Cold Days and Warm Hearts

Chapters

Getting Settled
Further Introductions
Season of the Cider
Night of Nightmares
White Wonders
Exchanging Volleys
Family Time
Interrogation
Secrets and Shames
Quiet Interludes
Awkward Explanations
Compliments of the Season
The Shadow
A Knife in the Dark
Bloodshed
The Show Must Go On
Royal Welcome
The Fires of Friendship
Giving and Forgiving
Gifts and Galas
August Assemblage
In the Presence of Power
Homeward Bound
Unexpected Visitor
Poetry and Pageantry

Getting Settled

Chapter 2: Getting Settled

"Now then," said Rarity, as she led Flaxseed past the Carousel Boutique's showroom and back into the building's living quarters, "Go ahead and leave your things in the kitchen. I need to go prepare the guest room for you. In the meantime..." she gave the stallion a critical look, carefully assessing his sullied state, "...you should help yourself to the amenities in the bathroom. You are in serious need of some grooming."

"Yeah, you mentioned that before," said Flaxseed in a sullen tone.

"Well, it happens to be true," replied Rarity, turning her nose upwards, "There is no denying the fact that you are currently quite filthy. How long has it been since you last had a bath, or even a shower that didn't simply involve you wandering outside in a rainstorm."

"Uh...well...I haven't had much opportunity," admitted Flaxseed reluctantly. When you bounced around from place to place, getting uprooted at a moment's notice and were unable to hold down a job for more than a few months at most, it was hard to afford housing and pay for amenities like running water. Furthermore, he had been on the move the past few days, with no time to settle down or even seek out a convenient lake or stream for bathing. The seasons weren't helping either, as taking a dip in a lake or stream during the late fall was like sending hypothermia a monogrammed invitation.

"But now you do," said Rarity, lowering her nose again so she could look Flaxseed straight in the eye, "You have a place to stay and that place has convenient facilities. I simply insist you take advantage of them. You should take a bath and get yourself clean and..." She smiled and raised a hoof, stopping as Flaxseed flinched back form her, prompting her to lower it. "...you should make it a nice long soak. You need to relax dear. I can tell how tense you are. You have nothing to worry about while you're staying with me and my sister. Take a good, long, hot soak and let your cares slip away. Then you'll be able to sleep easy in a comfortable bed." She gave Flaxseed a pleading look. "Please."

Flaxseed let out a sigh. There was no way he would say "no" to that face. "Alright, you win," he said.

"Good," declared Rarity, "The bathroom is upstairs, second door on your left. I'll take care of getting your room ready in the meantime."

Flaxseed nodded and headed up the stairs, following Rarity's directions. She checked to make sure that the stallion had left his saddlebags on the kitchen table before following him up the stairs. As she passed the door to the bathroom while heading towards the guest room, she heard the water running and smiled to herself before continuing on to the guest room.

She made sure that everything was clean before laying out a fresh set of linens for the bed. For a mare of her talents, it was foal's play to make sure that everything was ready. A few minutes later, she was down in the kitchen, working on dinner for three.

"Rarity! I'm home!" called Sweetie Belle as she came in the door.

"Welcome back dear," said Rarity, turning to look at her sister. However, she was surprised to see who had accompanied Sweetie home.

"Arkenstone?"

"Hello," said Arkenstone with a small smile as he followed Sweetie into the kitchen, "I decided to walk your sister home from the teahouse."

"That was very kind of you," said Rarity, "But I assume that isn't your primary reason for being here."

Arkenstone nodded. "Dawn told me about your decision to offer Flaxseed a place to stay. I wanted to share some advice to you."

"What advice?" asked Rarity as she took a seat at the table.

"You too Sweetie Belle," said Arkenstone to the filly before she could leave the adults to their conversation, "You need to hear this as well. You're going to be sharing your home with this stallion too, so these are things you need to keep in mind as well."

"Okay..." said the filly a little uncertainly as she took a seat at the table as well.

"So what is it about Flaxseed that you wanted to talk about?" asked Rarity.

"I'm sure you noticed that Flaxseed is a stallion of some interesting foibles," said Arkenstone wryly.

"No," replied Rarity sarcastically, "I hadn't realized at all."

"Exactly," said Arkenstone, "He is a traumatized stallion, somepony who is used to having to hide himself away, who has grown afraid of when others approach him unexpectedly. It is easy for him to feel threatened and, when he feels threatened, he lashes out, often violently."

"I don't understand," said Rarity, "Didn't Dawn have many of the same problems?"

"In a sense," replied Arkenstone, "But Dawn was sufficiently well-trained that he was able to maintain his self-control...most of the time. And when Storm Front and Red River thought that said self-control was weakening, they were forced to take drastic measures to avoid it."

Sweetie Belle shivered, remembering the fight between Dawn and the two mercenary stallions. It had very nearly ended in her friend's death.

Arkenstone continued. "Flaxseed is a different matter. He is nowhere near as potentially dangerous as Dawn was. The main issue is that, where the two of you are concerned, he is dangerous enough and he has less control. However, I have some advice which will help you avoid any...mishaps."

"And what, pray tell, is that?" asked Rarity.

"First, since he reacts negatively and violently to to surprises and unexpected occurrences, you must avoid those at all costs. If you are entering a room that he is already occupying, make sure that you announce your presence clearly. If he's distracted, make sure you secure some manner of acknowledgement before approaching him. It will be best if you move carefully and deliberately. Avoid sudden movements as much as you can."

Rarity nodded. That made some sense at least. Flaxseed was clearly going to be jumpy at the best of times. It was good to know the things she could do to avoid making him jump.

"Second," continued Arkenstone, "Do not approach him while he's asleep. If you need to approach him, you need to make sure that he is awake first. I know it may seem impolite, but ponies in Flaxseed's position are very much aware of how vulnerable they are when asleep. He will most likely try to attack you if you come near him while he's sleeping, possibly even lash out uncontrollably."

"I see," said Rarity, nodding again.

"Finally, make sure that you get his explicit permission before you try initiating any kind of physical contact. Make sure that he can see what you're doing and, again, make sure that you move slowly and deliberately. So no surprise hugs from behind."

Rarity and Sweetie nodded wordlessly. Rarity had known that having a guest, particularly one like Flaxseed, would require some adjustment on their part, but she'd never figured how much of an adjustment it would be and to things that she and Sweetie Belle likely did without much thought. They would have to think very carefully about how they were behaving themselves around their guest if they wanted to be sure that he would feel safe and secure.

"Uh..." interjected Sweetie, "Speaking of surprises...Isn't there a pony we should be worrying about?"

Rarity turned her gaze to Arkenstone, whose ears went flat. "You mean Pinkie Pie, right?"

Sweetie Belle nodded. "She'll get really excited when she finds out there's a new pony staying here. And you know how much she likes surprise parties."

"I'll see if I can talk to her," said Arkenstone, "I haven't interacted with her much, but I think I can keep her in one place long enough to listen to reason."

Rarity nodded, though her expression was rather dubious. "I wish you luck in your endeavor. I think you'll need it."

With a hollow chuckle, Arkenstone left to visit Sugarcube Corner, leaving Rarity and Sweetie alone in the kitchen. The two sisters shared a look.

"Well then, shall we finish working on dinner?" asked Rarity.

"Sure," said Sweetie. Now that she was starting to get the hang of her magic, Sweetie was becoming a bit more reliable when it came to domestic chores, like cooking. Well...her cooking still had a ways to go, but she no longer reduced the final product of her efforts to a charred black paste and the kitchen was still intact after she used it.

They both stood to get to work. Out of the corner of her eye, Rarity noticed the shadow of a stallion standing in the doorway. "Is there something else you needed to talk ab-" She cut herself off when she realized that it wasn't Arkenstone standing at the door.

Flaxseed was there, looking at them with an unreadable expression on his face.

"Oh, it's you," said Rarity, not sure if she should feel unnerved or relieved, "I thought you'd be in the bath longer. Come right in. Have a seat. Dinner will be ready shortly."

Wordlessly, Flaxseed did as he was told, sitting himself at the table. Rarity had to admit that the stallion was a much better sight after he'd cleaned himself up. His mane and tail were combed out, a fair difference from their original knotted and tangled state. The gray streaks were more visible now. Rarity wondered if they were part of his natural color or if the continued stresses he had been subjected to had been causing him to go gray early. She sincerely hoped that it was the former.

Just as she suspected, now that he'd cleaned the dust and grime out of his coat, his fur practically shined beneath the kitchen lights. Rarity almost wished she could just haul the stallion out of the boutique and get a look at him beneath the light of the sun. However, two things stopped her. The first was that it was evening, which wouldn't allow her to get the full benefit of the sun's illumination. The second was that she remembered Arkenstone's warning about treating Flaxseed carefully and knew that he probably wouldn't take to being marehandled well.

For a few minutes, Rarity and Sweetie worked in silence. The silence was broken when Flaxseed raised his head and stared at Rarity. "I heard you talking with that stallion about me."

Rarity froze slightly and gulped. "Oh...you heard that?"

Flaxseed looked down at the table. "I guess I can't blame you. I'm a basket case. It'd probably be safer if I didn't stay..."

"Don't be ridiculous," said Rarity, spinning around rapidly, her sudden movement making Flaxseed flinch before she remembered Arkenstone's advice. With a sigh, she walked carefully to the table and sat down across from him. "I understand that this is going to be a difficult adjustment for all of us. But it's the right thing to do." Lifting a hoof, she rested it on the table and slowly slid it across towards Flaxseed.

It took the stallion a moment before he realized what Rarity was trying to do. Hesitantly, he raised his own hoof and did the same, sliding it across the table until their hooves met. Gently, Rarity curled her fetlock around his own, interlocking their forelegs, giving his a squeeze.

"You deserve this," said Rarity, with a smile, "You deserve a place where you can be at ease, where you don't have to worry about ponies turning on you over something as silly as a superstition over your eyes. I want this town and this home to be that place for you; a place where you can rest and recover, where you don't have to spend every waking minute looking over your shoulder; where you don't have to sleep so lightly that you wake up at the slightest provocation, fearing for your life. So...even if it is a little tricky for us at first, it's still worth our while to make the effort. Please...stay."

Slowly, the corners of Flaxseed's mouth turned upwards and he began to smile. Finally, he returned Rarity's gesture and gently squeezed her foreleg back. "Thank you," he said softly.

"You're welcome," said Rarity. She let go of his leg and turned back to preparing dinner. "By the way," she said, "I'd thought you'd be in the bath longer. You would probably benefit from a nice soak."

"Maybe," said Flaxseed ruefully, "But by the time I finished cleaning myself off, the bathwater had turned gray and I didn't think it would be a good idea to soak in that."

Rarity shuddered at the thought of just how much filth had to have been on Flaxseed's body to turn the water's color, as well as the thought of soaking in such water. She certainly couldn't fault Flaxseed for his decision. It was also very polite of him to not simply drain and refill the tub, which would have used more water. "Oh well," she said, "Perhaps next time."

"Perhaps," agreed Flaxseed.

Dinner was a pleasant affair. Flaxseed wasn't much for conversation and Rarity suspected that many of the things they could have potentially talked about would have simply turned the conversation towards the more unpleasant experiences in the stallion's life. Instead, she talked to Sweetie about her day, how things were going at the teahouse, how things were going with Rumble... Fortunately, Flaxseed's presence was a sufficient distraction that filly forgot that she was currently distraught over her lack of cutie mark...for the night, at least.

The night had been a rare experience for Flaxseed. He was able to eat his fill of some delicious food, cooked for his sake by other ponies. After brushing his teeth and seeing to other needs, the stallion retired to his room, where he found himself looking over a queen-size bed that had been made up with soft sheets and a warm down comforter. Flaxseed stared at the bed, feeling slightly overcome by the feeling of it all. Part of him wanted to climb on top of the bed and start jumping, just like a foal, and experiment with how bouncy it was. However, he realized that such behavior wasn't appropriate for a guest.

Flaxseed was pulling up the covers and preparing to climb in when he heard a light knocking on his door. He turned and used his magic to open it, finding Sweetie Belle standing there.

"What is it?" asked Flaxseed.

"Um..." Sweetie scuffed the floor a bit nervously, "Rarity and Arkenstone were saying that you might have some trouble sleeping so..." She lit her own horn and lifted an item into view. It was a fair-sized stuffed brown rabbit with long ears, "This is Flopsy. I used to cuddle with him when I needed help getting to sleep. I thought he might help you."

Flaxseed used his magic to take the stuffed animal from Sweetie, floating it over so he could get a better look at it. The rabbit was clearly well-loved. But any damage from wear and tear had been repaired so well that it might as well not have happened at all. It was clean, as Flaxseed had come to expect from anything Rarity permitted in her home. He looked over at Sweetie Belle, who was watching him intently with a hopeful expression.

"Thank you," he said, smiling at the filly, "I think this might be exactly what I need."

Sweetie burst into an exuberant grin. "You're welcome!" she said in her most cheerful tone, "Good night, Mr. Flaxseed."

"Good night," said Flaxseed, closing the door as the filly rushed off to her own room.

For a long moment, Flaxseed simply stared at the rabbit. Already, a warm feeling was gathering in the pit of his stomach as the stallion wondered at his good fortune to have found such generous and caring ponies. More importantly, they knew the truth about him and didn't care one bit. Since he'd been forced to move out of his parents' home, he'd never felt so welcome, so safe, or so cared for. Maybe I really can be safe here, he thought. However, the uncertainty that had dogged him throughout his life was still there in the back of his mind, like an itch he couldn't scratch.

Well, one last thing, thought Flaxseed, reaching out with his magic. The latch turned on the door, locking it. He then followed it with a spell that had saved his life several times in the past, a locking-spell that secured the door even further, also serving as a barrier that would keep another unicorn from using her magic to manipulate the lock from the other side of the door. The barrier also blocked the keyhole on the other side, ensuring that nopony could get through without at least causing enough of a ruckus that Flaxseed would be awake and ready by the time they managed to work around his spells. No matter how nice these ponies had been to him, Flaxseed didn't feel that he could truly trust them.

However, as he climbed into bed, he took one last look at the rabbit. With a resigned sigh, he wrapped his forelegs around it and hugged it to his barrel. No, he thought, I can't trust them just yet... He hugged the rabbit tighter. But I'd really like to. Those were his final thoughts as he drifted off into one of the soundest, most untroubled sleeps he had in a long time.

"There we go," said Fluttershy as she settled a dust cover over the last chair in the room. Turning, she looked around until her eyes found Dawn. "Is everything ready?"

Dawn looked over his shoulder and nodded at her. The two of them had been preparing to move out of the cottage and into Caramel's home for the season. Already, the place seemed strangely empty without Fluttershy's usual menagerie of critters. Most had already moved into their dens with their winter stores or left on the southward migrations. The last remaining non-pony resident of the cottage was a determined Angel, who followed Dawn around, using gestures and other body-language to guide the young colt through the various tasks that needed to be completed before he and Fluttershy could leave. Before long, the little rabbit would be joining the rest of his kin in a snug den for the season.

Of course, moving out of the house for a season was not as simple as it sounded. The icebox needed to be cleared of any food that would spoil over the coming months, along with the pantry. The furniture would need to be covered, pipes drained of water, and a host of other tasks that were needed to prepare the house for a period of being uninhabited.

But this was it. It was their final day. Already, two pairs of loaded saddlebags waited at the door, having been loaded with the necessities that they would have to bring with them to Caramel's house. Once they finished the last of their chores and saw Angel into his den, the two of them would head into Ponyville and to Caramel's house.

"Alright," said Fluttershy, giving one last look around, "Everything seems to be in order." She regarded her rabbit. "Angel, it's time for you to go to bed."

The rabbit looked as though he wanted to argue (if only for the sake of arguing), but was stopped by a wide yawn. Closing his mouth, Angel gave Fluttershy a resigned look and bounced towards the cottage door. At the threshold, he turned and gave Dawn a stern look. The colt merely nodded in response to the rabbit's wordless instruction. Looking somewhat reassured, Angel bounced out the door and was gone.

Fluttershy couldn't help but giggle as she watched the interplay between her beloved pet and her son. "Let's go," she said, hoisting her own saddlebags as Dawn did the same next to her.

The two of them set off at a light canter down the path. The sun was already dropping past the horizon as they made their way into town. The air was getting chilly as the season progressed. Fluttershy shivered and pulled her scarf tighter around her. Dawn seemed unfazed by the cold though. It was to be expected, given that he'd once spent an entire year in the Everfree Forest, including the winter season, without so much as a single thread to keep himself warm. His training helped him to endure the late-autumn chill with nary a shiver.

Their journey carried them past warmly lit houses where other families were already inside, enjoying warm meals and basking in each other's companionship. Before long, their eyes found their destination, a house that looked much warmer to their eyes than any other, not in the least because a certain stallion was waiting for them at the door with a smile.

"Welcome back," said Caramel as he ushered them inside, shutting the door behind them. He led the pair into the living room so that they could warm up beside the fire. "Did you guys eat already."

Fluttershy nodded. "Yes, we made an early dinner. We had to use up the last of our food after all."

"Okay," said Caramel with a chuckle. He and Fluttershy curled up on a set of cushions in front of the fireplace, settling Dawn between them. "I'm glad I didn't make anything for you then. I thought that's what you might have been doing."

"I'm sorry," said Fluttershy, giving him a sheepish smile, "We should have told you so that you knew for certain."

"It's not a big deal. I could whip something up fairly quickly," said Caramel, "It's no onion soup, but it's not too hard to come up with something Dawn would like."

"You shouldn't worry about me," replied Dawn, "By now my body can probably handle most foods. It's simply a matter of preference. You needn't take too much trouble on my account."

Caramel chuckled. "Seeing as the list of foods you have an aversion to tends to consist of stuff most foals would love to eat to the exclusion of all else against the better advice of their parents, it's not that bad. You could be a lot worse as far as picky eaters are concerned."

"That's right," agreed Fluttershy with a lilting giggle, "You'll probably spoil me for my next foal, seeing as you don't bother me constantly about sweets."

"Which is rather ironic, considering my potential father is a candy-maker," quipped Dawn, who smirked as the cheeks of both his mother and her coltfriend exploded with bright-red color.

For a moment, the two adults lay flummoxed by the colt's words. Caramel gave Fluttershy a stunned look, which she returned with a coy smile. Looking down, Fluttershy watched her son. "Do you really like Caramel?"

"Yes," replied Dawn, nuzzling against his mother's shoulder.

"And you'd be okay with us...that is...all of us living together?" Fluttershy gulped, her cheeks not able to get any redder, though not for lack of trying.

"I certainly am," replied Dawn, "Though, knowing Angel, he might have some objections."

"Does that mean you're going to call me dad from now on?" asked Caramel.

Dawn hummed for a second. "Well...we're already living together, giving the family a trial run as it were. I don't see why I can't do that too...dad."

Caramel sucked in his breath sharply, suddenly being addressed like that shocking him. He turned to give Fluttershy a wide-eyed stare. The yellow mare couldn't help but giggle at the stallion's stunned expression. Seized by a sudden impulse, she leaned in and gave him a peck on the lips. "I think I could get used to this," she said as she pulled back, giggling again at the now blissfully vacant expression occupying Caramel's face.

"So could I," said Dawn, laying his head on his forelegs, snuggling down between the two adults and basking in their warmth.

With a happy smile, Fluttershy laid her head across her son's. At the same time, she extended a wing and draped it over Caramel's back, humming with pleasure as Caramel laid his head over hers. There they stayed, late into the night, basking in the fire's warmth.

"So your room is right here," said Caramel, gesturing to a door at the top of the stairs.

Dawn nodded and took his saddlebags inside. Meanwhile, Caramel was leading Fluttershy down the hall to the next room in line. "Yours is right here," he said, pushing the door open and holding it to Fluttershy.

Caramel was surprised to see that Fluttershy didn't budge after he'd shown her her room. "Is something wrong?" he asked.

Fluttershy ducked her head slightly, causing her mane to fall over one eye as her cheeks began to color. "Um...well...I-I w-was wondering...uh...i-if I could...um...m-maybe sh-share y-your room..."

"Uh..." Caramel wasn't sure what to say as his cheeks blushed to match Fluttershy's. He would have been lying if he'd ever said he hadn't considered the possibility. He'd spent many a minute dreaming of spending winter nights in his bed, Fluttershy snuggled up against him and wrapped in his arms. He would have been lying if he'd ever said that his daydreams hadn't occasionally taken on a more racy quality.

However, what worked in fantasy didn't often work in real life. Caramel was too much of a gentlecolt to consider anything that might be construed as taking advantage of Fluttershy. As it was, the tan stallion was amazed by her boldness and her willingness to ask. Sure, they had shared a bed that one night that Dawn had been in Cloudsdale, but they hadn't since then.

"If you don't want to, that's okay," said Fluttershy, averting her eyes.

Swallowing hard, Caramel stepped forward and used his forehoof to tilt Fluttershy's head up so that her eyes could meet his. "Are you sure about this?" he asked, "Is this want you really want?"

Fluttershy's eyes widened and she smiled gleefully. "Yes!" she exclaimed, "I r-really do want to s-stay with you."

Caramel gulped again. "If you're sure...I don't want you to feel like you have to do anything if you're not ready."

"Uh...well...I-I'm not ready for anything l-like...like..." Her voice dropped to a whisper. "...sex. But..." her volume began to rise again. "...but I really do want to stay with you through the night, if you'll let me."

Caramel tilted her chin up a little further and brought his lips to hers in a kiss. They held the kiss a moment before Caramel pulled away. As he did, Fluttershy turned her head so that she could rub her cheek up against his hoof.

"Nothing could make me happier," said Caramel. He led Fluttershy to the door right across the hall from the room he'd originally set aside for her.

He led Fluttershy into his bedroom, where she could set down her things. Fortunately, being the master bedroom meant that Caramel's room had its own adjoining bathroom, which allowed Dawn to freely use the bathroom in the hall.

It took the pair of them a few minutes to get ready to bed. Caramel climbed in, Fluttershy following suit. The stallion pulled the covers up over the two of them before wrapping his arms around Fluttershy and pulling her tight against him. The yellow mare sighed happily as she nuzzled in under the stallion's neck, her wings extending to wrap around him. Glancing down at her and the content expression on her face, Caramel's body filled with incredible warmth as he realized just how right this felt. If I could wake up to this every single day, I'd die a happy stallion, he thought.

"Fluttershy..."

"Hmm?" Fluttershy tilted her head up so that her teal eyes could meet Caramel's own gaze. The slight smile on her face and the look of hopeful expectation nearly made Caramel's heart seize up.

He knew exactly what to say. Ever since they had begun dating, those words rose to the back of his throat whenever he held her, whenever he met her eyes, whenever he kissed her. The words lingered there, always trying to force their way out of his mouth. But he'd always held them in check for a number of reasons: it was too soon, they weren't ready...

But here and now, in his own house, in his own bedroom, with her in his arms, Caramel had never felt more ready or more determined. "Fluttershy, I love you."

Fluttershy's eyes widened and her mouth opened in a slight O of surprise as his words hit her. For a moment, Caramel was worried that maybe he'd pushed things too far. But then, to his relief and everlasting happiness, the look of astonishment faded from Fluttershy's face and was replaced by the most radiant smile he'd ever seen her wear. She pushed against him, rolling Caramel onto his back as she laid down on top of his chest, sliding up slightly so she could bring her lips to his with an unbridled passion he hadn't seen in her since that evening ride of the Ferris wheel. Caramel returned the kiss with equal vigor as he pulled Fluttershy tighter against him.

When they finally parted, Fluttershy stared down at Caramel, still wearing that same exultant smile. "I love you too," she said.

She laid her head down, tucking it under his neck once again, letting out a catlike purr as she nuzzled up against her stallion. Caramel couldn't resist the urge to lean down and gently nibble one of her ears, making Fluttershy giggle lightly. "Good night," he whispered into the ear he'd just nibbled.

"Good night," Fluttershy whispered back.

The two of them drifted off to sleep, holding one another tightly.

Rarity hummed a cheerful tune as she laid out a plate of pancakes and eggs for her younger sister. Sweetie Belle was trying her hardest to stifle a yawn as she came down the stairs.

"Good morning Sweetie," said Rarity as the filly took her seat at the table.

"Morning sis," said Sweetie, finally finding her focus. She quickly levitated her fork and began to dig into her breakfast.

"I saw what you did last night," commented Rarity as she loaded up her own plate.

Sweetie's fork froze halfway up to her mouth. "You did...?"

"Yes," replied Rarity, taking her own seat at the table, "And I must say, I am very proud of you. That was very generous and kind. I'm sure that Mr. Flaxseed appreciates your gesture."

Sweetie gave her elder sister a delighted smile. "Thanks." She looked around. "Is he up yet?"

"No, I don't believe so," said Rarity, "I haven't checked in his room. However, the lock charm he placed on the door is still there, which at least means that he's inside. I wasn't about to try and disturb him just to check."

"What if he snuck out?" asked Sweetie.

"I doubt that," said Rarity, "Or, at least, I hope he didn't. I believe he's still in the room. Most lock charms expire very quickly when the pony who cast the spell leaves the room, even if her egress is through somewhere besides the door she locked. There are versions that can last beyond that, but they are much higher-level spells and more difficult to learn."

"So, he's still asleep then?" asked Sweetie.

"I believe so," replied Rarity, "And I intend to let him keep sleeping. After everything he's been through, I certainly believe that our guest has earned at least one lie-in, if not more. I'm happy to let him sleep as long as he wants to today."

"But what about when he wakes up?" asked Sweetie.

"Simple, I'll make his breakfast when that happens," replied Rarity, "I have no plans to go anywhere today, so I'll be working here. I can make him breakfast when he comes down." She certainly had plenty of work to keep herself occupied with. With Nightmare Night fast approaching, she had plenty of orders for various costumes, not to mention the commission she also had from Sapphire Shores. As it was, she'd planned to work through the day anyway.

The two of them continued eating. By the time the sisters had finished, Flaxseed still hadn't come down the stairs. Rarity saw Sweetie off to work at the teahouse. Before she started her own work, Rarity went upstairs and checked the door to Flax's room. It was still locked and warded. She had no idea if the stallion on the other side was asleep or not, but decided that it was better not to invade his privacy. He would come down when he was good and ready...at least, she hoped he would.

Rarity lost herself in her work. Fabric flew, scissors snipped, needles jabbed, pulling thread, and the sewing machine ran in a near-constant drone as the alabaster mare worked her way through outfit after outfit. Fortunately, Nightmare Night costumes didn't require nearly the same level of skill or precision that her typical commissions required, although they did sometimes require some extra creativity on her part depending on what features her customers wanted on their customers. As a result, Rarity was able to finish several outfits in short order.

Though she was engrossed in her work, Rarity still kept an ear out, which helped her pick up the sound of somepony softly making his way down the stairs. She began to set down her implements, shutting off the sowing machine so that she could make her way back to the kitchen, where she found Flaxseed, looking around, seeming slightly dazed.

Rarity was about to step forward when she remembered Arkenstone's advice from the previous day. "Good morning," she said from her position at the door, "Did you sleep well?"

Flax jumped with a startled yelp at the sound of her voice, whirling around to face her. It took the gold-colored stallion a few seconds to get himself back under control when he saw that Rarity hadn't made a single move towards him. "S-sorry," he said.

"It's fine dear," said Rarity, finally making her way into the kitchen, casually moving past Flax so that she could reach the counter and work on the stallion's brunch, seeing as it was nearly noon. "So...did you sleep well?"

"Y-yes," said Flaxseed, settling himself at the table and taking a deep breath as he tried to calm himself down all the way, "That was the best sleep I've had in ages."

"I'm very glad to hear that," said Rarity, smiling as she made a short stack of pancakes for the stallion while scrambling some eggs. She set the dish in front of him and waited politely, watching Flaxseed as he ate.

"Do you have any plans for the day?" asked Rarity, folding her hooves so that she could rest her chin on top of them.

"Uh...not really," admitted Flaxseed. He was used to taking things a day at a time. Making plans ahead of time usually didn't work out very well because any plans he did make were frequently disrupted.

"I see," said Rarity, "I was wondering about that. You'd probably be bored out of your mind if you tried to spend the entire day in here."

"Th-that's true," agreed Flaxseed, wondering what she was getting at.

"That's why I was thinking that, perhaps we should take a walk around town," said Rarity, "I would very much like to introduce you to my dear friends. They are all very nice ponies whom I think you would get along very well with."

Flaxseed's ears perked up. "W-we?"

"Of course," said Rarity, "I'm not about to leave you to wander about an unfamiliar town filled with ponies you've never seen before on your own. At the very least, I should accompany you. It's much easier when you're in the company of a pony that you're familiar with."

Flaxseed mulled over her words for a moment. "I guess you have a point," he admitted. The pessimist in him still suspected that she was simply offering to show him around so that she could keep an eye on him, which, ironically enough, was also what his more optimistic thoughts were suggesting. After all, she probably simply wanted to keep him at ease so that he wouldn't panic if something unexpected happened.

"I can tell that you don't quite trust me," said Rarity, using her magic to whisk away Flaxseed's empty plate, "And I understand. You don't have to trust me completely, but I would still very much like to help you feel more at home here in Ponyville. I think that you'll like the ponies we're going to meet today."

Flaxseed gulped, but nodded resolutely. "I hope so," he said.

"That's the spirit!" said Rarity as she finished cleaning the dishes. She'd made considerable progress through the morning, so there was certainly no reason she couldn't set some time aside to take a stroll through Ponyville with her new friend.

After closing and locking the Boutique behind her, Rarity and Flaxseed set off down the street. Rarity already had her first destination in mind. It would probably be the most stressful of the encounter she had planned for Flaxseed today, but it was best to get it out of the way as soon as possible. So she led Flaxseed toward the building that looked like a life-sized gingerbread house.

Flaxseed gazed up at the building in awe. As he did so, his nose twitched at the various smells emerging from within. To be frank, the entire place smelled heavenly. Even though he'd just enjoyed a hearty breakfast, Flaxseed's stomach began to rumble, tantalized by the sweet aroma wafting out from the building.

From the amused look on Rarity's face, she heard his stomach too. "My my," she said playfully with a merry twinkle in her eye, "Ponies are going to think I don't feed you properly if your stomach keeps growling like that."

Flaxseed couldn't help but blush and rub the back of his head. "Sorry..."

"It's alright dear. I must admit, I'm no slouch in the kitchen, but I can't hold a candle to Pinkie Pie...even if almost all she ever makes is sweets."

"Is that your friend that you wanted to introduce to me?"

"She is," replied Rarity, "I'll have to warn you in advance, this could be a little difficult for you. Pinkie Pie is a bright, beautiful, wonderful pony who dedicates almost every waking moments to making others smile and enjoy themselves. That said, she can be a little insensitive, even at the best of times."

"I'm...kinda used to insensitive," replied Flaxseed, "I've lived in Manehattan."

"True," agreed Rarity, "The problem is that you aren't fully in control of your reflexes, that if you're caught by surprise or startled, you can do things that might be dangerous."

Flaxseed lowered his head.

"It's alright," said Rarity, resisting the urge to pat Flaxseed on the shoulder, Arkenstone's instructions always at the back of her mind, "The problem is that Pinkie is extremely energetic, highly unpredictable at the best of times, and she happens to specialize in startling and surprising others."

"Somepony can specialize in that?" asked Flaxseed.

Rarity nodded. "Her favorite parties are surprise parties and she is one of Ponyville's premier pranksters. She'll never do anything malicious, but her surprises are probably more than would be healthy for you right now."

"Then why are you introducing me to her?" asked Flaxseed, his ears going back. The more he heard, the less he wanted to do with the mare that Rarity was describing.

Rarity sighed. "Because Pinkie, for all her faults, is a dear friend of mine, who would like nothing more than to make your life brighter and happier. And I believe that she truly can...if she can rein her impulses in. The problem is, the longer I take to introduce you to her, the more likely she is to pop out of nowhere and scare the color out of your coat. I know that Arkenstone went to talk to her last time. I can only hope that he has succeeded in convincing her to relax a little."

Flaxseed gulped an looked at the Sugarcube Corner again. The building looked much more foreboding now. However, he decided to place his trust in Rarity. She had yet to steer him wrong, even though he'd only known her for all of a day now.

"Well then, here we go," said Rarity, heading up to the door and pushing it open. Flaxseed followed her inside, his eyes nervously tracing around the shop.

The building was pleasantly warm compared to the chill of the outdoors. Several tables dotted the interior room, many of them occupied by ponies in pairs or larger groups. They were nibbling pastries or taking sips of warm drinks. Hardly any of them bothered to look up when the bell over the door tinkled. The few that did quickly returned to their previous conversations, hardly expressing any interest in the two new arrivals.

The only exception was the pink mare who waited behind the register. As soon as Rarity had stepped through the door, the pink mare's eyes began to glitter and she burst into a positively radiant grin, her teeth seeming to reflect every iota of ambient light within the bakery, practically a source of illumination in and of themselves. This must be Pinkie Pie then, thought Flaxseed, Her parents certainly knew what they were talking about when they named her that.

"Hi Rarity!" chirped Pinkie, beginning to hop in place, "How's your day been."

"Simply marvelous Pinkie," said Rarity demurely before stepping slightly to the side so that Flax was no longer behind her, "By the way, I've come to introduce you to a new friend of mine. This is Flaxseed. He will be our guest for the foreseeable future." As soon as those words left her mouth, she began to steel herself against the inevitable. Please be gentle.

To Rarity's shock, Pinkie's wide grinned softened into a gentler smile as she turned her attention to Flax. "Hi there." Her tone had softened as well and she was speaking more quietly.

"Um...hi..." said Flaxseed, not knowing what else to say.

"It's nice to meet you," said Pinkie, the corners of her mouth twitching rather violently. It was clear that she was fighting like mad to keep from going into another ear-splitting grin. "I love meeting new ponies. I'm friends with everypony in Ponyville, so I'm sure that we'll be really great friends too."

"Uh...yeah...sure..." Flaxseed glanced sidelong at Rarity, only to see that the alabaster mare was gaping unashamedly at Pinkie Pie. It was clear to the stallion that Rarity was even more astonished by Pinkie's behavior than he was. Flaxseed had to admit, that, while he was glad that Pinkie wasn't acting nearly as erratically as Rarity had warned him about, it was just as obvious to him as it was to Rarity that Pinkie was behaving seriously out of character, and he'd known her for all of a few seconds. Everything about her gave him the impression of a kettle being on the verge of boiling over.

"Oh...uh..." Rarity began looking back and forth between Flaxseed and Pinkie. It was clear that Pinkie's restraint was hanging by a thread and not even Celestia knew what would happen once that thread snapped.

"Oh! I have an idea. Want to try something?" suggested Pinkie eagerly, "Since you're a first-time customer, it's on the house."

"That'd be great," said Flax, relaxing a little. His stomach was still growling from the delicious smells wafting around the shop. The array of treats behind the counter was also making his mouth water.

Before Flaxseed could make his decision, Pinkie's body went rigid and her eyes widened to the point he was sure they would simply pop out of her head and start rolling across the store. "I've got it!" she exclaimed, "I'll be right back!"

Flaxseed blinked and his jaw dropped. Before he'd closed his eyes, she'd still been at the counter. When they opened again, she'd vanished, the only sign that she hadn't simply teleported out was the back-and-forth flapping motion of the doors leading to the kitchen. A second later, Flax's ears picked up some surprised shouts coming from the kitchen, accompanied by what sounded like the laughter of infant ponies. Shortly after that, Pinkie Pie came exploding out of the kitchen, effortlessly jumping the counter and skidding to a stop in front of Flaxseed and Rarity. The suddenness of her appearance had set the stallion to backpedaling, his eyes frantically searching for the door that he'd come through. As he did, Rarity saw a flare of red from those eyes.

Seeing that Flaxseed was on the verge of bolting, Rarity swallowed and hoped that what she was about to do wasn't going to get her clocked, seeing as it was going against Arkenstone's instructions. Moving as slowly and carefully as she could, she raised a hoof and, very gently, rested it on the panicky stallion's shoulder. Flaxseed's gaze immediately jumped to her as she felt his muscles tensing under her hoof. Even though she was sure she was about to be hit, Rarity still mustered an encouraging smile. "It's alright," she cajoled, "Pinkie isn't going to hurt you. You're safe."

Flaxseed looked at her, his frightened expression softening as his eyes met hers. Slowly, he began to relax. Seeing that she'd managed to calm him down, Rarity let out a relieved sigh before turning to regard Pinkie, doing her best to keep from glaring at the other mare. However, her anger evaporated when she saw that Pinkie was all too aware of the effect her actions had on Flaxseed. Pinkie's ears laid flat against her skull and and her eyes were watering. She looked as though she wanted to apologize, but her mouth was currently blocked by the handles of pink and blue gift-bag she'd been carrying.

Rarity politely took the bag with her magic so that Pinkie could speak.

"I'm so sorry," said Pinkie, slowly backing away from Flaxseed, looking more like a puppy that had been kicked than a pony at the moment, "I didn't mean to scare you. I just get so excited whenever I get to meet new ponies.

Flaxseed took a deep breath and gave Pinkie a shaky smile. "It's okay," he said, "I-I've just been through a lot and I get worked up pretty easily."

Rarity nodded in agreement, though this was already a sizable improvement over yesterday, when the stallion had been willing to attack her even though she'd been going out of her way to not appear threatening.

"Can we be friends?" asked Pinkie, her tone still nervous and a little sad.

Flaxseed couldn't stop his smile from widening as his heart warmed at the sight of her. "Yeah," he said, "We can."

The reversal of Pinkie's mood was nearly instantaneous as she grinned exultantly. "Yay!" she squealed, bouncing up and down excitedly, "I'm so happy. I love making new friends."

Rarity let out the breath she didn't even realize she had been holding. It looked as though things were going to be alright.

Author's Note

There's not a whole lot to say about this chapter. I just wanted to give an idea of the adjustments that Rarity and Sweetie Belle would have to make in order to allow Flaxseed to stay with them. Aside from that, this chapter was mostly about warm fuzzies.

Next chapter: Flaxseed makes some friends.

Further Introductions

Chapter 3: Further Introductions

Pinkie Pie led Rarity and Flaxseed to one of the few empty tables remaining in the bakery. The three of them settled down and Rarity opened the bag and began to levitate out the contents.

"Oh my!" she exclaimed, "Pinkie, I had no idea you still had any of these left."

The bag had been filled with several of Pinkie Pie's special creations that she usually reserved for extremely special occasions, such as the fundraiser she'd thrown to raise money to fix Scootaloo's home when the orange filly had smashed one of the walls. There were crystalberry scones, Geldic cream eclairs, along with a few others, including her infamous brownies.

"Actually, I still had some ingredients leftover from when I made those big batches for the bake sale," explained Pinkie, "I wasn't sure what to do with them. But last night, I had a wormy feeling in my tummy and that's my Pinkie Sense telling me that somepony really needed a special treat to help them feel really good so I decided to make some smaller batches and I didn't even realize it was Flaxseed until you and him came in the door and started talking because Flaxseed looks like he could really use some nice treats."

Pinkie stopped and sucked in a large breath. While Rarity was nodding in polite agreement, Flaxseed was simply staring at the pink mare, his mind reeling, partly from the strain of trying to follow her rapid-fire manner of speaking and partly from attempting to follow the logic of what he'd actually managed to pick up from the avalanche of words that had spilled from Pinkie's mouth. Pinkie Sense? What the hay is that?

Rarity sighed and slowly slid a hoof across the table, making sure that Flax could see the motion. She gently patted him on one foreleg. "It's alright dear. Trust me when I say that it's just Pinkie Pie being Pinkie Pie." She levitated a scone to Flaxseed. "Go ahead and try them, they're simply divine."

Somewhat reluctantly, Flaxseed did as he was told. As he got his first taste of Pinkie's baking, Flaxseed's eyes widened. A few minutes later, there was nothing left of Pinkie Pie's treats but a few scattered crumbs.

Flaxseed leaned back, smacking his lips. Rarity hadn't been kidding about Pinkie's food. These had to have been some of the best baked goods he'd ever tasted. They completely outmatched anything he'd ever tried before. He was sure that, in a big city like Manehattan, Pinkie could have charged a small fortune for her products. It was very nice of her to share so freely. The stallion came to the conclusion that, while a bit outside of his comfort zone, Pinkie Pie was a perfectly nice mare and one he wouldn't mind getting to know better, once he'd gotten used to her antics.

But, he thought, seeing her grinning widely as she bounced up and down, It's gonna take a while to get used to her.

Rarity looked on with a pleased smile, glad that things had gone so well. While there had been a few wrinkles in introducing the jumpy stallion to Pinkie, the party pony had at least not managed to ruin her first impression. Well, with the most difficult one of the bunch out of the way, at least we can be sure that all the other meetings I have planned will run smoothly.

After bidding farewell to Pinkie Pie, Rarity led Flaxseed through town to their next destination. "Now then," she said as they walked, "I think that this next pony will be much easier for you. She's the gentlest, least-frightening pony I've ever known." So long as you don't get on her bad side, which was an exceptionally difficult task, to say the least.

Rarity was glad that Fluttershy had already told her about when she and Dawn were moving into Caramel's house. She would have hated to lead Flaxseed all the way out of Ponyville only to find an empty cottage and have to backtrack into town. It also had the advantage of shortening the trip, as it was just a few minutes until they reached Caramel's rather unassuming home. Hoping that the timid pegasus was in, Rarity knocked softly on the door.

She was soon rewarded by a cheerful, albeit slightly nervous, "H-hello," as the door opened and Fluttershy peeked out. She relaxed when she saw Rarity waiting there, though she still mostly hid behind the door from the unfamiliar stallion.

"Flaxseed, this is Fluttershy," said Rarity, gesturing to the pegasus, "She also happens to be Dawn's mother. Fluttershy, this is Flaxseed. He's my guest for the time being and he actually happens to be one of the ponies with the same condition as Dawn."

Fluttershy's eyes widened. "Oh! Really?" She began to inch around the door to get a better look at Flaxseed, who simply didn't know what to make of the unassuming mare. Fortunately, he didn't find her threatening in the slightest.

Rarity coughed and Fluttershy, realizing that she was simply letting her visitors stand on the doorstep, gasped and stepped back so that she could open the door all the way. "Oh! Where are my manners? Come in."

In a few minutes, they were seated around the table in Caramel's kitchen as Fluttershy made them some tea. As she worked she answered a curious Flaxseed's questions about Dawn and about living with the colt.

"He doesn't scare you at all?" asked Flaxseed, wondering how the mare could have gotten used to Dawn's eyes so easily, especially as his never seemed to revert to the eyes of a normal pony.

"Well, I was surprised the first time I saw his eyes," said Fluttershy, her voice barely above a whisper, "But he had just saved my life and he looked so sad and lonely." She smiled fondly. "Dawn is actually such a kind and gentle boy and he's always trying to help others." She sighed. "But, there are times I'm afraid for him."

Rarity nodded in agreement. "I have to admit, all else aside, Dawn has a gift for making you fret."

"Why?" asked Flaxseed.

"Well," said Fluttershy, "He's gone off twice now on very dangerous trips. The first time, he went to Cloudsdale and, just a couple days ago, he went to Diamond Mountain because some viscountess had taken a mare hostage."

"Huh?"

"It's complicated," replied Rarity, "There's a bit of a story behind it..." She related the tale of the government agent who came down to evaluate Fluttershy's fitness to be a mother and how a member of the nobility had been manipulating things behind the scenes.

"Wow," said Flaxseed when the story was finished, "So he really is strong."

Fluttershy nodded. "Very much so. In fact, he's more than capable of completely leveling the town if he wanted to."

Flaxseed gave her an incredulous look. And you're still not scared of him?

Rarity giggled at Flaxseed's expression. "Fluttershy, darling, I see Caramel and Dawn are out."

"Oh yes," replied Fluttershy, "They're both at their jobs. They should be back in time for dinner."

"It must be so much nicer to have them this winter," said Rarity, "I always worried about you, living in that cottage by yourself, with all of your animal friends gone for the season. It's wonderful that you've found somepony to spend it with."

Fluttershy giggled and nodded eagerly. "It's also nice because now it's easier to visit everypony," she added.

Rarity nodded in agreement. One of the major problems they had with Fluttershy's cottage being outside of Ponyville was that, during the winter months, the journey to and from the cottage became cold and difficult. What made for a pleasant stroll in the spring and summer turned into a chilly slog during the winter. To make matters worse, because her cottage was so far off the beaten track, it was also out of the way for the ponies who shoveled the streets and kept them clear during winter. The winding path to Fluttershy's cottage was the last to be cleared, if it ever got cleared at all, often accumulating a thick layer over the course of multiple snowfalls.

It was slightly easier for Fluttershy to come and go, seeing as she was a pegasus and could simply fly over it all. However, she wasn't any more fond of the cold than most ponies. Pegasi were a little more resilient to the cold, which came with them usually living at higher altitudes. But, just as she preferred living on the ground, Fluttershy was less acclimated to chilly weather than the rest of her winged brethren.

"I certainly hope we'll get to see more of you this year," said Rarity, "This makes it so much easier for us to make our weekly spa appointments."

Fluttershy giggled. As Rarity eyed the yellow mare, who already seemed very much at home in this house, her smile turned sly. "And how are you enjoying your stay so far, hmm? I trust your host has been a perfect gentlecolt."

Seemingly oblivious to Rarity's teasing tone, Fluttershy let out a blissful sigh. "Oh, it's been wonderful," she said, "It's such a nice house. Dawn loves it here. Caramel's so warm and it's so nice to snuggle up to him in the morning and-Eep!" Fluttershy's voice trailed off into an inarticulate squeak as she realized what she'd just said. She opened her mouth to correct herself, but any words she was going to say died on her tongue the instant she saw the grinning, predatory look on Rarity's face.

"Oh! What's this now! Have you two been sleeping together?" Rarity's grin threatened to become a passable imitation of Pinkie Pie's as she began leaning in. "This is so exciting! You have to tell me everything! I want details!"

Fluttershy squeaked, shrinking back from Rarity's manic expression. "Um...Rarity, we shouldn't r-really be talking about this n-now..." She pointed to Rarity's side.

Looking over, Rarity realized that, in her excitement over trying to wheedle out the details of Fluttershy's love-life, she had completely forgotten about Flaxseed. The stallion was currently sitting back, simply staring at Rarity as she and Fluttershy prepared to lose themselves in girl-talk.

"I'm so sorry," said Rarity quickly, "I just got so excited for Fluttershy. Please forgive me."

"I-it's no problem," replied Flaxseed, with the feeling that he'd just dodged a bullet. He had to admit, he'd been feeling very comfortable. Compared to Pinkie Pie, there was absolutely nothing frightening or upsetting with Fluttershy and, whenever the yellow mare smiled, Flax felt his heart seize up just a little. She's adorable. It's a darn shame she already has a coltfriend.

"So...this is your coltfriend's house then?"

Fluttershy nodded with a happy hum. "Caramel's out at the candy shop right now. But he's invited me and Dawn to stay with him for the season."

"That's nice," said Flax, envying the absent Dawn for his luck at finding such a wonderful pony to stay with, "And he's okay with your son's eyes."

Again, Fluttershy nodded, her smile widening. "He's even started to call Caramel 'dad' now."

Rarity's eyes widened. "You mean to say he's doing that now! Oh Fluttershy! I'm so happy for you. This is the. Best. Possible. Thing!"

Fluttershy couldn't help but giggle at Rarity's enthusiasm. "Yes, everything's going well for us. What about you, Mr. Flaxseed? How do you like Ponyville so far?"

"It's really nice," said Flaxseed, "It's been a while since I've been this relaxed." It was true. While visiting Pinkie Pie had been a bit harrowing at first, he had to admit that he couldn't bring himself to dislike her, especially not since she was such a fantastic baker and so willing to reach out to an unfamiliar pony like him. And now, sitting in the kitchen with Rarity and Fluttershy, he'd never felt more at ease.

"That's good to hear," said Fluttershy, giving Flaxseed a smile that nearly made him melt, "You're always welcome here. So please, don't hesitate to come see us. I know that Dawn certainly appreciates having somepony around who's shared his experiences."

Flaxseed nodded. The fact that Dawn was here, the fact that the colt existed at all, was the only thing that kept the gold-colored stallion from suspecting that this was all some elaborate setup to get him to let his guard down.

They made polite conversation a little while longer. Fluttershy asked Rarity about her work. Rarity answered by talking about the Nightmare Night costumes she'd been working on, while asking about what Dawn wanted his costume to be. The whole back and forth was very soothing to listen to. Flaxseed was simply content to sit back and listen to the two mares gossip while he enjoyed his tea.

After bidding a fond, albeit reluctant farewell to Fluttershy, Rarity and Flaxseed set off to visit the fashionista's next friend. Rarity led Flaxseed through the roads, heading towards Ponyville's market district. As they approached, the number of ponies out and about began to increase. Flaxseed looked around nervously, feeling more than a little exposed.

"It's alright dear," said Rarity consolingly as she sidled a little closer to the stallion, "I'm right here. You've got nothing to worry about."

Flax nodded, but gulped nervously as they began to make their way down the streets. They stepped around a corner and Rarity saw their destination clearly. On one side of the street was a cart, loaded down with baskets and bushels of apples, supplemented by various apple-based treats: tarts, dumplings, pies, and so on.

However, Rarity was disappointed to not see her friend at the apple cart. Instead, the Apple Family's stall was being manned by a relaxed Red River, the azure stallion smiling politely as he conducted various transactions with his customers. There was a a decent line in front of the stall, indicating that he was doing a brisk business and many ponies were probably walking away with more than they'd probably intended on buying. Rarity couldn't help but admire the layout of everything and was sorely tempted to do some shopping herself. She reined in the impulse, but remained deeply impressed with Red's skill at arranging his goods, She dearly wished she could get Red to apply his skills to the Carousel Boutique's showroom.

"Good afternoon," said Rarity, bypassing the line and approaching the azure stallion directly.

"Ah, Ms. Rarity. It's so good to see you," said Red as he made change for his latest customer. He looked over Flaxseed. "And this is...?"

"This is Flaxseed. He's in town to help Twilight with her 'studies.'" Rarity gave Red a meaningful look, which Red was easily able to interpret.

"Oh, I see," said the azure stallion. He looked over at Flaxseed, who was shifting nervously. "Welcome to Ponyville. I'm sorry we can't talk more. But, as you can see, I'm a bit swamped right now." Turning back to Rarity, he said, "I presume you're looking for Applejack."

"That's correct," said Rarity.

"Well, she and the rest of the family are back at the farm, setting up for Cider Season. It sounds like this is going to be the best year for cider yet, so they're getting prepared for all the sales."

"I see," said Rarity, "Thank you for telling me. We'll see you later then."

"I'm sure," replied Red with a friendly nod. He turned back to his line of customers as Rarity led Flaxseed away from the market stall.

"Why did you tell him about me?" asked Flaxseed, "I know that's what you were referring to when you introduced me. But he wasn't one of the ponies you meant for me to meet, was he?"

"No, he wasn't," replied Rarity, "However, Red River is a pony who needs to know about such things. You see, while he works for the Apple Family, that's not the real reason he's in town."

"And the real reason is...?" asked Flaxseed nervously.

"He's one of two mercenaries that were hired by Twilight's brother. They were assigned here to help keep the town safe from any 'problems' that might follow Dawn in. Should anything like that occur, you would be under their protection as well."

"Oh..." was all Flaxseed could say, amazed that they had gone to such lengths simply for the sake of a single colt. He let his eyes wander, taking in the scenery as they left the town proper and the streets and buildings gave way to rolling hills, populated by row upon row of trees. He was sure that, most of the years, said trees presented a beautiful sight with their greenery. But, right now, they were devoid of either leaves or fruit. Their path took them along a fence, which led up to a gate. From the gate, Flaxseed could see a path winding on, meandering up to a picturesque farmhouse situated by a large, red barn.

A group of ponies were working by the gate. A pale-yellow filly was working with the help of a massive red stallion to set up a large millstone that was linked to what looked like a treadmill. Nearby, an orange mare wearing a worn-looking stetson was lifting barrels out of a cart and setting them down into a pile on one side of the large mechanism. Standing nearby was an aged, green mare, who was calmly directing the work.

"Good afternoon Applejack," said Rarity cheerfully as she cantered up to the gate, "It looks like the Cider Season setup is going smoothly."

"Smooth as can be," agreed the orange mare, taking a brief respite from her work and trotting over to the fence, "Granny's makin' some changes. She's ordered a whole bunch 'o them spices from Arkenstone so that we can whip up some batches 'o mulled cider. That's sure to be a hit with everypony."

"And what about the quantity?" asked Rarity, "Will you have enough for everypony this year?"

Applejack nodded, her expression getting a little stern. "Eyuup. We're puttin' a cap on it too so Pinkie Pie won't buy it all up. Ah'm gonna be darned if Ah let Rainbow go her last Cider Season in Ponyville without gettin' any." Her emerald eyes turned towards Flaxseed. "Who's yer friend?"

"Ah, this is Flaxseed," said Rarity, gesturing to the gold-coated stallion, who nodded politely to Applejack, "He's come to Ponyville to be examined by Twilight."

Applejack's eyes widened and she gave Flaxseed a shocked look that made the stallion take an uneasy step backwards. "Ya mean he's one 'o them..."

Rarity nodded. "The very same. He's experienced no shortage of harassment because of it."

"A-Ah see..." said Applejack, tilting her hat back, her eyes darting around.

Flaxseed shifted nervously. Applejack's reaction to what Rarity had told her worried him a fair bit. However, as he looked closer, he noticed the uneasy expression on Applejack's face. At first he thought that it might have been because she was wary of him. But he soon realized that Applejack's expression was one of guilt.

"Well, Ah've gotta get back to work and all," said Applejack, stepping back from the fence, "Lots to do and all that. Have yerselves a nice day."

She turned and trotted away from the fence as fast as she could without being rude, casting a forlorn look over her shoulder as she went.

"Well, that could have gone better," observed Rarity. She began to lead Flaxseed down the path back to town.

"What was that all about?" asked Flaxseed, glancing at the working farmponies as they left.

"Um...again, that's a bit of a complicated story," said Rarity, "You see, Applejack's father was a member of the Cult Solar, you probably know them as the Order of Celestial Light..."

Flaxseed shivered as he remembered some of the ponies that had pursued him from town to town. At times, the members of the Order seemed to be everywhere. They were friendly and welcoming enough until, inevitably, something happened to bring Flaxseed's condition to the surface. Sometimes they turned on him immediately, running him out of town, screaming threats and insults at the top of their lungs. But even worse were those who put on a friendly face, who pretended that his condition didn't matter to them. They would try to get him to lower his guard or lead him into some secluded spot and then...

Rarity observed the expressions passing over Flaxseed's face and carefully edged closer to the stallion, gently pressing against his side. Flaxseed started and looked over at her, but Rarity only gave him a friendly smile, prompting the stallion to relax somewhat.

"Anyway," continued Rarity, "Though she was never initiated into the Order itself, her father raised her on the group's philosophies, including telling her stories about the Eyes of Nightmare. When Fluttershy first took Dawn in and Applejack found out about him, she..." Rarity looked away. "She attacked him...twice. The first time, she was trying to drive him out of Ponyville. The second time, she was going to..." Rarity gulped, the implication of her words settling in.

"Anyway," she continued, "The second time, she managed to buck Dawn in the side, breaking his wing and some of his ribs, putting the poor boy in the hospital."

Flaxseed paled and began to shake.

"It's alright," said Rarity, "Dawn made a full recovery, otherwise he wouldn't have been at the teahouse for you to meet him yesterday. In any case, after that, Princess Celestia herself came down and had a few words with Applejack. She and Dawn managed to overcome their issues. She knows better than to believe the Cult Solar's tripe now."

"A-are you sure?" asked Flaxseed. If there was one thing he had learned, it was that fanatics did not part from their delusions easily, if at all.

Rarity nodded. "I most certainly am. Some other members of her family are apparently part of the Cult, but she tried to keep them from finding out about Dawn when they came to town. So have no worries. You can trust Applejack."

"Then why was she so upset?"

"She likely feels guilty about what she put Dawn through. I'm afraid that learning you have the same condition maybe brought those feelings of guilt back to the surface. When I mentioned how you had been harassed because of it, I think she remembered how she had hounded Dawn when she first learned about him." Rarity sighed. "It might be unpleasant for her, but I still needed to introduce you."

"If you say so," said Flaxseed, "Was there anypony else you wanted me to meet?"

"There is one more," said Rarity, "But she's hard to track down at this time of day. She's Ponyville's Weather Manager you see, for now at least."

"What do you mean by 'for now?'" Asked Flaxseed, glancing sidelong at his companion.

"She means that, come spring, this Weather Manager's gonna be off on her first tour as the newest member of the Wonderbolts."

"Gah!" Flaxseed jumped nearly his own height at the sound of a pony speaking right into his ear.

Rainbow Dash would have broken down laughing. However, the first guffaws had barely left her mouth when Flaxseed's magic wrenched a rock out of the ground and hurled it straight at her head.

The cerulean mare dodged the throw with a startled yelp. She turned to glare at the gold-coated stallion and admonish him for trying to hurt her, but was cut off again when she saw Flaxseed frantically pulling another, larger rock from the ground.

"Flaxseed!" cried Rarity, "Please stop!" Unable to think of what else to do, she seized the small boulder in her magic, doing her best to keep Flaxseed from launching it at Rainbow, who was beating her wings to gain some distance. However, Flaxseed's panic was making his magic surge and he yanked the stone out from Rarity's magical grip, launching it at Rainbow Dash in the same instant.

Rainbow easily dodged the large projectile, which wasn't even moving as fast as the first one. "Hey! Knock it off! You could kill somepony doing that!"

"Stay away from me!" screamed Flaxseed, backpedaling frantically, his eyes already searching for the next piece of ammunition. At the same time, Rainbow noted that their color and shape had changed.

"What the hay?" It took a few seconds for comprehension to dawn on her. But when it did, Rainbow's jaw dropped. "Oh..."

If anything, the look of shocked recognition Rainbow was wearing only served to further aggravate Flaxseed as his magic tore a tree stump from the ground. Soon, that too was rushing through the air at Rainbow.

Rarity was shouting, desperately trying to break through Flaxseed's panic. But he was too carried away to even hear her. While he didn't stand a chance of hitting Rainbow with anything he might throw, certainly not when he didn't have the sense to use his magic to guide the trajectories of his projectiles, there was still the chance that somepony else might be hurt. Rarity thanked her lucky stars that they were still outside Ponyville proper, or there would be plenty of bystanders around to end up on the receiving end of Flaxseed's wild attacks. As it was though, the last thing Rarity wanted was for some random passerby to get tagged by one of the stallion's shots.

However, in his panicked state, Flaxseed was too irrational to respond to most attempts to get through to him. He wasn't so much as trying to listen to her desperate pleas. The only other means of getting Flaxseed to stop could involve hurting him, which was the last thing she wanted to do.

There was one thing Rarity could try. It had worked in Sugarcube Corner when Pinkie Pie had set Flaxseed up, it might work now. However, Flaxseed was in a much worse state than before, so the chance that he would simply snap and attack Rarity instead was all too real. Still, she thought, I have to try.

Tensing, she leapt toward Flaxseed and threw her arms around his shoulders, hugging him tightly, just as he was about to tear up a section of Sweet Apple Acre's fence for his latest projectile. Even as she held him, Rarity could hear the crack and snap of wood. She didn't have much time. She was certain that she would be the target of Flaxseed's next attack. She needed to calm him now!

Rather than shout, Rarity instead placed her mouth as close to his ear as she could get it. "Shhhh darling, calm down," she said, her voice barely above a whisper, "It's alright. You're safe. Nopony's going to hurt you.

The fence rail parted from one of its posts with a loud snap. Wood crackled as Flaxseed's magic tried to twist it free of the other one.

"Everything's fine," Rarity said, repeating her assurances like a mantra, desperately trying to keep her voice calm and in control, though she was desperately afraid for herself, Rainbow, and the stallion in her care. "Please calm down. Nopony's going to hurt you."

In spite of her fears, Rarity began to feel Flaxseed's muscles relax beneath her forelegs. The cracking noise of wood breaking was fading as well as Flaxseed's magical grip on the fence rail began to slacken. Rarity began to gently rub her hooves across Flaxseed's barrel and along his spine, whispering more assurances into his ear, keeping her voice level, calm, and soothing.

Finally, she heard what she had been waiting for. "R-Rarity..."

"Yes, I'm here," said Rarity, continuing to rub the stallion's back, "Everything is going to be just fine."

Finally, the fence rail broke, not because Flaxseed had pulled it off the fence entirely, but because his magic had released it, resulting in the length of wood breaking under its own weight. The stallion's body relaxed completely and he slumped in Rarity's grip. Rarity was nearly dragged down by Flaxseed as his body went limp, but managed to catch him with her magic and keep him from dropping unceremoniously to the ground. The stallion had passed out completely.

"I'm so sorry!" exclaimed Rainbow, not lifting her head off the ground as she held herself prostrated in front of Rarity. Rainbow's wings were spread, but held flat against the ground.

"That's enough groveling," said Rarity curtly, doing her best to rein in her temper. In all honesty, she wanted to scold Rainbow Dash as though the cerulean mare were a misbehaving filly that should have known better. The problem was, Rainbow hadn't known any better. She'd had no idea who Flaxseed was, much less anything about his situation. What she had done couldn't even have really been called a prank by ponies who had been less traumatized. The most her acts might have elicited would have been little more than a jump and a startled yelp.

But Flaxseed's condition and his experiences had made all the difference. His nerves were a box of bone-dry tinder and Rainbow's actions had been like a spark. The results had been dramatic and nearly disastrous.

"Rainbow!" snapped Rarity, her sharp tone finally cutting through the pegasus' dramatics, "That's enough!"

"Sorry!" squeaked Rainbow.

"I accept your apology," said Rarity, "Now I need you to calm down. Flaxseed could wake up any moment now and the last thing we need is for you to set off another panic attack."

"Okay," said Rainbow.

"Thank you," said Rarity with a sigh as she turned her attention back to the stallion. She'd situated Flaxseed so that he was resting up against her. His chin was resting on top of one of her forelegs, whilst her other reached up so she could gently stroke his mane with her hoof. It had been several minutes since the stallion had collapsed. Rarity had carried him to a nearby tree so that they could rest beneath it, though the tree didn't supply much shade, seeing as its leaves were gone and shade would have only made the late-autumn day all the colder. Thus, she was resting on the side facing the sun, taking solace in the feeling of the tree's bark against her fur.

Slowly, Flaxseed began to stir. He's coming to.

"Rainbow," said Rarity gently, "I need you to back up."

"I said I was sorry," protested Rainbow.

"I know," said Rarity, "But he may panic again if you're too close. So back up and give him some space and we'll introduce you properly this time."

"Okay," said Rainbow, a little bit reluctantly. She inched backwards as Flaxseed's eyes slowly fluttered open.

"Wha?" he rasped, raising his head.

"Are you feeling better?" asked Rarity softly, trying to keep from startling the stallion. She lowered the hoof that had been stroking his mane as well.

"R-Rarity?"

"Yes."

Flaxseed let out a shuddering sigh and relaxed against her, prompting Rarity to smile as she resumed stroking his mane. "I'm so very sorry about that darling," she said, "I understand she frightened you, but please forgive Rainbow Dash. She didn't know any better."

Flaxseed looked around and his gaze alit on the cerulean pegasus, who averted her eyes guiltily. Rarity felt Flaxseed tense up against her. But when Rainbow failed to do anything threatening, Flaxseed relaxed again.

"I'm so sorry," said Rainbow, not budging from her spot, "I didn't realize..."

"It's...it's alright," said Flaxseed after a moment's pause.

Rarity huffed lightly. "Well, this wasn't the smoothest of introductions, but this is my dear friend, Rainbow Dash."

"It's...uh...nice to meet you," said Rainbow more than a little awkwardly.

"L-likewise," said Flaxseed. He still felt uncomfortable. What Rainbow did had brought back too many memories of previous experiences where ponies had "surprised" him. Still, she was genuinely sorry. Taking a moment to fight down the flashbacks of his past, Flaxseed began to recall what Rainbow had said to him right as she'd dropped in. "So...you're gonna be a Wonderbolt?"

Rainbow's melancholy faded and she drew herself up into a sitting position, puffing out her chest dramatically. "Not gonna," she said proudly, "Already am. I even made my debut flight."

"Really?" asked Flaxseed, leaning forward.

"Indeed," agreed Rarity, tittering at the stallion's enthusiasm, "We were there for her induction and she actually flew as a member during the Harvest Festival."

"Yeah, it was pretty awesome if I do say so myself," said Rainbow, puffing up even more than she had before.

"That is amazing," said Flaxseed, "I once got to see a Wonderbolts show when I was a little colt. It was incredible. I've never thought I'd actually get to meet one."

Rainbow laughed. "Well then, you've been missing out, 'cause the Wonderbolts are even more awesome now than when you were a kid. I'll try and score you some free tickets so you can see for yourself."

"Um...you mean like tickets...for an actual show?" asked Flaxseed, twitching strangely.

"Uh yeah," said Rainbow, tilting her head to one side as she regarded the stallion curiously, "What kinda show did you think I was talking about?"

"Um...nothing..." said Flaxseed, lowering his head slightly, "Really...you don't need to trouble yourself."

Rainbow's eyebrows went up. "You'd turn down free Wonderbolts tickets."

"That's enough," said Rarity quickly, jumping in before the conversation could progress any further. She had an inkling of the reason behind Flaxseed's reluctance and certainly didn't want to make the stallion any more uncomfortable than he already was. "It's starting to get late and Flaxseed and I should be returning to the boutique. I'll talk to you later, Rainbow Dash." Rarity gave Rainbow a pointed look that practically screamed at her to shelve the conversation for the time being.

"Uh...okay," said Rainbow, "I guess I should really be getting back to work anyway. We're moving in some additional cloud cover in to lower the temperature a little more. Make sure you dress warmly when you go out later, okay."

Rarity nodded. "Thank you for the warning Rainbow."

The cerulean pegasus nodded and spread her wings. With a single beat, she shot into the sky in a rainbow streak, not even bothering to stand up before she took off.

"Wow," said Flaxseed, watching her go, "I can see why she's a Wonderbolt."

"Indeed," agreed Rarity, "I'm sorry about that part at the end there. Even before she joined, Rainbow was a very serious fan of the Wonderbolts. Sometimes she forgets that not everyone is as serious about them as she is and that some ponies have their reasons for not wanting to attend a show."

"Um..." Flaxseed averted his eyes, looking a little ashamed. "To be honest, I'd love to see another show but..."

"I think I understand," said Rarity as she began to lead the way back to the boutique, "It's the crowds isn't it? You've frequently been on edge around other ponies, so the idea of being surrounded by them is rather intimidating."

"Yeah," said Flaxseed, his ears drooping.

"Don't worry dear," said Rarity, gently brushing up against him. She moved slowly and carefully so that Flaxseed would have time to react. The stallion flinched, but didn't try to pull away from the contact. "My friends and I will all do our best to help you. Just remember, you have nothing to fear from any of us."

"Alright," said Flaxseed, giving her a half-hearted smile of his own.

Rarity could see that the gold-colored stallion still held some reservations about staying with her and in Ponyville in general. It wasn't too hard to understand why. After all, being at ease around other ponies could easily be equated to lowering one's guard. Flaxseed had probably dealt with such problems before, ponies who had pretended to be his friends or pretended to want to help him, only to attack him when he was vulnerable. Yes, they still had a ways to go before he could fully recover from the trauma he'd experienced. But still, she thought as his soft coat rubbed against hers, Even a little progress is still progress. With that encouraging thought in mind, Rarity led the way home.

Author's Note

Apologies for the delay in updates. Yesterday was my sister's wedding and all the commotion that came with it. I was a little too wrapped up in that to worry about updates for the moment. To make things even more difficult, Fimfic's server can't decide whether it wants to talk to me or not and I keep getting booted off the site at random intervals, so things might be spotty until Knighty and the other mods finish working out all the bugs from the last update.

This chapter was largely covering the remaining members of the Mane Six meeting with Flaxseed, as well as showcasing how seriously he's been traumatized by his previous experiences and how extreme his responses to a perceived threat can be.

For the Apple Family's Cider Season, I ended up tangling up the timeline a little, so this might be a bit out of synch with how it works in the show (in terms of timing), but I decided that the Apple Family basically jumps Cider Season around to different times of the year every year in order to work with different batches and cultivars of apples. More on that next time.

Next chapter: Dawn discovers cider!

Season of the Cider

Chapter 4: Season of the Cider

"So Dawn, what do you want to go as for Nightmare Night?" asked Scootaloo eagerly.

Dawn shrugged before taking a bite out of his apple. "I have no idea," he admitted, "I've never had to think about anything like this before."

The two of them were enjoying a lunch break at the teahouse. They'd gone out the back and leaned against the wall, munching their food as they watched the pegasi moving clouds into position. It was less than a week until Nightmare Night. Once the night ended, the first snow of winter would began to fall and it would fall from the clouds that the Weather Team were positioning at this moment. By placing them into position throughout the week, they slowly closed off the sunlight, lowering the ambient temperature and cooling the air to better facilitate snowfall and accumulation. After all, nopony wanted to spend the day after the first snowstorm of the season wading through a brown slurry of half-melted snow.

Thus, with the final night of autumn approaching, some ponies had already purchased costumes from the seasonal shops that opened up around this time of year, while others had gone to Rarity to order more elaborate ensembles. Most of Dawn and Scootaloo's friends had already made their choices of costumes. Sweetie Belle and Rumble were apparently going to be dressing as a princess and her knight, the revelation of which had made Scootaloo gag. Apple Bloom was apparently making her own Clockwork Pony costume from various gears and machinery she'd scrounged up, whilst Spike was going as the Mysterious Masked Phantom, apparently a character from one of his favorite comic books. Scootaloo, on the other hoof, was keeping her costume a secret for the time being, apparently wanting to surprise Dawn with whatever she ended up going as.

"You'd better hurry," said Scootaloo, "You don't have very long."

Dawn frowned. "I just have no idea of what kind of costume to wear. Perhaps you ought to pick something."

Scootaloo tapped her chin before turning to get a good look at Dawn's face. "You know, since your eyes already look like one, maybe you should go as a dragon."

"That might be fun," admitted Dawn, mulling the matter over. It would probably be a simple matter to clothe himself with some sort of fake dragonskin, maybe a few prop horns attached to the back of his head, and a cardboard row of spines over his mane. Still, completing the effect would require fashioning some sort of cover for his wings to given them a suitably leathery appearance, which Dawn didn't relish. Covering his wings like that made him uncomfortable, since it would also cut off his feathers from contact with the air.

Scootaloo was still looking at him, also thinking about how to pull off a good dragon costume when her eye widened. "I've got it!" she exclaimed, "How about we dress you up as one of Princess Luna's Night Guards."

"Night Guards?" asked Dawn.

Scootaloo nodded rapidly. "Yeah! When Princess Luna comes down for Nightmare Night, she always comes with her guards. Usually, they're just look like regular pegasi. But for Nightmare Night, they dress up with bat wings and have eyes like yours."

"Really?" asked Dawn.

Scootaloo grinned. "Yeah. Twilight says that it's an illusion Princess Luna does. Maybe Twilight can do the same thing for you. Then all we have to do is get one of those Royal Guard costumes from the costume shop and paint it up like a Night Guard's and we'll have a costume for you easy."

"That sounds doable," said Dawn, pausing to munch on the savory potato scone from a batch that Caramel had baked for the colt the previous day. The tan stallion had accrued a variety of recipes over the course of his life and was not adverse in using the more savory ones for Dawn's meals.

"Let's talk to Twilight after work then," said Scootaloo, "She'd probably love to help us."

"I'd absolutely love to help you," said Twilight Sparkle gleefully.

Scootaloo gave Dawn an "I told you so" look, even though Dawn had neither expressed nor felt any doubt. However, he decided it was best to simply concede and nodded in response.

"So you'll enchant Dawn so he looks like one of those bat-ponies that fly Princess Luna around?" asked the orange filly.

"Sure," said Twilight, "I could even give Dawn the same enchantment that they have. It's actually really fascinating..." She was clearly winding up to go into lecture mode, which took the wind out of Scootaloo's sails somewhat.

"The enchantment is actually laid into the armor itself," continued Twilight, oblivious to Scootaloo's growing reluctance to stay where she was, "It's a simple modification of the basic enchantment used to make all the members of the Royal Guard and the Night Guard look alike."

"So you can't use it on me?" asked Dawn, wondering what Twilight was getting at.

"Well, I could," said Twilight, "But an illusion spell like that won't have much staying power. When affected by the magic of someone else, a pony's natural magic will repel foreign magic that's laid over them over time. The more powerful a spell is, the longer it takes for it to be repelled. But spells have their own lifespans, which are further shortened by the repulsion effect. It's the same for charms and compulsions. It would have to be refreshed and reinforced frequently if we wanted to maintain it for any serious period of time. That's why the spell is laid on the armor instead. The armor possesses no native magic of its own, so there's nothing to repel the spell and shorten its lifespan. In fact, a spell's staying power can be enhanced that way."

"How so?" asked Dawn, getting a little interested in spite of himself.

Twilight grinned eagerly at him. "I thought you'd like this part. You see, it actually works using principles derived from earth pony magic."

"It does?" asked Dawn, thinking back to his conversation with Arkenstone the other day.

Twilight nodded. "While each of the three tribes has its own distinct form of magic, we can actually borrow and apply principles and concepts between the magics of different tribes.

"You see, earth pony magic relies on physical mediums. Magic is transmitted through actual substance. Earth ponies use the earth itself as the medium for their magic when they're cultivating the land and enhancing its potential for growth. When they draw magic into themselves to enhance their strength and stamina, they're actually using their own bodies as a medium. Technically, they can use any object or substance as a medium if they refine their skills enough. Arkenstone, for example, has refined his skills to the point that he can actually use individual particles as a medium for his magic."

"And how does this apply to the illusion spell for the Guards?" asked Dawn as Scootaloo looked on in horror at the sight of her coltfriend getting into an egghead discussion with Twilight Sparkle.

"Because unicorns found that they could improve a spell's staying power if it was embedded in a physical object," replied Twilight proudly, "In other words, the Guard's armor is used as a medium for the illusion spell. So, in a sense, you could say that the entire school of enchanting, the embedding of spells and magics in physical objects, is based on earth pony magic."

"That's interesting," said Dawn sincerely. Since his conversation with Arkenstone, he'd been thinking about the ways the ponies of different tribes modified their magic by applying principles from other tribes. He remembered Willow's fog, which had apparently applied the principles of unicorn magic to her own pegasus magic to produce something unique that couldn't arise from the magic of a single tribe on its own.

"So then, I would need to get the costume first and then have you enchant it with the illusion spell," Dawn continued.

Twilight nodded. "That's right. As far as I know, the costume shop only sells regular Royal Guard armor, so we'll have to paint it up."

Dawn and Scootaloo exchanged looks. "We'd figured that already."

"The tricky part is doing it right," said Twilight, searching out a book on one of her shelves before pulling it out. It was a text on the Guard. Opening the book, Twilight laid it out where the two foals could see, showing them an illustration of the Night Guard's armor, including a piece-by-piece breakdown. The armor design for the Night Guard was actually a fair-bit different from that of the regular Royal Guard. "If you want to be accurate, you'll have to do more than just repaint a Royal Guard costume."

"Uh...It's just a Nightmare Night costume," Scootaloo pointed out, "I don't think it needs to be completely accurate."

"What?" gasped Twilight, seemingly shocked that Scootaloo and Dawn wouldn't be interested in accuracy, "Of course it does. After all, Princess Luna is going to be visiting Ponyville again this year, so doing anything less would be disrespectful."

"I'm not so sure of that," said Dawn under his breath. While he'd never met the lunar princess, he somehow doubted that a foal would earn her wrath simply be wearing an imperfect rendition of her Guards' armor. However, he figured that it was better to simply mollify Twilight. "Does that mean you'd help us to change the costume so that it's more accurate?" he asked.

"Absolutely!" squealed Twilight, "Go ahead and get the costume from the shop and bring it back here and we'll get started right away."

The two foals quickly scampered out the door.

"Why the hay did you agree to that?" demanded Scootaloo as they headed down to the road to the seasonal costume shop that had opened earlier that month.

"Because if we didn't do it, she'd probably get irritated and then act sulky whenever she sees me in costume," replied Dawn, "And since she's the one who will be modifying the costume, it's not as though we'll be taking on all that much extra work."

"If you say so," said Scootaloo.

Fortunately, the costume shop was well-stocked with Royal Guard costumes. Plenty of young colts (and a few fillies) loved to dress up as Guards for Nightmare Night. Dawn and Scootaloo quickly returned to the library with their new acquisition so that Twilight could get started on modifying it.

There was even less for Dawn and Scootaloo to do than they thought, though that seemed to be because only Twilight seemed to be fully invested in the accuracy of the final product. By the time she'd pulled out the calipers and started filling her blackboard with notes on all the minute changes she'd have to make, the two foals had found themselves walled out of the process entirely. So, as Twilight worked, they picked out some books of their own and did some light reading to pass the time.

After about two hours of work, a loud, "It's done!" roused the foals from their reading so that they could see the fruit of Twilight's labors.

Dawn had to admit that he was impressed. Twilight had carefully painted the plastic armor a midnight-blue color with silver highlights. The blue plume from the helmet had been swapped out for a black, spiny sail, much like the kind found on the necks of some dragons. The blue star on the peytral had been swapped out for an image of a blueish-green eye with a vertical slit for a pupil.

"It's odd," Dawn noted, "that Princess Luna would have the image of her other self's eyes emblazoned on the armor of her Guard. I would think she'd want to put that part of her behind herself."

"Maybe," admitted Twilight, "But it certainly does give her Guards' armor an intimidating quality. The Night Guard is an active branch of Guard organization, and intimidation is an effective means of subduing criminals."

Dawn figured there was probably more to it than that. However, he got the impression that it would be best to simply ask Princess Luna herself if she was going to be attending Nightmare Night in Pony.

"Alright then," said Twilight, "Now for the enchantment."

Her horn began to glow, casting a violet shroud over the armor. After a few minutes, the light from her horn faded, leaving the armor looking no different than it had before.

"Okay, try it on," she said with a nod to Dawn.

Dawn began pulling the armor on, piece by piece. It wasn't all that difficult, though fitting the back parts around his wings got a little bit tricky. When he slipped the helm and the accompanying criniere on and buckled them into place, his ears caught a gasp from Scootaloo. At the same moment, Dawn felt a strange tingle as the foreign enchantment washed over his body, presumably changing his appearance.

He turned to look at Scootaloo, who was gaping at him. "How do I look."

"You. Look. AWESOME!" Scootaloo yelled, her wings buzzing with excitement, "That's got to be the coolest Nightmare Night costume I've ever seen. You really need to get a look at yourself."

Dawn turned to look for the bathroom, but instead found himself facing a mirror that Twilight had conjured. His eyes widened in surprise and he took a reflexive step back from the unfamiliar pony that stared back at him from the mirror. His normally ebony coat had been replaced by a lighter gray, closer to Rumble's in color. His mane was hidden beneath the plates of the criniere, but the silver of his tail had changed to stripes of midnight-blue and a lighter shade of blue. Finally, his ears looked a little bit longer, with furry tufts at the end. Only his eyes remained unaffected by the spell, looking back at him with the same shape and color.

"I figured I'd leave your eyes alone," commented Twilight, "That way Luna doesn't mistake you for one of her Guards."

"So this is what her Guards look like?" said Dawn, slowly reaching towards his own reflection in the mirror.

"On Nightmare Night, at least," said Twilight with an indulgent smile, "Luna told me once that she changed their glamour because she'd heard about the costume tradition before she'd heard more details about the holiday and wanted to participate in that, at least."

"Cool, so Dawn's costume is all settled," said Scootaloo, "I can't wait for everypony to see how cool you look."

Dawn chuckled. "Thank you," he said, pulling off the helmet and criniere. As he did, there was a snap, almost like a spark of static electricity. A second later, the slight sag in Scootaloo's posture and the disappointed "Aw," she let out told him that the glamour had been released.

"The enchantments on the armor for the Royal Guard and the Night Guard are a bit more advanced," said Twilight as she helped Dawn get his armor off, "They can actually remove pieces of their armor without the glamour failing. But this is just a costume, so I didn't think we needed to do anything that fancy."

"That's not the attitude you had when you were obsessing over accuracy," Dawn pointed out wryly, prompting an embarrassed blush from Twilight.

"Anyway!" said Twilight, desperately trying to steer the subject away from her more embarrassing quirks, "The two of you should be getting home. Your mothers are probably starting to get worried about you being out so late and you've got to get up for Cider Season tomorrow."

"Ack!" shouted Scootaloo, going rigid, "She's right!"

Sweet Apple Acres' Cider Season had been pushed back a few days this year, thanks in part to Granny Smith's decision to change things up a little. It would officially begin the next day and continue running up through Nightmare Night. Ponyville was practically buzzing in excitement.

"We should be going home," said Dawn, agreeing with Scootaloo and Twilight. He'd noted that the sunlight coming in through the windows had changed angle and color, indicating that it was setting.

Twilight helped Dawn pack up his costume and walked the two foals to the door of her library. She watched them head off down the street, smiling fondly.

"COME ON EVERYPONY! HURRY UP! TIME'S A WASTING!" bellowed Rainbow Dash as she stormed in through Caramel's front door. She froze when she came to the living room and saw both Dawn and Scootaloo staring up at her from the floor, where they'd been standing quietly.

The two of them had been engaging in a meditation session before breakfast, which was the primary form of their morning training as winter approached. Night was stretching longer with each passing day. They'd already passed the Autumnal Equinox, meaning that the nights were longer than the days. For Dawn and Scootaloo, that presented additional difficulties. The mornings were too cold now to allow for any lengthy amount of training outside. Also, the shortening amount of daylight also meant that they had less time to spend at the quarry.

Dawn had been curtailing their training slightly, stepping it down so that he and Scootaloo didn't have to spend as much time outside, as well as focusing more on forms of training that could be practiced indoors, meditation in particular. Scootaloo might have chafed at the idea of spending so much time standing still, but she had to admit she preferred it to trying to train outside in the bone-chilling morning air, cold enough that even pegasi like them didn't want to brave it without at least a scarf.

"Geez, good morning to you too, Rainbow," growled Caramel as he ambled out of the kitchen, mug of coffee in hoof. He gave Rainbow a surly glare.

"Come on!" protested Rainbow, "It's Cider Season and you haven't even finished getting up."

"Fluttershy isn't even awake yet," replied Caramel, "And I'd appreciate it if you let her sleep in. Though..." His eyes rolled upward towards the ceiling, where the faintest taps of Fluttershy's ever-so-light hoofsteps could be just barely heard from the room above them. "...I guess it's a little bit late for that." He gave Rainbow another glare before sighing and heading back into the kitchen. A moment later, the rattle of pans echoed from within.

Rainbow, for her part, simply stood there, shifting anxiously as she waited for Fluttershy to come down. Scootaloo and Dawn had gone back to practicing their meditation, facing each other with their wings half-spread and their eyes closed, their magic stirring a faint breeze through the house.

After a few minutes, Fluttershy slowly climbed down the stairs, blinking tiredness from her eyes. "Good morning everypony," she said in a sleepy voice. She trotted over and exchanged nuzzles with Dawn and Scootaloo. Lifting her head, she turned to smile at Rainbow. "Good morning..." Her greeting was broken by a wide yawn. "...Rainbow Dash. You must be here for Cider Season."

"Duh," scoffed Rainbow, her excitement and impatience making her short, even with her most sensitive friend, "Of course I am. We need to get going pronto. I'm gonna be darned if I let Pinkie Pie get ahead of me this time."

Fluttershy sighed, shaking her head slowly. "Rainbow," she admonished, "You know better. Applejack isn't opening until ten. We have plenty of time. I guess, since you're here already, you can join us for breakfast."

"But-" Before Rainbow could finish her protest, she flinched when she felt Fluttershy's hoof lightly poke her side, the slight agitation eliciting a loud grumble from the cerulean mare's empty stomach. Rainbow whirled to face her friend, only to see an uncharacteristically sly smile on Fluttershy's face.

"You came without having any didn't you," observed Fluttershy wryly.

"Uh..."

Fluttershy merely giggled and turned to trot into the kitchen. "Breakfast first," she said, flashing Rainbow a teasing look over her shoulder. With that, she went into the kitchen, leaving a stunned Rainbow Dash in her wake.

"What the...?" Rainbow didn't know what to make of what happened. She'd never seen Fluttershy's playful side emerge quite like that. What was more, she was actually teasing Rainbow; not a mean-spirited teasing, but a fun teasing between friends. But Fluttershy had almost never indulged even in the latter kind. Watching her go, Rainbow could almost scarcely believe that this was the same timid, polite, and ridiculously unassuming Fluttershy that she'd known for most of her life. The new Fluttershy was more confident, more playful, and more assertive, easily brushing off even Rainbow's most enthusiastic insistences. Who are you and what have you done with Fluttershy?

Deciding to follow the yellow mare into the kitchen, Rainbow saw Fluttershy and Caramel standing together at the stove, their heads turned and their lips pressed together. They held the kiss for a few seconds longer before Fluttershy finally pulled away.

"Best morning greeting ever," said Caramel before turning back to preparing breakfast.

"I agree," said Fluttershy with a giggle as she fluttered up to the cupboards and began to withdraw some plates and utensils so that she could set the breakfast table.

In the living room, Scootaloo and Dawn finished their meditation. However, Scootaloo had also been distracted by the change that Fluttershy had apparently gone through. "Wow, your mom's different from how she used to be."

"I suppose," admitted Dawn. Of course, he'd long known the core of strength that laid behind Fluttershy's soft and and timid exterior. He'd seen it emerge often enough whenever she got angry on his behalf...or upset with something that he had done. He knew that her friends were well aware of that strength as well. After all, Fluttershy had once scolded a dragon into submission for their sake. However, the process that had begun with her taking him in appeared to have progressed further after moving in with Caramel. That hidden core of strength was now lying closer to the surface, infusing her actions with more confidence and assuredness than she'd ever shown before.

It was also beginning to show in other ways. Fluttershy was more confident and composed when she was out in public now as well. Though she was still timid and retiring around unfamiliar ponies, that aspect of her personality had faded considerably, especially whenever she was in the company of her friends and loved ones. As such, when she went out, she walked with much greater confidence and poise, which had been earning her a number of stares of appreciation from various stallions, along with a few mares, as they were reminded exactly why Fluttershy had once been a model for Photo Finish. When she was willing to let it show, Fluttershy had a natural grace and beauty that could catch the eye of everypony in her vicinity in a way that made even Rarity more than a little envious.

"I think dad may be a good influence on her," Dawn added softly.

Scootaloo blinked and turned to look at Dawn again. "Since when have you been calling Caramel 'dad?'"

Dawn shrugged. "Since we're giving living together as a family a sort of trial run, I figured I'd go all the way."

"And you're okay with that?"

Dawn smiled, ducking his head slightly so that a small portion of his mane fell across his face. "Well...it doesn't feel...wrong..."

Scootaloo stared at him a little longer before she broke out into a mischievous grin. "Wow," she said, reaching out to lightly punch Dawn's shoulder, "You're turning into a total softy."

Dawn lifted his head to smirk back at her. Before Scootaloo could say anything else, he darted forward and planted a kiss on her lips. "Do you really mind?" he asked after pulling away.

"Uh..." Scootaloo had to take a second to shake her head to clear it. "No...not really...I guess..."

Dawn's smile widened. "I didn't think so."

"Geez, I thought you girls were gonna take forever," groaned Rainbow Dash as she and the others made their way up the path to Sweet Apple Acres. Though breakfast had been delicious (Rainbow was envious that Fluttershy had found a coltfriend who was such a good cook), she'd been agitated by how all the other participants had been taking their time. As it was, she was also chafing about having to walk with the group towards Sweet Apple Acres. She could have taken to the air and flown ahead at any second. But abandoning them so she could get there first felt wrong.

"And I remember telling you that there's no reason to hurry," said Fluttershy, "Granny Smith and Applejack have changed the rules this year. They aren't allowing ponies to camp out on the path and they're shooing away anypony who tries to line up at the gate until right before they open. She also told me that they're putting a limit on how much Pinkie can buy in one go so she doesn't take it all before you have any."

She leaned in and whispered lightly into Rainbow's ear. "And they're saving a few barrels of some very special cider just for you."

Rainbow's eyes widened and she gaped at her friend. "What? Really?"

Fluttershy nodded. "Really."

"Cool..."

"So, just as I said, there's no reason to rush. We can take our time." Fluttershy continued to walk ahead, leaving a surprised Rainbow behind. Rainbow had to break into a trot to catch up to the group.

By the time they arrived at Sweet Apple Acres, it was nearly time for Applejack to open the cider stall. Big Macintosh was already turning the cider press, while Apple Bloom fed the carefully selected apples in. Red River was filling barrels and moving them to the large stack. Applejack had selected a few of the barrels and was emptying them into a large cauldron over a fire. To everypony's surprise, Spike was there as well, a piece of parchment in one hand and a quill in the other as the little dragon scribbled down notes and checked lists, having apparently helped with organizing the whole affair. Meanwhile, Granny Smith was carefully measuring out quantities of different spices before adding them to the bubbling cauldron. The scent wafting out of it made Rainbow drool.

"Ooh, they're doing mulled cider this year," said Caramel, looking very excited in spite of himself.

"It smells delicious," observed Fluttershy.

The procedure for Cider Season had changed in the years since Flim and Flam had tried to steal the Apple Family's business out from under them with their bizarre cider-making contraption. Instead of only starting to make cider just as they were beginning to sell it, Applejack and her family had instead started making it ahead of time. They also increased the portion of their crop that went to cider sales, both to provide more for the inhabitants of Ponyville and to market their cider to interested parties outside of town. More importantly, they'd also begun work on fermenting and distilling products for sale, making hard ciders and other apple-based liquors for marketing at bars both in Ponyville and abroad. While the Apples had always made liquor in small batches for their own consumption, they had only recently begun to start distilling commercially.

The little stand where cider was actually sold was backed by a shelf lined with bottles and small casks. Off in the open field to one side of the gate was a pavilion that had been set up the previous night. It was filled with tables and benches, as well as a few charcoal heaters to keep the place warm, where ponies could take their mugs of cider and enjoy them in comfort, away from the day's chill.

"Wow, this year's Cider Season is gonna be awesome," said Rainbow, smacking her lips in excitement.

Already, several ponies were in the area around the gate, milling about, though none of them had tried to form a line yet. Already, Rainbow could see Pinkie Pie and Mayweather, the stripe-maned mare carefully keeping Pinkie's enthusiasm in check as she babbled excitedly about how much cider she wanted to drink, only to be chided by Mayweather for wanting to hog so much for herself. To Rainbow's shock, Mayweather's admonishment actually seemed to work and Pinkie calmed down a little.

In the meantime, Applejack trotted up to the stand and rapped a hoof sharply against the counter, getting everypony's attention. "Alright y'all. We're gonna get started here real shortly. So Ah'm gonna need ya to start formin' that line...now!"

Before anypony could even so much as think about it, Rainbow vanished in a varicolored streak, zipping straight up to the counter and standing at attention, grinning like a foal who'd just been hoofed the entire cookie jar.

Her obvious excitement earned a chuckle from Applejack. "Ah kinda figured ya'd be first in line," she said, tilting her hat up and grinning at Rainbow.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world," replied Rainbow, fighting tooth and hoof to keep her tongue from lolling out of her mouth.

Applejack chuckled again and reached under the counter to pull out a wooden tankard, which she slammed down on the unpolished wood surface. When she spoke next, she was shouting to make sure that everypony could hear her. "Rules are simple this year. Ya can only buy one mug at a time. When ya finish, if ya want more, ya have to get to the back 'o the line and wait fer another one. We're also sellin' by the barrel; again, only one at a time right now. Straight cider's three bits, mulled cider's five bits. Everypony got that?"

There was a chorus of shouts of agreement from the ponies lined up. Applejack nodded and quickly swiped up the five bits that Rainbow dropped on the counter. She hoofed the mug over to Granny Smith, who placed a strainer on top and ladled cider from the cauldron into it before depositing the spices that had been caught in the strainer back into the cauldron. Placing the mug back on the counter, she slid it back to Rainbow, who picked it up and stepped away.

Dawn, Scootaloo, Fluttershy, and Caramel all watched from their places in line as Rainbow began to down her cider. It was obvious that the cerulean mare wanted to chug it down as fast as she could in order to get back in line for more. However, the beverage was too hot to drink quickly, forcing Rainbow to slow down to keep from burning her tongue and throat. Each time she pulled the mug away, her face was decorated by a blissful grin.

"Looks like it's got the official Rainbow Dash stamp of approval," commented Caramel wryly, earning a giggle from Fluttershy before she gently smacked him in the back of the head with her wing.

After a few minutes, Dawn and the others had their own mugs and had made their way to the pavilion, where they relaxed at one of the tables, sampling the cider. Like Rainbow, they'd gone ahead and purchased mugs of the spiced cider. Rainbow had already finished her mug and had rushed to the back of the line to wait her turn for her next one. Not only was the mulled cider delicious, but its warmth was especially appreciated in the chilly weather.

"This is awesome," sighed Scootaloo happily as she paused from her drinking to swipe her foreleg across her muzzle. However, the movement was caught by Fluttershy, who produced a napkin from seemingly nowhere and gently dabbed the filly's muzzle to get the cider residue off.

"And it's gonna get better," said Caramel, "Watch..." He pointed back towards the gate, where they could see Granny Smith heating another cauldron.

"What's she doing?" asked Dawn curiously. As they were watching, Big Macintosh helped Granny by levering up the first cauldron so that the remaining cider within was poured through a strainer that Granny held over the second cauldron. Once the what was left of the first cauldron's worth of cider had been transferred, she took the used spices and threw them into a compost bin. They then added several barrels to of fresh cider to fill the cauldron to the top. It was then set onto the fire in place of the first cauldron and heated until the cider within was just below the boiling point. Granny then went and retrieved helpings of fresh spices and added them to the second cauldron while Big Macintosh moved the first out of the way.

"See," said Caramel, wrapping one foreleg around Dawn's shoulders as he directed the colt's attention with his free hoof, "When they're about to run out, they strain the cider and transfer it to another cauldron before filling it up with fresher cider and making a new batch. That means that each successive batch is going to have a stronger flavor than the last."

"Are they going to do that all day?" asked Dawn, fascinated by the process.

Caramel nodded. "That means that the last batches are probably going to have the most flavor," he said, "We'll want to stick around for that."

Fluttershy and Scootaloo stifled giggles as they watched Caramel explaining the cider cooking process to the fascinated colt, looking exactly like father and son. "I guess they really do get along well," Scootaloo whispered to Fluttershy.

Fluttershy smiled widely and nodded. "Uh huh," she whispered back, prompting another round of giggling.

They continued to nurse their mugs of cider. Much to their surprise, Dawn was the first to return to the line, waiting for his turn to purchase another mug. By then, the line had grown considerably from when the stand had first opened as more ponies arrived from town. However, thanks to the pavilion, where ponies could slowly savor their mugs and the relatively brisk pace with which the Apples conducted their business, the line moved quickly and remained a manageable size.

"How are you faring?" asked Rarity, giving Flaxseed a worried look.

The stallion had gone slightly pale at the sight of the line and the crowd of ponies milling about around the gate and sitting at the pavilion. "I-I'm not sure," said Flaxseed, his voice trembling from the idea of being in a crowd with so many ponies.

"If you want, you can join our friends at the pavilion and wait with them," suggested Rarity, gesturing to where she could see Fluttershy's group, along with Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie, seated at one of the tables, chatting happily as they paused to sip from large mugs of cider, "I'll go ahead and get some cider for the both of us."

"But didn't your friend specify one mug at a time per pony?" asked Flaxseed nervously.

"I'm sure that Applejack will be willing to accommodate me if I explain," said Rarity, "If not, then I'll go ahead and get a mug for you and get back in line for myself."

"You don't have to do that for me," protested Flaxseed, taking another look at the line, "I...I can handle it..." From the sound of his tone, it seemed more like he was trying to convince himself than he was trying to convince Rarity.

"Please don't push yourself into anything you're uncomfortable with," pleaded Rarity, giving Flaxseed a concerned look, "We're here so that you can enjoy Cider Season. There's no need to strain yourself."

"Yeah," agreed Sweetie Belle, sidling up to Flaxseed's other side, "We're here to have fun and drink lots of cider. Don't worry about doing anything too hard."

"Thanks," said Flaxseed, giving the white filly a relieved smile.

In compliance with Arkenstone's instructions and much to Rarity's relief, Sweetie Belle had been on her best behavior lately, especially whenever Flaxseed was around. Furthermore, his presence seemed to help the filly forget about the drama in her own life, as her personal angst over her lack of cutie mark seemed rather petty in comparison to the stallion who had been through so much.

"Hey!"

The trio of unicorns turned their heads up to see a gray pegasus colt swooping down towards them. Rumble landed a short distance away before trotting up to Sweetie Belle, who greeted the colt with a nuzzle.

Flaxseed blinked in confusion as he watched the exchange. "Who's this?"

"Oh! I forgot," gasped Rarity, "This dear colt is Rumble. He happens to be Sweetie Belle's special somepony."

"Oh," said Flaxseed, turning his attention back to Rumble, who, having finished greeting Sweetie Belle, was now looking at the gold-colored stallion and smiling politely.

"It's nice to meet you," said Rumble, "Sweetie, Dawn, and Arkenstone told me about you."

"Did they now?" mused Rarity, smiling at Rumble's polite and relaxed manner. Now that she thought about it, she realized that Rumble had deliberately landed at a distance so that Flaxseed could see him coming. It appeared that Arkenstone had warned the rest of Sweetie's friends about Flaxseed's rather precarious emotional state and that Rumble, at least, had taken that warning to heart.

Flaxseed, in the meantime, was feeling a sense of relief. All the ponies he'd met in this town so far were treating him so gently. Part of him might have chafed at the fact that they handled him as though he might break under the slightest strain. But he'd spent so long living in constant fear and suspicion around other ponies that it was simply a relief to have the ponies he was currently with go so far out of their way to see that he was comfortable. There had been times when members of that Cult Solar group (as Rarity and her friends called it) had tried to butter him up and lower his guard by treating him nicely. But none of them had been willing to inconvenience themselves to this extent to win him over. Everything Rarity and her friends were doing was born out of simple concern for his comfort and wellbeing.

"Hi there everypony."

The group turned their heads to behold Twilight Sparkle and Arkenstone making their way to join them.

"Ah Twilight, so good of you to join us," said Rarity, smiling as Twilight and her coltfriend moved to join the group.

"Oh, you're here too," said Twilight when her eyes found Flaxseed. She gave him a cheery smile. "Are you feeling more comfortable about Ponyville now?"

"I guess so..." admitted Flaxseed, looking around. The line of ponies certainly looked daunting. But, surrounded by this group of friends who seemed to have his best interests at heart, Flaxseed couldn't help but feel reassured. "I think I can take the line."

Rarity bit her lip lightly and gave the gold-colored stallion a worried look. "Alright," she said, conceding, "But if you feel that it's getting to you. Let me know and we'll step aside." Slowly lifting a hoof, she pressed it very lightly against Flaxseed's shoulder, not applying any pressure until she was sure that he was willing to accept the contact. "Please don't even think that you have to push yourself simply for our convenience."

Flaxseed raised his own hoof and rested it on hers. "Thank you," he said softly, almost feeling like breaking into tears. How long had it been since another pony had been willing to do so much for his sake?

"Well, we certainly don't have anything to fear from the group," observed Arkenstone, his ears and nose turning towards the line of ponies, "unless you happen to have apple juice for blood."

This earned a round of laughter from everyone as they joined the line. Sweetie Belle paused when she saw something. Her eyes widened when she saw a familiar ebony colt waiting a short distance ahead of them. "Oh look, it's Dawn. Hi Dawn!" She waved cheerily at Dawn, who turned to look at them. He smiled when he saw the group at the back of the line and willingly abandoned his own position to come back and join them.

Flaxseed was amazed to see that the young colt had felt perfectly safe and at ease waiting in line by himself. His mother and his fillyfriend were currently at the pavilion, still finishing their latest mugs of cider while Dawn had gone on ahead to purchase more, having taken a particularly strong liking to the mulled cider Granny Smith brewed, which, in line with Caramel's predictions, was only getting better with every batch.

"How are you doing?" asked Dawn as he settled in next to Flaxseed.

"Okay...I guess," said Flaxseed, before lifting his eyes to survey the line again, "How do you do it?"

Dawn smiled up at the stallion. "I was afraid of being around other ponies, especially crowds too. But, after mom took me in, she and her friends helped me get used to going around town and being around other ponies. I even got to go to school, which is something I'd never done before."

The ebony colt turned his attention and looked down the line, surveying all the ponies attending, easily remembering a time when he would have maintained his alertness to the extreme in the presence of so many other ponies. That was only a few months ago. But, strangely, his previous paranoia seemed like a distant memory.

"You make it sound so easy," muttered Flaxseed.

Dawn shrugged. "I suppose it was, in a sense, at least easier for me than most ponies who've been through what we have. I've been trained in the martial arts and I spent a year of my life in the Everfree Forest, honing my skills and senses against the monsters there. I've learned how to sense the intentions of other ponies. When I realized that nearly everypony around me held absolutely no hostility towards me, it became easier to relax my guard and be at ease. In fact, it served to make the few instances where somepony did regard me with hostility easier to deal with because their ill-intent stood out all the more."

That gave Flaxseed pause. He'd never considered that Dawn would have actually had it easier than him in some ways. Given that the colt's eyes were always on display, he'd obviously encountered no shortage of hostility and violence directed at him. It had clearly been enough that the colt had felt that the Everfree Forest was apparently preferable to living in civilized communities.

"In a sense, my situation has the advantage of simplicity," mused Dawn, apparently oblivious to Flaxseed's line of thought, but paralleling it anyway, "Unlike you, I've never really had to worry about hiding the truth about my eyes because I simply can't." He gestured to his own blue-green orbs. "As such, I've always been able to get an idea of how ponies felt about me and my eyes the moment they first saw me. It's hard to be caught off-guard when your enemies betray themselves in the first meeting, no matter how hard they try to fake it later on."

Flaxseed nodded, seeing the logic in Dawn's assessment. While the colt had been through his own trials, which were far worse than anything anypony his age should have had to endure, Dawn was clearly far better-equipped than Flaxseed had ever been.

As they spoke, the group slowly mad their way to the front of the line. Applejack smiled warmly as she took Rarity and Sweetie Belle's orders. After taking bits from Rarity, Applejack turned her attention to Flaxseed. Her smile faltered somewhat at the sight of the stallion, but she managed to keep it up.

"Well howdy there," she said, "Ah see ya came back."

Flaxseed nodded, Applejack's own unease rubbing off on him slightly. However, Dawn gently brushed a wing against the stallion's side and gave him an encouraging nod, bolstering Flaxseed's courage. "Well, Miss Rarity's been telling me how good your cider is and insisted I try some for myself."

Applejack's smile became more genuine. "Ah'm glad ya could make it." She turned and shouted for a mug of mulled cider, which Granny Smith slid down the counter to her. Applejack quickly moved the mug over into Flaxseed's reach, but held up a hoof when the stallion moved to deposit his bits on the counter. "Ah don't need nothin' from ya," she said, "The first one's on me. Welcome to Ponyville."

Surprised by the gesture, Flaxseed looked around to Rarity and the others for direction. They all nodded in encouragement at him. Finally, Flaxseed took the mug of cider in his magic and smiled gratefully at Applejack. "Thank you."

"Ah'll be more than happy to take yer bits the next time ya come around," said Applejack with a friendly wink as she turned to take Rumble and Dawn's orders next.

Rarity led Flaxseed to the pavilion, where they waited as the others came from the line and sat themselves down. Scootaloo had returned to the line herself, with Caramel and Fluttershy a few spaces behind her. But everypony else, including Pinkie and Rainbow, settled themselves at the table to enjoy some friendly conversation as the new arrivals savored their cider.

"Well dear," said Rarity, watching with a great deal of eagerness as Flaxseed examined the cloudy, amber beverage in the mug before him, "Go ahead and give it a try."

Flaxseed slowly lifted the mug to his lips and took a pull from it. The combination of sweet and spicy flavors exploded on the stallion's tongue. Flaxseed swallowed almost immediately, too excited by the new sensation to think about drawing it out. However, he quickly took another drink, this time swirling it about his mouth to allow the aroma to rise up to his nose and give him the full benefit of the cider's flavor.

"How is it?" asked Rarity.

Flaxseed lowered the mug, surprised to feel tears welling in his eyes. It wasn't just the cider itself, but also the warmth of companionship from being around so many ponies who clearly cared and worried about him that left the stallion feeling a sense of satisfaction unlike anything he'd felt for a long time. "It's the best thing I've ever tasted," he said softly.

Author's Note

I probably should have noted this in the previous chapter. When I am writing about cider, I am writing from the American perspective, namely that cider refers to (usually) unfiltered apple juice, while the term hard-cider refers to cider that has been fermented into an alcoholic beverage. I am fully aware that most of the rest of the civilized world uses the term "cider" to refer to the fermented version. However, Cider Season, as depicted in the show would seem to indicate that Equestria follows the American conventions for naming the beverages, unless the Apples have mastered the art of fermentation in ten seconds flat...or maybe they somehow get the apples to start fermenting while still on the tree...I wonder if that might even be possible.

On another note: From a storytelling perspective, I'm really glad I killed off the changelings, as now significant changes resulting from character development as signified with lines like "Who are you and what have you done with X?" no longer have to be greeted by the suspicious assertion that "X is a changeling!" I think that idea gets abused in a fair number of stories.

Night of Nightmares

Chapter 5: Night of Nightmares

"Ugh...I feel sick." Dawn groaned and slumped down on Fluttershy's back, his coat having taken on an unusual greenish tinge.

"After all the cider you drank, I'm not surprised," commented Caramel, "What was that...thirteen mugs?"

"Fifteen," corrected Fluttershy.

"Yeah, you should feel sick," scolded Caramel, "I can't believe you of all ponies would do something as crazy as chug down fifteen mugs of cider. Rainbow Dash I could understand, but you..."

"Hey!" protested Rainbow weakly from her position on Caramel's back.

"Aw come on!" protested Scootaloo as she walked between the two adults, "A foal should stuff herself with her favorite food until she's sick at least once in her life. It's like...tradition, ya know."

"Ex-urp-Exactly," said Rainbow, trying desperately not to lose her composure (not to mention the contents of her stomach).

"That probably explains why you haven't grown up at all Dash," sniped Caramel.

"Hey, I've barely gotten any cider every year since-blegh-since Pinkie always hogs it all before I get the chance to have a single m-mug," complained Rainbow, "And this is my last Cider Season before joining the Wonderbolts. Of course I'm gonna go all-out."

Caramel raised an eyebrow at the mare draped over his back. "So you want your memory of your final pre-Wonderbolts Cider Season to be one of severe nausea?"

"Ugh, you wouldn't get it?" complained Rainbow.

"Probably not," agreed Caramel.

"Are you going to make it home?" Fluttershy asked Dawn, "We can stop somewhere if you need to. There are plenty of bushes around."

"I...I think I'll make it," replied Dawn, though there was a tone of uncertainty that made Fluttershy resolve to keep her wits about her in any case. As much as she loved Dawn, even she wouldn't take the colt throwing up while he was still on her back very well. "In retrospect," the colt added, "You probably should have stopped me. I'm...quite amazed that I couldn't stop myself."

Fluttershy giggled. "I didn't want to stop you," she admitted in a quiet whisper so that none of the others could overhear her, "I've never seen you get that excited about anything before. It was so cute to see you acting almost exactly like any other foal your age would."

"I appreciate the sentiment," muttered Dawn, "But my stomach would have preferred the restraint."

"Well," said Fluttershy in a more normal tone, "I'm glad you've learned your lesson then. Next time, you'll know better. We wouldn't want you to start acting like Rainbow Dash when the next Cider Season comes around."

"Hey, it's still going," Rainbow Dash pointed out, "We'll be swimming in cider all the way up through Nightmare Night."

"You mean you're gonna go out and drink yourself sick every day?" asked Caramel, "Tonight's ride was a courtesy. But if you're gonna keep doing this, no more pony-rides."

"Fine," groused Rainbow, sulking slightly.

"I think I've had enough cider for one season," said Dawn.

"I'm kinda confused on why you liked it so much," said Scootaloo, "I mean, cider's pretty sweet. You don't like sweet things."

"Well, Dawn specifically dislikes things that are sweetened with regular sugar," replied Fluttershy, "He doesn't mind the sugars you find in fruit or honey near as much, in moderation at least." She gave the colt a wry glance over her shoulder.

"I also liked the spices," replied Dawn, "It was something sweet that I could enjoy, with the flavors I usually get from Arkenstone's teas. It was the best of both worlds actually."

"Huh," mused Scootaloo, "If that's the case, what are we gonna do with all your candy on Nightmare Night?"

"What candy?" asked Dawn with a wary tone.

"Well, that's the entire point of trick-or-treating," Scootaloo pointed out, "The entire point of Nightmare Night is to get a whole sackful of candy so that you can take it back and nosh on it 'til you're so hyped up on sugar you can't sleep." The filly went into a list of all the different candies she was looking forward to getting and how much she looked forward to stuffing her face with them. All the while, Dawn's complexion was slowly waxing greener and greener.

Finally, Fluttershy felt his hoof tap her shoulder. "Mom," he said, clearly barely able to speak, "I need to get off."

The group arrived back at Caramel's house with Dawn feeling slightly less sick and Scootaloo feeling somewhat contrite. However, there were no hard feelings as the filly exchanged a nuzzle with the limp colt, though they skipped any kisses this time (for obvious reasons). Taking to the air, Scootaloo gave the group a final wave goodbye before winging her way back to her home.

Caramel and Fluttershy trotted through the front door with their respective burdens. Caramel smiled wryly at Fluttershy. "How about we go ahead and put the foals to bed."

"I heard that," growled Rainbow.

"I know you did," Caramel retorted.

Fluttershy laughed lightly at the banter. "That sounds like a good idea," she said, pointedly ignoring the sullen glare Rainbow was directing at her.

They went upstairs, Caramel taking Rainbow to the guest room that Fluttershy was originally supposed to occupy. He set about making Rainbow as comfortable as possible, in spite of his earlier jibes. Meanwhile Fluttershy carried Dawn to the bathroom, where she helped the woozy colt brush his teeth. She would have been tempted to skip it, just this once, in favor of just letting him sleep. But she got the feeling that Dawn would prefer to sleep without the taste of what had happened earlier in his mouth.

After Dawn's teeth had been brushed, Fluttershy carried him to his room and tucked him under the covers.

"I'm sorry about this," said Dawn.

Fluttershy leaned over and planted a gentle kiss on the colt's forehead. "Don't worry," she said, "Let me ask you one thing. Did you have fun today?"

The ebony colt's lips slowly curled upwards in a smile. "Yes. Yes I did."

"Then it's alright. We can go back for more tomorrow, if you want to."

"If it's all the same, I think I'll take a day off from cider."

That earned a giggle from the yellow mare. "I can understand that," she said, "Goodnight Dawn."

"Goodnight mom."

Turning out the lights, Fluttershy closed the door to Dawn's room, joining Caramel as he finished putting Rainbow Dash to bed. The two of them made their way downstairs to the living room. There, the two of them relaxed on the couch to enjoy the remainder of the evening in each other's company.

"Thank you for letting Rainbow stay the night," said Fluttershy as she leaned into Caramel's neck.

"Well, it's the least I could do," replied Caramel with a chuckle, "It wasn't as though she was in any shape to fly back to her place. On the bright side, all she drank was the soft stuff, so it's not like she's gonna have a hangover tomorrow morning."

Fluttershy nodded and sighed happily as she pressed up against his side. "Today was wonderful. Thank you."

"Shouldn't you be thanking the Apples?" asked Caramel, "It's their cider after all."

"I didn't mean that," replied Fluttershy, "Well...the cider was good too. What I meant is...being here with you, waking up in your arms, seeing you talking and laughing with Dawn, him eating your meals, all of it. It really feels like we're a family. I think that spending the winter here with you was a wonderful idea."

"You're welcome," said Caramel, leaning over and sharing a gentle kiss with his fillyfriend, "We still have plenty of time left, so let's make the most of it."

Fluttershy nodded and closed her eyes, sighing contentedly as she leaned against her stallion. The two of them stayed like that until the fire had burned down to embers.

The following days seemed to idle their way past with an air of sleepy contentment. Dawn and Rainbow were no worse for wear when they woke up the morning after their cider binge. True to her word, Rainbow dashed back to Sweet Apple Acres at the first opportunity, while Dawn and the others decided to forego cider for the day. Instead, they spent the day paying visits to any of their friends who hadn't gone to get cider.

The day after saw Dawn and Scootaloo returning to Sweet Apple Acres for more cider in the company of Rainbow Dash whilst Fluttershy joined Rarity for a visit to the spa and Caramel went to work to help Bon Bon finish up the last of their orders for Nightmare Night candy.

The day after that was the day of Nightmare Night. In her boutique, Rarity fretted to frantically finish the cornucopia of costumes commissioned by her customers. Fortunately, in spite of her having shifted her schedule to better accommodate Flaxseed's acclimation to Ponyville, she hadn't fallen behind and managed to finish every one of her orders, netting a hefty pile of bits to help sustain herself, Sweetie Belle, and their new guest through the winter.

Rarity herself wasn't one to take part in the festivities so much. Somepony had to stay home to hoof out treats to the foals trick or treating after all. She also needed to keep Flaxseed company, as the jumpy stallion could hardly be expected to be out and about on a night when the rest of Ponyville was behaving so wildly. As usual, Pinkie Pie would be the one chaperoning the little ones as they went about their rounds, this time with the addition of Mayweather, who never seemed to stray very far from the pink mare anymore. Applejack was once again overseeing the festival games and activities set up around Town Hall, while Red River would run the Apple family stand, selling the last cider of the season. The others all had their own plans.

