When she pulled back her muzzle she wore a very satisfied grin on it

"That's all I wanted to hear"

"W-Wha...?"

He was unable to finish his semi-statement, for at that moment there came a loud squeak from the stairs. They both turned in time to see Aurora, surrounded by a purple ball of light, come floating down the stairs with two pillows accompanying her. She ran inside the sphere as though she were inside a hamster wheel and she was the hamster chasing the pillows, this seemed to be propelling her forward at a semi-decent pace.

Had he not just been previously terrified beyond all reason, Daybreak would have found the sight to extremely humorous. Chancing a glance over at his wife, he had to strain to keep his eyes from widening...she looked completely normal, no sign of her previous stress, anger, frustration...not even a bit of annoyance remained on her face, it was all just...gone. She now wore her usual, calm and collected smile. It was as though the past hours had not even happened and everything was normal.

"Ok...now that...that's really...creepy..."

He knew everything was far from normal though, he could tell that by just looking around the room. Other than Aurora bouncing around within her ball of light...the room was a complete disaster, he knew he'd be putting this place back together for awhile. He sighed, even with his magic he couldn't fix the whole house at once, but he could definitely reduce their work time by a significant amount...their work time...probably gonna end being just his work time. After all, he knew Twilight better than to think she would just let him off the hook for something like this with no repercussions. This wasn't some freak accident or magical fit that had been out of his control, it had been completely and utterly his fault...well except for the part where Button was the one who actually touched it. But that definitely wouldn't hold up as a good argument...wait a second...

"OH MY GOSH BUTTON MASH! SWEETIE BELLE!"

Twilight tore her eyes away from her daughter and gave Daybreak a puzzled expression

"What about them?"

"They are still in this mess somewhere! We gotta find them!"

The realization struck Twilight as she immediately understood his concern, although all of them had escaped that mess unscathed, Button Mash and Sweetie Belle may not have. Either one of them could be seriously hurt or injured, and she knew what kind of effect that would have on Daybreak. He may be a bit irresponsible, but he was still good at heart, if either of them had been hurt cause of him, Twilight knew he'd never let it go. Not to mention Rarity and Buttons mom might come for his head. She knew how defensive Rarity could be about Sweetie Belle at times...and she had only ever heard rumors about Buttons Mother. She was supposedly the ultimate mother when it came to being protective of her son. Neither Twilight or Daybreak had any desire to invoke their wrath...so they immediately split off in separate directions and frantically began searching through the debris and rubble inside the library for Button and Sweetie.

Daybreak tore through the house searching for any sign of his little companions, but the house was such a mess he had no idea where to start. His first thought was to retrace his steps before everything went to Tartarus in this place

"More like everything became awesome, I mean that storm was just...wow...intense...Wait?! What am I thinking?"

He shook the thought form his mind, now was not the time for distractions. He looked around the main library trying to recall where he had been moments before the explosion. He had looked up to spot Spike from the stairs...so that meant he had been nearly under them. He trotted over to the staircase and found a spot that was approximately around where he had been before.

"Let's see...what happened next?"

He looked up...he remembered, he had started raising the condensed sphere into the air so it could reach Spike before he got all the way down the stairs. After that...he heard Twilight come bursting out of her study, yelling for Button, then turned just in time to see the little gamer touch the sphere with his hoof. All Tartarus had broken loose after that, he had grabbed Button and Sweetie Belle just in time and dove behind the...the...

Frantically, his eyes darted around the room, searching for their hiding spot. He spotted it across the room, impaled very neatly halfway through the wall.

"The couch!"

Quickly galloping over, he grasped the couch with his magic, and yanked it out of the wall. Sticking his head inside, horn lighting the way he called out into the wall

"Button Mash...Sweetie Belle...You guys in there?"

...No response...

"Horsefeathers!"

If they weren't with the couch, then they could be anywhere in this mess...and it was all his fault (and a little of Buttons). His ears dropped in sadness and his eyes found the floor, he slowly walked into the next room to search for his friends.

Twilight watched as Daybreaks expression had grown sad from the other side of the room, she felt kinda bad for him actually. Even though his irresponsible use of his powers had nearly destroyed their house and endangered all of them...she still found it hard to stay completely mad at him. Sure, she fully intended to take her revenge at a later time, but she still felt bothered seeing him upset like that. He hadn't meant to hurt anypony, he was just trying to have some fun with Button and Sweetie Belle. Although...he could stand to do it in less life threatening ways. She shook her head, if he was going to be their teacher he would need to act responsibly about it.

She dropped her gaze to the piles of books and book shelf pieces at her hooves. With a sigh she began shifting through them with her magic, feeling for anything that felt ponyish. She found nothing, not surprising for her first pile, their was plenty of objects they could have ended up in or under in that storm. Plus this place wasn't getting any cleaner anytime soon until they found them, so she might as well not even bother cleaning up this pile...

Moments later the books were stacked neatly on top of one another and the shelf pieces arranged into a small pile. The screws and other small sharp bits were put in their own pile off to the side where they wouldn't be hazardous to anypony walking around. She chuckled to herself, she knew she couldn't help it, but just making these tiny piles made her feel better. Organization was just appealing to her...and yet look who she married, her eyes darted over to the kitchen where Daybreak had exited. She had chosen the son of Discord, of all the ponies in Equestria she chose the living embodiment of disorganization, chaos, randomness, and instability.

"Pretty much all the things that frustrate me...figures"

Almost two years and she was only now beginning to see the irony in her life. She almost felt like face-hoofing herself. Is this what her friends meant when they said her and Daybreak were perfect for each other...because they're total opposites? That couldn't be right could it?

"Now hold on a sec...we've got plenty in common. We both love books...we're both talented with magic...umm...we're both...unicorns?"

The similarities pretty much ended there, and she wasn't even sure if she could count the last one cause he wasn't always a unicorn.

Her soul searching came to a momentary halt as a muffled sound wove its way through her head. Both ears perked up, eager to try and catch it again...she thought she had heard voices.

"Heeeeeeello?!"

There it was again...

"I know I heard something that time..."

"Helloooooo?"

Her mane stood on end, that was Sweetie Belles voice! She had heard something after all! Immediately she began to call back

"Yes, hello, Sweetie Belle is that you?"

"Twilight?"

"Yes yes, It's me Sweetie Belle! Where are you?! Is Button Mash with you?"

"Im here..." That time she heard a slightly higher, but more colt-sounding voice. So they were both together, that's good.

"Are you two ok...wait...where are you guys?"

"Twilight, who are you talking to?"

Spike entered the room carrying a broom and dustpan in his claws, he held a puzzled look on his face as he noticed Twilight appearing to be talking to the air. She turned to him with an excited look on her face

"Button and Sweetie Belle! They're somewhere over here! Quick, go tell Daybreak!"

Dropping his broom and pan, Spike came to a quick salute and took off into the destroyed kitchen after Daybreak. Twilight then turned her attention back to the wall...or wherever their voices had been coming from.

"You guys still there?"

"Yeah" They both answered in unison

"Where are you guys, you sound far away...or muffled at least?"

"We are under a pile of branches  around the couch, when the roof collapsed, parts of it fell on us"

If they were under a pile of branches, that would explain why Sweetie Belle sounded so muffled...but wait...the roof collapsed? She struggled to keep herself from looking up, she was afraid if she did  she'd lose her mind at Daybreak again.

"Wait...The roof fell on you guys? Are you alright?"

"Yeah, we're fine.."

"Speak for yourself Sweetie Belle, I can't move my legs!"

"That's cause they're stuck under my legs dork!"

"Oh..."

Twilight giggled a the thought of those two arguing under a pile of sticks and leaves.

"But you guys aren't hurt or anything then?"

"Naw, we're fine, Daybreak protected us from the worst of it...before he got blown away that is.."

"So Daybreak did protect them?"

She didn't know why she felt so surprised, naturally he would think of them first, and they had been right next to each other. Odd that she felt so relieved to find out he had done that...like she hadn't been expecting it or something.

"Ok you two, I'm gonna find you and get you out, don't move!"

"Very funny"

Sweetie's voice held a sliver of annoyance, Twilight blushed at her own mistake in words.

"Oops.."

She let her eyes wander throughout the room, searching for any large piles of branches or leaves...or both. Anything that they might be trapped under as it fell from the roof. Her telescope came to mind, but they said they were unharmed so clearly that hadn't fallen on them. Scanning the room, several large piles came into view, many of which did have a varying array of branches and leaves. Without a seconds hesitation, Twilight flew over to the closest one and began tossing off the larger pieces with her magic. Once nothing moved after the large pieces were out of the way, she moved on to the next pile.

After searching through several debris of branches and still having found nothing, she was beginning to wonder if they hadn't been blown somewhere else in the storm and just hadn't realized it. A cry of annoyance was half way out of her mouth when she spotted movement in the left corner of her eye. Whipping around, she searched the area for any hint of the young ponies

"Button Mash? Sweetie Belle...that you guys?"

There! Off to the corner she spotted a large section of the roof collapsed onto a pile of branches. The roof parts were elevated and leaning against the wall, still trapping the branches below without fully crushing them. She saw the branches underneath shift slightly

"Found them!"

She wasted no time in freeing them, before she even took a step she was already moving the heavier objects away with magic. By the time she reached them most of the debris was removed and she was able to pull the rest off herself. Once she reached the layer of small twigs and leaves, two heads popped out from within. Both ponies faces were covered in dirt with twigs and sticks entangled in their hair...but they were unharmed. Twilight gasped in joy and grabbed them both up in a field, pulling them to her chest and hugging them tightly!

"Ohhhhh I'm so glad you two are alright! I was so worried!"

Both ponies remained silent until they were released from her hug. They wore tired expressions, but were smiling nevertheless. Button looked up at Twilight with bright eyes once she had freed them from her grasp

"That was awesome! Can we do it again?!"

Thwack!

"Ouch...What was that for Sweetie Belle?" Button rubbed the back of his head in annoyance

"Don't be so rude Button...just look at the state Twilights house is in..."

After looking around, Button indeed noticed what had happened, a small blush crept onto his cheeks.

"I'm sorry Twilight..."

"Hm? What should you be sorry Button?"

He stared down at his hooves, ashamed

"I was the one who set off the big cloud in the first place remember?"

Twilight smiled down at him and lowered her hoof onto his head, ruffling his mane through his hat

"Button that cloud was gonna explode either way, you just set it off quicker. You have nothing to be sorry about and I'm not mad at you, ok?"

