Author's Note

[Author's Pre-Note - Strong language ahead, suggestive scenes occasional, 'possible' clop, I can't really assume it will happen because it depends on if I'm in the mood to describe it or not, that said, expect it to 'not' be there unless marked clearly.

Disclaimer aside, I read a lot of Fan-fics, and I'm always worried about letting them influence my own writing 'too much' and feeling like I'm stealing someone elses idea DX I want to stress that I try my damndest to do no such things, but it is inevitable that they affect me in some way with how much I've enjoyed reading them, and it's quite possible that something will eeke it's way in without be realizing it... so lets make a game of it!

If you think you've found something that originated in someone elses Fic, Comment on it, point it out =D You get 20 Internets if you're right, 50 If it's from a Fic I haven't read yet, and 100 If that fic inspires me to go read it! This is mostly because my memory is terrible, and this will help me remember to add notes about giving credit to whoever inspired me on something.

warning: 'Internets' are a completely intangiable currency that have absolutely no true value!]

wings of Shadow - Chapter 1

'Ugh! what a day!' It was rare that a certain colorful pegasus could call herself truely exhausted, but after the day that had been had she was actually not at all ashamed to admit to being completely pooped...

That morning had started out as normal as could be, a pleasant sunny morning to wake everypony up in good spirits and get the day started... Then a freak storm blew in from the everfree shortly after dawn, much too early for most of the weather team to be on duty, or even awake in some cases. By the time some of the other weather pegasi managed to wake up their 'former' Captain, The storm had settled itself in enough to be a troublesome job even for a full team plus wonderbolt, and being woken up 'earlier than early' only served to make the day a bigger pain in Rainbow's Flank.

After several steady hours of weather Rodeo, several more hours of helping clean up followed, and 'then' another hour or beuaracratic argueing to convince the mayor that it wasn't their fault a storm blew in while most of them were still asleep... Beaurocracy was one of the few things that Rainbow was worse at than Diplomacy and 'Tact'.

And what made it worse? 'AUUUGH!, I can't believe this... All this crap, I'm 'actually' tired... and now, I can't bucking sleep!... How does that even work?!' Indeed, the Rainbow mane'd Pegasus was Slumped over on a cloud trying desperately to relax and 'pass out', yet somehow the bliss of sleep evaded her during one of the few times it should've been the most rapid to come... to say she was irritated would be beyond a simple understatement, She considered herself an unmatched proffesional at the art of spontaneous napping.

"GRAAAAGH!, That's it! I can't take it anymore! I'm gonna go see if Twilight can just zap me to sleep for a bit!"

Fast forward about 30 seconds... It would've taken like 10 if she hadn't been exhausted

Rainbow dash landed with a decidedly ungraceful 'THUD' in-front of The Library, though she didn't stumble, nope, certainly not, not even being exhausted could make 'Rainbow dash' Stumble!... It was a noise that certainly could be heard inside, but she was even more impatient than usual and followed it up with rapidly banging on the door with a hoof.

as soon as it started to open she didn't waste a moment launching into making her 'issue' known. "Twilight! Hey! I need a sleep spell! I've had a heck of a... day... and I... can't......-"

That wasn't Twilight standing in the door-way... It wasn't Spike either.

In the door-way was standing a fairly large Thestral, A bit taller than Twilight, Dark Blue-ish Grey fur, Dark Blue mane, Fangs, Fuzzy Ears, Bat wings, and Bright Red Slitted eyes... That's about all that registered in Rainbow's Sleep deprived mind at the moment... well, 'she'd' describe any day that didn't involve a half a dozen naps as sleep deprived.

There was a moment when recognition flashed across his muzzle and the barest bit of a smile cropped up as he prepared to speak, only to suddenly find himself on the recieving end of an Over-reacting Rainbow.

The Adrenaline in her blood shot up with the over-reaction of her tired imagination finding a freaky looking stranger in her friend's house, missing all of the 'not an intruder' signs like answering the door for one, and all at once she forgot she was tired, Lunged forward at him with all of her power, and shouted simply "what did you do with twilight!?"