The most shocking development was that Caramel and Dawn had managed to coax Fluttershy to come out for the evening. Normally, the canary-colored mare tightly locked her door and completely hid away for the duration of the evening, naturally terrified of a holiday that was about all things scary. Caramel had promised not to leave her side and that he would protect her from anything frightening, while Dawn joined the rest of the foals in trick or treating. What Dawn would do with the candy he acquired afterward was a question that remained unanswered for the time being.

"Now hold still Sweetie," cajoled Rarity, "I'm nearly done."

"Awwww, how much longer?" complained the white filly as she tried her best to keep from fidgeting. It was one thing to be fitted for a dress, like she had been for the Harvest Festival. But, for a Nightmare Night costume, this seemed to be overkill.

"Don't be like that," said Rarity, pausing to look over her glasses at her younger sister, "You are a princess after all. And princesses need to look their very best."

"I don't recall Princess Celestia or any of the other Princesses wearing anything like this," mused Sweetie as she gave her costume a looking over. She was dressed in a flowing white gown with pink highlights. Once again, Rarity had found that genius balance between form and function, working a petticoat into the skirt, which was mounted on Sweetie's haunches to keep the hem out from under the filly's hooves. Frills and ruffles abounded, while Sweetie's head was topped by a tall, pink conical headdress, worn just behind her horn and angled slightly backward, with silvery veils emerging from the very tip to drape back down over her shoulders.

"It's old Unicornian style," said Rarity, "I must say, it looks rather good on you. With some slight adjustments, that would make a most lovely formal gown for when you start taking your colt on more sophisticated dates."

"Rarity!" Sweetie puffed up her blushing cheeks in frustration, which only made Rarity giggle at how cute Sweetie was being.

"Are you almost ready?" asked Rumble from the showroom, where he waited with his own costume, "Pinkie Pie's gonna be here with the others soon."

"Just a minute," sang Rarity before finally pulling away from Sweetie, "There, done. Now go and show Rumble your costume."

"Okay!" shouted Sweetie, practically leaping down from her pedestal and bounding to the door. The filly opened it and walked into join her coltfriend.

Rumble's costume could practically be called a work of art, which it certainly was by Rarity's standards. Foregoing the standard Royal Guard armor that young colts seemed to favor so, Rarity had helped Rumble to make his costume a match for Sweetie's Unicornian princess garb by modeling his armor off of the Knights Destrier, the armor of the pegasus vassals that had served Unicornian royalty in the era before Celestia.(1) Though plastic underneath, Rumble's armor had been painted with a silvery sheen, with royal-blue and gold highlights as Rarity sought to recreate some of the beautiful inlays she'd found in the history book she'd borrowed from Twilight to help with the project. The armor was more all-encompassing than the standard Guard armor. Rumble's face was covered by a champron, whilst the criniere and croupiere were broader and covered more area. All four of his legs were also sheathed with greaves. All of this, combined with the athletic figure Rumble had been developing, thanks to his training with Storm Front, made the colt cut quite the dashing figure.

"Wow," said Rumble as he laid eyes on Sweetie, "You look lovely milady."

Sweetie let out a demure giggle as she fell into character as well. "Why thank you my dear knight. Shall we?"

"We shall," said Rumble.

"Have fun darlings," called Rarity, waving from the door to her workroom.

She watched until the door closed behind them. A smile on her face, Rarity returned to her workroom and cleaned up the remains of her day's work. She looked forward to a quiet evening, albeit one that was destined to be interrupted several times by the arrival of enthusiastic foals looking for their candy. Still, it seemed the perfect opportunity. Thank goodness Scootaloo came by to pick up her costume earlier. It wasn't easy keeping it a secret from Sweetie. Now there was nothing left to worry about.

Flaxseed had been in the kitchen, reading a book he'd gotten from the library. Rarity figured that they could spend the evening, relaxing with a bottle of port that she'd acquired earlier with some accompanying sweets of their own. Suppressing a giggle, Rarity couldn't help but shake her head. Even if she wasn't going out in costume to play games or go from house to house with the foals, she had every reason to believe it would be a marvelous evening.

Dawn snapped the last piece of fake armor into place, feeling the slight tickle as its enchantment washed over him. From the side, Caramel blinked at the change that had gone over the colt. "Whoa," breathed the stallion, "I gotta admit, that's a pretty cool costume. Makes me kinda wish I'd put more effort into mine."

It was true that Caramel's costume was nothing special. To help keep Fluttershy from getting too nervous, he'd decided to avoid any ensembles that would obscure his appearance too much. As such, he'd donned a black suit, along with a black cape, a black sombrero cordobes, accompanied by a domino mask made from black cloth that had been wrapped around his head. It was fairly simple as costumes went, but something that would keep Fluttershy from feeling too nervous while she was out with him and actually made a rather handsome figure of the stallion.

However, Caramel's costume was nothing compared to Fluttershy's when it came to sheer genericness. Colt and stallion turned to look as a white figure slowly poked around the door leading to the entryway of the house. Slowly, Fluttershy shuffled out. Her entire body had been shrouded in a plain white bed sheet that had been draped over her entire form, covering even her wings. The only openings were a pair of holes, through which her teal eyes barely visible.

"Umm...boo...if that's alright with you."

Caramel tried, he really did. However, the tan stallion in black clothes was unable to keep an undignified snort from forcing its way out his nose.

Fluttershy shrank back a little bit. "I'm sorry. Was it too much?”

Caramel was vibrating in place in a desperate attempt to contain his mirth. Even Dawn was unable to contain the slight chuckles that escaped. "Mom," he said, "I'm sorry, but you're adorable like that."

To their surprise, that actually seemed to make Fluttershy perk up slightly as she approached. "Oh good," she said, "I don't really like trying to be scary."

"You're too cute to be scary when you look like that," said Caramel as he beckoned the mare forward with a hoof so that she could press her side against his.

"Oh, thank you," said Fluttershy, glad that the sheet was covering up the pinkish tint of her cheeks.

The group turned at the sound of rapid knocking at the door. Caramel opened it to reveal...nothing.

A sigh escaped the masked stallion's mouth. "Aren't you supposed to ask for candy before you start pranking ponies."

"I'm up here."

Scootaloo's voice drew Caramel's eyes upwards. They widened when he took in the filly and her ensemble. The stallion's jaw nearly dropped to the floor.

"Don't spoil it," admonished the filly before Caramel could find the facilities to speak, "I want to show Dawn."

"Sure thing," said Caramel, stepping back. He looked over his shoulder at Dawn and jerked his head towards the door, instructing the colt to go out and see for himself.

Dawn stepped out and looked upwards at the filly hovering above him. His eyes widened in awe at her "costume."

Scootaloo's costume was less a set of clothing and more a full makeup job. Her orange coat had been dyed a brilliant emerald green. The feathers of her wings had been dyed as well, each wing a mirror image as brilliant streaks of color ran across their width, much like the mane of a certain cerulean mare of their mutual acquaintance. Her mane was covered by a feathered-shawl that showcased several plumes in a similar rainbow of color. More plumes had been woven into the hairs of her tail as well. Though they weren't near as long, the plumes reminded Dawn of the ones Spitfire wore when she merged with Ouranus. It was a beautiful balance of color that amazed the colt at how Scootaloo could wear such an ensemble and yet not appear completely garish.

"You look amazing," he said, staring unabashedly at the filly.

Scootaloo swooped down with a giggle and planted a quick peck on Dawn's lips.

"What are you dressed as?" asked Caramel, following Dawn out the door.

"Ooh," gasped Fluttershy as she joined the group, "Are you a coatl?"

"Yeah!" exclaimed Scootaloo.

"A what?" asked Caramel, looking at Fluttershy along with Dawn, the colt's expression indicating that he also wanted to know what Fluttershy was talking about.

"A coatl," said Fluttershy, "They're beautiful feathered serpents that live in the southern jungles. They're actually distant relatives of dragons, but they're supposed to be very gentle and friendly.(2) I've always wanted to go and see them for myself someday." She heaved a disappointed sigh. "But they live outside of Equestrian borders and going to see them is expensive."

Dawn quickly fluttered over to nuzzle his mother's cheek. "We'll go down there someday," said the colt, "If they're even half as beautiful as Scootaloo looks then I'd love to see them too."

Scootaloo counted herself lucky that her green makeup hid her blush. "Come on," she said, rushing up to Dawn, "Less sap and more candy! Let's move!"

Before the colt could protest, Scootaloo was already hauling him down the street, leaving a giggling Fluttershy and a chuckling Caramel in their wake.

"It looks like Dawn's going to have a fine night," observed Caramel before offering a hoof to Fluttershy, "Shall we?"

Suddenly remembering what they were going to be doing, Fluttershy's mirth fled. She nervously nodded to Caramel and took his hoof. "Y-yes."

"Don't worry," said Caramel, pulling her to his side, "I'll be with you the whole time. If it gets too scary for you, let me know and we'll go home."

"O-okay."

The two of them, with no small amount of reluctance on Fluttershy's part, set off into the night.

"Nightmare Night! What a fright! Give us something sweet to bite!"

After listening to the foals' singsong delivery of the classic line, the mare smiled obligingly as she hoofed over a few portions of candy into each of their bags.

"When exactly does Princess Luna arrive?" asked Dawn, glancing over at Apple Bloom as the group made their way to the next house.

Bloom was outfitted in some bizarre combination of costume and contraption. Her entire body was encased in what appeared to be bronze and gold armor, though the seams of which could be seen a series of gears and shafts that turned in conjunction with her movements. Bloom had explained that she'd gotten the help of Time Turner, Ponvyille's primary mechanist, timekeeper, and clockmaker, to create her costume.

"Well, let's see," said the clockwork filly, "She usually shows up just after Mayor Mare kicks off the openin' ceremonies at Town Hall."

"And she comes every year?"

"That's right," added Spike, from where he walked next to Bloom. His costume was somewhat similar to Caramel's, consisting of a black cloak and hood, while a white, full-face mask covered his features. "After the rocky start the first time she visited us, Princess Luna really hit it off with everyone and loves Nightmare Night now."

"She's crazy good with the pranks," added Scootaloo, "She'll scare the cutie mark right off'a you."

"I'm sure," said Dawn, raising an eyebrow. He was certainly interested in meeting the Princess of the Moon, the pony who possessed the same condition as him and Flaxseed, and the mare for whom the condition had been named.

"But that's not for a while yet!" exclaimed Sweetie, "Come on everypony! We have plenty of time to hit up some more houses before the ceremonies start."

The group quickly made their way to the next house in line while Pinkie Pie and Mayweather trailed behind them, keeping an eye on the smaller foals that accompanied them. The party made their way from house to house, slowly moving towards the town's center. When they arrived, they saw that the full festival had already been laid out. Just as with the Harvest Festival, there were games to be played and prizes to be won. But all that took a backseat to Mayor Mare and Zecora as they officially started the night, the zebra laying down the story behind the night in her typical rhyme whilst entertaining everypony with her magical powders, calling forth illusions that made the foals scream.

When Zecora finished, there was a crack of thunder from overhead. Everypony tilted their heads upwards to see a chariot descending down from on high, pulled by ponies with the very same bat-pony glamour that had been cast over Dawn. As the chariot came in for a landing, the midnight-blue form of Princess Luna bounded off with another boom of thunder, spreading her wings wide as the shifting starscape of her mane and tail billowed out behind her. Her body was decked out in dark-blue armor and turquoise eyes of her Nightmare Moon aspect.

"GREETINGS MY DELICIOUS LITTLE PONIES! YOUR PRINCESS COMMANDS YOU TO ENJOY THESE FESTIVITIES WHILE YOU STILL CAN! FOR, IF YOUR OFFERINGS OF SWEETS AND TREATS DO NOT BRING ME SATISFACTION, I HAVE TO DEVOUR YOU INSTEAD!"

Princess Luna's voice rippled through the air like a shockwave, making buildings shudder and windows rattle. Foals and adults alike scattered screaming, albeit with an undercurrent of laughter that indicated it was all in good fun. Princess Luna helped them along, her horn conjuring explosions of lights and noise just behind ponies as she flew back and forth along the width and breadth of the plaza. When she finished, Luna set herself back down on the ground, laughing merrily. It was only a few moments before ponies started streaming back into the plaza to return to their games and purchase various treats from vendors, many of them pausing to exchange cheerful greetings with the Princess of the Night.

On the fringes of the party, Caramel turned to Fluttershy, who had tucked herself beneath his cape and was shuddering in terror as she huddled in his arms. "Hey," he said, "It's okay. The scary part's over now."

"O-oh..." squeaked Fluttershy, poking her covered head out from beneath the cape, "Is it r-really."

"Yeah," said Caramel, smiling as he gently coaxed her out of hiding, "Come on, I'm sure the Princess would love to say hello to you."

"That I would," said Princess Luna as she approached the pair, her illusory armor crumbling away and her eyes returning to normal, "My apologies, fair Fluttershy. Had I known that you would be partaking in the festivities this year, I would have toned down my entrance."

"I-it's a-a-a-alright," said Fluttershy, still shaking from the residual shock, "I-I wouldn't w-want everypony to miss out on m-my account."

Caramel chuckled and planted a kiss on the sheet over her forehead. "You don't have to worry about that Fluttershy," he said, "I don't think anypony would mind."

"Ah!" Princess Luna blinked as she took in the sight of Caramel and Fluttershy together. "Are you, by chance, special someponies?"

"Y-yes we are," said Fluttershy, her voice barely above a whisper.

Luna's eyes widened and her face broke into a happy smile. "It pleases me to see that you've found a pony to spend your time with. I am sure he will make you quite happy indeed."

"He already does," breathed Fluttershy, leaning against her coltfriend with a blissful expression.

"Wonderful!" exclaimed Luna, clapping her hooves. Leaning in, she gave Caramel a sly look as she whispered into his ear. "I pray you make her a very happy mare. For if I find that you have hurt her in any way, I will be more than happy to provide you with an all-expenses-paid excursion to the moon. Am I clear?"

"C-crystal," whimpered Caramel.

Fluttershy frowned, having heard Luna's words. "Princess Luna, while I'm happy that you're looking out for me. I would prefer it if you didn't threaten my coltfriend."

Luna laughed as she pulled back. "Sorry, but I couldn't resist. You and the others are all my precious friends."

Fluttershy sighed at Luna's protectiveness before giving the alicorn an inquisitive look. "By the way, have you met Dawn yet?"

"You mean your son?" asked Luna, "No, I haven't yet. Perhaps we should find him so that we can be introduced."

"I'm right here."

Luna turned around to see the colt standing directly behind her. Dawn had removed the helm and criniere of his armor, breaking the enchantment so that the bat-pony appearance faded. He stared up at Luna with the very same eyes she had descended into Ponyville with.

"Truly," said Luna with a sharp intake of breath, "It is most off-putting to see my eyes on the face of another pony. You are Dawn Lightwing then?"

"I am," said Dawn with a respectful bow, "I'm pleased to finally meet you, Princess."

"As am I," said Luna, "Tia kept information concerning you, your condition and...other things, from me. I'm sure she was trying to spare my feelings, but I would prefer to be kept informed of such things." She tilted her head as she regarded the colt. "Could we perhaps speak in private?"

Dawn nodded. Turning, he offered his bag of candy to Scootaloo, who took the bag before giving Dawn a questioning look. "Should I come with you?" she asked.

"Wouldn't you rather continue with the others?" asked Dawn, gesturing to the group of foals, who were being herded back together by Pinkie and Mayweather after Luna's spectacular entrance had scattered them.

"I'd rather stay with you," as she sidled up against Dawn, tucking her body beneath his wing. It was a bit awkward, as his armor felt a bit uncomfortable when it was pressed up against her, but she was able to bear with it.

"If that's alright?" said Dawn, looking up at Luna.

Luna stared for a second. "Oh my. I had no idea that you had found a special somepony as well, Scootaloo."

"Yep," she said, grinning at the Princess, "And don't you even think about trying to threaten him. I'll kick your butt."

Luna let out a booming laugh that rumbled across the town before she realized that she'd inadvertently switched back to the Royal Voice. Blushing, she covered her mouth with her hooves. "My apologies. Let us adjourn elsewhere then."

"I think I know someplace we can go," volunteered Fluttershy.

"Lead on then," said Luna, gesturing for the sheet-covered mare to take the front of the group.

Fluttershy and Caramel walked in front of Luna, showing the way, while Dawn and Scootaloo walked alongside the Princess, the group making their way away from Ponyville's center.

Ironically, the spot that had come to Fluttershy's mind was the last place she really wanted to be on Nightmare Night. But the festivities had spread throughout the entire town, along with Ponyville's park. The undeveloped spaces between the town proper and her own cottage were open to the chill wind that continued to whistle through the trees, which would have made settling over there uncomfortable. As a result, Fluttershy decided that the best place to hold their discussion would be the place where Nightmare Night would come to an end.

The statue of Nightmare Moon, which had been tucked carefully out of the way in an isolated grove of trees was rarely visited, if at all, during the rest of the year. It saw only the most cursory of maintenance from the park's caretakers, who found the sculpture unsettling and resolved to spend as little time as possible with it. Only prior to Nightmare Night did they put forth a true effort to make Princess Luna's darker, more sinister aspect look her best. At the end of the night, the foals would be led to the statue, where they would leave the customary offering of candy to appease Nightmare Moon and keep her from gobbling them up. On most years, the candy offering was divvied up between the adults who had helped set up the festivities. However, ever since she had joined in, Princess Luna had also received a portion of the offerings, which seemed only fair, as the offerings were technically being made to her in the first place.

The ponies and their Princess had arrayed themselves in the space in front of the statue so that neither group was facing it. Rather, it was as though the statue was a silent third party to their conversation, looking on from the sidelines. The setup was out of consideration to Fluttershy, who was afraid to face the statue head on, but was also frightened of having the specter of Nightmare Moon lurking behind her while she tried to talk to Princess Luna. As it was, just being in the presence of the statue was making her shiver with nervousness, which Dawn and Caramel helped alleviate by pressing up against her from either side. She didn't like this place, but it seemed like the best option as, until the very end of the night, nopony else would be there.

Luna settled onto her haunches, surveying the ponies arrayed before her as she took a moment to sip the tankard of cider she had procured from the Apple Family stall that Red River was currently running. In front of her, the others were also nursing their own large servings of the warm, spiced drink. Dawn had set his helm off to one side, while Fluttershy had pulled back the sheet over her head so that it was now bunched up over her shoulders, leaving her head free. Caramel had doffed his hat and pulled off his mask, setting them aside for the time being. Scootaloo hadn't removed any elements of her colorful costume, but sipped her cider very carefully to keep the drink from running across her face and making the makeup run.

Setting her tankard down, Luna took a deep breath. "Let me begin by apologizing," she said, "I am deeply sorry, Dawn Lightwing, for all that you have had to endure thanks to the mistakes I made in my past."

Dawn dipped his head in acknowledgement. "I appreciate and accept your apology," he said, "Though I don't believe it is necessary. I can say that, with my appearance, some ponies were likely to judge me a freak anyway even if the Cult Solar had not labeled you as the root of my condition."

Luna sighed. "That is likely true," she admitted, "Though my little ponies are supposed to best embody the concept of harmony, they have difficulty accepting that which strays away from what they have decided is 'normal.' It is a great injustice, but not one that is easy to address."

"I've managed," said Dawn, "Right now, there is another stallion in town who shares my condition, albeit with the more typical form."

"Is that so?" asked Luna, "Where is he?"

"He's staying with Rarity," volunteered Fluttershy, "After everything he's been though, he's very...nervous. He's actually a lot like me."

"If you flipped out and tried to beat the stuffing out of the pony that startled you," muttered Caramel. He hadn't been on the receiving end of any of Flaxseed's outbursts, but had seen a couple of the gold-colored stallion's lapses. Given what he'd heard about Flaxseed's past, Caramel couldn't exactly begrudge Flaxseed for being a paranoid mess. But that didn't make him any less of a danger to the ponies that Caramel cared about.

"Is that so?" mused Luna, "Perhaps I should pay a visit to this stallion as well." She heaved a melancholy sigh. "Though he may merely see me as the source of his misfortune."

"I don't really think he will," said Fluttershy, "But I'm not sure how well he'd handle a Princess coming to see him. You would have to ask Rarity I think."

"That is probably wise," agreed Luna with a nod.

The group took the moment of silence that followed to indulge their cider once more. It was a bit strange as Luna didn't seem to have any particular purpose for this conversation. After a moment, she began to ask Dawn questions regarding his life, what it was like before he had met Fluttershy, and what had occurred after Fluttershy had taken him in. They answered honestly, leaving out nothing. Luna listened with quiet fascination to the stories of Dawn's battles, from his duel with Storm Front and Red River, to the pitched battle for control of Cloudsdale, to the harrowing fight against Willow, and his mission to rescue an innocent mare from the clutches of a cruel viscountess.

"Truly," said Luna as Dawn wrapped up his tale, "You have been through a great deal for a colt your age. I can see why two of my sister's Knights have taken such an interest in you."

Something about Luna's words made Fluttershy's eyes widen. "You said they were Princess Celestia's Knights," she said softly, "Are you worried that you don't have any of your own?"

Luna sighed. "I might have been jealous. But Tia formed the Celestial Order of Knights out of necessity. When there were two of us to share the burden of rule, it was easy for one of us to see to outside problems while the other saw to internal affairs. However, with me gone, Tia felt the pressure from nations outside our borders, who saw that Equestria had been weakened by the loss of one of its Princesses.

"But Tia has always been too kind for her own good. She desperately wished to spare as many of our ponies from the pain and bloodshed of war as possible. She also reasoned that raising an army, even for purely defensive purposes, would be seen as a provocation by our neighbors and might invite the very conflicts she sought to avoid."

"So she turned to investing in creating a group of very few ponies with great power," observed Dawn.

Luna nodded. "The other thing she desperately wanted was a check on her own power." Her head drooped. "Thanks to me, Tia had seen firsthoof that we alicorns are just as capable of going astray as any other pony. But, because of our great power, only another alicorn could possibly be a check against us. But, with Tia being the only alicorn left until Cadance appeared, there was nopony to check her power and that troubled her greatly. The Elements of Harmony had been rendered inert in the process of banishing me and it was many centuries before she worked out how to reactivate them, which eliminated that option for the time being as well.

"While no single Knight may have been a match for my sister, as a group, they would be capable of bringing her down. It would be a bloody, costly battle, but definitely not beyond the realm of possibility. So she sought out ponies who possessed both power and wisdom, ponies who had great strength, but the wisdom to not abuse that strength.

"Because of that, in spite of their name, the Knights are sworn to serve Equestria and its ponies before anything else. When I returned, Tia made sure that the Knights understood that they were not to hold either of us in any higher esteem than the other, that we were to be equals in their eyes. So, I do not truly need any Knights of my own."

"So...now what?" asked Dawn, wondering where they could go from there.

Luna shrugged. "To be truly honest, I haven't given much thought to how this would play out. I can inform you on some developments in our ongoing investigation into the Cult Solar."

"What about it?" asked Dawn, his ears perking up.

"When you left for your journey to Diamond Mountain, a group of cultists came with the intent of attacking you at your home," said Luna.

"If I recall, Red River and Storm Front captured them," said Dawn.

Luna nodded. "They were brought to Canterlot for questioning, where we learned something very interesting. Apparently this group of ponies was going against orders by trying to attack you."

"What?" gasped Fluttershy.

"From what we gathered from the prisoners, the Supreme Pontiff himself issued an order stating that there were to be no further attempts on your life," explained Luna.

"That sounds...really unlikely," said Caramel, "Why on earth would they do that?"

Luna frowned darkly. "Apparently, he has already made his own arrangements for Dawn's...demise. The ringleader of the group said that their mob had originally been part of a much larger group that had been gathering in Hoofington in preparation for leading an assault on Dawn en-mass when the order came down from the Cult's leadership. The Supreme Pontiff has designated a pony referred to as the Cardinal to be the one to come for Dawn."

"The...Cardinal?" asked Dawn, tilting his head.

"It would seem that he is second only to the Supreme Pontiff himself," said Luna, "His name is Terra Heart and he is apparently an earth pony. However, aside from that, very little is known about him."

"Terra...Heart," mused Dawn, getting an ominous sense from the name. If he was somepony chosen specifically for the purpose of killing me, then he might be very dangerous indeed.

"Excuse me..."

As one, the group turned their heads towards the source of the voice to see Arkenstone approaching them. The beige stallion wasn't wearing a costume, having apparently skipped out on the night's festivities.

"Oh hey," said Caramel, waving cheerfully at the other stallion, "Come to join us?"

"Actually, I've come to warn you that you should probably think of moving elsewhere," said Arkenstone, "It's nearly time for Zecora to lead the foals here for the offering."

"That would be my cue then," said Luna, getting to her hooves. She smiled down at Dawn who was also standing upright. "I hope that we have the chance to speak again in the future."

"As do I," said Dawn.

"Come on!" shouted Scootaloo, hoofing Dawn his sack of candy back and pulling him back the way they came, "We've got to join the others. You can't miss this!"

Fluttershy and Caramel watched the two of them go, along with Luna and Arkenstone. Caramel paused to gather up the abandoned tankards. "We should probably go too," he said to Fluttershy, "You probably don't want to watch this part."

"O-okay," squeaked Fluttershy, pulling the sheet back up over her head again and adjusting it so she could still see out of the eye-holes. Turning, she bowed slightly to Princess Luna. "It was nice talking to you, Princess."

"And you as well my friend," said Luna with a fond smile as she watched the couple trot off, leaving her alone with Arkenstone. "How much did you hear?" she asked the stallion.

"Enough," said Arkenstone glumly, "So...Terra Heart..."

"That is the name the prisoners gave to us," said Luna, "Do you know him?"

"Know him? No." Arkenstone shook his head, his expression grave. "I know of him. However, there is one pony I know who knows him quite well."

"Is that so?" asked Luna.

Arkenstone nodded. "Yes. She does not like to speak of him and, to be honest, there is little to say. The stallion is a true practitioner of the Mountain Root, quite possibly a master of it by now."

"That is more than a little troubling," said Luna, "If he comes to Ponyville..."

Arkenstone nodded. "Neither Storm Front nor Red River have the strength to stand against him. Dawn is also not yet at a level where he could hope to triumph. But, more importantly...I'll have to speak with the mayor."

"Why?" asked Luna.

"We'll need an evacuation plan," said Arkenstone, his tone darkening, "If Terra Heart comes for Dawn, I will be the one who ultimately has to face him. If we do battle, then Ponyville might not survive."

In spite of her troubled thoughts, Luna played her role most faithfully and spooked the foals as they came to leave the offering. She then stayed to see out the remainder of the festivities, doing her best to maintain her composure and not give her friends any cause to worry. It wasn't easy, but being amongst the foals who loved her so much went a long ways towards soothing her troubled thoughts. As she boarded her chariot and her Guards began the flight back to Canterlot, Luna resolved to speak to her sister about the situation. There was a great deal to talk about. In the flurry of concerns raised by her conversation with Arkenstone, Luna had completely forgotten to pay a visit to Rarity and her charge.

"You know, you didn't have to leave all of your candy at the offering," groused Scootaloo as she and Dawn walked along, Fluttershy and Caramel trailing behind them.

Dawn simply smirked. "You're only saying that because you know I wouldn't be able to eat much of it and you'd have more for yourself."

"Hey!"

The quartet approached Scootaloo's home. Pausing at the doorstep, Scootaloo turned and planted a peck on Dawn's lips. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay."

"It's going to snow," said Fluttershy from her place behind Dawn, "Be careful when you come over."

"Okay," said Scootaloo before disappearing inside her home.

"Now that that's settled," said Caramel, "Let's call it a night."

As the three of them made their way back to Caramel's house, the stars of night were slowly obscured by the arriving clouds. Just before they reached their doorstep, Fluttershy looked up and gasped to see the first few flakes of snow beginning to fall.

Winter had arrived in Ponyville at last.

Author's Note

1) In the early era of unification between the three tribes that gave birth to the nation of Equestria, the Knights Destrier were pegasus vassals who swore an oath of loyalty to unicorn nobles in a show of unity between the unicorn and pegasus tribes. Some noble ponies developed very close relationships with their vassals, which eventually evolved to give rise to some of the first officially recognized and approved mixed-marriages in Equestria's history.

2) The coatls, also known as the feathered or rainbow serpents are formidable draconic creatures that lurk in the jungles of the lands south of Equestria's borders. Thought predatory and fiercely territorial, they are surprisingly gentle with regards to their behavior towards smaller sapient creatures, like ponies. Ponies, in turn, regard seeing or meeting a coatl to be a good omen and a sign of luck. There is a rather brisk trade in coatl feathers, which the serpents shed regularly. Fortunately, poaching is not an issue as the formidable nature of the coatls, as well as other factors, mean that trying to forcefully kill them for their feathers is a severely unprofitable venture.

And so, Nightmare Night concludes and winter has come to Ponyville. Dawn's first meeting with Luna was rather low key as these things go, but I didn't have anything in mind with regards to any kind of dramatic revelations.

Scootaloo's costume wasn't meant to represent anything significant with the hint regarding the existence of the Coatls, which are essentially a dragon subtype, much as the Lungs of Guoxia are. They might be something neat to bring up in the future, but their existence has no bearing on the plot as it stands.

Now for some unfortunate news. There might not be an update tomorrow, depending on developing circumstances. You see, I am currently on vacation in Hawaii. The good part of this is that my sister has married, I have a spiffy new brother-in-law, and we've all been having a ton of fun out here. The bad news is that we are currently in the path of a tropical storm/hurricane that is slated to just barely pass by us, so there is a fair chance that we may have to evacuate our current place of residence (which is only a few yards away from the coast) and flee for higher ground. I wouldn't count on a hurricane shelter having much in the way of internet access, so if you don't hear from me tomorrow, that's probably what happened. Depending on how circumstances develop, it could nix my plans to update on Saturday and Sunday as well, so there is a chance you might not hear from me for a few days. Sorry in advance.

Next chapter: Dawn and Scootaloo (and others) battle for dominance.

White Wonders

Chapter 6: White Wonders

When Dawn awoke the day after Nightmare Night, he pulled back the curtains of his room to see that all of Ponyville had been blanketed in a beautiful sheet of white. Snow had fallen all through the night, covering everything. All the preparations Rainbow's team had made had paid off and Ponyville's first snowfall of the season had gone off without a hitch.

Normally, Dawn would already be going through his morning routine, brushing his teeth, combing his mane, preening his feathers. But, just this once, he paused, simply spending several minutes staring out the window in quiet fascination as the snow continued to fall. It was a very different feeling from what he'd experienced last winter. Snow was cold, snow was wet, it was potentially deadly, something to be regarded with caution and a sign that the season was against him. When Dawn had seen snow in the Everfree Forest, his only thoughts had been about surviving it. But now, laying in a warm bedroom, with an even warmer blanket draped over him, he was able to stare out at the snow from within this sanctuary and see it with new eyes. The snow looked...beautiful. The sight was so mesmerizing to the ebony colt, that he completely lost track of time until the first thumps of Scootaloo's hoof against the front door echoed up the stairs.

Wasting no time, Dawn rushed down to let the orange filly in, who blinked in surprise at the Dawn's state of disarray. "You okay?" she asked as she hung up her purple scarf and shrugged out of her heavy winter coat. It was uncharacteristic of Dawn to abandon his usual morning activities and usually a sign of trouble, that something was seriously bothering him.

"It's nothing," said Dawn with a sheepish smile, "I was watching the snow and I completely forgot about everything else."

Scootaloo blinked and looked out one of the ground floor windows. "Is it that big a deal?"

Dawn shrugged. "I'm not certain," he replied, "I was just enjoying watching it."

"If you say so," said Scootaloo, still watching out the window, trying to see what Dawn was finding so fascinating.

Dawn quickly went upstairs to finish his morning routines. A few minutes later, he came back down to see Scootaloo was sitting quietly in the living room, her feathers fluffed out slightly. Though the room was warmer than the outside, there was still a bit of a chill that pervaded the early morning. Dawn carefully placed some logs in the fireplace. Extending a wing, he built up a charge in his feathers before sending a bolt into the pile of wood with a snap, immediately sparking a flame, which slowly caught and began to build in strength. Slowly the warmth from the fireplace began to seep out into the living room.

"Better?" asked Dawn.

Scootaloo didn't answer until she'd sidled up next to him and tucked herself underneath his wing. "Much better."

The two of them spent a moment relaxing before they had to get up and move onto the next part of their routine. With the temperature outside dropping, it was no longer all that advisable to continue training out there. Unfortunately, inside Caramel's living room, there just wasn't enough space for the two of them to run through their forms. Dawn hoped to find some way to remedy this issue.

When he'd lived in the Everfree, he'd spent much of the winter going through his forms over and over again. The main reason had been that the constant physical activity helped stave off the cold and keep him from freezing. But now that he had a warm home of his own, he wasn't sure what to do. He and Scootaloo could probably continue their practice in the afternoon, but flying all the way out to the quarry for intensive training and then flying back was ill-advised in this weather. Most likely, they would simply have to curtail their training for a little while until things began to warm up again. It would slow Scootaloo's progress, but it was better than risking her health.

Perhaps Arkenstone might have an idea, thought Dawn as he and Scootaloo maintained their silent meditation.

After a few moments, Dawn's ears picked up the low clopping sound of Caramel's hooves as the tan stallion wandered down the stairs.

"'Morning you two," he said cheerfully, "Glad to see you made it here alright, Scootaloo."

"It was no problem," said Scootaloo as she relaxed her stance. She and Dawn climbed onto the couch and relaxed together.

"Thanks for lighting the fire," Caramel said, getting a nod from Dawn in response, "What have you kids got planned for today?"

"Well, we've got work at the teahouse from the morning through the afternoon," said Scootaloo, "Then we were planning on doing something with the others." She grinned wolfishly. "I'm thinking we should have a snowball fight."

"Just be careful," said Caramel as he headed towards the kitchen, "We don't want anypony getting sick."

"We'll be fine," said Scootaloo with a dismissive wave, "We've had huge snowball fights every year when the snow falls."

"If I recall, you came down with a cold twice afterwards," commented Fluttershy as she joined the group.

"Well, that was..." Scootaloo blushed as Fluttershy giggled, accompanied by some chuckling from Caramel. She looked pointedly at Dawn who, while not showing any audible signs of mirth, was betrayed by the jerking motion of his chest, indicating barely restrained laughter. Scowling, Scootaloo jabbed the colt with her elbow, which only served make Dawn cough out a couple of audible laughs.

Fluttershy couldn't help but smile as she exchanged her morning nuzzle with Dawn before going to join Caramel in the kitchen, the two of them working to put breakfast together for the hungry foals. After they had finished the meal, Fluttershy saw her coltfriend, along with Dawn and Scootaloo, to the door, watching the three of them as they headed off to their respective jobs. After she'd seen them off, Fluttershy hummed happily as she donned her own scarf and coat in order to head out to meet Rarity at the spa.

Flaxseed awoke in his room in the Carousel Boutique. Lifting his head slowly, he tried to recall what had happened the previous night. He and Rarity had not drunk all that much of the port she had shared with him. However, Flaxseed had little practice in the art of drinking. It was difficult to find the time and money to spare for liquor. On top of that, the last thing the stallion typically wanted to do was imbibe something that could lower his inhibitions and render him vulnerable. It was for that reason that his alcohol tolerance was nothing worth writing home about.

Fortunately, though he was groggy, Flaxseed was pleased to find that he'd been spared the hangover, which at least seemed to indicate he hadn't overindulged. Thinking back, he tried to recall the details of the evening he'd spent with Rarity. They'd spent their time conversing congenially over a few glasses of her port and some almond croissants. He'd learned a great deal about Rarity's dressmaking business, all the famous clients she'd acquired, and the many adventures she'd gone on to find particular materials. For his part, Flaxseed had found himself opening up more about his past experiences, regaling Rarity with his recollections of some of his more harrowing escapes, which the mare had listened to with a great deal of attention. In retrospect, that may have been her plan from the very beginning. The conversation had been interrupted several times over the course of the evening by the doorbell as small groups of foals came to the door to demand their Nightmare Night candy.

All told, it hadn't been a bad way to spend an evening. After Rumble walked Sweetie Belle home from the festivities, they had all gone to bed and that had been that. After closing his eyes, Flaxseed's next conscious recollection was waking up in his room, safe and comfortable.

Glancing at the door, Flaxseed was shocked to see that he'd completely forgotten to place his usual locking charm. His heart jumped in alarm. Though the door itself had been locked, Rarity could have easily opened it with her magic, or possibly a master key that she likely had. However, the door was undisturbed and there was no sign that anypony but Flaxseed had been in the room.

The revelation amazed him. In the scant few days that he'd been in Ponyville, Flaxseed was shocked by how much he had lowered his guard. His heart had been warmed by Rarity's kind treatment, her willingness to open her home to him, her warm and caring friends. The whole time, she'd kept her distance, respected his privacy, and done everything in her power to make sure that he was comfortable. Never once had she betrayed or abused the trust that Flaxseed had placed in her.

Still, he thought, It's too early to tell...much too early.

Though he desperately wanted to believe that Rarity and her friends had his best interests at heart, though he wanted to believe that all of Ponyville wasn't some kind of fairy-tale haze his addled mind was dreaming up, Flaxseed just couldn't bring himself to let go of the paranoia that had dogged him for so long. Undoubtedly, the lock charm would go back up on the door that night and it would be a while yet before he found himself willing to risk drinking anything alcoholic. Already, the realization of just how vulnerable he had been was leaving Flaxseed panting as he fought down a panic attack.

It took a few moments for the gold-colored stallion to get his thoughts back under control. Once he'd succeeded, he managed to get back to his usual morning routine and was soon downstairs in the kitchen, where Rarity was already in the process of fixing him another late breakfast. Soon, Flaxseed found himself devouring a cheese and spinach omelet and washing it down with several glasses of apple juice.

"And how are you feeling this morning?" asked Rarity with a smile as she placed a second omelet in front of the ravenous stallion.

"I'm feeling alright," said Flaxseed, before tucking into the second omelet, "I was afraid I'd have a hangover this morning, but it looks like I got lucky."

"Well, we didn't have very much after all," said Rarity with a chuckle as she sat herself at the table, "Port isn't meant to be consumed by the bottle anyway." Indeed, there was still at least half of a bottle left from the previous night. "Perhaps we can finish it some other time."

"Maybe," said Flaxseed dubiously. He still didn't plan on lowering his guard again anytime soon. "What's on your agenda for today?"

"Oh, there isn't a whole lot," replied Rarity, "Now that Nightmare Night is past, the only outstanding orders that I have are the new costumes for Sapphire Shores and her ensemble. Between them and the fees I took in for costumes, there should be enough to last us through the season."

"Even though I'm here?" asked Flaxseed.

Rarity blinked. "Well, I must admit that having a third pony did throw my calculations off a little, but I still think we have enough."

"Maybe I could check for you," offered Flaxseed, "I'm good with numbers."

Rarity's eyes widened for a second before she began to smile eagerly. "Oh, you are, are you..."

Flaxseed nodded. "Ever since I was little, math has been my favorite subject. I used to want to be an accountant when I grew up."

"Used to...?" inquired Rarity, raising an eyebrow.

Flaxseed sighed. He glanced forlornly out the window. "Well, I ended up not being able to go to Trade School for it."

"Was it because of your eyes?" Rarity felt more than a little awkward to be bringing up the subject of Flaxseed's condition in this context. From the look on the stallion's face, it was clearly a painful memory for him. The previous night, he'd regaled her with some of his experiences, but ones that had been more exciting than distressing. They'd been tales of late-night escapes under the cover of darkness and harrowing chases. She suspected that, besides those tales, there lurked other stories that were the source of many of the scars on the stallion's heart, stories that he wasn't ready to part with just yet. Perhaps this was one of them.

Flaxseed's shoulders rose and fell with his sigh. "Yeah," he admitted, "I'd just graduated from elementary and was sending out applications when I had my first...episode. There was this pony that'd been bullying me all through my school years. He was really getting on my nerves, harassing me every day. Finally, I just...snapped...gave him a piece of my mind. When the damn brat ran off screaming, I thought I'd finally won and gotten him off my back."

Flaxseed let out a cynical snort. "'Course, I found out how wrong I was when a mob showed up at our house, complete with torches and pitchforks. Turns out the kid had told his dad, was overheard, and the next thing I knew, the Order of Celestial Light was at my family's house, insisting that I be hoofed over for extermination."

"That's awful!" gasped Rarity.

The gold-colored stallion nodded slowly. "My parents managed to distract them long enough for me to sneak out and get away. I still don't know what happened to them. I haven't tried to find out."

"Why not?" asked Rarity.

"Too dangerous," replied Flaxseed with a shrug, "Those bastards from the Order were persistent as hay. They chased me through three different towns before I finally managed to make them lose my trail. I wasn't about to risk them finding it again by going back to the place where it all started. Going to the Guard was a joke. I couldn't trust them. I couldn't trust anyone. The Order seemed to have ponies everywhere, no matter where I went. If I slipped up even once, the next thing I could expect was somepony trying to lure me into an ambush." His head dropped and he held it in his forehooves. "The things they said..."

Rarity stood up and slowly made her way around the table. Carefully, she placed a hoof on Flaxseed's shoulder. The stallion tensed at first, but didn't jump. Deliberately, Rarity slid her free arm around his shoulders and pulled him against her. Flaxseed's body began to shake with barely suppressed sobs. "It's alright," she cooed softly, "Let it all out."

She held the stallion for a while longer until he managed to regain his composure. When Flaxseed finally pulled away, sniffling and wiping his eyes, she smiled at him. "I would be ever so happy to have you go over my finances," she told him, "No one should be denied from doing the things that they truly love."

Haltingly, Flaxseed returned her smile. "Thank you."

Rarity gently patted him on the shoulder again. "If it's alright with you, I would like to share this information with Twilight. Her brother is Captain of the Royal Guard. It's highly possible that he can investigate what happened to your parents. Either we can find them and reunite you with them or..." Her breath hitched as she considered the other possibility. "...Or we can at least lay your past to rest."

Flaxseed looked at her nervously. "Are you sure it's safe?"

"As safe as can be," replied Rarity, "Keep in mind that everypony here is on your side and many of them are quite strong. No matter what might happen. They will see to your safety."

"O-okay," said Flaxseed, still sounding uncertain, "Let me think on it."

"Of course," said Rarity, "We wouldn't dream of doing anything without your permission."

Dawn gave the bits in his pouch a bemused look. Scootaloo peeked over his shoulder. "Wow, the loot's really piling up," she commented wryly.

"Well, it's not all that many bits," Rumble pointed out. The pouch was still rather small. After all, Dawn had only just gotten his earnings from his job. It had been empty before.

"Yeah, but he's been saving them up," replied Scootaloo, looking back at the gray colt, "Dawn hasn't really splurged on anything aside from the Harvest Festival and the first day of Cider Season." She turned back to her coltfriend. "Didn't Fluttershy just open an account for you at the bank?"

"She did," answered Dawn, "I forget exactly how much I have in there at the moment though." Besides the pay for his work, there was also the money leftover from the reward purse he'd been given by Mayor Mare for his role in ending the drought caused by the Cloudsdale tribalists.

"A lot," said Scootaloo, spreading her arms for emphasis, "It's something like almost a thousand bits now."

"Whoah!" gasped the other foals in stunned surprise. A thousand bits wasn't all that spectacular an amount. Dawn's mother had more in her own account. Diamond Tiara's father was likely to drop more on an impulse buy for his daughter (in the old days, at least). But, for the average foal, it was a veritable fortune that could buy entire piles of sweets and treats, one of the reasons Dawn had been willing to spend so much money on cider earlier.

"What are ya gonna do with it all?" asked Apple Bloom, leaning forward.

Dawn shrugged. "I haven't thought about it much," he said earnestly. At the very least, he figured it would serve him well to save up the money while he could. After all, Fluttershy saw to all his essentials presently, so he figured that saving his own money for the future was probably a wise move. The fact that he'd rarely found anything he felt he needed to spend his own money on kept Dawn from losing any significant amounts.

"Geez," griped Rumble, "If you're not going to do anything with it, you could at least treat us to cupcakes more often." He yelped as Sweetie Belle elbowed him sharply. Turning, he gave the irate filly a sheepish grin as she fixed him with a reproachful glare.

"We're getting paid too," she reminded him. Arkenstone had been giving all of them a decent wage for their work at the teahouse. Granted, with the exception of Dawn, the other foals were a bit more inclined to blow their pay on various indulgences, though their elder siblings had convinced them to set at least some of their earnings aside for a rainy day.

"Enough about money!" exclaimed Scootaloo, "It's time to let some snowballs fly!"

The others, save Dawn, shouted an enthusiastic agreement and rushed out to the wide-open expanses of Ponyville park, where the snow had accumulated across the hills, leaving plenty for the construction of forts, as well as ammunition.

They tried to divide into teams, but found it a little difficult to keep things even with five ponies. Apple Bloom put the fight on hold and rushed back into town. A few minutes later, she was back, a puffing Spike bounding along in her wake. Now that they had even numbers, they once again started deciding on teams.

For the first round, it was decided that it would be boys against girls. Spike, Dawn, and Rumble made up one team, while the three fillies of the original Cutie Mark Crusaders made up the other. Immediately, they set about making preparations, namely the construction of fortifications and ammunition. Dawn, a bit bemused by the whole affair, had to be directed through his tasks by Rumble, the two of them working to erect a walled enclosure that they could hide behind, while Spike set his dextrous hands to molding snowballs. Across the way, Bloom and Scootaloo were working on their own fort, while Sweetie used her magic to carefully shape snowballs of their own.

"What are the rules of this game?" asked Dawn as he worked the snow beside Rumble, both of them packing it in and building up the wall, high enough to crouch behind, but not high enough that it would impede their own ability to pop up and lob snowballs at their opponents.

"Well, they're not so much rules as they are...guidelines," explained Rumble, "The basic idea is that you just try to hit the other side with as many snowballs as you can, while trying to get hit as little as possible. It's not like anypony's gonna try to keep count. After the fight, we'll probably spend a good ten minutes arguing over who 'won.' The only rules we really have are the kind to keep us from hurting each other; snowballs only, no ice chunks or anything with rocks or sticks in it, that sort of thing. Try not to hit anypony too hard."

"Okay," said Dawn, going back to work. Building the wall was at least somewhat familiar to him. During his time in the Everfree, he'd made snow shelters for himself during the winter. Once it was packed, Snow actually made an excellent insulator and, combined with careful construction, could be used to build a shelter that was surprisingly warm inside, even when the temperatures outside were well into the negative numbers. Those memories came drifting back as he continued to work on the wall.

"Okay," said Spike, as he added one last snowball to the sizable pile behind him, "I think we're about ready." Standing up, he raised his head above the wall to peer at the fillies. "You ready, girls?"

The next sound out of the young dragon's mouth was a startled yelp as he ducked beneath the wall to avoid a snowball that had nearly burst against his face. It was the only warning the boys received as the trio of fillies fired off a furious salvo of packed snow in their direction. Dawn and Rumble both hurled themselves over the wall to avoid getting battered by the flying snow.

"Thanks for the warning!" Rumble called out irritably in the direction of the girls.

"Ya snooze, ya lose," Apple Bloom taunted back.

"Real original," groused Spike. He looked over at Dawn and Rumble. "Ready to give the girls a taste of their own medicine."

"You bet," said Rumble with a ferocious grin, picking up a snowball with his feathers. Crouching, he jumped, bouncing up above the height of the wall. His eyes almost immediately zeroed in on the fillies, who were already taking aim at him. Smirking, Rumble sighted on Bloom and let fly, snapping his wing forward and launching the snowball using the same skills he'd honed while practicing with the meteor hammer.

The snowball flew straight and true, bursting against Bloom's forehead, knocking the yellow filly back with a shriek, her own snowball dropping to the ground. Sweetie and Scootaloo retaliated with shots of their own, but Rumble swept his wings upwards, using the downforce to drive himself back down below the line of the wall before their snowballs could reach him. The two icy projectiles sailed harmlessly overhead.

"Hah!" shouted Spike, peeking over the wall, "Good shot!" From his position, he could see Bloom getting upright once again, flakes of white scattered in her hair and her bow knocked askew. However, Spike's jubilation was short-lived as he was knocked onto his back by a pair of snowballs launched by Sweetie and Scootaloo.

"Your turn," said Rumble, giving Dawn an imploring look.

Frowning contemplatively, Dawn examined the pile of snowballs that Spike had assembled before smirking. The colt extracted a pair of white orbs from the pile, holding them in the feathers of either wing. With a flick of his wings, he hefted them upward before catching them on ascending air currents generated by his magic. Closing his eyes, Dawn let his awareness spread across the battlefield. The girls and their snow fort was well within his twenty-meter radius.

Dawn's wings flickered, appearing to double in number. The snowballs shot upwards. Both Spike and Rumble tracked their progress, watching in confusion as the balls flew in high arcs before descending out of sight. Less than a second later, the surprised shouts of Scootaloo and Sweetie echoed across from the other side.

"No fair using your wind-sense!" Scootaloo protested.

"You could do the same!" Dawn shouted back, feeling quite amused, "It's good training for you!" He began to gather more snowballs to launch upwards, Spike and Rumble watching him with triumphant grins on their faces.

On the other side of the battlefield, Scootaloo growled under her breath. Her wind-sense had been getting better. But she only had a hazy idea of what lay on the other side of the battlefield. Dawn and the other boys were crouched in the lee of their own wall, which obscured them from her view. Even before he'd hit them with such pinpoint accuracy, Scootaloo had already figured that Dawn would know their exact locations.

"Do ya think ya can do it?" asked Bloom, giving Scootaloo a hopeful look.

"I'm not sure," replied Scootaloo, "I mean, they're in a tricky position for me."

"Well, if you're gonna do something, I suggest you do it fast!" exclaimed Sweetie, looking up with wide eyes, "Because we don't have much time."

Scootaloo felt it in the wind even before she looked up. Her and Bloom's eyes widened as they saw the veritable hail of snowballs descending towards them. The three fillies shrieked and yelled as the snowballs rained down from above, pelting them.

"Buy me some time!" shouted Scootaloo as she ducked her head beneath her forelegs to try and keep the snow off.

"Um...uh..." Sweetie looked around frantically before lighting her horn. A few seconds later, a shimmering shield of green energy projected over them. It wasn't much, but it reduced the snowballs to harmless powder that then flowed off the sides.

Dawn's attack quickly abated when he realized that the girls were successfully defending themselves against an attack from above. In the meantime, Apple Bloom leapt into the offensive, jumping up to the wall and hurling snowballs as fast as she possibly could at any hint of another pony or dragon showing over the wall on the other side. At one point, she spotted a lick of gray and black and shifted her aim upwards slightly. When Rumble bounced above the wall to try and hit her with another pinpoint attack, Bloom's snowball took him straight in the face.

In the meantime, Scootaloo had closed her eyes and tried to let go of all the excitement that had been building in her over the snowball fight. She spread her wings and reached out through the wind, extending her awareness through it as it rolled over the snow, caressing the walls of the snow forts and the bodies of her friends. She felt their presence displacing the air as it flowed around them, turning the currents into small eddies and vortices.

Dawn and the other boys were currently sheltered in the lee of their wall, the presence of which obscured Scootaloo's view of them as the disruptions of the wind currents the boys' bodies created blended with those that came from the wall itself. Frowining, Scootaloo's face scrunched as she tried to discern the airflow displacement created by the boys from the flow of the wall itself.

"You're thinking about it too much." Dawn's carried over from the other side. "Don't try to separate everything out, but follow the flow and feel it change."

To Scootaloo's surprise, she suddenly felt as though Dawn's presence was right beside her. She realized that he wasn't next to her, but she was feeling his magic as he blended it into the air along with hers. Her awareness automatically began to follow it as if flowed across the wall and down behind it. She felt the wind flowing, curling, and twisting in the wall's shadow, carrying around until it met with new objects that changed its flow further. She realized that Dawn was using his own magic to show her how to differentiate him and the other boys from the wall itself in her awareness. After a few moments of concentration, she began to be able to tell them apart and even note the details of their forms. Now Scootaloo new exactly where her targets were. All that was left was to launch the attack.

Being careful to not lose track of the boys, Scootaloo began to load snowballs onto her wings. She'd already figured how Dawn was launching his own attack. She wondered if she had the control to do the same.

The answer for the first try was "no." As soon as Scootaloo tried to use an updraft to lift the snowball up, it burst into powder, scattering across the girls and making them squeal as the cold flakes settled into their manes. Even when tightly packed, the snowballs weren't rocks and came apart much more easily than any stone that Scootaloo had worked with. Back to square one, she thought glumly as she picked up another snowball and got ready to practice levitating it.

However, Dawn's words came back to her and she realized she was overthinking things again. It was simply a matter of feeling the snowball in the air and adjusting to its weight and heft, while using a gentler touch to keep it from breaking apart. I can do this.

She tried again, slowly raising the snowball in the air above her wing. Gathering the air beneath the snowball, she propelled it upwards into an arc.

Her first shot was wide of the mark, landing well behind the boys and their own fortification. With a growl of frustration, Scootaloo loaded up another snowball and tried again. This time, the snowball dropped down in the open ground between the two walls. Okay, almost got it...

However, it was apparent that Dawn was not going to simply let her find her range. Scootaloo felt him moving the air on his side of the field and, more importantly, felt the objects he was moving with that air. They were smaller in number, but larger in size, as though the boys had molded several snowballs together into much larger ones that Dawn was going to lob like boulders from a catapult.

"Hit the deck!" screamed Scootaloo, dropping her own snowball and diving down to press up against the wall. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle joined her just as a snowball the size of a small boulder smacked down where Scootaloo had been standing. It fragmented and sprayed all three of them with snow.

"Ah don't think we're gonna win this one," said Bloom glumly as she shook her head to dislodge the snow.

"Oh no we don't!" exclaimed Scootaloo, standing upright and rushing to their pile to get some more ammunition, "I'm not about to go down without a fight. CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS: SNOWBALL WARRIORS!!!"

"YAY!!!" Sweetie and Bloom added out of reflex as they too dived for the pile of ammunition.

On the other side, Spike and Rumble cringed at the echoing yells from the girls' side. "We're in trouble now," intoned Rumble.

"Eeyup," agreed Spike, leading his two friends to surmise that he'd, perhaps, been spending too much time around Big Macintosh.

"I'm not sure I follow," said Dawn, "We clearly have the advant-" He ducked with a yelp before he could finish the sentence as a snowball wrapped in a glowing green aura nearly smacked into his head. Spike and Rumble weren't nearly as lucky, the dragon having been nailed right between the eyes, while the gray colt received a shot to the side of his muzzle.

Taking an opportunity to peek up over the wall, Dawn was surprised to see several more snowy orbs hovering over the girls' side of the battlefield. Sweetie launched them in a single barrage, clearly guiding their trajectories over the wall.

"Perhaps I was wrong," said Dawn as he ducked down next to the others, "We are in trouble."

"Yeah, Sweetie's gotten really good with her magic," commented Rumble as he dodged another shot.

"Oh yeah?" said Spike, "Let's see how they work around this..."

He inhaled and reared up to his full height, rising above the top of the wall. Naturally, several more snowballs homed in on him, now that he'd made himself such a visible target. However, the dragon simply unleashed a torrent of emerald flames that burned the snowballs into steam before they could reach him.

"Ha!" shouted Spike...right before another snowball collided with his head and knocking him tail over teakettle, courtesy of Apple Bloom's rather impressive throwing arm.

Dawn looked over at Rumble. “An opponent’s time of greatest vulnerability is when he is assured of victory.”

“Duly noted,” replied Rumble, before the two of them looked at Spike as he sat up.

“Dang, Bloom’s got a mean throw,” grumbled the dragon.

Now that Spike was down, a veritable hail of snowballs came hurtling over the walls, curving sharply downward as Sweetie Belle’s magic altered their trajectories to home in on the boys. Dawn quickly deflected the first wave with a sharp blast of wind before asking Spike, “Can you use your flames to teleport the snowballs?”

“I don’t think so…” replied Spike uncertainly, “At least, I don’t think I can without melting them.”

“Probably best to avoid it then,” said Dawn. While the snowball fight was all in good fun, dousing anypony with water in this weather would put them at serious risk.

“Well, let’s just soldier on then,” declared Rumble, scooping up another snowball of his own before popping up and launching it straight for Sweetie, smacking the filly across the muzzle, causing her to drop the next wave of snowballs she’d been about to launch. However, Rumble was caught by another shot from Bloom before he could duck back down.

Back and forth the battle went, both sides scoring hits and shifting tactics as they tried to get the upper hoof. After over an hour of prolonged battle, both groups finally ran out of snowballs. By that time, it was getting close to time for them to begin heading home for the day. The foals (and dragon) went their separate ways, agreeing to meet up again for more fun the next day.

“That was the best snowball fight ever!” exclaimed Scootaloo as she and Dawn slowly winged their way through the air.

The two of them came in for a landing at the front yard of Scootaloo’s house. She kissed Dawn on the cheek. “Thanks for helping me back there.”

Dawn smiled back. “You did pretty well with your wind-sense. Actually, all of this gave me some ideas for training that we can do during the winter.”

“What ideas?” asked Scootaloo.

“You’ll see,” explained Dawn, “When we get our next day off from work, I’ll show you.”

“Okay,” said Scootaloo as she headed for her door, “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Dawn nodded as Scootaloo shut the door behind her before he took off to begin his own flight home.

Applejack tilted her stetson back as she elevated her gaze upwards. "Well, Ah'll be darned," she said, staring in awe at the brand-new orchard's-worth of trees that had sprung up from the frozen ground overnight. At Twilight's advisement, she'd planted the wintersilk apple seeds the week before. Now, the day after Nightmare Night, she'd come to check and see if there was any progress, donning her heavy coat, scarf, and boots to make the trek through the newly-laid blanket of snow to the most recently planted plot of land.

As it turned out, Twilight's assessment of the wintersilk trees' growth had been spot on. Where there had been nothing but dirt and faded, yellowed grass before now stood rows of pale-gray trees, adorned with ice-blue leaves. Above all else, they looked healthy and strong, having grown tall and thick, with as much foliage as any of her other apple trees would sprout during the height of spring and summer.

"Do you know when the apples are supposed to grow?" asked Red River.

"Nope," said Applejack, "Not even Twi's research could tell us that. We've just gotta keep an eye on 'em. Ah only hope they ain't as finicky as them zap apples, otherwise we might just miss the signs and lose the whole crop."

"Well, we are working with unfamiliar trees here," said Red, squinting up at the leaves, searching for any sign of buds, "It may very well take a year or two to get the harvest right. The farm still makes enough without their contribution, so anything we get out of them now would be pure profit."

"Ah wish that were true," said Applejack, "We ain't gonna go in the red doin' it, but Ah'm spending a little extra to make sure the Weather Team keeps things 'round this here orchard nice and cold, no matter what weather might be scheduled for the rest 'o town. That ain't a tall order, but we are puttin' some money into raisin' these things right."

"I'm sure it will be fine," said the stallion, "With your experience, we should be able to see things through. Do you have any idea what you want to do with the apples?"

Applejack's brow furrowed. "Well...they're plenty good to sell as is. But Ah was thinkin' about what's goin' on in Canterlot..."

"You mean you plan on trying for the Royal Warrant?" asked Red.

"Eeyup," agreed Applejack, "There's gonna be warrants offered fer all kinds 'o categories. Dependin' on when they start selectin', we could probably win it fer our farm with our traditional apple goods but..." She narrowed her eyes up at the trees. "Ah remember the taste of these here wintersilks. Them's juicin' apples fer sure."

"So apple juice then?" asked Red.

"As a start," said Applejack, "But Ah'm thinkin' further. Ah'm thinkin' these here apples might be good fer distillin'. They grow durin' winter and have so much sweet juice, we could probably make a good hard cider, or even a mighty good batch 'o applejack from them apples. Ah'm sure it would be a hit."

"Certainly worth a try," agreed Red, "But that can wait until we actually have apples to work with. In the meantime, we need to get back home. Granny Smith said dinner would be soon and she doesn't want you freezing out here."

Applejack nodded and turned to follow her coltfriend as he led the way back to the farmhouse. Behind them, the first buds began to emerge on the trees.

Twilight couldn't stop herself from giggling at the sight of Spike as he trudged through the door. The little dragon was covered from head to toe with a light dusting of snow, making it look as though he'd just been coated with powdered sugar. She was glad that Pinkie Pie wasn't there, otherwise the eccentric baker might have been tempted to simply lick Spike clean.

"It looks like you had fun," observed the lavender mare as she set down her book and levitated a towel down from the bathroom. Spike took the cloth gratefully and began to wipe down his scales.

Unlike his pony friends, Spike wore no jacket or scarf. As a dragon, the internal furnace that fueled his flame also kept his body at a consistent temperature, regardless of the outside temperature, which was what allowed him to take baths in molten lava without the slightest trouble. Being fire based, Spike's inner flame dealt better with extremes on the hotter end of the spectrum than it did on the colder end. So, while he could walk outside on a brisk winter's day without so much as shivering, he could find himself in trouble if he suddenly found himself in a situation where the temperature dropped quickly and drastically, such as the time he'd fallen asleep on a chunk of melting ice during Winter Wrap-up.

His drying finished, Spike stretched his body, sending numerous pops from his neck, all the way down to his tail, which was beginning to develop a diamond-shaped projection on the tip. According to Twilight's research, it would likely serve as a rudder when he was in the air, helping him maneuver more easily once he started flying.

Twilight blinked when she heard the pops from Spike's neck and tail. "How long has that been happening?" she asked warily.

"Past couple of weeks or so," said Spike, "I just start getting these cricks in my neck and, the next thing I know...POP!"

Twilight jumped at Spike's exclamation, getting a laugh from the dragon before she leveled a deadpan glare at him. "I'm serious Spike," she growled, "What if something's wrong with you?"

"Uh...didn't we go through this before?" asked Spike, "I mean, a few months ago, we were freaking out over lumps on my back and it turned out I was growing wings. What could cricks in my neck possibly mean?"

"I don't know," said Twilight, her eyes narrowing, "But I think we should find out. I mean, just think of the possibilities. Even if nothing is wrong with you, imagine the boon this could be to our understanding of dragon physiology and anatomy. A dragon's growth from infancy, through adolescence, to adulthood has never been fully documented."

"There's probably a good reason for that," muttered Spike. He could think of at least two off the top of his head. The first was that a dragon's lifespan tended to make it difficult for its growth to be effectively charted since the timespans involved could be measured in decades, if not centuries. Secondly, dragons weren't exactly amicable to being studied.

"I have an idea," said Twilight, "I can run some tests on you in the basement. I even have an x-ray. What do you say?"

"No way!" exclaimed Spike, "I know how you get with those tests of yours! You'll have me down there all night. I'm not doing it!" He crossed his arms stubbornly. "Can't it wait until morning?"

"But we need to start charting the changes to your body now!" exclaimed Twilight, "Please!" Rolling her bottom lip, she gave the young dragon her best pleading pout.

"Not a chance," groused Spike, remaining unmoved.

"If you do, I promise not to tell Apple Bloom about the lock of Rarity's mane you used to keep under the cushion in your basket."

Spike's cheeks flared bright-red as he glared at Twilight. "Do that and I'll tell Arkenstone about the 'Pretty Pony Princess' incident."

Now it was Twilight's turn to blush and glare as Spike huffed and turned away. Okay, so blackmail didn't work. How about bribery...? She smirked. "Would you do it for star sapphire?"

Spike's ear-frill twitched, but he kept facing the other direction. "Nope."

"How about two star sapphires?" asked Twilight, her smirk widening.

Now Spike's wings twitched. "I don't think so..."

Twilight took a mental tally of the gems she had on hoof in the library. "How about two star sapphires and a ruby?"

Spike's stomach growled and the dragon finally sagged. Turning around, he looked back at Twilight. "Fine."

"Wonderful!" squealed Twilight.

What have I gotten myself into? wondered Spike as Twilight's magical field latched onto him and began to drag him down the stairs into the basement.

Author's Note

And so ends the epic snowball war of Ponyville. It was swift and relentless. No prisoners were taken, many casualties were had. It's such a shame that all those safety concerns mean that kids can't have proper snowball fights at school anymore, at least, that's the way things were where I came from.

I'm also aware that I might be stretching with Spike's thermal tolerances, seeing as he does end Winter Wrap Up with a cold. But it is worth noting that he went through the whole thing beforehand without so much as a scarf and not expressing a lick of discomfort while everypony else was wearing vests (and had the benefit of fur coats), so I figured he's at least substantially cold resistant on his own.

I also regret to inform you that I will not be able to update tomorrow on account of the fact that I will be on an airplane back to the mainland. Sadly, my flight doesn't come with wifi, so we will return to our regularly scheduled updates come Sunday.

Next chapter: Some unexpected visitors arrive.

Exchanging Volleys

Chapter 7: Exchanging Volleys

Scootaloo yelped sharply as another snowball smacked against her flank. "Hey! I wasn't ready!"

"Then practice your readiness," replied Dawn, his voice seeming to echo from all over the place.

Scootaloo spun in place, shooting her glare in every direction, trying to get a fix on the ebony colt's position. Unfortunately for her, the forest was Dawn's playground. He moved amongst the trees like a shadow, always seeming to hover just outside the range of her peripheral vision. Even her wind-sense wasn't much help, as Dawn kept the air around him moving smoothly and evenly, hiding the eddies that his body would normally generate. Her only warning would be from the very edges of her wind-sense when the next projectile came streaking in.

"You're trying too hard to find me," said Dawn, "Instead, focus on what you're here to practice."

Scootaloo's brow furrowed as she recalled his instructions. She wasn't the move from her spot. When Dawn sent a snowball in her direction, she couldn't dodge it. Her only option was to defend. She could scatter the snowball with a burst of air from her wings. But the real task was to catch the snowball and send it flying back. When they'd started this morning, it had been in an open clearing, with Dawn simply standing across it from her and launching snowballs at will.

Once Scootaloo had gotten used to catching them in her wind without breaking them, then throwing them back (something that was very tricky to do after having just caught it), Dawn had upped the difficulty, leading her into the trees of the Whitetail Woods. He'd hidden himself in their shadows and was now playing a game that was halfway between tag and hide & seek with her. Now the snowballs could come from any direction, at any interval, without any warning whatsoever.

When she was taken by surprise, Scootaloo was rarely able to maintain her control well enough to actually catch the snowball. More often than not, she blew the incoming ball into powder. Twice, she overreacted and accidentally smashed the trunk of a tree, causing it to topple over.

"If you tense up, you restrain your own ability to act," Dawn coached from the shadows, "You know the motions and you know how it feels. Let your body do what you trained it to do."

The orange filly paused, thinking about what Dawn had said. She knew she could catch his shots. In their earlier practice, she'd even gotten to the point where she could do it without hardly thinking at all. It was just easier when she knew when and where those shots were coming from. Closing her eyes, Scootaloo took a deep breath and willed her body to relax, letting out all the tension and agitation she could feel in that breath. Her wings drooped slightly, but she kept them extended, allowing her awareness to fully expand out into the air around her. Almost immediately, her awareness registered the presence of the trees as the air flowed through and around them, curling about their trunks and branches.

There was a strangely steady movement to the air in her immediate vicinity and Scootaloo realized that it was because of Dawn. To keep the air from curling around his body, he had to smooth out the flow of air as it washed over him. The resulting current had set the air all around him into deliberate motion. Tracking the flow of air, Scootaloo found it, the point where it changed paths, as though it were flowing around something. However the motion was so smooth that she'd hardly even noticed it had been there at all. Her lips pulled back in a grin. I've found you.

True to her suspicions, she suddenly sensed a sharp change to the airflow around that spot. Some of the air flowing around the space seemed to suddenly converge onto a single point before bursting outward sharply, propelling another snowball in Scootaloo's direction. She hadn't even sensed it until Dawn had launched it.

Now the feeling was more familiar. She'd sensed Dawn preparing to throw the snowball, she'd known which direction it was coming from. Already, Scootaloo's wings were in motion, her body moving without her even really needing to think about it as one wing began to gather the air around her, increasing its density. She felt the movement of the snowball through the air, feeling its mass, shape, and how tightly it had been packed and was already adjusting the air-cushion that she was preparing accordingly. The projectile hit the wave of air and slowed down, coming to a stop mere inches from Scootaloo's wing. Not waiting for it to fall to the ground, Scootaloo was already in motion, moving the air that was compressed between the snowball and the surface of her wing. Driving the limb forward, Scootaloo launched the snowball outward without breaking it apart.

The snowball shot almost straight back the way it came. Scootaloo's grin became one of triumph as she felt Dawn suddenly leave his concealment, no longer bothering the keep the air flowing smoothly around him. Instead, the colt enacted a near perfect recreation of what Scootaloo had accomplished, catching the incoming snowball on a cushion of air and bringing it to a stop before his wing and then launching it back at her.

Scootaloo grinned triumphantly. Dawn was on the move, refusing to just stay in one place after he'd volleyed her shot back at her. He was also trying to smooth out the air currents around him again, but she had his number now. Rather than try to fully stop the snowball as it hurtled towards her, she instead swept it up in a current of air that she created to alter its course and send it rushing towards Dawn's new location, where the colt had stopped to make a new snowball for himself.

Her ears twitched at the sound of Dawn's surprised yelp as the snowball burst across his blank flank.

"Ha!" crowed Scootaloo as she quickly rushed towards Dawn's location, "I got you that time!"

"That you did," agreed Dawn with a smirk that made Scootaloo pause as a shiver of fear went down her spine.

Uh oh...

"You seem to be getting the hang of it," Dawn continued with a sly look at her. He spread his wings and Scootaloo was horrified to see that, instead of only one or even two snowballs, six projectiles hovered in swirling patterns over his wings as his smirk became a grin. "What say we take it up a notch?"

Scootaloo's shrill screams echoed through the forest throughout the afternoon.

"Okay," said Spike as he sat across the table from Twilight, "What's the verdict doc?"

"Well," said Twilight, looking over her notes, "Your body has been undergoing some major changes."

Spike's growing wings spread and fluttered from his back. "Yeah, duh." He rolled his eyes.

"I'm not just talking about your wings," growled Twilight. She held up an image, a picture from an x-ray. "These are your previous x-rays, from before when you really started growing." She held up a second picture, this one clearly showing Spike's more recent developments. The bones of his wings were plainly visible. The bones of his limbs were looking longer. However, the strangest developments showed in his spine. It was a bit hard to see, but Spike noticed that he had more backbone than he used to...literally.

"The number of vertebrae are increasing," said Twilight, "You've actually doubled the number in your neck alone. You started with seven and now you have fourteen."

"What does it mean?" asked Spike, twisting his neck experimentally. He was surprised to find that his head was able to turn much further than it had before.

"If I had to hazard a guess, it means you're elongating," said Twilight, "A lot of the adult dragons we encountered in the past had proportionally longer necks and tails than you do. The thing is, if your vertebrae didn't increase in number and simply grew longer instead, your neck, tail, and back would be incredibly stiff and inflexible. I think this development is to allow you to grow into a longer, more serpentine form.

"It's amazing! Your body is actually producing new bones partway through your post-embryonic life-cycle. And there's more." She held up a different picture. This one didn't show Spike's skeleton. Rather, it showed an outline of Spike with a web of lines threading through his body. At first, the dragon thought they were veins or arteries, but that didn't seem quite right.

"Those are your meridians," she said.

"Wait! I have meridians?"

"Of course you do," scoffed Twilight, "Practically nearly every living thing has meridians. Not all of them are like a pony's or a dragon's, but yours have the same function that mine do, channeling magical energy through your body."

"What about them then?"

"Their activity has increased radically since you started changing," said Twilight as she set the picture down, "I managed to actually record one of your new bones coming in. When that happened, your meridian activity shifted into overdrive." She frowned thoughtfully. "It actually looked kinda familiar, sort of like..."

"Like what?" asked Spike, sitting on the edge of his seat in spite of himself.

"It reminded me of Flaxseed's Meridians when he made his Eyes appear," explained Twilight, "That's when I realized it. It's magic!"

"Uh yeah..." said Spike, a bit confused, "Of course it's magic."

"That's not what I mean," said Twilight, a note of frustration creeping into her voice, "What I meant is that it's a transformation effect, just like the way the magic flowing through the meridians of Dawn and Flaxseed's eyes triggers their transformation into the Eyes of Nightmare." She leveled her gaze at Spike. "It's not just any magic, it's transformational magic. You're not just growing. You're shapeshifting."

"What?" exclaimed Spike, staring at Twilight with wide eyes.

"This could explain so much," Twilight was saying, having seemingly become oblivious to the dragon sitting across the table from her, "Storm Front and Red River mentioned it before. Dragons come in so many different shapes and sizes. This is why. You're natural-born shapeshifters. It might be that your magic allows you to adapt your form for your environment by actively altering your form through your magic in order to optimize your ability to survive in any environment. Do you realize what this means?"

"Maybe," said Spike, sounding rather uncertain.

"Think about it!" exclaimed Twilight, "We've talked about the things we could try to do when you grew too big to live in the library anymore. We've talked about a cave, or maybe building a giant house for you. But, if my theories are correct, then maybe we won't need to."

"Because growing too large would actually hinder me in my chosen environment," said Spike, the realization dawning upon him. His lips spread into a toothy grin. "I wouldn't get any bigger because I don't need to be any bigger than a pony to live with you girls."

"That's right!" agreed Twilight, nodding eagerly.

"Then I wouldn't ever have to leave Ponyville. I could stay here my whole life."

"And think of what it would mean for you and Apple Bloom," added Twilight.

Spike nodded, tears forming in his eyes. Though they weren't completely certain of the results of Twilight's research, it was hopeful news indeed. Twilight quickly swept her faithful assistant up into a hug, which Spike enthusiastically returned.

Rarity was amazed...No! Amazed didn't quite cover it. She was overjoyed. Flaxseed had said that he was good with numbers, but she had never once realized that he was this good. She had done her own finances and budgets for as long as she could remember, ever since she'd opened her own store. It was the dirty, unpleasant side to running her own business. Sadly, Rarity couldn't spend all her time immersed in a world of fabulous artistry. Materials cost money. There were utility costs, the mortgage, and taxes...oh yes, there probably wasn't a pony in all of Equestria who enjoyed taxes, even though they were a necessary evil. Every year, she had to give up hours, even days of her precious time to work an abacus, calculate percentages, figure out how much she owed and how much she had to work with afterwards. Sadly, Rarity's gift and enthusiasm for numbers both began and ended with physical measurements.

But Flaxseed had barely taken a day to go over her books. In short order, he'd found and corrected several errors in her work, a few of which would actually make her eligible for a refund on her taxes this coming year. He'd looked over the payment plans for her materials, budgeted out her utility costs, and other sundry expenditures. After going through them, he'd recalculated and, so far, he'd managed to put nearly thee-thousand bits back into Rarity's figurative coffers.

"This is incredible!" she gasped as she looked up from the papers that Flaxseed had set in front of her, "I'm so grateful to you."

"It was the least I could do," said the gold-colored stallion with a shrug.

There was no denying that he was a sight better than when Rarity had first seen him. His appearance had obviously improved after the first bath and, with regular hygiene, it was only getting better. His mane was still looking a bit ragged and uneven. But, even though it made Rarity grit her teeth to see it, she wasn't about to suggest that the stallion put himself in the hooves of another pony wielding sharp objects, like a barber. That was a disaster waiting to happen.

He looked healthier as well. Rarity remembered Fluttershy's stories about Dawn's dreadful, lean appearance when she'd first taken him in, fresh out of the Everfree Forest. Flaxseed hadn't been as bad, but the shadows under his eyes from a lack of proper sleep and the slight jitter that came with a constant case of nerves were slowly beginning to fade away.

And then there was his attitude. When he'd first come into the house, the stallion was incredibly cautious about everything he did. He always hesitated, peeking around a room before entering. He still visibly flinched whenever another pony tried to initiate physical contact with him, even Rarity herself. However, now Flaxseed entered and left rooms without pause. He moved with a great deal more confidence. On the other hoof, he rarely went out and, on the few occasions that he did, he never strayed far from the Boutique, perhaps going as far as the library or the teahouse next door, but never any farther...on his own at least. If Rarity or Sweetie Belle were willing to go with him, he would range wherever they were willing to escort him to. But he was always careful to try and not inconvenience his hosts.

"You shouldn't sell yourself short, darling," said Rarity, "You truly have a gift for this sort of thing." She opened her mouth to lament the fact that he had never gone to trade school, but thought better of it when she remembered why he hadn't.

"I wish there was some way I could show my gratitude," she said.

"It's really okay," said Flaxseed, stepping back a little from Rarity's enthusiasm, "You've already given me everything: a place to stay, food, any bits I need..." Flaxseed felt particularly guilty about that last part. Having no gainful employment of his own meant that he was completely dependent on Rarity and her friends when it came to anything money related. He would have looked for a job, but simply setting hoof outside of the Boutique without Rarity or Sweetie Belle was a trial. It was an island of peace and stability in an otherwise chaotic and dangerous world for Flaxseed. Strangely, it had felt easier to venture out of his place of residence when he was less certain that he was truly safe there.

The last part of his statement seemed to have clicked with Rarity though, as her eyes widened. "That's it!" she exclaimed, nearly making the jittery stallion fall over backwards, "This is perfect!"

"What is it?" asked Flaxseed.

Rarity favored him with a positively radiant smile. "You can work for me," she said, "Based on the amount of money you've saved me, I've more than enough to pay you a wage, with an adjustment for room and board." She gave him a wink at the last part. "It seems I could use an accountant if I'm having so much trouble managing my money."

For a moment, Flaxseed was silent, shocked by Rarity's willingness to employ him. Sure, he'd been staying in the Carousel Boutique for the past couple of weeks. But he'd only really thought of it as a temporary thing before now. He'd offered to go over Rarity's books as a gesture of gratitude. But now she was offering him a place to work, even including the room he'd been staying in and the food he'd been eating as part of the compensation.

In short, the temporary thing was becoming less temporary.

Even though he'd never been one to turn down a job, Flaxseed hesitated. Rarity was slowly, gently cajoling him into letting down his guard, opening him up to the possibility of being hurt once more. All the good things that had been happening to him lately seemed, by and large, too good to be true.

What if... he wondered, What if it ends up being like Camellia all over again?

Flaxseed froze for a second before vigorously shaking his head. Stop that! Don't think about her again!

He looked at Rarity, who had been watching him patiently, waiting for his answer. His hesitation had been more than apparent to her. But still, she made no comment and waited silently for his response. She knew that this would be a difficult decision for the stallion to make. It meant investing more of his trust in her than before. Something was clearly bothering Flaxseed, but she knew better than to pry at the moment.

Finally, Flaxseed made up his mind. "Th-thank you...I-I'd like that," he said slowly.

"I'm glad to hear that," said Rarity. She slowly held up a hoof to the stallion. "Welcome to your new job then."

Flaxseed smiled back and reached up to take her hoof in his.

Dawn and Scootaloo took a moment to shed their coats and scarves at the door and hang them up, shaking the remaining snow out of their manes and tails as they did so. Their breaths escaped in short pants as their previous exertions had caught up to them. They'd been playing hard through the afternoon, exchanging volleys of snow, practicing both offense and defense. It had been hard, but fun.

Naturally, Scootaloo had gotten the worst of it. Given Dawn's greater practice and experience, she'd been no real match for him, especially once he'd started launching multiple snowballs at her simultaneously. However, she hadn't gone down without a fight and had managed to land some good hits of her own.

Still, by the end of it, both of them had had more than enough of the play as snow managed to get underneath their coats and up against their fur, where it melted and turned into chilly water. As the sun slowly began to dip towards the western horizon, Dawn and Scootaloo had returned to Caramel's house.

After getting out of their wet winter wear, the two foals moved to the living room. Dawn stacked some logs in the fireplace and set it alight with a bolt of lightning. Once the fire was crackling merrily, he and Scootaloo got some cushions together and laid them out on the floor. Dawn then went to a closet and pulled out a throw-blanket. The two of them laid together, side by side and Dawn wrapped the blanked around them, carefully making sure that the edges were a safe distance from the flames. Beneath the blanket, Dawn extended his wing and wrapped it around Scootaloo, gently pulling her up against him so that the two were snuggled together, warming up with the combined heat of their own bodies as the warmth of the fire seeped in from outside.

With a soft sigh, Scootaloo dropped her head onto the pillow. A few seconds later, Dawn's joining her so that they rested their cheeks together. "Have fun?" asked the orange filly softly.

"Yes," replied Dawn, "It's been a long time since I've been able to do that with somepony."

"Did you do it with your Master?"

"Not exactly," said Dawn, "We never played with snowballs, but we used to spar often. This was good training for you."

"You said that before," said Scootaloo, glancing sidelong at her coltfriend.

"Because it is," said Dawn, "Each snowball is different, from how it's packed to its shape and weight, all the little things that change how you have to use the wind on it if you want to throw it without blowing it to pieces. It's the kind of control you need to develop in order to avoid hurting others unnecessarily. We could easily spar for real now and you wouldn't have to worry about accidentally hurting me by using too much power...not that you'd have to worry about that anyway."

"You really think so?" asked Scootaloo, feeling a little nervous, in spite of Dawn's assurances.

Dawn nodded, a gesture that Scootaloo felt more than she saw. "Soon, we'll do some measured sparring."

"What's that?"

"I'll explain when we start," replied Dawn, "Just as it was with the rocks and the snowballs, the purpose it to learn how to moderate your power. It's actually one of the first things my Master did with me when we moved into more advanced training."

"Cool," said Scootaloo, pausing as she yawned sleepily. The warmth and the feeling of Dawn lying up against her were lulling her into a doze. She didn't think she'd be feeling up to conversing for much longer.

Dawn apparently felt the same, squirming to snuggle up a bit closer to her. Scootaloo moved her head to the side, levering Dawn's chin upwards so that she could rest her head across his forelegs. With a smile, Dawn rested his head atop hers and the two of them fell into a light doze in front of the crackling fire.

Shortly thereafter, the door opened and Fluttershy stepped into the house. She was carrying saddlebags loaded down with groceries. On the way to the kitchen, she noticed the two foals asleep in front of the fireplace. The sight of them made the canary-colored pegasus squeal happily. She quickly went to drop the groceries off in the kitchen before rushing upstairs to get something from the room she shared with Caramel. Coming down, Fluttershy quickly lifted the camera she brought, using her wings to steady her body so that she could aim the lens properly. With a soft click, the image was preserved forever.

They look so cute together, thought Fluttershy happily as she went to put the camera back.

Flitter hated working with snow clouds. Certainly, snow was pretty and the sight of Ponyville after a good, long snowstorm that she'd helped to shape was a rewarding one, but she still hated snow clouds. The insulated mitts over her forehooves offered only so much protection against the chilly masses of moisture. After hours spent hauling the clouds to their destination, setting them into position, and adjusting them so that the snowfall would last just the right amount of time, the cold slowly seeped in through the fabric of the mitts, gradually numbing her hooves. Over time, the chill traveled further up her forelegs. The work never seemed to end until right before she was on the verge of getting frostbite.

To make matters worse, this was the kind of job Flitter was good at. The dragonflies on her flank marking her skill at fluttering about, moving with precision and care, setting up everything exactly where it needed to be. It was one of the reasons Rainbow Dash had always given her so much responsibility with storms like this one, where everything needed to be just right. And Flitter loved seeing the final product of her effort, watching the snow fall down outside the home she shared with her sister and Thunderlane, warming her hooves around a cup of hot chocolate or maybe a warm cider.

But she still hated having to move the snow clouds.

Her body was beginning to shiver as the cold built up. She was lucky her shift was nearly over. While she might have been tempted to break off her work and find a way to let the last few minutes trickle away, the grayish-purple mare was determined to put forth her best efforts. She had her pride as a key member of the Ponyville Weather Team. So, she simply continued doing her job as the feeling in her hooves gradually faded away altogether.

Setting yet another cloud into place, Flitter was almost feeling too cold to even notice the gentle tapping on her shoulder. Turning around, her eyes widened as she saw Storm Front, hovering there quietly.

"Our time's up," he said softly, "Let's go back."

The dark, cloud-colored stallion slowly led Flitter down out of the clouds and towards his house. Flitter had been spending a great deal of time there lately. Though he was quiet and not overly talkative, it was nice to simply relax with him, basking in a comfortable silence that neither of them felt the need to fill. It was a nice contrast to the somewhat noisy atmosphere of Flitter's home, where Cloud Chaser was constantly bantering with Thunderlane, always filling the background with noise. Perhaps that was why Flitter and Rumble got along so well. Thunderlane's little brother wasn't nearly as talkative or noisy as Thunderlane himself. It was one of the reasons Flitter never minded looking after him whenever Thunderlane and Cloud Chaser went out on one of their dates.

Storm opened the door to his home to let them both in. Flitter went through the door first, diving out of the cold as the stallion closed the door behind them. Going through the house, he turned on the lights before turning his attention to the fireplace, where the embers of the fire he'd started earlier in the morning still glowed. A heavy mesh grate hung across the entrance, keeping sparks from escaping outwards. Pulling the grate aside, Storm Front laid down some fresh logs and carefully blew on the embers, rekindling the flames to start the fire anew.

Meanwhile, Flitter stripped out of her coat and hung up her scarf. She took off her boots and mitts, letting them stand off to one side of the door, where nopony would trip over them. Her forehooves were so numb that it was difficult for her to keep her balance as she made her way into the living room. The interior of Storm Front's house was cool, but not cold, as some of the residual heat from the fire Storm Front had lit in the morning still lingered.

Flitter shivered as she settled herself down on some cushions set out near the fireplace. She held her forehooves up to the small flames licking up, trying her best to get warmed as the fire gathered momentum.

"Here, let me see." Storm Front settled next to her and gently turned Flitter to face him.

He picked up a poker from the fireplace and began to feel around near the base of the flames. Using the poker, he levered a small, oval-shaped stone, from the flames.

"What's that?" asked Flitter, gazing at the unassuming rock. Even though it had been pulled out from under the embers, it showed no signs of charing from the fire's heat.

Without any hesitation whatsoever, Storm Front picked it up with his bare hooves, prompting a gasp from Flitter. However, there was no indication that Storm Front was being burned in the slightest. Instead, he gently pressed the stone up against one of her hooves.

It was cool to the touch at first. But, within a few seconds, it grew warm against Flitter's fur, the heat seeming to stream out of the stone and into the skin beneath it. It flowed into her, chasing the cold numbness out of her forehoof, slowly coaxing it back to life. Flitter let out a quivering sigh. "Ohhhh...that feels wonderful."

Storm Front smiled and transferred the stone to Flitter's other hoof, warming it as well. Once Flitter's hooves were fully thawed and warmed, Storm Front once again placed the stone in the fireplace and used the poker to push it down underneath the logs and the still-burning ashes.

"Where did you get that?" asked Flitter as she and the stallion cuddled up together. She tucked herself beneath his wing and nuzzled up against his shoulder.

"Twilight Sparkle made it for me," explained Storm, "After the first snowfall, when I found out about how your hooves get cold easily, I asked her help. She's laid some spells into the stone. It stores heat from the fire and then releases it when its pressed up against a pony's body. What's more, the inlaid spells direct the flow of the heat so that it can thoroughly warm the body more efficiently."

"That's amazing," said Flitter, "You did that for me?"

"Well, Twilight Sparkle did most of the work," said Storm, looking away, seeming a bit embarrassed.

Flitter giggled lightly and nuzzled his mane. "But you asked her because you were thinking about me. Thank you so much."

Storm's lips curled up into a small, subtle smile. "It was the least I could do. You accepted me, even though I lied to you about my reasons for being in Ponyville, even though I lied to you about what I am, even though you know what I am."

Flitter sighed. "Of course I accepted you," she said, "I like you because I know what you are." Leaning over, she kissed Storm lightly on the cheek. "You're a good pony. To me, it doesn't matter what job you have. You're a good pony who fights to make sure that everypony else is safe and happy. What's not to like?"

Storm chuckled. It was a rare sound coming from the normally taciturn stallion. "I suppose, when you put it like that, I can't argue."

The two ponies stepped off the train and onto the platform. Casting their eyes around, they surveyed the scenery of Ponyville in winter, taking in the sight of the snow covering the ground. Even now, the pegasi were beginning to move the clouds into position for another storm, this one a bit lighter than the last one.

Looking at one another, they nodded before taking to the air, their flight taking them up above the level of the clouds. The setting sun hadn't reached the horizon and still shined brightly across the assembled cloudscape, giving the impression that the two pegasi were flying above a fluffy gray carpet. With the sun shining freely, the air above was considerably warmer than below. Of course, with the clouds serving as a barrier, it was almost impossible to navigate across Ponyville, since none of its landmarks were visible from this altitude.

However, that was not an issue for these two pegasi, as they knew exactly where they were heading without having to consult a map. It wasn't long before they dipped their flight, swooping down below the clouds. In the course of their soaring flight, they'd passed the limits of the town proper and were now over the outskirts. Their path took them down towards a small cottage standing a short distance away from one of Equestria's most dangerous forests.

Their shadows crossed over the small bridge that ran over the brook that ran in front of the cottage, over the front yard, before they alit on the steps leading up to the front door. For a moment, they stood there, eyeing the cottage carefully. The building was dark and empty-looking, with no obvious signs of life.

The mare took a step forward, eying the house a little nervously. "Don't you think it's a little late to be coming here. If the lights are out, she must be in bed already."

The stallion snorted softly. "I doubt it. It's still early in the evening. She must be out with her friends."

"But what about...him?" The mare glanced nervously at the stallion. "Do you think he's here?"

"Let's find out," said the stallion before raising a hoof and rapping it against the door.

They waited several minutes, but there was no response from within the silent cottage. "Maybe they went out together," the mare suggested.

"Maybe," replied the stallion, continuing to survey the door.

"Come on, let's go check in at the inn," said the mare, slowly tugging the stallion away from the door, "Who knows, we may see them in town."

"Maybe," said the stallion hesitantly. The two of them began to make their way down the path out of the yard. As they did, his eyes fell on the mailbox and he noticed something. "Look!"

The red flag that normally indicated outgoing mail had been raised. However, a blue clip had been attached to it. It was an item used by ponies to provide an easy visual indicator that the mailbox's owner was going to be away for an extended period.

"She went on vacation?" asked the mare.

"Maybe," said the stallion, moving to the mailbox. Since boxes so marked wouldn't hold any mail while the clip was attached to the flag, the owner could easily leave information pertaining to where she would be while she was away. The stallion opened the box and wasn't at all surprised to see a note containing an address. "It says she's going to be staying there for the season," he said.

"Out of town?"

"No, it's in town. She must be spending the season with one of her friends."

"I suppose that makes sense," said the mare as the stallion slid the note back into the box and closed it, "Should we go and try to find it?"

"Let's go to the inn first," said the stallion, "We may have to look around a little and I want to make sure we have a room before anything else."

The two of them took to the air and were soon winging their way swiftly back into town.

Fluttershy set down the mug of warm cider she'd been drinking with a happy sigh as she lounged on the living room, snuggled up against Caramel, the two of them facing the crackling fire. From the kitchen came the sound of clinking plates and running water as Dawn and Scootaloo cleaned the dishes after dinner, the two of them having volunteered so that the adults could relax together.

In the past, Fluttershy would have been extraordinarily worried about letting Scootaloo anywhere near anything breakable. The Cutie Mark Crusaders were notorious to the point that it was easier to ask what kind of object they hadn't broken yet. However, much like her other friends, Scootaloo's experience at the teahouse had helped to teach her the dexterity and patience necessary to handle most crockery without breaking it. Fluttershy wouldn't be letting the filly touch Caramel's fine china anytime soon, but Scootaloo and Dawn could be trusted with their current task.

Caramel had been reading. However, as the sound of dishes continued from the kitchen, he looked up at Fluttershy. "So..." he said, "Hearth's Warming is coming soon. Have you thought about what you want?"

"Um well...not really..." admitted Fluttershy sheepishly. It was something that embarrassed her a little. She always tended to wait until the last minute to figure out what she wanted for Hearth's Warming, frustrating her friends to no end when they rarely had any idea what to shop for. Granted, there were any number of items that they could probably pick out themselves, but that sometimes carried the risk of getting something that Fluttershy already had. She had the same problem with her birthdays as well. "What about you?" she asked, hoping to deflect the question for the time being.

"Um...same thing..." said Caramel, his blush now mirroring Fluttershy's own, "Besides, I got what I really wanted this season." He leaned in and gently kissed Fluttershy right behind the base of her ear, making her giggle.

"Oh you," she said, gently smacking the back of his head with her wing, "If I was Rainbow Dash, I would've said that was very cheesy."

"Yeah, but you're not Rainbow," replied Caramel with a sly smile.

"No, I'm not," agreed Fluttershy, her smile matching his, "Which is why I think that's sweet." They leaned in and pressed their lips together into a kiss.

"Dishes are done," announced Scootaloo, trotting into the room as Caramel and Fluttershy pulled apart, "Now what?" She and Dawn could always join Caramel and Fluttershy lounging in front of the fire. But she'd had enough lounging for the day, thanks to the nap she'd taken with Dawn earlier.

Caramel tapped his chin for a moment before his face lit up. "I've got it!" he exclaimed. He got up and trotted out into the hall, opening the closet. He had to rear up onto his hind legs to reach the shelf at the top of the closet so that he could rummage around. A few minutes later, he returned with a stack of thin, broad boxes. "How about we make it a family game night."

"Oh! That sounds like a wonderful idea!" exclaimed Fluttershy as she got off the couch. She began sorting the cushions, making room for a board game to be set up between the four of them.

"What game should we play?" asked Scootaloo, eyeing the various games, her gaze glancing from one to another.

"Well, nothing too long," said Caramel, picking out a couple of the more complex games and setting them aside, "It's going to start snowing soon and you still have to head home tonight. Should we let Dawn pick?" He looked at the colt.

Dawn blinked and stared at the games, almost uncomprehendingly. Since the bulk of his experiences with his friends had been outdoors, board games were practically a foreign concept to him. "Um..."

"I'll choose," said Scootaloo, immediately noticing Dawn's dilemma.

Though it was something she hadn't played in a while, she chose one of the simplest games from the pile. It was a rather simple game where the pieces moved forward according to the roll of the dice. The pieces traveled along a path of squares that led to the end point, the goal of the game. Some of the squares had instructions that could lead the pieces to either move forward or backwards. There wasn't too much to explain, so they managed to get playing right away and Dawn was able to learn the rules rather easily.

It was then that they discovered one of Dawn's weaknesses. He apparently had horrid luck when it came to games of chance. The colt looked on with consternation as he always rolled low numbers with the dice, only managing to inch his piece forward a few squares at a time and always seeming to land on the penalty squares that sent his piece backwards. Still, he seemed to be having fun overall, even if he was losing as Scootaloo, Caramel, and Fluttershy pulled ahead of him.

As they played, the group chatted, especially about the approaching holiday.

"Have you decided what you want for Hearth's Warming?" asked Fluttershy, looking at her son.

"Want?" asked Dawn, "I'm not sure what you mean."

"For a present," said Scootaloo, "Everypony gets presents on Hearth's Warming."

"They do?" Dawn sat there blinking for a moment.

Caramel rolled the dice and moved his game piece. "Didn't your Master teach you about Hearth's Warming?"

"He did," said Dawn, "I mean, he used to tell me the story behind it and how it was important. But he never mentioned anything like presents."

"Didn't you celebrate it?" asked Fluttershy, her eyes wide.

"Not really," said Dawn, "I remember decorations for it, but we rarely ended up staying in one place long enough to actually do anything like that for ourselves."

"What did your Master teach you about Hearth's Warming?" wondered Caramel.

"Well..." said Dawn, thinking back.

"Is it really so important?" asked Dawn as he and his Master walked down the street, their eyes taking in the colorful garlands and ornaments hanging from nearly every wall and lamppost.

"It is the holiday that celebrates the founding of Equestria," replied his Master cooly. As pegasi went, he was something of an oddity. His pale-cream coat and grayish-white mane were fairly unassuming. However, both of them contrasted sharply against his wings, which were a dark-gray with flecks of pitch black. It was rare for a pegasus to be born with wings of a different color than their coat.

"Is that why it's so important?" wondered Dawn.

"Yes and no," replied Dark Wing, looking down at his pupil, "Technically, Equestria's founding was more of an afterthought to the true significance of the holiday. For, if we had learned the lessons that truly lay at the heart of this celebration, then we ponies would have never needed to come to this land to begin with."

"Because of the Windigos?"

Dark Wing sighed. "Because of their own foolishness. Given what you've learned about the Gale King from me, it's obvious what question must be asked."

Dawn thought it over for a moment. "If the masters of the Three Pillars were so powerful, shouldn't they have been able to drive the Windigoes back?"

"Exactly," said Dark Wing, "This holiday's significance varies from pony to pony. But for ponies like us, those who follow the martial path, it serves as a reminder that force and violence are almost never the best solution to any problem. In fact there are some problems that simply can't be solved with force. The Windigoes are a perfect example of this. They feed upon anger and strife. They are spiritual entities. Even if a true master can void her heart and deal harm to that which has no body, the Windigoes would simply be rejuvenated by the continued animosity between the three tribes.

"In the end, what saved us ponies from the Windigoes was not our magic, nor any form of martial skill. It was us overcoming the divides we had placed between one another, finding peace with each other and building a nation on the basis of union, rather than division."

"So that is the fire of friendship everypony is always singing about," said Dawn.

"More or less," agreed his Master. The stallion looked around. "Come, we need to find shelter for the evening. Your lessons will continue in the morning."

"Huh...that's uh..." Scootaloo wasn't sure she knew what to say as Dawn finished his retelling.

"It's...profound...I suppose," said Caramel. There was something about Dawn's story that made him uneasy, though he couldn't put his hoof on it.

"So...um...was that it?" asked Fluttershy, "You didn't do anything to really celebrate Hearth's Warming, did you?"

"I suppose not," said Dawn.

Fluttershy frowned pensively, not entirely liking it. Dawn had always given very little in the way of details when it came to how he'd interacted with the pony who had essentially raised him. He'd never shared any specific anecdotes before. If this was how Dark Wing treated such a special occasion as Hearth's Warming, then maybe there wasn't all that much to tell.

Hearth's Warming was a time for celebration, to enjoy the winter season in the company of other ponies and freely share affection with one another. While Dawn's eyes could be attributed to the fact that few other ponies had wanted his company over the holiday, he should have, at least, been able to enjoy it with the one pony who actually cared about him. Instead, it seemed that Dawn's only pertinent memories of the day were probably like those of any other day; another lesson to be learned, nothing special at all. The more she learned of Dawn's Master, the sadder she felt. It seemed that Dark Wing's relationship with Dawn was one of cool aloofness, devoid of almost any real expression of affection and care, a relationship between teacher and pupil, rather than something closer to father and son. In many ways, the flat, bland stoicism that Dawn had exhibited when she had first met him made more sense now than ever.

In her heart, Fluttershy resolved to find a way to make Dawn's first Hearth's Warming with her as special as she possibly could.

The conversation had to be shelved though, as it and the game were interrupted by a knocking at the door.

"I'll get it," said Caramel, getting up and stretching his legs. He opened the door and peered out at the two ponies waiting at the step. "Can I help you two?"

The mare and the stallion at the door shared a confused glance before turning back to look at the tan stallion. "I'm sorry," said the mare, "We must have the wrong address. We're looking for Fluttershy."

"Oh," said Caramel, "No, you have the right address." He blinked and took a closer look at the couple. The mare's coat was a familiar pale-yellow and her mane, that same light pink color. The stallion's coat was an icy gray with a light-blue mane. His dark-green eyes met Caramel's and narrowed with suspicion. Backing away from the intensity of the stallion's stare, Caramel looked over his shoulder. "Uh...'Shy...I think it's for you."

"Oh?" Fluttershy got up and made her way to the door. As she stepped around Caramel, her eyes widened when she saw the two ponies waiting outside for her. "Mom...Dad...?"

Author's Note

It's the moment quite a few of you have been asking about...next time.

Today was something else, particularly since it's actually been one long day since yesterday. We got up yesterday morning, gathered up our luggage, checked out, spent the whole day wandering around the Big Island, visiting all sorts of fun spots in the midst of a near continuous downpour (thank you Hurricane Ana). Still, a Hawaiian rainstorm isn't as bad as some rainstorms, especially when it's not full-blown monsoon level rain. It felt kinda nice. But, all good things must come to an end, so we boarded our flight to the mainland...at 10:00 in the evening, flew across the Pacific to Phoenix before catching our connecting flight back to Denver...during which, I didn't sleep a single wink. I don't know how some people can doze or even sleep on those flying sardine cans. I certainly can't. As a consequence, I've been up for over 24 hours, with only a light nap to sustain me when I got back home. Fortunately, I think I can get back into the groove of things pretty quickly, so there shouldn't be any further delays in updates until the next...thing...comes along, whatever it may be.

Next chapter: Which is more terrifying, Dawn meeting his grandparents...or Caramel meeting the ponies who might become his in-laws someday?

Family Time

Chapter 8: Family Time

“Has it been lonely for you?”

“What?” Melon Cream looked up from the mug of hot cocoa she’d been staring at for the past few seconds. Inside, she winced at the realization that she’d spaced out in front of her guest.

“Not having Scootaloo around as much?” asked Rainbow Dash, who was presently sitting across the table from her, “I mean, she still lives here. But she’s out of the house so much and she’s even started having dinner with Dawn’s family.” Since the time the two of them had talked about Scootaloo’s future over lunch at the restaurant, Rainbow and Melon had been meeting occasionally for meals to chat, giving Scootaloo’s mother a chance to better know one of the most important ponies in Scootaloo’s life.

“Well…I suppose…” said Melon with a small sigh, “I mean, Scootaloo is bound to move out someday. In a sense, I guess you could say that I’m avoiding Empty Nest Syndrome by getting inoculated a little bit at a time.”

Rainbow raised an eyebrow. “That doesn’t exactly sound like the best thing in the whole world.”

Melon sagged. “I suppose not. Scootaloo’s becoming more independent, especially now that she’s found her cutie mark, her special somepony; she even has a part-time job already. Stars and stones! She’s learning to do things that most ponies could only dream of…”

Rainbow snorted. “Yeah, she’s learning to do stuff that I’ve never even thought possible and I’m the pony who can do the Sonic Rainboom.”

“And yet, she’ll always be my little filly,” finished Melon softly.

“Are you lonely?” asked Rainbow again.

“…Yes.”

Rainbow set down her mug and walked around the table so that she could wrap the older mare in a hug. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.

“It’s not your fault,” said Melon, “It’s not Dawn’s fault either. It’s not even Scootaloo’s fault. This is something I would have had to go through, one way or another. My little filly is growing up.”

“But it’s not as easy to handle alone, is it?” asked Rainbow.

Melon winced at the unpleasant reminder of the fact that somepony very important was missing from this whole equation. Furthermore, she had ultimately been the one to remove him from the equation. “I suppose it isn’t,” she said.

Rainbow smiled. “You know, you’re not so old that you couldn’t get back into the whole dating scene. Maybe you’ll find somepony.”

“I’m not sure…” said Melon, “I know I chose this, but part of me…” She groaned. “…Part of me just wants him to come back, to let things go back to how they used to be…or, at least, how I thought they used to be, before I learned the truth. I just put so much of my life into living with him. But now…”

It was old news at this point. It would probably go down as one of the cleanest divorces in Equestrian history. With Cirrus Stratus’ behavior on the night of Scootaloo’s First Flight Party on clear display, there had been no chance of him getting custody of Scootaloo. Considering that Melon made enough to support herself and her daughter on her own (albeit less easily than with two ponies to share the financial burden), she hadn’t even needed to sue for alimony. She hadn’t wanted to either. She’d simply wanted to sever ties with that stallion as cleanly and neatly as possible, to excise him like a tumor from her life. She had hoped that doing so would make it easier. But it seemed that some cuts couldn’t be made cleanly.

Rainbow squeezed Melon a little tighter. "We'll think of something," she said, "I've got it! Why don't you come the next time the girls and I go to the spa."

"Are you sure?" asked Melon, "I wouldn't want to intrude..."

"Don't worry about it," said Rainbow, letting go of the older mare and returning to her side of the table. As she sat down, the cerulean pegasus began to rummage around in the saddlebags she'd brought with her before pulling out a thick manilla envelope. "Before I forget, I also wanted to drop off the squirt's Hearth's Warming gift. I figured you could hold onto it for her."

Rainbow slid the envelope across the table to Melon, who picked it up and opened it. As she scanned the contents, her eyes widened. "Rainbow! This...! We can't possibly-!"

"It's not a problem," said Rainbow with a smile, "Even though this is in her name, it's going to be held in trust by you until she's old enough."

"That's so generous," breathed Melon as she slid the documents back into the envelope.

"Aw, it was nothing," said Rainbow, her cheeks flushing, "I mean, it's not like I'm gonna have much use for it once I join the Wonderbolts. It's something I had in mind ever since I realized that I'd be leaving once I joined."

"Thank you so much," said Melon, tears running out of her eyes, "I can tell Scootaloo's going to love this. This will mean so much to her."

"Hey," said Rainbow, "It's the least I could do for my little sister."

"Please come in," said Fluttershy as she and Caramel stepped away from the door to allow the two ponies outside to come in. Fluttershy closed the door behind them while Caramel took their coats and scarves. "I had no idea you were going to come visit," said Fluttershy, "You should have told me."

"We figured we'd surprise you," said the mare, her eyes glittering with amusement, "Seeing as you decided to surprise us."

"Indeed," agreed the stallion, "It was a bit of a shock to find out we were grandparents. It was an even bigger shock to find out through the newspaper, rather than from you directly."

Fluttershy's cheeks turned bright-red. "Um...well...There's been a lot going on and....I guess I just...forgot..."

"Forgot to tell your parents that you'd gone and adopted somepony?" The stallion raised a skeptical eyebrow.

"Um...well...you read the article," Fluttershy pointed out, "There were...circumstances."

"Enough about that!" exclaimed the mare, looking around eagerly, "Where is he?

"In the living room," Fluttershy squeaked. Oh dear. She had no idea how this could go. Her parents had clearly read the article, so they would know all about Dawn's condition. What they made of it was a mystery.

Fluttershy's mother darted out into the living room, where she saw Dawn and Scootaloo, still waiting by the abandoned game board. As the mare's eyes fell on Dawn, she let out a squeal of absolute joy and launched herself at the colt.

Before her hooves could even reach him, Dawn vanished from view and the mare's flying tackle instead landed on the pillow he'd been occupying. Dawn seemed to materialize behind her. staring at the mare in confusion.

"Dawn," said Fluttershy, rushing into the room in the wake of her mother, "This is Posey, my mother."

"Mother?" Dawn looked between Fluttershy and the other mare. They shared the same color scheme, though Posey was shorter and stockier than her daughter.

The sound of heavier hooves drew Dawn's attention to the stallion coming up behind Fluttershy. The stallion was easily tall enough to be a match for Big Macintosh, albeit with none of the Apple stallion's bulk. Instead, his figure was slimmer and much more aerodynamic.

Seeing the path of Dawn's gaze, Fluttershy stood aside to let the colt get a better view of the stallion. "And this is Silverlight, my father."

Dawn blinked, his gaze switching back and forth between Silverlight and Posey. "Then these are..."

"Yes," said Fluttershy, "They're your grandparents. I'm sorry you didn't get to meet them before now."

Silverlight appeared to ignore Fluttershy, stepping past his daughter and marching into the room. He stared down at Dawn, his gaze stern and commanding. "Say it," he said.

Dawn raised his eyebrows, not entirely sure what he was being asked to say.

Silverlight snorted impatiently. "You know what to call me. Say it!"

Dawn blinked. "Um...Grandpa...?"

Like somepony had flipped a switch, Silverlight's demeanor did a complete one-eighty as his face burst into a radiant, beaming smile, his eyes directed at the ceiling as he heaved a blissful sigh. "Ah! My life is complete."

Before Dawn could react, he was swept up by the stallion into a bone-crushing hug. "You have no idea how long I've been waiting to be called that!" exclaimed Silverlight jubilantly as he danced about the room, squeezing the ebony colt in his forelegs. "It's real! I'm a grandpa!"

Dawn squirmed and tried to wiggle free from the stallion's embrace. However, he had just barely pulled away when he was intercepted by another pair of forelegs as Fluttershy's mother decided to get in on the action.

"You can't hog him to yourself," declared Posey as she hugged Dawn against her chest. "Now what do you call me?" she asked the disoriented colt.

"Grandma...?" A few other terms came to Dawn's mind, but he figured he knew which one she wanted to hear and which ones would get his mouth washed out with soap.

Posey let out a triumphant squeal as she whirled in the air, Dawn still clutched in her arms. Dawn let out a resigned sigh, realizing that the squeal sounded all too familiar. She's mom's mom alright.

"Mom! Please put him down!" demanded Fluttershy. Not waiting to see if Posey complied with her request, Fluttershy flew up and quickly pried Dawn out of her mother's legs and Fluttered back down to the couch, her arms wrapped protectively and much more gently about Dawn. They settled onto the couch in their usual mode of embrace, Dawn comfortably curled up against his mother's chest while her arms and wings wrapped around him from behind and she rested her chin on top of his head. She glared sternly at her parents. But the sight was a little too cute for it to be intimidating, so Posey and Silverlight merely laughed instead.

"I'm sorry dear," said Posey, "We just got a little carried away. Your father and I have been waiting to find out we were grandparents ever since you moved out to live on your own. We'd always figured that you would find somepony special and give us a grandfoal to spoil. We never figured it would be the other way around."

Fluttershy's hold on Dawn tightened slightly as her cheeks turned pink.

Scootaloo jumped up onto the couch next to Dawn and Fluttershy, glancing sidelong at the colt. "Your grandparents are cuckoo," she whispered softly.

Dawn only raised an eyebrow as he returned her look.

"And who's this?" asked Posey as she noticed Scootaloo.

Realizing that she was now the object of Posey's attention, Scootaloo froze. "Um...Hi. I'm Scootaloo."

"Is she yours?" asked Silverlight, casting another suspicious glance at Caramel, who flinched under the older stallion's gaze.

"What? No!"

"Dad!" admonished Fluttershy, "Behave." She unfolded one of her wings from around Dawn and used it to draw Scootaloo up against herself. "This is Scootaloo. She's actually Dawn's special somepony."

Posey let out a gasp as her eyes widened. "You've adopted a son and he already has a special somepony! Does this mean that, someday, I could have Great Grandfoals?"

Dawn and Scootaloo's cheeks broke out in identical blushes. "What they hay!" exclaimed Scootaloo.

"Mom!" gasped Fluttershy, "It's far too soon for that?"

"Uh...yeah," agreed Scootaloo, "We're still in school, for one thing."

"I know dear. I'm sorry," said Posey, "I just get a little carried away."

"A little...?" muttered Dawn. Only the lightest jerking of his mother's chest behind him betrayed Fluttershy's silent giggle.

"Now then," said Silverlight as he settled onto a cushion next to his wife, "There's only one last question left to ask." He sharply turned to look at Caramel, his gaze fixing the tan stallion into place. "Who is this and why are you staying at his house?"

"Uh...that's two questions," said Caramel with a nervous grin, trying his hardest to relieve the tension he was feeling.

"Dad." Fluttershy's tone wrenched Silverlight's gaze away from Caramel and back to his daughter, who was looking at him sternly over Dawn's head. "This is Caramel. He's my special somepony. He invited Dawn and I to stay with him for the season." Fluttershy was barely able to make the last sentence heard over her mother's celebratory squeal.

Fluttershy looked at Caramel and smiled, flicking the wing that wasn't holding Scootaloo and beckoning him to join her on the couch. With a small smile, the tan stallion did as he was bid and planted himself on the cushions next to his fillyfriend.

"Why are you only staying with him for the season?" asked Silverlight.

Fluttershy, seemingly oblivious to her father's intense scrutiny happily relayed the details of the situation.

"Well...that's unorthodox," said Silverlight as his daughter finished.

"It sounds perfectly sweet to me," Posey retorted, "I'm so happy you've found yourself such a nice stallion Fluttershy."

"Thank you mom," said Fluttershy, smiling shyly at her mother as she wrapped her wing around Caramel, pulling herself up against his side. The act earned another, quieter squeal from her mother.

Silverlight, however, still didn't seem convinced. "And you're just going to move back out when winter's over?" he asked skeptically.

"Well, of course," said Fluttershy, "After winter, I'll need to start taking care of all my animal friends again."

"And you're just going to keep doing this?" asked Silverlight, looking at Fluttershy, "Or were you ultimately planning on moving in with this stallion?"

Caramel flinched hearing Fluttershy's father refer to him as "this stallion." He got the impression that Silverlight didn't exactly approve of him, but couldn't exactly put his hoof on why.

Fluttershy blushed. "Um...well...we haven't talked about anything that far ahead," she said.

"Your grandpa is kinda scary," Scootaloo whispered to Dawn, who could only nod slightly at her words.

"How long have you been in a relationship?" asked Posey, seemingly much more pleased with the situation than her husband was.

"Uh..." Fluttershy unfolded her wing from Caramel's back and began counting off her feathers. "We started dating around midsummer...then..." She looked over at Caramel. "Five months...?"

"Five and a half...about?" answered Caramel with a shrug.

"Close enough," agreed Dawn.

If anything, this only seemed to agitate Silverlight further.

Scootaloo was finding the familial tension a little much to bear. She glanced at the clock and faked a gasp. "Oh would you look at that," she said, "My mom's expecting me home real soon. I'd better be going." She pulled herself out of Fluttershy's wing and made for the door. "It was nice meeting you, Mr. and Mrs. 'Shy."

