A Three Foal Wish

Chapters

Different
Around Town
Welcome Party
Unexpected
Plans
The Nightmare
The Night
Revealed
Princess(es)
Touring
Flight
School Day
After School
Weekend
Night at Aunt Rain's
Show Stripes
Prologue: Wishing on a Star

Different

Bird songs drifted over the clearing, cheerful and a trace bit daring. A soft wind ruffled the leaves on the tree, and shuffled the grass. It didn't do much to bother the figures curled at the base of a large tree. A single leaf, probably knocked from its place on a branch by some forest dwelling critter, rode the air currents with as much ease as a relaxed pegasus would. Spinning and flipping as it encountered an eddy in the currents here and there, fate led it to fall on the nose of one of the sleepers.

~James~

Something tickled his nose, and his head jerked up, the urge to sneeze pushing him into wakefulness. His motion knocked the leaf away, and it drifted off again, once more caught up in the grip of the wind and being ushered off to the next appointment destiny had for it.

James' nose still tickled, but the urge to sneeze faded, replaced with a yawn. Squinting against the bright light, he muttered about them not drawing the curtains during the marathon. To be honest, he wasn't sure what time it was when he had finally turned in the night before. Only that it was something of a blur. He did know one thing though; he wasn't supposed to be outside. Yet here he was.

“What the hay..?” he muttered, trying to get to his feet. His voiced sounded a bit off. It wasn’t until he was standing that he realized something was wrong. He was on all fours. And it felt strange. Rather, it felt normal, which made it strange. He looked down at himself. For a moment, his mind supplied light skinned hands at the end of relatively hairless arms before reality swept that image away. He stood on short red furred legs, four of them, ending in equally red hooves. He felt something snap outwards on his back, odd tugging of muscles and skin as he panicked, backing away as if he could escape the sight.

His retreat was cut short when he crashed into and tumbled over another lump, bringing him down to the ground again. He didn’t get a chance to get his bearings before the second lump shoved him aside with an irritated and muffled cry.

“Dude! That was totes uncalled for!” the new voice said. It sounded young, and had that somewhat gender neutral tone kids tended towards.

“Meep!” James couldn’t figure out how to coordinate his limbs enough to get himself upright, but his tumble left him in a position that he could see what he ran into. It pushed itself up on four hooved feet, green eyes angry, grey coat, a somewhat messy head of hair, an oddly pale and washed out red with a large white spot, a pattern the same on its tail, though the white was underneath. A short horn poked out from its hair. Not it, James’ mind corrected. He.

The expression of anger quickly melted away, replaced with shock. The grey creature slowly raised a hoof shaky hoof. “You’re a pony…” A grin cut through the shock. “You’re a pegasus pony! This is so awesome! And impossible! But awesome!”

James was totally confused by that reaction. He finally managed to flop himself upright, though still sprawled on the ground. He was a pegasus pony? Of course. That explained the wings that reacted early. Obviously. Wait. No. There was nothing ‘of course’ or ‘obviously’ about that. His irises shrank to pinpricks.

“NO! I’m a human! James Smith! Human guy! Not a pony or anything like that!” James declared. He felt his wing splaying out again, but that was just the start of unfamiliar anatomy. Ears, far more motile that he remembered, folded back and pressed against his skull, and a tail twitched behind him.

The unicorn, a foal, his brain amended again, didn’t take the outburst well, his own ears folding back as he stepped away from James. “No way. You’re jossing me… James? Why the hay are you a pegasus? And red?”

“… Daine?” It was the use of ‘jossing’ that tipped James off. Daine had discovered the Tvtropes page on the topic and incorporated it into his common speech recently. James got to his feet, which was remarkably easier than rolling over was moments before. “Daine?”

“Er… who else?” the unicorn claiming to be his friend said. His tail flicked behind him, apparently a response going unnoticed. “I… I think I’m going to assume you are a figment of my well spring, cool? That hair’s pretty crazy…”

James was convinced; that was definitely Daine. He started the ‘well spring’ thing. But… he didn’t seem to realize he changed. That fact was currently battling it out with ‘sudden ponyfication’ for top spot on the Terror List in James’ head. “Daine! Focus! Look at yourself. You’re a unicorn.”

“Please. What in the… world…” Daine’s protests died as the rolling of his eyes brought the lack of arms into view. He somehow managed to pale, despite his grey fur, and stiffened.

James started to worry when the unicorn didn’t move, or even breath, for a few moments. “Um… Hello?”

Daine suddenly inhaled sharply, causing James to jump.

“I’m a pony…” Daine said. He looked over at James. “Why am I a pony?”

“How the hay should I know?” James retorted. Did he look like he was any more informed about all this than anyone else?

“Prove it then!” Daine said, focusing on James. “Twenty questions!”

Oddly enough, it did devolve into something like that. Not twenty questions per say, but a rally of query and response, Daine shooting James a question, James answering and countering with a question of his own. They had been so caught up in their own shock and issues that they completely overlooked the third figure sleeping in the area.

“What’s with the noise?” a sleepy voice asked with a whine. Both Daine and James started, and looked over at the yellow furred earth pony that was just waking up. He blinked his blue eyes at them and yawned.

Daine and James stopped their bickering and stared at the third pony. If the unicorn was Daine, then only one person was missing. “Patrick?”

“It’s too early for you and Silver to be fighting,” the earth pony stretched a little before slumping back to the grass, his head resting on his forelegs, curling his hindlegs beneath him and tugging his muzzle under his shoulder as much as he could, clearly getting back to sleep.

“I don’t really want to know what you two are fighting about this time, Flare, just wake me up when you’re done,” he said sleepily.

“Flare?” James said. Weirdly enough, the name seemed right, as if it were part of a whole. Daine was a bit more aggressive in his response.

“Oi! Wake up!” He said, whacking his hoof on the earth foal’s head.

“Gah! What did you do that for?” he wailed, glaring at Daine as his eyes watered.

“Patrick!” Daine snapped.

“What?” the earth foal, proven to be their friend, said, rubbing at his head before looking up. Then his jaw dropped.

“It’s Daine! We got turned into ponies!”

“No… no, no, no, no,” Patrick started. And didn’t stop.

“I think I broke him…” Daine sighed.

“Can we focus on the big issue?” James asked, waving his hoof awkwardly to get the unicorns attention. It was sometimes hard to keep Silver focused on a topic. James hesitated. Silver? Why was he calling Daine ‘Silver’? Why had Patrick called him Flare? What was going on here?

“Earth to James, come in, James! Don’t make me slap you,” Silver’s, no, Daine’s voice cut into James’ thoughts.

“I think something is wrong with our heads too,” James said slowly.

“What do you mean?” Daine asked, expression instantly becoming sharp and serious as he thought about it. “You mean how we can walk around and stuff without issues?”

James had to give it to him, he was always like that. It came from his DMing experience. He might not take a lot of things seriously, but he was good at coming up with conclusions. His fanciful thinking would come in handy right now. James nodded at him.

Behind them, Patrick was still moaning. They kinda ignored him for now.

"So... are we really in My Little Pony? Equestria?" James asked. "I'm not sure if I should be terrified or ecstatic..."

"Terristatic," Daine offered, still looking distracted. Without warning, he posed a question. "How old are you?"

"I'm..." James hesitated. One part of his brain was telling him twenty three, another was saying ten. He winced at the headache the conflicting facts caused.

"Headache, right?" Daine said. James nodded, gently massaging his throbbing head with a hoof.

“Yeah, I got one too when I tried to think about my name,” Daine admitted. He was looking rather worried. Rather than talk more on it, he turned and prodded, the still moaning earth foal, trying to snap him out of his funk with a few well placed hoof jabs to the ribs, looking to draw him into the conversation. “Patrick!”

"Mah," The pony in question replied, still trying to process everything.

James sighed and sat down, and tried to think of his life. At first, it was just human things coming to him, but slowly other things came to him. And the most startling one burst out. "We're brothers!"

That got the attention of the other two. Patrick nearly went catatonic at the revelation, still and unblinking. Daine looked at Patrick, then back at James as it processed before breaking out in laughter.

James bristled, his wings fluffing out slightly. “What?”

“Nothing, lil’bro,” Daine managed.

"Hey!" James complained, realizing that he was the little brother in whatever this weird reality was.

"Sorry, I guess I shouldn't be mean to my baby brother," Daine snickered. James glared at him as he continued. "You can't help being the wee little flapper, can you?"

"Mom said you're not supposed to call me that!" James protested, rearing up on his hind legs in frustration, wings flapping to help keep himself upright. Both he and Daine were slipping into the patterns of relationship the memories their new bodies pressed on them.

“Don’t start fighting again, you two,” Patrick pleaded. “It’s already bad enough that we’re ponies now. Don’t make it more confusing!”

James flinched, realizing both he and Daine has somehow gotten caught up in the emotions and minds of the bodies they were in. He dropped back to all four. Now that he was focusing on things, he found it awkward, and the familiarity he had faded some.

“This is getting creepy,” James admitted, shuddering slightly. He wasn’t some kid, yet here he was acting like he was one.

“That was… weird,” Daine agreed. He looked bemused before he shook it off and looked around. “I guess we should figure out where we are and see if we can get some help.”

“And how we got here,” James muttered. “The last thing I remember is…” He paused and thought about it. “Actually, I’m not sure. I know we did the marathon, but I can’t remember what we watched or did.”

“Me neither,” Patrick admitted after a few moments of biting his lip and thinking. “I can’t remember any of it. I think we watched Avengers again.”

“I just remember reading a book,” Daine admitted. He thought about it for a while. “Actually, I don’t remember anything much after we left the restaurant. We… we saw a meteor shower?”

“Yeah, yeah!” Patrick added, the memory coming back to him as well. He scrambled to his feet and bounced slightly on his foreleg. “I was surprised at how clear it was despite being in the city when the lights and pollution would block it.”

“Then there was the star we saw from the window,” James finished. Actually, the flash of light was the last thing he could really remember. The rest was hazy. “The star… did you guys wish on it?”

“You don’t think..?” Daine said, cocking his head and raising an eyebrow.

“I’m a little pegasus foal,” James said, flapping his wings for emphasis, his tone serious. “You’re a unicorn, and Patrick is a earth pony. Yes, I do think.”

“Why so serious, lil’bro,” Daine muttered, his ears dropping. “Yeah, I wished on it.”

“I did too,” Patrick admitted.

“What did you guys wish for?” James asked.

Daine looked at the ground and shifted his hooves awkwardly on the ground. Patrick, on the other hoof, didn’t really hesitate to respond. “I wanted to better connect to my friends. I wished that the three of us could stay close, and that I could meet all other friends the same way.”

James grinned. Yep, that was Patrick. He was sentimental like that. Actually, he would be a good fit for an Equestria. “I wanted to have a better quality of life. Because of stuff… of how uncertain things can be.”

“I can understand that,” Patrick said. He looked at Daine. “What did you wish for, Daine?”

“Nothing,” Daine said. He looked away from them and started trotting off. “Come on, we need to find help, right?”

Patrick snagged Daine’s tail with his teeth and pulled the unicorn back, earth pony strength making it easy. “Where are you running off to?”

“Daine… what’s up?” James asked.

Daine looked away from them.

“Don’t make me pull big brother rank,” Patrick warned, only half serious.

What he didn’t expect was for Daine to start crying. It was slow, silent tears, welling in his green eyes and spilling over, slow drops hitting the ground. Daine whipped at them, swearing softly to himself.

“Daine, you okay? What happened?” James said, not sure what was wrong with Daine. In all the time he knew him, he never knew him to be one to just start crying. Unbidden, memories from his new equestrian side came to the forefront of his mind. Silver did that sometimes. When he got stressed, he’d just start crying silent tears, only sniffing when his nose got clogged up. And if Daine was Silver now…

“It’s my fault.”

Daine’s comment was quiet and unexpected. James almost missed it. “What’s that?”

“It’s my fault!” Daine said loudly, causing James and Patrick to flinch and back away. “I… I didn’t hate it, but I didn’t like my life. I was tired of just going to work and going back home every day, so I wished that something exciting would break the monotony, then I wake up a pony and dragged my best friends into it… I’m sorry…”

James looked over at Patrick. Was it really that simple? He didn’t think so. It didn’t seem like Patrick thought so either.

“Boop,” Patrick said, bumping Daine’s muzzle with his hoof. Daine looked up at him, confused. “It’s doesn’t matter Daine. I don’t think that wish of yours could have caused all this, and even if it did, I can’t blame you for wanting a change. Isn’t that why all three of us decided to meet up in person?”

“But…” Daine started.

“No buts!” Patrick said firmly, sounding a bit more like the big brother he was. James started to smile, but it instead turned into a yelp when Patrick hooked a hoof around his neck and dragged in into a group hug. “It doesn’t matter if we are brothers or best friends or cousins, and it doesn’t matter if you caused it or not. I love both of you.”

“That’s cheesy and sappy,” Daine managed to chuckle before sniffing.

“But it’s true,” Patrick said. “Right, James?”

“Ugh… right,” James said, sighing but giving a weak smile. As he did, he could hear a chord starting in the background, and felt a pressure building in his chest.

“Brothers Together, Friends Forever,” Patrick started singing, to the looks of horror on James’ and Daine’s faces.

Through thick and thin, the strength true bonds bring,

Carries us forward, no matter what goes wrong!

James was stunned, and could only watch as Patrick released them from the hug and marched ahead, singing in his colt foal soprano.

It doesn’t matter if it’s clear or not,

If the road is rocky or smooth,

We’ll persevere, even if we fear!

Daine grinned, whipping the last of the tears away as he giggled and trotted to catch up with Patrick. He always did like the songs. The music gained a few more instruments as Daine joined in, just a slight bit lower pitched than Patrick, his voice not all that great, though strong.

Even if we tumble and fall,

Even if we go so wrong,

It doesn’t matter after all.

Because in the end, we’re still;

Brothers Together, Friends Forever.

They both stopped and looked back at James as the musical accompaniment built up to another verse. They even gave him wide pleading eyes. Completely underhanded. He groaned, but felt the tugging and gave in, walking over to them.

It’s not really my thing,

I don’t want or care to sing,

But still it’s true, I’ll admit,

Standing side by side; us and we,

Supporting each other,

No matter what we encounter,

The music swelled and all three hit the last line.

Brothers Together! Friends Forever!

Their first experience with the magic of music faded away and left the three foals laughing about how strange it was.

“Wow! So that was magic?” Daine said. “I can’t wait to try some on my own!”

“I think I can pass on doing that again,” James winced with a grin. “It was weird in a cool way though.”

Patrick was bouncing on his hooves. “Did you hear the music? We got a theme song!”

“We should try and remember the lyrics and write it down,” Daine said, agreeing. He seemed like he got over his little depression from before.

“Remember, we’re supposed to be looking for help,” James said, trying to get his brothers, and he would admit the concept had a weird feel to it, back on topic.

“Um… right!” Daine said. “Help.”

“Do you think you can fly, James?” Patrick asked. “You could check to see where the closest town is.”

“I don’t think I’m going to risk flying right now,” James said, flapping his wings slightly. “I don’t really know how these work.”

“Oh…” Patrick said, deflated. Daine watched James’ flapping and sighed.

“I think we are close to Ponyville though,” James said. He put his pegasus eyes to work and pointed to the castle like structured clinging to the side of a mountain not too far away. “I’m pretty sure that is Canterlot.”

“Wow…” Patrick said, shading his eyes from the sun.

“Awesome, I guess,” Daine said, squinting. He had needed glasses before, when they were still human. Maybe he still needed them now?

It didn’t look exactly like in the cartoon. It was bigger for one; sprawling over more of the mountain that it appeared to in the show. It was even more impressive, to be honest. While even his eyes couldn’t make out all the details from this distance, the tall towers and evidence of construction that climbed the cliff and mountain was remarkable.

“So… to Ponyville, then?” Patrick asked.

James looked at Daine, who nodded. “To Ponyville.”

Around Town

~Daine~

The idyllic nature of the land didn’t distract the trio much as they trotted in the direction they thought Ponyville lay. It didn’t take them long to come across a travelled path; the earth pounded flat by the hooves and wagon wheels of the travellers that employed it, and kept clear of encroaching plants by the same. Their voices carried in the air, chattering most seriously.

“Our normal names are going to attract attention we don’t want,” Daine said to them, thinking about the way things were in the show. He tried not to think too hard about his walking, since that seemed to make him prone to stumbling. “Lyra was the most normal name, and even that one is a bit odd.”

“Her name is Lyra Heartstrings,” Patrick said, skipping along, far more confident in his trot than Daine was. “And Lyra came from her lyre and cutie mark.”

“Don’t we already have names?” James said, contemplatively. “We already have some memories for here, and Patrick called us by them before.”

“I did?” Patrick said, looking back at the other two. He adopted a pensive look. “So what’s your name?”

“It’s,” Daine winced, a sudden stab of pain as the conflicting truths clashed again. Daine Steward and Silver Prose tried to assert themselves, the identities of both impacting. He stumbled slightly, shaking his head. “I hate that…”

"You're right, that is a strange name." Patrick deadpanned.

“Maybe we should sit down till we work this out,” James scowled from behind him.

Daine looked back and then started snickering again at the sight of his brother; muzzle in the dirt and his wings and legs splayed awkwardly out to the sides.

“What happened?” Patrick asked, hurrying back so he could help James get back on his hooves. “I keep telling you to be careful.”

“I tripped on a rock!” James protested, folding his wings against his sides and rubbing at his muzzle. On the bright side; he didn’t look overtly dirty from his fall. “I got distracted with the headache.”

“Fine, we can sit down and sort things out so the baby doesn’t hurt his nose again,” Daine said, rolling his eyes.

“Shut up, Silver,” James hissed, a frustrated shudder running through his wings as his ears flicked back. It didn’t last long, being replaced with a slump as soon as he realized what he had been doing. “It happened again, didn’t it?”

“By it, you mean you calling him Silver, again? Then yes,” Patrick nodded. He hit Daine on the shoulder with a hoof. “You be nice.”

“Don’t worry about it. It’s my name, after all. Silver Prose. I kinda like it, to be honest,” Daine added with a shrug. His response would have been more meaningful if he hadn’t prefaced it by sticking his tongue out at Patrick, but nopony ever said he was perfect. “I mean, it’s been my name all my life anyway. All his life?” He groaned and covered his head with his forelegs. “Ponyfeathers! This makes my head hurt!”

“You’re going to have to put a bit in the jar when you get home,” Patrick commented.

“You’re not making this any easier, Proud Defender,” James remarked.

“There’s a swear jar?” Daine, Silver Prose, asked, a bit incredulous. He sighed when his memory supplied the answers. “It’s in the kitchen, right beside the onion basket.” Their father would use the swear funds to buy extra onions to make his onion casserole and his onion rings. The onion rings weren’t so bad, but Silver hated the casserole. It made for fitting punishment.

Between them, they sorted out their history. They were born in Vanhoover, part of a large and very diverse family. Their mother, Dew Glimmer, was a unicorn and nurse. Their father, Just Stand, was an earth pony accountant. Both traveled a lot because of work and sometimes away from home for days, even weeks at a time. Different family members would look after the three while they were away.

The more the three sorted through the memories, the less the headaches affected them, until it was nothing more than a little throbbing whenever a major conflict occurred. It was still on the terrifying side that the pony outlook on life came easier than their human upbringing. And upbringing that, to be fair, was supposed to have a decade or more to it than the pony side of things.

“I can’t believe we are living in Ponyville now,” James, or Blue Flare, as Daine/Silver Prose would need to start thinking of him as, commented as they started off again. “Even if we just moved here yesterday.”

Blue Flare, or just Flare, got his name from their mother, as Silver did. While you would think his red coat would be more name worthy, his hair’s resemblance to a gas flame, and the fact that he looked a lot like their uncles Dessert Blitz and Ember inspired it. Silver was named after his Great Grandfather, their mother’s mother Duchess’ sire. Proud Defender, on the other hand, was their father’s child. While yellow instead of brown, he had the same solid build the Stands, the paternal side of the family, did.

It was those little details that made things weird. Sticking to the names was unsettlingly easy. The moment they decided to go with the pony names, the human names sort of faded from prominence, like an infrequently used nickname. Just one more issue to be concerned about.

“Mom and Dad are off travelling again,” Silver (Daine) shrugged, not overly enthused about it all. “For a few months this time. Auntie Rain was the only one that….” Silver froze midstep, his voice trailing off, a chill running down his spine and making his maroon and cream, tail tremble.

“What is it this time?” Proud (Patrick) asked, wondering what his brother was going to go on about this time.

“We promised her we wouldn’t leave town when we explored today,” Silver said, near panic. “She’s going to ground us for a month if she finds out!”

They had moved to Ponyville to live with their mother’s sister Pure Rain as a result of their parent’s most recent trip. Despite her name, she wasn’t a pegasus, but rather an earth pony. Her cutie mark, however, was a blue lightning bolt, and she had a way with water that was more pegasus like than earth pony. And she was rather strict and professional in everything from work to child care.

“But… we can just tell her that we’re not really her nephews,” Proud said, though his hesitant tone conveyed the lack of confidence in his own idea. “We just remember being them. We can just tell her we’re human guys.”

“We can tell her? She’ll just think it’s another one of Silver’s stories and ground us even longer!” Flare pawed at the ground restlessly. Silver could see him visibly attempt to reign in the childish reaction. “I mean, we can’t try to get help with this if we are stuck at home grounded.”

“Come on,” Silver urged, bouncing on his hooves. “The faster we get back to town, the faster we can try and make it to the library and find Twilight!”

“Gah… Fine!” Proud fumed, stomping a bit in frustration. Silver snorted. He knew for a fact that Proud was afraid of their aunt and didn’t want to be grounded any more than the rest of them did.

The three of them raced back to Ponyville, their gallop eating up the path. Natural forest slowly turned to tended land and cared orchards and wooden fences started up as they drew closer to the town. Their pace slowed a bit when Silver started to lag behind. Even Flare’s attempts at mimicking Scootaloo’s wing-assisted charge failed to match Proud’s stamina, even if he was slower than his brothers when it came to a dead sprint.

Still, they made it back before the other two were completely out of energy, what started as a gallop now a walk, having fallen from a run and trot in turn. The roads were in a better condition than the one they started on. The day was dying at this point, sunset only a handful of hours away, and many ponies were wrapping up their business and getting ready to head home.

“Come on, I’m a foal now! I’m supposed to be an endless bundle of boundless energy,” Silver complained as he panted in his position at the trailing point of the little triangle the trio fell into. He still found the energy to look around curiously though, talking in all the details that the show wasn’t able to present about the little town.

“My wings hurt,” Flare added, shifting them stiffly. “How does Scootaloo get hers to buzz like that?”

“Maybe it’s her special talent,” Proud said happily. He trotted off ahead of them and went up to a mare pulling a cart with some flowers on it, her cutie mark a flowering herb of some sort. “Hi Miss! Can you please tell me how to get to the library?”

“Oh, that’s easy,” she said cheerfully. She sat down and started listing out the directions for Proud.

Silver and Flare hung back, leaving their brother to get the information for them. Flare looked intently at something, then at himself before commenting softly to Silver. “It didn’t hit me before, but we’re still blank flanks.”

“Hey, you’re right,” Silver realized, looking at the unmarred grey pelt that was his flank. “I guess it makes sense. You can’t really fly yet, and even with mom and grandma’s help I’m not good at magic.”

“There’s a fine line between reassuring and insulting,” Flare muttered, glaring at him.

“Sorry,” Silver smiled sheepishly. He hadn’t sounded all that encouraging to himself either. “Cutie marks should be the least of our concerns right now.”

“I got directions!” Proud said, well, proudly as he rejoined them, his face red with a blush. He also had a small bundle of flowers balanced on his head. “And Miss Bluebell gave me these as a snack for being polite. She said I was handsome! ”

“You? Really?” Silver said skeptically. Proud shot him a look.

“Come off him,” Flare laughed. His stomach grumbled, reminding him that they last ate at lunch. “You’re going to share those with us?”

Proud nodded and they moved off out of the street to split the snack, though it wasn’t without some reservations, especially when Proud managed to get the bundle unwrapped so they could get a good look at the half-dozen stalks of blue flowers. “So… who wants to try it first?”

Flare snagged two and bit into it without hesitation, chewing with a happy look on his face. Silver grimaced as he watched, and expression Proud mirrored. Flare paused his chewing when he noticed the looks.

“What?” he asked, his mouth filled with half chewed flowers. “I like bluebells.”

Proud laughed and took his share. He didn’t seem to mind them either. Silver was still hesitant. He liked his fruits and vegetables just fine, but flowers didn’t count. Still, when in Equestria… He snagged them in his hoof and didn’t think too hard before tasting. Surprisingly, it was good. Not something he’d call his favourite, but it was sweeter than he thought it would be.

Those vitalized with a snack, Proud led them off on their campaign to find the library. Ten minutes, four wrong turns, three refusals to get new directions and one over turned barrel later, they were lost in the middle of Market Street, Proud still trying to find the right way as his brothers trailed him.

“Remind me again why we trusted Proud to find the way?” Silver asked, blowing his bang out of his face with a frustrated puff of air, continuing a conversation thread that had stalled after the whole incident. “He got lost when he came to spend the weekend at my house.”

Proud might have muttered something about eventually finding his way, but they never heard him.

“And he never wants to admit he’s doing something the hard way,” Flare added, yawning.

“Remember when he got lost in the Canterlot Museum for the class trip?” Silver pointed out.

“They had to send one of the security ponies to go look for him. He got confused after he hung back in the airship gallery,” Flare muttered, rolling his eyes. “Remember that time he couldn’t figure out the puzzle in Stepping Stones because he never talked to the scully mare in the fortune house?”

“That’s that expansion to that game you and him used to play online, right?” Silver questioned, tilting his head as he tried to remember.

“Uh-huh,” Flare nodded. “Even after I told him he still refused to talk to her, because he wanted to do it ‘his way’ instead.” Flare managed to make the air quotes with his wings.

Proud was getting redder and redder ahead of them, the running commentary from the two behind him had going.

“Hey, you’re getting pretty good with those!” Silver complimented Flare, not in the position to see Proud’s reaction.

“Well, yeah…” Flare said, ducking his head shyly. “If I don’t think about it much, I can run with the instincts and quirks ‘Flare’ already had without stumbling much.” He emphasised the name, seeking to distinguish between himself and the pony he was supposed to be.

“I don’t know if ‘Silver’ has any quirks really. But it’s only been a little while,” Silver shrugged. “Didn’t Proud get lost trying to find the hotel too, after the first night of the convention? Weird how he’s just as hopeless both here and back home.”

“You’re just as rude and sarcastic in both places too,” Flare pointed out blandly. “Only Silver swears more than you do. If you don’t stop you’re going to lose half your allowance every week.”

“At least I can read a map and find my way around a city,” Silver huffed, holding his nose high. “I’m just… socially challenged. Not hopeless like some ponies.”

“I’m not hopeless!” Proud snapped, making them jump as he whirled on them, cheeks puffed out in anger, his ears folded flat. “You’re just mean!”

“At least I don’t get ponies lost,” Sliver grinned back. The whole point of the peanut gallery for him was to see how long it took Proud to snap. He lasted a whole thirty seconds longer than Silver expected. As a counterpoint to the infuriated Proud, he looked cool and unconcerned, all the more irritating.

“I don’t see you doing any better!” Proud said.

“Um… guys…” Flare said softly.

“So, ready to give up and let somepony better take charge?” Silver smirked, huffing arrogantly and not paying attention to Flare.

“And what makes you think you’re any better!” Proud said, stomping a hoof. He wasn’t paying Flare any mind either.

“Guys…” Flare said, his voice shaking a little.

“Think?” Silver snorted. “I know I am. I can get us to the library no problem.”

“Can you, now?” a fourth voice commented. Silver paled, a shiver running down his spine as he turned. A pale orange mare, her hair and tail in tones of blue and cyan, loomed over the trio, her shopping poking out of the tops of her saddlebags, her face distinctly unamused.

“Hi Aunt Rain…” Silver said shakily.

“Hello Auntie Rain,” Proud said, no more brave than Silver in this.

“I tried to tell you two,” Flare said meekly.

“I am certain I told you three that while you could explore town today, you should be home by four. It’s nearing five. And you plan to go to the library?” She never raised her voice, she never lost her temper, her expression remained unamused, but it still scared them. “Worse yet; when I decided to get the shopping done, I heard that three young colts, curiously resembling my foals, managed to upset Mr Patch’s barrel…”

“Wait, no!” Silver interjected. “That one was….”

“Silver Prose, I do not appreciate being interrupted,” Pure Rain said, looking at him.

“Sorry, Auntie,” Silver said, wilting before her sea green eyes.

“So, was I not clear when I said ‘be home for four’?” She asked.

“You were, auntie,” Silver said reluctantly, looking down at his hooves.

“Yes…” Flare said, trying to look small.

“You were clear, Auntie Rain,” Proud said, nodding slowly.

“And why are you still out, despite that?” Pure Rain asked.

“Well… we aren’t your neph-,” Proud started.

“We wanted to go to the library!” Silver said quickly, cutting Proud off midsentence. Didn’t they just talk about not mentioning that less than an hour ago? “We just had an… issue that she could help us with.”

Pure Rain shook her head slowly, likely wondering why she agreed to be their caregiver. “Regardless, there will be no visits to the library today. Come, we are heading home.”

“But, Auntie…” the three foals said in sync.

“No buts,” she said firmly. “Now march before I decide to ground you after all.”

That shut them up and they meekly fell in beside her. They were silent for the journey home, each one keeping whatever thoughts they had to themselves unless directly asked something, which didn’t occur often as Pure Rain wasn’t one known for small talk. The streets became more and more residential until they finally stopped at the three story house Pure Rain, and more recently the three foals, called home.

It was a nice enough place, with a few flowers hanging from window sills and a small water feature to the left of the door. Considering her talent lay in water, it would be a crime if she didn’t have something like that. Pure Rain paused as she unlocked the door. “You should apologize, by the way.”

“For what?” Proud asked.

“Making them wait,” Pure Rain replied, turning on the lights. Instantly the room was illuminated, casting light on the decorations that filled the room, and the numerous ponies that were packed in the main room. A banner hung from the ceiling reading ‘Welcome to Ponyville.’

“SURPRISE!” they all yelled.

Welcome Party

~Proud~

It would probably help to explain that they weren’t much time between the lights coming to life and the yells of those who came to the party. And foals are rather easily startled. Each brother reacted differently as both the yell and burst of confetti washed over them.

Flare jumped in brief span of time it took the flood of hormones that pegasus were prone to in stressful situations to tense his muscles, causing him to topple over with a curious bleat before the he relaxed enough to move again, scrabbling a bit as he got his hooves under him.

Silver yelped and grabbed the closest thing to him, which happened to be Pure Rain’s foreleg, in his surprise. When he realized what he was doing a moment later, a flush overtook his features as he hastily let go and tried to act as if he hadn’t been clinging to his guardian.

Proud handled it the best out of the three of them; even if he did yelp and jump back a bit, closing his eyes in panic.

“Wait…” Proud said, and the ponies in the room kept laughing and cheering. He looked up at the banner and gave his aunt a wide grin. “Is this a party? A party for us?”

“Yes indeedily!” another pony interjected, bouncing up from the crowd with a wide grin on her face. “Hi Colts! I’m Pinkie Pie, Ponyville’s number one party pony! Pure Rain mentioned she was going to be taking care of her nephews for a while, so I convinced her let me host a Welcome to Ponyville Party for you three!”

Proud and his brothers exchanged happy grins. They were getting a Pinkie Party! An actual Pinkie Party hosted by Pinkie herself. That was typically an item near the top of the wish-list of any real fan of the show.

“One I considered calling off when I heard they were breaking the curfew I set,” Pure Rain said blandly, stepping pass her wards, cutting through the giddiness that had built.

“What! Why?” Silver asked.

“No!” Proud wailed.

“But the party…” Flare said, whimpering slightly.

“Don’t be a kill joy,” Pinkie giggled, gathering the three foals in a big hug. She beamed at them, and whispered something in their ears. “Let them have their fun.”

Following Pinkie’s whispered instruction, the brothers turned their best pitiful, pleading eyes on their aunt. Three sets of wide watering eyes; blue, green and light pink pinned her. “Please?”

Pure Rain twitched slightly under the three fold assault from the colts. “I said ‘considered’, not decided,” Pure Rain said after a moment. “Go mingle. Pinkie Pie invited a few of our neighbours and foals around your age. Go play with them.”

“Yay!” Proud said happily, breaking the pitiful look in an instant. He started bouncing on his feet again, ever the excitable one. He gestured at his brothers as he darted off. “Come on, before she changes her mind!”

“Wait up,” Silver complained from behind him. “I think I hurt my eyes doing that…”

Pinkie did a good job of setting up the party. It was a small group, since most people knew about Pure Rain’s preference for privacy and didn’t want to intrude, even if it was for a party, and apparently because of another celebration that was coming up in a day or two. Even so; the brother’s split up pretty quickly, Flare going for the snack table, wanting to try some of Pinkie’s creations, Silver wandering off to try and figure out what was so fascinating about Pin the Tail on the Pony.

Proud wanted to learn more about the people, and maybe find someone who could help them. Of the adults in the room, there were a few he recognized. Time Turner and Derpy, the town’s clock maker and one of the mailmares, both lived nearby. Thunderlane, one of the weather ponies, lived with his brother in the house behind theirs.

He met a few other adults before finally surrendering to the urges to explore the other benefits of the party. Like the snack table and the games. He didn’t expect to find Silver cornered by four fillies, all grinning and plying him with questions.

“Proud!” Silver said, looking desperate when he spotted his brother. Breaking away from the group, he hurried over to Proud. “You gotta distract them! I just wanted some cake. They won’t stop asking me questions”

Proud rolled his eyes. "Oh very well. I will brave the relentless question bombardment! If this shall be the last we meet, avenge my terrible death!" Proud deliberately over-reacting; hoof on his head as though he was about to swoon.

“Shut up. Being an ass is my job,” Silver scowled at him. Fortunately, Donnie K. Donkey, the city labourer who lived at the end of the street, had the late shift and was unable to make it to the party.

"Flee, little brother! I'll hold them off as long as I can! Get yourself to safety posthaste!" Proud went on, grinning from ear to ear. "Tell mother and father dearest that I loved them!"

"Every now and again you make me regret forcing you to go to the acting club with me," Silver said, jabbing Proud with a hoof. "This is-"

"Silver~" one of the fillies called as the four of them started over. "You never finished talking to us!"

"Thy bravery is without par, brother of mine! May my hooves be swift as I ferry thy last words to our kin!" Silver said quickly, his eyes shrinking to pinpoints. "You're on your own!" With that he darted off, ducking between the legs of some adults, a few yelps and cries of surprise marking his flight.

Proud cleared his throat and turned as he smiled trying to play it smooth. "Ladies?"

"Hi," the smallest one, a pale purple unicorn with blonde maned and eyes almost the same colour, said cheerfully, "I'm Dinky Doo. You were talking to my mom. Your brother's kinda silly, isn't he?"

"You don't know the half of it," Proud said. "Always running off rather than talking to a girl. It's like he's allergic or something. And your mom... That's Derpy, right?"

"Yep," Dinky said, smiling. "These are my best friends. Liza Doolots, Berry Pinch and her sister Coronet." Dinky introduced the light blue lavender maned unicorn with a horse shoe cutie mark, and the two sisters, a cutie mark-less unicorn with light green eyes and an orange eyed earth pony with a gold crown for a cutie mark, both pale rose with dark and light rose streaked manes. All four had the same mane and tail cut for some reason.

"Nice to meet you! My name's Proud Defender. Oldest of the bunch." He stuck his hoof out reflexively in a handshake.

"I'm her cousin, actually," Liza said, touching hooves with him. She giggled. "Your brother looked like he saw the headless horse when we started to talk to him. He ran off though, where's the other one? The pegasus colt with the big wings. Dinky's big sister said we should meet all of you before we left, and Pinkie said to make you all feel right at home."

"Like I said, allergic to fillies. Fillitis. Had it since he was young." Proud shook his head, though smiling the whole time. "Tragic really. As for Flare, I dunno. I suppose we could look for him while I answer anything you want to know."

Because it was a small party, it didn't take long to find everyone again. Silver had taken refugee with Flare, finding the antidote to his Fillitis reaction in the form of a Colt-tering shot; he and flare were chatting with a few colts, introduced as Rumble, Thunderlane's little brother, Chip Mint, another pegasus who spent his time between Ponyville and Cloudsdale, and the earth ponies Button Mash, who was apparently forced to come against his will, Caramel Coffee and Green Daze. Proud's group joined them. The colts had pretty much commandeered the snack table for their gathering, so it was no contest, really.

Their conversation mostly centered about what sort of stuff they used to do back in Vanhoover and how it compared to the things you could do in Ponyville. Rumble offered to try and get his brother to let Flare come to the flying lessons with him. Button Mash got out of his shell when he realized Proud loved games as almost as much as he did, and it took a good hit from Silver to snap the two out of their debate on the best tactics for an arcade game. Silver hid on the far side of the group and cast suspicious looks at the fillies when he thought no one was looking and tried to put hot sauce on their cupcakes.

"So did you know Princess Celestia was coming to Ponyville for this year's Summer Sun Celebration before you moved?" Coronet asked, throwing her hot sauce tainted cupcake at Silver with surprising accuracy.

"Ponyfeathers! My eye!" Silver wailed. "It's the same one I strained looking cute earlier too!"

"Princess Celestia is coming here?" Flare asked, looking slightly panicked.

Button Mash tried to help Silver. "Don't worry! I have juice!" he said before unceremoniously splashing two cup’s worth of punch in Silver's face.

"Yep!" Dinky said, excited. "Time Turner said it's one of the reason's this party is so small. Everypony is busy getting the town ready for her coming."

"GAH! That didn't help!" Silver yelped, now dripping with punch, glaring at Button, one eye slowly turning red.

"It didn't? It always works in the comics," Button said.

"My mom's been super busy making her special punch for the day," Berry added, looking at Silver and Button with confusion. She pointed a hoof at them. "Are those two going to be fine?"

"Of course they will," Proud said, flicking his tail. "So... what do you do for the Summer Sun Celebration? I've never been to one."

"You've never been to a Summer Sun Celebration?" Green Daze asked, eyes widening.

Since Silver was busy tousling with Button, trying to wrest the cup from him so he could hit him over the head with it, or something equally vengeful, Flare covered for Proud this time. "Um, not in Ponyville. Would it be different from the ones we had in Vanhoover?"

"I dunno what you did up in Vanhoover," Carmel said, a lazy smile on his face and his words measured. "But here in town, everypony gets to stay up till sunrise. It's the only night a'the year when your folks won't force you to go to sleep early."

"That does sound fun!" Flare said.

The party didn't last much longer after that point, since it was for the foals, mostly, it wasn't slated to go late anyway. Pinkie thanked people for showing up as they left to get to their own homes, and parents and guardians collected their young ones.

"It was nice meeting you!" Dinky said as Derpy and Time Turner joined those leaving, Liza already making her way after them.

"It was fun," Button said happily, his propeller hat askew and splashed with punch, before running off to his mother.

"We should get together for some Joyboy gaming sometime!" Proud called, waving his hoof.

"See you around town," Berry Pinch added.

"I'll tell you what Thunderlane says tomorrow," Rumble told Flare. "I think he'd say yes though."

"Awesome!" Flare said, his wings flapping happily.

Silver tried to keep up the appearance of nonchalance. "Yeah, well, it was cool."

"Hope you get over your fillitis," Coronet teased. She darted in and hugged Silver before running off, laughing at his yelp.

And that wrapped up their first Pinkie Party. Pure Rain wasn't at all thrilled with the amount of clean up left, even if Pinkie had taken a good portion of the decorations with her. She sighed and got the broom from the closet. "You three can put what's left of the party snacks in the kitchen then go wash up for bed. It's late."

"But the summer sun celebration!" Proud whimpered. "We get to stay up all night!" Some faint memories triggered in Proud, his alternate side. He needed to talk to Celestia... For some reason, but it just wouldn't come to him.

"It's not the summer sun celebration yet, young stallion," Pure Rain said firmly, setting aside the broom so she could properly address them. "Not till tomorrow. And if you want to stay up all night, you need to get your sleep tonight. And take a shower Silver. Your coat will get sticky and smell if you let that mess set. And make sure you wash your eye out. Celestia knows how you managed to get hot sauce in it."

Silver groaned, but cooperated. He didn't exactly enjoy the feeling of a juice soaked coat. Button hadn't learned that his punch idea wasn't working until Silver hit him after he tried a fifth cup.. He muttered some things under his breath and tried not to drip on the rug.

"I'm also taking a bit from your allowance and putting it in the jar your mother sent," she added, giving him a stern look. "I heard you swearing with those foals."

"WHAT!" Silver demanded.

"Shower. Now." Pure Rain wasn't taking lip from him.

Silver wilted again and galloped off. Proud watched him run and chuckled. Still, he tried again. “But do we have to go to bed now? It’s not that late yet.”

“It will be by the time you are ready.” She looked over at the snack table and sighed. “Silver left without helping you two with the table.”

At least the sound of running water came from above them, so he was doing something he was told to. Flare and Proud got started on the table without him.

“Flare, hold still for a minute,” Proud said, looking at the things they had to carry.

“Huh? Why?” Flare asked, even as he did what his brother asked.

Using his teeth, Proud carefully picked up one of the larger trays and maneuvered it slowly, setting it on Flare’s back.

“Wait! How am I supposed to carry this?” Flare yelped, suddenly fearful that he would drop everything.

“Use your wings to balance it,” Proud said before he grabbed a smaller tray in his mouth and carried it into the kitchen. Most of the food from the party has been eaten, so there wasn’t actually a lot of stuff to put away, so it didn’t take them long to finish. They ran upstairs before their aunt found something more for them to do.

“It’s too early to go to bed,” Proud complained, the habits form the human side of the memories rebelling at the idea of sleeping at eight o’clock. If his foal body was tired, he was doing his best to ignore whatever signals it was sending.

“I don’t know if I could fall asleep,” Flare sighed.

“Fillitus?” Proud shrugged and pushed the bathroom door open. "Or just... everything. Being a rebellious colt. I dunno. Could be going through puberty earlier than us."

“Hey!” There was a flurry of movement, the rustle of fabric and a thud. “Don’t you ever knock?” Silver demanded, trying to cover himself with a fluffy towel.

“Oh! Sorry,” Proud said quickly, beginning to pull the door back. He stopped and pushed it back open when a thought occurred to him. “Hey! We don’t ever wear clothes!”

“Um… well…” That one stumped Silver, but only for a moment. “It’s the principle,” he glared at them, getting back to toweling himself dry.

“If you say so,” Flare said, giving another wing shrug. He looked up at the sink and counter. It was a lovely vanity; a wide counter of some blue stone, brass looking fixtures, a large mirror, cupboards mounted on the wall, all set just slightly higher than any of them could easily reach.

“Right…,” Flare sighed, his wings dropping slightly, “foal…”

Proud looked around the bathroom and spotted a bench set in the corner. “Eureka!” he declared, and quickly set about pushing it into position by the vanity. “Step stool!”

