The Puppetmaster

Chapters

Setting the Stage
The Show Begins
Colt in a Conundrum
Castle Crashers
Princess Problems
Long Trip, Long Story
A Cold Heart in the Frozen North
At the Top...
Lost in the Frost
A Faithful Friend

Setting the Stage

Spike finished his final duty of flipping the “Open” sign on the Golden Oaks Library’s door as the dark curtain of night fell upon Ponyville. Unbeknownst to him, an earth pony—a stallion—watched him do so, hidden in the foliage of a nearby tree. He lingered on the branches for a while longer, waiting for the last movements and lights within the library to die out. He remained in the shadows as he briefly scanned the area for any late night straggler. Without a soul in sight, he finally descended from his vantage point.

The stallion hurried over to the library’s door and slowly reached out towards the door. Just before coming in contact with the doorknob, he stopped dead, taking a moment to narrow his gaze at his hoof. With a strong snort, he took hold of the doorknob and turned it.
Just as he suspected, it was unlocked; an ordinary habit that he knew all too well of ponies in such small towns. When he entered the library, his heart began to race as heard the loud snores of Spike sleeping on the second level. The pony crept at an agonizingly slow pace towards the base of the staircase leading to the bedroom, passing by streamers and decorative cloths covering the otherwise plain wooden tables. He measured each hoof step to fall as silently as possible on the old, creaky wooden floor, constantly looking up to check on the sleeping dragon. One misplaced hoof from this distance and he could easily stir Spike from his slumber. The stallion could finally see his target in sight as he began to ascend the stairs.

“You’re here!” Spike screamed. His sudden outburst caused the intruder’s heart to nearly burst out of his chest. With a slow, dry swallow, he turned to Spike only to realize that the dragon was merely talking in his sleep. “Twilight!”

The stallion closed his eyes and took a breath before quietly beginning to rummage through his saddlebags. His heart skipped a beat and his breathing shortened each time Spike uttered a new nonsensical phrase. His eyes darted constantly between the objects in his bag back to the tossing and turning of the sleeping drake, only slowing his desperate search.

“Yeah…” Spike paused to yawn. “Everything’s ready for Twilight’s Welcome Home Party, Pinkie.”

After what felt like an eternity, the earth pony managed to find what he was looking for, despite his nerves. He silently settled a small batch of a long, thin, ashen herb next to dragon’s bed when the sleeping drake spoke once again, causing him to jerk back a bit.

“No more…” Spike moaned as he rubbed his stomach under the sheets. “I can’t say no to you, Rarity. One more ruby couldn’t hurt…”

The stallion narrowed his eyes at the dragon and gave a quiet snort, scoffing at the dragon’s juvenile fantasy. His muzzle dove into his saddlebags once more, this time producing a match. He struck it and lit the batch of herbs on the floor. The batch immediately began to smolder and release its essence into the air, but the stallion withdrew, dodging the fumes. Spike, however, smoothly inhaled the wafting smoke.

The intruder stepped away and watched the sleeping dragon for a few minutes as Spike’s body enlarged, stretching his small basket-bed to its breaking point. He gave the sight a toothy grin as he crept down the stairs and out of the library.

The dawn’s light splashed into Spike’s closed eyes as he fought to stay asleep for just a bit longer. Unfortunately, it was a losing battle for the dragon as the light intensified. Eventually, he gave in and awoke with his usual stretch and yawn. However, his yawn reminded him more of a ferocious roar. It even came with a rather large stream of fire, much larger than anything he had ever remembered producing.

These abnormal happenings scared him fully awake. He stood up and looked down to find he had crushed his bed into nothing but frayed straw pillow feathers. He rushed to the bathroom and found he no longer needed his step stool to reach the sink and look at himself in the mirror. Instead of his usual pudgy baby dragon face, he found a long, narrow face staring back at him with wide eyes. Those very eyes, his eyes, were no longer round but slender with slit-like pupils. His body followed the shape of his face, slim and long.

This radical change in appearance caught Spike off guard as he attempted to place a claw on the sink for support. However, he felt it give way and hit the floor, hard. Groaning, he lifted himself back up and examined the sink, only to find several deep gashes where he thought he had laid his claw. Giving his claw a quizzical look, he decided to grab the sink once again. They effortlessly sliced right through the white porcelain, like a hot knife through butter.

As Spike continued to stare disbelievingly at his claw, he realized that he had been traveling on all fours. He quickly turned around and his eyes followed the very visible path he had taken to the bathroom. As he walked, he had torn up the floor, leaving deep, long gashes everywhere he had stepped. He attempted to stand on his hind legs to try and minimize the damage he caused while simply walking but hit his head on the low ceiling. Resignedly, he descended from the upstairs bedroom to the roomier ground floor and began pacing the library.

Spike had nearly, and almost literally, dug a rut with his pacing when a memory suddenly came back to him. He slowly climbed back up the steps, carefully bending his knees to avoid another knock against the ceiling as he reached the second floor. He entered the bedroom and frantically searched for some kind of hoard he could have possibly gathered in a greed-induced haze. He found nothing of the sort. Though relieved that his growth was not connected to his practice of greed, Spike still could not explain his transformation. Racking his brain to find any other possible reason, he let out a loud, stressed grunt and, just as before, he let out a large cloud of fire, setting ablaze the decorations that hung around the library.

“Oh no, oh no!” the dragon yelled as he took panicked, shallow breaths, causing small puffs to escape each time he opened his maw. He frantically scanned the room for anything to help put the flame out, eventually falling on a mop and bucket. Fortunately, the metal bucket was strong enough to withstand his new, sharp claws and was still filled with murky water.