Sniffling slightly, he looked up with watery eyes and nodded.

With that taken care of, Twilight was able to turn her attention to her missing husband. She had asked Spike to fetch him, but he hadn't returned yet...what could be keeping him?

As if on queue, there came several loud knocks at the front door. Her head turned, now that she thought about it, why had nopony come sooner? It's not like there was anyway that explosion wasn't visible from most shops in Ponyville. She headed for the door with Button and Sweetie trailing behind her. As she reached for the handle Button suddenly spoke up, as if just remembering something important

"Oh yeah...by the way, how did you guys get the house back down?"

Her hoof grasped the door handle and pulled it open slowly

"What are you talking abou-Rainbow Dash!?"

"Hi Twilight!"

There, hovering in her doorway, was Rainbow Dash, wings speeding away as usual and her ever present grin plastered across her muzzle as if nothing was amiss. Rainbow flew through the open door without another word and embraced Twilight in a fierce hug. Twilight felt the breath being squeezed out of her as she was crushed against her cyan friend.

"Congratulations Twilight!"

She released Twilight, the purple mare nearly fell to the floor gasping for breath

"Congratulations...for what?"

"On Aurora of course! And it looks like you finally decided to take my advice and move your house next to mine!"

"What do you-"

"TWILIGHT!!!"

"What could it be now?"

"Would you excuse me for a second Rainbow?"

"Sure"

Twilight took off towards the sound of Spikes voice, as she darted away Rainbow decided to let herself in. Upon entering she saw the state the house was in, and noticed Button and Sweetie Belle were also present.

"What the hurricane happened in here!?"

She looked at Sweetie Belle and Button as if expecting them to claim responsibility for the mess. Sweetie Belle immediately defended herself

"Hey, don't look at us, we didn't do it!"

Although Rainbow hadn't really thought it was them, she could easily believe that the CMC's were at least partially responsible for this.

"Ok then...Who did? Is Aurora already having magic fits?"

Sweetie shook her head

"Actually...this was Daybreak..."

"Daybreak? Why would he-"

A scream from the next room broke her train of thought, she shot a glance at the two ponies and pointed to the ground, implying they were to stay put, then she took off through the house! She was expecting some kind of disaster if Twilight was screaming like that! Not even bothering with the door, Rainbow smashed straight through it and skidded to a halt in front of the three ponies (and Spike) as they all stared out through a large hole in the wall. Each one had their mouths hanging agape, clearly unable to believe the sight before their eyes. All except for Aurora, who was busy bouncing around the room in her magical sphere. Rainbow wanted to scoop up the filly and introduce her to her awesome aunt right then and there...but there was another time for that.

First order of business was...find out what they were all staring at. She took in a deep breath

"HEEEEEEEY!"

Spike, Daybreak and Twilights heads all slowly turned to her direction. She was expecting some kind of reaction from at least Daybreak or Spike...but their expressions remained blank, almost like they were in shock or something.

"What are you guys looking at that could possibly be more awesome than me being back?"

Daybreaks hoof slowly seemed to raise itself and point outside, through the massive hole in the wall. Rainbow hovered over and peered out...they were at least a hundred feet in the air, right next to Rainbows house. She shrugged

"Yeah...So?"

Damage Control

The next several hours of Twilight and Daybreaks day involved alot of frustrating magical endeavors. Daybreaks magical mishap had managed to not only destroy the inside of their home, but also blast it sky high with them still inside! Twilight was past getting angry when she realized this, and skipped right to just finding a solution to the problem. That was the hardest part, see, it would have been easy to just cancel out the spell holding the house in the air...but then it would have gone straight back down and crashed into Ponyville. So the tricky part was, not canceling the spell, but weakening it enough to have the house slowly float back down on its own. This required both Twilight and Daybreak to be outside the home, and close enough to it to maintain the spell. Now seeing as Daybreak could only hover in the air for short periods of time and this required to much of his focus, it became obvious that they would need more assistance. This is where Rainbow Dash's sudden return had become very helpful.

Not only did this give her a reason to stick around longer, but it gave Daybreak and Dash some time to catch up while she held him in the air. There were a few times during the decent back down to Ponyville where Daybreak swore Dash was gonna lose her grip and drop him due to high winds, clouds, or the like, but she never did, she held tight to his underbelly throughout the whole thing. Once the house was safely planted back into the ground ad the day was nearing its end, Twilight invited everypony inside to have some dinner after the long day working. The state of the house inside remained much the same during the meal prep, but by the time dinner was ready, Daybreak and Spike had nearly everything back where it had been before the magical nuke.

Luckily for Daybreak, none of Twilights books had been seriously damaged in the storm, save the one Twilight had blasted off Daybreaks horn when she had been after him. A few had been wetted from sink or bath water here and there, and there were a few impaled on various objects around the house, but all these minor injuries were fixed up relatively fast. By the time everypony sat down, it looked like Twilight had simply spent a long night hitting the books again, rather than a magical explosion had gone off.

Over dinner, Rainbow recounted the events of her and Daring Do since they had left Ponyville. Everypony was enthralled by all the adventures the two had experienced together, well, almost everypony.  Button Mash and Sweetie Belle noticed Spike excuse himself rather early during the meal for an unkown reason and he did not return for some time.

Other than Spikes odd absence, the meal went flawlessly. Everypony seemed to have nearly forgotten about the events of earlier by the time desert came around. Daybreak found plenty of other things to distract his mind through his dinner, in fact, he found himself staring at Rainbow several times over the course of the meal. He noticed several minor differences in her appearance now than the last time he had seen her. Her mane, for example, was distinctly longer and more wild, it seemed unlike everypony else, Rainbow had neglected a hair cut in the past two years. This look somehow worked well with her though and made her look all the more awesome in his opinion. Other minor changes he noted were, a small scar she now bore across her right cheek, her figure and overall body in general had become more toned and sleek, like she had been working out more than she did before. She also seemed to be slightly less...what was the word he was looking for...Hyper? No that's not it...she was less... active than she always used to be.

Before, she would hardly ever touch the ground when she could avoid it, always hovering about everywhere she went. But now, she seemed to prefer walking almost everywhere, Daybreak had a pretty good idea of why this was, Daring Do. He had noticed that Daring didn't always fly everywhere either and seemed to prefer life on the ground, this trait had probably rubbed off on Rainbow slightly over the past year or two. She still had her same "I'm too awesome for words" attitude, but now it seemed more under control and less braggy. It was definitely more attractive to say the least.

Once everypony had fully stuffed themselves, Rainbow seemed unable to contain her boatload of questions any longer, and began firing them off one by one. Most of them were pretty basic, like how was Aurora, what was she like, how magical was she already, the usual stuff. However eventually Rainbow struck upon one of the two questions Daybreak had hoped to avoid.

"So Daybreak...I gotta know...Why did you blast your house into the sky anyways?"

The whole table went instantly silent, Daybreak noticed Twilight look up from her ice cream, and stare directly at him. He gulped, he wasn't sure if he should say anything or not...but then, he saw something change on Twilight's face. Her stare didn't look threatening...in fact, it looked like she was smirking to herself rather than at him. She gave a small chuckle, and returned to her ice cream. This left Daybreak uncertain about his next actions...so he did the only thing he could, he told the truth.

"Well Dash...I didn't exactly mean to do that..."

"Yeah, I gathered that much for myself dude, I mean what happened? I was expecting to come home and find everypony at the library waiting to tell me how much they missed my awesomeness, but instead I see this big crater where your house used to be. Can you imagine how freaked out I was, I thought you guys left Ponyville or something!"

His eyebrows shot up at her statement

"Why would you think that?"

"Dude...there was a crater where your house used to be! How is that not worth worrying over? Anyways, Pinkie happened to stroll by and pointed you guys out to me, you can imagine my surprise to find out your house was a good hundred feet straight above me..."

"Wait wait wait...Hold on a sec there Rainbow. Pinkie pointed us out to you? How could she know where we were...and how come nopony else even bothered to check to see if there was something wrong with us if they did notice?"

Daybreak found himself wondering the same thing Twilight had just asked, how could Pinkie have even known where they were? As for the ponies not checking on them...well, he was pretty sure he knew why that was.

"Twilight come on, it's Pinkie Pie for pony sake...I'm still not sure how she does half of what she does, and as for nopony checking on you guys...well if you saw a house suddenly fire off like a rocket into the sky, would you want to go anywhere near it?"

"Yes!"

"Heck yeah, for science!"

Rainbow facehoofed herself, both of them were ridiculous...goddess how she had missed them.

"So...I guess now that I'm back we all get to have a day together like old times...right?"

Daybreak glanced over to Twilight, she returned his gaze. He was sure they were thinking the exact same thing. Twilight had probably been planning on making Daybreak finally head out to that temple with Discord tomorrow, now that the house was back in relative order. But with Rainbow being back...she would feel bad if she sent him away the moment Rainbow returned. Looking into her husbands eyes, she could see a smile hidden behind his gaze. He knew as well as she did, she would never do that to Rainbow...guess that meant they were gonna have to put up with a very whiny Discord for awhile

Sighing more to herself than anypony else, she nodded

"Sure...when would you wanna get together?"

Rainbows eyes lit up like birthday candles.

"How about the day after tomorrow? Me and Daring still have some unpacking to do in my house, plus we gotta set up Dusty's room and most importantly of all...we gotta get our bed set up for the Heat tomorrow!"

The apple juice Twilight had been consuming suddenly came bursting back out of her lips, crashing itself against Daybreaks face and dripping down his muzzle!

"What!? It's tomorrow?!"

She bolted from the table into her study, slamming the door behind her! Everypony could hear the sound of ruffling scrolls as Twilight rummaged through her things, obviously searching for some mystery object. Rainbow Dash looked to Daybreak

"I guess she didn't remember?"

Daybreak merely shrugged, while his filly attempted to reach across her chair and lick up the apple juice dripping from his face. Seeing the small feat, Daybreak scooped her up and allowed her onto his lap. Once there, she instantly began lapping at his chin with her tongue, trying to suck up all of the delicious juice she could get at.

"Well, we have had a pretty busy day Rainbow...I guess now she's got one more thing to think about huh?"

"Sooooooo..."

Daybreak looked at her with a peculiar expression

"Sooooo what?"

"So what are you gonna do with Aurora while you two are..." She glanced over to Button and Sweetie Belle, both of whom were consumed in turning their ice cream into miniature milkshakes with their spoons "...beating the heat?"

Daybreak flushed a deep shade of red

"Oh...ummm...I didn't really think about that...umm..."