He hopped up on it, the added height enabling to reach all he needed to. The countertop was pretty bare, aside from a dish with a bar of soap and a few face towels to dry hooves on. He looked around, trying to figure out where the toothbrushes would be as Flare hopped up and joined him.

“Auntie!” Proud yelled, Flare tumbling off when he jolted in surprise at the sudden yell. “Where can we find toothbrushes!”

“In the cupboard!” their aunt’s voice called back.

“Thank you!” Proud looked at the cupboards and decided to go through them, climbing up unto the counter entirely to get to them. He saw creams, mane and coat brushes, extra towels and other toiletries, but no toothbrushes. “I don’t see any…”

“Ahem,” Flare said. Proud looked down, only to see Flare holding three toothbrushes in his hoof, a somewhat smug look on his face. “Toothbrushes. In the cupboard.”

“He got you there,” Silver snickered, taking one for himself. They matched their coats, so he took the grey one. Climbing up on the bench himself, he set it on the counter, bristles facing up, and stared at it, his face brow furrowed.

“What are you doing?” Proud asked, taking the yellow one.

“Trying… to work… magic…” Silver said, voice sounding strained as his look intensified. A wavering green glow formed on his horn, a matching one forming over the handle of the toothbrush. Gritting his teeth, Silver tried to pick it up.

It tipped unto its side. A moment later, there was a sharp pop and Silver yelped, quickly turning on the pipe, sticking his hoof into the running water and pressing it against the base of his horn as he hissed. “Atatatata… magic feedback stings…”

“Are you okay?” Flare asked, pausing with a tube of toothpaste at his hooftips. Proud took one of the towels and let the water soak it, pressing it towards Silver. A damp towel was better than a damp limb.

“Yeah, yeah…” Silver said, waving their concern off, but taking the towel anyway. “I suck at magic. I… Silver, anyway, was better at it than this. I think I’m screwing myself with conflicting ideas. Probably should read a How To book again, or something.”

“That ‘pop’ didn’t exactly sound healthy,” Flare added. “Should we call aunt Rain?”

“I said I’m fine, drop it,” Silver said, rolling his eyes. “What were you two talking about anyway?”

“Just you running away from little girls,” Proud said, grinning at Silver. If he didn’t want their concern, then he’d get their mockery. “Not your best moment there.”

“Wait… he was running from girls?” Flare asked, surprise morphing into badly restrained laughter. “I thought you were just acting weirder than normal.”

“Yeah, well; shut up,” Silver said, his face going red, something he tried to hide behind the towel.

“So what happened?” Proud asked.

“I don’t know. I just got really flustered when they all came up on me,” Silver admitted.

“Ah, the onset of puberty,” Proud said sagely. “Soon will come chest hair and irrational behaviour. Though, Silver was always irrational.”

Silver’s eyes widened. “Oh Buck that!”

“Seriously?” Flare snapped.

“Sorry, sorry,” Sliver said, rubbing his face with the towel and throwing it aside. “But Tartarus… I went through puberty once already… I don’t want to go through that again!”

“That’s why we need to talk to Twilight. Get her to send a letter to Celestia for us,” Proud said. “They can fix this.”

“Always the optimist,” Silver muttered, examining his eye in the mirror.

“You’re always cynical, though,” Flare pointed out.

“I still say we should have told Auntie Pure Rain,” Proud said.

“Boys!” Pure Rain called from downstairs. “You should be in bed!”

That lit a fire under them, and extinguished any further conversation on that topic as they quickly brushed teeth, washed up and got to their room. It wasn’t much at the moment. Three foal sized beds, a chest with all the belongs they got sent with from Vanhoover, and a handful of remnants left over from when Pure Rain was using it as a partial store and work room.

“So… game plan for tomorrow; find Twilight and see if we can work on this?” Proud asked in a hushed whisper; fitting for the dark state of their room.

Silver only grunted and tugged at his covers trying to find a comfortable spot for his new body. “Sleeping… as a pony is hard.”

“I guess that’s the best idea,” Flare responded, ignoring Silver’s somewhat petty complaints. “We should be able to get out without any problems. Or we could just wait until Celestia shows up and ask her in person.”

“Because three foals can just waltz up to a Princess and casually chat,” Silver muttered.

“This is Celestia,” Flare pointed out.

“And she is always the one to want to help ponies,” Proud added.

“Meh… touché, I suppose,” Silver said, shrugging though they wouldn’t be able to see it.

“You can run interference while we ask if you plan to be that difficult,” Proud said, sitting up and glaring over at Silver’s bed.

“Yeah, well; whatever,” Silver sighed.

“What is your problem?” Flare asked.

“You sound like you don’t care about fixing this,” Proud said, his tone accusatory.

Silver’s form shifted in the darkness. “Nothing. And I do. It’s just-”

The door to the room swung open, the light spilling in from the hall framing their aunt and obscuring her features save for the white of her glaring eyes. “Go to sleep.”

Flare and Proud quickly apologized and ducked back under their covers. Pure Rain watched them for a while before closing the door again. When the sounds of their Aunt’s hoofsteps faded, Proud spoke up again.

“It’s just what, Silver?” He asked. Silver didn’t responded. Proud tried to get Silver to respond as the silence stretched on. “Silver? What were you going to say? Silver..? Fine. Good night…”

Unexpected

~Flare~

Morning was heralded by the smell of waffles and stewed berries wafting into their room. It wasn’t enough to actually stir Flare to wakefulness, but it was a start. The real kicker was the sudden burst of sunlight that streamed into the room when their aunt drew the curtains open. Two ponies groaned, Flare being one of them.

“Time to get up, colts,” Pure Rain called out. “Breakfast is almost ready. If you stay in bed, your brothers will get all of it.”

“Okay Auntie…” Flare yawned, still sleepy. Reluctantly, he left the nest of sheets that had taken all night to form and crawled out of the soft bed before he drifted off again. He stretched, trying to get the stiffness out of his muscles, flapping his wings a bit, and checked on his brothers.

Sliver had burrowed deeper into his covers, though the faint and muffled complaints coming from the lump testified to the fact that he was still awake. Proud hadn’t moved at all, and was still curled up and tucked under his covers, snoring lightly. Flare picked Silver as his first target, prodding at him until the reluctant lump shifted towards the other end of the bed.

“Hey… get up, Silver,” Flare said, poking again.

“…o uwaay…” came the muffled response, the lump sliding a bit further.

“You’re gonna be sorry if you don’t,” Flare grinned, prodding him some more, watching his brother blindly head toward the edge of the bed. When all he got was another refusal, he poked one last time, and was rewarded with a yelp as Silver slid right off the edge of his bed and hit the ground with a thud. “Told ya.”

The fall made Silver even grumpier than he had been, and he just scowled when he dug himself out from the blankets, wadding them into a rough ball and tossing it on the bed contemptuously. “What time is it?”

“Breakfast time,” Flare said, looking at his own tangle of sheets and deciding that it wasn’t worth the effort to put some order to it.

Silver just yawned and headed to the door. He stopped just long enough to give Proud’s bed a solid kick, jolting their older brother to wakefulness. “Go back to sleep if you don’t want food,” Silver told him before leaving.

Proud, still in a daze, looked around. Flare sighed. If he left it up to Silver, Proud would slip back into sleep and miss breakfast. So he stomped his hoof a few times to get his brother’s attention, briefly reflecting on the time when he would clap. “Hey! Proud! Wake up. Auntie Rain has breakfast.”

“Huh?” Proud asked, still not that far from dreamland.

“Just come on,” Flare said, tugging on the blankets Proud was sitting on with his teeth. It was enough to get the yellow colt moving, albeit in a dazed fashion. When they got down to the kitchen, Silver was already there in the middle of a conversation with their Aunt.

“There’s nothing wrong with having hot chocolate. It’s tasty even in the summer,” Silver said fussily, playing with his plate, the small jars of sugar, syrup and cinnamon and the spoons. “And a small cup of milk too.”

“If that’s what you really want,” she said in a resigned fashion as Flare and Proud took their places. “I don’t suppose you two want hot chocolate as well?”

Flare shook his head. “Some apple juice would be fine, Aunt Rain.”

Proud just blinked, staring blankly at his plate, not yet awake.

“It would, wouldn’t it?” Rain said in a bemused fashion. Soon enough she set a bowl of stewed blueberries on the table, a matching bowl holding hoof-made whipped cream. A tall stack of waffles followed. The last thing, a bowl of scrambled eggs, came before Rain got their drinks and joined them at the table.

Silver immediately sprinkled some cinnamon in his hot chocolate and added a bit of the milk, stirring it well. Rain put a waffle on Proud’s plate, since the half sleeping foal seemed too out of it do it himself, adding a dollop of whipped cream and stewed berries to it. Flare tackled the eggs. It wasn’t long before all four members of household were making happy inroads into to the meal.

“Auntie Rain, how come you never told anyone you cooked this good?” Silver asked after swallowing a mouthful of waffles, cream and berries.

“Because then they would ask me to cater for family functions,” Rain said honestly, cutting her waffles into bite sized pieces. “I don’t enjoy cooking for large groups.”

“I’m gonna make sure and tell mom you cook awesome!” Proud said, having somehow fallen into his plate before waking up, berry juice still under his chin.

“I’ll deny it,” Rain responded blandly.

Flare sipped his juice silently; content to watch the others for now without making any comments on his part. He didn’t think it was easy for Pure Rain, suddenly being the guardian for three foals after establishing herself as a single for so long. To be honest, he wasn’t sure what she did for a living. Something to do with the dam and her cutie mark.

‘Flare’ didn’t know much more than that, mostly because he was never really interested and didn’t see his aunt more than a few times a year, generally around holidays when there were cousins around to play with. ‘James’, on the other hand, had more knowledge to draw on, and figured it would have something to do with power generation for the town. Water plus lightning bolt equaled hydroelectric power plant. But even that was just a guess.

“Blue Flare!” Aunt Rain’s voice cut into his introspective daze.

“What?” Flare jolted, looking around. His plate was pretty much empty, having been eating mechanically as his thoughts roamed, the other three at the table staring at him with different expressions. Aunt Rain’s brow was furrowed. Silver’s eyebrow was raised, but he snorted and rolled his eyes, turning back to his food, specifically his cooling mug of chocolate. Proud still hadn’t gotten the berry sauce from his chin and was watching Flare, chewing.

“Sorry. What did you say Aunt Rain?” Flare asked, ducking with a bit of embarrassment.

“I asked if you had any plans for the day,” Pure Rain repeated herself.

“Um…” Flare thought about it. Rumble said his brother had an early shift with the weather team, so even if he did say yes, that wouldn’t be until the evening. Aside from that there was just trying to find Twilight and getting to Princess Celestia. Oh, and the Summer Sun Celebration! “No, not really. Just exploring town and waiting for the Summer Sun Celebration.”

For some reason Silver glared at Proud when Flare mentioned the Summer Sun Celebration. Flare didn’t have much time to reflect on that as Aunt Rain nodded. “You three can explore town today, but don’t wander far out of town. And do not go anywhere near the Everfree Forest. It’s one of the most dangerous places in Equestria.”

Flare nodded and swallowed nervously, even as Silver and Proud tried to look haughty. Aunt Rain looked disapprovingly at them. “Do not test me on that one. The Everfree is deadly. I left your saddlebags by the door, and there are some bits in them in case you want to buy something in town and a sandwich for each of you. Do not lose or tear the bags; they are the same ones you will be using for school.”

There was a collective groan at that one.

“Your mother wouldn’t let me hear the end of it if I didn’t put you three in school,” Aunt Rain said, looking at the time. “I have to get to work in a while. Are you all finished?”

They all nodded, and she set about clearing and washing up the dishes before she left. It would have been fine if she didn’t leave Proud in charge. Personally, Flare didn’t mind, but Silver was fuming.

“This isn’t fair,” he muttered, angrily flipping the pages of his old copy of A Foal’s Guide to Magic, refreshing himself on the basics of unicorn magic.

“I am the older brother,” Proud said, humming happily to himself as he poked around the saddlebags. One set was green, a plain light blue shield clasping it, another was avocado and had open books for clasps, the last being the same blue as Flare’s hair, with lightning bolts.

“But I’m the more responsible one. I did all the planning and came up with all the ideas,” Silver complained. “I was even the one to plan the trip. You can’t even read a map.”

“So? Auntie Rain still put me in charge, so there!” Proud said, sticking his tongue out at Silver.

“You can’t even keep a secret! You told her about trying to get to Celestia. Again! Even when I said don’t!” Silver snorted before turning his attention back to the book.

“Guys, don’t start again,” Flare pleaded as he fumbled with the straps of the blue set, not quite understanding how he was with hooves, but not complaining either. One last tug of the straps secured the bags in place, and he stood up, shaking his barrel and flapping his wings a bit to make sure the fit was right. “Let’s just get through the day. It doesn’t matter who’s in charge and who’s not.”

The other two colts looked at him, Silver glaring, Proud grinned because he was the one teasing for once. Silver rolled his eyes and set the book aside while Proud responded happily. “No problem.”

“So where are we going first?” Flare asked.

“I’d say the library, so we talk to Twilight right away,” Proud responded, grabbing his own saddlebags and started getting them on with no problems.

“As much as I hate to admit it, I can’t think of a better idea,” Silver sighed. He pointed his horn at the last set of saddlebags, and a green glow surrounded it, lifting it up off the ground and onto his back. He did the straps with his hooves. When he looked up, he noticed both Proud and I staring at him with varying degrees of shock. “What?”

“How did you do that?” Proud asked.

“Last night you couldn’t even lift your toothbrush,” Flare added. He remembered. They laughed about both it and him running from the fillies.

“That was last night. I, I mean ‘Silver’ me, already knows how to use simple things like levitation. But I have more than thirty years of memories in here,” Silver scoffed, tapping at his head. “I don’t even think a year of that is how to use magic right. So I read up on the basics again so I could sort it out. Like reminding yourself how to do long division. I’m a fast reader.”

“You just used magic,” Flare said slowly, looking at his brother with a new light.

“I know,” Silver broke into a grin. “It’s awesome!”

Proud pounced on Silver; tackling him to the ground and wrapping him in a rough hug. “You did magic! That’s so cool!”

“Hey, lay off!” Silver laughed, trying to push Proud away. “I know I did, I was there!”

“Flare! Help me glomp Silver!” Proud ordered. Flare rolled his eyes, finding it pointless, but jumped in anyway, laughing along with them.

Eventually, they did calm down and actually head out. The morning bustle crowds were just getting started, and there was a palpable buzz in the air. The snippets of conversation they could hear almost always shared a common theme; the upcoming celebration. The Princess hosting the ceremony in Ponyville got everypony excited, and everypony working hard to make everything look the best. Everywhere they went; ponies were either cleaning, sprucing or freshening up something and, in a few cases, somepony.

“Maybe we can stop by Sugar Cube Corner,” Proud suggested, envisioning the treats.

“No way, we just ate,” Silver pointed out.

“And we have a bunch of leftover treats from the party,” Flare added. “Pinkie would have gotten them from their anyway.”

“But these would be freshly made, and we could see the Cakes, maybe the twins,” Proud said, pleading.

“Come on, Proud,” Flare started, but he was interrupted.

“Oh, good morning,” a vaguely familiar voice called. Flare looked up at the stallion smiling at them, a wagon covered with a tarp hitched behind him.

“Oh, good morning Mr. Turner,” Flare said, recognizing him from the party the night before.

“What are you colts up to this morning?” he asked in a kind fashion.

“Not much,” Silver said, not even exchanging a glance with the others. “We plan to look around town some more, learn where everything is. Aunt Rain said it was okay and everything. What are you doing?”

“Oh, the mayor asked me to do a check up on the clock tower before the celebration. You know how it is. It wouldn’t be proper if the clock tower was off on the most important sunrise of the year and all,” Time Turner said in a slightly quickly manner, wrinkling his muzzle. “You know what would be a good idea? Stopping by Town Hall. They have a lovely gift shop and maps of the town. Can’t beat a map for learning where everything is. Unless you have a tour. A map and tour guide. That’s grand. But I don’t suppose a couple of colts want a guide, you want to do it yourself, right?”

Flare couldn’t help but smile at the clocksmith’s rambling speech. For some reason, he reminded him of someone with his vaguely connected ideas. The map did sound like a good thing to get though. It would be much better than just wandering around town, hoping for the best and not letting Proud get the directions again.

“A guide would be nice,” Proud said.

“But doing it ourselves is better,” Silver interjected. Flare grinned at the look on Proud’s face as silver went on. “Do you know how to get to the library from here, Mr. Turner?”

“Oh, that’s easy enough,” he said, looking over his shoulder. “Just keep on this street till you reach the Café and go right until you hit the fountain. Veer left from there and take the second avenue; then left at Nails and Things, then one last right at the Quills and Sofas and keep going until you see the big tree. Easy enough.”

Silver murmured the directions under his breath to himself a few times and nodded confidently. “Got it.”

“Thanks Mr. Turner,” Flare grinned at the stallion.

“Ahhh, not a problem. You go off and have fun now,” Time Turner said before heading off to his task again.

Another thing Ponyville had in its favour was that it was somewhat used to rambunctious foals galloping across town, especially on a day like that one, with an important celebration only a few hours away. Armed with their directions, and led by the more navigation savvy of the brothers, the colts charged off to their destination

Of course, the enthusiasm died down, especially after Proud veered right at the fountain instead of left. The gallop had quickly decayed to a canter, then a trot, and by the time the large living library was in sight, they were walking.

“We’re finally going to get help,” Proud said, prancing a little. “And we get to meet Twilight while we’re at it!”

“Careful, you might get lost again,” Silver said in a surly manner.

“I can see the library,” Proud huffed with a little snort. “What makes you think I’d get lost between here and there, Silver Prose?”

“Past experience,” Silver muttered, looking around with wary expression.

“What’s eating you?” Flare asked, concerned. He had depended on Silver’s instincts the day before. “You’re starting to get all weird again. Like last night.”

“I dunno…” Silver sighed.

Proud wasn’t having any of it. “Nuh-uh! You got out of it last night, not this time. What’s wrong?”

“Fine…” Silver said, drawing it out as if it was the hardest thing in the world. He stopped and looked up at the sky and at the respectable amount of clouds shading the town. “Doesn’t it seem too convenient? I mean, we wake up here, we know things, we even have family waiting for us and a party, not to mention two chances of meeting the two people who might help…”

“I don’t get it,” Proud said after a moment. “We talk to Twilight and get her to send Princess Celestia a letter. What’s weird about that?”

Flare ran Silver’s thoughts through his head. He was right about the coincidences lining up, but was it strange enough to warrant that sort of unease? “You sure you’re not just over thinking things?”

“Okay, look at it this way,” Silver said, starting to sketch a rough diagram in the air with a hoof. “Proud wanted us to be closer together, right? We became brothers. You wanted a better quality of life. We moved to Ponyville to live with our well-off aunt. I wanted things to be exciting and not monotonous. I don’t really see that happening yet. It’s like I’m, we’re missing something obvious. Obvious and important. So I’m just waiting for the horseshoe to drop.”

“Did you just say ‘horseshoe’?” Proud asked, trying to lighten the mood. “You got to stop trying to blame yourself. We already told you that. We sung about it.”

Flare groaned at that memory, but only half-heartedly, being more caught up thinking about what Silver said. Aside from waking up a pony, nothing really dramatic happened. Unless you counted Silver’s behaviour the night before; and that wasn’t anything unusual.

“I’m not trying to blame myself, I’m just… trying to be prepared,” Silver said firmly. “And if ‘horseshoe drops’ bugs you, I can go with ‘the bit is in the air’. Better?”

“Aren’t you the guy that likes to do everything by the tip of his wings?” Proud asked, using a pony term, only to ruin it by using a human one the next sentence. “It’s a blue moon when you want to plan everything.”

“No, it couldn’t be…” Flare realized what they have been overlooking. And Silver was right; it had been obvious, staring at them in the face the whole time. He galloped off, leaving Silver and Proud behind as he made for the library, not hearing their yells of surprise. “Please tell me I’m wrong.”

Since yesterday, ‘James’ had mostly taken backseat to ‘Flare’, but he was pretty much yanking the wheel back at the moment. Not many ponies were around, most being busy elsewhere, so it was pretty clear and empty. The library looked different from what he expected form the show, but then, most things did. It was larger, for one, more of a landmark or regional wonder, considering the width of the tree trunk. It had the windows and balconies he expected, but there were no telescopes. There were no telescopes.

It had been staring them in the face, and they had been too caught up being ‘themselves’ to notice it. He skidded to an awkward stop by the door. There was a note pinned to it, one carefully written in the cursive script of common unicorn, copied below in the runes of earth pony script.

Dear Library Patrons,

As much as it saddens me, the time has come for me to put my final book away and charge my final fine. I have served long as Ponyville's librarian and enjoyed every year of it. It is with fond memories I look back at introducing foals to the magic of books for the first time, and aiding stallions and mares in learning something new.

But it is long past the time for me to retire. For many years I have provided for you, and for years before that I provided for ponies in Canterlot, but even my old bones know when to close the chapter and put the books away.

In a show of appreciation, the Princess has appointed a new librarian to serve you, one who she is confident will be able to provide for you just as well as I did, and who shares my love and passion.

With fond memories and many stories told and read,

Dusty Page

Flare’s eyes widened as he read the last words and all the pieces fell together. The beat of small hooves on the ground heralded his brothers’ arrival.

“Jeeze… what was that for?” Silver panted.

“That was fun and all, but running, why?” Proud agreed.

“The horseshoe… I found it,” Flare said, pointing to the note. Proud looked up and started reading. Silver did as well, his green eyes darting across the sheet as he read far faster than Proud could match. The string of curses that he uttered would have drained his allowance for two weeks.

“How did we miss that,” Proud said slowly, plopping on his haunches.

“We never thought about where in the timeline we were,” Flare groaned, realizing the confusion of dealing with the conflicting memories caused them to forget to even consider it. “We didn’t even wonder why we never remembered the Return of Nightmare Moon and Princess Luna. We don’t remember any other Princess aside from Celestia.”

“Bucking horseapples…” Silver swore again. “We somehow got here for the start of the series? On the eve of Bucking Nightmare Moon’s return?”

“So… we just have to get to Twilight before everything happens,” Proud said uncertainly, but hopefully.

Silver groaned and tried the library door. He wasn’t too surprised to find it open, and stomped in. Flare nudged Proud and they both followed Silver in. Inside did look like what he would expect. A small foyer area and a large room, with every wall covered with books. It had an oddly empty feel to it, probably since it was cleared out and waiting for Twilight to move in.

“Okay... that’s a bad idea,” Silver said, looking around the room. “I don’t know what’s with this place, this world, but it’s already different from what the show showed.”

“He’s right,” Flare nodded, thinking things over, drawing connections. “The town is bigger, Canterlot is huger, there are more airships too. Hay, just think about what we know about Vanhoover.”

“So what?” Proud demanded, stomping a hoof. “That doesn’t have anything to do with anything.”

“Celestia sent Twilight here in the show, and a lot of things happened that led to her meeting each one of the bearers before Nightmare Moon struck,” Silver started. Flare realized that he’d found his way over to one of the book shelves and was scanning the titles.

“And anything we do might change that,” Proud realized, going a paler shade of yellow. “We might make Nightmare Moon win…”

“So until everything is finished, we can’t do anything,” Flare said, thinking of the myriad of ways one mistake on their part could doom the nation. What if they delayed Twilight and caused her to miss crashing into Rainbow Dash? That would make her miss meeting Rarity and her generosity as well. His head was starting to ache again.

“I never said that,” Silver said, sounding smug. He carefully bit the spine of a book and tugged it out from its place.

“Say what now?” Flare asked. “We could end Equestria!”

“We could prevent Luna from coming back!” Proud added. He always had a soft spot for Luna.

“So that’s why we have to be careful,” Silver said. Flare realized he had that look in his eyes again. The one that normally heralded either a pretty clever plan, or a total disaster. “We just have to be a little… covert.”

Plans

~Silver~

There was silence in the library. Proud and Flare stared at Silver, the former looking confused, the latter bearing an expression of resignation. Neither one said anything though.

“So… is no one going to ask?” Silver said as the moments stretched on, the only sound being the wind rustling the branches outside. Still no response from the others in the room though. Silver sighed as they continued to ignore the invitation. “You guys are no fun.”

“If you say so,” Flare smiled. “So what’s the idea?”

“No sense of drama,” Silver muttered before opening the book and scanning the table of contents. “Even if the show isn’t the direct translation of everything that happened, will happen today, we can at least follow it as a guide, agreed?”

“Right. Twilight gets sent to Ponyville, meets the other members of the Mane 6 while going about her duties as Coordinator, gets a huge Pinkie Party, goes to the forest with the rest of the cast and finds the elements after facing the challenges Nightmare Moon sets,” Proud responded. It had been one of his favourite episodes, and he remembered a lot more about it that some of the others.

“Is this Mare on the Moon?” Flare asked, tilting his head as he tried to read the book Silver had open upside down.

“Yes and Yes,” Silver responded. “We can’t risk directly crossing Twilight, not when she has a timeline, as far as we know. But we can be her… Guardian Angels, I suppose. Work around her events to make sure they happen. Most importantly; meeting the rest of the Mane 6.”

“Fluttershy in the park, Rarity in town hall decorating, Applejack at her farm, Pinkie Pie in the street and Rainbow Dash by the bridge,” Proud recalled. “And I suppose you have an idea of how to pull it off, don’t you?”

“You bet I do! And it’s wonderfully complex and intricate,” Silver said, dropping to his haunches and rubbing his hooves together, attempting an evil chuckle. It didn’t come out quite as well as he intended, and it only made his brothers roll their eyes.

“Wouldn’t that make it easier for it all to go wrong?” Flare pointed out.

“Moderately complex and less intricate than it could have been, but that doesn’t sound quite as cool,” Silver shrugged. He had finished reading the short version of the story. It was a book on several myths and legends from around Equestria, and looked like it would actually be pretty entertaining to read, so he slipped it into his saddlebags.

“Phase 1: making sure the book Elements of Harmony is under ‘E’ so Pinkie can find it later. Phase 7 involves making sure it stays there during the party. Phase 2 takes care of itself. Applejack is on her farm for her reunion and banquet preparations, so we can’t affect that, and Phase 3 is Pinkie Pie… And Pinkie pie…” His voice trailed off.

“Is Pinkie Pie?” Proud supplied with a little smirk. “And aren’t you going out of order here?”

“Pretty much,” Silver shrugged. He looked over at Flare, who looked like he was contemplating something. “What?”

“Rarity, Rainbow and Fluttershy. How are we going to get those?” he asked.

“Rarity is at Town Hall. We need to get there to grab maps. Twilight meets Fluttershy in the park on the way here from Rarity’s place. She meets Rainbow on the bridge between the farm and the Town Hall. Basically… considering Twilight’s nature and the fact that she is new to the town, she’s likely going to take the direct routes between each place. I need the maps Time Turner mentioned to properly plan out phases 4, 5 and 6. Oh, and some stationary to keep track with. You two on board?”

“I’m in,” Flare said, nodding. “We can get papers at the sofa store.”

“How do you remember all that?” Proud asked, a faint look of wonder in his eyes as Silver finished outlining his idea.

“I’m the fan theorist. It’s what I do,” Silver replied. “Twilight gets to town in time for Brunch, and considering the Apple’s strong farmer tradition, we should have another hour or two before she gets into town.” Silver noticed Proud’s look again and grinned. “Theorist.”

Searching the library for the book took longer than they would have liked, largely in part because they were preteen kids. They never really had a need to go to Equestrian libraries before, and only Silver had any real knowledge of the local organization system. In the end, they beat their heads against the wall because it was already under ‘E’ and none of them thought to check there.

They stopped by Quills and Sofas, getting a notebook, ink and a quill for Silver to sketch his notes with, then directions to the Town Hall so they could secure a few maps and make the final touches on Silver’s plan.

They were most of the way to the Town Hall when Flare flapped a wing at them to get their attention, pointing to the sky. “Hey, look there!”

A large shape approached the city, drawn by the wing power and magic of the pair of flapping shapes hitched to the front. It could only be the royal carriage bearing Twilight to the town.

“We’re going to have to hustle,” Silver said, realizing the plan now had what could be a deadline.

“I didn’t think this through,” Silver muttered, having given up trying to operate the quill with his magic. They had claimed a secluded nook and were using it for their scheming. It was clear Silver needed more practice to get his sloppy horn writing better. Since then, he resorted to mouth writing, which wasn’t the easiest with a quill. When he finally spat it out, there were still bits of feather in his mouth and teeth. The maps themselves were marked, circles labelled with their phases, notes crowded on the margins holding a bit more detail. It had since risen to eleven phases.

“Okay… we are going to have to split up,” Silver said, rubbing his tongue against his teeth in an attempt to get the strands of it. He directed their attention to the map. “The bridge is here and the park is way over here.” he pointed to a point relatively close to where they were, and another further north.

“Proud would probably be able to get their faster, but he can’t read maps,” Silver started.

“Hey!” Proud protested. “I’m fully qualified with GPS!”

“So you’ll have to take that one Flare,” Silver continued, as if Proud hadn’t said anything. “Make sure Fluttershy is in the park.”

“Fine,” Flare sighed, not sounding all that enthused about it. “Do you know where she is now?”

“Er… no. Good Luck?” Silver said. He moved on as Flare stared incredulously at him. “Proud, you’ll have to hang around here and delay Rarity so she doesn’t finish the decorations before Twilight gets here. Do whatever you can to keep her around.”

“Sure, what about you?” Proud asked.

“And where am I supposed to find Fluttershy?” Flare added.

“Check her cottage,” Silver said, rolling his eyes. He couldn’t think of everything. “And I’m going to check on Rainbow.”

"Awww... why do you get to check and see Rainbow first?" Proud pouted.

“Because you can’t read a map! Now go keep Rarity around!” Silver pushed Proud in the right direction as they broke to do their parts. “We’ll meet at the library when we are done with this part.”

Silver was pretty good at talking big. Daine was as well, for that matter. The combined bluffing abilities of both sides allowed him to cover up the fact that he had no idea how to manage the Twilight/Rainbow interaction. One of them was in the sky, somewhere, for buck’s sake. He winced. The swearing reflex was getting annoying, even to him.

Still, it wasn’t hard to make it seem like he knew what he was doing, and it wasn’t like it was hard to pull something over on his brothers anyway. Besides, it was easy for that little conundrum to be lost in the other parts of his plan.

“Gah!” he yelled, startling the ponies nearby before he absently and mechanically trotted along the path. He pulled out the map and scanned it again. There wasn’t much breathing room between the Bridge and the Town Hall. He’d probably only have one shot at making sure this happened.

“Foresight and foreknowledge is more trouble than it’s worth,” he muttered. Distracted as he was by his thoughts and keeping the map levitated, he inevitably caught his hoof on the uneven ground and stumbled. In all honesty; he wasn’t the most balanced of colts. True, he could catch himself from a fall easily enough, but that mostly developed from the fact that he stumbled so often.

In this case, his magic slipped, the levitation spell discharging in a small bolt of green energy that shot out from his horn, trailing sparks as it flew through the air. Silver was actually impressed with the distance it got; clearing the river and landing flank of the unfortunate teal stallion that washing windows with a hose.

“HORSEAPPLES!” The yelp carried all the way back to Silver, who quickly ducked behind a wagon to stay out of sight. The stallion continued making threats, though Silver couldn’t quite make out what they were.

Great, turning a levitation spell into a weak combat spell. I really need to get a better handle on my magic, Silver fumed to himself.

“Wow, kid. That was a pretty awesome prank,” a mare laughed from above him.

“Hey! That was an acci… dent…” Silver said, trailing off when he looked up into the pink eyes of Rainbow Dash, lounging on a cloud that drifted at roof level.

“Whatever. It was a bit weak, but still sorta awesome.” She hugged her cloud and flapped her wings, maneuvering it so it was closer to his level. “I don’t remember seeing you around town before. I’m Rainbow Dash. Fastest Flier in Equestria and best prankster in Ponyville.”

Seriously? Rainbow Dash was here? No matter, Silver wasn’t about to look a buck his blessings. Now, if only he could control his impulses… “What makes you think you’re the best prankster in town?”

“Because I’m awesome, duh,” Rainbow countered, rolling her eyes as if it were obvious.

“So because you say you are? That’s pretty weak,” Silver snorted.

“Watch it, kid,” Rainbow warned, jabbing a hoof at him before she started bragging. “Don’t make me prove it to you. I could out prank you with both wings and two hooves tied.”

Silver stuck his tongue out at her. “Show off!”

“If I wanted to show off, I’d pull some of my tricks. I’m Wonderbolt Material!” Rainbow kicked off from her cloud flexing her muscles. “Watch this!”

With a powerful flap, she shot off, a rainbow trail following her as she flew loops around the Town Hall, weaving in and out of the pillars; her multicoloured trail forming a complex, though fading, pattern that surrounding the building, the display glittering on the windows, the flags snapped taunt from her high speed passage. Once she reached the peak, she made forced herself into a steep climb, flaring her wings several dozen hooves high. She sudden pressure flipped her, and she was suddenly in equally steep dive, pulling out at the very last moment to skim across the ground at a barely controlled speed, shooting past Silver, the slip stream dragging him off his feet and snatching her cloud, towing it behind her.

“Hey!” Silver protested, scrabbling for a bit before he got his hooves under him. He looked around in time to see Rainbow crash into a certain lavender unicorn as she made her way down the road, knocking her into a puddle of mud that formed when the window washer tossed his hose in surprise.

Silver had a blank look on his face for a while. “Did I… just finish phase 3?”

~Proud~

“I still don’t see what maps and directions have to do with meeting Rainbow,” Proud muttered as he pushed the door to the large meeting room open. “He just wants to keep the cool parts to himself. I’ll bet that- Wow!”

His mutterings died as he beheld the magic that was done on the room. Completely mundane magic, but it was still dazzling. The room, at its bare minimum, was probably nice, the wood panelling on the walls and the large windows both well made, but what was done to it is what really made it stand out.

Around the room a few mares and stallions worked. Only six of them; two pegasi draping multicoloured ribbons and streamers between pillars, the unicorn and earth ponies working on setting up the decorations on the lower level. Directing them all was a white unicorn with a flowing purple mane oversaw their activities, her critical eye watching their every action.

“No, no, no, dear!” she called out to one of the pegasi in the rafters. Her horn lit up and a light blue glow pulled the yellow streamer from the stallion’s grip. “That yellow will never work there! Do take the red one instead. It simply will not do to have the Princess thinking that we lack sophistication here in Ponyville!”

“Fine,” the stallion said with a weary sigh, flying off to change colours.

Proud grinned. Maybe this wasn’t going to be so bad after all. He trotted over to her. “Excuse me, miss.”

Rarity looked down at him, and he gave her his most brilliant smile. “Oh, just Rarity is fine. Is there something I can help you with today?”

“I want to help decorating,” Proud said, deciding to go with the obvious. Besides, he really did want to help with the decorations. “My aunt told me and my brothers to have fun, and I want to help make it look good for the Princess.”

Rarity gave him contemplative look. Proud dug deep and turned on the cute eyes. Her will wavered. “Oh, very well. I simply cannot say no to such an adorable stallion.”

Soon enough, Proud found himself putting ribbons around the tables that would later hold the desserts and hooving over streamers and ribbons of various colours to the two pegasi doing the roof décor. He didn’t think he was doing it exactly right, and Rarity’s outburst soon confirmed it.

“Whatever are you thinking?” Rarity suddenly screeched. “That shade of blue around those hangings? Somepony would have to be mad to put those together!”

The pegasus covered his eyes with a hoof. “Look, miss…”

“Just Rarity, dear,” she said sweetly.

“Just… are you sure all this is necessary?”

“Of course it is!” Rarity said, her eyes wide and panicky. “Can you imagine the scandal if the Princess arrives and finds anything less than perfection! Think of the scandal! I would never live it down!”

Rarity had brought her foreleg up to her forehead and half swooned. Her dramatics were attracting the attention of everypony in the room. The second pegasus flew down to look at her. “You won’t never live it down?”

“Er… what I meant to say was that Ponyville will never live it down,” she amended hastily. She cleared her throat and quickly put herself together again. “Now, this decore is reminiscent of the largest bash held in Manehattan this year. Princess Celestia was present, of course, and her keen eye would surely notice if just one ribbon, one streamer were out of place! We have to make sure this room is Absolutely Perfect!”

The other members of the decorating team groaned, not looking forward to the effort this would take. As Rarity started pulling out and sorting even more materials, Proud looked around the room. He wasn’t a fashion expert and only had one outfit in his wardrobe, but he had a question. “Miss Rarity, why would you want it too look like Manehattan? I thought this was Ponyville.”

“Of course it is, dear,” Rarity said, a trace bit absently. “But Manehattan is a trendsetter. It wouldn’t do for use to fall behind.”

“But we want to look like Ponyville, don’t we?” Proud pressed.

“Yes, but… I…” Rarity dropped the shimmering purple material, likely a curtain, she had been examining. Her eyes shined and she clapped her hooves together.

“I-de-a!” she declared suddenly. The glow of her magic spread across the room, engulfing numerous items and pulling them down.

“What!” the other unicorn in the room protested. “We just put those up!”

“No! Those will not do! Not one bit! I was a fool to try and mimic the fashion set by Manehattan! No, this celebration will set a fashion all of its own! The news will be abuzz with these designs!”

She giggled to herself as she quickly redid the decorations in the room, the other ponies present suddenly unimportant as she took over.

“I don’t think she needs us anymore,” the pegasus mare commented.

“I guess not,” an earth pony agreed. “We should probably find something else to help with for the day.”

Ascent rippled through the group as they slowly trickled out, leaving Rarity to her art. Proud backed against the wall, uncertain as to how to progress from that point. He tried calling out to her a few times, but she was too distracted. When he found himself wrapped up prettily with a ribbon and bow that went nicely with his coat, he gave up.

“Silver’s gonna be upset that this didn’t work…” Proud sighed, trying to get the girly bow from around his neck.

“Hello?” someone called from the door. “The Princess sent me to check on the decoration.”

Proud stared as Twilight walked into the room. He quickly darted for the side entrance before he pounced her with questions and probably a fancolt hug. On the other hand; he managed to hold Rarity up until Twilight got there!

~Flare~

Sometimes he seriously wondered if Silver was out to get him. Between the needling, the teasing and stunts like this, it was hard not to. Then again, Silver was merciless in teasing and needling Proud too. He was just that kind of pony.

Flare sighed and made his way to Fluttershy’s cottage anyway. Silver’s plan made sense, for the most part, and he didn’t see any reason to go against it. Aside from the issue of locating Fluttershy in the town. Her home wasn’t hard to find, fortunately. Seeing that it qualified as the local wildlife shelter and one of the emergency veterinary clinics, and was the closest home to the Everfree, it was both clearly marked on the map as well as known enough with the locals that it was easy to be pointed in the right direction.

Her cottage was impressive. She had a large amount of acreage on her property, each tree generously hung with animal shelters. The cottage itself was sitting on a small hillock, the green roof concept making it seem as if it grew from it naturally. The stream that meandered across her land, bending to meet the path so a bridge was called for, only cemented the idyllic air it held.

Flare nervously eyed the birds that watched him, chirping comments as he knocked on the door. When he didn’t get a response he knocked again. A few moments passed before the door opened. Only, no meek yellow pegasus greeted him, instead a white rabbit glared up at him.

Flare jumped back, wings fluttering and he meeped. Angel; the most cantankerous rabbit in Equestria. He swallowed his initial reaction and gave the rabbit a nervous smile. “Um, hi. Is Fluttershy home?”

Angel narrowed his eyes at him and gave him an appraising once over before shaking his head.

“Do you know where she is?” Flare asked him. Angel was still for a moment, then reluctantly nodded. “Great! Can you tell me?” The bunny raised an eyebrow at him. “Um… show me?”

Flare fumbled with his saddlebag and pulled out the map. Unfolding it, he held it out so the bunny could get at it. Angel sighed and jabbed a point on the map before hopping back inside and closing the door with a slam.

“Nice guy,” Flare sighed. Well, at least he had a place to look. The park Angel pointed out wasn’t exactly nearby, being on the other side of town, to be honest. He wasn’t exactly sure of the time table they were working with, but it wasn’t a huge one.

Rather than have her birds practice at her home, Fluttershy had taken them to the animal park instead. It was the thrilling of birdsong that let him know he was in the right place and he spotted her, gently directing the birds, perched on branches, their chests all puffed out as they sang. It was actually pretty nice, hearing the melodious cries of a dozen or so birds melded into a choir. He stood still for a while to listen, but shook himself from that state in short order.

Right now, he need to get figure out a way to get Fluttershy to the park Silver figured she would cross Twilight. It wasn’t too far away, but he wasn’t quite sure how to pull off convincing her to go there. He hid behind a bush and ran a few ideas through his head.

“Maybe I can just ask her,” Flare murmured as he peeked through the bush, trying to find a good angle to watch from, hoping he didn’t look too creepy. He jumped when the birds scattered, startled by something outside his field of vision. Wait, didn't that happen when...

“Wow, that sounded amazing!” a cheerful voice said. “I’m so sorry for scaring your birds though.”

“No way…” Flare said softly. He shifted to get a better look. Yep. Twilight Sparkle. He checked the map Silver made. This wasn't the right park, but here she was anyway. He scowled and stuffed the map back in his saddlebag and backed away from the scene so he could make it to the library before Twilight and Fluttershy did. “Your plan sucks, Silver…”

The Nightmare

~Proud~

“Thank you, Miss,” Proud said, beaming at the older mare that had been walking with him on the way to the library. Now that the tree was in sight just a bit further up the street, he could easily get there without a guide.

“Oh, it was no trouble at all, little one,” she said, ruffling his mane affectionately. “Now you run along and have fun now.”

With on last wave, Proud trotted off to the library. As much as he hated to admit it, he was somewhat bad with directions, and took a wrong turn on his way back to the library from the Town Hall. The others didn’t need to know that, though. And they wouldn’t, no need to ruin the good mood he had from finishing his taste so well.

It was with a pleasant skip to his step that he went to the Library, though his skip encountered a hitch, shifting to hesitancy. Neither Silver nor Flare were present. He was sure at least Silver would make it back before he did. Twilight wouldn’t have arrived in to meet Rarity looking as she did if he had not pulled of his role.

Hopping up to the main entrance, he reared up and tried to knob, confused to find it closed. There weren’t even any lights in the windows. Falling back to all four hooves, he looked around, hoping to catch a glimpse of his missing relations en route. A moment later the lower portion of the stable doors swung open and an indistinct form snatched him, dragging him into the darkness, the doors slamming behind him.

“No! Let me mhuphf!” he tried yelling in panic as he struggled, his cry cut off by the leg that pressed itself over his muzzle, his squirming futile against the strong pressure holding him.

“Shhh!” his captor whispered at him. “You’ll ruin the surprise if you make too much noise now, silly billy!”

As his eyes adjusted, Proud could faintly make out the colour of his captor’s coat. Struggling a bit, he managed to look up into the brightly grinning face of a certain mare. “Ihnkie ihe?”