However, even after dumping all its contents onto the fire, it still raged and threatened to overtake more of the library. He rushed to the kitchen, filled the pail to the brim, and once again dumped all the water inside onto the flame. The water did virtually nothing and the flames only continued to spread, growing angrier by the second.

“Please… stop already…” Spike whimpered, tears welling in his eyes as he watched the flame jump onto another shelf and some close-by decorations meant to celebrate Twilight’s return. He rushed to and from the kitchen with more pails of water than he could care to count until the flames finally began to shrink. He stared dumbfounded at the charred, soggy mess of what used to be shelves chock-full of books and wet ash that used to be colorful decorations as the final fleck of fire flickered out with a small hiss.

Spike hung his head low after eyeing the ruined remains of the library. He worried about just how he would explain this to the rest of the ponies. No one ever burned down half a library by accident. At least, no pony ever did. Furthermore, he wondered how all his friends would react to his new form. They constantly mentioned how scary the grown dragons were and, though not fully grown, he was plenty scary with his stronger fire breath and razor-sharp claws. Would they run away from him or shun him because of his destructiveness? No, they were too close to him to do either. He trusted them. But could he trust himself?

He had ruined a sink just by leaning on it and burned down half the library by simply breathing. He could not control his new powerful breath and he did not know what to do with his claws to dull them down. Twilight was set to return in a couple of days. He could only imagine what she or the ponies might say about his strange and rapid transformation. He began to dread the thought of him accidentally hurting any of his friends, especially Rarity or Twilight. He was not about to let that happen.

He thought and thought but could only come up with one solution, one that would resolve his fears, but would also mean a big sacrifice on his part. Spike quickly gathered a quill and scroll, although writing a note proved futile; his claws tore the paper to shreds and grasping the quill only sliced it into tiny pieces. It only served as proof that his new grown form would cause problems for everypony, however unintentional. He sighed dishearteningly as he opened the library’s front door. Spike was surprised to find the klutzy Derpy Hooves on the other side of the doorway.

“Hi, Spithe! Hethe’s your mail!” the pegasus said through a mouthful of letters, smiling at the distraught dragon and apparently not even noticing his growth.

He more or less ignored the grey pegasus as he ran off as fast as he could. His destination was the only place that he could think of that suited a dragon: the Everfree Forest.

Rainbow Dash gave a heavy sigh as she yet again arrived at Golden Oaks Library. She rolled her eyes when she thought of how many similar trips Pinkie had already sent her on. Whether it was to add new decorations or replace some that she had brought earlier, Pinkie always gave her the same reason. She wanted everything to be absolutely “superifically funtastic” for Twilight’s return.

“Hey, Spike! Pinkie just sent me over to bring some more stuff for the…” Rainbow Dash paused, her rolling eyes opening wide as she entered the ruined library. “Whoa, what happened here?”

She sifted through the soggy remains of a burnt bookshelf but could find nothing around that would start a fire so destructive. Continuing her investigation, she found the crushed bed of their dragon friend, which only added to her growing list of questions. She followed some claw markings along the floor up the stairs. Finally, her search lead her to bathroom where the sink had deep gashes going down its length.

Suddenly, she put everything together. The burned bookshelf, crushed bed, claw markings... they all led to one memory: Spike’s rampage through Ponyville.

“Uh-oh…” the blue pegasus said to herself as she dropped the party supplies and flew off to warn the rest of her gang.

The first pony that she felt she needed to warn was none other than the dragon’s longtime crush; the pony he had kidnapped during his first little run through Ponyville as a full-fledged dragon. Rainbow Dash burst through the boutique’s second floor window and found her friend going about her normal business of designing new “fabulous” fashion lines.

“Rarity!” Rainbow Dash yelled, causing the dressmaker to jump and scatter her materials about.

“Rainbow Dash!” Rarity said, raising her voice a bit.“You must really learn to knock!”

“There’s no time for that!” she shouted, only to see that her friend had already gone back to work. “RARITY!”

“No, not until you’ve learned how rude it is to barge into someone else’s home,” Rarity sternly told her, turning her back to Rainbow Dash.

“Ugh!” Rainbow Dash groaned, slapping a hoof over her face. With an annoyed look, she flew out of the room’s window and knocked. However when Rarity ignored her, she began knocking much more violently.

“RARITY!” she yelled.

“Yes?” Rarity nonchalantly walked to the window and allowed her to enter.

“Have you seen Spike lately?”

“Why no, I haven’t,” Rarity answered, her voice gaining small tone of concern. “Why do you ask? Did something happen to my Spikey-Wikey?”

“Well, I dunno, but he sure did a number on the library,” Rainbow Dash said, kicking a roll of fabric on the floor next to her.

“Oh no… do you mean?” Rarity said, taken back by a sudden memory.

“Like I said. I. Don’t. Know,” Rainbow Dash replied. “He wasn’t in the library and I haven’t seen him anywhere around Ponyville.”

“We should warn the others.”

“I dunno, Rarity. Wouldn’t it be kinda rude to go bother everypony in their homes?” Rainbow Dash said as sarcastically as she could, earning a death-glare from the dress maker.

“Alright, alright! I suppose I had that coming,” Rarity replied, quickly looking away in shame.

“Then let’s go!” Rainbow Dash told her, knowing that that would be the closest to an apology she would get from the unicorn.