"I'll walk with you," said Dawn quickly, shooting a plaintive look up at his mother, who nodded and released him to join the filly.

The two of them rushed out into the hall and quickly got into their winter garb before darting out the door, leaving Fluttershy and Caramel alone with Fluttershy's parents. Caramel watched the foals go, desperately wishing he could join them.

"So..." The tone of Silverlight's voice forced Caramel's ears flat against the side of his head as Caramel turned to look at the older stallion, desperately fighting to keep a whimper from escaping his throat.

"So," repeated Silverlight, "Tell us about yourself."

"Um...uh...." Caramel had to fight to find the words, shuddering beneath Silverlight's scrutiny. Suddenly, he felt Fluttershy's wing tighten its hold. Looking over at Fluttershy, he saw his fillyfriend smiling warmly at him. Slowly, she leaned her head over and nuzzled up against his neck. The action helped ease Caramel's tension...somewhat.

Turning back to Fluttershy's parents, Caramel did his best to smile politely at them. "I work at Bon Bon's candy shop," he said.

"Oh! You're a confectioner!" exclaimed Posey, looking quite happy to learn this, even if her husband didn't share her enthusiasm.

"That's right," said Caramel.

"What kind of candies do you make?" she asked.

Letting out a small, relieved breath, Caramel happily indulged her, explaining the different candies and confections he made at the shop, more than a few of which had been his own inventions. Talking about what he knew made it a little easier for him to participate in the conversation, although he could feel Silverlight's eyes boring into him all too clearly. Ultimately, Caramel wasn't able to keep from breaking out in a mild sweat as Silverlight watched him intently throughout the evening. Sheesh, and the night started out so nice too.

Scootaloo and Dawn took their time, choosing to walk, rather than fly to Scootaloo's home. Dawn's impression of his grandparents was initially positive. They hadn't even paused for a second at the sight of his eyes. Since they'd found out about him through the newspaper articles, they would know all about his condition and the situation surrounding it. Yet, they hadn't brought it up even once. He was fairly certain that they had been waiting eagerly for grandfoals to dote on.

That said, the cold, almost menacing way Silverlight had been treating Caramel had made Dawn more than a little nervous. The colt found it strangely odd that his prospective father, rather than he himself, was the one getting unpleasant treatment. Realizing that he'd essentially abandoned Caramel to what was probably turning into an interrogation made a jolt of guilt shoot through Dawn's gut and he quickened his pace, resolving to get back and hopefully help Caramel through the situation.

The two of them arrived at Scootaloo's house. The filly opened the door and smiled at Dawn. "I guess you need to head back," she said, "But you could probably stay here for a little bit."

"I'd better not," said Dawn, "I get the feeling dad is going to need some help with this."

"Okay," said Scootaloo, "I'll see you tomorrow."

Dawn nodded. They shared a quick kiss before Dawn took to the air and began winging his way back to Caramel's house.

Scootaloo sighed as she watched the colt go. She went into her house, closing the door behind her and followed the quiet sounds of conversation into the kitchen. As she looked around the corner, she gasped. "Rainbow Dash!"

"Hey there squirt!" said Rainbow, stepping away from the table so that she could catch Scootaloo as the filly jumped right into her arms, "You're back early. Everything alright at Dawn's place?"

"Well," said Scootaloo as she pulled away, "Everything was fine. We were all playing some games together when Fluttershy's parents showed up..."

Rainbow froze, her eyes going wide. "Fluttershy's parents?"

"Yeah! They're pretty crazy."

"Scootaloo!" gasped Melon, looking down at her daughter, "That's not a nice thing to say about your coltfriend's grandparents."

"Not nice, but pretty accurate," muttered Rainbow, "Wow! Poor Caramel. If I remember 'Shy's dad right, he's probably giving the poor guy the third degree." Rainbow looked down at her honorary little sister. "How'd they handle Dawn."

"They went crazy over him," said Scootaloo, "I thought they were gonna kick the bucket out of happiness."

"Yeah, that sounds about right," muttered Rainbow.

"Am I missing something?" asked Melon Cream, looking between Rainbow and Scootaloo in confusion.

Rainbow sighed. "Well, Fluttershy's parents always mean well and they're really nice overall. I think they keep trying to make up for what 'Shy had to go through during Flight School."

"Oh...that..." Melon's mind flashed back to the first time she'd talked with Rainbow about Scootaloo's future.

"They were the ones that sent her there, so they feel kinda responsible for how she was bullied all the time," explained Rainbow, "And after Fluttershy dropped out, they decided to move to Las Pegasus, where they didn't have to deal with as many tribalists. They love her and accepted her decision to stay in Ponyville without any problems. But Silverlight got really protective of her and he can get pretty harsh when he thinks a stallion is trying to put the moves on 'Shy." She shuddered. "I'd hate to think of what he's gonna do to Caramel since he and 'Shy are actually dating."

"I'm sure Caramel will be fine," said Melon, "Fluttershy's able to stand up for her own decisions."

"I guess," agreed Rainbow, "But it's probably not gonna be easy for the poor guy.

"So, about this idea to stay with the stallion for the season..." said Silverlight, "It's only temporary, right?"

"Well, yes," said Fluttershy, "Once spring comes, all of my animal friends will either be waking up or migrating back and I'll need to move back to my cottage to take care of them all. They wouldn't like it this far inside Ponyville." She paused as the thought occurred to her. "Oh, and Caramel's neighbors probably wouldn't like it very much either."

"That's an understatement," said Caramel with a chuckle as he imagined the look on his neighbors' faces as Fluttershy moved a veritable menagerie into his house.

"You don't seem too troubled by this," said Silverlight, still staring hard at Caramel.

"Well, with Dawn, things are kinda complicated," said Caramel, "This season's sort of like a test case, to see if we can really get along living together."

"So far it's been going very well," interjected Fluttershy as she snuggled against Caramel with a happy sigh.

The stallion nodded his agreement. "But," he continued, "if we were to decide to try something more...uh...permanent, I'd probably sell this house and move in with Fluttershy at her place."

"And why would you do that?" asked Silverlight.

"Well, I obviously couldn't ask Fluttershy to give up her animal friends," said Caramel, "It wouldn't be right, seeing as she loves them so much." His words prompted his fillyfriend to shift so she could kiss his cheek.

Caramel would have loved to enjoy the feeling, but his attention was instead stolen by the flaring of Silverlight's nostrils. It looked as thought he older stallion wanted to punch him in the face. This isn't gonna end well.

"I'm a bit curious," said Posey, frowning slightly, "You said this season is a test case. What do you mean by that?"

"Well," said Caramel, scratching the back of his head, "Dawn isn't your usual colt and it's not like I can be a regular father to him. So what we need is to really get a feel for each other and figure out how we fit together as a family." He smiled. "I figured that this was the perfect opportunity to try it, the three of us living together as a family."

"And do you like it?" inquired Posey, leaning forward, her smile returning, "Having a son."

Settling back, Caramel thought about the three of them curling up together in front of the fire, the occasional awkward conversations he'd had with the colt, even Dawn's consternation from their attempt at Family Game Night earlier that evening. "Yeah," he said, a blissful feeling flowing through him, "Yeah, I do."

Before the conversation could pick up, Caramel found Fluttershy's hooves on either side of his muzzle as she turned his head to face him. A second later, she planted a firm kiss on his lips, letting her own lips linger for a long moment before she finally pulled away. "I like it too," she whispered.

Posey's hooves flew to her mouth and she let out a nearly inaudible "Eeee!"

Silverlight, on the other hoof, looked as though he was on the verge of exploding.

The sound of the door opening and closing echoed through the void in the conversation. "I'm back," called Dawn from the hall as he trotted in and climbed up between Caramel and Fluttershy on the couch.

Posey blinked and looked at the clock. "I think that's our cue to go," she said.

"What? Wait!" Silverlight protested as Posey latched onto his arm and began to drag him towards the front door.

"Come now dear," admonished Posey as she pulled her husband out into the hall so that they could get their winter-wear back on, "It's not as though we're leaving right away. We have a few days at the very least."

Silverlight looked as though he wanted to protest, but a single look from his wife stopped him cold. With a resigned sigh, he relented and began to put his own coat on.

Fluttershy followed them out into the hall, watching as her parents got dressed. "How long will you be staying?" she asked.

"A week," said Posey, with a smile, "That's as long as we were able to get for vacation time before we have to be back at Las Pegasus."

"I see..." said Fluttershy, her smile wavering, "Maybe we can meet for lunch tomorrow."

Posey turned and pulled her daughter into an affectionate and, fortunately, gentle hug. "Of course we can dear. How about we meet here tomorrow and go out. Will your colt and coltfriend be joining us?"

"I'm afraid not," said Fluttershy with a sigh, "They both have work tomorrow."

Posey froze. Behind her, Silverlight paused as well, both of them giving Fluttershy a confused look. "Dawn has a job?" asked Posey.

Fluttershy nodded. "Oh yes," she said cheerfully, "He works at the new teahouse by the library. He really likes it."

Her parents shared a confused glance before looking back at Fluttershy. "My," said Posey, "That's rather surprising. Doesn't he have friends aside from his fillyfriend?"

"Yes," said Fluttershy, "But they all work there too, so he gets to spend plenty of time with them all."

"Really...?" Posey wanted to ask more, but decided that enough was enough for the evening. "We'll talk about it some more tomorrow. I want to hear everything about what's been going on."

"Of course," said Fluttershy, waving as she saw them off. Posey was leading the way, with Silverlight following reluctantly behind.

Fluttershy closed the door, pressed her back against it and slumped down to the floor. "Oh my," she sighed.

"Are you alright?" asked Caramel as he moved forward to wrap his arms around her.

Slowly, Fluttershy nodded and leaned into the embrace. "Yes. I'm sorry about my parents. They mean well, but...they can be a little...much."

"I get what you mean," said Caramel, "I get the distinct impression your father didn't like me very much."

"He's like that every time he thinks a stallion is interested in me," said Fluttershy, "He's just very protective. He'll come around eventually...I think...I hope..."

"Me too," agreed Caramel, thinking that he probably wouldn't survive the older stallion's wrath unscathed. Turning, he looked at Dawn, who was watching them from the door to the living room. "How about you?" he asked.

"Well, they seemed nice enough to me," said Dawn with a shrug, "But I don't know if I can handle any more of those hugs."

"You might have to get used to it," said Caramel with a chuckle, "They aren't the only pair of grandparents you're going to be getting out of this. My parents are pretty eager to meet you too."

Seeing Dawn's eyes widen made Caramel chuckle a little bit more, "Oh don't worry, they're a lot more even-keeled. I think you'll get along pretty well with them."

"Did you tell them about Dawn's condition?" asked Fluttershy as the family moved back into the living room.

"After the article came out, yeah," replied Caramel, "They already knew that I was dating you and that you had adopted a colt, but I didn't tell them about Dawn's eyes." It hurt a little to think that he'd been keeping secrets from his own parents, but Caramel understood that the risks had been too high at the time. Even though he believed with every fiber of his being that there was no way in Tartarus that his parents were members of the Cult Solar, if they knew about Dawn's condition and spoke about it then there might have been a chance of somepony from the cult hearing about it.

"I hope they leave it until later," said Dawn, "I don't think I can handle more than one set of grandparents at a time." Fluttershy started giggling and Caramel laughed out loud. The two of them leaned down to nuzzle their son fondly as they retired to enjoy the remainder of the evening in quiet relaxation.

"Our dear little angel has grown up," cooed Posey as she and her husband slowly winged their way back to the inn, "I'm impressed that she has such a mature, well-behaved colt."

"He's an odd sort," said Silverlight, "But not too bad. We'll have to have some stallion-time together."

"I'm sure he'd appreciate that dear," said Posey, giving her husband an amused smile, "Fluttershy seems to have found herself a nice stallion too."

Silverlight's good mood seemed to evaporate. "I don't like him."

"Of course you don't," said Posey with a roll of her eyes, "But he seems a pleasant fellow, so go easy on him."

"I don't trust him," said Silverlight, seemingly oblivious to what his wife had just asked, "He seems shifty to me. What if he's trying to take advantage of our daughter?"

Posey sighed and rolled her eyes again. In a sense, it was her husband's way of coping with what had happened. She had tried to compensate for the past by giving Fluttershy as much affection as she possibly could whenever the opportunity presented itself. Silverlight apparently compensated by behaving in the most stereotypically stallionly manner a father possibly could. She remembered their last visit when Silverlight had been sure Fluttershy had been eyeing that massive red specimen of a stallion who proceeded to shrug off Silverlight's efforts at intimidation with nothing more than a few syllables.

Now, not only was there a stallion that Fluttershy was showing a genuine interest in, but one who was reciprocating that interest. Not only that, but the two of them had already progressed quite far in their relationship if they were already living together, even if it was only temporarily. Just how far was something Posey planned on finding out when she met Fluttershy in the morning.

"I sincerely doubt that," she said in response to her husband's speculation, "Fluttershy has excellent judgment and it would take a very special stallion to get through her usual shyness. Her friends are looking out for her too and Dawn seems to be a perceptive colt. If none of them have any problem with her choice of coltfriend, then I don't think there's anything to be worried about."

Silverlight huffed and fell silent. It was clear that he wasn't in agreement. But he'd at least decided to keep his thoughts to himself for the time being. His silence persisted all the way back to the inn.

The door to the bedroom slowly opened admit Storm Front as he pushed his shoulder against it. His wings were beating rhythmically, keeping him a short distance of the floor as his legs cradled the sleeping Flitter. The mare hummed and nuzzled into the warmth of his chest as Storm carried her across the room to his bed, where he laid her down.

Working slowly and gently, so as not to disturb her, Storm untied the ribbon from around her hair and hung it from one of the bedposts. Then he pulled up the covers, tucking them around his fillyfriend, who only responded by rolling onto her side and pulling the blanket and comforter tighter around herself. Storm couldn't help but smile at the sight and leaned over to gently kiss Flitter's cheek.

Flitter had fallen asleep while the two of them had been lounging in front of the fire. Storm couldn't bring himself to wake her or force her to endure the outside cold in order to take her back to her own home. Instead, he'd opted to simply put her to bed and take the couch for himself. No doubt she'd be teased mercilessly by Cloud Chaser and Thunderlane, but at least she would be warm and comfortable for the night.

After making sure that his fillyfriend was tucked in, Storm left the house and took to the air. Banking, he angled his flight towards the teahouse. Though the outside lanterns had been extinguished, there was still a sliver of light shining out from under the door, which was uncharacteristic, given the hour.

Storm dropped to the ground outside the door and smacked a hoof sharply against the wood. A few seconds later, Arkenstone's voice echoed from within. "Come in."

Coming in, Storm took a second to shake off the snow that had accumulated on his fur and feathers before continuing inside. Arkenstone was at the table, a large pot of tea and three cups laid out before the stallion. Red River was already there as well, the azure stallion sitting a short distance away from Arkenstone and facing perpendicular to his fellow earth pony. Storm settled down across from Red and, together, the two of them turned to regard Arkenstone.

The settings for the tea were a bit different than usual, more formal. The pot was larger than most of Arkenstone's wares, made from a fine porcelain, white and inlaid with blue and gold. Storm was quick to recognize the quality of its craftmareship. The cups that accompanied the pot were shorter and broader, more like small bowls than cups. They were of the same make as the pot and adorned with the same patterns. The teapot rested on a small brazier that would keep the contents warm throughout an extended session. The final component to the setup was a plain white napkin, folded into a neat square in front of Arkenstone.

As Storm took his seat, Arkenstone took the first cup and wiped the rim with the napkin. He then poured a tiny quantity of tea into the cup, not even a full mouthful. Raising the cup to his lips, Arkenstone completely drained it with a single swallow. After that, he wiped the rim with the napkin again before setting the cup in front of Storm, who nodded solemnly. Arkenstone repeated the process again before setting another cup in front of Red, who accepted it with equal gravity. Arkenstone then performed the same procedure with his own cup before pouring each of them a full serving of tea.(1)

Storm stared silently at the amber brew swirling around his cup for a moment, pondering Arkenstone's actions. This is more serious than I thought. Storm raised the cup to his lips and drank deeply draining the cup in three sips. Setting the cup down, the pegasus turned to regard Arkenstone and raised an eyebrow. "What have you learned?"

Arkenstone nodded and began to relate the information he'd learned from Luna regarding the Cult Solar's actions. It had been a few days since Nightmare Night, but Arkenstone had decided to try and see if he could learn anything more through correspondence with Shining Armor. Sadly, all he had learned was nothing more than a confirmation of what Luna had already told him.

When he finished, Red and Storm were both silent. They'd helped themselves to the tea and were on their third cups, thinking hard about the information that had just been relayed to them.

"A master of the Mountain Root..." Red shook his head slowly. "It looks as though our worst fears have been confirmed. So the Cult Solar did have a fighter of Willow's caliber in their ranks."

"An even higher caliber," corrected Storm, turning his gaze back to Arkenstone, "I'm afraid this is over our heads. If he's really coming here, then it's going to fall to you."

The blind stallion nodded in agreement. "Yes. Unfortunately, we cannot necessarily guarantee that I will be able to intercept him right away. If that is the case, then I will need you to waylay him, buy as much time as you possibly can."

Red River frowned. "This isn't like dealing with a practitioner of the Gale King or the Still Way. Most fights involving a pony of even moderate skill in the Mountain Root are decided in an instant. They always try to end things with the first blow whenever possible."

Arkenstone nodded. "Yes. It won't be easy. Even more importantly, when he comes, we will likely have to evacuate Ponyville."

"Evacuate them to where?" asked Storm Front

"Sweet Apple Acres," answered Red River, "Granny Smith is a Mountain Root Master as well. Even though she might not be up for fighting all that much anymore, I think she can keep the area secure."

"Yes," agreed Arkenstone, "That is the best option right now. One way or another, it will fall to us to deal with Terra Heart when he comes to Ponyville."

"Dawn's progress has been nothing short of phenomenal," Red pointed out, "In the few months since we last dueled, his skills have advanced considerably. Do you believe he might have a chance."

"Of victory?" Arkenstone shook his head. "No. If Terra Heart really is a master of the Mountain Root, then none of Dawn's blows will even be able to touch him."

"The same could be said for us," replied Storm, "Neither Red nor I could hope to scratch him at our level. If we are going to buy time, it might very well be at the cost of our lives."

Arkenstone's lips compressed into a tight line. "I'm sorry. I don't want it to be this way, especially when you've both found so much to live for..."

"It's fine," said Red, sounding strangely cheery, given the gravity of their conversation, "It's what we were hired for isn't it? If anything, having something to live for makes it more likely that we'll be able to do something. Having a reason to keep living makes you stronger."

Storm nodded his agreement. "We won't die if we can help it."

"I certainly hope so," said Arkenstone, "The only real issue with this situation is when Terra Heart will show up."

"That's been bothering me since you told us about the situation," said Red, "If the Supreme Pontiff had been thinking about sending Terra, why did he bother issuing an order to the rest of the Cult to keep them from acting. Given the lines of communication, by the time that order reached everyone it was supposed to, Terra could have already come and gone."

"In other words, the reason the Supreme Pontiff sent that order out was because he was not planning on having Terra Heart act immediately," deduced Storm Front.

"They're waiting," agreed Arkenstone, "But until when...And for what? Given the situation, the longer it takes for a resolution to be reached, the more agitation will form amongst the members of the Cult Solar, making it harder for the Supreme Pontiff to maintain order. Why is he waiting then?"

Red shrugged. "I haven't the faintest clue. I'll talk to Mayweather and see if she has any ideas as to why they would want to delay action. But if it's a decision made by the Supreme Pontiff, then it may be for reasons unrelated to the actual doctrines of the Cult itself."

"Perhaps we should consider the negative conversation," said Storm Front.

Red River turned to look at his old friend, while Arkenstone's ears swiveled in Storm's direction.

"The negative conversation?" asked Arkenstone.

"It's something I learned as a civil servant in Guoxia," explained Storm, "As martial artists, we are all familiar with the principles of duality, negative and positive, yin and yang. That applies to many things, including conversation. For every conversation, there is what is said and, sometimes more importantly, what is unsaid."

"In other words, we need to consider what the Supreme Pontiff's orders to the rest of the Cult Solar are not saying," said Red.

Storm nodded. "Since we have nothing to help us understand what the Supreme Pontiff and his Cult would gain from waiting, perhaps we should instead ask: What do they stand to lose by acting immediately?"

Red thought for a moment before turning to look at Akenstone. "Let's say...this Terra guy decides to show up tomorrow...What would be the immediate consequences of that?"

Arkenstone tapped his chin for a moment, paused to take long sip from his cup...tapped his chin some more...took another sip...refilled his cup...took another sip...

Finally, his eyes shot open, displaying featureless white that stared sightlessly ahead of him. "If Terra were to attack immediately, then, regardless of the outcome, Princess Celestia would have all the evidence she needs to begin a full-scale investigation of the Cult Solar. Until now, our proactive options have been limited because, from the law's perspective, it's been the actions of a few radical members. But if a member, second to the leader himself, were to take action, it would make it more than enough evidence for us to investigate. We would be free to root them out with every tool in our arsenal in order to find the leaders and bring them to justice."

"So that's why this Supreme Pontiff fellow pulled this stunt," said Red.

"Not quite," said Storm, "If that were the case, there would be no need to order a cessation of hostilities at all, much less issue a statement claiming that his own second-in-command would be coming to kill Dawn."

"Well, he certainly couldn't stop them forever," said Arkenstone, "When one fosters that kind of fanaticism in one's followers, it becomes the sort of thing that can't simply be switched on and off at the instigator's convenience. At some point, action from the top of the organization is required if ponies are to maintain their faith in his leadership."

"In other words, at this point, Dawn's death would actually be an inconvenience to him," murmured Storm.

"Oh!" said Red as it finally clicked in his head, "It's a stalling tactic. He's trying to keep his Cult in check because, if Tera were to kill Dawn now, it would lead to Princess Celestia and the authorities taking too close a look at what he's doing."

"Which means that there is something the Supreme Pontiff is actually doing," added Storm, "And his priority is to keep anypony from looking and finding out what that is before he's finished it."

"I think we've all had the sneaking suspicion that the Cult Solar's great leader isn't exactly a true believer," said Red, "A lot of the things we've heard about what he does seem more pragmatic than spiritual; the emphasis on secrecy and 'humility,' a 'path' that ponies have to work their way through to simply see him, and now pulling back the reins on his little army of fanatics to keep them from acting out before he's ready..."

"If that's the case, then the article about Dawn may well have caused him more problems than we realized," concluded Arkenstone, "He has something...a project, let's assume...that he needs to complete. However, he can't afford anypony taking too close a look at what that project is."

"But then the article comes along," said Red, picking up the thread, "And suddenly all the ponies, maybe the ones who are supposed to be working on his project, are up in arms about Dawn and want to go after the kid."

Storm jumped in. "But that would cause progress on his goal to suffer. On top of that, it would invite too much scrutiny from Princess Celestia and the Guard, so he issues an order to stop them from acting out and, to keep them from getting impatient too quickly, states that the most powerful pony in the Cult, both politically and physically speaking, will resolve the situation, but is clearly holding him back in order to buy more time."

All three stallions went silent. After all that had happened, after all the fights, after all that the colt that the three of them had had mentored, in one form or another, had suffered, here was the first real ray of light in their situation, a chance to turn the tables on Dawn's antagonists. If they could take the initiative, then the Cult Solar might finally be eliminated. Dawn, the ponies with that same condition, and Princess Luna herself, would be able to breathe easily without having to worry about a mob of deluded fanatics quietly seeking their deaths.

"Now that we have an idea of what the Cult Solar is up to, the question is what we do about it," said Storm pensively.

Red's ears perked up and he blinked. "Appleloosa!" he said abruptly, "Let's start there!"

"Why Appleloosa?" asked Storm.

"It is a place where we know the Cult has gained a strong hoofhold," Arkenstone pointed out.

"It's more than that," said Red, "When Applejack's relatives were visiting, her cousin Braeburn mentioned something about a construction project, some kind of temple."

"I see..." said Storm, "...Given the Cult Solar's modern iteration's emphasis on secrecy and 'humility,' an ostentatious, public place of worship would seem to go against that doctrine."

Arkenstone nodded. "I'll inform Shining Armor right away." His head turned in the direction of the library. "Neither he or Spike are going to be happy about being woken up at this hour."

Still, it couldn't be helped. There was no knowing when Terra Heart would arrive. Also, there was no knowing when the Supreme Pontiff's mysterious goal, the entire reason he had stalled the Cult Solar's actions against Dawn, would be reached. Time was of the essence.

"I guess that's it for the night then," said Storm, "We'll have to be very careful from here on out."

"Do we want to inform Dawn of this?" asked Red.

Akenstone froze with an expression that the other two stallions had never seen before on his face. In the course of their discussion, not to mention all their past interactions with him, they had seen Arkenstone stop because he was pensive about something, thinking about it deliberately and carefully. But this was the first time they had seen him even momentarily paralyzed with pure indecision.

"I...I do not know..." Arkenstone sighed. "For his safety, it is best if he is prepared. But..."

"Learning just how seriously he's being threatened would sure ruin his holiday," said Red ruefully.

"I have a feeling that dying because he was unprepared for the threats he might face would make his holiday infinitely worse," retorted Storm.

Arkenstone sighed. "There really isn't any choice. I will tell him tomorrow. If anything, we should regard him as our peer and treat him as such. He deserves our respect."

The other two stallions nodded. Silently, the three of them agreed to adjourn for the night. Storm Front flew back to his house while Red made the long trek through the snow back to Sweet Apple Acres. Meanwhile, Arkenstone, after some writing, traveled the much shorter distance between his teahouse and Twilight's library. Unlocking the door with the key she'd given him, he soundlessly made his way across the floor and up the stairs. His ears turned in the direction of Twilight's bed, where he could hear the faint sound of her breath. After a moment, he turned his attention to the large basket a short distance away, whose inhabitant was snoring softly.

Feeling slightly guilty, Arkenstone walked up to Spike's bed and began to gently prod the young dragon. "Spike," he whispered, "Spike...I need you to wake up please. I'm so sorry about this, but I have an urgent letter I need you to send..."

Author's Note

1) A Guoxian style tea ceremony practiced in the Imperial Court. Though largely informal, the ceremonial aspects of tea serving evolved out of the hostile environment of infighting amongst the nobles and high-ranking civil servants. Poisoning one's political adversaries was, at times, a favored tactic amongst the court. As a consequence, this ceremony evolved as a means of ensuring that none of the participants were at risk of being poisoned by their host. The host begins by wiping the rim of the cup, then pouring a sip of tea in. He then drinks the sip and wipes the rim again before pouring the tea and serving the guest. The procedure is repeated for each guest. The first wipe is to prove that the cloth has not been poisoned, while drinking a sample of the tea proves the tea itself has not been poisoned either. Drinking from each participant's cup shows that none of the cups have been poisoned either.

Naturally, it is not a perfect process and there are, of course, plenty of means to work around this method in order to poison one's adversaries during the course of serving them tea. The members of the Imperial Court can be endlessly creative when it comes to ways of scheming to remove rivals to their power or create openings for themselves in government stations. It has been said that, if they invested even half of the creativity they invested in finding new ways to kill each other into actual governance, the Imperial Court could probably build Guoxia into the greatest and most prosperous nation in the world.

Though such a ceremony is primarily used for those who are in a situation where trust in the host has to be proven, it has extended out into other facets of Guoxian society. Even amongst those who share sufficient trust with one another to not even suspect each other of attempted poisoning, this ceremony serves as a signal for an extremely serious conversation, generally meaning that the host wishes the other participants to entrust him with their lives.

I honestly wasn't sure whether or not to put that author's note in. I was hoping to find a way to work the explanation into the narrative later on, probably in a future story, but decided not to leave things to chance, which is why it's here.

With Fluttershy's parents, I decided not to try for anything too dramatic, like having them be members of the Cult Solar or even thinking that Dawn was a freak because of his eyes. Instead, that conflict is largely focused on Silverlight's beef with Caramel. For Silverlight in particular, I took some cues from Reishin from Saiunkoku Monogatari with him going blissfully ballistic every time Dawn calls him grandpa (the way Reishin lights up everytime Shurei calls him uncle). I thought it was both funny and cute.

Next chapter: Questions are asked.

Interrogation

Chapter 9: Interrogation

"So," said Posey as she settled into her seat at the table, "How far have the two of you gone?"

Fluttershy's cheeks lit up bright-red. "Mom!" she exclaimed, looking positively mortified.

"What?" asked Posey, "It's a valid question. Not only have you been dating him for nearly half a year, but you're actually staying at his house. I think it's an inquiry worth making."

Fluttershy seemed to shrink in her seat as her gaze darted around the restaurant to see if anypony was looking their way. "But here...?"

Posey giggled lightly. "Oh Fluttershy, nopony's going to care about what we say." Her eyes sparkled with amusement. "Unless, of course, a certain daughter of mine keeps shouting whenever I ask a simple question. Then they might start paying more attention."

Fluttershy's slumping posture gave the impression that she was trying to sink down beneath the table.

"So..." said Posey, waving her hoof in a motion indicating that Fluttershy should answer her original question.

"Well...we haven't done much," said Fluttershy, sitting back up and trying her best to keep her gaze from jumping around too much, "We've slept together but-"

"Hold on," said Posey, an eyebrow going up, "Slept together or slept together?"

Fluttershy didn't fail to notice emphasis on the second one. "Um...the first one," she said.

Posey relaxed a little. "Oh that's good. I'm a bit worried about what your father might do if the two of you had..." She didn't need to finish the sentence. "In any case, it's good that the two of you are taking things slowly right now. There's no need to get ahead of yourselves."

Fluttershy nodded. "True. Caramel and I have been doing very well lately. He even gets along really well with Dawn. Dawn's been calling him dad."

Posey couldn't quite keep a squeal from escaping her. "Ooh! That's wonderful. I'm so happy for you."

"Thank you mom," said Fluttershy, her posture relaxing. She should have known that Posey wouldn't be too intrusive or overbearing. She sighed and sat back, taking the ambience of the restaurant. "Where's dad?"

"Oh, out and about," said Posey nonchalantly, "I wouldn't be surprised if he tried to drop in on your coltfriend at work."

Fluttershy's body went rigid at the thought. "Oh! Please tell me he wouldn't! That could be bad?"

"Well, I'll admit he can be overzealous," said Posey, "But he won't take things too far...probably...maybe..."

"Mom..." Fluttershy dropped her face into her hooves. Silverlight harassing Caramel at his job could end very badly, especially if Bon Bon was in the store too. The cream-colored mare was known to have a fiery temper at times, especially when it came to ponies causing trouble at her shop.

"Don't worry dear," said Posey, patting her daughter's shoulder, "Things have a way of working themselves out."

"That's what you always say," grumbled Fluttershy from behind her hooves.

"I see," said Dawn after listening to Arkenstone, "Thank you for telling me."

"What will you do?" asked the beige stallion.

Dawn shrugged. "What else can I do but wait? Terra Heart will come when he comes. If there is no way of knowing, then I will simply have to accept that."

Arkenstone's lips twitched into a smile. "You're right about that. Remember, Red, Storm, and I are all here, so don't go trying to do everything yourself."

"I won't," said Dawn. With that, he turned and walked away from Arkenstone, returning to the floor to continue serving customers. The teahouse was fairly busy, given the number of ponies seeking shelter inside the warm confines of the shop, enjoying steaming cups of tea to chase the cold from their limbs and warm their insides.

Arkenstone was impressed that Dawn had accepted the news with such grace. It was a sign of how far the colt had come, but also a sign of how much he had been through. Dawn was no stranger to looking out for himself and keeping aware of his surroundings. It wasn't likely that Terra Heart would try sneaking up on him anyway.

The door to the shop opened to admit a gray and blue stallion with an irritable expression. Looking around, his eyes almost immediately zeroed in on Dawn. Arkenstone didn't fail to notice, but also noted a distinct lack of hostility from the unfamiliar stallion as he approached the colt.

Dawn had just finished serving another table as he turned to look at the approaching stallion. "Hello grandpa," he said politely.

The stallion's irritable demeanor melted almost instantly as his eyes drifted upward and he let out a happy hum. After a second's coughing he managed to regain his composure.

Dawn couldn't help but smile at his grandfather's antics and directed him to a table. "What can I get you?" he asked.

Silverlight chuckled and set down the menu without looking at it. "I'll leave it up to you."

Dawn nodded and went into the back to prepare his grandfather's tea. At the same time, he asked Arkenstone if he could take a break, which was quickly granted to him. With the rest of the Crusaders working, there were always plenty of hooves on deck to keep things running smoothly. Technically, Arkenstone could have easily kept the entire teahouse running on his own, but it pleased him to provide a job for Dawn and his friends.

A few minutes later, Dawn left the back, balancing a pair of pots and their respective cups on a tray over his outspread wing. Silverlight watched Dawn carrying the tray with a healthy amount of respect. Looking around, he noted several other foals around Dawn's age working around the shop as well. He even recognized the orange one that was Dawn's fillyfriend. She and the other pegasus colt were carrying their trays in a similar manner, using the feathers on their wings to execute fine manipulations of the pots and cups. It was an impressive display, something he'd never really seen other pegasi do.

As he watched Dawn move with similar dexterity in setting out the pots and cups, Silverlight couldn't help but ask. "Where did you learn to do that?"

Dawn smiled as he took his own seat at the table, mentally counting down the minutes until the tea had finished steeping. "I learned it from a friend on the Weather Team," he explained, "It's based off of a writing technique that he helped develop in Guoxia."

Silverlight blinked. "There's an outlander in Ponyville?"

"Two actually," said Dawn, his eyes narrowing fractionally, "Is there something wrong with that?"

"No," said Silverlight, glancing at Dawn in confusion, apparently wondering why the colt was asking, "I was just a bit surprised. You don't usually see outlanders in communities like this. They tend to congregate in the big cities." He shrugged. "I guess close-knit rural communities are a hard place for ponies from other cultures to fit in."

"They do so well enough," said Dawn with a shrug, "In fact, if it weren't for their clothes, you would never guess they weren't Equestrian."

"I see," said Silverlight, "It's very interesting. I've never seen anything like it."

"I think it's beginning to catch on," said the ebony colt with a smile, "I've had a few other pegasi asking about it."

"I wouldn't mind learning about it myself," said Silverlight, "It would certainly make my job easier and mouth cramps would be a thing of the past."

"I'll talk to Storm Front," said Dawn as he moved his wings to remove the baskets from the pots and pour the tea, "If his techniques are drawing such interest, he may want to consider switching professions."

Silverlight laughed and nodded. He paused the conversation to lift the cup of tea to his mouth and take a generous sip. His eyes widened for a second as the flavors of the various spices in the blend mingled with the aroma of the tea itself on his tongue and swallowed. "This is amazing!" he gasped as he set the cup down.

Dawn chuckled, taking a sip from his own cup. "Sir Arkenstone learned a great deal about tea while traveling abroad, especially in countries like Guoxia and Pachydermia, where it is fairly common to blend said tea with spices. When he came back here, he decided to set up this teahouse in Ponyville."

"My, that's a well-traveled stallion," mused Silverlight, "Wait! Sir...You mean he's a knight?"

Dawn nodded, though he knew better to tell his grandfather the complete truth of Arkenstone's position. "Yes, it was part of his service to Princess Celestia that had him wandering abroad in the first place." Dawn wasn't entirely certain of that, but it seemed a reasonable deduction for why a Celestial Knight was waltzing about outside the country.

"I see," said Silverlight, "So he was a knight acting in service, rather than just an ennobled one."

"I'm not entirely certain on the details," Dawn admitted, "I believe he may have received his rank after his service, as a reward for it. He doesn't care much to talk on the topic. I think he doesn't want to be treated too differently because of his rank."

"Makes sense, I guess," said Silverlight with a noncommittal shrug.

The two of them spent a few moments enjoying their tea. As he polished off his first cup, Silverlight set it down and gave Dawn a serious look. "Say, Dawn...?"

"Yes?" Dawn looked at his grandfather quizzically.

"Listen, I need your input on something," said Silverlight, leaning in towards Dawn, "About your mother's coltfriend..."

Dawn raised an eyebrow. "What about him?"

"How do you...how do you feel about him?"

"Um..." Dawn blinked, clearly confused by the question. "I like him just fine," said the colt.

"Are you really okay with the idea that that stallion might become your father?" asked Silverlight with an incredulous tone.

"Actually, I've been rather looking forward to it," said Dawn, "I think dad is a wonderful stallion." His eyes narrowed. "Does this have something to do with why you were looking so upset when you first came in?"

"Well..." said Silverlight, "I was trying to get a chance to speak with him and get a better feel for him, but..."

The door to the candy shop nearly burst off its hinges as the tall stallion was launched out into the street.

"AND STAY OUT!" roared the mare as she came stomping out the door to glare at the stallion she had just tossed out of her store.

"You can't do this to me!" Silverlight shouted back, "That stallion is dating my daughter!"

"I don't care," said Bon Bon, not relenting in the slightest, "This is my shop and he is my employee. If you're just going to harass him, then you can get lost!"

"I think I get the idea," said Dawn flatly.

"Um..." Silverlight was taken aback by Dawn's deadpan expression. "Listen. I'm sure that he's tried to make a good impression on you so that he can get with your mother. But that doesn't necessarily mean he's a good stallion."

"I would think that I have more of a basis for making that decision than you do," said Dawn, "We've been living with him for quite a few days now and he and mom have been dating for months before that. He has also been there for me during some of my most difficult times and helped me get through them. So, yes, I would say that I know him well enough to say that he would never willingly do anything to hurt mom."

"Willingly?" Silverlight raised an eyebrow.

Dawn shrugged. "We all hurt each other unwillingly once in a while." He sighed. "I know that I have hurt mom on a few occasions, even though it is the last thing I would ever want to do. In that respect, I think dad has a much better record than I do."

Though he seemed to be rethinking his position, Silverlight clearly wasn't completely convinced. "Just what's so special about this stallion?"

Dawn blinked. "Well...he's nice."

"That's it? He's nice?"

The colt actually chuckled at that. "Isn't that enough? He's gentle and kind, sort of like mom. Oh! And he's a good cook."

"That's important to you?" asked Silverlight.

Dawn smirked at his grandfather. "It's certainly worth thinking about. If mom were to break up with him, then I would have to give up being able to eat dad's onion soup. That would certainly make me think twice."

Silverlight opened his mouth to argue before realizing that Dawn was actually joking with him (at least partially). "So you really trust this guy then."

"I do," said Dawn, "And I would prefer it if you didn't chase him away. So I hope that you will treat him more nicely from now on or I might not be calling you grandpa anymore."

Silverlight sighed and drank some more of his tea. "Alright," he said, "I'll give the guy a chance."

"That's all mom and I can ask," said Dawn.

Silverlight set down his cup and took a closer look at the colt. "I guess he must not be so bad if you're willing to trust him."

Dawn nodded. "You've read the article about me. You know the baggage that I carry. Mom was willing to accept me in spite of it. The fact that dad was willing to accept me as well is a point in his favor."

"I see..."

Something seemed to occur to Dawn. "Speaking of the article...Last night, you mentioned that mom hadn't told you about me and you found out through the newspaper."

"That's right," said Silverlight, wondering where Dawn was going with this.

"That was a few weeks ago," Dawn pointed out, "I'd figured you would have visited much sooner than that."

That got a chuckle out of the stallion. "Trust me, we wanted to...Or I wanted to, at least. Your grandmother had to hogtie me to keep me from jumping on the first train to Ponyville. Unfortunately, neither of us could afford to leave at the time. We both work in the Weather Department at Las Pegasus. The transition between fall and winter is always the busiest time of year for us as we're rushing to make sure that the first snowstorms of the season are ready to ship out. Unless it's a real emergency, like a death in the family, you can't get any time off during that period without requesting it months in advance." His smile faded slightly. "Of course, there was another reason too. In fact, I think you might have been part of that other reason."

"How so?" asked Dawn, tilting his head.

"The article mentioned that you were part of that kerfuffle in Cloudsdale, right?"

Dawn nodded.

"After word got out about what had happened in Cloudsdale, especially everything about the tribalist elements taking over the city, all the other major pegasus cities throughout Equestria basically went on tribalist high-alert. There were a lot of internal inquiries to make sure nopony was trying to pull the same thing that the tribalists in Cloudsdale did. Of course, if you were trying to leave town while that was going on, it would look pretty suspicious."

"I see," said Dawn, "I apologize for the inconvenience that caused."

"Not your fault," said Silverlight with an indifferent shrug, "Celestia knows, I wouldn't want those jerks pulling the same thing in Las Pegasus and I don't think regular ponies are gonna let them get away with it easily next time."

"Does your city have any problems with tribalists?" asked Dawn, his ears perking in curiosity. He knew next to nothing about the other large pegasus cities.

"Yes and no," said Silverlight with a shrug, "It'd be near impossible for the kind of conspiracy that happened in Cloudsdale to take root in our city. Las Pegasus used to be just another cloud city, just like Cloudsdale. But, a century or so ago, they entered into a sort of partnership with an earth pony town below. The place was a vacation destination, so it was the perfect place for pegasi working in the clouds to go down and spend some time enjoying themselves on the ground. That built up the town's economy, it became a city. More earth ponies and unicorns started moving in. With the cloudwalking spells unicorns could cast, it became possible for the ground-walkers to come up to the clouds, so the cloud side became a vacation destination for them, a chance to experience the pegasus lifestyle. Eventually, the two cities decided to just merge and Las Pegasus as we know it was born."

Dawn hummed thoughtfully. "So, because the cities merged, the pegasi started depending on earth ponies and unicorns to support their economy and vice-versa," observed Dawn.

"That's right," said Silverlight, nodding approvingly. Fluttershy had certainly picked up a sharp one. "And because of that the tribalists would never find enough of a hoofhold to pull off the same kind of takeover they did in Cloudsdale.

"But that doesn't mean we don't have problems of our own." Silverlight sighed and shook his head. "Just because we're a mixed city doesn't mean we don't have tribalists. Because they can't get enough support to pull off some kind of coup, they form gangs instead, wandering around the clouds, causing trouble, beating up tourists. It can get pretty ugly."

"I can imagine," said Dawn darkly.

"Even worse," said Silverlight, "Their shenanigans basically inspired the unicorns and earth ponies to start doing the same down below. So now there are gangs for each tribalist faction out there. Then, to make things more complicated, there are mixed gangs, pegasi and unicorns, earth ponies and unicorns, pegasi and earth ponies...and then there are the just plain criminal scum who come in and try to make a profit selling weapons to anyone who'll buy. So now they're a bigger threat to civilians and cause plenty of collateral damage whenever they skirmish with each other."

"Sounds bad," said Dawn, wincing sympathetically. It was certainly a far cry from the relatively crime-free nature of Ponyville. Most of the problems that had arisen for the town either did so as a consequence of some of the supernatural forces at work in the Everfree, or as a result of Dawn's own presence, which had drawn members and agents of the Cult Solar.

"Well, I make it sound worse than it is," said Silverlight, "Every big city as those sorts of issues. The gangs tend to congregate in lower-income neighborhoods, where there's less Guard presence. Even tourists aren't really in much danger so long as they don't wander into the wrong part of town. Things have been getting better too."

"How so?" asked Dawn.

"Well, there's this new group that's been going around the upper and lower levels of the city," explained Silverlight, "They've been organizing civilians of all tribes and getting them active in helping to prevent crimes, spot suspicious characters, help coordinate Guard responses, band together and get these crimes to stop, that sort of thing. They're making some real progress and there has been a pretty serious reduction in violent crime lately."

"That's good to hear," said Dawn. His eyebrow twitched. There was something familiar about this.

"Yeah, they seem to be a good bunch," said Silverlight, "If I recall, their official name is Sunlight's Shadow."

Dawn's ear twitched. "That's an interesting name..." He was liking this less and less.

"I remember reading one of their pamphlets," said Silverlight, "It talked a whole bunch about living up to the ideal of Princess Celestia; that, as an alicorn, she represented the the perfect harmony between tribes in her form and that we should be inspired to try and embody that harmony in our own lives."

"That is...very interesting..." Dawn felt cold now. He had a very good inkling of just where Sunlight's Shadow came from and just what it was doing.

"I must say, you always have the most amazing stories for us whenever we visit," said Posey with a laugh as Fluttershy related some of the strange events that had taken place since the last time her parents had visited, including those that Dawn had taken part in.

"Well...yes..." said Fluttershy with sheepish smile, "Ponyville is a very nice town, but things can get a bit...lively."

"You mean like that time Cerberus got loose and came visiting?" asked Posey, "That one's my favorite."

"Actually, he came back just a little while ago," said Fluttershy, "It was actually during the drought. Dawn was recovering from one of his fights at the time, so he got to meet Cerberus too."

"Oh my! Really?" gasped Posey, "He wandered away from the gates of Tartarus again!"

"Oh, not this time," said Fluttershy cheerfully, "Actually..."

"Fluttershy!" Twilight yelled as she galloped up the path, "Why didn't you tell me Cerberus was here? Quick! I have one of Pinkie Pie's balls! (1)" She levitated the toy in question above her head.

The happy panting and huffing of the three-headed dog came to an abrupt standstill as all three of Cerberus' heads focused immediately on the ball bobbing about in Twilight's magic. The gigantic hound rolled to his feet from where it had been laying, letting Fluttershy rub his belly. One of the heads let out an excited bark at the sight of the ball and Cerberus immediately went into an eager crouch, his tail wagging impatiently.

"That's a wonderful idea!" exclaimed Fluttershy, "He absolutely loves to play fetch. Quick! Throw the ball..." Fluttershy shrunk down a little. "But not toward anything he might accidentally crush please."

"What are you talking about?" demanded Twilight, "We have to get him back to the gates right away, before some terrible monster escapes."

"Oh, he said not to worry about that," said Fluttershy with a giggle. Cerberus barked in agreement, "He says that this is his day off and that somepony is watching the gates in his place for a while."

"Huh?' Twilight was so surprised that she completely forgot to maintain the ball's levitation. The large red sphere dropped at her hooves and began rolling across the ground...

...Which was enough to spur Cerberus into motion as he leapt for the rolling ball, nearly running Twilight over as he charged after it. Twilight barely managed to teleport to the side before she was knocked tail over teakettle by the colossal canine.

As soon as she regained her bearings, Twilight turned back to Fluttershy. "What do you mean he has a day off?"

Fluttershy tittered as Cerberus proudly trotted back, the head on the right proudly carrying the ball while the other two looked a bit sour that they hadn't managed to get it. Fluttering up, Fluttershy positioned herself between the left and center heads so that she could scratch them both behind the ears, cheering them up immensely. "Oh, it's nothing too bad. He says that, every year or so, somepony comes to watch the gates for him so that he can run free and play. He actually came to visit me last year too."

"Huh?" Twilight wanted to ask more, but was stymied when Cerberus' right head dropped the ball at her hooves. Immediately, the two other heads forgot Fluttershy and all three snapped their focus to the ball, panting eagerly.

"He wants you to throw it," said Fluttershy, grinning cheerfully at Twilight.

"But..." Twilight looked down at the ball, then back up at Fluttershy, then at Cerberus. With a defeated sigh, she said, "Fine..." Lifting the ball with her magic, she sent it hurtling along the open expanse between the cottage and the Everfree Forest, where Cerberus could run without accidentally destroying anything. He bounded after the ball, making the earth shake every time his paws came back down to the ground.

"Are you sure about this?" she asked, turning her attention back to Fluttershy, "You don't think he's lying to avoid having to go back and do his job, do you?"

"Oh no!" gasped Fluttershy, "He wouldn't lie to me."

"That he wouldn't."

The two mares turned to see Arkenstone trotting up the path, smiling widely at them.

"What are you talking about Arky?" asked Twilight, turning to regard the beige stallion.

"Well, after you bolted, I realized that I probably needed to explain the arrangement with Cerberus so you didn't panic." He chuckled. "I guess I was a little late. I didn't realize he had been coming to Ponyville for the past few years."

"Oh...um...he said he really likes the attention I give him," said Fluttershy shyly.

Arkenstone's muzzle turned towards her and he smiled. "I figured that was the case."

Twilight opened her mouth to ask what Arkenstone was talking about when the increasing intensity of the tremors indicated Cerberus' return, this time the center head holding the ball. He was quick to deposit the ball at Twilight's hooves for another throw. Twilight was about to do so when Cerberus' left head spotted Arkenstone and let out a mighty, yet joyous bark. Immediately, the other two heads shot up, ball forgotten as they saw Arkenstone.

An instant later, the massive dog was looming over the beige stallion, his three heads ducking down, mouths wide open. But Twilight's horrified premonition of Cerberus attacking the stallion she had a crush on was quickly dissipated when, instead of biting, All three of Cerberus' heads began to lick Arkenstone enthusiastically, prompting a loud laugh from the stallion.

"Yes! Hello! I've missed you too, boy." Arkenstone easily endured the bath all three tongues were giving him and did his best to pat the side of one of the heads whenever he could reach around their tongues.

Twilight couldn't help but giggle at the sight of a Celestial Knight being enthusiastically licked by the massive dog. Her giggles came to an abrupt halt when she saw Arkenstone suddenly start smirking her direction. Realizing what he was probably about to do, she began backing up, glaring at him reprovingly. "Don't you dare..."

Arkenstone's smile stretched wider. "I think you need to give Twilight a little attention too," he said, "After all, she did such a good job throwing the ball for you. Maybe if you give her some kisses, she'll throw it for you again."

"No!" screeched Twilight, which was all she had the chance to yell before Cerberus whirled about and pounced on her, the tongues from each of his heads knocking her about with the force of his licks, sending Twilight stumbling and spinning from one head to another in an endless cycle of slobber and doggy-breath.

Arkenstone grinned wickedly for a few minutes before finally relaxing with a chuckle. "Alright boy, that's enough." He turned to the ball and gave it a strong kick, sending it bouncing along once again.

Instantly, Twilight was forgotten as Cerberus returned to pursuing the ball, barking excitedly.

Twilight stood there, her mane completely drenched with saliva. She glared at Arkenstone as he continued to chuckle. Even Fluttershy couldn't help but giggle at her.

Finally, after realizing there was no way she could salvage her dignity, Twilight let out a defeated sigh. "Fine," she groaned, "Are you sure this is okay?" She gave Arkenstone a searching look.

The beige stallion nodded, still smiling. "It's perfectly alright." He too was thoroughly soaked, but looked unbothered by it.

"Oh my!" gasped Flutter as she swooped down towards them, "I had no idea you knew Cerberus, Mr. Arkenstone."

"Yes," said Arkenstone, "We've met before. He's a perfectly good boy."

"Oh, you'll have to tell me about it sometime," said Fluttershy hopefully.

"I'm sure that I will," agreed Arkenstone. He nodded to Twilight. "Come. Let's go back. I'll explain the situation."

"Okay," said Twilight before turning to Fluttershy, "I guess you'll look after him then."

Fluttershy giggled lightly. "Oh yes. He's such a big sweetheart."

Twilight and Arkenstone began to make their way back to Ponyville. As they walked past Fluttershy's cottage, they noticed a colt, sitting in the shadows. Dawn Lightwing sat there, looking somewhat sour. It only took a single glance to see why. The colt had been completely soaked with dog drool. Dawn spread his wings, strings of drool stretched from the appendages, where the feathers were still in the process of growing back, to connect to his barrel. On top of his head sat an equally soaked and equally dour looking Angel. Both of them sullenly watched as Cerberus came bounding back.

Twilight couldn't help but stare. "I guess he got you too, huh."

Dawn nodded. "I lived for a year in the Everfree Forest. I've seen terrible monsters, ugly things. But I've never felt so disgusting in my life."

Twilight couldn't help but nod in agreement.

"So now you have the Guardian of Tartarus visiting you every year?" asked Posey, gaping at Fluttershy.

"Oh yes," said Fluttershy, smiling brightly, "We always have such a lovely time. It's such a pity he only gets one day off every year.”

“I suppose so,” agreed Posey, thinking it over. She supposed that guarding such an important place must be a full-time job. Having one day off a year certainly did seem like a little less than what might be deserved. Something else occurred to her. “Mister Arkenstone is Twilight Sparkle’s coltfriend, isn’t he?”

“Oh…” said Fluttershy, a little startled, “Yes he is.”

“I’m a bit surprised that the owner of a teahouse would know so much about Cerberus.”

“Ah…well…yes…but…” Fluttershy was struggling a little to figure out what to say. She knew she couldn’t reveal Arkenstone’s status as a Celestial Knight to her mother. Vaguely, she recalled how Arkenstone had explained things to her before she had been aware of his true status. “You see…before he settled in Ponyville, he travelled around, doing a lot of odd jobs and…uh…well, I guess he met Cerberus sometime around then.”

"My," said Posey, putting a hoof to her lip, "He must be very well-traveled then."

Fluttershy nodded in agreement. Quietly, she remembered how Arkenstone had given her the truth about the arrangement with Cerberus at the party where Twilight had formally introduced him to everypony.

"So every year, Cerberus gets a day off and one of you Knights watches the gates of Tartarus until he returns," summed up Dawn quietly as he leaned up against Fluttershy.

Arkenstone nodded. "Yes. We take turns, depending on who's available. It's not unpleasant, but it isn't particularly stimulating either, so nopony has any particular aversion to it. Besides, we're all good friends with Cerberus."

"Oh, so he was on vacation that first time," said Fluttershy with a surprised gasp. The first time Cerberus had come to Ponyville, it had been during Twilight's time travel associated breakdown, which had only been exacerbated by the task of Twilight taking Cerberus back to the gates.

"Actually..." said Arkenstone, a peculiar hesitance to his voice, "That time he wasn't on vacation."

"Oh! What happened?"

The beige stallion sighed. "One of Tartarus' more dangerous inmates managed to distract Cerberus briefly in order to get him to abandon his post. By the time Twilight managed to escort him back, that inmate had already escaped."

"So something did break out of Tartarus," gasped Twilight as she settled next to her coltfriend. Her eyes began to dart around, as though she anticipated some fiend popping up in the middle of the party.

"For a time," said Arkenstone, "Fortunately, he was not on the lam for long. Swift managed to track him down and deal with him rather easily before hauling him back to Tartarus."

"Swift?" asked Dawn, his ears perking up at the unfamiliar name.

"Yes," said Arkenstone, "Swift Stride...another of the Knights."

"Oh! Another Knight!" gasped Twilight excitedly, "What's he like?"

To everypony's surprise, Arkenstone visibly grimaced, as though recalling an extremely unpleasant memory. It seemed that he had words to describe his fellow Knight, but not words he felt were for polite company. For a moment, he seemed to struggle with what to say before finally deciding on something. "You don't want to know."

"Is there something wrong with him?" asked Twilight curiously.

Arkenstone sighed. "He is a...character...is the only polite way I can put it. We Knights do not have a history of friendly relations with one another to begin with, but even by those standards, Swift is especially hard to deal with." He paused. "I will say one thing though. Out of all us Knights, I believe, beyond all doubt, that Swift is the strongest...in many ways. I know that the others agree."

"The strongest Knight," mused Twilight as she, Fluttershy and Dawn all mulled over Arkenstone's words, "I wonder just what kind of pony he is."

"With luck," said Arkenstone, his eyebrow twitching, "You'll never have to meet him."

"Fluttershy?" Posey tilted her head as she regarded her daughter. "Is something wrong? You've been sitting there a while without saying a word."

Fluttershy started, jolted out of her reverie by her mother's words. "Oh! I'm sorry, I was just lost in thought for a moment."

"About what?"

"Nothing important," said Fluttershy with a small smile, "Just a silly memory from earlier."

Coco Pommel smiled as she fed the line of fabric through the sewing machine, taking quiet solace in the up and down motion of the needle as it pulled the thread through, stitching the seams together with rapid efficiency. This was one of her favorite parts of working in fashion, that quiet sense of losing herself to the hum of the sewing machine, putting everything together stitch by stitch. Already, in her mind's eye, she was putting together the finished product, imagining how it would look on the pony wearing it. In this case, that image was far more important than usual. After all, Rarity would be wearing this costume.

Coco was currently in the process of stitching together the components of the Princess Platinum costume that would be worn by Rarity during the Canterlot Hearth's Warming pageant. Coco could already see the elegant alabaster mare strutting across the stage with her natural regal quality. Though Coco had never gotten the chance to see Rarity in the flesh before, she had seen enough pictures to let her imagination fill in the gaps.

Over the buzz of the machine came a metallic rattle, a sound that nearly made Coco seize up. She managed to avoid flinching, but only barely as her right ear twitched in an agitated manner. Oh right...he's here...

Behind her, a cream-colored colt, his coat flecked with gray, lay sprawled across a cushion pushed up against the wall. Perlin Bluestreak's yellow, hawklike eyes didn't fail to notice Coco's twitching and he moved more carefully to avoid rattling the mithril feathers of his wings any further as he resettled himself. His eyes were fixated on the fabric as Coco fed it into the machine and pulled it back out, watching her practiced, professional motions with quiet fascination and admiration. Honestly, he found watching Coco work fascinating in much the same way Rarity's had been when the fashionista had made his cloak back in Ponyville. His silvery-blue tail twitched idly as continued to stare silently at the earth pony seamstress.

He never made any comments, never made a sound if he could avoid it. Much of the time, Coco could easily forget he was there at all. But nopony was perfect. Every once and a while, he might give some unintentional indication that he was still there, his eyes never leaving the mare in front of him. Those moments irritated Coco like no other. They also sent chills down her spine. Her spirit seemed to oscillate between irritation and fear as her annoyance with Perlin's continuous watching warred with the utter terror the colt inspired in her heart. Even now, she could still vividly recall the second ever time she had met him, watching him in the Crystal Caverns below Canterlot as he carved his way through a host of trained bodyguards with careless ease and an eager smile, as though the bloody slaughter had been nothing more than a foal's game to him.

Why does he keep coming here? More than anything, Coco wished she had the courage to ask that question aloud. What does he want?

When Baron Elderflower had provided Coco with this opportunity and employment, she had dared to hope that she had seen Perlin for the last time. But, every now and again, the colt came back. The first time, he'd torn his cloak in one of the missions he'd run for the Baron. A few times, he came back for other sundry repairs to his garment. But other times, it seemed he simply came to watch her work.

It was an incredibly creepy feeling, knowing that Perlin's eyes were on her. Coco had to stuff all of her focus into her work to keep her blood from turning to ice in her veins at the knowledge that a hired, unrepentant killer was in the same room as her, watching her with such interest. She had to wonder if Perlin ever thought about killing her. She wasn't about to ask either way. If anything, she just wished that he would disappear and she could truly be free of the fear that he inspired once and for all.

Still, there was no way she could voice that to the young stallion directly. Coco very much liked her head where it was. So she bent herself to the task at hoof and pushed all thoughts of her audience to the wayside once again.

Shining Armor didn't even try to stifle his yawn as he let his eyes sweep across the barren expanse of spreading out beneath his chariot as the two pegasi at the front valiantly pulled it onward. He was immensely grateful for their assistance, seeing as they, like him, had been roused at an uncomfortable hour for immediate deployment. Such things were within the purview of the Guard, but that didn't make it any less pleasant.

Shining knew that first hoof. What had been supposed to be nothing more than another night with his beloved Cadance wrapped in his arms had been interrupted by the arrival of a scroll from Spike. The scroll had contained the deductions of Arkenstone and Shining's two mercenary employees. They had determined that the leader of the cult was up to something and that a clue might be found in Appleloosa. However, since it was impossible to know what kind of window of opportunity they had, Shining had been obligated to act immediately.

As a consequence, here he was settled at the head of his chariot, pulled by two pegasi, with another two ponies seated behind him. Behind their chariot came two others with the same arrangements, a group of fifteen Royal Guards, including their Captain, now cutting through the sky to Appleloosa.

As the sun rose higher, Shining's eyes narrowed, searching the horizon for the first signs of the town, which should be coming into view any moment now. Down below them, the black line of the train track that ran out to one of Equestria's outermost settlements was still the only visible sign of civilization.

And then, there it was. Shining's eyes took in the sight of the wooden buildings that seemed to rise out of the desert like a mirage. The desert itself had given way to scrubland and plains, which were at least fertile, as evidenced by the rows upon rows of apple trees laid out off to one side of the town. Even as he looked Shining could see the broad lanes that ran across the orchard, the paths used by the buffalo as they stampeded across the plains and desert. Now their passage was a part of Appleloosa's harvesting process, allowing the town to make its mark on the apple produce market.

Thanks to the buffalos' stampeding, the Appleloosans could complete their harvest in a fraction of the time required by nearly any other farm in Equestria. Because of this, Appleloosan produce and products were always among the first to hit the shelves across Equestria during any phase of the harvest, which gave them a leg up on the competition, seeing as the newness of the settlement meant that the earth pony magic that fed the trees hadn't had sufficient time to improve the quality of their yield.

All of this had been in the intelligence reports Shining Armor had been able to gather about the town before setting out. He hoped to learn more about Appleloosa, particularly anything that might be relevant to his investigation. However, he intended to investigate more directly first and research later, if necessary.

Already, Shining knew exactly where to start, as he'd been given the name of the pony most likely to assist him in this investigation...Applejack's cousin, Braeburn.

Author's Note

1) This statement later received a rating of 1, defined as "Way too easy," by the EAUI (Equestrian Association of Unintended Innuendos).

Managing this story gets complicated sometimes, what with all the different threads running around the place. Still, it'll be worth it once everything pulls together.

For those of you who were wondering about that inmate from Tartarus; yes, I'm talking about him. I actually intend to write what happened there in a side-story later on explaining what happened. So there's that to look forward to as well.

Next chapter: Some secrets from Fluttershy's past.

Secrets and Shames

Chapter 10: Secrets and Shames

"I'm grateful your employer was willing to let you go early," said Silverlight.

"I don't think he was too troubled by it," said Dawn as he smiled up at the older stallion, "Besides, it's certainly not every day that I get to spend some quality time with my grandfather."

Once again, hearing Dawn refer to him by that title made Silverlight beam as his wings fluttered excitedly, carrying him off the ground slightly before he regained his composure and dropped back into a walk. The two of them had left the teahouse and were now ambling aimlessly down the streets of Ponyville, taking in the sight of the snow-covered town as ponies went about their business left and right.

Though he knew that Dawn had been in residence for several months, Silverlight was more than a little surprised that his grandson hardly attracted any stares. Most ponies who did acknowledge Dawn generally gave him polite nods or even cheerful waves. It appeared he had managed to garner the sympathy and appreciation of a great many ponies. But, then again, given that Dawn had played a crucial role in ending the nearly disastrous drought Ponyville had been suffering through during the summer months, it would make sense for the town's residents to have a positive opinion of him.

"Can you tell me something?" asked Dawn.

"Of course," said Silverlight.

"I'm curious...Does dad truly upset you that much?"

Silverlight's eyelid twitched at the sound of Dawn referring to Caramel by that title. Frankly, he was more than a little uncomfortable with the fact that Dawn was referring to the stallion who, at the moment, was merely dating his mother as his father. There was a whole lot of iffiness to the situation that Silverlight didn't like at all. But still, Dawn's question needed to be answered.

Silverlight let out a sigh. "I suppose not. I'll be honest. For all the misgivings I have about that stallion, he seems to be a decent fellow. But I can't help but worry."

"Why is that?" asked Dawn as he canted his head, trying to puzzle out his grandfather's motivations.

Silverlight slumped, his head lowering down and his ears going back. "Because...By not worrying enough, I once caused your mother more pain than any father rightfully should. It was a case of serious negligence on my part and it nearly ruined her for life. She carries that trauma with her to this day."

"What are you talking about?"

Silverlight looked over at the ebony colt. "Let's go back to the house you're staying at. I'll explain there."

Dawn nodded and led his grandfather through the streets to Caramel's house. After letting them both in, the two of them settled into the living room.

Silverlight took a deep breath and began his story. "Your mother was different from most foals when they're born. Within their first month, pegasus foals are usually bursting at the seams with energy, fluttering through the air as they funnel out the excess magic left over from their births. They're loud, they're rambunctious, they're a hoofful."

He smiled gently. "But your mother was different. She was very quiet as a baby. She almost never cried, even when she was hungry. At most, she made small cooing noises that were barely audible. Your grandmother had to cultivate some sharp hearing simply to be able to know when Fluttershy needed to be fed. That quietness translated over into the rest of her behavior. When most infant foals are buzzing around the house, your mother rarely fluttered off the floor. It was as though flight didn't really interest her. She amazingly gentle and well-behaved for a baby, always preferring to play quietly with her toys than dash about and cause trouble.

"At first, Posey and I were ecstatic. Our first foal was practically a miracle who gave us almost no trouble. We never had to fret that Fluttershy would blunder into something while buzzing about or accidentally fly out a window. We never felt the need to monitor her constantly and caring for her was ludicrously easy. Where most parents would go through their first months with shadows under their eyes and strung-out nerves, we sailed through with barely any inconvenience. We could relax around her without having to constantly worry about her safety. She learned things remarkably quickly too; attentive and accommodating even at such a young age. Potty training was a snap and her transition to solid food was practically effortless. She almost never made any messes and, whenever she did, she was always contrite, something amazing for such a young foal. In a way, that was the problem. Even as a babe, Fluttershy was submissive and docile. But that only became apparent when she grew older...

"Mamaaaaa!"

Posey rushed out of their home's kitchen the instant she heard her daughter's cry, rushing into the living room just in time to see a wailing Fluttershy come bolting through the door and throw herself into her mother's arms.

"Fluttershy! What's the matter?" Posey rocked her daughter back and forth as the little filly buried her muzzle in her mother's fur and continued to cry.

"I got an owie!" wailed Fluttershy, "It hurts!"

"Show me where it hurts," said Posey as she lowered her daughter to the floor.

Sniffling, Fluttershy held up her right foreleg, showcasing a tiny scrape that leaked out a few drops of blood.

"Oh Fluttershy," said Posey with a relieved sigh, "It's nothing more than a scratch. Come, let's get a bandaid on it right away." Just a few minutes, a little disinfectant, and a bandage later, Fluttershy was no longer crying and whimpering, though a few tears still leaked out of her eyes. The problem was taken care of.

"There now," said Posey as she set her daughter back on the floor, "All better."

"Hi there." Posey looked up from her sniffling daughter to see another filly standing at the door, with a couple of other foals standing outside behind her. She recognized them as Fluttershy's playmates.

"Is everything okay?" asked the filly, "I thought Fluttershy was really hurt badly when she ran back here screaming."

"Oh it was nothing too bad," said Posey with a cheerful smile at the filly, "It's just a scrape."

The filly's concerned look devolved into one of confusion. "Okay..." she said, giving Fluttershy a strange look.

Ignoring that look, Posey turned her attention back to her daughter, wiping away the last of Fluttershy's tears. "There you go, now go back out and play with your friends."

Fluttershy nodded, sniffled one last time, and began heading back out the door, closing it behind her. As Posey turned back to the kitchen, her ear twitched as she picked up the voice of one of the other foals muttering under his breath.

"What a crybaby."

"I don't understand," said Dawn, blinking at Silverlight's story, "What's so important about that?"

"Pegasus foals tend to be rough and tumble types," said Silverlight with a shrug, "Most of them, including all of Fluttershy's playmates could handle a tiny scrape like that easily. Most of them would have barely even noticed and gone back to playing like nothing had happened. That was our first real hint that Fluttershy was a lot more sensitive than most fillies her age and that it was setting her apart. Later on, things only seemed to get worse."

"It's no good," said Posey, coming downstairs, "She won't come out of her room."

"Is she still crying?" asked Silverlight, looking up at his wife.

Posey nodded.

"What happened?" asked Silverlight.

"It sounds like she was being bullied," said Posey, "She keeps saying that the other foals keep teasing her and trying to make her cry."

Silverlight groaned and dropped his face into his hooves. "They would stop if she didn't keep giving them what they want. If they realized they can’t make her cry, they’ll stop bullying her.”

Posey sighed. “That’s exactly what their parents said when I talked to them. But it’s not that simple. Fluttershy is too sensitive. She can't help but react like that when ponies treat her harshly."

"She has to learn to control it," said Silverlight, "Otherwise she'll never be able to function as a normal pony. It's a bit extreme, but I have an idea."

"What kind of idea?" asked Posey, feeling more than a little trepidation at her husband's tone.

Silverlight hoofed her pamphlet. Posey unfolded it and began to read the contents. "Cloudsdale Flight School! Dear! You can't be serious..." The Flight School was the most prestigious institution in all of Cloudsdale. In fact, it was one of the most well-known pegasus institutions in all of Equestria. It offered schooling from the elementary level all the way up through Trade School for flight and weather-related jobs. Getting one's foal accepted was neither cheap nor easy. However, money wasn't the problem. With their current income, the two of them could easily afford to send Fluttershy there, even if she wasn't eligible for any kind of scholarship. Posey had heard a great deal about the standards promoted by the school, what was expected of the students and how they were expected to perform.

"I am completely serious," said Silverlight, his expression growing more serious and stern, "What Fluttershy needs is a sufficiently rigorous program with high expectations. If anypony can help her overcome her current issues, it will be the teachers at this school." To be honest, it had been something a last resort for Silverlight himself. More than anything, he simply wanted for Fluttershy to be a normal filly, to play with her friends, for himself to be able to chat with their parents over a beer as they laughed about what trouble their foals had gotten into most recently. Instead, his conversations with other parents lately seemed to consist of him listening as they chided him for raising such a timid, retiring filly. He always came to them because one of their foals had done something to hurt his daughter's feelings, but it always seemed to be him that was being scolded.

Silverlight wanted to fix his daughter, to help her be a normal filly. But he just didn't know how to go about it. Surely, the teachers at this school would know what to do. Surely, they could do what he couldn't.

"I know it seems unpleasant," said Silverlight, placing a comforting hoof on his wife's shoulder, "but it's for the best."

"And that was the greatest mistake I ever made in my life," said Dawn's grandfather with a sigh, "Fluttershy was upset, of course. It was a major change for her. She'd been doing fairly well academically at her present school and her performance in physical classes was at least average. It was enough that we were able to get a minor scholarship and save a few bits on tuition.

"But Fluttershy was miserable. The moment she entered Cloudsdale Flight School, her grades started dropping. Her performance in the physical flight classes practically plummeted. Before, she had been at least fluttering about, but after the transfer, it seemed she could hardly bring herself to fly off the clouds.

"She came home every day, more miserable than the last. Some nights, she cried herself to sleep and many mornings we had to fight with her just to get her off to school. At first, we simply thought she was having trouble adapting to the curriculum and that she was getting bullied a little too. The school officials simply told us that Fluttershy needed to put forth more effort in her training and that, once she started improving, other ponies would stop troubling her.

"But it only got worse. By the time Fluttershy had nearly graduated from the elementary level of the school, she was a wreck. She hardly even talked to us anymore, not even during meals. She spent as much free time outside of school as she could locked up in her room, refusing to come out for most of the day on the weekends. She only made one real friend in that forsaken place."

"Rainbow Dash," suggested Dawn, knowing that his mother had a long history with the cerulean mare.

Silverlight nodded. "But Fluttershy never introduced her to us. I'm not sure why, though I think she may have wanted to keep Rainbow Dash from expressing how angry she was with what we had done to Fluttershy...although, she got her chance soon enough..."

Silverlight and Posey rushed through the air, hurtling as fast as they could towards the Flight School's campus. They weren't the only ones. The air around them was filled with concerned parents, flying with all their might to find out if their colts and fillies were alright. There had been no need for any message from the school. Nopony had missed it.

It had been a perfectly ordinary afternoon earlier. Silverlight was relaxing on the couch after a long day at work. Posey was in the kitchen, getting ready for another uncomfortably quiet dinner. The two of them were simply waiting for their daughter to return home when the quiet of the afternoon had been shattered by an echoing boom that shook the house. The two pegasi had rushed outside just in time to see the coruscating waves of light washing across the sky. It was early enough that Silverlight was able to trace their origin, the area of open sky right next to Cloudsdale Flight School.

There had been no need for conversation with Posey. The two of them had headed out immediately, desperate to make sure that their daughter was okay.

When they arrived, they were just two adults among a mass of jabbering, panicked ponies. Everypony was desperate to make sure that their son or daughter was safe and sound. There was angry shouting and loud demands to know what had just happened.

Of course, the truth would get out much later that the source of the explosion had been one Rainbow Dash, who had performed the first Sonic Rainboom seen in centuries. The school staff would never want to admit that the student they considered a delinquent and deviant was capable of a feat that had not been seen in centuries. They ended up spinning a story about a practical demonstration of the properties of rainbow spectra getting out of hoof.

It had taken nearly an hour to get any information out of the staff. The foals had been released as soon as was feasible to help reassure the parents that their young ones weren't in any danger. But Fluttershy had not been among them. Even more strangely, Posey and Silverlight's attempts to inquire about their daughter's status were often deflected or ignored as the staff went to comfort and assist the parents of other foals. At times, it almost seemed that several ponies on staff were loathe to even admit that Fluttershy existed at all.

Finally, it was not one of the staff who ended up helping them, but a sky-blue filly who approached the couple. "Hey!" shouted the filly as she swooped on them from above as the pair wandered about the courtyard outside the school's main entrance, "Are you Fluttershy's parents?"

"Yes!" said Posey immediately, "We've been looking for her. Can you tell us where she is?"

The filly seemed to be a perfectly conventional pegasus filly. Her cerulean coat contrasted sharply with the entire spectrum of colors that ran in rainbow stripes through her mane, all of which framed a pair of cerise eyes that practically glowed with energy and excitement. Her body was nearly overflowing with energy. This would mark the first time Fluttershy's parents met Rainbow Dash, the only friend their daughter had made in Flight School.

"Yeah, I know where she is," said Rainbow. She went on to explain the situation, how she'd challenged a group of Fluttershy's bullies to a race and went on to win the race by executing a Sonic Rainboom. Fluttershy's parents were dubious regarding that claim, but didn't bother to question it, seeing as there was still a much more important question on their mind.

Eventually, Rainbow Dash got to the point. After returning from winning her race, Rainbow saw that Fluttershy had disappeared from the cloud she had been watching from. At that moment, Rainbow realized that Fluttershy might have fallen and had gone to get the adults. However, nopony seemed interested in helping her, so Rainbow had gone down herself. Luckily, she found Fluttershy alive and unharmed.

"And you haven't gotten one of the instructors yet?" demanded Silverlight.

"I'm not even bothering," said Rainbow sharply, "It's pretty clear they don't care. They don't like Fluttershy at all. I think they hope she doesn't come back."

"What?" gasped Posey, her eyes going wide with horror. She wanted to get more information from Rainbow, but the filly was already in the air, leading them to the spot where she'd last seen Fluttershy.

Silverlight and Posey followed along as best they could. Rainbow Dash was an incredible flyer for somepony so young. Both of the adult pegasi were amazed at how much they had to struggle to simply keep up with her as she dove down beneath the cloud level and led them towards the ground. Both of Fluttershy's parents couldn't keep from worrying. Rainbow had said that Fluttershy was unhurt, but anything could happen on the ground.

Both of them let out a sigh of relief when they caught sight of their daughter. However, that relief turned into a near-panic when they saw that Fluttershy was practically surrounded by a carpet of wild animals, some of which were crawling across the filly's body as though it were a piece of the landscape.

Silverlight shot forward, determined to rescue his daughter before those beasts could hurt her, but came to a screeching halt when he picked up the faint sound of happy laughter from the filly. Silverlight's jaw dropped. He hadn't heard Fluttershy laugh in ages. It was one of the most beautiful things he had ever heard. Looking more closely, he saw that Fluttershy wasn't being attacked by the animals around and on her. Rather, she seemed to be conversing with them and, from the way the animals reacted to her words and the way Fluttershy reacted to them, it was clear that they understood one another.

It was at that moment that a squirrel that had been perched of Fluttershy's hindquarters shifted its position, revealing something that made Silverlight gasp. There, decorating his daughter's flank, was an image of three butterflies. Fluttershy had found her cutie mark.

"Fluttershy?"

Fluttershy looked up at the sound of Posey's voice as the animals around her scattered into hiding. Her eyes widened when she saw just who was hovering above her. "Mama? Papa?"

Silverlight felt sick. The moment she realized that they were there, the cheerful smile and happy demeanor that Fluttershy had been exhibiting around the animals had vanished and she now stared up at her parents with an eerie, neutral expression.

"Oh Fluttershy!" gasped Posey as she swooped down and picked up her daughter in a tight hug, "I'm so glad you're alright. We were so worried when we couldn't find you."

Fluttershy didn't seem to share her mother's relief. However, she returned the hug all the same.

"You must have been so scared, down here on your own," crooned Posey as she rocked her daughter back and forth, "But everything's alright now. Let's go home..."

"I..." Silverlight's ears strained to pick up the sound of his daughter's voice. "I don't w-want to."

"What? Fluttershy?" Posey held her daughter at arm's length, staring at Fluttershy in confusion.

"I don't want to go back," said Fluttershy. She began to wriggle and, in a few seconds, managed to extract herself from her mother's arms. Her wings beating, Fluttershy actually started hovering in the air, drifting a short distance above the ground.

"Don't be silly dear," said Posey, moving forward to take Fluttershy in her arms, "Of course you need to come back home. I'm sure that everypony at school is-"

"NO!!!" Fluttershy darted out of her mother's reach, fleeing back as Posey and Silverlight looked on in shock. Never before had they heard Fluttershy shout like this. Worse still was the look on Fluttershy's face as she watched her parents. It was a look of absolute terror.

"Fluttershy? What's wrong?" asked Posey.

"Don't take me back!" shouted Fluttershy, "I don't wanna go back to Flight School!"

"What?" gasped Silverlight, moving forward to try and secure his daughter, "You can't be serious-"

"I am!" shouted Fluttershy, beating her wings furiously as she fought to retreat further, "I don't wanna go back to Flight School! I...I h-hate...I HATE IT THERE!!!" Her final words were a scream that actually made Silverlight's ears ring for a moment.

Fluttershy's wings appeared to have reached their limit and the filly dropped back to the ground. She was sobbing, tears running unrestrained down the sides of her face. "E-everypony is m-mean and they all call me n-names and the t-teachers don't c-care. They w-want me g-gone too."

"Don't be ridiculous," growled Silverlight, "We put you in that school for your own good. I won't have my daughter put my hard work to waste so she can live in the forest and play with animals all day."

Fluttershy cowered back from her father, her terror only growing. Silverlight dropped to the ground and began to step forward, only to halt as rustling sounded from the undergrowth all around him. Seconds later, all the animals that had hidden when he and Posey had first arrived had emerged from the foliage again. This time, they were behaving very differently, watching the stallion with a great deal of intensity as they moved to put themselves between him and Fluttershy. Silverlight got the sensation that, if he made any attempt to take her by force, they would respond by attacking en-mass.

"Stop it!"

Silverlight jumped at the sudden shout of Rainbow Dash's voice as the cerulean filly streaked down from the sky and landed in an angry crouch in front of Fluttershy, shielding her from Silverlight as Rainbow glared daggers up at the stallion.

"What kind of parents are you?" she demanded, her tone enraged, "Do you have any idea what they put her though up there?"

"Wha-what are you talking about?" demanded Silverlight.

"I'm there all the time, so I see it," snarled Rainbow, "All the other colts and fillies pick on her and the teachers just pretend they don't see it. They always make Fluttershy go last whenever we do anything so that everypony can watch her fail. I even hear them saying mean things behind her back. They're awful to her!"

"Tha-that can't be true," stammered Silverlight, "Th-they're just trying to toughen her up a little bit."

"No they aren't," snarled Rainbow, taking a step back so she could better shield Fluttershy, "When I told the headmistress that Fluttershy had fallen, she said it was good 'cause then she might never come back."

Silverlight wanted to protest, to claim that that was impossible. But then he began to remember how the staff had been behaving when he and Posey had been looking for Fluttershy, how the two of them had been ignored and misdirected, how none of the teachers or instructors seemed to care about where the filly was. But there was no way that could be true.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, it was Posey who defused the situation as she stooped down, having finally noticed the same thing Silverlight had noticed earlier. "Fluttershy dear," said Posey, "You found your cutie mark." Posey kept her voice soft and comforting.

"Uh huh." Fluttershy nodded her head meekly, though she stayed tucked behind Rainbow.

"Did you find it down here?" asked Posey, her eyes looking around, taking in the numerous animals that had gathered around Fluttershy and Rainbow.

"Uh huh," said Fluttershy again, "I...I can understand them. I-I was really scared when I first fell down here. But the butterflies caught me and I've seen so many wonderful things." She let out a giddy sigh. "And then, there was this biiiiiiig explosion and all the animals were scared away. I talked to them and told them there was nothing to be scared of and got them to come out again..." As she was talking a rabbit crawled up to her and curled up against her side, a squirrel draped itself across her shoulders and a robin landed on her head, chirping cheerfully.

"Oh that's wonderful," said Posey, landing and slowly approaching her daughter, "Do you think you got your cutie mark because you can understand them so well?"

Fluttershy blushed and shrugged slightly, making the squirrel shift as it tried to keep settled on her shoulders. "Maybe," she said hesitantly. She was still shying away from her mother, mostly hiding behind Rainbow, even though the cerulean filly was actually smaller than her.

"Listen dear," said Posey, laying down on the ground, "Why don't we go back home and talk about what we can do there. I don't think you'll be going back to Flight School anyway."

Silverlight shot his wife a questioning look. She didn't acknowledge it, but instead continued talking to Fluttershy. "After all, it's nearly time for you to go to Trade School. But Flight School doesn't have any animal related programs, so we're going to have to find someplace else for you anyway."

Fluttershy looked at them nervously, as though she couldn't quite believe what Posey had just said and suspected that this was some ploy to get her back into Cloudsdale so that they could keep sending her to Flight School. Finally, after a long moment, she apparently decided that her mother was being sincere and got to her hooves. "O-okay..."

"...And that was that," said Silverlight, wrapping up the anecdote, "We took Fluttershy back home and I got to work on the withdrawal forms for Flight School.

"When Posey and I turned them in to the school's headmistress, we got a firsthoof idea of just what Fluttershy had been through. That mare actually said she was glad that Fluttershy wouldn't be coming back to school anymore, that she'd been dragging everypony down and that she was a disgrace of a pegasus. She even had the gall to say that Posey and I should have left her to starve in the dirt."

Dawn's eyes flashed and Silverlight actually felt the colt's anger as a tremor through the air. It wasn't directed at him, but the silent, cold fury intimidated the stallion as he viewed the colt in a new light, the feeling pressing home viscerally that Dawn wasn't merely mature for his age, he was dangerous. Still, it was clear just whom Dawn was really angry at. The colt said nothing, but silently mastered his anger and waited for Silverlight to continue.

"When my wife heard that, she punched the headmistress in the face. If I hadn't stopped her, I'm sure that Posey would have beat that mare into a pulp. We were lucky she didn't press charges, although I think that was mostly because she didn't want what she had just said to be dragged out in front of the public." Seeing that Dawn was still angry, Silverlight smiled. "But, thanks to you, I think she got her just desserts."

"What do you mean?" asked Dawn, his anger evaporating into confusion.

"The Flight School's headmistress was from one of the old, traditional Cloudsdale families. In fact, she was one of the ponies in on the whole conspiracy that you and Rainbow Dash thwarted. So were several members of the Board of Directors. Rounding up all the conspirators essentially gutted the Cloudsdale Flight School's administration. Several teachers were implicated, particularly in the physical education department. It seemed as though they'd been moonlighting as some of the conspiracy's enforcers."

Dawn thought about some of the ponies he'd fought in Cloudsdale, particularly the thuggish ones who had been especially loyal to Meadowlark, the conspiracy's leader, or at least its figurehead. He was a bit surprised to learn that some of them had apparently been teachers.

Silverlight returned to the story. "Anyway, after withdrawing Fluttershy from Flight School, we had her cutecenera, which was pretty sad, all things considered. She and Rainbow were the only foals there and Rainbow kept close to Fluttershy, like she thought she needed to protect Fluttershy from us." He sighed. "Although, given what Fluttershy went through, I can't exactly blame her.

"After that, we started looking for trade schools that Fluttershy could go to that would allow her to indulge her passion and her talents. We looked into several veterinary schools, though they were mostly attended by earth ponies and the odd unicorn. A pegasus in that field was a true rarity. Our greatest fear was, if we sent her to one of those schools, Fluttershy would be singled out in much the same way she was at Flight School, just for being a pegasus.

"Ultimately, we found Fluttershy an apprenticeship rather than a Trade School. She apprenticed under an older mare named Willowbrook, who was looking to retire from her role as Ponyville's wildlife manager. As it turned out, that was the perfect job for Fluttershy and the two of them got along wonderfully. Fluttershy learned how to look after Ponyville's wildlife and how to treat injured animals from her. After Fluttershy finished her apprenticeship and Willowbrook retired, Fluttershy even got her cottage, the very one you and she were living at."

"What happened to Willowbrook?" asked Dawn.

Silverlight gave him a sad smile. "She passed away a few years ago. She went peacefully and was a good friend to our daughter, right up to the very end. We owe her a lot."

Silverlight lowered his head into his hooves and rested it there for a moment. “We’re lucky that Fluttershy is able to function as a normal pony at all. She suffered so much at that school and it’s all my fault! I wasn’t really trying to understand her or address the problems that she had. All that I cared about was ‘fixing’ her so that I didn’t have to deal with the parents of the foals that were tormenting her. I tried to foist her off onto somepony else when I should have been acting like an actual father to her!” Silverlight let out a strangled sob. “I know she forgave me and Posey for what we put her through, but I can’t forgive myself. If I can help it, I’ll do whatever I can to ensure that she never has to suffer like that again.”

Dawn frowned. He understood now why Silverlight was so overprotective of Fluttershy and why he seemed immensely suspicious of any stallion who tried to court her. But… “Are you sure that you aren’t hurting her in a different way by doing this?” he asked, tilting his head slightly.

“Huh?” Silverlight blinked and stared at his grandson for a moment.

“Mom is very happy with dad. Even I can tell that they love each other a great deal. What’s more, dad cares for me too. If you keep questioning it so much, you might end up driving mom away, rather than making sure that she’s happy.”

For a moment, Silverlight was dumbfounded by Dawn’s words. He’d never considered things from that angle before. Perhaps, in his efforts to be protective, he might end up doing Fluttershy as much harm as he had when he’d neglected her by sending her to a special school and simply trying to make her somepony else’s problem.

“Y-you might be right…” said Silverlight hesitantly.

“I know it might be difficult,” said Dawn, “But you could simply try dealing with dad as another pony, rather than just as the pony who’s with mom.”

“You really trust him, don’t you?” asked Silverlight.

Dawn smiled at his grandfather and nodded.

Silverlight looked at Dawn for a moment before finally letting out a weak chuckle. “Alright,” he said, “I guess I can give the guy a chance.”

“Well, it’s always nice havin’ visitors here. Y’all just weren’t the kind ‘o visitors Ah was expectin’.” Braeburn looked nervously at Shining Armor and the other fourteen guards that were arrayed before him.

“Don’t worry too much about it,” said Shining, “I can understand that this is a bit out of the blue, but we need to carry out an investigation on the C-I mean…the Order of Celestial Light. I’ve heard that they’re building some kind of temple here, right?”

“Eeyup, ya heard right,” said Braeburn, “It sure caused a bit ‘o hemmin’ and hawin’ when they started, what with all the zonin’ and codes they had to bend to get it up.” He began to lead the guards in the direction of the building in question.

“Why’s that?” asked Shining, giving the Appleloosan stallion a quizzical glance.

Braeburn shrugged. “Mighty weird location is all,” he said, “A bit out ‘o line with the streets and the other buildin's. Threw somethin’ of a wrench into the town’s layout ‘round that spot fer sure. But them folk from the Order were mighty particular that they build right there.”

So the position is important, Shining reasoned to himself. The location of the temple was apparently so critical that the cultists were willing to take on the zoning laws and town hall to ensure that they got the temple built exactly where they wanted it to be built. However, he kept this to himself for now. “What is the building like?” he asked.

“Nothin’ special,” said Braeburn, “Ah’ve seen fancier architecture in Ponyville. It kinda stands out, being made ‘o rock when everythin’ else ‘round here is made ‘o wood. Kinda clashes with the town’s look if ya ask me.”

That made perfect sense to Shining Armor. Given how stubbornly fanatical some members of the Cult Solar could be, it was obvious that they would construct whatever worship space they were making according to the designs of whatever strange set of rules informed the Cult’s approach to architecture, regardless of what outsiders thought of it. “Is there anything that stood out to you?” asked Shining, “Anything particularly odd about it at all?”

Braeburn lost himself in thought for a moment, his eyes turning skyward as much as he dared without taking them off where he was going. After a moment, he seemed to remember something. “There was somethin’ that struck me as mighty odd. When they first started, it seemed like a normal buildin’ pretty much. But, Ah noticed somethin’ weird. After the walls and ceilin’ were already up, they still seemed to be haulin’ a lot ‘o dirt and stone out from the inside, like they were still workin’ on excavatin’ the foundation, even though Ah know the foundation was done before they started puttin’ the walls up.”

“So they were making some kind of basement?” inquired Shining, his eyebrows going up. That wasn’t just strange, that was dangerous. If a building was meant to have a basement, then it was usually excavated as part of laying the foundation for the house. Otherwise, the builders ran the risk of weakening the ground beneath the walls that were already in place and bringing the entire building down on their heads while they were working. That they’d continued digging something out after the walls and ceiling were up suggested that they didn’t want outsiders to see what exactly they were digging out.

Even though he hadn’t laid eyes on the temple yet, Shining was already beginning to think that Arkenstone had been onto something. Now all that was left was to determine exactly what Arkenstone had been onto. Somehow, Shining got the feeling that he wouldn’t necessarily like the answer to that.

When the building came into view, Shining Armor had to stop a moment to take it in. It wasn’t the most bizarre thing he’d seen in his life…not by a long shot. However, the temple did look strangely out of place compared to the town around it. It was set off of alignment with the other buildings nearby, both of which were fairly ordinary houses. Because of that, the street had to wind and twist at an awkward angle, narrowing down at one point as it curled around the temple to resume its original course. The building also sat at an angle opposed to all the other buildings around it, which made it seem even more out of place. Finally, it had been built from blocks of carved granite, which was surprising to Shining, because, aside from the fact that it made the temple stand out all the more against its neighbors, there were no major granite deposits anywhere near Appleloosa, which meant that the Cult Solar had hauled all of this in from somewhere well outside of town, possibly another region of Equestria entirely.

That aside, the building’s construction was fairly unremarkable. It occupied a rectangular space a little bit larger than the average house. Its height marked it to be about three stories high (though the interior space was likely just one large room). Each of the corners where the sloping, angled roof met the wall ended with a small steeple, decorated with a bronze sun disk on the top. For something that was being called a temple, Shining had been expecting the construction to be more elaborate.

"So this is it," said the Guard Captain, staring up at the building, unsure of what he felt. There was a certain degree of trepidation. But the whole thing seemed so ordinary as to be completely underwhelming.

"Eeyup," said Braeburn, "The inside ain't nothin' to write home 'bout neither. But it ain't finished, far as Ah know. Maybe they're gonna put up some extra decorations later."

Shining strode up to the large double doors and knocked firmly on them three times. He waited a few seconds before the door slowly inched open and a unicorn looked out from them.

"Can I help you?" she asked softly, her eyes widening at the sight of a group of grim-looking Guards arrayed in front of the doors.

"Yes," said Shining Armor, keeping his tone polite and neutral, "I am Shining Armor, Captain of the Royal Guard. I am here at the behest of Princess Celestia to inspect the premises, if you please." There was no need to be overbearing. It was entirely possible that this was one of the many ordinary ponies in the Cult Solar who had, until recently, known nothing about the Cult's darker dealings. Even if she had read the newspaper article, it was all too likely she believed that it was nothing more than a pack of lies fabricated by the journalists of Canterlot.

The mare's eyes widened and she nodded frantically, stepping back to open the doors wide. "Of course, sir. Please come in at once."

"Thank you," said Shining, fighting to keep a smug smile from his face. The Royal Guard acted as an extension of Princess Celestia's authority and presence to the population at large. That, combined with his statement that the Princess had ordered this inspection (which might not have been technically true, but Shining knew that she would have given the order if he had taken the time to consult her), meant that this mare would be tripping over herself to accommodate him, so long as he kept from directly expressing his distaste with the Cult and his fondness for Dawn in their presence.

Stepping inside, Shining was not surprised to see that the space within the building consisted of a single cavernous room. Looking up, he noticed that the ceiling was decorated with an impressive mosaic of Princess Celestia's cutie mark upon a field of blue skies. The tiles of the sun symbol were reflective, bouncing light from the candles and torches that dominated the room off the ceiling and back down, giving the impression that the sun was always shining down upon those within. The walls were presently bare, but Shining could make out the bars and hooks where elaborate tapestries were undoubtedly going to be hung.

From the door, the floor was occupied by several rows of squat benches, arranged so that they were split down the middle to form an aisle between them. The aisle ran up to a dais that dominated the front of the room, upon which was situated a large, square altar, carved from white marble, which contrasted sharply with the grays of the walls and floor. The rest of the room was surprisingly unadorned, and the altar seemed peculiar in how lonely it looked up on the dais.

"I'm afraid it doesn't look like much now," said the mare her voice filled with quiet reverence, "But soon, once it's finished, it will be the perfect shrine to Her Radiance's glory."

"That's good," said Shining as he swept his eyes about the space. Turning his head, he nodded to his fellow guards, who fanned out into the room and began carefully inspecting everything.

"Is something wrong?" asked the mare, who was looking at Shining, her demeanor becoming more nervous.

"No. Nothing's wrong," said Shining, "But we are here to inspect this place, so we need to examine it very closely to ensure that there are no threats, should Princess Celestia come to visit herself."

The mare's attitude did another one-eighty and her eyes lit up like a foal that had been given exactly what she wanted for Hearth's Warming. "Her Radiance...coming here...?" It was clear that she was thrilled with the idea.

"At this point, I can't be certain of it," said Shining, "But we need to know everything about this place. Is there anything here, not readily visible, that you can tell me about."

"Well...no," said the mare, her enthusiasm fading somewhat.

"Are you sure?" asked Shining, raising an eyebrow, "I heard that there was a great deal of excavation going on after the walls and ceilings were raised. Is there a reason for that."

"Um...well..." The mare was clearly at a loss for what to say and fighting to find some kind of explanation.

"We made a mistake," called a voice from the door. A dark green stallion stepped inside. As he met Shining's gaze, the Guard Captain recalled hearing about a stallion of his description from one of the reports from Red and Storm.

"Uncle Blenheim?" said Braeburn, who had been standing idly off in one corner. The older stallion glanced at him and that was the extent of the acknowledgement that Blenheim gave his nephew before turning his full attention back to Shining Armor.

"What kind of mistake?" asked Shining.

"The location's important here," said Blenheim, "But when we were layin' the foundation, we found that a lot of the rock underneath was mighty flimsy; old karst and the like. We had to dig it out and replace it with somethin' more solid."

"I see," said Shining, "I'm going to run a routine scanning spell across the place, just to check and make sure that everything's safe. You don't mind, do you?"

"'Course not," said Blenheim, who had clearly taken over the situation from the relieved mare, "Look as hard and as much as ya want."

"Alright then," said Shining, his eyes narrowing. His horn glowed, then began to blaze with rose-colored light, which washed outward from the tip and across the room, sweeping over it in waves before finally fading. There wasn't anything routine about this spell. Rather, it was one of the most powerful scanning and detection spells that Shining Armor knew, one that had been developed to detect secret compartments used by smugglers and magically adept criminals. If there were any secret doorways or passages that might indicate that something was being hidden beneath the floor, the spell would outline them for everypony to see.

However, as the spell faded away, there was no sign of any hidden door or passage. Shining frowned silently.

"Are ya satisfied?" asked Blenheim.

Shining wasn't satisfied in the slightest, but he had no means of investigating further at the time. "I suppose I am," he said. A thought occurred to him. "By the way, when is this place supposed to be finished? I'd love to see it when it's all decked out."

Blenheim thought Shining's question over for a moment. "Round mid-spring," he said finally, "It's takin' some extra time to get the tapestries in."

"I see," said Shining, "Thank you for your cooperation." He nodded to his subordinates and led them out. Braeburn took a confused look at his uncle before going out after Shining.

"Are ya done then?" asked Braeburn, falling into step beside Shining.

"Not quite," said the white stallion, "Our next stop is Town Hall. I need all the information the City Planning office has on the location of that temple." There was no doubt in his mind that Blenheim and his compatriots were hiding something. Shining Armor was determined to find out what.

However, he'd made one important discovery. When he'd received Arkenstone's letter though Spike, Shining had read about Arkenstone's concerns over the time limit. The cultists were trying to do something and it was important to know when that something would be done. Now Shining had an idea. Spring! Whatever they're up to is going to be ready by then.

Bleneheim watched his nephew join the Royal Guards as they made their way down the street. Closing the door, he took a moment to heave a relieved sigh. "Looks like things worked out alright," he said.

"I'm amazed it worked," gasped the mare behind him.

"'Course it did," snapped Blenheim, "The door was designed by the Supreme Pontiff himself. There ain't a pony in Equestria that could find it."

Blenheim walked up to the alter and examined its top. Pressing his forehooves against the stone, he pulled them apart, effectively splitting the top of the stone table in two. He then rotated the two stone plates ninety degrees and slid them back together. Bracing his shoulder against the altar, Blenheim pushed. The entire thing slid across the floor as though it weighed nothing, offering no resistance to the stallion. Now there was a gaping hole in the floor, through which ran a stairway that spiraled down. Looking down through it, Blenheim could make out the shape of the device below, which dangled from the ceiling, directly underneath the center of the floor of the temple like a twisting stalactite. It was different in shape and configuration from the one in the temple where the Supreme Pontiff dwelled, but was unquestionably forged from the same materials and operated on the same principles.

Spring, thought Blenheim, We've gotta hold on 'til then. Then Nightmare Moon will be a thing 'o the past and we can all breathe easy. Just a few more months and Equestria will be free.

Author's Note

At least part of this chapter comes from a certain amount of personal experience with situations like the one Fluttershy went through. When I was student teaching (still working on actually getting hired), I got some firsthand experience with parents who had attitudes like Fluttershy's held, namely parents who were too busy for or not interested in their child's education and basically expected the school to raise their kid for them and fix all their child's problems with minimal involvement from the parents themselves. Those kinds of parents piss me off even more than the classic helicopter parents who try to tell you how to do your job where their kid is concerned. Fluttershy's parents were lucky enough to realize their mistakes and fix them, thankfully.

Next chapter: Dawn takes his friends camping.

Quiet Interludes

Chapter 11: Quiet Interludes

The remainder of the week that Fluttershy's parents spent in town was surprisingly pleasant. Caramel was especially amazed that Silverlight was no longer constantly glowering at him whenever the two of them were within eyesight of each other. At times, it looked as though the older stallion wanted to voice some form of displeasure or objection whenever he saw Caramel and Fluttershy getting close, but it was purely reflexive and Silverlight quickly reined it in.

In the meantime, Dawn was happy to get to know both his grandparents, who managed to tone down their affection somewhat. Granted, Silverlight still looked as though he wanted to die of happiness every time Dawn called him "grandpa" and Posey would trap him in her arms like a vice at the drop of a hat, but, by and large, Dawn enjoyed getting to know his extended family. Given how alone he had been in the time before he had met Fluttershy, suddenly going from having no family to having a surprisingly large family was a pleasant change in direction for him.

All told, the season was progressing nicely. Dawn and his friends worked at the teahouse, then played in the snow. One day they would go sledding. The next they built snow-castles. Dawn and Scootaloo played together frequently, using rapid exchanges of snowballs as a means of training during the winter cold. Dawn had never enjoyed winter so much before. Then, as they reached the final month of the year, Dawn showed his friends something he had learned from his Master...

"Okay," gasped Spike as he rested against his shovel, "Is that big enough?"

Dawn surveyed the large, broad mound of snow that he and his friends had piled up and nodded in satisfaction. "I believe so," he said.

"Okay," said Rumble, eyeing the pile of packed snow dubiously, "Now what?"

"Now we go to the Sugarcube Corner and wait for about an hour...maybe two," said Dawn.

"Huh?" Apple Bloom looked at the colt skeptically, "First ya have us pile up all'a this snow then ya just have us leave it?"

"For now," said Dawn.

"Well, I've got no problem going in and warming up for a while," said Sweetie Belle, rubbing her booted hooves together, "I'm cold."

"What's this all about?" asked Scootaloo as her coltfriend led the group back to the bakery.

"It needs to sit for a little while to set," explained Dawn.

"Oh! I get it," said Spike, smacking the palm of one hand with a fist, "You're letting it sinter." He was met by blank looks from everypony, including Dawn.

"What does that mean?" asked Scootaloo.

"Well, basically, when we packed all that snow down, we broke up the crystalline structure of the snow itself by forcing out the air," explained Spike, "Letting it rest will let the crystals reform into a new structure that's stronger. That's called sintering."

"Oh," said Dawn, "So that's what it's called."

"You don't know the name for it?" said Spike.

"I only learned how to do it, not what it was called, nor the exact mechanics behind it," explained Dawn with a shrug.

"So I guess we're making a quinzhee then," said Spike, rubbing his hands together eagerly.

"That's right," said Dawn.

"What in tarnation is that?" asked Apple Bloom.

Dawn opened his mouth to explain, but realized that they'd arrived at their destination. The group went into Sugarcube Corner and placed their orders, mostly various sweet confections, though Dawn ordered the onion soup dumplings that he liked so much (one of the few things on offer he could actually stomach).

As they sat at one of the tables and waited for Pinkie Pie to bring out their orders, Spike answered Apple Bloom's question.

"A quinzhee is a shelter made out of snow," explained the young dragon, "It's sorta like an igloo, but it's made out of packed snow, rather than cut ice."

"So that's what we're making?" asked Sweetie Belle.

Dawn nodded. "After we've let it rest and...sinter...then we'll go back and hollow it out."

"And then what?" asked Rumble.

"Well," said Dawn, "I was thinking that we could spend the night out there." His suggestion elicited a gasp from the entire group with the exception of Spike, who was looking quite excited by the prospect.

"Are you crazy?" demanded Sweetie Belle, "We can't stay in a shelter made out of snow. We'd freeze!"

"Actually, it's supposed to be pretty warm," said Spike, "We'll lay down some blankets on the floor and we'll be just fine with our sleeping bags. We won't even need scarves and jackets inside."

"How's that work?" asked Apple Bloom, looking at her drakefriend curiously.

"When you pack snow and get all the air out from between the crystals, it's a really effective insulator," said Spike with a knowing grin, "It'll keep the cold outside from getting inside and our body heat will keep the air on the inside warm."

"I also set the shape of the mound so that we'll have room for a fireplace when we hollow it out," added Dawn, "That will make it warmer."

"But won't the snow melt?" asked Scootaloo.

"Not really," said Spike, "The snow's insulation will work on itself too. We just have to make sure we have a chimney and air vents so that we don't suffocate or anything like that."

"Have you done this before?" asked Scootaloo, looking at Dawn.

The ebony colt nodded. "When I was living in the Everfree, that was how I weathered the coldest months. They can be very comfortable actually."

"That actually sounds kinda cool," said Scootaloo, perking up, "We'll be the Cutie Mark Crusaders Winter Campers...and Spike."

"Thanks," groused the dragon with a sardonic grin before taking a swig of his cocoa.

"Where'd ya learn so much 'bout all this stuff anyway?" Bloom asked Spike, "Ah thought Dawn was the one who knew everythin' 'bout livin' outdoors."

"From Twilight, of course," said Spike proudly, "She's done research on snow shelters, winter survival, and the composition of snow and ice."

"Why would she do that?" wondered Bloom.

"'Cause she's Twilight," said Spike with a shrug, "She does that kind of research for the fun of it. Guess who gets to help her with all her notes. That's how I know so much about it."

"Oh," said Bloom.

"What do you think?" asked Scootaloo, looking at all the others, "Why don't we give it a try?"

"Give what a try?"

Rumble let out a rather un-stallionly shriek as Pinkie Pie popped up right beside him, her perpetual grin unwavering as the gray colt settled back into his seat and glared up at the pink mare who had nearly given him a heart attack.

"We're helping Dawn build a quinzhee," said Spike, "And we were talking about having a sleepover in it once we're done."

"Oooh! That sounds like fun," said Pinkie before tilting her head, "What's a quinzhee?"

Spike let out a resigned sigh and repeated the explanation he'd been giving the others. Pinkie nodded along as she listened to the little dragon explain things once again. When he finished, Pinkie was nodding excitedly. "That sounds real cool!" She paused to giggle at her own unintended pun. "You really learned how to make those, Dawn?"

"Yes," replied Dawn with a pleased smile. He was actually looking quite proud of himself.

"I'd love to learn how to do that," squealed Pinkie, her grin spreading nearly to her ears. However, she froze when Mayweather trotted past, whipping Pinkie in the flank with her tail.

"Maybe next time," said Mayweather with a sly smile, "Let the kids have their fun tonight and Dawn and Spike can teach you about it later."

"'Kay," said Pinkie, sounding a little disappointed, but not too down over it.

Mayweather turned her attention to the Crusaders (and Spike). "You'd better make sure you have your families' permission before you go doing this."

"Okay," said the group in unison.

"So how does this work?" asked Bloom, turning her attention back to Dawn, "Ah mean. What's the plan once we finish gettin' permision fer this here shindig?"

"Once we finish talking, the snow should have settled enough," said Dawn, "So, when we return, we can begin hollowing out the interior. Then we'll lay down some blankets across the floor and put sleeping bags on them. Then all that will be left will be to settle down and make ourselves comfortable."

"Do you have the blankets?" asked Sweetie.

Dawn nodded. "When I told dad what I was planning, he said he'd let me use some old blankets from the closet."

"So I guess you already have permission then," said Rumble.

Dawn smiled. "Mom was a bit worried, but she gave hers when she heard that I've done this before." He paused and scratched his chin. "Though I've never had to make one quite so large before..."

"Will it be okay?" asked Sweetie.

Dawn nodded. "It should do fine for the six of us."

"Well then, I guess we can delay hollowing it out a little while we all go and get permission," said Spike, "It certainly won't hurt to let the snow set longer."

Everypony else nodded in agreement. They chatted for a little while longer in the Sugarcube Corner before scattering to get permission from their parents and siblings.

"So is it okay?" asked Spike, looking up at Twilight.

"Well, I've done the research," said Twilight, smiling, "and I don't have any problem with it. Just make sure you have somepony outside the quinzhee at all times while you're hollowing it out, just in case it collapses."

"Sure thing," agreed Spike, he'd read that part to. While the snow shelters rarely collapsed if they were made properly, the consequences could be dire if that volume of snow collapsed on somepony while they were still inside.

"Let me get your sleeping bag and you'll be all set to go." Twilight turned and made her way up to the closet in their bedroom alcove. Spike had his own sleeping bag, specially made by Rarity from extra-durable materials to keep it from being punctured by his spines or claws. It was also well-insulated, easily able to handle temperatures below freezing, even though Spike didn't need all that much help regulating his own body temperature.

Twilight brought Spike's bag, which had been packed into a smaller sack so that he could carry it easily, down. As she passed it to Spike, she gave him a concerned look. "There's one more thing I need to talk to you about before you go," she said.

"I promise to make sure I brush my teeth before I turn in for the night," said Spike dutifully.

"That's not it," said Twilight with a sigh, "You're going to be camping out with your friends. Apple Bloom is going to be there, right?"

"Yeah," said Spike, nodding, not certain he was liking where this conversation was going. She isn't going to talk about that...is she?

"There's going to be six of you now, so I don't think it should be much of a problem," said Twilight, "But, just to be on the safe side, I'm going to tell you this anyway, especially since the others will be there with their special someponies too..." She let out a frustrated groan. "There's no easy way to put this but...no sex! Understood?"

Spike's cheeks flared with dark red color. I should have known she was going to do this. Regardless, he nodded furiously.

"Good," said Twilight, running her hoof along his spines, "Now go and have fun."

Spike nodded one last time and bolted out the door.

Meanwhile, at Sweet Apple Acres, a certain yellow filly was receiving the exact same talk from her elder sister. Fortunately for Apple Bloom, she was much more comfortable with the topic than most fillies her age. Working on the farm, especially with all the animals around, tended to familiarize oneself with the facts of life rather early on.

"Don't ya worry sis," said Bloom proudly, "Both Spike and Ah know we're way too young to even be thinkin' 'bout that."

"Well Ah'm glad," said Applejack, "Ah'd thought as much, but it wouldn't feel right if Ah didn't cover mah bases with ya, just to be on the safe side. Now go on and have a fun time with yer friends."

"Ah will!" exclaimed Apple Bloom, galloping out the door.

Applejack watched her little sister go with a wistful smile, remembering the times she and Big Macintosh had gone camping together when they were just foals. She was distracted from her reverie by the sound of wheezing laughter coming from her grandmother.

"Somethin' funny Granny?" asked Applejack, turning to regard the wrinkled, green mare who came ambling out of the kitchen.

"Well, it's just like Bloom said," commented Granny Smith with a wry smile, "Ah can betcha that Bloom and that little drake of her's weren't even thinkin' 'bout that stuff 'til ya brought it up. But, if the rest's families are actin' like ya did, Ah wonder if they'll be able to stop thinkin' 'bout it, now that ya've gone and put the idea in their heads."

"Uh..." Applejack's eyes widened as she considered what her grandmother had just said, "Whoops!"

Had Sweetie Belle had her way, she would have trotted gracefully out the door of her sister's boutique and made her way towards the park, where their pile of snow was waiting to be hollowed out, meeting Rumble halfway and enjoying some quality time with her coltfriend.

Sadly, Sweetie didn't get her way, as she instead bolted out the door, slamming it shut behind her before rushing down the street in a frantic effort to put as much distance between herself and Rarity as possible, her white coat of fur making the brilliant red her face had turned all the more visible. Only when she was a safe ways away from the Carousel Boutique did Sweetie slump down, only barely resisting the temptation to shove her head into a nearby snowbank in a desperate effort to cool it off.

Rarity had, of course, been amicable to allowing Sweetie to spend the night with the rest of the Crusaders (and Spike). However, when the topic had drifted around to the fact that Rumble would be there, Rarity had brought up the topic of sex, namely how Sweetie was to avoid it at any cost. Rarity, being Rarity, had approached the topic with the grace that only the most sophisticated ponies of Canterlot and Manehattan would appreciate...namely by imagining the scandal that would befall Sweetie and Rumble if they "indulged" at such an early age, followed by vivid imaginings of pregnancy and the premature wedding that were sure to follow.

That's it, thought Sweetie furiously, When I get back tomorrow, I'm taking all of Rarity's romance novels and burning them. Sadly, Sweetie's memories were not so easily purged, not even by fire.

"You too, huh?"

A strangled squeak slipped out the white filly's lips as she whirled around to see Rumble, who was wearing a similar blush on his cheeks, his wings buzzing occasionally, as though he was unable to keep them still.

For a moment, the two of them stood there, staring at one another in awkward silence.

"So..." ventured Rumble cautiously, "How did yours go?"

"Terrible," said Sweetie with a frustrated groan, "The moment you came up, it's like Rarity lost touch with reality and just wrote us into one of her favorite novels."

"That's pretty bad," said Rumble, who'd had a fair bit of experience with Rarity by this time.

"What about you?" asked Sweetie, her two-toned mane bobbing as she tilted her head to regard Rumble.

"Worse...I think," said Rumble, his cheeks flaring up again, "When Thunderlane heard about the sleepover and that you would be there. He started teasing me about it. Then Cloud Chaser went and...Ugh!" Unlike Sweetie, Rumble did not resist the temptation and actually did shove his head into the snowbank. When he pulled it back out, he shook his head to clear off the excess snow. "Cloudchaser was actually offering to give me advice on how...how to..." Once again, Rumble buried his head into the snow.

"She was joking?" asked Sweetie, feeling more than a little nervous, "Right...?"

"Yeah," said Rumble after he pulled his head out again, "But that doesn't really make it any better."

"No it doesn't," agreed Sweetie.

Rumble had been quite glad that Flitter had rescued him. She had only been too happy to explain that Thunderlane and Cloud Chaser had only been joking. But the damage had already been done.

"I wonder if the others are doing alright," mused Sweetie idly.

"Let's find out," said Rumble with a sigh.

The two of them set out together, side by side. In spite of the embarrassment stemming from their conversations with their respective siblings, Sweetie didn't shy away as Rumble pressed up close to her then extended his wing over her back to hold her up against him. The two of them made their way to the park that way, cheek pressed to red-glowing cheek.

Scootaloo arrived at the park to find Dawn already there. The colt had set down some bags, which presumably contained the blankets and whatever other necessities he had gotten for the night, off to the side and was situated by the mound of snow. He had gotten a few tree branches from the nearby forest and was in the process of breaking them into ten-inch pieces, which he was setting off to the side for the time being.

As she got closer, Dawn looked up and his draconic eyes swept up to meet her own. The moment their eyes met, Scootaloo's cheeks bloomed in a furious blush as she averted her own gaze.

"Is...is everything alright?" asked Dawn, getting to his hooves and approaching, a bit concerned about Scootaloo's suddenly strange behavior.

"Uh...yeah...sorta," said Scootaloo.

Dawn blinked and raised an eyebrow. "Sort...a?"

"Well...Mom said it was okay for me to spend the night out here with everypony," explained Scootaloo, "But she said she was a bit worried about you being here."

Dawn blinked and tilted his head in confusion. "Why?" As far as he knew, Melon Cream trusted him with Scootaloo and had no problem with them being together. He wondered what development had suddenly made Scootaloo's mother so worried about her spending the night with him.

"Uh...isn't it obvious?" asked Scootaloo, her blush intensifying. The blank look Dawn gave her told her that it wasn't obvious at all. "You know...a filly and a colt...special someponies...spending the night together..."