“Yepper-ronnie, Proudy!” Pinkie said, releasing him for her hug of doom. She bounced merrily back to the closest window and peeked out the gap in the drapes. “Came to take part in Twilight Sparkle’s Surprise Welcome to Ponyville slash pre-Summer Sun Celebration Party Bash?”

“I didn’t kno… I mean, sure!” Proud said, deciding to just go with it. He looked around the dark room. With the curtains drawn and the lights at a minimum, it was hard to make much out, but he could see and feel that the room was filled with a lot of ponies. “Pinkie Pie, is my brother here?”

“Weeeeell…. It depends on which brother!” Pinkie said cheerfully as he kept up her watch. “I haven’t seen Bluy, not since earlier when he was over by Fluttershy’s place, but Silvy’s in the reading room in the back.”

“Thank you, Pinkie,” Proud said, trotting off through the crowd, using his smaller size to his advantage as he slipped through the press of bodies. He found Silver curled on a cushion under a window, reading by what little light slipped in past the blinds. So engrossed he was that he never noticed Proud entering until the former was tackled by the latter.

“Hey!” Proud said. “It totally worked with Rarity!”

“You know you could have just said hello,” Silver said, pushing Proud out of his face and climbing back into his reading position. “Rainbow worked out too, somehow. Have you seen Flare yet?”

“No, he hasn’t turned up yet. I bet Pinkie sends him around when he does though,” Proud said confidently. He looked at the book Silver was reading. “What are you looking up now?”

“Honestly? Nothing,” Silver shrugged. “It’s an encyclopedia. I’m just flipping through the pages, passing the time…”

“Trying not to worry,” Proud observed. Silver looked up sharply at him. “What? I’m not that oblivious. I know you tend to over prepare when you’re worried then find other things to do to keep your mind off the issue. Normally you make your plans on the fly instead of way in advance.”

Silver just blinked, a bit shocked, since he was the one who would normally make the insightful comments. Proud chuckled and nuzzled his little brother. “Don’t worry about it. You come up with good ideas and plans all the time, even if you like to keep the cool parts for yourself. It worked out with Rarity and with Rainbow, it will all work out.”

Silver tried to stay stoic, Proud could see that he was still stressing himself out by the way he screwed up his muzzle and stared down at the book. It was what he did when he was trying to keep back the tears. Proud booped him on the muzzle once again. “You’re going to get wrinkles.”

“You’re going to get bitten,” Silver muttered under his breath, but he relaxed a bit. Proud grinned, pleased that he managed to keep Silver out of a funk and headed back out into the party proper to watch with the rest.

It was a long wait, to be honest, during which Silver found a new book to read and Proud played bouncer for whoever tried to get into the room until Flare finally showed up. The pegasus looked agitated and glared at Silver when he saw him.

“Your plan sucked,” Flare said, jabbing a hoof at Silver. “Fluttershy got to the park on her own. I didn’t have to bother going!”

Silver’s enthusiastic grin only made Flare’s mood worse. “That’s actually a good sign. Stuff is still happening the way it should!” Silver explained as Flare’s wing twitched. “We might not have messed stuff up after all!”

“So, basically, your plan was pointless?” Proud asked with the hint of a snicker in his tone.

“Or it was already part of everything that happened,” Silver shrugged.

“So, what now?” Flare asked. “We just stay for the party?”

The party went off without a hitch. Even down to the hot sauce causing Twilight to race off to the bed room in a huff. Proud had been worried that it would be somewhat boring, with just grown-up ponies around, but it turned out that there were more than a few foals there as well. A few from the party they had at their house, as well as a few new ones, including the notorious bullies of Ponyville; Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon.

The colts avoided them, but had fun with the rest. They narrowly dodged a major situation though, forgetting to let their Aunt know where there were. Fortunately for them, Pinkie Pie had invited her as well.

Silver didn’t stay the whole night though, mostly because he wanted to be well rested for the morning when Nightmare Moon turned up and didn’t trust himself to be able to pull an all-nighter at his age. Bowing to his reasoning, Flare and Proud left early as well.

The last stage of the plan depended on them being at the celebration anyway. Pretty much the entire town turned up for it, and it was only because Aunt Rain woke them an hour and a half before the sunrise that they were able to get into the town hall proper. The rest of the population had to make do with seats outside or by the windows.

“Wow, the Royal Guards look so awesome!” Proud said as the anticipation of the Princess’ display mounted. Ranks of guards, unicorn, earth pony and pegasus alike, were stationed around the room, gold armour polished and glistening. “I so want to be a royal guard when I grow up!”

“Your uncle would be happy to hear that,” Pure Rain commented. Staunch Stand was one of the trainers for the guard and would love nothing more than for one of his favourite nephews to going the ranks. “Of course, I’m not sure you would be as thrilled if he starts training you early.”

Proud just kept beaming, not intimidated in the least. Silver nudged him as soon as Pure Rain was distracted by the pegasus beside her. “When you grow up? I thought you had… another goal in mind.”

“You can want more than one thing,” Proud said stubbornly. He never said anything about giving up on meeting the Princess, just that being a Royal Guard would be awesome.

“Sure,” Silver said slowly.

“I dunno…” Flare added. “Proud would look pretty weird with a white coat. It’s weird.”

“Hey! What’s wrong with a white coat?” a slightly filly’s voice, slightly cracking at the ‘coat’, asked from behind them. “My sister and I have white coats.”

Whirling, the three found themselves faced with a pouting two toned purple maned unicorn. Flare hastily explained himself, his ears flat with embarrassment. “I don’t have anything against white coats. Just that Proud would look weird in one.”

She stared at him a moment longer before letting herself relax. “Sorry about that. I thought you meant all coats.”

“I think I’d look good in white,” Proud said with a smile after Flare shook his head vigorously.

“I do too,” she giggled. “I gotta go find my sister. Enjoy the celebration!” she said, running off.

“Smooth,” Silver commented after she left.

“Silver,” Flare said with a scowl.

“Hmm?” Silver grinned.

“Shut up,” Flare finished. Proud snickered at their antics, and was about to add his own comments when he was cut off.

“Fillies and gentlecolts,” a voice ran out strongly from the podium, forestalling further commentary between them, “as mayor of Ponyville, it is my great pleasure to announce the beginning of the Summer Sun Celebration!”

Around them, ponies erupted in cheers and eager hoof stomping. Silver’s grin dropped, replaced with a grim expression and Flare’s wings fluttered with nervousness at what they all knew was about to unfold. Proud glanced at the two of them and casually stepped a bit ahead of them.

“In mere moments,” the mayor continued, oblivious to the events preordained, “our humble town will bear witness to the magic of the sunrise as we celebrate the longest day or the year! To add to the prestige of this event, it is my great honour to welcome and introduce the ruler of our land, the great pony who gives us the sun and moon each and every day, the good and the wise, the bringer of harmony; Princess Celestia!”

Fluttershy’s bird choir thrilled out strongly as the curtains on the upper level balcony were drawn back and low sounds of anticipation rippled through the throng. Those sounds turned to confusion as it became clear there was no one there.

“Uh… Princess Celestia?” the mayor tried again, as confused as anypony else about the situation. She did her best to head off any panic, quickly moving to reassure the crowd. “I’m certain there is a reasonable-”

“Ooh! Ooh! I know!” Pinkie said, bouncing over the heads of the crowd. “She’s hiding, isn’t she? It’s a game!”

“She’s gone!” Rarity suddenly declared, dashing out from room the Princess would have been in.

“She’s here,” Silver whispered as the temperature in the room fell. Rain gathered the brothers closer to her.

“Stay together,” she said. “Something is wrong here.”

A faint and muffled laugh echoed through the room, sending shivers through the coats of more than a few ponies as a dark blue mist drifted towards the upper level. Rarity, in a show of intuition fled the area before seeing what the building mass would do to her. Dark wings snapped out, scattering the mists to reveal a black coated alicorn; her aetheral mane and tail waving as her laugher filled the room, her flank marked with a moon, dark blue regalia worn arrogantly.

Proud shuddered. Faced now with Nightmare Moon’s casual arrogance, her power rippling off her, changing the very atmosphere of the room, any confidence he had before was now gone. Fear replaced it, fear that prevented him from even taking eyes off her.

“Oh, our beloved subjects,” she said with a fang filled smile. “It has been so long since we have seen your precious little sun-loving faces.”

“W-who are you? Where is Princess Celestia!” the mayor asked.

“Yeah! What did you do with our Princess?” Rainbow demanded, taking to the air. Applejack yanked her back by the tail before she could make a dangerous mistake. Royal Guards were already moving to stand between the civilians and the strange alicorn that appeared in place of their Princess.

“Oh? Are we not royal enough for you?” she asked with a smug chuckle. “Has it been so long that we have been forgotten, that you do not know who we are?”

Pinkie Pie, of course, took it as a suggestion to play a guessing game, another person for Applejack to restrain.

“What have you done with the Princess?” one of the Royal Guards demanded.

“Has a mere thousand years of imprisonment invalidated our crown, peon?” she continued, her humour slipping as her anger built, her mane and tail growing and surging, the specks of light within them flashing. “Didst thou not recall the legends? Didst thou not the see the signs of our return in the stars themselves?”

“I-I did!” Twilight said, speaking up with more courage than the appeared to have. “I saw them and I know how you are! The Mare in the Moon; Nightmare Moon!”

The legend proven real laughed at the shock that rippled through the crowd. Even Proud and his brothers, despite knowing what was coming, felt it at the confirmation of the reality of the worse monster in legend. “Well, well, Somepony remembers us.” Her grin returned and she leaned forward, her green slitted eyes focused on the unicorn, a cruel curl to her smile. “Pray thee then and tell us; know you what our plans are?”

She laughed again at Twilight’s stammering, beating her powerful wings and raising herself into the air, her mane conjuring a dark cloud that expanded into the cavernous ceiling of the room. “Remember the day that was, my dear little ponies! For it was thy LAST! From this moment on, the night shall be eternal!”

“No… No!” the mayor said, snapping out of the daze of terror. “Guard! Seize her! She is the only one who knows where the Princess is!”

“Pegasi; contain and detain! Unicorns and Earth Ponies; support!” the commander announced. “Residents; evacuate the building!”

That was all motivation the crowd needed to trigger a mass rush towards the doors.

“Come on, this way!” Aunt Rain instructed, sounding calm and collected despite what was going on. Her firm hoof drove them, even as Proud struggled to see what was happening.

Gold armoured pegasi darted over the heads of the ponies as they attempted to flee, charging at the laughing Nightmare Moon.

“Stand back, foals!” she declared in arrogance. The cloud trembled and thunder clashed in the air, windows rattling and shattering in their frames, ponies falling and thronging as the bright flash of light and thunderous sound burst out. Proud’s world shattered for a few moments, eyes burning and almost blinded from the brilliance the massive bolts of lightning Nightmare Moon summoned to strike the braze pegasi, ears filled with white noise from the lingering effects of the thunder.

Amidst the glare of the flash he could barely make out multiple shadowing being hurled away by intensive bands of brightness as he tumbled on the ground. He could just make out scenes of ponies panicking, mouths making the motions of screams but no sound reached his eyes, temporarily deafened as they were by the initial clamour.

Somepony grabbed him and hauled him back as his vision sharpened and his hearing returned.

“I’m… I’m alright,” he slurred as Pure Rain hoisted him to her back. Flare and Silver were beside her as they fled the building, the ranks of Guards, ones who probably thought this was going to be nothing more than a ceremonial posting, doing their best to hold back a legend.

Retreat into the night air brought no comfort, not when a mad near-deity decreed that the night would never end. Ponies kept running, their panicking voices in the air as they sought shelter indoors. A loud crash echoed from the Town Hall, Nightmare Moon’s laugher ringing out again, this time against a background of pained cries, likely from Royal Guards. Proud was looking back, traumatized by the stark differences yet similarities between what he watched before and this reality.

“There are still ponies inside!” someone wailed. “My husband! I think he’s still in there!”

“Do you want to take on that?” another voice countered, terror causing her to crack. Exclamations like that were common as the crowd split between those that kept running and those what milled in confusion.

“Stay together,” Rain instructed Silver and Flare, both of whom were too shell shocked to do much else than stick close to her flanks, casting a few glances back. She slowed to a trot, those still steadily leading them away from the danger.

Wood cried out as a large portion of the Town Hall’s wall crumbled before a forceful blast, sending wood and glass fragments showering out into the surroundings. Nightmare Moon walked out casually, confidently and with a bearing that left no doubts to her claim of royalty and power, a dozen assorted members of the guard captive in her magic’s grasp.

“Now doth thou see my true power?” she demanded, her voice ringing through the streets, rattling windows in a lesser imitation of what her lightning did. With a contemptuous flick of her head, he hurled the guards away as if they were little more than refuse. Unburdened now, she took flight, rising above the rooftops.

A small collection of Royal Guards half ran out after her. They all looked broken and battered, blood on their white coats, armour scuffed and sullied, dented, or scorched from her magic, in some places two or more of the above.

“Know this, pitiful village! Nightmare Moon’s reign will never end! The darkness of Night will blanket all of Equestria!” Her final declaration made, she spread her wings and limbs, her form bursting back into dark mists.

“We aren’t done with you yet!” Rainbow Dash’s brash voice ran out as she took to the air at high speeds, but Nightmare Moon was already gone. Her frustration was clear, even from the ground, as was the moment was something else caught her eye and she flew off after it.

“Are you three okay?” Aunt Rain’s soft concerned voice cut into Proud’s observation. He shook his head and tried to focus.

“I’m fine, my ears still hurt though. And my eyes burn,” Proud responded. He got a gentle nuzzle in return, one that shifted over to Flare as he whimpered started shaking slightly.

“I’m glad you’re all fine,” she said in somewhat uncharacteristic tenderness. It wasn’t that she didn’t love or care for them, it was just that she was just more prone to being reserved and level in her displays of affection. “I wouldn’t be able to face my sister if I let anything happen to you.”

Behind them, the ragged voice of one of the Royal Guards rang out, issuing orders, the mayor’s joining shortly after, attempting to bring the masses under control.

“What are we going to do?” Silver asked vacantly, looking at the space Nightmare Moon vanished. Proud looked at him, uncertain as to why Silver was asking that, or what he was getting at. Silver scowled and tried to explain himself. “I mean… I’m not sure what’s happening anymore… I don’t know if…”

“Young stallion, the only thing you will be doing is heading home,” Rain said firmly. Silver looked up at her, eyes wide and filled with a mix of confusion and fear. He opened his mouth but his aunt cut off whatever he was going for. “There is no discussion on this. We… we aren’t going to be helping anyone like this.”

“I don’t know if I can sleep…” Flare said softly.

Rain hesitated, looking up at the sky that should have been lit with a raising sun by now, instead only holding a large moon, the mare’s head missing, and a few weakly glowing points of light. "Eternal Night… I don’t know if I can either, but it’s still what we are going to do. Come on, let’s get home.”

~Raine~

The walk home was hectic. Nightmare Moon’s powerful, and likely magically amplified, proclamation had been heard across the town. Many had still been awake, at their own parties and celebrations, content to watch the Rising from afar and meet the princess at the celebration following, others had been sleeping and were roused form the volume. Almost all were desperate for some explanation of what was going on. The news was grim, and Rain was never known for sugar coating.

“Princess Celestia is missing, Nightmare Moon has returned and she declared Eternal Night. Now, my foals and I need to get home,” she said, trudging ahead and leaving yet another stunned stallion in her wake. She glanced down at her wards. Flare had replaced Proud as the colt on her back, the latter walking with Silver not too far behind her. Both looked a bit jumpy, not surprising considering what they witnessed.

“How are you holding up?” she asked, recalling that just assuming wasn’t the best when it came to caring for foals.

“A little shocked but fine,” Proud said, putting on a brave face. He was just as scared as Silver and Flare, if not more so.

Silver muttered something incomprehensible and shrugged.

“I just want to go home,” Flare murmured. “I’ll be better there.”

Rain turned her attention back to the path. They were almost home. She could reflect on the challenges of parenting there; preferably with a cup of cola with more than its fair share of hard cider. After the foals were asleep, though. Home was in sight when the last hurdle presented itself.

“Pure Rain! You were at the Town Hall, what happened? Who what that mare and what did she mean?” Gone was Derpy’s air of pleasant absentmindedness and her bearing of bemusement. Instead, the ‘Mother’ was barely contained under her skin; muscles tense and ready to fight off the threat that challenged her offspring, her oft present smile missing, her mouth instead pressed in a grim line. Even her wall-eyes held determination and a trace of intimidation. Curiously, a drowsy Dinky was perched on her back much like Flare was riding Rain’s.

Rain had seen parents in that state before, and still didn’t quite understand what drove some of them to be willing to tussle manticores, even if the kid in question was a brat. Not that she wouldn’t tussle a manticore to protect her family, just that the drive was different. She sighed and lifted Flare down from her back.

“Head inside please boys,” she instructed. “I need to talk with Miss Doo for a bit.”

Flare looked a bit worried, but Silver pushed him ahead. “Okay, Auntie.”

Rain waiting until they closed the door behind them before explaining.

“Nightmare Moon; the same one from the stories. She appeared at the celebration and attacked the royal guards. Right now, I’m going to put the colts to bed after some tea and see how things work out.” Such as if this is the end of the world or not. Rain knew which battles could be won with deflection and evasion and which ones would be better off with surrender, so her response to the mare was mostly concise and accurate. She still guarded her words, however, in consideration of Dinky’s presence.

“Nightmare… moon?” Derpy said slowly. She blinked, and for a moment both eyes were focused on Rain before they drifted slight again. “Pure Rain, can you watch Dinky for a me? Sparkler was out with her friends. I need to get her home.”

Rain hesitated. She already had her hooves filled with her three… “Of course,” she said with a weak smile. Now why did she say that? “Just knock when you get back. I have a small nesting basket that she should fit in if she wants to nap.”

“Thank you, Pure,” Derpy said, gently sliding her youngest to the ground by her friend’s hooves, giving her a quick peck on the forehead. “Be good for Pure Rain, okay muffin?”

“Okay, mom,” Dinky yawned. Derpy shifted on her hooves a bit, then took off, not hitting anything for once.

Rain sighed and ushered Dinky into the house. Just two days and her three was becoming four. Hopefully, this wasn’t the start of ponies adding her to the list of foalsitters available on the block.

“Go play with the colts, okay Dinky?” Rain instructed. The little filly nodded and scampered off to where Proud and Flare were. She wondered briefly where the third one had gotten to, but quickly got her answer in the form of a muffled cry and a clatter from the kitchen. She found Silver perched a bit precariously on a step stool, the height increased with an upturned pot. The kettle was sitting on the stove, the flame somewhat higher than it needed to be, and he was using both forelegs to balance and brace himself, his horn glowing as he tried to pull the rest of the tea supplies from the cupboard.

Rain quickly caught the small jar of tea leave with a deft leg as Silver’s magic faltered. She set it down on the counter, picking up the tray that apparently fell earlier and set it down as well. “I don’t recall saying you were allowed to play in the kitchen.”

“I’m not playing,” Silver said stubbornly, dropping back to all fours, his forehooves clanging on the pot. “It’s just tea. I can make tea.”

Rain raised an eyebrow. There was something off about that look in his eyes. It was closer to frustration at some personal ineptitude than just a reaction to being told not to play in the kitchen. Rain mused on it as she pulled down five mugs. “So you were eavesdropping?”

“Um… not for everything…” Silver admitted after a moment, flushing slightly. He deliberated for a moment before hopping off from his perch. “I heard you say you were going to make tea, so I thought I’d help. It will make us sleep better.”

“Yes, it would,” Rain said, faintly distracted. There was something odd about Silver’s comment. She got a tray of ice from the freeze, one made from water she had coaxed most all the impurities and salts from. “Can you get the strainers from the drawer and take them to the table place. The sugar as well.”

Silver nodded and got to his task. By the time the kettle was whistling she had sent him to wait in the living area, not didn’t trust him with the hot water. Instead, she set it and the jars of tea leaves on the small kitchen cart she had. Being in the vicinity, the small snatches of conversation she had been catching cleared.

“- mean we won’t have to go to school if morning doesn’t come?” Dinky was asking. Rain paused and smiled a little at the innocence. To be that young again. Though, there were many downsides to it that she wouldn’t miss or want to repeat.

“No, they would still find a way to track the days even if they didn’t stop Nightmare Moon,” Proud responded. “It would be hard, but ponies would work things out for as long as they could even without the sunlight.”

Rain paused. Now that wasn’t a response she expected from him.

“What do you mean?” Dinky asked curiously.

“There are still all the other bad things that would happen from Eternal Night,” Flare explained, picking up from where Proud left off. “Nopony would be able to see well without extra lights. Plants would die without the sunlight too. We wouldn’t have any food to eat. It would get colder too without the sun. No more summers.”

“She… She’s a big meanie then!” Dinky gasped. From the sound of it, she had hopped a little in her outburst.

“She just got confused and lost herself a long time ago,” Silver’s voice commented. “They’ll fix her though. Everything will work out and get better.”

“I have tea,” Rain said, pushing the cart into the room. Her eyes flicked from one colt to the other. Her sister always bragged about her foals, but Rain didn’t expect that from them. For three colts that were just shaken from watching something from the scariest of stories to be suddenly spouting comments like that was… concerning.

Preparing the mugs of tea didn’t take too much effort from her as the foals gathered, watching and waiting. Rain decided to ask. “What did you mean by ‘they will fix her,’ Silver?”

For a moment, a look of panic flashed across Silver’s face. The last time she him make that face was when he had been caught snooping through his father’s drawer the summer before.

“Like in the stories,” he said, sounding surprisingly level considering. “They always help the bad guy come around. Right? And Uncle Soft Tone is a doctor that helps bad ponies get better. Couldn’t he help her get better too?”

“That’s right,” Rain said contemplatively as she put a bit of ice into the mugs so the tea wouldn’t be too hot for them. Was she just over thinking them? Dew Glimmer and Just Stand did have a rather large personal library in their home, they could just be saying things they read and heard. Celestia knew Silver loved to read. And Soft Tone often talked about his work as a counsellor for malcontent ponies. Maybe she was just over reacting.

Maybe. It’s just that something felt off. Nothing like those bizarre senses that Pinkie Pie had, just her intuition. Or it could just be the stress of the night’s events starting to sink in. He picked up her own mug, unfortunately barren of cider in any form, and settled in for watching the foals.

Nighttime forever. That thought alone was enough to chill even the most steaming cup of tea.

The Night

~Silver~

Three issues were burning on the forefront of his mind. First was the close call the night before. All because Proud wanted to try and make the filly feel better. Their aunt walked in right in the middle of it and Silver was pretty sure normal foals didn’t do things like that. The look in her eyes… At least they were able to get away when Derpy returned with Sparkler in tow.

The second thing was pretty obvious. It was still dark outside. Assuming the clock was still working properly, he’d been sleeping for a few hours well, at least seven or eight. But it was still dark out. It should have been closer to afternoon. The third one was related to the second.

Why hadn’t Twilight and her friends come back yet? He had thought this would have been more than enough time for them to get to the Castle and deal with Nightmare Moon already. He propped his legs on the window sill and looked over the town, trying to get a glimpse of the Everfree, looking for that brilliant flash of light that would mark the girls unleashing to Magic of Friendship on Nightmare Moon.

Still nothing. He went back to pacing the room. Both Flare and Proud were still sleeping. The latter slept like the dead in the first place, and the former had still been up worrying when Silver had dozed off the night… a few hours before. It only meant he had his own private time to fret and sweat now.

He jumped with a yelp when the door opened, stumbling as his hoof caught on the mat and tripping to the floor.

“Are you okay, Silver?” Rain asked, as if it wasn’t her fault in the first place. Silver glared at her, then sighed and picked himself up.

“No, I’m fine. The mat actually cushioned the fall,” he admitted, shaking his head a little. “What’s up?”

Rain’s brow furrowed slightly. “I heard you moving about up here so I came to see if there was something I could help with.”

“What? No, everything is. Fine.” Silver shot a glance at the window. “Well, not fine, but it’s okay. Just thinking.”

“Wondering what Nightmare Moon is planning, I suppose?” Rain asked, carefully making her way across the room. Being larger than her young nephew, her hooffalls were quite a bit louder. Still, it didn’t do much towards waking to two slumbering ones. “Weren’t you the one who said last night that they would stop her?”

“That was cheering up Dinky,” Silver muttered. The confidence he had those few hours before had been shaken up by events slipping away from what he had expected. Panic was letting his thoughts drift. Nightmare Moon was an alicorn; leagues above anypony else in terms of power. And Celestia was still missing. And the Bearers were still lost in the Everfree. And pretty much every Royal Guard was injured so there was not support coming from there. Already it was looking like everything he thought he knew was pointless and none of his plans were worth anything.

It wasn’t until he felt somepony pull him into an embrace, fur pressed against his cheek and a foreleg wrapped around him, that he realized he was spiralling into a panic attack. He pushed back a bit and looked up at his Aunt, confused.

“Better?” she asked, her expression concerned, mingled with traces of awkwardness. Silver slowly nodded. “So what happened to the young stallion that I saw last night? Or should I say the colt trying his best to act older than he actually is?”

‘If you only knew,’ Silver thought to himself. Out loud, he muttered, “He got scared and went away.”

Only after he said did he realize it was true. The more he panicked, the more the human contribution got distant, the knowledge still there, but no real intimate and intuitive link to it, making him act more like the foal he appeared to be. Another thing to worry about. Maybe Proud was right; they needed to talk to the Princess about this after all, before it turned out that they waited too long and their human selves were gone.

“Silver,” Rain’s voice snapped him out of his introspective daze. He looked up sharply and realized she was watching him intently. “Is there something going on that you need to tell me about?”

“Aside from the missing Princess, the evil Princess and Eternal Nighttime?” Silver asked, rolling his eyes.

“I don’t accept lip and attitude any more than your mother does, Silver,” Rain said cooly, narrowing her eyes at him.

“Sorry,” Silver said, looking down at his hooves.

Rain was silent for a while, and Silver didn’t dare take his eyes off his hooves. Except to peek up nervously at her. Rain sighed. “Come with me, Silver.”

“Okay, Auntie,” Silver said nervously. “Were to?”

“You said you wanted to help in the kitchen. We need to make breakfast, or perhaps Dinner. Either way, we need a meal,” Rain said. “I suppose you mother won’t fault me for starting to teach you how to cook.”

Silver screwed up his face. He knew how to cook. He was a great chef. Rice, pasta, mea… right… He had no idea how to cook pony food. It would at least take his mind off things. “Sure, Auntie.”

They closed the door behind them to let the other two sleep a bit longer before starting for the kitchen. They had just cleared the stairs when Rain paused, and ear flicking with thought. “Actually, Silver, what did you mean by evil Princess?”

Silver was thinking about how and what Rain would be teaching him to cook, a bit smug that he was being taught before Proud, who was his older brother, and missed what Rain said. “What was that?”

“Nightmare Moon. You called her a princess.” Rain looked at him thoughtfully. “What did you mean by that?”

Silver was momentarily confused, running through recent comments in his head, then paled, ears flicking back. “I-I just meant because she was an alicorn. The only other alicorn is Princess Celestia, and she said she was royalty.”

Rain was not impressed. “Silver. I might not be your mother, but I am your guardian. Please do not lie to me. What is going on?”

“I… we… I mean…” Silver fumbled for the words, his thoughts in disarray.

He was saved by the bells. A deep tolling loud and strong enough that it probably rang across the town.

Dong-du…. Dong-du-dong…. Dong… Dong-du…. Dong-du-dong…

“Silver… wake your brothers,” Rain said, her tone suddenly cold, speaking louder to be heard over the bells.

“What’s that bell?” Silver asked as his aunt galloped towards the basement. “Auntie Rain?” She was already gone and if she did hear his calls, she chose not to respond. Grumbling, he trotted off to do what she asked. The only thing he could thing of for the bells was some sort of warning system, and he didn’t like that idea.

Flare and Proud were already in the stages of wakefulness when he got back to the room, which translated to Flare being fully awake and trying to figure out where the bells were coming from, and Proud mumbling, covering his ears with a pillow.

“Guy, get up,” Silver said, leaping unto Proud’s bed and pulling the pillow away and tossing it aside, ignoring the weak sounds of protest. “Something big is going on.”

“Are those bells?” Flare asked, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He looked out the window. “What time is it?”

“It’s after noon,” Silver said, prodding Proud in the ribs.

“Quiddit…” Proud mumbled, not wanting to get up. Silver scowled and bit his ear. Proud immediately woke up; recoiling and tumbling off the bed. He reappeared, a hoof pressed over his injured ear. “OW! What was that for?”

“But it’s still dark out,” Flare said, still focused on the window and ignoring what was going on with the other two. “Didn’t Twilight and the others use the elements on her yet?”

“Apparently not,” Silver said, rolling his eyes. “Considering it’s still dark and all.”

“What’s with the bells?” Proud asked, giving Silver a little glare.

“Don’t know that either,” Silver said. He hopped off the bed and heading for the door. “Auntie Rain ran to the basement when she heard them and told me to wake you up. I think it’s bad.”

Finding their aunt in the front room, cinching a set of large saddlebags, each motion causing them to emit small metallic sounds, around her barrel, didn’t serve to build confidence. She looked up at them as they came down. “Listen carefully you three, those bells, it’s the Ponyville Alert.”

“About what? Everyone already knows Nightmare Moon attacked,” Proud grumbled. “There’s no point to it now.”

“That one isn’t for that,” Rain said. “It’s for something coming from the Everfree. I need the three of you to stay here.”

“Something from the Everfree Forest is attacking the town?” Flare said, his wings flaring in response.

“And you’re going out now, Auntie Rain?” Proud asked, confused.

“I’m part of the militia,” Rain said by way of explanation. “It’s part of my duties to provide support in times like this. There’s a chance nothing much will come from this, and that they are just being cautious, but I still have to go.

“There is some oats and hay in the cupboard you can have. And… I suppose you can have some of the leftover cupcakes from the party as well. But stay here,” Rain instructed. “Are we clear?”

“But…”

“No buts,” She said, “Understood?”

The three made their murmurs of assent.

“So… we aren’t really staying here, are we?” Flare asked after their Aunt left.

“I’m going to do with, ‘not on your life’,” Silver said with a slight grin. He looked at his older brother. “Proud?”

“Something from the Everfree? We are so there,” Proud said. “We need snacks though.”

“You know this is just as awesome an idea as it is a bad one, right?” Flare sighed, though not telling them not to.

“I told you this was a bad idea!” Flare muttered to his brothers. Since their Aunt had mentioned the Everfree that was the side of town they choose as their destination. Bravado was slowly worn away, however, as things appeared more and more deserted; houses dark, not sound of conversation or much activity in the area.

It was bad enough that most of the town was still holed up in their homes, not willing to brave the foreboding nighttime outside their thresholds. Admittedly, there was an unnatural chill to the air, and the wind whispered ominously around them as they tracked their guide.

“You sure he’s one going to the same place Aunt Rain would have gone?” Flare asked as Silver peered around the corner, giving the dark blue earth stallion in moderately light armour get a bit of the lead on them before following.

“Who else aside from the Royal Guard would be wearing armour? And what do you think was in Auntie’s saddlebags?” Proud asked waiting for Silver’s all clear signals. “Even if it’s not where she is, it’s bound to be something interesting.”

“Come one, it should be far enough now,” Silver interjected. They darted from shadow to shadow, which wasn’t too difficult giving how prevalent they were at the moment, keeping their mark in sight.

“This is boring. I think he’s just patrolling the area of something,” Proud muttered after a few minutes of trailing the pony turned up nothing more than the militia member knocking on a few doors to warn the occupants about the risks, crossing paths with another mare also making rounds.

As the earth stallion chatted with the fourth pony who didn’t want to leave their home, the colts waited behind a shrub, taking turns keeping an eye on him so he didn’t leave them behind.

“Can we call it, then? I’m hungry and the only thing we had were a few apples,” Flare asked. His stomach rumbled, supporting his claims.

“Hey, it’s an adventure. We might even get our Cutie Marks in tailing and covert operations.” The grin that Silver started his response with fell as he grimaced and shuddered. “Wow. That came out way too Crusader…”

“What do you think the crusaders are up to right now?” Proud asked since the trio in question had been brought up if in an indirect manner.

“I’m pretty sure they aren’t the crusaders yet,” Flare pointed out. “They haven’t met and formed their club yet.”

“Then individually,” Proud said, rolling his eyes at the technicalities. “I bet Apple Bloom’s at the farm with her folks.”

“Sweetie’s probably panicking with her parents, wondering where her sister is,” Silver grinned.

“And that’s where you lot should be, too,” a fourth voice cut in.

Yelping, the three tried scrambling away, only to end up tripping over each other. The same stallion they had been trailing loomed over the shrub they had been hiding behind, scowling down at them.

“Hi?” Proud said with a guilty smile.

“The lot of you are gonna be in some serious trouble when I get you back home,” the stallion said gruffly, having them march before him. “Don’t you know it’s dangerous out here right now?”

“We heard the bells,” Silver admitted, though not with much shame. “I, I mean we thought it would be cool to see what was out here.”

“Our aunt said it was something from the Everfree Forest,” Proud picked up. “All sorts of awesome stuff are in the Everfree Forest.”

“And scary. Awesome and scary,” Flare amended. “But we didn’t have anything to do at home…”

“Celestia save me from bored foals,” the stallion muttered from between grinding teeth “Listen you lot; the Everfree ain’t something to joke about. There are things in there that will hurt you, kill you, and try to eat you. Nopony goes in there and comes out unharmed, and that’s if they make it back alive. Not even royal guards. When those warnings go off, it’s for you to stay home where it’s safe, not running off looking for trouble!”

The stallion had been staring straight ahead as ranted. A soft whimper caused him to look down, then back as he realized the foals weren’t with him. Flare looked near to tears, on his haunches a couple hooves back, wings hanging limp. Proud stood beside Flare to offer support while Silver glared daggers at him, mentally putting the blue stallion on his list. The stallion bit back a swear and snorted with frustration. He trotted back to the young ones.

“Look, sorry. I didn’t mean to scary you, but it’s dangerous,” he said, “But you need to understand how dangerous this stunt was.”

Silver only narrowed his eyes further. The stallion rubbed the back of his head with a hoof and tried again. “Okay, let’s start over, alright?. My name’s Break Heavy. I work in the smithy ‘cross town and I’m part of the militia. Everypony just calls me break though.”

Silver kept up the glare for a moment. “Prose. Silver Prose. These are my brother Proud Defender and Blue Flare. We’re new to Ponyville.”

“Good names,” Break Heavy said, nodding, his eyes roaming the area. “Sorry about making your brother cry.”

“I’m not crying…” Flare sniffed, rubbing at his eyes.

“Right, whatever you say,” Break Heavy said, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. “Can we at least agree that this was a bad idea?”

“I told them that,” Flare muttered. Proud poked him with a hoof to shush him.

“So, at least one of you realized it,” Break Heavy smirked. “You should…. Run.”

“We should… what?” Silver asked, his ears flicking back with confusion.

“Timberwolf. Run, Now!” Break snapped, leaping over the colts. “Run!”

It wasn’t until the howl broke out that they realized exactly what was happening. A pair of green eyes blazed in the shadows of a building further down the street. Eyes that lunged forward, propelled by the powerful leap of the bunched wooden limbs, the howl spilling out from its jaw now that Break’s awareness stripped stealth from it. It only took a few loping bounds for it to close the gap between itself and the ponies it had been hunting, leaping to make the final pounce…

Two hooves slammed into it, connected with jaw and chest. Bidding his time, Break had lunged forward, spinning to bring his hindlegs to bear and bucked the wolf midleap with a muted pair of hollow cracks. A shower of twigs, wood fragments and splinters littered the ground around him.

Not waiting to see how effect his blow was, the militia member yelled at the frozen colts again, fumbling for something in the collar of his armour. “Run! That won’t keep it down for long!”

Already the wood fragments were starting to twitch and rattle, and Silver decided that it wasn’t the time to study how long a timberwolf’s regeneration took. Proud gave Flare a solid push to get him started and all three were soon pounding their hooves into the path. A sharp and shrill whistle pierced the air trice before a fourth set of pounding hooves announced Break behind them.

Another howl chased them, letting them know the wolf had pulled itself together and was coming after them already, hardly leaving them any breathing room in there retreat.

“HORSEAPPLES!” It wasn’t Silver swearing this time; he was saving his breath for running. It was Break yelling obscenities. “You three, duck into the alleyway! I’ll hold it off until other militia members turn up!”

“But-” Proud found the breath to protest.

“No buts! Go, now!” Break said, locking his legs, hooves digging into the earthen roadway as he came to an abrupt stop.

“Aaaaaah!” the brothers yelled as they skidded into a rough and hasty turn, going for the alley way between two shops. Behind them, the timberwolf slammed into the solid form of Break, who grunted from the impact but held his ground despite the strain, rebuffing the force of beast’s initial charge.

Unfortunately, the alley wasn’t a clear route to the other street, coming to a dead end instead, littered with the detritus of a consumer business, a stack of barrels on one wall, refuse bins with garbage that didn’t quite make it inside scattered about it, wooden crates roughly heaped in the furthest corner.

“Quick! The crates!” Silver pointed out. All three dove for the flimsy shelter the crates offered, ignoring the smell of garbage, stagnant water and rotting vegetables, grateful for the illusion of safety the wood panels provided.

“I told you this was a bad idea,” Flare complained, shifting to avoid a moldy and unidentifiable mess of produce.

“So not the time!” Silver said, finding a spot where he could watch the alley and Break Heavy. Realizing what he was up to, Proud and Silver clustered around.

“Gross… I stepped on the rotten fruit,” Proud whined. Silver shushed him. It was hard to see in the darkness, but the weak light was just enough to make things out.

Break was doing well on his own for the moment, for even though the timberwolf had learned and avoided getting a direct hit from Break’s hooves, his blows were still knocking bits and pieces off here, and cracking and fracturing wood there. He probably would have been able to hold out until he got the reinforcement to actually take down the creature.

If it were alone.

A second timberwolf blindsided Break, knocking him off balance. Before he could recover from the stagger it put him into, the first wolf slammed him, the body check knocking him out of their line of vision.

“No!” Proud yelled before his brothers could hush him. The heads of both wolves snapped towards them, their glowing eyes searching. With a low growl, they prowled into the alleyway, sniffing the air and ground as they tracked them to the crates they were using as shelter. Said crates were quickly beginning to appear even more flimsy than they had before.

Flare whimpered, lower lip trembling as the wolves approached, the glow of their eyes quickly becoming the brightest thing in the area. Silver started shifted uncertainly, hooves scraping on the dirt and wood as his eyes flicked across the small area, trying to find something, anything that they could use to get out of this.

‘Come on, you were a twenty plus year old guy in university. You can figure something out to get our flanks out of this one!’ his thoughts said to him. They didn’t provide any helpful hints though.

“YAAAAAAA!” Proud charged without warning, dashing out the gap they had used to access the hiding spot in the first place, yelling to try and confuse the timberwolves. Perhaps not used to prey charging at them rather than away from them, or confused by the yell, or a mix of the two factors, the two wooden canines reared up slightly, enough for Proud to charge between and past them.

Snarling, they quickly whirled, the smaller of the two snapping at the brave foal. It missed Proud’s short tail by inches, but that was only the first attempt. Proud only just managed to avoid the second bite.

“Flare, we can’t-” Silver started, but his brother was already moving, snagging a bit of broken wood in his mouth and nodding at Silver. Silver grinned and charged up his magic, trying to remember the discharge of his telekinesis he had managed the day before, motivated by the sight of the wolves slowly closing in on Proud as he huddled between the barrels.

Flare pitched the chunk of wood he held and actually managed to get it to bounce off the back of one of the wolves, who reacted by yelping and whirling, once more switching targets.

‘Screw it!’ Silver though. He just gathered his magic and pushed it all at once. A small oblong of green magic shot out, trailing spluttering sparks. It would have been more awesome if it actually hit one of the wolves instead smacking into the barrels behind them and popping like a firework, but it did distract them.

Which only meant they were back in the original situation, only this time it was only Flare and Silver the wolves were snarling and baring down on.

“Okay… that wasn’t the best idea we ever had,” Silver said as he and Flare nervously backed away.

“Stay away from my brothers!” Proud’s yell ringing out was just the first thing to happen. Break and a second militia member appeared in the entrance of the alley, and started to yell something as well. The sky brightened for a moment, a short white glow coming from somewhere behind the buildings. And then Proud employed the strength earth ponies were known for, his buck knocking one of the barrels from base of the stack.

The whole thing destabilized, seeming to topple over in slow motion, the broken base no long able to support the weight of the barrels, empty as they were, above them, the structure unbalanced and tipping over. Gold light surrounded the foals as the barrels crashed to the ground, binding rings snapping off, wood fragments spiraling away, and the wolves caught under it all, broken and smashed, the fire of their eyes extinguished.

The lingering echoes of the crash rung in everypony’s ears as they took in the damage. The gold barrier, quickly cast over Silver and Flare by the unicorn militia member that had joined Break, was dispelled. In the silence, one of the still intact rings slipped off the top of the crates were it landed, bouncing a few times before rolling to a stop a few feet from the adult’s hooves. It opened the floodgates and everyone started talking at once.

“What were you thinking? That was reckless!” the unicorn burst out.

“That… was awesome,” Silver said, sounding surprisingly level despite the stupid grin on his face.

“Are all of you okay?” Break said, galloping over to give them a quick once over before going to check and make sure the timberwolves weren’t reforming.

“Wow! That worked better than I thought!” Proud gasped, looking shocked as he picked his way out from behind the barrels that had tumbled around him.

“Proud… you… you got your Cutie Mark…” Flare stammered.

All eyes snapped to Proud’s flank, the formerly blank expanse decorated with a white starburst, a gold and platinum shield sitting on it. Proud himself spun in a circle trying to get a good look at it, then stopped and spun the other way as he confirmed that both sides were the same. A smile slowly spread across Proud’s face. “I got my Cutie Mark!”

“You got your Cutie Mark?” Silver echoed weakly, his thoughts in turmoil as he tried to figure out what that meant for them, considering they weren’t originally from Equestria.

“Congratulations,” Break said, grinning himself. It wasn’t everyday you were witness to a colt earning his mark.

The unicorn was less direct in his praise. “Getting your cutie mark might be a great achievement, but you should not make a habit of putting your family in danger or yourself.”

“Give the kid a break, why don’t you, Flourish,” Break said, nudging his companion. “You got to admit he has spunk. How many foals do you know who would charge at Timberwolves?”

“I’d never put brothers or my friends in danger!” Proud countered, kicking some broken wood out of the way. “I’d do anything to protect them and keep them safe, even if it’s charging at timberwolves!”

As if it were a sign, the sun rose at that exact moment, sending it’s rays across the sky, cutting through the darker magic that had been lingering in the air and chasing the night away. Soon, cheers could be heard from around town.

Flourish’s expression softened as he looked to the sunrise. “I suppose you’re right.”

“And now you’ve got one hay of a cutie mark story to tell your friends,” Break added.

Revealed

~Pure Rain~

The night had been bad enough. One of the greatest horror tales proved to be real when she descended on their little town in the flesh and unleashed a curse of Eternal Night on the world. As if that wasn’t enough, a mere twelve or so hours after that a pack of timberwolves emerged from the Everfree Forest in attempts to hunt among the populace.