"Want my advice?"

"Umm...Sure?"

Somehow he knew accepting Rainbows advice on anything like this could only lead to trouble, but it's not like he couldn't just say no

"Let us take her for the day. It'll give you and Twi plenty of time to get her heat..." She glanced at Button and Sweetie Belle again, they were still paying them no mind and had successfully transformed both of their ice creams into milkshake slushies. "...worked out of her system. Plus Aurora can play with Dusty the whole day."

This actually didn't sound like a bad idea, except for one minor flaw...

"What about you and Daring? How are you two gonna relieve yourselves if both Dusty and Aurora are there? I don't know about you, but I've seen what Aurora is capable of doing in one of her fits...and if Dusty is anything like his mothers...yikes..."

Daybreak physically shivered at the thought, this gave Rainbow a slight smirk of satisfaction, but also caused her to realize he had a good point. She hadn't even thought about how they'd keep their own antics hidden from two little foals. The last time Heat had come around Dusty had spent most of his days sleeping so Rainbow and Daring just had to move a couple rooms away and be slightly quieter...she doubted that would work with both of them there. She rubbed the back of her head yielding a small blush on her cheeks

"Oh right...good point dude...well then what should we do?"

"I have an idea!" squeaked a high pitched voice across the table.

Daybreak and Rainbow turned to see Sweetie Belle and Button looking over at them, their faces covered in ice cream. Trading glances, Daybreak knew both he and Rainbow were of the same mind

"How much did they hear?"

Rainbow shrugged meekly, so she clearly didn't mind...this left the choice up to him

He also shrugged "Why not? What's your idea Sweetie?"

"Let us watch them both for you!" Her voice was primed with restrained glee, clearly the thought of possibly being on her first official foal-sitting duty excited her greatly.

Raising a curious look at the young mare, Daybreak couldn't help but be slightly surprised

"Why would you want to watch them both Sweetie Belle? This will be your first heat cycle...won't you and your friends be...busy?"

With a glance at Dash, Daybreak silently begged for assistance, but she either did not catch his stare, or was simply ignoring it. Sweetie Belle on the other hoof, seemed to have expected this question.

"Naw, it's fine. I'm pretty sure Scoots and AB can handle it on their own. After all it's just an ice bath every few hours, how hard could that be to do?"

Rainbow was now sharing Daybreaks worried expression. Sweetie Belles offer was very tempting for both of them, but her obvious lack of knowledge on what the next day would bring for her, greatly worried them both. Her next statement made them even more nervous than they already were to begin with.

"Plus Button will be with me, so when I go to take my ice bath he can watch Aurora during that time..."

Rainbows wings suddenly shot out from behind her back, sending her ice cream bowl propelling into the air. Daybreak caught it and the stray cream in his magic without any trouble, but he did shoot an annoyed look at Rainbow. He knew exactly what she was thinking of right then.

"Rainbow can I talk to you in private for a moment?"

Even as she attempted to fain an innocent look, she knew he had practically read her mind. Nodding with resignation, she pushed herself out from the chair and slowly trotted back into the main book room. Daybreak followed shortly behind, but not before he turned back to Sweetie Belle and Button

"We'll just be a moment."

With that, he strolled out of the room leaving Sweetie Belle and Button alone at the table, with Aurora. The two stared at the filly while she licked her own bowl, plus her fathers, clean of any remaining sugary sweets. She then turned her eyes upon their bowls, forcing them to immediately swipe them from the table and hide them away within their laps. Aurora dawned a frown, her eyes seeming to scan the surrounding area for more ice cream. Her pupils quickly locked on to her mothers bowl. Button imagined a small alarm going off in her head "Target Acquired" and red lights would then flash across her screen alerting her she was close to her objective. A small squeak, and one jump later, she was on top of the table prowling her small form over to Twilight's bowl.

Button smirked, and, turning to Sweetie Belle, expected to see her giggling at the scene before them, but instead her eyes were staring out through the window. She was lost in a world of her own as her eyes seemed to glisten against the fading sunlight. The rays of beautiful orange shone through the open window and seemed to dance across her purple and pink curls. Button silently thanked Twilight for having so many windows in her home. The arrays of orange bloomed across Sweetie Belle, making her whole body seem to glow in the light of the sunset.

Upon realizing he was staring at her, a blush formed across his cheeks in embarrassment, but he did not look away. He couldn't remember the last time he had seen a sunset so beautiful before or enjoyed it so much. It was better than anything digital graphics could produce and that was saying something, he had seen some pretty awesome digital sunsets in his time. From Dead Space to Minecraft, they always had a certain grace and beauty about them. The way the pixels would always reflect just right to create the perfect array of color for his gaming pleasure. He had once built a staircase clear to the top of the Minecraft sky box, just to view the sunset from it's highest point...and it had been glorious...until Creepers.

But all that, paled in comparison to the perfect rainbow of color that now glistened across Sweetie Belles coat and mane. A powerful breeze suddenly flowed through the open window, allowing the scent of Sweeties shampoo to flow straight across Buttons nose and infect his senses.

"She smells like a field of flowers and strawberries..."

Buttons mind turned to mush as he inhaled her manes smell. How had he not noticed this before, he had been crammed under a pile of branches with her and not noticed how wonderful she smelled? Without thought, he scooted his chair closer to hers, desperate to get a better whiff of her mane. By some miracle, the winds decided to grace him yet again, and Sweeties powerful aroma invaded his brain for a second time. All his thoughts went blank as he found himself drifting ever closer to her hair. He was only partially aware he had left his chair and was actually walking in slow motion over to her. Luckily for him though, Sweetie Belle was too distracted in her own thoughts to even realize what he was doing.

It only took moments, but it felt like hours, and Button was right behind Sweetie Belle, practically burying his face in her mane. He inhaled the intoxicating scent of her hair over and over, it made him just want to squeeze a pillow tight against his chest, or cuddle a small puppy. His nose was sent to a field of strawberries and flowers, while he hugged a pile of soft, berry scented leaves in the grass. He could feel the softness of her hair against his cheek while the field of strawberry flowers danced across his vision, blurring away the world.

"Umm...What are you doing?"

Suddenly the world was back! Buttons eyes shot open in fear, he could practically see Sweetie Belle looking at him in her peripheral vision. He jumped backwards in fright...or at least attempted to...for some reason he could not move. He looked down...and nearly fainted right there...his hooves were wrapped around Sweeties waist as he hugged her whole body against his chest tightly, with his face still half buried in her mane.

"Quick Button! Think fast, your whole life may depend on your next words!"

"ohmygoshyousmellamazing..."

"What?"

He smacked himself hard in the face with his hoof

"Smooth Button, real smooth.."

Slowly releasing his grip from her waist, Button desperately attempted to think of a good lie that would save his rapidly shortening life span. Sweeties suspicious stare, Button could practically feel in burning a hole in the side of his head as he slowly backed away from her.

"I...ummm...you had..uhhh....I was...."

"Yeah...?"

Her lack of anger only made Button quiver with fear more, he couldn't tell her he was smelling her hair...she would just think he was weird. She already thought that enough about him, he didn't wanna make it worse...

"I was...um...I was...checking your mane for......lice! Yeah that's it! I was just checking your mane for lice...I thought I saw a few white flakes in your mane and I was just looking to make sure you were ok..."

Sweetie did not react at all how he predicted...

"OH MY GOSH! There's still white flakes in my mane!? Rarity swore she got all of that out yesterday! Why didn't you tell me sooner Button?!"

"Ummm...I...What?"

His brain had just gone into meltdown...was she messing with him?

Her freaked out rummaging through her mane suggested otherwise, but what were the chances?

"So, you really do have white flakes in your mane then?"

"Yeah...But it's not what you think Button, I swear! I was helping Pinkie Pie bake cupcakes yesterday before I snatched your hat from you...and the flour got in my hair!"

He struggled to remember what had happened yesterday. So much had transpired in such a short time. His mind briefly flashed back to Daybreaks song at the lake...before that there was that weird heat talk at the breakfast table (which he now recalled he still needed to ask about again)...and before that Sweetie Belle had been levitating in towns square with Aurora and various other objects...but before any of that he had seen her come running out of Sugarcube Corner before snatching up his hat from him.

"Oh ok...I guess that makes sense"

"You don't believe me do you? You think I really do have lice..."

Button heard her voice drop with sadness

"What! No no, I believe you Sweetie, really I do!"

Truthfully, he was still in shock at the convenience of his chosen lie.

"Really?" A faint sniffle escaped her voice

"Of course Sweetie Belle! There's no way you could ever get lice anyways, I mean you take such great care of your mane they'd have to be super lice to even try and bother you!"

Sweetie now had a blush of her own across her cheeks

"Oh...Uhh...thanks Button, that's really sweet of you."

Realizing what he had just sort-of said, his blush grew even more obvious than it already was. Sweetie Belle giggled and leaned towards his cheek

"Hey Button?" She whispered gently across his ear

A cold shiver traveled down his spine, he could feel her hot breath tickle against the tips of his ear and cheek.

"Y-yeah?"

Before she could say anymore, a high pitched squeal and an even louder  "Ah Ha!" cut across her. Immediately following the outburst, Twilights study room door burst back open and she reentered the room carrying an immense pile of scrolls upon her back, and even more inside a magical field above her. Taking no notice of their closeness or Sweeties position near Button, Twilight strolled over and drooped the scrolls down in front of them. She panted slightly, clearly out of breathe

"There...this...is everything...absolutely everything I could find on estrus or "heat" as it's called today. There are some books scrambled in here too..."

She noticed Button slowly reaching out for one of the closest scrolls, she quickly swatted his hoof away with a "smack!" to his foreleg.

"Ouch!...What did I do?"

"These books are not for colts eyes, only mares are allowed to read these! You got that Sweetie Belle?..." She quickly turned her gaze on Sweetie "Under no circumstances are you to let Button read any of these, on top of it being strictly against library rules...his mother would absolutely lose it if she found out!"

Button swallowed sharply

"They're that important?"

"For mares, yes, and you're not a mare my little pony, so please restrain your curiosity."

"Alright..."

It was at this moment, Twilight truly took in her surroundings, or rather, lack-there-of.

"Hey...where's Rainbow Dash and Daybreak?"

Sweetie Belle quickly dropped one of the scrolls she had been debating to open, and pointed her hoof towards the kitchen.

"Daybreak said they needed to talk about something in private?"

"Oh?" Now her curiosity was peeked "Do you have any idea what it might be about Sweetie?"