Dawn merely stared at her uncomprehending. Scootaloo stared back, just as bamboozled by Dawn's lack of comprehension. "Uh...didn't your mom talk to you about anything?" she asked, putting a careful emphasis on the last word.

"Um...no..." said Dawn, blinking slowly, "At least...I don't think it was the anything you're talking about...whatever that is..."

"Wow! Really?" Scootaloo could only stare, unable to imagine that Fluttershy or Caramel had neglected to bring up The Talk, even as a warning for Dawn. Did they trust in his maturity that much?

"What is it that you think I should have talked with mom and dad about?" asked Dawn, still wearing an expression of confusion.

"Uh...sex," said Scootaloo lamely.

"What about it?" asked Dawn.

That made Scootaloo freeze. "You know what sex is...right?"

"Of course," said Dawn, "Sex is the means by which ponies and other animals reproduce. But what does that have to do with our sleepover?"

Scootaloo's jaw went slack as she stared at her coltfriend, the realization slowly seeping into her bones that, while Dawn clearly knew what sex was, he didn't seem to be making the connection at all between sex and romance. It was simply amazing, to be honest. Even taking away his mastery of the martial arts, Dawn had an impressive repertoire of knowledge and skills that had enabled him to survive on his own for an extended period of time in one of the most hostile environments imaginable. The unfinished snow shelter behind him was a testament to that. However, Scootaloo came to the realization that there was a very glaring gap in Dawn's knowledge. On top of that, he’d come into school during midsummer, just missing the sex-ed lessons Cheerilee had given the rest of the class.

It wasn’t much of a surprise to Scootaloo that Fluttershy and Caramel hadn’t spoken to Dawn about the same topic that Scootaloo’s mother had. They had probably assumed that Dawn’s Master had taught him about it. However, it was now clear that they had been gravely mistaken. The consequences were…awkward…to say the least.

To make matters worse, Scootaloo was fairly certain that all of her friends had gotten the same lecture in one form or another. When they got here, it would be on all their minds…except for Dawn’s, who would be left out in the worst possible way. But the only way to include him would be for her to explain what the problem was…and Scootaloo wasn’t sure if she could do that.

Still, the only other option would be to send him back to Fluttershy, which would really put off finishing the quinzhee. But...can I really do it? If anything, the fact that Dawn was her coltfriend only served to make things even more awkward to Scootaloo. Still, she decided to give it her best shot. She could only hope that she wasn't making a big mistake by doing this.

Scootaloo took a deep breath. "Listen Dawn," she said, "The thing about sex is...it's considered a really important part of relationships."

"How so?" asked Dawn.

"Well, before I got here, mom was talking to me about this. The thing is...when ponies who are special someponies spend the night together, for older ponies it usually uh...means..." Scootaloo dipped her head, trying to think about an easy way to say this. "The ponies doing it tend to start thinking about...doing it."

"I don't get it," said Dawn, still looking at her blankly. The utter lack of comprehension on the colt's face made Scootaloo want to laugh. The embarrassing subject matter kept her mirth contained though.

"I'm really not all that good about explaining it," said Scootaloo, "'Cause it's something I only partly understand myself. The only thing I do know is that we're way too young for it. I wouldn't have even thought about it if mom hadn't brought it up."

Seeing that Dawn still only had the barest notion of what she was talking about, Scootaloo let out a defeated sigh. "Listen, it's something you need to talk to your mom and dad about. I don't know if you should do it today before we actually start this whole thing or after you get back, but you do need to talk to them about it." Then you can be properly embarrassed with the rest of us.

"Okay..." said Dawn, "Perhaps we should finish the shelter first. Then I'll head back home and talk to mom and dad about it."

"That's probably a good idea," said Scootaloo. Part of her felt guilty about subjecting Dawn to this on a night when he had been innocently expecting to have a fun time with his friends. But, at the same time, this was clearly a conversation he needed to have with somepony and Scootaloo didn't feel nearly qualified to give him the full explanation.

"So," she said, changing the subject, "What's next with this thing." She examined the mound that they had built. It seemed much more solid-looking, now that it had been sitting out for a while.

Apparently relieved to be back to a topic he actually knew something about, Dawn smiled and held up one of the sticks he had been segmenting. "We need to plant these into the sides and top," he said.

"Why?" asked Scootaloo.

"They're guides," explained Dawn, "The walls need to be a certain thickness in order to hold up the shelter. When we're digging it out, we'll eventually reach the sticks and that will tell us that we can't dig any further."

"Cool," said Scootaloo. She took half the sticks from Dawn. She watched as he moved around the perimeter of the mound, pushing the sticks into the snow until only a couple of inches stood out of the snow. Following his example, Scootaloo went around as well, doing her best to keep the sticks evenly placed. Then they fluttered up and planted another line of sticks higher up before Dawn flew all the way to the top and punched a few sticks down into what would be the shelter's ceiling.

As they were finishing, Sweetie Belle and Rumble arrived, with Spike coming up behind them. Apple Bloom would take the longest getting back, seeing as she had to go all the way up to Sweet Apple Acres and back.

"Alright," said Dawn, turning his attention to the mound, "We'll start carving out the inside. I'll go first. I need everypony else to clear out the snow behind me. We'll need someone outside at all times, just in case."

The others nodded and Dawn set to work. The first thing he did was use one of his feathers to carve a circular opening on one side of the dome. Then he began to dig it out. The snow had hardened considerably, thanks to the time it had spent sintering. Still, Dawn was able to tunnel in fairly quickly. Behind him, Spike and Rumble were moving the snow out of the way as Dawn deposited it behind him.

Once he had gotten far enough in, Dawn began to dig out around either side of the entrance, making the beginnings of the single large room that the shelter would contain. Before long, he had enough room that Spike was able to join him, the young dragon's clawed hands making quick work of the packed snow, while Rumble moved in behind them to keep clearing the snow out the entrance, where Sweetie and Scootaloo would shovel it away. Before long, they were joined by Apple Bloom, who came inside to assist in digging out the interior.

According to Dawn's specifications, the floor around the entrance was dug out more so that it was lower than the section where the group would be sleeping. According to Dawn, this would give the cold air a place to pool and then move out through the door opening, helping to keep the sleeping space warm. At the far end of the shelter, Dawn allowed the walls to close slightly before digging out a second, almost separate room. In that second room, Dawn dug through the snow in the ceiling all the way out. Beneath the new chimney, Dawn laid out a large, flat rock he had found. This would be the fireplace. After that, he dug a channel that split the raised section of the floor in two, running down into the sunken section by the door. Dawn then withdrew a few of the sticks he had inserted and slightly widened the holes they'd left behind to serve as vents to allow fresh air in. The rest of the sticks were pulled and the holes they left were plugged.

Once they had finished digging out the interior, Dawn began laying out the blankets he'd gotten from Caramel, until the entire floor was covered. After that, he and Spike set out a few firefly lanterns to provide light in the dark, cavern-like confines of the shelter. As a final touch, Dawn pinned a pair of smaller blankets to the walls by the entrance so that they draped across it, creating an effective door.

"And we're done," he said with no small amount of satisfaction. He had every right to be impressed with his work. The quinzhees he'd made during his time in the Everfree had been single-pony affairs, very small and cramped. This was the largest and roomiest one he'd ever made. The whole space was long and low, with the ceiling high enough that they could stand, but without much more room than that.

The others came in and laid out their sleeping bags and cushions. Already, their combined body heat was making the interior of the shelter warmer than the air outside. Everypony began unpacking, revealing snacks and thermoses of cocoa or cider.

Looking around, Scootaloo could see that everypony was more concerned with setting up for the evening than the conversations they had probably just had with their siblings and parents. She figured that, if they kept themselves entertained well enough, they wouldn't have much reason to think about it. She quietly pulled Dawn aside. "Why don't you wait until tomorrow to talk to your parents," she suggested quietly, feeling a little bit off about including Caramel as one of Dawn's parents, though Dawn was clearly getting quite comfortable with calling Caramel "dad."

"Okay," said Dawn, nodding slowly. He was still confused by her worries for the whole affair, but decided to keep it to himself unless the conversation came up again.

"So, how about that fire," suggested Spike, rubbing his claws eagerly. As a dragon, he enjoyed fire, even though he didn't necessarily require the warmth of one.

"Just a moment," said Dawn. He took the pile of sticks that he'd removed from the sides of the quinzhee and used a arranged a few of them in the fireplace at the end of the room. Extending two of his primaries, Dawn allowed a spark to jump between them before it streaked out and into the wood. A few short seconds later, a modest fire was crackling away.

"Wow," said Scootaloo, grinning widely as she settled down next to Dawn, "This is awesome!"

"I'm glad that I was able to share it with everyone," said Dawn, looking around and taking the sight of their friends chatting.

Scootaloo examined their friends too. She noted that Sweetie and Rumble were both blushing a little more than usual, given that the two of them had gotten very used to being special someponies. Spike's cheeks were a shade darker than normal, the only indicator that the young dragon was blushing. Bloom looked completely normal, though Scootaloo was fairly certain that the farm filly had gotten a similar talk from her older sister that Scootaloo had gotten from her mom.

It seemed that the sheer novelty of the experience of being tucked inside a warm, cozy hut made of nothing but snow was enough to keep their minds off the uneasiness that they would have been feeling otherwise. Scootaloo could only hope that they would keep that part of the conversation in check as the evening progressed or Dawn would be in an even more awkward position than he had been earlier.

"So this is how ya stayed warm when ya were in the Everfree," said Bloom appreciatively, snuggling up against Spike.

"When it was possible," said Dawn, "The weather in the forest is unpredictable, so there wasn't always enough snow to make one."

"You mean you had to keep making one over an over again?" asked Rumble, a little distressed by the idea. Building the quinzhee had been a fun project for them, but one that had taken the better part of the day, taking into account the time spent waiting for the snow to sinter and solidify. Dawn wouldn't have had the Sugarcube Corner to shelter in while he waited.

"One of these can last a few days," said Dawn, looking around room, "But they are a temporary shelter at best. There is always a chance of collapse, especially after a few days, depending on the weather."

"Why not build an igloo?" asked Spike, "They're more permanent."

"The snow and ice weren't the right quality," replied Dawn, "The advantage of a quinzhee is that it can be built from any kind of snow, so long as you have enough of it."

"What was it like, living in the Everfree?" asked Sweetie from her comfortable position beneath Rumble's wing, "Was it scary?"

"Somewhat," said Dawn, "It takes getting used to and you can't afford to let your guard down."

"That's why you're such a light sleeper?" asked Scootaloo.

Dawn nodded. "There are plenty of nocturnal predators in the Everfree Forest. But the most dangerous times are around twilight and dawn-" He was cut off by a collective snort from his friends, a sound that he echoed when he realized what he'd just said. "-around nightfall and daybreak," he amended, "when most of the monsters are out hunting."

"You must have seen a lot of monsters there," said Spike, "Twilight says that ponies have only officially observed a few of them because nopony wants to go too far into the forest. I don't think me or the girls have gone farther than the old castle." Except for that one time I ran away...I think.

"I did see quite a few," agreed Dawn, "I know all the ones you're talking about. I did see cragodiles, manticores, hydras, and way too many timberwolves. Then there were wyverns, thunderbirds, a roc..."

"But probably not any rous," muttered Spike.

"No, they exist," countered Dawn, "But they weren't too troublesome. I've also seen a few that I didn't see in any of Twilight's books. But they were in the deeper sections of the Everfree, far away from any pony settlements."

"What kind 'o monsters?" asked Bloom eagerly.

Dawn frowned and closed his eyes, searching his memories of the year he'd spent in the forest. "Let's see...There were the exploding shrub monsters...Those were annoying. Then there were these monsters I called dragon-dogs. They looked like somepony had mixed a greyhound with a dragon. They were about the size of an adult pony and they were relentless hunters." A grimace crossed Dawn's face at the memory of them. "I had to exterminate an entire pack that picked up my trail because they wouldn't give up." He thought a little more. "Oh, and there was that...pony...thing..."

"Huh?" Rumble's head came up. "There were ponies?"

"Not a pony," said Dawn, "But something that looked like one. At first I thought it was a pony too. But the more I thought about it, the more convinced I became that it wasn't."

"Why not?" asked Scootaloo.

"Its proportions were all wrong," said Dawn, "Its legs were too long and it was too thin. I can't remember what it's face looked like. Also, I can't imagine what anypony would be doing wearing a suit in the Everfree."

"Yeah, that sounds weird," agreed Sweetie.

Dawn shrugged. "In any case, I only saw it once. It practically vanished the first time I saw it and I haven't seen it since. I haven't given it too much thought really."

"Probably for the best," said Spike, to which Dawn nodded. There were some things that were probably better off not being pondered.

"There were a few other things," Dawn added quietly, "But nothing really worth noting."

The others wondered about that, but Dawn had clearly said enough on the subject. Instead, Spike took a different approach. "Did you see any other dragons in the forest?"

Dawn nodded. "At a distance. I felt it was best not to bother them and avoid them if possible. One time, I was seeking shelter from a wild storm in a cave and stumbled across a dragon's treasure hoard. I left as quickly as I could."

"Did it chase after you?" asked Rumble, leaning forward.

Dawn shook his head. "The dragon wasn't in and I figured it might have been out hunting at the time. I thought it best to be gone before he or she came back."

"Did you take anything?" asked Sweetie, "Sis was always talking about how she wished she could have gotten some gems from that dragon that settled on the mountain that one time."

Dawn shook his head vigorously. "That wouldn't have been wise at all. My Master told me that, while much isn't known about dragons, it is known that they are fiercely protective of their hoards. Dragons apparently know everything about the treasure they possess and can tell immediately if something has been taken from it. He also said that some ponies think that a dragon can instinctively track a piece that has been stolen from his hoard, even if it has been taken miles away and will pursue it relentlessly."

"Whoa! Scary." Spike was trembling at the thought, imagining what might have happened had the dragon he'd met in the Everfree tried to follow him back to Ponyville. The consequences could have been horrifying.

"Besides," said Dawn with a sigh, "I was literally in the middle of nowhere. Any treasure wouldn't have been worth a thing. It would have only slowed me down."

The conversation shifted and the other members of the group shared various stories from their own lives. Scootaloo started up telling scary stories, which didn't really phase Dawn or Apple Bloom, but had Sweetie Belle and Spike huddling up with their respective someponies while shivering in a way that had nothing to do with the cold outside. They shared snacks, drank cocoa and cider and generally wiled away the hours. Though there had been some time before nightfall when they had first finished the quinzhee, the sheer novelty of the experience made the foals and dragon reluctant to leave its warm confines as Dawn continued to maintain the modest fire in the fireplace.

By the time they ran out of wood for the fire, night had fallen. Dawn buried the last remaining embers with snow from the floor. The chimney wasn't much wider than the vents that Dawn had dug in the walls earlier and would serve as another source of fresh air for the shelter. The cold would seep down into the channel to join with the rest of the cold air in the room, helping to keep the sleeping area warm.

"Any last trips to the bathroom?" asked Spike, eyeing the entrance. With the amount of sweet drink the group had consumed, they'd had to break on several occasions so that one or more of them could make a quick trip outside to relieve themselves. Luckily, there was a public restroom not far away, a factor that had helped Dawn decide on this location.

Dawn's eyes narrowed slightly. "I have to step out for a moment," he said.

"Don't take too long," called Scootaloo behind him as the colt put on his winter jacket and wrapped the scarf around his neck. Dawn opened the door and stepped outside, closing it quickly behind him. He had already checked with Rainbow Dash regarding the prevailing winds, so the door was on the leeward side of the shelter, which meant the wind wouldn't be blowing in. But the important thing was to keep as much heat as possible from leaking out.

The difference between the warm air inside the quinzhee and the winter chill outside was stark and Dawn, in spite of all his experience with the harshness of the season couldn't suppress a shiver. However, instead of making his way to the restroom, he instead turned and spread his wings, hovering just a short distance above the snow. His flight carried him a short distance away from the quinzhee to the place that he sought.

Dawn had begun to feel it partway through the evening, as the sun was going down and the night setting in, a faint pulling sensation. From the way she'd occasionally acted distracted during their conversations, Dawn knew that Apple Bloom had been feeling it too, but hadn't realized it. It was subtle, but he suspected that it was earth pony magic, which he had been able to sense only by virtue of his trained sensitivity to his surroundings and his numerous sparring sessions with Red River, which had given him a great deal of familiarity with the sensation of earth pony magic.

The pull was incredibly light and subtle. Dawn hadn't even consciously realized it when he'd first begun to sense it. It was like somepony had tied a string to his head and was, very gently, tugging at it. When he realized what he had been sensing, Dawn's first instinct had been to rush outside and confront the source. However, he quickly realized a complete lack of hostile intent to the feeling. Dawn had decided to leave it for the time being. Only when they were preparing to turn in for the night did he set out to confront the source of the feeling, partly to satisfy his curiosity and partly to be absolutely certain that he and his friends weren't in danger.

True masters of the martial arts could supposedly veil their intent just as well as they veiled their presence. Dawn had been warned about Terra Heart before. If Terra Heart was truly a master, then he could very well be lurking nearby, biding his time, silencing his desire to kill and preparing to attack. While Dawn didn't believe that Terra was here, the cultist would have probably attacked already, he felt the need to be absolutely certain.

As Dawn approached the source of the sensation, he began to recognize the presence. By the time he arrived, Dawn knew exactly who was waiting for him.

Arkenstone stood there, amidst the trees of the nearby forest. He was almost completely unclothed. The only concession to the weather was the lavender scarf wrapped around his neck and even that seemed to be more for appearances than its actual utility.

"Good evening," said the blind stallion softly and genially, as though it was perfectly natural for him to be standing out in below-zero weather with nary a thread of protection against the elements.

"What are you doing out here?" asked Dawn, curiosity, rather than frustration or anger, coloring his tone, "Have you been watching us?"

Arkenstone cracked an amused smile and opened one blank, white eye. "In a manner of speaking," he said, "In spite of her trust in her younger brother, Twilight was still a bit worried about him and your friends. To help put her at ease, I offered to come out and…chaperone…as it were.”

“Okay…” said Dawn, canting his head, still a bit confused by what all the older ponies seemed to be worried about.

Arkenstone couldn't help but chuckle at Dawn's confusion. "I'm sure your mother and father will be able to explain it to you."

"I hope so," said Dawn, looking the stallion over, "Did you wish to come and join us?"

"I think I will stay out here," said Arkenstone, "I am chaperoning your little outing, but I figured this would be some fine time for training as well."

"So that is what I sensed," mused Dawn.

"Correct," replied Arkenstone, "I am not drawing on much power now, but every little bit adds up. If you look inside me, you could 'see' for yourself."

"How am I able to look inside?" asked Dawn. His wind-sense picked out Arkenstone's form and his heightened awareness allowed him to sense the stallion's presence, though it was considerably muted.

"The Gale King is the art of mastering the flow of the air," said Arkenstone, "But one's breath is also air. Therefore, you also have the potential to sense what lies within an opponent by using their breath to draw your wind-sense into their body. "

Dawn frowned slightly and extended his wings, letting his awareness fully infuse into the air around him. He allowed his awareness to encapsulate Arkenstone's form. As Arkenstone breathed in, Dawn moved his awareness to the air being drawn into the stallion's mouth. Half a second later, when Arkenstone breathed back out, Dawn felt it.

Arkenstone's presence completely infused his breath and with it, Dawn got a sense of just what lay within the unassuming beige stallion. His power burned like a miniature sun within him, small, almost impossible to perceive, but blazing hot. Dawn got that sense that Arkenstone's power was being contained and compressed, carefully refined over hours, days, and years of ceaseless practice.

"Amazing," gasped Dawn.

"It can teach you a lot about somepony," said Arkenstone, nodding his head in agreement, "It is also an incredibly useful way to read your opponent, even better than your basic wind-sense. It requires a bit more attention to detail, so you will need to practice it."

"How is it better for reading my opponent?" asked Dawn.

"Breath is central to nearly all martial arts. It is the means by which we generate power, channel it and release it. A pony can mask their presence, and their intent, but they cannot mask their breath when they are about to strike. Breathing also teaches you their rhythm and intervals, marking the difference between action and inaction. If you can perceive that, then you can move as one with your opponent. If both of you move as one, then it is the same as neither of you moving at all. Then, if add your own motion to your opponent's motion, then you will be the only one moving."

Dawn's lips formed a tight line as he thought Arkenstone's words over. He wasn't sure they made sense, but then, a great many things the stallion had told him didn't always make sense. But he supposed that was the way of the world. If the answers could all be simply told, then there was no point to learning through one's own experiences.

Deciding that he could ponder what Arkenstone had told him later, Dawn decided to shift the conversation. "So why did you decide to train out here?"

"A Knight, even one on furlough like myself, must maintain a state of readiness at all times. One cannot afford to slack in their training, no matter the circumstances. This is just as true for masters as it is for novices. The are particulars to my exercise that are a bit difficult to explain to a non-earth pony, as you cannot sense the same flow of power that another of my tribe can. For us, there is always time for training. Perhaps you haven't noticed it, but Apple Bloom has been training the whole evening, even as she was passing it with you and the rest of your friends."

"She was?" Dawn blinked. He'd never noticed a single sign.

Another chuckle escaped Arkenstone's mouth. "She has been stationary for the whole evening. What better time to practice stillness? She has progressed quite far to be able to do so and hold a conversation at the same time."

"She must be quite talented," observed Dawn.

"Perhaps," said Arkenstone, "But talent is immaterial to mastering earth pony magic."

"How so?"

"Because talent only means it is slightly easier to learn the basics. Once an earth pony has learned the basics, talent will be of no help to her. The only thing that can affect true improvement is diligence. Never neglect an opportunity to train, to improve yourself, to get the most out of the time you have. Tap the flow of power within the earth and practice drawing it into yourself until it has become as natural as breathing. Every minute and every second moves you forward until, ultimately, you attain mastery."

Arkenstone took a deep breath. Dawn suddenly felt as though his orientation had completely changed direction, as though the ground beneath him was now a wall and he was plummeting straight for Arkenstone. His flight instincts kicked in automatically and he reared back, flapping his wings furiously for lift to keep from falling.

Arkenstone relaxed, breathing out and the feeling vanished. Dawn abruptly overbalanced and launched himself onto his back, skidding through the snow away from Arkenstone as the stallion laughed heartily.

"For us earth ponies..." He stepped forward and offered Dawn a hoof, helping the colt get back on his hooves. "...mastery is as simple as that."

"And yet, there seem to be very few earth pony masters," said Dawn.

Arkenstone shrugged. "Simple and easy are not one in the same. Diligence is not an easy thing to practice. It requires that one makes a commitment to never spending an idle moment. Every waking instant is devoted to Cultivating one's power. Believe me, it is amazing that Apple Bloom hasn't slacked in the slightest when it comes to her training. I suppose she has good motivation."

Dawn wondered what Arkenstone meant by that. He was about to ask when he heard Scootaloo calling his name through the night. "Sorry," he said, "I have to go."

"That's fine," said Arkenstone, "Go have fun."

The cold nodded once then took to the air, his ebony wings blending into the darkness.

Author's Note

First off, I would like to maintain that, in spite of certain shout outs made in this chapter, this series will not become a crossover. Things are already weird enough in this setting as is.

I'm sure that anyone who's dealt with anyone before is familiar with the situation where someone tells you not to do activity X or think about concept Y when, just by bringing the topic up, they've suddenly forced your mind to fixate on the very thing that you're not supposed to be doing/thinking about. Frustrating, no?

Dawn's...knowledge...and lack thereof...of things sexual is perhaps one of the biggest things that slowed me down the most when it came to writing this particular story arc. I'm not entirely sure that the position that Dawn is currently in is actually feasible and remains a piece of the story that I am exceptionally uncertain as to whether or not I've handled correctly and I'm not fully sure that I haven't contradicted his earlier characterization in some form or another. This and the following chapter might be due for a rewrite at some point. What I really wanted was to have another of those moments where it's apparent that, for all that he is pretty mature for his age, Dawn is still a kid after all. I debated all sorts of ways to approach this gap in his knowledge and experience and this is the way I settled on.

Sadly, while I was in the Boy Scouts and did go on winter camping trips, I never did get the opportunity to try my hand at making a quinzhee of my own. Maybe I'll try it in the future, but right now, my theoretical knowledge of the subject remains theoretical. I've read about quinzhees and igloos with fireplaces, including testimonies by people who've apparently made them, so they're feasible in my mind, even if I don't have any practical experience with them.

Next chapter: Dawn gets The Talk.

Awkward Explanations

Chapter 12: Awkward Explanations

"Dawn! Dawn! Where are you?"

Scootaloo spread her wind-sense as far as she could. When Dawn's absence had gone on, she'd started to realize he hadn't simply stepped out to use the restroom. However, she decided to wait, hoping he hadn't gotten himself into trouble. Then she'd felt it, the sensation of falling across level ground, as though the whole world had tilted on its side. She wasn't the only one who noticed. Apple Bloom's head had snapped up as she stared in shock in the direction of the pull. Even Rumble, Spike, and Sweetie Belle hadn't missed it, the three of them shifting uncomfortably against the strange feeling that they were on the verge of falling over.

It hadn't even taken a second for Scootaloo to realize that, whatever was going on outside, Dawn was involved. He could be in danger! That Terra Heart guy could be here! She'd immediately bolted out of the shelter and taken to the air, not bothering to put anything on, not even her scarf.

It was dark out. Here in the park, the lamps were extinguished at night. The sky was covered with a rich blanket of stars to accompany the silver crescent of the moon. But the light they afforded was barely enough to see. Scootaloo was depending almost entirely on her wind-sense to keep from running into anything as she searched for Dawn. The frantic need to know if he was okay kept the cold at bay.

Then she felt him coming, his wings moving the air around him as it came into contact with the air around her. Orienting on him, Scootaloo launched forward as Dawn approached, slamming into him and knocking the two of them out of the sky. They landed heavily in the snow, which fortunately cushioned the impact.

"Dawn!" she exclaimed, searching for any sign of injury, "Are you okay? What was that? Are you being attacked?"

The vivid blue-green color of Dawn's eyes shined in the faint light of the stars, his normally slit-shaped pupils having dilated, actually making them appear closer to a normal pony's eyes at the moment. They vanished from view as Dawn blinked once before answering all her questions in order. "I'm fine. That was Arkenstone. No, I wasn't being attacked."

Scootaloo let out a relieved breath and settled against Dawn's stomach. "Thank goodness. That scared me. Wait!" She froze before looking back down at Dawn. "Arkenstone? What's he doing out here?"

"Chaperoning," said Dawn, as though that explained everything.

"Huh?" Scootaloo opened her mouth to ask for further clarification when she came to an unpleasant realization. It was cold out. She wasn't wearing her jacket, her scarf, or even her boots and she was now lying partially buried in snow. As her body finally clued into the realization, she began to shiver uncontrollably.

"M-m-m-m-mayb-b-b-b-e we sh-sh-should g-g-g-g-g-g-o back," stammered Scootaloo through chattering teeth.

Dawn nodded and flicked his wings, blowing the snow off their bodies. Scootaloo was still feeling seriously cold. As shaky as she was, she wasn't sure if she could get her wings working properly. Laying in the cold snow had made them feel numb. Dawn seemed to clue into this and wrapped his forelegs around her barrel, over her shoulders and under her own forelegs. He lifted off the ground, holding Scootaloo against his chest as she wrapped her forelegs around the back of his neck and held on tight. Dawn's body felt warm against hers, even through the insulation of his jacket and scarf. But her back was still icy cold.

Dawn flew quickly through the air, bringing them back to the quinzhee in a matter of seconds. He let Scootaloo down, allowing her to scamper back through the flap as he followed at a more sedate pace, making sure it was tightly closed behind him. Scootaloo rushed across the low area of the shelter and jumped up onto the cushions of the raised space that her friends occupied and settled there, still shaking.

In the meantime, Dawn shed his jacket, boots, and scarf. Settling next to Scootaloo, he worked some of the cushions they had brought into a small pile between them and the wall of the shelter. Then he took the heavy blanket he'd brought to sleep with (not having a sleeping bag of his own yet) and wrapped it around the two of them. After that, beneath the blanket, he wrapped his forelegs around Scootaloo again, pulling her back up against his chest while his wings slid around to cocoon her from the front. It was similar to the way Fluttershy often held him.

Scootaloo sighed and allowed her body to relax as she felt Dawn's warmth seeping into her. Simply being inside the quinzhee was much better. The place felt like an oven compared to the chill of the outside. Tucking her head beneath Dawn's chin, Scootaloo heaved a happy sigh as her shivering began to subside.

"What the hay was that all about?" demanded Apple Bloom after they'd settled down.

"Arkenstone," huffed Scootaloo, "He's 'chaperoning.'"

"Oh!" Bloom's cheeks colored and she was joined by the rest of the group (sans Dawn) as they considered exactly why they were probably being chaperoned.

"Is he gonna be okay out there?" asked Spike, changing the subject.

"He'll be fine," said Dawn, "He's drawing on his earth pony magic to protect himself from the elements."

"Earth ponies can do that?" asked Rumble, his ears perking up. The rest of the group looked speculatively at Bloom.

"Don't look at me," said Bloom, waving her hooves frantically, "Ah ain't anywhere near to doin' stuff like that." She paused for a moment, then frowned. "So that was what Ah was feelin' then."

Dawn nodded. "He's training, the same way you are."

"Ah guess that makes sense." Bloom settled back down on her section of blankets.

"So...so..." Scootaloo had to stop as she yawned, her eyelids beginning to droop. "Now what do we do?" Now that she was warm again, her energy levels were beginning to fall.

"I think that it's maybe time for bed," suggested Dawn softly, all too easily noticing Scootaloo's condition.

"Ah think Ah can agree with that," said Apple Bloom with a sleepy smile as she leaned up against Spike.

"Lights out then," said the dragon as he moved to close the shutters on the firefly lanterns.

The others prepared to go to sleep as well. Dawn untangled himself from the blanket to take down the stack of cushions he'd made and laid them out like a bed. Then he pulled himself and Scootaloo up onto it, wrapping both of them in the blanket again. This time, Scootaloo rolled over so that she was facing Dawn as he wrapped his arms and wings around her.

"Dawn," she whispered.

"Yes?"

"This is amazing," she said, using her eyes to gesture to the walls of snow that surrounded them, "Thanks for sharing it with us."

"Thank you for letting me share it with you," Dawn said back.

Her smile widening, Scootaloo leaned forward and kissed Dawn slowly and gently on the lips. Dawn returned the gesture, the two of them holding it like that for a moment before pulling back.

"Good night," whispered Scootaloo.

"Good night," Dawn said back.

Scootaloo tucked her head underneath Dawn's chin and let her eyes drift slowly shut.

On the other side of the shelter, Sweetie Belle and Rumble blushed furiously as they watched the two pegasi express their affection. Sweetie was a bit envious that her friends were able to sleep together so easily without being nagged by the thought of the issue that had worried their families. She and Rumble turned to eye each other, their blushes intensifying.

"That...that looks nice," said Sweetie after a moment's hesitation.

"Y-yeah," stammered Rumble in agreement.

Another awkward silence followed as the two of them struggled to think of what to say and do next. Rumble gulped and decided to take the metaphorical leap. "Do you...do you want to try that too?"

Sweetie's cheeks felt as though they might burst into flame. "S-sure," she ventured.

Rumble hesitantly nodded. They both got out their sleeping bags. After a moment's contemplation, they decided to unzip both sleeping bags all the way down to the bottom and wrap both bags around the two of them. The bags couldn't be zipped up like that, so there was a chance they would come loose during the night. Sweetie laid up against Rumble's side, letting him rest a wing over her back. The two of them laid cheek to cheek, reveling in the blissful feeling of their closeness.

By then, Spike had closed the shutters on all but the last of the lanterns, which he placed next to himself and Apple Bloom. The two of them looked at their other friends. Spike blushed and gulped. “Well…I’m not sure what their families will think of this.”

“It’s fine,” said Bloom dismissively with a wave of her hoof, “They ain’t doin’ nothin’.”

“Wh-what about us?” asked Spike, shifting nervously.

Bloom turned and flashed a mischievous smile his way. “What ‘bout us, hmm?”

“Um…well…” Spike quickly reached over and pulled out his sleeping bag. “I’m just gonna lay this thing out and…uh…”

Bloom huffed indignantly. “Fer Pete’s sake Spike, get over here.” She snatched the end of Spike’s tail in her teeth and yanked, pulling the dragon over next to her, dragging his sleeping bag along for the ride. A second later, Bloom had crawled inside the bag and was mock-glaring out of it at Spike. “Are ya gonna get in or not.”

“But Twilight said-“

“We ain’t gonna do nothin’ like that,” snapped Bloom, rolling her eyes, “Now hurry up and get in here with me. Ah wanna cuddle with mah dragon.”

“O-okay…” stammered Spike as he carefully slid into the sleeping bag. Bloom shifted and snuggled up against his chest. Almost instinctively, Spike’s arms slid around her. Reaching up, he carefully undid the bow from her mane and pulled it away, setting it aside.

“Thanks,” said Bloom, “This feels right nice,” she nuzzled into Spike’s neck, making him twitch, “Yer just the perfect temperature…nice and warm.”

“Thanks,” said Spike, allowing himself to relax a little. Having Apple Bloom curled up against his body was a wonderful feeling. Now that he was used to it, Spike didn’t think he’d have any trouble at all getting to sleep. Reaching out, he closed the shutter on the final lantern, plunging the quinzhee into darkness as the silence of sleep stole over them all.

In the morning, the group woke with scattered yawns. The shelter was still comfortable and warm. Dawn was naturally the first to awake, followed by Scootaloo. However, the two of them were content to simply continue resting in their mutual embrace, enjoying the quiet of the morning. They were simply too happy with where they were to move. Training could wait for one day at least.

Apple Bloom was next to wake, the habits of a trained farmer asserting themselves as she woke up at the time she normally needed to in order to get started on the morning's chores. The fact that she had no chores this morning made no difference. Spike wasn't far behind her as she started nuzzling him affectionately. He too was not unused to early mornings, having had to get up early plenty of times to help Twilight Sparkle with her various projects and library duties.

Sweetie Belle and Rumble were the last ponies to wake. Neither of them were habitual early risers. Much like her sister, Sweetie truly appreciated her beauty sleep and was loathe to wake up a single minute earlier than she had to. Rumble was of a similar attitude, having never woken up early enough to even see his older brother off for the morning weather shift, since it was practically guaranteed (barring emergencies) that at least one of the sisters would be there to help him with breakfast and see him off to school.

It was rather ironic then that Rumble was the one responsible for waking Sweetie up; one of the feathers of the wing he'd draped over her back having slipped up to tickle the sensitive spot behind her ear, making it twitch. At one point, Sweetie began to giggle, then chortle. At last, she laughed herself awake, her eyes snapping open as she took in her surroundings. The shelter was still dark, the packed snow keeping out the morning sun. But Spike and Scootaloo had pulled back the shutters on two of the lanterns partway, allowing a small amount of light to fill the space. It was more than enough light for the rest of the group to see Rumble accidentally tickle Sweetie awake.

Sweetie saw the amused looks of everypony looking on, realizing what they had just seen. Her cheeks flared and she ducked her head with a squeak, burying herself within the sleeping bag as her audience let out good-natured chuckles and giggles. The sound was enough to rouse Rumble, who blinked blearily and looked around in confusion. "Huh? What's so funny?"

His question only seemed to further encourage everypony's mirth. It took a few minutes, but they managed to convince Sweetie to come out of hiding. Afterwards, they set about collecting cushions, rolling up blankets and packing the few belongings they'd brought with them. After that, they put on their warm clothes and made the trek out to the park's restroom, where they went through their usual morning routines, albeit in a rather unfamiliar setting. Teeth brushed and manes combed (or spines straightened in Spike's case), the group went back to the shelter to collect their belongings.

After making sure that there was nothing left inside, Dawn swung his wing once, sending a gust of wind slamming into the quinzhee, blasting it into a white flurry of snow and flinging it across the park's field, leaving no trace of the structure behind, save for the single rock that had served as the base for the fireplace.

"Aww, what did ya do that fer?" asked Apple Bloom, giving the space the quinzhee had resided a forlorn look.

"Quinzhees aren't meant to be long-lasting structures," said Dawn, "The longer it is left, the greater the chance of it becoming unstable and collapsing. I didn't want anypony going inside and getting buried by accident. We can always make a new one."

"That's true," said Spike, "The last thing we'd want is for one of the younger foals to end up inside that thing if it collapses. It's for the best."

"Still kinda sad though," said Sweetie, "I really liked that."

"We'll have to do this again sometime," said Rumble, nodding his head in agreement.

"There will be plenty more snow in the season," said Scootaloo, "We'll have lots of chances to do this again." She froze as an idea occurred to her. "I know, we can invite Rainbow Dash and the others and make a really big one. We'll have a snow camping party!"

As the dreaded p-word left Scootaloo's mouth, the entire group went rigid, their gazes sweeping across the snowy expanse of the park, watching expectantly and warily for some sign, any hint of pink...

"Let me go!" exclaimed Pinkie Pie, lunging against Mayweather's arms, which were securely wrapped around her collar from behind, "Somepony used the magic word! I know it! My ponies need me!"

"I'm going to use a magic word of my own," growled Mayweather as she used all of her strength in what was likely a doomed effort to keep the pink force of nature from speeding off, "Please stay put. If somepony needs your input for a party, they'll come to us. Besides, your ponies need you here."

"Aw...but..."

"Please," pleaded Mayweather.

"Okay," sighed Pinkie, finally going limp.

When they saw no sign that Pinkie Pie was about to come barreling out of nowhere, the group relaxed under the realization that they were safe...for the moment at least.

"That sounds like fun," Rumble said, addressing Scootaloo's earlier idea, "It would be awesome if we could share this with all our families."

"And everypony from school," added Sweetie, thinking about how fun it would be if they got the rest of the class in on it. Even Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were unlikely to be wet blankets about the affair if they thought it was popular. The fact that Diamond's temper and attitude had been improving ever since she had started taking lessons from Rarity made the notion more hopeful still...even if the extent of her improvement was that she no longer bothered the Crusaders and gave them as wide a berth as possible.

"Well..." said Dawn, tapping his chin thoughtfully, "I suppose we could. But we can make a quinzhee only so large. I think that the one we built here would be about as large as we should risk. We'd be better suited building multiple ones."

"That's fine," said Scootaloo, "But let's worry about that sort of stuff later. Let's get ourselves something to eat." Her words drew a several sounds of agreement from her friends.

They adjourned to the Sugarcube Corner for a hearty breakfast, courtesy of Mayweather, whose maple-cinnamon oatmeal and buttermilk flapjacks had become a fixture of the establishment's breakfast scene. As they ate, the group tossed around ideas and suggestions for the proposed gathering, soliciting the input of one eagerly enthusiastic Pinkie Pie, whether they liked it or not. Though nothing definite was arrived on, they agreed to broach the topic to their respective families and see how they took the idea.

As they went their separate ways, Scootaloo turned to Dawn as he was about to head back to Caramel's house.

"Don't forget to ask your parents," she said, giving Dawn a serious look, "I think this is something you need to know about."

"Okay," said Dawn, feeling a bit unnerved, wondering just what kind of topic could be so awkward that it had Scootaloo so worried.

“So you believe that, whatever the Supreme Pontiff is up to, he will be finished around springtime,” said Celestia as she looked at Shining Armor from across the surface of the desk.

“That’s right,” said Shining, “At least, that’s when their temple in Applelossa is supposed to be finished. But my hunch tells me that it’s the timetable for whatever trick they’re really up to.”

“So he wants to keep his followers’ impulses reined in until then,” muttered Celestia, “In order to avoid having anypony look at the Cult’s activities too closely.”

Shining nodded. “I didn’t find anything with my scanning spell, but I know that it’s possible to hide things, even from that. But, without any real evidence that they’re up to something there, there’s nothing we can do.”

Celestia nodded back before turning to the other alicorn in the room. “Did any of the prisoners have anything to say about the temple that we can use as a pretext for a more thorough investigation.”

Cadance shook her head slowly. It was rather ironic that, as the alicorn of love, she was especially well suited for coaxing cooperation out of unwilling individuals. Ponies who could withstand hours or even days of torture would buckle in a matter of moments against the offer of sincere warmth and affection. She had the ability to reach past pretenses and appeal to a pony’s desire to do the right thing and draw forth the truth from them.

“Unfortunately, they don’t have any knowledge that we can use,” said Cadance, “As far as they know, the temple is just a temple. Though, they seem to believe that the Cult is building others in other locations.”

“Other temples?” Celestia blinked in confusion.

Cadance nodded. “They described the temples as sanctuaries where their prayers can be carried into the heart of the sun. Though they seem to hold some ritual importance, none of the prisoners have described anything beyond what can be explained through basic ritual and religious interpretation.”

Celestia sighed. “That is what I was afraid of.”

“There is something else,” said Shining Armor. His horn flared with a burst of rose-colored light, conjuring a plastic tube. Uncapping it, he slid a large roll of parchment out and unrolled it across the face of Celestia’s desk. It was a map of Appleloosa and the surrounding area.

“On a hunch, I decided to investigate the temple from another angle,” explained Shining, “So I went to Applelossa’s town hall and searched through their records to learn a bit about the location.”

Both Cadance and Celestia looked at him in confusion. “The location?” asked Cadance.

Shining nodded. “From what Braeburn told me and what I saw with my own eyes, the location of the temple is of critical importance. They even went so far as to disrupt the street plans of Appleloosa in order to have it set in the right position at the right orientation. In other words, where the temple is located is critical to whatever purpose it has.

“Because of that, I went to town hall to research the temple’s location. However, the more I looked into it, the more I learned that there was something a bit bigger going on.” He tapped Appleloosa’s location on the map. “Where Appleloosa is now was only one of its potential locations when the town was first being founded. In fact, of the three potential locations, it’s probably the second most appealing.”

“What do you mean?” asked Celestia.

“Well, the first place the settlers looked at was set near a desert oasis. It was nice and picturesque, but not big enough to support a fledgling town. The second location they looked at was where Appleloosa is now. There was plenty of room, fertile land for the orchards, and it was in the path of a major wind current from Las Pegasus, making for easy cloud delivery.”

“That makes sense,” said Cadance, “That’s obviously why they settled there.”

“It is,” agreed Shining, “except that there was an even better location just a short ways away. Over here…” He tapped a blank point on the map. “This is a broad mesa that they thought would be ideal for making the town. The mesa’s top was extremely fertile and is in the path of the same wind current from Las Pegasus. In fact, it’s even closer to Las Pegasus, which would make cloud and storm deliveries even easier. They were planning on actually carving out the face of the mesa and building the town as a series of cliff dwellings, a pretty ambitious project, but one that would probably make the town a tourist destination in addition to an agricultural source. The only downside would be that they’d have to get a bit inventive moving ponies and materials up and down the mesa.”

“That seems like a good reason for choosing the second location,” said Cadance.

Shining shook his head. “But there was another reason why the third location was more appealing. The fields where the orchards were planted in the second location is also where the buffalo have their traditional stampeding ground. At the time, the settlers had no idea that it was so important to the buffalo that they were willing to go to war over it. But, since they viewed the buffalo as a potential source of trade, they figured it was better to avoid slighting them, especially when there was such a good location available that was of no real importance to the buffalo.”

“But they went and built in the second location anyway,” Celestia mused, putting the pieces together, “Even though the third option offered greater advantages and fewer drawbacks, they still went with the second option…and you think this is because of the temple.”

Shining nodded. “My hunch is that somepony in the Cult was actually involved in choosing the location of Appleloosa’s settlement, probably specifically for the purpose of building the temple out there.”

Celestia frowned darkly and her horn flared, the golden sheen of her magic washing across the map Shining Armor had laid across the table. The image of the map suddenly zoomed out until the whole of Equestria was visible. Appleloosa’s location was marked out by a single crimson dot.

Shining and Cadance stared at Celestia as she, in turn, stared at the map in silent contemplation. “Aunt Celestia?” prodded Cadance, “Is something wrong?”

“There’s something…familiar about Appleloosa’s location,” murmured Celestia, her eyes narrowing, “But I can’t seem to recall why…”

Blue dots suddenly blossomed on the map, one centered in Manehattan, another in Trottingham, three others in equally major cities near the edge of the country.

“What are these?” asked Shining.

“Components of an array,” said Celestia, “In fact. They are the reason our largest border cities were founded where they were founded.”

“What array?” asked Cadance, “What were you trying to do?”

“It wasn’t me,” explained Celestia, “It was Starswirl the Bearded.”

Twin gasps emerged from the other two. Celestia continued unimpeded. “Shortly after Luna and I dealt with Discord, Starswirl asked to study the Elements of Harmony, which he did…extensively. After nearly a decade of research and investigation, he came to us with a proposal. He believed that he could use the Elements of Harmony as the basis for a spell array, which could project a field of harmonic energy around the borders of Equestria, a barrier that would protect us, not only from disasters like Discord, but the ire of other nations that might seek to threaten Equestria in the future. He aimed to create component anchors for the array in five specific locations.” She gestured to each of the blue dots. “Each location would correspond to one of the Elements.”

“But there are six Elements,” Cadance pointed out.

Celestia nodded. “The sixth component anchor of the array would be set at its center. Right here…” Her hoof landed on Canterlot. “At the time, me and my sister were living in our home, where the Everfree Forest is now. When Starswirl presented his plan, I agreed to move my seat from the castle to the side of the mountain, where Canterlot would be built.”

“Why build cities at all?” asked Shining.

Celestia chuckled. “That was the genius of his plan. You see, he figured that, if any of our rival nations realized what we were up to, they might attack in order to get to us before the barrier came up. Thanks to the pegasi still being a mostly militarized society and the nobility having their own forces, we could have, theoretically, met any attack against our nation with equal force. But the cost would have been high. So Starswirl proposed that we found cities in those locations, not only to hide the true reason we needed ponies to build there, but also to ensure that the materials and marepower necessary to construct the anchors would be available.”

“But I’m guessing it didn’t work out,” said Shining, “I mean, we definitely don’t have some kind of magical Harmony Barrier protecting Equestria from invasion or we wouldn’t need Arkenstone and the others.”

“No it didn’t,” agreed Celestia, “Ultimately, we came to the realization that, even with the power of the Elements of Harmony, there was no way to support the cost of maintaining a barrier of that size. The Elements weren’t meant to work that way anyway. Fortunately, the cities we founded in those locations flourished anyway. Many of them were well-situated to begin with, which was fortunate.”

Cadance hummed and examined the map more closely. Appleloosa’s location didn’t match up to any of the anchor points on the array, but it didn’t even lay in the path of the circle inscribed by the whole formation. “I see, so you thought that the Supreme Pontiff picked Appleloosa’s location because of the array.”

“At first,” said Celestia, "but the location is wrong. The anchor points to the array are already established and there is no way for it to work by planting one of the anchor points there. Perhaps it is simply a false lead.”

“Probably,” agreed Shining Armor, “Maybe we’re just overthinking things.”

“Or,” said Cadance darkly, “We’re overlooking something.”

“Perhaps,” agreed Celestia, “But what?”

“So…you need to ask us about…sex?” Fluttershy blinked as she stared down at her son.

Dawn found himself fidgeting under Fluttershy’s gaze, scuffing a hoof nervously against the floor. “Well…yes. Scootaloo told me that her mom had talked to her about it before she joined us for the sleepover. She thinks that the others talked with their families about it too.”

Fluttershy and Caramel shared an uncertain look. Even though he would be out for the night, unsupervised with his special somepony, it had never occurred to them that the topic of sex might come up. Dawn and the others were young, but not so young that they weren’t at that age where some less well-raised foals started…experimenting. Fluttershy remembered hearing horror stories about the consequences for ponies who started up sexual relationships at Dawn’s age. But it had never occurred to her that Dawn might be at risk. She had assumed that his Master had taught him about such things. But it seemed that she had been mistaken.

Caramel, who had trusted Fluttershy’s judgment and had followed her lead, was just as thrown off by the idea. They were both aware that Dawn was incredibly mature for his age, but it occurred to neither of them that this gap might have existed in his education and experience. “You do know what sex is, right?” asked Caramel nervously.

“I do know that it is the means by which ponies conceive and produce offspring,” replied Dawn, “that it is a biological process like any other. But that was about all I learned.”

“Um…I see…” Caramel was actually starting to feel a little bit faint. I’m soooo not ready for this conversation yet. He figured he wouldn’t have to actually have it until he and Fluttershy got around to producing a foal through their own actions.

Fluttershy didn’t seem to be any more ready than he was though, as her cheeks were presently scarlet. Her body was quaking and she looked more than a little frightened at having to speak with her son on such a topic. Ironically, Caramel figured that Fluttershy would probably have the easiest time discussing sex as a biological action, given all her experience with animals. But it was clear that discussing sex in the context of a relationship was a terrifying idea to her.

“Hey ‘Shy,” said Caramel softly, drawing his fillyfriend’s attention.

“Y-yes…?” she asked, looking at him nervously.

“You and your friends have a spa appointment today, right?” At her nod he smiled. “Why don’t you meet up with Rarity and talk with her for a little bit. I’ll handle this.”

“A-are you s-sure?” asked Fluttershy.

“Not entirely,” Caramel admitted, “But I’ll give it my best shot.”

“O-okay then,” said Fluttershy.

Caramel leaned in and planted a long kiss on Fluttershy’s lips, feeling her sigh against him, he smiled. “Go and have a nice time with your friends,” he whispered.

Fluttershy nodded and took her leave, leaving Caramel with a still somewhat bamboozled Dawn.

Once they were alone, Caramel settled onto the couch and looked nervously at Dawn. "So...I guess your Master didn't have a lot to say on the subject."

Dawn shook his head. "I'm afraid that it didn't come up, save for once. He never went into detail. Perhaps he meant to later, but his death made that impossible."

Caramel sighed. "Oooh boy. This is a tough one. Let me ask you a question then. How do you feel when you're with Scootaloo?"

"Um...happy...?" ventured Dawn.

"Well that's good," said Caramel with a chuckle, "But I'm actually asking about something else. Whenever you're with her, does your body ever feel a certain way."

Dawn was silent. The silence stretched on for several minutes, making it clear that the colt was in deep thought. Caramel started to wonder if Dawn was asexual. It was a possibility. Maybe he's simply a late bloomer... However, as the colt's wings started to twitch and flutter, Caramel go the impression that Dawn was beginning to hit upon what they were talking about.

"To be honest," said Dawn finally, "I don't always pay attention to that sort of thing, as it seems minor and easy to dismiss. But...when we hold each other...when we kiss..." He squirmed slightly.

Oh yeah, we got lucky with this one, thought Caramel, If this hadn't come up, this poor kid was likely to find out about this stuff at the worst possible time, in the worst possible way. He got the distinct impression that they were avoiding an impending disaster.

"In a sense, what you're feeling could be called sexual desire...or lust," explained Caramel, "Your body is responding physically to your attraction to Scootaloo."

"Is sex an extension of that then?" asked Dawn.

"Sort of," explained Caramel, "It's difficult to explain because the concept means a lot of things to different ponies. This is gonna take some explaining..."

"Have I done something wrong?" asked Dawn, taking in Caramel's frustrated visage.

Caramel's eyes snapped wide open. "No! Not at all! You haven't done anything wrong." He sighed. "If anything, this is our mistake, Fluttershy's and mine. We assumed you'd already learned about this stuff from your Master. We never really thought to bring it up with you or actually check on that. We really just...weren't prepared for this...at all..."

"I'm sorry," said Dawn.

"Don't be," replied Caramel, "It's not your fault and we'd need to have this conversation sooner or later, possibly with your little brother or sister. You could say that this is good practice for us."

Dawn raised his eyebrow. "If you say so..."

"I'll try my best," said Caramel, "This is probably going to be embarrassing and awkward as hay. But, no matter what, I don't want you to be afraid to ask me any questions. I just hope you understand that, when it comes to the act itself, I don't speak from experience."

"Why?" asked Dawn.

"'Cause I've never done it," admitted Caramel.

"What about mom?"

"Her neither," replied Caramel, "We're both virgins."

Dawn tilted his head as he regarded them. "Will you...?"

Caramel's cheeks flushed bright red. "Uh...someday...maybe...That's kinda hard to say right now. We've come really far in our relationship, but sex is a big step..."

"So sex is part of a relationship then?" asked Dawn.

"Um...yeah...for some ponies..." Caramel sighed. "It's really hard to explain because there are so many ways that different ponies view it."

"Perhaps simply start with how you view it," suggested Dawn, "That is probably the simplest way. I can learn other perspectives another time."

Caramel pursed his lips for a moment. It was a fairly sound suggestion. "Okay then. So you understand that sex is a physical act, right?"

Dawn nodded slowly.

"In a sense, you could say that sex is like kissing. But it takes things a lot further..." Caramel braced himself. Here we go...

"So you're saying that his Master never taught him about that!" gasped Rarity, "That's terrible!"

Fluttershy sank until her face was nearly completely submerged in the herbal bath, trying her hardest not to show her blush.

"It probably wasn't intentional," said Twilight, from where she reclined at the edge of the tub, "It's possible that Dark Wing was going to teach Dawn about it, but died before he got a chance to."

Fluttershy slowly rose above the water level. "Maybe..." she said, but her tone was uncertain.

"What's wrong?" asked Twilight, regarding Fluttershy carefully.

"Oh...well...I don't want to say anything too bad about the stallion that raised Dawn, but..." Fluttershy sighed. "I'm starting to think he didn't think of Dawn the same way Caramel and I do."

"You mean...as a son?" Twilight thought about this for a moment. "But he raised Dawn from near-infancy. It's hard to imagine that he wouldn't plan on teaching Dawn those sorts of things."

"Oh, but you should have heard how he taught Dawn about Hearth's Warming," said Fluttershy. She began to relate the story Dawn had told her to her friends as Rainbow Dash and Melon Cream (whom Rainbow had invited), joined them. Applejack was still getting a hooficure and Pinkie Pie was currently ensconced in the steam room.

For a moment, they were silent when Fluttershy finished. "That's...cold," was all Melon could say.

"That can't be right," said Twilight, "There has to be more to it than that."

"I don't know," said Rainbow Dash, "But it makes sense, sorta..."

The four others in the tub gave Rainbow a confused look as she idly splashed some water with a cerulean hoof. "Think about the kind of things Dawn's been through," explained Rainbow, "He's smart and he's pretty well-educated for a colt who's been living in the forest for a year. But what does he have trouble with?"

That made them think. It was rare for Rainbow to be so insightful. But it was clear that she was onto something. In the past, the vast majority of Dawn's issues had stemmed from a great deal of emotional inexperience; from his dangerous habit of lashing out at threats in a cold and calculating manner, which had to be curbed, somewhat brutally, by the intervention of Red River and Storm Front; to his near falling-out with Fluttershy over the affair with Foal Protective Services.

"You see," said Rainbow as she saw understanding spread across their faces, "All the stuff he got from his Master, it's all martial arts stuff or tricks for living in the wilderness...survival stuff. It's all really practical. It’s almost like he took Dawn and stuffed him with stuff that he thought would be useful…”

“But neglected things that might have been too abstract or too tangential to Dawn’s immediate needs,” finished Twilight.

“Th-that’s terrible,” gasped Melon, horrified by the notion that Dawn’s education could have been so severely neglected.

“It would certainly explain a lot though,” mused Twilight, stroking her chin with a hoof.

“But isn’t it strange?” asked Fluttershy, “D-Dawn hasn’t been taught those sorts of things or about…eep!…sex. But he and Scootaloo…they still have such a healthy relationship.”

“Well,” said Twilight slowly, “I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that Dawn hasn’t been considering any kind of sexual attraction to Scootaloo.”

“What does that mean?” asked Melon.

“Having spent some time with martial artists lately, I can kind of understand how it works,” explained Twilight, “He’s been trained to have control over his mind and body. As far as he knows, sexual attraction is just some kind of physiological event that he doesn’t actually allow to influence his actions or feelings.”

“But then, how can he and Scootaloo even have a relationship?” asked Melon, “You’re suggesting that he doesn’t allow any kind of attraction he might have to her influence him.”

“Because it’s possible to have a romantic attraction to a pony without having a physical attraction,” Twilight pointed out, “Besides, Dawn may be physically attracted to Scootaloo and might not be aware of how it’s influencing him.”

“That last part sounds…” Melon was unsure to phrase it.

“Yeah,” agreed Twilight before turning to Fluttershy, “It’s a good thing you found out about this when you did or Dawn could have ended up making some serious mistakes in the future.”

“Oh dear,” whispered Fluttershy, almost inaudibly.

"Still," said Rarity, trying her hardest to comfort Fluttershy, "Now we know about this little problem and can correct it. I trust that is what Caramel is doing now."

Fluttershy nodded slowly.

Rarity let out a soft chortle. "Then I don't think we have anything to worry about. Caramel is a perfect gentlecolt after all. I am sure that he'll handle the topic with all due sensitivity."

"...And that's about all I can say on the topic," Caramel finished, hoping he hadn't merely succeeded in confusing Dawn even more.

"I...think I understand," said Dawnl slowly, mulling everything over. His cheeks were slightly flushed. At least that meant Caramel wasn't alone in feeling that this conversation was really awkward.

"You understand that you and Scootaloo aren't ready yet, right?" asked Caramel to make sure.

"Yes, and we probably won't be for some time," said Dawn, "A few years, at least."

"Good to know," said Caramel with a smile.

"Still...if sex is an expression of love, but I wasn't consciously attracted to Scootaloo like that then..." Dawn looked at Caramel. "What does that say about our feelings."

Caramel wrapped a foreleg around Dawn's shoulders and pulled the colt up against his side in a friendly hug. "Sex, done right, is an expression of love. It's okay that you haven't really been considering those feelings before. If anything, that shows just how much you really care about her, because love should come first."

"I see..." said Dawn, "But why didn't my Master teach me about this?"

"It's hard to say," admitted Caramel, "He might have thought that you weren't ready to learn at the time."

"That's what I would have thought," said Dawn, "But lately, I've been noticing that my experience with him was lacking in some ways." He looked up at Caramel. "He taught me how to fight, how to survive, how to look after myself. But I can't recall the same kind of warmth that you and mom show me. I can't recall being taught about the feelings of others, about love and affection." Looking down, Dawn's eyes started to tear up. "Did he really care about me at all? Was I nothing more than another student to him?"

"Even if you were just a student to him, you were clearly his most special one," said Caramel, gently ruffling Dawn's mane.

"Huh?"

"Think about it. He took you in when you were barely more than an infant. Regardless of the things he may not have taught you about, he still raised you to be a fine young colt. He stayed with you, through every trial and hardship, all the way up until the very end. Even then, it took dying to actually get him away from you."

Dawn blinked, staring ahead blankly and silently.

"I think," continued Caramel, "That he may have been trying too hard to not be a bad parent to you."

"What do you mean?" asked Dawn, his ears standing up as he turned his gaze to Caramel.

"You remember Scootaloo's father, right?" At Dawn's nod, Caramel frowned. "That's an example of a bad parent, one who sees their foals as nothing more than a copy of themselves, someone to be molded in their image. He tried to control Scootaloo's life so that he could make her into what he had wanted himself to be.

"But there's another kind of bad parent, one who exists at the opposite extreme, the kind of parent who doesn't care about their foal and hardly gives them a second thought, who doesn't invest any of his or her effort in raising that foal. That kind of negligence can be some of the worst parenting in the world.

"Ponies who want to be good parents try to find something in between those extremes. They try to be attentive to their foal's needs and raise them right, while not trying to completely control them so that a foal can grow up to be her own pony. There's no perfect fine line between the two, which might be the problem, because that's what I think your Master may have been trying to do."

Dawn simply canted his head.

Caramel felt a chuckle building in his throat. "I think your Master wanted to give you the means to become whatever kind of pony you wanted to be, regardless of what his own thoughts and beliefs were. The problem is, in order to do that, he'd have to be distant, he'd have to avoid teaching you certain things if it meant influencing you too much."

"I see," said Dawn.

"But," said Caramel, "I don't think he succeeded at that, because you wouldn't have been such a good pony otherwise."

Dawn froze and stared at Caramel in confusion.

The tan stallion laughed again. "Think back to the first time you met your mother. What did you do?"

Dawn's eyes narrowed in concentration as he recalled the memory. "I fought off a group of timberwolves."

"Right," agreed Caramel, "The point is, she was in danger and you helped her. The question is...why?"

Dawn's wings snapped open and then closed. Caramel pressed on. "If you think of it from a practical standpoint, based on your past experiences, you probably shouldn't have helped Fluttershy. It put you at the risk of discovery. What if she hadn't accepted your eyes? She'd just be another pony on the long list of ones who attacked or rejected you on that basis."

Caramel smiled down at Dawn. "But, even though it was a risk for you, with no promise of any real gain, you did it anyway. You helped another pony, who you didn't even know. I get the feeling you had to have learned that attitude somewhere. You saw your Master helping others, didn't you? You may have even helped him to help others."

Dawn nodded.

"You see," said Caramel, "Whatever else he may have taught you, at least your Master taught you to be a good pony. That's something that I wouldn't be able to thank him enough for."

"And," he added, bending down to gently nuzzle the top of Dawn's head, "I get the feeling that, no matter what, he'd be proud of the pony that you've become."

Slowly, Dawn's lips stretched into a smile and he leaned into Caramel's embrace. "Thanks...dad."

Author's Note

Once again, I'm really...uncertain about how the whole Talk with Dawn turned out. I decided to skip over the nitty-gritty details of Caramel's explanation, mostly because that would run into a diatribe on my personal views on the topic, which I didn't want to saddle everyone with. I'm not quite sure I was fully consistent with Dawn's characterization, given how he's acted in his relationship with Scootaloo in the previous chapters and stories. I'd been planning on having this topic come up in some form or another, although some approaches were more awkward than others. Oh well. If I need to, I can always come back and rewrite this part.

Next chapter: Ponyville gets some...unusual visitors.

Compliments of the Season

Chapter 13: Compliments of the Season

Gleeful laughter echoed through the expanse of Whitetail Woods as Scootaloo danced back and forth between the trees. Her wings and hooves worked in rhythmic movements that kept her suspended mere inches above the snow. At one point, she kicked downward, throwing her shoulders over and going into an airborne cartwheel just in time to pull her haunches out of the way of a snowball that went whistling past.

As she went through the spin, Scootaloo dipped the tips of the primaries of one wing into the snow, scooping a small amount of it up and transferring it quickly to her hooves. Resuming normal flight, Scootaloo worked the snow in her hooves into an orb. Picking out her target in the eddies and swirls of air between the trees, Scootaloo took aim, hefted the snowball into the air and used a flick of her wing to propel it in the direction of her opponent.

Dawn twisted his body into a roll, bringing up a wing and using a cushion of air to catch the snowball as it came hurtling towards him. A second later, the projectile was arrowing back towards Scootaloo faster than her eyes would have been able to track. Scootaloo responded by going into a spin, catching the ball with a current of air that redirected its momentum and sent it whipping around her body and back at Dawn.

Meanwhile, Dawn was in the process of making another snowball himself. He imitated Scootaloo's move, sweeping the incoming snowball into an air current of his own. Just before he launched it back at the filly, he added his own one and fired both of them at slightly different velocities. Scootaloo, not quite ready to try and catch both at the same time, squealed as one of the snowballs burst against her mane, though the other missed and spattered across the trunk of a nearby tree.

Their movement carried them into a snow-covered clearing. When Scootaloo was half-across it, Dawn came bursting from the tree line. Scootaloo went into another roll, sweeping a wing across the ground, the wind lifting up a large wave of snow and launching it at Dawn. Dawn turned sideways and tilted his wing so that it was perpendicular to the ground, aligning the feathers like the blade of a large knife. Swinging it downwards, he created a vacuum blade that split the wave of snow in front of him, allowing him to dart through the opening he created. However, just behind the wave of snow, two snowballs were following. One exploded across Dawn's forehead, while the other hit his shoulder.

It took a quick shake of his head for Dawn to clear the snow from his eyes and Scootaloo was already following up her original attack with more. They were quickly diverted by the winds that Dawn summoned and sent spiraling off to one side. As the distraction cleared, Dawn suddenly realized that Scootaloo had gotten very close to him.

Scootaloo had been trying to close the distance in order to limit Dawn's window of opportunity to react to her attacks. Unfortunately, she'd misjudged the distance slightly and had ended up getting too close. The snowballs she'd been about to launch went flying off in random directions as she accidentally tackled Dawn, knocking the breath from both their lungs and sending the two of them tumbling down the ground, sending up a spray of white powder as their bodies dug a trench through the snow. Once Scootaloo recovered her senses, she realized that she was laying on top of Dawn, the ebony colt sprawled out beneath her, looking just as disoriented as she had felt.

"Heh! Sorry," said Scootaloo, blushing slightly with embarrassment.

"Um..."

Scootaloo blinked and looked down at Dawn. She realized that he was blushing harder than she had ever seen him blush before. "Dawn? Are you okay?”

She was thrown onto her own back as Dawn abruptly shot out from under her, the gust from his wings causing Scootaloo to overbalance and flop back down. “Ouch! What they hay!” Rubbing her bruised behind, Scootaloo got back on her hooves, shooting a confused and frustrated look at Dawn, whose wings were fluttering erratically, even as he refused to meet her eyes. The poor colt looked as though his cheeks were about to catch fire.  “Dawn?” Scootaloo blinked and stared. Dawn simply…ducked his head, allowing a small portion of his mane to hide one of his eyes. Yep. Fluttershy’s his mom alright. “Dawn…what’s the matter?”

“I…I’m sorry,” said Dawn, his voice nearly a whisper.

Scootaloo was shocked. Who the hay are you and what have you done with Dawn? He’d seemed fine when they’d met up earlier. Their play/sparring session had started up without the slightest problem. Okay…she might have noticed Dawn blushing more often than usual whenever she looked at him for a little too long. They were special someponies, but it felt like somepony had set the clock back by a couple months and made then Dawn into the ultra-shy colt that had been crushing on her. It was weird as all get out.

I can’t think of anything that’s really changed, she thought for a moment. Just the other day, they’d had that sleepover in the quinzhee. Then they’d gone their separate ways and Dawn had promised to talk to his folks about…Oh…

So that was it. Dawn had gotten The Talk from his parents, or at least one of them. Now he was in that same awkward state of mind that Scootaloo and the other foals had been in briefly before the novelty of staying in a warm shelter that was paradoxically made out of snow had wiped that from their minds. It was probably worse for Dawn since, as far as Scootaloo knew, Dawn had never had to wrestle with those kinds of feelings before, not even when they’d actually gotten together as a couple.

Cautiously, Scootaloo inched closer to her suddenly nervous coltfriend. “I guess you talked to your folks then.”

Dawn nodded slowly, still unable to bring himself to meet Scootaloo’s eyes. Scootaloo couldn’t help but giggle. “Oh Dawn. It’s not a big deal, you know.”

Dawn blinked and finally lifted his eyes to look at her. “I suppose not…But, when I get close to you, I can’t help but start thinking about it.” He shivered. “I know we’re not ready for anything like that, but I can’t help but notice the things I used to overlook so easily in the past. It feels like something’s changed.”

“Nothing’s changed!” snapped Scootaloo. Now that she was within arm’s reach of Dawn, she caught his shoulders with her forehooves and forcefully turned him to face her. “Dawn, I like you. The fact that you weren’t thinking about me that way doesn’t change that. The fact that you are now…” She paused, her own cheeks flaring. “Okay…maybe that changes things a little bit.” She couldn’t help but admit that part of her was flattered that Dawn hadn’t been consciously looking at her that way when they’d first started their relationship. Even though they were both at that age where colts and fillies started to get a little bit frisky, it was reassuring for Scootaloo to realize how little her…appeal…mattered to her coltfriend when it came to his feelings for her in contrast to the things that made him truly care for her.

“The point is,” she continued, “we both know that we’ve got a loooong way to go before we try anything like that. Where we are now is just fine and we don’t need to do anything differently.”

“I know that,” said Dawn, trying to avert his gaze again, although Scootaloo simply put a hoof to his muzzle and forced him to continue looking at her, “I just…Whenever I’m close to you, those thoughts, those feelings, I can’t ignore them.”

I guess it’s true what they say, thought Scootaloo wryly, Ignorance is bliss. “You’re right,” said Scootaloo with a smile, leaning forward to bring their foreheads together, “But you shouldn’t ignore them. The important thing is that you don’t let those feelings control you, right?”

Dawn nodded.

Scootaloo’s lips widened in a smile. “Then maybe what we need is for you to get used to those feelings so that they don’t drive you up the wall whenever I’m less than a foot away.”

“What are you suggesting?” asked Dawn, his tone surprisingly nervous.

Scootaloo couldn’t help but giggle as her wings fluttered. She couldn’t help it. She liked Dawn nervous. It was cute as hay. “What I’m saying is that we should approach it like training,” she said slyly, “We need to practice being close like this until your used to it again. Sound like a plan?”

Dawn nodded slowly and Scootaloo’s smile turned into a grin. “Good,” she said, “‘cause our training starts now.”

She backed away just enough to give her and Dawn room to tilt their muzzles back up before Scootaloo pulled him into a kiss, holding him tightly and refusing to let him back away. Through the hooves she had on Dawn’s shoulders, she could feel the wings on his back practically quivering with nervous energy. I think I’m gonna like this training.

A festive atmosphere was sweeping over Ponyville as Hearth's Warming approached. Throughout the streets, ponies were hanging up colorful garlands, fragrant wreaths, and hanging ornaments and lights from the branches of trees. With Twilight Sparkle's organizational experience, the process of transforming the town for the upcoming holiday was running smoothly and efficiently. Already, the sounds of the occasional carol could be heard as ponies sung or hummed through their work. Several local stores saw an upsweep in business as ponies flooded in to purchase presents for their friends and relatives. Houses and the local inn were beginning to fill up as relatives came in from out of town to participate in the holiday with their families.

Amongst the crowds of ponies arriving at the train station, a particular pair of cloaked ponies attracted no extra attention to themselves as they stepped off the platform and made their way through the streets, slowly heading in the direction of Ponyville's library and Twilight's home

"I take it that nothing bad happened with Sweetie Belle and her coltfriend," said Flaxseed as he set out a teacup in front of Rarity, who took it with a grateful nod and sipped daintily from it.

Rarity nodded, a faint blush coloring her cheeks as she remembered the utter spectacle she'd made of herself when Sweetie Belle had first broached the topic of the sleepover the other day. She'd spent the evening in a tizzy while Flaxseed found himself in the strange position of having to keep her calm and stop her from rushing off every hour to go check on Sweetie.

"Yes," said Rarity, who couldn't have been more relieved when Sweetie came back the next day and claimed that nothing had happened (which Arkenstone had already confirmed for her). "I have to apologize darling," she said, looking up at Flaxseed, "I'm afraid that you saw a rather unappealing side to me that evening."

"Seeing as you have much greater exposure to my unappealing side, I can't exactly complain," replied Flaxseed wryly.

"Please don' be like that," pleaded Rarity, "This was completely different. I should have trusted Sweetie Belle, especially when I know that Rumble is a perfect gentlecolt who would never do something like that with her at such a young age." She sighed. "I just get so wrapped up in an idea that, before I realize it, I've gotten completely carried away. I'm afraid poor Sweetie was utterly mortified with me when she left."

"She seemed fine when she got back," said Flaxseed, "So I don't think she holds it against you. Besides, from the sound of things, it seems that the others got similar talks from their families."

"I suppose," agreed Rarity, taking another sip from her cup, "By the way, did you have any plans for the holiday?"

Flaxseed froze, his own cup halfway between the table and his mouth. "I..." he said, as though fishing for the right words to use, "...No...nothing."

"I see..." Rarity frowned slightly and looked across the table at her houseguest/live-in employee. "I don't suppose I could convince you to come to Canterlot with the rest of us for the pageant."

The nervous, sweating look on Flaxseed's face betrayed his thoughts all too well. Though Canterlot should have, ironically, been the safest place in Equestria from the Cult Solar, the mere idea of mingling with so many ponies, many of whom had come from far and wide to see the Canterlot pageant, was unpleasantly daunting to the gold-colored stallion, who was still trying to get used to the idea of stepping beyond the Carousel Boutique's front door on his own.

"I'm sorry," said Rarity quickly, "I was just presenting the idea. I wouldn't dream of pressuring you to come if you don't feel up to it."

"Well..." said Flaxseed slowly. It wasn't so much that he was against the idea...okay, maybe he was. He desperately wanted to say yes. He knew that Rarity and her other friends would be there, as would Sweetie and the rest of the foals. But thinking about those crowds...Flaxseed's legs began to shiver.

Rarity got up and carefully made her way around the table to Flaxseed's side. Slowly, she moved a comforting hoof up to the stallion's back and slowly began to run it up and down his spine. "Shh dear, it's alright. There's no need to force yourself to do something you're not comfortable with yet." She sighed. "I was just worried that you might get lonely here, all by yourself, since Sweetie and I will both be going up to participate in the pageant."

In fact, they would be up there for over a week, arriving three days before for rehearsals, before spending a week in the Palace to celebrate the season with the Princesses. There was even going to be a Winter Gala, a smaller, less formal counterpart to the Grand Galloping Gala. Because the Winter Gala was by personal invitation of the Princesses only, there was little risk that any of the nobles vying for control of Twilight Sparkle or members of the Cult Solar would be there.

"It wouldn't be the first time," said Flaxseed with a tone of resigned acceptance. After all, he'd been on his own most of the time since he'd fled for his life from his parents' house. Since then, there had only been one other time that he'd felt safe enough to open his heart and trust another pony, but he didn't want to think about that now. That he felt so safe and secure in the Carousel Boutique with Rarity and Sweetie Belle, even though they both knew about his eyes said a great deal for how far he had come. It helped that nearly all of Ponyville, or the ponies that he'd met so far, seemed to be on his side as well. Flaxseed was beginning to feel that he really could be safe here.

"If you're sure," said Rarity softly, still gently rubbing Flaxseed's back, "If you want or need anything before we leave, feel free to let me know. I'll do my best to help."

"Thank you," said Flaxseed softly.

Setting down her teacup, rarity dabbed her lips daintily with a napkin. "I'm terribly sorry to leave you with the dishes, but I need to get back to work on a dress I'm preparing for a client."

"Is it somepony important?" asked Flaxseed.

"Well, she's not a celebrity, if you're asking," said Rarity with a smile, "But I still intend to do my best work for her all the same. Fortunately, she won't be coming to pick it up until after Hearth's Warming, so I have plenty of time. But whatever I can get done now will go a long ways towards helping me later."

"Alright then," said Flaxseed softly. He finished his own cup of tea and took both cups along with the pot to the sink. Washing them was easy. Once he'd left them to dry, Flaxseed looked forward to returning to his room and catching up on his reading. Twilight had been kind enough to loan him an adventure novel from the library. Moving as frequently as he had had left Flaxseed with little opportunity for leisure reading, so it was nice to start that habit again.

In spite of the fact that Sweetie Belle and Rarity would be out of town for the holiday, Flaxseed couldn't shake the optimistic feeling he had that this would be the first Hearth's Warming in a long time that he'd actually be able to enjoy.

Sadly, Flaxseed's plans were interrupted by a pounding from the front door. Probably another prospective customer, he thought. He initially thought to let Rarity handle it, but realized she might not be able to hear the knocking over the sound of her sewing machine. Besides, it was good practice for him to work on his socializing. As long as I don't let myself panic, I'll be fine.

He carefully trotted across the showroom floor and pulled the door open. His carefully worded greeting died on his lips at the sight of the pony who stood outside. The mare was tall and willowy, with a natural grace that had probably swept more than a few stallions off their hooves. She was an absolute stunner from her light-blue horn to the immaculate strands of silvery mane.

"Who are you?" gasped Flaxseed, his initial greeting forgotten by the sight that had almost literally stollen his breath away.

"I'm fine, thanks. Who are you?" She gave Flaxseed a cheeky grin.

The wording of her response threw him for a loop, but not as much as the sound of a stallion's tenor coming from a mare's mouth. "I'm fine too," answered Flaxseed reflexively.

"Ah wonderful," said the mare(?) as she moved forward, Flaxseed stepping to the side to allow her to pass without a thought of protest, "I must admit, this place seems every bit as fashionable as I'd heard about."

"Um...forgive me for asking," said Flaxseed, "But-"

"Stallion," replied the other pony before he could finish asking.

"Huh?"

"I'm a stallion. That's what you were about to ask, right?"

Wordlessly, Flaxseed nodded. "You must get that question a lot then."

The strangely effeminate stallion nodded in agreement. "Quite. My name is Arcana Lulamoon. And you are...?"

"Uh...Flaxseed," said the gold-colored stallion, "Can I help you?"

"Ah well, I was looking for the proprietor of this establishment," said Arcana, "I believe she is one Miss Rarity. I would like to speak to her about a com-"

"You!"

Flaxseed jumped as Rarity's voice practically roared out from behind him. He whirled around with a squeak to see that Rarity was staring with startling intensity...right past him at the figure of Arcana, framed in the doorway.

"I beg your pardon?" said Arcana with a curious tone.

"You!" repeated Rarity, her tone not softening in the slightest, "You're perfect!"

Now it was Arcana's turn to look completely flummoxed. "Huh?"

"So, them apples ain't ripe yet?" asked Applejack as she eyed the book that Twilight had shown her speculatively.

"At least, not according to this," said Twilight, "It's hard to say because this is the first time that wintersilk apples are being grown domestically. But it appears that the signs we're supposed to be waiting for are for the skin to turn completely white with just the tiniest hint of blue."

"Then we take 'em down," said Applejack, nodding.

"That's right," agreed Twilight, "I'll be over in a little bit to cast those stasis spells on the barrels you're using to store them. That should allow the apples to keep fresh for around a month."

"Thank ya kindly fer agreein' to do that Twi," said Applejack with a smile, "Ah want to do some experimentin' with them apples to see what they're good fer. Ah've got a few ideas, but Ah don't want the whole crop to go bad while Ah'm workin' on them."

"Oooh!" squealed Twilight, taking on a bright grin that would put Pinkie Pie to shame, "An experiment! I love experiments. What kind of things are you trying?"

"Well, Ah'm lookin' at a good hard cider to start with," said Applejack, "Ah'm also gonna take advantage 'o the season to try some freeze distillin' and makin' mah namesake."

"I've never actually had applejack before," mused Twilight, "But drinking hasn't really been my thing."

Applejack grinned and chuckled. "Remind me to invite ya out to the barn one 'o these evenin's. Rainbow and Ah sometimes meet up fer a nip 'o the bottle once and a while. That'd be a good time to try out some new stuff. Maybe we should invite the rest 'o the girls while we're at it."

"Sounds like a plan to me," said Twilight, nodding in agreement.

They were about to continue their discussion when a series of low thuds sounded from the door.

"Ugh!" groaned Twilight, planting her face against the library's table, "How many times do I have to tell ponies that they don't have to knock during business hours?" She gave her friend an apologetic look. "Sorry Applejack, I'll get it. It's probably somepony from the garland team. They probably got another tangle they need me to sort out."

Twilight walked to the door and opened it, her business face already in place as she prepared for whatever issue she was going to be asked to iron out. However, her eyes widened in shock when she realized that the pony who stood at the threshold was not one of the ponies who had been working on decorations. It wasn't even a Ponyville resident.

The mare before her was draped in a plain brown cloak that seemed barely sufficient to ward off the chill. Beneath the folds and cowl of the garment, Twilight could barely make out a pale-blue coat, along with a few matted strands of a silvery mane. Recognition was almost immediate. "Trixie!"

Trixie Lulamoon shied away from the sound of her name. "H-hello Twilight Sparkle. Trix-I have come to take you up on your offer to visit."

"Is that Trixie?" asked Applejack as she came up behind Twilight.

At the sight of the orange earth pony she had humiliated at one point, Trixie quailed and backed away slightly.

"Whoa there now," said Applejack in a surprisingly calm tone, "Everthin's alright Trixie, ya ain't got nothin' to worry about."

"She's right," agreed Twilight, "Please, come in."

Trixie nodded hesitantly and stepped through the doorway so that Twilight could close the door behind her. Twilight took her cloak from her and hung it on a peg by the door. Applejack let out a startled gasp at Trixie's state. "Land sakes girl, ya look like ya've been through Tartarus."

Twilight nodded in agreement. Trixie looked much as she had the last time Twilight had seen her, thin and bedraggled. "I take it your brother's been working you hard."

"Yes," replied Trixie, "Although things have been a bit harder since my training began.

"How so?" asked Twilight.

Before Trixie could answer, Applejack jumped in with her own question. "Did yer brother come with ya to Ponyville?"

"He did," said Trixie, "But he said to go on ahead to the library while he took care of some business with your friend, Rarity."

"Rarity?" Twilight raised a confused eyebrow. "What does Arcana want with Rarity?"

"I don't know," admitted Trixie, "My brother has no use for clothes. I doubt he even really needs his cloak. He never seems to be cold, even without it. I think he just likes it because he thinks it makes him look mysterious."

"That sounds like Arcana," muttered Twilight. She sighed. "Something tells me that we should go see what he's up to."

"Are you sure?" asked Trixie, "I don't know that he wanted anypony else to interfere."

"It's fine," said Twilight. She went to the door and donned her own scarf and winter coat for the short walk to the boutique, slipping on her boots as well. Behind her, Applejack was doing the same. With a sigh, Trixie decided to join them and reared up on her hind legs to pull her cloak off its peg. A few minutes later, the three of them were out to the door and heading to the Carousel Boutique.

The bell above the door let out a soft ring as the group stepped through. "Rarity," Twilight called across the empty showroom floor, "Are you here?"

"Of course I am," Rarity called back, "Over here dear."

Following the sound of Rarity's voice, Twilight led the others to the door to the back room. Opening the door, Twilight peered in and her jaw dropped. "What the...?"

"Twi?" Applejack sidled up behind her. "What's wrong sugarcube?"

Wordlessly, Twilight opened the door all the way and stepped into Rarity's workroom so that Applejack and Trixie could come in behind her.

Arcana stood on one of the pedestals Rarity used for fitting, wearing a beautiful violet dress that glittered with tiny diamond fragments. Twilight wasn't sure what baffled her more, the fact that Arcana looked completely at ease in the dress, or the fact that it made him look positively stunning.

"Wha-what are you doing?" demanded Twilight, unable to believe your eyes.

"Wait a second," said Applejack, her eyes narrowing, "With those colors, its clear yer Trixie's family, but Ah thought she had a brother."

"I am her brother," replied Arcana, completely nonchalantly.

Applejack was struck dumb as her jaw dropped all the way to the floor.

"What are you doing?" Twilight repeated, still staring with wide eyes.

"I think it would be obvious," said Rarity as she stepped out from Arcana's other side, a few pins and a tape measure hovering around her, "The moment I laid eyes on him, I knew he was destined to wear one of my designs."

"But a dress?" exclaimed Twilight, stunned that Rarity was doing this to Arcana, even though it was apparent that she already knew he was a stallion.

"Of course," said Rarity, humming thoughtfully as she examined her work, "I couldn't help it. The moment I laid eyes on him I was inspired. It was practically meant to be...I don't know. What do you think, darling?" She levitated over a mirror so that Arcana could see himself.

"Hmm," mused the pale-blue stallion thoughtfully, "I'd say slim down the skirt and train...and maybe raise the hemline by another couple of inches."

Rarity's eyes widened and her horn sparked. "Why yes, of course! What was I thinking, trying to hide your form with frills? Your figure should be on full display."

Twilight's jaw worked soundlessly as she tried to figure out what to say. Finally, she let out a defeated sigh. "You know what, I'm done. I give up. Let's go." She turned and left, using her magic to draw a poleaxed Applejack with her. Trixie followed the two of them silently, letting the door swing shut behind them.

Rarity and Arcana watched them go. "Why whatever is the matter with them?" asked Rarity.

"Beats me," said Arcana with a shrug, "I can't help it if I make this look good."

"Maybe we should pretend we didn't see that," suggested Applejack lamely as they got back to the library.

"That sounds like a plan," agreed Twilight as they hung up their winter layers again, "Can I get you girls anything to drink?"

"Cocoa sounds 'bout right," said Applejack.

"Um...I'll have the same...please...if it's alright," said Trixie.

Twilight gave Trixie a relaxed smile. "Of course it is. I'll be right back." She made her way into the kitchen and came out a few minutes later holding three mugs of steaming hot chocolate in her magical grasp.

As she set them out on the library table, Applejack reached out and immediately started taking large sips from hers. Trixie sandwiched her mug carefully between her forehooves and pulled it in front of her so that she could blow on it gently before sipping daintily from it.

Twilight frowned as she watched Trixie manipulate the mug. "Trixie, are you alright?"

"Yes," said Trixie quickly, "Why do you ask?"

"You don't seem to be using your magic," said Twilight, remembering that Trixie had used her hooves to get her cloak off the peg earlier, as well as hang it up again when they got back.

"There's nothing wrong," said Trixie quickly, "But it's part of my training to not use any of the spells I learned before."

"Why?" asked Applejack, "Just how in the hay is that magic training."

"Because you're learning to use your magic differently," said Twilight softly, connecting the dots and remembering what Trixie had shared with her during their brief conversation in Canterlot, "You're studying the Still Way, aren't you?"

"I am," said Trixie with a nod.

"Ah don't get it," said Applejack, looking between the two unicorns.

"The Still Way is the unicorn art of the Three Pillars," explained Twilight, "like the Gale King style that Dawn uses. Arky told me that it's the most difficult of the Three Pillars for a pony to learn, since a unicorn has to essentially abandon magic as they know it in order to master the style."

"Uh...Ah'm still not sure Ah get it," said Applejack, raising the brim of her hat so she could scratch her head, "But Ah wish ya the best 'o luck Trixie."

Blushing slightly, Trixie ducked her head to hide it behind her mug. "Thank you."

"So what brings ya to Ponyville?" asked Applejack.

"Just as I said earlier, I was taking advantage of Twilight Sparkle's offer to come visit." Trixie's form shrank a little more. "I also wanted to apologize to the ponies that I wronged."

"Well, Ah don't see any problem with that," said Applejack, looking at Twilight, "Ya think we could arrange things."

"Probably," agreed Twilight, "But we don't want to make too much of a spectacle out of it."

The three of them continued talking, coming up with plans that would allow Trixie to make amends for the harm that she had done.

"Feel better?" asked Scootaloo, nuzzling up against Dawn's cheek.

"Much," admitted Dawn. After their training bout and conversation in the woods, Scootaloo had brought Dawn back to her home, where the two of them could relax on the couch as they warmed up after spending so much time out in the cold. Scootaloo had also spent the time in close contact with Dawn, helping him get back to feeling comfortable around her without being too troubled by the feelings aroused by his earlier talk with Caramel. It had taken some work and Dawn was still a little tense when she tucked herself beneath his wing, but he was gradually getting used to being in Scootaloo's proximity again.

"Have you figured out what you're getting everypony for Hearth's Warming?" asked Scootaloo.

Dawn nodded. The idea of getting and giving presents was still something of a novelty for him. Still he'd gotten some help in choosing presents for his friends and family from his grandparents when they had visited. Posey had gleefully taken Dawn shopping through a variety of stores to find items that his friends would appreciate. The only remaining hurdle was whenever somepony asked him what he wanted for Hearth's Warming, a question for which Dawn continued to draw a blank.

"This is gonna be awesome," said Scootaloo excitedly, "We get to go up to the Royal Palace for over a week. We'll get to explore all the halls and rooms and find all sorts of neat stuff. We'll also get to see everypony during the pageant too. Rainbow Dash is going to be playing Commander Hurricane again."

"It certainly sounds like fun," admitted Dawn, having never actually sat through a Hearth's Warming pageant before.

The door to the living room swung open to admit Melon Cream as she shook the snow off her boots before setting them aside. While she was taking off her scarf and jacket, there was a sound of fluttering wings and Fluttershy darted inside, followed by Caramel. Behind the pair of them, Rainbow Dash swept by in a blue blur, the wind of her passing closing the door behind her.

"Hiya squirt," said Rainbow as Scootaloo immediately leapt off the couch to give her honorary big sister a hug, which Rainbow enthusiastically returned.

"I figured I'd find you here," said Melon with a sly smile as she and Caramel carried several bags worth of groceries towards the kitchen, "So I invited Dawn's parents and Rainbow over for dinner."

"That's awesome!" exclaimed Scootaloo, dropping to the floor once Rainbow released her. "We were just talking about how we're all going up to the Royal Palace. I can't wait to see Rainbow in the pageant again." She paused before grinning sheepishly. "Oh...and you too, Fluttershy."

Fluttershy giggled and brushed a hoof through Scootaloo's mane affectionately. "Thank you," she said, clearly not minding that her presence in the play was more of an afterthought in Scootaloo's mind. But then, Fluttershy had never been one for the spotlight. "What about the Winter Gala?" she asked, "Are you going to wear the same dress you wore to the Harvest Festival?"

"I don't see why not," said Scootaloo, shifting uncomfortably at the idea of wearing a dress again, even if she did like the way it seemed to affect the way Dawn looked at her, "I don't see the point of having to get a new dress every single time something like that comes around. The one I already have should be good enough."

"That's the spirit," said Rainbow, nodding in agreement. She had every intention of wearing the same dress she'd worn for her last date with Soarin' to the gala. She even hoped she might see him there, though she hadn't heard for certain if the Wonderbolts were coming to Canterlot at all.

"Ah...well...I suppose you have a point," admitted Fluttershy. She had actually been seeing Rarity in secret in order to get fitted for a new dress of her own, which she wanted to surprise Caramel with.

Scootaloo climbed back on the couch and snuggled up to Dawn once again. Fluttershy and Rainbow took seats of their own and the four of them enjoyed chatting as Caramel and Melon went to work in the kitchen, preparing dinner.

"Come in," sang Rarity as the chime from the front door rang once again, indicating the arrival of a new customer. After her fulfilling experience of being able to design a dress for Arcana Lulamoon's magnificent figure, she was feeling particularly upbeat. Trotting out to the showroom, Rarity came to a stop and stood staring at her visitor. "Oh! Twilight, you're back."

"Y-yeah," said Twilight, somewhat hesitantly, blushing and averting her eyes slightly, "Sorry about earlier."

"Think nothing of it," said Rarity with a dismissive wave of her hoof, "I can understand that the idea of a stallion allowing himself to be fitted for a dress can be somewhat...disconcerting. Where are he and Trixie, by the way?"

"Well, Trixie is going to be staying with me and Spike in the library," said Twilight, "Arkenstone said he'd allow Arcana to stay with him in the teahouse." What Twilight neglected to mention was that she wouldn't be surprised if the shop was a pile of rubble by the next morning, Arkenstone having limited faith in his ability to get along with Trixie's mercurial brother.

"That's lovely. I'm glad that Trixie's well," said Rarity, "Though, from what I saw when she came with you here, she could probably benefit from a session in the spa. That shall be our first priority with her."

"O-okay," said Twilight.

"Now then," said Rarity, "I trust you didn't come just to chat about Trixie and her brother. What can I do for you, dear?"

Twilight gulped. "Well, I was wondering if you could make a new dress for me for the Winter Gala."

"Why of course," said Rarity eagerly, "You know that I would never turn down such a request from you or the girls. I do so love the opportunity to design for you." Her eyes narrowed as she took in Twilight's mannerisms. "But there's more to it than just that, isn't there?"

"Yes," said Twilight, "Arkenstone is going to be there with me, which is why I wanted to ask you for help with this."

"I'm afraid I don't follow," said Rarity, tilting her head slightly as her ears stood upright.

Twilight sighed. "I want you to help make me beautiful for Arkenstone, in a way that he can perceive."

"What do you mean by tha-oh..." Rarity's voice trailed off as she made the connection. Arkenstone was so naturally proficient with nearly everything he did that it was easy to forget he was blind. It wouldn't matter just how much Twilight's dress caught the lights or complimented her natural colors. Arkenstone wouldn't be able to see it.

"My," said Rarity, "That certainly is a challenge. I can see why you came to me, though I'll admit that this is something I've never taken into consideration with my designs. I'm going to have to take some time to think very carefully about this."

"Of course," said Twilight, giving her friend an apologetic smile, "Take as much time as you need. I don't really have the slightest idea on how to go about this."

"I shall," said Rarity. She closed the distance between herself and Twilight and wrapped the other unicorn up in a friendly hug. "You needn't fear, darling. I shall give you my best work, I promise you that."

"Oh Rarity," said Twilight, leaning into the embrace, "I never doubted that for a second."

"Wonderful," said Rarity, pulling away, "Then I'll get started right away. I'll let you know when I need your help."

"Alright," said Twilight with a dutiful nod as she made her way to the door.

"Have a pleasant evening dear," called Rarity as Twilight left.

"You too."

The door closed and Rarity was alone with her thoughts, for the moment. Now then, she thought, tapping her chin, Where to start... Sir Arkenstone is blind, so he won't have any appreciation for visual appeal. But that doesn't mean I can afford to neglect Twilight's appearance. We must make a good impression on anypony else who is there after all. Since Arkenstone's eyes don't work, I'll need to dress Twilight to appeal to his other senses.

Touch and hearing are both good places to start, seeing as the right material can produce some pleasant noises, feel wonderful against the coat and still be fabulous to look at. Scent might be a little more tricky. From what Twilight tells me, Arkenstone relies mainly on his nose to navigate and has a very acute sense of smell. It is probably very easy to overwhelm his sense of smell as well, so nothing too strong...Hmm...Maybe a dash of scented oil worked into the cloth. That might work. As for taste...let's not dwell on that one.

Wrapped up in her pondering of Twilight's request, Rarity ambled back into her workroom and set aside the designs she had been working on earlier, instead setting about to create a new design for Twilight's dress. Dabbing a quill in ink, she worked furiously. The clean, smooth lines of the dress came naturally, but that was merely the beginning. Around the design, on the margins of the paper, Rarity was rapidly inscribing notes as she floated ideas to herself to improve the overall product.

"Rarity?" Flaxseed slowly crept into her workroom, a bit surprised to see the fashionista working so furiously, hunched over her drawing board. "Rarity?"

"Oh!" Rarity jolted upright as she suddenly realized Flaxseed's presence. "I'm terribly sorry dear. I got so wrapped up in my work that I didn't notice you come in. What can I do for you?"

"I just wanted to let you know that it is getting late," said Flaxseed, "Your sister should be back soon."

"Oh my," gasped Rarity, "I completely lost track of time. I need to get started on dinner."

"I'll help however I can," said Flaxseed as he followed Rarity towards the kitchen, "I didn't realize your client was that important."

"Oh...This isn't the one I told you about earlier," explained Rarity, "You see, Twilight came to me a little bit ago with a request for me." She laid out what Twilight wanted for her.

Flaxseed's eyes widened as he learned about the challenge that Rarity had ahead of her. "That sounds very tricky," he admitted, not knowing too many particulars about clothing designs, "You certainly seem fired up about this."

"Of course!" said Rarity, striking a dramatic pose, "The more I thought about it, the more I realized how momentous this task is. Think about it. Fashion is primarily concerned with the visual aesthetic. Beyond being comfortable, and some so-called designers consider even that to be optional, most designers only really contemplate how their designs look.

"But this...this about more than simply making fashion appealing to a pony who cannot see, this is about opening an entire new dimension in art of design. It is taking fashion beyond a visual medium and opening it to all a pony's senses. I will blaze a brilliant new path and lead a revolution in the field of fabulosity!"

"My...that certainly sounds...ambitious." Flaxseed was a bit taken aback by Rarity's enthusiasm. But he supposed that this was where her passion lay, so of course she was excited about it.

Rarity, in the meantime, had once again gotten swept up in her thoughts, forgetting that she was supposed to be heading to the kitchen. "Oh my goodness. I certainly can't stop with just Twilight. This is a chance to make something special for all the other girls as well. I can't believe I've never thought about this before. Oh, I simply must get started right away!"

"Why don't we get started on dinner first," suggest Flaxseed wryly, more than a little amused by this side of Rarity, "You're going to need your strength, so we should make sure you get something to eat."

Rarity froze, realizing that she'd gotten carried away in front of her guest. "Oh...Sorry about that," she said, blushing.

Flaxseed chuckled and simply continued on toward the kitchen, Rarity following in his wake.

"That was a lovely dinner," said Fluttershy as she, Dawn, and Caramel made their way back to their home for the night.

Dawn nodded his agreement. It had also been fun to spend the evening with Scootaloo and her mother, as well as Rainbow Dash. They'd spent the evening talking about everything from their plans for Hearth's Warming, to what Rainbow expected when she fully joined the Wonderbolts in the spring. They'd talked about Scootaloo's progress with her training, while Rainbow teased the foals about the progress in their relationship. It was all good fun and Dawn looked forward to doing it again.

Right now, he was walking between Fluttershy and Caramel, the three of them staying close as they made their way across the snowy ground. They had just reached the street that would take them the rest of the way to Caramel's house when Dawn froze in place. His form seemed to double as he skipped forward a few paces, his wings spread partially and his ears turning back and forth, scanning the environment around him.

"Dawn?" Both Fluttershy and Caramel noticed his strange behavior. They kept a short distance away, both of them knowing that, if Dawn felt threatened, he would need room to maneuver. "Is something wrong?" asked Fluttershy, looking around, trying to see what had alerted her son.

Dawn frowned as he allowed his awareness to fill the space around him, extending to reach nearly thirty meters in every direction. He felt the contours of every object in his vicinity. "I could have sworn..." he said softly. He wasn't sure what he'd sensed before. It wasn't intent, or the feeling of somepony's eyes on him. But, for the briefest of instants, Dawn felt the presence of somepony who shouldn't have been there. But now, all signs of that pony were gone.

"Maybe I'm just imagining things," he said finally.

"Are you sure?" asked Caramel, sweeping his gaze across the darkened street, "We can't be too careful."

"Maybe" agreed Fluttershy, "But we might be safer back at the house. Let's go." In truth, she was feeling more than a little nervous out in the open. There was no sign of anypony, but Dawn wasn't the sort to jump at shadows, which meant that he must have sensed something. But since nothing had happened, it was probably best to simply get to a place they were fairly familiar with.

Dawn nodded and the three of them continued on their way. As they turned the corner and made their way to Caramel's house, they left the deserted area behind them. In that space, a mound of snow had been piled up against one of the houses. Once Dawn, Fluttershy, and Caramel were out of sight, that mound of snow began to shift as something stirred from beneath it. Slowly, the head and shoulders of a pegasus mare emerged, her piercing blue eyes turning to look the way Dawn and his parents had gone. The mare let out an irritable snort and began to pull herself free.

Author's Note

Ever since I'd conceived of Arcana as a character, I'd been waiting for a chance to write a scene where Twilight walks in on him being fitted for a dress and him being completely nonchalant about it. That struck me as completely hilarious. This was because Arcana was inspired, in part, by Akari from Samurai Deeper Kyo in that he's a guy who looks so much like a girl that you wouldn't be able to tell the difference just by looking.

Yeah, that's a guy folks.

Twilight having Rarity make a dress that uses components like texture and scent to enhance her beauty in order to better appeal to Arkenstone is also something I've had in mind for a while. Not being a fashion expert myself, I can't tell if Rarity's idea is actually something all that special in the actual fashion world. But I thought it would make for an interesting idea within the context of the story. How would you dress someone up in order to appeal to someone who is blind?

Next chapter: Look who's stalking.

The Shadow

Chapter 14: The Shadow

More snow shifted and fell away as the mare pulled herself out, taking a moment, she shook herself off, scattering the last few flakes from her form. She was clad in a mottled white, form-fitting suit that covered nearly her entire body, save for her wings, with openings on the head for her eyes and muzzle, allowing her to see and breathe. Though the suit was thin and light, it was also extremely well insulated, allowing her to lie in the snowbank for an extended period of time while waiting for her target.

The mare stared impassively in the direction Dawn Lightwing and the two adult ponies that accompanied him had gone off in. Her breath escaped her in a small huff as she thought about how close she had come to being discovered. She understood quite well that Dawn's sudden bout of alertness had been because he had sensed her. As she had been led to believe, the colt was extremely well aware of his surroundings and never missed a cue that might suggest an enemy was nearby.

It seems that the report that he uses the Gale King Style was not entirely a fabrication, she thought to herself. She had concealed herself completely in the snowbank so that only her eyes and muzzle were not covered by the snow. Thus, it must have been her breathing that had nearly given her away. Dawn had sensed the tiny amount of air moved by her breath and had been instantly alerted to her being there. Had she not stopped her own breathing the instant Dawn had sensed her, she would have been discovered. The rumors of how dangerous this colt is weren't exaggerations.

Still, she was at least safe for the time being. The mare spread her wings and took to the sky, rising up above the lights of Ponyville. From below, she would be almost invisible, merely a gray shadow, moving against the backdrop of the clouds. Her flight took her past the outskirts of Ponyville and over the Whitetail Woods, all the way to the rocky cliffs that ultimately rose to become the mountains that would lead to Canterlot. There, the mare entered into a small cave on the cliff face, landing on the small ledge outside of it. From the ledge, it was a sheer drop down to the ground below, while the stone above rose nearly perfectly vertically upwards. These traits made it inaccessible to creatures that could not fly, which precluded its use by such things as hibernating bears, which made it perfect for the mare's purposes.

The inside of the cave was surprisingly cozy, consisting of flat, smooth rock. What dust had accumulated had been swept away by the mare when she first took up residence. At the very back of the cave lay her bed, which had been woven from tree branches, with a heavy sleeping bag set atop them to protect her from the winter chill when she slept. Between the bed and the entrance was the fire pit. As soon as she was inside the cave, the mare went about setting up a fire to provide a little warmth and light for her to work by. She'd made sure to dry the wood that she found and was careful to never make the fire too large, lest its light give away her location. Still, it was enough to briefly warm the space enough for the mare to slip out of her garment, which she carefully folded before sliding it into the sleeping bag.

The suit slid off to reveal a charcoal-gray coat that blended perfectly with her mane and tail. The fire illuminated her cutie mark, a swatch of cloth with a mottled gray and black camouflage pattern. She shivered slightly in the still-cold air as the fire slowly warmed the cave.

A pair of saddlebags leaned up against the stone wall of the cave. The mare opened one of the bags and withdrew a notebook, along with a pen. Gripping the end of the pen in her mouth, she opened the notebook and laid it out on the floor of the cave, close enough for the firelight to illuminate it, but not close enough that the pages were at risk of catching.

Day 12:

Continued observation of the target. The target spent the late morning and early afternoon hours of the day at the teahouse. All known members of the target’s social circle, save Twilight Sparkle’s dragon assistant, spend similar hours in the teahouse. It would seem that they have a part-time job there, serving customers and possibly making the tea. While the hours of the target and his companions shift occasionally, there is a clear presence of routine, broken by the occasional day off. After leaving the teahouse, the target and Scootaloo adjourned to the Whitetail Woods, where they engaged in an unusual form of snowball fight that seemed to be halfway between play and training, possibly in the Gale King.

The target’s behavior around Scootaloo shows continued signs of changing. Evidence would seem to suggest that the target is embarrassed and nervous in close proximity to Scootaloo. His behavior is suggestive of a colt in the much earlier stages of a relationship with a filly he likes. This is the most compelling evidence to date that the target does not have a full understanding of equine feelings and can only emulate them to the best of his ability. While Scootaloo did notice the change in his behavior, there is no evidence that she suspects the target is faking his attachment to her. I was not able to approach close enough to hear their conversation and can only conjecture what excuses the target used to hide the idiosyncrasies.

After their conversation, the target and Scootaloo adjourned to the house identified as Scootaloo’s home. I was unable to get close enough to observe what happened inside the house at first. Later on, the ponies identified as Fluttershy (EoK), Rainbow Dash (EoL), along with the mare identified as Scootaloo’s mother (Melon Cream), as well as the stallion identified as Fluttershy’s coltfriend (Caramel), joined them in the house.

After continued observation, I determined that it was safe to move closer in order to observe events in the house’s interior…

The mare wrote on, carefully recounting her observations and noting any details that stood out. She also recounted the events of Dawn nearly detecting her on his way back with Fluttershy and Caramel.

…Continued observation shows that the target shows that the target’s abilities fall within the scope of the Gale King Style. However, the target seems to show an unnatural aptitude for the style. I have observed evidence that he is capable of lightning-based techniques, the highest tier of Gale King techniques. Somepony as young as the target is reputed to be should not have such a high level of mastery, suggesting that the target is drawing upon knowledge and experience beyond his stated lifespan, further evidence that the spirit animating the target’s form is not equine in nature.

The target shows a high degree of fidelity towards maintaining the illusion of drawing his power from the Gale King. Thus, the best way to counter the target would be twofold. First, the target must be drawn into a circumstance where the techniques of the Gale King would be restrained or inhibited. A closed environment would be best. Ponymade structures would not suffice as the Gale King could easily destroy them from within. A cave with especially thick walls or deep enough in the earth would limit his movement while forcing him to curtail the power of the Gale King to avoid bringing the cave down on himself. Second, a witness must be secured. If the target’s skills in the Gale King are properly restrained by the terrain, then a witness will fetter the target from drawing upon any genuinely supernatural abilities he may have at his disposal. Should the target break from his fidelity, the witness will confirm the target’s true nature.

After that, the only true concern is ensuring that the target does not find some way to dispose of the witness, should his true nature be revealed. But first, I must locate a suitable location and then identify a pony to serve as an appropriate witness.

The mare closed the book with a sigh. Twelve days days of observation and she was still disturbingly far from realizing her objective. Looking around, she thought that the cave she was currently occupying was a good choice. If she could use some stones to further close off the entrance, she could conceivably bottle the faux-colt up in here with no room to maneuver. Then, in close combat, victory would be hers…or so she hoped.

The mare sighed as she flipped through the pages of her notebook, reviewing her past entries, which not only included written observations, but detailed drawings of the colt, carefully noting his features. One of the drawings was a closeup illustration of his eyes, though black and white couldn’t properly depict their captivating color. The mare stared at those eyes for a long time as the fire crackled in the background. I know that the official word is to leave things to the Cardinal, but I can’t simply accept the idea of remaining inactive. If they haven’t made their move by now, then something must be wrong. Perhaps they have already been discovered and disposed of. If they are unable to take action, it will fall to me. I will dispose of the colt myself.

Though Dawn Lightwing was proving himself to be a challenge, the mare was confident that she would ultimately succeed. This was the sort of battle she had trained for. Either Dawn Lightwing would show his true colors or he would die. Either way, victory would be hers.

“And you’re certain that you sensed it here?” asked Arkenstone, slowly sniffing about the area as Dawn nodded.

As soon as the sun had begun to breach the horizon, Dawn had been up to greet his namesake, quickly darting out from the house and rushing to the teahouse, where he hoped he could enlist Arkenstone’s assistance. The previous night, Dawn had gone to bed, certain that he’d simply been imagining things. However, as morning drew nearer, his doubts grew little by little, nagging him in the back of his mind, like an itch that was impossible to scratch.

Fortunately, if there was anypony who could either corroborate Dawn’s suspicion or dismiss it, it was Arkenstone. Already, the Celestial Knight was sniffing around in a slowly widening circle from where Dawn stood, right in the spot where he’d gotten that eerie sensation last night.

Pausing for a moment, Arkenstone lifted his head and rubbed his nose. “The cold numbs my senses a little…” he mumbled before returning to his work.

Dawn watched the Knight quietly, doubting his…doubts a little more with each passing second. I must have imagined it, he mused.

“Ah!” Arkenstone’s quiet exclamation made Dawn’s ears stand upright as he rushed to the stallion’s side. Arkenstone was carefully sniffing at a bank of snow that had been piled up against the side of a house.

“What is it?” asked Dawn, his eyes narrowing as he carefully looked the pile over in the early morning light.

“There was a pony here,” explained Arkenstone, “Her scent has faded somewhat, but she was evidently here for at least some time. Her scent has soaked into this spot a little.”

“There!” said Dawn, reaching out a hoof, hovering it over a small spot where the snow had been compressed down in the unmistakable shape of a hoofprint.

Arkenstone nodded, brushing a hoof against the pile of snow, drawing Dawn’s eyes to it. Small chunks of rolled away and Dawn realized that the snow here had been churned up strangely in comparison to the rest of the snowbank. “She must have concealed herself by burrowing into the snow and covering herself,” observed Dawn, “Hidden like that, my wind-sense would have passed completely over her. But what gave her away?”

“Intent…” suggested Arkenstone.

Dawn shook his head slowly. “No. What I felt wasn’t intent. It was connected to my wind-sense…almost as though…”

“Oh…You’ve been practicing what I taught you then?” asked Arkenstone with an approving smile.

Dawn nodded. “I must have sensed her breath. But it was only for a moment. Did she hide by holding it?”

“Possibly,” remarked Arkenstone, “That means that this pony, whoever she might be, is an astute adversary, possibly one who knows a great deal about the Gale King, if she hid from you by holding her breath.”

Dawn slowly chewed his inner lip. “Do you think…it was Terra Heart?”

Sniffing once again, Arkenstone shook his head. Leaning down, he carefully closed his jaws around something before raising his head back up. Between his teeth, Dawn could see a tiny gray tuft of feather down. Turning his head, Arkenstone spat the tuft out. “This is a pegasus. From the scent, I believe she took to the air almost immediately after coming out of concealment.”

“That will make tracking her…difficult,” mused Dawn. Though a scent trail might drift back down to the ground, it would scatter and make any attempt to track the source exceedingly difficult at best.

"I can still get a basic direction," said Arkenstone, tilting his head and sniffing the air some more, "It would seem that she was heading in the direction of the Whitetail Woods."

"It would seem that somepony has decided to come after me in spite of what the Cult Solar's leader has ordered," said Dawn with a heavy side.

"Never forget," said Arkenstone, "that this group is not some sort of monolithic foe that moves with singular purpose. It is composed of individuals, many of whom may have their own reasons for pursuing you. The fact that this mare is here simply means that she is acting against the will of the Cult's overall leadership. That has been a possibility from the very beginning."

"So you know it's a mare?" asked Dawn, eyeing the disturbed snow expectantly.

"Mares have distinctive traces in their scents that set them apart from stallions," explained Arkenstone, scooping up a hoofful of snow and sniffing it, "I can also tell a few other things."

"Like what?"

"Our mare appears to have some form of connection with the Guard," explained Arkenstone, "I'm also picking up the scents associated with a particular kind of insulated fabric utilized for skintight, insulated snowsuits that maximize mobility while protecting the wearer from severe cold conditions. She also utilized advanced concealment techniques by concealing her body completely within the snowdrift. The fact that she was aware of how to counter the Gale King indicates that she's done her homework as well. All of these suggest several things about our opponent, including the fact that she has had elite Guard training and a great deal of experience in the field."

"Does that mean we can figure out who it is?" asked Dawn.

"It certainly narrows down our list of possible suspects," said Arkenstone, "I'll send the search criteria to Shining Armor and see if he can identify a few probable candidates."

"Please do so," said Dawn, a chill that had nothing to do with the weather creeping down his spine. All things considered, this tiny slip had only hinted at his watcher's presence to him. If it was the first mistake she had made, then it was entirely possible that she had been watching him for who knows how long without him cluing in until now. If that was the case, then they were dealing with somepony whose threat possibly equalled that of the assassin, Willow. Dawn didn't relish the idea of a similar encounter.

Arkenstone rested a gentle hoof on Dawn's shoulder. "Don't worry. We'll find out who's behind this and put a stop to it."

"I hope we do so soon," said Dawn, worried about what this new adversary had in store for him.

After his meeting with Arkenstone, Dawn began to make his way back to the house. His ears perked up again when he sensed the approach of another pegasus. However, he relaxed as she got closer. Already, he could sense the unique rhythm of her wingbeats and even felt her awareness brush against his own through the wind.

"Hi Dawn," said Ditzy cheerfully as she landed behind him.

Turning around, Dawn smiled back at her. "Good morning Ditzy," he said.

"You're up early," observed Ditzy as one of her eyes rolled out of alignment again. She was dressed in a jacket of heavy blue wool, with a light-blue scarf wrapped around her neck. Two bulging saddlebags hung from her side, stuffed with letters and parcels that probably weighed several pounds apiece. But Ditzy moved as though they weighed nothing. Dawn quickly realized that, in spite of the clumsiness that had originated from her poor eyesight, Ditzy's experience with hauling heavy loads had given her an impressive amount of strength and endurance, possibly surpassing his own.

"How are things?" asked Dawn.

"Really good," said Ditzy as she fell in next to him as he continued to walk towards the house, "Mac and I are making plans to move in together."

"Will you be moving out to the farm then?"

"I think so. It won't be too much trouble for me to fly from there to the Post Office. Apple Bloom says she doesn't mind sharing her room with Dinky until Mac can build an extension for the house." Ditzy closed her eyes with an ecstatic giggle. It was clear that she was beyond excited about the whole affair. She and Big Macintosh had tentatively scheduled their wedding for the spring, after the winter snows had been cleared away.

"Has anypony been giving you any problems?" asked Dawn, carefully watching Ditzy's reaction to her question.

Ditzy's expression softened from its previous giddiness and her smile became smaller, but no less sincere. "Well, there were a few mares saying things behind my back. But, when Mac found out about it, he talked to them and they haven't said anything since."

"I'm not surprised," murmured Dawn with an amused smile of his own. It was always said, "Beware the wrath of a patient pony." Dawn knew of nopony more patient than Big Macintosh and got the impression that if the red stallion ever dropped his impassive manner, he could be almost indescribably terrifying.

As the two of them reached the house, Ditzy paused to pull a few envelopes out of her mailbag. "Here you are," she said, hoofing the mail over to Dawn, who took it with his wing and tucked it up against his side.

"Would you like to join us for breakfast?" asked Dawn.

"I wish I could, but I need to stay on schedule and make my rounds," said Ditzy, "I don't want to fall behind. But I'd be happy to have you, your mom, and Caramel over for dinner at my place one of these nights. I know Dinky would be overjoyed to see you again."

"Alright," agreed Dawn, "I'll talk to mom and dad about it."