Pure Rain hadn’t been there for the scuffle that turned the pack back. Not because of a lack of skill, she had done well in the physical portion of her training, and she kept up her hoof to hoof and even a bit of spearsmareship with weekly and biweekly sessions. No, it was because her captain agreed to assign her to patrol the section of the town near her home, in respect to the three foals now in her care.

The foals she discovered missing when her patrol finally swung by her home. The foals a neighbour reported snuck out of the house less than an hour after she left. The foals she later heard got involved in a fight with a pair of timberwolves that slipped past the initial watch and into the town.

Her first reaction had been shock and terror. Her nephews being attacked by timberwolves? There was anger there as well, that they disobeyed her and put themselves in danger as well. Even the follow up to it that they were all fine didn’t calm her fully. If it wasn’t for the procedures, the fact that she was still on duty, and the insistence of Morning Mist that they were fine in the evacuation centre, she would have gone and… retrieved them.

“I’m telling you Rain, there’s no need to worry about them,” Mist said, trying to keep her comrade’s spirit up. “From what I hear, there are about nine other families in that centre that didn’t have someone else to stay with when the Bell’s tolled. Not to mention the two militia members there for protection.”

Rain kept her trot up as the day brightened. The sun had returned. It was the only good thing so far. She didn’t want to get her hopes up too much, but there was no denying the fact that it raised her spirits, a little thrill that their princess had somehow broke free of the clutches of that Nightmare Moon. She shook her head with a snort. Soon they would call of the patrols and she would be able to see for herself that her nephews were safe, then she could punish so they would never think of doing that again.

Celestia sent back a message to the squad leader of her Royal Guard, the good news that Twilight Sparkle and her group of friends had managed to defeat the ancient foe. She didn’t expand on the topic any further than that, letting them know that they were expected to be back in town in a few hours as they traversed the forest.

Pinkie Pie somehow managed to get a message sent as well, though the guard leader was unsure how. Either way, the rumours of yet another party were floating about. Rain didn’t have any interest in it. The militia captain called off the alert, praised them for a job well done and released them from active action again. Rain didn’t waste any time.

She could hardly restrain herself to a fast trot. Being cool and calm was her trademark, like a deep flowing river, the surface not reflecting the true conditions. Cool like a tall glass of water. A glass that would sweat in the sun. Of water that could reach a boiling point.

She forced herself to slow down again, lest she break into a full gallop and scare the ponies, considering she was still in her militia gear.

Several of families were still staying in the evacuation points, letting the panic wear down, waiting it out for when the magic of the Everfree was waning. The center was really one of the larger buildings used bingo and table games. Rain pushed the doors open with hesitation and trotted straight towards the main chamber. A familiar voice reached her as she approached. Proud; apparently living up to his name as he regaled whoever was in hearing range with the tale.

“- and Silver did this thing with his horn. CRACK! It hit a barrel and distracted the timberwolves, but that only made them turn on my brothers!” There was Proud, practically bouncing as he shared his story. “So I said ‘No way!’ And I bucked the barrels. The whole thing shook! Then it collapsed on them like BAM!” He jumped as high as he could, legs flailing before falling to the ground again.

His audience was only a handful of mare and a stallion, a few smiling at his antics. Rain’s eyes roved. She spotted Silver on a cushion on the other side of the room, rubbing his head with his hooves and looking like flustered. She locked eyes with him from across the room. He stiffened, iris shrinking to pinpricks as his eyes widened in fear.

‘You should be scared,’ Rain thought as she pointed a hoof at him and jabbed it at the ground, mouthing the word ‘now.’ His scramble to get moving almost ended with him faceplanting but he managed to leave the cushion without hurting himself, only stopping to collect Flare. Soon enough two recalcitrant colts were at her ankles doing their best to look meek. Now, for the last one…

“Just then, the sun came up like it was a sign!” Proud continued is grand retelling. “And that’s how I got-”

“Grounded,” Rain coolly interjected.

Proud yelped, whirling and reacting similarly to Silver when he spotted her. “W-what?”

“Grounded,” Rain repeated, a slight frown her only expression as she regarded Proud. “All three of you. For a month. Starting today.”

It was slightly satisfying to hear a few sympathetic and understanding sounds coming from the ponies that had been listening to Proud’s story and noticing a few winces at the edge of her field of vision. Not in a sadistic sense, but in the sense that they were also adults and could understand the need for punishment.

“Gu-grounded?” Silver said, his voice high pitched.

“But…” Flare started.

“You did leave the house and go exploring, didn’t you?” Rain said, narrowing her eyes and cutting Flare’s protest at the root.

Silver responded, though hesitantly. “Yes…”

“And you did this even after I said not to,” Rain continued. The ponies around slowly started edging away, giving her the impression of privacy as she scolded her wards.

“Um…” Flare sighed, looking dejected. “Yeah…”

“And you put yourself in danger, following a militia member on patrol, ending with you being attacked by timberwolves,” Rain finished.

“But… Awesome!” Proud said, hooves waving as he presented a most inarticulate argument. “And… And… Cutie Mark..! And Sunrise! Signs!”

“Regards of that, you, all three of you, disobeyed me, got yourselves in a dangerous situation, put other ponies in danger since Break Heavy had to try and protect you directly instead of being able to focus on the threat, and almost got hurt.” Died was more like it, as most ponies who crossed timberwolves ended up as a meal, much less foals that did the same, but Rain was reluctant to expose the colts to that.

What was the proper level of sheltering? Would Dew Glimmer be perfectly honest with the level of danger they had put themselves in? Once again Rain found herself somewhat out of her depth in the parenting issues. Looking down at the trio of remorseful faces, ears folded down, lips quivering and eyes watering only made her more concerned.

“For now, let’s just get home. It’s been a long night,” Rain said with resignation. It was something of an understatement. Rain thanked the ponies that watched over her colts and hustled them out, none of them willing to cause more of a fuss with punishment already looming over them.

“What about the celebration?” Silver asked, breaking the silence that had lingered for over half the journey so far.

“I’m sorry?” Rain asked.

“Does being grounded me we can’t go to the celebration and go and see the princess?” Silver asked again.

She thought about it. It would be a bit too cruel to keep them from that one. “No, it doesn’t.” Grins instantly spread across their faces. They fell when she added; “but it doesn’t mean you have free reign either.”

“It doesn’t?” Flare asked tentatively, fishing for an explanation.

“No more than two hours there, then it’s back home. I might get you to start reading up on you school work.” Rain contemplated it. She really didn’t want to be the reason they missed the celebration of the defeat of Nightmare Moon. It was the sort of thing that ponies would tell their children about for years. Making them miss it would be cruel. But she didn’t want them to slip out of being punished either.

She shot a sudden bewildered look at Silver. The celebration hadn’t been announced yet. It wasn’t likely that news of it reached the safe house any faster than she had, considering she had been present when the report and request came in. In fact, the news that Princess Celestia had been freed hadn’t been publically announced either.

“Aunty, are you okay?” Proud asked.

“Something wrong?” Flare said from the other side.

“No… no,” Rain said, shaking her head, her blue hair tossing slightly. She would ask it when they got home. “I was just thinking about some things. I’ll make us something to eat when I get home.”

The colts looked at each other and shrugged, not sure what to make of their aunt’s actions but going with it.

“We’re going to have to tell her,” Proud said. They had been sent away to wash the alley smell out their coats after their night’s adventure while their aunt worked on a meal and were making the best of the time they had. With the shower going, it afforded them some privacy.

“What? Are you crazy or did one of those barrels hit you after all?” Silver asked Proud, scowling from underneath the towel he was using on his mane.

“I’m serious!” Proud countered with a little snort. “We won’t get a better chance to talk to the princess than this one, and we can’t really do that with Aunt Rain hanging over us for the whole thing.”

“Proud has a point,” Flare mumbled, occupied with preening, something he’d neglected for a while, partially because he found it half weird now. He spat the latest removed feather into the small pile. “It’s not like we could get to The Princess Celestia on our own. Foals.”

"Thank you," Proud said to Flare.

“Pegasus have it rough, don’t they?” Silver commented as he observed Flare’s actions. Between his wings, mane and tail, Flare spent a lot of time on appearance, more than both Proud and Silver. “And we can just sneak off.”

“You know it’s not that easy. Especially since we’re already grounded,” Proud said as he pulled a towel from the drying rack before glaring at Silver.

“Why are you glaring at me? It wasn’t my fault. Or idea.” Silver said with a lazy grin, tipping his head in Flare’s direction. “He came up with it. I just expressed support.”

“What? Since when was it my idea?” Flare yelped, his wings bristling, partially undoing some of the preening he had done, though they did admittedly look better. “I just figured you were going to say go!”

“Still ended up with you voice it,” Silver said, tossing his towel on Proud’s head. “Besides; it’s Proud’s job to keep his younger brothers out of trouble.”

Proud snagged the edge of the towel in his teeth and tried to snap it at Silver, but the unicorn nimbly dodged. “Don’t think you can just change the subject like that,” Proud said as he put the towel away. “We can’t keep not telling her.”

“We can,” Silver muttered.

“We shouldn’t though,” Flare commented, joining Proud’s side of the battle by giving Silver a dope slap with his tail.

“We could,” Silver scowled.

“I won’t,” Proud said firmly. “I’m not lying to her. She’s family.”

“Can… can we at least wait?” Silver pleaded. He even tried using the colt version of the cute pleading face. Judging from the roll of Proud’s eyes, he needed to work on it.

“Boys, do you plan to spend the entire day in there?” Rain’s frustrated cry came up.

“Coming Auntie!” all three hollered.

She bided her time, fixing the meal and making light conversation, despite the building concerns as the more she thought about it. Ever since the party, her nephews had seemed a bit different. She couldn’t quite put her hoof on it, but there were moments when they seemed out of character. The most glaring one was the conversation they had with Dinky Doo.

There were other small things as well. Little moments she noticed with Silver; his face making tea, the conversation when he couldn’t, well; claimed he couldn’t sleep. Proud’s interactions with some of the adults and fillies at the party the few days before seemed more mature. Even Flare seemed a bit more confident in himself. She had dismissed it as him simply growing up since the last time she saw him, but now…

So she waited until she had all three of them on the table eating wheat cakes, eggs and hay fries. Even with her intentions, she couldn’t help but marvel on how in only a few days she had changed from the single mare content with her relative isolation to one who enjoyed eating with her nephews. Her reflection was cut short when Silver almost knocked a glass off the table as he tried to get the eggs with his magic.

“Sorry,” Silver said, deciding to use more reliable hooves to get the bowl as Rain pushed the glass away from the edge.

Silver, Proud and Flare. Honestly, the strangest set of brothers in the family. Also; the largest. Dew and Just apparently laughed at the national averages that said having three male offspring, especially one from each tribe, no matter how well mingled their greater family was, was akin to winning the lottery. Of course, Dew was the best poker player in her generation. Never did she leave a family reunion without her bit purse heavier than when she got there.

Rain chastised herself for letting her thoughts ramble on like an old mare. “Boys, we need to talk.”

“About what, Auntie?” Flare asked.

“About whatever secret it is you are keeping from me,” Rain thought about her wording for a moment as Silver choked on his mouthful. The other two reacted as well, Flare’s wings puffing out and Proud almost falling out of his chair. Rain slid a glass of water towards Silver. “Or should I say trying to keep from me.”

“Why would you think we have something to hide from you?” Silver asked once he was able to get his coughing under control, the glass more than two thirds empty.

“The argument you three where having in the bathroom not that long ago,” Rain responded. “You were having it rather loudly. Now, I might not be your mother, but I am you guardian and your aunt. You can tell me.”

They were silent, swapping glances between each other. It was Proud that finally spoke. “Well… We aren’t really your nephews, and I’m not really Proud. I mean I am, but I’m actually a human guy named Patrick and Silver is Daine and that’s James. We woke up as your nephews but we’re stuck yeah and really need to talk to the Princesses to see if they can help us!”

Well, of all the probable things, that was nowhere on her list. Flare looked nervous but was nodding his agreement, whereas Silver was just lightly beating the base of his horn with a hoof, looking down at the table. “Well, that’s quite the story…”

“No! It’s true!” Proud insisted, waving his hooves passionately. “I can remember being both Proud and Patrick, and I remember the night me and Fl- James and Daine were last human and made a wish.”

“It’s true Aunt Rain,” Flare said, speaking up meekly. He sighed, contemplative. When he spoke again, it was clear he choose his words carefully, speaking slowly and in a measured manner. “Daine didn’t want to say anything because he wanted to try and sort it out on our own without anyone aside from the Princesses knowing, but since we got grounded we can’t exactly sneak out to see them again.”

Rain wanted to dismiss it, it seemed like something from one of those odd stories Just liked to read, about unicorn warlocks trying to overthrow the Princess using mind altering spells and magic. But here was Flare, speaking up like a colt half again his age. She decided to play along with them for now, picking on something they said. “Princesses?”

“Right! The two Princesses! They are pretty much the most powerful and knowledgeable people- ponies around!” Proud said, nodding. Rain was beginning to get concerned with their word choices, and by now Silver had graduated to rhythmically hitting his head on the table. Flare was shuffling his wings and chewing his lip as Proud continued talking.

“Aside from them, no one else could do it, not yet anyway. Bah! Daine!, help out here!” Proud bit Silver’s horn, then recoiled when it sparked reflexively. "Blegh! Bad! Very bad idea! Blagh. Tastes like a battery..."

Silver swore and pushed Proud even further away. Rain capitalized on him. “You haven’t said anything, Silver. Are you just going to let your brothers talk, or do you have lines in this as well?”

“Lines? You think we..?” Silver laughed. “Oh that’s rich. I told them no one would believe it but they still insisted.”

Rain raised an eyebrow at his tone. Silver noticed it and waved a hoof in an off-hoofish fashion. “Rude, I know. But Silver is a bit of a problem child, colt, and I was, am kind of a jerk too, so the two memories and personalities mix a bit too well. Not to mention that a developing mind is more impulsive and doesn’t have the same filters a matured one does.”

Rain looked at him, momentarily struck speechless. “I’m… sorry?”

“Like Proud said, we aren’t your nephews, or at least we aren’t just your nephews anymore,” Flare said slowly. “I haven’t talked to either one of them about it much, but I don’t think we erased them or actually replaced them, we just… became them.

“I can remember things from both my human life and my pony life,” Flare continued. He closed his eyes and cringed slightly. “It gives us headaches when we try to remember both, so we’ve been letting the pony ones dominate. I was twenty three, Proud was twenty six and Silver was twenty four.”

“Please don’t think we are crazy, Aunt Rain,” Proud said softly. “I know it might… seem that way, but we aren’t.”

Her nephews had memories of humans? Memories of ponies many years older than themselves. She wanted to dismiss it as crazy talk right away, ferreting out whether they really were going mad or just making up stories. Considering Nightmare Moon, the former option was quite possible. But that was just one part of her.

The logical and analytical side of her, the side that got her through the years of Royal Guard training that earned her tuition to university, the side that helped her understand her talent in inherent magic, that got her to her current position at the hydroelectric plant; that part had other things to say.

Too much of what they said fell into place, explained what had been nagging at her feelings for the past three days. She let her logic take charge. “Assuming I believe you, not that I am saying I am, but assuming so; I can take it that you have some sort of foreknowledge of events?”

“How… how did you know?” Proud asked, looking shocked.

“Silver, mostly,” Rain said, letting her thoughts arrive at new conclusions. “A few comments he made. And the conversation you had to calm Dinky Doo down.”

“Wow… you really are clever like mom said,” Flare whispered.

“Well then, aside from your brief moments of oddly mature manners and bearing, which I assume is times when you let those ‘human’ memories surface, what evidence is there for your claim?” Rain realized she was becoming indifferent, distance and cold towards them, but it was hard not to. She couldn’t depend on her emotional responses at the moment, not with them claiming to both be and not be her nephews.

“Well…” Flare looked pensive. Or would that be… James, was it? No, to think about them that way would be further confusing the issue. Flare it was.

“We could tell you about humans?” Proud offered.

“I don’t know anything about these ‘humans’, so nothing you tell me will be of much use,” Rain said blandly.

“Princess Luna,” Silver supplied.

“Princess Luna?” Rain had never heard of a Princess Luna. There was a Princess Cadence, and a Prince Blueblood, the niece and nephew of Princess Celestia, perhaps this was another relative. “Is she Princess Celestia’s niece?”

“Sister,” Flare corrected. “Remember Nightmare Moon saying it was a thousand years? Princess Luna was corrupted a long time ago and Princess Celestia was forced to banish her. None of us remember her except from our human memories, so I’m betting no one knows about her.”

“No, I never heard of her,” Rain admitted. Princess Celestia had a sibling? Why? How? What did she do? Luna… as in moon? Was she connected to the moon? And how did these ‘human’ memories know about her? She asked as much.

Silver blanched and Proud opened his mouth. “Well, back in our world we- OW! Silver, what was that for?” Silver had wacked Proud on the shoulder as he spoke.

“It’s a long story that we probably shouldn’t tell, not without the Princess’ consent,” Silver said, glaring at Proud. Rain was still confused. “Just know that we know things that will happen, though I’m not so sure about the timing anymore. I was certain Twilight and her friends would have dealt with Nightmare Moon in a few hours. I never thought it would take them almost a full twenty four hours.

“But anyway, they will be coming back with Princess Celestia and Luna sometime before the day is out and Pinkie is going to throw them a party and a parade. That should prove we are at least somewhat honest about all this,” Silver said.

Rain’s expression was thin-lipped. The guards and militia had been informed that Twilight Sparkle and five locals had gone into the forest to search for an ancient relic of great magical power despite the insistence that they leave it to trained officers. But that hadn’t been revealed outside that circle. “And her friends?” Let’s see if they knew that one…

“Miss Rarity the designer, Miss Applejack the farmer, Miss Rainbow Dash from the weather teams, Miss Fluttershy the… animal care specialist and Miss Pinkie Pie, of course,” Proud said promptly. “They’ll probably be called the Bearers of the Elements after today.”

Rains entire demeanour slipped. Logic couldn’t find any reason to doubt them anymore, not with them casually predicting future events and reeling off confidential information like that. Logic surrendered and emotion stepped up again. Her nephews had been possessed, taken over by beings from elsewhere. “Are… are my nephews… okay?”

Silver, no, not Silver, Daine, was it? He paused. He opened his mouth, her nephew’s mouth and spoke with her nephew’s voice. “I… I’m going to be honest. I don’t know, but I think so. I’m still Silver just as much as I’m Daine. I still think like him, which is why I keep bucking things up.”

“Just like that,” Proud added, rolling his eyes. “But yeah, it’s why it’s confusing. You’re still our Aunt, and we still love you and all. But it’s confusing because I remember stuff from being a human too and miss it. I’m both Patrick and Proud, and I want the Princess to help sort this out before anything bad happens.”

“Like getting a cutie mark,” Silver muttered.

Rain was still unconvinced, and the attempts to explain it didn’t clarify anything. “How can you be both? It seems to be more of a mutually exclusive situation.”

“Not really,” Silver sighed. “I’ve thought about it, it’s why I couldn’t sleep. Sometimes I remember being Silver before waking up with Daine’s memories, a human twice my age. Other times I remember falling asleep as Daine and waking up as a unicorn colt less half as old as I was supposed to be. I’m pretty sure we are both.”

Silver slumped, resting his chin on the table and staring listlessly at the food that had been laying untouched since this conversation started. “Existential Crisis gives me a headache.”

“I don’t pretend to get it, but in my heart I know it’s true,” Proud started, chords filling the air.

Flare’s eyes widened, one of them even twitching. “No… please tell me he’s not…”

“I don’t know how it happened, and the fact is clear as blue,” Proud said, standing in his chair, forelegs on the table.

Silver hit his forehead on the table, covering his head with his legs. His muffled voice could still be made out as he complained. “I just said Existential Crisis gives me a headache. It’s bad enough without you singing about it, Proud!”

Proud kept on singing, ignoring the protests.

“I’m me! I’m me! And it’s all I’ll ever be!

No matter what surrounds me, no matter where I am,

No matter where I go or end up, no matter what I do or say,

I know my heart and soul and spirit, and all three have to sa-AY!

I’m me! I’m me! And it’s all I’ll ever be!”

By this point, Proud had climbed on the table and danced around the plates and bowls knocking a few on the ground, and wrapped out his stanza standing before Rain.

For her part; Rain looked like she was gagging a little and had pressed a hoof over her mouth, but a spellsong wasn’t something you resisted, especially when you were central to its sparking. Still, she held out for a whole twelve seconds. The Magic of Music simply worked it in as a transition. With one last strained sigh, she lowered her hoof and started singing.

“It’s not a matter of if you’re changed, it’s instead a question of the one you’ve replaced,

My mind may have accepted the fact, but my heart still pines,

Are you the one I watched grow up, the one who stumbled out the door?

The same goes for you and you, who sits right there, family or a fake?”

Silver got dragged in next, hopping off his chair somewhat reluctantly, but singing clearly and strongly.

“There’s more to life than substance, there’s more than we understand,

And all I can say is that despite the pain, my life remains the same.

I got friends and family, loved ones abound, right here and now, three are around.

I don’t know what else to say, than what my heart proclaims,

By this point, Silver had made a full circuit and a half of the table, and rested a hoof on his confused Aunt’s flank, singing the next words with less enthusiasm than Proud, but more meaning.

“I’m me, I’m me, and it’s all I’ll ever be.”

“These wings are mine, these hooves are mine too,” Flare joined in the song, his words soft and reflective as he slowly walked over to stand by Rain’s opposite side, the Magic of the spellsong making the short walk longer than it should have been, resting his head against her.

“And even if my memory’s less than true,

Family sticks together, no matter what the weather,

And my heart sings with you;

I’m me, I’m me, and it’s all I’ll ever be…”

“My heart accepts it,” Rain sang, almost reluctantly, “My mind regrets it.”

“You’re you,” she sang, touching Silver’s hoof with her own.

“I’m me,” Silver replied, nodding.

“You’re you,” she sang at Flare, ruffling his mane slightly with a hoof.

“I’m me,” Flare sang, faint protest at the treatment in his voice.

“You’re you,” she said finally to Proud, lowering her head.

“I’m me,” Proud confirmed, grinning.

“And it’s all~” they all sang, gathered into a group hug, holding out the note before their lines diverged slightly, though they still sang together.

“We’ll/You’ll ever be!” the colt’s belted out in time with Rain’s alto voice.

The last bits of spellsong magic faded away and they awkwardly broke apart, Silver and Flare because they were unsure of how their Aunt felt about the revelations, Proud because he realized he made a mess, Rain because she was a reserved person and hated the fact that spellsongs forced feelings to the surface and bared them.

“I…” Rain started and all three colts held their breaths, knowing a lot depended on this, “am inclined to believe you.”

“Really?” Proud squeaked, partially from relief, partially from shortness of breath.

“Yes, on both counts, that you have the memories and mind of these ‘humans’ in your heads, and that you are still my nephews,” She said slowly. Silver shook his head in disbelieve while Proud trotted happily in place, Flare sagging a little from relieved tensions. Rain was not finished though. “However, I have a condition before I try to get you to the Princess.”

“A… condition?” Silver swallowed nervously.

“Yes. No one, no one, hears about this spellsong, and we never speak of it again,” Rain said firmly. If anyone in the family got wind of the fact that Pure ‘Cold Hearted’ Rain almost cried in a spellsong because she thought somethings might have erased her nephews, she would never hear the end of it.

“Deal.” Silver shuddered.

Proud snickered and tried to cover it with a cough. "Deal!"

"Definitely a deal," Flare said, glaring at Proud.

Princess(es)

~Flare~

Silver was pacing, muttering nonsensical things as he did. So caught up in it he was that he would never notice the wall until it was inches from his muzzle, coming to a halt with a start, mutter something unkind about the wall before turning around and heading back the way he came. Only for the process to be repeated on the other side of the room when he met up on that wall.

Proud and Flare sat on the couch watching his antics, giggling to themselves. After the eighth or so repetition of the process, Flare finally spoke up. “Do you know what the definition of insanity is? You’re providing a very good visual example of it.”

Silver glared at him, snorted, and went right back to pacing, though he headed in the opposite direction of where he had been going before he stopped.

“Pacing isn’t going to do anything,” Proud pointed out. “Aside from wear a groove in the ground before Twilight gets a chance to. Sit down and read a book or something.”

They were waiting in the Library, hoping for news that the Princesses were coming. The hours following the song were awkward. Aunt Rain had to deal with the discomforting idea that her nephews were her nephews and more, the foals had to come to terms with actually being open about it with someone else. Well, that last part was mostly Silver. Proud was only too happy to gush and talk about everything, with Flare and Silver having to censor him a few times. Flare was ambivalent about it, but even he was more relaxed. For the time being, they stuck with their Equestrian names, since it made this easier, even if they were mostly thinking on their human memories.

To be fair, Aunt Rain had been holding back on giving them her complete belief on the subject, but that changed when the Bearers of the Element of Harmony did return to the town, accompanied by not one, but two alicorns. Proud was a bit smug on that point.

After that, it was simply a matter of having their Aunt use her connections with both the Militia and as a Royal Guard Reserve Officer to arrange for a meeting with the Princesses, citing a matter pertaining to Equestria’s National Security. Though, simply wasn’t quite the right word to use.

In the end, it led to them waiting inside the Golden Oak’s Library, a pair of Royal Guards outside the doors, a full hour after the festivities started. Pinkie Pie apparently had contingency plans in place for emergency parties with several of her regular suppliers and cohorts, and it only took a few lines from the message she sent through Princess Celestia’s emergency channel with the guard. That they still weren’t sure how she co-opted it said much about her.

“I don’t get how you can stay still,” Silver countered. “We are going to meet the Princess’ of the Day and the Night. And tell them that we are interdimensional travels who somehow turned out to be kids in this verse. What if she thinks we are a threat to her subjects? What if Luna thinks we are a threat to her subjects?”

“You’re just nervous about meeting Best Princess, aren’t you?” Proud asked. Silver’s blush was all the answer they needed and they started laughing again. Silver grumbled but joined them on the couch instead of returning to his incessant pacing. “This is Celestia we're talking about. She's the kindest, wisest, smartest pony around.”

“So…” Flare asked snickering some more at Proud’s praise of Celestia. “How much do we tell them?”

A sober tension filled the air as each one of them thought about it, the mood taking a sharp turn.

“I say we give them advice on the big stuff.” Proud’s response was quick, and he went on without much pause. “Lord Tirek, Discord, Chrysalis... Tell Luna that she's loved as much as she wanted to be in our world.” Proud tried listing off points on his fingers but forgot about the hooves in reflex and to list the points. “Oh... right. Well I can write a letter on the points we want to talk about.”

Both Silver and Flare stared at Proud after he spoke. Seeing that Silver was busy gapping, Flare took up the dope slap duty; extending a wing and slapping Proud with it. “No, that’s the sort of thing we aren’t going to be telling them now. And what makes you think we’d be any good at advising them anyway? Didn’t you say Celestia was the wisest and smartest?”

“Because we know stuff,” Proud countered, rubbing his head. Not that Flare had hit him very hard. “And why shouldn’t we? Also; Ow! Mom said it’s not okay to hit.”

“Because we might just make things worse, duh. And we don’t know if everything we know is right, and we won’t know until it happens.” Silver paused. “That… sorta made sense. Okay, look. We can’t tell them anything specific. It could spiral out of control.”

“But we can warn them,” Proud started. Flare cut him off with another slap. “Quiddit!”

“No, Proud. They managed on their own the first time, they can do it again,” Flare said reassuringly, bumping Proud gently with his shoulder. “We just want to stay out of the way and get back home. We don’t even have to tell them about the show.”

“No, we probably should,” Silver said from the other side. “We don’t tell them everything we learned from it, but we have to explain how we knew. It’s part of our validity.”

Flare groaned and slumped some. “But the idea that they are a TV show…”

“Ha! Something I want to do too!” Proud said happily, talking over Flare’s point, clapping his hooves together. Silver rolled his eyes, but he was smiling.

“You’ll at least let me explain that part, right? No offense, but your explaining skills never amounted to much,” Silver responded. “Neither here nor back on earth side. You just asked questions. A lot of annoying questions. And it’s not so much telling them they are a TV show as it’s using technobabble and complex ideas like multiverse theory.”

“Fine. So no to plot, yes to show, yes to human, yes to wishing,” Proud said, counting out on his hoof again. “And I guess any other general questions?”

“What do you think they would ask?” Flare asked. “Maybe if we have plans to hurt anyone?”

“Sure. They will undoubtedly uncover our dastardly scheme to overthrow Equestria’s current regime of nobles while masquerading as foals,” Silver said, grinning with malicious intent as he rubbed his hooves together and let a low evil laugh out. He paused, tapping the tips of his hooves together thoughtfully. “That’s actually not a bad idea.”

“It would be best if you didn’t joke like that to the princess,” Rain said as she entered the room.

“Princesses,” Silver corrected, “there are two of them now.”

Rain hesitated and shook her head. “Of course. It will take some time to get used to. Of course, how it was unremarked all this time is a mystery. There are two alicorns on our flag for one thing…”

“Retrospect,” Silver shrugged, hopping down from the couch. Proud was about to speak up that the Legend of Nightmare Moon was well known, if just an old ponies tale, but Silver cut him off. He settled for fuming a little. “And I’m not that bad. I have tact.”

“Most of the time,” Flare muttered, thinking about the numerous times Silver demonstrated he didn’t have tact when he wanted to give someone a tongue lashing. Silver stuck his tongue out at him. “How soon should we expect th-”

Flare’s words died on his tongue as the doors to the library opened once more, ushering in two immaculate beings. The most noticeable was Celestia. She was taller than any pony they could remember seeing before, her coat pure white, but having a faint glow and shimmer to it that was more magic than just health. Her mane and tail really were more ethereal than material, wafting gently in the breeze only it could feel, the rainbow of colours within rippling almost independently of the movements of her hair.

Beside her was the Princess of the Night; Luna. Standing no taller than the average pony, she would have been unremarkable if it were not for her wings, horn and regalia. Beside her sister’s regal bearing and gentle confidence, she seems insecure and uncertain, almost hiding behind her bangs.

“Princess,” Pure Rain said, bowing. Proud scrambled off his chair and bowed as well. Flare and Silver merely looked on with awe. Between the three of them, there wasn’t much in terms of reasons to bow instinctively, being too young to have picked up on that trait properly, but Proud also did consider Celestia his favourite character, and wanted to be a Royal Guard on top of that.

Luna looked a slight bit miffed, but Celestia smiled. “Hello, my little ponies,” Proud squeed a bit at that. Celestia smiled at him and the other colts in turn. Luna eyed them curiously from behind her.

“Princess Celestia ma’am! It’s an honour. I always wanted to meet you!” Proud said, starting to gush. “And Luna! Lots of people love and appreciate you and stuff! They were totally on your side when Pinkie was causing trouble.”

Silver and Flare panicked as Proud spoke. As Silver lunged forward, yanking Proud back by his short tail, Flare slapped him over the head with a wing again. Proud’s attention focused on him, he narrowed his eyes and hiss under his breath. “What did we just talk about?”

“Oops,” Proud blushed. Flare rolled his eyes and resisted the urge to give his brother another dope slap. “And mom said it's not okay to hit!”

“Praythee, to which event doth thou refer?” Luna asked, perplexed.

“Well, you see, when you, OW! Er… I mean Silver will cover that part,” Proud said, yelping when Silver bit his ear. He looked like he was suppressing another squee, though.

“I suspect this is the matter of grave importance and National Security of which you were speaking when you requested this private meeting?” Celestia asked Rain with a bemused expression.

“Yes, Princess,” Rain responded. It was strange how she balanced her typical distant demeanour with a respectful but in no way groveling one. “Though, it would be best if they explained it themselves.”

“I see,” Celestia said, turning her attention once more to the foals. Luna’s never left in the first place, her expression that of one trying to decipher a puzzle. “I must say this does seem interesting. You have my attention, little ones.”

Flare blanched a bit at the rap attention Celestia turned on them. “Silver, you’re up.”

“Well Princess-es,” Silver said, swallowing nervously. He closed his eyes and licked his lips, and when he looked up again his eyes had more of his trademark cockiness back. “What do you know about alternate realities and universes?”

Flare could say one thing about Celestia, she was a rapt listener. She didn’t interrupt with needless exclamations, kept her attention focused and looked to be saving most of her questions in case they were answered in the ‘presentation’, or until the end. Luna was a bit lacking in that department, understandable considering her recent exile.

Either way, the story got out, and even their Aunt became privy to a few more details that they haven’t seen fit or found the need to share when they explained it to her earlier. With the embargo on sharing future events that Flare and Silver imposed, they relied on recounting what they knew of the trials Nightmare Moon set up in the forest and the confrontation in the old castle as their proof this time. The expression on Luna’s face had Silver smirking smugly.

“No, that cannot be. This cannot be. Such a thing is unnatural. Didst though not say there was no magic in thine world? How is it then that such an occurrence came to be?” It was far from the Royal Canterlot Voice that became so popular at her second appearance, but it was also far from the meek soft tone she had earlier.

“Now, now, sister,” Celestia said to Luna, resting a wing on her shoulders. Luna calmed herself with visible effort. “No, this is quite the tale, and your telling of it does hold the ring of truth to it.”

“So… does that mean you believe us?” Flare asked uncertainly.

“I am inclined to,” Celestia responded. Proud cheered as Flare bumped hooves with Silver. Their elation was cut short at Celestia’s next comment. “However, it could still be fabricated. As my sister asked, how did you get here in the first place?”

“The wish on the star?” Proud offered. “It’s the only thing we could think of.”

“You mentioned that that was symbolic in human cultures,” Celestia commented. It turned out that Equestria didn’t have the same belief about the wish granting properties of falling stars, and Luna had gotten a somewhat pensive look at the idea. One she once again adopted.

“Perhaps…” she started. The ponies in the room looked at Luna, silently urging her to continue her though. “We sensed something strange about thee when we first arrived. We believe it to be traces of magic on thy person.

“Nor is it simply more magic than we wouldst expect mere foals to possess, it is rather magics of the stars themselves.” Luna looked down at the library floor. “Indeed, it is much like the magics we harnessed to enable our escape for thy seal, dear sister.”

“So does that mean you can help us get home?” Proud asked.

“We… are uncertain,” Luna admitted, looking away from them. “Sister, would you aide me in testing their memories? With their guardian’s permission.”

Aunt Rain looked at her nephews. She had been mostly silent, being a spectator to the conversation as it played out. Flare and Proud looked at Silver. Silver looked back at them with his eyebrows raised. “What are y’all looking at me for? I dunno. Sure?”

Aunt Rain smiled slightly and nodded at the Princesses. With the permission given, Luna focused, her horn glowing. Beside her, Celestia’s horn glowed as she added her magic to whatever spell Luna was working on. Flare felt his feathers pricking as if a strong storm was building, and Silver actual took a few steps backwards and a few books rattled on the shelves.

There was bright flash, and for a few moments Flare felt something like a headache building. Shortly, it faded and the air returned to normal, Luna panting slightly from the exertion.

“We are fine,” Luna insisted at Celestia’s unspoken question. She still sounded weary, but she waved away the concern; shuffling her wings and regaining a semblance of the mostly regal bearing she had when she entered.

“What was that spell Princess Luna?” Flare asked, blinking away the spots in his vision. And here he though pegasi were good with bright lights.

“T’was but a weak dream walking spell combined with divination magic. With it we touched several points in thy memories to confirm their veracity.” Luna looked a bit discomfited. “It is as you claimed; there are two sets of recollections within thy minds. There is also evidence of the Magic of the Stars within thee. Far more than we should in any earthbound creature save for the Beasts of the Constellations. It is correct to assume those still roam our lands, sister?”

“Like ursa majors and minors?” Flare asked. They were the only things that would fit that definition.

“Ah! They do. Marvelous!” Luna said, pleased that some things had not changed in her absence most likely.

“And… is it possible to send us back?” Silver asked nervously, trying to put Luna back on track.

“We… are unsure,” Luna admitted, her previous joy leaving her.

“But you’re the princess of the night!” Proud butted in suddenly, waving his hoof in the air. He turned to the Solar Diarch. “Can you do it Celestia?”

“No,” Luna said firmly, stomping her hoof and for a moment reminding them of Nightmare Moon. She looked slightly abashed when the non-alicorn ponies in the room flinched, but kept her stance. “It is outside of our sisters abilities. Much like how she cannot walk the dreams of our subjects, the Magic of the Stars is without her purview.”

“She is correct, Proud Defender,” Celestia said. “Where as I could raise the moon for her, truly bringing the night sky to life was something I could never do in the thousand years of Luna’s absence. There are things my magic are incapable of, things I cannot fully understand. Luna’s destiny and power is intrinsically linked to the night. It is why she could use the stars to free herself.”

Luna’s confidence slipped a little as her declaration turned into an admission. “And the elements stripped us of much of our power when they freed us of our madness. A spell to seek thy world of origin… the finesse, skill and power would be far beyond what we could perform relying simply on borrowed power. We recall sensing a burst of star magics as we worked toward breaking our seal, but thought nought of it till now. We are sorry, truly sorry, but there is nothing we can do, not until our power returns to us.”

Flare felt the urge to start hyperventilating in response to the confusion of thought Luna’s response brought, but it was simple to get under control as he reminded himself of Luna’s predicament. Silver just sighed. From the corner of his eyes Flare could see him mouthing something, but it wasn’t audible.

“But you’re the Princess…” Proud whimpered again.

“You, the one Silver Prose,” Luna said softly.

“Yes, Princess!” Silver yelped at being suddenly picked out but made a face and rolled his eyes at his reaction. “Sorry. Yes Princess?”

“Thou has spoken of many worlds. In truth, we have had some experience with that field. Our sister, even more so.”

“Experience… Right! Starswirl’s first mirror, right?” Silver said, after a moment’s thought. Celestia and Luna gapped at him. Silver wilted under their stare. “Um… classified? I won’t tell anyone.”

“How doth thou know of that?” Luna demanded. Flare meeped as his wings popped out in fright, Proud swallowing nervously hopelessly looking and gesticulating at the other two.

“Dimensional bleed through and ‘fictional’ productions!” Silver said quickly, backing away from her. Aunt Rain actually stepped forward and placed herself between Silver and Luna, matching the Princess’ glare with one of her own.

“There is no need for that, Luna,” Celestia said soothingly, “likewise you, Pure Rain. You must understand the… shock of hearing a foal mention artifacts that have been locked away from centuries and kept as state secrets. They did explain how they possessed this otherworldly knowledge. Though I must ask again that such sensitive information not be spread.”

“Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye,” Silver recited quickly, complete with motions. He giggled slightly.

“Apologies, we were momentarily taken aback,” Luna said to Silver and the colts. “Pray tell us; what were those motions? What purpose did they serve?”

“Um… you’ll find out eventually?” Silver said. Flare recovered enough to perform another wing dope slap, this time on Silver.

“I suppose I’ll look forward to it,” Celestia said, shaking her head slightly. “It would still be best if none of you mention this to anyone. But what we learned is that there are many worlds, and it is quite easy to be lost among them without some reference.”

“Verily. We suspect we can use thine memories and the signature of Star Magic that hast been imparted on thee to find whence thou camest once we return to our full powers.”

“So you we just have to wait? Okay,” Proud said, almost a full turnaround from his previous reaction.

“O... kay?” Luna echoed, confused.

“We can’t really do anything else, Princess,” Proud admitted. “Asking you was more or less our only plan.”

“It was?” Celestia asked.

“Only feasible one,” Silver added. “I had three more, but they depended on spoilers, access we really wouldn’t be able to get and another wish.”

“You never mentioned those,” Flare murmured at him.

“Because they weren’t feasible,” Silver shrugged. “The Princesses was all I got that might work.”

Celestia smiled at them. “I am pleased that you have such faith in us.”

“Nothing’s more awesome than knowing Luna’s working on something for you,” Silver grinned. Luna blushed slightly.

“We… are also pleased in thine faith. We will do our best not fail your expectations,” Luna said.

“Still, you have given us much to contemplate,” Celestia said. “But we have already spent far too much time in this session, and many will be concerned.”

Pure Rain nodded, speaking for the first time in a while. “I understand that Princess. Thank you for taking the time.” She looked at her nephews and hesitated. Finally, she asked a question she posed to them earlier. “Are they still my nephews, Princess Luna? You said you checked their story…”

“Thy concern is commendable,” Luna said with a soft smile. “It is as they didst claim. They are both thine nephews inasmuch as they are the humans they recall. Both memories are real. However,” her tone shifted to one of warning. “We must warn thee to avoid allowing thine memories to become corrupted. The efforts thou hast taken these past days to keep distinct your sides are proper. We confess to lacking knowledge as to what mightst happen should they blend, but we advise against it.”

“We’ll try, Princess,” Flare said, suddenly nervous about what could happen if ‘Flare’s’ memories and ‘James’’ memories combined, remember the headaches. “What do we do in the mean time?”

“Until our power is restored, thou should continue thine life as thou would have. Thou art still foals in our land, and thy guardian stills stands with you,” Luna said, her regal bearing returning to her.

“Pure Rain, Proud Defender, Silver Prose, Blue Flare; you represent something quite new to Equestria, and I confess to looking forward to what might come of it. Pure Rain, your concern for your family is touching, same for you three,” Celestia added to the foals with a smile. “I shall leave word with my faithful student that you may use Spike’s services to send messages to my sister and I. In fact, I quite look forward to anything you might say as you adjust.”

“Princess, that is too much!” Pure Rain said, her eyes widening.

“Nonsense,” Celestia said dismissively. “Now, we have much to do. I hope you enjoy the rest of the celebration, my little ponies.”

With that last smile, Celestia lit her horn and whisked Luna and herself out of the library with a flash of teleportation magic. The dazed looks and stunned silence was broken by Proud.

“We can send reports to Princess Celestia?” Proud exclaimed, all but buzzing from the ill-contained glee. “That is so awesome!”

“A bit too Rainbow Dash,” Silver muttered.

“Just a bit,” Flare agreed. Still, reports to the princess? About what? And how often? He shook his head to clear those thoughts, since they wouldn’t have much bearing on immediate events.

“She knows how to make an exit, though,” Silver observed.

“In all her, their, time of ruling, I would assume they picked up a few tricks here and there,” Aunt Rain remarked, still looking a bit on the shell-shocked side. “This will take some getting used to.”

Aunt Rain still looked a bit shelled shocked. Flare trotted over and tapped her leg. “So; what happens now?”

Aunt Rain looked taken aback, but her expression settled into a gentle smile. “I suppose we can head home. We have things to do.”

“We do?” Proud asked, though he still buzzing with excitement over the pospects.

“We do,” Aunt Rain confirmed; taking the chance to rest a hoof on Silver’s back. “For one; you three are still grounded.”

“What?” all three yelped.

“Timberwolves,” Aunt Rain said firmly. “You aren’t getting off lightly for that. But I suppose I could shorten the duration somewhat.” Aunt Rain said thoughtfully. “Still, there is one other major thing you have to prepare for. School starts in a few days, and you are still attending.”