"Weeeeeell...He only dragged Rainbow off after I said that me and Button could watch both of your foals tomorrow and you guys can go take care of this heat thingy without worrying..."

"Actually Sweetie, that' not why he dragged her away."

Buttons voice came out small, as though he was trying to hide what he was saying, but with the only other sounds being Aurora devouring Twilight's ice cream, there was no way he could hide it. Sweetie Belle's mouth was still open, as having paused mid-speech, but she quickly regained her motor control

"What do you mean Button? That's obviously it! It happened right after I said that!"

"Actually, he pulled her away after you said I would be there to help you with your heat..."

Twilights wings suddenly sprung from behind her back, a blush quickly spread throughout her face, she was lucky these two were still to young to know what a "wing boner" was. At least now she understood why Daybreak would want to talk to Rainbow in private after hearing something like that.

"Well...I think I better go check and see how they're doing, just keep an eye on Aurora and I'll be right back".

She quickly exited the room through the kitchen, finding a slight difficulty in squeezing her stiff wings through the small doorway. She had to remember to ask Daybreak to extend the wall later, for emergencies such as this. Silently scooting along the inner wall, Twilight made her way around the kitchen into the next room, where she heard muffled voices engaged in a heated talk. She pressed her ear to the door, listening carefully.

"Come oooooon dude! You owe me one, pleeeeeeeease?"

"Rainbow I said no!"

"Please?"

"No!"

"Pretty please?"

"NO!"

"....Pretty pretty please?"

"Oh for the love of...NO RAINBOW! That's my final answer!"

Twilight heard Rainbow give a loud sigh and huff of annoyance

"Hmph, When did you become such...such a flank-hole?"

"When did you become so whiny?"

Rainbow "hmphed" again

"When being aggressive wasn't enough to get Daring to play with me on our late nights with Dusty."

Twilight felt heat travel to her face, a blush quickly followed. She could only assume Daybreak had reacted in a similar matter because his voice sounded shaky when he next spoke.

"W-well...t-that's not the point Rainbow...I don't think its a good idea and she's my filly! If you wanna do it with your colt that's up to you, but not my little Aurora!"

Although she had no idea what Rainbow could be proposing that would make Daybreak this way, she couldn't help but feel a surge of affection for him at that moment, hearing him speak about Aurora's well being before anything else.

"Come on dude! Twilight will agree if you do and Sweetie Belle is plenty responsible, her friend seems more than capable too."

Through the door, Twilight heard one of the two smack themselves in the face, she could only assume it was Daybreak by the way he sounded next, his voice steadily rising with annoyance

"Rainbow that's not the point, and you know it! This year will be Sweetie Belles first heat cycle, I cannot say it's a good idea to have her alone, her with a young colt, on the first day of heat! That's too much potential chaos even for me!"

Even Twilight had to raise an eyebrow at that statement, and she could only assume Rainbow did too.

"Don't gimmie that look Dash, even I have my limits, and getting a young filly like Sweetie Belle knocked up is one of them!"

"So just have Twilight put a no-pregnancy spell on her for the week and come have some fun with us!"

There was a brief pause, as though Daybreak seemed to be considering this option, then...

"They have no-pregnancy spells?"

Twilight practically slipped off the door in surprise, and she heard a loud grunt as Rainbow face-hoofed herself.

"Are you telling me you didn't know that existed?"

"Well...no?"

Rainbows expression had become stone hard, although Twilight could not see it, she could tell Rainbow was seriously thinking about something

"So...You mean to tell me...all this time you and Twilight have been going at it, even during heat cycles...and you never once used a condom...or an anti-pregnancy spell?"

Twilight felt her blush return and on the opposite side of the door, Daybreak felt the same

"Umm...Yeah?"

A small thud followed next, which apparently was Rainbows rump hitting the ground. Twilight could only listen as her breathing steadily increased, until...

"How in Equestria is Aurora your first child!?"

Daybreaks blush reached maximum capacity, forcing his eyes to dart to the floor for safety from Rainbow piercing gaze.

"I can't get her pregnant unless I'm in my unicorn form...so all those times before the last two years were impossible anyways. And now...well ever since I mastered my transformation abilities I can change certain parts of me at will...so whenever I'm about to...ya know...umm.."

"Cum? Release? Splooge? Fill her up?"

"I was gonna say 'finish'..."

Twilight felt the need to hide her face in her feathers but she could not bring herself to remove her ear form the door.

"...anyways whenever I'm about to finish, I just change my semen back to its original form instead of keeping it in stallion form, that way she can't get pregnant cause my sperm isn't compatible with her body...that's the whole reason Aurora was born a pony in the first place, and not a female version of me."

"Cause ya creamed her as a stallion?"

Although he found it hard to even look at Rainbow through his embarrassment, he managed to nod his heard towards her. Rainbow now understood how they had done this for so long without any protection, but nevertheless, this could only help her argument.

"Well dude, your method is cool and all, but Twi could just use that spell and make it a lot easier, and she could definitely use it on Sweetie Belle."

"Rainbow I'm still not sure that..."

"It's ok sweetie I don't mind."

Rainbow smirked while Daybreak turned around to see Twilight standing in the, now open, doorway. She had figured now was as good a time as any to make her presence known. Daybreak was actually quite surprised to hear Twilight agree with Rainbows suggestion, the shock was easily readable upon his face

"Twily...are you sure? Even if Sweetie Belle is safe, what about Aurora? I don't want her to see anything like that at her age..."

Twilight shot him a look

"Really sweetie? Honestly, I think Sweetie Belle is a little more responsible than that, plus this is Button Mash you're talking about here. He isn't exactly a normal colt. I'd be thoroughly surprised if anything even happens in the first place."

"I guess..."

"Plus Rarity has already given them her seal of approval in case they ever became an item, so there's no need for you to try and protect her...even though I think its super cute of you."

Dawning a new blush, Daybreak nodded shyly "Alright alright Dashie, you win. Those two can stay here and watch Aurora and Dusty, while we...umm... where are going again?"

"To my place duuuh" Rainbow rolled her eyes as though this answer should have ben obvious

"Oh right, ok, to Rainbows, we can spend the night there and come back the next morning."

"After breakfast."

Both of them gave Rainbow a curious gaze.

"What!? You haven't lived 'till you've tried Daring Do's famous morning waffles!"

They both smacked themselves in the forehead.

Things 'Heat' Up

Bed time came rolling around in no time, and that meant it was time for everypony to head their separate ways home. Sweetie Belle and Button were the quickest to leave, both promising (or at least Sweetie Belle promised for Button) to get an early start on the next day to be ready for their foal-sitting duties. Button seemed sure he could convince his mother that a sleepover at Twilights would be ok, none of them could wait to hear how he pulled that off. Rainbow was next to leave, after Daybreak and Twilight both promised not to ditch out on her tomorrow and be ready at a decent time in the morning. Neither of them could believe she was lecturing them on the importance of not being tardy. Nevertheless, Rainbow made her goodbye fast, then took off home.

With everypony gone and Spike still oddly absent from the room, Daybreak decided he would clean up the table and dishes. This was much to Twilights surprise, but a pleasant one at least. This left her with plenty of time to figure out just how much ice cream Aurora had managed to consume within the span of the evening and whether or not she should leave Sweetie and Button any stomach medicine, just in case. Surprisingly enough, it was difficult to figure out how much she had eaten, after all she knew Rainbow had devoured her own bowl immediately upon arrival. So that accounted for at least one, she had observed Button and Sweetie Belle mixing theirs into (some sort of) milkshakes, plus they had hidden theirs from Auroras sight. That left only hers, Daybreaks and Spike's.

She hadn't had the chance to eat hers during the meal, mostly due to the fact she had left to get Sweetie Belle those scrolls, so Aurora had probably eaten that one. Daybreak had nibbled on his but he hadn't seemed to finish it either, she had most likely gotten to his too, and with Spike absent for most of the meal...well...it was a pretty easy guess.

"Ok so...stomach medication...yes...now where's Spike...Where did he run off to?"

Snoring from the living room answered her question. She peeked around the door from the kitchen and saw her little assistant passed out on the couch. Giggling to herself, she returned to other matters, she'd inquire about his absence tomorrow.

With that minor mystery solved, she took care of getting their filly into bed for the night. This proved to be quite the chore as Aurora made it extremely obvious she wanted to sleep in their bed tonight. The constant wiggling away and scurrying back to their room, along with attempting to crawl into her and Daybreaks bed every time Twilight said the word "sleep". She had been hoping to get Aurora in her crib for the night so her and Daybreak could have some privacy, for the inevitable discomfort the next morning would bring. But it seemed like Aurora had others plans for them this night.

By the time Daybreak finished cleaning up the dishes, Twilight had all but given up trying to remove Aurora from their bed. Daybreak walked into the room to find their little filly completely surrounded by several mounds of blankets in the center of the bed, and Twilight with her hoof planted in the center of her forehead, sighing in defeat. Aurora hissed playfully as he neared her, it didn't take much for him to figure out what had occurred and why. But Aurora just looked too cute to resist at that moment. So, despite Twilights groaning, Daybreak decided she would be sleeping with them tonight.

Daybreak helped Twilight up into the bed, then quickly joined both her and Aurora in the sheets. It took a few moments to convince the little mare to release them from her grasp, but eventually she gave in, surrendered the blankets, and snuggled between her mommy and daddy. Daybreak leaned over and planted a loving kiss on the tip of his filly's nose. She scrunched up her face in obvious annoyance, but he knew she loved the attention. He then turned and saw Twilight giving him her famous "bedroom eyes" look, she had extra longing in her gaze this time. He chuckled, and planted a kiss on her lips

"Patience honey, tomorrow we'll have plenty of time to play, without scaring our child for life"

Even though he could see the disappointment on her face, she nodded, knowing he was right. They wrapped their hooves around each other and pulled Aurora tight between them, she was warmed by the comfort of their soft fur, and the fluff of their blankets. With a happy grin plastered on his face, Daybreak allowed sleep to take him and wash away all the exhaustion of the day, until his only thoughts became the comfort of Twilight's embrace.

.....

"You can't escape us Daybreak"

"The darkness will find you again."

"We'll find you Daybreak"

"We'll find you."

Something slithered alongside his leg, rubbing up against his fur with a slimy coating covering its sides, it stuck to his leg as it curled its way up his thigh.