Ditzy let out a barely audible squeal at the sound of Dawn calling Caramel "dad." She wondered if that meant her wedding wouldn't be the only one in the near future. Bidding a final farewell to Dawn, she lifted off and resumed her delivery route as Dawn stepped inside the house.

Neither Dawn nor Ditzy noticed a small cloud, one of many that hovered in the partly cloudy sky above Ponyville, keeping the temperature low enough to stop the snow from melting completely. The cloud had been chosen because of its position to the east of Dawn's house, facing away from the rising sun so that there would be no light glinting off the binocular lenses that only just barely protruded from the surface of the cloud.

The mare had been watching Dawn's meeting with Arkenstone. Her heartbeat quickened as the beige stallion pinpointed the exact location she had been hiding the previous night with almost supernatural speed. Though she was too far away to read lips, even with the aid of binoculars, the mare had no doubt that Dawn Lightwing and the stallion had managed to discern several things about her, even from the scant evidence she had left behind.

She found herself wondering who the stallion was. She knew that his name was Arkenstone and that he ran the teahouse adjacent to the library. She had also heard that he was apparently the coltfriend of Twilight Sparkle. If anypony could catch the eye of the Bearer of Magic, they must be exceptional indeed. But if Dawn Lightwing was turning to this stallion for help in countering her, there must have been even more to him than that. I may need to do some more research, she thought with a frown, wondering just where she could find more information about the beige earth pony.

However, regardless of Arkenstone's true nature, the mare knew that she couldn't afford to dally. Dawn Lightwing was onto her, which meant he would be all the more alert, watching out for any more slip-ups on her part. The mare knew better than to imagine herself as being perfect. She would have to have her confrontation with the faux-colt sooner, rather than later. I need to find my witness as soon as possible.

The mare's eyes and thoughts turned towards Ditzy Doo as the mailmare continued to make her rounds, completely unaware of the fact that she was being watched. Perhaps she might be the answer to my problem.

When he'd come in for his shift at the teashop, Dawn had been worried that the thoughts of his mysterious stalker would distract him. However, as he got into the rhythm of work, he slowly began to relax. The teahouse was Arkenstone's territory after all. Even if the mare was skilled enough to evade Dawn's notice, there was little chance of her escaping detection by a Celestial Knight. Furthermore, her skills seemed to indicate she was better at hiding outdoors, rather than indoors, as the places that could conceal her within the confines of the shop were almost nonexistent. Here, at least, Dawn felt safe.

"Everything okay?" whispered Scootaloo as she passed him with an empty tray after serving one of the tables.

"Later," Dawn whispered back, drawing a nod from his fillyfriend. There was no point in trying to hide anything from her. She'd spent so much time around him and come to know him so well she could easily tell when he was uneasy or upset about something. More to the point, it wasn't right to keep her in the dark about this.

Their work went smoothly. However, at about noon, Spike came rushing in, a heavy manilla envelope clutched in his claws. He went straight for the back room, where Arkenstone was working. A few minutes later, Arkenstone was out in front, helping the Crusaders and Spike close down the shop for the lunch hour.

After they'd ushered the last of the customers out, Arkenstone gathered the foals and Spike around a single table. There, he laid out the envelope Spike had brought in. "Before we begin," said Arkenstone, "Dawn should explain the situation."

Dawn nodded and told his friends about his experience the previous night, as well as what he and Arkenstone had uncovered earlier that morning. There wasn't much to say yet, but it was enough to put everypony's nerves on edge.

"What do we do about it?" asked Scootaloo, a slight hint of anger in her voice now that she knew yet another pony was coming after Dawn.

"We've already started," explained Arkenstone, "I have my suspicions that this mare has ties to the Guard and asked Shining Armor for a list of candidates based on certain criteria. She's extremely skilled if she's able to conceal her presence from Dawn so completely, so she's most likely a covert operations specialist with extensive knowledge and experience in wilderness camouflage. Her behaviors suggest that she has a great deal of experience in general, so she's most likely a veteran of the Guard with several missions under her saddle. That's going to afford us with a very narrow list of candidates."

Opening the envelope, Arkenstone slid the contents out onto the table. Rather than being a list of ponies, as Arkenstone and Dawn had been expecting, it was a complete file on just one pony.

"Well, that was fairly easy," mused Dawn.

"So it would seem," agreed Arkenstone, "She must be exceptional then if she is the only pony fit the criteria." He took the top page and gently began to run his frog across the writing, examining it. "Her name is Shade Steel. That's a rather ominous title."

"Maybe she changed it after she got her cutie mark," suggested Sweetie Belle.

"As good a guess as any," agreed Arkenstone, reading on, "Born in Hollow Shades, joined the Guard at fifteen years of age, served with distinction and was recommended for transfer to the Royal Guard at age seventeen, that's impressive..."

"Is it really?" asked Dawn.

Arkenstone nodded. "On average, it takes at least five years for ponies to reach a level of competency that they can earn a transfer to the Royal Guard. You can go to Canterlot and apply directly, but the standards for admission as just as demanding as they are for transferal. It takes most applicants anywhere between four and six tries. Shining Armor is one of the scant few who actually made it in on his first try."

"So she's really good at her job?" asked Scootaloo.

"Exceptionally," replied Arkenstone, returning his attention to the file, "Not only did she gain admission into the Royal Guard, but she was also enlisted in the SES."

"The SES?" asked Spike.

"Special Equine Service," answered Arkenstone, "They are an elite unit of the Royal Guard tasked with clandestine and covert operations. They are typically deployed to deal with organized crime, smugglers, and particularly dangerous groups of a bandits, who tend to operate outside of the jurisdiction of any particular town or city's Guard. They are highly trained in both urban and wilderness combat, as well as stealth, espionage, and survival skills. Their standards are even higher than the base standards for the Royal Guard. Joining requires and additional year of training if the candidate manages to make it past the selection process."

"She's very dangerous then," concluded Dawn.

Arkenstone nodded. "She continued to serve in the SES with distinction for the next five years. She earned several decorations and commendations and was considered to be, for all intents and purposes, a model Guardsmare."

"Hard to believe that somepony like that could be with the Cult Solar," muttered Rumble.

Arkenstone nodded. "She may have been inducted into the Cult at a young age, seeing as she is from Hollow Shades. That town is fairly far off the beaten path and is mostly surrounded by wilderness. It's the kind of isolated place that is perfect for fostering a group like that."

"Is she still part of the Royal Guard?" asked Rumble, "If she is, then maybe Shining Armor could do something to keep her from causing trouble."

Arkenstone shook his head. "Unfortunately, she has been 'retired' for a few years now. In fact, the date of her departure was shortly after..." He paused, his voice trailing off.

"Shortly after what?" asked Apple Bloom nervously.

"Shortly after Princess Luna returned," said Arkenstone slowly.

"Well, Ah guess that settles it then," muttered Bloom petulantly, "Bet she didn't like the idea that she'd have to start takin' orders from Princess Luna too."

"I don't get it," said Sweetie Belle, "If Princess Celestia hates the Cult Solar so much, how'd she let somepony who was in the Cult stay in the Royal Guard."

"I don't believe she was aware that any member of the Royal Guard had any association with the group," explained Arkenstone, "Until recently, she had been operating under the mistaken assumption that the Cult had been, more or less, reduced to irrelevance. It's only been in the past few months that we've come to realize that the Cult Solar not only survived, but is far more powerful and influential than we'd ever thought possible."

"Is there any other information about this Shade Steel we should know?" asked Dawn.

Once again, Arkenstone returned his attention to the file. "Her specialty definitely lies in stealth and concealment." A hint of amusement crept into his voice. "It even states here that she earned her cutie mark after winning Hollow Shades’ annual Hide and Seek Tournament. According to the file, she's only gotten better since then.

"Aside from that, she also specializes in close combat. She's especially proficient with knife-fighting. Though she's a pegasus, she is also very skilled at combat in enclosed environments."

"This sounds bad," said Scootaloo with a gulp. Her eyes came to rest on the photograph of the mare that was on the front of the file, taking in her gray features and sharp, blue eyes. "We need to keep any eye out for her."

"You won't see her," said Arkenstone, "It was only the luckiest of accidents that clued Dawn in to her her presence in the first place. If any of you see her, it will only be because she wants you to see her."

"What do we do we do if that happens?" asked Sweetie nervously, scooting so that she was pressed up against Rumble's side. Rumble wrapped a reassuring wing around her, but kept his attention on Arkenstone.

"If that is the case..." said Arkenstone, "Then, so long as she expresses no direct intent to harm you, make no effort to fight or resist her. Assuming she is here for Dawn, he is most likely her only target and she will make an active effort to avoid harming anypony else. That aside, do whatever she asks you to and cooperate fully with her."

"No way!" exclaimed Scootaloo, "I'm not selling out Dawn like that!"

"If you fight her," said Arkenstone, "She will win. You aren't experienced enough Scootaloo." He leaned forward until his muzzle was inches from her own, his milky-white eyes opening fractionally. "Do you think Dawn would be happy if you got yourself hurt on his account?"

With a gulp, Scootaloo shook her head and shot a concerned look at Dawn, who merely nodded in sober agreement with Arkenstone's words. With a sigh, Scootaloo settled back into her seat and asked Dawn, "Can you handle her?"

"Maybe," said Dawn, "The problem is that she has clearly done her homework. She knows how to counter the Gale King and will do her best to ensure that our confrontation takes place under the most favorable situation possible for her."

"Ugh!" groaned Bloom, "Does that mean we've got to wait until she comes after ya?"

"It isn't all that different from the situation with Willow," remarked Arkenstone, "She won't strike until she has ensured that she's in the strongest possible position. However, I will do my best to locate her. I will have Storm Front and Red River do likewise."

"Then I suppose that is that," said Dawn, giving the file one last glance.

Arkenstone nodded. "It's going to be difficult, but we need to be patient.”

The next couple of days were troublingly uneventful. Dawn and the others went through their daily routines, watchful and alert, but never catching any sign of the mysterious former Guardsmare. Under other circumstances, the lack of anything happening might have been taken as a sign that she had changed her mind and given up, but, thanks to the file Arkenstone had provided him with, Dawn knew better. Shade Steel’s file indicated that she could spend weeks observing a target, discerning weaknesses and opportunities before finally taking action. She had never once backed out of an assignment and she hadn’t failed any either.

Still, it was no use trying to strain his nerves. Shade Steel would come for him when she was ready for him, no sooner, no later. Until then, the only thing Dawn could do was wait and hope that Arkenstone’s investigations turned up some kind of lead. It was a bit of a longshot, but if anypony could track down the elusive cover ops specialist, it would be Arkenstone. In the meantime, Dawn tried his best to simply go on with his life and enjoy his time with his friends, however, difficult the lingering shadow of Shade Steel’s presence made that. Dawn was at least grateful that he didn’t have to worry about her coming after him in the schoolhouse, now that winter vacation was in full swing. The last thing he needed was for his classmates to be traumatized again.

For the time being, Arkenstone had decided that it would be best to keep the number of ponies aware of Shade Steel’s presence small, limited to Dawn’s friends and the Element Bearers, as well as the two mercenaries assigned to watch out for Ponyville. Dawn suspected that Arcana was aware of the situation as well. Though, if the effeminate stallion was contributing any help at all, Dawn couldn't see it. Of all of them, only Arkenstone, Red, and Storm were actively searching for Shade Steel, while the others waited and did their best to remain patient.

As it was, Dawn had all but forgotten about his brief conversation with Ditzy that fateful morning two days earlier. He had just gotten off of work with Scootaloo. The two of them were heading out towards the park to play/train in the snow once again. Ever since he’d learned about his stalker, Dawn had opted to confine their play to the wide-open expanses of the park, where he could hopefully see any attack coming with enough warning to keep Scootaloo from getting caught by it.

The two of them were walking side by side when a shadow passed over them. Scootaloo flinched instinctively, sinking into a crouch, her wings extending in preparation to ward off an attack. Dawn was impressed by how well she’d trained herself by this point, but refrained from doing the same as he recognized the familiar flight pattern passing through his wind-sense without having to even look up and confirm it.

“Hello Ditzy.”

“Hi Dawn,” said Ditzy, her tone softer than usual, seeming to lack her usual excitement and enthusiasm.

“Oh…” said Scootaloo, now realizing that she’d almost been expecting an attack from Ditzy and rising out of her stance with a blush, “Hi.”

Ditzy settled down in front of them with a cheerful smile, one that didn’t quite match the tone of her voice earlier. Something about her expression looked a little bit…forced. Dawn and Scootaloo both noticed it.

“Is there something you needed to talk about?” asked Dawn, his ears standing up. He was getting an unusual feeling from Ditzy. There was no question that something was off about her.

“Actually,” said Ditzy, smiling sheepishly at him, “I need your help with something.”

“What do ya need?” asked Scootaloo.

“Um…well…actually…” Ditzy hesitated. “It’s just Dawn’s help…that I need.”

“Huh?” Scootaloo tilted her head. Dawn’s uneasiness began to increase.

“What is it that you need help with?” asked Dawn.

“You see…” said Ditzy, using one foreleg awkwardly with the other as she averted her gaze slightly, “I have to get something out of the Whitetail Woods, but I’m not good enough at precision flying to get it, so I need somepony who’s really good at maneuvering to get it.”

“And that is…?” prompted Dawn.

Through his wind-sense, he could pick up the faint increase in the pace of Ditzy’s breathing. She was becoming agitated, possibly close to panicked. Already, Dawn had a fair idea of what was going on. She needed him to come into the Whitetail Woods with her…and without anypony else.

“Alright then,” he said quickly before Ditzy could work up some other excuse or break down completely, “We should go then.”

“Huh?” Scootaloo stared at him in surprise. She could easily tell that something was up with Ditzy and that the walleyed mare was behaving strangely. It shocked her to see that Dawn was just going along with it.

“We’ll have to train another time,” said Dawn turning around. He pulled Scootaloo into a hug, kissing her on the lips as he folded his wings around her. The two of them held that pose for a moment before Scootaloo finally relaxed. Dawn faintly whispered something in her ear, which seemed to help the filly make up her mind. When they stepped away from each other, she was blushing, but willing to accept his decision.

“I’ll see you later then,” she said as she took to the air and began flying back towards Ponyville.

Dawn turned back to Ditzy and gave her a small smile. “Alright then,” he said, “Let’s be off.”

He could see the lump in Ditzy’s throat move as she swallowed before she turned and led the two of them towards the forest.

Their walk was taking them through some of the densest parts of the trees. Dawn had attempted to make smalltalk with Ditzy over the course of their walk, but she had stuttered awkwardly through all attempts at conversation, clearly not comfortable with something…distracted as well. The further they went, the more her nervousness increased. Dawn had a rough feeling that he knew where this was going, but chose to continue following Ditzy anyway.

It wasn’t until he asked about how Dinky was doing in another attempt to start up a conversation that he got the most important clue as to what was going on. As soon as he said Dinky’s name, Ditzy’s body went rigid, her wings springing out. She froze mid-step, her eyes going wide with an expression that Dawn could only interpret as stark terror. I figured as much, he thought ruefully, now getting a clear idea of just what was going on.

Shade Steel had made her move. She was prepared as she was going to be to confront Dawn and had decided to initiate that confrontation. And now…Dawn knew exactly how. Slowly, he turned and looked into Ditzy’s eyes, which were aligned properly for the first time in a long time since he had known her.

“Ditzy,” said Dawn slowly, “where is Dinky?”

Author's Note

And here's the setup. I said there would be less action in this story, but not no action. There isn't a lot to say about Shade Steel as a character now, but I'll have a lot to say later on. She's a one-dimensional character that I introduced for the sake of a fight scene, who then grew organically to have some very interesting impacts on the plot of the story, which was one of the reasons this story got so large on me. You'll see that in the chapters to come.

Next chapter: Dawn brings his wings to a knife fight.

A Knife in the Dark

Chapter 15: A Knife in the Dark

Shade Steel kept her eyes carefully trained on the forest below, searching for any sign of her approaching quarry. Her peripheral vision allowed her to keep on the alert for any signs of movement in the skies above as well, just in case Dawn Lightwing tried coming in by air. The clear day meant that there were no clouds in the sky that the faux-colt could use as cover. One way or another, when he came, she would know it. She lay halfway out on the ledge that projected out from the cave. Her body completely filled the opening, which she had narrowed using small boulders packed into mud to serve as mortar. As constructs went, the walls closing off most of the cave opening weren't the sturdiest. The dried mud that held them together would probably wash away with the next snowmelt. But Shade Steel didn't need it to last for very long.

Her ears twitched as she heard a faint sniffling sound from the back of the cave, where her bed was. Breaking her vigil over the forest, Shade Steel turned her gaze to check on her unwilling guest.

Her bed was still there, but the sleeping bag had been shoved to one side, up against the cave wall. A metal stake had been driven down through the weave of tree branches and into the rock below. It had taken a lot of work for Shade Steel to get the stake in place, but it would be worth it once Dawn Lightwing arrived. In the gloom of the cave, her eyes were still able to pick out the form of a pale-purple unicorn who sat with her back to the stake, bound against it by heavy wire wrapped around her barrel and forelimbs to keep her from wiggling free. The filly’s amber eyes met Shade Steel’s blue ones and quickly flinched away.

Dinky Doo was scared and miserable. Shade didn’t blame her. It was unfortunate for Dinky that she had gotten caught up in this and was now bound uncomfortably in the back of a cave in the depths of the Whitetail Woods. But still, Shade Steel needed her and needed her to be exactly where she was. But that didn’t stop her heart from going out to the little filly.

With a sigh, the former Guardsmare decided to break her vigil and do what she could to offer some comfort to the softly sobbing filly.

“Hey there,” said Shade Steel in her softest, most friendly voice, “How are you doing?”

“I-I’m scared,” said Dinky, tears running freely down her cheeks, “My back is sore, my skin hurts…I w-wanna go home.”

“Shh,” said Shade, gently reaching out with a forehoof to brush away a few of Dinky’s tears, “It’s alright. I know you’re scared. I’m sorry. But I need your help.”

“B-but why do you need to tie me up like this?” asked Dinky, her distress seeming to subside a little at the gentle tone of Shade’s voice.

“It’s a bit hard to explain,” said Shade, “But I promise that you’ll be safe and, when this is all over, you’ll be back with your mom, safe and sound.”

From the look in her eyes, it was clear that Dinky didn’t quite believe her. Shade figured she would have to find some other way to take the filly’s mind off her situation.

“Hey!” she said, “I’ve got an idea. Would you like to hear how I got my cutie mark?”

“Um…okay…”

“I was just a little older than you when it happened,” explained Shade, “When I was a little filly, I used to love Hide and Seek. It was my favorite game in the whole wide world. My favorite event was the yearly Hide and Seek tournament held during the Summer Sun Celebration with all the foals in Hollow Shades. We would all hide throughout the town and the safe parts of the surrounding forest and the adults would come looking for us. Sometimes I would win, sometimes I would lose. But, no matter what happened, I always loved that game.

"Then, one year, I figured out how to hide from everypony and not be found. The adults looked and looked and looked...But they couldn't find me. They actually started to get really worried. They called in everypony they could, including the other colts and fillies to look for me. They even had the local Guard do a grid search, but they couldn't find me. I was having so much fun, I didn't want to let them find me, so I never came out. Then, six hours later, the mayor realized that he had never actually ended the game and declared me the winner. When I finally came out of hiding, I was so happy and excited because I realized just how amazing it was. It was like I'd made myself invisible, even without some unicorn's magic.

"That's when I got this..." She pointed to the swatch of camouflage on her flank.

"But why are you doing this to me?" asked Dinky, who seemed to have calmed down somewhat.

Shade sighed. "This may be hard for you to believe, but I was in the Royal Guard once. My entire purpose was to find the bad ponies and make sure that they got punished. I was very proud of the work I did there, because I was making Equestria a safer, better, happier place. But then...something happened.

"I'm sure you know a lot about this...But, one morning, on the day of the Summer Sun Celebration a couple years ago, the sun didn't come up. Nightmare Moon had returned from her banishment and was trying to plunge Equestria into eternal night. I thought we were going to have to go and fight Nightmare Moon ourselves. But then, all of a sudden, it was over. Those mares found the Elements of Harmony and used them to defeat Nightmare Moon and free Princess Celestia."

"Uh huh," said Dinky, nodding her head, "I know about that."

Shade smiled sweetly at the little filly and brushed her mane gently. "Of course you do. After the sun finally came back up, I thought everything was going to be alright. But then..." She let out a low growl that sent tremors up Dinky's spine. "Nightmare Moon showed up in Canterlot, claiming to be Princess Celestia's younger sister. Our sweet and gentle Princess actually welcomed that fiend with open arms, even as she lied through her teeth."

"But it's true," said Dinky, "Princess Luna is Princess Celestia's little sister. She plays with us on Nightmare Night and-"

"Lies!" Dinky let out a small shriek of fear as Shade slammed a hoof into the stone floor of the cave. "Princess Celestia was, is, and always shall be the only true Princess Equestria has. That monster is just a pretender trying to usurp our beloved Princess. She is simply waiting for another chance to plunge us into unending night again."

"But why would Princess Celestia let her back into Canterlot if that was true?" asked Dinky.

Shade gave Dinky a sour smile, "Because she needs us to defeat Nightmare Moon. Princess Celestia wants us ordinary, mortal ponies to be the ones to bring about that monster's end, so that we can earn our place in her paradise of eternal day."

Shade turned to look towards the entrance again. "But I realized that, if Nightmare Moon was allowed to rule from Canterlot, then she, like Princess Celestia, could give orders to the Royal Guard. I refused to remain in the service of such a monster and resigned so that I could help those who knew the truth fight back against Nightmare Moon."

"But what does that have to do with me?" asked Dinky.

"You may not realize it," said Shade, "But Nightmare Moon has creatures who serve as an extension of her will, monsters who sow disorder and suffering at her order. Even when she was imprisoned on the moon, these creatures still tried to carry out her will in the world. These demons do not have any material form, but can infect the thoughts and feelings of regular ponies. Even worse, these demons have the ability to take possession of certain ponies.

"You see, every once and a while, when a foal is about to be born, something goes very wrong and the foal is born dead. It is unfortunate but true. These foals are known as stillborns. But those filthy demons can tell when such foals are about to be born. They inhabit what would otherwise be a lifeless corpse and restore it to some semblance of life."

Shade looked at Dinky and noticed that the little filly was having some trouble following what she was saying. "So...these mean spirits make dead foals not-dead...?" said Dinky, trying to see if she understood.

"Exactly," said Shade with a happy smile.

"So they're zombies, right?"

The pleased smile dropped off Shade's face. "Um...well...not really?"

"You mean they don't go around moaning 'Braaaaiiiiiiiinssss' and trying to eat ponies?"

"No."

"Awww," moaned Dinky disappointedly.

Shade Steel sighed. "You see, these creatures try their hardest to act like regular ponies. They pretend to just be regular foals that will grow up into ordinary mares and stallions. But, in reality, they are monsters, secretly waiting for their orders from their mistress so that they can do their evil in her name.

"They are exceptionally good at hiding their true nature. But there is one thing that truly distinguishes them from regular ponies. When they are about to carry out their malicious acts, their eyes will change and take on the same form as Nightmare Moon's showing the truth about their ties to her."

"Oh..." said Dinky, clearly thinking about something, "Oh! You mean like Dawn's eyes?"

"Well...yes..." Shade was a bit shocked to see that Dinky made the connection.

"Wait! You think Dawn's one of these bad ponies?"

"Yes!" exclaimed Shade, "That's exactly it!"

Then, to her utter shock and amazement, Dinky began to giggle. "You're silly," she said between laughs, "You're a silly pony."

"Huh...but..." Shade's jaw dropped.

Dinky carried on without noticing her captor's astonishment. "Dawn's a good pony. He saved me from bullies once and he helped my mom to fly without crashing. There's no way he's one of those...demon...not-dead...foal things..." Dinky blinked. "What are they called again?"

"B-but..." stammered Shade Steel, "Y-you've seen his eyes haven't you?"

"Yeah!" exclaimed Dinky, "They're so cool."

This is worse than I thought, marveled Shade Steel. She'd realized that Dawn's hold over the town must be severe if he could walk about with his eyes undisguised. But this was more than she'd ever thought possible.

Dinky pressed on. "That whole eye-thing sounds stupid anyway," she declared, "Why is somepony evil just because their eyes are different? That's like the ponies who keep saying that my mom's stupid, just because she can't see well and used to crash a lot. Besides, it's not like he can help it if he was born like that."

Shade heaved a disappointed sigh. "It isn't the same at all. It isn't that Dawn Lightwing was born with different eyes. Those eyes are a hint of the true form that inhabits the body of that colt. The pony named Dawn Lightwing never existed. The pony that he would have been died before he could even be born."

Dinky fixed the mare with an impressively deadpan stare. "I still think that's pretty stupid."

Shade Steel opened her mouth to argue further, but stopped herself. There was little logic that would work on a foal. She would just have to let Dawn Lightwing show his true colors when he arrived.

As if on cue, Shade's ears picked up the sound of flapping wings that unquestionably belonged to a pegasus. Turning, she looked out the opening towards the sky. There, hovering in the open air outside the cave was none other than Dawn Lightwing. His turquoise eyes narrowed as they met Shade's. She glared back at him, meeting his draconic gaze without flinching. It's time.

Dawn landed on the ledge outside the cave and folded his wings before walking inside. Once he was inside the cave, he came to a stop only a couple of meters away from Shade, his body relaxed as though he wasn't expecting a fight at all. He had already done away with the scarf and jacket he'd been wearing earlier and now stood before Shade unclothed. "Well," he said simply, "I'm here like you wanted."

"Dawn!" shouted Dinky exultantly, like a pining filly being saved by her knight in shining armor. Dawn turned his attention to the filly and gave her a small smile before returning his gaze to Shade, his hardened expression slipping back into place.

Shade frowned slightly. She had been expecting Ditzy to come with Dawn. But there was no sign of the gray mare with the blonde mane anywhere outside the cave. Was she waiting in the forest down below? Still, it didn't matter. Dawn was here and he had willingly come inside the cave. Now he was in her chosen battlefield, where the majority of his techniques could be sealed by her preparations.

"Now that I'm here, please untie Dinky Doo and let her go," said Dawn.

"I think not," said Shade harshly, "I need the filly to stay right where she is and I'm certainly not about to release her into your custody. She will serve as my witness when you reveal your true nature."

Dawn looked past her at Dinky once again, frowning darkly. "An iron stake and steel wire. I get the feeling that you are keeping Dinky here for other reasons as well."

"Perhaps," was all that Shade would say in response.

Dawn's lips pressed into a thin line as he realized that conversation would serve no further purpose. "Fine then. Shall we get this over with?"

Shade Steel sank into a crouch as Dawn began to move closer. Just as he took another step, she exploded into motion, kicking off the ground and beating her wings to launch herself towards him. However, the angle to her launch carried her over Dawn's head and towards the ceiling, right where it met her crudely constructed wall. Shade twisted around so that her hind hooves slammed into the solid stone of the ceiling. In the same motion, her right foreleg slipped under her barrel to her left side.

Shade was currently wearing a belt of dark-gray fabric, a shade matching her coat so that it was nearly invisible. Attached to the belt so that it hung from the right side of her barrel was a sheathed knife, which hung so that the handle was angled slightly downwards. Now, her right fetlock curled around the handle of the knife, drawing it out from the sheath in a curving slash that came up and across her chest. Drawing and striking had occurred in a single smooth motion even as Shade's kick propelled her towards the back of Dawn's head, the slash aimed perfectly for the back of his neck so that the blade would slip between his vertebrae and sever his spinal cord. The motion, with its perfect precision spoke of the breadth of Shade's experience.

Without even looking, Dawn bent all four of his legs. An instant later, he kicked off the floor, launching himself straight forward. It had happened so quickly that, for an instant, it had looked as though Shade's knife had cut into his neck. However, the blade passed effortlessly through the afterimage. As he surged forward, Dawn planted one forehoof and twisted it, using it as a pivot to spin his body around, his eyes finding Shade as she landed on the floor where he had been standing, getting his first real look at her weapon.

Shade wielded a straight-edged knife with a broad blade of black steel. The blade's center had three rectangular holes along its length, probably to reduce the weapon's weight and make it lighter in her hooves. Shade held the deadly weapon with an easy familiarity as she pushed off with her remaining three hooves and charged straight for Dawn, thrusting forward with the tip of the blade, aiming between his ribs for his heart and lungs.

Dawn skipped sideways so that Shade's charge now carried her past him. Before she could switch from a thrust to a slash, he lashed out with his wing, compressing the air between them so that it would explode against her flank and slam her against the wall. Shade's three unoccupied hooves smacked against the cave floor, stopping her charge and launching her straight up so that the gust of air that resulted from Dawn's attack rushed under her and dissipated across the wall. As she jumped, Shade went into a roll that sent her over the top of Dawn's back and allowed her to swing her knife down at Dawn from above, once again aiming for his neck.

Shade's blade only managed to clip a few silvery hairs from Dawn's mane as he quickly ducked beneath the line of her slash. Continuing her roll, Shade kicked off the wall, sending her hurtling across the cave to the other wall, which she turned and kicked off of at an angle, propelling herself down towards Dawn from the opposite side, just as he turned to meet her. The knife was a black blur as she went through a series of thrusting and slashing attacks, coming at Dawn from a variety of directions. Some slashes aimed for Dawn's limbs, seeking to open a vein or artery and force the colt to bleed out. Other slashes targeted the tendons on those limbs as well, trying to lame the colt and cut down his maneuverability. She aimed her thrusts for his chest and neck, seeking to penetrate between his ribs and the soft organs they protected, or slash his throat open. Every strike faultlessly aimed for a vital point that would either incapacitate or kill. There wasn't the slightest bit of waste in Shade's movements and she attacked with all the grace and efficiency of a professional.

None of her blows found their mark. Dawn's form seem to double, then triple, then multiply further as he danced between her strikes, which always seemed to sink into one of the illusory doubles created by the ebony colt's speed and acceleration. His wings remained tucked in close to his sides as Dawn relied almost entirely on his hooves to maneuver between Shade's relentless offense.

A straight horizontal slash from Shade missed Dawn's throat by a paper's breadth as the colt pulled his head back just barely far enough to escape the strike. Shade abruptly reversed her grip on the knife and thrust back along the path of her slash, threatening to stab the blade through the side of Dawn's neck. Rearing up off his forelegs, Dawn avoided the strike by lifting his forward half up off the floor. Shade stopped her thrust, rather than allowing the momentum to carry it all the way around to her side and switched the grip on her knife once again, this time stabbing straight up for Dawn''s head from below in an attack that would drive the blade up between the mandibles of his jaw and up into his brain. Death would be nigh instantaneous.

With a beat of his wings, Dawn turned his motion into a backwards flip, which carried him clear of the line of Shade's slash. Dawn's backflip carried him back to the cave wall, which he was preparing to kick off of. The air around his wings began to buzz as an electrical charge built up around his feathers. Rather than channel it into a lightning bolt, Dawn kept the lighting circulating across the surface of his wings, letting the flow concentrate down toward the tips of his feathers. When he came at Shade again, he would only have to barely brush his feathers against the mare to channel an electrical jolt into her that would stun her into submission; all while ensuring that Dinky wasn't put at risk, thanks to her being tied to an improvised lightning rod.

Just as he was about to kick off of the wall, Dawn felt Shade's wings beat erratically, a motion that was frighteningly familiar to him. It was sheer reflex that surpassed even his comprehension of the mare's action that saved him as he kicked off the air, instead of the wall, skipping to the side just as a thin, flat blade whistled through the space he had occupied and ricocheted off the stone with a loud ringing noise.

For a moment, Dawn simply allowed himself to fall back to the floor, staring at Shade in astonishment. When she had first lunged at him, Dawn had thought he'd felt something off about her wings, but had quickly lost that train of thought while trying to evade the ferocious series of attacks from her combat knife. All that changed, now that he realized that Shade was more heavily armed than she had first seemed.

His eyes, more acute in the darkness of the cave than those of most ponies, found the blade that she had thrown at him. It was about as long as one of her primaries, thin and flat, with an elongated triangular shape, like a long dagger, but lacking any kind of hilt or handle. Once again, Dawn was struck by the eerie sense of familiarity.

The wired feathers wielded by Perlin Bluestreak...Dawn's mind immediately made the connection. While these blades were simpler and cruder in design than Perlin's artfully crafted feathers, made from some sort sort of simple alloy instead of mithril, they appeared to operate on the same principle, a small, light blade, hidden amongst the feather's of the wielder's wing, which could be launched with almost no warning and impressive accuracy. Now Dawn was able to identify what was off about Shade Steel's wings. Several of her feathers had seemed too heavy and too rigid to be normal feathers. As he let his awareness wash over the mare with the flow of the wind, Dawn was unable to detect any kind of sheath or apparatus to hold the long knives. Rather, Shade seemed to pinch them flat between her feathers. In the darkness of the cave, they were virtually indistinguishable from the feathers themselves. Dawn was amazed she could use her wings to maneuver so well, even holding the blades between her feathers like that.

Shade, for her part, appeared just as surprised to see that Dawn had dodged her attack, so much so that she failed to follow up on it and press Dawn. Instead, she too paused to stare at the colt. For a moment, they simply stared at one another in mutual astonishment.

"That weapon," said Dawn, "Where did you learn how to use it?"

Shade was surprised by the question. "It actually came from my time in the SES, just right before I retired. I heard that the method actually originated as a writing technique in Guoxia before some-pegasus got the idea to use it as a way to use weapons."

Dawn stared at her again, flummoxed by the sheer happenstance that his facing such a weapon represented. I wonder what Storm Front would make of this.

Sadly, he would have to wait until later to get an answer to that, as Shade Steel exploded into motion once more, leading with the heavier knife in her fetlock as she slashed straight down at him from above. Dawn sidestepped the attack, raising his wings to send a blast of air at the mare. However, he stopped himself as he realized that Dinky was in the line of his attack.

Dawn was forced to abandon the offensive before he could even begin, while Shade turned to press her attack, leading with a flurry of slashes the forced Dawn back as he dodged from side to side and up to down, trying to slip into the spaces between her maneuvers. If he could slip around to the other side, then he could make a more active effort to disable Shade without having to worry about Dinky, as his attacks would be directed towards the cave entrance.

Unfortunately, Shade Steel's skill with her knife was not to be underestimated. She refused to let Dawn break away from her so that he could get around. Frequently, after a slash, she switched the grip on her knife to make the return stroke come all the faster, continually keeping Dawn on the defensive as he looked for some hole in the barrier of razor-sharp steel that Shade weaved between them.

Dawn decided to switch to a lighter attack in order to drive Shade back and give himself more room to work with. He swept one wing forward, compressing the air between them. It had enough force to shove her away and open the distance between them. However, it wasn't sufficiently powerful to inflict injury, which was just as well, since that meant it wouldn't pose any threat to Dinky, who was also in the line of attack. With more space available, Dawn sought to shift to an angle he could strike from without putting Dinky at risk. However, he felt that familiar motion from on of Shade's wings and he had to abort his sidestep to avoid catching another of her throwing blades in his chest. His dodge gave Shade the time she needed to close back in and put him back on the defensive with another flurry of attacks.

Dawn frowned in irritation as he found himself back at square one. He had to admit that Shade was controlling the situation splendidly. By choosing the cave as her battleground, she limited his range of motion, preventing him from ever being able to get enough distance to attack with his full strength. Even if he could, one wrong blow could bring the walls of stone crashing down on top of them. Even if Dawn managed to get enough distance to shift to a position of greater advantage, Shade would disrupt his movements with one of the throwing knives she carried concealed within her wings, giving her enough of an opening to close in again.

Dawn found himself quite grateful for all the extra training he had done with Red River, gaining additional experience with fighting in close. That training had already saved his life a dozen times over in this fight alone. Dawn also had another advantage. Unlike Perlin's wired feathers, which Perlin could retract at will, Shade possessed no such mechanism for retrieving her thrown knives. Each one that she launched reduced the total number she had at her disposal. Dawn supposed that, if he strung the battle along long enough, he could force her to use all of her projectiles. Then he would only have to worry about the weapon she gripped in her foreleg.

Unfortunately, that one weapon seemed to be more than enough to serve her purposes as she continued to drive him back. Dawn tried another approach. Once again, he used his feathers to agitate the air around his wings, making it buzz as he built up an electric charge. Once again, he had no intention of launching a lightning bolt, especially when there was every chance it would miss Shade and strike the rod Dinky was tied to instead. Rather, he would move one of his feathers close to Shade so that it would jump to her knife with her next attack.

Shade, possibly hearing the buzz of the electrical charge's buildup, fell back before Dawn could reach out with his wing. Frowning, Dawn let the electricity dissipate. However, he found a new target.

Fully extending one wing, Dawn slashed it through the air, angling the feathers so that they moved like the blade of Shade' knife. In the dark of the cave, the hair-thin distortion created by the crescent-shaped vacuum that stretched from the floor to ceiling was all but invisible. The only warning that Shade had was the pair of lines carved across the stone above and below as the blade rushed straight for her. However, that warning was more than enough for the mare, who had already recognized the form of Dawn’s attack. She threw herself to the side with room to spare.

Regaining her footing, she fixed Dawn with an angry glare. “I guess you’ve finally decided to kill me,” she said darkly. This was what she had been waiting for. Now Dinky would see what Dawn was really like and would be able to share the truth with the rest of Ponyville, regardless of whether Shade managed to kill him or not.

However, Dawn simply smiled wryly. “I have no intention of killing you,” he said, “But every action has its purpose. I’m rather pleased to say that I’ve been working to be more precise with that technique than I was before.”

“I’ll bet you are,” growled Shade, tensing for another lunge.

Dawn flicked his ears back and forth. The cave’s shape and the fact that Shade Steel had closed off part of the opening made it difficult for him to tell what was going on outside of it. However, he was comforted by a faint, familiar feeling from outside. I think this has gone on long enough.

Dawn’s smile widened. “Dinky,” he said, looking past Shade Steel, “Do you trust me?”

“Yeah,” said the little filly without the slightest hesitation.

“When I tell you to, you need to run for the entrance as quickly as possible. No matter what happens, don’t look back. Can you do that?”

“‘Kay…”

Shade Steel blinked in confusion, wondering what was going on. Dinky wouldn’t run for the cave entrance. She couldn’t run. She was bound to an iron post with steel wire. She wouldn’t be able to move at all unless Shade or somepony else untied her…unless…

Suddenly, Shade remembered the vacuum blade that Dawn had launched, the one she thought she had dodged, and she realized that she had never been Dawn’s target. Shade twisted her head around to look over her shoulder and confirm her suspicions.

That was a mistake. Dawn had been waiting exactly for that moment of distraction. The moment Shade’s head turned, Dawn closed the gap between them. His left wing lashed out, compressing the air between their bodies and forcing it up against Shade’s side. The mare cried out as she was launched away from Dawn and smacked hard against the unyielding stone wall of the cave.

“Now!” shouted Dawn.

Dinky didn’t need any further prompting. With a sharp pull, the wires that Dawn’s blade had cut through bent and fell away, allowing her to pull herself away from the post and rush toward the entrance to the cave.

“No!” shouted Shade. Her body moved on reflex, her only thought being to keep Dinky, whose presence was so critical to her plans, from escaping. Before she realized what she was doing, she had already acted. Her wing flicked out, her feathers releasing another one of the long throwing daggers, this one flying directly towards the running Dinky, just as she was about to pass by where Dawn stood. What have I done?

Blood splattered through the air, glittering in the faint light of the cave as the blade bit into flesh.

Author's Note

This fight scene was an interesting one to construct. It's tricky coming up with new ways that ponies can fight. I'm a little disappointed in myself that I can't come up with more opponents besides Perlin that Dawn can really go all out against. But half the fun is finding clever ways to allow his opponents to even the playing field.

Next chapter: Shade Steel gets a scolding.

Bloodshed

Chapter 16: Bloodshed

For a moment, it was as though sound briefly ceased to exist within the confines of the cave. The faint sounds of the wind outside died away, as did any sounds of motion from the ponies within the cave, all to be replaced by the faint plip plip of blood dripping to the floor, forming a small pool beneath the wound it had inflicted.

Dinky Doo was transfixed by the sight of it. All thoughts of running had vanished in that brief instant, only to be replaced by thoughts of horror at what had just happened. Shade Steel was just as horrified, completely shocked by how much her training had betrayed her, making her launch a lethal projectile at an innocent filly. Worse still, were it not for the actions of the pony she’d actually been seeking to kill, it would be that filly’s blood now dripping on the ground.

For the moment, Dawn was having trouble looking away from the long, thin knife that had been run through his right foreleg, its elongated tip having pierced through his flesh, sliding straight between the bones of his lower foreleg, the tip having come out the other side, now resting scant inches away from the barrel of the filly it had been flying towards.

That was close, was Dawn’s first thought, which was almost immediately followed by another more emphatic one, Also...OUCH! He wished he'd reacted faster. If he had, he might have simply been able to knock the knife away with a well-placed gust. However, he hadn't even remotely expected Shade to attack Dinky. The hesitation and surprise had delayed his action to the point that Dawn had seen only one way to act that would allow him to protect her.

“Dawn,” whimpered Dinky.

“Dinky,” hissed Dawn between his teeth as he lowered his foreleg, even the slight motion causing him additional pain, “What did I say?”

“Keep running,” she whispered, her voice on the edge of tears, “No matter what.”

“Exactly,” said Dawn, grunting out the next syllables as best he could, “Go!”

Though she was reluctant, Dinky knew she needed to follow Dawn’s instructions. She bolted, her little body quickly covering the remaining distance between herself and the cave entrance. Just as she reached the walls of stacked stones that Shade had used to make the opening smaller, Dawn’s wing flared out, sending a gust out behind him that picked Dinky’s body off the stone floor and sent her hurtling out into space.

“NO!” shrieked Shade Steel, shooting back onto her hooves and rushing towards the cave entrance, her fight with Dawn momentarily forgotten.

Her eyes widened with horror as she saw Dinky seemingly hanging in space, hovering somewhere between flying and falling as the last of the momentum Dawn’s push had given her petered out. Shade was certain that her next sight would be of the filly plummeting towards the unforgiving, snow-covered ground below. She had already decided to temporarily give up her plans to kill Dawn Lightwing and do her best to catch the falling filly.

That’s what he wanted, she realized, To distract me while he gets away.

However, before the filly could begin falling in earnest, an orange and purple streak cut across Shade’s vision. Less than a second later, Dinky briefly vanished from sight as the streak intercepted her.

“I’ve gotcha!”

Shade’s eyes widened at the sound of Scootaloo’s voice as the bright-orange filly curved her flight path around, leveling out with Dinky wrapped in her arms, pressed securely against her barrel. For a moment, the dark-gray mare could only stare silently at the spectacle, until Scootaloo seemed to notice her gaze and returned it, her lavender eyes glaring straight at Shade with seething anger.

“Muffin!” Another, light-gray streak came down from above.

The familiar voice prompted a happy squeal from Dinky. “Mama!” Scootaloo dutifully held out the filly in front of her as Ditzy came to a hovering stop in front of them. Immediately, Dinky was snatched up by her mother into a loving hug.

“Start heading back to town,” said Scootaloo as Ditzy affectionately nuzzled her daughter’s mane, “You shouldn’t stay here.”

Ditzy gave Scootaloo a thankful glance and turned to fly back towards Ponyville, all while Shade Steel stared on dumbly.

“Now I wonder just whose true colors are showing.”

Shade turned back towards the interior of the cave at the sound of Dawn’s voice, which contained equal measures of taunt and reproach. The ebony colt was watching her with an unreadable expression in his cat-like eyes, his right foreleg still lifted slightly off the floor. In the darkness, Shade could still make out the shape of the blade that was run completely through it.

“I…” For a moment, Shade simply couldn’t speak. Her mind was reeling from what she had seen and what she had nearly done. She tried fitting everything together to explain the seemingly impossible circumstances. He…He set the filly free. He must have known that I would attack her. Now he’s gotten her out of the way. He’s free to do what he likes without having to worry about anypony who matters seeing him and he’s made himself look like a hero while doing it. Harsh, bitter anger began to build up inside of her as her thoughts continued to churn.

Dawn, in the meantime, had turned his attention back to his wounded leg as he eyed the dagger sticking out of it dubiously. He had only two options at this point. He could either leave it in and try to finish the fight without dislodging it, or he could pull it out and try to finish the duel before he bled out fatally. He wasn’t certain if he’d managed to avoid cutting anything vital when the blade had gone in. It was within the realm of possibility, but Dawn had the sickening feeling that, if he pulled the blade out, the blood that was already leaking out of the wound would only start to pour out faster.

However, this wasn’t like getting shot with an arrow. The edges of the blade ran all the way down its length. If Dawn tried moving too much, much less fighting, with the throwing-knife still lodged in his flesh, the edges would probably continue to cut him, slicing the wound open further. Sadly, removing it and getting the leg treated was not an option. He had no reason to believe that Shade Steel would abandon her plans to kill him simply because he needed to do some first aid.

I guess this means I can’t afford to take my time, he thought glumly as he lifted his leg up to his mouth and carefully clamped down on the flat of the blade with his teeth. Carefully, so as not to slice his wound open further, Dawn pulled the blade out of his leg, sliding it back exactly along the path it had entered along. Once it was clear, he flicked his head to the side and let go, tossing the blade aside and letting it fall with a clang to the cave floor.

As he had feared, blood began to stream from the hole pierced in his leg. The dripping sound intensified as it started to pour in earnest. I don’t have long. Now he was at a serious disadvantage. All Shade had to do was draw the fight out as long as possible and Dawn would ultimately bleed out onto the floor, leaving her free to finish him at her leisure.

However, it seemed that Shade no longer cared for clever strategies. Instead, she let out an angry shriek and charged at Dawn. Her wings beat erratically, with heavy movements that he couldn’t possibly miss, launching all of the knives she’d concealed amongst her feathers at once. All that metal rushing through the air made the knives impossible to not notice.

However, her throw was wild. Most of the knives were flying wide of their target. Dawn easily slipped between the few that were actually heading for him, trailing a ribbon of blood as he turned his body to slip between their blades. Now Shade closed with him, the larger combat knife clenched in her fetlock as she launched a rapid series of thrusts at him. Dawn slipped from side to side, ducking and jumping to avoid her strikes. He thrust forward with one wing, sending a blast of compressed air at her. Shade managed to read his move and throw herself to the side to avoid the burst, which rushed forward and blasted the walls she’d constructed to rubble, blowing out chunks of stone and dried mud into the air outside.

The two of them passed each other, then immediately turned around to face each other once again. Shade turned around, once again launching a series of thrusts so fast that her blade seemed to be in multiple places at once. Dawn did his best to slip between the stabbing motions of her knife, looking for an opening to strike her once again.

Shade grit her teeth angrily. Her rational mind was already telling her that she had won. Time was on her side and Dawn wouldn’t be able to keep this up much longer. But he had given the wound to himself...by blocking the knife she had thrown at Dinky. If there was one thing Shade was certain of, she wanted to end the fight on her terms, rather than his. If only he would give her the opening she needed, she could put her secret weapon to use and put an end to this demon once and for all.

Then it happened. Rather than sidestep one of her thrusts, Dawn avoided it by leaning back, moving just out of the knife’s reach. His wings were buzzing as he built up another electrical charge amongst his feathers. He needed to end this fight now, so there was no purpose in clinging to pointless pride and letting himself bleed out because of it. He knew that none of his loved ones would approve of that. Already, his vision was beginning to fade and he was starting to feel fuzzy and lightheaded. It was time to put this battle to an end.

Unfortunately, Shade had exactly the same idea. She extended her arm as far as it would go, keeping the tip of her knife leveled straight at Dawn. Though his wind-sense, the colt barely perceived the way her fetlock tightened about the handle. His ears barely heard the click of the concealed switch being pressed. None of that registered to Dawn consciously, because his mind was suddenly occupied by the fact that the knife that he should have been safely out of the reach of was now about to punch through his skull right between his eyes!

Dawn dropped down, ducking out of the way. However, he already knew that it was too late. The blade of the knife etched a sharp line of pain along the top of his head as the edge glanced off the bone underneath his skin before bouncing away, scattering more droplets of blood into the air as it went.

Dawn leaned forward, stretching out with his wings as Shade's body went rigid with surprise, shocked that her secret weapon had missed. His leading primaries made contact and the electrical charge that he had been building jumped straight into the mare's body.

Shade Steel's muscles locked and spasmed as the current surged through her. Her mouth opened in a soundless scream as arcs of energy played across her skin, followed by smell of burnt flesh. Her jolt threw her back away from Dawn, where she collapsed to the cave floor, still twitching and spasming as thin tendrils of smoke rose from patches of burnt fur.

For a moment, Dawn stood there, panting for breath, barely conscious of the feeling of blood dripping down the sides of his head. As it was, the world both sounded and felt very far away. Dawn realized that he was near his limit and needed to staunch the bleeding from his leg and head soon, but he couldn't find the energy or strength to do so.

A fluttering sound, followed by the sound of hooves alighting on the ledge outside the cave seemed a world away. Slowly, the muscles of his neck feeling stiff and unresponsive, Dawn turned to look, seeing two pegasi coming into the cave. He must have been worse off than he thought, because, while they were familiar, he couldn't recall who they were at the moment.

He could hear the smaller of the two pegasi calling his name, but couldn't really think about that as his legs gave way and he too sank down. Dawn continued to hear voices talking above him, even as he felt somepony applying pressure to both sides of his wounded foreleg, the jolt of pain surging up through his body, briefly clearing away the cobwebs gathering in his mind.

"Listen carefully," said the voice from above, calm but radiating authority, "I need you to stay awake. Whatever you do, keep listening to my voice..."

Dawn wanted to respond in the affirmative, but was feeling very tired. He was also starting to feel cold. However, he did his best to hold on as the voices continued talking over him.

"We have to get him to the hospital," said Storm Front as he finished wrapping the lacerations in Dawn's foreleg. It was a temporary measure at best, given that the wound went all the way through the limb. Already, a patch of red was starting to form on the white bandages.

"Okay!" said Scootaloo quickly, doing her best to secure the gauze pad over Dawn's head injury in place.

"We need to move fast, I'll carry him," said Storm, picking Dawn's limp form up in his forelegs.

"I've got an idea," said Scootaloo, "Keep behind me."

Storm wondered just what she had in mind, but didn't have enough time to ask for an explanation. Instead, the two of them quickly took off, winging their way towards the Ponyville hospital. In the distance, he could see the sunlight illuminating the figures of a pair of armored pegasi. That gave the mercenary pegasus some comfort at least. They would make see to Shade Steel and put her where she belonged. But Dawn was the one who mattered right now.

A second later, Storm understood why Scootaloo wanted him to fly behind her. She was using her magic to split the air around her, sharply reducing the drag that Storm was feeling and allowing him to manage the load of another pony with greater ease as the filly ahead of him bent all her will and strength towards pushing as hard and fast as she could. The forest was a brown and white blur below them, which gave way to the pure white of the snow-covered park fields, then the roofs of Ponyville houses before, finally, the hospital came into sight. The two of them stooped sharply towards the doors, Scootalo shooting ahead, but still leaving a channel of clear air for Storm to follow through.

"We need a doctor, now!" she screamed as she practically slammed the hospital doors open.

Storm swept in behind her, Dawn still wrapped securely in his arms. The mare at the reception desk took one look at the situation and quickly summoned one of the doctors. A brown unicorn stallion was soon rushed into the lobby, just as they were loading Dawn onto a gurney. The doctor and nurses were shouting to each other in the typically impenetrable jargon of medical professionals while Storm and Scootaloo looked on. The group quickly vanished into the hospital hallways, their voices muffling slightly as the doors swung closed before fading out altogether.

Storm gulped. In a sense, Dawn had been in much worse shape after his fight with Storm and Red River. But Dawn had taken a serious injury in this most recent fight and had been fighting hard while losing a lot of blood.

"Is he gonna be okay?" asked Scootaloo, her eyes watering as she watched the doors that Dawn had gone through.

"He should be fine," said Storm, "It isn't very difficult for a unicorn doctor to staunch bleeding. Once that is done, all they have to do is close the injuries and then replenish Dawn's blood supply. It won't even require a very powerful healing spell. The only thing he'll need to do is rest to recover from the blood-loss."

"O-okay..." said Scootaloo, her lip trembling. This was the third time, she reflected, the third time she'd found herself waiting out here in the hospital's reception area while Dawn was within, being treated by the doctors for some injury he'd sustained. The first time had been when Applejack had bucked him in the ribs. The second had been after his savage duel with Storm Front and Red River. Now, he was here after one of those damn cultists had come after him for no good reason.

The doors to the hospital swung open again, this time admitting a gray mare with a blonde mane as Ditzy trotted inside. On her back rested Dinky, who was looking a little grimy after being tied up in that cave, but, ultimately, no worse for wear. "Where's Dawn?" asked Ditzy, her eyes moving on separate tracks, as though she was trying to look over both sides of the waiting room at once.

"Inside," said Storm Front, "The doctor is seeing him now. Hopefully we'll get some news about him soon."

"Okay..." said Ditzy as she let Dinky climb down. She settled onto one of the cushioned chairs to wait, while Dinky climbed up onto her lap. The little filly looked as though she was on the verge of tears.

"I'm sorry," said Dinky softly.

"Why?" asked Scootaloo.

"Dawn was saving me," she whimpered, "It's my fault he's hurt!"

"It's not!" snapped Scootaloo, getting close to Dinky, "He was there because he wanted to protect you. If anypony's to blame, it's the mare who did this to him."

"She should be in Guard custody for now," said Storm, who was heading towards the door, "I'm sure that a doctor will be seeing her soon, though I for one wouldn't mind if she had the chance to savor the pain of her injuries for a little longer."

"Yeah," agreed Scootaloo before noting that Storm was leaving, "Where are you going?"

"I'm afraid that somepony is going to have to let Fluttershy know that Dawn's been injured," said Storm warily, "She gets quite upset when she finds that she's been left out of the loop." He shuddered involuntarily. And I don't want to get on her bad side ever again.

Scootaloo nodded and watched as Storm took his leave. With a sigh, she settled in to for a wait that she hoped wouldn't be too long.

For Dawn, consciousness returned in fits and starts. First, he was aware of the tingling sensation of his limbs, followed by the feeling of the hospital sheets against them. Then his ears began to pick up the ambient sounds around him. Slowly, his eyes crawled open and Dawn found himself staring up at the white, featureless ceiling of a hospital room. Ah, he thought wryly, Back again.

"Welcome back to the waking world," said somepony from beside him. Slowly, Dawn tilted his head over and saw the familiar blue and crimson figure of Red River, who was seated next to the bed. From the look of things, he had been there for a while. There was a closed book on the side table that the stallion had clearly set aside once he noticed that Dawn had been waking up.

"How long this time?" asked Dawn, his voice a bit hoarse.

Before responding, Red went over to the sink on the far wall and used it to fill a glass with water. Returning, he helped Dawn sit up before aiding him in sipping the water down little by little.

"It was just overnight," said Red, in answer to Dawn's question, "The doctor put a sleep spell on you to help you rest. I think he was very relieved that you didn't fight it."

Dawn nodded. He still felt a little lightheaded, though he wasn't sure whether that was from the blood-loss or the grogginess that came from regaining consciousness.

"You did need a transfusion,(1)" explained Red as he took the cup back from Dawn, "Fortunately, Storm and Scootaloo managed to get you here rather quickly, so your condition wasn't as serious as it could have been. The doctors also closed the wounds on your leg and scalp."

Dawn lifted a hoof up and felt the faint, raised line of flesh that ran along the length of the top of his head. "What about Shade Steel?" he asked finally.

Red frowned. "She is in Guard custody. Storm and I sent the paperwork along to Shining Armor and she should be transported to Canterlot within the next day or so. I hear that Princess Celestia wants to handle this one personally. It would seem that she's furious that one of her Royal Guards would go this far astray."

Dawn's lips pressed into a tight line as he turned his eyes back towards the sheet covering him. "That weapon of hers, what was it?"

Red smiled. "That was a bit of a surprise. It's a fairly rare weapon known as a ballistic knife. It uses a spring to propel the blade towards a target within a short distance. It's mostly a gimmick, but can be deadly when used under the proper circumstances."

Dawn nodded in agreement with that last sentence as the circumstances of the fight resurfaced in his memory. Shade had attacked with a series of thrusts, but hadn't fired the knife's blade until Dawn had dodged by pulling back away from one of her stabs. It was a weapon designed to strike a target, just when she thought she was out of range, an action made all the more deadly because the strike could be made without any of the signs that would accompany throwing a weapon. Ironically, it was probably Shade's choice of target that had saved Dawn's life. The spring for the knife blade couldn't have been very strong, which wouldn't have given the knife much range or penetrating power. As a result, the blow had glanced off his skull, rather than punched through. Had she managed to aim the blade a little lower, it would have been imbedded in his throat, which would have ended the fight much differently.

"How is Dinky?" asked Dawn.

"She's a bit shaken up, but fine otherwise," said Red, "Shade didn't want to hurt her, so she didn't even tie the filly up all that tight. Scootaloo told me how you got her out of there, by the way. Good work."

"How is everypony else?" asked Dawn. He realized that they must be worried about him...again.

Red raised a hoof and pointed over the bed to the opposite wall, which was dominated by a window with closed curtains. The window was set into an alcove in the wall, the bottom of which was covered by a broad cushion. In the faint light of the morning sun, which was just beginning to illuminate the room, Dawn could make out the forms of Fluttershy and Scootaloo, the two of them curled up next to each other as they slept peacefully, with the filly tucked safely beneath Fluttershy's wing.

Dawn simply watched as soft breaths from Scootaloo's nostrils gently stirred some of the long loose strands of Fluttershy's mane. A warmth, almost searing in its intensity, settled in his stomach. I'm so lucky to have them, he thought. After everything he had been through, after everything he had done, after all the bridges he had tried to build and then subsequently burnt, here he was, in the presence of ponies who cared intensely...No!...desperately about him. Dawn felt a tear slipping down one of his cheeks. Seeing his mother and Scootaloo there made him so happy that it almost overwhelmed him sickeningly.

These thoughts had occurred to him before. But they had always been offset by that nagging doubt in his gut. That nagging doubt had nearly burned another bridge for him when he'd run away from Fluttershy after that mare from Foal Services had come. That nagging doubt had nearly consumed him and destroyed the one truly, unquestionably good thing that Dawn currently had in his life.

Now, as he woke up in a hospital bed from his latest round of injuries, sustained in yet another fight for his life, there were two of the most precious ponies in his world, still there, still waiting for him. I have a family. I have a home. I have ponies that want me. I have ponies that love me. I have ponies that will wait for me to come back. I have ponies who will go out with me. This must have been the feeling that a street-dwelling pauper might have when the keys to a massive fortune fell into her lap without a single string attached.

"I think I'll step outside for a moment," said Red softly.

As the azure stallion took his leave, Fluttershy's eyelids began to twitch before slowly drifting open. Slowly, she lifted her head and let her gaze come to rest at Dawn. Her lips curled upward into a radiant smile. Moving carefully, so as not to disturb the filly still slumbering beneath her wing, Fluttershy stood up and got off the cushion in the window alcove, taking a moment to settle the gray hospital blanket over the still-slumbering filly once again. From there, it was a couple of short steps across the floor to reach the bed.

For a moment, Fluttershy stood there, looking at Dawn. The relief was evident in her gaze. Dawn expected a little reproach, possibly for being reckless and getting himself hurt once again, but there was no sign of it. All he saw was his mother's smile. Slowly, Fluttershy leaned in and nuzzled Dawn's cheek tenderly. Dawn took a moment to bask in the gesture before returning it, pressing his muzzle against her cheek.

Their nuzzle continued until Dawn wiggled further out from under his sheets so that he could wrap his arms around Fluttershy's shoulders, pulling himself out further and holding onto her tightly. Fluttershy responded by lifting her own forelegs off the floor and returned the hug, pulling herself halfway up onto the bed. Even as they embraced, they continued to nuzzle one another as Fluttershy planted gentle kisses on his cheek.

"I love you mom," said Dawn, his voice little more than a whisper, but more than enough.

"I love you too," said Fluttershy without the slightest hesitation, "You're the most precious pony to me in all the world."

Neither of them really cared that Scootaloo had woken up now and was watching silently from the window alcove. The orange filly could only smile as she watched Dawn and Fluttershy express their affection so openly and naturally. She had to admit that she was a bit jealous of Fluttershy right now. Then again, she was sure that she would get her chance soon enough. After all, Dawn clearly took after his mother when it came to sharing his affection.

The sound of the door opening made Scootaloo's ears perk up and she looked up to see the tan coat and brown mane of Caramel as he slipped silently into the room. Caramel met Scootaloo's gaze with a smile and a nod, before turning his attention to Dawn and Fluttershy. He approached the bed from the other direction and reared up to enfold Dawn and Fluttershy in a hug of his own.

"Mind if I get in on this?" asked Caramel wryly from where he rested his head across Dawn's shoulder, just opposite from where Fluttershy was still nuzzling to the colt's cheek.

It seems you already have," commented Dawn, just as wryly.

"It's good to see you're alright," said Caramel, holding his fillyfriend and her son tighter.

Scootaloo had had enough. The bed jumped slightly as she landed on it after leaping across from the alcove. She quickly ducked beneath Caramel and Fluttershy's arms, wriggling her way into the group hug so that she could sidle up against Dawn, providing some nuzzles of her own, mixed with quick kisses to his cheek. "Geez, I could forgive you for getting all mushy on me," she said, "But you aren't gonna get away with leaving me out of it."

"I wouldn't dream of it," replied Dawn, turning and meeting Scootaloo's lips with his own.

Shade Steel's awakening was far less gentle than Dawn's had been. Granted, the ponies transporting her had counted her comfort as least amongst their worries, if they counted it at all. She was still conscious, only barely, when they roughly dragged her off the floor of her cave and carried her out of it and into the open sky, where she'd dangled limply between two pegasi of the Ponyville Guard, who hadn't cared one bit if they jostled her burned skin and still spasming muscles. They'd thrown her roughly, almost carelessly onto the cot in the cell. One of the Guards had ruthlessly strapped her wings down, sending searing jolts of agony up and down her spine as the straps tightened around still fresh electrical burns.

Finally, only just as Shade had been certain that her captors planned on letting her die from the shock of her injuries, did a unicorn from the hospital arrive in her cell. He hooked up an I.V. bag to the wall and inserted tube into the artery of one of her forelegs, providing her with nutrients as he hit her with a healing spell. After that, everything went dark as the healing spell did its work.

When Shade awoke, she was groggy and sore. It was clear that the healing spell she'd received wasn’t exactly comprehensive in nature, just enough to help her recover from the injuries that might, otherwise, kill or cripple her and curb the risk of any infection. However, her muscles were still sore from the spasming and her skin was still tender where it had burned. The fur of her coat hadn't grown back overnight, so it looked patchy in the areas where it had been scorched away by the electrical arcs of Dawn's attack. The fact that the straps of her wing restraints stung as they rubbed against those areas made it perfectly clear that the doctor had done the bare minimum to heal her injuries.

Shade rolled over to get her hooves under her. At that moment, she realized that the I.V. tube had been removed from her foreleg at some point. Her stomach growled unpleasantly, making it clear that she needed to eat soon. Shade had had enough healings by this point that she knew how important it was to get sustenance and replenish her body's nutrients.

As though summoned by her hunger, the scent of food reached Shade's nostrils, indicating that somepony had apparently been thinking along the same wavelength that she was and cared enough that they didn't simply ignore her. Looking over, she saw a platter of hay and potatoes, accompanied by poached eggs and a large glass of milk. There was also a tiny plate with a few pills placed on it.

After the rough treatment she had undergone, the sight of that wonderful-looking meal nearly brought tears to Shade's eyes. At least these ponies cared enough about her that they were willing to feed her properly. Taking the pills, Shade swallowed them and chased them down with a gulp of milk. Then she tucked into her meal with a gusto, completely clearing her plate in just a couple of minutes. The food had been delicious and Shade found herself wishing wistfully that the rest of her experience could be that pleasant.

"It seems you enjoyed that well enough," said a stallion's voice from outside her cell.

Shade lifted her head away from the plate and looked through the bars to see a stallion with a beige-colored coat and a darker brown mane standing outside. His eyes were closed, but his ears were turned directly towards her and his muzzle also pointed directly at her. Even though he couldn't see her, he knew exactly where she was.

Shade recognized him immediately. This was Arkenstone, Twilight Sparkle's coltfriend, the proprietor of the teahouse next to the library. He was the pony Dawn had asked to help examine the place where she had hidden the other night. Now, he was standing outside her cell, as though he had been the one to put her there. Perhaps he was the warden as well as a business-owner.

Shade frowned and glared defiantly at him, not that her expression could have any impact on a pony that couldn't see it. She didn't bother trying to hide her feelings. This stallion was clearly on the side of Dawn Lightwing. Given what she had read in the news, it was likely that he was fully aware of the faux-colt's demonic origins and supported him anyway. She had no respect for filth like him.

Arkenstone pulled the cell door open. It had been unlocked the entire time he had been there. Shade would have heard the sound of a key turning anytime between when she would have regained consciousness and now. Arkenstone had probably been the one to bring her food and take away the I.V. bag. She realized that it meant that the door to her cell had been unlocked the whole time.

Shade Steel tensed. Her muscles were still sore, her wings were bound, her skin still raw. But she had fought more serious battles in worse conditions than this. Her time in the SES had trained her to fight, even when she was injured, even when she was in pain. Pain that might incapacitate other ponies was nothing more than a minor inconvenience to her.

Furthermore, the stallion in front of her was nothing more than the owner of a teashop. While he had apparently helped Dawn learn about her, he was still just an earth pony civilian. There was no way somepony like him could be a serious obstacle. Shade would simply subdue Arkenstone, find a way to remove her restraints, and make her escape. Once she was out, hiding and losing any pursuit would be simple enough. She would be able to make another attempt on Dawn Lightwing's life later.

"That's a bad idea," said Arkenstone, his sightless eyes opening the barest fraction, "You shouldn't be making such grim plans in your situation."

Shade's eyes went wide. It was as though Arkenstone had known exactly what she had been thinking, like he had been reading her mind. "Wha-?" The word died on her lips...probably because she died in the next instant.

She felt a series of chills across her body, including one in her neck. The next moment, her vision seemed to shift wildly. It was strange, like she was looking at her body from outside herself. Only an instant later did the sudden change in perspective make sense as Shade realized that her head had been severed at the neck and was now spinning away through the air, giving her a perfect view to watch as the rest of her body was cut to pieces. She couldn't even see the attack, couldn't even see the blades that had just ended her life. It was too horrible to comprehend. Just like that, Shade Steel was dead.

Shade's eyes snapped closed and then open again. She opened her mouth to scream, sucking in an a breath that expanded her chest explosively, only to halt as Shade realized that she could feel her chest, feel the rest of her body...Her head hadn't been severed after all. Even so, the sensation had been so real that Shade couldn't resist reaching up to feel her neck. It was intact, without a scratch. What happened?

"Did you enjoy your taste of death?" asked Arkenstone softly, his eyes still open, revealing nothing more than orbs of milky white as they stared down at Shade where she had sunk to the floor of her cell, unable to hold herself up any longer.

"Wha-what just...what happened?" gasped Shade, trying to make sense of it all. It took a minute, but then she remembered what she had learned during her time in the Royal Guard. Some ponies had honed their skills to such an extent that their intent itself was nearly a lethal force. He cut me down with nothing more than his mind, she realized with horror. It was nothing more than an illusion. But it was an illusion powerful enough to completely overpower her sense of reality. It was a stark indicator that the stallion in front of her was more than capable killing her for real. I can't fight him.

"Who are you?" asked Shade, unable to wrench her eyes away from the terrifying pony in front of her. Nothing had changed visibly about him. But, all the same, it was as though she was laying helplessly in front of some sort of inconceivable monster.

"My name is Arkenstone. I am merely the proprietor of the local teahouse," replied the stallion, "But I'm guessing you knew that already. The dossier that Shining Armor sent me indicated that you're a pony who does your homework."

"How...?" Shade couldn't even finish her sentence. Just who was this pony that he was able to get information directly from Shining Armor?

"The me that you know is merely the me that I allow most other ponies to see and know." She felt, rather than saw and heard Arkenstone taking a deep breath. In that moment, Shade felt as though the weight of her body had increased tenfold. Unconsciously, she dug in her hooves, useless against the solid stone of the floor, in an effort to keep from sliding towards the stallion. At the same time, she heard groaning and grinding from the stonework of the room around her. Shade almost fancied that she could see the walls themselves shift in Arkenstone's direction as though everything was straining towards the stallion, as if he had become a singularity, as though he stood at the center of all creation, drawing it into himself.

"I am Sir Arkenstone, Knight of the Celestial Order, Named Champion of the Princesses Celestia and Luna," said the stallion, his volume not increasing, but his voice sounding like claps of thunder to Shade Steel's ears, making her want to cover them with her hooves as they lay flat against her head. Only the feeling that she would fall forward into this terrible pony-shaped monstrosity stopped her.

The Knights are real! I thought they were just legends! But there was no denying the feeling before her. This awesome power, indescribable in its potency, could only belong to a pony whose strength exceeded Shade's comprehension. As skilled as she was, she now understood completely and fully just how far beyond her this stallion was. Who else could he be but a Celestial Knight.

But, at the same time, her mind reeled for a different reason. He was a Knight all along. But he was helping Dawn Lightwing. Why? Why would Princess Celestia's most dedicated servants help a demon like...? Then she recalled Arkenstone's words when he'd announced his true identity to her. "...Named Champion of the Princesses Celestia and Luna." In his own words, he recognized Luna as a Princess of Equestria and an equal of Celestia. He did not regard her as an enemy or a threat.

She supposed that it was within the realm of possibility that Nightmare Moon had warped the mind of even somepony as powerful as a Celestial Knight to bend to her will. But if she had, then there was no way that his presence before her would come off as so clear and absolute. This was a pony of unshakeable will and perseverance. To bend such a will was just as likely to break it as anything else. This meant that Arkenstone acknowledged Luna as a Princess of his own will, which would mean...

No no! It can't be possible! It can't be true! Luna is Nightmare Moon, the Demon of Night Eternal! She seeks death, destruction, and perversion! There is no way...

"I can see that you are beginning to understand the severity of your crime," said Arkenstone, "And the depth of your mistake. You, who once served amongst those closest and most respected by Princess Celestia, were led astray by foalish superstition and prejudice."

"But then...why?" gasped Shade, "Why were the Elements of Harmony needed to stop Nightmare Moon? If she is not the bane of all that is good, why was the mightiest magic of the known world needed to stop her?"

"Exactly," said Arkenstone, "To stop her, the Elements of Harmony were needed. But you yourself supplied the answer to your question through simple omission."

"To...stop...her..." repeated Shade, running the words through her mind. It seemed odd. After being on the receiving end of the Elements of Harmony, which had once banished her to the moon, Nightmare Moon had not been banished again, nor had she been punished more severely by being destroyed. Rather the Elements had...

"You know...we were there," said Arkenstone, the stern tone falling from his voice, replaced by one that was sad and...guilty...?

"You were there?"

Arkenstone nodded. "When Nightmare Moon returned to the world, when she came down to Ponyville, all of us Knights had assembled in preparation. We were there, watching as Nightmare Moon made her appearance. We were waiting as Twilight Sparkle and her friends made their journey into the Everfree Forest to awaken the Elements of Harmony. We stood by as they confronted Nightmare Moon and purified her with the Elements power."

"Why?"

Arkenstone smiled sadly. "It's very simple. We were there to kill Nightmare Moon. Princess Celestia herself gave us the order. If Twilight and her friends failed, if they were unable to awaken the Elements, we were to step in and put an end to Nightmare Moon ourselves. Only with all of us present could have such a feat been accomplished and it was likely that more than half of us would have died in the ensuing struggle."

"So that was why," said Shade, "Princess Celestia wouldn't want to risk losing half of her Knights if she could avoid it."

Arkenstone shook his head. "That was not it at all. We have the capacity to ignore her orders if we deem it necessary. If we thought there was too much risk in waiting to see if Twilight and her friends would succeed first, we would have happily ignored Celestia's orders and attacked. But that was not the point. You see, if we had acted, if we had battled Nightmare Moon and triumphed, what would have happened?”

"Then Nightmare Moon would be dead," said Shade simply. It was fairly obvious after all. She began to ponder the long-term consequences of that development.

However, before she could think too much on it, Arkenstone spoke again. "Exactly, Nightmare Moon would be dead. That would mean that Princess Luna, Celestia's precious younger sister, would be dead. Celestia would spend the rest of her existence never able to see her sister's face, to hear her voice, to see her smile. That was why she gave us the order to hold back.

"As Knights, we hold incredible power, the power to lay low Equestria's greatest enemies, the power to smite down Nightmare Moon herself. We had the power to stop her, but Celestia wanted to put her trust and faith in a much greater power, in ponies far stronger than us."

"What? Stronger than you?" Shade gasped. Certainly, the Elements of Harmony were powerful beyond all description, with the strength to seal even the eternal master of chaos and disharmony, Discord himself. But the Bearers were ordinary ponies. Sure, Twilight Sparkle was considered one of the most brilliant magic users in Equestria’s history since the legendary Starswirl the Bearded and Rainbow Dash was probably one of the, if not the best flier in the history of the nation. But they weren’t warriors. They were a scholar, an athlete, a fashion designer, a baker, a farmer, and an animal caretaker. How could they possibly be stronger than Equestria’s order of greatest martial practitioners, ponies who were said to stand equal to entire armies on the field?

“As Knights,” explained Arkenstone, “What we have trained and honed is the art of bringing death and destruction to our enemies. I have long sought to learn other ways to avoid such bloodshed. But, ultimately, to be a Knight is to be recognized for your capacity for murder.” He spoke as though the title was something to be ashamed of, rather than praised. “As Knights, we had the power to put an end to Nightmare Moon. We had the power to stop her. But Twilight and her friends command an even greater power. They had the power to save her.”

Shade’s jaw dropped as Arkenstone’s words registered in her mind. The Elements didn’t defeat Nightmare Moon! They saved her?

“Killing is such a simple thing,” said Arkenstone sadly, “And, sadly, as Knights, what we ultimately do is hone that power. The best we can do is learn ways to solve crises without it, how to go without utilizing that power.

“That is why you disgust me so much. You approached this situation only thinking of killing, of how to kill. You never thought about anything else. From the moment you laid eyes on Dawn Lightwing, you refused to think about him as a pony and only thought about how to end his life and why his life needed to be ended. Let me ask you something. Between a pony, whose every waking thought is about how to kill and a so-called demon who has been living peacefully with the ponies he’s supposed to a threat to, just who is the real monster?”

Shade went cold. Arkenstone’s words had struck a serious chord within her. Have I really fallen? she wondered, Was I the real monster here?

“I’ve said enough,” said Arkenstone as he took his leave, closing and locking the cell behind him, “You will be sent to Canterlot within the next day. Princess Celestia has expressed an interest in handling your case personally. You can see for yourself just what she thinks of your ‘devotion.’”

Author's Note

1) Thanks to transmutation spells, blood can easily be transmuted from one blood-type to the next. Thus, all unicorn doctors are taught the transmutation spell, which they can then cast on stored blood before it is given to the pony who requires it. Thanks to this magic, every pony in Equestria technically qualifies as a universal donor.

Interestingly, this spell is descended from a similar spell that was developed by members of the unicorn nobility. Its original purpose was to transmute the blood of another pony, usually a foal, to make the foal a blood descendant of a particular noble house in cases where, for whatever reason, adoption was required to continue a particular noble's line. However, transmuting another pony's blood while it is still inside the pony in question is a potentially lethal process, especially if the new blood-type is different from the foal's original. This led to the spell's complete prohibition by direct order of Princess Celestia, with promises of the severest punishments possible under Equestrian law if it was ever used.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled WAFF.

Next chapter: Shade Steel gets scolded.

The Show Must Go On

Chapter 17: The Show Must Go On

The door to Ponyville's Guard station shut behind Arkenstone. He let out his breath slowly and willed his body to relax. It's a bit strange, he thought, It's been so long since I've been that openly furious with somepony. Still, he hadn't had to kill her. That was something good about this situation.

"Well, that was entertaining."

Arkenstone's ears perked at the sound of Arcana's voice. It took less than a second to pinpoint the location of Trixie's brother. Arcana wasn't trying to hide himself anyway.

"I noticed you didn't do anything to help," said Arkenstone, "You could have looked for Shade Steel yourself, aided our search."

"Too many cooks spoil the broth," said Arcana in a smug tone that allowed Arkenstone to practically hear the smirk on his face, "I figured that, if I interfered, I might unintentionally muck things up more than they already were. We aren't exactly accustomed to working together after all. Besides, I figured this was a good chance."

"A good chance for what?"

Arcana's smile widened. "It was a good chance to see Dawn Lightwing in action for myself. After hearing about him from both you and Spitfire, I figured it was a good opportunity to see how he handled the situation. I must say, he didn't disappoint."

"He has great potential," said Arkenstone, nodding in agreement.

"I can see why you and Spitfire have marked him as a possible successor." Arcana chuckled. "I notice that you didn't mention anything to Shade Steel about how the fight ended."

"She will probably figure it out soon enough," remarked Arkenstone.

"Indeed," agreed Arcana, "Dawn was rubbing it in...in a way. Even though he had removed Dinky Doo from the picture, he was still fighting as though she was there in the cave with them, still at risk. He conformed to the rules that Shade Steel set to the very end of the match, even though it could have potentially cost him his life. It seems rather silly that he'd risk so much for the sake of pride."

"It wasn't pride," said Arkenstone, "It was about Dinky."

"Oh?" said Arcana, raising an eyebrow, "How so?"

"What Dawn despises more than anything is that the ponies who seek him would try to hurt others or put them at risk in order to put him at a disadvantage. Even though Dawn had helped Dinky Doo escape, he still abided by the conditions that Shade Steel had set to show that there was no need for her to involve an innocent pony. He still would have faced her in a situation that was to her advantage, he was even willing to forgo his most effective skills. Dawn played by Shade Steel's rules, not to uphold his own pride, but to show Shade Steel just how wrong she was about the way she saw him. I don't know if Shade Steel will see things in quite that way, but it was Dawn's own way of striking at the very pillar of her cause directly."

Arcana chuckled. "In a way, that's rather vindictive of him. If Shade Steel realizes that, it could tear her very world asunder. I'd heard that your two hirelings helped him with his emotional issues, but it would seem that Dawn still has quite the mean streak when it suits him."

"Perhaps," said Arkenstone with a small smile, "But he is channeling even that attribute in a positive direction, so I cannot truly complain. Besides, it's not as though we haven't done similar things in our day."

"True enough," agreed Arcana with a shrug.

"Oooh yes, right there darling..." Rarity sighed happily as Lotus kneaded her hooves into the muscles along Rarity's back, working out the tension and placing Rarity in a state of absolute bliss. With a soft moan, Rarity settled more heavily onto the massage table as she turned her gaze to Twilight, who was relaxing in the mud bath while wearing a full facial mask. "Don't keep us in suspense. Just how is Dawn doing?"

Twilight smiled and turned her head in Rarity's direction, though Twilight couldn't see Rarity though the cucumbers resting atop her eyes. "Arkenstone told me that Dawn's life isn't in any danger. He lost quite a bit of blood, but they managed to get him treated before he went into shock."

"That's a blessing," said Rarity, "It's a good thing they had enough blood on hoof."

"I don't think there'll be a shortage anytime soon," said Twilight wryly.

"How are Dinky and Ditzy doing?" asked Applejack, reclining on her back and enjoying another hooficure.

"I talked with Ditzy this morning," said Rainbow Dash from where she and Melon Cream were relaxing in the herbal bath, "She says Dinky's fine. She had a few light bruises from the wires that the nutjob tied her down with. But, other than that, she's okay. She's a tough filly and she'll bounce back without too many problems."

Melon raised a hoof to her lips and tittered lightly. "If anything, I'm willing to be that Dinky was actually thrilled that Dawn came to her rescue."

Rainbow let out a sly cackle of her own. "Yeah, there is that."

"What are you talking about?" asked Twilight, turning her head about in confusion.

"Dinky has a big crush on Dawn," explained Rainbow.

Rarity gasped dramatically, nearly shooting to her hooves before a cough and a stern glare from Lotus caused her to laugh and grin sheepishly at her masseuse prompted her to lay back down on the table. "Oh my, so Dawn was like Dinky's knight in shining armor. That's so romantic."

Rainbow couldn't help but laugh some more. "Yeah, but the poor guy is completely clueless about it, not to mention that Scootaloo's not about to let him go anytime soon."

"Ooh! A love triangle!" gasped Rarity, "How marvelous!"

Twilight was disappointed that her mask completely obscured the deadpan expression she was giving Rarity. "Somehow, I get the impression that it's not nearly as dramatic as you're making it out to be."

At that moment, the door to the sauna slid open, releasing a billowing cloud of steam into the room. "Aaaaaaah! The Great and Powerful Trixie is reborn," gasped Trixie with a toss of her head, the lustrous locks of her mane swinging about dramatically as she trotted into the room.

"I must say, you look much better now," said Rarity as she smiled at Trixie.

Indeed, Trixie looked like a completely new pony...or rather, the pony she had been the last time they'd seen her in Ponyville. Her mane had been trimmed and evened out, her tail combed, and her fur brushed. With Rarity's help, Trixie looked as good as new, only the faint thinness along her barrel and the heavier musculature along her legs served to indicate the time she had spent in the northern climes with her brother.

With a grateful sigh, Trixie sank into the bath along with Melon and Rainbow. "Thank you so much for treating me to this. I don't deserve it after the way I treated all of you."

"Perhaps not," said Rarity, "But, if what Twilight told us is true, then your brother has more than seen to your punishment."

"I'm surprised he came to Ponyville with you," said Twilight.

"Well, he is overseeing my training after all," said Trixie, "Arcana may not be a Still Way practitioner himself, but he has been helping me try and learn it. Besides, that's not his only reason for coming."

"Then why?" asked Twilight.

"Arcana was very curious about that colt you've been talking about," said Trixie, "What was his name again?"

"Dawn Lightwing," said Melon helpfully.

"Exactly," said Trixie, "I have to admit, I'm curious about him too. It's a shame I haven't gotten a chance to meet him yet."

"I thought you'd been over to the teahouse a couple of times," said Twilight.

Trixie nodded. "Yes, but he wasn't there when I went."

"Well we can arrange for you to meet him sooner or later," said Twilight, "By the way, in about a week, we're going up to Canterlot to get ready for the pageant. Did you want to join us?"

Trixie gasped, her hooves going to her mouth. "Oh my goodness! Are you sure?"

"Of course," said Twilight, "You're welcome to come with us. We'd even be happy to have you attend the Winter Gala with us."

Rarity ducked her head to hide a sly smirk.

"That would be wonderful," said Trixie, looking like she'd won the lottery.

"So...it's become a summons?" asked Arkenstone, running his hoof over the card in front of him. To Arcana, who sat across the table from him, it appeared blank, though he knew otherwise. The silver, monogramed writing on his own invitation stood in stark contrast to Arkenstone's own. The sender was well aware that any fancy filigree would be lost on the blind stallion and had simply made the lettering raised on Arkenstone's invitation to make it easier to read.

"More like a general invitation," said Acana, "I think it was Spitfire's idea. She knew you'd be there with Twilight Sparkle. She will be there, since it's typical for the Wonderbolts to attend the Winter Gala, barring emergencies. I recently told her that I would probably be attending as well."

"A whim?" asked Arkenstone.

"Well, I figured that Twilight Sparkle and her friends would invite Trixie to come with them, so I figured I would tag along."

"How very brotherly of you."

Arcana ignored Arkenstone's snark and continued his explanation. "So I believe that Celestia and Luna got it into their heads to invite all the Knights. It's the first time in a long time that all seven of us will be in one place at the same time."

"Assuming all seven of us actually make it," said Arkenstone, "Who sent out the invitation?"

"Given how fancy they look, I'd guess this is Sunny's work," remarked Arcana.

Arkenstone raised an eyebrow. "Her? I never figured she'd go along with this. She's normally too prickly to want to get along with any of us if she can avoid it."

"Who knows," said Arcana with a shrug.

"I take it Swift was invited as well."

"Probably. Who knows if he'll actually be there. Even if he RSVPs, he could simply be faking it. I wouldn't bet either way."

Arkenstone sighed. "I'd hate to say this about one of my contemporaries, but everypony would probably be better off if he stayed away."

"I rather agree," admitted Arcana without the slightest hint of shame, "At the very least, we'd know that he and Applejack would probably get along like oil and water."

"More like vinegar and baking soda," muttered Arkenstone.

"Well, either way, this gathering promises to be quite interesting," said Arcana with a grin, "Regardless of whether Swift shows up or not, I haven't seen any of the others in quite some time."

"We can only hope that their respective duties allow them to attend," said Arkenstone, nodding in agreement.

Dawn blinked and shaded his eyes. After spending so many hours in the slightly darkened hospital room, with the curtains drawn over the windows, the bright sunlight of the afternoon stung his sensitive eyes. Beside him, Fluttershy let out a demure giggle. "Maybe we should get you some sunglasses."

"I'll adjust soon enough," said Dawn, squinting against the glare. The snow on the ground didn't help, its white surface catching the sunlight and throwing it at Dawn's face from below. He briefly considered simply closing his eyes and using his wind-sense to navigate, but opted to stick it out.

A few moments later, his eyes properly adjusted and Dawn was ready to join his family and Scootaloo for the journey back home. As they began to set out, their attention was drawn to the sound of wingbeats as a familiar pegasus alighted on the ground in front of them.

"Dawn!" exclaimed Ditzy happily, "I'm so glad to see you're alright!"

"Thank you," said Dawn.

A grayish-purple blur leapt down from Ditzy's back and bounded across the ground between them. Dawn rocked back as Dinky all but crashed into him, throwing her arms enthusiastically around his neck and nuzzling against him. "My hero!" she squealed.

"Y-you're welcome," said Dawn, awkwardly reaching up with one foreleg to return the embrace while he balanced on the remaining three.

Fluttershy and Ditzy couldn't help but giggle at the scene, whilst Caramel snorted with restrained laughter. Only Scootaloo didn't seem amused as she glowered sullenly at the sight of Dinky snuggling against her coltfriend, only to flinch as Dinky pulled her face away from Dawn's neck to give Scootaloo a sly and triumphant smile before turning and giving Dawn a peck on the cheek. Scootaloo's expression went from sullen to outraged in an instant. Why that little sneak!

If anything, Scootaloo's unconcealed frustration only served to amuse the onlookers even further.

Shade Steel had never found herself so completely and thoroughly intimidated by absolutely nothing. The throne room was empty, the dual thrones of Celestia and Luna looming ahead on the dais, empty and unattended. Even the pair of Guards, who stood on either side of Shade were more like ornaments than actual ponies, silent and unresponsive, moving in synch with Shade like mindless automatons. Shade remembered her own days, spent standing and waiting, her watchful gaze surveying a hall or room for any signs of disturbance.

While it was no state secret, it was very easy for regular ponies to forget that the Royal Guard were some of the finest Guardsmares in all of Equestria. Most simply assumed that their only role was standing guard at the gates and along hallways, that they were mostly for appearances. Given the rigorous standards required to join, Royal Guards were, as a rule, better trained and more experienced that most average members of any other city or town Guard in the nation. Furthermore, the majority of the elite Guard teams, like the SES, which Shade had originally served on, were attached to the Royal Guard. Though Shade knew that she was probably more experienced and more skilled than either of the two ponies flanking her, she had little chance of escape in her current condition.

She'd expected to spend a few days cooling her hooves in the dungeon before she was dragged before Celestia to learn her fate. To Shade's surprise though, she was escorted through Canterlot and the Palace, straight into the throne room, where she was now waiting in silence for the pony she had once sworn allegiance to.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, the doors behind the throne opened wide. The bottom dropped out of Shade's stomach when she saw, not one, but two ponies coming through. It was all too easy to recognize the alabaster coat and shimmering auroral mane of Princess Celestia. But what really shocked and frightened Shade was the dark-blue coat and flowing starscape mane of Princess Luna, who walked alongside her older and taller sister, her stern gaze no less intimidating.

Shade felt a cold sweat break out on her brow. She'd known that Princess Celestia would want to see her. But to have Princess Luna, whom Shade had always believed to be darkness and evil incarnate, along for the ride was terrifying, though not because Shade was afraid of Luna. Shade had always been prepared to give her life in battle against Nightmare Moon if it ever came to that. Rather, what intimidated the former Guardsmare was the fact that Luna's presence was a slap in the face to everything she had believed since she was a little filly. For as long as she possibly could, Shade had always managed to convince herself that Luna's presence and supposed role in Equestria's politics since her return had been the result of her scheming and lying. But now, faced with Luna and Celestia, standing together as sisters and equals, Shade realized that her fantasies couldn't stand up to reality any longer.

"Guards," said Celestia calmly, her voice completely devoid of any trace of anger, "You may leave us."

The two Royal Guards on either side of Shade bowed slightly and turned, taking their leave without the slightest hesitation. Had she not been a Royal Guard herself once, Shade might have been shocked at their compliance. But it had always made sense to her. If there was a threat dangerous enough to be potentially harmful to the Princess, then there was very little the Guard could actually do about it, least of all try and protect a pony who was leagues above them in power. They were better served getting civilians and servants out from underhoof so that Celestia could manage whatever that threat was.

When the doors behind Shade slammed shut, silence returned to the throne room. Shade was now alone with the two alicorns, both of them staring down at her. Celestia's gaze was impassive, cold as the void between stars. In contrast, Luna's gaze was relaxed, with a hint of...curiosity, as though she was more amused and perplexed by the pony who stood before her, than incensed by Shade's affiliation with the Order of Celestial Light.

Finally, it was Celestia who broke the silence. "Shade Steel. Once, I could have counted you amongst the finest ponies to ever serve in our Guard. Your record speaks for itself, as do you your skills. In your time as a member of the Royal Guard and a member of the Special Equine Services, you have performed great services for our nation and have done a great deal to protect our little ponies from harm..." A long pause hovered in the air. "...All of which only serves to make me all the more disappointed to be forced to meet you like this." She sighed.

Shade was trembling, the weight of Celestia's disappointment pressed down upon the dark-gray mare like a massive boulder pressing down between her wings.

Celestia began to pace back and forth on the dais. "I could easily overlook your affiliation with the Cult Solar, as they were probably a fixture of your earliest days. Barring their animosity towards my beloved sister, I have heard that the group has actually done much good for the communities they have joined in recent years. It upsets me that so many of you would go so far as to ignore my explicit wishes by persecuting ponies on the basis of sham superstitions that have no basis in reality. It upsets me, but there is only so much I can do to combat it without overstepping the bounds of a just ruler and into tyranny."

She came to a halt and turned with a snap, now facing Shade directly, an expression of outrage that looked completely alien to her decorating her face. "But you...! You served under me in my Guard. You acted as an extension of my will and authority across Equestria. You were taught and trained to protect our ponies harm. You were there when I came back to Canterlot on that fateful day and introduced Luna as my sister and explicitly stated my wish that she reclaim her throne to rule beside me. You chose to ignore all that, abandon your position, threaten and harm the very subjects you had once sworn to protect. Why?" Her last word echoed like thunder across the empty expanse of the throne room, the sheer force of her voice and will practically pressing Shade down to the floor with a whimper.

Celestia remained where she was, glaring down at Shade with all the fury that her thousands of years could imbue into her gaze. Silence returned once again to the throne room, only occasionally broken by the soft whimpers from Shade as the pegasus fought for the words to justify her actions.

"Answer me!" snapped Celestia.

Shade could only squeak unintelligibly. All of her justifications, all of her carefully considered arguments, her detailed reasoning. All of it fell apart completely as she lay here before the very object of her adoration, who was telling her in no uncertain terms that she had been wrong about everything.

"Tia," said Luna softly, her voice cutting through Celestia's rage, causing the older of the Royal Sisters to jolt out of her anger. Celestia turned to regard Luna, blinking in slight confusion. Luna simply nodded to her and stepped forward to address Shade directly.

"Shade Steel," said Luna, "Stand up and look upon me."

Slowly, Shade rose back to her hooves and lifted her eyes to look at the Princess of the Night...really look at her...for the first time since she had entered the room. Luna gazed back, her expression impassive, almost serene.

"Shade Steel, I want you to look me and the eye and tell me all that you think that I am," said Luna, "Be completely honest with me. There shall be no punishment, no retribution for simply speaking your mind. Pay no mind to my sister's presence for the moment."

Shade opened her mouth, ready to spill out everything she had ever been taught and ever believed about Nightmare Moon in a torrent. But her words turned to ash on her tongue. Her mouth worked silently as she tried to say something...anything...But words failed her utterly.

Luna waited a little bit longer to see if Shade anything to say before sighing. "I see," she said, "Would that you could have realized your errors before it came to this. In all honesty, I could forgive you for your misconceptions regarding me, even if you went so far as to defy my sister to hold true to your beliefs. Even your actions against Dawn Lightwing could be forgiven. I have spoken to the boy and know him to be skilled and tenacious. I have placed my trust in him and his friends to help him, regardless of what threats may come his way. But all of that pales in comparison to your most grievous crime."

Shade was about ready to fall back down to the floor as her legs shook. Luna spoke calmly and softly, her voice devoid of anger, but weighed down by a heavy sadness that seemed to seep into Shade's very soul.

Taking a deep breath, Luna pressed on. "You took an innocent filly hostage, imprisoned her in order to lure your true victim out. But what truly saddens me is that you deliberately placed that filly in harm's way solely to give yourself an advantage over Dawn. We know the whole details of the fight. You had Dinky Doo bound to a makeshift lightning rod, so that if Dawn ever resorted to that technique, Dinky would be the one to suffer the consequences for it."

The marble floor beneath Shade's hooves grew wet with tears.

"To make matters worse," continued Luna, "imagine what might have happened if you had, by some freak chance, been right about Dawn. If he had truly been a demon without regard for the wellbeing of others, he would have unleashed his lightning there with nary a thought for Dinky's safety. An innocent filly would be gravely injured, perhaps even dead, all because you used her as an equine shield.

"Even worse, she was one of the ponies that you, as a Royal Guard, had sworn to protect. Did you cast aside that oath as well when you left? Did refusing to bow to me earn you the privilege to endanger the lives you were once sworn to preserve?"

Shade collapsed sobbing. Once, she would have been incensed at the idea of the Princess of the Night putting her in this position. But hearing the cold, stark truth, straight from the mouth of the pony Shade would have once decried as the Queen of Lies, shredded all thoughts of resistance and anger.

"I'm sorry!" she sobbed, unable to lift her face from the floor any longer. The phrase escaped her again and again as she sobbed and wailed, the realization of just how far she had fallen leaving her with nothing but regret and remorse.

Celestia's horn flared, summoning the Guards waiting outside. "Put her in the dungeon," said Celestia, looking pityingly at Shade, "Luna and I shall decide what her punishment shall be soon."

The Guards nodded and began to slowly drag the still sobbing pegasus away. When they were left alone in the throne room once again, Luna turned to regard her older sister. "Well, what shall we do with her then, Tia?"

"I am not yet certain," admitted Celestia, "But it must be appropriate. The first thing we need to do is gather all the information we can about the Cult Solar from her. We need to know it's overall shape, who is spreading its message, how are they getting from one community to another. Most importantly, we need to track down this Supreme Pontiff of theirs and his Cardinal. Until we have genuine proof of their intended action, all we have is hearsay from members acting on their own."

"Haven't you had Shining Armor investigate that temple in Appleloosa?" asked Luna.

Celestia shrugged. "Without additional proof of action and intent from the Cult's leadership, there's only so far we can go. It's the difference between Shining being permitted to scan for secret doors and being able to simply blow through the floor to find out what they've buried under that building. If we can locate the Cult's leaders and obtain proof of their intent, then we can tear the whole organization up by its roots and find out what the so-called Supreme Pontiff is up to. If we can manage it before he and his crony actually attack Dawn, so much the better."

"Are you absolutely certain that you'll be alright on your own?" asked Rarity as she stacked another trunk on the pile of luggage awaiting transport to the train station.

Flaxseed eyed the pile dubiously before returning his attention to his employer/landlady. "You do realize that I was living on my own before I came here, right?"

"Of course I do dear," said Rarity, giving him a warm smile, "But it doesn't change the fact that it's going to get very lonely without anypony here for you to talk to. Rumble told me that you are welcome to join his family for dinner on Hearth's Warming Eve. They are all wonderful and decent ponies who would be only too happy to have you join them."

Flaxseed frowned slightly, not sure what to say. "I'll think about it."

Rarity nodded and reached up to rest a friendly hoof on his shoulder. "Please think hard about it. You're never going to learn to relax in the company of others if you don't expand beyond your comfort zone a little. I'm not suggesting that you throw yourself into the middle of Filthy Rich's post-pageant wrap-up party, but please consider doing more than spending the evening by yourself."

Flaxseed let out a despondent sigh. "I'll try my best."

"That's all I can ask," said Rarity. She turned her attention to the stairway leading to the second floor. "Sweetie Belle! It's almost time for us to go. Are you packed yet?"

"Yes!" Sweetie shouted back as she trotted down the stairs, a pair of suitcases floating in her magic behind her. She was also wearing her saddlebags, which were bulging, possibly with the presents she had gotten for her friends.

"Excellent, let's head for the station then." Rarity lit her own horn and lifted several of the bags she had packed. A few seconds later, Flaxseed picked up the remaining bags and, together, the three of them left the Carousel Boutique behind, making their way to the train station.

Everypony was already waiting for them there. Of course, the fact that Rarity was behind everyone else made sense when she had more luggage than the rest of them put together.

“Geez Rarity,” groused Rainbow, “You think you brought enough stuff?”

“Well, I am traveling rather light, so I had to make sure I had nothing but the bare essentials. Also, your new dresses are all in here.” Rarity nodded at the pile of bags that she and Flaxseed had deposited on the platform.

“I thought Twilight was the only one asking for a new dress,” said Rainbow, tilting her head curiously.

“Well, her idea was so fascinating that I couldn’t help but make one for everypony.” Rarity tossed her mane and posed proudly. “With this, we are sure to make a spectacular impact at the Winter Gala.”

The others were already in the process of loading their bags on the train, a process exacerbated by the number of bags that Rarity had brought with her. The adults and foals worked together, save for two.

“It’s gonna be okay,” said Rumble, giving Sweetie a nuzzle on the cheek as she sniffed, “It’s only for a little bit and then you’ll be right back.”

“But I was really hoping I’d get to spend my Hearth’s Warming Eve with you,” said Sweetie, “Are you sure you can’t come.”

“Yeah,” said Rumble looking down, “If I came, I’d have to invite Thunderlane and Cloud Chaser, Flitter too. Then Flitter would probably want to invite Storm Front. I don’t think the Princesses have that many rooms.”

“Yeah,” said Sweetie with a despondent sigh, trying her hardest to mask her disappointment, “It’s not fair though. Everypony else is gonna be with their special somepony…”

Rumble smiled and leaned in to give Sweetie a light peck on the lips. “Listen, when you get back, I promise we’ll so something special. Is that okay?”

With a sigh, Sweetie managed to will a smile onto her face. “Yeah.”

“Good. I’ll see you then.” Rumble and Sweetie shared one last kiss before the colt backed up to let Sweetie join her family and other friends on the train.

Twilight looked around, taking stock on the situation. “Okay, all the luggage is stowed…everypony who’s coming should be on the train. Right Spike let’s…” Twilight’s voice trailed off as she remembered the absence of her Number One Assistant.

“Huh?” Scootaloo leaned out the window, noticing for the first time that their party seemed to be short by a few members. “Where’s Spike? For that matter, where are Applejack and Apple Bloom?”

“Finishing up the wintersilk harvest,” said Twilight, “Spike’s helping them keep it organized. They’re going to catch a later train and probably be about six hours behind us.”

Only two of days ago, Twilight and Applejack had determined that the wintersilk apples had fully ripened. The Apples had quickly gone into full harvesting mode, divesting the wintersilk trees of their fruit and stowing them in the barrels that Twilight had equipped with stasis spells. The family had even started production on a few cider varieties, trying to find the best way to use the ample juice content of the wintersilks. Unfortunately, it would be a couple of weeks at least before the first hard ciders made from wintersilk juice were ready. Applejack, with Spike’s help, projected that they would at least be finished with the harvest before the remainder of the day was out, so that she, Red River, Apple Bloom, and Spike could catch the late evening train to Canterlot. Big Macintosh and Granny Smith would be staying behind, Granny Smith because she didn’t feel up to traveling, while Macintosh wanted to celebrate the holiday with his fiancée and daughter-to-be.

“I hope they don’t work themselves too hard,” said Rarity, glancing in the general direction of Sweet Apple Acres.

“Don’t worry,” said Twilight, “The wintersilk orchard is still relatively small, especially compared to the rest of the farm. I suspect that they’re already wrapping up the actual harvesting and are getting everything stowed right now. They just won’t be in time to catch this train because they have to pack too.”

Rarity nodded and settled into her seat. "What about Trixie? I thought she was coming with us."

"Actually, Trixie and Arcana went ahead on an earlier train," replied Twilight, "Trixie said they would meet us at the Palace tomorrow."

The train let out a whistle and began to pull out of the station. Sweetie leaned out the window and waved enthusiastically to Rumble, who used his wings to follow along for a short distance until the train began to pull away from the Ponyville town limits. With a despondent sigh, Sweetie closed the window and sat back down on her seat. Dawn and Scootaloo shared a glance. The two of them climbed up on the seat, settling themselves on either side of Sweetie. Extending their wings, the pegasi enfolded the unicorn in a double embrace as they leaned against her from either side. Drawing comfort from their presence, Sweetie gave them both a small smile before she allowed herself to lean against Scootaloo and enjoy the comfort of her friends.

“There!” exclaimed Coco Pommel as she made the final adjustments to the Princess Platinum costume that Rarity would be wearing for the pageant, “Finished!”

“It looks very nice,” observed Perlin Bluestreak from his position slightly behind Coco, “I must admit that I am rather impressed that you managed the fine details without magic.”

Once again, Coco felt a shiver go down her spine as she was reminded of the young stallion’s presence. She wished her employer was here. Lockstitch wasn’t exactly engaging company. But, at least when she was present, then Perlin would make himself absent, as nopony was supposed to know where he was. Coco got the impression that Perlin might have been going against Baron Elderflower’s orders by visiting her to begin with, though she couldn’t fathom the reason why. At first, she had simply thought that he was keeping an eye on her. But it seemed that Perlin was doing it more for the sake of his curiosity than out of any obligation to his employer or any other cause.

"W-well..." said Coco nervously, "a sewing m-machine helps, but it usually comes down to p-practice..."

"Practice?" Perlin raised an eyebrow at her.

"W-well of course," said Coco, "I don't have unicorn magic, so I had to learn how to do all the stitches by hoof and tooth. There are only a couple of the most complicated ones that I don't have a handle on yet." To her own surprise, she felt a bit easier now that the conversation was clearly in her territory. She hadn't really noticed it before, but Perlin always seemed to steer things this way when he was with her. He asked about her work, asked about the things that interested her, but hardly offered anything from his own interests and experiences. Which is probably for the best, she thought queasily. She wasn't sure if she'd get anything done and Perlin had insisted on reminding her just how deadly he was every time he came, much less how casually he approached the idea of killing.

"It shows," said Perlin, stepping past Coco, shifting just a couple of inches so that he didn't brush against her, something that Coco was grateful for, as it ensured that she wouldn't accidentally be cut by the blade-like feathers of his wing. Then she realized that he was wearing his coat, which should have prevented such an accident, even if he had brushed against her. It almost seemed that he was giving Coco the extra space out of consideration for her.

Is this his way of being polite? she wondered as she watched Perlin carefully examine the dress, looking genuinely fascinated by her work.

"It looks like something the ancient unicornian royalty would actually wear," said Perlin softly, seemingly lost in the design, "Though I don't think the pattern quite matches."

"Huh?" Coco had to process that for a second. "What are you talking about?"

"The embroidery," said Perlin, inspecting a piece of the dress that flowed over the back, "I saw the pattern used by the House of Platinum in a history book when I was young. Its use was discontinued when the last Princess Platinum relinquished her position and authority to the Royal Diarchy, along with the leadership of the other tribes. It was never actually used again out of deference for the work the House of Platinum had done to help build Equestria."

"I didn't know that?" said Coco, leaning in to inspect her own work more closely. It wasn't her design, unfortunately. Lockstitch had been the one to design the pattern and had merely instructed her on how to produce it. It was actually part of Coco's ongoing training as she worked to finish her apprenticeship under the Canterlot seamstress as the pattern had included several of the stitches Coco had been working to perfect. It had been the hardest part of the costume.

That was one of the things that made Lockstitch so much better than Suri Polomare as a master in Coco's eyes. Suri had merely used Coco's apprenticeship as a source of free labor, while Lockstitch treated it like an actual learning experience, continuing to give Coco assignments that challenged her abilities and helped her to learn more of the aspects of her business.

"I saw the pattern in a history book when I was still learning," explained Perlin, "I don't remember it exactly, but it was a fair bit different from this one. It's probably for the best. I'm guessing that an accurate reproduction of the pattern would be something of a faux-pas."

"A history book?" It was hard for Coco to imagine the idea of Perlin sitting behind a desk in school, listening as a teacher droned on in front of him. On some level, she must have known that the young stallion in front of her must have had some sort of education. He was far too well-spoken and insightful to be uneducated.

"My father had always favored history of all subjects, aside from combat, when it came to my education," said Perlin with a shrug, "He always said it could be useful for gaining insight into my enemies' ways of thinking."

"Your father taught you?" asked Coco, tilting her head.

"Not directly," said Perlin, "But I was homeschooled in nearly all basic subjects during the gaps in my training regiment."

"So you never went to school?" asked Coco, a bit curious, in spite of herself.

"Never," replied Perlin, "After all, my father didn't want the public to know that he had sired a pegasus...If he did sire me." Perlin tapped his chin thoughtfully for a moment. "But he was adamant about raising me to be the instrument of his vengeance against Princess Celestia, so he didn't skimp on my education otherwise."

"O-oh..." said Coco, feeling a bit sympathetic in spite of herself. She couldn't help but feel sad at the idea of a young foal being locked inside his home with nothing but a spiteful tribalist father and a hoofful of instructors for company. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," said Perlin, smiling at her, "I enjoyed my education, especially the combat training."

"Y-you did?" stammered Coco, a hint of her earlier queasiness returning.

"Yes," said Perlin with a nod as his expression turned wistful, "It was like learning magic tricks." He paused to think his words over. "Only, instead of learning how pull a bit out of a pony's ear, I learned to separate a pony from her head."

Coco's knees nearly went out from under her, they were trembling so badly. "O-oh..." she could barely manage to squeak. For a short time, she'd been able to forget how terrifyingly dangerous Perlin was and hold something resembling a normal conversation with him. But, in just a few seconds, a slight shift in the conversation served to undo all of that and remind Coco of just who she was dealing with.

And yet, there was something off about it in a way that, strangely, comforted Coco. Perlin spoke of killing with an eerie degree of casualness. Given how easily she had seen him cut down two-score of trained guardsmares in the Crystal Caverns below the city, that was understandable. However, it hadn't been anything more than casual. There was no sign of gleeful sadism, the idea that Perlin sincerely enjoyed killing, in his voice and words. It wasn't that he liked killing, but rather, that he liked fighting and that killing just happened to result from that. It was still a twisted and warped way of thinking, but perhaps not as bad as Coco had feared after the first time she'd met the young stallion.

Then, there was the way he was behaving now, looking at her with a slightly guilty expression, seemingly signifying that Perlin was aware that he'd misstepped and that he genuinely regretted upsetting her.

"I think I'll go," said Perlin softly, "I have a few errands to run before I call it a night." Perlin quickly walked past her toward the door, once again shifting to avoid brushing against her.

When he was gone, a sense of quiet descended on the workroom, the emptiness Perlin left behind somehow just as disconcerting as his presence. Coco was more than slightly miffed by the fact that, while she never felt quite completely at ease in his presence, she had actually started to get used to having him there. Thinking back to all the times she'd seen Perlin, she wondered if it was truly some sort of fascination with her work that prompted him to keep coming back. At first, he'd always had some kind of excuse, such as repairing the tears to his cloak that resulted, almost inevitably, from his work. Then, after a while, he'd simply show up without a word of explanation and settle in to watch her work, quietly and never overly intrusively (aside from how intrusive the fact of his simple presence was). More importantly, he seemed to care what she thought of him, moderating his conversation to avoid things that made her uncomfortable, save for the occasional slip of his tongue, like this most recent one.

Could he... she wondered, ...Could he have a crush on me? The idea was almost as inconceivable as it was disconcerting. It certainly would explain a few things, such as his creepy behavior, essentially stalking her and watching her intently, even if it didn't make them any less disturbing.

In some ways, Coco preferred the idea that Perlin found her an interesting oddity more, if only because that suggested that he might one day lose interest and stop watching her so often. No matter what, she wanted as little to do with Perlin Bluestreak as possible, because, whenever she saw him, she would always be reminded of the first time she had truly met him, when he was standing amongst the carnage he had wrought.

With a final shudder, Coco shook her head fiercely to clear the images of blood and bodies that hovered before her eyes.

Author's Note

So yeah...Perlin's kinda pulling an Edward Cullen...I suppose. At least he's not watching Coco while she's asleep...or is he? As if he wasn't being creepy enough...

Next chapter: Brunch!

Royal Welcome

Chapter 18: Royal Welcome

It was fairly early in the morning when the train pulled into the Canterlot station. Even though it was so early, the station was already bustling with ponies who had either recently arrived or ponies who were waiting to leave. Through the light crowd moved a pair of ponies who drew countless eyes, even as their presence and the presence of their entourage cleared a swath through the crowds between them and the train just pulling in from Ponyville.

On the train several ponies were in the process of gathering their belongings before disembarking. Sweetie Belle let out a groan as she tried to rub the sleep from her eyes. "Darn it Scootaloo, you aren't supposed to be a morning pony. That's Apple Bloom's thing."

Scootaloo exchanged a look with Dawn, both of them looking completely bright-eyed and bushy-tailed in spite of the early hour. Then again, it was around the same time that they usually rose for their morning training. Looking back at Sweetie, Scootaloo could only shrug. "Sorry," she said, "You just kinda get used to it after a while."

"Speak for yourself," grumbled a cerulean pile with rainbow lining as it oozed down from its bunk onto the floor. After a few moments, the ooze finally stood up on four legs and began to bear some resemblance to Rainbow Dash. Her eyelids moved slowly as she blinked to try and clear her vision. "I never get used to train travel," she said grumpily.

Blinking, Scootaloo stared in surprise up at her idol. "Huh? But we've gone by train before," she said, "I've never seen you like this."

"It's because it's an early morning," said Fluttershy as she trotted up next to Rainbow, letting out a faint yawn after she spoke, "She doesn't sleep well on the train, so she always takes a little longer to wake up than usual."

"That and the morning is evil," grumbled Rainbow, giving Fluttershy a sleepy glare, which only served to coax a giggle from her.

"Well, I for one can sympathize," said Rarity as she ran a brush through her mane, "There is no exaggerating the importance of one getting one's beauty sleep. It's positively dreadful to have to wake up so early, to say nothing of the fact that the train's vibrations play absolute havoc with my mane."

Rainbow glanced dully at Rarity and snorted. "Your mane looks fine to me."

"And it would to you dear," said Rarity, "But that is because you haven't cultivated the fine eye for detail that I have. Why I daresay that anypony in Canterlot would look at my mane as it is now and see a veritable rat's nest."

"I'm from Canterlot and, in my opinion, your mane is absolutely flawless," commented Arkenstone as he and Twilight Sparkle trotted up to join the larger group with their own luggage.

"Why thank you dar-" Rarity froze for a second before giving the beige stallion a half-lidded glare, "Very funny."

Twilight couldn't quite hide her snigger of amusement behind her hoof. She was quickly joined by several other ponies in her quiet chortling.

"Come on now," said Twilight, levitating her own bags and heading for the door, "It's time to get off. We've got a special welcoming party after all."

They stepped off the train and gathered on the platform, waiting patiently as the porters worked frantically to unload Rarity's small mountain of luggage. In the meantime, Twilight's head turned sharply as she heard her name being shouted across the platform.

"Twily!"

Spinning to face the source of the voice, Twilight grinned and let out a shout of her own. "Shiny!" The two of them rushed towards each other and met with an enthusiastic embrace.

"Welcome back sis," said Shining as the two of them stepped away from each other.

"It's good to be back," said Twilight before turning to address the pink alicorn walking up next to Shining Armor. "Hi Cadance."

Leaning down Cadance nuzzled Twilight fondly. After stepping back, they grinned playfully at each other before going into their regular greeting. "Sunshine! Sunshine! Ladybugs awake! Clap your hooves and do a little shake!"

Fluttershy and the others couldn't help but giggle at Twilight and Cadance's Sunshine Dance. However, she noted a lack of noise from her son. Glancing down, Fluttershy saw Dawn staring, wide-eyed at Twilight and Cadance. "What's the matter?" she asked.

"It's...so..." Dawn blinked and seemed to be struggling for the right words. "...cute."

Fluttershy couldn't help but titter at Dawn's statement. Scootaloo, on the other hoof, rolled over laughing.

"It is your first time seeing their Sunshine Dance, isn't it?" commented Fluttershy.

"Mine too," said Caramel, almost seeming spellbound by the sight until Fluttershy smacked him across the back of the head with her wing.

Rubbing the back of his head, Caramel grinned sheepishly at Fluttershy as she gave him a deadpan look. "I wonder what Twilight's coltfriend thinks about you looking at her flank like that."