After a small search, the group had finally gathered together, but all claimed that they had seen neither hide nor scale of the missing dragon. Asking the other ponies in town gave the same result. No pony had seen Spike the whole day. With nothing else to go on, the mares gathered at the library, hoping to find some clue of what had happened.

“Maybe Spike didn’t do this!” the ever-imaginative Pinkie Pie said, apparently already having solved the case of the missing dragon. ”Maybe it was some sort of super, gigantic meteor that crashed into the library and kidnapped Spike and took him into space!”

“Well, back in reality…” Rainbow Dash said as she gave up sifting through the wet ash.

“It doesn’t seem like we’re having any luck here, darlings,” Rarity told her friends, falling on her rear.

“And no pony has seen him in Ponyville,” Fluttershy added, her ears drooping.

“I think we’ve hit dead end, y’all,” Applejack concluded as each hung their heads.

A sudden crash through the window startled all the mares. It was none other than local mailpony, Derpy Hooves.

“Doesn’t anypony have the manners to knock anymore?” Rarity muttered under her breath.

“Uh… are you okay, Derpy?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Oh! Hi, Rainbow Dash! I guess Spike still isn’t back yet!” Derpy said, smiling as though her crash landing did not even faze her.

“Are you saying you’ve seen Spikey-wi—I mean, Spike?” Rarity asked the mailpony.

“Mm-hmm,” the grey mare hummed, never once losing her smile. “He looked like he was in a hurry! He didn’t even have time to get his mail from me! Guess he was late to something in the Everfree Forest! He ran all the way there!”

“The Everfree Forest!” the mares all yelled in unison, before quickly heading out the door.

“Maybe there’s some sort of party there… I wanna go to the party too!” Derpy thought out loud as she followed the mares, still totally oblivious to the situation. “WAIT FOR ME, GUYS!”

“One last delivery and I’m done for today!” a blue-hatted pegasus said to himself. Pausing for a second, he produced a small scroll from his rather large saddlebags detailing many names and addresses, most of which were crossed out, except for one at very bottom. “‘To: Spike the Dragon, Golden Oaks Library; From:…’

“Princess Twilight Sparkle! Oh boy, I got to be careful with this one! I didn’t think they’d be testing us this soon!” the beige stallion thought out loud. Lowering the scroll, he saw a flash of bright color send him whirling. Before he was able to regain his bearings, a grey streak sent him into a second uncontrollable spin. Grabbing his head, the pegasus waited for his eyes to return from their thousandth trip around their respective sockets.

“Some ponies just don’t ever watch where they’re going… Well, at least I still have… Oh no…” the stallion desperately rummaged through his saddlebags, trying to find the package. “This isn’t happening, not with this package!”

Looking to the land below, he found that he had been hovering over the Everfree Forest. It was impossible to see through the thicket, and there was no telling where the package could have landed. He concluded that his best bet was to dive straight down and hope that the package did not fall too far from there.

“It’s no use… I can’t see anything from up there!” Rainbow Dash said, frustrated. “And Derpy isn’t helping much either…”

“Looks like we’re just gonna have to hoof it then!” Applejack told the rest of the mares.

“But the Everfree Forest is HUGE! We’ll never find him in there!” Pinkie replied.

“We can’t just leave Spikey-Wikey all alone in that dreadful forest!” Rarity argued. “If we can divide up the forest, I’m sure we would be able to find him.”

“What if we get lost?” Fluttershy said. “It’s already getting dark…”

“Fluttershy has a point there, Rarity,” Applejack interjected as she glanced over at the setting sun. “It’s gettin’ mighty close to sundown. The forest just ain’t safe at night. We should wait until tomorrow, and then we can go in find Spike, first thing in the morning.”

“Do you really think that the kid can hold out until morning by himself?” Rainbow Dash joined in. “Like you said, the forest is dangerous at night. That’s why we’ve gotta find him!”

The friends explosively argued about their next course of action, except for the soft-spoken yellow pegasus, who merely tried her best to keep the peace.

Exhausted, Spike took a seat on large and inviting stump. With nothing better on his mind, he began to reflect on his day since he left the library.

He had been wandering the forest area the whole day, hoping to find some sort of shelter before nightfall. However, most of the caves in the area were already the lairs of adult dragons and they apparently had not learned the virtue of sharing. So he was forced to dwell outside, but, luckily for him, most creatures in the forest had learned to steer clear of dragons, even if not fully grown.

Spike sighed deeply already feeling homesick from the mere thought that he would never see the ponies he called his family again. Thoughts of his friends weighed heavy on his mind to point that he was barely able to keep his head from dropping to the ground below, his eyes gluing themselves to the forest floor. With no idea of his whereabouts, he hoped they would simply forget about him and go back to living their normal lives. Depressing as it was, he convinced himself that it was for the best.

Suddenly, he heard something brushing past the leaves and branches of the nearby trees. He panicked at first, believing that it could have been one of the mares looking for him. But his heart calmed down as he saw a small box plop onto the dirt floor. Curiosity got the better of him as he moved in to examine the package. It was obviously a package meant to be delivered somewhere, with its stereotypical brown wrapping and twine keeping the top in place. However, its trip through the trees had damaged it and even ripped off the tag that would have revealed the sender and the recipient. He reached to grab it but remembered that his new claws would only finish the job the trees had started.

Another rustle of the brush caused the dragon to jump. It did not come from the trees above but from the bushes below. A head suddenly poked out from the leafy mess. Not that of a mare but of a stallion. He did not seem to notice the dragon as he fell, face first, out of the bush.

“Oww…” the stallion said as he picked himself back up, retrieving his hat that had been caught by the prickly vines. “Come on! It has to be around here somewhere!”

