“It had a spell put on it by an old fakir,' said the sergeant-major, 'a very holy man. He wanted to show that fate ruled people's lives, and that those who interfered with it did so to their sorrow.”
~ W.W. Jacobs
Luna’s blanket of night stretches across the Equestrian sky, bringing a bitterly cold wind with it. The wind whips furiously, streaking through the quiet town of Ponyville. The grass and the trees dance and loose shutters bang against either glass or wood walls. While the rhythm of nature continues its elegant ballet, the occupants of a small cottage pay no mind to it.
A fire crackles inside the brick fireplace, spreading it’s warmth throughout the room. Sitting near the fireplace is a young pinto colt, passing the time by playing with a few toys such as a top, a yo-yo, and a doll of Princess Luna. As he plays, two mares watch him from the couch. A beige Earth pony lies on her stomach. A smile runs across her face.
“Isn’t he darling,” she asks her partner, a mint colored Unicorn who lay behind her. The Unicorn also smiled, watching the little colt.
“He’s charming, Bon-Bon,” she replies, lightly kissing Bon-Bon’s neck. “But you are darling, my love.” Bon-Bon purrs lightly as the Unicorn continues planting little kisses down her neck.
“Lyra, please,” Bon-Bon whispers, slightly blushing. “Not in front of Pip.” Lyra chuckles a bit, continuing to give her lover worshipful pecks on the neck.
“He’s a big stallion,” Lyra replies as she nuzzles Bon-Bon. “He can handle seeing us kiss.” Lyra tenderly plants a kiss on the side of Bon-Bon’s head, lightly caressing her form with one hoof. Bon-Bon lightly sighs in pleasure.
“We’ll save the real fun for tomorrow,” Lyra seductively whispers in Bon-Bon’s ear as she runs her hoof down her lovers belly. The two giggle and resume watching little Pip play.
As they gaze at their pride and joy, there comes a rapping at the front door.
*KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK*
All ears perk up and all eyes turn to the source of the noise.
“Who in Equestria could that be at this hour,” Bon-Bon asks as she cranes her head to look at Lyra, who also has a puzzled look upon her face.
“I’ll go see,” Lyra replies as she gets off the couch and makes her way to the door.
*KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK*
“Keep your bridle on,” Lyra shouts as she wraps an aura of magic around the door knob. It twists and the door slowly opens, revealing a figure in the doorway. The figure is a white Unicorn stallion adorned with the breastplate of Celestia’s guard and a couple of saddle bags. He brushes aside a loose strand of his blue mane and gazes at Lyra with light blue eyes. A small smile forms on his lips.
“Hey Lyra,” he greets. Lyra’s eyes went wide and she quickly pounced on the stallion, wrapping him in a tight hug.
“Oh Celestia, it’s so good to see you, Shining,” Lyra replies excitedly. She quickly collected herself, releasing him from the hug, and saluted him. “I mean, Captain Armor.”
“At ease, Civilian,” Shining Armor replied, giving her a salute back. They both laugh as Shining make his way inside. He slipped off the bags and armor as Lyra closed the door.
“Care for some tea, Captain,” Lyra asks as she walks past him. Before he can turn to answer, Lyra has already gone into the kitchen to start a pot of hot water. The sound of hooves on hard floor echo from the next room.
“Lyra darling,” Bon-Bon calls as she enters from the living room, “who was at the…” She turns her gaze to Shining Armor and politely curtsies to him. “Captain Armor. It’s been a while.”
“Yes it has,” he replies, respectfully bowing.
“Come, come darling,” Bon-Bon says, sounding cheery. “You must tell us of your time in Zebrica. Little Pip would simply enjoy your tales.” Shining Armor nods and follows Bon-Bon into the living room. As he enters, Pipsqueak looks up, and smiling wide, rushes over to him and hugs his foreleg tightly.
“Uncle Shining,” Pipsqueak exclaims. Shining Armor smiles and pats Pip on the head. Though by no means a true uncle to him by blood or through marriage, Shining never minded being referred to as uncle by Pip. He’s been around Pip so much that he might as well have been an uncle.
“Hey champ, good to see you,” Shining replies, hugging Pip tightly and tussling his mane.
The ear splitting sound of whistling steam echos from the kitchen. Lyra removes the kettle from the stove, pours the hot water into three glasses, and dips three bags of green tea into them. She casts an aura around the cups, sets them on an antique silver tray, and carries it out into the living room. She passes a couple cups to both Bon-Bon and Shining. Lyra sets down the tray onto an oak coffee table and sits on the couch. Her sitting posture is unorthodox for many ponies; rather than lie on her stomach or sit on her haunches, she sits with her back against the couch and has her back legs dangling off the edge. As the others sit, Shining takes a couple of sips from his tea, letting the hot liquid trickle down his throat. After a few more sips, he sets his cup down and turns his gaze to his hosts.
“So Shining, how was it being so far from home this past year,” Lyra asks before taking another sip of tea.
“It was different,” Shining replies. “Zebrica is an interesting and beautiful country.” As he takes another sip, Pipsqueak scoots and sits next to him, eagerly gazing at him and intent to hang on to every word Shining would say.
“Refresh my memory: what were you there for again,” Bon-Bon asks. “Something about rebels, wasn’t it?” Shining simply took another sip of tea before setting the cup down again.
“Yes...yes it was,” he replies as he gazes to a point that seems far beyond the room, the sound of a train's whistle echoing through his mind.