She'd expected to tackle and pin him to the floor while demanding answers, though after only a short instant of surprise, his expression turned seriously and in a frightingly fluid motion he dropped to the floor, directly under her charge, and clapped his wings up at her as she passed over.

The sudden impact of thick Bat wings against her under-side knocked the wind out of Rainbow, causing her to only crash herself on the floor, though he was a bit impressed at how rapidly she managed to right herself and whirl back around on him despite gasping for that lost breath... And Promptly Lunged again.

'Okay, Obviously my information was right, she's way too hot-headed when she snaps like that... way too Reckless, She might be a wonderbolt but she's got no 'experience'.'

Instead of dodging this time, He chose to counter her Charge, He reared up on his hind legs, Timing a thrust with both fore-limbs to connect a moment after she slammed into his chest hooves first, letting her charge deplete some of it's own momentum before his hooves slammed into her barrel to rebound her and send her into the door, knocking it closed in the process.

It took her a little longer to get back to her hooves this time, but when she saw him un-phased and 'dusting off' his fur where she'd hit him, though that was just her interpretation of him rubbing what was likely to be a good bruise later, she just got more infuriated at the seemingly taunting motion and readied herself in a pose similar to what she used for high-speed take-off.

The Stranger took notice of this and let out a mild sigh 'Oh great, I have to take her seriously now or she's going to break something when she hits the wall... why are so many mares completely nuts?' He readied himself then, lowering into a broad stance, wings out, eyes sharply focused on Rainbow's body, watching for those sharp little hints of movement that would fore-tell her 'attack'.

He didn't have to wait long, he had barely a second to settle and focus his vision before he saw the signs, Flanks tightening, Leg flexing, wings tensing, all at once for just an instant before motion exploded! 'Hah, 'fastest in equestria' indeed! She could easily take anypony who didn't have any real experience facing other fast opponents... but it's not all about speed 'miss' Dash.' She launched at him with enough force to stir the air and send loose papers and even some books flying away from her, and closed the distance of a couple dozen feet in what would be the blink of an eye to some, and the moment would surely be over faster than most would need to even know it happened.

He wrenched himself to the side in a motion so strained it made his muscles ache, Twisted his body side-ways using muscle and wing thrust so that they'd just barely miss slamming head-long into eachother. and a delighted grin crossed his muzzle, Even if she lacked experience she was bursting with speed someponies couldn't even imagine, it was exhilerating to focus so hard, even if he did it more to make sure she didn't hurt 'herself', it still got his blood flowing in ways that mere Sparring could never do.

As he jerked out of the way of her charge, his Right fore-leg zipped into position so that Her Barrel would colide with it, just above her out-stretched hooves, and it curled as soon as fur touched it.

He Grabbed on, and her momentum began to affect him as shoved himself back towards her body, His left hoof rolling around to latch on under her shoulders while her momentum pulled them forward and the disrupting addition of his weight caused them to rotate in mid-air... Followed an instant later by their latched bodies colliding into a book-shelf with the batpony first, Crashing to the floor with all four of his limbs wrapped around her to keep her there while a few dozen books crashed down around them from the shelf.

An Instant later he shifted his hold on her, Fore-legs whipped about to wrap under opposite shoulders and hold her fore-legs out at an angle where she'd have trouble working them comfortably. His hind leg wrapped around hers, squeezing them tightly 'together', having kept concious of the potentially horrifying experience that could come from having done the opposite. He completed the hold with his wings claping around her torso, slamming into position with enough force to knock the breath out of her again and sticking tightly into place to hold her wings down tightly as well.

It had happened so fast she found herself having trouble coprehending that it had actually happened, somepony out-manuevered her, and now even had her in a 6 limbed hold strong enough she wasn't sure she could break it... instantly her mind leapt into the darker thoughts of the fact that she was trapped by a Stallion... She proceeded to freak out, squirm, snarl, kick as much as she could "lemmegolemmegolemmego! I'M GONNA BUCK YOUR HEAD IN IF YOU DON'T LEMME GO!"