Giving the area a quick look over, he found himself being stared down by a dragon. But by the dragon he saw the package he had been looking for. Successfully delivering this royal package was definitely a priority on his list, he could not simply leave it. Swallowing his fear, he approached Spike.

“Uh…” he opened his mouth but found himself at a loss for words. The dragon he saw before him was not an adult, but he did stand just a good head and a half taller than himself.

“Is this—” Spike began, but quickly clamped his over his mouth. The fire that spouted from his mouth as he spoke just barely missed the stallion. “I’m sorr—”

His attempt on an apology backfired as his breath caught the stallion’s hat, setting it aflame. Abandoning his hat, the stallion tried to stomp the fire out, but he was not fast enough to save it. Spike saw the beige stallion mope over the ash and singed cloth that used to be his hat and hung his head ashamed. Stepping aside, he allowed the pegasus to retrieve the package. The sight of the ruined box only served to add to the stallion’s sorrows.

“I can’t deliver it like this!” the light-brown pegasus yelled, nearly tearing out his mane. “I’m sure that 'Spike' will tell the Princess the bad shape that I gave it to him in. Forget the promotion; I might not have a job if I deliver it like this!”

Spike perked up, hearing his name. He could not help but wonder if the package was meant for him. He wanted to ask the pegasus about it, but his breath was still out of control and threatened to scare off the stallion before he could.

“I guess delivering it like this is better than not delivering it at all,” the stallion conceded with a heavy sigh as he picked up the package prepared to take off.

“Wait!” Spike said, causing the stallion to stop in his tracks. Speaking so that his breath went in harmless direction, he proclaimed the stallion, “I’m Spike!”

“You’re Spike?” the stallion said, raising a suspicious eyebrow. There was no evidence proving or disproving his claim. “Okay, so if you are Spike, where do you live?”

“I live—” the purple dragon started, but paused as he remembered his recent decision. “I used to live at the Golden Oaks Library…”

“Well,” the stallion said as he double-checked his list, ”I guess this belongs to you then.”

He held the package out to the troubled dragon, but the dragon did not accept, opting to keep his gaze on the forest floor instead. The stallion stood there awkwardly holding the box in silence, noting the dragon’s forlorn facial expression and his low-hanging head. His job never included “consoling dragons,” but not only was his conscience egging him to do something, it meant also delivering this package upon which his job quite possibly rode.

“Uh… what do you mean used to?” he asked.

“I’m… I was Twilight Sparkle’s assistant and I was a baby dragon. After Twilight’s coronation, Princess Celestia asked her to stay for a little while. I wanted to help Twilight, but I never really liked staying in Canterlot. I never had a whole lot of friends there,” Spike told him, keeping his volume barely audible. “Twilight told me it was okay if I came back to Ponyville. It was all going good too! I was doing all my chores and even got used to being the librarian, even though that was always more her thing. But, then today, I woke up… like this,” he said, motioning to his body.

“Well… I guess that explains why you were getting a package from Princess Twilight Sparkle,” the stallion responded.

“That’s from Twilight?” the dragon asked.

“Yeah… here,” the pegasus answered, once again trying to hand him the package. Spike reached for the package, but quickly withdrew his claws. This confused the stallion, but he understood when the dragon demonstrated the keenness of his claws on a nearby tree.. “Oh… I’ll get that for you.”

Tossing the top away, it revealed a few rather large gems and some mirror-like crystals along with a note underneath them all. Clearing his throat, the stallion began reading the note out loud:

“‘Dear Spike,

“‘I’ve been hearing nothing but good things from everyone in Ponyville. They said that the library’s running smoothly without me and the girls have been telling how you even had some extra time to help them out. I know that you stayed in Ponyville because you didn’t really like it here in Canterlot and trust me, this Princess stuff isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be. I’m sure you would have bored out of your mind if you hadstayed with me. It’s a bunch of paperwork and hoof-shaking. I do miss having my number one assistant around, but I just wanted to tell you that I’m proud of you for all the hard work you’ve been putting in while I’m gone. I could never ask for a better assistant and friend. I can’t wait to see you all in a couple of days. You know, unless this courier service isn’t what it’s cracked up to be and you get this package after I get back home.

“‘Love,

“‘Twilight Sparkle

“‘P.S.: I got my hooves on a couple of crystals that they’ve been finding in the caverns underneath Canterlot. I hope they taste as good as the gems! Thought you deserved a little treat for all your hard work.’

“Hey! We couriers are the fastest mail service around! GUARANTEED next day delivery!” the stallion snapped, then quickly regained his composure after remembering who had written the letter. “Anyways, sounds like you guys are really close friends. Why’d you run away?”

“We are really close, we’re like family! That’s why I ran away, I didn’t want to hurt anypony,” Spike replied, feeling even more distraught after hearing the letter from his friend. “Like I almost hurt you.”

“But… she’s an alicorn, right? There has to be something she can do to fix this,” the pegasus told him.

“If there’s one thing she knows, it’s magic,” Spike admitted.

“There you go!” the stallion replied. “I’m sure that you can find a way to not hurt anypony while you guys figure out how to get you back to normal. I mean, I’m okay, aren’t I? My hat might not be, but I can always get another one of those.”

“Yeah, you’re right!” he said with newfound vigor. ”I think I should head back, Rarity and the others are probably looking for me.” The dragon turned his head every which way, realizing he no longer knew which way was home anymore. “I could use some help finding my way back, if you don’t mind.”