Daybreaks eyes shot open! He grasped the sheets and threw them from the bed in a panic! His eyes darted along his legs searching whatever had been rubbing against him...but saw nothing, nothing but the mattress underneath him. Releasing a sigh of relief, he laid himself back down against his pillow, he reached out his hoof to embrace Twilight in a midnight hug...but she was not there. Slowly feeling around the mattress, he searched for her body, after three pats on the bed were unsuccessful he sat back up and looked around. He was alone in the bed...

"She probably just took Aurora downstairs for a late night snack...wouldn't be the first time."

Once again, he laid himself back down against the pillow and shut his eyes, waiting for sleep to claim him again.

"We'll find you Daybreak!"

This time there was no mistaking it! He shot straight upright and looked around, his eyes wide open! The room was too black at this hour to see anything, and the windows had been drawn shut, so not even the moonlight could penetrate the room. Which meant Daybreak was completely blinded by the darkness. Normally he would have just laid back again, but he knew he hadn't just imagined that voice, it had been too loud. With no outside light to guide him, he was left with no choice...he ignited his horns magic and illuminated the room. But it was not his horn that lit up in green light, but the walls surrounding their room!

He nearly screamed in terror, the walls of their room became inflamed in eerie green and crimson light! The walls themselves seemed to slither and move along grotesquely in the presence of his magic, like they were melting. Although no light came from his horn, Daybreak was certain it was his magic that had illuminated the room. The walls looked as though they had melted apart, closely resembling oozing green magma more than solid objects. His eyes desperately searched for some route of escape, but could find no exit to this terror. The doorway out had melted into ooze along with the rest of the room. Desperate for escape, he attempted to blast a hole in the wall directly ahead of him. However no power came from his horn, instead a great beam of green light shot forth from the wall and struck him in the chest, knocking him off the bed, stunned.

Unable to move, Daybreak could only watch, paralyzed by his own magic, as the bed and floor melted away beneath him, along with the rest of his room. He was left simply floating in darkness, nothing above, or beneath him. Yet he was sure he could still feel his back resting against something solid...perhaps the darkness itself, was solid. He could not move his neck, so instead he darted his eyes around as much as he could, hoping to find someway out. But one corner of blackness was no different than the next. For a moment, he thought he glimpsed something far off in the distance...possibly directly above him, or in front of him, he could no longer tell. He also found he could not judge the distance between him and it. It seemed to be growing slowly larger as it neared, but it could have been miles or feet away...before he could focus enough to get a clear image of it...they started again.

"Welcome back Daybreak"

"Welcome home Daybreak"

"We missed you Daybreak"

"Why did you leave us for so long Daybreak"

"We'll always find you Daybreak"

He attempted to shake his head and force the voice out, but they seemed to be speaking directly inside his skull. He shut his eyes, but still saw everything, the darkness, the object closing in on him from a distance, and the flashes of images these voice caused in his head. He cried out!

"Stop! Stop it! Who are you...where are you!?"

"We are everywhere Daybreak"

"We are everyone Daybreak"

"We are you Daybreak"

"You are us"

"Aghh buck you! You aren't me! I know who I am!"

"Do you?"

"Yes! I am the son of Discord, the son of Princess Celestia! I am a father and a husband! I AM PRINCE DAYBREAK!"

With a surge of power, his horn ignited in the dark, a shockwave rippled outwards from his body and with a great surge of strength, he broke the magic binding him and lurched forward in the dark! He now seemed to float, suspended in the darkness, but able to move at least...that was a start.  He felt good for a moment, as though he had conquered some small obstacle, but the voices merely laughed at him

"You are Prince Daybreak?"

"You are a husband, father, son?"

"You are none of these things, you are us, and we are you"

"We are the darkness and the darkness must not be breached, you cannot not breach yourself!"

"You are ours!"

"You, one piece of a whole, the last piece, and you will fit in your place!"

"You continue to exist because we allow it! And you will end when we demand it!"

The voices ceased, but the images did not, and the object slowly closing in on him suddenly grew massive in size! He no longer had to focus to see what it was, but that still did not help in his identification of it, he still could find no image or description...for complete and utter horror! The beast swam through the darkness, serpent-like in it's movements, a million crimson eyes, a million nightmarish mouths, all fixed upon him!

The images in his mind sped up as it closed in, blurring his focus, his concentration. He could find no power to summon against the beast closing in. He grasped at his head and horn, the blinding images brought pain and agony to his mind, his horn felt like it would explode at any moment! He resisted the urge to scream as the images became clearer, more focused to his attention. He saw his house in flames, splinters of fire falling from the rooftops, he saw Ponyville reduced to nothing more than ashen waste in the winds. He saw the great Canterlot castle fall to pieces like a pile of building blocks, the Crystal Palace shatter inward upon itself. He saw the Princesses fall to the ground in their throne rooms, his father crumple to the floor...into dust. He saw ponies fall to the ground as lifeless husks, the magic drained form their very souls and the color faded from their bodies. He saw his friends standing against a rising beast in the distance, then they each disappeared, one by one he felt their life force vanish from his consciousness. He watched Daring Do and Rainbow Dash fall from the sky, no pony to catch them as they came to ground. He saw...he saw Twilight standing against a being he could not see, he saw her battle, with powerful magic that surpassed his own on her side. He could not see what it was she fought...but he saw her lose...He saw her hit the ground and skid into the dirt. She kneeled down before the might of whatever was before her...then a second being came from behind the first. Unlike the first, this one was not blurred from his vision...he could see it clearly...it was him, in his two legged form, though he looked considerably different. Black tendrils of dark magic licked at his feet and his eyes had the same purple shadows that had burned from King Sombra's eyes. His fur had darkened and his Cutie Mark looked different...but he couldn't make it out

A voice he had never heard before, cackled out as Twilight kneeled in front of the pair.

"You should have known it would come to this Princess Twilight...In the end...Like Father...Like son"

In an instant, Twilight fell, the magic left her body and soul, she hit the ground as a lifeless husk, just as all the others had. Daybreak felt the loss within her overwhelm him and he could take it no more. He screamed!

"NO! STOP IT! STOP IT! STOP IT! WHY ARE YOU SHOWING ME THIS!?"

"It is fate"

"We will find you Daybreak"

The beast had closed the distance between them and its mouths all opened as it prepared to strike, he spotted the rows of razor sharp teeth in its maw that prepared to cleave him in half. He could not focus enough to summon any resistance...the beasts mouths came upon him as he screamed for Twilight to help him. He was reduced to a crying, whimpering colt in the dark, his body resembling his childhood form.

"...We found you Daybreak"

The jaws descended, and snuffed out everything.

Daybreaks eyes flew open! He sat up and started to scream, but silenced himself with an instinctive hoof to his lips. He looked around, quickly removing the sheets from his body. He was drenched in sweat...his eyes darted for the window, but he remembered he had shut them before going to sleep. Without thought he willed the windows open and allowed the midnight air to flow into in the room, cooling him down. He looked to his left, seeing Twilight and Aurora still snuggled together, fast asleep.

He didn't have the strength to stand without his legs shaking, so he merely glanced out the window from his bed. If he had to guess, it was about midnight right now. He considered waking Twilight and telling her about his dream...nightmare, but he decided it was best to let her sleep. He knew what the morning would bring for her, and he didn't want her anymore stressed than she already would be.

The cool night air felt good against his coat, but he knew it would take more than that to send him back to sleep after what he had just seen. Laying back down, he looked over at Twilight

"Well it's worth a try..."

He gently rolled himself over, until Aurora was once again in between the two of their chests. He brought his lips to Twilight and connected them slowly, then with careful care, he touched their horn tips together. He gently flicked out his tongue while Twilight slept, and whether by instinct or dream, she licked his back. A light spark traveled between their horn tips, linking their minds momentarily through their magic and their kiss.

"I just wanna feel how at peace you are Twi"

He saw her dreams, for an instant he saw into her mind, every thought that was shooting through her right then, but it was a peaceful ride. And although this exchange lasted only a moment, it was enough to calm him back into a dreamy daze. Their horns disconnected as his lips fell from hers, and within seconds, Daybreak was asleep with a smile.

.....

The next morning started off just as heat cycles always did, with an unforgivingly hot sunrise. Even before he had fully awoken, Daybreak could feel his body beginning to sweat beneath his covers, again. Through his half open eyelids, he could see Twilight twitching in her sleep, the heat already beginning to affect her body. Slowly, just as he always had done, he reached his front hoof over and gently wrapped it around her waist, giving her an ever-so-gentle, rub on the belly. He could feel her shaking, wiggling as she attempted to scratch at every part of her body that itched. Even without seeing beneath the covers, he could feel her attempting to grind her legs together to relieve the already, burning itch, that was forming within her body. To avoid getting himself too excited, he kept the covers down, one whiff of her heat and he knew he'd be on her within seconds. Normally that wouldn't have been a problem, but the other lump lying in their bed with them didn't need to be awoken by the sound of their antics so early.

Speaking of said lump, a tiny filly head suddenly broke through the sheets to the morning light. Unaffected by heat cycles at such a young age, this day would simply be an extremely hot one for little Aurora. She rubbed her eyes with her hoof, then stretched out her legs and wiggled them to the air. Her morning stretch would tell the world she was ready for a day of fun.

Daybreak figured he would let Twilight sleep for a bit longer, that way she would only be tortured by the heat in her dreams instead of reality for awhile. Plus this would give him a chance to get Aurora ready for the day. Sensing her fathers awakness, Aurora scurried over to his chest, Daybreak knew what was coming and quickly shut his eyes, preparing for the worst. Moments later he felt small hooves plant themselves in his gut...and then jump. She landed and jumped again, and again. She bounced atop his chest, attempting to fully revive him from dreamland so that he may shower her with attention and affection. She squealed cutely while she bounced

"Daaaaaaaddy? Daddy Daddy Daddy!"

Knowing it was pointless to attempt to outlast her, Daybreak surrendered to his filly and opened his eyes. He snatched her out of the air in his hooves, quickly rolling out of bed, he galloped across the room with Aurora held in one hoof. She released more squeals and squeaks, letting Daybreak know he was definitely entertaining her. They quickly burst through the door and down the steps to the kitchen, where Spike already seemed to be up and moving, his blanket and pillow still messy upon the couch. He saw them coming and dove for cover behind the dinner table. Barely escaping their wrath as they zoomed by him, Aurora giggling wildly as she flew above her daddy, and he galloped like a goofball carrying her around the room, pretending to make her fly. Spike mumbled grumpily from under the table

"Honestly...can't even make coffee or juice in the mornings anymore..."