'well, This is a tidbit that nopony warned me about... I get the distinct feeling that I've stumbled onto a sensitive spot for her... I'm loathe to risk traumatizing somepony on my first day here, But I can't simply release her if she's just going to get even more aggressive and hurt something.' He held fast still, speaking calmly in an attempt to calm her down.

His voice actually came out as strangely 'cultured'... not at all what most would expect, who tend to assume a batpony would sound a bit growly, gruff, or at least unusually 'masculine'... what came out instead sounded more like it belonged in the upper circles of Canterlot elite, not unlike a certain Cellist known to live in ponyville, thought with somewhat of a 'scoltish' twinge to it "Now, Miss dash, if you'd waited barely a second long I would have been able to explain to you that I am a 'guest' here... and I will 'not' release you until you calm down and stop trying to hurt yourself attacking me!"

That of course didn't work very well, their proximity gave her an all too easy time of feeling his intensely rapid heartbeat thumping against her back, though it was surely from the adrenaline he'd needed to 'catch' her, her worried mind took it as a completely different sound, and her protests turned more frantic.

The thing that froze her struggles though, was Twilight's shout coming from upstairs "wHAT IS GOING ON DOwN HERE!?!?" A Moment later Twilight was sprinting down the steps... correction, 'princess' Twilight, and stopped half way as she saw the situation... Rainbow dash, looking 'scared' for once, Pinned in a hold by her 'visitor' who looked at her with an expression much more along the lines of sympathetic annoyance, if that even makes sense. "what the... Symphony! what the hell is this!?" Normally she'd watch her language to a somewhat unrealistic degree, but the shock of the moment could get to anypony.

Taking advantage of Rainbow's momentarily stunned state, he quickly explained "I opened the door as you asked when somepony started knocking so hard. It was Miss Dash on the other side, and I had barely a second before she charged me... If I had to guess, personally, she thought I was some kind of intruder, honestly freaking ponies out is nothing 'new' to me... However, she kept lunging at me, So I elected to Restrain her physical so that she would not hurt herself with that last one, then she began 'freak out' much more desperately... I'm afraid I may have struck a sensitive nerve of a sort." A moment later he started to loosen his grip to let her go.

The Instant she felt the hold loosening, Rainbow Dash whirled about, Trying desperately to swing at him before Fluttering away to a safe distance, thought with equal agility he slipped out from under her, letting her hit only the floor before finding himself a few feet from his former position looking none the worse for wear.

Now, normally, Twilight would launch into a serious Scolding anytime Rainbow dash over-reacted and assaulted somepony, though normally it didn't involve anyone getting hurt anyway, she looked to be the much worse for wear of the pair involved and likely already suffered enough punishment just by being out-manuevered and... whatever it was that triggered her freak out... So instead, Twilight Zipped right to her Friend's side, wrapping a fore-leg and a wing around Rainbow and hugging her close, electing to handle the situation as a whole 'later'. "Rainbow?... Are you ok?"

The Effect was almost immediate, Rainbow calmed down instantly, Stopped shaking and actually pressed into the hug a bit, the furious and mildly horrified expression had vanished, and a hoof quickly moved to make it look like there had never been any tears in a motion that could only have been practiced by an 'expert of being tough'... Symphony found himself a little impressed actually 'Hmhm, The 'power of friendship' at it's finest I bet... It's kindof beautiful.'

She quickly seemed to stabilize and start speaking "Y-yeah, I'm okay... Just... ya know, He got me, I freaked out a little, no big...... You, called him 'symphony'? You know this guy?"

"Yes, Midnight Symphony, Though I just refer to him as Symphony since I actually know about 3 Midnights already. He's a visitor, Luna sent me a letter last night about a Batpony coming to stay in ponyville for a while, I 'was' going to meet him at the station and then introduce everypony to him to avoid situations exactly like 'this' becoming common, but that freak storm this morning, well, I'm still not the best flyer, I couldn't handle that kind of weather, and with how bad it was, I would've worried about getting hit by a tree or something... He showed up a couple of hours ago after you all cleared that storm out, I helped him dry off and was just upstairs getting ready to go out and start introductions when you showed up."