“Well, this was my last delivery. I guess I can stick around a bit,” the pegasus said, flying up to get a bearing of the town’s location. “It’s that way!”

“By the way, I’ve never seen you in Ponyville before,” Spike commented. “And I don’t even know your name.”

“It’s not really a surprise; I’m actually from Cloudsdale,” the stallion told him, taking the lead. “My name’s Cloud Slider. Y'know, I’ve never met a real life dragon before, kind of cool actually. I mean, I heard a lot about dragons from a pony that I help deliver supplies to. He wants to be the first pony to write a book about dragons! He’s been studying them for over a year now, and he’s learned a hay of a lot. He could really talk your ear off.”

As the unusual duo neared the edge of the forest, they heard the loud chatter of multiple mares. It had appeared that they had been in a deadlock for quite a while. One side realizing the danger the Everfree Forest posed at night and the other wanting to go in anyways and split up, the only possible way they would have any luck of finding the dragon in the dense forest. A smile began to spread across Spike’s face, tears welling up in his eyes, as he heard the lengths his friends were willing to go to find him, especially from Rarity who seemed almost determined to proceed on her own if need be.

“Guess this is your stop, Spike,” Cloud Slider said, overhearing the mares calling the dragon’s name.

“Thanks, Cloud Slider!” Spike replied.

“It’s… been definitely the most interesting delivery I’ve had,” he told him. “Good luck with getting back to normal!”

The beige pegasus took to the air but almost immediately turned back, a final thought nagging at him from the back of his mind. “Actually, can I ask you a favor? You see the mail service might ask you for feedback on my delivery. If you could just…”

“It’s the least I can do,” Spike cut him off.

“You don’t even know how much this means to me. Thanks, Spike,” the pegasus said as his wings gave a quick flutter. Holding out his hoof, the dragon greeted it with his knuckles.

With that, the stallion took off. Spike prepared himself to approach the mares with a deep breath. He was not sure what their reaction would be, but he hoped that their longstanding friendship would mean acceptance of his new form.

“Hey, look! It’s Spike!” Derpy announced, waving at the incoming dragon. “Hi, Spike!”

“Spike?” the arguing mares stopped and turned their heads. They expected the baby dragon that they always knew, but the long, slim, and noticeably more reptilian creature coming towards them had each of them slack-jawed. The only things they could really recognize were the purple scales and the trail of green spines that ran down from his head to his tail. Even his gait was different, now traveling on all fours rather than his usual upright posture.

“Spike…?” they asked, taking extra caution in approaching him.

“Yeah,” Spike answered, making sure to face away from them while he spoke. The sudden and bright emerald flame startled the mares as they took a step back.

“What happened to you, Spike?” Rarity was the first to ask what was on each of their minds.

“I don’t know,” the dragon admitted. “I just… woke up and I was already big.”

The mare carefully observed the dragon, but soon saw that they had nothing to fear. He did not act as he did during his rampage. He was tame and even perhaps a little saddened.

“Well, don’tcha fret none, Spike,” Applejack reassured him. “Twilight will be back in a few days, then we can go over to Zecora’s and together they can get ya back to normal.”

“I dunno… I kind of like Spike better this way!” Rainbow Dash added, giving the dragon a noogie. “He looks more like a real dragon, definitely a lot cooler than before!”

“Yeah! He used to be able to ride us, now it’s our turn to ride him!” Pinkie Pie laughed, climbing on top of the dragon. “Even Fluttershy isn’t scared of Spike!”

“Well, he’s still the little Spike I know… just bigger…” Fluttershy said as she joined the rest of the mares around Spike.

“Oh, Spike!” Derpy called out before reaching into her saddlebag. “Here, you forgot your mail this morning!”

Spike waved his arms to warn the grey pegasus not to hand him the batch of letters. However, she simply ignored them and impaled them on one of his claws. He looked with half-lidded eyes at the ruined letters and then back at the bubbly mare, who merely considered her job done and took her leave.

Even as he heard the mares laugh, Spike felt as if almost all the stress that been building up since he had left the library was lifted right off his shoulders. However, as he looked at Rarity, a last thought crossed his mind; Did he really want to go back to “normal?”

The Show Begins

A few days of anxious waiting followed as the mares all tried their best to handle Spike’s new form. Due to the destructive nature of his current state, he was not allowed to do very much. It felt strange for him to sit and do little more than twiddle his claws.

However, he did find some serendipity in his new situation; Spike was often told by Twilight that he was much too young to have a chance with Rarity. Now, he found himself in an interesting situation. He had somehow grown older overnight, quite literally. Though he missed his old, smaller form, he began thinking that this sudden transformation could possibly be a blessing in disguise, a chance to finally be with Rarity.

Rarity had volunteered to be the one to stay with him in the library until their newly-declared princess’s return. Her worry had settled down from the initial shock of seeing her cute, little “Spikey-Wikey” as larger, more menacing dragon. Yet, it seemed that something else was bothering her. She paced the entire ground floor countless times. It seemed to be to no avail, however. A deep sigh escaped her mouth as she paused her umpteenth walk around the library.

“Rarity?” Spike called her as she paced the floor of the library.

She quickly shook herself back to reality when she heard her name being called. “Oh… I’m sorry, Spike. I just have a lot on my mind,” Rarity told him. “Yes?”

“Uh, nothing…” he replied, his nerves getting the best of him.

“Spike, what…” Rarity began but paused to take in a deep breath. “What would you do if Twilight couldn’t find a way to get you back to normal? You wouldn’t leave… would you?”