Touring

~Silver~

The mayor had declared it a holiday. Partly out of continued celebration for the return of the second princess, partly because too many ponies had ‘celebrated’ the day before for it to go any other way. The Rain household was quiet, but not for the reasons you would think. Flare was sleeping, curled up in one corner of the sofa, a wing over his face to block out the light out of his eyes. Silver was holding a puzzle sphere in his magic, shifting the pieces in their tracks as an idle hooves activity rather than in any attempt to solve it, a book before him.

Proud’s body lay strew on his back on the ground, his legs splayed out, head lolling to the side, tongue hanging limply out. For a long while, the only sounds were Flare’s soft breaths as he snoozed, the pages of Silver’s book turning and their aunt in the kitchen.

“Gah!” Proud said suddenly, rolling over so he lay on his belly, squirming and kicking his legs. “I’m BORED!”

Silver lazily looked over at the clock. “Three minutes and… forty seven seconds. You owe me two bits.”

“Bah… it felt like hours,” Proud whined incoherently as he squirmed some more. “I need something to do!”

“You could make another bet. You were only ninety seconds away this time. I could use some more bits.” Silver suggested impassively. “Otherwise… Read a book. Make art. Practice your cutie mark story in the mirror. Sleep the time away like that one other there.”

Flare’s wing shifted slightly and a single eye opened. “Shut up, Silver.”

“Love you too,” Silver said, flashing a half grin as Flare let his wing drop back into place. Proud wiggled over to the sofa and managed to get his chin on the seat without getting up.

“How can you just read?” Proud sighed. “I can’t focus on anything.”

“Kid’s brain. Biological fact that it’s hard for the developing brain, as in the organ, to just pass the time like an adult would. But it’s way easier to entertain them on the flip side,” Silver yawned. He noticed Proud raising an eyebrow at him. “I did biology.”

“Fine. Still; how can you just read?” Proud asked. “I started on Myths and Legends of Equestria you stole from the library and couldn’t make it past the first story… And yes, you made it very clear that you studied biology. Every single time I bring up... Anything not human, now that I think about it.”

“Pony” Silver corrected with a shrug. “Anyway, I like to read, both mes. And I didn’t steal it. It’s a library. They lend books. I borrowed a book.”

“The library was closed,” Proud pointed out, still hanging off the edge of the sofa.

“The door was open,” Silver said, deflecting it with a roll off his eyes.

“You took it without permission,” Flare said, adding his quarter bit without lifting his wing.

“There was no one there,” Silver said, glaring at the ‘sleeping’ pegasus.

“Because it was closed,” Proud grinned.

“Fine, I’ll take it back!” Silver groaned. He needed to get a library card anyway.

“Take what back?” Aunt Rain called from the kitchen.

“Nothing!” Silver said, stressing the word. Proud snickered and Silver bounced the puzzle sphere off his head.

“That didn’t hurt,” Proud said, sticking his tongue out. He peered at the book Silver was reading and made a face at the strange diagrams and symbols that took up some of the page. “What are you reading anyway?”

“Progressing in the Early Arts. Unicorn stuff. It’s the accompanying material for that magic training set mom and gran got me for Hearth’s Warming last year,” Silver said. “I figure while I’m here, I should see if I can learn the fancy stuff. You’re already stronger than me and Flare put together, and Flare can glide, even if he can’t fly yet.”

“But you suck at magic. I mean, you got the basic illusion spell grandma taught you right, but that’s about it,” Proud said helpfully. The family has high hopes for the foals, having dreams of seeing Silver in Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, Proud a high ranked officer in the guard, Flare either in the Wonderbolts or some upper management in a weather team or factory.

“Well, yeah… but that was before. This is now. I’ve got a mind honed from years of university study and DMing games, well used to abstract thinking and conceptualizing complex ideas coupled with the magical vitality and potential of this form,” Silver said grandly. “I will be dazzling you all with my prowess in due time!”

“Still can’t really get it, can you?” Flare asked, peeking out from under his wing.

“Enope,” Silver sighed, flipping another page. “I mean, I can understand it better than I remember ‘Silver’ understanding this stiff, and I’m actually more precise with my telekinesis, but the other spells? Still can’t get them to work the way I want to.”

“That’s because magic is more than just facts and figures,” Aunt Rain said, coming from the kitchen and heading towards the basement. “Even with your additional knowledge, you won’t make much progress if it’s against your affinities.”

“And the easiest way to find your affinities is when you get your mark,” Silver said, rolling his eyes. “I know, it’s in the introduction chapter. But I don’t want to get my mark. I want to learn magic!”

“That’s somewhat… contrary to most foals your age. I can suspect why though.” Their aunt’s expression was contemplative before she headed downstairs.

“Come on, Silver, getting your cutie mark is awesome!” Proud protested. “It’s the greatest feeling ever! Everything just makes sense afterwards. OH! We should get you involved into the cutie maaah--- Uhhh you know.” Proud said, looking to where Aunt Rain descended, then back to Silver, knowing how paranoid he'd be about the little things.

“Right…” Silver decided not to share his opinions on that subject with them at the moment.

“On the bright side, you can actually learn magic,” Proud said, a mite bit jealous. He muttered something under his breath that might have been ‘unicorn master race.’ Silver’s expression dropped, and not just because of frustration.

“You know… you could ask Aunt Rain for pointers on earth pony magic,” Flare pointed out.

“Huh?” Proud asked. “What do you mean?”

“… You didn’t notice it?” Silver said with disbelief. “It’s right there on the wall!”

Proud looked to were Silver was pointing. It was their Aunt’s graduation certificate, framed and proudly displayed. “Her degree from the Canterlot University?”

“Look at what it’s in,” Silver said, rolling his eyes. Being too far to make it out; Proud reluctantly got up and headed over. His expression turned dumb. Silver smirked and prompted him. “And..?”

“Um… Engineering, and… a minor in Magics, Earth Pony?” Proud read numbly. Silver could almost see the wheels in Proud’s head hitch.

“Honestly… it’s like you don’t pay attention to anything,” Silver chuckled. He was getting back to his book, ready to try and work his way through from the start again to see if something would stick.

“Earth Pony magic?” Proud repeated with a slow smile. He looked like he was about to burst out into a cheer or something, but a knock on the door interrupted him.

“Hey! Are you home?” a familiar filly voice called out from the door.

“It’s rude to yell,” another one chastised. A moment later the doorbell rang.

Silver made a face as Flare gave up all pretense of sleep and got up, stretching and yawning. Proud quickly trotted over to the door and opened it.

“Hi, Proud Defender!” Dinky said in cheerful greeting.

“Hiya, Dinky!” Proud said, just as cheerfully. His grin got wider when he saw the company Dinky brought with her. “Coronet, Rumble, Button Mash! What are you guys doing here?”

“We came to hang out and show you around town!” Coronet said, peeking past Proud. “Are your brothers around? Hi Silver!”

Silver chuckled nervously and waved weakly at her. Flare pouted. “I’m here too.”

“Hi Flare!” Rumble called out. It was about there that Aunt Rain emerged from the basement, looking at the sudden increase in the number of foals in the general vicinity of her living room.

“Miss Rain, can Proud and his brothers come out and play?” Dinky asked.

“No!” Silver said suddenly. He really didn’t think spending a day with other foals would be all that much fun. Still, he found himself shifting nervously as his outburst attracted all eyes towards him. “I mean, we got grounded for sneaking out during the Long Night. So it wouldn’t be right for us to go out!”

“Oh,” Dinky said, looking depressed, and honestly making Silver feel a bit bad for abusing the grounding like that.

“Actually, I’ve put some thought on that matter,” Aunt Rain said, motioning for the visiting foals to come into the room.

“You have?” Silver said, with a slight trace of dread.

“I have, and I think I will be adjusting the conditions,” Aunt Rain confirmed.

“You will?” Proud asked with an eager smile.

“Yeah! You got your cutie mark!” Dinky said suddenly. Of course, that exclamation shifted the conversation’s focus and the four visitors crowded Proud, who of course launched into his, by this point, well rehearsed cutie mark story. Which by this point, after generous applications of exaggerations, included him single-hoofedly taking down ten timberwolves while Silver and Flare fled.

“You were saying, Aunty?” Flare asked, smirking slightly.

“You three are new to the community, and your… situation is unique as well,” she said, being careful with her words. “In either case, it would be good for you to get to know some of the other ponies your age outside of just a welcome party. Actually; I should start making arrangements for a Mark-Mitzvah for Proud. It will be a few days a best before your parents get the message I sent them.”

“So… we’re not grounded anymore?” Silver fished.

“Oh, you still are,” Aunt Rain said with a soft laugh.

“Ponyfeathers…” Silver muttered.

“I want you back home by dinner for the next week, and I expect a full sheet on why sneaking out was a bad idea,” Aunt Rain said.

“Like… homework?” Flare groaned.

“I suppose it is exactly like that,” Aunt Rain said with a slight tip of her head. “Aside from that, you are free to go. And let Proud know as well. Also; that’s another bit, Silver.”

The foals chatted excitedly as they left the Rain residence, though Silver was something of the exception to that, hanging towards the back of the group, and being the only one with full saddlebags. Proud, being the only one aside from Coronet to have a cutie mark, was still something of the center of attention, and Flare dropped back when he realized Silver was lagging behind.

“What’s wrong, Silver?” Flare asked softly once he was certain everypony else was too distracted to pay them much mind. “You okay?”

“No. Thrilled to be spending a day with little colts and fillies,” Silver deadpanned. “Can’t you see my excitement? It’s quite palpable.”

“Indeed,” Flare smirked, matching the sarcasm. “I’m practically overcome. But what’s really bugging you? You were the one who was always reminding us we’re foals now.”

“I don’t do well with kids,” Silver muttered. The main group laughed at something someone said, making both Flare and Silver look up for a moment before continuing. “It’s weird and awkward.”

“You were fine at the party,” Flare commented after a few moments of silence.

“One; it was a party. Two; I was running on local memories only then. I don’t think Fillitis ‘Scared of Fillies’ Silver is gonna be helpful,” Silver said bitterly. He was still embarrassed about that, but he really couldn’t help it. “And thirdly; admitting all this to Aunt Rain and the princesses kinda mixed up the memories a bit. It’s harder to keep them distinct.”

“Yeah, me too,” Flare admitted. He looked up at Proud being with a curious expression. “I’m not sure if he’s not having troubles, worked out a way or just doesn’t care.”

“He’s still talking about writing the princesses a letter warning them of stuff. I think he just doesn’t care,” Silver said cynically. “Either way, I’m not looking forward to this.”

“That why you brought the books?” Flare asked, nudging the saddlebags. Silver had but what remained of his allowance in it, as well as both his copy of Progressing in the Early Arts and the Myths and Legends of Equestria he borrowed from the library.

“Something to read,” Silver shrugged. In fact, he was looking forward to being bored. Of course, considering it was a tour, it wasn’t likely he would have a chance to read them, so they were little more than unnecessary weight.

“You know you aren’t going to have a chance to read those, right?” Flare asked, putting voice to Silver’s own musings.

“Twenty-twenty hindsight,” Silver sighed.

“Hey you two, stop lagging behind!” Rumble called. Flare and Silver picked up the pace to catch up with the group.

“Proud finished regaling you with the embellished tale of his Cutie Mark?” Silver asked, looking around and trying to figure out where they were. Thanks to the conversation, he had stopped paying attention and just walked.

“He did,” Rumble nodded, exchanging a conspiring glance. “How many timberwolves were there, really?”

“Just two,” Flare said. “It was bad enough though. Where are we anyway?”

“The first stop on our tour!” Coronet said, coming up being Rumble. “The school house!”

While it wasn’t the one room building from the show, it was still fairly small and rustic. A long building of several rooms and a walkway covered with an overhang, bell tower at one end. A low white fence encircled a fairly large land area with a typical looking playground included. The flag flapped gently in the breeze.

“You’re on our street, so you’re going to be coming to this school with us,” Dinky said happily. “We have the best teacher in all of Ponyville, Miss Cheerilee!” Dinky noticed the lack of enthusiasm from the three she was guiding. “Um… what’s wrong?”

“Well…” Proud said slowly. Coronet snickered.

“It’s just the school house,” Button muttered. “We should have started at the arcade.”

“Not everyone loves school as much as you do,” Coronet said, nuzzling Dinky teasingly. Dinky hmphed and stuck her tongue out.

“Well… now you know how to get to school!” Dinky declared, as if that made everything fine.

“What if we weren’t paying attention?” Silver asked, lifting a hoof into the air.

“You now know the way to school,” Dinky reiterated cheerfully, pointing back the way they came. “Next on the tour is Sweet Apple Acres!”

Dinky trotted off happily, leaving the rest to look at each other and simply shrug and follow. While the school house was near the outskirts of town, the farm was outside properly. It wasn’t exactly obvious, but the path was soon surrounded by farm land and tended apple trees, a barn roof poking up over the trees at one point. What was obvious was the smell of the fruit in the air.

Silver, well, Daine hadn’t been one for apples before, mostly because he once idly started scrapping the skin with a knife and was most… disconcerted when it took about a minute for wax to stop flaking off. But these apples… just wow. He said as much.

“Sweet Apple Acres is the original and ancestral home of the Apple Family,” Dinky said, well warmed up to her role as tour guide. “They’ve moved out since then, and there are Apple Family ponies all over Equestria now, but Sweet Apple Acres still grows the best apples out of all of them!”

“Yeah, there was a Apple Family farm near Vanhoover too,” Flare commented. “They really did end up all over.”

“Um, Dinky, are we actually going to visit them?” Rumble asked suddenly. “It’s kinda rude just to show up like this.”

“No, it’s just a tour!” Dinky said cheerfully. “Make sure to stay together and not wander off! Next, we’ll be heading back into town, passing a few more interesting points before our rest stop and meal break. I hope you all brought spending bits!”

“She’s having too much fun with this,” Silver muttered under his breath as started lagging behind again.

“Just let it happen… she took my joyboy to make me come,” Button warned, glancing remorsefully at his saddlebag, a single side style, unlike Silver’s with bags on both sides. “She can be scary when she’s mad.”

“Dinky? But she’s so...” Silver waved a hoof, groping for a word. He snorted with frustration.

“Cute? Adorable?” Flare offered. “Sweet?”

“Stop helping,” Silver shot at him.

"Awww, you like her," Proud teased.

The look Silver gave Proud was of horror, an eye twitching. “Stop… talking. Now.”

Proud snickered as Button muttered, “I know what you mean. Just trust me.”

“Are you wasting time back there again?” Dinky called back at them, her little voice huffy and irritated. She was pouting a bit as she glared in their direction.

“No!” They chorused guiltily. It was enough to satisfy her. The ‘tour continued without further disruptions, Dinky, with Rumble and Coronet’s help, pointing out different points of interest along the way; the toy store, the flower shop and one of the best candy stores on that side of town, among others. They were also introduced for some of the locals when they passed them on the streets. It wasn’t all that long before Dinky led the group as they trooped into Sugarcube corner.

The smell of pastries and desserts filled the air, and even having already partaken of some of their products at the welcome party, the brothers took a moment to appreciate the heady aromas.

“Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Cake!” Dinky and Coronet sang out.

“Oh, hello dears! My husband is out at the moment.” the tubby blue mare replied before she looked up from the pastries she was stocking. “Oh, there are quite a few of you today!”

“Hi, Mrs. Cake!” Proud said. “I’m Proud Defender, these are my brothers Silver Prose and Blue Flare. Dinky and her friends are showing us around town.”

“Hello,” Flare said, waving his wing slightly. Silver just nodded and looked at the treats behind the display glass.

“Well isn’t that nice! How about I get you all something to nibble on, no charge,” Mrs. Cake offered. The suddenly yelps of happiness and the general rush for a table that left the brothers on their own was answer enough. Mrs. Cake chuckled softly. “Well then, you three go on. I’ll bring a tray over in a bit.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Cake,” Silver said before trotting over with Flare and Proud to the table their ‘tour group’ had claimed. He hopped up on one of the free chairs, one between Rumble and Button.

“So what do you think?” Dinky asked. “Ponyville is neat, isn’t it?”

“We already knew that,” Silver muttered.

“Ignore him. He’s a sourpuss,” Proud said, waving a hoof dismissively. “So, anything else in town to see?”

“There’s the library, and the swimming hole, and the climbing rocks. Oh! And there’s also the Tower!” Dinky said, listing things out.

“There’s a bowling alley and the joke shop,” Rumble added.

“And the arcades,” Button said. “We could go there.”

“And the spa,” Coronet pointed out. The others looked at her. “What? Sometimes Mom and Miss Rarity take me and Sweetie Bell there. It’s fun.”

The colts, excluding the brothers, made gagging motions, just as Mrs. Cake arrived with a tray of treats. She looked at them with concern. “What? Is something wrong? Is it the food?”

“No, it’s nothing, Mrs. Cake,” Flare said quickly.

“They were just being stupid,” Coronet said, glaring at the colts on a whole. “There’s no way your cooking could be bad.”

“Well it you’re sure,” Mrs. Cake didn’t look convinced, but set the tray, with a couple small baked treats on it, for them. “Enjoy!” Treats delivered, she went back to watching the register.

“Anyway, after we finish here, we can show you were everything else is,” Dinky said with enthusiasm.

Silver snagged something that looked glazed and cinnamon-y with a groan, pulling out his book and finding the page he left off.

“Hey, you really starting to read now?” Button asked, poking him in the side.

“Yep,” Silver nodded.

“But that’s not nice!” Coronet protested.

“I can read and listen,” Silver said, sounding a bit distracted. “Comment too. Like I’m doing now.”

“No, trust me, he really can,” Proud said, rolling his eyes. “He might be a bit slow to respond while he’s doing it, but he can.”

“I can listen and play my jo-”

“No you can’t,” three voices said, cutting Button off before he could finish the comment. He swore in what almost certainly wasn’t the language the rest of them were speaking.

Silver looked up suddenly, startled by a revelation. None of them had been speaking English the entire time they had been in Equestria. They had subconsciously switched over to the local version of it, translating everything without realizing it. Well, that was certainly something to look into, when they were alone anyway.

“Got an idea, Silver?” Dinky asked.

“Um…” Silver blinked. He shrugged and just went with something. “Is there a book store?”

Flight

“It’s… a long way down,” Flare observed nervously, having second thoughts about this whole thing now that it was looking him in the face and there was no way to back out of it without actually going through with it. He meeped with momentary panic as his support was jostled.

“Of course it’s high,” Thunderlane chuckled as he moved the cloud more than a few hooves higher than its previous position. “It works out better for you this way too.”

Flare huddled in the middle of the cloud, his wings held to his sides and hooves firmly at his barrel. “How could this possibly work out better?”

Thunderlane observed Flare’s posture and sighed, running his hoof over his hair. “Okay, tell me if I’m guessing wrong. You grew up in a grounded city, right?” Flare nodded. Thunderlane kept going. “And you didn’t have a pegasus parent? Or even a relative that was around very often? So mostly around earth ponies and unicorns?”

“See, that’s your problem,” Thunderlane said when Flare confirmed it all. “Pegasi kids like you tend to pick up on bad habits because they don’t have anyone around they can mimic. Your wings grew in early, and even if your magic is still growing, you should be able to glide and soar easily enough.”

“Really? But, don’t pegasi use magic to fly?” Flare asked. He remembered hearing that. Distinctly.

“We do, but even if you don’t have enough for active flight, the same magic that lets you sit on that cloud would let you glide and soar if you try,” Thunderlane said, bopping the cloud slightly. “It’s called free gliding. All you have to do is spread your wings and let the air carry you. Your instincts will kick in enough to help keep you relatively level as long as you don’t try to flap.”

“That sounds way too dangerous!” Flare declared. Why did he agree to get help from Thunderlane? He should have asked someone like Fluttershy.

Thunderlane huffed as he lazily flapped in circles around the cloud. “Foals start flying at different times. There are a few fillies in town that fly perfectly even though they’re younger than you. Even Rumble can fly. I’ll be beside you to catch you if you start fumbling, so you don’t need to worry about.”

“But…” Flare said, gulping as he pecked over the edge again. Pegasi have naturally powerful vision, and he could easily make out Rumble, far below his cloud, waving encouragingly. He’d already gone through the practice, and managed to free glide just fine. But then, he could already fly for the most part. Pegasi with a fear of heights wasn’t unknown, Fluttershy was one, but it wasn’t so much the height that was the issue as it was the falling. He might have the wings on his back, but he also had two decades of experience being a wingless land bound biped. One who didn’t think too kindly about falling.

Rumble cupped his hooves over his muzzle and yelled up at Flare. “You’ll be fine!”

“See? Nothing to worry about,” Thunderlane said confidently. He landed on the cloud beside Flare. “I’m one of the best fliers in town, you can trust me. Just hold out your wings straight and strong, but not too stiffly. You want to be able to react to the wind flow around your feathers.” He demonstrated the posture. “You try it.”

Flare gulped again, but unfolded his wings and tried to match Thunderlanes’ posture after a jab. A hoof here and there from the mature pegasus adjusted his tilt and angle until Thunderlane nodded, pleased. “Excellent. Now, we’ll both push off on three.”

“I don’t know about this…” Flare repeated again, legs trembling slightly.

“I could always do it the hard way and take you down,” Thunderlane grinned. “The first time is one of the hardest. You’ll love it and you’ll be fine. Promise.”

“Pinkie Promise?”

“Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye,” Thunderlane recited, going through the motions. Everypony in Ponyville knew what a Pinkie Promise was.

It was silly, but it did make Flare feel better. “Okay…”

“Then on three,” Thunderlane said, grouching and spreading his wings. “One… Two… THREE!”

Flare closed his eyes and pushed off into the emptiness, leaving the yielding surface of the cloud behind. For a moment he fell, and he almost started flailing at the emptiness under his hooves, the clutch of gravity in his chest.

“Don’t panic! Keep your wings and eyes open!” Thunderlane yelled over at him.

Flare cracked one eye open forcibly and the feeling of falling eased with the perspective. Something had snagged him, not like hitting a wall, but more akin to a wave, or a pillow. It pushed against his wings, holding up in its embrace. The wind that had been rushing in his ears and face seemed to change, no longer something to panic over, but a comforting song that he should have known a long time ago. His feathers tingled and twitched as they reacted to breeze that flowed through and around them.

A slow smile spread across his face. He was flying. Under his own power. Not in a plane or even from a hang-glider, but only with his own personal pair of wings. He let out a whoop of pure joy that almost upset his aerodynamics, but only rocked him slightly.

It didn’t matter. The wind was far more gentle than he thought it would be; blowing across his face and bring a sense of peace to him. Ponyville was sprawled out like artwork; rolling hills and fields outside the town, the thatched roofs of the town proper, the clouds in the sky tended to by a few on duty weather ponies, and the sunlight spilling over it all. The moment was almost perfect, and he found himself giggling over it.

“How you doing?” Thunderlane asked, coming up beside him, a knowing smirk on his face at Flare’s obvious enthusiasm.

“This is awesome!” Flare said, channeling his inner Rainbow Dash.

“I told you you’d like it,” Thunderlane said. Unlike Flare, he was flying, rather than simply gliding. He flapped a few times and pulled ahead of the foal slightly, spreading his own wings as he settled into a glide of his own. “Now that you’ve got that, I want you to follow my lead on the way down!”

Thunderlane led Flare though a series of gentle maneuvers as they spiraled around the hill that Rumble was cheering them on from, mostly different ways to bank and turn while reading the air currents as they ruffled mane and feathers. It was going fine until Thunderlane got a bit too ambitious, more used to Rumble’s level of skill than Flare’s relative lack.

“Just drop your right wing slightly, and pull your left one back,” Thunderlane said, demonstrating and going into a tighter spiral that would end with them landing on the hillside.

“Okay!” Flare said, following Thunderlane’s lead, dropping his wing slightly and fighting the urge to flap instead. His balance got thrown off as he shed too much lift on that side and he found himself plummeting in a dive. He started yelling in panic, both wings snapping back out, as his muzzle pointed earthwards.

Even with his wings spread it did little more than keep the world from pinwheeling. “I’m gonna crash!”

The strong beating of wings was the only warning he had before two strong hooves snagged him and pulled him out of the dive, the ground’s headlong rush towards him aborted as his descent was one again leisurely. Panting heavily, tears in his eyes, Flare looked up to see Thunderlane’s sheepish face.

“Sorry, that one was a bit too much for you,” he admitted as he brought them to the ground. Rumble quickly hurried over, half flying, half running as Thunderlane continued. “Are you okay?”

Flare swallowed as his hooves touched the ground again, and nodded.

“That was so cool!” Rumble said. “Except for the last part, but my brother caught you.”

“You dropped your wing too much,” Thunderlane , explained. “I guess I should have warned you about that.”

Flare finally managed to find a voice and looked up at Thunderlane with a shaky smile. “Can we go again?”

“So, did you go again?” Proud asked as they shared their days experiences over dinner. Chili with fresh bread, a light salad and cheese.

“No,” Flare sighed with disappointment. “He had me and Rumble go through flapping drills and wing power building exercises.” He shifted his sore wings slightly. “Between the gliding and all that flapping my wings are killing me…”

“How does gliding make your wings sore?” Proud asked around a mouthful of bread.

“Manners,” Aunt Rain said absently, reading the day’s paper.

“You have to hold your wings out stiff against the wind…” Flare tried to think of a good analogy so those without wings would get it. “It’s like holding your arms out straight with a bucket in each one. You eventually get used to it, but until then… ow.”

“Sounds… fun,” Silver mumbled. He hadn’t really touched his meal, most of the chili cooling in his bowl, his bread chased around the plate. In fact, the only thing he ate was the salad and cheese.

“It was, actually,” Flare said, smiling. “I actually got to fly! When I was up there it was like… nothing else mattered. The world was there but it wasn’t as important as it was before. It was just me and the sky. I can’t wait to actually fly on my own!”

Silver and Proud stared at him with curious expressions, not really sure how to react to it. Aunt Rain chuckled. “It’s a pegasi trait. Earth Ponies are linked to the earth, unicorns to the magic field, pegasi to the sky. Most all of them revel in being in the air. If you pay attention, you’ll see that a good number of older pegasi fly often, if only to hover above the ground.”

"Like Rainbow Dash?" Proud chimed in. "She pretty much always flies. Everywhere." He smiled knowing what would happen with the Poison Joke incident and how Rainbow seemed to refuse to walk and let her spazzy wings crash her into everything.

“I… never noticed that,” Silver admitted. To be fair, he’d been holed up in the house or library for the most part. He claimed it was just to learn as much as he could since he was never the type for physical activities, but Flare and Proud both placed bets on it being him trying to avoid a certain filly or two.

“Well, if you left the house and went outside for once,” Proud teased, raising the topic. “I went to the arcade with Button this morning, then spent some of the evening with Aunt Rain. She showed me a lot of the things she does at the dam.”

“Really?” Silver said, suddenly interested. “How come I didn’t get to come?”

“You ran out to the library when we were ready,” Rain commented. She pointed a hoof at Silver’s bowl. “Is there a problem?”

Silver blinked and looked down at the bowl with obvious distaste. “I don’t like beans,” he muttered.

“I see,” Rain commented. “You still have to eat them.” Silver muttered something under his breath. “What was that?”

“Nothing!” Silver said, sticking a spoonful in his mouth with a grimace. His brothers snickered as he chewed, earning a glare.

“So what did you do all day?” Proud asked. “Hide from Dinky and Coronet in the library again?”

“I wasn’t hiding! I was reading the Daring Do books!” Silver protested, his outburst even getting a raised eyebrow from their aunt. “Not that it helped anyway…”

“Oh?” Proud said, eyes growing as he sensed a story. “What happened?”

“Dinky and her sister showed up- Shut up,” Silver said, glaring again as his brothers laughed at his expense.

“Sorry, it’s just…” Flare wiped a tear from his eye. Rain stayed out of the conversation, for all appearances caught up in her paper. Flare managed to get his snickers under control. “Did you run off again?”

“I only did that once…” Silver mumbled. “And it was four of them ganging up on me. I got to meet another unicorn colt today, though.”

“You did?” Proud asked, casting glances at Silver’s still mostly untouched bowl of chili.

“Who? Where? How?” Flare asked. Silver had been complaining about the number of unicorn fillies around, but the lack of colts to try and hang out with.

“Dinky dragged me off to play star halma,” Silver sighed. Both his brothers looked confused. “Chinese Checkers. Corner Piece was my partner. We lost though.”

“Corner Piece?” Proud asked. He still looked lost, having never heard of it before, and being more into chess. He poked Silver and made a show of looking at the bowl. Silver rolled his eyes and shoved it towards him, and he took it gleefully.

“Yep. Orange colt. He’s not in our school block though,” Silver said. He reached for some more of the salad. “Too many fillies in ours, if you ask me.”

“Really?” Rain commented. “Give is a little longer and you will find your opinion changing.”

“I’m… trying not to focus on that, Aunt Rain” Silver said, an eye twitching slightly.

“It’s perfectly natural for colts your age to start seeing fillies in a different light,” Rain said, almost smiling. Almost. “In fact, considering how you like to present yourself as mature for your age, I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s already starting. Proud was telling me about Ditzy Do’s daughter…”

“AUNTIE!” Silver said, the look of horror back on his face as he put both hooves on the table.

“Manners,” Rain commented one again. “You three still need to get your supplies together for school. Your first class is tomorrow. Groaning won’t change anything.”

“But Aunt Rain… do we have to? I mean, with all that’s going on,” Proud sighed.

“Yes,” she said firmly, leaving no wiggle room in the tone. “You are. The princess told you to wait while Princess Luna recovers her power and you are in my care. You will still be going to school. Now hurry and finish eating, and don’t think I didn’t see you give Proud your share, Silver.”

School Day

~Pure Rain~

“Mother would be stunned if she saw you now,” Rain commented as she and Silver worked in the kitchen assembling lunches, her nephew perched on the step stool that had become something of a permanent fixture in the room, his horn glowing. “Stunned, but also pleased.”

Turnip and carrots, hay rolls, peanut butter cookies and some of her infused water. Mint and peaches, in this case. Proud was attempting to learn her trick. So far he had only managed to puree the mango he was using. Silver had taken pleasure at laughing at him, but she had decided against calling him out on his actions, mostly because Proud had been teasing him for an hour about the ball that had launched into the bookshelf when Silver tried to use the colour change spell from his book on it.

Admittedly, both mishaps were amusing, though Silver had muttered something that sounded like ‘launch item’ and ‘level 1’ under his breath and scribbled something on the edge of the parchment he had been using in the odd script she spotted he and the other two using now and again. It was another thing she decided not to press them on until they were more settled.

“Do you mean mom or gran?” Silver asked, carefully setting the knife he was using to slice turnips down on the counter, releasing his magic from it with a slight sigh, rubbing his horn slightly.

“Gran,” Rain acknowledged. She paused before adding, “both, actually.”

After what happened the day before with his mishap with the spell, she had been somewhat uneasy when he offered to help with preparing their lunch, but he defended himself that the ball accident was because of the flaw in the colour change spell’s casting, nothing to do with his levitation. She still kept an eye on him in case of accidents. While her focus was on Earth Pony Magic, her courses had touched on all the tribes, even an anecdote on the rare nocturne pegasi magic. Unicorn foals were the most volatile and could have magic flares long after their early years. Memories of a mature ‘human’ or not, his magic was still prepubescent and held a possibility of flaring once more before it matured fully, particularly when one considered his new-found interest in learning magic.

“So… why, Aunt Rain?” Silver prompted.

“You might not realize it, but you are somewhat ahead of your peers with your… finesse,” Rain said, choosing her words carefully.

“I am?” Silver asked, a half smile on his face.

“You are. Within the average for a colt at your development level in terms of power, but your skill and control when it comes to telekinesis is remarkable,” Rain confirmed. She watched him swell with pride a bit, before distracting himself by dividing the chopped vegetables between the four lunch sacs. “I suppose that is where your newfound maturity is taking effect in your magic. Proud is proving to comprehend the principles behind Internal Mana Flow much more than I expected him to as well.”

“You taught Proud about Mana Flows?” Silver groaned. “I really don’t want to miss the next time you take him out for a lesson,” he muttered before picking up the two of the small lunch sacs in his mouth and hopping off his stool, pausing only to push it back into its corner. Rain picked up the remaining two and followed him to the dining room where four sets of saddle bags waited, the clasp of the green one recently exchanged for a gold and platinum shield that matched their owner’s new cutie mark.

“Speaking of your brother,” Rain commented, glancing at the clock ticking away. “Where are Flare and Proud?”

“I have first go at the bathroom,” Silver grinned as he checked his saddlebags, dropping his lunch in to sit beside his pencils and books. He snickered slightly. “Flare rolled for second slot, so Proud has to go last.”

“And Flare takes forever to get ready,” Proud added as he sulked down the stairs into the room. Flare glided over his head, having leapt off the stairs to get some air.

“Hey, wing care is very important,” Flare defended himself. Rain did have to admit his feathers looked clean and glossy.

“No jumping off the staircase, Flare,” Rain scolded. Flare grinned shyly and landed with a clop of hooves, folding his wings. Rain nodded at him before adding a thick stack of cards to Proud’s bag, bound with twine. “These are the invitations to your Mark-Mitzvah, Proud. Feel free to hand them out to some of your classmates today. ”

“Thanks, Aunty,” Proud said happily, skipping over to his bags and rifling through them for a few moments.

Rain noticed Silver waving a hoof at Flare where Proud couldn’t see. “Doesn’t care,” he said softly. It most have been an inside joke, for Flare snickered slightly before getting his own saddle bags and starting to strap them on.

“Are you sure the three of you will be fine getting to school on your own?” Rain asked again, not for the first time that morning.

“Yes, we will, Auntie,” Silver insisted, nuzzling her foreleg. “Even if we weren’t older than we looked, Dinky, Rumble, Button and the rest said they were coming to take us with them. They should be showing up right about now.” He waved a hoof at the door and waited.

“Silver?” Rain asked as he held his posse motionlessly for a few seconds well.

“My timing is off…” Silver muttered. Proud snickered.

“You don’t have to worry about us,” Flare said, trying to sound reassuring. “It’s just school. We did before.”

“Very well.” Rain idly wondered if he was referring to their time in the Vanhoover school, or another reference to something from their ‘human’ memories. Somepony’s knock on the door prematurely ended her considerations and a set of familiar voices called out.

“So close,” Silver muttered.

Proud ran to the door and enthusiastically greeted the four foals there. Dinky, Rumble, Button and Liza this time. All four had broad grins for them. “Morning, Miss Pure Rain! We came to take your nephews to school.”

Rain inclined her head in acknowledgement. She supposed her worries really were unfounded. Inwardly, she shied away from the idea of becoming a doting parental figure. “Have a good day at school. And do well on your tests.”

Proud stumbled midstep. “Tests?”

“How did you forget about the tests?” Silver asked with disbelief.

“Yeah, how did you?” Flare asked from the other side as Proud trudged on, looking slightly dejected.

“What tests?” Liza asked. “We don’t have any tests today.”

“You don’t,” Flare said, nudging Silver.

Silver groaned, giving Flare a half hidden stink eye. “The school system in Vanhoover is different from the one in Ponyville. We’re supposed to do an equivalency test so Miss Cheerilee can place our levels. Apparently Proud forgot to reread his notes last night. And his memory is horrible.”

“For everything except games,” Flare added.

“Hey!” Proud protested.

“So he’s like Button, then,” Dinky giggled.

“Hey!” the second colt in question complained. Proud slipped out from between his brothers of blood to stand beside his brother in gaming, adopting a haughty look as he surveyed the others.

“Let them throw their barbs,” Proud said. “You and I stand as the liberators of the Nazreen Empire. Their words, poisoned or not, shall fail to fell us!”

“Oh? Is this stance you choose to take, o brother of mine?” Silver said, matching Proud’s lofty tones.

“Um… what are they doing?” Liza asked, looking between the two foals who seemed to be play acting as Canterlot nobles or something.

“That it is, o brother of mine,” Proud replied loftily. “That it is.”

“It’s easier to just let them play it out,” Flare murmured back with a wing shrug.

“Then shall this one of poisoned words and silvered tongue test your resolve? Answer me this, proclaimed liberator; whence did the fair capitol of Canterlot become established?” Silver questioned.

“Er… why that must be year 2,” Proud said.

“No, that’s 5,” Dinky pointed out. “Year 2 was when they first started expanding the population of the original settlement. It didn’t become Canterlot until the castle’s construction began three years after that.”

“Waa?” Button asked.

“I like history and mom teaches me some,” Dinky giggled innocently.

“Shall we try another, Brave One?” Silver sneered with the arrogance of a true noble. “List for me the five most populous cities within our illustrious nation’s realm.”

“Foals play!” Proud declared, snobbing the question, sticking his muzzle in the air.

“In order,” Silver added with a sly grin. Proud faltered, but recovered his bearing with a posh clearing of his throat.

“Wow… they’re pretty good at this,” Rumble commented.

“They were both in our old school’s acting group,” Flare explained.

“Manehatten, Vanhoover, Baltimare, Cloudsdale, and Fillydelphia,” Proud listed, sounding faintly hopeful. Silver chuckled once. Twice. Three times. Proud swallowed. “Was I wrong?”

“O brother of mine; may Celestia have mercy on you,” Silver said soberly, resting a hoof on Proud’s shoulder gently. “For it hast become quite clear you will indeed need it.”

“Be that as it may,” Proud declared, shaking off the hoof to face the school house, which they had neared by this point, with fire burning in his eyes, “I… stand strong.”

Dinky, Liza and Rumble broke out into a mix of laughter and approving hoof stomps.

“Oh,you’re too kind,” Silver said, taking a bow.

“Thank you, thank you,” Proud said, blowing kisses.

Flare rolled his eyes and kept on walking past the two drama princes.

Cheerilee had them wait outside while she went through the typical start of a school day preliminaries before she could work her way up to the introduction of new students. Until then, they got to cool their hooves in the hall beside the door.

“School again, puberty again,” Silver sighed. They were talking softly, enough that they could still keep an ear open for Cheerilee’s summons while also not being loud enough to disturb those inside. “And pony puberty seems to hit earlier…”

“So you are going through it!” Proud grinned, bumping Silver’s shoulder. “Got your eyes on a special somepony already?”

“Proud… you take this far too lightly at times,” Silver said, using his hoof to push Proud away.

“At least he doesn’t hide in the library all the time,” Flare chimed in cheerfully.

“I was doing research,” Silver grumbled. “At least there’s one bright side to this. We’re still colts. I mean guys. Seriously. Imagine if we woke up as fillies.”

Proud and Flare stared blankly at him. It took a while, but Flare finally broke the silence. “Is that what you spend your time thinking about?”

“Not only that. I’ve also been trying to figure out if they have herding here like some people said.” Silver rolled his eyes at the expressions on his brother’s faces. “Again with those looks. We’re kids. It’s not like anypony would have really explained it to us yet. And who’s to say people we call aunt and uncle aren’t really other adults in a herd?”

“Silver…. Why?” Flare said, his wings twitching.

“If they do have herds… I’d be willing to try it,” Proud said suddenly.

“… Que?” Silver managed.

“So, do you think this placement tests will be hard?” Flare asked quickly, desperately switching the topic.

“Well, if you had looked over your notes it won’t be any issue at all,” Silver shrugged, going along with the change in topic because that really wasn’t something he wanted to address at the moment. Or anytime soon, to be honest.

“I just forgot, okay!” Proud grumbled.

“Didn’t you see me reading mine for like two hours last night?” Silver asked.

“Silver? Reading a book? That never happens! Never!” Proud said prodding Silver in the shoulder.

“He does have a point, this time,” Flare grinned.

“What do you mean this time?” Proud complained.

“You’re pretty much always reading something.” Flare continued as if Proud hadn’t spoken at all. He gave Silver a searching look. “Actually… did you return the library book you stole yet?”

“I’ll get around to it!” Silver said through gritted teeth, pressing a hoof over Flare’s mouth. “That’s far from the subject at hoof, after all.”

“What are we talking about anyway?” Proud asked. “We switched topics about eight times…”

“Well, we-” Silver started.

“Boys!” Cheerilee’s sharp voice cut into their discussion, making them yelp. They looked up at their new teacher as she stood over them, a hoof tapping somewhat impatiently.

“Um… hi Miss Cheerilee. I guess you’re ready for us now?” Silver asked with a sheepish smile. “ Flare was stuck in a shocked state again, staring at her with wide eyes with his wings quivering and half extended.

“Hello! We're fine now. We're here. We're fine now... and here... now. We're fine. Uhh... How are you?” Proud asked awkwardly.

Miss Cheerilee sighed and settled for motioning towards the door beside her. “Let’s just get you inside so you can introduce yourself to everypony.”

The fact that they were foals was constantly being reinforced with little reminds around them, their size, or rather their lack of size, being the most frequent one. The school room, on the other hand, was the most poignant one thus far. With the furniture sized for foals, Cheerilee seems somewhat larger than life as she stood in front of the class.

The room itself was quite obviously for teaching younger minds. Cubbies lined the lower levels in a few places, many packed with the belonging of the students in the room. The walls were hung with learning aides, from a simple anatomy chart to parts of speech, to a multiplication table and even a large map of Equestria. Writing guides were mounted above the board, and three large scroll charts were hanging from the ceiling, their cords hooked to the wall until there was need for them.

While Proud didn’t seem to care, Flare, and to a lesser extent Silver, both got a case of the nerves as most of the eyes in the room focused on them. It did help that a few of them were faces they had met before, including the ones who walked them to school that morning. What didn’t help were the faces they knew but never met.

Scootaloo was sitting in the second row from the back, near the window facing the fields outside town. Apple Bloom was on the other side of the room, Sweetie Belle was towards the middle. The Crusaders, pre-crusade. Even in his nervous state Silver started coming up with ideas as to why they were sitting where they were. Flare shivered and tried to stay behind his bothers as the other pair of the faces they knew glared appraisingly at them.

The two fillies with the bad reputation, even so that Button and Rumble had given warning about the pair, were sitting together near Apple Bloom. Diamond Tiara’s expression was thoughtful, though her eyes were narrowed as they watched them. Silver Spoon’s expression was more neutral over all, but something about it made Proud’s step falter. All in all, a very concerning moment.

“Okay everypony,” their new teacher said pleasantly. “These are the new students I was telling you about-”

“Hi Proud!” Button called out cheerfully and perhaps a bit cheekily, as he waved a hoof.

“Button Mash!” Miss Cheerilee scolded him firmly. His hoof quickly dropped, Rumble and the cold Green Daze, who they hadn’t seen since the welcome party, snickering behind him. “It’s very rude to interrupt somepony when they are talking.”

“Sorry Miss Cheerilee,” Button whimpered.

“As I was saying, they will be joining us for the rest of the school year,” Miss Cheerilee when on. “So, as usual, I’ll have them introduce themselves to the class.”

Silver and Flare froze up slightly, which gave Proud the opening to take the lead. “Hi, I’m Proud Defender. Me and my brothers are from Vanhoover and came to live in Ponyville with our aunt Rain. We live up the street from Dinky Doo and Button Mash! Oh! And I got my cutie mark fighting Timberwolves!”