Gulping, Caramel broke into a nervous sweat as he turned his head to look at Arkenstone, who was standing completely impassively. One ear swiveled in Caramel's direction before swiveling back. "At least one of us should get to appreciate the sight."

Fluttershy sighed in frustration before rolling her eyes. "Stallions," she muttered.

"Well it is kinda Twilight and Cadance's fault," Rainbow Dash pointed out bluntly, "shaking their flanks in the middle of a public station. For a show like that, Shining Armor should be charging stallions for admission."

"Some mares as well," observed Rarity, casting her own gaze about the platform, noticing several ponies watching Twilight and Cadance with varying degrees of fascination.

Twilight and Cadance, suddenly very aware of their audience, pulled away from each other blushing sheepishly.

"A-anyway," said Cadance sharply, "We've come to escort you to the Royal Palace." As she spoke, a small group of six Royal Guards stepped up from either side. "Princess Celestia and Princess Luna have invited you and your friends to join them for brunch."

"We gladly accept," said Twilight, the excitement of being able to see her mentor again wiping away the last vestiges of embarrassment.

The group set off for the Palace, four of the six Guards falling in on either side, while the remaining two, unicorns both, divided Rarity's pile of luggage in two and hauled it into the air with their magic. As they made their way out of the station, Dawn swept his gaze across the platform. Not so long ago, he had been here before, under much different circumstances. It was odd that the territory felt so familiar to him. As he looked, he spotted several ponies whispering to one another. The vast majority of them were unicorns and more than a few were dressed in expensive clothes and jewelry. These then, must have been some of the Canterlot upper-class he had heard Twilight and the others talking and worrying about.

Closing his eyes, Dawn relaxed and allowed his awareness to spread out through the air around him. This time, instead of merely focusing upon the shapes and movements of ponies, he instead focused on the vibrations of sound in the air around him, allowing him to listen in on a few of the conversations within his range.

"Can you believe her? Such unsightly behavior, and in front of a Princess of all things..."

"But Princess Cadance actually joined her in that unbecoming behavior. It's disgraceful."

"Is this what the royal family has come to? Princess Celestia must be so ashamed."

"Look! Over there! That's him?"

"Who?"

"The colt from the news article, Dawn Light-something or other."

"You mean that black colt there?"

"Yes him."

Dawn frowned and resisted the urge to look towards the course of the conversation to see just who was talking about him. Instead, he continued to eavesdrop quietly.

"Can you see his eyes? They're unnatural."

"Dame Fluttershy must truly be kindness incarnate if she is able to care for such a monstrosity."

"Didn't the article say something about his parents abandoning him?"

"I can see why. Who in their right mind would want a deformed freak like that for a child?"

"Indeed, it would be a disgrace to even admit that one had birthed such a foal."

"It would have been much more merciful to smother the creature at birth."

Dawn abandoned listening to the conversation. He had heard enough.

"Dawn?" The colt looked over to see Scootaloo watching him concernedly. "Are you okay."

"I'm fine," said Dawn, "It's nothing important."

From his other side, he sensed Arkenstone leaning down to whisper into his ear. "Pay them no mind. There is nothing worthwhile in listening to the words of those who take such pride in their own pettiness."

Dawn subtly nodded back to Arekenstone as the group left the station and made their way towards the Royal Palace.

Shining and Cadance led the group towards the the royal dining room, while the Palace servants took custody of everypony's bags and belongings. Celestia and Luna were already waiting for them in the dining room, presiding over a table that had been set with a variety of breakfast dishes, even a few that had clearly been made to cater to Dawn's personal tastes. There was a selection of fruit and vegetables, bubbling pots of porridge, fresh baked oatcakes, complete with butter and jam for sides. Then, there were waiters to take orders for pancakes, crepes, and waffles to be made fresh at anypony's request.

Everyone took their seats as Celestia smiled happily at them. "Good morning. It's wonderful to have you all here again.” Celestia looked around, her eyes resting on Melon Cream, Mayweather, and Caramel specifically. “I am also pleased to see some new ponies that I have not yet met.” Caramel and Melon bowed politely to Celestia and Luna. Mayweather bowed as well, but kept her gaze averted, a mild expression of shame on her face that only faded as Pinkie Pie leaned over and gently nuzzled her cheek. Either Celestia didn’t notice it, or chose not to mention it as she turned her attention back to everypony else. “I look forward to seeing another wonderful performance at this year's pageant."

"We're looking forward to it as well," said Twilight as she pulled up a sheaf of notes, "I've made some modifications to the script to try and make it more informative."

"Wait a second!" Rainbow Dash whipped a hoof out and stole the papers from Twilight, zipping back across the table before Twilight could even make a noise of protest. "Twilight, your modification is having Clover the Clever give a half-hour lecture on thaum-thaumatic reso..."

"Inter-tribal thaumatic resonance as evidenced by the fire of friendship," said Twilight in a surly tone, "Give it back."

Rainbow looked up from Twilight's copy of the rewritten script and glowered at her friend. "Twilight, you're gonna put the audience to sleep if you try to make them sit through this. Hay! They might even chase you off the stage."

"May I?" At Celestia's request, Rainbow nodded and held up the papers, which were picked up by Celestia's magic and levitated over the table to the elder Princess, who began to review Twilight's notes. After taking a short time to peruse the notes, Celestia looked up at Twilight. "While I understand your desire to make sure ponies learn their history, I'm afraid that I have to agree with Rainbow that this is a little much for a Hearth's Warming pageant."

Twilight let out a sigh of defeat. "I'm sorry. It's just, given all the trouble we've had with tribalists this year, I thought this would be an ideal time to reinforce the critical lessons of love and harmony that led to Equestria's founding in the first place."

Celestia sighed. "I can understand your sentiments Twilight. I would also like to reinforce those ideals. However, your modifications to the script might even prove counterproductive."

"How so?" asked Twilight.

"Well," said Shining Armor, piping up from next to his younger sister, "You are suggesting having Clover the Clever, the unicorn, explain everything to all the non-unicorns. To a tribalist audience, that could easily be construed as the well-educated unicorn having to explain everything to the 'lesser tribes' because they're too thick to understand otherwise."

Twilight gaped at Shining. "How could they possibly take things that way."

This time it was Cadance who answered. "Because they're tribalists. They will always twist things to suit their viewpoint if they can. If you look at from a certain perspective, the Canterlot pageant is already fairly unicorn-centric."

Cadance's remark drew gasps from the rest of her audience, save for Celestia and Luna, who had clearly thought about this before.

"Um...what do you mean?" asked Fluttershy, "I never really though the pageant was all too unicorn-centered."

"Well, in the script, Clover the Clever seems to have a lot of the answers," explained Cadance, "She's the one who knows what the windigos are and she's ultimately the one who produces the Fire of Friendship that drives them off. In the whole scheme of things, it comes down as pretty minor, but it's enough for the tribalists."

"I know what you mean," said Rainbow Dash, looking up from the melon salad she had been working her way through, "I remember how we were forced to sit through the pageant every year in Cloudsdale. It's way different from the Canterlot pageant."

"How so?" asked Rarity. Oddly enough, it was the first time that Rainbow had spoken so openly about the cultural differences of Cloudsdale, particularly her old Flight School.

"Well, to begin with, it really comes down heavily in the favor of the pegasi," explained Rainbow, "For starters, Private Pansy was always renamed Private Panzer."

"Historically speaking, that may have been her actual name," observed Twilight, "For a militaristic society, like pre-unification pegasi, it's highly unlikely that they would have picked out a name like Pansy for one of their own."

Rainbow shrugged. "I dunno," she admitted, "But it's always been Pansy everywhere else I've been."

"Me too," added Fluttershy.

"Anyway," continued Rainbow, "They made a bunch of changes to the script in order to make the pegasi look more heroic. During the first act, the pegasi are actively fighting the blizzard while the earth ponies are cowering and the unicorns are complaining. Then, in the second act, it's Commander Hurricane and Private Panzer who lead the rest of the group up to the cave and try to keep fighting off the windigos. The other two leaders are frozen and Hurricane is the one who basically convinces the advisors from the other two tribes to lend their strength to the pegasi to drive the windigos off."

"That is certainly a different take on things," mused Melon Cream from where she sat with Scootaloo. She'd heard Rainbow talk about this before, but was surprised at the details.

"I wonder if the earth pony tribalists have a similar view," mused Twilight as she looked over at Pinkie Pie.

"I couldn't tell you." added Pinkie with a shrug.

"Such renditions do exist," said Arkenstone, "But earth pony tribalists tend to dwell in outlying rural communities that have yet to see much development. Since they are in a poor position to put on an organized front, it's extremely rare for their pageants to draw an audience from anypony, save their own neighbors.

Everypony fell into a pensive silence as they thought over the conversation.

Somepony knocked at the door to the dining room. Celestia sat up sharply, breaking out into a smile. "Oh, I almost forgot, we have somepony else joining us."

The doors opened and Twilight was not surprised in the slightest to see Arcana and Trixie walk through. "I figured you two were already here," said Twilight, "I thought you'd be at the dining room before us."

"Well, we're staying at the townhouse," replied Arcana, "I keep misjudging how much time that commute takes."

"You know, I would be only too happy to put the two of you up here in the Palace," Celestia offered, "That way you don't have to walk up here every day."

"I am afraid we must decline," said Arcana as he and Trixie took their own seats at the table, "We are here for the Winter Gala. We will also join in the audience for the pageant, but we won't be able to contribute anything to the pageant itself."

"But I am sure that Trixie's magic would be of great use in aiding the presentation," said Luna, "If I recall, her specialty is illusions and glamours. Surely this is an appropriate venue for them."

"I'm sorry Your Highness, but I can't," said Trixie in an uncharacteristically quiet voice, "Because I have become a student of the Still Way, I have forgone my magic for the time being. I do not know when I might have use of it again."

Luna's eyelid twitched. "Ah yes, that art. Why anypony would still aspire to master it is beyond me."

"Luna!" admonished Celestia, throwing a reproving glance at her sister.

"Is something wrong with the Still Way?" asked Twilight, looking between Trixie and Luna.

"Turning your back on everything you have accomplished since you first learned how to light your horn; what isn't wrong with it?" scoffed Luna in an irritable tone.

"That's enough Luna," said Celestia firmly, earning an angry huff from her younger sister as Luna turned to scowl to one side. Celestia turned her attention back to a shaken Trixie, who looked about ready to cry. "Forgive my sister's outburst. This is something of a sore subject for her."

"I...I see..." said Trixie in a nervous tone, "I'm sorry. I meant no offense."

"There is none, save for what Luna manufactured for herself," said Celestia, throwing another stern glance in Luna's direction.

Trixie nodded and fumbled with her hooves to serve herself an oatcake and then spread some jam on top of it. Beside her, Arcana helped himself to all manner of dainty bites, but offered not one ounce of help to his younger sister, nor did Trixie ask for any. Twilight and the others watched the siblings carefully. Twilight wanted to offer her own help to Trixie, but got the distinct impression that her help would be viewed more as interference than assistance.

"So," said Rainbow, deciding to shift the subject away from Trixie, "What's the plan?"

"Well," said Celestia, "It's not too difficult. The plan is mostly the same as last time. After breakfast, you'll be shown to your rooms so that you can get settled. You'll have the rest of the morning to do as you wish. After lunch will be the first rehearsals. Tomorrow, the tailor we commissioned will arrive to take the final measurements for your costumes. After that will be the dress rehearsals."

"If I might ask, just who is this year's costume designer?" asked Rarity.

"It's Lockstitch," replied Celestia, "She was recommended by Fancy Pants. From what I hear, she has been using this project to help educate her current apprentice."

"Oh my," said Rarity, "I've heard of Miss Lockstitch. She has an excellent reputation."

"What gives?" said Rainbow, "Why isn't Rarity doing the costumes this year?"

"Rainbow Dash!" snapped Rarity, rounding to glare at her friend, "It is unbecoming to protest the Princess's decisions in such a manner. Besides, regardless of the situation, I wouldn't be chosen this year."

Celestia nodded, apparently having not taken any offense at Rainbow's outburst. "Indeed. Though I would like to make use of Rarity's skills every year, I'm afraid that we can't show too much favoritism to a single artisan. It would serve to stifle others who are trying to make their way in the same business and deny them the chance to showcase their own work and improve upon it. In this case, Lockstitch is using this opportunity to train an apprentice, which only serves as all the more reason we would give this commission to her."

"Indeed," said Rarity, nodding in agreement. She looked back at Celestia. "Will her apprentice be coming? I would very much like to meet her if Miss Lockstitch feels that she is good enough to be given such an important responsibility."

"I believe so," said Celestia, "After all, fitting is just as critical a part of the process as anything else. I have no reason to believe that Lockstitch would leave her apprentice out of it."

"I look forward to meeting them," said Rarity with an eager smile.

The group turned back to finishing their meal before they were taken to their rooms.

Trixie gently scuffed a hoof against the polished marble floor. Before her stood a pair of large doors, emblazoned with the sun symbol of Celestia's cutie mark, the entrance to the Sun Princess's private quarters. It was nerve wracking to stand before these doors by herself. The two Royal Guards on either side stared forward stoically, giving no indication that they knew that Trixie was even there.

Trixie had been stunned to receive a summons to Celestia's chambers. The rest of the group, with the exception of herself and Arcana, were being taken to get settled in their quarters in the Palace. Trixie had been about to follow them when a servant whispered the summons into her ear. It was a summons for her, not for her and Arcana, not for her and anyone else, but for her alone. Trixie had nervously excused herself and followed the servant through the labyrinthine hallways of the Royal Palace all the way to the doors to Celestia's room, where the servant had left her.

Nervously, Trixie glanced between the two Guards, wondering if they wanted her to wait until they announced her. However, they gave no indication that they were going to do so. Mustering her courage, Trixie took two steps forward and raised a hoof to knock at the door.

The doors opened almost automatically, prompting Trixie to take a step back.

"Come in," called Celestia's voice in a kind and gentle tone from within.

Swallowing hard, Trixie stepped forward and made her way into the room. In most ways, it appeared to be a room befitting one with the status of a Princess. However, in other ways, it almost looked too normal. It was, in fact, an entire suite. Trixie could see one doorway leading off to a bedroom, while another one apparently opened into a marble bathroom. One wall was dominated by a massive window that looked out over Canterlot and the realm of Equestria beyond that. Near the window as a desk, its surface occupied by several small, neat stacks of papers, presumably documents that were awaiting Celestia’s attention or that she had already dealt with. Ironically, given the amount of work that must have gone into governing the nation, Trixie was half-expecting to see stacks of paper reaching towards the ceiling.

“One of the wonderful privileges of being royalty is the ability to delegate tasks to others.”

Trixie whirled about to face another section of the room, this one directly across from the doors to the bath and bedroom. The wall of this room was partially occupied by a large fireplace, in which a roaring blaze was crackling merrily, sending waves of warmth rolling across the rest of the room. In front of the fireplace was arrayed a fair-sized pile of cushions, upon one of which, Celestia was reclined, sipping something steaming out of a mug that hovered in front of her. There was a second, unattended mug, also with steam rising out of it, situated in front of a cushion next to Celestia.

With an indulgent smile, Celestia regarded Trixie and then bobbed her head in the direction of the cushion. “Please, make yourself comfortable Trixie. This isn’t anything too serious. I also took the liberty of having some cocoa made for you as well.”

“Th-thank you, Your Highness.” Trixie did as she was bid and laid out on the cushion next to Celestia. She noted that the insulated mug in front of her had a handle large enough for her to curl her fetlock around it and lift it up. It was a pleasant surprise that Celestia had been so considerate of her current inability to use magic. Trixie sipped at the cocoa, taking a moment to wallow in the luxurious taste, the mingled sweetness and bitterness of chocolate and sugar, punctuated by the heat of chili peppers, mixed with faint notes of cinnamon and allspice. “It’s wonderful.”

“Indeed. It’s a blend that my chefs and I have been working to perfect for many years,” said Celestia, “I may enjoy tea and it may practically be our national beverage, but one gets tired of the same thing all the time.”

“It hardly seems the same when Arkenstone makes it,” commented Trixie, thinking back to the blends she had gotten to sample from Arkenstone’s teahouse.

“Indeed,” agreed Celestia, “It’s sad that Twilight got to him first or I would probably have tried to make him switch professions from Knight to Royal Teamaster.” She giggled. “Perhaps that would be selfish of me, but I do believe I have earned the right to at least fantasize about such things.”

Trixie nodded. She took another sip of cocoa and looked past Princess Celestia to the wall, dominated by shelf loaded down with countless books. “Princess, may I ask why you called me here?”

“Of course,” said Celestia, “I want to apologize completely for Luna’s behavior at brunch today.”

“You don’t have to!” protested Trixie, “I mean, I take no offense at what Luna said.”

“Even so, I feel the need to,” said Celestia, her tone becoming more serious as she stared at the fireplace in front of them. Almost unconsciously, Celestia extended a wing and rested it across Trixie’s back, a gesture that made Trixie stiffen at the unexpected and intimate contact. But Trixie relaxed as Celestia smiled down at her. Celestia continued. “I feel that I must apologize because I fully understand that this is a decision that you did not make lightly.”

“Is it really that upsetting?” asked Trixie.

“In a sense,” said Celestia, “But mostly it comes down to jealousy. With the centuries that we’ve had at our disposal, both Luna and I have dabbled in many of the pony martial arts. I would not consider myself a master of any of them, Luna neither. Our duties have precluded any serious attempts at studying them, even with the lifespans of alicorns at our disposal. However, the Still Way is the one martial art that is truly beyond our capacity to learn…at least, if we want to remain who and where we are.”

“I’m afraid I don’t follow,” said Trixie.

“Think about it,” said Celestia, “In order to learn the Still Way, you must turn your back on all the magic that you have learned since the beginning. For me and my sister, that is impossible.”

“Because of the sun and moon!” gasped Trixie, making the connection, “If you gave up your magic as it is now, you wouldn’t be able to fulfill your duties to raise and lower the celestial bodies.

Celestia nodded. “Exactly. When we first took over control of the sun and moon, we could not afford to turn away from that and place their control back in the horns of the unicorn aristocracy. Those fools would have been entirely too quick to use their renewed control as a play for power. In this day and age, organizing a sufficiently powerful group of unicorns to take over for us would be a difficult task and not one we can simply do because we want to take some time off to learn a new skill…even if acquiring the Still Way was so easy. But the Still Way is all or nothing. Either you learn it and master it, or you don’t. There is no dabbling in that art. I’m not entirely certain that Luna and I would be able to resume our old positions if we mastered the Still Way. Our magic might no longer be compatible with moving the heavens.”

“But isn’t that what your magic is all about?” asked Trixie, twisting her head to sneak a look at Celestia’s sun cutie mark…before realizing that she was contorting herself to stare at the Princess’s flank and returning to facing forward while blushing fiercely, something Celestia did not miss.

Celestia chortled and tightened the hold of her wing over Trixie. “Oh, I’m afraid not. My sister and I are able to move the sun and moon on our own with our power, but that is not what lies at the center of our magic.

“When I first started, my magic was barely more than an average unicorn’s. In fact, I struggled with several basic spells that you probably mastered with ease. When I was born, taking control of the sun was the furthest thing from my mind, even when my cutie mark appeared.”

“How could that be?” asked Trixie.

“Because my cutie mark doesn’t actually represent my control over the sun,” said Celestia.

Trixie gasped and her jaw hit the floor. “Wh-what?”

Celestia couldn't help but laugh at Trixie's bamboozlement. "I don't think even Twilight realizes this. When you've spent millennia raising the sun and your cutie mark is the sun, ponies seem to simply put the two together."

"Then, what does your cutie mark mean?" asked Trixie.

Celestia sighed wistfully, as though recalling a fond memory. "In my youth, what I truly loved to do was bring light and laughter into the lives of other ponies. My passion was cheering others up when they were feeling down and bringing smiles to their faces."

"Hmm..." mused Trixie, "That actually sounds familiar."

"It should," said Celestia, "Of all Twilight's friends, I've always felt the strongest kinship with Pinkie Pie." She grinned at Trixie. "In actuality, things don't seem to have changed all that much by me taking over the sun, as I now bring light into ponies' lives literally, as well as figuratively."

"What does Princess Luna's mark represent then?" asked Trixie, fascinated by this side of royalty that she'd never known before.

"Luna was an artist," said Celestia, "She loved painting. For her, it might have been even easier to adjust to her new duties, as now she has the entire sky for her canvas every night. That our cutie marks ended up so closely matching what we literally do now is probably what ponies would call destiny. It truly is remarkable.

"In any case, we put a great deal of time and effort into mastering the spells necessary to raise, move, and lower the sun and moon. Luna spent even more time learning how to place the stars in the sky and an even greater time working out the best placements for them so that ponies could use the stars to find their way. That is why Luna has been especially attached to the magic she has learned. For her, the idea of giving all that up is anathema."

"I see," said Trixie.

Celestia smiled and gently nuzzled the top of Trixie's head. "It is hard for Luna to identify with that kind of commitment and sacrifice. We have lost countless precious things to the ravages of time, thanks to our extended lifespans. That is why we cling to the things that time can't claim from us all the harder. However, you have even less time, but you show tremendous commitment by willingly giving up your magic. May I see it?"

Trixie nodded and raised a hoof to her head, brushing away the mane around the base of her horn, showing a thin black stripe right where the alicorn met her skull.

"As I thought," said Celestia, "I pray for your success Trixie and look forward to seeing your growth when you do succeed."

"Thank you very much, Your Highness."

"Geez, this place is huge!" exclaimed Scootaloo as she bounded ahead of the others, her eyes and head swiveling back and forth to take in the entire hallway. The corridor seemed to stretch on forever. It was just one of the many passageways that led throughout the massive complex. Where this particular hallway led was anypony's guess.

Behind Scootaloo, Dawn, Melon Cream, Fluttershy, and Caramel followed at a more sedate pace, pausing to take in the sight of the various pieces of artwork that hung on the walls or rested on pedestals between the columns. The Royal Palace was home to a veritable treasure trove of art that rivaled that of any art museum in Equestria. In fact, sections of the Royal Palace were, in essence, treated like an art museum, home to galleries containing all kinds of exhibits of various ponies' creative works, which were switched out from time to time and shared with other such facilities all across the country.

Dawn examined everything with a quiet fascination. Though he had been to the Royal Palace once before, the circumstances of that visit had not left him with much opportunity to play tourist. So, now that he had the opportunity, he decided to take in as much as he could.

In fact, Dawn was so enthralled with looking around that he almost failed to notice that Scootaloo had come to an abrupt halt in front of him and, consequently, nearly ran face-first into her rump.

"Scootaloo?" Dawn pulled back to try and see why the filly had stopped, peering around to look at her face.

Scootaloo was frozen, her jaw open slightly and eyes wide in an expression of astonishment. Following the path of her eyes led Dawn's own gaze straight down the hallway, where he saw exactly why she had frozen in place.

Partway down the hall stood a very familiar, monotoned gray mare, staring at them with an expression that almost perfectly mirrored Scootaloo's, albeit with a bit more fear and nervousness. Dawn felt that the tension of Shade Steel's presence was abated somewhat by the maid's uniform she wore. Around her neck was some sort of collar, fastened with a clasp decorated by the sun symbol of Princess Celestia's cutie mark.

"You!" snarled Scootaloo, her expression hardening into one of anger, "What the hay are you doing here? Why aren't you rotting in the dungeon?"

Shade Steel didn't respond. In fact, her expression hadn't changed in the slightest. Dawn could tell that she was torn between staying and running, edging towards running. It was clear that Shade didn't want any kind of confrontation.

Scootaloo growled and bared her teeth at Shade's lack of response, pawing the floor aggressively, as though she was going to throw herself at the former Guardsmare.

"Scootaloo!" Melon Cream's voice cracked like a whip, stopping Scootaloo cold as she turned to look in confusion at her mother. Melon stared sternly down at her daughter. "That's quite enough," she said, "If she is out and about, then it is undoubtedly at the Princesses' discretion. If you feel that you have to know, then you can ask them. I will not allow you to harass this mare."

"But she..." Scootaloo whirled to glare at Shade, who was slowly edging away. "Dawn! You're with me right? She almost killed you!"

Dawn didn't respond, he was watching Shade carefully, studying her like an interesting puzzle. He too was curious about why she was here. However, he somehow doubted that this was the time or place for a confrontation. Shade had made no aggressive moves and had made no attempt to attack. At this point, all it seemed that she cared about was getting away from them. Given the fact that she hadn't simply bolted, Dawn assumed she hadn't escaped confinement to wander about in disguise. Through the air around him, he could also feel a faint, almost imperceptible buzz as his awareness brushed against the collar around her neck. It's probably some sort of magical restraint, he thought.

"Dawn?" asked Scootaloo, staring in confusion at the colt. He'd almost bled out, thanks to the wounds Shade had given him, but he didn't seem to bear her any ill will. At most, he seemed ambivalent to her presence.

Finally, Dawn closed his eyes and opened them again, turning to meet Scootaloo's gaze. "I think we should leave her be for now," he said, making Scootaloo's jaw drop again, "I too am curious, but we should pose the question to the Princesses."

With a sigh, Scootaloo relaxed. "Okay...fine..."

Dawn gave Shade the smallest of nods, which appeared to be all the prompting that she needed, as she rushed down the hallway, clearly eager to be away from them. She vanished around a corner, leaving the echoing sound of her receding hoofsteps behind.

"Well," said Dawn after a moment, "That was unexpected."

"What do we do now?" asked Scootaloo.

"Um...we can ask the Princesses about it," suggested Fluttershy softly, "Since we're meeting them for lunch, why don't we ask then."

"Fine," groaned Scootaloo, "I guess we should keep exploring then."

"That sounds like a plan," said Caramel, "We still have a little bit until lunch."

The group continued on, but Scootaloo's noticeable lack of enthusiasm seemed to suck much of the enjoyment out of the activity. It was clear that Shade's presence was weighing heavily on her mind.

Shade rushed in the direction of her next job as quickly as her hooves would carry her. Part of her was appalled by the gratitude she felt towards Dawn for dismissing her without any contest, even though his fillyfriend looked about ready to tear her limb from limb. She couldn't believe that she was feeling even the slightest bit thankful towards Dawn Lightwing, even though her rational mind continued to tell her that this whole affair was her fault. She was the one who had opted to kidnap Dinky Doo. She was the one who had nearly killed Dinky when Dawn had cut her free. She was the one who had nearly killed Dawn.

Even now, the slight parting of his mane, right at his forehead, remained as evidence of the wound she'd dealt him there. She was certain that there was probably still a faint mark on his foreleg where her throwing knife had pierced right through it. She was amazed at his complete lack of animosity, though he had regarded her carefully, clearly uncertain as to whether or not she would attack him again.

In the end, Princess Celestia's punishment for Shade Steel was brilliant as it was ruthless. Shade had been assigned to the Palace staff as a servant, a maid attached directly to Princess Luna. She was responsible for cleaning Luna's quarters, seeing to her needs, drawing her baths, fetching her items, anything that Luna wanted, Shade would have to do for her.

But that was the extent of it. Shade would work the same hours as the rest of the staff, carry out the same duties, and even dwell in the servants' quarters with the rest of them. She even had her own room, which was comfortably, if sparsely furnished. Even when Celestia had explained Shade's punishment, Shade had been half-expecting to be forced to return to the dungeon at the end of each day. That she had been given so much freedom was a shock. The only indicator that she was still on any kind of probation was the collar around her neck, which would shock her unconscious if she tried to leave the Palace grounds or if she aggressively attacked somepony. It also blocked her pegasus magic, meaning she couldn't even fly. In exchange...

In exchange, she would have to spend her time serving the pony she had once despised, the one she had once believed to be a source of evil and darkness. She would spend each day and night being reminded of just how painfully wrong she had been and just how far she had fallen. It was mortifying.

It was mortifying and Shade couldn't help but feel that she had earned every minute of it.

The polished marble floor must have been mopped recently at one point because, as Shade turned another corner, she completely lost traction, her legs going out from under her. Her wings flapped frantically as she fought to keep from falling. But her restrained magic kept them from being of much use. The wall was fast approaching as Shade slid towards it, having fallen on her side. She closed her eyes and braced for the impact...

Only to feel nothing as a pair of forelegs wrapped around her barrel. The sound of beating wings reached Shade's ears as she was lifted off the floor before she could hit the wall. Opening her eyes, Shade was shocked to see a pair of pink arms encircling her as the other pony carried her across the wet floor and set her back down on a dry section.

"Well now, that was close," commented her rescuer, clearly an older mare as she landed in front of Shade, giving her a clear view of the pink mare and her blue mane. "You need to be more careful about running around the palace, dear. You're lucky you didn't hurt yourself."

"Y-yes!" said Shade, bobbing her head, "Thank you very much for helping me. I'm sorry, but I need to go."

She was already off as the pink mare watched her go. As Shade vanished down another hallway, a glimmer of amusement passed through the other mare's eyes.

Author's Note

For the record, I am in complete agreement with Rainbow Dash. Korra said it best...

Keep in mind that I haven't read the comics, which (I think) present a backstory for the Princesses and their cutie marks. I decided to go with this explanation for their cutie marks because it ties in with my idea of cutie marks representing a pony's passion and what they choose to personally invest themselves in, rather than basic talent. Given the evidence we see in the series, Celestia is very much a fun-loving pony at heart with a love of laughter and a solid, yet subtle, mischievous streak. So it's easy for me to envision her as a slightly older, wiser, and more toned-down Pinkie Pie to a certain extent. Luna's own cutie mark was perhaps a more direct (but still abstract overall) interpretation.

For some people, Shade's punishment may seem kinda light, but I felt it was appropriate, especially if the one being punished genuinely regrets what they did. For them, accepting punishment is kind of an easy way out because the feeling that one has "paid" for their crimes tends to produce a sensation of relief. Rather, it's my opinion that leaving a remorseful person to stew in their own guilt and be forced to constantly confront their bad decisions without affording them some way to "make up" or "compensate" for their crimes is a much harsher form of punishment on an emotional level.

Next chapter: Sweetie Belle gets a special lesson.

The Fires of Friendship

Chapter 20: The Fires of Friendship

"Oh my goodness! These are positively marvelous!" exclaimed Rarity as she twirled about, spinning to observe the silver and purple robes draped about her. She had to admit, they were more than a match for the costume she had worn last time. "Truly Miss Lockstitch, you've done wonderful work."

A dark-red unicorn mare with a grass-green mane bobbed her head politely. She was a fair bit older than Rarity and clearly had the weight of experience behind her, especially seeing as she was able to maintain a successful business in the midst of Canterlot, a city whose inhabitants had the most demanding standards in all Equestria. "I wish I could take all the credit," said Lockstitch, "But I have to say that my new apprentice handled a great deal of the work."

"Your apprentice?" Rarity blinked and turned to give her costume a closer look. "I honestly didn't notice. This is fully professional quality."

"Though she is serving her apprenticeship under me, she already has considerable experience, thanks to the mare she was working under in Manehattan." Lockstitch turned to the door of the dressing room. "Coco, come in please."

"Oh...um..." A young, off-white mare carefully made her way through the door, her cheeks colored faintly red as she met Rarity's gaze nervously and ducked her head in greeting. "I-I'm Coco Pommel. P-pleased to m-meet you Miss Rarity. This is a great honor."

"I must say, I am very impressed with your work, darling," said Rarity, once again looking over her costume, "If Lockstitch hadn't told me, I would have never guessed this is an apprentice's work."

"Th-thank you!" In spite of her stammering, Coco's eyes lit up like a filly opening a birthday present and realizing she had gotten exactly what she had wanted.

Lockstitch couldn't help but chuckle softly. "Coco here is a great admirer of yours, Miss Rarity."

Coco's blush intensified as she gasped and ducked her head, this time to hide her face from Rarity, who was blushing herself.

"I-I...Well, I'm very flattered Miss Coco. I had no idea I was such an inspiration." Rarity fanned herself with a hoof, unsure of what else to say in response to that. While she prided herself by being a shaker and mover in the fashion world, she felt a bit put on the spot to be confronted by one of her admirers so directly. She was no Rainbow Dash after all.

"I have to concede that you are probably one of the finest fashion designers in the country," said Lockstitch, though she didn't sound the slightest troubled by that fact, "In fact, I was hoping to suggest something while I have the opportunity."

"And what is that?" asked Rarity, her interest piqued.

"I am the second designer Coco has apprenticed under," explained Lockstitch, "The first mare she apprenticed under in Manehattan was a charlatan of lowest grade. Coco ended up here in Canterlot after that mare was exposed as such. In her apprenticeship there, Coco was actually the one doing most of the work when it came to actually making the clothes. Because of that, her technical skills are, more or less, at a professional level."

Coco blushed all the more fiercely at the praise being heaped on her.

"Because of that, I feel that there is very little that Coco would gain from apprenticing under me. I believe that the best thing for her would be to broaden her experience further...like say, having her finish her apprenticeship under one of the most influential ponies in the fashion world."

Coco's gasped was matched by Rarity. "A-are you saying that I should take Coco Pommel to Ponyville to finish out her apprenticeship under me?" asked Rarity.

"Would you have a problem with that?" asked Lockstitch, raising an eyebrow.

Rarity really wished that Lockstitch hadn't made her proposal while Coco was still in the room. Rarity was almost ready to break out in a nervous sweat under the pressure of Coco's gaze as the younger mare stared at her with starstruck awe. It wasn't that Rarity had anything against Coco. Taking on an apprentice, even one who was merely finishing out her apprenticeship, was a serious decision to make. While Rarity wasn't immediately inclined to say no, she couldn't necessarily guarantee that her answer would be yes either...But to say "no," right in front of Coco's face no less...Rarity wasn't certain that she could dash Coco's hopes like that. But if she agreed, she wanted to do so for the right reasons.

“I have to admit that this is something I have to think about,” said Rarity, “I’m not certain the answer will be yes.” She hid a grimace at the sight of Coco’s expression falling. Sympathy came to her face easily enough, considering it was genuine. “Please don’t think it’s any fault of yours, darling. It’s just…I’ve never taken on an apprentice before. I’m not certain whether or not I could provide you with what you need and deserve.”

“I more than think that you can handle the job,” said Lockstitch with a confidence Rarity only wished she could feel herself, “Coco’s education is nearly complete. The most beneficial thing for her would be to expose her to other schools of thought and different perspectives. That your boutique can flourish in a small town like Ponyville is a definite sign of your skill and business savvy, things that Coco will have to learn if she wants to open and run her own shop at some point.”

“I…see…” Rarity still felt uncertain. All things considered, she was very well off, in spite of the fact that she was providing for herself, her sister, and one rather dependent stallion, whom she had also now taken on as an employee. She wondered if Flaxseed, with his nearly miraculous skill for number-crunching, might be able to find a way to stretch their finances to accommodate an apprentice as well.

But then, something else occurred to Rarity. While taking Coco on as an apprentice might be a financial risk in the short term, there was something in the future that could alleviate it. In the spring, Rarity would be trying to obtain the Royal Warrant. Having what was essentially the Princesses’ official stamp of approval on her business would cause her notoriety and the demand for her products to skyrocket. She could even resume business with the Canterlot nobility, free from her previous worries about their plans to manipulate her. If she could obtain the Royal Warrant for her business, Rarity had little doubt that she would soon be making more than enough to accommodate and apprentice, maybe even two or three…

…If she succeeded. Therein lay the problem. Obtaining the Royal Warrant was far from a sure thing for Rarity. There would be a great deal of competition for such prestigious recognition and, while Coco’s clear admiration of her made it apparent that Rarity was amongst the foremost of those in her chosen profession, she was wise enough to realize that she was still quite a long ways from having it “in the bag” as Rainbow Dash would so eloquently call it. She was optimistic about her chances, but wouldn’t go far as to assume she had already won.

But still…maybe if she had the assistance of an apprentice, particularly one as skilled and experienced as Coco clearly already was, then maybe she might have an even better chance at obtaining the Royal Warrant.

“I think…” said Rarity, still a bit hesitantly as Coco’s ears perked up, “I think I just might be able to take you on after all. My finances might be tight for a little bit. But I believe that I might be able to manage.”

Turning her full attention back to Coco, Rarity gave her a warm smile. “If you feel that you would like to finish your apprenticeship under me, then I will expect to see you at my boutique in Ponyville a week after Hearth’s Warming.” Rarity turned back to Lockstitch. “Is that acceptable?”

"I believe so," said Lockstitch with a pleased smile, "With that out of the way, let's finish with the fitting."

"Of course," said Rarity, going still so that the seamstress and her assistant could make the final adjustments to the costume.

Rarity was the last of her friends to be fitted. Of the costumes for the six leaders, four had been done by Lockstitch and Coco, who had also done the costumes for Clover the Clever, Pudding Head and Smart Cookie. The costumes for Commander Hurricane and Private Pansy had been shopped out to a different costume maker, one who was better versed in creating the imitation armor the two pegasus leaders would be wearing during the pageant. Lockstitch and Coco were also responsible for the costumes for many of the extras in the play as well, though those garments had not required the same exacting attention to detail the leading roles did.

It was only the work of a few minutes for Lockstitch and Coco to finish up, at which point Rarity carefully removed her costume and draped it over the nearby ponyquin in preparation for the upcoming dress rehearsals.

"Thank you both so much for your hard work," said Rarity as the three of them made their way to the door.

"Oh! I'm looking forward to seeing you perform Miss Rarity," said Coco with a wide, adoring smile that actually reminded Rarity a good bit of Sweetie Belle. The resemblance was so uncanny that Rarity had to stifle a giggle.

"I'll try my hardest not to disappoint you," said Rarity politely.

After bidding the two tailors a good day, Rarity made her way to the dining room to join everypony else for lunch.

The dress rehearsals went smoothly in the last night of preparation before Hearth's Warming Eve. The group reconvened for dinner before retiring to their rooms at night. The next morning, they rose bright and early to join the Princesses for breakfast before returning to the general preparations for the pageant that evening. It was now officially Hearth's Warming Eve. Strangely, the Palace felt practically deserted compared to the previous two days. The majority of the servants had been dismissed to spend this day and the next with their families. The only ones still working in the Palace and its adjoining facilities (including the auditorium where the pageant would be performed) were the cast and crew of the pageant. Even the cooks had left, leaving everypony, including Celestia and Luna, to use the kitchens themselves when it came to preparing meals.

Thus, while the cast and crew of the Pageant focused their efforts on final rehearsals before the guests arrived, everypony else assembled in the kitchens and, led by Caramel, went about the all-important task of preparing a Hearth's Warming Eve's dinner. Fortunately, Caramel and Melon Cream were both well-versed in preparing various large dishes for the meal. The foals (save for Apple Bloom and Spike, who were helping with the crew again), did their best to assist in the preparations. Fortunately, their experience in Arkenstone's teashop allowed them to aid the adults without causing any disasters.

Work continued throughout the day, with only a brief pause for lunch. Still, spirits were high as everything came together. By the time the sun started to set and the first guests attending the pageant started to arrive, everything was ready.

"What are those things?" gasped Smart Cookie as she gaped upwards at the spectral horses circling above them like sharks. The waves of cold washing down from those bizarre perversions of equinity had already frozen the three leaders. Princess Platinum, Commander Hurricane and Chancelor Puddinghead were now encased in thick ice. Now that ice was slowly stretching across the floor towards the remaining three ponies in the cave as the monstrous creatures above whinnied in excitement.

"I-I'm not sure..." said Clover the Clever, watching the beasts with a similarly fearful expression, "I think I've heard about something like them from my teacher but..."

"Wha-what d-do y-you think they are?" stammered a frantically shivering Private Pansy as she too watched their tormentors with a look of abject terror on her face.

"I-I think they might be windigos," said Clover finally, "They're supposed to be monsters that feed on hatred and animosity. My teacher said they were just a myth though." Clover had already tried to blast the fell spirits away with her magic, but it had seemed to simply pass through them without consequence.

Cookie's eyes immediately dropped from the creatures above to Clover. "Wait! Ya said they feed on hatred."

"Well...yes..." said Clover with more than a little uncertainty, "That's what the stories about them said anyway. I had no idea what they looked like."

"So ya think they're the ones behind the blizzards that chased us outta our homes?" demanded Cookie, looking up again at the monsters, but now glaring instead of gaping.

"M-maybe," said Clover, "They seem to be behind this blizzard right now. But I don't understand why-"

Clover was cut off by a sharp gasp of terror from Pansy, drawing the eyes of the other two to her. "I-it's our fault!" exclaimed Pansy, her eyes going even wider than before, "Y-you said they feed on hatred right..."

Clover blinked as Pansy's words dawned on her. "So then..."

"So then it's our fault," said Cookie, the horror beginning to sink in for her as well, "We did this, we three tribes, with all our fightin' and arguin'. It must'a been like a dinner bell to them monsters."

Tears were beginning to fall from Pansy's eyes. "Th-then it's too late," she said, "The others are already gone. S-soon we will too...a-all because we..."

"Because we were too obsessed with the idea of one tribe being better than the others," said Clover, her voice almost a whisper.

"I-I'm scared," whimpered Pansy, once again directing a look up at the windigos, which she could have sworn were now circling closer and closer down towards them.

"So am Ah," said Cookie, drawing up close to Pansy and wrapping her in a tight hug.

"B-but you sound so brave," said Pansy, "I thought you weren't scared at all."

"'Couse Ah am," said Cookie, "But Ah feel a bit better to have ponies Ah respect with me at the end. Don't ya feel the same."

The look of terror on Pansy's face began to fade and she found herself smiling at the earth pony advisor. "I-I guess so."

"What 'bout you?" asked Cookie, turning her head to look at Clover.

"I guess..." Clover sniffed. "I guess there's nothing left. None of my magic worked against them. We're all just as helpless. But..." She managed a faint smile. "I guess that, if it's the end for me, then I'm happy to be there with ponies I could call friends."

Cookie and Pansy smiled at the unicorn. "Us too." Clover joined them in their embrace.

At that moment, something spectacular and miraculous happened. The bodies of the three ponies began to shine white with light. Power seemed to surge out from them as each in turn opened their eyes, the normal colors being replaced with shining white. A column of energy erupted upwards, piercing through the center of the windigos' formation. Their cries changed from triumph to terror as pink and violet fire swirled outwards from the epicenter of the blast, drawing them in and consuming them.

The light faded from the three ponies, leaving them in a daze in the middle of the cave. Clover was the first to come to, blinking slowly as she looked from Cookie to Pansy, the earth pony and pegasus slowly coming out of their own trances as well. The three of them looked between one another, completely baffled by the sudden, completely unexpected reversal of their fortunes.

Finally, it was Clover who spoke. "What just happened?"

As the last strains of the familiar carol faded away, the curtain fell across the assembled actors as they bowed. The theater echoed with cheers and clopping hooves as the assembled audience applauded the performance. From his place next to Caramel, Dawn looked around, sweeping his eyes across the assembled ponies. Through the cheering and whistling and stamping was a faint undercurrent of murmurs that stood out to Dawn's ears.

Trying to identify the source of the of the strange counterpoint to the cheering, Dawn's eyes picked out small pockets of ponies who seemed less than pleased with what they had seen on the stage. There were a scant few of them, pairs or trios of ponies, all of them unicorns, staring at the stage as they exchanged harsh whispers with each other.

"Something wrong?" asked Caramel, realizing that Dawn's attention had wandered.

"Not everypony seems to have enjoyed the pageant," said Dawn pensively.

Looking around, Caramel noted the few pockets of discontent as well. "I guess some ponies aren't too happy with the changes Twilight made to the script," he observed, "That's not too surprising really."

Dawn blinked and continued to look around. This was the first time he had actually sat through the pageant himself. He certainly hadn’t seen any renditions of the previous version. “Is it really that different?”

“Umm…” Caramel shrugged. This was the first time he had seen the Canterlot pageant himself.

“Not really,” said Scootaloo, “I mean, the scene in the cave was a little shorter the last time we were here. But it’s not a huge change.”

Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom exchanged looks and shrugged. “I don’t get it either,” said Sweetie.

“Not a big deal,” added Apple Bloom.

Dawn blinked and looked over at the upset unicorns again. All of them were dressed to the nines, at least two of them looking as though they’d dressed for some elaborate ball than merely attending the Hearth’s Warming Pageant, which, from the state of undress sported by the vast majority of the audience, did not strike Dawn as a particularly formal event, no matter how important it was supposed to be.

“Well, let’s forget about it,” said Caramel, “If they want to be sour apples about the whole thing, let them. We should get backstage and congratulate the girls and Spike on their hard work.”

The rest of the group nodded and they all made their way towards the backstage. Caramel and Melon Cream had accompanied the foals, but Red River, Arkenstone, and Mayweather were absent, the three of them having stayed behind to finalize preparations for the evening’s dinner.

The door to the greenroom had just barely opened when Dawn and Caramel, who had entered first, found themselves nearly bowled over as Rarity came rushing out. “There you are Sweetie Belle. We need to hurry or we’ll be late.”

Sweetie’s eyes went wide as she gaped at Rarity. “Oh!” She went to join her sister as they rushed down the hall. “Bye everypony! I’ll see you later!” With that, the two sisters galloped away.

“What…?” asked Dawn, looking after them in confusion.

“Don’t worry ‘bout them,” said Apple Bloom, smiling after the retreating pair, Princess Luna’s doin’ somethin’ right nice fer ‘em. But, ‘cause ‘o that, they ain’t joinin’ us fer dinner tonight.”

“Okay…” said Scootaloo.

Once again, Caramel found himself shrugging. “Well, let’s not worry about it too much. Come on kids.”

They entered the greenroom, where Caramel was immediately tackled by an enthusiastic Fluttershy, who was giggling almost drunkenly as she planted several quick kisses on her coltfriend’s muzzle, her enthusiasm causing her to frequently miss his lips.

“Oh! It was amazing! Were you watching? Did you see me? Was I any good?” Fluttershy’s words spilled out in a torrent that would have sounded normal coming from Pinkie Pie, but seemed completely alien coming from the mouth of the normally shy and retiring mare.

“You were great,” said Caramel, hugging her to his chest and gently running a hoof through her mane. He quickly realized that Fluttershy was actually trembling, apparently overloaded with nervous energy. He looked over Fluttershy’s shoulder at Rainbow, who was giggling.

“It’s an adrenaline rush,” she explained, “She got all worked up over the performance and she’s coming down off of it now.” Given what an adrenaline junkie she was, Rainbow Dash knew exactly what she was talking about. After all, the feeling of euphoria after accomplishing some hair-raising feat of daring do was something that athletes like her savored.

“Still, she’s doing a lot better this year,” observed Twilight, “I remember the first time we did this. We had to actually yank her out of the prop box because she was terrified of going out on stage.”

“Eeyup,” agreed Applejack, “She’s a hay of a lot more confident this year.” She smiled slyly as Dawn gently sidled up against Fluttershy and Caramel, only to be pulled in to join the embrace. “Ah can think ‘o a couple ‘o things that might’a happened this year to do that.”

The others joined her in giggling and nodded.

“Okay everypony!” yelled Pinkie Pie, vaulting into the center of the greenroom, “The show’s over, so now it’s time for dinner! Let’s go eat!”

“Yeah!” shouted Scootaloo, her wings carrying her up above everypony’s head.

“Sounds like somepony’s eager to chow down,” teased Bloom, smirking as Scootaloo blushed.

“Hey! We’ve been helping with the food all day. I’m starving!”

“Let’s not waste any time then,” said Melon, pulling her daughter down out of the air before depositing the filly on her back.

“Aww moooom! You don’t have to carry me!” whined Scootaloo as Bloom and Spike both snickered at her.

“Hush,” said Melon, “You’re starting to get too big for me to do this. At least let me enjoy it a few more times as a Hearth’s Warming gift…please…”

Scootaloo let out a resigned sigh, casting a glance at Dawn to see that the colt was still busy cuddling with Fluttershy and Caramel. “Fine.”

Amongst the crowds exiting the venue, a pair of very well-dressed unicorns made their own way towards a parked carriage. Compared to the rest of the throng of ponies streaming out the exit, one could easily have mistaken this pair as having come from a different event entirely.

Any of the commoners in attendance at the pageant would have probably called Baron Elderflower and his companion overdressed. Of course, that was exactly why such ponies were commoners. Commoners didn’t understand how important it was for those of noble stock to set themselves apart from the masses. When Elderflower went out amongst the rabble, he wore his pride and dignity as the Baron of Dream Valley for all to see. It was one of his chief responsibilities as a member of the Noble Court. As such, he’d attended the play dressed in a pure white suit with ice-blue cuffs that stood out against his violet coat. Without the clothes, Elderflower could have almost passed as a male version of Twilight Sparkle, if somepony had drawn a hot-pink streak down his mane and tail and supplied colored contacts for his dark-brown eyes.

His companion was even more elaborately dressed than he was. Sweet Water, the Viscountess of Diamond Mountain, wore a pristine white gown with several glittering flakes of clear diamond woven into the fabric. When she moved and walked, the gemstone chips caught the light and sent shining ripples up and down the length of the dress. As a viscountess, Sweet Water wouldn’t allow herself to be shown up by somepony of inferior rank, thus the the eye-catching ensemble she was currently wearing.

Of course, said ensemble was ruined somewhat by Sweet Water’s eyes as she glared straight ahead. “Of all the insulting things Twilight Sparkle is guilty of, this one takes the cake.”

Elderflower raised an eyebrow, glancing sidelong at his companion. “I don’t really believe it’s worth getting upset over.”

Sweet Water immediately glared at him. “Not worth-!” she sputtered indignantly, “She dumbed down Clover the Clever into an ineffectual simpleton who didn’t know the least thing about the windigos. How dare they suggest that it wasn’t ultimately her leadership that led to the liberation of the tribes.”

Elderflower turned his head slightly so that Sweet Water couldn’t see him roll his eyes. Certainly, he had no reason to believe that the new version of the pageant was more historically accurate. Historical accuracy had been something of a minor concern for the Hearth’s Warming pageant for centuries, possibly since the actual passing of the ponies responsible for Equestria’s founding. Obviously, a historically accurate recreation of the events that led to Equestria’s founding would have been far too large and elaborate to occupy a simple stage. Thus, what truly mattered was the message of harmony between the three tribes, which had driven off the windigos. Of course, what mattered in the eyes of those like Sweet Water was that the necessary corollary to that message was that some ponies were more harmonious than others.

But, to Elderflower, it was all so much window dressings. If Twilight Sparkle wished to reduce her own character’s role to better showcase the characters from the other tribes, then who was he to object. If anything, it showed she had a gift for bending the message behind the pageant to suit her purposes. Elderflower believed he could turn that skill in a more useful and important direction.

The two nobles making their way towards the carriage were an odd couple, to say the least, made even odder by the overall context of their association. Sweet Water had recently suffered severe humiliation when, in an attempt to gain influence over Twilight Sparkle, she had arranged for the younger sister of the now former head of the Department of Foal Protections to be detained at her estate in Diamond Mountain. The humiliation had come when Dawn Lightwing, the colt whose home life hung in the balance of Sweet Water’s manipulations, went to Diamond Mountain to rescue the captive mare. In the ensuing battle, there had been severe damage to the historic estate, which had been carved from the bedrock of the mountain itself. Such damage could not simply be fixed and hidden away and Sweet Water had become and object of pity and scorn as a consequence. But that was not what made their relationship odd.

What was truly the oddity of the pair’s interactions was that Elderflower had been the one behind said humiliation. It had been Elderflower’s agent, one Perlin Bluestreak, who had informed Dawn of Sweet Water’s machinations and had then gone with Dawn to assist in the captive’s recovery.

Sweet Water knew it too. After all, Elderflower had told her as much himself, which only served to make their relationship all the stranger. Nonetheless, while Elderflower suspected that Sweet Water hadn't forgiven him for his actions (and that she would seek her retribution when she thought the time was right), for the time being, she was an ally who held the same objectives he did.

When they reached the carriage, Elderflower courteously held out a hoof to help her in before climbing in himself. They settled onto separate seats that allowed them to face one another.

"So now what?" she asked irritably.

"For now we wait," said Elderflower, "I'm certain that, after the events of the previous few months, Twilight Sparkle is plenty leery of nobles approaching her. I need to find the appropriate time to make my presentation. She will be in Canterlot for another week, so we have a great deal of time at our disposal."

Sweet Water glared. "And you think you can just talk her into agreeing with us...just like that."

Elderflower gave his erstwhile ally a smug smile. "Twilight Sparkle is, amongst other things, a dedicated academic. If our plan is presented to her on a foundation of sound reasoning and secure logic, she will see its appeal and support it to the fullest, especially if it is properly phrased."

"We'll see," said Sweet Water, "But I remain doubtful. Is your contingency nearly ready."

The Baron nodded. "My agent is almost in place and I am certain that, should my attempts to convince Twilight Sparkle to cooperate fail, then we can resort to the more drastic measures."

"I pray, for all our sakes, that you do not bungle this," growled Sweet Water.

"You have no reason for concern," said Elderflower, his smirk growing.

"Awesome!" crowed Rainbow, fluttering upwards to get a better look at the dining room table, "Look at this spread!"

"Rainbow Dash! Get down here right now," scolded Fluttershy, "You know it's impolite to fly in the dining room."

"'Kay," said Rainbow with a petulant sigh as she lowered herself to the floor.

"The food does look amazing," observed Twilight.

Indeed, the ponies who had spent the day preparing the meal had outdone themselves. The table was practically groaning under the weight of countless dishes. Three massive bowls of salad dominated the center, each one a different variety. They jostled for position with large casseroles, still steaming from having just come out of the ovens. Also prepared were a selection of savory pot pies, each one small enough for an individual pony's consumption. Freshly-baked biscuits were heaped on a large platter, complete with pots of honey and a boat of gravy for toppings. Finally, a mid-sized cauldron of bubbling vegetable soup waited at one end. The various aromas wafting about the room tantalized the nostrils and set mouths to watering as everypony took their seats.

"Oooh! This all looks so scrumdidlyumptious!" squealed Pinkie Pie as she rubbed her hooves together excitedly, "You all did a really great job! Thanks so much!" Turning, she wrapped Mayweather in an enthusiastic hug as the other mare blushed lightly.

"I-It's not that big a deal," said Mayweather a bit nervously.

"You certainly outdid yourselves," said Celestia, "I wonder if any of us will have enough room for dessert."

"Um...Well..." The members of the group who'd been working on the meal all exchanged nervous glances.

Arkenstone coughed. "You see...we were a bit swamped just trying to get everything ready for dinner..."

"And, unfortunately, we didn't have time to make anything for dessert," added Mayweather, shying away from Pinkie Pie, who almost looked heartbroken.

Caramel let out an embarrassed laugh as he rubbed the back of his head. "It didn't help that the two best bakers in our group were...occupied." He looked over at Pinkie Pie and the...empty seat where Applejack should have been sitting. "Hey, where's Applejack?"

"Red River's not here either," observed Arkenstone.

"Excuse me, but did I happen to hear that nopony made dessert?" Arcana and Trixie came trotting into the room. Arcana moved with as much grace and poise as a professional model making her way down the runway. Several large boxes floated behind him in his magic. "If that's the case, it's a good thing I brought some for us."

The assembled ponies, Celestia included, stared wide-eyed at the svelte stallion. "You made that?" asked a baffled Arkenstone, whose eyes were just as wide as anyone else's.

It was Trixie who answered as she let out a dismissive snort. "Of course not. My brother can't bake to save his life. He bought these cakes from a bakery yesterday."

"Oh," said everypony at once. Arcana didn't seem to be phased by Trixie's revelation, merely continuing to a table set up off to the side of the room and setting the boxes down.

Arkenstone drew a foreleg across his forehead. "Phew. For a moment, I was afraid that stallion had no weaknesses."

Twilight smiled slyly as she elbowed him in the side. "You mean, aside from his personality."

"Yes," agreed Arkenstone readily, "Aside from that."

Arcana chuckled. "You would count my personality as a weakness." He and Trixie took their own seats. Looking around, Arcana also noticed the empty places at the table. "We seem to be a few ponies short."

"AJ's bringin' somethin' special," said Apple Bloom as she and Spike grinned eagerly at each other, apparently sharing a private joke.

A minute later, everypony else learned why as Applejack and Red River arrived. "Sorry to keep y'all waitin'. Red and Ah had to get these from mah room."

The pair of them were carrying a single massive barrel each. Said barrels were almost as large as the ponies carrying them, but Applejack and Red River bore the strain with only minimal difficulty as they carried their loads to the room. Twilight quickly jumped to help them, using her magic to lift the barrels off the backs of the two earth ponies and set them down on the table next to the boxed cakes.

Rainbow's eyes went wide as she stared at the two barrels. "Is that...?"

"Eeyup," said Applejack, smiling smugly, "That there's the first batch of Wintersilk Cider, pressed on Sweet Apple Acres right before we came up to Canterlot. Y'all are gonna be the first ponies to get a taste."

"Sooooo awesome..." said Rainbow, her tongue lolling as she stared at the barrels. At the sound of her friends (even Scootaloo) giggling, Rainbow managed to reassert control over herself and pull her tongue back in. "So...AJ...bring any of the hard stuff?"

Applejack shook her head. "Sorry to disappoint ya sugarcube, but the first batch 'o hard cider ain't gonna be ready fer another couple 'o weeks. It's gotta ferment, ya know. Besides, this first batch is just the test batch. We need to see if the wintersilks'll make good cider on their own or if we need to blend them with some other apples to get a better product."

"Aww," groaned Rainbow, earning a chuckle from Applejack.

"Don't ya worry yer head sugarcube," she said, "Ah promise Ah'll let ya be one 'o mah taste testers."

The disappointment melted away as Rainbow broke out into a silly grin. "Best. Job. Ever!"

Each place set at the table included a tall stemmed beverage glass (though only the adults got wine goblets to go along with those glasses). Twilight lifted them all in her magic and floated the glasses over to the barrels, which Applejack had already set spigots into. She filled each of the glasses in turn before returning them to their places.

As her own glass hovered in front of her, Twilight found herself staring in surprise at the liquid contained within. "This is unfiltered, right?"

Applejack nodded definitively. "'Course it is. Wouldn't be cider otherwise."

It certainly didn't look that way. The liquid resting in the glasses was crystal clear, resembling nothing so much as clear spring water. "Amazing," said Twilight, "So this is what wintersilk cider looks like."

"We were mighty surprised too, the first time we saw it," said Bloom as Spike nodded in agreement.

Celestia cleared her throat. "Well then, before we try the new cider, I propose a toast." Taking her glass in hoof, she raised it up. The others followed suit. "To another year of friendship and harmony, for those here with us and those precious ones who are absent."

Everypony nodded solemnly before raising their glasses to their lips and taking their first sips of the wintersilk cider. Silence descended on the dining room as everypony mulled over the taste of the unfamiliar drink.

"Wow!" exclaimed Apple Bloom. After the first gulp, she'd been unable to resist draining her glass down.

"It really is amazing," said Spike, nodding in agreement, "I had no idea cider could taste like this."

The others nodded in agreement, some of them still swirling the drink around in their mouths and savoring its flavor. It was incredibly sweet, but counterbalanced with a refreshing crispness that kept the sweet flavor from becoming too overwhelming. It all flowed effortlessly down the throat with each gulp, a refreshing taste that seemed to chase away the fatigue that had built up over the course of the day.

"This is the best cider ever!" gasped Rainbow as she put her own glass down on the table, letting out a sigh of contentment.

Applejack chuckled at her friend's enthusiasm. "Ah'm glad ya like it sugarcube. Everypony drink up! There's plenty more where that came from."

"Huh," mused Dawn, looking down at the drink swirling about in his own glass, "I'm surprised you have so much. There can't have been that many apples."

"Actually the wintersilk harvest was really big," said Spike, "Especially for such a small orchard. It's only about half as big as the zap apple orchard, but the output at least matched the Apples' last zap apple harvest."

"Not only that," added Bloom, "But wintersilk apples give up a ton of juice, so we gotta barrels and barrels 'o cider to work with and we ain't even pressed all 'o them yet."

Rainbow was already rushing over to refill her glass. As she got back to the table, Fluttershy smiled at everypony. "I know the cider is delicious, but our friends worked really hard to help prepare this wonderful dinner. Let's enjoy it."

"Well said Fluttershy," said Celestia, nodding in agreement.

They paused when Trixie raised an tentative hoof. "I was meaning to ask earlier, but isn't it rude to start without Princess Luna."

"Indeed," said Arcana, "And what about Miss Rarity and her sister?"

"Oh," said Celestia, raising a hoof to her mouth, "I'm afraid they won't be joining us tonight. You see, Luna and Rarity have other plans and Sweetie Belle will be joining them."

"Joining them where?" asked Scootaloo, who realized that Spike, Apple Bloom, Applejack, and Red River were all sporting suspiciously knowing looks.

"By now they should be nearly back to Ponyville," said Celestia.

"Ponyville!"

Flaxseed stared down at his much vaunted Hearth's Warming Eve dinner. It was nothing special, just a basic creamy hay and mushroom casserole he'd cobbled together. Even without having to taste it, he could tell he hadn't gotten it quite right. The top was a little bit burned, while the inside appeared to still be slightly runny.

But at least it's edible, he thought as he lowered his fork into the bowl (the casserole not holding up well on a plate), and lifting another mouthful out. All told, it didn't taste too bad. He could even say, without any reservation, that it tasted quite good. It's better than some of the other things I've tried.

Years spent on the run had given Flaxseed very little time to refine his cooking skills. He'd also rarely had the money to spend on ingredients and had been forced to work quite frugally in previous years. Even now, he felt more than a little guilty about the number of ingredients he'd used up in the creation of this dish. Certainly, though Rarity had said that he was more than welcome to help himself to the food in the icebox, he still couldn't help but feel he was overindulging.

"I made too much," he said finally, realizing that there was more than he could eat by himself.

"Perhaps that's just as well darling."

Flaxseed jumped upright and spun about to see Rarity standing poised in the door to the kitchen. "R-Rarity! What are you doing here?"

"Me too!" exclaimed Sweetie Belle, bounding into the room and stopping in front of Flaxseed before carefully wrapping her forelegs around one of his own. "We thought it would be fun to spend the night here with you so that you can have a Hearth's Warming with friends."

"B-but you were in...Canterlot!" Flaxseed tried as hard as he could to wrap his mind around the fact. "The pageant..."

"Went swimmingly," said Rarity calmly, "You needn't worry. You see, a very good friend of ours went out of her way to bring us here so that we could spend the evening with you. She's actually been quite keen to meet you."

"A friend...?" Flaxseed couldn't help but tilt his head, trying to make sense of what Rarity just said.

"Indeed," said Rarity, "She's just behind us and is waiting to introduce herself."

"Who-?" Flaxseed began to ask. His mouth closed with a snap at the sight of a midnight blue mare ducking her head to fit through the doorway. Princess Luna wasn't as tall as her older sister, but she was large enough to have some slight difficulties navigating portals meant for more normally-sized ponies.

"I've been waiting for the chance to meet you, my dear little pony," said Luna, smiling as the shimmering starscape of her mane twisted around her.

"P-P-P-Princess!" gasped Flaxseed, almost smacking his face against the floor in his eagerness to bow.

"Please rise," said Luna, her tone gentle. Rarity had warned her about how nervous and jumpy Flaxseed could be around unfamiliar ponies. Fortunately, Luna had an idea to help put him at ease. Slowly, the stars glittering across her mane began to fade into lighter, silvery-blue. Her stature diminished until she was only just a little taller than Rarity. "Does this make it easier."

Flaxseed forced himself to look up. Without her magically empowered appearance, Luna looked very much akin to a normal pony, albeit one with both wings and a horn, as well as a statuesque form that would put the finest of models to shame. However, the easy and friendly smile on Luna's face did more than anything else to relax the gold-colored stallion.

"I-it's an honor to meet you, Princess," said Flaxseed, still stammering a little in spite of himself.

"Please, call me Luna," said Luna, "If anypony, you are probably one of the few who I feel has more than earned the right to call me by name."

"I'm not sure I understand..." said Flaxseed.

Luna's smile faded, replaced by a slightly guilty look. "I am aware of your condition and how you have suffered for it." She closed her eyes and frowned darkly. When she opened them again, her eyes had turned turquoise and now sported catlike pupils.

"Y-you..." gasped Flaxseed.

Luna nodded. "Though I was not aware of it until recently, I am the pony from whom the Cult Solar's name for your condition originated, as well as the stigma that goes with it. For that, I can't begin to apologize enough." She closed her eyes again and, upon reopening them, now looked normal to Flaxseed.

"I don't think it's your fault," said Flaxseed, averting his gaze slightly, not sure how to respond to this situation.

"Of course it isn't," said Rarity, interjecting herself back into the conversation, "If anything, it's the fault of those beastly cultists. But enough about such grim topics. Let's enjoy dinner together. This a time for family..." She pulled a delighted Sweetie up against her side. "...and friends..." She nodded to both Flaxseed and Luna. "...to truly revel in one another's company."

"Yay!" squealed Sweetie, rushing past the table to the cupboards, where she got out additional plates and silverware to set the table. Luna quickly moved to help her while Rarity made her way to Flaxseed, who was looking completely stunned.

"You didn't have to," he said softly.

"I didn't," said Rarity, raising her forelegs and wrapping them around the stallion to pull him into a warm embrace, "But I wanted to. What kind of friend would I be if I allowed somepony I care so much about to spend Hearth's Warming by himself." Turning her head, she planted a quick kiss on Flaxseed's cheek before drawing back and looking at him, her cheeks faintly blushing.

Flaxseed was blushing too, gently raising a hoof to the cheek Rarity had just kissed. How long has it been, he idly wondered, since somepony did that to me? Certainly not since... He shuddered and forced himself to stop thinking about that. That line of thought would only lead him back into misery on a night where these three ponies had done so much to make it special for him.

Rarity giggled softly before going to join her sister and Luna in helping to set three additional places at the table. Flaxseed felt a little guilty that all he had to offer was the crummy casserole he'd baked up. But at least it won't go to waste.

The table set, they all gathered round and loaded up their plates. Just before they were about to eat, Rarity stiffened, her ears going up. "Oh my! I almost forgot." She left her place and trotted out of the kitchen, returning a minute later while towing a small keg in her magic. "Applejack was kind enough to spare some for us to bring back here. I believe that there would be no more appropriate time to share it."

With that, Rarity filled their glasses with the wintersilk cider she'd brought back from Canterlot. Everything ready, the four of them settled down to what was probably one of the most frugal and simple Hearth's Warming dinners that three of them had ever tried before, though for Flaxseed, it seemed the richest, most satisfying meal he'd had in years.

"Wow! I feel like I'm gonna explode," said Caramel, patting a slightly distended belly as he, Fluttershy, and Dawn made their way to the guest suite they'd been assigned to for the duration of their stay in the Palace.

Dawn nodded his agreement, feeling rather drowsy after eating far more than he was used to. There had been so many delicious and savory things to try that he had found himself unable to even think about the possibility of dessert, had he been inclined towards any to begin with.

"Wow! This is so much fun," said Scootaloo, almost seeming no worse for wear after the large meal she'd enjoyed, along with plenty of dessert. Only the faint downwards twitch of her eyelids betrayed the fact that she was drowsy as well. "What should we do next?"

"I think that would be quite clear," said Melon Cream, scooping up her daughter and depositing the filly onto her back, "It's bedtime young lady."

"Aww mooom!" groaned Scootaloo.

"Come now," said Melon, "You'll want to get up bright and early tomorrow. After all, you have presents to open."

"Oh!" said Scootaloo, her annoyance vanishing, "That's right. Let's go!"

Laughing at her daughter's antics, Melon trotted off towards their own suite.

Fluttershy, Caramel, and Dawn watched them go. Fluttershy couldn't help but giggle at the sight, gently rubbing up against Caramel's side, nuzzling cheek to cheek with him as they saw the mother and daughter duo off. After dinner had ended and as they'd passed the remainder of the evening trading stories and singing carols, Fluttershy had gradually grown more and more affectionate with Caramel, often nuzzling and kissing his cheek or running the feathers of her wing across his back. The latter had actually made Caramel shiver from the pleasant contact, although he'd felt more than a little unnerved by the smug, knowing look Rainbow Dash had been giving him every time Fluttershy had done that.

"Come on," said Caramel, slowly nudging Dawn and Fluttershy towards their own suite's door, "I think we're ready for bed too."

"I..." Dawn was interrupted by his mouth stretching into a yawn. "...have to agree."

Caramel ruffled the colt's mane fondly. "How did you like your first real Hearth's Warming Eve?" he asked.

"It was amazing," said Dawn. After so many wonderful moments spent with he new family, he couldn't imagine that he'd ever feel more fulfilled or content. And yet, on this night, he'd experienced just that.

"I'm so glad," said Fluttershy, kissing her son on the forehead.

Dawn paused and turned to nuzzle up to both his parents. Fluttershy and Caramel wrapped their arms around him. "I love you," he said.

"I love you too," said Fluttershy.

"Me too," added Caramel.

"Good night," whispered Fluttershy, giving her son one last kiss on the tip of his nose.

Dawn retreated to his own room to get ready for bed as Fluttershy and Caramel retired to theirs.

Caramel finished first, given that he only had to brush her teeth. Fluttershy took a little bit longer on account of having to preen her wings. In the meantime, Caramel banked the fireplace in their room to keep it warm throughout the night. The wards would keep any stray sparks from escaping, allowing them to sleep safely.

The sound of the bathroom door opening prompted Caramel to turn around. His jaw dropped at the sight that awaited him. Fluttershy stood there. Her mane had been combed down so that the front part of it hung over one eye. With her remaining visible eye, Fluttershy smiled sweetly at him, tilting her head adorably, with one forehoof raised slightly off the floor as she reclined casually against the frame of the door. At first, it had seemed that Fluttershy had stepped back into her old, shy, retiring self. However, as she stepped forward, moving smoothly and confidently, Caramel felt his heart start to race. Sweet Celestia! She looks so beautiful like that.

Any other thoughts trying to make their way through Caramel's head were abruptly cut off as Fluttershy closed in and pressed her lips against his. To his shock, she didn't stop there, continuing to push forward, forcing Caramel back until his haunches connected with the side of the bed. Following her lead, Caramel climbed onto bed, allowing Fluttershy to do the same. She'd barely gotten off the floor before she pounced on him once again, pushing Caramel down onto his back, kissing him with even more passion than before. Her tongue snaked out of her mouth, lightly teasing his lips. Caramel quickly moved to oblige her, opening his own mouth and gently twisting his tongue around hers.

Not waisting any time, Caramel quickly wrapped his arms around Fluttershy to pull her closer, triggering a breathy moan as his hooves pressed down against the joints of his wings, where they joined with her shoulders. In the meantime, Fluttershy's wings began to twitch, sending her feathers dancing up and down her stallion's sides, the light tickling causing Caramel to twitch and grunt, even as his tongue continued to dance with hers.

Finally, they had to pull away to breathe. Caramel stared up at Fluttershy as she panted lightly above him. Once again, he was overwhelmed by that desperate feeling to hold her and never let go.

"Caramel," whispered Fluttershy, "I love you."

"I know," said Caramel, raising a hoof up to lightly stroke Fluttershy's cheek, "I'm so lucky to be able to share my life with somepony like you."

Lowering herself down, Fluttershy planted a soft, long kiss on Caramel's lips. The passion was still there, but it now simmered away behind honest affection as their kiss transitioned into a loving nuzzle.

"Caramel," said Fluttershy, her voice going almost impossibly quiet, "I think I'm ready."

Caramel's eyes went wide as he met Fluttershy's gaze. "A-are you sure?"

Fluttershy nodded slowly. "You mean so much to me. You mean so much to Dawn. Ever since we've started living together, it's gotten to the point where I couldn't imagine living on our own without you. I don't want to think of what it would be like to wake up without you there. I want to fall asleep with you holding me and I want to see your face when I wake up. So..." Leaning down, she began to plant gentle, feathering kisses along Caramel's neck. "...I'm ready. I want to share everything with you."

Listening to Fluttershy's words slowly made Caramel realize that he felt the same way. Both Fluttershy and Dawn were precious to him. After spending so long living as a bachelor, he'd once, a long time ago, worried that he might have found living with them would be a chore, something he'd have to put up with. However, he couldn't have been more wrong and he was glad that he had been so wrong. Recently, he'd been thinking about the end of winter, dreading the day when Fluttershy and Dawn would move back to their cottage on the edge of town. Thinking about how empty the house would feel without them there almost made him feel sick. He'd come to love spending the winter days with the two of them and had come to wish that those days would never end.

Finally, Caramel found himself smiling. Using a hoof, he slowly lifted Fluttershy's chin, tilting her face away from his neck and turning it back towards his own so he could capture her lips in another loving kiss. "If you're ready," he said finally, as he pulled away from her slightly, "then so am I."

Fluttershy's smile stretched across her face as she descended on him with an exuberant squeal to press her lips to his again. Caramel held her tightly as they began to go through the motions, both of them exulting in the moment that they became one as they showed their love for one another.

Author's Note

...And then they banged.

Now you know why this story had the 'sex' tag. That said, I have no intention of making this into clop or anything of the sort, either now or in the future. I have the feeling I wouldn't feel very good at writing it and I don't think it would jive with the rest of the series as a whole.

Next chapter: Dawn gets scolded.

Giving and Forgiving

Chapter 21: Giving and Forgiving

Dawn’s eyes opened as the first light of the sun began to stream in through the Palace windows. Rolling off the side of the bed, he stretched and yawned, fanning his wings out with a few popping noises as he rolled them in their sockets. Making his way to the bathroom, Dawn quickly went through his usual morning routine, brushing his teeth and combing out his mane and tail. Looking at his wings, the colt decided that he wasn’t in any need of preening and made his way out into the main room of the guest suite.

Looking over, he noted the door to Caramel and Fluttershy’s room was still shut. That wasn’t all that surprising. Even though his mother and (presumptive) father were no slouches when it came to waking up in the morning, Dawn was still the earliest riser in the family, waking up for his morning training sessions with Scootaloo. Dawn briefly considered going to fetch Scootaloo from the suite she and her mother were occupying. However, he figured that Scootaloo might want to sleep in, on account of the holiday, especially given how much they had eaten the night before. Even Dawn himself was still feeling a little sluggish, in spite of the good night’s sleep he’d gotten.

On reflection, Dawn figured that, while Scootaloo might not be up training, there was no reason he couldn’t go through a few practice runs himself. He’d noted a few locations he could use during the time he’d spent exploring the Palace with the others. In fact, there was at least one location that Dawn felt would be particularly suitable.

Making his way out of the guest suite, Dawn trotted down the hallway in the direction of the dining room. That was where they were expected to assemble for breakfast before heading to some other room, though he couldn’t be sure which one, to open their presents. In between the guest suites and the dining room was a second, relatively large, open room. The room itself was devoid of any normal furnishings and was probably one of many just like it, large rooms that could be set up to serve any of a variety of purposes, depending on the needs of whoever was using it. Given that there was plenty of space, the room was perfect for Dawn’s purposes.

Stepping into the center of the room, Dawn spread his wings halfway and took a deep breath, holding it for a moment before letting it back out. With his breath, he let all his extraneous thoughts and feelings bleed out into the ether, until nothing remained within but silence. For several minutes, Dawn simply basked in that stillness, allowing it to settle and center him, relaxing him mind, body, and soul.

Finally, he went into motion, beginning with the steps of the First Form, flowing smoothly from one technique to the next, the only sound accompanying the ruffling of his feathers being the tap of his hooves against the marble floor. After the First came the Second, then the Third, and so on, until Dawn had moved though every single one of his forms, returning to his usual resting position.

Taking a moment, Dawn centered himself once again. Then he began to go through the forms a second time. This time, he put just a sliver of his magic into the motions, just enough to stir the air around his feathers to life, creating whorls, vortexes, and mild breezes that only barely resembled the devastating techniques that they were when unleashed with the full force of his strength behind them. Once again, Dawn went through all of his forms before settling down and relaxing, taking another deep breath and sinking once again into the stillness of his meditation.

As he came out of his mediation, the faint ghost of a smile played across Dawn’s face. “Enjoy the show?” he asked as he turned towards the door, easily spotting the orange earth pony mare, who had taken off her stetson in what seemed to be a gesture of respect for what she was watching.

Applejack hadn’t made any particular effort to hide the fact that she had been watching Dawn. In fact, she was certain that he’d known that she was there the moment she’d passed by the door, possibly before. “Ah’d have to say it’s a mighty fine thing to watch,” she admitted. It was the first time she’d ever really seen Dawn go through his forms. The beautiful, flowing motions were amazing to watch and Applejack had easily found herself mesmerized. In those minutes, she could see the years of effort and honest hard work that Dawn had put into his own training. That kind of mastery had nothing to do with talent and inclination, just hours upon days upon years of constant training and devoted effort. Applejack could understand that kind of dedication perfectly well. After all, it was the same kind of dedication she had put into maintaining her family’s farm.

But that understanding made a pang of guilt shoot through her system. How could Ah have ever doubted this boy? She remembered perfectly well how she’d reacted the first time she had met him. She remembered the vacant, neutral expression he’d worn when she’d thrown insults and threats at him, everything she had said being nothing he hadn’t heard before. Most of all, she remembered what he had done when she’d finally apologized for her foolishness. She remembered seeing the cold, stoic colt break down into tears and cling tightly to Fluttershy.

Swallowing hard, Applejack stepped closer to the colt, feeling a bit surprised when Dawn didn't so much as flinch at her approach. "Dawn," she said.

"Yes?"

Applejack took a deep breath to calm her nerves. "Ah know Ah said it to ya once before. But Ah feel like Ah need to say it again. Ah'm sorry." Her body began to shake. "Ah'm so sorry fer how Ah treated ya. Ya didn't deserve any 'o that, but Ah tried to drive ya out, tried to..." She couldn't bring herself to finish that sentence.

"And I know I said it before, but I forgive you," said Dawn, moving closer to her, "There is no need to continue apologizing."

Applejack's sense of guilt made her take a step back. "Ah know, but It don't seem right to me. Ah did somethin' terrible wrong and all Ah could do to make up fer it was say a few words. Ah don't feel like Ah've atoned at all."

Dawn glanced upward at the skylights. The low angle of the sun meant that the light was not yet streaming down into the room just yet. However, just enough light seeped down to provide illumination. "My Master gave me my name to remind me that each day is a new beginning."

"Huh?" Applejack blinked and sat down, surprised by the sudden tangent.

"No matter what happened before, dawn comes inevitably, and with it, the promise of a new day." Dawn looked down from the skylights, his eyes, which had once been the source of the conflict between the two of them, drifted down to meet Applejack's own emerald gaze. "The past is the past. What has happened has happened. We have each done things that we regret. But, no matter how much we might wish otherwise, we cannot change that."

Applejack couldn't help but chuckle at Dawn's words. She certainly knew that to be the truth. After all, Twilight Sparkle had tried once. It hadn't exactly gone well for her.

"Even this day, Hearth's Warming, comes near the eve of the year's end. Though winter can be cold and bitter, it is filled with the promise of the spring to come after." He smiled warmly up at Applejack as he stepped closer. "We can spend our lives wallowing in the winter of our misdeeds, or we can learn to look beyond them, to the spring to come."

Applejack sniffed as Dawn gently pressed up against her. Slowly, she reached out and pulled the colt into a warm embrace. "Yer Master tell ya that too?"

Dawn nodded against her. "He did. He told me that because he didn't want me to dwell on my past mistakes or the mistakes of others." He nuzzled in a bit tighter to Applejack. "So, even though our beginning was so rocky, I don't want you to waste your time on atonement you do not need. I would much rather that we were friends now."

Applejack smiled. "Sure thing sugarcube." She gently nuzzled the top of Dawn's head.

After letting go, Dawn looked curiously at Applejack. "May I ask what you're doing up so early?"

Applejack simply shrugged in response. "Same as you. Ah'm too used to risin' early to change mah habits now. Ah'm pretty sure Bloom ain't gonna be far behind me. Farm life'll do that to ya."

Dawn nodded. "If you'll excuse me, I'd like to get a little more practice in before breakfast."

"Sure thing," said Applejack with a smile, taking her leave of the colt.

As the sound of her hooves faded into silence, Dawn glanced around furtively. "You can come out now."

Slowly and soundlessly, a dark-gray mare made her way out from the far corner of the room, where the shadows had been at their deepest. Her dark coat had allowed her to blend in seamlessly, making her all but invisible to Applejack.

Dawn eyed Shade Steel Curiously. “So…what can I do for you?”

Shade Steel looked vaguely out of place. Her collar was the only thing she was presently wearing. Dawn suspected that she, like the rest of the Palace staff, had Hearth’s Warming off. However, Shade Steel wasn’t permitted to leave the premises, so was unable to go and visit her own family. Dawn felt a twinge of sympathy for her. Certainly, she had made her own bed and would now have to lie in it. But after having spent so long without family of his own, he could imagine how empty she must have felt inside to not be able to see hers.

“I just wanted to say…” Shade sighed and looked away, unable to meet Dawn’s eyes for too long. Even if she realized her mistakes, she still felt on a certain, visceral level, that the colt’s eyes were unnatural, which made them unsettling to look at.

Dawn appeared unfazed by her pause, simply watching patiently as he waited for her to speak again.

“I’m sorry,” said Shade finally, “I was wrong…about you…about N-Princess Luna…about everything…I guess.”

“Is that what you genuinely believe?” asked Dawn.

“Huh?”

The colt simply shrugged. “While I would be happy to accept your apology, I would rather go without if you felt as though you were forced to by the Princesses or my friends. That’s why I’m asking; do you really believe that you were wrong?”

“Well…” Once again, Shade looked away. The feeling of Dawn’s eyes on her made her flesh crawl. “I don’t want to believe that Princess Celestia is lying about her sister or you. I believe her. But…at the same time…”

“Changing long-held feelings isn’t such a simple matter,” suggested Dawn, getting an idea of where she was going, “Even if you understand it in your head, your heart still rejects both me and Luna.”

Looking deeply ashamed, Shade nodded.

“I understand,” said Dawn. After all, he’d had similar experiences. When Fluttershy had first taken him in, he’d had difficulty trusting her. Even when he’d been first introduced to her friends, even when he had started going to school, he’d been on pins and needles, waiting constantly for the other hoof to drop, even though he’d rationally understood that he could trust them. It had taken a few weeks to simply stop flinching whenever Fluttershy had tried to initiate any kind of physical contact. And, even then, those feelings had surfaced recently during the whole fiasco with Foal Protections. Even though Dawn had understood, on a rational level, that Fluttershy would never betray or abandon him, his heart had still reacted to that initial feeling.

“I accept your apology,” said Dawn finally, prompting a sharp intake of breath from Shade.

“But…”

“You just saw the moment I had with Applejack,” Dawn pointed out, “She tried to drive me out of Ponyville the first time she met me. The second time, she actually tried to kill me and ended up breaking a wing and some of my ribs.”

Shade’s jaw dropped.

“But Princess Celestia helped her to see the error of her ways as well. I forgave her then and we are friends now.” He gave her a slight smirk. “I suppose that one of the perks of having several different ponies try to kill you is that the act itself loses its emotional impact over time. However, there is one pony who needs an apology from you much more than I do.”

Shade swallowed, having a very good idea of exactly which pony Dawn was talking about.

“Which is why,” Dawn continued, “when you finish your sentence to the Princesses’ satisfaction, I expect to you to come to Ponyville, first thing, and deliver your apology to her. I will accept your apology on that condition.”

Slowly, Shade nodded. “I will.”

Dawn smiled at her. “Thank you.” He paused to think for a moment. “I’m guessing you’re probably one of the only ponies besides us in the Palace. Maybe you could join us for breakfast.”

“I…I’m not sure that’s such a good idea,” said Shade, with good reason. After all, while Dawn had forgiven her rather easily, she had a hard time believing that his friends and family would give up their grudge, especially Dawn’s fillyfriend, considering the sheer ferocity with which she had been glaring at Shade earlier.

“I understand that the others might have an issue with it,” said Dawn, “But I’ve gotten the impression that nopony should truly be alone on this holiday. But…if you’d rather not, I understand.”

Shade thought quite hard about it. “I…I’ll accept,” she said finally. Though she was nervous, the fact that Dawn himself would be vouching for her presence would probably protect her from any overt hostility. She was genuinely moved by the colt’s willingness to forgive her.

Dawn smiled. “Well, let’s go then.”

Shade nodded and the two of them set off for the dining room.

Caramel’s eyes fluttered slightly before drifting open. The faint smile he’d fallen asleep with only stretched as the blurry yellow figure in front of him slowly swam into focus. Fluttershy lay across from him, still wrapped securely in his arms, still fast asleep. If anypony had bothered to look in the room, it would have been obvious to them that the couple had engaged in some rather…intense activities the night before. Fluttershy’s mane and tail were severely tangled and mussed from the pair of them rolling back and forth across the bed. Likewise, her feathers were ruffled and he coat was matted in places. However, that only made her look all the more beautiful to Caramel’s eyes. Part of him still couldn’t believe that they’d made love to each other the previous night.

I guess I should probably start looking into getting a necklace, he thought. He figured that their courtship had been rather brief as these things went. But, more than ever, he was sure of his feelings towards both Fluttershy and Dawn. He wanted to truly be Fluttershy’s mate and he wanted to be Dawn’s father. The thought of going all the way actually made his heart skip a beat as he pulled the mare a little more tightly against him.

The slight motion seemed to stir Fluttershy into wakefulness as her eyes slowly blinked open and she regarded him sleepily. “Good morning,” she whispered before letting out a cute yawn and returning to smiling bashfully at him.

“Good morning,” Caramel returned before leaning in to plant a soft kiss on her lips, which Fluttershy gladly returned, “How do you feel?”

“Umm…” Fluttershy’s hind legs flexed a little. Their first time had been painful for her when Caramel had taken her virginity. Even though it had been extremely pleasurable after the pain had faded, the…vigor…with which she and Caramel had consummated their love for each other had left her feeling a bit…sore…in certain places. But still, she figured that she wouldn’t be limping when she finally got out of bed. “I’m fine, I guess,” she said, darting forward to kiss him again, “Thank you for last night.”

“If I recall,” said Caramel with a wry smirk, “it was your idea. So I should be the one thanking you.”

His words prompted Fluttershy’s cheeks to flush pink as she shyly looked away from him. The expression made her look so cute that Caramel desperately wanted to kiss her again. So he did. This time, his tongue darted out to her lips to tease her lightly before retracting.

Her blush intensifying, Fluttershy gave Caramel a longing look as he pulled away again. For a moment, it seemed as though they were about to start up another session of lovemaking until Fluttershy noticed the clock.

“Oh no! We’ll be late for breakfast if we don’t get up soon.”

Caramel couldn’t help but chuckle at the urgency in her voice and gently began to run his hooves up and down her back, the gentle rubbing motion helping to calm her down. “It’ll be fine,” he said, “I don’t think we need to worry too much about being late. It’s Hearth’s Warming after all.”

“I guess that’s true,” admitted Fluttershy, leaning in so that she could tuck her head under Caramel’s chin and nuzzle into his chest, “But we probably shouldn’t keep them waiting for too long.”

“That’s true,” admitted Caramel, “But we can at least rest a little longer.”

“Yeah,” agreed Fluttershy, closing her eyes and inhaling deeply, taking in the sweet scent of her stallion.

The two of them relaxed and drifted off to sleep again.

In the dining room, Dawn waited patiently, along with Apple Bloom. At present, the two of them were the only ponies in the room, with no sign of anyone else in sight. Applejack and Shade had gone to the kitchen, where they were quickly joined by Red River. Nopony else was awake just yet, which meant that Dawn and Bloom, more or less, had the room to themselves.

Both Applejack and Bloom had been shocked to see Dawn enter with Shade Steel walking beside him. However, given Applejack’s own circumstances, she was quick to accept the former Guardsmare’s apology, given that they were in the same boat. Still, Dawn was a little bit worried about the responses of everypony else. Scootaloo in particular had not struck him as being especially forgiving.

True to form, when Scootaloo arrived in the dining room, followed by her mother, her eyes nearly leapt out of her head at the sight of Shade. "What is she doing here?"

"I invited her," said Dawn levelly as Shade cringed and shifted slightly to hide herself behind Applejack. It was a bit odd to see the once-confident and determined ex-Guardsmare behave like a quailing filly (or Dawn's mother, for that matter).

"You what?" gasped Scootaloo, whirling to stare at Dawn in shock, "After what she did..."

Dawn nodded levelly. "She apologized and I accepted. I invited her because her only other option was to be by herself today. None of the other members of the Palace staff are in."

"But she deserves it!" snapped Scootaloo, "Dawn! She nearly killed you! She stabbed you through the leg and you almost bled out. If we hadn't gotten to you in time..." Tears started to stream down her cheeks. "You can't fix that with an apology!" She sharply pointed a hoof at Shade, who looked like she was about to cry herself.

All of the ponies in the room were clearly torn between admonishing Scootaloo for her harsh words and agreeing with what she was saying. Only Applejack could count herself on Shade's side in the matter, given what she had done. But, at the same time, Applejack didn't feel remotely qualified to speak out against Scootaloo.

"I'm leaving," declared Scootaloo, throwing one last angry, tearful glare at Shade, "I'm not going to sit down to breakfast with a murderer." Her hooves clicked harshly against the marble floor as she stomped out.

Melon stared out after her daughter. "I don't know if I should try to bring her back or go with her," she said finally.

"Let me speak with her," said Dawn.

"She's..." Shade's voice quivered as she struggled to find the words. "She's...not wrong...I...I tried to kill you. A simple 'I'm sorry' can't make up for that."

Dawn looked at her and shrugged. "A lot of ponies have tried to kill me. Some came closer than others, just as you did. But it isn't about 'making up' for what you've done. I don't believe that forgiveness is some sort of currency to be exchanged for something. You asked my forgiveness and I gave it. It's as simple as that." He sighed. "I need to talk to Scootaloo." He fixed Shade with an intense gaze that would not allow her to turn away. "You stay put." With that, he set off at a brisk trot after Scootaloo.

Finding her didn't prove all that difficult. Scootaloo hadn't gone all that far when Dawn set off after her. Her anger made it even easier to follow as she agitated the air aggresively with her passage, the swirling currents leaving a trail that stood out clearly to Dawn's wind-sense.

Scootaloo had stopped, having apparently worked herself up into such an angry frenzy that she'd run out of breath. She was glaring fiercely out the window, staring down at the snow-covered valley below. From this vantage point, she could even make out Ponyville in the distance. Her eyes drifted upwards to the cloud-covered skies, which were delivering a special light snow on Hearth's Warming Day. Her eyes stung a bit and she wiped fiercely at them to clear away the tears. But more quickly came in their place.

Nonetheless, she wasn't so lost in her emotions that she failed to notice that Dawn was behind her. "I'm not going back," she declared with an almost haughty determination, "No mater what you say, I am not eating in the same room as that mare."

"Is it really that important?" asked Dawn, feeling a bit confused by the sheer scale of Scootaloo's rage. He had never seen her this furious.

"Of course it is!" she snapped. "You don't get it because you're only thinking about yourself!"

Dawn's jaw dropped and hit the floor. "What?" He wasn't sure he could even begin to wrap his ears around what Scootaloo was saying.

"Because she was trying to kill you, it's your call to forgive her," snarled Scootaloo, "I don't buy that for a second. Do you have any idea what it was like for me and Fluttershy, huh?"

She whirled around, glaring at Dawn even as still more tears ran down her face. "We thought you were gonna die! It was like that time with Red River and Storm Front all over again. Only, this wasn't some kind of test or weird martial arts style psychology treatment. That mare really was trying to kill you and she nearly succeeded. You think it's okay because she ultimately didn't, because it was your life on the line. But it's not okay at all!

"I NEARLY LOST YOU!" She was screaming now. "You were there in that cave, bleeding all over the floor! Even when Storm put that bandage on you, it was still leaking before we'd even gotten to the air. We flew as fast as we possibly could to get you to the hospital in time, but even then I was afraid that we hadn't made it. The doctor told us that you were out of danger, that you just needed to rest. But when I looked at you, all I could think about was just how close he had been to telling us the opposite, that it would be the last time I would get to see you before your funeral, that the only thing I would be able to do was say goodbye."

She was sobbing openly now. Dawn wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pulled her into a tight hug, simply sitting as she continued to sob. "When I saw your eyes open after that," she said, "I was so relieved because, all night, all I could think about was what it would be like if we couldn't train together anymore, if I didn't get to learn anything else from you, if I never got to hold you, if I never got to kiss you again, if I would never see your eyes again." She pulled away just enough to look Dawn in the eyes. "Fluttershy felt the same way, but she didn't want me to get even more upset on her account."

Her hoof thudded against his chest. "That's why you don't get it. You think that, when you go out and fight somepony, as long as you're the only one in danger of getting killed, it's alright, that nothing else matters. But you're wrong!" She leaned in again, pressing her forehead against Dawn's shoulder. "If Fluttershy and I lost you, can you even begin to imagine how much it would hurt; not just us, but Caramel, mom, Rainbow Dash, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Twilight, Arkenstone, Red, Storm, Applejack, Ditzy, even Dinky? That's why I'm mad. Shade Steel didn't just hurt you. She hurt all of us. She terrified all of us and she would have actually been proud of herself if she'd actually done it. She apologized to you. But what has she done to apologize to the rest of us, to show that she understands just how badly she hurt everypony?"

Dawn was silent, mulling over Scootaloo's words. Her angry rant had driven home how selfish he had been. It was the same selfishness that had almost prompted him to leave Ponyville after Willow's attack, that had driven him to go face Storm Front and Red River for his "execution." Every time he had left them behind on some kind of life-risking venture, whether to Cloudsdale or Diamond Mountain, he had been selfish, putting his life at risk without thinking about how those left behind would suffer if anything had happened to him. Having friends and loved ones is so much more complicated than I thought.

Finally, he found the words to say. "You're right, I'm sorry." He nuzzled Scootaloo's cheek. "I wasn't thinking about that at all. I should have been. I'm so sorry for scaring and worrying you."

"Y-you should be," said Scootaloo with a sniff.

"Even though I know how you feel now, I can't promise that I won't go and put my life at risk again," he said softly.

"I know," she whispered back, "I wouldn't ask you to do that. But, even then...I want you to think about how we feel. I want you to try your hardest to keep living, to not just give up and let some wound that somepony else gave you end you. I want you to always try your hardest to come back to us. Can you do that?"

"I will," promised Dawn, tightening his hold on Scootaloo, "However, can you try to forgive Shade Steel for what she did?"

"I don't want to," muttered Scootaloo petulantly, "How can you forgive her so easily anyway?"

"Because I know how much trouble it is to hold a grudge," said Dawn.

"Huh?"

Dawn sighed and began to gently stroke a hoof through Scootaloo's mane. "Remember how I spent a year in the Everfree? When I first went in there, I was furious at the ponies who persecuted me. In truth, the reason I went into the forest was because I was coming so close to snapping and doing something I would regret for the rest of my life, something I would never be able to undo.

"I hated those ponies for always trying to kill me for something I had no control over. I'd always done my best to not harm anypony, to be a good colt, to not strike down even the ponies who attacked me. But it didn't matter...not to them. In a rage, I simply gave up trying, because I felt that the alternative was giving in to that rage and razing a town or two with tornados. That would have made me into the monster they always thought I was."

"How could you forgive anypony for that?" asked Scootaloo, "How could you ever bring yourself to come out of there again?"

"I almost didn't," said Dawn, "For a long time, I'd resigned myself to spending the rest of my life in that forest. I trained and refined my techniques because there was nothing else to do, no job to be had, no ponies to be around. That was fine to me. As far as I was concerned, the rest of Equestria could rot.

"For the first few months, I stewed in my anger, always thinking about those ponies that had wronged me, thinking about how much I hated them, how much I would have loved to get back at them, all while knowing that I never would."

"How did you get over it?" asked Scootaloo.

"In a sense," replied Dawn, "I didn't, not until I came to Ponyville. That's the thing about holding a grudge. After a while, I realized that holding onto my hatred and wallowing in my own pain only made me tired. My anger seemed to consume everything inside me and, when it finally faded, there was nothing left. It left me feeling empty. That's exactly how I felt when I found mom.

"By the time I met her, I'd given up on feeling anything ever again. I was tired, too tired to even be angry anymore, perhaps too tired to keep on living." He felt Scootaloo shudder at his words and nuzzled into the base of her mane in an attempt to provide some comfort. "It was mom and you and everypony else who drew me back. You gave me a home, a family, and friends, a reason to keep on living and trying. I learned how to feel again. But I also learned to feel anger again as well. You remember how well that went."

Slowly, Scootaloo nodded against him. Dawn smiled. "That's why I can't bring myself to hold a grudge against Shade, especially not after she apologized to me. Trying to stay angry with her would have only made me feel worse later. I think it'll only make you feel worse too."

Scootaloo sniffed hard and pulled away from Dawn, looking into his eyes. "Okay," she said, "I'll try."

Dawn smiled and planted a feathery kiss on her lips. "That's all I can ask. Shall we go back?"

"Sure," said Scootaloo. However, as she was about to head back to the dining room, she caught a glance of herself in the reflection of a nearby window. "On second thought, let me find a bathroom. I need to wash up a little bit."

As Dawn and Scootaloo trotted off, a pair of pegasi stepped out from around the corner and watched their departure.

"Well," said the first one, the older of the two as she moved a hoof to brush some strands of her blue mane away from her eyes, "what do you think?"

The other pegasus grinned as her magenta eyes followed the two foals. "I like them. The filly's got a lot of spirit, a regular firecracker."

"I agree-Wait! I thought we were talking about the colt."

"Who cares about the colt? The filly's the one that interests me." The younger mare couldn't help but grin. "I heard she only started learning the Gale King a few months ago, but the way she moves..."

"It's the colt that Arkenstone and Spitfire are talking about," said the older mare, smacking a hoof against her forehead, "I still want to hear your opinion on him."

The younger mare sighed in resignation. "Fiiiine," she groaned, "He's not half-bad. I'll give him that much. He's obviously been around the block more than a few times. From the sound of things, he's got a good head on his shoulders and his heart's in the right place."

"More importantly," said the elder one, "His heart's in the right place, but it sounds like he's figured out how to keep from doing wrong in spite of that."

"Maybe," agreed the younger mare, "But he's still got a ways ago. Then again, I can see why Arkenstone and Spitfire like him. I think we should let him age a few more years though."

"Obviously," agreed the older mare.

"Now," said the younger one, "Tell me what you think of little Scootaloo there."

The older mare's eyes narrowed thoughtfully. "You're right about her spirit. She certainly has a few rough edges that need to be smoothed out."

"But..."

"But...I think she's worth looking at too. I've read the reports on her training sessions. It would seem that Dawn is being very thorough about hammering home the basics with her. If the way she moves now is any indication, that's going to pay huge dividends in the future."

"Time, talent, and inspiration," observed the younger mare, "She's laid out a very solid foundation. If her cutie mark is any indication, it would seem that she's given herself to pursuing the path of mastery, mind, body, and soul. I say we mark both of them as prospectives and call it good. I wonder what Sunny's going to think about them."

"Something snarky, I'm sure," said the older mare, "We'll find out soon."

The younger mare couldn't restrain an amused laugh. "I can't wait."

After that, the two pegasi quietly withdrew.

When Scootaloo and Dawn returned, almost everypony else had arrived for breakfast. Twilight and Arkenstone were seated next to Celestia, quietly chatting. Rainbow Dash had parked herself next to Melon, staring somewhat dully at the plate in front of her. Mayweather was also waiting in her seat. Pinkie Pie was carting heaps of food back and forth from the door that led to the kitchens, helped by Red River, Spike, and Apple Bloom. Even Trixie and Arcana had arrived, the two of them waiting quietly for the meal to begin. Strangely enough, Fluttershy and Caramel were still absent.

Shade was still huddled, cringing in her seat at the table under the various looks and glares being directed her way. Applejack sat next to her, occasionally giving the ex-Guardsmare a reassuring pat on the shoulder. Mayweather was seated on her other side, doing much the same from her position.

Shade looked up and shuddered at the sight of Scootaloo as she moved to sit down next to Melon, who regarded her daughter with a worried gaze. Scootaloo ignored her mother for the moment and instead focused her attention on Shade Steel, who quailed away from the filly's intense gaze.

Scootaloo's entry seemed to signal a halt to everything going on in the room as everypony's attention was drawn by the tension crackling between her and Shade.

It was Scootaloo who spoke first. "You have something you need to say," she said, "Not just to Dawn, but to all of us."

Shade glanced nervously at Applejack, then Mayweather. Both of them gave her an encouraging smile. She turned to face Scootaloo again and took a deep breath. "You're right," she said, "I owe everypony here an apology, not just Dawn. I am sorry for what I did. I was wrong and you have every right to hate me for it." She closed her eyes. "I don't know what else to say...What else could I say? Nothing I could say could ever take back the things I did."

"Ah know that feelin'," said Applejack softly. This scene was eerily familiar to her.

Scootaloo took a deep breath of her own, closing her eyes. As she let it out, her body relaxed. When she opened her eyes again, her gaze was calm. "I guess that'll have to be good enough," she said, "I can't quite forgive you yet."

"I understand," said Shade softly.

"But I can accept Dawn forgiving you, so I won't fight him on it anymore," Scootaloo finished, "Now, it's time for our Hearth's Warming breakfast! Where the hay are Caramel and Fluttershy?"

"Eek!" As though they had been summoned by Scootaloo's voice, Fluttershy and Caramel came bolting in through the dining room doors, preceded by Fluttershy's squeal, skidding to a stop near where Dawn was sitting. "I'm sorry we're late everypony," she said between pants, "Caramel and I overslept.”

Shade seemed to be mostly forgotten as Rainbow’s eyes narrowed and she looked at Fluttershy with a sly smile. However, she kept her mouth shut for the time being. Seeing the look on Applejack and Pinkie’s faces, Rainbow got the feeling she wasn’t the only one who had an inkling of what Fluttershy and Caramel had been up to last night. However, they would have to wait until a more opportune time to grill Fluttershy about the juicy details. She’s soooo lucky Rarity isn’t here right now.

Twilight coughed awkwardly. “Um…why don’t we go ahead and get breakfast over with. Then we can go and open the presents.”

“Awesome!” exclaimed Scootaloo, flying out of her seat, her previous anger clearly forgotten. Realizing that everypony was staring at her, the orange filly grinned sheepishly before sinking back into her seat.

Breakfast, while rather simple, was both filling and delicious. Over the course of the meal, Shade managed to find time to apologize to Fluttershy and Caramel as well. She was amazed at the warmth of Fluttershy’s acceptance. After they’d finished breakfast, Shade figured that she’d probably intruded enough on the Hearth’s Warming gathering and had gone her own way. Though everypony’s feelings about her were still mixed, they quickly managed to overcome their unease as they entered into one of the assembly rooms Celestia had set aside for them.

The center of the room was dominated by a large potted pine tree, decorated with ornaments and streamers. Its base was crowded with wrapped packages of various shapes and sizes, some large, some small. They’d been set there by the Palace servants when the group had arrived on their first day. The room even had its own Guard detail to keep any of the packages from being tampered with.

Dawn blinked as he surveyed the massive pile of presents. Even having been told about this old Hearth’s Warming tradition, it was amazing to see such an array of colorful gifts. Even more mind-boggling was the fact that some of them were for him.

The silence that had fallen over the room drew Dawn out of his reverie as he realized that everypony was looking at him with expectant smiles. “Um…yes?”

“Fluttershy told us that you haven’t ever really celebrated Hearth’s Warming before,” explained Twilight, “So we figured that you should get to be the first one to open a present.”

Dawn blinked and looked around, his eyes switching from one pony to another. “Really?”

“Yeah! Go for it!” exclaimed Scootaloo, her wings buzzing excitedly.

Dawn turned to look at his adoptive parents, both of whom were smiling contentedly as they watched him. Fluttershy gave him a slow nod. “Go ahead,” she whispered.

Dawn nodded and turned back to the pile of presents, his eyes roaming over the tags as he tried to pick out which ones were his. He was surprised when he noticed his name on one of the larger packages. This one had been done up with violet wrapping paper and pink bows. The color scheme seemed familiar to him. He had to hover off the ground to carefully lift the package off the pile. He wasn’t sure if the contents inside were fragile, so he worked slowly. As he read the tag, he noted that the package was from Twilight, Arkenstone, and Spike.

First Dawn tugged at the bow, untying the ribbon and pulling it off. After taking a moment to study the wrapping paper, he located the seams where it had been taped down and carefully used his feathers to pull them apart.

“Yeesh,” commented Spike dryly, “He unwraps presents like you, Twilight.”

“Hush,” admonished Twilight, blushing a little.

Dawn turned to regard them with a confused look. “Um…is it alright to tear it?” he wondered.

“Yeah!” shouted Scootaloo, “No need to be a neat freak. Go ahead and shred it!”

Dawn shrugged. “Okay…” Turning back to the package, he used his hooves to pull at the paper, tearing it open to reveal a wooden box. The box was made from a rich, purple-colored wood, coated with a finish that made it shine under the light and felt smooth to the touch. It was absolutely beautiful.

“Look inside,” prompted Arkenstone, his tone surprisingly eager.

Dawn slipped his feathers carefully underneath the seam of the lid on the box and pulled it up. His eyes widened at what he found. Carefully packed in the box in segregated, padded compartments were the implements of his own tea-making set. A cast iron kettle sat in one compartment, while a teapot made from purple clay rested in the other. Between them, in their own compartments, rested four small cups, along with all the other paraphernalia needed to brew his own tea. The last compartment carried a metal canister, which Dawn carefully lifted out and opened. A sniff confirmed to him that it contained the special blend of spiced tea that was his favorite amongst all of Arkenstone’s different creations.

“This is for me?” asked Dawn, stunned as he turned back to Twilight, Spike, and Arkenstone.

The three of them nodded back at him, all smiling widely. “Keep in mind, that teapot is for that one blend of tea only,” said Arkenstone, “Don’t go trying other teas with it or you’ll ruin the flavor.”

Dawn nodded and returned to regarding the incredibly lavish gift. Even the wood the box was made of was clearly special. It took him a while to find the words, even though it was obvious what he needed to say. “Thank you.”

He felt arms around him and looked up to see that Fluttershy had wrapped him in a loving hug. “Why don’t you pick another one,” she whispered.

Dawn nodded. Already, the others were picking out their own packages and opening them. Happy exclamations filled the room as ponies uncovered their presents. It was clear that they were all liking what they found.

Applejack had given Rainbow Dash a keg of “Special Reserve” cider, something that apparently had Rainbow flying in exuberant circles. “Don’t drink it all in one go,” said Applejack with a wink as the cerulean mare finally stopped and descended to hug the keg like it was some kind of stuffed animal.

Twilight, of course, received a small library of books for her…library… As it had been on her birthdays and previous Hearth’s Warmings, the biggest challenge was finding literature that she hadn’t already acquired.

Pinkie was ecstatic to receive a package from Rarity that contained a variety of exotic treats and confections imported from Equestria’s neighbors and beyond, a package that Arkenstone and Twilight had helped to assemble.

From Spike, Apple Bloom received her own, specially made drafting set, containing everything she needed to start designing her own creations. When she saw what she had received, Bloom tackled Spike with a happy squeal and planted a wet kiss on his lips as the young dragon’s tail beat out a happy tempo on the floor.

Dawn found a second, smaller package. Surprisingly, this one was from Caramel and…”Bon Bon?” Dawn turned to look at his prospective adoptive father in confusion. He knew who Bon Bon was, of course, and had met Caramel’s employer/business partner on multiple occasions and had even had pleasant, albeit short conversations with her. However, Dawn didn’t count her as among the ponies who would have given him a present. After all, while he’d found her to be a perfectly pleasant mare, she did run a sweet’s shop, which was a bit outside his usual tastes.

Caramel laughed at the look of confusion on Dawn’s face. “Well, when Bon Bon found out you don’t like sweets all that much, I think she took that as a personal challenge. She was pretty determined to come up with a candy that you would like, no matter what. She hooved this box to me before we left for Canterlot.

Dawn frowned, contemplatively rather than frustratedly, as he eyed the box. He’d tried some of Bon Bon’s candies before. Some of them had tasted quite good. It certainly wasn’t the flavor that made him keep his distance. Rather, the sweetness of the treats always tended to make him woozy afterwards, even if he’d only had a little. It wasn’t even the nice kind of wooziness that he’d seen the adults get whenever they’d imbibed enough (but not too much) liquor. Rather, it was the kind of wooziness that had the colt marking out the fastest routes to all the restrooms and bathrooms in the vicinity in case said wooziness transitioned into outright indigestion.

The symptom was a consequence of one of Dawn’s less pleasant experiences after being taken in by Fluttershy. Fresh out of the Everfree Forest, Dawn’s constitution had been acclimated towards extremely light fare, grasses, herbs, nuts, and berries. As a consequence, his first experience with one of Pinkie Pie’s cupcakes and its collection of flours, sugars, and fats, had resulted in him spending a couple hours in the bathroom being violently ill. From there, it had been a long, somewhat tedious road to help Dawn get accustomed to the more complex foods favored in civilized communities, particularly those that relied heavily upon processed ingredients.

According to Twilight and the doctor at the hospital, there was no actual, physical reason for Dawn to have such adverse reactions to candy and sweets anymore, which had led to Twilight suggesting that Dawn’s reactions were more psychosomatic than physical. The initial impression left in his subconscious by that first experience with a cupcake had subsequently soured all future attempts to indulge in anything sweet or overly rich.

So it was with no small degree of trepidation that Dawn opened the rather fancy-looking black box and looked down at the rows of dark-brown, some almost black, orbs, their shiny coats hidden by light dustings of cocoa powder on some, cinnamon on others. Still, seeing the hopeful look on his father’s face made Dawn cautiously lift out one of the darker ones. Carefully, Dawn bit into the truffle, not feeling quite brave enough to pop the whole treat in his mouth.

His first thought was that the taste was bitter, as the soft chocolate melted over his tongue. However, that bitterness was quickly washed out by a deep, complex flavor, complimented by the heat of chili powder that had been mixed in with the cocoa. On his tongue, Dawn could taste only the slightest hint of sweetness, just enough sugar to curb the bitterness and keep it from being overwhelming. As he savored the taste, Dawn’s memory called to mind something he’d read in one of the books he’d once checked out from Twilight’s library, something about chocolate, which had originally come from the lands south of Equestria, once being used primarily in savory and spicy applications before it had been brought to Equestria, where somepony had contrived the idea of adding sugar and other methods of processing in order to create the sweet confections it was known for today. Dawn imagined that those original chocolate dishes had a flavor probably akin to this. It was deep, complex, and delicious. Dawn was shocked as he marveled at the ganache of the remainder of the piece, still pinched delicately between his primaries.

“That flavor’s something else, huh,” said Caramel with a jubilant smile.

Without bothering to respond, Dawn popped the remainder of the truffle into his mouth and closed his eyes to completely enjoy the flavor as it washed across his tongue. Even the usual richness that such candies possessed had been curbed, just enough that it melted smoothly in his mouth, but still felt light enough to keep his stomach from churning in protest.

“Amazing,” gasped Dawn after swallowing, staring in awe at the rest of the treats in the box.

“Try one of the cinnamon-coated ones,” said Caramel, giving Dawn a sly smile, “I think you’ll be surprised.

Dawn nodded and lifted one of the lighter brown truffles from the box. Once again, he took a careful first bite and allowed his mouth to explore the flavor. This one was both sweeter and richer than the dark-chocolate one he’d tasted earlier. However, that contrasted heavily with the flavor, in which dawn tasted mingled spices, like cinnamon, cloves, and cardamon, as well as a few others, which mixed with a flavor that he immediately recognized. Tea! In fact the flavor of the truffle was very close to the favorite masala chai that had just been gifted to him by Arkenstone, Twilight, and Spike, with the flavorings being mildly adjusted to again account for the flavor and body afforded by the chocolate itself. Furthermore, the sweetness was clearly from honey, rather than regular sugar. Any uncomfortableness caused by his usual reticence towards sweets was curbed by the familiar spicy flavor of his favorite beverage.

Once again, Dawn quickly shoved the remainder of the truffle into his mouth and hummed in appreciation, savoring the flavors and scents as they spread across his tongue and the aromas of the various spices were carried up into his nasal passages.

When he finally swallowed, Dawn once again felt himself staring down into the small box, looking at the truffles. For the first time, he didn’t feel the usual uncomfortable churning of his stomach that usually came with consuming such foods. Instead, he almost felt a craving, something that beckoned him to try more. However, his stomach felt more than full and Dawn decided to instead close the box and set it aside.

“Good idea,” said Caramel with a chuckle, “You don’t want to make yourself sick on stuff you actually like, like what happened with the cider.” He winced as Fluttershy elbowed him sharply in the side. Caramel grinned sheepishly as Fluttershy gave him a wan look. "Sorry..."

Dawn shook off the slight unease that bubbled up in his stomach at the memory. Instead, he set the box aside and went up to wrap his arms around Caramel's neck in a hug. "Thanks dad," he said softly.

Caramel's face sported one of the happiest grins Fluttershy had ever seen as he hugged Dawn back. Fluttershy tittered happily as she watched them, glad that Dawn's first real Hearth's Warming was turning into something truly special for him.

Author's Note

This chapter is the biggest example of what I was talking about earlier with how Shade Steel's role in the story impacted the plot in ways I wasn't expecting. Her insertion into the story at this point resulted in a rather poignant conversation between Dawn and Scootaloo that I had not been anticipating when I first dropped Shade into the mix. It's just one of those examples of how characters can get away from you and take on a life of their own beyond what you originally intended for them.

In many ways, the biggest slowdown that came from writing this story was this part, where I ended up stalling quite a bit because I just couldn't come up with ideas for presents for everypony. Even amongst gifts given and received by significant characters, I could only come up with a scant handful of ideas and, consequently, have limited myself to describing the ones that are most significant to the story itself, mixed in with a few other incidental ones and the ideas that I managed to come up with that I really liked. Because of that, the gifts described in this and the next chapter feel somewhat lopsided to me and the next chapter may need some more heavy editing before it goes up.