Before he could respond, the ever-energetic Pinkie Pie burst through the library’s door. “She’s here! She’s here!” Pinkie Pie announced, nearly bouncing off the walls. “Twilight’s back!”

“She is?” Rarity asked, in more relief than disbelief.

“Took her long enough!” Spike laughed, allowing a fiery flare to escape from his mouth.

“I have to get my flugelhorn!” the party pony gasped before running off, only to poke her head through the doorway the very next second. “I’ll meet you there!”

“Wait! Pinkie!” the white unicorn called out, to no avail. “Meet her where?”

Before she could look back to the semi-grown dragon, he had already found his way out of the library and was headed through their little town.

To say the least, most ponies were startled after first seeing Spike return from the Everfree Forest. However, now the town’s residents simply allowed him to pass on by with little more attention than that. He had Rarity to thank for that.

He easily reached the center of town with time to spare, where he saw a large, gilded chariot approaching.

“Spike! Spike!” Rarity yelled, finally catching up with him.

“Alright! It’s about time!” Rainbow Dash said, hovering overhead.

“It has been mighty long time,” Applejack said, also just arriving.

“We haven’t seen her since the coronation!” Fluttershy said in a “loud” voice.

Soon the whole town fell silent as the chariot touched down. In the regal transport sat the newly crowned princess of Equestria, Twilight Sparkle. She seemed to be a little nervous as she gave the crowd an awkward smile and a wave of her hoof as they cheered and welcomed their new princess back to her home. For the most part, she looked to be the same Twilight her friends remembered, except for a new jeweled tiara and a golden, ornate necklace.

“Hi, girls! And… Spike?!” Twilight pulled back in surprise. “You’ve… gotten pretty big...”

Though they had sent her a letter through the magical link between Celestia and Spike, she was still surprised to find the “baby” dragon she had left was well over twice her size.

“Aww! I missed it!” the pink party pony whined loudly as she rushed to the scene.

“Missed what?” Twilight asked.

“I wanted to blow my flugelhorn and say: ‘Welcome Princess Twilight Sparkle!’” Pinkie answered, frowning. “Like the guards do with their horns in Canterlot but…”

“Oh… alright, you can still do it,” the newest princess said.

“YAY! Ok, you have to get back in the chariot,” the pink pony told her as she practically pushed Twilight into position. “Stay there until I blow my horn, okay?”

“Okay, Pinkie,” Twilight giggled, climbing back onto her chariot.

“Okay… now you guys stand right… there…” Pinkie said, pushing the crowd of her friends some distance in front of the chariot. “Now… wait for it…”

“Uh… Pinkie...?” Applejack asked after a while of silence.

“WAIT FOR IT…” she replied, hushing her fellow earth pony. “Now!”

Taking in all the air her lungs allowed, she sounded her horn, making many of the residents of Ponyville flinch from the sheer volume.

“Presenting Princess Twilight Sparkle!” Pinkie boomed, a very satisfied smile breaking across her face.

“Thank you… for that Pinkie…” Twilight told her, rubbing her ears. Though most ponies narrowed their gaze at the pink pony, Twilight could not help but smile at her as she jumped back off her chariot.

“No problem… we were going to throw you a party but…” she responded sadly as her ears drooped. “The meteor that took Spike into the Everfree Forest burned all the decorations we had—”

“Pinkie, we’ve been over this already…” Rainbow Dash interrupted. “Spike was the one that burned the decorations…”

“But why would Spike burn all the decorations?” Pinkie asked.

“It was an accident!” Rainbow Dash said, her brow giving a visible twitch.

“So what happened to the meteor?” she asked, tilting her head in further confusion.

“There was no meteor!” yelled all the ponies, sans Twilight, in unison at the top of their lungs.

“Well, I guess we better get started if we want to get you back to normal as soon as possible,” Twilight said to the dragon.

“Actually…” Spike said, quickly covering his mouth as a small burst of flames escaped. . “You’re probably tired from all your… uh… princess stuff at Canterlot. It can wait…”

Although he had been in this form for a few days now, he had not quite gotten used to it. After several visits to the spa and a countless number of broken files later, the twins—Aloe and Lotus—had finally dulled his claws to manageable keenness. As for his fire breath, it was still out of control and a potential threat to anyone he spoke to, so he became used to staying silent. When he did have to speak, he got into the habit of covering his mouth to stop the fire spreading into the open.

“Oooookay…” Twilight replied as she cocked an eyebrow.

“Yeah, let’s go over to Sugarcube Corner and you can tell about all about Canterlot!” Pinkie blared. “And maybe while we’re trying to get Spike back to normal later, we’ll find out what happened to that pesky meteor…”

Most of the ponies merely shook their head with the exception of Rainbow Dash, who forcefully drove her hoof into her face.

“How come ya ain’t staying at Canterlot like Princess Luna and Princess Celestia?” Applejack asked, holding the door as the group walked into Sugar Cube Corner.

“Yes, that does seem a little odd,” Rarity added as she took a seat at the nearest table, inviting Twilight to do the same. “Do tell, Twilight.”

“Well, I know this seems weird,” Twilight answered, “for a princess to live in library in such a little town, but as Princess Luna pointed out while I was there, how I became a princess is anything but normal. Princess Celestia wanted me to stay in Canterlot with her and Luna, but I told her that I wanted to come back… I mean, if it wasn’t for you girls, I wouldn’t be a princess at all!”

“Aww…” the girls snuggled for a hug, causing the lone dragon—moreover the only boy present—to gag at their warm embrace.