The 'visitor' chimed in at that point and added on "Technically, I was already here this morning to see that lovely storm, I had settled down in a shadey corner of the park and 'hoped' to enjoy a bit of a nap with the storm making things comfortably dim... After you cleaned it up though, I had a bit of a time sneaking about to Rendevouz with Twilight... I was 'supposed' to make myself known to her first one way or the other, given that my presence could very well cause quite a ruckus until I've managed to settle in and get to be better known."

Oddly enough, out of all of that, the thing Rainbow questioned first was "You're not like... staying 'with' Twilight are you?"

That got a bit of a confused and slightly bemused stare from twilight, though he solved that issue right off "Oh, no, certainly not, I was just supposed to introduce myself and get the starter tour, hmhm, I'd never dream of imposing upon her house-hold long-term... I actually have every intention of building my own little home out near the everfree where things always seem to be a bit darker... I don't wish to be suspicious honestly, but I do enjoy dimmer lighting." with that he quick suddenly... wait, where did those come from!?... plopped a pair of sun-glasses on his muzzle, Deep blue frames and polished black lenses that would certainly reflect off most of the sunlight from his eyes. "Daylight is a bit troublesome for my vision after being nocturnal for so long, but I intend to experience adjusting to it and see how well it works."

Twilight giggled a little at the sight... a batpony, acting casual and cheerful in her library, wearing a pair of sunglasses, something was just a little funny about that scene. "Hmhm, speaking of which, we are 'way' behind Schedule for those introductions... Given that it's a bit late he 'is' going to stay the night here are least once... what about you Rainbow, you wanna come along? Get to know him a little so you don't worry so much?"

The Pegasus tensed up a bit at first, and quickly faded herself back to looking relaxed "Uh, no, no, I was actually coming here to ask if you could... 'knock me out'... I'm completely blitzed after this morning's frantic hours and the boring 'crap' that followed it... But I couldn't sleep, So i came by to see if you could, ya know, do some kinda sleep spell things, i just need a couple hours or something and i'll be fine... probably wake up just intime for the pinkie party that is inevitably going to happen tonight."

"Oh... well, yeah i can do that, but... wow, 'you' not being able to nap?" She snickered just a little too happily.

"Yeah yeah, laugh it up, the napmaster can't nap."

"Heheeheh, eh, sorry Rainbow, come on, you can borrow my bed for a while since you're here... you could even spend the night if you want, Make sure the big bad bat pony isn't gonna try to eat me in my sleep, heehee."

"Ugh... Everytime I over-react about something..."

As the 2 mares started up the stares Symphony called out suddenly "Uh, Rainbow Dash?" She paused and glanced back for a moment, finding him with an expression between apologetic and cool seriousness "Hrm, I am quite aware that I triggered... 'something' when I restrained you... I would like to apologize, my other options were rather disatisfactory for ending the un-needed conflict before anypony actually got hurt... That said, I'm going to be in ponyville for quite a while, I could give you some pointers on how to break that hold so nopony can hold you down, If you're interested."

Her expression wavered between un-readable, irritated, worried, and a couple of other random emotions related to having been held down so helplessly before setting on 'cool indifference' and turning to continue with a simple "Yeah whatever, Maybe." And like that they were gone...
...
...
...
...

"Dude! That was AwESOME!"
Symphony twitched slightly... totally not caught by surprised, no way in Tartarus, and turned a curious expression to the dragon that had been seemingly absent since he'd arrived. "Ah, you must be spike... what do you mean exactly?" with a short once over he could tell that this was not hardly the 'baby dragon' that Most knew Twilight for having as an assistant, Roughly the size of an average stallion after a few years of stable growth, he even had wings growing in, though seemingly no less exciteable.