The class simple exploded with noise and activity. The brother’s had to take a step back, ears splayed, from the intensity of it, not even able to pick out what was being yelled at them. Miss Cheerilee stomped her hoof a few times to regain order. “Children, that’s enough! If you have questions, raise your hoof to ask them.”

A dozen hooves shot into the air. Well, slightly less than a dozen. Miss Cheerilee looked around before pointing at Green Daze.

“How come you’re all different kinds of ponies?” Green Daze asked. It wasn’t surprising that he wouldn’t consider the implications of that kind of question.

“Well,” Miss Cheerilee looked a slight bit uncomfortable.

“We have a big family. A really big one, with aunts and uncles all over the place,” Silver responded. He grinned slightly. “None of our cousins have one of each kind as siblings though, so we’re special.”

“Snips?” Cheerilee called out, looking slightly relieved.

“What’s it like in Vanhoover? Is it cold? I bet it’s cold!” Snips said.

“Not as cold as Neighagra gets in winter,” Silver said thoughtfully. “We have a grand uncle in Whinneypeg. It get’s way colder up there. Way colder.”

“Uncle Sheer Feather says the weather ponies use the mountains and the sea to keep it cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter. Makes it rain more, though,” Flare offered softly.

“Jus’ how big is your family?” Apple Bloom asked when Cheerilee pointed at her. “Is it as big as the Apple Clan?”

“No way!” Proud said, waving his hoof in denial. “But we have a lot of relatives in the North. Most of them. I think Aunt Rain lives the most south.”

“Why did you come to Ponyville anyway?” Diamond Tiara asked before being chosen.

“Mom and Dad travel a lot. We get to live with Aunt Rain this time,” Silver explained, narrowing his eyes slightly at her.

“We have time for one more question,” Cheerilee said. She looked around at the remaining hooves and pointed at Scootaloo, who was straining to get it as high as she could. “Yes, Scootaloo?”

“How’d you end up fighting Timberwolves!” she demanded.

“It was awesome!” Proud leapt at the chance to tell his cutie mark story again. Silver and Flare both sighed. Even the foals they already knew, who heard the story before, giggled. “After Nightmare Moon turned up, we when out to make sure our street and everypony on it were safe when they rang the alarm!”

“We snuck out and followed one of the militia ponies,” Silver explained before somepony’s tale could make the foal’s eyes glitter from the elaboration.

“That’s when we found a pack of timberwolves roaming the shadows, ready to eat ponies whole!”

“There were two of them,” Flare muttered.

“When ran to an alley and the pack of timberwolves cornered us!”

“Break Heavy, the militia pony, beat one so we got get away. The other one followed,” Silver said, rolling his eyes again.

“The managed to beat the militia pony and came to get us!”

“Okay, that part did happen,” Silver admitted.

“But I said no! They weren’t gonna get my brothers! So I lured them into a trap! And when they were in the right place, I brought down a huge pile of barrels on all of them, saving everypony!”

“Again; two of them. And it was a lucky kick. He didn’t know what he was doing,” Silver said, snorting.

“And that’s how you get an awesome cutie mark!” Proud declared. Silver grumbled as a couple of their new classmates cheered.

“Okay, everypony,” Cheerilee said with a chuckle. “That’s enough for now. Silver, Proud, Flare? You three can go and have a seat at the back. I’ll bring you your worksheets in a moment.” The three nodded and made their way to the bag of the room. There were twenty bench and desk seats in the room, though the back row was empty, as was the seat beside Green Daze. Of course, the number of free seats fell with the addition of three new students.

Silver did a quick head count. Eighteen foals, including himself and his brothers. Considering it was a mixed grade class, it wasn’t as much as he expected. Eyes were still on them as they passed, but the novelty soon faded in light of Cheerilee starting a math lesson. Math first thing in the morning. That was a special type of horror. Of course, the fairly thick bundles of pages Cheerilee brought them were of the same kind. School never changed.

Language and Writing. Science and Magic. Social Studies. History. And of course; Math. Ponies spoke Equestrian, not English, even if some of the rules were similar or intuitive. Magic did weird things to the local brand of science. Pony Society was its own. History included an immortal being that raised and lowered the sun and moon. Math used a base four system.

In short; the three foals with the minds of university students found that for all their maturity and extra-dimensional knowledge, they didn’t have that much of an advantage over everpony else in their class on these tests based on fundamentals. Sure, if it was essays, logic and reasoning, they would shine, but it wasn’t, and they sprawled out dejectedly on one of the lunch tables in the school yard, having gotten out a few minutes before the rest of the class.

Most of them anyway. Silver managed to hold on to some of his haughtiness, even as he rubbed his forehead lightly. “I ‘wasted my time hiding in the library,’ you said. ‘Should have gotten out more,’ you said. Laughed at me for avoiding the fillies, you did. Accused me of stealing library books, you did.” Silver grinned at Proud and Flare. “Who’s laughing now?”

“Shut up, Silver,” Flare grumbled. “At least I know I did better than Proud.”

“Eyup,” Silver agreed.

“Wait, how do you know that? Were you reading off my sheet?” Proud demanded. He put his hooves up on the table and jabbed one at the two of them accusingly. “That’s cheating! I should report you to Miss Cheerilee!”

“Who needed to see your paper?” Silver grinned smugly, pulling out his lunch.

“We could see it in how flustered you were. How far did you make it anyway?” Flare asked. “I did up to some of the level 8 stuff.”

“Same,” Proud muttered, dropping his head back to the table. There were twelve levels. Generally, a pony would manage to pass them all by age 14 or 15. Before the human thing, Proud was at level 7. Flare should have been level 5. Silver was level 6 going 7. Was.

“Most of the level 10, a few here and there in level 11 and 12,” Silver said, nonchalant as he sipped on his drink while his brother’s looked on in shock. “Sweet Celestia, Auntie’s stuff is awesome.”

“H-how?” Proud stuttered. “How in… everything did you do that? I’m not even level 8, and I’m older than you!”

“I spent the last few days in the library reading on relevant things to see how accurate speculation was on stuff. I always learned pretty fast, faster than you did. And I did enough science, both physical, living and social, to make educated guesses on most questions,” Silver grinned with an ever so mischievous edge to it. “Even if they are wrong, I proved I understood the questions, which makes me look smarter. The math was tricky, but I did a weird external thinking thing to translate local math to human math. I told you I made a base-13 math for that puzzle in the Lore Walker’s game. Even if you all just took a hammer to it.”

Flare burst out laughing. “Okay, that was a pretty good idea. Did it work?”

“I think so,” Silver shrugged, pressing the cool bottle of infused water to his head. “We’ll see when Miss Cheerilee finishes marking them.”

“Killer headache?” Flare guessed, watching him with a wry grin.

“Like I got bucked in the face,” Silver grinned weakly. “Mixing Headspaces wasn’t meant to be sustained like that.”

“Serves you right,” Proud muttered, pulling out his own lunch. “You know you’re gonna get more work because of it, right?”

“We’ve been through university. I think I can handle a little extra school work,” Silver said, rolling his eyes. “It also means I get to learn the more interesting stuff faster.”

“You could have at least let us in on your idea,” Flare pointed out.

“Ah, don’t be bitter. Cheer up,” Silver teased. He shifted to a relaxed posture and softly, almost absently started singing. “Just because you didn’t note, the date of the test we just wrote. Don’t worry. Be happy.”

Flare raised an eyebrow at Silver as a few musical chords softly built in the air around them as the unicorn kept singing, rapping his hoof on the wooden table. “Though this challenge has some scope, I’m very certain I can cope. So don't worry. Be happy. Ooh, ooh ooh ooh oo-ooh ooh ooooo-NO!” Silver stomped his hoof on the table. “I refuse to break out into song again. Especially over something stupid like playing the school system.”

Proud let out the laugh he had been holding in. “Come on, bro. I wanted to hear you sing the whole thing!”

“No,” Silver repeated firmly. “And why do you want to hear a song about exploiting the school system?”

“I dunno. I just wanted to hear you sing,” Proud shrugged, biting into a hayroll. “What if you got your cutie mark from it?”

“… Singing?” Silver said, raising an eyebrow to express just how thrilled he was at that suggestion.

“Maybe in exploiting systems?” Flare suggested.

“I… can’t even begin to list what’s wrong with that,” Silver said, facehooving. “What would that look like anyway?”

“What would what look like?” a filly asked.

“A cutie mark in exploit-uy-uy-HI!” Silver said, his voice jumping up an octave as he whirled. Dinky was behind him, a curious look on her face. She had the regular group with her; Button, Rumble, Coronet and Liza, with four new ones; Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and a blue pegasus filly they didn’t recognize. Silver chuckled nervously. “Hu-hu-how long have you been here?”

“Just got here,” Dinky said happily, taking a seat behind Silver. The rest of the gaggle spread themselves out as best they could, pulling out their own lunches as they got settled. “We just got let out of class. How was the test?”

“Fine! Just fine!” Silver said, ducking his head.

“It was? So, do ya want a cutie mark in test taking?” Apple Bloom asked. “Oh, I’m Apple Bloom, jus’ so ya know.” She started everypony off, and they all introduced themselves. The filly they didn’t know turned out to be Farshot. Her father was one of the spotters in the milita and she was happy to meet more foals with family members in it. That done, they got back to the discussion.

“No, Flare was just saying I might get a cutie mark in exploiting rules,” Silver said weakly.

“Exploiting?” Liza asked. “What’s that?”

“Um…” Silver started.

“To make the best use of something,” Sweetie Belle defined. “What would a cutie mark like that look like?”

“Um… Apple Puree maybe?” Apple Bloom suggested.

“A game with 100% completion?” Button offered.

“A package delivered early?” Dinky put in.

“A cloud ring?” Rumble said after a moment.

“A polished crown?” Coronet asked. She ducked her head sheepishly when Liza and Dinky looked at her. That was her cutie mark. “Sorry.”

“Look, I don’t want one anyway!” Silver said, burying his head under his hooves. Proud and Flare snickered as everypony else gasped.

“Silver claims he’s in no rush to find his cutie mark,” Proud explained.

“Well why not?” Apple Bloom asked. “Getting your cutie mark would be the best thing ever.”

“I know!” Proud exclaimed, happy to find somepony else who though Silver was being crazy as well. “I don’t get him either. You even get a party when you find it!”

“I’ll get it when I get it,” Silver muttered.

“We could help you get it,” Proud offered. “I mean, we could all work together! I got mine helping you and Flare.”

“Look at all of you crowding the new kids!” someone cut in. Not surprising to the brothers, it was Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon.

Dinky sighed. “What do you want, Diamond Tiara?”

“Nothing from you, Dinky Do,” Diamond Tiara said testily. She pointed a pink hoof at Proud, Silver and Flare. “Them. Just letting them know she need to watch who they hang out with.”

“Why?” Proud asked, though he sounded somewhat distracted and kept glancing at Silver Spoon. “Dinky’s our friend. And so are the rest. So what’s wrong with that?”

“My father is one of the more important ponies in town,” Diamond Tiara said loftily. “He once told me that your Aunt, Pure Rain, had a sister who acted in shows from Vanhoover.”

“Aunt Jasmine, yeah?” Silver smiled slowly. He could see where this was going. Flare might have shrunk some, but the roll of his eyes showed he did too.

“Even if you’re just her nephews, you’re related to someone famous. I would think that ponies like that would stick to certain others,” Diamond Tiara said, narrowing her eyes slightly.

“Oh, you expected us to want to get close to you since you’re rich?” Proud asked. “Don’t worry, we won’t try to use you or anything. That would be mean.”

“I… uh… what?” Diamond Tiara blinked, thrown off her game at the subversion.

“Don’t worry. We won’t. Oh! Right!” He fumbled in his saddle bags and pulled out the invitations, separating too and trotting over the Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. “Will ‘ou come to my Murk-mizz’ah?” he asked, the invitation in his mouth.

Diamond Tiara was still frazzled, so Silver Spoon took them. “Um, sure.” She quickly turned and nudged Diamond, brushing Proud accidentally as she did. “Come one, DT, we can figure this out later.”

Proud watched them leave, a wide grin on his face. He reared up and waved at them. “Okay! See you there, Silver Spoon!”

Behind him, at the table, Apple Bloom watched with confusion. “Did yer brother just confuse the biggest bullies in the school and invite them to a party?”

Flare nodded.

“Cool,” Scootaloo said. “Is that what having a cutie mark does to a pony?”

“I want mine!” Sweetie Belle said. “Then I can be confident and mature like my sister too!”

“Wait, I don’t think it works like that,” Silver said, trying to defuse their enthusiasm and failing as they ignored him.

“We can help each other out, like Proud and his brothers!” Scootaloo said.

“A secret society!” Sweetie Belle nodded. “We can all it… The Destiny Gainers!”

“We’ll call it something else,” Apple Bloom said, gagging at the name. She jumped up from the table. “Come on, let’s work this out!”

“Maybe after lunch,” Dinky said, looking down at her muffin.

“Your loss!” Scootaloo said as she and Sweetie Belle leap up to join Apple Bloom. Since Dinky was staying, Liza, Coronet and Farshot did as well. Proud was still watching the corner Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon vanished around when the three energetic fillies ran past him, knocking him over and still chattering.

“How about… Cutastically Fanstastic?” Sweetie Belle was saying.

“Ew! No!” Scootaloo said as they ran off. “Awesome Markers?”

Proud watched them with some confusion, picking himself up and heading back to the table as Sweetie Belle’s voice floating back, calling out something about ‘Flank Statement’. “What’s with them?”

“No clue,” Rumble said, eating his own sandwich. “They just got all excited about getting their cutie marks after you got rid of Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon.”

“It’s our fault,” Silver said, glaring at Proud. Flare was shaking his head slowly.

“Wha- oh. OH! Oh…” Proud realized. He grinned sheepishly. “I’m sorry?”

“For what?” Coronet asked.

“For… um…” Proud fumbled.

“Party,” Silver suggested.

“Right! Not inviting you to my party first! I have enough invitations for everypony!” Proud said, pouncing on the distraction. And trying hard not to think about what causing the formation of the Cutie Mark Crusaders early would lead to.

After School

Cheerilee hummed happily to herself as she added a few more notes to the assessment form before her. Though she already rang the bell, it would be a few more moments before all of her students returned. She could always count on somepony to put off racing to the washroom until the last minute, if only for those extra few seconds to play during the break.

At the moments, these last few moments were spend idling on the three new students in her class. They astounded her, to be honest, their results surpassing her expectations, based on the transcripts from their former school. If anything, it looked like they must have been held back by their previous environment. All three seemed brilliant.

“Just a minute, boys,” Cheerilee called, spotting the brothers in question as they trotted in with their new circle of friends. That observation made her smile grow even more. They seemed to be settling in rather nicely.

“Hi Miss Cheerilee,” Silver and Proud said together. Flare was out of sync with the pair and quickly spoke up as well. “Hello, Miss Cheerilee.”

“How was recess?” She asked, rather than going straight to the matter at hoof.

“It was fine,” Silver said in the typical tone of an evasive colt.

Flare was a bit more open. “I enjoyed it.”

“It was fun! They showed us where all the best stuff was, and Button showed me his stash of charges for his joyboy, oh, and I invited everypony to my Mark Mitvah!” Cheerilee smiled at Proud’s exuberance. She was looking forward to the shift in the class’ dynamics three new personalities would bring. Proud fumbled in his bag and pushed a card on her desk. “This one is yours.”

“Why thank you, Proud. I’ll do my best to be there,” Cheerilee said, taking the invitation and placing it in her drawer before actually bringing up what she called them for. “I’ve finished going over your tests, though I still have to finalize the report for your aunt, and I must say; I am quite impressed with your results.”

“Really?” Proud asked eagerly. Flare looked up with a bit of hope, Silver more on the smug side than hopeful. Proud propped himself up and tried to peer at the papers neatly stacked before their teacher. “How did we do?”

“The report will have the details, but I can easily say you rank higher than your records hinted. You must have been holding back at your last school,” she chuckled.

“Um, yeah, holding back,” Silver said nervously. He quickly tugged Proud back before his patented motor mouth might let slip things better left unsaid.

“Hey!” Proud protested.

“Don’t be rough with your brother, Silver,” Cheerilee warned. “But as I was saying, you are above your age. Proud, most of your work will be given at Level Eight. I can put you at Level 7, Flare. It might be a bit much for you, but you do have your brothers to help you. Silver, I was a bit shocked, but you should be able to do Levels 9 and 10 in most subjects, which puts you with some of the leaders in the class.”

“And don’t look so happy,” Cheerilee said, chuckling at the rather smug smile Silver couldn’t hold back. “I could tell the areas where you were making guesses. Admittedly; educated and rather good guesses, but still guesses. I will give you all another test after two weeks to see how you are managing the work.”

“Probationary period, got it,” Silver nodded, already thinking about what he could research in the library. “Would we need new books?”

“I’ll let your aunt know what you need,” Cheerilee said. “Now hurry to your seats, we need to start the lesson.”

They joined the press of foals moving back to their seats, Flare pausing long enough to say a quick ‘thank you, Miss Cheerilee’ before he hurried after the others. She smiled as she took her place at the front of the class, mentally remapping the distribution and grouping of her students. She tapped her hoof on the ground a few times to get her students’ attentions. “Okay, everypony! Settle down. We’ll be doing our Language and Writing now. First we’ll continue our lessons on sentence structure and compositions. After that, your Scripting assignment will be to prepare a letter to Princess Luna!”

The room was filled with noise as foals packed up for the day and raced outside to find their friends or get home. There had been a light drizzle scheduled for the early afternoon, so some parts of town were bound to be mucky. The brothers were doing their best to pack up as well, though Silver was having a slight bit more trouble since his bags were already a bit packed with his two books. Still, he was pretty happy, considering he had just gone through a day of middle school.

Magic was an amazing thing, especially when you were a unicorn and it was under your more direct control. Unfortunately for him; while his levitation was impressive, he was still a child, and casual writing with his horn was still outside his skill. Careful, yes, but casually? He still had to resort to mouth writing. To be fair; pony mouths and lips were far more versatile and effective manipulators than he expected, but the real issue was the taste. He glared at the pencils in question as he packed them away in his bags. Wood Chip and Granite brand pencils left a bad taste in his mouth.

He was a bit more pleased with the lesson though. Silver’s love for reading meant he had long since familiarized himself with the three common forms of written Equestrian, so he was planning to make his letter a mix of all three. He wasn’t entirely sure how he would do it yet, but he wanted to try. He had a week to finish the letter, so he could plan.

“Heya, Silver!” Snips said as he and Snails hurried over. Not for the first time, Silver wondered if there was another unicorn named Puppy Dog or Tails that was destined to turn up. Or maybe a filly? Their destined partner? But that would lead to two best friends fighting over one filly. Not a pretty picture. Or course, that would depend on if herding was a thing or not. He gently rubbed between his eyes.

“Okay… I really need to find out if herding is real or not,” Silver muttered to himself.

“Eh, what’s that?” Snails asked.

“Er, nothing,” Silver sighed. He quickly gave them a smile. “Sup?”

“Well… we were wonder if… since you’re…” Snips shuffled his hooves awkwardly.

“We were wondering if you wanted to hang out or something, since you’re the only other unicorn colt in class and all,” Snails drawled with an open and honest smile. He turned and smiled at Flare and Proud. “Not that anything’s wrong with you guys.”

“No offense taken,” Proud said, grinning back.

Flare just shrugged, but then added his own bit. “You did say you wanted to hang out with some other colts, Silver.”

“Um…” Silver said, wavering a bit. “I… was planning on going to the library… but… sure…”

“Sweet!” Snips practically squeaked.

“Just wait right here, me and Snips can go get our stuff, eh?” Snails said before the two trotted off.

“You know, there are other places in town aside from the library,” Flare said, rolling his eyes, his own saddlebags already strapped on. “You’ve literally spent every day there so far.”

“Really? I thought it was just a coincidence that Sparkler and I found him there,” Dinky added as she and Coronet joined their little group. It was mostly just them left in the room. The newly formed, and possibly still unnamed Crusaders had already left, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon had taken their leave as well, Archer going with them.

Actually, wasn’t Twist supposed to be in Miss Cheerilee’s class? Silver was pretty sure she was. He put that thought under ‘Something that might be investigated. Maybe.’

“No, he’s been going their pretty much every day since we got here,” Proud said remarked to Dinky. “Library, bookstore, town hall, um…. Time Turner’s place or just wandering around town.”

“I like reading,” Silver muttered, ducking into his saddle bags. “And I like knowing my way around town.”

“Why Time Turner’s place?” Coronet asked. Time Turner’s Timepieces and Trinkets was just another one of the eccentric stores in town. While he was primarily a clockworker, a master at clockwork and all around tinkerer, and possibly because of it, he happened on many unusual items, and sold them alongside his broad selection of timepieces when he wasn’t out working on problems for ponies. Apparently he normally had assistants, but hadn’t had any for a while.

“I like watches,” Silver muttered. “I just can’t afford one right now. But I like to look at them. The ticking of a clock is nice.”

“Your brother is weird,” Dinky giggled, making Silver blush as Proud laughed.

“You don’t know the half of it!” Proud responded. “Me, Button, Flare and Green are going to the arcade. What are you doing?”

“Spa day,” Coronet started, before being interrupted.

“All ready,” Snails announced as he came back. “Me and Snips are gonna show you our favourite places in town. Like Zonko’s joke shop, and, and the pet park, and the rock me and Snips practice our magic at!”

“This is gonna be awesome!” Snips declared. “Come one, Silver! We’ll be the three unicorns! SSSU!”

“Hurrah,” Silver said, his eye twitching a bit.

“You have fun!” Proud called as Silver was dragged away.

Surprisingly, Silver had more fun than he thought he would. True, Snails was a bit slow and Snips was excitable, both being on the, well, simple side, they were decent enough company. And Silver learned more about them than just them being minions to minor antagonists. Snips was pretty artistic when it came to crafts and decorating, and was considering being a pet groomer to complement Snails, who actually had a rapport with animals, though not as pronounced as Fluttershy’s. He just had a natural calming effect on them, and could get the most skittish critter to relax. He actually had a squirrel come and sit on his head when they stopped by the park.

And he was amazing at chess. They ended up playing a few games with some of the older ponies in the park. Snails was apparently a regular among them. Silver wasn’t really a chess person. He was a planner, yes, but his type of planning didn’t work well in a systematic game like chess, it was for a more dynamic, unpredictable setting. Like dealing with ponies. Or card games.

On the other hoof, Silver knew what he was getting Proud for his Mark Mitzvah. Chess sets were cheap enough for his allowance, even with the missing bits from his swearing. He was getting better at that, though. After two or so hours on the town, Snips and Snails let Silver take them to the library. He still hadn’t returned that book, and did want a new one.

It was getting late and the sun the day was beginning to turn into night, but Silver wanted to get the book issue out of the way. Honestly, it might have ended up being the first book in his personal collection if it wasn’t returned soon. The town was pretty empty on the way, a lot of stalls and stores seeming to be void of their owners and tenders, but the three didn’t really notice, since their discussion had circled back to school and they were chatting about the assignments.

“I’m gonna ask her if she likes animals,” Snails announced, not for the first time, as they avoided the worst of the mud puddles . “And which kind.”

“I want to ask her if she has a favourite hairstyle!” Snips said in his high pitched voice. Silver honestly found it a bit grating, but he was trying his best not to judge. He didn’t sound much better himself, having a distinctly prepubescent colt’s tone. He was easily in the soprano range.

“What about you Silver. Have anything you want to ask Princess Luna?” Snails pushed.

Slightly distracted, Silver said the first thing that came to mind. “Probably ask her what the major changes between the current societal structures and the one she remembers are and what her initial thoughts on the diaspora is.”

“Wow… I didn’t understand half of that,” Snips said, wonder in his eyes.

“Um… well,” Silver said, realizing he was going out of character again. Fortunately, timing was on his side. “Look! The library!” He ran ahead of the two, leading them to chase him as he opened the door and went in without knocking.

“Hello! Spike; you around?” Silver called. He’d been in the library so often he’d made a fast friend in the young dragon. And Spike in turn appreciated Silver since he actually put the books away when he was finished with them. And Spike’s long history with Twilight meant he also knew the most interesting books to read.

The only problem; there was no Spike. Instead, the library was populated with mares. Five of them. Very noteworthy ones at that.

“Hi Silver!” Pinkie called out cheerfully, the other four bearers drawn by his initial call now further interested. Well, excluding Fluttershy, who somehow managed to vanish behind Applejack.

“You know this colt?” Rarity asked Pinkie curiously.

“Que?” Silver managed. To be honest, he’d been trying to avoid the Bearers of the Elements. Especially Applejack. Aside from Twilight and Pinkie, he’d been mostly successful; the former because the library was the best place to go for information, and the latter because of Sugarcube Corner. Aside from that, Twilight and Aunt Rain had had a rather heated clash when Princess Celestia mentioned that their family was to have access to Spike’s dragonfire.

It was also pretty hilarious, but that was another matter.

“Yepperoni! He and his brother’s moved into town just before the Summer Sun Celebration,” Pinkie said, scooping up Silver in a tight hug that made him squeak.

“Well sucks, you should know better than that, Rarity,” Applejack chuckled. “Pinkie knows just about every pony in Ponyville. And if ain’t, it’s cause they just walked in.”

“Gahk! Air, Pinkie Pie! Air!” Silver protested.

“Sorry, Silvy!” she said, chipper as ever as she loosened her grip to wave at Snails and Snips as they came in. “Hi guys!”

“Pinkie Pie? What are you doing here?” Snips asked.

“I bet I know!” Snails said. “She’s looking up a new super duper recipe to make cupcakes with!”

“I only wish there were new super duper recipes in here!” Pinkie said with a pout. “I’ve already made every cake, cupcake, muffin, snap, cookie and other assorted pastries in this library! Maybe I should get Twilight to-”

Whatever Pinkie was saying was lost to Silver as Rainbow darted over and invaded his personal space. “Ah-ha! I thought I recognized you!”

“Hey!” Silver said, pushing her hoof away.

“You’re that colt that pranked the window washer!” Rainbow accused. “What are you doing here!”

“Pranked the…” Silver drew a blank for a moment, an ear half twitching towards Pinkie’s conversation, glimpsing Snails and Fluttershy talking in the corner of his eye, before he remembered his mess up with his levitation spell when he tripped back on his third day in Ponyville.

No, wait, that was his first day, wasn’t it?

He shook his head to clear it. “Look, I told you that was an accident. And it’s a library. A public one that’s open until six. I have a couple minutes left to read. What are you? You hate reading!”

“I… well… don’t change the subject!” Rainbow said, flapping higher and glaring at him.

“Um… we came to apologize to Twilight,” Fluttershy’s voice said behind him, making him jump a little. It seemed Snails had moved on to talking with Pinkie. “You see, she got some tickets to the gala…”

“T-t-t-tickets? To the ga-ga-gala?” Silver stammered.

“That she did,” Applejack nodded. She looked down and shuffled a hoof, embarrassed. “And we all went mighty overboard trying to get her to pick just one of us to take with her. Made foals of ourselves, we did. So we’all got together so we could apologize to her.”

“Our behaviour was most unbecoming,” Rarity agreed.

“I… just remembered that Aunt Rain wanted me home… for the thing…” Silver said, chuckling nervously. He did not want to get tangled up in canon events. He made his decision a bit too late though. There was a loud pop and fizzle, accompanied by a flash of light back in the main area.

“Well… you reckon that’s her?” Applejack remarked.

“Spike!” Twilight’s voice yelled. “Shut the doors and the windows!”

“Yeah, that’s her,” Rainbow huffed, still a bit put out with Silver. There was a clatter of hooves and patter of scaled feet as the two, fresh from being chased all across town by somewhat crazed mares, and more than a few stallions, turned off all the lights and shut all the major windows and doors in the building. So caught up in their efforts they were that neither Spike nor Twilight noticed them despite running past them twice, though, in defense of the pair Twilight had turned out the lights on the first pass with a quick burst of telekinesis.

“Wow… they must have had some day!” Snips said. Silver was too busy trying to slip away. His plan was to use the back window in their kitchen area. Aunt Rain wasn’t the only pony in town teaching him how to cook.

So of course he bumped into Spike.

“That should be all of- AAAH!” Spike cried out when Silver’s bum hit him. Rarity quickly hit the lights. Twilight screamed next.

“Noooo! I can’t decide!” she wailed.

“Um… sorry Spike, I can come back tomorrow,” Silver said, making away quickly as the mares descended on Twilight to console her.

“Hold up, dude,” Spike weezed, holding out a claw, the other pressed to his chest as he fought to catch his breath. “Yeesh… don’t scare me like that! What are you guys even doing in here?”

“Well… Silver came to get a new book or something, and we found all the others here,” Snails said helpfully.

“Snips? Snails? You guys are here too? How did we miss you?” Spike asked in disbelief. “We ran all over the library!”

“Er, I dunno,” Snips shrugged. He continued with the question Silver honestly wanted to ask. “How did ya?”

“Whatever,” Spike grumbled. “Look, before you leave, I got mail for you today, Silver.”

Silver paused mid step, his retreat halted. “You got mail for me? From who?”

“Well, for your family. And it’s from the princess.” Spike fumbled in the fold of scales and skin around his waist that he used as a pocket. Snails and Snips stared at Silver with awe.

“You got mail?” Snips started.

“From the Princess?” Snails finished.

“Awesome!” Both exclaimed. They were loud enough that Silver’s eyes flicked back.

“Why don’t you yell a little louder… I’m sure there’s somepony who didn’t hear you.” Silver rubbed at his ears irritably as Spike pulled a sealed scroll out. Silver wondered if there was a book on dragon biology around. Was that pouch an actual feature of draconic biology? His eyes widened in panic as he noticed both Snails and Snips inhaling. “Sarcasm!” he quickly amended. “I was being sarcastic! Don’t yell!”

Spike snickered and hoofed the scroll over. It was sealed with a moon, rather than a sun, which meant it was from Princess Luna, but addressed to all four members of his household. He took it set it down carefully and broke it without damaging the moon symbol. While he might not have Proud’s love affair with Luna, he still respected her and like her a lot. Both from the show and now from meeting her in pony.

To our Loyal Subjects of the Sky-Shine Family; Pure Rain and her Wards Blue Flare, Proud Defender and Silver Prose

We, the monarch of the Moon and Night Sky, the Guardian of the Night and Dreams, The Stewar-

There was more, about three lines more, but those were all he could make out from beneath the lines that crossed then out. Actually, he was curious about that ‘Sky-Shine’ thing. Was that their family name? Silver sighed. It took becoming a kid with the mind of an adult to realize just how much stuff adults don’t tell kids…

Apologies, our sister has advised us that the old forms of the formal address are no longer in common use. To that end, we shall forgo the pleasantries and note the true subject of which we desire to address thee.

In these past days, we have been ministered to by those most highly rated amidst the schools of magic, health and vitally, and we are pleased to have found a probably pace for the return of much of our power.

It is to our joy that, whilst our true strength will likely remain elusive for many months more, we wilst have amassed enough to address thine dilemma within a more manageable passage of time.

Past the winter season, when mine most precious moon is closest, my strength wilt blossom enough to attempt to find thine solution, and mine control shall return within a pittance of fortnights following.

My dearest sister hast, during mine absence, established the tradition of a great celebration around the time we have projected best to attempt. She hast also seen fit to invite her student. To such end, and in emulation of her actions, I have indeed included tickets to grant all of thee access and audience with me at this ‘Grand Gala.’

Princess Luna

Sure enough, there were four golden tickets to the gala attached. “Seriously? Tickets to the gala?” Silver made a face. “Not sure if that’s my thing…”

A land of magic, there were a lot of quirks to Equestria that straddled the line between honest coincidence and honest magical occurrences. The sense of foreboding situations and dread was one of them. Silver looked up when that shiver ran down his spine and tingled his tail, and paled.

Spike was staring at the golden tickets in his grasp with shock. Snips and Snails were staring at the golden tickets with shock. The main six were staring in various states of shock. Rainbow’s jaw hung down and rested on Pinkie’s mane, the party pony grinning broadly and her eyes sparkling. Beside her, Rarity choose that moment to swoon, for maximum dramatic impact, of course. Applejack’s eyebrows raised high and Fluttershy was covering her mouth with a hoof.

Twilight was the one that terrified him though. Panic mingled with anger, a few strands of her mane popping up. He’d seen that happen three times, he could remember off the top of his head. The Smarty Pants Incident, The Time Travel Incident, and most recently, facing off with Aunt Rain about what would possess Princess Celestia to allow mere foals to send both her and her sister letters through Spike.

“ThanksforthemailSpike, seeyoutommorowmaybe, kaylaterSnipSnailsbye!” Silver said, cramming the letter in his saddlebags before he high tailed it out of there. It took him a moment to unlock the door, but that moment passed and he was charging down the street at a full gallop when Twilight’s screech rose in the night air, setting off a flock of birds that had took roost in the library’s branches for the night.

“WWWWWHHHHHAAAAAAATTTTTT?”

‘Crapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrap!’ Silver mentally yelled to himself as he put all his youthful energy to work, pumping his legs like he never did before. There were more than a few startled ponies he charged past or barely missed crashing into, but he was too focused on one; getting away from Twilight and two; reaching the safety of his home.

On the bright side, they didn’t live too far from the library, only a few blocks, so he did manage to make it through before his admittedly low endurance, even bolstered with adrenaline as it was, was completely frayed. On the downside, Twilight had the fastest mare in equestrian on her side.

A prismatic streak cut across his path only a dozen or so hooves from his safe haven, quickly resolving itself into Rainbow Dash. “I knew there was something up with you, colt! What’s the deal? Why are you getting mail from the Princess? And why the buck are you getting invited to the Gala and not me!?”

“Language, Dash!” Rarity’s refined voice drifted over. Silver looked back. Yep. The others had caught up with him. Twilight was at the head, Rarity and Applejack beside her, Fluttershy hovering nervously. That accounted for everypony excepting…

“Wow! You’re pretty fast for a colt,” Pinkie said as she bounced lightly in place beside him. “I almost lost sight of you!”

Never mind. Pinkie Pie found. Silver tried for innocence. “Um, Twilight, if this is about that overdue book...”

“No! It’s about you! Sending mail to the princess!” Twilight panted.

“Only twice,” Silver said. That stupid letter Proud said promising to let them know when an episode passed and the differences between what they expected and what happened was the first one, and he and Flare had to send another one trying to explain that after. That had been an annoying day.

“Getting mail from the princess!” Twilight continued as if Silver hadn’t said anything. “Getting tickets to the Gala!”

“We got tickets to the gala?” Proud’s voice suddenly piped up. Silver covered his eyes with a hoof as Proud galloped the rest of the way down their street, leaving Green Daze, Flare and Button behind as he tackled Silver, ignoring the Bearers as he did. Silver was beginning to hate the Magic of Timing. “We got Tickets? How? Where? When?”

“Apparently Princess Luna sent you some,” Pinkie supplied as she joined the huddle, not one to miss a hug. “I’m sooooo jealous! It’s the biggest party of... well... EVER!”

“And I want to know why!” Twilight half yelled. Rarity nodded, though her look clearly didn’t approve of Twilight’s... enthusiasm on the topic.

“Simmer down, sally,” Applejack said, tugging Twilight back. “No need for you to make a scene about it.”

“Um... what’s going on?” Button asked, confused by the gang of older mares surrounding Silver, hanging back a couple hooves away from the center of the commotion.

“Oh! You colts are in class with my sister,” Rarity remarked. “No need for you to be worried. Twilight is just having a bit of an exciting day and got a bit carried away.”

“Can’t say I approve of her chasing a young colt part way across town,” Applejack muttered. “You neither, Rainbow.”

“The librarian chased Silver across town? You weren’t kidding about that book, were you?” Green asked Flare softly.

“Hey! He has tickets for the Gala! The Wonderbolts are gonna be there!” Rainbow defended herself.

“Letter! Tickets! Where?” Proud insisted, rattling Silver.

“Seriously!” Silver snapped, pushing Proud away. “”Stop! Saddlebags. Left side!” Proud tackled him again in his enthusiasm to get them.

A door slammed against a wall sharply, making everypony flinch. Aunt Rain loomed in the rectangle of light, a frown on her face. “Have you quite finished making a scene? If so, it would be best if we put some order to this chaos rather than whatever this is,” she motioned to the disorderly group of eleven ponies, counting the foals, gathered before the house, “and sort it out like civilized ponies. Agreed?”

Green Daze and Button were sent home and Silver helped make some tea for the rest. The tea went a long way towards calming Twilight. It took maybe twenty minutes to spread the tale of the days activities, most of that time spent on explaining why Twilight was such a nervous wreck that she would become unhinged at the mail Silver received. Through it all, Aunt Rain listened impassively. She had been working at the dam that day, and missed the minor riots that erupted around town. Ponyville was still a small rural town. A free ticket to major event like a gala would fuel the gossip mills for weeks.

The colts listened without remarking either, noting the points where it diverged from the show in silence with little more than traded looks. Apparently somepony had actually caused their patio to collapse in his attempts to impress Twilight. And she also got hit on by nine different stallions. And seven mares.

“So... you chased my nephew yelling and screaming all the way home because you found out we also got invited to the Gala?” Aunt Rain asked.

“Well... it sounds bad when you put it that way...” Twilight admitted.

“It sounds bad whatever way you put it, dear,” Rarity remarked. “I do hope you’ll forgive her, Pure Rain. She did have a rather stressful day, and we admittedly did nothing to help ease it.”

“Ease it? More like make it super worse,” Pinkie said with a sheepish smile.

“Scared the horrrrrrrrrr....n... on my head... it did...” Silver said, lamely aborting his swear. Aunt Rain raised an eyebrow at him. He chewed on his lip slightly and met it with a pleading expression. “Please don’t take another bit...”

“I can lend you some of my allowance if you run out,” Proud whispered to him.

Aunt Rain sighed and shook her head slowly. She looked once more at the scroll Princess Luna sent. “Twilight, while I agree your day was filled with it’s difficulties, your actions towards Silver were less than what I expected from a mare your age.”

“Sorry,” Twilight murmured. Rainbow snickered, but swallowed it when Aunt Rain glared at her.

“And Silver, the next time mail is addressed to all of us, wait to open it until we are all there,” Aunt Rain continued.

“My bad?” Silver tried.

“And as for the letter itself,” Aunt Rain continued. Twilight looked up hopefully. Aunt Rain didn’t meet them. “The subject of the message is for my family, regardless of who sent it, Twilight. Princess Celestia asked if you would allow us use of Spike’s dragonfire and you agreed. I do not think she did it expecting this manner of reaction from you.”

“But... but...” Twilight started.

“She got a point, Twilight,” Applejack commented, speaking up for the first time since the discussion started. “I don’t think Princess Celestia expected you to be snooping around other ponies mails like that. She wanted you to be nice and all.”

“It wouldn’t be very nice to read other ponies mail,” Fluttershy said softly

“It wasn’t nice to chase me down either... I’m an indoor colt...” Silver muttered. He actually impressed with how fast Twilight could run. She was supposed to be a bigger book worm than he was.

“He really is,” Proud pointed out. “He’s been in the library pretty much every day since we got here.”

“But that was mail from Princess Luna...” Twilight sighed, closing her eyes for a moment. When she opened them again, they were softer and she gave Silver a slight, hesitant smile. “Still, I’m sorry for my behaviour, Silver. Please don’t hold it against me.”

“Are you gonna harass me if I go back to the library?” Silver asked, narrowing his eyes suspiciously.

“No, not even if you mail a three hundred page paper to the Princesses,” she vowed.

“Okay, good,” Silver nodded. “Apology accepted.”

“Lovely! Now that this ghastly mess is behind us, you have to tell me about this tea!” Rarity gushed. “It’s absolutely marvelous!”

“Apple blossom,” Applejack supplied. “From the north orchards, if I’m right...”

The colts took that as their cue to leave and slipped off to their room. Rainbow Dash and Pinkie took it as their cue as well, though the former still cast suspicious looks after them before flying off. Twilight left as well, mentioning something about having a Friendship Report to write.

Up in their room, Silver collapsed wearily on his bed while Proud cuddled the seal, murmuring something like ‘Luna touched this.’ So they met the mane6 as a whole and left mostly on good terms. Mostly. Rarity was still downstairs chatting, though it sounded as if Applejack left as well, judging from the voices, and Twilight seemed contrite when she left, and apparently planned to turn the whole thing into one of her ‘Dear Princess Celestia’ letters.

Silver groaned and buried his face in his pillow. That meant they were going to be loosely tied up with the Discord thing, even after they left. On the other hand, Rainbow gave either them or Silver in particular the stink eye before leaving. Still, five out of six was still a passing grade.

“So, the gala,” Flare mused, climbing up beside Silver.

“Yep... I guess we have a deadline now,” Silver sighed.

“Still enough time to have some fun with this before we go back home,” Flare said, stretching his wings. He didn’t notice Silver stiffen slightly beside him at his word. “It’s only a few months. We can manage.”

“Oh! I have to write to the princesses about Ticket Master!” Proud declared suddenly.

Silver and Flare both jerked upright at that. “NO!”

Weekend

Days came and went as the brothers continued to live an outwardly normal life now that they had a date set for them. There was a strong ‘live for the moment’ undercurrent to their outlook, with mixed responses from those around.

Proud’s Mark Mitzvah had passed with a great time being had by all involved, especially Proud himself when he unwrapped the Joyboy Aunt Rain got for him.

Aunt Rain signed Flare up with the West Ponyville Foal Hoofball Team so he would have something to focus his energies on. She had grown increasingly frustrated with Flare taking every opportunity to leap off any and every piece of furniture more than four hooves off the ground.

Silver had found his own activities to do as well, and hung out with Snips and Snails, the trio somehow building a reputation as Triple ‘S’s. Still behind the Diamond Silver duo and far behind the Crusaders in notoriety though. Far behind. It was hard to top the fall out of ‘Cutie Mark Crusaders Prank Masters’, though that was partially Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie’s fault for challenging them.

Admittedly; the spectacular ending of Rainbow, Pinkie and Gilda trapped in a Pine Needle Sap cloud was impressive. Even if no one was quite sure how they managed it.

That last one was also a large part of the reason Proud was at the library that evening instead of at the arcade celebrating the end of the week’s lessons. That and Button had gotten grounded for a particularly bad grade on an assignment and his involvement in the last hijinks their class had gotten into, so his regular gaming buddy was unavailable. Spike, who was maring the library on his own again since Twilight off doing some other task, eyed him with a less than thrilled expression as they stood in the front room.

“Why does it feel like you aren’t here for a book?” Spike asked as he rapped his claws on the cart of books he was leaning against.

“Because I’m not?” Proud grinned cheerfully.

“You want to send a letter to the princess, don’t you?” Spike sighed, shaking his head as he got back to his reshelving.

“It’s not a big one,” Proud insisted as he followed, pulling a scroll from his saddlebags to show Spike.

“You know Silver asked me not to let you send anything unless he, Flare or your Aunt are with you, right?” Spike continued, clearly not impressed.

“So what? I’m the older brother. I don’t need his permission,” Proud huffed. “If anything he would need my permission!”