Daybreak zoomed by, barely missing stepping on Spikes outstretched tail

"Since when..."

He came around the kitchen for another pass of the table, Aurora still held high.

"...Do you..."

Another pass around the room and out through the living room, Spike was beginning to wonder how many circles they could make before Daybreak became dizzy.

"...drink coffee?"

Spikes eyes began doing circles within his head, trying to keep up with these two was making him dizzy. He held one claw to his head

"Since you guys started making mornings around here loud and rowdy...I used to sleep in on days like today."

Daybreak skidded to a halt upon the (newly refurbished) kitchen tile. Taking a glance at Spike he began to notice the bags that had formed under his eyes, the young drake did seem alot less active since Aurora had been brought home. The last two years had really weighed on him in ways Daybreak still had trouble understanding, at times. Although he never voiced it, the events with Princess Celestia against Daybreak left him with many restless night. He sometimes wished Princess Luna would visit him like she had the others, but he lacked nightmares and that's normally what drew her in.

What Spike really longed for at this point, was some kind of closure between the Princess and Daybreak. Their rift, had caused Twilight to distance herself from Celestia for nearly two years. Not once had she written to her in this time, and it never seemed to bother her. But it bothered him, Twilight was his closest friend and more like a mother to him than anypony else had ever been. Then there was Daybreak, he had been the brother he always wanted, although he had distrusted him at first, he had learned to love him in the end. Daybreak had been selfless and kind in his treatment of Spike since they had met. These two were more than family to him, and he couldn't stand knowing that, deep down, no matter how much they denied it, it hurt them both that Celestia had seemed to have abandoned them.

Daybreak could see that Spike was lost in his own thoughts, smiling to himself he walked over and gently placed Aurora at his feet. The little filly instantly spun around and looked up to her friend with beady eyes, begging him to notice her. Spike caught her large eyed stare in his corner vision and sighed

"Alright you, come here"

He picked her up in his arms, instantly yielding a happy squeak from the filly. A small smirk tugged at Spikes lip, Daybreak always knew how to get him going.

"Hey Spike? If you want, you can play with Aurora for awhile this morning, I'm gonna go check on Twilight...You know how she is at the start of heat..."

Spike physically shivered at the thought of Twilights hormones being anywhere near him, ever, again. Especially after what almost happened last time.

"Yeah, you go do that dude...I'll stay down here and keep little Aurora company..."

Spike noticed that Daybreak had bolted for the stairs before he had even finished his sentence. He let loose a slow sigh and looked down at Aurora, still holding her enormous grin in his arms.

"Some things never change, huh?"

She squeaked again, as if agreeing with him, then pointed towards the kitchen with added enthusiasm.

"Hungry are we?"

She added several more squeaks, as though trying to point out that her answer should be obvious.

"Alright alright let's go get you some breakfast."

As he headed towards the kitchen to gather food for the hungry munchkin, his eyes darted to the top of the stairs. He saw Daybreak grinning wildly, as he slowly opened the door to his and Twilights room, entered, and slowly shut it behind him. Spike could only imagine what may happen within the next few minutes.

.....

Slowly, carefully, Daybreak crept over to Twilights bedside, he lowered his muzzle to hers and looked over her face. He had to make sure, absolutely sure, she was still sleeping and not faking like she so often did in the mornings. Her nose twitched as his breath crossed it, he suppressed a giggle at her cuteness, then noticed her lower body moving under the sheets. He nimbly climbed up and into the bed, making sure to cause as little movement as possible, he gently grasped the sheets in his teeth and swiftly pulled them from his sleeping love.

The sight that greeted his eyes made him blush, but not enough to break his concentration. He finished removing the sheets from her completely, and set them neatly at the hoof end of the bed. Returning his attention to the magnificent sight before him, he found it difficult not to lick his lips with hunger. Twilight was laying spread eagle on her back, her legs wide for the world to witness, and her left hoof buried in her crotch. She was trying to hoof herself in her sleep...clearly the heat had already started if she could be so horny already. Judging by the excessive amounts of wetness around her hoof and thighs, he was confident with his assumption.

The glistening folds of her marehood were on display for his hungry eyes, like she had positioned herself this way on purpose, just so he could watch. Well purposeful or not, he was watching, and enjoying it thoroughly. There came a sudden high moan from Twilight, as she twitched and squirmed around the bed.

"Ahhh...Daybreak please, give me...more...more...ahhh.."

He felt a warm flush in his cheeks...she was dreaming about him. Somehow, no matter how many times it happened, he always found that it sent his heart a little aflutter to know she dreamt of him. Judging by the speed her hoof was increasing, her dream must have been pretty intense. He suddenly became aware he had lowered his face down, almost between her legs, without any conscious thought. This gave him an idea, a very devious, but surely fun, idea.

Positioning his body properly, he moved to the end of the bed and lay on his tummy, with his head inches from her marehood and (very active) hoof. Slowly, he wrapped his right hoof around hers, taking a firm, but gentle hold on it. She didn't even seem to notice at first, then he worked his left hoof over to the other. With it speeding away trying to satisfy her, he knew it would be tough to hold, but he went for it anyways. With a quick jab, he grasped hold of her left hoof, and pinned both of her front legs down on the bed, spread wide! That's when she started to react! With her hoof no longer able to sate her lust, she began to twitch wildly in his grasp, attempting to free her front legs! Luckily for him, the difference in their strength had always been one-sided, and he was able to hold her down with ease. Once she realized that she could not free herself, she began to whimper in her sleep.

"Mmmph...p-please Daybreak...don't stop...why did you stop...it's too much...ahhh...no..."

She continued trying to thrash out of his grip with no success. Daybreak knew she wouldn't be giving up anytime soon, so he improvised some restraints for her. A quick flash from his horn, and her legs were fastened to the top of the bed by magical green chains. This left his own hooves free to play, although Twilight didn't seem to feel like cooperating with him, in fact she only began squirming more once she realized her legs were bound instead of held.

Even with all her thrashing about, Daybreak somehow managed to get ahold of her hind legs without getting kicked in the face, although, she came close once. With her bottom legs firmly held, he began to slowly spread them apart, he expected this to be easy since she had already been so horny and used alot of energy trying to squirm, but for some reason, now she felt like resisting...and she did a pretty good job of it too. He had to excerpt a good amount of strength to pry her legs open, but once he did and had them wide and high, the sight was magnificent. Her marehood was soaked with arousal and her flank cheeks tighter than ever. He couldn't resist giving her a small nip on the rear with his teeth. It was like licking at the frosting, before devouring the cake.

The feeling caused her to yelp in her sleep, he chuckled, wondering what that might have equated to in her dream. Her tail swished back and forth in a sweeping motion, as though she was trying to hide her flank hole and swollen lips. But instead it had the opposite effect on him, and only served to show them off more. He could barely contain himself...he knew it was time to wake her before he completely lost himself and began pounding her in her sleep (not that the thought hadn't crossed his mind).

He knew the perfect way to wake her would also be the most fun. He brought his muzzle down to her marehood, holding her legs up off the bed so he could have a view of her butt and lips. He let his warm breath roll across her lips and in between her flank cheeks, watching as he saw her give a visible shiver and her cheeks tighten. At that point, he could wait no longer

"Time to wake up Twily hehehe"

Not even a moment later, he extended his tongue, and plunged his face into her awaiting lips!

What a Way to Start the Day (Clop)

Imagine for a moment, that every part of your body itched. Like a million tiny ants were crawling all over you, not biting, simply walking over your extremely sensitive fur. Now imagine that combined with the itch, its hot, and not just any kind of hot, it was the wet, humid, sticky kind of hot. The kind where even the sheets of your own loving bed caused intolerable amounts of sweating and you found yourself sleeping on top of your sheets rather than in them.

Having that image in your mind, now try and feel all that, combined with an insatiable lust. A lust so powerful, that you can't even escape it in your dreams. Where your dreams are filled with nothing but hours upon hours of your imagination allowing the stallion of your dreams to utterly dominate you in every way that you know you want. But even this, cannot relieve you, and the yearning builds, builds like a volcano inside your belly and neathers. It builds and builds until you feel like you'll explode at the slightest touch, the most subtle tease of your nerves.

This is how Twilight Sparkle felt as an uncontrollable moan of ecstasy and an unstoppable wave of pleasure ripped through her body, while Daybreak lay below her aggressively licking at her most sensitive region.

Her eyes flew open as another wave of pleasure coursed through her being! The moan came before she could stop it.

"Ooooooooooooh yeeeeees!"

Her tongue was already rolled out of her mouth, she didn't even bother pretending to continue sleeping, or try and stop him in any way. She didn't care. She just wanted it to continue, for him to release the volcano of feeling already built up inside of her. She did everything she could to make it easier for him to lick at every single inch of her soaked lips. She spread her legs as wide as possible without having to lift them herself, luckily, Daybreak seemed to have that part covered for her. His hooves held her legs high giving him a perfect view of her flank cheeks even while he licked at her folds.

The sight served as fuel for his aggressive lapping at her sex, the faster he could make her cum, the faster he could pound her purple plot himself. Twilight seemed to have no objections to his speedy licking, in fact, it looked like she couldn't have protested even if she had wanted too. Her eyes were glassy as Daybreak stole a quick glance to her face, her tongue lay next to her as she panted like an exhausted puppy, twitching and moaning beneath his touch. She was at his mercy, and she liked it, the feeling of his rough tongue coursed over her love button gently, sending waves of ecstasy blooming through her.  She could feel it coming soon, the release of the volcano inside her, she was so close!

More moans found their way to her lips as she felt her end near, she was approaching her peak. With a final and swift flick across her awaiting crevice, Daybreak sent her brain spiraling into euphoria, all her motor functions forgotten as she came! Her entire form seemed to twitch at once, her legs spread even wider causing her flank to tighten and pucker while her love juices flowed from her swollen lips! She could no longer tell what she was doing, but she heard herself cry out in absolute happiness.

"Ahhhhhh! Ooooooooh yeeees....more...."

She felt his tongue flick across her button again, causing the last shiver of her orgasm to flow across her neathers and settle itself in a gentle pool between her legs.

Daybreak brought his head up from between his lovers legs, admiring his work. He had effectively crippled one of the most powerful beings in Equestria, with just his tongue...it was kind of hard not to feel some sort of pride in that. Twilights whole body was sprawled out, in the most content position possible. All her limbs were spread wide and her bottom left leg twitched slightly, as miniature shivers coursed through her, while she basked in her afterglow.