"what do you mean what am I talking about? You out manuevered 'rainbow dash'... RAINBOw DASH! Nopony does 'that'! I mean, sure, you did it on the ground in a library, but still, I've never seen anypony do something like 'that' anywhere!" He could scarcely believe that he had a Dragon fanboying on how he'd trapped an Exhausted and Needlessly Infuriated Rainbow Dash, though he still had to chuckle just a little.

"I suppose I did, Though I have a distinct feeling things would have been a lot more difficult if she hadn't been tired out from the day's events and lost in the adrenaline of a mis-conception... I'd say she's a bit crazy, but from what I've heard about ponyville that's actually normal."

"well, it was still cool! I'm used to Rainbow being too fast for 'anypony', cept Twilight, if being able to catch her with magic even 'counts'." It was also just a bit funny to note that the dragon went about cleaning up the spilled books and putting them back in place without even complaining about the mess, though that did remind him about smashing into the book-case back first, and prompted checking with a hoof 'oof, yep, that's gonna bruise up something furious... That mare's got a lotta force behind her!'

Something clicked for Symphony, and a small sigh escaped his lips as an idea of something important to ask came up "Hmmm, so she's been kindof 'trapped' before in one way or another?"

"Yeah, AJ's got her with a rope on a couple of occasions, even tied her wings down for the Iron pony competition, Twilight's really good at grabbing her with Magic before she bolts off and gets herself in a fight or whatever over-reaction she might be heading towards at a certain moment... Heh, Pinkie Pie's never technically 'trapped' her, but she's always somehow able to keep up with her enough that Dash can't escape which is just as good."

"Hmmm, Has she ever seemed seriously distressed by any of these events before? similar to today?"

"well... ya know, Pegasi are generally 'free spirited' types, getting Tied down or not being able to avoid something tends to sit wrong anyway... Though not on the scale of today... She 'was' pretty flustered from failing to out-run Pinkie pie, but she flew pretty much the entire ponyville area a dozen times 'trying' so I imagine she was pretty blasted tired from all that extra effort... She did look a bit worried about having her wings tied down, but she was also pretty hopped up on adrenaline for the competition, so I don't really know... why you askin?"

The Batpony looked rather deep in thought for a moment, even clichely rubbing one hoof under his chin before answering "Because I get the worrisome feeling she Freaked the way she did because of one of 2 things, perhaps both... One being the 'seeming' ease of which she was out-done, and trust me, it was 'not' easy, It took all my effort to shift my position fast enough... And the Second being that she was pinned so thoroughly by a 'stallion', a creepy looking stranger at that... Symbolicly speaking that could be a recipe for psychological horrors most ponies try very hard not to imagine being possible, but it's a simple fact of instinct for some to consider the worst possible out-comes of a situation."

"what... you mean like... She thought you were gonna rape her or something?"

Hearing 'that' so easily brought up by a dragon he'd been urged to watch his language around for the sake of innocence, actually managed a bit of shock for him... He got the distinct feeling that it was some kind of running gag for ponies to underestimate the little dragon. "Yes... That... Having her control taken away so thoroughly by a Stranger and a Stallion, one she likely assumed was invading the home of a friend... I honestly feel rather bad about causing that moment, But If I hadn't Restrained her and had simply leapt out of the way, then her mad charge would likely have driven her head into one of the book-cases and she could have injured herself... Still..."

"Oh... don't worry about that, Rainbow's tough, and believe me, if you 'had' tried anything like that, you can bet she would've found some way to beat down... probably some freaky Element of harmony power or something... And I'm not exagerating about her being tough... ya know, she can actually crash into the ground at almost sonic rainboom speed and not even get hurt?" This caused Symphony to stare a bit incredulously at him for that claim. "what!? It's true! Twilight saw it happen! More than once too!... and yet somehow she still injured a wing crashing into a tree... I'm not sure how that works."