“Don’t get mad at me. He’s the one who thinks you aren’t responsible enough,” Spike said, climbing up the shelf to put a book in its spot near the top. Spike looked down at Proud with a curious expression. “Where is he anyway? Normally he’d be in by now. Did he get on Score Keeper’s bad side again?”

Proud laughed. Score Keeper, despite what most ponies thought when they heard her name, didn’t work in sports, but rather in the town’s Records Office. Back when Aunt Rain changed their grounding to a written assignment, Silver decided he was ‘bored’ and went overboard on it, giving her a four and a half page risk assessment document, not including charts and diagrams. He had… terrified wasn’t quite the right word, but he certainly left Score Keeper unsettled when he trotted in to find out the casualty and fatality numbers for the past half century. It had taken a visit from their Aunt to convince her Silver wasn’t in need of counselling.

“No, he has track practice now and is going to watch an O&O game later,” Proud reported as Spike leapt down. With Silver off doing track, and Flare practicing with Rumble, it meant an evening free from their prying eyes. A bit confused, Proud pointed to the upper shelves. “How is anypony supposed to get those anyway? You had to scale the wall.”

“It’s mostly advanced stuff up there,” Spike shrugged in a dismissive fashion. “Those and books that rarely get borrowed, and some pegasi stuff. Plus there are rolling ladders.” He pointed to tall and narrow nook half hidden in the corner before staring at Proud. “But forget that! Silver? In track? Silver? You sure we’re talking about the same colt? Oubliettes & Ogres I get. Twilight used to play that with Shining and his friends, but track?”

“You think you’re the only one surprised? But he says it’s good for him,” Proud shook his head slowly. “He got a book on it and everything. Twilight apparently recommended it to him. By the by, thanks for the comic set you got me!”

“No problem. I figured you’d like Captain Equestria. Strong earth pony who’s pretty good looking too,” Spike said. “And she uses a shield. Your cutie mark made me think of her.”

“Still, thanks,” Proud said. He figured that his cutie mark met ‘strength to protect others’, and that’s just what she did. It was like Captain America, but with an experimental potion made back in the Nightmare Moon Rebellion. Proud grinned at part of what Spike said. “So you think Captain Equestria is good looking?”

“Not that she has anything on Rarity,” Spike said, hugging the book he was supposed to be reshelving, a dreamy look in his eyes. He snapped out of it when Proud started laughing. “Hey! What are you laughing at?”

“Oh, nothing,” Proud said, struggling to suppress his giggles. He held out the scroll and waved it at the dragon. “And I won’t tell anyone you think she’s good looking, for a price.”

Spike scowled, but snagged it anyway, sending it off with a tongue of fire. “There? Happy now?”

“Yep! Thanks Spike!” Proud said, giving his favourite dragon a hug that almost knocked him off his feet

“Hey, easy!” Spike said, pushing him back. “You know, you could always borrow a book too.”

“Maybe next time,” Proud said. Admittedly, the library did have a decent selection of comic books. And there was that old book of legends hidden somewhere in the library. He just wasn’t into reading like Silver was. There were too many other things to try while in Equestria. Maybe next time. “I’m thinking of going down to Ace Condition.”

Ace Condition was run by the earth pony Ace Edition and the unicorn Mint Condition, and was pretty much the stereotypical one stop gaming and nerd stop crossed with a newspaper and magazine store. Board games, table tops, comics, even the slowly developing video game scene had a place there alongside magazines on all sorts of topics, and admittedly dated copies of newspapers from the nearby larger cities. In the morning, it was largely one of the town’s gossip stops, come afternoon, the crowd started turning over to the younger side.

“Hey, you mind waiting a minute so I can finish this up?” Spike asked. “They are supposed to be getting the new edition of Power Ponies today.”

“Sure, I can even lend you a hoof,” Proud offered.

They left the library in a good condition; books put away, the place mostly in order, and a ‘closed’ sign hanging in the window, cheerfully chatting about comics, even speculating about what they thought would happen next. On the surface; it was one precocious child relating to another. No matter how one looked at it, atypical draconic development or not; Spike was at most a teen. But he was raised around Twilight, and his maturity and intellect was far from standard.

In other words; he and Proud, and the other two colts, for that matter, were good matches for one another. All four were far more mature and mentally developed than their apparent age would suggest. The young dragon’s sheltered upbringing, in regards to ponies more fitting with his age, worked in their favour as well. He didn’t see anything all that out of place in their behaviors.

Proud was pretty thrilled to have somepony to ‘talk comics’ with. One thing that both Flare and Silver had suspected, and was actually right, was that Proud wasn’t wasting effort on worrying about their situation. In his mind, he was somewhere between the two, in terms of the reaction. Flare worried, but he tried to bury it in the little things being in Equestria had since he couldn’t do anything about it. Things such as the new found joy of flying. Silver wasn’t so much ‘worried’ as he was concerned and fell into patterns of over-thinking things like he always did, resulting in him over compensated in trying to figure out everything around him. Proud was fearful he would snap if didn’t take the little breaks to just roll with things.

Proud just focused on being Proud. Best Princess Luna said she would work on it, so in his mind, everything was being handled, and he took her advice to heart. Aside from keeping track of where in the timeline they were, he just enjoyed the high points of this second childhood, like video games and comics, and tolerated the downsides, like school and a curfew, all while doing his best not to get too caught up in the human memories.

Ace Condition’s store wasn’t far from the library, but it was still a fair walk. It was early enough in the day that the majority of ponies weren’t packing up yet, but late enough that everything a starting to wind down, and the atmosphere was slipping towards the more casual feel of evening.

“Proud! There you are!” somepony called out. The beating of hooves on the ground followed the call as Silver charged up to them, Flare close on his heels.

“Oh, hey Silver. Hi Flare. How was practice?” Proud greeted them with a wave. His grin faltered as he realized Silver was half soaked, his mane and tail still dripping, and his eyes slightly red. “Um… what happened to you?”

“Since we found Proud, I’d love that explanation you promised,” Flare wheezed at the same time.

“The crusaders got me with a water balloon. A couple water balloons. I was planning to shower anyway. But not important!” Silver said, shaking his head, water splashing a bit. “Remember all those extra pipes in the basement? The one that she said is just left over and she doesn’t have anything using for?”

“She being Aunt Rain? What about them?” Proud asked, not seeing where Silver was going with… whatever he was talking about.

“Water balloons?” Spike echoed.

“Seriously, what’s with you?” Flare sighed. “You aren’t being clear.”

“Spike!” Silver realized. He grinned at the baby dragon. “You know there’s still a spot for you in… no, not important! Pipes! We can make a potato cannon!”

All three stared at him blankly for a moment. Spike spoke first. “A what?”

“I’ve never made one before! But it’s simple, right? Tube, bang, load,” Silver made vague gestures in the air with his hoof.

“Um… isn’t that kinda dangerous? It sounds like it could be dangerous,” Spike said hesitantly.

“Okay…?” Flare said, tilting his head to one side.

“Why do you want to build a potato cannon?” Proud asked once his momentary stunned silence passed. “Actually; scratch that. Where’s the hairspray?”

“The crusaders made this sling and they loaded it up with balloons and… look, I said it wasn’t important,” Silver insisted. “But the crusaders, well, Apple Bloom really, dared me to make something better, and I always wanted to make one but I never had anyone to make it with, but I’ve got brothers now, so why not? And then the fillies in the class above ours got into it since they were still sore about Rumble and Liza getting them with the water bottles...

“Anyway, Aunt Rain has some manespray she never uses, and it’s pretty flammable,” Silver said as if it wasn’t that important a point. “I thought about it on the way over. I could try and compress air with a modified telekinesis spell, but I’m pretty sure I’m not good enough to pull it off. Yet. Maybe later. Oh! Did you know that Sparkler’s talent is enchanting gemstones and crystals? We can use one of those charges for you joyboy and some stuff from Time Turner’s place for the trigger and-”

“Hold up!” Proud said, covering Silver’s mouth with a hoof as he hit Pinkie Levels of rambling. “Aunt Rain’s manespray is flammable? You know this how?”

“I was bored,” Silver said after he managed to move Proud’s hoof. The last time Silver was bored he took apart the lamp in their bedroom to see how the actual inner working operated based off a book he got from the library. Proud raised both eyebrows and Silver wilted slightly, looking off to the side nervously. “I only tested it once. I’m not about to burn down the house.”

Flare suddenly shuddered. “Oh, now I’m picturing Silver burning down the house…”

Spike laughed, but got it under control so he could ask the burning question. “Okay, really, what are we talking about?”

Silver opened his mouth but Proud cut him off. “In simple, direct words. Explaining everything.”

“They set up a free for all for Sunday, and I want to show up the crusaders’ giant slingshot with a projectile launcher,” Silver said after taking a moment to organize his thoughts. “So… are you in?”

Flare groaned, shuffling his wings indecisively. Spike exchanged a look with Proud. Proud smiled. They had the weekend to work on it anyway. And the arcade would be less fun without Button. “Sure, why not? Sounds fun, actually.”

“It’s not like I have anything else to do, really.” Spike shrugged. “I’m in too.”

“Oh great, just jump on in,” Flare muttered with a roll of his eyes. The other three were looking at him, Spike smirking, Proud grinning broadly, Silver tentatively hopeful. “Well that’s just not fair…” He sighed with a trace of frustration. “Fine, I’m in.”

Silver let out a whoop, rearing up slightly and ran off again, though not as fast as he was going before. “Okay, you have your bit bag, right Proud? We can hit Time Turner’s place to see if he has anything I can use to rig a sparker!”

Proud was about to ask about tools, but remembered who Aunt Rain was. She was the type to both do a lot of stuff herself, and to take her work home with her. The pipes in the basement were a bit of both. And she also had a work room with a wide range of tools they she probably wouldn’t be too upset about them using. She might even have pipe sealant too. Actually, she most definitely had pipe sealant. She did most of the plumbing and electrical work in the house herself.

“Hey, don’t leave the rest of us behind!” Spike complained, running after him.

“Great… more running,” Flare said, chasing after them with long leaps; jumping and spreading his wings, flapping a little to try and get a bit of altitude before gliding until he hit the ground for his next leap.

“I’m coming too,” Proud laughed, trotting after them, only to increase it to a run when something occurred to him. “Hold up! You’d better not be thinking about using my charges in that sparker trigger! I need those from my games!”

They huddled around the table; three colts, one freshly showered, and a dragon, each one decked out in a set of winter goggles for protection, Spike borrowing Aunt Rain’s, and rain coats standing in for lab coats to set the proper atmosphere.

“Okay… if we punch a hole through to the main chamber, no, two holes. One to run the wire through and the other to put the feed for the manespray in,” Silver said pointing to two points on the sketch Spike made. It was a refined version of the sketch Silver made. Spike had taken one look at it and facepalmed before taking over the scribing duties. Silver had tried to protest, but Proud was on Spike’s side of the issue. It wasn’t that Silver was a bad writer, Spike was just much better, and faster too.

Flare rummaged through the supplies they had gathered and sorted roughly by shape and potential purpose. Aunt Rain had a lot of junk in the basement, most of the useful kind, and they only needed to run to Nails and Things to pick up some nails, which Aunt Rain was short on for some reason.

They had already roughly assembled a prototype. Two, actually. One made somewhat faithfully to the design they remembered, and another one they assembled when they realized hooves would most likely be unable to seal it swiftly enough. None of the pieces had been sealed up yet; as they were trying to perfect the ignition portion. Time Turner really did have the most interesting things, though he flatly refused to sell them what was obviously the pony version of a BBQ lighter. They compromised with a simple circuit you would find in any high school project.

“Wouldn’t it be easier to just use the cap? You just want to have it filled with the spray so the spark set it off, right?” Spike asked. “Why use the one with the small threaded cap instead of making another little hole we have to make sure is sealed up properly?”

“We can’t close it fast enough,” Proud responded.

“So, you’re only using the big one so you can reach in and fix anything if you need to,” Spike mused, scratching at a fin. He thumbed the initial prototype. “So what’s the deal with that one then? Why’d you half make one you can’t work with hooves?”

“We can still make that one. We have enough parts for it,” Silver commented, looking at their assembled supplies again. Flare finally found the thin copper tube they planned on connecting the manespray to and set it aside, glaring at Proud. Proud grinned sheepishly. He had been the one to misplace it in the first place. Silver shrugged. “We can make that one for you, Spike.”

“You’d make one just for me?” Spike asked.

“You’ve got the hands, er, claws for it, sure,” Silver said dismissively, putting the chamber for the pony version of the cannon into the clamps so they could get started on the hole boring. “Plus, it’s proof of concept.”

“You’re helping us out, why wouldn’t we make one for you?” Proud said around the hammer he held clenched in his teeth. The plan for making the actual holes was simple enough. Since the proper tools were locked away, they gave Proud a hammer to swing, and Silver held a thin nail in his magic. Proud swung the hammer a few times to test it before looking at Silver. “Ready?”

“Ready,” Silver said, his horn glowing slightly, a matching glow around the nail. Proud didn’t hesitate, tapping on it solidly, though not at full strength, a few times. Silver tentatively let his magic lapse, and grinned when the nail remained in place. “Perfect! Let’s set up the trigger hole and then you can whack them both in!”

“Is it ready?” Proud asked.

“Not yet,” Silver grumbled, trying to angle their creation enough to see the wires he was messing with.

It took them maybe an hour more to set everything up. They had done the pony friendly version, which Silver dubbed the Duke Popper mark II, then decided to get the task of fully assembling the mark I done since they had the time. They had to let the seals set in the mark II before they could properly test it anyway. Aside from that, the barrel and chamber seemed sound, the spray can was clamped in place with a few spare brackets and the holes they made were plugged.

The only thing left to do was get the trigger fully fitted. Proud hung over Silver’s shoulder as he worked on the final fittings of the trigger. His magic let him fiddle with the wires more accurately than hooves could, and he was the only one who had enough knowledge on how to set up the mechanism, on top of that. Another benefit of him spending all that time in the library.

Proud was still fuming inwardly that they were using his charges for it. The small crystals primed with a bit of magic were Equestria’s version of batteries. Unfortunately, they were also more expensive and not many unicorns, and even less pegasi, knew how to recharge them. There were dedicated refreshing units that ran off the power grid, but those were expensive. He found a bit solace in the fact that he could at least use Button’s to refresh them. Only a bit. Of the unicorns he know, only Sparkler and Twilight might know how to charge them.

“You’ve been at this for a while. How long does it take to put two wires close together so they spark?” Proud grumbled. Behind the pair, Spike and Flare were looking for something to use as the test projectile. They were having their own debate, but Proud hadn’t been following. Something about a hook and a strap?

“That’s electricity. This is… well, also electricity, but magic electricity,” Silver explained. He paused, his horn dimming for a moment as he looked at the wall thoughtfully. “Well, not exactly magic electricity. More like electrically natured magic energy…”

“Hey, magic technobabble later,” Proud said, prodding his brother in the side. “Are you done yet?”

Silver glared, but half grinned. He flipped the switch and a small white spark danced from one wire to the next. “Done. Ready for testing.”

“It’s ready already?” Spike asked.

“It’s not really that complex,” Flare pointed out. “Tube, chamber, combustible gas.”

“The hard part was making it hoof friendly,” Silver muttered. “You guys got the rags?”

“Um, yeah,” Spike said, holding out the small cloth he and Flare had loosely bundled into a ball. “This is starting to sound dangerous again… How do you even know how to make this?”

“It isn’t!” Proud said, ignoring the last question and snagging the ball, quickly slipping it into the barrel. He used a broom handle to push it all the way down. “Totally safe! Time to test it!”

“I dunno…” Spike said, still uncertain.

Flare rolled his eyes and pushed him back. “Look, just go along with it for now. Silver’s ideas normally work. If they don’t, Proud’s good at keeping it from going too far. Most of the time.”

“It’s the most of the time that worries me,” Spike grumbled.

“Momentai,” Silver said happily as he checked the cannon over. Satisfied, he giggled. “This is gonna be awesome! Proud! Help me point this at the target!”

In the corner of the basement, as far from the windows as they could get, was mismatched pyramid of cans sitting on an old chair Aunt Rain apparently hadn’t gotten around to repainting. It would do nicely as the Duke’s first victim and its gallows. They made sure the Duke was securely clamped in place before ducking under the table. A cracked hall mirror served as the observation screen as Silver used his magic to prime the cannon, counting Proud down, who drew the straw and got first dibs on the trigger.

Duke was a bit loud. A hollow ‘whump’ and the wadded up cloth was launched across the room, clipping the pyramid rather than hitting it head on, still managing to knock the chair over with a clatter of metal and wood.

“Ha! Told you it would work!” Silver declared, pumping a hoof in the air.

“Sweet!” Spike grinned, his eyes wide with wonder.

“So awesome!” Proud cheered.

“One of your ideas actually worked!” Flare said, tackling Silver playfully.

“Hey! What do you mean ‘actually’?” Silver demanded. “And ‘one of them’? They all work!”

"Including the one to manipulate everypony into meeting up even though that happened without you?" Proud deadpanned.

The banter and teasing picked up a bit, even between checking the cannon over to make sure it was still in one piece and distracting Spike from Proud’s comment. The Duke was mostly unphased by his first firing, aside from the barrel getting knocked slightly out of place, and one of the brackets getting loose when the cannon bucked in the clamp. It wasn’t hard for them to fix it, working together.

Getting the Mark I set up was even quicker. Silver knew what he was doing now, and Spike was more helpful this time around. They didn’t even realize the time passing until Aunt Rain’s Voice floated down.

“Boys? Are you three down there?” she called. She quickly followed on the tail of her call. “Are you- Ah, you are, and Spike is with you.” She looked over her shoulder and spoke to someone at the top of the stairs. “He’s here with them, Twilight.”

“Spike?” Another mare came down, this time half running in contrast to Aunt Rain’s walk. Twilight looked a bit stressed but relieved as she hugged Spike. “Oh Spike, I was worried sick!”

“Twilight! What’s wrong?” Spike asked, suddenly worried. “Did something happen? Was it the library? Something happened to the library because I wasn’t there, didn’t it! Augh! I knew I shouldn’t have…”

“What?” Twilight exclaimed. Proud muffled a laugh at how alike the two were; both freaking out over nothing. “No, I was… okay, maybe I over reacted a little bit.” She giggled nervously. “I just didn’t know where you were and I heard you were with Pure Rain’s nephews so I was looking for you.”

“So… nothing bad happened?” Spike asked carefully. Behind them, Aunt Rain examined the two cannons they made.

“No Spike, nothing bad happened,” Twilight reassured him. She looked around, taking in the mess and their creations. “So what have you been up to?”

“We made awesome potato cannons!” Spike said enthusiastically. “They even made one for me.”

“A potato cannon?” Aunt Rain asked, with a raised eyebrow. She tapped her hoof on the floor, waiting for the explanation.

“Silver wanted to make them,” Proud said with a chipper smile.

“They certainly look interesting…” Twilight commented. “Is that a can of manespray?”

“One of mine, by the looks of it,” Aunt Rain added blandly.

Proud ducked his head as he adopted a sheepish expression once again. “You don’t really use them…”

“It is…” Silver said hesitantly, watching Aunt Rain’s expression. Twilight’s horn glowed as she studied their work. “It’s a pressure based projectile launcher.”

“But how can a simple can of manespray launch a- oh, is that a charged crystal?” Twilight and Silver got into the scientist/researcher headspace, and most of the others in the room tuned them out.

“So why was Twilight freaking out like that?” Proud asked his aunt.

“In most likelihood, it would be because of the storm the pegasi scheduled,” Aunt Rain responded. She picked up one of her tools and looked at it, then at the two colts and one dragon, sighing and setting it aside as she explained. “The earth ponies who monitor the land around the town have been reporting that the water table levels have been falling below optimal and the weather ponies got approval for a large storm.”

“Oh, I guess I can understand…” Spike sighed. He turned and frowned at Proud and Flare. “Guess I have to head home.”

“It’s not dangerous!” Silver’s sudden raise in volume started them all. He winced apologetically. “Sorry, like I was saying; it’s not dangerous. No more so than a tensile strap snapping and lashing out-”

They tuned them out again.

“Aunt Rain, can Spike spend the night?” Flare asked as Silver and Twilight got back into it. Spike blinked in surprise.

“Yeah! Can he?” Proud asked eagerly. He could already see plans falling into place.

“Spend the night?” Aunt Rain lifted her chin thoughtfully. “I suppose I see nothing wrong with it if he does.”

“You mean it?” Spike asked, eyes glittering.

“If Twilight has no issues with it, I should be fine,” Aunt Rain nodded.

“Twilight!” Spike yelled immediately, running over.

“It’s amazing how simple yet profound this idea is,” Twilight was saying. “I’m surprised I’ve- Um, yes Spike?”

“Is it okay if I spend the night here tonight? Miss Rain already said it’s fine if I do, but you’d have to say yes,” Spike rambled.

Twilight took a step back. She looked up from Spike across to where Flare and Proud were standing, grinning hopefully, beside Aunt Rain. “I… suppose that would be fine, if you really have no issues with it, that is, Pure Rain.”

“None pressing or concerning,” Aunt Rain confirmed. “I am aware it’s a bit short noticed…”

“No, no, it’s fine,” Twilight said. She hugged Spike, despite his protest. “He’s my little brother and all, but he needs to make a few more friends his own age.”

“This from the mare that had to have a royal order to make friends,” Spike deadpanned.

“Oh hush,” Twilight laughed. Aunt Rain smiled slightly while Proud and his brothers snickered. “But I think it’s a wonderful idea for Spike to have a chance like this. But then again, we didn’t prepare… I do have a book with the supplies you would need to spend… but it’s so short notice. Maybe we should reschedule? I didn’t have anything planned for tonight, but Spike doesn’t have his toothbrush, or wash cloth, or his special blanket-”

“Twilight!” Spike exclaimed in horror. “I’ll be fine for one night!”

“I have enough extra necessities to provide for him,” Aunt Rain said with a slight chuckle. “Everything will be fine, Twilight. Let him stay the night and we will drop him back home tomorrow.”

Silver swapped a malicious look with Proud and mouthed ‘security blanket.’

“But-” Twilight swallowed and forced a smile. “You’re right. I’m worrying over nothing. I can spend the night catching up on some research. This project of your nephews has given me a few ideas to think about.”

Spike and Twilight might have gotten a bit emotion about it after that, Spike almost having cold feet about the whole thing, until Aunt Rain proposed a compromise; letting Spike head back to the library to pick up a few things before coming back. Silver volunteered to go with them, citing his need for a new reference book anyway.

After they left, Aunt Rain turned her attentions on her remaining relatives. “A potato cannon?”

“The crusaders made a... well... it’s a long story,” Flare admitted. Silver had calmed down enough after his shower to fully outline the budding preteen/teen drama that had come to a head earlier in the evening.

“Day before yesterday Gree- um, somepony was hitting ponies with paper gliders, then it turned into a few throwing paper balls at recess, and a couple of ponies in class got into a spitwad war after class, then somepony brought out rubberbands yesterday...” Proud said, vaguely outlying the slowly escalating tension that had overtaken first their class, then a portion of the schoolhouse’s population. “The crusaders apparently made a cart mounted slingshot and we made potato cannons. There’s going to be a big beanbag, water balloon and other stuff fight this Sunday.”

“Well... basically that,” Flare shrugged.

“I don’t believe I should be supporting you three in this venture,” Aunt Rain mused contemplatively. “It sounds like the sort of event that a parent, or guardian, would dissuade their wards from participating in.”

“Aw! Please Aunt Rain?” Proud pleaded. It was about more than just having built the cannon now. It was about honour. The crusader’s struck at one of their own. Such a travesty could not be left un-avenged. “It was Silver said there are going to be chaperones and referees and stuff so it doesn’t get too out of hoof. Sweetie Belle’s dad is one of them.”

Aunt Rain still looked unimpressed. She took in the two cannons again. “Am I correct in assuming you made these based on your alternate set of memories?”

Flare and Proud looked everywhere but at their Aunt. “.... maybe.”

Aunt Rain sighed in an exasperated fashion, shaking her head in mild marvel. “Honestly. I suppose if Mr Flanks is going to be there, it should be fine. But try to remember what Princess Luna warned you about.”

She raised her eyebrows when they didn’t respond. Flare smiled weakly. “Sure, Auntie.”

“I suppose that will have to do,” she murmured vaguely, heading back upstairs. “I’ll be in the kitchen working on dinner if you need me.”

“Thanks, Auntie!” Proud chirped.

“And be sure to clean up,” she added.

“Yes, Aunt Rain,” Flare responded.

“And make sure your homework is done if you before you plan to spend the entire weekend playing!” she called down.

“Okay, auntie! We will!” Proud reassured her. When no more orders or advice came back, Proud grinned at Flare.

“Remind me again why we decided this was a good idea,” Flare muttered as he started on the task of putting everything back were they found it.

“Because it was an awesome idea,” Proud grinned, going to the table and grabbing for the pencil and paper they were using earlier. He started making a sketch of his own. He paused and frowned. “And Silver was crying. I’m worried about him.”

“He’s worried about us,” Flare said, taking a moment to bump Proud’s shoulder affectionately. “And I’m pretty sure he’s up to something. I don’t know what, but he’s looking for something in the library.”

“I thought it was just casual research,” Proud said, looking up with confusion. ‘Casual Research’ was Silver’s catch all phrase for, well, knowing a lot of random things. In his words, the earlier you started, the better it was for you.

“It’s that too, but he’s looking for something else on top of it,” Flare said. He shrugged. “I wouldn’t worry too much about it. He stresses himself out, then does something crazy to cool down and starts it over again. Like the O&O book he’s thinking of buying.”

“I’ll admit, I really want to see what pony D&D is like,” Proud laughed. He sobered after a moment. “So Silver’s planning something? He hasn't been talking to me much lately.”

Flare’s response was slow in coming, the young pegasus pushing the tool box back unto its position on the shelf. That done, he trotted back over to Proud. “Probably. Maybe? I don't know, to be honest. He likes making plans, but he likes making stuff up as he goes too. I don’t think he blames himself anymore, at least, but he’s still worried and a bit confused. He’ll let us know when he thinks he’s found out enough information.”

“Like with this potato cannon idea?” Proud laughed again. “Okay, I’ll just make sure he doesn’t burn himself out too much. But I’ve got one more very important question for you…”

Flare tilted his head curiously. Proud grinned. “Think we can make this to fit on some saddlebags?”

Flare blinked, taking a moment to understand what Proud was getting at, and grinned as well. By the time Silver and Spike got back, with the book the former wanted and a backpack of stuff for the latter, including a bunch of gems for snacking on, Flare and Proud had a proposal for Duke Mark III.

Night at Aunt Rain's

Silver’s eyebrow was perched about as high as it could reach as he looked over the drawings that Proud and Flare had made up while Silver and Spike had been out. Spike, reading over his shoulder, mimicked the response. Finally, Silver tilted his head to one side in a questioning manner.

“He’s basically volunteering to be a living tank,” Flare said with a nod. They had reconvened in the basement. Considering the sleepover was a spontaneous idea, they didn’t have anything planned. Once Spike and Silver returned from the library, the latter with a bag of gems, a pillow, a blanket and assorted toiletries, the former with two new books, and stowed their prizes away, they got back to working on the cannons.

“He wants us to make a harness to strap two of those things to his back instead of just one?” Spike asked. He grinned. “That’s… pretty cool, actually.”

“I know, right?” Proud said as he grinned along with him. “It shouldn’t be too hard to do.”

“Um… maybe? I don’t know if I can come up with a way for you to operate it on your own though,” Silver said slowly. He rocked his head from side to side for a moment. “Eeee, actually… maybe we could come up with a way, but I don’t think I could actually make what we came up with. ”

“Not in two days, no,” Proud admitted, “but we can make it a pair weapon. I carry them, somepony else does the firing and loading.”

“We figured that could work,” Flare explained. He pointed to the rough sketch they made. “If we put a basket on his withers or saddlebags to sit near his flanks, he can carry both the load and the launcher together. The other pony can do the loading and the firing.”

“I suppose I could rig a trigger to run by his muzzle or something… there’s the old lamp I could cannibalize for parts…” Silver scratched at his nape with a less than certain expression on his face. “It would probably be pretty fragile…”

“Proud wanted it to be adjustable so he could change the aim and stuff, but I told him we probably couldn’t do that,” Flare added. “And didn’t you promise to put that lamp back together?”

“It’s just putting it on a crank and stuff,” Proud whined.

“And a framework to support it, and some sort of… shaft? Shaft I guess to connect a crank to gears?” Silver shrugged. “I don’t know a whole lot of details about that kind of mechanical stuff. Maybe something like a bicycle pedal and chain?”

“What’s a bicycle?” Spike asked.

Flare shook his head at Spike. “Don’t worry about it. And Proud? I told you the adjustable idea wasn’t going to happen.”

“Ah well,” Proud groaned. “But later?”

“Maybe?” Silver shrugged, setting the papers down and looking for a good starting point.

“No, we totally need to make that later,” Spike insisted with a grin.

“Dinner will be on the table in five minutes. Hooves washed by then, please,” Aunt Rain’s voice came down to the working youngsters. “Claws as well, I suppose.”

“Okay, Auntie!” Proud yelled back. They had made decent enough progress for one day, in any case. The extra cannons were half assembled, though they wouldn’t be able to complete them until they got the parts to make their triggers. Flare and Spike had also made the base structure for the saddle mount they planned for Proud. Not too bad for a short notice project.

“Before we finish up, shouldn’t we invite Spike already?” Flare asked.

“Oh, right! Forgot about that,” Proud admitted.

“Invite me to what?” Spike crossed his arms and leaned against the table, still littered with scattered parts and tools.

“You know the Cutie Mark Crusaders, right?” Proud started off.

“Who doesn’t?” Spike muttered. “The only reason they don’t trash the library is because they already tried for ‘Librarian’ cutie marks and none of them like reading that much.”

“You know about The Triple S too,” Silver grinned.

“You three keep offering me a spot,” Spike nodded.

“It’s a fad at school now. All sorts of little groups popping up,” Flare explained. “Most not all that serious or anything, but it’s pretty unofficial.”

“But with the big game coming up Sunday they are sort of the teams,” Proud left out the other reason they had made the little group in the first place. “Since you said you’d come play with us, and since you’ve been helping Silver out in his research stuff, we want you in our group.”

“Wait… aren’t you a part of Tripe S?” Spike cut in, pointing at Silver. “I thought that was just Snails, Snips and Silver!”

“I’m actually only an honorary member,” Silver grinned, waving a hoof dismissively. “I was in B-Four first, but we don’t really do anything big. Secret Society and all. Most ponies don't know about it. Just us, really. And Aunt Rain.” He shot Proud a look.

“Like you didn't almost tell Dinky,” Proud muttered.

“Ixnay,” Silver hissed. “Anyway, since nopony really knows about B-Four, I'm sorta in Triple S.”

“And he thinks Snails can teach him how to beat me in chess,” Proud added. Silver stuck his tongue out at him.

“Before?” Spike asked, choosing to ignore the banter between the two.

“Brothers Bound By Blood.” Flare followed Spike’s initiative and ignored them as well. “You know the Bonds and Codes of Honour and stuff that the Royal Guard used to use centuries ago?”

“Codes of Honour I know. I’m considering making my own Code of the Dragon to follow,” Spike admitted. “That way I can be a valiant knight!”

Flare sighed slightly. Spike was as bad as his brothers were. “Honestly; Proud and Silver were bored while we were studying for history and got all dramatic in their re-enactments then decided to keep the idea. So it’s sort of a secret society.”

“Except it’s not all that secret, and we don’t really do much,” Proud shrugged.

“Yet. We don’t do much yet,” Silver insisted. “And it is secret and will stay that way if somepony keeps their muzzle zipped.”

“A lot of stuff seems to happen when Silver or Proud gets bored,” Spike deadpanned.

“It’s what we get in trouble for half the time,” Flare complained with a roll of his eyes. “I’m not supposed to be the responsible one. The name was a mouthful, so we shortened it to BBBB, then B-Four.”

“I guess that’s cool,” Spike admitted reluctantly. He paused before continuing. “You don’t run around trying to get cutie marks, do you?”

“Pfff, no,” Silver butted in. “Mostly just hang out, homework, occasional projects like this…”

“Besides, Silver doesn't want to get his Cutie Mark for some bizarre reason,” Proud added. He shook his head slowly. “My brother, the weirdo.”

Spike thought about it for a few moments. He had always been the one telling Twilight to make friends, but now that he was in Ponyville, Twilight had made more friends than he had. He grinned. “Sure, I guess.”

“Boys; there is a distinct lack of hooves leaving the basement,” Aunt Rain said from the top of the stairs.

“Sorry Aunt Rain, we were just initiating Spike into our secret society!” Proud responded, quickly trotting over to the base of the stairs to call up to her.

“Yes… secret society,” Silver deadpanned, tapping a hoof on the ground as he ground his teeth slightly. “There’s a part of that concept Proud fails to grasp…”

Aunt Rain was silent for a moment, then shook her head and walked away. “Finish up quickly,” she called as she did. “Your dinner is getting cold.”

“Be there in a bit, Aunty!” Proud said cheerfully before trotting back to the others. “Okay, initiation time!”

“Wow, your aunt’s more… chill than they let on,” Spike blinked. “I always thought she seemed so strict.”

“She’s nice when you get to know her,” Flare said. He watched as Silver and Proud positioned themselves in a loose triangle, with Spike in the center. He flicked his ears, trying to remember the words they had come up with when they set up the group. “Okay... How’d it go again? Um… I, Flare, the Wind in the Open Sky, stand as an equal before my brothers; may my voice be heard?”

“The Secret Keeper, Moon’s Shadow will hear you,” Silver said, slipping into his dramatic tones again. “Speak, brother.”

“I petition to nominate the one Spike to join our brotherhood,” Flare continued, rolling his eyes. “This is ridiculous…”

”Quiet and keep it up,” Silver hissed back before continuing. “The one Spica de Draco has the sponsorship of the Open Sky. Brothers, is there a second sponsor?”

“That’s not my name,” Spike pointed out.

Proud grinned. “I, The Protector of the Weak, Shield and Hammer, sponsor him as well.”

“The Open Sky and the Protector are recognized as sponsors,” Silver nodded. “Spica de Draco,” Spike groaned but didn’t bother saying anything about the name again, “do you accept the sponsorships of these two brothers?”

“Um, sure?” Spike responded.

“Do you vow to uphold our bonds, be as a brother and ally?” Proud asked, glaring at Spike in judgement.

“Will you stand beside us in times of need and want, as philosophy and tradition allows?” Flare followed, though with far less grandeur than Proud and Silver displayed.

“Yes,” Spike nodded, getting into the spirit. “On my honour, I do.”

“Witnessed by he of the Moon’s Shadow, the Open Sky and Protector, the petition is approved,” Silver said, stamping a hoof. Flare and Proud echoed the motion. “Spica de Draco, you have toiled and laboured with us, through that we have seen proof of your passion, your valour and your worthiness. We name thee brother, of bond, of honour and of blood. Um… we considered a blood-letting thing, but I wasn’t sure if that might be a real ritual or not, so until I finish the research we’re holding off on that one.”

“I’m pretty sure we are gonna keep holding off on that,” Flare said firmly. He had no intentions of messing with blood, not when blood magic might be a real thing.

“Anyway,” Silver glared at Flare, huffing a little. He extended a hoof towards the young dragon with a grin. “Spica de Draco; welcome to the brotherhood.”

Meal times were the closest thing to the typical ‘family bonding time’ they managed. Ever since that first meal when they spilled the beans to their Aunt, it became the time to report on daily activities, bring up issues or just reflect on life in general. The addition of Spike to the table didn’t really change anything, though it might have censored certain topics. The meal that at night was a light vegetable curry with bread, a three bean salad and apple slices. There was an addition bowl of mixed gems for Spike.

“So; just how much of my supplies ended up being repurposed for your project?” Aunt Rain asked, dipping a hunk of bread in her curry.

“Um… a lot?” Proud tried, his mouth half full of food. The others looked at each other before shrugging.

“Manners. I will have to take a look at it later, then,” Pure Rain said, shaking her head slightly. “Fortunately; it should not be an issue replacing anything you four used. Did you get everything completed?”

“Mostly,” Flare answered, getting himself some more curry. “Silver still has a few little things left to put in place for them to be done.”

“Need to get some more parts from Nails and Things, or Time Turner’s place,” Silver said in response to the unspoken question in the look his aunt directed at him. “We have Spike’s own done, but I need another two triggers… and something for a more secure support for the saddle idea Proud had...”

Spike didn’t comment, content to watch the discussion, crunching on his bowl of gems. Pure Rain twitched her ear. “Do you have any other projects in mind?”

Silver avoided looking her in the eyes. “… maybe?”

Pure Rain sighed before turning her gaze on the other youngsters at the table. “Flare? Proud? Spike? Other projects?”

“Well…” Proud said, being just as evasive as Silver. Flare tried to sink into his seat. Spike choked on his gem.

“Proud wants to make a two cannon version that he can aim and fire himself but Silver said that he didn’t have the parts and might not be able to make it even if he did but Flare pointed out that we could use a small winch we found in the back of the basement or some parts from some toy carts and train to make it!” Spike gushed.

Pure Rain tilted her head slightly. “… I wasn’t interrogating you.”

“You… weren’t?” Spike gulped.

“I just didn’t want to mention it,” Silver muttered.

“Boys, I don’t greatly mind you using the parts in the basement if you want to make something,” Pure Rain continued. “But I would appreciate it if you let me know about them. I would rather you not hurt yourself working on it, or at least be forewarned. I am admittedly curious as to how well they will work.”

“Really?” Spike and Silver both asked.

“Against my better judgement, yes,” Pure Rain sighed.

“Um… I might need a raise in allowance,” Silver commented after a moment. “To get stuff for the ideas.”

She reached over and pushed Silver’s bowl of beans closer. “Maybe if you eat your beans. No giving them to your brother this time.”

Silver grumbled but reluctantly started on the beans as the conversation continued, moving on from the topic of the potato cannons. Flare started bugging Spike about why he didn’t go to school, which turned out to be because of home schooling and the same tutelage Twilight received. It turned out that Silver had to redo an assignment since he decided to write a paper on the origins of the names for the days of the week rather than what was assigned to him.

He at least got extra credit for it.

After the meal the activities got a bit trickier. The down side of setting up a spontaneous sleep over was that you didn’t have anything planned for it. They had hit a wall with the cannon project, so they couldn’t get back to that. Following advice from their aunt, they worked on the sleeping arrangements.

The plan was to move the beds in their room and lay the mattresses on the ground to make one big sleeping surface for all of them. A quick round of dice rolls split the chore; Silver and Spike worked on arranging the mattresses while Proud and Flare pushed the bed frames out of the way.

The first pair, having the easier task, finished up in no time, and got to talking with Flare and Proud were still at it.

“You could lend a hoof,” Proud pointed out as he and Flare worked to push the first bed, Silver’s, out of the way and into the corner.

Silver and Spike looked at each other and nodded over an unspoken agreement before turning, grinning broadly. “Nah!”

“You knew they wouldn’t; why’d you ask?” Flare grumbled, trying to put his back into it.

“You can’t blame me for being hopeful,” Proud responded gruffly.

Silver and Spike kept up their grins, perhaps taking a bit too much pleasure in the other’s discomfort. Flare tried to ignore them as the two relaxed and talked. Proud was shifting the second bed so it would take up the least amount of space, so he started shifting the last one, Proud’s bed on his own in the meantime. His ear twitched when the odd turn in their discussion caught his attention.

“It’s kind of weird,” Spike was saying. “You sure you want to do it?”

“One hundred percent,” Silver replied. “I’ve read up about it, and it’s not something I can really do to myself. I don’t have digits, but I want to know what it feels like.”

Flare glanced back confused as to what they were talking about, but the two were just sitting on the mattresses. He shrugged and got back to shifting.

“Twilight said it’s not something I should do with other ponies, but okay… if you’re sure,” Spike’s hesitant response came. “Just… let me know if I’m doing it too hard and hurting you…”

Flare stumbled, tripping over his hooves and hitting the bed when Silver moaned. He whirled, eyes wide. “What the hay are you… two… doing?” Flare’s accusation trailed off when what he saw didn’t match his expectations at all.

“W-what?” Spike asked self-consciously. Silver was sprawled out on the mattress beside him, a contented and slightly goofy look on his face, Spike’s formerly active but now stilled digits at his ears.

“Um… what?” Flare blinked.

Proud popped up from behind the beds, curious as to what was drawing everypony’s attention.. “What’s going on?”

“Huh? Spike, why’d you stop?” Silver asked, sounding a bit dazed and out of it.

“Silver just asked me to scratch his ears,” Spike said defensively. He pulled his hands back to himself. “Yeesh. I’m not gonna do it if you act like that. What did you think I was doing?”

“Um… nothing!” Flare said quickly, turning back to his task, his red coat doing well to hide his blush. Proud was snickering but went back to work as well. Flare’s stumble managed to knock the box spring out of place. He sighed and moved to push it back in place when he noticed something stuck under it. He sighed again and tugged it out. Huh, it was a maga-

Flare yelped when he saw the cover and started back pedalling, only stopping when he tripped over the mattresses, his wings flared and eyes wide.

“What’s up, Flare?” Silver asked, recovered from the numbing effects of the ear scratch.

“It was in my mouth,” was all Flare said.

“What was in your…” Silver trailed off when he spotted the magazine. A bat winged pegasus mare was sprawled on a bed, feet done up in stockings and wearing lingerie, suggestively looking over her shoulder at the reader. The title spanned the top; ‘Playpony: Night Pegasus edition’. “Wow… Just… wow…”

Spike crawled over next. “What’s going… Holy guacamole, Batmare!”

“What are you guys going on about?” Proud asked, trotting over.

“So... you have a thing for leather wings, huh?” Silver said, smirking at Proud, pointing to the incriminating evidence. Proud’s face went red. “Shooting for the night guard instead?”

“I-i-i-it's not mine! I'm just holding it for... for Scootaloo!” Proud stammered.

“You… realize that makes it worse, right?” Silver commented. Spike looked like he was torn between walking away and flipping through the pages. Silver’s horn glowed, and the box spring shifted, revealing a few more magazines.

Spike’s eyes widened. “Haystacks, Proud… that’s… a collection…”

“Just because we are brothers doesn’t mean I won’t hurt you,” Proud hissed.

“You and what army?” Silver grinned.

Proud looked around, snagged Flare and dragged him over. “Two against one!”

Flare meeped, broke free and ran to hide behind the dresser, his wings popped out again. His sudden flight upset the collection, causing a few to fall on the ground, a few open. Spike was doing his best to imitate a fish. Silver’s eyes widened at some of the pictures, a blush taking over his face. “Bucking Ponyfeathers, Proud…”

Proud scrambled to kick them out of sight. “Hey! What I li- I mean what Scootaloo likes is her business!”

“Scootaloo… sure,” Spike said, finding both his voice and his sarcasm.

“Yes! Scoots! Her… her parents were… spring cleaning!” Proud said hastily, still pushing the magazine pile out of sight with a hind leg. “And she needed somewhere to hid them and asked me to keep them for her! Since no one would ask me! Her likes are her business!”