Although she was now temporarily satisfied, Daybreaks lust was far from gone. Seeing his lover cum so hard, only served to arose him more, and his erection was almost painful by this point. He looked down at his helpless alicorn with hungry eyes, Twilight barely seemed aware he was looking at her...that is...until he had ahold of her. The moment his hooves grasped her flank her eyes rocketed back open. The first sight that met her eyes was his raging erection hovering over her moistened lips. At this angle, it looked like he would split her in half. She knew better of course, from what she heard around Ponyville Big Mac was even bigger than Daybreak, and his marefriend was perfectly fine... still...she couldn't help the squeak of fear, at his erection and at the look his eyes held. She had noticed it...he was looking at her neathers...at her...like a hungry predator gazing at its meal.

Daybreak licked his lips, and spread his lovers legs wide open. He felt her give the slightest bit of resistance, but her orgasm had drained her of any energy she might have had. Her legs spread wide, leaving a nice trail of shimmering fluid as they split apart. He squeezed at her flank and licked his lips, oh how he loved this sight!

Positioning himself over her, he gently pushed the head of his member against her swollen lips. A subtle, but still noticeable moan escaped from her lips, this gave him all the encouragement he needed. He pushed forward with a slow thrust...and his senses were sent into the clouds! She was so wet, so tight, and so warm around him he felt like his cock would melt inside of her!

"Oh Celestia how I love estrus!"

The thought made him chuckle to himself, it was true at some level. Having Twilight consistently horny for days on end...it was hard to find a downside to that, except her own discomfort beforehand of course. The only real problem with estrus months was that no work ever got done during that time, but that was hardly a concern right now.

Right now, all he wanted was to enjoy making love to the most beautiful mare he had ever laid eyes on. She looked up at him with her big, glassy eyes, as he slowly slid back inside her once again. Her violet, tear filled pupils told him everything she was thinking, even when they would tense shut for that single moment where he bottomed out in her. She loved it. Every second of it, from start to finish, was perfect.

He took his time, not rushing or speeding up like he normally did, but keeping at a slow steady pace to draw it out for as long as he could. The sound of their bodies connecting and slapping away at each other was the only other sound besides her moans that filled the room. Nothing mattered to him at that moment in time, he was simply connected to her, and her to him. In ways beyond his own understanding he knew that they were meant to be together, like this forever, connected through their love.

Another gentle thrust elicited a succulent moan from her lips, and Daybreak found his head drifting towards hers. Her eyes were focused on the ceiling, but full of feeling. They said everything about how much pleasure she was in. Every thrust brought a wince to her eyes as he would slowly bottom out in her love tunnel. Never causing her any pain, but the mere knowledge that there was more of him to fit inside her if she could take it, was an aphrodisiac all of its own.

Noticing his muzzle slowly getting closer to hers, she attempted to wrap her hooves around his chest and back in a hug formation, but found her limbs unresponsive. They wiggled, and felt like jelly as another sharp wave of lust and pleasure snaked through her veins. Her limbs went limp on her stallions hide, causing her to give him the slightest of whimpers as she looked into his emerald green eyes.

"Ah..Daybreak..please...mmmmph...please hold me...hug me tight while you rut me."

Her barely audible, squeak of a plea was the cutest thing ever, and he was more than happy to oblige. Wrapping his front hooves around her waist, he pulled her body tight against his, impaling his cock deeper inside her marehood. She felt his warm fur against her chest, and raised her lips to his, locking them in a passionate embrace. The dance of their lips against their tongues was matched only by the (slightly increased) pace that Daybreaks hips now crushed against Twilights.

Eventually they found themselves laying on their sides while they bucked, Daybreak was still doing all the work, but it was definitely easier to hold her in a hug laying down on his side completely, rather than trying to do it while on top of her. Twilight couldn't manage to form complex thoughts at this point, her very being seemed to focus on each addictive wave of pure greatness that flowed through her neathers, further wetting them for Daybreaks convenience. Twilight began to feel her lower body lose its feeling, her legs and hips seemed to just resign themselves to Daybreaks abuse. However her marelips remained very active, continuing to send her wave after wave of endless pleasure while her lover plowed into her womb.

Several minutes went by with no sound but the slapping of their bodies filling the room. Eventually Twilight found the strength to reopen her closed eyes, and look at the sight before her. Her lovely pink, and very swollen with heat, lips were being plowed repeatedly by Daybreaks cock. He showed no signs of tiring anytime soon, and Twilight felt no reason to give him one. She still felt the urge bubble deep within her, she needed to cum again, she needed to feel him spray her insides with his love. She was sure that was the only thing that would satisfy her for a time.

But she wasn't ready for him to cum just yet, the pleasure she felt from his thrusts was just too good and it had to last. As she looked up into his eyes once again, and saw the same strained yet loving look he always held during sex, like he was doing all this just to please her, despite the pleasure it brought him as well. She then found a different kind of urge bubble its way to her surface. The urge to say something. She wasn't sure what...but she had to say something to him. Something to convey her feelings to him right then and there. They were married, they had a filly, they were bounded by their love...but still she felt like she had never made him understand the depth of her devotion to him as he had done to her.

He had committed treason against Princess Celestia and been banished from Canterlot for her, there was no depth, no end to what her wouldn't do for her. She understood this since that day and knew it wouldn't need any kind of testing again.

But she was another story, although he had been her first, for almost everything in relation to love in her life, she still felt on the lesser side of their relationship. He had offered up his life for hers on multiple occasions...she could hardly compare to that kind of devotion. She knew she would if the chance arose, give herself, her life, for him. But Equestria was in a state of near perfect harmony since Sombra's defeat more than two years ago. No great beasts had risen to challenge them or their friendship, no psyco unicorn lords, or evil spirits, or even a changeling had risen against an Equestrian since that day. It was like Daybreak had shocked the world into permanent peace. It was a wondrous thing to have accomplished...but also a terrible thing for her.

She longed to be the one shining for him. She wanted to be his protector for once, to have him stare at her back in awe and amazement at what she achieved. She was an Alicorn Princess, he was the child of Discord, they were almost equal in magical strength...but she had never felt like his equal.

Only now, in this heated moment of passion, as Daybreak buried himself deeper inside of her awaiting lips, and she cried out in unyielding pleasure, did she realize...she had fallen behind him.

Her thoughts were broken apart as she felt a familiar sensation creep through her neathers. She could feel it, her orgasm was on the horizon, preparing to sail her mind away to a land of unparalleled happiness and bliss. She could feel his too, his cock was beginning to twitch inside her, he would cum soon too. The thought made her heart race even more than it was. Nothing would make her happier than to have them cum together, but before she could surrender her body to his passion, she had to do it, she had to say...something...something to convey the surge of feeling she felt like she owed him.

Her nerves were electrified as her peak approached. She raised a hoof to Daybreaks face, and gently caressed  his cheek, drawing his attention to her gaze.

"Daybreak..."

Her moan held love and lust behind it. She had his attention, the tone held the slightest bit of urgency. As they locked eyes, Twilight saw everything he had ever done for her, everything he had given, race across her mind in a milliseconds pace.

She saw the young colt struggling behind her, carrying a practical mountain of books on his back, held still only by a small field of green aura, while she trotted ahead to the princess's chambers to start her day. He merely smiled, as though he were glad to simply be of service to her.

She imagined the night he had protested on her behalf, insisting that he should aid the princess without her knowledge. Then vanishing into the void without regret for what he had done...because it had been for her.

She remembered when she had come home, all those years later after rescuing him from the aftermath of a violent storm. There he had been singing aloud about his love for her, while carefully arranging her library. She remembered their kiss, he had held so much passion behind it, she wondered how long he had waited for it.

She remembered his face, as he had ascended into the sky, Discord gripped against his chest, struggling to get free. That last look, that last smile he had given her before the explosion...she had almost swore she saw a wink. No regrets.

She remembered the righteous fury that had burned in his eyes as Sombra impaled her with his dark blade. She could not remember the rest, but the description of his unrelenting rage against Sombra had been enough to fill in her gaps.

She remembered the sheer satisfaction and relief on his face as he vanquished the King sometime later. While she lay dying, his rage, his love, for her once again dwarfing any other thing in his presence.

And, she remembered the look...the look he had when she had opened her eyes from deaths door. The look in her eyes when they first made love, as their child was born, even the look in her eyes back when they became betrothed.

She remembered everything all in one moment. And in that one moment she felt him inside her, give one final thrust against her hips. Unable to prolong it any longer, she surrender to their orgasms, grasping his face in her last moment of strength and pulling it down to another passionate kiss. Her kiss attempted to convey all her feelings to him at once, but she knew it didn't even scratch the surface.

She felt his torrent release inside of her body, and her will was drained as her nerves ignited with incomparable and absolute pleasure! She came! She came as he came inside her, and her eyes ignited into a fiery white! Magical power coursing through her veins and horn, spiraling her orgasms to a new heights! Daybreaks body followed suite immediately, his eyes ignited similarly and he too was lost to an unending orgasm as he continued to fill her to the brim, seemingly, unending.

The raging river of their passion eventually died down, and Twilight felt his seed dripping from her soaked and damp pussy. But she didn't care, she had to do it now, say it NOW!

"Daybreak!"

She gasped with as much strength as she could muster. She drew his attention immediately, rousing him from atop her chest and meeting his gaze.

"I want you to know..."

Nothing she could say, no one single sentence could ever make her his equal in devotion, at least not through her perception. But still she must say it

"I want you to know...that no matter what happens. No matter what happens in the future for us, no matter what path we go down together, or what destiny you make for yourself. I want you to know, to truly know as deeply as I do, that..."

Tears brimmed her eyes, and she didn't understand why. His expression told he understood, it told her she need not continue, it was soft, and warm...like the sunrise. But she had to!

"I want you to know that even if you stand against the entire world, or even against me, no what happens, no matter what anypony says or thinks of me...I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU!"

Then it happened...His expression changed, but not in the way she had expected.

He started...

Crying...

Home Sweet Home

"Ouch!"

"Oh...sorry honey.."

"Ooof!"

"Oh geez, I'm sorry again...here just let me.."

"Waaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

"Oh no, we woke her up..shhhh shhh there there little Aurora...Daybreak, can u get the stuff and I'll take her?"

"Sure"

Daybreak and Twilight stumbled inside the Golden Oaks library after what seemed like an eternity of time walking. Daybreak held their many items from the hospital in his fields of magic, but the enormous amount of them was causing him to tumble about, unable to hold his balance. He quickly ushered Twilight past him along with little Aurora in her arms, then began to levitate the gifts through the door, one by one.