Pow! Intellectual over-drive moment, GO! "Hmm, It's most likely because of some subconcious use of Pegasi natural magic to protect herself in those moments, not to mention skill at dealing with the dangers of tremendous speed... both of which she was probably not prepared for if she actually injured herself once... It's also possible that her body is especially strong while she's focused hard one something like pulling a rainboom, though... I could probably only pinn her down because the specific hold I used allowed absolute minimal room for actual motion."

He was completely unphased by the sudden intellectual babble... Hey, he lived with Twilight sparkle for his entire life, it's gotta be par for the course for him. "Huh... I feel like I remember Twilight saying something similar at one point, but I was probably distracted by something at the time... Hey, what about batpony's? Aren't you basically a creepy looking version of a pegasus?"

"what?... oh, certainly not, There's a vast array of differences between our species, aside from the obvious aesthetic Differences... For instance, Our wings are solid and thick, instead of feathered... we're built more for 'strong' flight than for 'fast' flight... that's not to say it's not possible to go really fast, the 'natural state' is just very different to start with... There's all kinds of interesting little factors to go over... Uh, don't take this the wrong way, but I was hoping to only have to explain it 'once', I know perfectly well that once I'm finished Settling in, Twilight is going to be allover me hoping to learn about Bat-ponies, most likely resulting in a pile of notes and maybe a book or 2 that you'd certainly be able to read in more detail than I can express in the next few seconds." And he gestured quickly towards the stairs.

Right on cue, as if he'd just 'known', Twilight returned to few and started trotting her way down the stairs with a pleasant smile on, noticing the situation and promptly hopping off the stairs to flutter down to the floor next to the pair "Oh! Spike, you're back! I hope you weren't too worried about what just happened, I mean-"

Spike cut her off there suddenly "It's fine Twi! I'm not a baby, i can handle a little fighting... Besides, I think it was 'awesome'! Somepony who can finally out-manuever Rainbow Dash!"

"Yes, well, There may have been unexpected-"

"Yeah i know, She thought he was do something 'nasty' to her once he had her pinned, But he didn't, and if he had, I'd probably have just set him on fire"

"Spike! That's-"

"Hrhrm!" Symphony cleared his throat quite loudly, fairly certain he saw where this was going "Pardon me, but I am not insulted by that, Honestly, I hope he does burn me if I ever actually try to do 'that' to somepony... Please tell me, Is she going to be okay? I am unfortunately familiar with the power that fear can have on the mind, and I'd hate to think the first memory she'll have of me is fearing I'd do something absolutely unspeakable to her."

Twilight stared for a moment, just slightly dumbfounded at the sudden interuption... Perhaps she was getting used to ponies being afraid to interupt her after being a princess for several years. "Uh... um... hrm, Yes, she's going to be fine, as far as I know at least... I'll know better once she wakes up better rested and see's you at the party, But she's a tough girl, I don't think you could keep her down if you tried."

He seemed to waver for a moment and give off a rather sudden sigh "Thankfully, I am not interested in 'testing' that statement... I loathe thinking about the things I can do to ponies if I have reason."

"Ummm.... okay... "For a moment her face wore an expression between confusion and bafflement on what to do next... then a flash of rememberance "Oh, yes, Introductions! Spike, This is Midnight Symphony, He's a batpony that's come to live in ponyville for a while, to 'see the world' a bit, and so we can start learning about batponies so everypony else will stop worrying so hard about them.... He's oddly more 'cultured' than I expected, But Octavia's doing fine living here so hopefully that won't be an issue."

"Heh, as long as he's not the Batpony version of Blueblood, I think he's awesome so far."

Both of them looked shocked suddenly as Symphony gave a soft snarl, a quick looking revealing a momentarily furious expression of bared teeth, burning eyes, and a distinct Scoltish accent devoid of the previous culture. "UGH!, Don mention that Irritatin' 'worm' aroond meh! ah've neva' had anneh creature, ponneh, Thestral, changelin', dog, er otherwise, manage tah inuriate meh so damn easileh! An ah can onleh excuse layin 'im low once, 'the first time' while pretendin ah didnah know he was a Prince... Sweet Luna's Flanks if ah ever encounter that blowhard again it'll be too soon!"