Next chapter: Scootaloo gets a big present.

Gifts and Galas

Chapter 22: Gifts and Galas:

"How're ya liking your presents so far, squirt?" asked Rainbow Dash as she trotted up behind Scootaloo.

"They're great!" said Scootaloo, setting down the jar of healing balm she'd received from Twilight. The cream had been spelled with some healing magic to ease the pain of bruises and pulled muscles that the filly might accumulate over the course of her training. All the presents she'd gotten from her friends so far had been fantastic.

"I've got something special for you," said Rainbow, chuckling at the sight of Scootaloo's eyes lighting up.

"Really? What is it?" Jumping to her hooves, Scootaloo's wings spread in excitement as she gaped up at her idol, waiting expectantly to see what Rainbow had for her.

"Check this out," said Rainbow, pulling out a thin package.

Practically trembling with excitement, Scootaloo took the present from her sister’s hooves and pulled the wrapping paper off. However, her excitement faded slightly when she saw that the wrapping paper concealed a plain manila envelope. Maybe it’s a Wonderbolts season pass or a poster or something… Carefully, she opened the envelope and withdrew the papers within. To her disappointment, the papers turned out to be plain documents, several of which were composed of very small text that Scootaloo had trouble reading and it hurt her eyes to even try. Instead, she tried to make sense of the titles on top of the pages which, at least, were of a more sensible font-size.

“Transfer of title…Proof of ownership…Insurance…Mortgage, paid in full…Taxes…” Scootaloo couldn’t make heads or tails of what they were supposed to be. “What the hay is this?” she asked, looking up at Rainbow in confusion.

Rainbow merely chuckled and ruffled Scootaloo’s mane before pulling out a single sheet of paper and holding it up where she could see it. This document appeared to be more easily legible than the other ones as Scootaloo’s eyes scanned over it. “This document hereby certifies that ownership of the airborne property: lot 1368 has been awarded to Scootaloo of Ponyville, to be held in trust by Melon Cream until she comes of age…” Once again, Scootaloo looked up at Rainbow for clarification. “I still don’t get it.”

Rainbow couldn’t help but grin at Scootaloo. "Remember, because they can be moved freely, cloud houses don’t have addresses. Instead, they’re given lot numbers to identify and locate them. That lot number just happens to belong to a certain house in Ponyville…”

“A certain house…?” Scootaloo’s eyes widened as she realized what Rainbow was saying. “Your house?” Rainbow nodded in response. Scootaloo’s eyes widened further, until they threatened to roll out of her head. “You gave me your house?” Another nod.

Scootaloo couldn’t believe it. She’d known that she’d probably move out of her mom's house at some point. She’d always wondered if she would end up with a ground house or if she’d be able to get a cloud house like Rainbow Dash had. Never in a million years had she imagined that she’d own Rainbow’s house. “But why?”

“Listen squirt,” said Rainbow, gently running a hoof through Scootaloo’s mane. Reaching out with her wing, Rainbow pulled the filly up against her side. “I know this is gonna be tough to accept, but I’m gonna be leaving Ponyville in the spring, as soon as Winter Wrap Up’s done, I’m gonna be transferring to Cloudsdale to stay at the Wonderbolt headquarters.”

Oh! That’s right, thought Scootaloo, her heart growing heavy. She realized that she should have figured that out sooner. Of course Rainbow would have to leave Ponyville. The Wonderbolts certainly didn’t stay there and Rainbow was one of them now. It was inevitable that she’d be leaving the town behind at some point.

“When I leave for Cloudsdale, I’m not gonna need my house anymore,” said Rainbow, “That’s why I want you to have it. When you’re old enough to move out of your mom’s place, that house is gonna be waiting for you. It’s been completely paid off and everything. Part of my earnings as a Wonderbolt are gonna go towards paying the taxes on that place for the next ten years.”

Scootaloo couldn’t help it. For the second time that day, she felt tears building up behind her eyes as her nose began to clog. She sniffed hard. She wasn’t entirely sure if she was crying in happiness or sadness. Most likely, it was both. After all, she was sad that Rainbow would be leaving. But, at the same time, she couldn’t help but be overjoyed at the gift she was receiving in exchange.

“I promise to visit as often as I can,” said Rainbow. In an uncharacteristic gesture, she leaned down to plant a soft kiss on Scootaloo’s forehead, “No matter what, you’re still my favorite and most awesome little sister in the whole wide world and I promise that, no matter what, I’ll never leave you hanging.”

Scootaloo was fighting hard to keep from bawling now. She didn’t want to break down crying twice in one day. Seeing how hard she was trying to keep from crying, Rainbow thought of a way to turn things around. “Can I ask you one favor though, squirt?”

“Wha-what is it?” asked Scootaloo now turning up to look Rainbow in the eyes again.

Rainbow grinned sheepishly down at her. “Well…now that you’re technically, you know, the owner of my house…is it okay if I’m still living there for a couple more months…you know, until spring comes and I have to move out?”

Scootaloo couldn’t help it. Her sniffs and sobs were replaced by giggles and then by laughter as she hugged Rainbow tightly. “Of course you can! In fact, no matter what, you’re always allowed to stay there whenever you’re in Ponyville.”

Rainbow grinned mischievously down at the filly. “Careful there squirt, I may just take you up on that.”

Off to one side, Melon smiled and wiped away a tear that had gathered at the corner of her eye as she watched her daughter and Rainbow chatting animatedly. My little girl is growing up so fast.

Fluttershy and Caramel leaned against each other in quiet bliss as they watched Dawn opening another one of his presents. Neither of them had felt compelled to open their own just yet. The sight of the colt enjoying the first real Hearth’s Warming day of his life was a much better present than either of them could have thought to ask for.

As the two of them watched, Dawn was slowly approached by Scootaloo, who was carrying a wrapped box under one of her wings.

“Dawn,” said Scootaloo, prompting the colt to look up at the sound of her voice, “I got this for you.” She presented him with the box.

It was flat and broad. Pulling of the wrapping paper, Dawn saw that it was a framed picture. Looking at it, he smiled warmly at the memory the picture contained. It was a picture of him and Scootaloo, him in his suit and her in her dress, taken on the night that they had gone to the Harvest Festival together, their first official date.

“Your room’s too boring, you know,” said Scootaloo in a vaguely teasing tone, “You need some decorations in there. I thought this would be a good start.”

“It is,” said Dawn, “The first of many, I hope.”

Scootaloo nodded and quickly darted in to steal a kiss from Dawn. The ebony colt quickly went to the rapidly dwindling pile under the tree and pulled out a box of his own, which he hooved over to Scootaloo. The box was small, easily resting on top of Scootaloo’s outstretched hoof. She quickly pulled the wrapping paper off. A sharp gasp escaped her throat as she opened the box, the light coming in from outside catching on the violet facets of the cut amethyst suspended within the small, silver pendant.

“It’s beautiful,” whispered Scootaloo.

Dawn used his primaries to lift the piece of jewelry out of the box and loop the chain around Scootaloo’s neck, fastening the clasp so that it hung freely.

“How does it look?” asked Scootaloo, blushing shyly as Dawn looked at her.

“Perfect,” replied Dawn with a happy smile as he leaned in for a longer, slower kiss.

The two of them parted at the sound of Fluttershy’s giddy giggles. Looking over, Dawn saw that his parents hadn’t moved from their original spots, both of them watching him with contented looks on their faces.

Realizing something, Dawn dove once again into the pile of presents and came out with two, which he carried over to Caramel and Fluttershy, presenting them with their respective gifts. “These are from me,” he explained, “Grandpa was a big help in getting yours, mom.”

Fluttershy carefully unwrapped her long, narrow box. As she lifted up the lid, she inhaled sharply before carefully, almost reverently, lifting out the object within. It was a single, large feather, bright green in color, but with blue and purple highlights that seemed to move across its surface in ripples as she tilted it to catch the light from different angles. It was faint, but Fluttershy fancied that she could feel a faint tingle of magic from the plume. “Is this a coatl feather?”

Dawn nodded. “Grandpa managed to locate some traders who carried one. He even got a reasonable price for it.” Apparently, trading in coatl feathers, which were considered a token of good fortune by many ponies, was a brisk trade, particularly in the southern areas of Equestria. Fortunately, poaching such creatures was more or less impossible, since they could be as dangerous as any dragon when roused, even for the young ones.

“It’s beautiful,” said Fluttershy as she set the feather back in its box, “Thank you so much.” Leaning down, she nuzzled Dawn fondly before they both turned to watch Caramel open his own present.

The tan stallion removed the wrapping paper and opened the box to reveal a thick binder. Flipping through the binder, Caramel’s eyes widened as they swept across a variety of recipes for different candies and confections. “Arkenstone, Red River, and Storm Front helped me to put those together,” explained Dawn, “Those are recipes from the eastern nations, like Saddle Arabia and Guoxia.”

“This is amazing,” said Caramel, “I can’t wait to try my hoof at making some of these. I’ll bet some of these treats would be a big hit at the shop.” He closed the book and wrapped the colt in a hug. “Thank you Dawn.”

Dawn merely smiled as he enjoyed the stallion’s embrace.

“Here,” said Twilight, levitating a box over to Trixie, “This is for you.”

“For me?” gasped Trixie, taking the box in her hooves and staring down at it.

Twilight nodded and gave the other mare an encouraging smile. “Rarity and I both helped to make it. Your brother was actually the one who commissioned it though.”

“Oh?” Trixie blinked and looked sidelong at Arcana, who feigned indifference. Pulling off the wrapping paper, Trixie opened the box and looked inside. Her jaw dropped as her eyes caught the familiar sight of purple fabric, studded with glittering stars. “It’s…!”

She lifted her new cape out from the box and examined it more closely. If anything, it was even better than her old one. The stars glittered like they were made from gems that had been sewn into the fabric, while the purple shimmered under the light. “It’s amazing,” she said. She quickly pulled the cape around herself so that it draped across her back. Looking into the box again, Trixie saw that they had also made her a new hat. With a happy sigh, she lifted it onto her head. “This is wonderful. I only wish I still had my magic right now. Then I could put on a show.”

“I’m sure you will once you finish your training,” said Twilight.

“These articles feel so much more luxurious than my last ones,” said Trixie, spinning about and watching her cape billow with the motion, “What on earth did Rarity make it from?”

“It’s actually a new fabric she and I have been working on,” explained Twilight, “We call it shimmersilk. Yours is actually the first piece of clothing that Rarity’s made with it.”

“Really?” gasped Trixie.

Twilight nodded. “There’s something else too,” she said. Lowering her horn, Twilight leveled it at Trixie and fired a burst of magic. The beam of magical energy struck the cape, creating an aura that spread out to reach Trixie’s hat as well. The two pieces of clothing began to stretch and warp. Then, with a flash, they transformed. Suddenly, Trixie found herself clad in a stunning evening gown decorated with the same glittering stars that had been on her cape and hat.

“It transforms!” gasped Trixie, taking a new look at herself, “That’s amazing.”

Twilight couldn’t help but grin in triumph. Shimmersilk had actually emerged as a product of her research into the arcanasteel ring that was currently hidden within her horn. Twilight had been inspired to conduct more in-depth research into substances and materials that could be used as magical conduits. Shimmersilk was one of the more successful results. Rarity and Twilight had taken regular silk and treated it with a recipe of alchemical reagents. The final product had proven to be many things at once, durable, comfortable, light, and extremely versatile, in more ways than one. One of the things that the two of them had been able to work out about shimmersilk was that it could be magically “programmed” to assume different forms when magic was channeled through the fabric. The only downside that those forms had to be incorporated at the time of the garment’s creation and, as far as they could tell, no garment made from shimmersilk could maintain more than three different forms in total.

“Thank you so much for this,” said Trixie as she twirled about in her dress, “It’s such a wonderful gift.” She sighed. “I just wish I would be able to use it. Once I finish my training, I won’t be able to use the spells necessary to transform it.”

“That’s the nice thing about it,” said Twilight, “You don’t have to. The different forms your hat and cape can take have already been laid into the fabric itself. All you need to do is channel your magic through it. It’s just like flipping a switch.”

“Oh!” gasped Trixie, looking down at her dress again, “That’s wonderful.” She quickly rushed up and hugged Twilight. “This is the best Hearth’s Warming present anypony’s ever given me!”

“I’m happy for you,” said Twilight with a giggle as she hugged Trixie back.

After they separated, Trixie blushed and smiled sheepishly at Twilight. "Um...can you turn it back now?"

"Oh!" exclaimed Twilight, "Of course."

"How are you liking your present?" asked Rarity as Flaxseed stared wordlessly at the item in his hooves.

The item in question was a brand new abacus, made from high-quality woods and polished to perfection. The sound of the beads clicking as they moved along the length of the rods was like music to Flaxseed's ears. When he'd been working on the Carousel Boutique's finances earlier that year, he'd had to simply use a great deal of scratch paper to work everything out. Having this abacus would simplify things and the fact that it was such a high-quality one meant he would get many years of use out of it.

"It's wonderful," said Flaxseed, a warm feeling settling in his stomach. It was amazing how much a simple gift could mean, especially after all the things he had been through. It had been an excessively long time since anyplace had truly felt like home to him, but Ponyville was clearly one of those places.

However, even as gratitude welled up within him, Flaxseed couldn't help but feel guilt accompany it. "This is such a wonderful gift," he said, "I'm sorry I couldn't get anything for you."

"Don't worry about it darling," said Rarity with ease, "I understand that your finances are not very liquid right now. However, I do know of something akin to a gift, a favor that you could do for me."

"Name it," said Flaxseed quickly.

Rarity grinned at him. "I need you to go over the books again," she said, "You see, while we were getting ready for the pageant at the Palace, I was approached with a most interesting proposition. It seems that there is a young mare apprenticing in Canterlot who wants to finish said apprenticeship under me. I need you to go over our finances and see if there is any way we can squeeze in room for an extra pony here."

Flaxseed tapped a hoof against his lips thoughtfully. "Well...we had a little leeway," he admitted, "I'll have to check on the details. If we take out a small loan, we could cover everything but..."

"But debt can be a tricky thing to handle," said Rarity, nodding in agreement. It had taken a lot of work and care to pay off the original loans she had made to get her boutique built in the first place.

"I'm fairly certain that the bank can work out some reasonable terms," said Flaxseed quickly, "But let me get back to you on that when I find out what we have to work with to begin with."

"Thank you very much for that," said Rarity.

The sound of giggling drew her attention over to where Sweetie Belle and Luna were both enjoying a gift that Sweetie Belle had opened, a book of witty jokes from Pinkie Pie. It was a rather simple gift, but an enjoyable one nonetheless. Among other things Sweetie had received included a book on magical instruction, from Twilight, and a brand new glitter-encrusted Crusader cape from Apple Bloom and Scootaloo. The latter gift served as a heartwarming reminder that, though they'd found their cutie marks, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo wouldn't be abandoning the Crusaders, Sweetie Belle especially.

All in all, though it had been a smaller, more intimate gathering than what Rarity had been expecting, this had turned out to be quite the excellent Hearth's Warming. The previous night, after they had finished dinner, Sweetie had rushed out to pay a visit to Rumble, coming home late with a large goofy smile plastered across her face. It seemed being able to visit her coltfriend on that most important of evenings had only served to make it extra special for her. Rarity was glad that she had invited Sweetie along when Luna had promised to bring them to Ponyville.

Speaking of Rumble, his gift currently hung around Sweetie's neck. It was a light necklace of small, rosy-pink pearls that shined beautifully in the light. Though she hadn't checked, Rarity was fairly certain that they were cultured pearls, rather than natural ones. There was no way Rumble would have been able to afford a necklace of natural pearls after all, certainly not with the money he'd earned from working in the teashop for a few months. Still, given the colt's means, it was an impressively lavish gift, one that Rarity found to be extremely romantic. I must make certain that we make arrangements to get him to Canterlot for the Gala, she thought with a warm smile. It wouldn't do for Sweetie to be the only one out of her friends to be going without a date after all.

Luna looked up from where she'd been lying next to Sweetie as the two of them read through the book. Seeing Flaxseed made Luna's smile falter a little. But she quickly rallied and stood up to join them. "I wish to provide a Hearth's Warming gift for you as well, Flaxseed."

Shocked by Luna's words, Flaxseed's mouth had to work for a few minutes before he came up with an intelligible answer. "Um...th-that's n-not necessary, Your Highness...I mean, you don't need to get anything for me."

Luna chuckled. "Well...I have to admit that, after I learned about you, I did a little research into your situation. I found out what happened to you back when you were forced to leave home for the first time."

Flaxseed gave Rarity a questioning look. Rarity merely shrugged. "Don't look at me dear. I shared that information with Twilight, of course, but I trust her discretion."

"Twilight Sparkle never mentioned it to me," said Luna, "It was something I stumbled upon on my own. Anyway, after much research, I managed to uncover the location of your parents."

"Location?" said Flaxseed, blinking, "Are they still alive?"

"They are," said Luna, "They are currently living in a seaside town called Gallopoli. They have been doing quite well for themselves, if what I've heard is any indication, though they seem to be leery of trying to learn your fate."

"I don't blame them," said Flaxseed. It made sense. If they had tried too hard to look for him, then it would likely alert the Cult Solar to their location, as well as his, if they were successful. The leadership of the Cult most likely regarded his parents as traitors and criminals for aiding in his original escape.

"I am currently having a few members of the SES do a preliminary survey to make sure that they are not currently under the watch or control of the Cult Solar," explained Luna, "If they determine that it is safe, I will be more than happy to provide you with the information that you need to locate them so that you can visit them." She winked at Rarity. "Don't worry. After what happened with Shade Steel, Tia and I have been making sure to vet our Guards very thoroughly."

"I'm grateful for your help, Your Highness," said Flaxseed, bowing deeply, "I only wish that I could repay your kindness."

Luna smiled back at him. "If you wish to do that, then do your utmost to live healthily and happily. That is the greatest blow that a pony like you can strike against the Cult Solar, and that is the greatest solace that you can provide me."

Flaxseed grinned. "I'll do my best," he said, looking back at Rarity, then over at Sweetie Belle, both of whom favored him with happy smiles, "But, seeing the kind of ponies I've fallen in with, I don't think I'll have much choice in the matter, even if I didn't want to."

With a coy giggle, Rarity leaned in and planted a light kiss on his cheek, the second one she'd given him lately. Flaxseed could only blush as he listened to Sweetie and Luna's giggles.

After opening their presents, everypony was more or less free to do what they wished with the rest of their day. Twilight, Arkenstone and Spike departed to visit Twilight's parents, as well as Shining Armor and Cadance, who had spent the night and the following breakfast at their house. Everypony else spent the day enjoying their presents and each other's company. It wasn't until the day after that Rarity, Sweetie Belle, and Luna returned to the Palace to join the group.

The days following Hearth's Warming passed quite quietly. After the holiday had passed, the staff filtered back into the Royal Palace and business resumed like usual. However, for Celestia and Luna's guests, there was one last major event to look forward to before everyone returned to Ponyville.

"Are you sure that this is going to work out?" asked Twilight nervously as Rarity completed the final adjustments to her fitting.

"Absolutely dear," said Rarity with absolute conviction, "With this dress, you are going to be the toast of the evening and your special somepony won't be able to take his eyes off of you...so to speak."

"If you're sure..." said Twilight, feeling surprisingly nervous. Ever since she'd made this request of Rarity, she'd been somewhat dubious of her own plan. She was sure that Rarity was more than up to the challenge, but the real question was whether or not Arkenstone would notice the difference.

"I'm absolutely certain," said Rarity, "To be honest, I couldn't be happier that you've made this request of me. Your idea has opened up an entirely new dimension to my art and inspired me in ways that I had never thought possible. My muse hasn't stopped shouting into my ear for days on end."

"I'm really happy for that," said Twilight.

"Indeed," agreed Rarity, "Between this and the shimmersilk that we've developed I fully hope to obtain the Royal Warrant come springtime."

"That would be nice," said Twilight. Part of her felt a bit uneasy about the whole thing. The future of both Rarity and Applejack could hinge upon whether or not they were able to obtain the Royal Warrants for their respective businesses. While Twilight did not doubt that her two friends stood near the top of their respective fields, she couldn't help but worry. After all, Equestria was a big country. There were countless, highly skilled ponies who would be vying for the same honor and only a small hoofful could actually claim the prize.

Twilight desperately hoped that her friends were among that number.

"Eep!" Twilight's voice leaped out of her mouth in a shrill yelp as Rarity lightly pricked her with a pin between the shoulder blades.

"Come now dear," said Rarity, giving Twilight an amused smile, "This is no time for you to be pessimistic. We are here to indulge ourselves and, in your case, wile away the evening hours with your special somepony. This is not the time or place to be worrying about politics."

"Right," said Twilight in an irritable tone, "But did you have to stick me?"

"When you start one of those downward spirals of yours, drastic measures are sometimes required," declared Rarity loftily as she set her pins aside, "But we're all finished now. I'll have to have you step off the podium. After all, I have to get through the other girls next. How does your dress feel."

Twilight twirled about in her dress, analyzing the feeling of it against her coat and the skin underneath. "It feels amazing," she admitted. The fabric was incredibly soft and light, gliding against her coat in the most wonderful fashion. Though it was wrapped securely around her body, Twilight had the strange sensation that the dress almost always seemed to on the verge of floating away in the wind. She imagined that this is what wearing moonbeams might be like.

"Very good dear," said Rarity with a triumphant grin, "Would you like to stay for the rest of the girls. I'm sure that we could find some time for some highly interesting gossip."

"I'm sure we could," said Twilight, her mind drifting back to a previous session that they had enjoyed earlier in the week in the Royal baths.

"I must say," said Rarity with a sly tone as she glanced sidelong at Fluttershy, who was lounging on one of the underwater benches next the alabaster mare, "It would seem that this little vacation of ours was even better for some ponies than it was for others."

Fluttershy's cheeks turned a shade of light-pink as she gave Rarity a wary, yet friendly look. "Um...what do you mean?"

Rarity couldn't help but lift a hoof to her mouth as she giggled. "Fluttershy dear, you're glowing. You look positively radiant and you haven't even had your beauty treatment yet."

In perplexing display of combined shyness and happiness, Fluttershy's smile widened, even as the color in her cheeks deepened and she sank slightly in the water. "Ah...well..."

"Now tell me," said Rarity, leaning forward slightly, "Did something special happen between you and your stallion?"

"I'd say so," said Rainbow Dash in a teasing tone from where she sat, on Fluttershy's other side, "You should've seen the looks she was giving the guy after dinner on Hearth's Warming Eve. If you ask me, I think she gave Caramel an extra-special Hearth's Warming present."

Rarity couldn't contain her gasp of shock. "Really? Fluttershy! Is this true?"

"Rarity!" admonished Twilight sharply, "That's a private matter for Fluttershy. If she doesn't want to talk about it then we shouldn't pressure her."

Turning her attention from the irate unicorn across the bath from her, Rarity once again looked at Fluttershy, not at all surprised to see that the canary-colored mare was slowly sinking into the bathwater until it had come up to her muzzle. "She's right, of course. I'm terribly sorry Fluttershy. It isn't my place to pry."

Lifting herself just high enough above the waterline to free her mouth once again, Fluttershy gave Rarity a reassuring smile. "Don't worry Rarity. Actually...I wouldn't mind talking about it."

"So you did...?" prodded Rarity.

Silent, but still smiling, Fluttershy nodded.

"Oh!" gasped Rarity, an exclamation that was joined by the rest of the mares in the bath, "That's so wonderful dear."

"Ah gotta say," said Applejack, "Ah'm awfully impressed by yer gumption, sugarcube. Ah'd never think in a hundred years that ya'd be the first one 'o us to take that step with somepony."

"Tell me about it," said Rainbow Dash, waving a hoof above the water, "It used to be that Fluttershy couldn't even look at a stallion without turning into a shivering mess."

"I'm super-duper excited!" exclaimed Pinkie, "In fact, I'm so excited that I could throw a party!" She paused, seeming not to notice the utterly mortified looks of everypony else. "But Mr. and Mrs. Cake always tell me that's not the sort of thing that I should be making a party for."

"I should certainly hope not," said Rarity in agreement with the absent Cakes, "That is a private matter, not one to be broadcast across the width and breadth of Ponyville." She paused to cough delicately. "So anyway...how was it dear...if you don't mind me asking?"

"I don't," said Fluttershy in her usual soft, whispery voice, "It was...Well, it hurt at first."

"That is the norm for first times," said Rarity, nodding sagely.

"But after I got used to it, it was wonderful," said Fluttershy, her eyes drifting closed in blissful reminiscence, "Caramel was so gentle and warm..." She hummed softly.

Fluttershy was so lost in her memories of the event that she completely failed to notice that everypony else was blushing fiercely, save for Melon Cream, the only mare in the bath right now who'd had experience in such matters.

"It sounds like you've found somepony very special," said Melon with a knowing look as she watched Fluttershy, "You're very lucky to have found yourself such a wonderful special somepony."

"It sounds to me like the two of you might be looking at going farther than just sex," added Mayweather, who was blushing as much as the rest of the girls, "Are you two planning to tie the knot."

"Um...well...that's certainly a possibility," admitted Fluttershy, "If Caramel asked me, I wouldn't say no. Also...he's told me that he's going to be looking for buyers for his house."

"Hold on!" exclaimed Rainbow, nearly shooting out of the water in surprise, "You mean he's gonna be moving in with you."

"Well, that's pretty much the obvious course of action," said Twilight, "I mean, there's no way Fluttershy's going to give up all her animal friends and she can't bring them to Caramel's house, which is inside the town. So he'd pretty much have to move in with her."

Rainbow sagged slightly. "Um...yeah...well...that's true." She blushed as she heard Fluttershy's faint tittering.

"It sure looks like things are goin' mighty swell fer y'all," said Applejack, "Were pleased as punch fer ya."

"Thank you," said Fluttershy.

"Oh dear, I'm almost as excited as Pinkie Pie," said Rarity, rubbing her hooves together, "I can't wait to get started on your wedding dress!"

"And I get to plan the reception!" added Pinkie gleefully.

"Let's not get too far ahead of ourselves everypony," said Twilight, raising a hoof as she saw Fluttershy sinking back beneath the water, "Let's let Fluttershy take care of things at her own pace and just be ready for when she needs our help, okay."

"Yes, of course," said Rarity.

"Okey dokey lokey!" said Pinkie, seemingly oblivious to Fluttershy's near complete submersion.

"Sure, why not," said Twilight as her mind came back to the present, "It could be fun."

Spike yawned and stretched his arms upwards, arching his spine until the bones popped loudly. "Geez, is Rumble's train ever going to get here?”

“It will get here when it gets here,” said Dawn, eyeing the schedule, “It should only be a few more minutes. I am sure that there will be plenty of time to visit Donut Joe’s.” In truth, Dawn wasn’t quite enthused with the idea, given his lack of fondness for sweets. However, Spike had insisted that it was a tradition to visit the donut shop with the “guys” (though exactly who constituted the “guys” was a detail that Spike had been rather reluctant to define more thoroughly).

"Yeah, but we'll have to rush a little bit," groused Spike, "We'll need to get back to the Palace and change into our suits and then Rarity'll probably want to make some final adjustments or something."

Dawn couldn't help but smile slightly at Spike's irritation. "If I recall what the others have told me, there was a time when you would have been overjoyed at the idea of spending that much time close with Rarity."

Spike turned to glare at the ebony colt. "You know, sometimes I yearn for the days before you learned how to snark."

Dawn merely shrugged. "When in Roam..."

"I never thought that I'd honestly regret being a bad influence on somepony," said Spike as he slapped a hand to his face with a sigh.

Even as they bantered, Dawn kept a wary eye out. The platform wasn't exactly crowded, but it wasn't remotely close to deserted either. Now that the holiday had passed many ponies were either leaving Canterlot after coming to visit relatives or coming from doing the same abroad. Other trains were arriving at different platforms right now. Ponies were coming and going in droves.

Amongst them were no small shortage of the Canterlot upper-crust. Even as he and Spike waited, they were subjected to a large number of stares. Dawn supposed there was no helping it really. His eyes were an oddity that had the potential to attract a great deal of attention. Adding to that, thanks to the article that had been written about him, he was now known far and wide across Equestria. There was no shortage of ponies who recognized him. Spike, of course, being a dragon, was just as much of an oddity in his own way. Dawn was both grateful and mildly surprised that nopony had made any attempt to harass or even approach them.

Of course, amongst all the looks and stares, Dawn could make out the occasional expression of condescension, or even outright revulsion. Whether it was him or Spike that was drawing those reactions (possibly both), Dawn couldn't say.

Fortunately, the screech of brakes drew Dawn's attention back to the platform itself, where the train that had come through Ponyville was just now pulling in, just on time.

Dawn and Spike waited anxiously, watching the ponies stream off the train. Then, a young gray colt took to the air, lugging a small suitcase with him as his grayish-purple eyes swept over the platform until they alighted on Dawn and Spike. "Hey guys!" shouted Rumble as he swooped down to join them.

"'Bout time you got here," grumbled Spike.

"It's not as though he could have made the train go faster," Dawn pointed out.

"Yeah," added Rumble indignantly, "What'd you expect me to do, get out and push?"

"Sorry," said Spike, "I'm just really antsy. I've never actually had a date for the Winter Gala before. It's making me kinda nervous."

The two pegasus colts shared a confused look. "It can't be all that different from going to the Harvest Festival," said Rumble.

"Trust me, it's loads different," said Spike. Taking Rumble's suitcase from him, Spike hefted it over his shoulder. "Come on, we've got some donuts to eat before it's time."

"Ugh..." groaned Dawn as he stared ahead glumly, "I can't can't believe you talked me into that."

"Oh come on!" griped Spike, "You didn't even have half a donut."

Dawn didn't answer, still too preoccupied with getting his rebellious stomach back under control. It was a work in progress. Donut Joe's namesake confections were as sweet and decadent as any creation of Pinkie Pie's. Dawn had been reluctant to try his luck with one of them at first. However, continued prodding from Spike had prompted him to give in. I suppose Miss Cheerilee could use this for a lecture on why peer pressure is a bad thing, mused Dawn sourly.

At least Donut Joe had been understanding enough not to lose his temper when Dawn set aside the uneaten half of his donut and turned a disturbing shade of green. That had been an hour ago and Dawn's queasiness still hadn't completely subsided.

"You remind me a bit of what it's like for me whenever I go out with the other stallions for drinks," said Arkenstone as he trotted out to join them.

"But you don't drink," Caramel pointed out wryly.

"I can't," replied Arkenstone, "My liver is deficient of the enzyme that metabolizes alcohol. When I drink, rather than get drunk, I simply get sick. I have no tolerance to speak of."

The males, both colts and stallions, were presently waiting outside the dressing room, or rather, Rarity's guest suite in the Royal Palace, which she had at less partially converted into an extension of her boutique. The girls were within, getting their final fittings for their dresses, while the stallions, colts, and one dragon, waited with varying degrees of patience outside.

"Geez, I'm starting to get a weird sense of deja-vu," muttered Spike.

The others nodded. After all, this was starting to become a familiar situation for all of them. A few minutes later, the doors swung open. Dawn couldn't keep a warm smile from his face as Scootaloo came striding out, looking a bit shy, even blushing slightly as she approached him. She was wearing the same dress that she'd worn to the Harvest Festival, but had augmented it with the pendant that he'd given her for Hearth's Warming. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle followed her, both of them likewise clad in their own dresses from the festival. Like Scootaloo, Sweetie's ensemble was augmented by the pearl necklace Rumble had given her.

"Well, Bloom I can understand," said Spike, "But I'm surprised that Rarity didn't at least make Sweetie a new dress."

Sweetie Belle shrugged. "Well, Rarity got really busy making dresses for the others. I didn't want to bother her."

Spike nodded sagely. He knew from experience that Rarity would work herself to the bone for the sake of her friends and family if asked. Nopony was keen to put that kind of pressure on her when she already had her hooves full running her own business.

"It's bad enough that she wouldn't stop fussing with our manes," grumbled Scootaloo, using a hoof to idly play with some strands of her mane. Dawn hooked his fetlock around her own and pulled her hoof back down, prompting Scootaloo to give him a questioning look.

"You don't want her to drag you back in, do you?" inquired Dawn in a playful tone, prompting a giggle from Scootaloo.

"Good heavens Scootaloo! Do not ruin your mane already!" protested Rarity from within, making Scootaloo wince.

"She's scary sometimes," muttered the orange filly.

The doors now swung open wide to reveal Rarity, poised in a dress of stunning royal-purple and dark-blue highlights. The dress glittered as countless small gemstone fragments caught the light. As Rarity moved to stride out from the doors, her audience's ears could pick up the faint tinkling sound almost reminiscent of dozens of tiny bells playing. She passed between Caramel and Red River.

Caramel's nose twitched as he picked up a faint smell in the air. "Smells like...roses," he said after a moment.

"Indeed," said Rarity, spinning about and waving an imperious hoof at the doorway, "May I present to you...the future of Equestrian fashion!"

Applejack was first out of the gate, clad in a deep, forest-green dress with undulating borders of tan along the hem, which complemented her stetson. Her hooves were clad in boots that clicked in a pleasant staccato against the marble floor as she trotted towards Red River with a slight but sultry smile on her face.

"What do ya think sugarcube?" she asked teasingly as she turned to brush the skirt of her dress across Red's flank.

Red blinked as the fabric slid across his coat. At first, he thought it felt slightly coarse. But that was countered by an almost feathery softness. As the dress passed under his nose, Red's nostrils were tantalized by the faint scent of apples (What else?), with lingering notes of cinnamon, nutmeg, and the faint odor of citrus. "It's wonderful," he said as Applejack sidled up next to him, "But the scent is making me a little hungry."

"There'll be food at the Gala hun," said Applejack with a chuckle, "Ya can wait."

Pinkie Pie was next, bouncing out of the room with a heavily ruffled gown that seemed to float about her with each bounce. The gown was a mix of pink and yellow stripes that flowed away from Pinkie's back towards the skirt behind her. Like Rarity, her motions were accented by the sound of bells, or rather, a bell, striking a faint, but clear note every time she came down after going up.

Mayweather accompanied Pinkie out of the dressing room, clad in a rather simple dress with the same green, blue, and magenta color-scheme as her mane and tail. She couldn't help but smile as she leaned up against Pinkie, forcing the energetic party pony to settle onto the floor and relax a little. Leaning against Pinkie's dress was like sinking into a fluffy pillow as Mayweather breathed in the aromas of flour and yeast, accompanied by the faintest hint of chili peppers, which seemed to have been woven into the fabric as thoroughly as the threads that made it up.

"Easy there, try to save something for the actual party," said Mayweather playfully.

"Aww...Okay..." Pinkie sagged a little at the idea of restraining herself, but acquiesced nonetheless. Mayweather couldn't help but giggle in response.

"My turn!" exclaimed Rainbow Dash, coming out after Pinkie and Mayweather had cleared the doorway. As she came out, she spun in place slightly to give her audience a sideways view of her, allowing the light-blue feathery wisps that made up her skirt to flare out like an extra set of wings, sending the refreshing scent of rainfall washing over the group. "What do ya think, squirt?" asked Rainbow, grinning at Scootaloo.

"It looks awesome," said Scootaloo, grinning back up at her idol.

"It certainly fits her well," added Melon Cream as she followed in Rainbow's wake, a warm smile on her face. Like Mayweather, Melon hadn't gotten the chance to get one of Rarity's new brand of creations made for her. However, she made a fine picture in her own right, wearing a silky, deep crimson dress that flashed in the light as she walked.

"You're coming too mom?" asked Scootaloo, a bit surprised to see her mother, of all ponies, there.

"The Princesses were kind enough to invite me as well," said Melon with a warm smile. Leaning down, she whispered into Scootaloo's ear, "Don't worry, I'll keep my distance so that you don't get smothered."

"Thanks mom," said Scootaloo, taking the opportunity to nuzzle her mother's cheek.

"Alright then," said Rarity, turning her attention back to the doorway, "Fluttershy! It's your turn."

"Oh...okay..." Fluttershy tentatively stepped into view, blushing slightly as she saw Caramel watching her.

Caramel's heart thudded alarmingly in his chest as he got to see Fluttershy's new dress. The whole affair was the same shade of teal as her eyes. It clung closely to her frame, showing off her slender figure and whispered quietly with every step she took. Her flowing pink mane had been drawn back and tied into a tail, not unlike the style Applejack usually wore. As she closed in with Caramel, he caught a whiff of fresh pine wafting through the air. Hooking his neck around Fluttershy's, his chin brushed up against the fabric of the dress where it came over her shoulders. It felt silky smooth against him.

"Do you like it?" asked Fluttershy softly.

"I love it," said Caramel, pulling back away from her, planting a light kiss on the side of her neck as he did so, which prompted a giggle from Fluttershy as her blush deepened.

"You look wonderful, mom," commented Dawn from where he stood next to Scootaloo and Melon, which only made Fluttershy smile more widely.

"Well then," said Rarity, pulling her gaze away from the lovebirds, "Last, but certainly not least...Twilight dear...It's time for your debut."

"Okay..." Surprisingly, Twilight Sparkle seemed even more uncertain that Fluttershy had. She carefully sidled into view. Her mane had been tied up tightly into a bun behind the back of her head. She was clad in a dress of an even darker, deeper shade of purple than Rarity's. The hem was accented by a single, thin streak of hot pink that ran along its length. The folds of the skirt seemed to alternate in patterns of texture, smooth and shimmery along one pleat, lacy and ruffled along the next, which were only visible to the naked eye as a slight difference in the shading.

"How does she look?" Arkenstone whispered to Red River.

"She looks very beautiful," said Red, a sly smile spreading over his face, "But I think that Miss Rarity reserved the true beauty of her dress for you to witness for yourself." On Red's other side, Applejack blinked in confusion and stared at her coltfriend.

"Hmm?" Stepping forward, Arkenstone could hear the whispering of Twilight's dress, soft and subtle, like a gentle caress against his ears. A second later, as she met him in turn, the light scents of lavender and hydrangea danced into his nostrils. Rarity had gone especially light with working scented oils into the cloth of Twilight's dress, in order not to overwhelm Arkenstone's acute sense of smell. As a result, the scents from the flowers mingled with Twilight's own, stirring up a sense of warmth and affection from within Arkenstone as he recalled the earliest days of their friendship, back when they were foals.

Then he felt Twilight's gown brush against him. Arkenstone's deft sense of touch immediately perceived the alternating textures of her skirt's pleats, one smooth and light, the other soft and full. The feeling of the fabric alternately ruffling his coat then smoothing it out made Arkenstone's muscles quiver and, before he'd even realized it, he'd raised a hoof in order to run his sensitive frog along the length of the skirt, gently brushing it along Twilight's back as he did so. His eyes had opened, the appearance of the milky-white orbs betraying the beige stallion's surprise and enchantment.

Twilight's cheeks were heating up like they were on fire. Never had she felt Arkenstone's hooves wander across her body so freely. Naturally, as they were in an early, rather reserved stage of their relationship, he'd always been at least somewhat conservative with physical contact. Now, however, the feeling of his hoof running along her back, pressing the fabric of her dress up against her own body made Twilight's heart beat faster...and then pick up pace as Arkenstone slowly moved to bring his nose closer to her shoulder and inhale deeply, seeming to drink in her scent and the aromas woven into the dress that faintly complimented her own.

Is this what it's like? wondered Twilight as she leaned in to gently nuzzle up against Arkenstone's neck, Is this what it's like to have somepony "look" at you like you're beautiful? Arkenstone, like the rest of her friends and family, would probably have argued that Twilight already looked beautiful. But now, after seeing it with Fluttershy and Caramel, Red and Applejack, Rainbow and Soarin', Pinkie and Mayweather, Twilight could understand what it meant to essentially cultivate that beauty and use it to captivate her special somepony.

From off to the side, Rarity couldn't help but watch in triumph as Arkenstone was enthralled by Twilight's beauty, a beauty that he was exploring with all of his available senses. Of course, Twilight's visual impact wasn't to be underestimated either. With her talents, she had brought out Twilight's beauty for all to see and experience through all the senses, to make her shine in a way that a blind stallion, like Arkenstone, could perceive for himself. This may be my greatest success yet, she thought proudly, My friends truly are the source of my greatest inspiration.

The receding sound of hoofsteps caught Rarity's attention and she noticed that Melon was carefully ushering the foals off down the hallway. Looking over her shoulder, Melon flashed Rarity a sheepish grin. Blinking, Rarity realized what she was doing. Oh yes...I suppose that what Arkenstone and Twilight are doing does have rather intimate overtones, she admitted as her cheeks flushed, Perhaps we should give them a moment.

Reaching over, she quietly tapped Mayweather's shoulder, getting her attention. As Mayweather looked over, Rarity gently signaled that they should probably head out. Mayweather, catching the hint, nodded and turned to tap Pinkie's shoulder in turn. Though Pinkie, being Pinkie, was admittedly more reluctant to abandon watching her friends being so happy with each other, they managed to convince her to tap Rainbow, who in turn tapped Applejack, who signaled Red, who signaled Caramel, who gently nudged Fluttershy away from Twilight and Arkenstone. The group followed Melon and the foals down the hallway, giving Twilight and Arkenstone some much needed privacy.

Twilight and Arkenstone didn't fail to notice their friends heading off. Twilight couldn't suppress a light giggle.

"Should we follow them?" asked Arkenstone.

"No. It's fine," said Twilight, pressing harder up against him and resting her head across his shoulders, "I want to stay like this for just a little bit longer."

"I think I can do that," said Arkenstone. He was feeling a bit reluctant to pull away himself, "You went through this, for me..."

"Of course I did," said Twilight, "I wanted to dress up and look my best...in a way that you could experience for yourself." She stepped away from Arkenstone to quickly lift a hoof to his lips as he opened his mouth. "I know what you'll say," she said, "You'll say that I'm always beautiful to you."

Arkenstone nodded.

"But I wanted more than that," said Twilight, leaning in again, this time pressing her cheek up against Arkenstone's, "I don't think I can really put it into words. Rarity's dressed me up dozens of times. But I wanted to experience that feeling that all my friends have experienced. I wanted you to really 'see' me as a mare, not just as the little filly you've grown really close to."

Arkenstone let out a quiet sigh. "Well, I can't exactly argue with that. You feel wonderful Twilight. It makes me so happy that I get to be here with you." Turning his head, Arkenstone captured Twilight's lips with a surprising degree of passion, making Twlight hum lightly as she returned the pressure of the kiss, leaning into it even as Arkenstone raised a hoof around her neck to pull her closer.

The two of them enjoyed the experience a few minutes longer before they finally pulled away. For a moment, they rested their foreheads together, Twilight being careful about the angle to keep from poking Arkenstone with her horn. "I guess we should go," she said finally.

"I suppose so," said Arkenstone, feeling surprisingly reluctant.

Twilight giggled and danced away from her stallion, spinning about so that the hem of her gown kicked up off the ground and brushed ever so lightly across Arkenstone's nose. "Come on then," she said playfully, "We've got a gala to attend."

Author's Note

I rather like the ideas I had for the dresses worn by the Mane Six, especially as they turned out inside my head (unfortunately, I can't draw worth a damn, so no pictures...). I hope I did a halfway decent job of describing them at least.

Next chapter: A party within a party...partyception.

August Assemblage

Chapter 23: August Assemblage

Everypony's eyes widened as they took in the grand vista of the Royal Palace's main ballroom, decorated with the trappings of the Winter Gala. Pale-blue ribbons and shimmering crystals ran between columns and twined about them, the crystals catching the light radiating off the chandeliers and throwing it about the cavernous room with almost wild abandon. Throughout the room, ponies dressed in a variety of outfits mingled and chatted, while others pranced about the dance floor. Soft music from a familiar quartet drifted about the room, setting a peaceful, reserved atmosphere.

Sweetie's eyes widened even further and she couldn't keep a gasp from escaping her as she recognized Octavia, standing proudly upright on stage, moving her cello's bow with long, precise motions, adding the instrument's warm, enchanting voice to the melody carried by her companions. Octavia was clad in a shimmering black dress that clung tightly to her body, showing her every movement as she swayed in time with her own music. Seemingly feeling eyes upon her, Octavia turned her attention to Sweetie and threw the filly a playful wink before returning her full attention to her playing.

The rest of the group was busy taking the sights. Rarity had to suppress the urge to yelp when she heard a familiar voice by her ear. "You and your friends resplendent tonight, Miss Rarity."

Twirling about, Rarity pressed a forehoof to her chest as she took deep, steadying breaths. "Oh! You startled me there, Fancy Pants." She managed to regain enough of her composure to give him a playful smile. "Isn't it rather poor manners to sneak up on a defenseless lady like that?"

"I'd say that too," said a familiar-looking white mare, decked out in a similarly white dress. Her flowing pink mane was unmistakable.

"Ah, Fleur! How are you faring?" asked Rarity, excitedly rushing up to embrace Fancy's wife.

Fleur de Lis laughed lightly as she returned the embrace, the two of them rising up on their hind legs to do so properly. As they hugged, Rarity could feel the bulge of Fleur's abdomen pressing against her.

"Well enough dear," said Fleur lightly as they settled back down. Her tail whipped out from beneath the wide skirts of her dress to snap playfully against Fancy's flank, drawing a yelp from Fancy as his mustache bristled, the monocle nearly popping out of his eye in surprise. "As I was saying, Fancy seems to enjoy making mares squeak. I think he likes the sounds they make when they're surprised."

"Well, you have to admit that you make the most adorable sounds when you're startled, my dearest," teased Fancy as he leaned in to nuzzle up agains her cheek.

"Hmm..." agreed Fleur in a playful tone as she leaned back out of his reach, "And the other mares?"

"Well, they do have a delightful assortment of sounds," admitted Fancy.

"You tease," chided Fleur with a laugh.

"But none nearly so wonderful as yours," quickly added Fancy as his horn lit and a faint spark of magic tweaked Fleur's ear, eliciting a delightful squeak from her.

Her elbow came up and jabbed him sharply in the ribs. "Behave," she admonished through an amused smirk.

Rarity couldn't help but giggle. Part of her adored watching the married couple bicker and play-fight. It showed the sheer depth of their love for one another that they could tease and taunt each other so easily with no ill feelings whatsoever. Rarity desperately hoped that she herself might find such a strong connection with somepony in the future.

"I take it the little one is coming along well," said Rarity. Fleur's dress had clearly been designed to hide the lines of her figure, which made a certain sort of sense. In the circles that Fleur and her husband regularly moved, even the slightest perception of weight gain, regardless of the cause, would be enough to draw ridicule. It was a terrible, disgusting truth, but a truth nonetheless.

"There aren't any complications so far," said Fleur, gently rubbing her bulge through the fabric of the dress, "Though pregnancy is no treat, let me tell you."

"I imagine the cravings you must get are...interesting," ventured Rarity, though she had no desire to find out exactly how interesting said cravings got, "The mood swings are probably difficult to cope with as well."

"Oh hardly," scoffed Fancy Pants with a chuckle, "As mercurial as she can be by default, I've hardly even noticed a difference."

That got him a cuff across the back of the head that knocked his monocle off. It took the disgruntled stallion a moment to work it back in place before he gave Rarity a playful smile. "See. Business as usual."

"Oh you," huffed Fleur, though she was clearly trying to hide a smile.

"And how are your friends faring?" asked Fancy, "Are Twilight Sparkle and Sir Arkenstone getting along well?"

"Well enough," said Rarity, "They were being irritatingly slow. However, I suspect tonight has brought their relationship a great step forward."

"Is that so?" asked Fleur, "And here I thought that Arkenstone was far too stiff to ever consider a romantic relationship."

"I think he may have reconsidered," said Rarity with no small amount of pride, "After all, the dress I made for Twilight has knocked his socks off, or so to speak."

Fancy blinked. "Dress...? But isn't Arkenstone blind?"

"Indeed," said Rarity before turning to Fleur, "I'm sure that a seasoned model like yourself noticed some things about my dress when we greeted each other."

"I did," admitted Fleur, coming in closer to run a hoof along the fabric going over Rarity's shoulder, "The fabric feels wonderful, so soft and silky...and it has a lovely scent as well."

"It was Twilight's idea," explained Rarity, "She wished to pretty herself up in a way that a blind pony like Arkenstone could appreciate. Since he can't see, I turned to looking at other options. Arkenstone 'sees' with his nose, his ears, and his hooves. Twilight's request actually opened up an entirely new dimension of fashion to me. I decided to experiment in how to bring out a pony's inner beauty, not just through visual appearance, but through texture, scent, and sound. If Arkenstone's reaction was anything to go by, I believe my efforts have paid tremendous dividends."

"Oh! That's simply wonderful!" exclaimed Fleur, clapping her hooves together, "Once my foal is born, I'll have to ask you to make one of those dresses for me. It sounds fascinating."

"I'll be happy to do that for you," said Rarity.

"Once word of this gets out, I'm sure that you'll be swarmed with orders," noted Fancy, studying Rarity's dress with academic interest.

"It's lucky then that I'll have some extra help," said Rarity. Turning her head, she let her eyes wander across the gathering until her gaze found a particular pair of mares that Rarity had known would be present. After all, the Winter Gala also served as a late after-party of sorts for the cast and crew of the pageant. Rarity used her magic to gently prod the older mare on the shoulder, drawing her attention. Once she was spotted, Rarity quickly waved her over.

"I'm sure you know Miss Lockstitch," said Rarity as the dark-red mare and her younger companion approached, "She and her apprentice are the ones behind the pageant's ensembles."

"Indeed he does know us," said Lockstitch with an easy smile, "After all, you were the one to recommend us for the job, weren't you, My Lord?"

"Please, there is no need to be so formal here," said Fancy with a casual wave, "But yes, I did put the suggestion to the Princesses that you were suited for the job. However, I had no idea that your apprentice would do such a fine job."

Coco Pommel blushed fiercely under Fancy's praise. It was already a lot for her to handle, being surrounded by such important ponies. But to have one of the Marquess's stature praising her work was almost too much to bear.

"When I return to Ponyville, Coco Pommel here will be coming with me," said Rarity proudly, "She has stated, with Miss Lockstitch's support I might add, that she wishes to finish out her apprenticeship under me."

Coco nodded eagerly, breaking into an excited smile at the prospect.

Fleur smiled and giggled at Coco's eagerness. "Then I shall wish you the best, Miss Pommel. I know that Rarity here will take good care of you. I certainly look forward to seeing your work in the future."

Coco froze, her smile breaking as she gasped in astonishment. "Oh! I...I mean...I-I'd be h-honored My Lady! I don't think anything I could make could compare to Miss Rarity's work, but..."

"Come now," said Fleur, stepping in close, causing Coco to close her mouth so quickly that her teeth clacked audibly. Fleur raised a hoof and gently brushed back the strands of Coco's mane. "There's no need indulge in such self-deprecation. Lockstitch and Rarity wouldn't speak so highly of your potential if they didn't mean it. Humility is good, so is recognizing your limits. But you also need to believe in yourself." She gave Coco a friendly, almost motherly hug, which was only enforced by the presence of the developing foal being pressed lightly between them. "I know you'll go on to do grand things."

"Thank you so much," whispered Coco, scrunching her eyes closed as she tried to stem the tide of tears welling up inside. She stepped away from Fleur, sniffling and wiping at her eyes, trying her hardest to get her feelings under control.

"There there now," said Rarity with a soft smile as she levitated a hoofkerchief and gently dabbed at Coco's eyes, "There's no need to bottle up your feelings. You are amongst friends." Rarity decided to give Coco a hug of her own as Coco continued to sob with now unrestrained happiness.

Somewhere...in the way way way way waaaaaaaaaay back of her head...but still definitely somewhere back there, Rainbow Dash knew that yawning at an event like this was a serious faux pas. But she couldn't help herself. As far as she was concerned, it was boring as hay. Sure, the music sounded nice, but it wasn't the kind of music Rainbow liked. Nor did she care about silly things like ballroom dancing or dainty treats preferred by the high-class types that frequented events like this or the insipid conversations of aristocratic stallions and mares.

Why did I agree to come to this again? she wondered to herself. She figured that a smaller, less-publicized event would have the leeway to be livelier, but it looked like that wasn't going to be the case. The Princesses should have invited DJ-Pon3. She'd shake things up.

A sigh escaped her mouth as she continued to observe the small groups of well-dressed ponies socializing and dancing throughout the ballroom. She recognized several of them as the crew and the supplemental cast of the Hearth's Warming Pageant. There were a few others as well, possibly wealthy benefactors. Fortunately, the stiffest of the stiff upper-crust ponies that had made the Grand Galloping Gala such a drag appeared to have been exempted from this particular event, which was just fine, as far as Rainbow as concerned. As it was, it seemed that there was no one interesting to talk to.

As the quartet playing up on the stage started up another song, a hoof tapped lightly on Rainbow's shoulder. "Excuse me miss, might I have this dance?"

Rainbow's whole body went rigid at the sound and teasing tone of the voice. She briefly became a cerulean blur as she spun about to face the other pony, her jaw dropping as she took in the familiar and welcome sight of the pale-blue stallion standing just slightly behind her. "Soarin'!"

Soarin', looking quite smart in his dress uniform, as always, flashed an earnest smile at Rainbow. "Hey there. I thought you were looking kinda bored. We could-" The rest of his sentence was lost as Rainbow slammed into him, knocking Soarin' off his hooves and sending them crashing into the wall behind him. The stallion opened his mouth to grunt in pain as his back collided harshly with the unyielding marble, but even that was silenced as Rainbow's own mouth crashed against his in an intense kiss that made all thoughts of pain fade from Soarin's head as he returned the kiss with equal enthusiasm and wrapped his hooves around Rainbow, holding her tightly to him.

When their mouths finally parted, Soarin' was gasping for breath, in part because of the kiss's intensity, but also because slamming into the wall had knocked the wind out of him and Rainbow had denied him the chance to get it back. However, he didn't hold it against her and instead pulled her up against himself, resting his chin against her shoulder so that their necks were pressed together. He savored the warmth of her presence even as his hooves explored the fabric of her dress, which brushed against him like faint wisps of woven cirrus cloud. Inhaling deeply, he reveled in Rainbow's scent, which mingled with the faint smell of freshly-fallen rain.

"I missed you," he said softly.

"I missed you too," said Rainbow, finally pulling back far enough for them to look each other in the eyes, "What are you doing here?"

"The Princesses invited the Wonderbolts to the Winter Gala," explained Soarin' with a grin.

"Really! So Spitfire and the others are here?" asked Rainbow, grinning like a filly.

Chuckling, Soarin' nodded. "And a few other ponies besides. Some of them are quite eager to meet you."

They finally let go of each other so they could settle back on their hooves. "Really?" asked Rainbow, canting her head, "Who else besides the Wonderbolts would want to meet me?" She found it hard to imagine any of the stuffed shirts who usually frequented events like this wanting to have anything to do with her.

"Come on," said Soarin', draping a wing over her back, "I'll show you. I think you're gonna like them." He led Rainbow away from the ballroom and towards one of the adjoining chambers.

"What about that dance?" asked Rainbow.

Soarin' favored her with a playful grin. "We'll have it later. The night is young after all."

Twilight couldn't quite keep the blush from her face as she and Arkenstone entered the ballroom. Looking about, Twilight tried to pin down some familiar faces, even as she eyed the dance floor with interest. Dancing with Steel Flint at his little social event had been a hideously uncomfortable experience. But, perhaps, dancing with Arkenstone would be much more appealing. As it was, the beige stallion seemed glued to her side, continuing to explore and indulge in the textures of her dress with his barrel and haunches. Though she was a bit uncomfortable with the two of them showing their affection so publicly, Twilight couldn't help but feeling triumphant in that her plan had worked out so well. The dress Rarity had made for her was apparently holding the normally unshakable Knight spellbound.

"There you two are. I was worried when your friends showed up without you." Cadance grinned cheerfully as she and Shining Armor trotted up to join them.

"Well...we just got a bit...caught up," said Twilight, her blush deepening.

"Oh?" Shining's own grin became mischievous as he looked at the two of them, "What did the two of you get caught up doing, hmmm?"

"Stop that, you," chided Cadance, bumping her husband gently with her shoulder, noting that Twilight's face was completely red. Arkenstone, of course, seemed not to notice Shining's jibes. Seeing the two of them leaning together made Cadance want to leap with joy. Her own magic could also detect the deepening affection between the two of them, making it clear to her senses that the pair had grown closer since she had last seen them...which hadn't been all that long ago, come to think of it.

Twilight and her beloved sister-in-law fell into a lively chat together. Arkenstone finally pulled himself away from Twilight's side to talk with Shining.

"So," said Shining, "I see the two of you have been making progress."

"Slowly," said Arkenstone with a shrug, "I have to admit that this is unfamiliar territory for me. Even with what happened between us the last time we were in Canterlot, I still have a hard time as seeing Twilight as something other than my best friend's adorable little sister."

"But that changed tonight?" asked Shining as he raised an inquisitive eyebrow.

"Somewhat," said Arkenstone with a fond smile, one ear swiveling in Twilight's direction as she laughed at some joke Cadance was telling her, "She and her friend went through a great deal of effort when it came to her dress. I've always been telling myself that Twilight has grown into a wonderful mare. But tonight, the way she dressed has brought that to the forefront."

To Shining's shock and amazement, a faint blush actually blossomed on Arkenstone's cheeks. He'd once thought he'd never live to see his old friend act like that. "Looks like you've got it bad," he teased.

"I suppose so," admitted Arkenstone readily enough, "After tonight, I don't think I could bring myself to stay away from her. She's somepony precious that I want to hold for the rest of my life."

"Good," said Shining, "I wouldn't accept anything less from you."

Meanwhile, Twilight and Cadance were on a slightly different tangent.

"I always love this time of year," sighed Cadance as she looked around, "It's wonderful to see so much earnest love amongst my little ponies."

"Though I bet Hearts and Hooves Day is better," mused Twilight.

Twilight was actually surprised to see Cadance sigh with a mild degree of despondence. "You don't like Hearts and Hooves Day?" asked Twilight in confusion. She'd never really spoken on the subject with Cadance before.

"Well...yes and no," said Cadance with a sigh, "It's technically my official holiday, just like the Summer Sun Celebration is Aunty Celestia's and Nightmare Night is Aunty Luna's."

Twilight nodded slowly in agreement. "But..."

Again, Cadance sighed. "It just seems so...pretentious at times. The only thing I truly love about Hearts and Hooves Day is when it serves as the impetus for ponies to confess their feelings to one another. But I always feel it puts too much pressure on ponies that already are together, in whatever stage of their relationship they might be. There's always so much pressure to come up with some kind of romantic gesture and it always has to be better than last year's. Ponies try to take their relationship 'to the next level,' even when it's obvious they're not ready. I swear, a few dozen of the marriages that are proposed or conducted on that day end up broken because the ponies taking that step aren't ready for that level of commitment and end up doing serious harm to their relationship in the long run."

"When you put it that way...that actually sounds kind of awful," Twilight admitted.

Cadance nodded. "Twilight," she said, turning to regard the lavender mare with careful eyes, "That's why I want to request this of you. When the next Hearts and Hooves Day comes around, please don't feel that you have to do something incredibly special or profound for Arkenstone. A romantic dinner or a quiet date is fine. But please don't get caught up in trying to create some kind of grand gesture of love and please don't try to do something you're not ready for."

Twilight nodded, having a fair idea of what the "something" Cadance was talking about probably was. She and Arkenstone had gotten closer, but were definitely not at the stage where either of them would seriously consider becoming lovers in the more...active...sense.

"Good," said Cadance, "I hope Arkenstone doesn't feel that he has to do that either. I know that he's probably mature enough for that. But this is his first real experience with romantic love after all..." She winked at Twilight. "...just as it is for you. I honestly hope that the two of you will truly work out."

"So do I," said Twilight.

Their conversation was stalled as Arkenstone stepped between them. "I beg your pardon Cadance, but Twilight and I have somewhere to be."

For a moment, Cadance blinked in confusion. "What do you mean-Oh!" Her eyes widened and an almost devilish smile blossomed across her face. "That..." She chuckled. "Yes, we certainly wouldn't want Twilight to miss a chance like this."

"Like what?" asked Twilight, looking between Cadance and Arkenstone.

"Oh, you'll see," said Cadance in a teasing sing-song tone.

"Come with me," said Arkenstone, bumping gently against Twilight and using the contact to steer her towards one of the doors out of the ballroom, "This is a truly rare event, one that I think you'll find fascinating, if only for its sheer novelty."

"Okay..." said Twilight with no small degree of uncertainty as she allowed Arkenstone to guide her out, casting one look over her shoulder at Shining and Cadance as the latter waved goodbye to them.

Cadance chuckled as she watched them go. "Our little Twily's going to be in for a shock."

"That's true," agreed Shining as he turned towards another door.

"Where are you going?" asked Cadance.

"I'm going to see if I can coax our very own Ebeneighzer Scrooge out to join the festivities," replied Shining.

"Good luck," said Cadance as she saw her husband off.

"Well, this is kinda boring," muttered Scootaloo, glancing around the ballroom. The foals had split up after Melon had guided them to the ballroom. Scootaloo found herself wondering if she and the other Crusaders (plus Spike) were the only younglings at the event. However, she'd occasionally seen other colts and fillies roaming about with their parents, though not many.

"Maybe there's a room set aside for ponies closer to our age," suggested Dawn, eyeing the exits.

"That would make sense," agreed Scootaloo, wishing that they'd checked with Pinkie Pie as to whether or not that was the case. There wasn't much for them to do in this room, save maybe sample the food at the buffet. Neither of them was interested in trying their hoof at dancing and, even if they were, they were more likely to be a trip hazard for the adults than actual participants.

Dawn cast his eyes about, looking for a one of the waiters or any other servants who wandered about the room with various drinks and dainties on offer for the guests. Any one of them would probably know where the foals were supposed to go and would probably be the ponies most likely to actually answer their question.

Scootaloo and Dawn felt another pony approach them at the same time, their wings twitching almost in unison as they picked up the faint surge in the air that built up ahead of the mare coming towards them like the bow wave of a boat. Their mutual training kicking in, the two of them turned about in unison to face the unknown pony with a synchronicity that was almost eerie.

It was with a slight amount of surprise that the two of them found themselves facing a familiar-looking pink alicorn, who was watching them with nearly as much confusion and surprise as they were feeling. "Okay," said Cadance, blinking slowly, "I'll admit, that was kinda creepy to watch."

Dawn and Scootaloo looked at one another in confusion before turning back to Cadance. "You mean the way we moved together?" asked Scootaloo.

Cadance let out a laugh. "Yes...that. I guess it makes sense. The two of you have the same training, the same sense, and you have a lot of experience reading one another as well, which is what probably allowed the two of you to move in unison like that."

Scootaloo scratched her head. "Uh...sure. Is there something you wanted to talk to us about, Princess?"

"A couple things," said Cadance with an indulgent smile, "I have to admit, I was hoping for the chance to talk to you and Dawn for a little bit."

"Any particular reason?" asked Dawn, canting his head a bit.

"Not specifically," replied Cadance, "But we haven't had a chance to really speak since you came up here and I've been looking forward to the opportunity. I know and like Scootaloo already, but my husband has spoken very highly of you, Dawn."

Dawn blushed slightly and ducked his head. "That's nice to hear."

Cadance had to lift a hoof to her mouth in order to stifle her giggle at the colt's modesty. "In any case, I've been hoping for the chance to get to know you. Would you be willing to talk for a little bit?"

Dawn and Scootaloo exchanged another glance. They had been looking for something to occupy their time in any case. "Sure...I guess," said Scootaloo, "What do you want to talk about?"

"Oh...everything," said Cadance with a wistful smile as she guided them away from the ballroom and the dance floor, leading them outside into the gardens.

Rarity savored the graceful tones produced by her dress as she sauntered down the hall. Such quiet was fairly welcome for a little bit. Granted, she was looking forward to joining her companions again, but the quiet of the unpopulated hallway was a welcome relief to the constant press of sound in the ballroom.

Rarity had briefly excused herself from her conversation partners in order to attend to certain...necessities. Perhaps she had indulged in the champagne a bit too much. But it was a special occasion, so Rarity figured that she was within her rights to indulge. In either case, after a swift trip to the powder room, she was now making her way back to the ballroom, humming contentedly as she considered her options. Perhaps Fancy Pants would be willing to accompany her to the dance floor, given that his wife wasn't in any state to do so. It would be fun and she knew Fleur wouldn't mind. Or, just maybe, she could solicit Coco Pommel's input on her dresses and see what adjustments and modifications the young mare might make. Rarity wasn't nearly so foolish as to assume that her designs were perfect and flawless. An outside perspective could prove invaluable, given what she was attempting in the future.

Her thought process was interrupted by the sound of voices seeping out through a door that she was passing. Though it was rude to eavesdrop, Rarity's interest was hooked when she realized that she recognized both of those voices.

"Come on," cajoled the stallion, whom she almost immediately recognized as Shining Armor, "The night's way too young for you to be lurking about in here."

"If it's all the same to you, I would rather stay here," replied the other stallion, his voice sending simultaneous shivers of recognition and revulsion down Rarity's spine. "The only ponies currently out there on the floor that are worth having a conversation with happen to hate me with a passion," continued Prince Blueblood.

"Come on," said Shining, "It's not that bad. You've already talked to Twilight about it. She promised to talk to her friends about your situation."

Did she now? wondered Rarity, raising an eyebrow. She hadn't realized that Twilight was on speaking terms with the biggest boor in Canterlot. It would have had to have been when she and Arkenstone had gone to Canterlot to research Dawn Lightwing's condition. However, Twilight had never mentioned Blueblood at all after returning.

"I can hope so," said Blueblood, "But a simple conversation doesn't quite make up for a first impression like the one I gave."

"Well yeah," agreed Shining, "But this is your chance to make a second and better impression. Do you really want to waste it?"

"Why should I even bother? It's not as though I have any intention of building a partnership or forging a lasting relationship with any of those ponies."

"You don't have to think about that," said Shining, "But there's no reason you can't make some friends Blue. Fancy Pants and I are starting to worry. I know Arkenstone would worry too if Twilight wasn't giving him enough headaches as it is. You're always so cynical about other ponies you end up shoving them away."

"And why shouldn't I be?" demanded Blueblood, his tone irritable, "You know as well as I do how ponies see me, regardless of what class they come from. All they ever seem to notice is Princess Celestia's nephew, Mister Most Eligible Bachelor. That's what that one friend of Twilight's was clearly thinking about when she approached me back then."

In spite of her own indignation, Rarity felt a quiver of guilt down in her stomach. It had been extremely inconsiderate of her to approach Blueblood, only thinking of his rank and nearly nothing else. Part of her objected that, where most mares would have calculated such an action sheerly for social gain, Rarity's interest had been almost purely romantic. But is that any better? a voice chimed in the back of her head, After all, did I really give a single though to Blueblood the pony or was I too carried up in the idea of a prince sweeping me off my hooves into some fairy tale happy ending? She supposed that much was true. That doesn't exactly excuse the way he treated me though.

"Maybe so," said Shining, "But I think there's one mare you feel differently about."

Oh!? Where indignation had been simmering, curiosity had taken its place as Rarity pressed her ear up against the door, the promise of delicious gossip too engrossing to ignore.

"Th-that's not important," protested Blueblood weakly, "Besides, it's not as though I can go up and talk to her."

"Come on now," said Shining, his cajoling tone back in place, "She won't be playing the whole night through. This is your chance to have a real conversation with her, maybe even get a dance in while somepony else is playing on the stage."

"Don't be ridiculous! You know that would never be accepted. She may come from a very well-off family, but she's still a commoner and an earth pony to boot. Steel Flint was willing to commit murder over the fact that your sister, a mere knight, was willing to engage in such a relationship. How do you think the Noble Court would respond to a duke expressing such feelings?"

"They won't like it," agreed Shining, "They'll squall and pitch a tremendous fit like the overgrown foals that they are. But if you have the maturity to follow through on your feelings, then they don't have to matter. Cadance and I are with you. So is Fancy Pants. Above all else, you know that Celestia and Luna are on your side too. I'd like to see any of those fools try anything. You have your own means too Blue. Right now, you're just using them as an excuse, because you're afraid to try."

"I..." Rarity could hear the hitch in Blueblood's voice. "I wish I could...But how can I? Even if she doesn't care about my station, she almost certainly knows about the rest of my reputation. What could possibly convince her that I'm worth her time."

"Maybe honesty," said Shining, "It worked wonders for Cadance and me. If you're honest with her about your feelings, then she might be willing to look past the things you've done to scare other mares away. She doesn't exactly have all that much reason to doubt you after all. As you pointed out, there's certainly no political gain in courting her, so that reason is out."

"But isn't she supposed to be involved with that DJ from Ponyville?" asked Blueblood in the voice of a stallion who clearly knew he had no hope of winning the argument and was feebly grasping at the last straws available to him.

She could practically hear Shining Armor rolling his eyes. "Not that I know of. From what I hear, they went to school together, but have hardly seen each other since. I haven't heard anything about either of them being interested in the other that way. Come on, enough excuses."

Rarity found herself waiting with baited breath for Blueblood's answer. Once again, her conscience reminded her that she probably shouldn't be listening in on this conversation, but the subject was too interesting to ignore. Part of her still loathed Blueblood with a passion, but she was beginning to see that she had been at least partly wrong about him...partly.

"I...I suppose I could give it a try," admitted Blueblood, a nervous quaver in his voice, "Are you sure it will work?"

"Love's never sure," said Shining wryly, "My wife's the Princess of Love, so you're getting this from somepony who knows. But the one thing that is sure is that doing nothing won't work. You need to get out there, take a risk, and give it your best shot."

"V-very well then," said Blueblood, his voice becoming softer.

To her own surprise, Rarity could feel a tiny smile of triumph across her own face. Realizing that she should probably be on her way, she finally managed to pry herself away from the door. She headed down the hall at a brisk trot. She imagined that she'd see Blueblood again that evening, but she resolved to keep her distance. Even if she couldn't bring herself to hate the very sight of him anymore, any attempt to reconcile in this setting would be unbelievably awkward for both of them. And they could both do without that.

True to her word, Cadance let the topic range far and wide, following her curiosity as she asked about Dawn's integration into Ponyville life, his encounters with hostile ponies, both within the Cult Solar and without, his training and the experiences he'd had with his Master. However, what seemed to interest her the most, naturally, was the progress of the relationship between Dawn and Scootaloo. She inquired about what they did together during their free time, how much time they spent together, where their interests overlapped and where they differed. She couldn't stop laughing when Scootaloo expressed her vexation about Dawn's pickiness, especially where the issue of sweet things was concerned.

"It drives me crazy!" complained Scootaloo loudly, "After everything that went on during Nightmare Night, he left all of his candy at the statue...All of it!"

"I wouldn't have been able to eat it," replied Dawn levelly.

"You could have given it to me," said the filly, glaring at Dawn, who merely smirked.

"I like to think of it as doing your mother a favor."

Cadance couldn't help it. She laughed loudly as Scootaloo thrust out her bottom lip mulishly and looked pointedly away from her coltfriend, who was chuckling himself.

Cadance was frankly amazed by the breadth of Dawn's experience. At the same age as Scootaloo and her two friends, he had already been through a great deal of hardship and had grown tremendously because of it. She could easily imagine that he was, at times, a difficult pony to get along with. However, he and Scootaloo seemed perfectly at ease together, able to enjoy each other's company and friendship, even enduring the odd disagreement with little difficulty. The two of them were surprisingly mature for their age, which gave Cadance a lot of hope for their future.

Her eyes slipped to one of the clocks in the ballroom and she realized that her time was nearly up. It was time to usher the two young ones on to the next event. "Thank you for talking with me," she said, "I think I've occupied enough of your time now."

"Can you tell us if there's a place here for foals?" asked Scootaloo.

"There is," said Cadance, "One of the side rooms has been set aside for the younger crowd. But the two of you are expected elsewhere."

"Huh?" Both Scootaloo and Dawn raised their eyebrows.

With a sly smile, Cadance pointed to a door, the one that Arkenstone had led Twilight through a little while earlier. "You see, there are some ponies visiting who wanted to meet you specifically, Dawn. I know that they'd be happy to meet you too, Scootaloo. If you follow that hallway down, it's the third door on your right."

Dawn and his fillyfriend exchanged a confused look for a second. "Alright," said Dawn, "Are you coming with us?"

"Not right now," said Cadance, "But I might drop by later. Trust me, I think you'll find this an interesting surprise.

With a hesitant nod, Dawn and Scootaloo departed from Cadance and headed for the door. Watching them go, Cadance smiled to herself as a giddy feeling rose in her chest.

"What'd you think?" asked Shining Armor as he trotted up to join his wife.

"They're a remarkable pair," said Cadance, "They've formed a strong, healthy bond with each other. There's a great deal of trust, care, and affection that's rare, even among couples much older than they are."

"So, is it love?" asked Shining.

"Not yet," replied Cadance with a giggle, "Right now, it's more of a mutual infatuation. Scootaloo looks up to and is a little in awe of Dawn, while Dawn has a deep respect for Scootaloo's potential as his student. But that bond will serve as the foundation for a strong and passionate love in the future." She turned to look at her husband. "I think they'll be fine."

"That's good to hear," said Shining, leaning in to nuzzle his wife, "You think they're gonna like the surprise?"

"Oh, I bet they'll be at a loss for words."

"Let's see...Here it is." Scootaloo and Dawn came to a stop outside the third door on the right after they had left the ballroom. The door was a large one, indicating that the room that laid beyond it was large as well.

Scootaloo raised a hoof to push the door open, but stopped when Dawn hooked his foreleg over her own. "What is it?" she asked, glancing at the colt, finding him uncharacteristically tense.

Dawn frowned, his eyes narrowing and his brow furrowing. "I don't know..." he admitted, "I just feel something?"

"Feel...?" Scootaloo spread her wings and tried to sense something from the other side of the door, using the narrow cracks between it and the walls and the floor. However, the picture was muddled and she couldn't get a clear idea of what was on the other side, though she could feel the presence of some other ponies, though she had no idea as to who.

Dawn raised his right wing slightly, orienting the feathers toward the door, clearly trying to get a feel for what lay on the other side for himself. However, he had just as much difficulty as Scootaloo. Their wind-sense was hampered by the nearly complete barrier between them and what lay on the other side. However, it wasn't his wind-sense that had made Dawn cautious.

"I can't say exactly," he said, "But I can feel the presence of other ponies..."

"What other ponies?" asked Scootaloo, tensing up herself now. There was no way the Cult Solar could have infiltrated this far into the Palace without anypony realizing.

"I don't know," said Dawn, "But they aren't ordinary ponies. They feel...formidable."

Scootaloo swallowed hard and turned her attention back to the door. Both of them jumped when the door let out a loud creak and began to swing open, forcing them to jump back. They sank into identical crouches, partially spreading their wings as carefully honed reflexes took over. However, they both froze when they saw who was waiting for them on the other side.

Twilight Sparkle blinked as she stared down at the two foals. "Dawn...Scootaloo?"

"Twilight Sparkle?" Scootaloo stared back up at the older mare, "What are you doing here?"

"Arkenstone brought me," said Twilight, "You two must have been sent here too. Come in."

Scootaloo and Dawn walked into the room, looking about nervously. It was another ballroom, much smaller than the main one. The torches that should have been illuminating the space were out and the entire room was bathed in darkness. Only the faint circle of light cast by Twilight's horn made things visible. Even then, it only illuminated a small portion of the space.

To their surprise, Twilight wasn't the only pony there.

"Rainbow Dash!" exclaimed Scootaloo as she bounded up to her idol.

"Hey there squirt," said Rainbow as she stepped away from Soarin' to gently brush Scootaloo's mane, "I guess you got invited here too."

"Yeah," said Scootaloo, "Princess Cadance told me and Dawn that we should be here. She said that there were some ponies who wanted to meet us."

"Arkenstone said that too," said Twilight, "But then he left after he brought me here."

"Well," said Rainbow, turning to her coltfriend, "What about it?"

"Sorry," said Soarin' with an apologetic grin, "But I've been told not to spoil the surprise."

"Surprise?" The word had barely left Scootaloo's mouth when the quality of the air in the room changed. All of a sudden, the hairs of her coat stood on end and her entire body began to shiver as though she were standing on the surface of a thundercloud. Her wings instinctively stretched out, whether to fight or flee, she wasn't sure. Beside her, Dawn did the same, his own body tensing like a coiled spring as some kind of strange energy seemed to fill the room.

Dawn's eyes cast about, trying to locate the source of the strange sensation and lock down its characteristics. However, it was so all-encompassing that he couldn't manage that. However, he was able to discern one thing about it. It's presence...the presence of somepony powerful. Indeed, the presence that filled the room seemed to make the air hum with energy.

Slowly, Dawn's instincts felt the massive presence begin to divide and resolve itself into six distinct individuals. His ears twitched as he picked up the sound of hooves on the polished marble of the floor as somepony approached them slowly. Finally, a familiar figure stepped into the circle of light created by Twilight's magic.

"Arkenstone." Twilight sighed in relief and stepped towards the beige stallion. "Don't scare me like that."

"I'm sorry," said Arkenstone, "I'm afraid that one of us has something of a flair for the dramatic. She wanted to make a show of it, since it's so rare for us to get together like this. We decided to indulge her."

Twilight's eyes widened in shock. "Us...? We...? You don't mean..."

Arkenstone nodded. "That's correct. This is something of an auspicious occasion." As he spoke the torches resting in their sconces on the pillars throughout the room's perimeter blazed into life, seemingly of their own volition. Even Twilight's practiced eye could only just barely discern the faint spark of magic leaping from one torch to another, lighting them all in turn. The light from the torches quickly spread out to illuminate the whole room, revealing the figures of five other ponies.

"Without further ado," said Arkenstone, "Allow me to introduce the members of the Celestial Order of Knights."

Author's Note

Only a couple more chapters left before the end...

Fleur and Fancy are absolutely adorable together. I somewhat based their interactions on my sister and her boy-...sorry...husband. Damn, even though I was totally okay with them getting married, it really throws me to have to keep reminding myself that they are, in fact, married. It's one of those situations where you hardly notice any change because it's clear that the wedding is simply a formality.

Given that Cadance is the Princess of Love, it made sense to me for her holiday to be Hearts and Hooves Day. It also makes a certain amount of sense for her to be leery of the implications of the day, because one of the big complaints I hear about such holidays is the pressure it can put on established couples to do something "significant" with each other or one-up what they did last year. I imagine that would be a recurring source of frustration for Cadance.

Next chapter: Probably one of the last ponies you'd expect to be a Knight.

In the Presence of Power

Chapter 24: In the Presence of Power

"Sheesh," muttered Soarin', "Even I wasn't expecting this much drama."

"Can it," said Spitfire as she trotted up to join Arkenstone, "I'll have to admit, it was a lot of fun." She grinned at Rainbow Dash. "How're ya doing, newbie?"

"Great," said Rainbow, a wide grin on her face as she greeted her captain, "I'm really glad you're here. This party was getting boring really fast."

Spitfire chuckled at Rainbow's words. "That's certainly true," she agreed. She was dressed in a brilliant orange and red dress, her skirt seeming to have been woven from tongues of flame. The dress, combined with her mane being combed back, made her look completely beautiful as the colors of her dress seemed to dance in the light of the torches.

"So...this is the rookie you've been going on about," commented another mare, trotting over to them.

Looking at the mare, Rainbow found herself staring unabashedly. The pink pegasus mare was older...much older than Spitfire. She might very well have been the oldest pony in the room. Interestingly enough, even though it was obvious that she was old, that didn't seem to detract from her appearance at all. In fact, if there were a picture next to the definition of the term "aging gracefully," it would probably be of this mare.

Her pale-pink coat did nothing to hide the slight wrinkles in her skin, particularly those at the corners of her eyes and lips, making it clear that she was a pony who smiled a lot, just like how she was smiling at Rainbow now. Contrasting with her coat were a light-blue mane and tail, which helped to frame a pair of grayish-purple eyes. In spite of her age, there was no air of frailty about her and her taut musculature and lithe form suggested that she was still in peak physical condition for a pony half as old as she was. Unlike Spitfire, this mare had chosen not to wear a dress and, in spite of the occasion, didn't seem to need it. There was an air of confidence about her that surpassed the need for any articles of clothing and she seemed to glow with the radiance her own spirit as she proudly showed the two blue lightning bolts that decorated her flank.

"You're staring," commented Spitfire wryly, moving in to nudge Rainbow in the ribs.

"So am I," commented the other mare with a chuckle, "You mind introducing us?"

"Not at all," said Spitfire. Gesturing towards the pink pegasus, she said, "Rainbow, this is Firefly, the Knight of the Shining Heavens."

"Wow," said Rainbow, "That sure is an impressive title."

"It's annoying," muttered Firefly with a grimace, "It's so darn pretentious. That's what we get for letting our peers think up these things." Shrugging off her frustration, Firefly turned her full attention back to Rainbow and studied the younger mare intently. Rainbow got the distinct feeling, like she was a specimen under a microscope. Rainbow had an unsettling feeling that whatever this mare said next could decide the path of her future, for better or for worse.

Finally, Firefly's face lit up in a happy smile and she began to chuckle. "She wasn't kidding. You certainly do seem to be everything that Spitfire said that you were."

"Huh?" Rainbow gaped for a second. "You could tell all that just by looking at me?"

"For some ponies, it's easier than others," said Firefly, "You have no reason to hide what kind of pony you are. You wear your nature proudly. Furthermore, your artistic friend, the one who made your dress, clearly sees it as well, given that she put your love for the sky so boldly on display."

"Love for the sky...?" mused Rainbow, staring off into space as she pondered Firefly's words.

In the meantime, Firefly turned to Spitfire. "I like her a lot. I'll do it!"

"Great!" replied Spitfire with a cheerful grin.

"What are they talking about?" Rainbow whispered as she leaned in towards Soarin', the two of them being momentarily forgotten by the pair of chatting Knights.

"Remember when I told you that Spitfire had something special in mind for your training?" asked Soarin'. When Rainbow nodded, her explained, "Well, Firefly has been looking for a student for some time now. She's the most senior member of the Knights currently serving and she's been looking for somepony to teach her skills to, but not just any old pegasus will cut it."

"So they picked me?" asked Rainbow, a bit stunned by the idea that she'd somehow gained the approval of not just one, but two Celestial Knights.

Soarin' nodded. "That's right. When you come to us in the spring, you're going to get a special training regiment from Firefly, rather than the usual one Spitfire gives most recruits."

"That's great but..." Rainbow hesitated, "I'm still gonna be a Wonderbolt, right?"

"Of course," said Soarin' with complete conviction, "We found you first. We have dibs after all. It's not her Knighthood that Firefly wants to pass on to you. The whole Celestial Knight thing doesn't work like that. She just wants to pass on her skill to another pony before it's too late. I've heard it's one of the highest pegasus arts in existence, something even more advanced than the Gale King."

"In a sense," commented another mare, coming up behind them, "But it's not that the Gale King is inferior. If anything, Firefly's magic is the ultimate refinement of the principles behind the Gale King. But, like your coltfriend said, it's not for everypony."

Rainbow and Soarin' turned around to regard the newcomer and Rainbow's jaw hit the floor as her eyes threatened to forcefully leap from their sockets. "Bwhaaaa! Y-y-y-y-y-you're...."

The mare in front of them flashed a cheeky grin at Rainbow, tossing her grayscale mane as she struck a pose, throwing her head back and spreading her wings back and out slightly, the very image of a pegasus showing off. Her sand-colored coat was covered by a glittering, emerald-green dress that hung somewhat loosely from her shoulders. She winked a cerise-colored eye, the same color as Rainbow's eyes in fact, at Rainbow. "What's the matter? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"Y-y-y-you're D-Daring..." Rainbow paused and brought her forehooves up to rub her eyes vigorously. She blinked fiercely as she lowered her hooves, but the mare standing in front of her was still there, looking exactly the same as before. "This can't be right. I must be dreaming. Soarin'! Pinch me! Quick!"

With a chuckle and an amused roll of his eyes, Soarin' shrugged before leaning in to lightly bite Rainbow's exposed shoulder.

"Eep! That hurt! That means I'm not dreaming!"

"That's right," said the sandy mare, flashing that same wry grin, "You're not dreaming...You're hallucinating. I'm a figment of your imagination conjured up by the stuff Pinkie Pie spiked the punch with."

"What? Really?" Rainbow froze. "Pinkie spiked the punch?" Her wings snapped open. "Hold on! I haven't even drunk anything yet tonight!"

"Then you're hallucinating preemptively," suggested the mare again, once again flashing that cheeky grin of hers.

"I'm not hallucinating!" snapped Rainbow, getting up in the mare's face, "Who the hay are you?"

"Daring Do."

Once again, Rainbow froze with shock.

"Just kidding."

A low growl rumbled out of Rainbow's throat. "Why I ought'a..."

The mare couldn't help it. She threw her head back and let out a round of laughter that seemed to fill up the entire room. The sound was rich and resonant, suggesting that this was a mare who liked to laugh and enjoy herself and, above all else, didn't take herself too seriously. "Oh you're just too cute. I may just have to steal you from Spitfire and Firefly."

"Alright! Cut the manure!" snapped Rainbow, "Who are you, really?"

"Right," said the mare, "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Sparrowhawk. My fellow Knights call me the Magpie."

Rainbow raised an eyebrow. "Magpie?"

"Perhaps she is interested in shiny objects."

Rainbow jumped at the sound of Dawn's voice. Both Dawn and Scootaloo had walked up to join them.

Sparrowhawk chuckled at Dawn's suggestion. "That's about the crux of it. I'm what you might call Celestia's seeker. Of all the Knights, I'm the one who spends the most time abroad."

"What do you do?" asked Rainbow.

"I track down lost artifacts, particularly dangerous magical ones," replied Sparrowhawk, "You wouldn't believe how many of those things are just lying around, waiting for somepony to pick them up. I round them up so that the Princess can box 'em up and hide them in her secret warehouse in...wherever it is."

"Sounds like an interesting job," noted Dawn.

"Sounds like Daring Do," commented Scootaloo.

Sparrowhawk shrugged. "In a sense, I suppose it is Daring Do. I'm sure you noticed the resemblance." She struck another pose, once again tossing her multi-toned, gray mane. However, the act of striking said pose caused the hem of her skirt to lift off the floor, giving her audience a view of the magnifying glass cutie mark that decorated her flank.

"You don't have the same cutie mark," Rainbow pointed out.

Once again, Sparrowhawk laughed. "Of course I don't," she replied, "Daring Do's a fictional character after all."

"I'm guessing that her fictional exploits have at least some basis in your reality," said Dawn, raising an eyebrow.

"You'd be right," said Sparrowhawk with a smirk.

"Are you the author?" demanded Rainbow, excitement bleeding through into her voice as she began to get uncomfortably close to the sand-colored mare.

"Afraid not," replied Sparrowhawk, edging back from Rainbow a little nervously, "And it's a personal policy not to reveal her private information to crazed fangirls. She tends to dislike being badgered about when her next book is coming out."

"Oh come on!" snapped Rainbow.

"Why don't we go get something to drink," suggested Soarin' carefully, resting a wing over Rainbow's back and guiding her away from the sardonic Knight.

Dawn glanced sidelong at Sparrowhawk, who was not trying very hard to restrain her giggles. "You're toying with her, aren't you."

"I can't help it," said Sparrowhawk, "She's so much fun and she has all these obvious buttons that I can't help but want to push." She threw a wink at Dawn.

Scootaloo frowned and glared up at Sparrowhawk, who seemed not to notice.

Instead, she turned and grinned down at the two foals. "By the way, I've really been looking forward to meeting you kids. Arkenstone's been saying a lot about you two. It's rare for any of us to take such an interest in somepony."

Scootaloo and Dawn both blushed slightly. "And your impression?" asked Dawn.

Sparrowhawk studied them intently for a moment. "I like you two," she said finally, "Especially you, little lady. I get the feeling you've got a lot of potential."

"Me?" gasped Scootaloo, her hoof going to her chest.

Sparrowhawk studied Dawn's reaction at that moment. To her surprise, Dawn didn't look the slightest bit miffed that Scootaloo had apparently made a stronger impression than he had, nor did he look even the slightest bit depressed by that information. Rather, it looked as though he had been expecting that observation on some level. He even looked...proud, as his gaze flickered to Scootaloo before returning to Sparrowhawk. Sparrowhawk's estimation of the colt went up a little more when she saw that.

I guess that makes sense, she thought, He is the one teaching her after all. He would have been the first to see her potential. If I were to hazard a guess, she's got him beat in both talent and passion when it comes to the Art. But he doesn't seem to mind in the slightest. If I'm right about that then, his true talent lies elsewhere. Sparrowhawk had an inkling as to just where that passion might lie, but decided to keep that information to herself. It would be more rewarding for Dawn to find it out on his own.

In the meantime, Soarin' led Rainbow to a table set off to the side of the room. It was almost a miniature version of the big buffet table laid out in the main ballroom. However, the foods that decorated this one were simpler, less ornate, less...frou-frou, as Rainbow liked to think about it. It was clear that the Knights were far less picky about the confections that they ate.

She took a sip of the punch that Soarin' hoofed her and swallowed it, willing herself to calm down after having her feathers ruffled by the ornery mare that looked like her favorite book character. She wasn't so thick that she hadn't realized that Sparrowhawk was messing with her. She supposed she couldn't hold a grudge against the Knight. It had all been in good fun and Sparrowhawk hadn't pushed things too far. All in all, she seemed to be a good pony, but Rainbow felt that she'd had enough teasing for a little while.

"So, who do you want to meet next?" asked Soarin'.

"Um...who's left?" asked Rainbow, turning to regard the rest of the room. Her eyes wandered, picking out Twilight and Arkenstone as they chatted with...

"Hey," said Rainbow, "Is that Trixie's older brother?"

Soarin' immediately picked out who Rainbow as looking at and his eyes widened. At a bit of a loss for words, he decided to fall back on the tactics of a certain red stallion he'd become drinking buddies with back when he'd stayed in Ponyville. "Eeyup."

"Is he wearing a dress?"

"Eeyup."

"And he's making look good?"

"Eeyup!"

Rainbow froze and turned to stare at her coltfriend, who had frozen with that familiar look of a stallion who'd just been caught saying something very wrong. Soarin' looked back at her and quickly shrugged. "What can I say? He really makes that look work. You'd never know he was a stallion."

Turning away from Soarin', Rainbow groaned and smacked her head with a hoof.

Meanwhile, Twilight was...well..."enjoying" wasn't the word she'd use for her feelings regarding her conversation with Arcana. The stallion was by himself, for the time being. Trixie had apparently gone off to the Gala proper to take in the experience as a whole. It was her first time attending

"I can't believe you're actually wearing that thing in public," muttered Twilight as she once again took in the sight of Arcana in his dress, the completed version of the one she had seen him modeling for Rarity, "Scratch that, I can't believe Rarity actually made that for you."

"Well, she insisted after all," said Arcana, "And since she went through the trouble, I could scarcely let her hard work go to waste, now could I."

Twilight sagged and half-glared at the svelte stallion. "I don't think I can say anything to that." She looked around the room, taking in the sight of Spitfire and Firefly chatting casually while Dawn and Scootaloo talked with Sparrowhawk. Rainbow and Soarin' were coming over to where Twilight and Arcana were speaking, both of them looking just as baffled by Arcana's choice of garment as Twilight was.

Letting out a sigh, Twilight turned back to Trixie's brother. "Frankly I'm amazed so many of you got together."

Arcana chuckled. "Well, it seemed like a decent idea. Arkenstone was coming with you, I was coming with Trixie, Spitfire was already slated to be here. Having me and Arkenstone here was rare enough in and of itself that Sunny thought it would be a good idea to invite everypony."

"Sunny...?" Twilight raised an eyebrow as she looked around in confusion. She suddenly remembered that, when she and Arkenstone had arrived, there had been five other ponies, including Arcana. But now, she only noticed four.

"It's so nice to finally meet the great Twilight Sparkle in the flesh."

Twilight shrieked as the taunting voice seemed to emerge from every single section of the room all at once. Dawn's reaction was instantaneous, sinking down into a battle-ready crouch with his wings spread, ready for an attack from any direction. Scootaloo backed up against him, her own wings spread as she looked around warily. Soarin' and Rainbow both tensed, but Rainbow relaxed when she felt Soarin's wing over her back give her a reassuring squeeze as he smiled at her.

Twilight expected the Knights to react similarly. However, they instead merely looked annoyed. Even Arkenstone, usually so calm and relaxed, swished his tail impatiently. "Are you finished with the dramatics?" he asked cooly, his ears swiveling around.

The torches seemed to blaze brighter, the light emitting from their flames washing out most of the details in the room and throwing everypony, their shadows in particular, into stark relief. The multiple sources of light created multiple shadows that stretched out from everypony in different directions.

Twilight failed to see the figure of a mare rising up out of her own shadow, coming up directly behind her. "You know," the mare whispered into Twilight's ear, "Whenever I can be bothered to talk to Celestia, she just won't shut up about you."

"Eek!" Twilight spun around to face the mare whispering into her ear, but the strange mare seemed to vanish into the light without a trace.

In the next second, it was Dawn and Scootaloo who were subjected to the mare's attention. Dawn's feathers twitched and he immediately whirled about, even as the mare seemed to condense out of the light around them like a shadow without an owner. Dawn kept himself positioned so that Scootaloo was slightly behind him as she too tried to orient on the unknown mare.

"From what I've heard, you two seem to have rare potential." The mare's features were obscured by both the light and the darkness, but her audience was fairly sure that she was smirking. "I don't see much worth remarking on."

Suddenly, the light from the torches returned to a normal level. The mare once again dissolved into a cloud of swirling darkness, which drifted over halfway between the foals and Twilight before congealing back into the form of a mare. Her coloration was similar to Spitfire's in a sense. Her yellow coat was offset by a mane of red and yellow stripes, along with a matching tail. The mare's cutie mark was the symbol of the sun, much like Celestia's, but divided into light and dark halves.

"Who are you?" asked Twilight, her mood resting somewhere between angry and terrified. Something about this mare unnerved her, but the strange mare's demeanor was also grating in a much more serious sense than Twilight even found Arcana to be, something almost personal.

Arkenstone stepped forward with a resigned sigh. "Allow me to introduce our sixth member, Sunset Shimmer, otherwise known as the Shadowlight."

The mare identified as Sunset Shimmer rolled her cyan eyes and smirked mockingly at Twilight. "To be honest, I'm amazed you've never heard of me. Did Princess Celestia never tell you about me?"

Twilight shook her head. "I don't recall her mentioning anypony by your name even once."

Sunset's smirk melted into an angry scowl. "It figures. She's always been like that."

"What are you talking about?" demanded Twilight.

"You should be more respectful to your upperclassmare," said Sunset in a haughty tone, "Though Celestia ultimately flunked me."

"You were Princess Celestia's personal student?" demanded Twilight.

"One of them anyway," replied Sunset cooly, "You didn't think you were all that special, did you? Celestia's taken on several such students over the years."

Twilight's brow furrowed. She could remember the name of one student in particular. Given the time frame, she wondered if Morning Star had been Sunset's classmate.

Sunset began to prowl clockwise around Twilight, "And now you've become Arkenstone's fillyfriend. You must be so proud of yourself, especially after he brought you in here to parade you around to the rest of us."

Twilight shrunk back from Sunset, nervously pressing herself up against Arkenstone's side. Sunset's demeanor upset Twilight more than her words did. Twilight could feel a simmering resentment from Sunset, almost as though the prickly mare hated her with a passion.

"That's enough, Sunset," said Arkenstone, his tone a low rumble that seemed to make the stones beneath their hooves tremble. He stepped forward, keeping himself between Twilight and Sunset, cutting off the aura of animosity that was unnerving Twilight. Instead, a growing tension enveloped the room. For a moment, Twilight was afraid the two of them were going to start fighting.

A flash of pink and blue crossed her field of vision and Firefly suddenly appeared between both Arkenstone and Sunset. Before either of them could react, Firefly lashed out with her hooves and smacked them against the foreheads of the two other Knights, resulting in a loud crack echoing through the room as Arkenstone and Sunset both backed down, nursing identical bruises. Twilight noted that Firefly had clearly taken care to avoid striking Sunset's horn.

"Unbelievable you two," said Firefly in a stern, almost motherly tone that would have made Princess Celestia proud, "The first time that we're together in years and the only thing you can do is squabble like a pair of foals. Don't make me put you two in time out. Especially you..." She whirled on Sunset, who now looked less menacing and more like a pouting filly. "What have I told you about antagonizing ponies needlessly? Whatever is between you and Celestia is not her fault. If you and the Princess can't work it out between the two of you, then that's not her problem. Don't go dragging somepony into this just because you're jealous. That's probably exactly why Celestia never told Twilight about you."

Sunset let out a snort and looked away from Firefly's intense gaze. "Fine," she puffed. She turned and began to wander away.

"Don't think you can leave," Firefly shouted after her, "This party was your idea, that means you're obligated to see it through to the end."

A dismissive lash of the tail was all the acknowledgement that Sunset gave Firefly's words as she continued to walk away.

Firefly let out a sigh and turned back to Twilight and Arkenstone. "Please forgive Sunset for her attitude. I don't know the full details myself, but I know that she and Princess Celestia had a serious falling out."

"I see..." said Twilight nervously, casting a glance at the retreating Sunset Shimmer. She wasn't exactly surprised to find out that Celestia had another student. Part of her wanted to go after Sunset and ask if she knew anything about Morning Star. However, doing so would require worming her past the very prickly issue of whatever lay between Sunset and Princess Celestia...not to mention having to explain how she knew about Morning Star when every trace of his existence had been wiped from records both public and private.

But there was something else that Twilight was curious about. Sunset's magic was completely different from anything Twilight had ever seen before. The way Sunset had melted out of shadow and into light made it almost seem as though she had been made of magic herself. Could she be...?

"I'm sure you noticed," said Arkenstone, "But Sunset Shimmer is a master of the Still Way."

Firefly nodded in agreement. "Extinguish the self, embrace the essence of nothingness and become one with your own magic. She's probably the foremost master of the Still Way in all of Equestria right now."

"Wow," breathed Twilight. Still...that attitude was her embracing nothingness...?

Seemingly reading her thoughts, Arcana chuckled. "Nothingness is not such a simple concept to grasp. It is not something as simple as erasing your emotions."

Twilight frowned and thought things over for a moment. "Excuse me," she said softly, peeling herself away from Arkenstone for the first time that night and heading off after Sunset.

Arkenstone lifted a hoof to follow her, but stopped as Firefly's wing extended to block him.

"Let them work it out themselves," she said in a sage tone, "Sunset doesn't really hate your fillyfriend, but it was an easy way to work out her frustrations."

"They have sufficient common ground that I think they'll be able to come to some sort of peace," added Arcana, only to freeze as the other two gave him disbelieving looks, "What?"

"It doesn't feel right to hear something so wise and considerate come out of your mouth," said Arkenstone.

"What he said," added Firefly.

Arcana glared at them as Rainbow Dash and Soarin' both began to laugh at his consternation.

"Well, you two seem to be getting along well," observed Cadance as she and Shining Armor came across Caramel and Fluttershy.

The two of them had been enjoying an evening stroll through the gardens. With a little advice from a friendly groundskeeper, Fluttershy had finally been able to entice some of the exotic and rare animals found in the gardens over so that she could speak with them. Though Caramel had essentially been left out one half of the various conversations, the look of sheer bliss on Fluttershy's face was more than enough to keep him happy.

Even though it was in the middle of winter, the gardens looked as though it were nothing more than a warm, summer night. Many of the exotic creatures and plants that populated the gardens came from warm, even tropical climes and would have fared poorly during the Equestrian winter. To counter this, wards had been laid around the gardens to maintain a warm temperature, regardless of the season.

Fluttershy blushed profusely at Cadance's comment. "Thank you very much," she said. She paused to look around. "By the way, have you seen Dawn and Scootaloo? I haven't seen them all evening. Scootaloo's mother is probably getting worried too."

Cadance giggled. "Don't worry. Right now, Dawn and Scootaloo are attending a special gathering. Since you're Dawn's mother, I don't see why you couldn't join them." She gave Fluttershy the directions to the room where the Knights had gathered.

"Thank you," said Fluttershy, bobbing her head in gratitude towards Cadance before turning to trot towards the room in question.

Caramel fell in behind Fluttershy, but not before casting one last look over his shoulder at Cadance. To his surprise, the Princess of Love met his gaze and threw him a playful wink. The stallion hadn't thought it possible for his heart to feel any lighter than it already had. But he was practically floating off the ground as he drifted after Fluttershy.

"I guess things are working out pretty well between them," mused Shining as he watched the couple go.

"Oh they most certainly are," agreed Cadance.

Shining smirked at his wife. "And guess who I just managed to coax out of hiding."

"Did you really?" asked Cadance, her eyes widening.

At that moment, the music coming from the main ballroom changed. The other three members of the quartet fell silent as Octavia's cello sounded out by itself, a beautiful, deep, haunting melody that drifted across the audience of ponies, who had stopped in the midst of what they were doing to listen to the singular song being played by the gray mare's skilled hooves. She played with an incredible intensity that drew everypony's attention and made it clear that this was not music they were meant to dance to, but rather, it was music that demanded their fullest attention.

Shining and Cadance listened, as spellbound as everyone else. Only when the final strains of the melody faded away and the quartet once again resumed their typical ballroom music, did the two of them snap out of the daze Octavia's music had inspired.

"There's only one reason she would have done that," said Cadance slyly.

With a sigh, Shining reached into the pocket of his suit jacket and pulled out a few bits, which he hoofed over to his wife. "You win," he groaned, "There's just no beating you."

Cadance let out a victorious giggle. "Not where love is concerned anyway."

The spare ballroom being used by the Knights for their gathering was situated on the same level as the main ballroom. However, because of its position, the back doors, rather than opening up into the gardens, instead opened into a balcony that looked out over the sheer cliffs of the mountain and across the foothills and valleys below.

Sunset Shimmer stared out over the vista, its stunning beauty seemingly lost on her. She was dressed now, clad in a silky, slinky crimson gown that accentuated her enticing figure. If she joined the main party, she would probably be knocking over stallions left and right.

"May I join you?"

Sunset turned to regard the source of the timid request. "I don't see why not," she said, doing her best to keep a haughty tone, "It's not like this is my palace after all. I don't have any right to dictate what parts of it you can and can't go to."

"Yeah," agreed Twilight as she trotted out to join Sunset, "That would be Princess Celestia's prerogative, I guess." The wards placed around the Palace grounds kept everything a constant, comfortable temperature, even in the dead of winter, so there was no discomfort from the night air as they surveyed the snow-covered expanse in front of them.

Sunset winced visibly at Twilight's words. She let out a tired sigh and leaned forward to rest her chin on the railing. "I'm sorry about earlier," she said, "I guess I'm not really over that. A long time ago, I'd thought that mastering the Still Way would help me get over my resentment, but it's still there."

"Why would you think that?" asked Twilight.

"Because that's what attaining Nothingness is supposed to do," said Sunset, "It's supposed to allow you to find peace with yourself so that you don't have to deal with anger and resentment and all that crap.

"But, that's not what it's about. The heart feels what it feels. Embracing nothingness is about accepting what you feel and learning how to not let it control you."

"It sounded like you let your feelings control you back there," commented Twilight.

"Not at first," said Sunset, "At first I was just going to poke a little fun at you, try to ruffle that colt's feathers and see how he handled me. One the best ways to get a feel for a pony is to see what makes them angry and then what happens when you actually get them angry. But..."

"But, I'm guessing the fact that Princess Celestia never told me about you made your emotions a bit harder to control," ventured Twilight.

Sunset sighed again. "Yeah, that's pretty much it. In the end, I threw it all away to master the Still Way, but being Celestia's student had been a big portion of my life. For her to never acknowledge it, not even to another one of her precious students, irks me."

"What happened?" asked Twilight, "What made you so angry at her that you cast away everything she taught you?"

"It's a long story," said Sunset, "But the long and short of it was that I didn't meet her expectations. I was a different mare back then. Only two things really mattered to me, Celestia's approval and the perks that came with it. But Celestia was never really happy with me, no matter how difficult the spells I managed to master were or how advanced the theories I developed became, it just didn't seem to be what she was looking for. I think she was looking for some kind of sign that I was meant to be something more."

"Something more...?" Twilight thought that over for a second before her eyebrows shot sharply upwards. "You mean, something like an Element of Magic?"

Sunset shrugged. "Maybe. I can't even say that for sure. It's impossible to get a straight answer about something like that out of Celestia. She never wants to tell ponies straight out what she has planned for them. She always wants them to work things out for themselves. Only...sometimes the answer is something you just can't work out."

Thinking about the "test" Celestia had once set for her to save the Crystal Empire, Twilight could understand the sentiment at least a little.

"You think she was grooming you to be the Element of Magic, but that she was disappointed when she thought you might not be it."

Sunset nodded. "The problem is, I'm not sure Celestia truly understood what the Element of Magic was, much less how it worked or how to make it appear. I think that she was operating off the basic assumption that, because of the Element's name, if she picked and nurtured ponies with substantial magical talent, then one of them was bound to be the wielder of that Element." Turning her eyes back out over the balcony, Sunset directed a vacant gaze away from the Palace. "I guess she was right."

"I don't think so," said Twilight, smiling at Sunset, "I can honestly say, having used the Element of Magic twice, that I still don't fully understand how it works. I'm pretty sure that, even if what you said is what Princess Celestia thought, it's not correct."

Sunset's gaze snapped back to Twilight in an instant, staring wide eyed at the younger mare. She'd always thought that, from everything Celestia had said about Twilight, that Twilight Sparkle would never dare question her mentor's judgment.

"It's just that, the impression I've had is that the power that the Elements of Harmony isn't magic in the way that we understand it," continued Twilight, "When I confronted Nightmare Moon, I recognized the things that made my friends their respective Elements. But, in retrospect, the things that made me realize that were so small and tiny that, had they not been in the context of that incident, I wouldn't have even noticed, much less recognized their significance.

"After thinking about it for a very long time, I came to a certain conclusion." Twilight took a deep breath. "I concluded that, the Elements of Harmony could actually be wielded by anypony."

Sunset's jaw dropped and she gaped unashamedly at Twilight. "What!? You can't be serious. The Elements of Harmony are one of, if not the most powerful force in the world. An empowered alicorn like Nightmare Moon was laid low with a single blast. You turned Discord, the god of chaos himself, who couldn't even be touched by the mundane forces of this world, to stone in the blink of an eye. There's no way that such a mighty power could be wielded by just anypony."

"Of course, not just anypony," replied Twilight, "Only ponies who embody the Elements' nature could possibly hope to wield them. Only a pony who could give freely of herself without counting the cost when it really counts could hope to wield Generosity. Only a pony who could respond with compassion, even towards something that inspires fear and anger, could hope to use Kindness. Only a pony who has the heart to remain true to the things that are really important could hope to carry Loyalty. Only a pony who genuinely seeks to lift the hearts and spirits of those around her could bear Laughter. And only a pony who knows that the importance of speaking and recognizing the truth could command Honesty.

"But, my friends, the other bearers of the Elements, they aren't perfect paragons of what those Elements represent. Rarity's been selfish in the past. Fluttershy is, admittedly rarely, capable of giving in to her anger. Rainbow Dash has had her loyalties divided and failed to understand what's really important. Even Pinkie Pie has occasionally forgotten that the point of laughter is to enable ponies to enjoy themselves. And Applejack...Applejack's occasionally told lies, some of the worst to herself." Twilight shivered at a fairly recent memory of that last occasion.

"The point is, my friends, even though they're the bearers of their Elements, aren't perfect ponies. If anything, they're perfectly ordinary ponies."

"A mare who can perform the legendary Sonic Rainboom, a pegasus who can speak the language of animals, the foremost fashion designer and artisan in Equestria, the heir to the most powerful agricultural clan in the nation, and...Pinkie Pie...are ordinary ponies?" Sunset raised a skeptical eyebrow.

Twilight couldn't quite contain her giggle. "Of course they are," she said, "They're ordinary ponies who can do extraordinary things...really extraordinary in Pinkie's case. What's important is that, when it really counts, they can embrace the things that represent their Elements. That's what gives them the power to wield the Elements. And...if that's the case, then anypony could wield the Elements of Harmony, so long as they truly endorse and exhibit the qualities of harmony that the Elements represent." She smiled at Sunset. "You could wield an Element, if you're willing to embrace those things."

"What about Magic?" asked Sunset.

Now it was Twilight's turn to shrug. "Magic is...ambiguous...at least, as far as I can tell. I haven't quite figured it out all the way." She turned to look back out over the balcony again. "But...what I think is that Magic doesn't really represent 'magic' in the sense that we unicorns think about it. I think that it represents something more potent and important."

"What do you mean?"

Twilight frowned and narrowed her eyes thoughtfully. "I don't like to put too much thought in it, because I'm always afraid of letting it go to my head, but I've been called the most powerful mage in Equestria since Starswirl the Bearded. I have three Principles in multiple fields; four, if you count the honorary one. But...none of that was ever just me.

"I would never have gotten this far if it hadn't been for Princess Celestia taking me under her wing. I would never have obtained those Principles without the knowledge and experience of my teachers and other students before me to build off of. And I would never have had any of that at all if my parents hadn't put their livelihoods on the line to help me to gain admittance to the School for Gifted Unicorns. If Princess Celestia hadn't completely paid for my schooling, the tuition and various other fees would have beggared them.

"Likewise, if I hadn't met those five ponies in Ponyville and if they hadn't come with me into the Everfree Forest, I wouldn't have ever realized what the Elements of Harmony meant and I wouldn't have ever obtained the Element of Magic. We would never have succeeded against Nightmare Moon or Discord. All those accomplishments, many of which are attributed to me alone, especially here in Canterlot, are things I would have never been able to do on my own.

"But rather than thinking of that as a weakness, my theory is that that is the true form of Magic. No matter how great a mage a unicorn might be, she'd never be great without learning from others. Even if you sought knowledge on your own, that knowledge comes from other sources that you then build off of. That's what real Magic is. It's the bonds and connections with others that shape our lives and guide our paths, which is why Magic didn't appear until I'd realized the truth about the other Elements. It's the keystone for the Elements as a whole, but it's nothing on its own without the power of the others. If that's the case, then anypony who could realize that is more than capable of using the Element of Magic."

Twilight turned and grinned sheepishly at Sunset. "That's my theory anyway."

Sunset stared silently at Twilight for a moment, the gears in her head turning fiercely as she fought to comprehend what she'd just heard. I think... she realized, I think I now understand why Celestia picked her.

Slowly, Sunset's lips curled up into a smile. "You really are somepony special," she said finally, "Can you forgive me for those things I said earlier?"

"Of course I can," said Twilight, reciprocating Sunset's smile with one of her own, "You're my precious upperclassmare after all."

"True enough," agreed Sunset with a laugh, "Come on, we should get back to the others."

The two of them left the balcony and head back into the ballroom, where the others were waiting. Twilight was surprised to see that Fluttershy and Caramel had joined the gathering. She guessed they'd been trying to track down Dawn and Scootaloo. The couple were now speaking with Firefly. Fluttershy seemed to be surprisingly animated, given her normal shyness around unfamiliar ponies. However, Twilight guessed that Firefly's gentle, motherly nature was something that reached out to the butter-colored pegasus.

Twilight and Sunset had barely taken two steps into the ballroom when they were approached by Sparrowhawk, who was grinning slyly at them. "So...did you two kiss and make up."

Twilight and Sunset blushed brilliantly. "I'm not the one here that swings that way, Magpie," snapped Sunset.

"Oh! Come on!" protested Sparrowhawk, slinking over to throw a foreleg around Twilight's withers, "You can't tell me you don't find this little cutie attractive."

Twilight's blush intensified, especially when she felt Arkenstone pressing up on her other side. "Go get your own fillyfriend," reprimanded the beige stallion, flashing Twilight an uncharacteristically playful smile of his own, "This one's mine."

"You could at least share," muttered Sparrowhawk, puffing out her cheeks as she pulled away.

"You could always take me," suggested Arcana, coming up to them, "I've been told I greatly resemble a mare. Maybe that would be good enough for your tastes."

Sparrowhawk made a gagging noise and let her tongue stick out. "Ew! Please! Not in a million years, you crazy cross-dresser."

"Come on now," chided Firefly, moving from her conversation with Fluttershy and Caramel, "Let's try to all get along."

"You keep out of this, grandma!" retorted Sparrowhawk.

Firefly's eyelid twitched. "Grandma..."

"Elders should just embrace their age and nap quietly," added Sunset, "In fact, why don't you just go to the retirement home already."

Twilight shivered as she suddenly felt a surge of energy from the...extremely youthful and not in any way elderly...pegasus as she turned a grin on the other Knights that was almost predatory.

"My my," said Firefly, "Such impudent foals, hmm... As your elder, I suppose it falls to me to teach you some respect."

Twilight pried herself away from Arkenstone and Sparrowhawk, doing her best to distance herself from the conflict that was brewing. She stepped over to where Rainbow and Soarin' were standing with Dawn and Scootaloo, all of them watching the fabled guardians of Equestria's safety squabbled like a group of foals with varying degrees of confusion. They were quickly joined by Fluttershy and Caramel, who looked on with a similar degree of bamboozlement. Already, Spitfire was rushing in to join the fray as well.

Arkenstone wasn't kidding when he said that they didn't really get along, mused Twilight as she watched the Knights bicker and tease one another. Fortunately, nopony had come to blows just yet. Still...they seem...close to each other, in a sense.

She'd seen this before, at Applejack's family reunions. She'd watched distant relatives who rarely saw one another trade warm embraces and good-spirited barbs in equal measure. In a sense, she supposed that the Knights were a family in their own way.

At that moment, looking at the six of them, the stunning momentousness of the occasion settled into her stomach. She was looking at the members of the Celestial Order of Knights, six of the most powerful and dangerous ponies in all of Equestria and, possibly, the world beyond it as well. These were ponies with the power to shake the earth, make the skies roar, and put entire armies into flight. How truly rare and amazing it was that they were all gathered here in this place at once. The situation was different from what she could have imagined.