Twilight had been surprised, their friends had gone all out in buying them presents to celebrate little Aurora Sparkles birth. They were both very grateful and it seemed that everypony they knew had given them something. Well everypony except the group that always seemed to be absent these days, Shining Star, Rainbow Dash, Daring Do, and Princess Celestia. Daybreak knew why Shining Star was absent and easily forgave his friend, after all, if he had the time he might have joined him on his quest.

However, Daring Do and Rainbow Dash were a mystery, they had been seeing less and less of them lately. In fact, the last time they had seen them was right before Aurora had been born, and other than Daring Do looking like she might have gained a bit of weight, nothing had seemed different. They had not made it to Aurora's birth which had slightly upset Daybreak and Twilight, but after no news from them since, they had decided they must have been out on some important adventure and hadn't heard the news yet, so they too were forgiven.

The one that really made Twilight fume was her old mentor, Princess Celestia, being absent. All the other Princesses, and her brother had been there. How could her teacher and mentor miss the birth of her child, despite her supposed anger at Daybreak, how could she still bot show up at least for her? Discord had been absent too, but with him being in charge of finding the Changelings a new home, they could understand that. Twilight however, could not find it within herself to forgive her teacher for such a blatant disregard for her feelings and had since refused to send anymore letters to her directly. Daybreak personally didn't care either way, he claimed he understood her anger at him, but also agreed it was extremely thoughtless for her to ignore Aurora's birth the way she had, without so much as a letter of explanation.

A sudden, and extremely loud crash brought Twilight out of her thoughts. She looked back to the doorway and saw her stallion lying under a pile of presents, one of them impaled onto his horn. He wore a goofy grin as he struggled to squirm his way out from the mountainous boxes holding him down. Aurora spotted her father under the presents and to giggle with joy at his ridiculous situation. Daybreak smiled and levitated the first box from atop his horn

"Well...we may have to ask Rarity to repair her gift for us"

Twilight held her hoof to her mouth, stifling a giggle

"Oh...and why's that?"

"Cause I think I just skewered it...felt like a baby gown"

Unable to suppress her laughter anymore, Twilight set Aurora down on he ground and erupted into laughter. Seeing her mother topple over just like her father, Aurora broke out into fits of laughter as well. The trio laid in the pile of presents laughing for what felt like hours, (it was really only a few minutes) before Spike finally descended the stairs, clearly annoyed that his nap had been interrupted. However the moment he spotted who was in the doorway, he scurried down the stairs in a fit of joy.

"Twilight! Daybreak! You're home!"

They all turned as Spike hurried down the stairs and dove into a hug from Twilight. Once relinquished his grasp on Twilight he raised his eyebrows to Daybreak, which reminded the stallion he was still under a bunch of boxes and he quickly scurried out. Spike noticed Aurora then and bent down over the filly, who had recently become very interest in chewing on the nearest present.

"Hey there little filly, you remember old Spikey right?"

She ceased her chewing and turned her tiny head to the purple and green lizard before her. Her tiny eyes went wide and her face broke into a large grin

"Spike!" she pointed her hoof at him giggling.

Both Daybreak and Twilight froze in place, Twilight was so stunned she released her grip on Daybreaks hoof. Instantly his chin smashed into the floor boards below and his progress on freeing himself from his present prison was gone. Twilight immediately dashed from the room screeching

"Oh dear Luna where are my quills, quills quills, I need my quills and some paper"

Daybreak rubbed his chin uncomfortably and resumed trying to free himself. Twilight quickly stuck her head back in the room from the doorframe

"Daybreak, clock it, tell me the time and date, this is big our little filly spoke her first word and she's barely even a month old, we have to write it down."

Finally realizing his friend needed help, Spike left the little filly to resume her present chewing and began to help pull Daybreak from the pile of presents still blocking the doorway.

"Daybreak!" They heard Twilight yell from the other room

"Little busy right now love, give me sec here wooooah!"

With a strong pull Spike finally freed Daybreak, but he pulled him so quickly he flew right out and squished the little dragon under his body. Hearing the muffled pleas for air, Daybreak stood up and helped right the dragon. Spike shook his head rapidly clearing the stars from his eyes

"Ahh...When I said we needed to become closer Daybreak...this is not what I had in mind.."

"Sorry dude"

"Daaaaaaybreak" Twilight once again whined from the other room, although this time they could here the parchment ruffling against her quill

"Twilight I just got out of that death trap of presents over here, hold your tight little flank."

Spike made a swirling motion with his finger next to his head and pointed in Twilight's direction. Daybreak nodded his head and smirked. Suddenly Twilights head appeared in the doorway of the dark room again, catching Spike mid act. She shot him a glare

"Come on Daybreak, we gotta document her first words so we can always remember what they were"

Daybreak nodded with a chuckle

"Alright Twi alright, I'll go check the clock to see what time it was. Twilight smiled and her head disappeared from view. Then it quickly reappeared again

"And my flank is not tight!"

Daybreak snickered "I said uptight sweetie, but you know if you wanna go there..."

Twilight flushed red "I-I heard you s-say tight, you liar"

Spike chuckled and joined in "Naw Twilight, I heard him say uptight too...get your mind out of the gutter, we have a filly present"

They could practically see the smoke fuming from her ears as her face flushed deeper crimson

"I...You...I heard..Aggghhh"

She turned and disappeared back in to the dark room with her papers. Daybreak gave spike a quick hoof-bump and called after her

"Just kidding sweetie, I said tight"

They both heard a loud cry of annoyance before several white pillows shot out of the study room bent on their destruction

"Hit the deck!" Daybreak yelled as both he and Spike dove back into presents for cover.

Meanwhile Aurora watched as her father and lizard friend were repeatedly assaulted by flying pillows. She wished she could play too, this was clearly a fun game. After all her daddy and Spike were laughing the whole time. Maybe she could side with mommy, after all she was on her own against her strong daddy. She knew her daddy was strong, after all how else could he make all those boxes float inside on his own...but mommy did seem to be winning. Maybe she should just keep gnawing on this tasty box...yes this was a good idea...then she could still watch mommy beat on her daddy and Spike with those white fluffy things. As she gnawed away on her precious chew toy, she watched as her daddy ignited the horn atop his head, then suddenly all the white fluffy things that mommy had been attacking him with began to glow with a brownish color around them, then they began to float. She watched as he sent several flying back into the room where mommy was invisible and several loud "oofs" told her that they had hit their target. There were several loud stomps, suddenly mommy's face appeared in the doorway, one of the white fluffs impaled onto her horn, her mane was a frazzled mess.

Twilight wore a look of pure annoyance, but the moment she saw her daughters sparkling face, and Daybreaks innocent smile, she melted. She began to laugh despite herself and motioned for Daybreak to come over to her. He was reluctant at first, sure that it was a trap, but after she gave him the "bedroom eyes" look he smirked and trotted over. Twilight magically lifted the pillow from her horn and began to levitate it in front of her face. Daybreak eyes went wide as she grabbed him around the neck and puled him into a deep, passionate kiss. The pillow floated over their two faces, obscuring the view from Aurora, who became all the more curious because of it. Twilight's tongue attacked Daybreaks and wrestled against his, attempting to gain dominance in the kiss. She heard Spike make a gagging sound and the thuds of Aurora attempting to scoot closer to get a better view. After a quick minute she broke the kiss and removed the pillow covering their faces. Daybreak wore a wide smile that left  clear indication to Aurora, whatever mommy had just done behind the white fluff was very good. Daybreak gave Twilight a quick kiss on the cheek and then trotted into the next room without a word.

Spike gave Twilight a disapproving look which she chose to challenge

"What? I'm allowed to kiss the stallion I married"

Spike pointed at Aurora, who was smiling brightly and hopping in place, attempting to climb the enormous pile of presents separating her from her mommy. Twilight blushed red and picked up her foal within her magic, then began to prance around the room with her floating around her head. Aurora squeaked with glee as she was flown around the room by her mothers magic, then was whisked to the side of Twilight's face. Twilight crushed Aurora's cheek against her own and nuzzled her daughters face.

"I love you sweetie"

Aurora's peach colored face broke red with happiness and she began to squeak wildly

"Love you, love you, loooooove you!"

Twilights shock rivaled Spikes, she brought her daughter to eye level with her. Their eyes showed the same gleam of purple as they stared back at each other. A moment later Daybreak reentered the room carrying a note pad and quill in his aura

"Ok her first word was Spike and the time was...what are you doing Twilight?"

Twilight brought her daughter down from her face and set on her haunches, then turned to face Daybreak. The smile on her face almost scared Daybreak, nopony but Pinkie Pie should have been capable of a smile that big. When she spoke, Daybreak heard sheer glee behind every word

"She said I love you sweetie...she said I love you"

"Technically she said love you she never said the I" Spike pointed out quickly but Daybreak ignored him

"That's amazing sweetie!"

"It...is isn't it.."

Suddenly her face dropped a bit, Daybreak knew that look anywhere, Twilight was thinking about something

"What's wrong sweetie?"

Twilight touched her hoof to her chin ad began to tap it repeatedly

"Well I was just thinking...I don't think I've ever seen a filly or colt speak this quickly before...I mean they called me brilliant and I wasn't speaking in the first month. I know the Cake twins spoke in the first month, Pinkie told me they said her name, but that was it. I need to look into this a bit...our little filly might be more gifted than either of us Daybreak"

Daybreak raised an eyebrow "Twily are you sure? Don't get me wrong, if Aurora is a genius than she probably gets it from her brilliant mother, but its only a few words. Maybe you might be jumping ahead a bit love, let's hold off on that research and get settled back in here first alright?"

Twilight ceased tapping her chin and looked at Daybreak, then nodded. She smiled at him and scooped Aurora onto her back

"Come on sweetie, help me catch daddy"

Aurora yelped with joy and bounced on her mommy's back, Daybreaks eyes went wide and he took off upstairs, fleeing from the mares. Twilight took off after him, Aurora bouncing happily on her back the whole way up.

Spike began to shout after them

"Hey wait! Whose gonna clean up this mess?"

He looked around the room at the endless pile of presents scattered throughout the library and sighed

"I guess I just answered myself..."

He grabbed a broom and began sweeping the presents out of the doorway wondering how he was ever gonna get any sleep now that there was three of them. However as he heard the innocent shrieks of a little filly emanating from upstairs, he realized it was all worth it in the end.