The shocked expressions carried on for a few seconds longer before he realized what he'd just done and slumped suddenly and promtly face-hoofed, his voice regaining it's curlture but not quite loosing the edge of irritating memories "Ugh! Fuck! He's not even here and the annoyance he posed just made me snap at the mention of his name and talk about assaulting a prince!"

"Duuuuude.... You hit blueblood?"

"Hrm... yes... It's a good thing he's tougher than his behavior would imply, I knocked him clean into the wall and might have broken something if he wasn't fairly strong."

"Duuuude.... YOU KNOCKED BLUEBLOOD FOR A LOOP!!..... RARITY IS GOING TO LOVE YOU!"

well that was surprising, Twilight and Spike started snickering madly at the prince's expense, and Symphony couldn't help but grin at this "Heh, I think i'm going to like it here."

"Heh, don't get your hopes up, you still shouldn't go talking about that openly, Though I agree with spike, we just 'have' to see Rarity's face when you bring up knocking blue blood... probably at the party tonight so everypony can hear it at once."

"wait... oh no! Rarity's going to 'love' you!" All at once Spike's behavior made a complete U-turn and he was scowling at the Thestral like he'd just stolen from his hoard or something.

Symphony knew the signs, it was naturally part of training to have an idea of what an 'angry dragon' looks like, so you know when to run away... and this look told him he'd somehow stepped on a sensitive nerve without even actually trying to "Um... I'm going to take a wild guess and assume that Rarity is a pony that is especially 'important' to you spike... Hrm, I can't make promises about the future, I'm going to be 'myself' regardless of what anyone circumstance, Though I have no malicious intentions of coming between you and her."

He didn't seem too convinced by that, though one glance at Twilight's angry glare for him jumping to conclusions left him thoroughly cowed. "Uh, sorry dude, I've... Always had a crush on Rarity, even if we kinda can't actually be 'together', She's really important to me... I still get too protective of her sometimes."

"I... had a feeling... Honestly, the way you reacted, I had a feeling I could accurately understand what was going on... Someponies might take it as an insult to be called part of a Dragon's 'hoard', But nothing says that a hoard has be all inanimate objects... If Rarity is anything like I've heard, I imagine she treasures the fact that you'd be so protective of her... honestly, I think it's rather sweet, and I see no reason an apparently mature and protective dragon like yourself can't be in a relationship with a pony... Magic and love are both amazing forces in this world, and as far as I'm concerned, Something is only impossible if let yourself believe it to 'be' impossible."

Symphony seemed to be handling the 'aggressive dragon moment' surprisingly well, if the suddenly 're'shocked expressions were any hint "That said, If by some twist of fate I end up Attracting Rarity's attentions, I swear on my life I will treat her as she deserves... and honestly, If that comes to pass, I'm not afraid to share, look up 'herds' sometime... Love isn't something we should restrict with social norms or to fit the opinions of prissy nobles who believe their standards are superior to everypony elses... Love is as love is, and Love will do as it wishes with the hearts and minds of all who feel it."

He didn't particularly like when somepony acts frightened of him, though it was a reaction that he was undesirably familiar with... however, the contrasting reaction of surprise to a 'scary bat pony' wowing the mind with unexpected intellectual exposition... well, he couldn't help but smile with a bit of pride to find the both of them staring at him with complete befuddlement on their muzzles.

"Um... Twilight?... what's he talking about?"

"Um... oh, he mentioned 'herd'... It's an old Pony custom, though it's fallen waaay out of practice in recent centuries, and tends to be taken as 'unnatural' these days, kinda like 'filly foolers and colt cuddlers', but that is mostly because of, like he said, prissy nobles imposing their opinions on those they think are beneath them. It is not at all illegal nor is it morally wrong as long as those involves actually do love eachother... Simply put, it's just like a marriage, but with more than 2 individuals who love eachother, there's typically an 'alpha' in the relationship who's most responsible both for keeping order in the herd, as well as being charged with ensuring their safety."