...Very different, she concluded ruefully as she watched Firefly put an agitated Sparrowhawk in a headlock and began to vigorously ruffle the younger pegasus' mane as Sparrowhawk twisted and writhed, but was completely unable to pry herself loose from her tormentor.

At that moment, something clicked in Twilight's head. Six! There are only six of them here! Carefully, Twilight stepped forward and approached the bickering group.

"...Arcana! You and I are never going to agree on anything!" Sunset was shouting as Twilight came closer.

"By the way," said Twilight, having to shout a little to make herself heard over the din, "I've been wondering...What's the seventh Knight like?"

The response was instantaneous. All six of the ponies in front of her froze on the spot. At once, they grimaced identically. Twilight remembered Arkenstone giving her the same expression the last time she'd brought up the last of the Celestial Knights.

"Him..." said Firefly.

"He's the worst," everypony said in unison.

Twilight and her friends all gaped at the Knights' response. All six of them gave the exact same answer.

Arcana turned to Sunset. "We agreed."

"Huh?!"

"I don't understand..." said Twilight, blinking and tilting her head, "What do you mean by that?"

Arkenstone managed shake off the revulsion that Twilight's question had apparently stirred up within him. "Well...We Knights tend not to get along perfectly with each other, but Swift Stride is a special case."

"What do you mean?"

"What Arkenstone's saying is that Swift is a jerk," replied Sparrowhawk with a loud snort, "In fact, he's the only one of us who makes a point of being a jerk."

"He's a liar," said Firefly with a stern frown.

"He's a thug," added Spitfire.

"He's a thief," said Sparrowhawk.

"He's a dick," groused Sunset.

"Sunset would know about that last one," said Arcana.

"Shut up!"

"Um..." Twilight still couldn't make sense of what she was hearing.

Arkenstone chuckled sheepishly and gently pressed up against her side. "Remember when I said that we all have titles that we've given one another? Swift Stride is probably the Knight with the most titles out of all of us. None of them are very flattering.

"He's been known as Swift Stride, the Mad Bomber; Swift Stride, the Laughing Mad; even Swift Stride, the Lost Cause...We've given him too many to count really."

Arkenstone slowly shook his head. "However, I've always thought that the title that suited him best is the one that Princess Celestia herself bestowed upon him."

"What title is that?" asked Twilight.

"Swift Stride, the False."

"Achoo! Achoo! Achoo!Achoo!Achoo!ACHOO!"

The earth pony paused, his hooves sinking into the deep snow as he reached back to pull out a hoofkerchief and wipe his nose clear of the splattered snot before it could freeze to his muzzle. Taking a deep breath, the stallion blew his nose into the hookerchief to clear away the remnants of the sneeze that had been left behind. Lowering the cloth, the stallion glanced at it one last time before tossing it away into the wilderness.

The stallion shook his head vigorously, waving the spikes of his grayish-white mane through the air. He was dressed in a black outfit of loose-fitting silk that covered him from shoulders to haunches, complete with loose sleeves that ran down all four of his legs, leaving a hole for his tail to swish through the air behind him. As such, his head was the only part of him visible that displayed the khaki color of his coat. Up close, it was difficult to discern the color of his eyes, given that he habitually squinted so tightly that they seemed closed most of the time. Around his barrel, he'd wrapped a long, white sash, the ends of which trailed behind him like a pair of extra tails.

Swift Stride rubbed his muzzle with his bare hoof one last time and sniffled. "Geez. Somepony must be talking some serious smack about me." He looked upwards and noted the position of the moon relative to the horizon. "Sunny's little party should be in full swing right now. So it's probably those girls."

He chuckled. "Well. It's nice to know they're thinking of me at least. Maybe I should'a dropped in on them after all. It would've been a nice surprise." After thinking it over for a moment, he barked out a sharp laugh. "Nah. They're probably happy that I'm not there."

Lowering his gaze from the sky, Swift grinned widely at what laid before him. "Besides, I should report to my new boss." His eyes homed in on the domed shape that rose out of the otherwise barren, uninhabited terrain ahead of him; a low, stout building made from bricks carved out of granite. "Time to do Her Radiance's will."

"...The False?" asked Twilight.

Arkenstone nodded slowly. "He's unique amongst the Knights in that he specializes in deception and misdirection. He's a tricky, dangerous fighter and you can never be sure of yourself when he's around."

"That doesn't sound like what a Knight would do at all," said Twilight pensively. It certainly seemed different from the others.

"I suppose he is," said Arkenstone, "However, the most important thing is that, without question, I believe that Swift Stride is the strongest of the Celestial Knights, in many ways."

"The strongest Knight," repeated Twilight softly, "I wonder what he's like."

"As I told you once before," said Arkenstone with a wince, "I hope you never have to find out."

Author's Note

Without further ado, the Knights ladies and gentlemen. I imagine that they were somewhat different than what you expected. I'll admit, I had entertained the idea of making Cheese Sandwich one of the Knights (some of you probably think he was the better choice), but I ultimately settled on Sunset Shimmer.

Keep in mind that Equestria Girls and the backstory surrounding it have not occurred in this setting. So Sunset Shimmer did not flee through a magic mirror into a land of technicolored apes only to come back years later to try and steal the Element of Magic. I intend to explore her backstory in a side-story to this series later on, something that'll explain the circumstances of her falling out with Celestia and how she came to be a master of the Still Way.

Only one chapter left.

Next chapter: Some good news...some bad...

Homeward Bound

Chapter 25: Homeward Bound

The small side party to the Winter Gala continued on late into the night, until both Dawn and Scootaloo were struggling to keep their eyes open. With a fond coo, Fluttershy volunteered to escort the foals back to their rooms. She and Caramel were feeling ready to turn in themselves. After they left, Rainbow Dash and Soarin' returned to the main party, while the rest of the Knights excused themselves from the gathering, one by one. Finally, Twilight and Arkenstone were left to make their way back to their quarters on their own.

Back at the main Gala, everypony managed to enjoy themselves or find something to amuse themselves with. Perhaps one of the most shocking developments was the sight of Prince Blueblood dancing happily with Octavia on the one occasion she'd stepped down from the stage. It was an interesting development that set several tongues to wagging.

The Winter Gala continued on through the night and into the early hours of the morning as ponies danced and chatted with each other. However, eventually, all good things must come to an end. The Gala was no exception and, with the moon low on the horizon, ponies began to make their way back to their homes.

Coco Pommel hummed cheerfully, prancing with surprising energy, in spite of the obscene hour. Even though she was an earth pony, she felt as though she could fly. Her hooves were light and she wanted to dance and giggle all night long, until the morning sun wiped the last of the stars from the sky.

She had every reason to be happy after all. I've done it! she squealed to herself, I get to work with Miss Rarity in Ponyville! This is so amazing!

An extra bonus would be that she was leaving Canterlot behind. Once, when she'd been working in Manehattan, Equestria's capital had seemed like the holy grail to fashion designers like herself. If you became recognized enough, you would be recognized by the Canterlot elite. Your designs would be worn by nobles to important functions. You'd set up shop in Canterlot to cater to them directly and, from there, set the trends for the rest of the nation. That had been what everypony in the business had been saying, what Coco herself had always been thinking.

But, after her experiences, Coco had come to the conclusion that she would be happy to put Canterlot behind her. She'd had more than enough of the nobility and their ways. They were haughty and lived and breathed the myth of their own superiority on the basis of their birth alone. They regarded commoners and earth ponies like her as little more than dirt and cheap labor, to be exploited as much as possible. Viscount Eventide had treated her as little more than a slave and Baron Elderflower had given her the impression that he'd seen her as nothing more than a pawn.

With this apprenticeship to Rarity, Coco could say goodbye to Canterlot, goodbye to the nobles and their self-serving games...and goodbye to Perlin Bluestreak. That last thought alone carried a feeling of relief that outweighed everything else. Coco imagined that it would feel odd for a little while. She'd gotten used to having Perlin hang around. But, she was sure that she wouldn't miss him once he was gone.

I'll be safe and free, thought Coco. She'd heard about the colt that lived in Ponyville, even seen him at a distance when she'd gone to the Palace to help with the costumes and at the Winter Gala. She'd heard how he'd faced off against griffon warriors, unicorn enforcers, and even a trained assassin. With him there, it was unlikely that Perlin would ever be able to bother her again without running into Dawn Lightwing first.

"You seem in high spirits."

Coco sagged at the sound of Perlin's voice as the young stallion landed behind her with barely a whispering rasp of metal as his mythril wings settled back beneath his cloak. I was, she thought with a small degree of petulance.

Coco turned to face Perlin, whose presence served as a disturbing reminder that she wasn't free of him just yet. Her legs shivered a little at the sound of Perlin's voice, but that could have easily been excused by the evening cold of the mountain city. "Y-yes," she said tentatively, agreeing with his statement.

What troubled her more than his presence was the expression on his face. Perlin did not look happy. Under normal circumstances, he had a chipper attitude and an upbeat demeanor that belied the casual ease with which he could use his wings to carve up ponies like roasts for a griffon's table. However, none of that attitude appeared on Perlin's face now. Instead he appeared uncharacteristically serious, solemn even, as though he was the bearer of bad news. Given that Perlin was bad news in his own right, the fact that he might be conveying bad news made Coco's stomach churn.

"Did you have a fun time at the Gala?" asked Perlin in a conversational tone.

"Y-yes...I did..." replied Coco, too nervous to try for any answer more verbose.

Perlin lowered his head and averted his eyes slightly to the side. The gesture surprised Coco a little. He'd always gone out of his way to be polite and even to try and tone down the threat of his presence around her. But now, he seemed almost...ashamed.

"Then I'm guessing that your work made quite the impact on Miss Rarity then," said Perlin softly.

Coco blinked, remembering how happy she'd been to receive Rarity's approval. The memory helped buoy her current mood and she managed a small smile. "Yes. She really liked it. Everypony was very impressed by my work, even Marquess Fancy Pants and his wife."

"Then I suppose that you'll be leaving for Ponyville soon," said Perlin softly.

Coco opened her mouth to answer, but the voice caught in her throat, her response dying a messy death on her tongue as the full impact of Perlin's words sunk in. He knew... Coco wouldn't have necessarily put it past him to follow her around, given how much he stalked her already, and overheard the conversation she and Lockstitch had had with Rarity. However, the way he phrased it made her realize that something was different. He didn't know because he'd heard Rarity make the offer, but rather that he suspected that Rarity had made it and Coco had accepted...which meant...What...exactly?

Perlin said nothing and merely watched with that strange, forlorn expression as Coco worked to piece things together inside her head. She had Baron Elderflower to thank for her current position as Lockstitch's apprentice. After their conversation in the Crystal Caverns, the Baron had arranged for Coco to be placed with the aging Lockstitch. Coco briefly recalled how Lockstitch had willingly put off her own retirement to accept Coco's apprenticeship. It was unquestionably a mark of how much potential Lockstitch saw in Coco's skills, but it also created a situation where Lockstitch would be willing to pass Coco's apprenticeship to a more suitable pony if the opportunity arose, especially if it was a pony that Coco herself idolized.

More importantly, Lockstitch was commissioned to produce the costumes for the Hearth's Warming Eve pageant shortly after Coco entered her shop. Had Baron Elderflower been behind that as well? Had he been aiming for an opportunity for Rarity to see Coco's skills for herself, all so that Coco would get the opportunity to work under Rarity at the Carousel Boutique? In other words, the Baron had created a situation where a pony with ties to him would be working with Rarity in Ponyville...Because Miss Rarity is close to Miss Twilight Sparkle... That was what was important after all. Elderflower had killed the Viscount Eventide and two-score of his guards (by proxy, since Perlin was the one who'd done the actual killing) as a consequence of the struggle for control over Twilight Sparkle.

The truth hit Coco hard and fast. By accepting the opportunity to work under Rarity in Ponyville, she hadn't escaped Elderflower's influence, but rather, played right into his hooves. "Y-you..." she stammered, her voice barely a whisper as she looked at Perlin. Her eyes welled up with tears and her entire body began to quiver in a way that couldn't be excused by the cold. "Y-you t-tricked m-me."

"I'm afraid we did," said Perlin, his head dropping lower, "The Baron wished for me to pass on his congratulations for your success and that he has the highest hopes for your career as you finish out the remainder of your apprenticeship under Dame Rarity of Ponyville. He says that he is certain that you will be mindful of whom you owe for this marvelous opportunity."

"No," whispered Coco backing up slowly, shaking her head, "No..."

A faint rattling noise froze her in place. The edge of Perlin's cloak pulled up slightly, baring a tiny portion of his wing, the mythril feathers catching the light of a nearby street lamp. However, Perlin paused before he could even begin actually extending the wing. Turning his head, he glanced back at the appendage for a moment, seemingly deep in thought before relaxing, allowing the hem of the cloak to drop back down once again. He took a slow step back from Coco as he met her tearing eyes once again.

"I'm sorry," he said, his own voice almost a whisper. Perlin took another step back before spinning about and taking to the air with a flash of silvery metal, leaving Coco standing alone, dumbfounded, in the street.

Slowly, Coco came back to her senses as the dread drained out of her. The instant she realized she was alone again, she turned and bolted, rushing down the streets. She didn't stop her headlong gallop for anything, not until she'd reached the door to her apartment and locked it behind her. Only then did she stop to catch her breath as she fell onto the couch.

Only later would Coco realize that there had been some crucial differences in Perlin's demeanor when he'd been about to extend his wing, differences that gave the gesture a profoundly different meaning. However, at the moment, Coco's heart was to heavy to thing about minutia as she stretched out across the couch, still clad in her Gala dress, and cried herself to sleep.

The sun's rays were only just beginning to lighten the horizon when Dawn's eyes opened. He sprang from bed without the slightest preamble, his body already fully awake and his senses on alert. He was conditioned by long experience to being an early riser. However, this morning, it was not habit that awakened the ebony colt from his slumber.

Dawn's wings extended and his senses swept through the room around him, seeking for any sign of threat. However, he found none. He began to wonder just what cue had awakened him so abruptly. His sleep had been untroubled, so it couldn't have been a nightmare or anything of the like. Rather, what he'd responded to had been a sense of familiarity, as though something very familiar to him was close...a familiar presence, but not one that would pass through Dawn's vicinity without being noticed.

Taking a deep breath, Dawn closed his eyes and relaxed his body, allowing his thoughts to drift away. Rather than actively reaching out with his senses, he instead allowed them all to fade away until his awareness hit upon the stimulus that had made him leap out of sleep. It was indeed a familiar presence, but not one that Dawn liked being familiar with.

He's close, thought Dawn. There was no question that it was his presence. Perlin Bluestreak was nearby. If Perlin was in the same vicinity as Dawn, there were precious few reasons he would be there. Dawn frowned. After the events of the past few days, he wasn't exactly in a fighting mood.

Still, Dawn realized that Perlin wasn't likely to just leave because Dawn was uninterested in fighting at the moment. So, it was with a heavy heart that Dawn opened the windows to his room and leapt over the sill. He spread his wings and allowed his magic to push off the air beneath him, letting him soar up above the city of Canterlot beyond the Palace walls. Dawn began to survey the area, looking for any sign of the older colt, prepared for an attack from any direction.

It was an attack that never came. When Dawn's eyes finally found Perlin, the black-cloaked young stallion was simply standing on a random rooftop, staring blankly into the distance, as though he was completely unaware of Dawn's presence at all.

Now that Dawn thought about it, there had been something off about Perlin's presence before. He now realized that while Perlin had been there, nothing about Perlin's presence had been directed at Dawn. It was completely void of intent, but rather empty and aimless. Perlin didn't even react as Dawn swooped low over him. Only when the sound of Dawn's hooves hitting the rooftop reached his ears, did Perlin respond.

"Oh," said Perlin, his hawklike eyes barely even glancing at Dawn, "It's you."

He sighed and turned back to staring off in the distance. "I know we're not exactly in a relationship where we can ignore one another. But, just this once, could we pass on some kind of confrontation. I don't really feel like it today."

Dawn stared. It was the only thing he could do really. Granted, his experience with Perlin was limited, but there wasn't all that much to learn about the nuances of Perlin Bluestreak's nature and attitude. More importantly, Dawn couldn't remember a time when Perlin, on at least some level, hadn't been spoiling for a fight. Even when they had ostensibly been allies during their journey to Diamond Mountain, there had been a subtle degree of provocation behind all of Perlin's words and actions during that event, as though he'd been trying to provoke Dawn into another fight even when they were supposed to be working together.

Canting his head, Dawn watched quietly. It was true, there was no sign of animosity from Perlin. It seemed he really had no intention of fighting. If that was the case, then Dawn's sensing of his presence at all had been merely coincidental. "Did something happen?"

Perlin extended one wing from beneath his cloak and turned to examine it sadly. "You know, I've always been happy about these. They're the most amazing thing I've ever gotten from my father. I've always been excited by the prospect of getting to use them to their fullest, to master their capabilities as weapons. But..." He sighed and returned to staring blankly ahead, his wing once again disappearing beneath his cloak. "...for the first time, I truly regret having them. I feel as though they're keeping me from doing something important."

Dawn gently bit the inside of his lip. He was uncertain of what to say, lacking the context behind Perlin's behavior. "Did something happen?" he repeated.

Perlin turned his head again and looked back at Dawn. The older colt looked...tired was the only word that Dawn could find to describe him. He'd seen Perlin at the edge of exhaustion before, but this was a tiredness that seemed to have settled down over his soul itself.

"It seems silly to only realize it now," said Perlin, who started examining his wing again, "But I've learned that, in order to acquire the power that I have now, I've had to give up something...something important."

Dawn nodded. He could understand that.

Perlin continued. "And, whenever I think about it, suddenly, fighting you just doesn't seem as important as it used to anymore."

"In other words, you found something more precious to you than your ability to fight," observed Dawn softly. His words made Perlin stiffen.

"There shouldn't be anything more important than that for me," muttered Perlin, "All that I've ever needed was to make the fullest use of the gifts I've been given. I was raised to fight. It's the only thing I know."

"Clearly it isn't the only thing that matters to you now," replied Dawn.

Perlin had nothing to say to that.

"I've always thought," said Dawn, "that fighting for fighting's sake was an empty thing. In the end, it will bring you no fulfillment, regardless of which of us kills the other. Even if you win, even if you use everything that you have, I don't think you'll be happy when the dust settles."

"Then why do you fight?" asked Perlin.

"I thought you knew that already," replied Dawn, "I fight because I want to protect my friends and loved ones, the ponies who've opened their hearts and homes to me. They are precious to me and I want to fight to hold onto that.

"Perhaps you are not feeling so enthusiastic because you are no longer confident in your reasons for fighting or the idea that fighting need be central to your existence. If that is the case, then you merely need examine what has changed, what you find that you value more. If you can, then your skills can be used in the service or protection of that which you value. I believe that is what will allow you to move past this."

Perlin stared silently at Dawn, clearly uncertain what to say.

"Think about it," said Dawn, "If you still feel the need to fight me, I will wait for you and we will settle this. But I believe your heart may lay elsewhere for now." He took to the air and made his way back in the direction of the Palace.

Perlin watched silently until Dawn became a black speck against the white walls. He examined his wing once again. I wanted to offer her a measure of comfort, to try and help her to feel better. But...with this wing, it would only hurt her worse. Almost any kind of physical contact between us would carry that risk.

His mind drifted back to the offer his employer had made. At the time, Perlin had dismissed it almost automatically, being glad with what he had. But...if his employer could fulfill the promises he had made, then maybe Perlin needed to reconsider his answer.

After returning to his room, Dawn decided against going back to bed. He was already awake and trying to get anymore sleep would only throw him off later on. Instead, he went about his usual routine. After cleaning himself up, Dawn went about the process of packing his belongings. It was nearly time for them to return to Ponyville after all. Once that had been taken care of, Dawn left his room and set off looking for a quiet place to train.

He found the same empty room he'd been practicing in on Hearth's Warming and once again began going through his forms. His early start allowed Dawn more time to practice before he had to join everypony else at breakfast, so he used the time to his advantage to get in some extra meditation.

As he came out of his trance, Dawn became aware of the fact that he was no longer alone in the room. However, the pony watching him was not anypony he'd ever met before. "Hello?" said Dawn, looking into one of the room's shadowed corners.

"Good morning," replied the stallion, stepping into view. Dawn's eyes took in the details of the stallion's brown coat, his off-white mane and tail, as well as his glittering crimson eyes. However, the most interesting feature was the horn sprouting from the stallion's head, sheathed in the same off-white color as his mane.

"I apologize for not noticing you earlier," said Dawn, "Did you need this room for something?"

"Please don't apologize," said the stallion, giving Dawn a respectful bow, "If anything, I should be apologizing to you for watching you during a private moment."

"There's nothing all that private about it," replied Dawn, eyeing the stallion carefully, "Otherwise, I wouldn't be practicing in some random room if I required that nopony see it."

"True enough," replied the stallion, "I must say, it's a pleasure to finally get to speak with you, Dawn Lightwing."

"You know who I am?"

The stallion chuckled dryly. "I could scarcely not," he pointed out, "You are the talk of the town after everything you've done. And, of course, ponies know what you look like, thanks to that nice article about you in the news."

"I don't think I'm ever going to get used to that," muttered Dawn, "It seems you have me at a disadvantage. May I ask your name?"

"Of course," replied the stallion, "My name is Wight Shade. Dame Twilight Sparkle is already acquainted with me. I happen to be the majordomo to Princess Luna."

"Is there something you needed?" asked Dawn, "Or did you just drop in to watch me?"

"I was passing by on an errand," replied Wight with a sly smile, "But I decided it would be worth my while to spend the time observing the colt that so many ponies are talking about."

"And...?" Dawn's eyes narrowed.

Wight simply shrugged. "I have to say, you're very impressive for somepony so young. You have a great deal of strength, in both body and spirit. It was worth it to get to see you in pony."

Dawn shivered, feeling a strange, oily sensation wash over him. It wasn't an overt, tangible force, but rather, something akin to intent. However, the motivations behind it were not something he could even begin to find the words to describe. It was as though the thoughts and feelings that Wight Shade was directing the colt's way came from a perspective that Dawn simply had no frame of reference that would allow him to interpret it. All Dawn could decide about the feeling was that he did not like it in the slightest. However, since there was nothing even remotely resembling hostility, he decided to let it pass.

Wight Shade bowed politely to Dawn again. "I am grateful that I had the chance to watch you in action. I'm afraid that I must take my leave now. I am certain that we will meet again."

Wight turned and left through the door that Dawn had come through. The realization of his absence mad Dawn shiver slightly as he realized that he'd never sensed Wight's presence before speaking to him. Either the strange stallion had already been in the room when Dawn had entered or he had come in while Dawn had been practicing, all without Dawn sensing him in the slightest.

At first, Dawn suspected that Wight Shade might have been a martial artist of some skill to be able to conceal his presence so completely. However, that didn't seem quite right. Wight's presence, when Dawn had been able to sense it, had been at once too normal and too...other...for the colt to equate Wight to a martial artist. It was as though the stallion known as Wight Shade conformed to a different set of rules than anypony Dawn had ever met, as though there was something to him that was not quite of this world.

That would make him...what? An alien? Dawn blinked and shook his head at the inherent silliness of the notion. Wight Shade was clearly a pony with an interesting condition, if his horn was anything to go by. But that did not make him an alien any more than Dawn's eyes made the colt a demon. Perhaps I just imagined it. Not that Wight was gone, his previous presence and the impression Dawn had gotten from it seemed entirely too surreal to be anything more than the work of his imagination.

Maybe I'm a little too out of sorts from meeting Perlin, thought Dawn as he went back to practicing in an attempt to fill up the time until breakfast.

The group's remaining time in Canterlot was pleasant as they spent the rest of it enjoying their presents and each other's company. They mostly kept to the Royal Palace. However, Twilight Sparkle was all too happy to show her friends and the young ones her favorite places in town, including her favorite parts of the School for Gifted Unicorns; several favorite shops in town; some of her favorite places to eat, read, and otherwise hang out; and her parents' home. Night Light and Velvet both especially enjoyed fawning over the foals, right before carefully and discretely (by some measure of the term) ribbing Twilight about when she might consider having foals of her own. Sadly, Twilight's parents were much less interesting as a pair of potted bramble bushes, so the group's visit to Twilight Sparkle's foalhood home ended up being a bit on the short side.

They toured art galleries and museums, some of which were fascinating, some of which were rather dull, to most of the group anyway. Dawn took everything in with a quiet fascination, having never been to places like these before. Though the beauty and depth of many pieces of art eluded him, he had to admit that many of the paintings and sculptures were enthralling. The museum exhibits had been interesting to him as well and he found that he enjoyed learning about topics that he would have never thought to explore otherwise.

The only true sour note of the whole affair were the furtive looks and outright stares they seemed to attract everywhere they went. It wasn't everypony that was watching them. It wasn't even most of the ponies. However, no matter where they seemed to go, Dawn's alert senses could pick out the signs that eyes were following them, with varying degrees of intent, some less pleasant than others, though there was a distinct lack of outright hostility.

Dawn was a bit surprised to note that the bulk of the covert observation did not fall on him, but rather on Twilight and her immediate circle of friends, including Dawn's adoptive mother. If anything, Dawn figured he was being regarded more as a distracting oddity than anything else, while Twilight and her friends, but especially Twilight, were the main attraction.

The ponies doing the watching varied from place to place. Amongst the paintings of one of the art galleries, Dawn noted that a few of their observers seemed to be especially well-dressed. On the streets, otherwise innocuous ponies seemed to slip amongst the crowds around their little group, moving carefully to keep them in sight, while trying to keep themselves out of sight.

The experience was similar to when they'd first arrived. However, now there as a great deal more tension in the air, at least there was more tension being exuded by the ponies watching the group. It was as though they were holding their breath in anticipation of something. Dawn decided to bring his observations to Arkenstone and see what the Knight of Dancing Blades made of this.

"You're aware that the nobility have their eyes on Twily, correct?" inquired Arkenstone as they trailed behind Twilight, who was prancing giddily through the shelves of a bookstore.

Dawn nodded. After all, that had been the whole reason behind the kerfuffle with Foal Protective Services and his little jaunt to Diamond Mountain to resolve the affair.

"What are they looking for?" asked Dawn.

Arkenstone shrugged. "Any number of things; weaknesses, opportunities, ideas, habits, inspirations, anything that they can use to try and bring Twilight Sparkle under their control. Amongst the ponies watching us, some are considering blackmail, if they can find the suitable means. Others are trying to determine what they want that they might be able to offer Twilight or her friends to earn some sort of accommodation from them. Some are looking for a more tangible weakness to exploit in order to attempt more direct methods. A few of the stallions, at least, are also looking for things they could use to woo Twilight should they try to convince her to become a consort to one of them.

"They are also watching each other. After all, whoever manages to gain some measure of control or influence over Twily will gain a great deal of political power from the move, which would give that pony an advantage over the rest of the herd. So they are also trying to hold one another in check, even as they try to make opportunities for themselves. It's the main reason no one has actually tried anything yet. Whoever moves first will simply mark herself out as a target for her competitors."

"You mean like Sweet Water?" asked Dawn. Perlin had been the one to make Dawn aware of the actual forces at work behind the pressure that Foal Protective Services had been exerting on him and his mother. However, Perlin had done that because he had been working at the behest of somepony else, somepony who had wished to curb Sweet Water's ambitions and keep her from gaining the leverage she had been seeking.

Arkenstone nodded. "Yes. Twilight is safe for the moment, given that she is in Canterlot at the behest of the Princesses and that she has so many friends and family around her at the moment. It makes her difficult to approach. However, I expect that we will begin to see the repercussions of this attention later on, even after we are back in Ponyville."

"I see..." mused Dawn, trying to think about what he could do to help. Twilight Sparkle was his friend after all. She had gone to great lengths and even put herself at risk in order to help him deal with the Cult Solar. He owed it to her to protect her as best he could from this. However, this was a kind of battle that he was hopelessly unprepared to fight at the moment.

"Please don't concern yourself with this for now," said Arkenstone, smiling down at the colt, "Your care is appreciated. However, you should remain focused on more pressing affairs. For the time being, think about protecting yourself first and foremost. I can attest that it would hurt Twilight a great deal if something bad happened to you because you were too focused on helping her."

Dawn frowned.

"Terra Heart will be coming for you at some point," said Arkenstone in a low tone, "If he's as dangerous as I expect he is, you will need every scrap of awareness and focus to survive. Protect yourself first and foremost. I think that you've learned that you can't afford to weigh your own life so lightly anymore."

Thinking about the conversation he'd had with Scootaloo on Hearth's Warming morning, before breakfast, Dawn swallowed and nodded.

"Good boy," said Arkenstone with a chuckle, "Leave Twily to me. I would sooner carve Canterlot from the side of the mountain before I allow anything to happen to her."

The conviction in Arkenstone's voice made it practically hum with the power of his intent. Dawn shivered, not envying the fear that anypony would experience if they chanced to test Arkenstone's willingness to protect Twilight.

As it turned out, the first move in the game being played with Twilight Sparkle as the prize was surprisingly straightforward.

A note borne by a Palace messenger was presented to Twilight as soon as she reached her quarters after returning from their whirlwind tour of Canterlot's points of interest. It was a surprisingly ostentatious approach, given that said note was presented to her on the center of a silver tray, suspended in the field of the servant's magic.

After paying a bit to the servant for his work, Twilight took the note and held it in front of her. It was addressed simply and had been given to the messenger with instructions that it be delivered to her at the first convenient opportunity.

"Should I open it?" asked Twilight, turning to look at Arkenstone, who was sitting next to her. The stallion had been waiting patiently while Twilight regarded the note.

"That is up to you," replied Arkenstone, "Are their any signs of immediate danger."

Twilight's muzzle scrunched as the scrutinized the letter. "No hostile magics, no traps or compulsions, just plain paper and ink. The hornwriting is precise, clearly the work of somepony who's taken calligraphy lessons; probably one of the nobles, I'd bet. But there's no official seal and no instructions or requests that came along with the letter itself, so it's clearly informal. But what does that mean? What does all that say?"

Arkenstone pursed his lips. "The best way to find out would be to read the letter itself. If it is informal, you may, of course, simply dispose of it. That would be impolite, but it would not be the grievous insult to the sender that it would be if it were a formal missive."

Chewing the inside of her lip, Twilight thought the matter over. If she disposed of the letter, then it wouldn't matter what the sender had to say. Her refusal to even read it would be answer enough to whatever questions of requests he or she might make. However, that would also leave nothing for Twilight. Somepony was behind this and that pony was clearly up to something. By reading the letter, then perhaps Twilight could glean just what that something was and, perhaps, benefit from that knowledge.

The envelope opened and Twilight pulled the letter out, unfolding it so that she could read the document in its entirety. It was brief and to the point.

Dear Dame Twilight Sparkle,

I am writing this letter in hopes that I might solicit the opportunity to speak with you at some point in the near future. I understand that this request will be reviewed with no small measure of suspicion and rightly so. I fully understand that your situation has left you guarded with regards to the requests and solicitations of those of noble rank, such as myself. With that said, however, please allow me to assure you that conversation is all that I seek with you. I require no other concessions of place or time, save that it be sooner, rather than later.

I wish to speak to you of affairs that are of great importance to this nation's future and are critical for the continued prosperity and survival of Equestria as a whole. Thus, I appeal to your desire to help and protect your fellow ponies from potential harm and hope that a discussion between us could lead to the guidance of Equestria's future in a positive direction. Once again, conversation is all that I seek from you at this point and anything further would be by your informed consent alone.

I am aware that right now is not an appropriate time for such a conversation and that you have no wish to immerse yourself in political affairs in the course of this season as you spend time with your friends and family. I also do not require that our conversation be held here in Canterlot. I am willing to meet with you in Ponyville at a time of your convenience (once again, sooner would be better) to hold a civil discussion with you.

Please understand that this is an informal request I am making of you. You are under no obligation to agree or even respond to this request. If you have at least read this letter, then I am grateful for your indulgence. That said, I do hope that you will at least consider my humble request and grant me audience when and where it suits you.

Sincerely;
Baron Elderflower of Dream Valley

Twilight hoofed the letter over to Arkenstone, who ran his frog across the page and feeling its words through the sensitive pad of his hoof.

"It's certainly an innocuous request," replied Arkenstone, "I'm rather surprised at this baron's degree of restraint and that he's willing to keep from placing undo pressure on you to agree to his request."

"But why...?" mused Twilight, "What does it mean."

"Hmm," hummed Arkenstone, "I'm reminded of something Storm Front once brought up to me."

"What's that?"

"The concept of the negative conversation," explained Arkenstone, "As he once put it to me, there are two critical parts to any conversation. There is what is said..." He waved the letter. "And then, there is what is unsaid, which can be of equal or even greater importance."

"What's unsaid..." muttered Twilight. She turned her attention to the envelope. "There's no seal. It was completely informal. But it wasn't secret. Baron Elderflower made no attempt to hide his identity from me or even anypony else who might be monitoring conventional lines of communication."

"In other words, he was not worried about whether or not you would read this," suggested Arkenstone, "Either because he felt that he understood your character well enough to believe that you would read the letter or because it would not be a critical blow to his plans if you refused to read it either."

"It also means that he's not concerned that anypony might know he's approached me," added Twilight, "In other words, he's not worried that anypony is going to try to stop or interfere with whatever he's doing."

Arkenstone nodded. "That is an interesting point," he said.

"I don't like this," said Twilight, "There's just not enough information, said or unsaid. I can't figure out what angle this stallion is working from...not without talking with him."

"But the only way to learn more would be to agree to his request and meet with him," said Arkenstone, "We aren't equipped for any more clandestine investigation into the Baron's motivations. The most reliable way to find out would be to put the question to him directly."

"Yeah," said Twilight, once again chewing the inside of her lip anxiously. Her options were limited. On one hoof, she could discard the letter and the Baron's request, forget about it and move on. But it was clear that Elderflower's plan did not hinge on the letter or its request alone. Setting that aside would leave her in the dark as to what Elderflower was actually planning.

But the alternative was agreeing to his request and meeting him for a "conversation." About what...exactly? she wondered. Whatever it was, she was sure that, in spite of the Baron's assurances, that conversation was not the only thing he had in mind by talking to her. However, the only way she'd be able to gain an inkling of what he was up to would be to agree to that discussion and use the opportunity to ferret whatever information she cold out of him in turn.

"I need to think about this," she said finally, "I don't know what to do."

Arkenstone lifted a hoof and rested it gently against Twilight's shoulder. "Whatever you decide, I will be with you. I won't falter this time." He leaned in and nuzzled her cheek. "You are my precious Twilight and I won't let you go."

Warmth rose up in Twilight's chest at Arkenstone's words. Turning, she met his lips with hers. "That's a promise," she said, "Thank you."

They leaned against one another, gently basking in their mutual warmth, which went a long way towards soothing Twilight's trouble thoughts, brought upon by the letter, which rested harmlessly on a side table, set aside for later.

On the last day that the group had in Canterlot, Twilight made her way down into the lower districts of the city, Arkenstone following her. Given that their train wouldn't be leaving until the afternoon, Twilight figured that she had more than enough time to make her final goodbye before she left. The fact that their luggage would be sent ahead to the station would only make things easier.

When they arrived at the familiar townhouse, Twilight was not in the least surprised to see that absolutely nothing had changed since she'd last seen it. Certainly, the lawn out front was covered with a nice, heavy layer of snow. However, aside from the path shoveled through it to the door, there was no sign of the snow having been disturbed. With a sigh, Twilight went up to the door and knocked.

"Hello?" asked Trixie, leaning out the door. Her eyes widened when she saw Twilight waiting there. "Oh! Twilight! Come in!"

Accepting Trixie's invitation, Twilight and Arkenstone knocked the snow off before stepping into the warm confines of the townhouse. Already, Twilight could hear rattling from the kitchen, where she assumed Arcana was cooking something. Her suspicions were confirmed when Arcana came trotting out, carrying a tray of tea and some snacks in his magic. Following behind him was-

"Sunset Shimmer!" gasped Twilight, staring in shock at the orange mare as she trotted out of the kitchen after Arcana.

"I'm surprised to find you still in Canterlot," noted Arkenstone, his ears turning in Sunset's direction, "You tend not to hang around for long."

To Twilight's surprise, she saw a noticeable twitch run through Sunset for a moment. "I absolutely despise this city," she said plainly, "But Arcana and I had some arrangements to make before I left."

"What sort of arrangements?" asked Twilight before freezing, "Oh! Sorry. I probably shouldn't ask about stuff like that."

"It's nothing particularly private," said Arcana simply, "We were discussing Trixie's position."

"Trixie...?" Twilight turned to the showmare, who had stars dancing in her eyes.

"Dame Sunset Shimmer has offered to take me on and train me in the Still Way! Isn't it wonderful?" exclaimed Trixie, looking as though she were about to faint with happiness. "It's so rare for a student of the Still Way to get training directly from another practitioner! This is a spectacular opportunity."

"Training?" Twilight blinked and turned to look at Sunset again. "You're going to teach her?"

"Insomuch as I can," replied Sunset with a shrug, "She doesn't lack for commitment. That's for sure. Nopony would go so far as to put the seal on if they weren't going to see this through to the end."

"Seal?" asked Twilight.

"Show her," said Arcana.

Trixie raised a hoof and brushed the strands of her mane clear, showing the base of her horn plainly. Twilight noticed a black band running around the horn's base. "That's why you can't use your magic. It's been sealed."

Trixie nodded and let her mane fall back into place.

"That seal is even more than that," replied Sunset Shimmer, "Not all who attempt the Still Way are willing to risk applying that seal to their horns."

"Why is that?" asked Twilight.

"Because it is permanent," replied Sunset.

"Permanent!"

Sunset nodded, her expression grave. "If Trixie does not master the Still Way, she will never be able to use her magic again. The only condition, under which that seal can be removed is if the fundamental nature of how she channels and shapes her magic changes. In order to do that, she will have to abandon everything she has previously learned. By taking that mark on, she has blocked herself from the path of a regular unicorn for the rest of her life."

Twilight stared at Trixie. "Are you sure about this?"

"I am," said Trixie, "I could not have made this decision otherwise. I thought very long and hard about it. I came to the conclusion that, if I wanted to learn the Still Way, this would be the only way that I could."

"You mean that seal isn't necessary?" demanded Twilight.

"Of course not," replied Sunset, "After all, the essence of the Still Way is based entirely upon changing the way you understand your own magic. All that is truly required is to let go of the magic that you knew and start from the ground up. I didn't need the seal in order to master the art myself.

"But mastering it requires discipline. When you've spent your entire life learning to do magic a certain way, it isn't easy to let go. It's like somepony telling you that the way you've learned to walk is wrong and trying to make you change it. No matter how committed you are, the temptation will always be there, the temptation to go back to doing things the way you used to do them, the way you were comfortable with. For us unicorns, it's easy to forget how much we rely on basic magics like levitation and manipulation until we have to do without them. Even basic things, like cleaning and feeding yourself, become difficult because you've grown used to using magic to do it."

Twilight shuddered as she thought about trying to brush her mane without telekinesis to move her brush. She knew that Applejack probably did just that, with only her hooves, every day. But Twilight was used to brushing her hair with her magic. She was also used to using it to eat, such as when she used it to manipulate table utensils. She tried to imagine having to go through learning how to do all that without her magic. It would be just like going through foalhood all over again.

Seeing that Twilight was thinking about what she had said, Sunset smiled. "Because that temptation is there, very few unicorns get far when they try to learn the Still Way. Instead, they give up and go back to their ordinary lives. What Trixie's done is to acknowledge the limits of her discipline and give everything to her commitment. That seal removes the option to step back. From here on out, the only choice she has is to move forward."

Looking over at Trixie, Twilight wasn't sure how she felt about the idea of the showmare sealing her magic away, possibly forever. But the look on Trixie's face showed that she was desperately looking for Twilight's approval. If nothing else, Twilight knew that she could acknowledge Trixie's determination to pursue the path she was following.

Twilight smiled at Trixie. "I can't honestly say that's something I'd be able to do," she admitted, "But I hope you succeed."

"Thank you so much," said Trixie as she and Twilight hugged each other tightly.

The platform was busy, as could be expected, given the time of year. The party from Ponyville were not the only visitors heading home to other towns and cities after the holiday. Several other trains were boarding on other platforms, getting ready to head off to Manehattan, Trottingham, and other distant towns. As such, the station was packed with ponies and their luggage as they all struggled to make it to their trains on time.

"Did you enjoy your stay in Canterlot?" asked Fluttershy as she wrapped Dawn in her wing as the two of them watched their train being loaded. Their luggage was presently being loaded by porters, a consideration towards them being guests of the Princesses.

"It was certainly an experience," said Dawn, a small smile gracing his face.

Indeed, it had been a very good experience for him. His first true Hearth's Warming had been a wonderful occasion. He'd been able to fully enjoy himself, his family, and his friends. For a few days, he had been free from any worries about the machinations of the Cult Solar. On top of that, he'd gotten the opportunity to meet some amazing ponies. All told, it had been a fulfilling experience and one that had him looking forward to the future years that he would spend with his new family and friends.

Looking over, Dawn spied Rainbow Dash sharing a reluctantly affectionate farewell to Soarin’, who had stayed with her until today. Rainbow still had more than a month left before she would be leaving Ponyville to join the Wonderbolts full-time. During that period of time, she would be teaching Scootaloo how to use and look after a cloud house, even if Scootaloo wouldn’t be living in the house herself for another few years. It would be hers once Rainbow left, though Scootaloo had promised without hesitation that Rainbow was welcome to use the house whenever she came back to Ponyville.

The final whistle sounded, indicating that the passengers needed to get on board the train if they wanted to ride it back to Ponyville. Dawn and the others did as they were bid. They waved out the windows as Soarin’, along with Cadance and Shining Armor, saw them off. A few minutes later, the station and the city of Canterlot itself were pulling away until they were lost around the bend of the mountain. The city would come back into view intermittently on the way down, but this was to be their last up-close sight of it.

Dawn settled back into his seat with a relaxed sigh. A few seconds later, a warm presence pressed against him as Scootaloo joined him and Dawn extended a wing to wrap around her prompting a happy sigh from Scootaloo as she rested her head on his shoulder and against his neck.

Dawn felt completely at peace. With their departure from Canterlot, he at last felt relief from the eyes that had been following the group’s nearly every move. Here, in the train compartment, he could relax and enjoy a few hours of peace and tranquility. For the time being, he didn’t have to worry about the nobility or the Cult Solar. He could just enjoy the presence of the ponies close to him…

Or so he had thought as his gaze drifted over and he noticed the addition to their party. A young mare, only a little older than he remembered Perlin being, with an off-white coat was sharing a seat with Rarity, listening intently as the fashionista spoke excitedly about some subject or other that Dawn couldn’t follow. It was clear that the younger mare was enjoying listening to Rarity…at least on the surface.

Now that Dawn recalled, the mare’s name was Coco Pommel. He remembered that she had been an assistant and apprentice to the chief costume designer for the pageant. Rarity had introduced her to the group when she’d met them at the platform. Apparently, she was transferring to the Carousel Boutique for the remainder of her apprenticeship. Outwardly, Coco appeared to be completely delighted by the prospect and was clearly looking forward to moving to Ponyville.

However, Dawn could pick out the faint glazed look in her eyes, and the quick sagging of her smile every once in a while, that gave the impression that there was something dark and melancholy just beneath the surface. Whatever it was, it was clearly distracting her from her honest excitement at being able to work with the mare she idolized. For some reason, her condition vaguely reminded Dawn of Hope Spot, the mare he and Perlin had helped rescue from the clutches of the Viscountess Sweet Water at Diamond Mountain.

Still, Dawn couldn’t help but wonder if he was imagining things. After all, he’d spent most of his life in isolation before coming to Ponyville. His primary skill at reading ponies was focused on detecting hostility and danger from them. It was entirely possible that he was simply misinterpreting things. In any case, it probably wasn’t his place to pry.

His decision reached, Dawn leaned back against Scootaloo and allowed his eyes to fall closed as the gentle rattling of the train lulled him into a tranquil doze as Dawn enjoyed the remainder of the trip back to Ponyville, blissfully unconcerned with the dark matters that loomed, however distantly, on the horizon.

To Be Continued...

Author's Note

And so Story 7 of the series concludes on a much more ominous note than I had originally planned when I'd started. Admittedly, this story was mostly about Dawn getting a (mostly) untroubled period with his family and friends, and got to really experience some genuine holidays. I had originally intended it to be a filler arc where not much of importance was happening. But then...a lot of stuff happened...story-wise. By the time I was reaching the end, the story was evolving on its own, almost organically, into something much bigger and more important than I'd originally planned.

As you'd probably expect from me, Story 8 is already in the works. In fact, the series as a whole just recently passed the 900,000 word benchmark. The next story-arc is intended to be the major build-up leading to the story's climax, which should, ideally, take place in the story immediately after that. After the climax comes the concluding arc, which should wrap everything up. So...tentatively, I'd say there are about three more stories to go in the series, not including various side-stories and supplementals that might pop up afterwards or in between them.

In the next installment...
Spring comes to Ponyville, bringing with it new conflicts. Applejack and Rarity prepare to go up against a slew of competitors as they seek the vaunted Royal Warrant. Meanwhile, Dawn prepares for the imminent arrival of the Cult Solar's most dangerous agent, a veritable juggernaut, who will allow nopony to stand in his way as he seeks Dawn's life. Twilight Sparkle will face her greatest challenge as Baron Elderflower begins to put his plan into action. Finally, Morning Star's mysterious array nears completion, with consequences that will change the shape of the world forever.

Once again, I would like to thank all my readers for continuing to enjoy my work and I would like to give a special thanks to those of you who have been pointing out my various errors and typos in the comments. I may not respond to a lot of you, but know that I do listen to what you have to say, even if I don't say anything back.

See you later...

Unexpected Visitor

Chapter 1: Unexpected Visitor

Nopony really noticed the stallion on the train. If they had, they might have noted that he was keeping an inordinate distance from his fellow ponies. They might have noted his slightly huddled posture, as though he was specifically cringing away to put as much distance between himself and anypony else as possible. They might also have noted his bedraggled condition, looking like a hundred miles of bad road. However, this stallion had gone out of his way to be exceptionally skilled at going unnoticed.

For though he kept as far away from his fellow passengers as he possibly could, he kept as still and calm as possible. His gaze was fixed pointedly out the window. For if it roamed around, he could accidentally catch the eyes of someone else. Catching somepony's eye was a good way to get noticed, being seen sharply looking away after catching somepony's eye was an even better way. Though the stallion's thoughts were barreling along, much like the train he was currently riding on, his mouth remained shut and motionless. Muttering to yourself was also a good way to get noticed.

As it was, he did his best to simply blend into the scenery, to look so bland and uninteresting that nopony would even think of bestowing the slightest iota of attention upon him. After all, he'd had enough attention to last a lifetime...which made it all the more ironic that he was on his way to receive some very specific attention.

I must be an idiot for agreeing to this, thought Flaxseed as he continued to stare out the window, his eyes tracing the countryside rushing by, Somepony actually found out about me, learned where I lived, managed to make contact with me, and I'm actually coming to her. I might as well slit my own throat and be done with it.

After all, there was only one reason that anypony would try and track him down. And the ponies that did track him down had only one thing on their minds. For Flaxseed, it had been nothing short of stunning that the gray pegasus courier hadn't attacked him on sight, much less after he'd...

Flaxseed snapped his eyes shut and shook his head vigorously. Getting anxious would only make things worse now. They came out too easily these days when he got anxious. It was partly his own fault. Once he got on a worrying train of thought, it almost always immediately led him into a downward spiral of anger and fear, until he had talked himself into a corner where he felt genuinely afraid for his life. Then they showed. Even ponies who knew nothing of the lore and superstition surrounding his condition marked him as a freak. It was simply better to not deal with ponies at all.

Then why am I on my way to meet this Twilight Sparkle? He'd mostly told the gray pegasus that he'd come to Ponyville as a means of getting her out of his apartment. That would buy him enough time to move somewhere else, before that Twilight mare could get impatient and check up on him again. That was his usual procedure.

But then he had seen the newspaper article, on the front page of the Equestrian Times no less. It was a picture of a young colt, a young colt who apparently had the same condition that Flaxseed had. He was standing there, staring unashamedly into the camera, his eyes fully visible. As Flaxseed read the article, he'd been presented with another picture of the colt contentedly curled up in the arms of the pegasus mare who had adopted him.

The colt lived in Ponyville. He had been hunted as well, had to deal with threats to his life even now. And yet, he had boldly come forward and announced his existence and location to all of Equestria. Flaxseed thought it a ridiculously foolish move. But, at the same time, he couldn't help but put a little more stock in the things the gray pegasus had told him. Maybe going to Ponyville wouldn't be signing his death warrant.

Yeah, and maybe the past few years of my life have just been a bad dream, he thought wryly. Still, he had made his decision. Ultimately, there was nothing left but to accept the consequences. Besides, it wouldn't be the first time I chewed my way out of a trap.

Rarity hummed a pleasant tune as she made her way back to the boutique, her groceries floating along in a few bags, drifting in the current of her magic. After beholding a finished project that you had spent days, or even weeks, working on in all its full glory, there was nothing quite so satisfying as a successful shopping expedition, even if it was little more than a grocery run. With this latest run, she had more than enough for meals for the next few days.

Her cash inflow had been a bit tight after suspending her business with ponies in Canterlot, but Rarity was still feeling optimistic. Fancy Pants had promised that he would do his best to make things better, so that she could sell her work, safe in the assumption that it wasn't part of some larger ploy to manipulate her and her friends.

She still remembered Twilight's stories about Steel Flint's party and the mares there, who had worn many of Rarity's more outdated designs in an attempt to catch Twilight's attention. The alabaster mare shuddered at the thought of such important mares wearing outfits so hideously out of vogue.

Still, Rarity hoped against hope that such a problem would soon be a thing of the past. She had even heard some more promising news recently. Apparently, Parliament had voted to once again start issuing Royal Warrants, with full support from Princess Celestia. With the dresses she had made for the princesses for various occasions, Rarity was sure that she was more than qualified for one. To make matters even better, so was Applejack. After all, Sweet Apple Acres apples had been a staple of the royal table since the farm's establishment. If she and Applejack managed secure Royal Warrants for their respective businesses, it would grant them a measure of protection that would discourage any future attempts to undermine their financial stability.

Still, it wouldn't be until the spring Parliament sessions that the requirements for eligibility and the means of issuing the warrants themselves would be hammered out. So they would have to remain cautious a little longer. But Rarity found herself feeling hopeful.

However, if every cloud has its silver lining, then it also stood to reason that, wherever there was silver lining, there was a fairly intimidating cloud. The fact of the matter was, while the future looked hopeful, the present was more than a little troublesome. It had only been a day or so since Dawn returned from his recent journey to Diamond Mountain, Canterlot, and back again. His sudden departure had, of course, nearly driven Fluttershy up the wall in anxiety. While they all knew that Dawn's skills would probably see him through this crisis, that didn't stop his mother and poor Scootaloo from worrying themselves sick about when he would come back, or what state he would come back in. Fortunately, Dawn had returned free of injuries this time.

And, of course, there were Rarity's problems with her own sister. Poor Sweetie Belle had been decidedly unhappy as of late. The fact that her two closest friends had found their cutie marks before her had driven the poor dear to distress. To complicate the problem, while Rarity, along with many others, including no less a mare than Sapphire Shores herself, thought Sweetie Belle's angelic voice to be the root of her cutie mark, Sweetie Belle was not in agreement. The young unicorn filly still refused the notion of singing in front of an audience and didn't seem to think that singing was her calling in life. However, nopony had any idea as to what else it might be that Sweetie could do to find her cutie mark.

Fortunately, Sweetie had consolation in the form of Rumble, the dark-gray pegasus colt who had once pined after Scootaloo. However, upon being rejected, Rumble and Sweetie had grown quite close and ended up going to the Harvest Festival together. It was fairly clear to anypony who looked at them now that Rumble and Sweetie were each other's special someponies. Even more importantly, Rumble was the model of a gentlecolt, being kind and attentive to Sweetie, always doing his best to comfort her and never once expressing any frustration with Sweetie's continually deteriorating temperament. More than once, Rarity had walked into the Boutique's kitchen to see Rumble gently holding Sweetie Belle in his arms as she sniffled into his shoulder. It would have been absolutely adorable if it weren't so distressing that Sweetie was getting so torn up about this cutie mark business.

Rarity was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she almost failed to notice the blonde coat of a pony directly in front of her. Before she realized it, she had nearly walked straight into the unicorn stallion making his way down the road from the train station.

"Oh!" she exclaimed, "I'm terribly sorry. I wasn't watching where I was going."

The stallion acknowledged her with little more than a mumble before continuing on his way. Irritated that her apology had been brushed off like that, Rarity turned to watch him go, a reprimand on her lips, but still held within her mouth because it wasn't polite to shout at a pony when you were the one who nearly bumped into him, even if his response had been rather rude.

However, her frustration died a whimpering death on her lips as she got a good look at the stallion that she had nearly barreled into. That frustration was quickly replaced with shock. He's so...so...so...shabby! The horror!

If anypony could be called a fixer-upper, then it would definitely be this stallion. His golden coat, which would have probably shined under the afternoon sun, had it been clean, was stained with dirt and filth accumulated after who knew how many days since a bath. His mane was black, but shot through with random streaks of gray, as was his tail. Both were tangled and knotted, having clearly never seen the business end of a brush for weeks. His saddlebags were worn and misshapen from being stuffed past capacity. On the whole, this was clearly a stallion who had seen better days. Rarity was so shocked by his state of uncleanliness that she scarcely noticed the image of an open ledger that decorated his flanks.

This is hideous! I cannot allow such a crime against fabulosity to persist! I must take him to my boutique at once. Such a pony should not see the light of day until he has had a bath and a proper grooming session. Rarity lifted her hoof, ready to call out to the stallion, but hesitated.

This wouldn't be the first time she had dragged an unfamiliar pony to her boutique in order to help with his appearance and the previous occasions had been mixed bags. Once, she had dragged a beige earth pony in so that she could work on his traveling cloak, only to find out that said pony was, in fact, a member of the Celestial Order of Knights, one of the most powerful and fearsome warriors in all of Equestria. Said stallion was now running teahouse right next to the library and was Twilight Sparkle's coltfriend to boot.

The second time had been decidedly less pleasant for Rarity, when she found that the young stallion she had dragged into her shop was a psychopathic mercenary with wings forged from pure mithril. That had been a decidedly harrowing experience for her as she had been forced to create a new traveling cloak for the cream-colored colt. Well...forced was a poor choice of word. Perlin Bluestreak had asked very politely and had refused to threaten her if she declined. Still, that hadn't made the experience any more pleasant.

But, was she really prepared to risk bringing an unknown pony back into her home and workspace simply because of his lack of attention to his own grooming? She couldn't say that she was, certainly not if it meant risking bringing another madpony into her abode. Besides, she and her friends had to be extra cautious now. Ever since Dawn had been featured in a front page article in the Equestrian Times, some of the ponies visiting Ponyville had come with the intention of ending the poor colt's life. In fact, barely more than a day after Dawn had left on his trip to Diamond Mountain, a small mob of ponies had arrived and had been in the process of making their way to Fluttershy's cottage. Rarity shuddered to think what might have happened had Red River and Storm Front, the two mercenaries hired to help keep the peace in just such a situation, not apprehended the group.

Rarity was once again lost in her own thoughts, too lost to notice that she had been staring at the unkempt stallion for longer than was polite, too lost to notice that the stallion had realized that she was staring at him.

"What do you want?" he growled.

"I-I...I'm sorry," stammered Rarity, a bit nervous now. She hadn't meant to stare at him after all, much less be caught at it. Furthermore, his attitude could not be called pleasant. "I meant nothing by it. You're just...just..."

"Just what?" asked the stallion, turning to regard her, his body tensing.

Rarity was a bit surprised. Though the stallion's tone was aggressive, his posture was anything but. From the way he shuffle from one leg to the other and leaned away from her, it seemed he was more likely to run, rather than attack. Though he seemed angry, it seemed, even more, that he was actually afraid of her.

Oh hay with it! Rarity thought in frustration. She couldn't keep it to herself any longer. "You're just so filthy!" she exclaimed, though her volume hardly rose above a normal speaking tone, "When was the last time you had a bath darling? Your coat is hideous and your mane and tail are in need of a serious grooming."

"That's none of your business," snapped the stallion, "I'm just here to see somepony, then I'll be leaving. Just stay out of my way and don't bother me!"

Rarity gulped. More than ever, she was certain that she didn't want to provoke this stallion any further. "O-of course. I'll just leave you be then..." she began to back away.

The stallion's almond-colored eyes were running back and forth as though he were frantically looking for something. A second later, his horn lit up. Rarity heard something snap off to one side of them. Turning to look, she saw a large tree branch suspended in the stallion's magic as he swung it at her hard. With a shriek, Rarity lunged out of the way, barely avoiding the clumsy swing as it slammed the branch into the ground hard enough to crack it in two.

"What do you think you're doing, you brute!" she screamed at the stallion as he levitated the branch up in front of him, keeping the jagged, broken end pointed at her like a spear.

"Stay away from me!" snarled the stallion, "Get out of here and leave me alone!"

If his outburst had been intended to allow him to move about the town unmolested, it was backfiring horribly, as the stallion's actions were drawing more and more attention by the moment. Unfortunately for him, many of the ponies currently watching were either friends, acquaintances, or at least customers of hers, while he was a completely unfamiliar face.

"Unbelievable! I was leaving!" snapped Rarity, still not taking her eyes off the branch. It trembled and wobbled unsteadily in the grip of the stallion's magic, a sign that his self-control was wavering. It was clear that this pony was frightened to the point of irrationality. Deciding that confrontation was hardly a good idea, Rarity continued to slowly back away. If she followed through with what she said she was doing, then, perhaps the stallion would calm down to the point that he would no longer attack her. It's certainly worth a try in any case.

However, the stallion's condition seemed to be deteriorating by the second. His stick was wavering drunkenly between them. Then she saw it.

One moment, the stallion's eyes were a pleasant, almond color. The next, they were a deep, blood-red. His pupils shrank and elongated vertically, becoming catlike slits. A startled gasp escaped Rarity, unable to believe her eyes. Are those...?

There seemed to be little question. Though the color was different, the eyes of the stallion in front of her now bore an uncanny resemblance to Dawn's eyes; the Eyes of Nightmare.

"Oh...my...word..." gasped Rarity. She had grown used to seeing Dawn's eyes. But to see a pair of completely normal eyes suddenly morph into that strange other form was startling and unnerving. The fact that the stallion with those eyes was behaving erratically and had even gone so far as to attack her only made things worse.

"What?" exclaimed the stallion, looking around frantically to now see that several ponies, attracted by his antics, staring at him in astonishment. When he realized what they must be seeing, he simply turned back to Rarity and snarled, "This was your plan wasn't it. You wanted to expose me."

"Absolutely not," declared Rarity imperiously, "I had no idea of your condition. There is no need to behave so uncouthly. Now that I've seen your eyes, I can understand the situation a bit better. You're here to see Twilight, aren't you? I can show you where she is, so please calm down."

"The hay with that," snarled the stallion, "I'm getting out of here! This whole thing's a setup. I won't be tricked again."

Rarity sighed. While she knew that this stallion was probably supposed to see Twilight and was probably a necessary participant in her research so that she could isolate the true cause of the Eyes of Nightmare, trying to force this pony into the library would most likely do more harm than good. It would be better to simply give him his space. If that meant that he ended up not going to Twilight, then so be it. It was still better than risking ponies getting hurt.

"If that's what you want, then I won't stop you," said Rarity, carefully stepping back and off to the side, leaving the road behind her open for the gold-colored unicorn to pass through, "Nopony here wants to hurt you. We'll just let you be."

The stallion's body was trembling, his uncanny gaze flashing from pony to pony, as though he expected them to jump him at any moment. It was clear that he didn't believe a word coming out of her mouth. He appeared to be certain that Rarity and everypony else would attack the moment his back was turned. Rarity found herself swallowing nervously and trying to back further away, in case he began lashing out.

However, it came faster than she anticipated. The stallion's hold on the tree branch suddenly firmed up and he whipped it around, sending the branch hurtling straight at Rarity's head. Rarity could only watch in horror as it spun through the air towards her face with enough speed that she wouldn't have been surprised if it cracked her skull.

At the last second, the branch split in two, the two halves spinning off on separate courses that took them to either side of her head, leaving a stunned mare, standing there, utterly flummoxed by her good luck.

"That's enough." The tone was calm, self-assured, lacking any trace of anger, frustration, or fear. Still, it seemed to cut through all the tension in the air and make it vanish into nothingness.

The crowd around Rarity and the strange stallion parted as a familiar beige-colored stallion made his way towards them. His eyes were closed, but he moved with the assuredness of a pony who had no need for them. He approached with a smooth, even gait that made him seem to flow like water, rather than walk.

"Oh thank goodness," muttered Rarity under her breath, "You're a lifesaver, Arkenstone."

The light-brown earth pony's lips curled up in a smile at her words before he turned his attention to the visiting stallion. "Calm yourself. You are among friends."

"Yeah right," snarled the other stallion, backing away, "I've heard that before."

Arkenstone briefly turned his attention to the watching crowd. "Everypony else needs to leave and go about their business. There's nothing for you to do here." Though most ponies only knew him as the eccentric stallion who ran the teashop by the library, the authority in his voice seemed to compel them to obedience. Slowly, reluctantly, the crowd began to break up.

"Now then," said Arkenstone, turning his attention back to the visitor, "Is that better?"

The gold-colored unicorn didn't seem to know what to say. His eyes flickered, trying to trace the various paths ponies took as they dispersed, as though he still expected a sudden ambush.

"Easy now," said Arkenstone, smiling warmly at the visitor, "You're among friends. You have nothing to fear."

The stallion's mouth worked, as though he wanted to protest, but couldn't find the words. His fear and anger seemed to slide over Arkenstone like water around a rock in the river, the feelings finding no purchase or hold. Slowly, his trembles began to ease.

"Now then, perhaps some introductions should help," said Arkenstone, "I am Arkenstone, the proprietor of Ponyville's teahouse." How bobbed his head politely. "And over here is Miss Rarity, the owner of Carousel Boutique."

"Charmed," said Rarity, dipping her head in a similar manner. She was still more than a little agitated by the unknown stallion's erratic behavior, but understood well enough that now was not the time to express it.

"May I ask your name?" inquired Arkenstone politely.

"F-Flaxseed," stammered the stallion, his voice having fallen almost to a whisper.

"I see," said Arkenstone, still smily politely and calmly, "I assume then that you are one of the ponies that Twilight Sparkle contacted regarding a certain eye condition."

"Y-you know about that?" asked Flaxseed, his nervousness redoubling.

"Well yes," said Arkenstone, "She is my fillyfriend after all, so she's told me a great deal about her research."

"Th-then it's true," said Flaxseed, "There really is somepony else here like me?"

"Ah, you mean Dawn," said Arkenstone, "Yes, though his condition is slightly different than yours. Perhaps you would like to meet him."

"Is it that easy?" asked Flaxseed, his tone still somewhat defensive.

Arkenstone nodded. "As a matter of fact, he works for me. He's at my teahouse right now, which happens to be adjacent to the library, which would be your destination, since you're here to see Twilight. Why don't we introduce you two."

Flaxseed gulped and hesitated. Ultimately, however, he nodded.

Arkenstone turned his muzzle towards Rarity. "I can take it from here. Perhaps you'd like to drop by the library later to check up on things."

Rarity nodded in agreement, remembering her groceries, which needed tending to. "Of course."

Arkenstone nodded back at her and set off towards the library, Flaxseed following haltingly in his wake. Rarity watched them go, her mind still reeling, trying to process the situation. Now that she had seen his eyes, Rarity had a better understanding of the situation. This stallion had clearly been on the receiving end of unkind attentions because of his eyes in the past. It was clear that whatever he had experienced had driven him into an unstable paranoia, where he was just as likely to attack as he was to run. He was so concerned with his own survival that he'd never spared a thought towards his appearance. In spite of how close she had come to having her skull split open, Rarity couldn't bring herself to feel anything but sympathy for the poor stallion.

Flaxseed stared. He didn't care that it was rude. He didn't care that it was calling a lot of attention to him. He didn't even care that the pony he was staring at had noticed and was returning the favor. Flaxseed just couldn't bring himself to wrench his eyes away from the ebony colt standing before him.

"You're staring," commented Arkenstone wryly, off to the side.

"As am I," said Dawn, "Perhaps you could introduce us."

"Of course," said Arkenstone. He gestured to the colt. "This is Dawn Lightwing. He is actually the son of Miss Fluttershy, who recently adopted him. As you can see, his condition is a bit more prominent and visible than yours."

"They really do look like Nightmare Moon's eyes," whispered Flaxseed.

"I'm surprised that yours would be a different color," commented Dawn, "I hadn't realized this condition varied like that." He had gotten a very good look at Flaxseed's eyes. The moment Flaxseed had seen Dawn, he had been so shocked that his eyes transformed automatically.

"I actually knew about that already," said Twilight Sparkle as she walked in the teahouse door. Arkenstone had sent Apple Bloom along to the library to let her know the moment he arrived. The filly had complied with commendable alacrity. "The Eyes of Nightmare are actually known to come in a variety of colors and almost never a pony's original eye color," she continued, barely aware of the fact that Flaxseed had transferred his attention to her and was now sidling away, slowly working himself over to one of the walls, "The author of the Cult Solar text that first described the condition actually went so far as to fabricate a wide variety of demons that could be classified according to the color of the manifested Eyes. The highest-ranked demons had eyes like Dawn's, with color that matched Nightmare Moon's."

"Interesting," said Dawn.

Twilight nodded. "It's a shame that I keep having to reference the Cult Solar's texts on the subject, but they are the first written source to actually describe the condition and, ludicrous demonological speculation aside, they do serve as a fairly accurate description of symptoms of the condition and the roots of its manifestation; at least, that's what my research has shown so far.

"That's...reassuring, I suppose," mused Dawn, tipping his head slightly.

"So," said Twilight, turning her attention to Flaxseed, "You must be the stallion Ditzy told me about."

"The gray mare with funny eyes?" asked Flaxseed by way of confirmation.

"The same," said Twilight, "Though I'd ask you to be more polite about her eyes. She has a condition that she can’t help any more than you can help yours."

"Sorry," said Flaxseed, his ears going back at her remonstration.

Twilight sighed before giving the stallion a friendly smile. "Sorry. Ditzy's an important friend of mine and she really went out on a limb tracking you and the other ponies I researched down so that I could ask you here to Ponyville."

She lifted a hoof, possibly in an attempt to pat Flaxseed's shoulder reassuringly. However, before she could reach out, Arkenstone restrained her foreleg with his own. She looked at her coltfriend in confusion as Arkenstone shook his head before gesturing slightly towards Flaxseed. Now Twilight could see that he had flinched away from her slightly.

“Um…” she said, realizing the visiting stallion was clearly uncomfortable around all these unknown ponies.

“Perhaps, since he is here, you should go ahead with your tests,” suggested Arkenstone politely, “That is what you invited him here for, correct?”

“Yes,” said Twilight, before turning her attention to Flaxseed, “Is that alright with you?”

Once again, Flaxseed's gaze flicked nervously about. “I…I guess…”

“How about I come with you,” suggested Dawn, “If I’m there as well, you’ll have nothing to fear.”

Flaxseed looked back down at the colt and gulped nervously, wondering just how he was so calm and composed. If anything, Dawn’s situation should have been worse than his own, what with his eyes always seeming to be locked in that state. And yet, he moved amongst these ponies without worry or concern.

"A-are you sure?" asked Flaxseed.

Dawn nodded. "Everything will be alright. Let's just get Twilight Sparkle's tests out of the way. I can attest that some of them are a little...uncomfortable, but nothing painful."

"If you say so," said Flaxseed.

"Well, the sooner we get started, the sooner we finish," said Twilight, "So let's head back to the library."

"Sure," said Flaxseed with a tired sigh, "Let's get this over with." He was getting a little tired of jumping at every shadow by this point. Part of him was still waiting for the other horseshoe to drop. However, staying afraid of everything was proving very tiring. The fact that Dawn was here, in this town, was encouraging enough that Flaxseed was willing to lower his guard a little.

With that, Twilight led Flaxseed and Dawn out of the teahouse and into the library, where her tests could begin.

Rarity knocked politely at the door to the library before opening it. While the library was technically a public building, the fact that it was also Twilight's home meant, at the very least, she should observe proper decorum before going inside. She wasn't sure what she expected to find when she opened the door. It had taken her a while to get back to her boutique and get the groceries put away. Then, she had seen to tidying the place up somewhat before deciding to drop by the library and see if the gold-colored stallion had actually submitted to Twilight's tests. Flaxseed had proven to be extremely nervous and excitable. Worse, he was prone to violence when he felt threatened, which was apparently quite frequently. She wondered just how he would handle some of the tests that Twilight had planned for him.

Already, her mind was conjuring an image of a terrified Flaxseed wildly swinging a chair in his magic, desperately trying to drive Twilight back.

"But I need to be thorough!" she would shout.

"I sincerely doubt that a colonoscopy is going to tell you anything about my eyes!" he'd shout back.

However, much to her relief, when she stepped into the library, she found that the place was quiet, deserted almost. There were no signs of violence, no indicator that Twilight had been forced to defend herself from one of Flaxseed's outbursts. Glancing about the main room, she suddenly noticed Spike, moving from shelf to shelf with the feather-duster in hand.

"Hello Spike," she said as she stepped further in, "Did that stallion ever show up here?"

"You mean the guy that Twilight wanted to run her tests on?" asked Spike, by way of clarification. When Rarity nodded, he grinned. "Yeah, they went right down to the lab. Dawn's there too. I think he's trying to help keep the other guy calm."

"That would make sense," said Rarity thoughtfully, "I'm sure that meeting Dawn would probably do wonders for that poor stallion's sense of security."

"I don't know how long Twilight was planning on taking, but they've been down there for a while," said Spike before turning back to his work. "I think it's okay to go down there if you want to see them," he added.

"I think I will," said Rarity before she made her way towards the door leading to the basement. Slowly, she nudged the door open before poking her head through to take a look around. One could never be certain what to expect when one took a peek into Twilight's laboratory when she was in her "Science Zone" as Rarity called it.

The first thing she noticed was how quiet it was. There was only the faint beeping of some kind of machinery, presumably one of Twilight's analytical devices. Once Rarity was certain that there was nothing on the verge of blowing up, she stepped all the way through the door and shut it quietly behind her. Now she had a clear view of what was going on down below.

Flaxseed was suspended in some kind of machine so that his legs and front body were immobilized. A helmet, shaped like an overturned bowl rested on his head. Wires snaked out of the helmet and into a blocky machine, which spat out a seemingly endless sheet of paper. Twilight was currently minding the machine, her eyes reading over whatever data the device was providing her.

"Alright," she said, after a moment, "This is good...though it's kinda weird to get baseline data after the actual test."

"I'm sorry," said Flaxseed, sounding genuinely apologetic.

"You don't need to apologize," said Twilight, not even looking up from her readouts, "What's important is that we got clear data from when you're in a normal state and from when the eyes are active. That's exactly what I was looking for." She frowned a little. "Though, for a baseline, you have awfully high stress levels."

"I-I can't help it," said Flax, looking down, his eyes running over the floor.

"In other words, you've frequently been afraid for your life," said Dawn, slowly stepping into Flax's view, a kind smile on his face, "You're in an unfamiliar situation, with unfamiliar ponies, whom you've been placing a lot of trust in. It's understandable that you're so tense."

"I think we're just about done for the day," said Twilight, "I'd like to run this test at least one more time, hopefully when you've managed to calm down some more."

Deciding that this was her chance to make her presence known, Rarity coughed to draw some attention to herself. "Excuse me," she said in her most lilting tone, waving at the trio from up above.

"Oh!" said Twilight, smiling as she looked up, "Hi Rarity. When did you get here?"

"Just a moment ago, darling," said Rarity as she began to make her descent. She noticed that Flaxseed was studiously avoiding eye-contact with her as Dawn helped him out of Twilight's apparatus. She also noticed a faint blush on the stallion's cheeks. She realized that he was probably embarrassed about his earlier outburst and the fact that he'd nearly hurt her badly.

"Ah," said Twilight, before turning to Flaxseed, "Flaxseed, this is Rarity, one of my good friends."

"Yes..." said Flaxseed, averting his eyes from Twilight as well, "We met."

"Um..." Twilight looked from Flax to Rarity and back again, a bit confused by his behavior.

"Pay it no mind, Twilight," said Rarity, "We had a slight misunderstanding. That was all. Is everything going alright here?"

"Pretty much," said Twilight, quickly latching onto Rarity's question. Rarity was only too happy to shift the topic of conversation away from the altercation she and the stallion had had earlier, if only for his sake. "I've put him through quite a few of the same tests I've conducted on Dawn. But I feel that his emotional state has affected the results somewhat. I'd like to run them again at a later time, if that's at all possible."

"How much later are we talking about?" asked Rarity.

Twilight shrugged. "However long it takes him to feel comfortable in Ponyville. His nervousness and high levels of stress are the main factors skewing my results. But there's a problem with that..."

"...Namely how long he can afford to spend in Ponyville," guessed Rarity, getting her friend's point. After all, Flaxseed had come quite a long way to submit himself to Twilight's battery of tests. It wasn't really fair to ask that he stay for any period longer than he felt that he could before his obligations at home called him back.

"So how long do you have until you have to return home?" asked Rarity, turning her attention back to Flaxseed, "I'm certain you have plenty of other claims to your time."

"Uh...not really," confessed Flaxseed, looking down again, "I don't really...have a home right now."

"What?" gasped Rarity, "What do you mean?"

"What about where Ditzy found you?" asked Twilight, equally shocked.

"I moved out as soon as she was gone," replied Flaxseed, "I couldn't really believe anything she told me about what you wanted. I'd thought that, if you'd already figured out where I lived, you'd be coming for me before long. So I packed up what I could and left."

"You did that?" exclaimed Rarity, "But what about your job, your friends-"

"I didn't have either," snapped Flaxseed, a slight note of frustration and anger in his voice, "It's been years since I was able to hold down a job longer than a few months. I don't bother trying to make friends with anypony anymore. Either they think I'm a freak when they find out about my eyes or I have to move when..." His voice trailed off, but the other three ponies in the room immediately understood what he was getting at.

"I'm so sorry," said Twilight, her voice almost a whisper, "I had no idea you had it so difficult. But what changed your mind about coming to see me?"

"Well, it was the article," said Flaxseed, "When I saw that picture of this kid..." He jerked a hoof at Dawn, "...I thought that, maybe, there was some truth to what that gray mare had been saying. So I decided to give Ponyville a try."

"So..." said Rarity, "In other words, you currently have no home, no occupation, and no expectations for your future. Is that right?"

Flaxseed gave her a shaky nod. "That about sums it up."

"I see," said Rarity, "But there is one advantage to this. If you have nothing pressing demanding your return to wherever, then you are free to stay in Ponyville as long as you need to."

"But, I don't have anywhere to stay," protested Flaxseed, "I have enough for maybe a night at the inn, but that's as far as it goes. I've got no job, no income..."

"Oh pish tosh darling," said Rarity imperiously, "There is absolutely no need for you to worry about those things. A job will come in time. But in the meantime, I will be happy to have you as a guest in my home."

"What?" exclaimed Twilight.

"What?" repeated Flaxseed, more than a little shocked that the mare he had nearly brained with a tree branch was willing to open her home to him.

Dawn said nothing, merely looking back and forth between the participants of the conversation, feeling a slight hint of deja vu, given the similarities between Flaxseed's situation and his own.

"Rarity, are you sure about this?" asked Twilight, "I mean, right out of the blue..."

"Oh, it's nothing Twilight," said Rarity with a giggle, "I will be more than able to support a guest in my home. More importantly, it will allow Mister Flaxseed to be available for your tests for as long as you need. Most importantly of all, right now, Ponyville may very well be the safest place in Equestria for ponies with his condition."

Twilight blinked, having a little trouble trying to fault Rarity's judgment. However, she couldn't really find any objections to make, nor did she want to make any objections. Having spent the past few hours dealing with Flaxseed and observing just how scarred and traumatized he had been by his previous experiences, she couldn't fault Rarity's desire to provide him with a place of safety and comfort, surrounded by ponies they could count on to not try and hurt him.

The only real concern she had was how jumpy the poor stallion was. Without Dawn present to act as a source of reassurance, Twilight would have been amazed if she'd been able to get Flax through even half the tests he had planned for him. It was clear that, even more than he was a pony who had a piece of the puzzle that would lead to the answers they sought regarding the Eyes of Nightmare, Flaxseed was also a stallion that they needed to help. There was certainly no chance now that she or any of their other friends could bring themselves to simply send the stallion on his way into an uncertain future once they had what they needed.

"A-are you sure about this?" asked Flaxseed, fixing Rarity with a disbelieving look.

Rarity nodded and gave the gold-colored stallion her most sincere smile. "My dear, I honestly extend you an invitation to stay with me and my sister at our home. I'm sure that you will be quite comfortable there and, more importantly, quite safe."

She raised a hoof tentatively. Flaxseed flinched back away from the movement. However, Rarity refused to lower the proffered limb and instead held it steady in front of her. It took a few long seconds for Flaxseed to grasp what she was doing before he reached out with his own hoof an brought it to hers. The two shook slowly before Rarity lowered hers and Flaxseed followed suit.

"A-alright I guess," said Flaxseed, "Thank you for offering me a place to stay."

"Excellent," said Rarity with a wide smile, "Then, if you are done with the experiments today, why don't I go ahead and show you to your new home then."

Flaxseed directed a questioning look to Twilight, who simply smiled. "I've gotten all the data I need for the day," she said, "Feel free to drop by anytime. The library is always open to you. I can also probably help you with finding a job later."

"I will help as best I can," added Dawn. He came a bit closer to Flaxseed, giving the stallion an encouraging smile. "You needn't fear anything from anypony here."

"But what about those cult jerks?" asked Flaxseed, "Aren't they coming after you here; especially after you plastered your face up for the whole of Equestria to see?"

"Well, yes..." admitted Dawn a bit sheepishly, "That was somewhat deliberate on our part as it allows us to capture members of the Cult Solar and learn more about the organization as a whole. But, keep in mind, that they are coming after me. I sincerely doubt that they know about you. Think of me as a lightning rod. I will draw them away from you by drawing their wrath onto myself."

"Are you crazy?" asked the shocked stallion, "You're just a kid!"

"One who is more than capable of defending himself," replied Dawn assuredly, "Just don't worry. You're safe and among friends here."

Flaxseed gulped and nodded. “I’ve been hearing that a lot lately. If you say so..."

"Well, now that we've taken care of that, let's go back to my boutique and get you settled," declared Rarity, "Come along." She turned and began to walk up the stairs to the ground floor of the library.

Flaxseed nodded dumbly and followed in her wake.

Author's Note

Thank you for your patience in awaiting this seventh installment of the Savage Skies series. I apologize for taking so long to get this out. A lot of stuff was going on and it was a fair bit of work getting so many chapters ready for posting.

In any case, this chapter introduces Flaxseed, who serves as a demonstration of the way that the Eyes of Nightmare are supposed to act. I'm not a psychologist, so I can't claim any accuracy regarding his behavior, but I did try to imagine how somebody in his situation might react. This story will also be Rarity's time to shine, as she has stepped forward to take care of the guy.

Next chapter: Flaxseed moves in...Dawn and Fluttershy move out.

Poetry and Pageantry

Chapter 19: Poetry and Pageantry

By the time lunch rolled around, the train carrying Applejack, Apple Bloom, Red River, and Spike had arrived, the wintersilk harvest having been successfully concluded. The four of them were all too happy to join everypony else for lunch.

However, they, like everypony else, were shocked by the news that Scootaloo brought, namely that Shade Steel was wandering the Palace hallways as a maid.

Twilight was first to realize the reasoning behind Celestia's decision. "You made her Princess Luna's maid, didn't you."

Celestia nodded. "Both my sister and I thought that the most suitable punishment for a pony like Shade Steel was to remind her regularly just how badly askew her convictions were. For the next several months, she will spend a substantial portion of every day around Luna and be forced to see for herself the lies of the Cult Solar that she so readily accepted."

"Are ya sure it's safe?" asked Applejack, "She ain't gonna try nothin'?"

Celestia explained the nature of Shade Steel's restraint collar, how it inhibited her pegasus magic and would also subdue her at the first sign of hostility.

"Well...if you're sure it's safe..." said Fluttershy demurely as she turned back to her salad.

Dawn raised a hoof. At Celestia's nod, he posed his question. "You say the collar will subdue Shade Steel. But, suppose she is attacked by somepony who holds her previous allegiance against her." His eyes flickered in the direction of Scootaloo, who had the sense to look abashed. "Does the collar make allowances for self-defense?"

Celestia was taken aback as much by the fact that Dawn was the one asking the question as by the question itself. After what Shade had done to him, she was amazed that Dawn would show so much concern for her wellbeing. It may very well be Fluttershy's influence, she thought. She certainly couldn't complain if the virtues of the Element of Kindness were among the things that Fluttershy was instilling into her son.

"To be honest," admitted Celestia, "We were worried about that. However, both Luna and I have the fullest trust in our Guards and their ability to remain true to their duties. The only other ponies who might pose a threat are the other servants, who have been instructed in the strictest of terms to not lay a single hoof upon Shade Steel."

Luna nodded her agreement. "Interfering with the lawful punishment of another pony is a serious offense, which is what anypony who tried to harm Shade Steel would be doing. We have no reason to be concerned about the masses, as Shade Steel is not permitted to leave the Palace and the nobles are far too self-absorbed to even notice her. She shall be safe."

"Why are you so worried about her anyway?" asked Scootaloo, irritably giving voice to the question that was on everypony's mind.

Dawn shrugged. "While I am upset about what she did to Dinky, our fight is over and I had no desire to watch her suffer."

Celestia couldn't hide her faint giggle at Dawn's response. He certainly is Fluttershy's son.

After lunch, the rehearsals for the pageant began in earnest. While that occupied the attentions of Twilight and the other five Element Bearers, most of the rest of the company found themselves at liberty once again. Spike was, once again, serving as narrator for the pageant. Surprisingly, Apple Bloom was asked to contribute to the construction of the stage and the scenery for it.

Scootaloo, Dawn, and Sweetie Belle once again set out to explore more of the Palace, with Caramel and Melon Cream in tow. Red River and Mayweather had stayed behind to help with the rehearsal and had ended up being recruited as extras.

In spite of the fact that they'd been exploring all morning, there was no shortage of new things for the group to see as they wandered from room to room, discovering galleries of magnificent paintings seemingly around every corner. At other times, they came face to face with massive windows that opened up to spectacular vistas of the surrounding countryside. Granted, they also occasionally stumbled into rooms used by the nation's administrators, austere offices occupied by desks stacked with paperwork, often with ponies working quietly and efficiently behind them, ponies who didn't take well to being disturbed at their jobs, especially at this time of year, eager as they were to get home and enjoy the upcoming holiday with their own families and no thank you we would very much prefer it if you didn't make it so that we'd have to stay any longer than we already need to thank you very much. The approach of Hearth's Warming did not mean that the arduous task of overseeing the governing of Equestria came to a halt.

Fortunately, Sweetie Belle, the only remaining member of the original Cutie Mark Crusader trio who had yet to get her cutie mark, was the only member of the group who might have been interested in trying to be a Cutie Mark Bureaucrat (Yay!). However, as dull and uninteresting as the work looked, it certainly didn't appeal to Sweetie Belle the way some other Cutie Mark Crusader activities did. The bold explorers quickly left the struggling office workers to their tasks and made their way to other sections of the Palace.

While traversing a hallway in one of the upper levels, Sweetie Belle came to a halt as her ears began to twitch.

"What's up?" asked Scootaloo, as she and Dawn stopped to look at Sweetie.

"I hear something," said Sweetie, her ears standing up so straight they seemed to be straining towards the ceiling.

"Huh?" Scootaloo closed her eyes and did her best to listen. Dawn did the same. A few seconds later, they managed to pick up the faint strains of...something...drifting down the hallway.

"I think it's music," said Sweetie, leaning in the direction of the sound.

"Maybe it's the musicians who will be playing the music for the pageant," suggested Melon, "They probably have rehearsals of their own."

Sweetie frowned and hummed for a moment as she continued to listen to the faint melody drifting down the hallway. "It only sounds like one pony though," she said, "It sounds...deep."

Dawn and Scootaloo shared a glance. They could barely even hear the music being played, but had been unable to grasp any particular about it.

"Sweetie Belle! Wait!" called Melon after Sweetie, who was already bounding off in the direction the song was originating from. Dawn and Scootaloo gave chase, with the adults not far behind.

"I really hope we don't end up causing trouble for whoever's doing this," mused Caramel as he and Melon did their level best to keep up with the foals.

Sweetie led the group along the hallway, the music gradually growing clearer with each step they took. Ultimately, they came to a halt outside a single small door, just one of many that lined the hall that might have led to another office or even a closet. Only the clear strains of a stringed instrument indicated that something else would be behind the door. Cautiously, Sweetie reached out with her magic to turn the handle.

“Wait,” said Dawn softly, “We don’t want to disturb whoever is playing.”

“B-but…” For reasons Sweetie couldn’t explain, her curiosity had been thoroughly aroused by the beautiful sequence of notes.

“It’s okay,” said Scootaloo from Sweetie’s other side, “Let’s wait until whoever’s playing finishes the song. Then we can go in.” Sweetie stared at Scootaloo, a bit galled at the idea that the most impatient and hyperactive member of the original Crusaders was the one suggesting waiting.

Scootaloo merely met her gaze with a shrug. “It’s what I do when Dawn’s practicing lightning. It’ll probably work here too.”

Dawn nodded his agreement. Together, the three of them settled their haunches onto the cold marble of the hallway floor and settled in to wait, just as Caramel and Melon caught up to them. The two adults shared a confused glance before looking again at the three foals sitting on the floor, listening attentively to flowing deep notes of the instrument being played on the other side. Listening, it was apparent that the instrument was probably a cello or something similar.

“That’s lovely,” whispered Melon. She wasn’t much of an aficionado, but the player on the other side of the door was clearly an expert at their craft, the kind of pony with the skill to make it apparent to even the most neophyte listeners that she knew what she was doing better than most.

Caramel nodded his agreement. He had a few cello suites amongst his own musical collection. It was a wonderful instrument to listen to, even by itself. It wasn’t his favorite (he favored the harpsichord, actually), but he liked it well enough to easily be able to sit through the solo performance without getting antsy.

At length the notes trailed off and silence drifted out of the room and into the hallway. Sensing that the time had come, Sweetie cautiously turned the handle of the door and pulled it open. The hinges didn’t offer so much as a single creak as the door moved aside and the three foals made their way into the room.

The room’s design was akin to a small amphitheater. Three rows of benches, each one sitting a little higher than the last, were arrayed in an arc around the rear of the circular room so that all seats were angled towards the lower area that formed the stage, where a light-gray earth pony with a black mane was in the process of switching out some sheets of music, while the cello that she played rested on a stand.

Sweetie and the others quietly made their way into the room and took seats on the third and highest level of benches. Sweetie watched carefully and intently as the gray mare finished setting out the next set of sheets. Taking the cello from its stand, she reared up onto her hind legs, curling one fetlock around the neck whilst her other fetlock picked up the bow. Smoothly, the mare began to draw the bow across the strings, once more sending haunting strains of music echoing throughout the room.

Sweetie closed her eyes and concentrated purely on listening, having to surpress the urge to hum along with the music, lest she break the mare’s concentration. Instead, she let the notes roll across her mind, even though she wasn’t able to identify them with their proper names. She listened, losing herself in the music. As she listened, she had an idea. Channeling her magic into her horn, she listened and let out a gentle pulse of energy in time with the mare’s playing. It was nothing more than a pinprick of light winking on and off at the tip of her horn, but it allowed her to become completely absorbed into the rhythm of the mare’s playing.

Something occurred to her as she listened. Sweetie had never received formal education in music. She couldn’t read notes, she didn’t understand more than a couple of the symbols that indicated rests or stops. But she had seen a little sheet music on occasion. Music was a language of its own, as clear and precise as any line of text from any of Twilight Sparkle’s hundreds of accumulated tomes. If that’s the case, instead of doing the same thing with magic that Twilight and other unicorns do, maybe I could use music to structure my magic instead.

It was an interesting thought. Sweetie figured that it might be a good idea to bring it up to Twilight later, as Twilight might actually know something about that.

After several more minutes of playing the mare on the stage drifted to a stop and Sweetie let out a sigh that hovered somewhere between happiness and disappointment. She couldn’t have been happier to hear such wonderful music, but, at the same time, lamented the fact that it had to have ended so quickly.

“Enjoying the show?”

Sweetie’s eyes snapped open and she realized that the gray mare on the stage was now staring directly at her with a pair of beautiful mulberry eyes.

“Oh…um…”

The mare gave Sweetie a small smile. “When you’ve tuned your hearing as carefully as I have, you can detect the difference in acoustics of a room created by leaving a door open…” Her smile widened slightly. “…Or the presence of other ponies in the room.”

“Uh…sorry…” said Sweetie, painfully aware that she was the one who had drawn the cello player’s attention, “We didn’t mean to disturb you miss…”

“Octavia,” said the mare primly as she set the cello back on the stand and settled back onto her forelegs, “Octavia Melody. And you are…?”

“Oh…I’m Sweetie Belle,” said Sweetie.

Taking their cues from Sweetie, the others introduced themselves.

“I’m terribly sorry if we disturbed you,” said Melon, “But the foals just wanted to listen more closely.”

“It’s no problem at all,” said Octavia, a faint hint of laughter in her voice, “A performer is always happy to have an audience. Granted, I don’t usually find my personal practice sessions drawing listeners in, but it’s nice to know that I play well enough even when I’m just practicing."

"It's amazing!" exclaimed Sweetie Belle.

There was a glimmer of amusement in Octavia's mulberry-colored eyes. "I see. You're a music aficionado then?"

The question prompted Sweetie to stop and look away pensively. "Um...well...I really like listening to it and singing..."

"Why don't you come down here with me," suggested Octavia, beckoning the filly, "I'd like to try something, if you don't mind.

"Uh...are you sure?" asked Sweetie, a bit nervously.

"Don't be afraid," said Octavia, still waving Sweetie down from the bench, "I think you'll like this."

"Okay..."

Sweetie stood in front of Octavia as the mare took the cello off its stand and reared up into her playing position. "Now, I'm going to play a single note. I want you to listen very carefully."

Sweetie nodded and lifted her ears up as high as they would go. Octavia drew her bow across the strings, playing a single, somber note. As the note faded into the silence of the practice room, Octavia lowered her bow and looked expectantly at Sweetie. "Now, do you remember the sound of that note?"

Sweetie nodded fervently and Octavia continued. "I want you to hold that note in your mind, play it over and over inside of your head."

Sweetie Belle's eyes closed as she lost herself in the task Octavia had given her. The rest of the audience watched in silence, nopony knowing exactly what to expect.

"Now," said Octavia, "Take that sound in your head and use your magic to project it outwards."

Sweetie's face scrunched up and the tip of her horn lit up. A second later, the air was filled with the sound of the same note that Octavia had previously played, with perfect, crystal clarity. "I did it!" gasped Sweetie in shock.

Octavia couldn't help but smile down at the filly. "Yes you did. Are you ready to try something else?"

Sweetie nodded eagerly, prompting Octavia's smile to widen. "Good. Now I'm going to play a few notes in succession. I want you to listen to them and do the same thing that you did with one note. Do you think you can?"

"I can try," said Sweetie.

Octavia raised the bow again and played a sequence of three notes. After lowering the bow, she nodded to Sweetie, who closed her eyes in concentration. Less than a minute later, Sweetie began to play the notes, once again imitating them with perfect clarity.

"Good," said Octavia, "Ready to try a longer sequence?"

Nodding eagerly, Sweetie listened as Octavia played another, longer sequence of notes, starting with the first three she'd played last time. Once again Sweetie, after a minute's concentration, was able to replicate the sequence. Octavia did the same thing again, extending the number of notes further with each repetition, until Sweetie was able to reproduce a full dozen notes in sequence.

"Good," said Octavia, her voice brimming with approval as Sweetie finished. "Now we're going to try something a little different. I want you to play that sequence again, but I want you to play the notes according to the beat that I set."

Octavia began to tap on the floor, setting a beat for Sweetie to follow. After a second's hesitation, Sweetie began to produce the notes again. However, she stumbled a little and had to start over. In the end, it took her three tries to play the notes to Octavia's rhythm. When she succeeded, Sweetie let out an exuberant yell.

"I did it!"

"That you did," said Octavia with a smile, "Now for the last step."

"Last step?" asked Sweetie, cocking her head in confusion.

The cellist couldn't help but chuckle at the confused expression on Sweetie Belle's face. "Yes. There's one more thing to do. I want you to play that sequence of notes again, to the same rhythm as last time. However, when you get to the end, I want you to restart the sequence and play it over again. Don't forget to keep the rhythm. I want you to keep that up until I tell you to stop."

"O-okay..." said Sweetie. She closed her eyes and lit her horn, the sequence of notes sounding throughout the room as she used her magic to produce the notes that Octavia had shown her. Octavia settled back and listened as Sweetie played the sequence once...twice...three times. When Sweetie looped back to begin the fourth repetition, Octavia once again set her bow to the strings of the cello and began to play.

Dawn, Scootaloo, Melon, and Caramel all listened in fascination as Octavia and Sweetie Belle performed together, Octavia's melody blending perfectly with and building off of the repeating sequence Sweetie played with her horn at the same time. The song was a simple one, but pleasing to listen to. For several minutes, Octavia and Sweetie simply played while the others listened in stunned silence.

At long last, Octavia drew her bow across the string, playing the final note. Sweetie Belle didn't even need Octavia's prompt to stop her own playing. "Wow!" she gasped as the last strains of Octavia's cello and her magic faded away.

"That was amazing!" exclaimed Scootaloo, jumping down from her seat.

"That was fun!" exclaimed Sweetie, grinning widely.

"I thought you might like that," said Octavia, "When you were watching me earlier, I noticed that you were using your magic to keep time with my music. You have an excellent ear for it, given that you were able to perfectly reproduce the notes I played earlier. I believe you could be an excellent musician in the future."

"That's..." Sweetie's voice trailed off and her smile fell away. "I can't..."

Octavia smiled and set aside her cello. "What's the matter?" she asked softly, walking closer to Sweetie.

"Yeah! Your music was amazing!" protested Scootaloo.

"Ah!" Sweetie jumped at Scootaloo's sudden proximity. Dawn reached out and restrained Scootaloo with a hoof on her shoulder, pulling the orange filly back to give Sweetie some more space.

Sweetie, for her part, blushed fiercely and looked at the floor, looking mortified by the attention she was receiving. Caramel and Melon exchanged a look. "Why don't we step outside," suggested Caramel as he and Melon shepherded the other two foals out of the room and closed the door behind them.

Once their audience was gone, Sweetie began to relax a little, but still couldn't bring herself to look up at Octavia, who was gazing contemplatively at the filly.

"I see," said Octavia softly, "So you don't like performing in public."

"Well...not really..." Sweetie still refused to meet Octavia's eyes. "Everypony tells me I'm really good at singing and that I have a wonderful voice. I love listening to music and singing but, when I think about being a singer or playing music in front of an audience, it just feels...wrong for some reason."

Octavia slowly reached out with her hoof and began to gently run it through Sweetie's mane. "I see," she said, "But when I said you could be a great musician, I didn't mean that you had to become a great performer."

"Huh?" Sweetie blinked and finally looked up at the mare.

Octavia favored Sweetie with a warm smile. "When you think about singing or playing, you think about doing so for an audience, in front of a crowd and that doesn't feel right to you."

Sweetie nodded.

"Then I think that is where your problem lies. Your talent and passion both lie in music. You love it deeply. However, I think you are thinking about the wrong audience."

"I don't get it," said Sweetie.

"Let me put it this way," said Octavia, "I'm certain that you're perfectly fine singing in front of some ponies."

Sweetie nodded. She'd sung for her sister on plenty of occasions. She'd sung for her friends too, most recently during their sleepover in Dawn's quinzhee. She'd even done a couple of solo performances for Rumble, who'd been mesmerized.

"Then it isn't a matter of you not loving music," said Octavia, "It's simply a matter of finding you the right audience."

"The right audience?" asked Sweetie.

Octavia nodded. "Not everypony is suited to playing in a concert hall, in front of an audience of hundreds or thousands. Sometimes, all a musician needs is for the right hoofful of ponies to hear her and see her performance. The question you need to ask yourself is, who are you playing for?"

Sweetie blinked and sank her head pensively as she tried to figure out the answer to that question.

"You may not have found your perfect audience yet," observed Octavia, "But I think you will. In the meantime, there's something else you can look into."

"Huh?"

"You have a potential to develop a skill that few ponies cultivate. The fact that you can produce music with your magic shows that you understand music as a language, just as most unicorns understand magic in the terms of regular language."

"That's right," agreed Sweetie Belle, nodding eagerly.

Octavia smiled, "That opens many new avenues of learning for you. May I ask where you're from."

"Ponyville!" exclaimed Sweetie.

That got a nod from Octavia. "I thought so. There's supposed to be a mare in Ponyville who's supposed to be very skilled in the field of musical magic. She goes by the name of Vinyl Scratch. She might be able to help you develop that skill.

"Ooh!" gasped Sweetie, "You mean DJ-Pon3! I can ask her for help."

Octavia couldn't help but giggle at the filly's enthusiasm. "Exactly," she said, "From what I hear, Vinyl is very good at working with young ones, such as yourself."

"Okay," said Sweetie, "I'll do that."

"You should probably join your friends then," said Octavia, "I think they're getting a little worried about you."

"Okay." Sweetie made for the door, but paused and turned to look at Octavia more carefully. "You said that the right audience is important. Who's your audience?"

To Sweetie's surprise, Octavia actually began to blush. "Well...I can play in front of a large audience. But...for a while now, there's only been one pony that I really want to hear my work."

"Ooooh! Is it your special somepony?" asked Sweetie.

Octavia blushed even more fiercely. "Well no..." she admitted, somewhat reluctantly, "It may be just wishful thinking..." she paused, apparently reluctant to express any further details.

"Um...you don't have to tell me if you don't want to," said Sweetie. Now that she had a special somepony of her own, she realized how embarrassing it would be if somepony started asking her a ton of questions about her personal affairs.

"Thank you," said Octavia, her blush fading, "In any case, that's why I was practicing by myself here. I'm hoping to come up with a melody for my audience."

Sweetie beamed at Octavia. "I'm sure you'll come up with something. You're an amazing player."

"That means a lot to me," said Octavia, lowering her head and giving Sweetie a light nuzzle, "Thank you. Now I think it's time for you to meet back up with your friends. I hope you enjoy the rest of your stay in the Palace."

"'Kay, I will!" shouted Sweetie as she bounded out the door, "Bye!"

The door shut behind Sweetie and Octavia turned her attention back to the stand of music and the cellos that rested alongside it. "Now, back to work."

"Whew!" gasped Applejack as she sagged onto the couch, "Ah'm plum tuckered out. It's bad enough we only got off the train today, but to spend all afternoon rehearsin' is exhaustin'." Fortunately, there had been a small hitch that had delayed the costume designer, who would not be able to come until tomorrow, so that meant the group had extra time to rest.

"Ha!" scoffed Apple Bloom from where she was sprawled out on top of the bed, "Ya think yer tired. All ya had to do was prance about and practice yer lines. Ah ended up helpin' build the scenery. Let me tell ya, it's like tryin' to raise a barn by yerself even when the rest 'o the crew is helpin'."

"Yer probably right," admitted Applejack, taking off her stetson and settling it on the back of the couch, "But rehearsin' fer the Canterlot pageant ain't no piece 'o cake. That director's a slave driver. Ah swear, that pony's wasted shoutin' orders at a bunch 'o actors. Ah say we take her back and have her call the shots on the farm. Now there's a mare that knows how to get ponies movin'."

"She definitely has the lungs for it." Applejack stiffened up slightly as she felt the cushions on the couch shift a bit as Red River joined her. A few seconds later, Red rested his forehooves on Applejack's back and slowly began to knead the muscles around her shoulders, slowly working his way down her spine, massaging the muscles and working out the knots that had accumulated from the stress of the past few days.

And a stressful past few days they had been...for everyone on Sweet Apple Acres. The wintersilk apples' ripening couldn't have occurred at a more inconvenient time, forcing the Apples to rush to get them harvested in time for departure. Red River had helped as much as he possibly could. Mayweather had lent her assistance as well, though she ultimately ended up leaving on the first train with Pinkie Pie. Spike had joined them too, doing his best to lend the organizational skills he had polished under Twilight to increase the harvest's speed and efficiency. Had it not been for the young dragon directing their efforts, it might well have taken an extra day to gather the crop. Even so, they'd barely had time to pack their bags before running to catch the next train bound for Canterlot.

Speaking of Spike, the little purple dragon came into the room behind Red, making his way to the bed, where Bloom was resting, spread eagled on her stomach. Crawling over, Spike imitated Red and gently pressed his fingers down into the muscles around Bloom's shoulders, giving the filly a massage of her own.

Both sisters let out happy sighs as their respective special someones continued their ministrations, slowly easing their tension. Bloom's situation was especially blissful, as Spike's agile fingers were working wonders that nopony's hooves could possibly hope to match. "Ya could give the Spa Twins a run fer their money sugarcube," she cooed as Spike moved down to her barrel.

"Sheesh, and I've only read a couple books about it," said Spike, "Maybe I should look into doing this professionally. You think Aloe and Lotus are hiring?" He secretly marveled at how much muscle Bloom had put on since the time he had first met her. She scarcely seemed the same filly that he remembered meeting on the farm on the day before the Summer Sun Celebration. The years since then had seen her grow in both height and girth, though she still had a long ways to go before she matched her sister. Beneath the skin under his claws, Spike could feel the thick, dense muscle, the result of endless hours spent helping the Apple family do what they did best. It was only with a supreme effort of will the Spike was able to keep his mind from wandering in a more...sensual direction. It was just as well, seeing as he noticed Bloom glowering at him over her shoulder.

"Don't even think 'bout it sugarcube," she said. At first, Spike was worried that Bloom had figured that his mind had been slowly working its way towards the gutter. But a second later, it was clear that she was talking about his previous statement. "Ah'm keepin' those fingers 'o yers all to mahself.”(1)

Spike couldn't help but grin mischievously at the filly. "Really, even if I do...this!" With that, he switched the pressure from the pads of his fingers to the tips of his claws as he began to trace the skin around Bloom's ribs, eliciting squealing laughter from the yellow filly as she began to squirm and thrash beneath him.

Applejack and Red River watched the two young ones laughing and playing on the bed. With a playful smile of his own, Red leaned over and gently nipped at Applejack's ear, earning a giggle from his fillyfriend as she twitched from the treatment.

"Now yer playin' dirty," said Applejack in mock reproof.

"Oh, am I?" inquired Red, settling his weight across Applejack's back and wrapping his arms around her, even as he rested his chin on top of her head.

"Where'd ya learn to massage like that?" asked Applejack.

"In a certain sense, it comes with the territory," explained Red, "Massage as a therapy is useful to anypony practicing heavily physical activities, including the martial arts. In the martial arts, a working knowledge of the equine form is required."

"Ah guess that makes sense," said Applejack, letting herself relax in her coltfriend's embrace as they continued to watch Spike and Bloom wrestle playfully on the bed, keeping a weather eye out, just in case the young ones' activities became a bit more amorous than she was willing to allow. As of right now, there was no reason to worry, seeing as the only thing going on was an extended tickle fight.

Everything ground to a halt as knocking sounded from the door, which swung open only a few seconds later to reveal Rarity, still looking as prim and immaculate as she had at lunch, as though the last few hours had never happened at all. Applejack grunted irritably, as she recalled Rarity looking distinctly more frazzled at the end of rehearsals. She greatly envied the fashionista's skill at repairing her appearance in so short a period of time, not that Applejack had been making any efforts in that direction.

"Chop chop darlings!" declared Rarity imperiously, "It is nearly time for dinner with the Princesses. I hope that you can get yourselves ready in time. We don't want to be late."

"We'll be fine," snapped Applejack, "Don't you fret now."

"Well yes," said Rarity, "But I can't help but think you should put more of an effort into grooming for this evening. We will be dining with royalty after all."

"We dined with 'em fer lunch," Applejack shot back, "There ain't anythin' fancy or formal 'bout it. It's just like dinner with close family. Celestia said so herself."

"Well...yes..." said Rarity reluctantly, "But we are in Canterlot, the center of Equestrian culture and..."

"More like the center of Equestrian snobbiness," groused Applejack. She froze when she felt Red's hoof prod her side. Turning her head, Applejack looked over her shoulder at her coltfriend who gave her a somber look and shook his head slowly. Looking back at Rarity, Applejack noticed that Rarity looked a bit more hurt by her harsh words than she had realized. "Aw geez! Ah'm sorry Rares. Ah'm just tired. Ah didn't mean to snap at ya like that."

"No...It's quite alright," said Rarity, "I realize you've had a difficult past few days and it's been a long afternoon. It's perfectly understandable that your temper is a bit...short. I've been feeling a mite tense myself."

Applejack blinked, wondering just what could have Rarity so tightly-wound…at least, more so than usual. “Everythin’ okay sugarcube?”

“Oh no!” protested Rarity, “Everything is simply wonderful. I’d forgotten how wonderful the Palace accommodations are. It’s truly beyond compare. What could I possibly have to get upset about?”

“Ah ain’t sure, but it seems to be enough to make ya dance like yer on a bed ‘o hot coals,” observed Applejack.

It was a mild exaggeration. But it was indeed true that, for a mare of her poise, Rarity seemed to be having a hard time standing still, constantly shifting her weight from leg to another and occasionally glancing about with a faint air of nervousness.

“Oh don’t be silly, dear Applejack,” said Rarity in a faint effort to dismiss the topic, “I assure you that there is nothing here for me to worry about.”

Applejack’s eyes narrowed. “Here, huh?” She grabbed the thread of Rarity’s statement and pulled sharply. “Then maybe somethin’ back in Ponyville’s got ya riled up.”

“Um…well…” Rarity’s anxious behavior was only continuing to gather momentum as Applejack’s interrogation came closer and closer to the truth. Spike and Apple Bloom had long since abandoned their play and were watching the back and forth between the two mares with careful interest.

Applejack flinched at another prod from Red. Looking at him again, she saw the stallion give her a warning glance and shake his head. Realizing what she was doing, Applejack gasped shortly and turned back to Rarity. “Ah’m so sorry sugarcube! Ah got so worked up that Ah started pryin’ into things that ain’t any ‘o mah business.”

Reluctantly, Applejack slid out of Red’s embrace and made her way across the floor to Rarity, where she rested a hoof on the impeccably groomed coat over the alabaster unicorn’s shoulder. “It might not be any ‘o mah business, but we’re friends Rarity. So Ah hope ya’ll believe me when Ah say Ah don’t want ya to feel that ya have to hide anythin’ from me. Ah was gettin’ a mite concerned and Ah let mahself get carried away. Just say the word and Ah won’t ask another question.”

“No, it’s perfectly alright,” said Rarity, looking down, “You’re right. I am a bit nervous about what is happening in Ponyville. Poor Flaxseed is back there, all by his lonesome, on Hearth’s Warming no less. How can I not worry?”

"If'n Ah recall, Flaxseed's a big colt. Ah think he can manage on his own." In fact, given what Flaxseed must have gone through to grant him such a paranoid mindset, Applejack was willing to bet that he could handle himself quite well.

"That's not what I mean and you know it," said Rarity with an angry huff, "Think about it. On Hearth's Warming Eve, he's going to be all by his lonesome; no friends, no family, no one to share the spirit of the holiday with. I know that I recommended that he join Rumble's family for the evening, but I am fairly certain that he has no intention of following my recommendation."

"Forgive me fer askin'," said Applejack, "But ain't that his choice to make. If he wants to be by himself fer the holiday, that's his right."

Rarity sighed. "He doesn't want to be by himself because he wants to be alone. He wants to isolate himself because he still has a great deal of difficulty trusting other ponies. Even after all the time he has spent in the boutique with me and Sweetie Belle, the poor dear still hasn't made much progress with ponies outside of our immediate circle and he won't if he doesn't learn to step outside of his comfort zone.

"Far be it for me to belittle that stallion after all he has been through, but I can't help but feel that his unwillingness to spend any amount of time with anypony besides me and my sister is very much like a foal unwilling to step away from her mother, even when she should be old enough to go off and do things on her own. In order for Flaxseed to recover from his trauma, he needs to take that extra step."

"Then maybe it's fer the best," said Applejack, watching Rarity somberly, "Ya compare Flaxseed to some foal who don't want to leave their ma, but here you are, actin' just like ya wanna stand right next to 'im and hold his hoof the whole time. If he's gonna step outside his comfort zone, he needs to do it himself, not 'cause yer standin' behind 'im and pushin' and proddin' him."

Rarity let out a gasp and her hooves flew to her mouth. "Dear me! You're absolutely right!" She sighed. "That was extremely disrespectful of me. I should know better than to think of him like that." Her heart sank with guilt as she realized that, in many ways, she did see Flaxseed in that manner, as stallion who was not quite able to look after his own needs, even though she knew better. The thought that she was being so inconsiderate of him was horrifying.

Applejack felt her lips pull up into a smile. Looking back, she saw that Red was wearing a similar look and realized that they had come to, more or less, the same conclusion. Turning back to Rarity, Applejack's smile became a grin. "If Ah were any judge, Ah'd say yer so wound up 'cause ya actually want to spend Hearth's Warmin' with 'im."

Rarity gasped sharply, raising a hoof to her mouth, which failed to conceal the blush blooming across her cheeks. "Oh my! D-don't be ridiculous darling. It's nothing like that...not that I would have anything against spending Hearth's Warming with Flaxseed, b-but..."

"Come on Rarity. Ain't no shame in admittin' it," said Applejack, her expression softening, "Ah understand that feelin'. After everythin' that fella's been through, ya wanna be there and make this year's Hearth's Warmin' special fer him. Ya want that, 'cause ya know ya may not have the same chance next year."

"But I can't just go rushing back off to Ponyville," protested Rarity, "Regardless of what I want, I have made commitments here."

"To play yer role in the pageant...Don't sweat it sugarcube. That's what them under-underwhatsits...?"

"Understudies Applejack," huffed Rarity.

"Right, them." Applejack nodded as though she'd known that all along. "That's what they're fer."

"But the audience..."

"Come on Rarity! What's more important; puttin' on a show for a bunch 'o hoity toity Canterlot snobs more interested in us 'cause we get to hobnob with the Princess or makin' the holiday special fer a stallion who hasn't really had a chance to be part of a real Hearth's Warmin' fer most 'o his life."

"I...well..." Rarity's expression shifted from Applejack to the the floor, to the wall, to the ceiling as Rarity argued with herself about what to do.

Applejack didn't bother trying to suppress her sigh as she watched Rarity dither. While it was one of her most endearing traits, Rarity's willingness to give of herself for the sake of her friends was something she could easily take too far, given the chance, just as it had when she'd first made those Grand Galloping Gala dresses for the girls and had been too willing to accommodate their personal desires, even though Rarity had known better about what would truly make the girls look their best. At some point, Rarity would just have to accept that she couldn't please everypony and meet everything that was asked of her.

"I beg your pardon." Rarity froze and whirled about in the direction of the voice that had spoken. Applejack leaned to try and get a view of who had interjected herself into the conversation and was rewarded by the midnight-blue coat and starscape mane of Princess Luna.

"Oh! Princess!" Rarity immediately sank into a respectful bow.

"Please, rise Rarity," said Luna as she smiled down at the fashionista, "You are our guests and friends. There is no need for such formality here."

"I-I thank you," said Rarity, getting back on her hooves a little shakily. She was already out of sorts, thanks to her own dilemma. At the unexpected appearance of Luna, old habits and traditions had quickly asserted themselves, even though she knew better.

"I couldn't help but overhear your conversation," said Luna, glancing into the room, drawing a nod from Applejack and Red, along with happy waves from Spike and Apple Bloom.

"A-ah yes...well..." Rarity wasn't sure that she was allowed to be upset that a Princess had been essentially eavesdropping on their conversation. But, at the same time, she supposed it was her own fault for talking to Applejack from the hallway.

"This Flaxseed you are speaking of," said Luna, "I presume he is the same stallion I heard about on Nightmare Night, the one with the same condition as Dawn."

Both Applejack and Rarity nodded in confirmation.

"I see," said Luna, "I must admit I am ashamed that I did not follow through on my plans to visit him that night. Ever since then, I having been hoping to...drop by...as it were, but could never find the right time for it."

"I am sure that we could accommodate you at your convenience, Princess," said Rarity, uncertain of how else to respond.

"Excellent," said Luna, "But that is why I have chosen to talk to you now. As I said before, I was listening to your conversation and it gave me an idea..."

Author's Note

1) Once again, too easy.

Waaaaaaaay back at least a couple of stories ago, I had an uncomfortable feeling that I'd written myself into a corner with the way Sweetie's cutie mark was working out. Though all evidence on the show points to her becoming a fantastic singer if she can just get the moxie to get on stage and perform, I wanted to take that somewhere else. Fortunately, I hit upon a few ideas that let me figure out exactly what direction I wanted to take Sweetie's cutie mark. Suffice to say, I was rather pleased with what I came up with and I feel quite clever. It doesn't happen this story, but she does get it. I think you folks might be surprised with what she decides to do with that lovely talent of hers.

Next chapter: Hearth's Warming Eve has arrived!