“Yours too, apparently,” Silver said, shaking his head as if that action could dislodge the images flitting about his mind. He did not want to see those. Even the pictures in the anatomy books had been weird enough. “And its summer going autumn. I’m going to have so much fun with this blackmail material…”

“Not exactly ‘spring cleaning’ time,” Spike grinned.

“You’d blackmail your best pony?” Proud asked, looking dismayed. He had managed to mostly hide his collection away by that point and pointed an accusatory hoof at Silver. “How could you!”

“Who said I had a best pony?” Silver grinned.

Behind them, Spike looked at Flare. “What’s best pony?”

“Best Crusader then!” Proud challenged.

“Nice try. Besides; Sweetie Bell is best Crusader,” Silver continued. “Even if she can’t cook.”

“Hay… I should have said her…” Proud muttered under his breath.

“Besides, the first one said ‘Property of Gibson’ on the cover,” Silver added. The room was silent, Proud’s face getting even redder.

“Gibson… as in… Button’s older brother?” Spike blinked. His face blanched, even with his scales.

“IT WAS IN MY MOUTH!” Flare yelled after twitching in a sporadic fashion for a moment. He fled the room, crying ‘ew’ repeatedly all the way to the bathroom.

Show Stripes

“It was Sunday. The Sun’s Day, the day whose warmth and light guided the other five. It had been a day many eagerly waited for. A day sweat, tears, though hopefully not blood, would have been spilt on the battlefield. Instead, the foul beast of bureaucracy had stuck from the shadows and striped the hopes and dreams of the eager away from them, leaving little in its wake but broken spirits and despondent souls.”

“Okay Silver, we get it, you’re upset,” Flare muttered with a bored tone. Seated on the opposite side of the table from Silver, he didn’t grace his narrating brother’s antics with anything more than a roll of his eyes. Proud didn’t even bother to look up from his game, the sounds from his device a soft backdrop in the room.

“Upset? Upset!” Silver bristled, ears splayed as he half climbed on the table, knocking the book he was reading out of place. “I’m livid! How dare they take this opportunity from me!”

“Off the table, Silver,” Rain said as she walked into the room.

“But my honour will remained besmirched,” Silver whined as he retook his seat with reluctance. He whimpered slightly at Aunt Rain. “My suffering remains unavenged.”

“I’m sure a few water balloons were not that bad,” Rain commented as she got her saddle bags.

“It was,” Silver grumbled, passive aggressively flipping a page, muttering other things under his breath.

“And they didn’t cancel it. They decided to make it an official event in the Summer Wrap-up Festival when they realized how many ponies were going to take part,” Flare commented as he watched his aunt get ready. “Going out, Aunt Rain?”

“I am,” she confirmed with a nod. “I will be out for most of the day. I have left dinner in the fridge in case I get held up as well. Do you three have any plans?”

Proud just shook his head, sounding distracted, his attention on his game. “Wanna beat level 8 before Button does. Already got third shard for the fourth circlet.”

Silver muttered something under his breath, snorting at Proud’s response.

Flare sighed. “Thunderlane had to go to Cloudsdale and Rumble went with him, so I don’t have anything doing. He lent me his old guide from flight camp though, so I’m reading that. It would look weird to go and practice by myself.”

“Silver?” Rain pressed.

“My plans got ruined, so I’m probably staying home.” Silver grumbled. “Have a headache anyway…”

“I see,” she raised an eyebrow at him. “So what are you reading?”

“Oh, I got this book on enchanting crystals from Sparkler,” Silver said, brightening and even smiling.

“Of course he perks up when it comes to books,” Flare muttered.

“Shhh,” Silver said, waving a hoof at Flare. “I want to see if I can learn the spell to renew the charges for Proud’s joyboy for one. Maybe even work out something better for the Dukes. Twilight was telling me about her time in Canterlot, so I want to see how much magic I can do.” He hesitated, glancing off to the side for a moment. “Well, another reason to see.”

“You want to go to school in Canterlot?” Flare asked. He raised an eyebrow. “I mean, we kinda have… our thing doing.”

“What? No,” Silver shook his head. “I just want to see what I can and can’t do. And to see if I can replicate some if the simpler spells from books I read.”

Rain watched them with a slight smile. “I see. ‘Crystals; Magic and Frameworks’ should be on my bookshelf. It might be complicated, but it should help you. I unfortunately don’t have any books on pegasi flight that would help you, Flare.”

Silver let out a cheer hurried off to get the book Aunt Rain mentioned while Flare smiled. “Thanks anyway, Auntie. Not that reading about flying is fun anyway.”

“Well, when you are finished with just being indoors, there will be a show held in the town square this afternoon,” Aunt Rain continued. “A traveling stage magician. You may use the bits I left on the counter if you want to go to it. Actually, as I understood it, her show was one of the reasons they moved the game.”

“It sounds like it could be fun,” Flare admitted. He looked down on his guide with a frown. “And there isn’t really much I can do without somepony to help.”

“Meh… think I’ll pass, Aunt Rain,” Silver shrugged.

“Mah. Magic show. Game. Beating button,” Proud said, still enthralled. The sounds suddenly cut out as Proud gave Aunt Rain his full attention. “Wait, stage magician? Do you remember what her name was?”

They had time to spare before the show was scheduled to start, and they spent it split between deciding who was going, and on their own activities. Silver still wanted to opt out, books being a stronger draw than heading out. Proud was all for going, on the other hoof. Flare gave in to his enthusiasm after a little wheedling from Proud, admitting he would like to see the show for the show’s sake.

Flare had been practising the positions outlined in the book, intending to develop the muscle memory since he didn’t have much else to do. It was a bit tricky, since he didn’t have anypony experienced around to give him critique and feedback, but he practised anyway. He was also taking advantage of their aunt’s absence to get a little air time from the stairs and shelves, working on his gliding form.

Silver remained preoccupied with his work. He had fetched a few spare pages and writing tools, as well as the loose-leaf filled book he was keeping track of his personal magic progress in. It was filled with the notes he was making on what he was learning, rough work on paper and proper notes in the book. The pages of scribbles scattered over the table hinted that his book was going to have some new additions soon.

Proud was preparing for mischief, have decided that he could compete with Button for the next level. He chuckled to himself as he secured the buckles for his suspiciously packed saddlebags. “I’ve dreamed of doing this for a long time.”

“Put them back,” Silver advised around the pencil he was contemplatively chewing on. He hadn't even spared the effort to actually look up to confirm his assumptions.

“What? Put what back?” Proud asked with feigned innocence.

“The tomatoes most likely,” Flare commented blandly, poking Proud’s saddle bags. “It’s a bit rude.”

“But you can’t tell me she doesn’t deserve it!” Proud protested, dropping the pretense.

“Proud,” Silver said, looking up with a level expression as he chastised his brother, “I can honestly say ‘I don’t care’, but seriously. She’s a show mare. It’s her job to brag. Do you throw tomatoes at Rainbow Dash for going on about how awesome she is all the time? Instead, you’re gonna go assault a mare for doing her job just because you don’t like her.”

Proud glared defiantly at Silver.

“Actually; fine. Whatever. Not like I really care,” Silver snorted, waving a dismissive hoof in the air before going back to his books. “Go have fun at the show. Flare; keep him from doing something stupid. Well, stupider. And let me know if she’s a better illusionist that gran is.”

“Hey!” Proud complained with a frown. “You know I hate it when ponies call me stupid.”

“Then don’t do stupid things!” Silver grumbled, scratching his head as he tried to make sense of some of the material in the book Aunt Rain loaned him. “Stupid things make you look stupid. You, by extension, are therefore stupid.”

Flare glared in Silver’s direction and tried to lighten the situation with a joke. “Isn’t the older brother supposed to be the one to keep the younger brother from doing things like that?”

“Proud? Responsible?” Silver retorted in feigned shock. He waved his hooves in staunch denial. “Nopony ever said Proud was responsible. Whoever told you that was yanking your tail and should be brought to Applejack to be punished for their dishonesty. It’s kinda opposite, actually.”

“Jerk!” Proud stuck his tongue out at Silver and left in a huff, slamming the door behind him.

“Wait, what?” Silver looked up, confused. He glanced between the door and Flare, whose glare had returned. “Um… too much?”

Flare sighed in exasperation. “Yeah. Just a bit.”

Silver groaned. “Hayseed… I’ll apologize when he gets back, I guess.”

“Nope. You’re gonna do it now.”

“But I was just starting to make progress,” Silver whined.

“Silver,” Flare said firmly, quirking an eyebrow while giving him a stare.

“Bah…” Silver grumbled, shuffling his papers together with a bit of magic and setting the books on them by hoof. “He’s probably gone to the show.”

The show of the Great and Powerful Trixie went about as well as Silver predicted and Flare expected. Trixie, for all her bravado and bluster, was a skilled unicorn. While her magic was not quite at Twilight’s level, her flare and talent for showmareship was still worth it. Illusions, conjurations, a few enchantments and lots of flashing lights were employed, coming together in an impressive show.

Quite the crowd had gathered around the stage Trixie’s cart converted to, and most, if not all of them, were impressed. Neither brother could enjoy it, busy searching the audience for Proud, a task made all the more challenging due to the fact that as foals they mostly saw a mess of legs from their level. They split the mass between them, and met up again after a couple minutes of searching.

“Any luck?” Silver asked Flare when they got back together.

“No, I can’t find him anywhere,” Flare admitted. He looked back at the crowd, wings twitching slightly. “I thought for sure he was going to come here.”

“Ponyville is kind of a big place,” Silver said. He lifted a hoof for emphasis. “Just a little. It’s not exactly an easy place to search if we are looking for someone.”

“If somepony hadn’t been a jerk about things,” Flare grumbled, letting the thought trail off.

“Yes, yes; I’m a jerk with a horn, we’ve established that,” Silver groaned, flicking his tail. “Can we move on to other things? I’m not even the one who wanted to throw things at ponies… Next time somepony asks my opinion on something, remind me to keep my muzzle shut.”

“And will you actually listen?” Flare asked. Silver mused on it for a moment before grin at him. Flare sighed in exasperation and started walking off, shaking his head. “Typical. Come on. Let’s check the arcade.”

“The arcade? Really? Isn’t that the obvious place?” Silver asked as he followed. “What about Sugarcube Corner? Actually, three bits says he’s home.”

“If you left in a huff like that, you’d go to the library.” Flare didn’t even look at him. He just stated it like the fact it was.

Silver looked like he really wanted to contradict him, opening and closing his mouth a few times as he tried to formulate a counter. He was forced to settle for a snort. “Fine, you got me there. Arcade then. What do we do when we find him?”

“You need to say you’re sorry,” Flare continued to deadpan.

“Fine…” Silver groaned.

“And mean it!”

“I just said ‘fine’, didn’t I?” the frustrated colt huffed.

Flare let him brood as they trotted off to the arcade, seeing no further need to push for conversation, though he did wave politely to anypony who called out to them. Unfortunately for the brothers, Proud wasn’t at the Arcade when they got there. Button was there, though.

“Hey guys!” he called out to them. He didn’t look away from his game, his hooves working the joystick and button quickly as he controlled the earth pony pulling a wagon on the screen, a chipper soundtrack accompanying it. “Wanna play me in Track Racer?”

“No, we’re actually looking for Proud,” Flare said, peering around the area in case they just overlooked him.

“Weren’t you grounded?” Silver asked curiously. Button’s eyes widened and he bit his lips. Silver grinned and whispered happily to himself. “Blackmail material.”

“Come on,” Flare said, rolling his eyes and nudging Silver. “Let’s check Sugarcube Corner…”

Proud wasn’t a Sugarcube corner. Nor at Ace Condition, the Library, the park, at Berry Punch’s smoothie store or any of the other places they thought to look. Silver was getting progressively more irritable, though Flare was experienced enough to ignoring his brooding older brother. Defeated and tired, they headed back home, having wasted most all of the afternoon and early evening roaming the town.

Proud was on the couch, playing his joyboy again. He looked up when they opened the door and waved.

“Hey… Proud,” Flare called out, waving a hoof in a confused manner.

“You owe me three bits,” Silver murmured to Flare.

“Flare! Silver…” Proud narrowed his eyes ever so slightly at Silver. “I’ve been looking for you.”

“Imagine that, we’ve been looking for you,” Silver deadpanned.

“Really?” Proud sounded skeptical. Flare slapped Silver on the shoulder with a wing.

“Gah… okay look; I’m sorry.” Silver sounded like he was forcing out the words. “I was a jerk and should have thought things through more. And been more… respective? No, sensitive to your feelings.”

“Really?” Proud raised an eyebrow.

“Yes, really. I was a dolt of a colt,” Silver sighed.

“Okay, so long as you know it,” Proud said, grinning.

“Really?” Silver said, after a pause. “That’s it?”

“Yep!” Proud beamed and glomped Silver, who was even more confused.

“You had me run all over town and it's fixed just like that?” Silver said, eye twitching.

“Since when does Proud hold grudges?” Flare pointed out, shifting to stay out of range. “Aren't you the one who says you can read ponies well?”

“Not often,” Proud confirmed as Silver gently beat his hoof on the base of his horn. Proud grinned at his reaction for a moment but quickly became a bit more serious, getting back to his feet. “But that’s not important right now.”

“It’s not?” Silver asked, a bit confused about where Proud was going with his point.

“What happens next?” Proud pointed.

“… What?” Flare asked. Silver looked at him and shrugged.

“This is the first time Trixie appears. What happens after her show?” Proud asked again. “Green told me that Snips and Snails were looking for you, wanting to take you along while they did something awesome. I think they’re going to look for the Ursa.”

“How the… buck did I forget that?” Silver whispered.

Flare facehoofed. “Silver, have I ever told you that your friends can be dolts?”

“So you want to go and stop them?” Proud asked. He shuffled his hooves nervously. “I know you’ve been going on about not interfering much but…”

“No, this one we definitely should mess with,” Silver groaned, rubbing his temples.

“What’s different this time around?” Flare asked, raising an eyebrow at Silver.

“There are a lot of houses and businesses between the Everfree and where Trixie did her show today.” Silver raised an eyebrow. “Do you really think that a cranky giant bear cub would not damage a ton of them on the way there? I don’t think a pretty obvious lesson is worth the damage.”

“When you put it that way,” Flare said uneasily. “Plan?”

“Plan?” Silver raised an eyebrow.

“Do you have one?” Proud grinned.

“Why do you think I have a plan?” Silver frowned.

“You have those folders under your bed with a list of plans you’ve been putting together,” Proud’s grin became a smirk. “And the list of all the things the Crusaders have been up to.”

“And you did ask our opinions on them,” Flare continued. He waved a hoof in an encouraging manner. “So which one?”

Silver sighed. “Plan T…”

“Which one was Plan T again?” Proud asked. “Tell Twilight?”

“Tell Twilight.”

“What do you mean ‘she won’t help us?’ She has to!” Silver danced in place nervously, hooves beating out a rhythm on the library’s wood floor.

“It’s not my fault,” Spike shrugged, fuming slightly about something. “Twilight is getting all crazy about her magic, worried that everypony is going to hate her for being good at magic after Trixie’s show. She grabbed her books and just teleported out of the library.”

“Well… this is bad,” Silver started pacing, muttering to himself as he circled the table in the room.

“Your plan ran away, Silver,” Proud half joked. “Maybe you should catch it. Or go with Plan C. Or Plan L.”

“How would the Crusaders help in this situation?” Silver asked, confused. “And I don’t think we have enough time to do research.”

“What?” Proud asked after a beat.

“Plan C: Crusaders. Plan L: Library slash Research,” Silver explained.

“No, I mean tell…” Proud sighed, his shoulders slumping in irritation. “Which plan is ‘Tell the Princesses’?”

“Plan P: Princess,” Silver responded.

“So you don’t have any idea where she went?” Flare asked Spike, shaking his head at Silver and Proud.

Spike grunted and shook his head. “She didn’t tell me anything before she ran off. I don’t know why she’s so fussy about it. Nopony will care if her magic is good or not. So why did you need her?”

Flare contemplated how much he should tell Spike. Silver was mostly off in his own world, trying to come up with another plan, muttering. Proud’s attention seemed split, mostly a tuned to Silver but on Spike and Flare as well. Flare sighed and figured Spike would learn about it soon enough. “Snips and Snails are planning to call an ursa to town.”

“WHAT!” Spike yelled. “Dude! Why in Equestria would they do that?”

“Because they want to prove that Trixie is the best, I guess,” Flare responded, his ears flipped back from the yell.

Spike stared at Flare for a moment before he slapped his face with his palm. “Well that’s just awesome! Silver! Your friends are being stupid!”

“Hey!” Silver paused in his pacing long enough to glare at Spike. “They are your friends too!”

“They were your friends first!” Spike countered.

“Okay, this isn’t helping,” Flare interjected, putting a hoof on Spike’s chest and glaring at Silver. “We need to figure out what to do.”

“I’d say get Twilight, but…” Spike let it trail off.

“Plan T failed, yeah,” Proud agreed. “Any other ideas?”

“We stop them ourselves,” Spike finally said. “I mean, go on. It's Snips and Snails. Those two would have trouble finding their horns if it wasn’t attached to their heads. We should be able to catch up with them.”

“Wait, you’re suggesting going into the Everfree Forest?” Proud raised his eyebrow.

Flare stared at Spike with surprise. “I’ll admit, I never expected you to suggest that.”

“Um… well,” Spike stammered, realizing what he proposed.

“Plan D. Do it ourselves. Actually, D dash T,” Silver amended his statement mid-thought. “Spike! Where do you keep paper and writing implements?”

“Everywhere,” Spike said, a hint of grumpiness slipping out with his confusion. Silver ran off and pulled opened a random drawer, ducking his head in and coming up with a quill and sheet of paper, an inkwell following, held in the aura of his magic.

“D dash T?” Flare walked over to peer over Silver’s shoulder as he wrote out a note. “What is that one about?”

“We do it ourselves and we also tell Twilight,” Silver said, slightly muffled by the quill he was writing with. “Note for when she gets back.”

“Um, are you sure we should be going into a place like the Everfree?” Spike asked hesitantly, realizing just what his idea was involving.

“We’ll be fine!” Proud said happily, trying to reassure Spike. “Besides, it was your idea.”

“Can I change my mind?” Spike grinned with a nervous chuckle.

“Done!” Silver announced. He hoofed the note at Spike. “Okay, you go put this someplace Twilight will find it when she gets back and we can get going. Snips and Snails already have a head start.”

Spike swallowed nervously before repeating his question. “Can I change my mind?”

Flare shook his head slowly. “In for a bit, Spike.”

“Hey, the Brotherhood is going to take on the Everfree,” Proud announced suddenly. “And hopefully save the town!”

Silver grinned at Spike. “You don’t plan on abandoning your Brothers in Bond, do you?”

Spike groaned. “Fine. Let’s go already.”

The group took one detour, stopping by the colt’s home to pick up the Dukes, just as a precaution against the dangers that the forest might pose. With Spike and Proud armed, Silver and Flare sporting saddle bags stuffed with Aunt Rain’s stock of tomatoes and potatoes, they started after the fancolts at a fairly steady clip, leaving the town behind and making for the forest. It was somewhat surprising that nopony tried to stop them. The meadows and shrubbery that flanked the path from the town gave way to trees and wild growth. Soon enough, they passed the threshold that the Everfree seemed to be held to, and the canopy blocked most of the day’s dying light, forcing them to navigate through half darkness.

“Has anypony said this is a bad idea yet?” Spike asked, still the voice of reluctance. He hadn’t been in the Everfree before, having been too exhausted when Twilight and her friends went after Nightmare Moon to go with them. He was jumping at every sound and clenching his claws tightly around the Duke. “And how are you not scared?”

“It’s a forest,” Silver said, rolling his eyes. He glanced around, on the faint chance that he might spot the hoofprints or their quarry.

“You’re going to break it of you don’t ease up,” Flare observed. He was serving as Spike’s second, Silver paired with Proud. In true adventurer fashion, the main ‘fighters’ of the group, Proud and Spike, were in the lead with Silver and Flare, the ‘wizard’ and ‘rogue’ behind them.

“Haven’t you guys heard about the stories for this place?” Spike demanded, the brothers’ casualness getting to him.

“No, not really,” Flare admitted, shrugging his shoulders as if it were no big deal.

“Read them, did a paper on them,” Silver stated, not sounding impressed.

“Nope!” Proud said happily, trotting off to the side.

“Timberwolves! Cockatrices! Hydras! Trents!” Spike’s eye twitched as he waved his free claw in the air. “This whole place is bad news!”

“Quit being so melodramatic, Spike,” Silver advised, hopping over a fallen branch on the path. He frowned and concentrated a moment, setting his horn a glow.

“Besides, I kicked the ass of a timberwolf before. Two of them in fact. At the same time.” Proud said, brushing his chest with a hoof. “Hashtag Humble brag.”

Silver stuck his tongue out as the aura on his horn wobbled and flickered before a bright white orb of light formed at the tip, shedding green tinged light for them to see by. “There we go! Light Spell!”

“Where did you learn that?” Flare asked.

“The after school session from Merry Tone,” Silver said proudly. “Only me and Snails passed. Um, Snails and I.”

“Actually, how do we know we are going the right way?” Flare asked, kicking the branch off the path. Better to get rid of it now than leave it as an obstacle in case of the need for a haste retreat.

“That’s right!” Spike leapt on Flare’s logic. “How do we know that?”

“Sheesh, you’re jumpy,” Silver muttered. “Look, where else as would they have gone? It’s not like there’s another path, and I don’t think they would leave this one.”

“He has a point. Snips and Snails aren't very… imaginative,” Proud said hesitantly, reluctant to badmouth his friends. His tail waved as he scanned the forest around them, their trek taking them deeper than most ponies would have gone, save for the girls when they went looking for the elements. “Though, I’m not sure where they plan to find an Ursa Den close to town…”

None of them had a response to that, and the silence stretched on, punctuated only by the sound of hooves and claws on the winding dirt path. To be fair; it wasn’t much of a path, merely a trail beaten from the frequent travel of the forest residents. It had been slowly fading as well. By the time they realized it was gone, they were already surrounded by trees, brush and a tense atmosphere.

“Yeah! Watch it!” Silver yelped as he crashed into Proud who stopped without warning. His spell flickered, but he got it back up in a moment.

“Wha- !”

“I think we passed this tree before,” Proud said, pointing to the tree in question. The other youngsters quieted immediately.

“But we’ve been going straight!” Spike protested. He looked at the others for support. “Right?”

Flare shrugged. “You can get lost in regular forests. Much less this one.”

“I really really think we should have told an adult instead of going after them ourselves,” Spike repeated, his voice quavering slightly as his eyes darted from shadow to shadow.

“We are so getting grounded after this,” Flare groaned with resignation.

“It’s not that bad,” Silver said, the shadows cast by his light spell dancing as he shook his head. “I wrote a report on this, didn’t I? The Everfree is dangerous, sure, but it’s not that bad. You just have to watch out for certain creatures. And most of them don’t roam this close to the town.”

Silver hesitated, looking around. “Well, assuming we are still close to town.”

“Whose stupid idea was this?” Spike wailed.

“Yours,” Flare reminded him. “Maybe we should try turning back?”

“GAH!” Spike suddenly yelled. He whipped his duke around and fired it wildly, the hollow whump echoing slightly. A shadowy shape weaved to the side with a jumble of indistinct words, though it was an unneeded response, Spike’s shot going wide.

“Aaaaaahhhh!” the group yelled, huddling behind Spike.

“Don’t hide behind me!” Spike yelped as he realized what they were doing.

“Just what is happening in the Everfree tonight? First a star bear, now shot upon on sight?” A melodic and flustered voice came from the shape, eyes glowing.

“Wait… Zecora?”

“What’s a zecora?” Spike asked, still scared, his mind supplying all kinds of possible horrors that a ‘zecora’ might be.

“Zecora is not a thing, to say so you should feel shamed. Zecora is instead, that which I am named,” the zebra said, stepping properly into the lit area cast by Silver’s light, throwing her hood back with a toss of her head. Her gold jewelry glinted in the light as she raised an eyebrow at the ground. “So what are you, young ponyfolk and dragonfolk alike, doing this deep in the forest of the Everfree tonight?”

“Huh?” Spike was thoroughly confused.

Flare pushed past him. “Sorry Miss Zecora, we came to try and stop two friends of ours we got a really bad idea.”

“And lost,” Proud added.

“Paths through the Everfree are not easy or clear, they branch and wander with no warning I fear,” Zecora said in an understanding tone. She sighed slightly. “But even so, these woods are not a playground, but I can still get you home safe and sound.”

“Why’s she talking in rhymes?” Spike hissed at Silver, trying, and failing if one considered the eyebrow Zecora raised in his direction, to be inconspicuous. “And stripes? What kind of pony is she?”

“Don’t worry about it,” Silver hissed back, though he did want to find out why himself. “And she’s a zebra. From the western lands? You should know this. You live in a library!”

“I have other things to read,” Spike grumbled.

“As gripping as your chatter may be, it’s swift passing time that we should leave,” Zecora said as the faintest smirk tugged at her mouth.

“But they want to call an ursa to town!” Proud piped up, feeling a bit left out of the discourse.

“Ah, now I see! It’s why they did flee.” Zecora looked back in the direction she came from. “If that’s why you came, then you are late for your aim. Two colts already raced back to your town, and behind an ursa was bearing down.”

“They already got it heading to town?” Proud exclaimed.

“So this whole thing was a wash?” Flare glared at Silver. “What was that you said about where else they could have gone?”

Silver’s jaw dropped as he tried to figure out where he went wrong. “But we… we followed the path. How did we miss them?”

“As I said before, this forest is a mess. With little warning, your paths will digress. But still there’s no reason for you to be despaired. For from what I saw, the townfolk were quite prepared. Rather than flee, a group of ponies were waiting ahead, and eventually the lavender one put it right back to its bed.” She smiled and half turned, flicking her tail. “If you would follow my trail, I’d be sure to tell you the entire tale.”

Zecora had no trouble finding the path back towards Ponyville, the Everfree being her regular stomping ground. As she led them on a winding route that seemed to have twice as many turns as what they took to get in, your regaled them with the story.

“So Twilight and Trixie actually worked together to deal with the ursa minor?” Silver grinned when Zecora nodded.

“They employed clever use of their tricks and skills, and were able to send it back and keep damage near nil,” Zecora explained.

“I knew she could get Trixie on her side with the right advice!”

“Just what did you put in that note?” Flare asked curiously, an eyebrow climbing his face as well. He had been pretty sure Trixie was too insufferable to actually help out.

“Words, dear brother. Words!” Silver sang happily. He had dropped the light spell once Zecora had brought them into brighter lit areas, and was personally pleased for the release.

“Sounds like Twilight used number sixteen and came up with a new spell while Trixie distracted the ursa with Rainbow and the others,” Spike grinned. “I knew Twilight was the most awesome unicorn around. No offence Silver. How much further, Zecora?”

“Ponyville is not far from here, just one more slope and we'll be there. For the next point, you’d best take care. There were things there you’d rather not bear.”

Proud didn’t seem to hear her, running head of the group in a half gallop cresting the hill. “Aw man! I wanted to see Twilight deal with an ursa minor!”

“Maybe Trixie can show us what happened with one of her illusions,” Flare suggested as Spike increased his own pace a bit, leaving only Silver and Flare to walk beside a faintly concerned looking Zecora.

“If she does, I wanna see it to!” Spike called out. “Make sure you tell me if she does!”

“No problem,” Proud said, turning and trotting backwards for a while. “I’ll be sure to let yo-yikes!” Proud yelped as he tripped over his own hooves; tumbling out of view and over the crest of the slope.

“Proud!” was the collective cry as the foals, and Spike, raced up to see if he was okay.

“I’m okay!” Proud groaned back. As the others crested the slope, Proud got back to his feet, rubbing his head, coughing up a little bits of pollen and crush petals from the field of blue flowers he tumbled into.

“I fear in time that too will change,” Zecora sighed as Spike ran over to Proud to see if he hurt himself before she could stop him. She quickly blocked Silver and Flare’s path with a foreleg. “And for you two; stay out of range!”

“Wait, is that poison joke?” Silver’s eyes widened.

“With petals blue and stamen too, I see this plant’s not unknown to you?” Zecora seemed pleased. Her expression quickly flipped when Silver ducked under her leg.

“Allons-y!” he cheered gleefully, tackling Spike and Proud, kicking up another mess of pollen and knocking both Dukes away.

“Hey!” Proud complained as he was knocked to the ground again. He rolled over and glared at Silver. “What is with you?”

“What the hay, Silver?” Spike yelped when he was knocked flat on his belly.

“You foal! What have you done?” Zecora demanded, stomping the ground in her frustration. “Now you'll suffer as well when it’s begun!”

“Suffer? No way! This is gonna be fun!” Silver said, beaming even as he pulled a petal from his ear. “Poison Joke is mean but harmless. And the cure isn’t that hard either.”

“Cure? What are you talking about?” Spike asked, crossing his arms grumpily. Considering he had gotten a nostril full of flowers as a result of Silver’s tackle, he was quite a bit peeved.

Flare came up beside Zecora, shaking his head slowly. “Miss Zecora, my brother is crazy sometimes.”

“On that point I completely agree, fortunately the cure I can guarantee,” Zecora sighed. Silver nudged Proud and tipped his head in Flare’s direction. Proud blinked in confusion, not understanding what Silver was getting at. Zecora continued talking, casting a look in the direction of town. “The poison joke will wait till morn to strike and not tonight, and you should be home before your parents know fright.”

Silver frowned and jabbed a hoof at Flare and Proud made a silent gasp as he finally comprehended. Flare didn’t miss the exchange. Spike was more concerned about the plant. “Um, just what is this plant supposed to be doing?”

“That plant is much like poison oak, but its results are like a joke. It will inflict you with some magic effect, because its sense of amusement is suspect. The cure for the plant’s fleeting ‘whoopee’, it nothing more than some special potpourri.”

“So tomorrow I’ll wake up with some weird thing happening to me?” Spike asked. When Zecora nodded he facepalmed and glared at Silver. “Thanks a lot.”

“No problem,” Silver said distractedly as he and Proud traded a look, a dark glint in their eyes.

Flare raised an eyebrow. "Okay... what are you two up t-" The pair lunged, grabbing their younger brother and dragging him into the bed of flowers with them. Flare panicked, trying and failing to break free from their grasp. “No! Get off you two!”

“No way!” Silver declared before mercilessly tickling Flare's side. Proud joined in a moment later. With nothing to lose, Spike shrugged and joined the fun.

“It’s fortunate that the cure is somewhat simple, otherwise this would be quite the wrinkle,” Zecora deadpanned. She shook her head slowly. “The words of wisdom every mother knows, colts will be colts as the saying goes.”

“Gah! Haha-Quiddit!-ehehehe-No!--- Gah! Stahp!” Flare protested futilely, laughing helplessly under the assault, kicking up dust and pollen with his flailing wings and legs. In the end, all four of them were coated in yet another layer of pollen, dust and crushed petals before they separated from the wrestling match the tickle fight turned into.

Panting and glaring, Flare snorted. “I hope you're pleased with yourself...”

“I am,” Silver giggled, nursing sore muzzle were Proud’s hoof had accidentally collided with it. He nudged Proud. “You?”

“Eyup!” Proud said. Earth pony constitution, and being just plain tougher than his brothers, meant he came out relatively unhurt, excluding a smarting ear that Silver had latched on to in retaliation for the hoof strike.

“Spike?” Silver asked, still beaming.

“That was pretty fun, actually,” Spike admitted, a broad grin of his own on his face. Dragon scales pretty much guaranteed he was unharmed. Not even Proud accidentally stomping on his tail left a lasting soreness. “Dragon scales are tough.”

“Jerks. All of you,” Flare grumbled, trying to hide a grin of his own.

“If you four have had your fun, It might be best we start to run,” Zecora advised, having backed away to avoid the pollen they were kicking up. She even managed to look fairly disappointed with them.

“Sorry, Zecora,” Silver said, grinning sheepishly. He was the one that escalated things. Spike snorted and collected the scattered dukes and potatoes, distributing them to the right ponies.

The trek back to town was far more sombre compared to the impromptu wresting match and the story time that preceded it. Zecora had them remove all traces of the poison joke, so they wouldn’t inadvertently pass it on to their family members, before they left the forest. The lights of Ponyville were soon in sight and it added new vigour to their steps.

“From this point on we will go separate way. You should be fine to get home without stray,” Zecora nodded. She pulled her hood back up and smiled at them. “I’ll return tomorrow with the cure you need, though to warm pooled water you will need to lead.”

“You… need a large tub or something like that to put the cure in?” Flare asked.

“A herbal bath is the magic’s solution, one quick dip will bring the joke’s resolution,” Zecora laughed. “Now my friends, I most return to my tree. I fear tonight I might go on a potion spree!”

“Bye Zecora,” Silver waved as the zebra trotted back to the forest, humming to herself.

“See you tomorrow!” Spike added. They didn’t linger, instead quickly heading homewards.

“Yeah Spike, we can walk you home, if that’s okay,” Flare offered. “It’s not that far out of the way.”

“Sure, that would be great,” Spike nodded. He smothered a yawn. “I would do anything for a sapphire cupcake right now.”

“Oh yeah, we did miss dinner,” Proud realized. “Funny the things you forget when you’re having an adventure.”

“Sure, an adventure,” Flare deadpanned.

“We saw the forest, met Zecora, messed around in a poison joke patch,” Silver itemized. “And I got to get some practical in for the light spell. Adventure.”

“I just want to curl up with a bowl of gems and a comic book,” Spike admitted.

“You should read something else. How did you not know what a zebra was?” Silver said, rolling his eyes at the dragon.

“I read plenty of other things!” Spike countered. “Just not that one.”

“You can’t expect everypony to know everything,” Proud snickered.

“You are actually worse than he is,” Flare commented.

“That’s why I keep Silver around. He can answer questions for me,” Proud said without shame.

Silver just stared blandly at him. Flare laughed. “Well, I have to admit, he’s good for that.”

“Give him some time, and he’ll be a mini colt version of Twilight,” Spike needled. “Does he make check lists?”

“I will bite you all,” Silver said in warning, which only served to make them laugh louder. The banter continued as they walked, switching targets a few times along the way. By the time they got to the library, their moods were high and quite chipper.

“Boys!” The exclamation came from two sources, Aunt Rain and Twilight, and both mares descended on them in a rush of motherhood and general guardian behaviour.

“Are you okay? How could you think to go into the Everfree!”

“You are definitely grounded again!”

“Not hurt anywhere, right?”

“Why is your muzzle swollen?”

“What were you thinking?”

“You are all filthy. You will need a bath. A proper one.”

“We were so worried about you.”

“That note was vastly insufficient.”

The rush of questions eventually petered off, allowing the boys a chance to look around as well as to breathe. The library was actually empty. Aside from Aunt Rain and Twilight, only Rarity and Trixie were around.

“Now, what were you four thinking?” Twilight demanded.

“That stopping Snips and Snails before they found an ursa was better than letting them bring one into town where it could wreck things?” Silver offered. Aunt Rain gave him a look that had him shrink back.

“We didn’t plan on staying out that long,” Flare added, his wings fluffing slightly. “We wanted to catch them before they got too deep, but we ended up lost instead. Miss Zecora helped us though. She even offered to prepare the cure for the poison joke.”

“Zecora of the Everfree?” Aunt Rain narrowed her eyes with suspicion.

“Poison joke? The Great and Powerful Trixie has heard stories!” Trixie suddenly exclaimed. She ducked her head bashfully when the other mares stared at her. “Sorry. What I meant to say was; I have only heard stories. Is it real then? The Curse Flower?”

“There are no such things as curses,” Twilight asserted. “They are merely silly superstitions.”

“Well I am far more concerned about them meeting that Zecora,” Rarity tutted. “I would hate to see that ghastly mare do something to these fine colts.”

Spike got a dazed expression in his eyes until Silver poked him in the side. Flare sighed. “Miss Zecora is actually very nice. She led us back to town and everything.”

“I have wondered about the rumours about her,” Aunt Rain admitted. “I’ve always been at work when she roamed Ponyville. Twilight, I suppose we should let the boys explain themselves before we decide on the punishment?”

The four traded nervous looks as Twilight nodded. Nothing good ever came from parental figures uniting on punishments. Twilight pulled out a notebook and quill. “Agreed. Well boys? Care to explain what happened today?”

Silver nudged Flare. “Well, you started. Keep going.”

“Why me?” Flare asked, quivering slightly.

“Just do it,” Silver insisted.

“Fine,” Flare swallowed. “Well, I guess it all started when Trixie did her show...”

Prologue: Wishing on a Star

"I still can't believe I let you guys talk me into playing that game..." Daine sighed, whined really, as a trio of young men made their way down the city streets, Daine fuming somewhat as his two companions followed a few steps behind. "Despite my insistence that I suck harder than a black hole at first person shooters..."

"You didn't even try," Patrick snorted, failing to hold his composure at Daine's tone, picking up his speed so he could walk abreast with his irritated companion.

"You killed me when I was trying to figure out how to switch to the grenades!" Daine protested, jabbing an accusing finger at Patrick.

"Only once..." Patrick tried, going for the role of peacemaker.

"Six. Times. Six." Daine was not pleased at all. "You were just pissed I kicked your butt at Smash Bros."

"I never owned a Nintendo console in my life, not counting the game boy and 3DS." Patrick countered. "Also, I WAS trying to tell you how to switch grenades but I got shot by James here."

"Wha..? Don't try and blame me for that now," James protested. Then, after a pause, he added, "not that a grenade would have helped you."

"That's it! Next time we game to figure out who picks the food and who covers the bill, we play something we are all good at. Like Pokémon," Daine grumbled. "My meowstic, luxray and pyroar would kick all your collective asses."

That, of course, immediately started a full scale bicker-fest as the three friends made their way back to their hotel. Considering this was the first time they ever met in person, it was going swimmingly. True, they had been online friends for years, but only Daine and Patrick had met in person. Of course, they only had a seven hour drive between them, unlike the fifteen hour flight between them and James.

The Convention was the perfect time to get together. Booking through the registration deal got them cheaper flights to the city and a deal on the hotel. Sharing the bill of a hotel room lessened the weight on the wallet even more, and all that was left was hoping for the best. Despite the misgivings of others around them, the best did happen and the three got along fine.

The only real issue came from the proposal to game for rights to pick the supper menu. At this point, none of the three remembered who proposed it, only that James won by a landslide, and Daine lost pathetically. So they got Thai food, and Daine's MasterCard got to dance around the magstripes. And of course James ordered something expensive. Well, by Daine's standard, but he was always a bit stingy.

"So... plans for the rest of the night?" Patrick asked when Daine finally ceased his efforts to bite James. Granted, his attempts were remarkably dignified, but they were still attempts to bite. James walked with Patrick between himself and Daine as a result.

"Meh... read a book, work on the theory of relativity?" Daine shrugged, flippant though apparently fascinated with the cracks and gaps between and in the pavement, and doing his best to daintily step around them all.

"Get Daine a muzzle?" James offered a slight grin on his face as he watched Daine's antics.

"Gnaw James' ear off?" Daine suggested brightly, deciding to get in on the game.

"Apply for a restraining order?" James countered pleasantly, speaking up a bit to be heard over the sound of the traffic racing by, the timing of the traffic lights sending a fair amount of them in motion.

"Hire a hitman?" Daine said, skipping up to the low stone railing and managing to keep his balance on it for four or five steps before hopping back down.

"Why would Daine need a muzzle? If anything, I'm the one that would, given how I keep nomming your ear in chat. By the way... Boop! And Boop!" Patrick said, delivering one to each of his friends.

Both Daine and James looked at Patrick, then sighed, Daine patting Patrick on the shoulder, James yielding to the urge to cover his face with his palm.

"There, there, Patrick," Daine said. "We still love you."

"How about we watch some shows or something?" James said when the urge to face palm finally subsided. "I got Pacific Rim on DVD."

"We can have a marathon of movies and TV shows," Patrick said, expanding on James’ idea.

“A marathon? Um… It’s late and…” James tried, his protests weak on his lips.

“No, no, no, that’s a great idea!” Daine said, clapping his hands together once and looking off into the unfocused distance as he thought it through. “It is, it really is. There wasn’t anything we were interested in scheduled for tomorrow anyway, so we aren’t missing anything. We can marathon it all night, then sleep come sunrise!”

“Um… I don’t know…” James said, suddenly regretting his suggestion. His friends continued as if he hadn’t spoken.

“But what do we watch aside from Pacific Rim?” Patrick asked. You couldn’t have an all-night marathon with just one movie. You needed more than that to whittle the hours away.

“We can… we can hit Day of the Doctor… Maybe A Canterlot Wedding… James’ hasn’t watched Window of Opportunity yet either,” Daine said, writing out a list in the air.

“Guys?” James tried to interject. Now, it wasn’t that he wasn’t loud, he was just being ignored in their exuberance for what was, to be honest, originally James’ idea.

“You haven’t watched How to Train a Dragon either, so we can add it to the list,” Patrick grinned, a grin that widened when Daine grimaced in response. “Both One and Two!”

James sighed, giving up. He had to admit, a movie night didn’t sound all that bad. It wouldn’t be the worst thing they dragged him into. He grinned. “I get to pick some of the shows too, deal?”

“Of course!” Daine said immediately, grinning at James’ expression as he realized that he hadn’t been overlooked, but instead deliberately ignored. “Between our hard-drives, DVDs and the Internet, we have limitless possibilities!”

James tried to hit Daine on the shoulder, though his target danced away and started humming a show tune merrily.

“Hey, look; a shooting star!” Patrick pointed out. He had a fascination with astrology and tended to check NASA’s releases for interesting events in the night sky. “The meteor shower is starting early.”

“When you wish upon a star,” Daine started singing. This time, James’ hit did land, and the dark skinned youth chuckled, but did stop singing.

“Why don’t we make a wish?” Patrick suggested. James and Daine gave him a matched set of raised eyebrows. Daine ruined it a few moments later when he burst out laughing.

“Seriously?” James asked, but he then shrugged in another non-committal manner. “Why the hell not?”

Daine coughed a few times from laughing too much but nodded. “A tad on the childish side; but sure.”

“Then I’ll start!” Patrick said happily. He opened his mouth, then closed it with a thoughtful look.

“What’s wrong this time?”

"You're not supposed to tell anyone what you wish for, doofus." Patrick replied.

"You're also supposed to wish on the star when you see it, not after it's gone," James pointed out.

"Considering it's a meteor shower, there's lots of chances." Patrick mused, then quoted the opening line from one of his favourite games. "I was just a child when the stars fell from the sky. But I remember how they built a cannon to destroy them, and how in turn that cannon brought war upon us."

"What?" Daine said after a pause. "Why would you let your cannon turn on you? You should have brought it up better. For shame," he said, shaking his head and looking up. "Maybe we should do this from the room. The window is higher than the street lights."

"It's from Ace Combat Four, referring to Stonehenge. A--" Patrick was about to explain, but was cut off.

"Hold on," James said. He pointed to a bright spot that was streaking across the sky. "That one!"

Though the urge was there to say something corny like 'make your wish!' the three kept the thoughts internal and silently made them known to the falling star. With a soundless flare, the star exploded into light, and the night sky was still again.