"Oh... That's... huh, That doesn't actually sound too bad... I mean, right 'now' I can't see myself with a batpony, no offense dude"
"None taken."
"But if it comes to that and that's what it takes for Rarity to be happy, I could give it a try... ya know, 'if' it comes to that."

"Of course... Oh, I hope I wasn't giving the feeling I had a plan or anything, I'm just being pragmatic, i think that's the word, and addressing the situation 'incase' it happens... I haven't personally met Rarity myself, though I have heard tell that her ability to balance 'beauty and noble air' with an Open mind and Generous disposition that is a complete opposite of most 'elite' is practically legendary... Hmhm, And honestly, if she has held the attention of a 'dragon' for years, I can only imagine such stories to be true... And if you've spent years thinking about her this way, I think it's safe to say you are way beyond a simple 'crush'."

"I... uh... Thanks dude... I'll.. Try not to over-react, ya know, if things do go a certain way... but... ya know-"
"Dragon Instincts?"
"Heh, yeah... I try really hard not to be greedy about anything, but sometimes It just can't be helped."

"Heheh, Actually, I find that a lot of emotions that are popularly considered to be 'wholy negative', are actually quite healthy to have in moderation and vital to true 'balance of self'... If you think about it, there's a bit of greed in any form of love, If you don't covet that which you love in 'some' way, what would drive you to feel it is so truely valuable and worth protecting? If there is 'no' greed in you at all, then you cannot feel something to be valuable to you, and i don't mean in the sense of monetaryily or material possessions... Hmhmhm, 'greed' and 'generosity' are another form of balance in the universe, and nothing says that they cannot go claw in hoof together."

Spike, while similarly awed to twilight at the out-pouring of rare wisdom, didn't seem to quite make out the directly related Euphamism to a Dragon, A species full of greed, and a Pony, specifically one full of generosity, having a relationship being a healthy 'balance'... But Twilight certainly did, and Symphony felt an odd sense of pride at seeing a seemingly proud and happy smile directed his way.

He waited a fair bit for the dragon to respond again, though it seemed his mind was currently locked on trying to process everything the Thestral had just described to him... Prompting Twilight to slip in "That's an impressive Philosophy there Symphony... Honestly, It'd be interesting to hear more, But we need to head out and handle introductions while we can"

"Oh! Yes, you're right, I have a nasty habit of losing track of time when i get philosophical, hmhm.... It was a pleasure to meet you spike." The Dragon barely let out an affirming grunt at the statement... boy, he was determined to understand all that talking that had taken place.

"Oh spiiike." Ping! he knew that tone and immediately looked to twilight "You know how things go with a new visitor to town don't you? Pinkie Pie Is inevitably going to throw a party... I'm thinking we'll set this one up as a small afair, just a handful of us, i get the feeling He'd appreciate a smaller get-together for his first time in ponyville... of course, that means Rarity is going to be there, and there won't be a whole swarm of ponies to distract heeerrr."

He got the hint immediately, lit up with a toothy grin and shot out the door all at once... presumably to help pinkie in preparing for the party... as if she needed it.

"Heheh, Ohhhh, Twilight, you are most definitely Celestia's Student..." This got a quizical look from her and Symphony simply smiled "Remember how I said nothing is truely 'perfectly evil'? The same goes for manipulation.... Most may not like the idea of manipulating their friends or loved ones, but it comes down to the fact that sometimes it's healthier to know how manipulate them in a 'good' way without causing them any harm in the process, as it is a slippery slope between percieved good and bad with such a skill... Hmhm, Celestia is pretty much 'the' misstress of 'good' manipulation."

More dumbfounded stare suddenly... maybe it was because he talked about Celestia that way, but with a little snicker and a light bump as he passed by he refocused her attention "Come on, lets handle these 'introductions'."

And they headed off into ponyville, carrying on an exciting day of ponies introducing themselves, or squeeling in shock when they saw 'him' before seeing twilight with him.