“However, being a special case, Celestia also gave me a special duty,” she continued. “From now on, the Elements of Harmony are my full responsibility. Their care, their use, everything! But that’s not just it… From now on, protecting Equestria and all the ponies that live here is our responsibility…”

“What do you mean our responsibility?” Rainbow Dash asked, reaching for a freshly-baked cookie on a nearby counter.

“Well, seeing as the Elements are bound to us…” Twilight paused to retrieve a chest from two guards that had followed them to the bakery. “She decided to dub us the official guardians of all of Equestria and the Crystal Kingdom. As Princess Celestia said, ‘the Elements of Harmony are the most powerful and final safeguard against the evils that threaten our lands and citizens.’ Should a new threat arise, it’s our responsibility to see to it and resolve it!”

“Oh my…” Fluttershy said as she began to hyperventilate. “That’s… a lot… of pressure…”

“Don’t worry, Fluttershy! As long as we all stick together, we can do anything!” Pinkie reassured her friend with a big hug.

Though Twilight seemed to appreciate the sentiment, her eyes still drifted to the floor.

“You seem a bit off, Twilight,” Rarity asked.

“It’s… nothing, really!” she replied, giving her friends a shallow smile.

“Now, now. There ain’t a thing ya can’t tell us, sugarcube!” the apple farmer told her as she gave her a strong pat on the back. “Ya know that!”

“We’ll stand by you no matter what!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

“Okay…” Twilight paused as she looked up at the ceiling. Taking a deep breath and dropping her shoulders, she continued, “It’s about Princess Celestia. She’s been acting really strangely. She told me she didn’t intend on tearing me away from you girls when she asked me to stay in Canterlot. She said that she just wanted to be sure that I was ready to lead Equestria in case the time came that I ever had to rule over it… and she wasn’t there…”

“What do you think Princess Celestia meant?” Fluttershy asked.

“I don’t know… As far as I know, alicorns live forever…” the new princess responded. “Maybe she’s going somewhere… I don’t have a clue!”

“I’m sure she didn’t mean nothin’ by it, sugarcube,” Applejack reassured her.

“I hope you’re right, Applejack…” Twilight replied, looking out the window at nothing in particular. “I really do…”

Twilight smiled widely as she walked into her old library home after a long day of travel and catching up with her friends. Spike followed close behind, slamming the door with a mere flick of his tail.

“You don’t know how good it feels to be home, Spike!” Twilight said, stretching her newly acquired wings. “I know we were both born in Canterlot, but all the while I was over there, I couldn’t stop thinking of Ponyville or any of you!”

“Well, I think everypony missed you too, Twilight…” Spike said as he gave her a half-hearted smile.

“Something wrong?” the purple alicorn asked him. “You’ve been acting pretty weird too.”

“I’m sorry, Twilight…” Spike said. “I just don’t know if I want to go back to normal…”

“Hmm?” Twilight hummed, raising an eyebrow.

“I mean, you were right… why would Rarity ever want to date a baby dragon?” he confessed.

“But Spike… this isn’t natural!” she exclaimed. “I know that you really like Rarity, but this could be dangerous. Remember what happened last time? You almost hurt her—”

“I WOULDN’T HURT RARITY!” Spike roared. But as he stared into Twilight’s widened eyes, he quickly shrank back, falling to the floor shamefully. “I-I’m… sorry…”

“...It’s okay, Spike,” Twilight said, rubbing dragon’s head. “I know that it’s hard—”

“No, you don’t understand…” he said, turning his head away from the alicorn. “This is my one chance to be with Rarity…I don’t want to lose it… maybe… maybe it happened for a reason!”

“But Spike… what about your breath… and your claws…?” she asked.

“I can learn to control my breath! And after going to the spa, my claws have been just fine!” Spike nearly yelled.

“What about your size, Spike?” Twilight inquired. “You barely fit through the doors as it is…”

“But I didn’t feel right as a baby dragon!” the dragon cried, a few tears of frustration leaving his eyes. “I felt older…”

“Do you feel ‘right’ right now?” she cautiously asked in reply.

“No…” Spike answered sadly.

“I’m sorry, Spike,” Twilight told him, rubbing his head to comfort him. “I didn’t mean to ruin your dream of being with Rarity when I said you were too young.”

“I know… I know…” he repeated. “But I knew you were right… No matter how hard I tried, I don’t think Rarity could treat me like a coltfriend as long as I was a baby dragon. I was too little… Now I’m too big… I won’t be able to stay here with all the ponies soon… Equestria's no place for a full-grown dragon…”

“Don’t say that, Spike!” she exclaimed him, shaking his shoulder a bit. She paused before continuing softly, “I’ll tell you what: how about you think it over tonight? You can tell me what you want to do in the morning. That sound okay to you?”

“Okay…” Spike replied with a smile as she walked away. “Promise not to tell anypony else?”

“Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye…” Twilight giggled.

“Oh… and Twilight?” Spike called to her.

“Yes?” she turned around.

“Sorry about the books…” Spike said with a small flinch. He and the other mares had strategically left that out of the letter they had wrote to her and Celestia.

“What boo—” Twilight paused as soon as she saw that the blackened section of the library. After giving a heartbroken, horrified sort of sigh, the poor, shocked pony fainted.

“Twilight?” a familiar voice called out to the alicorn. “Twiiiiiilight! WAKEY WAKEY!”

A sudden crash of cymbals startled the purple pony awake.

“AGH!” Twilight yelled, falling off her bed. Standing over her was her crazy pink friend with a wide smile across her face.

“She’s awa~ake!” Pinkie sung as she bounced down the steps to the library’s ground floor.

“Pinkie, we told you to let Twilight rest… poor darling’s been busy ever since her coronation,” Twilight heard Rarity’s voice say. “She must be exhausted.”

“Don’t worry about me, girls!” the new princess said, soaring down to the second floor.

“Well, well, well! Looks like somepony’s getting used to her wings!” Rainbow Dash said enthusiastically.

“Sort of… But I’m a long way from racing you, Rainbow!” Twilight laughed as she landed awkwardly.

“Aww…”

“What are we standin’ around for?” Applejack asked. “Let’s head over to Zecora’s and get Spike here back to normal!”

The group hurriedly exited the library until only Spike and Twilight were left. He was finding his eyelids unusually heavy and was yawning quite frequently.

“Well, Spike…” Twilight paused to turn to the dragon. “Did you decide on what you’re going to do?”

“I think I want to go back to normal…” Spike answered, wiping his eyes. “Even if I can’t be with Rarity… I can still be her friend… I can still be there for her if ever she needs me…”

After giving Twilight a reassuring smile, he quickly exited the library and followed the rest of their little group. However, Twilight lingered a bit longer, still unsure if she could go through with it. After their emotionally charged talk last night, much uncertainty developed in her heart. Her number one assistant, the dragon that had helped since her studies began in Canterlot, needed help in fulfilling his own dream and she was utterly stumped.

If she found a way to return him to his original age, then she effectively put out his only hope to fulfill his dream. If she refused to return him to his young age, he would soon grow too big to comfortably live with the rest of the residence of Equestria.

“What would Celestia do…? I can ask her!” Twilight thought out loud, jerking upwards and grasping a quill and scroll with her magic.

“But…” Twilight paused as her quill hovered just above the blank paper. “I’m a princess now. I should be able to handle this on my own!” She set her quill down and rolled up the scroll. “If I can’t handle one of my friend’s problems, how am I ever going to prove to Princess Celestia that I can handle all of Equestria’s problems?”

“Come on, Twilight!” Spike said, returning to the library to see what had kept the alicorn.

“Sorry, I’m on my way!” Twilight replied, chasing after the dragon. “Oh! And don’t think you’re off the hook for all those books you burned, even if it was an accident!”

She only received a groan from Spike as they raced off to catch up with the others.

“You experienced strange growth again?” Zecora spoke. “Hmm… Let us see what is at work then.”

Taking a few minutes to examine Spike, the zebra poked his stomach, pulled his tail and finally took a drop of saliva from one of his fangs in a small glass vial. Dropping it in her cauldron, it soon turned the liquid swirling inside into a purple matching Spike’s scales. However, there was a small imperfection within the otherwise perfectly violent tincture.

“This is very peculiar indeed,” Zecora said finally, scooping a small amount of grey liquid from the cauldron. “The cause of his growth is not greed.”

“So… what made him grow?” Rainbow Dash asked as she peeking over the zebra’s shoulder.

“It seems the root of this problem is a type of herb,” the zebra added, pushing off the pegasus. “The flow of time, this rare plant’s essence will disturb.”

“I’ve never heard of a plant that had time-altering qualities,” Twilight stated as she looked over Zecora’s collection of exotic reagents.

“It grows only within the forest’s center,” Zecora answered, pulling a tightly sealed jar labeled “Age Sage” with a bundle of a grey herb from a small cabinet. “A dangerous place that few dare to enter.”

“How did it get all the way to Ponyville then?” Pinkie asked as she took the jar from Zecora and attempted to open it.

“That is one thing I do not know,” the zebra replied, glaring at Pinkie as she took the herb back. “Legs these herbs simply cannot grow.”

“Hey, Twilight. Can’t ya just cast one of them spells of yers to get Spike back to his normal self?” Applejack asked, tapping on the alicorn’s horn.

“Well, since it was a plant that made him grow… maybe I can,” Twilight answered. “My magic has gotten stronger since I became an alicorn… Hold still, Spike.”

“Is it gonna hurt?” Spike asked her, a bit of fear building up inside him.

“No…” the alicorn paused to think it over, rubbing her hoof under her chin. “No.”

Twilight’s horn began to glow brightly as she concentrated all her power in preparation of the spell. With a hard swallow, Spike nervously stood as his sweat shot off of him, creating a puddle on the floor beneath him. After another second, Twilight seemed satisfied with the power she gathered and shot a powerful beam at the dragon. Twilight's eyes widened when she saw the same dragon frightfully shaking and sweating bullets. Absolutely nothing happened. The alicorn did not give up right away as she charged and released blast after blast at the dragon. However, the results did not change, even after many more exhausting attempts. Spike was still in his unnaturally grown state.

“What’s wrong? Why won’t my magic work?” Twilight asked. “Zecora?”

“Of these reptiles, my people know a lot,” Zecora responded. “However, a dragon expert, I am not.”

“So… I’m stuck like this!?” Spike panicked.

“Now, now, darling…” Rarity told him, giving him a calming rub on his back. “I’m sure there’s something that we can find in the library that can help us.”

“I’m sorry, but Spike and I already looked all over the library for anything on dragons before,” Twilight said. “We couldn’t find a single book about them. No pony has ever researched them because of how dangerous it is.”

Spike’s head perked up as heard that last sentence and a big smile spread across his face. “Wait!” he exclaimed, causing all the mares to jump in unison.

“What is it, Spike?” Twilight asked. “Do you know somepony who researched dragons before!?”

“Not really!” he answered, giving the confused group a wide smile. “But I know another pony who does!”

Colt in a Conundrum

It was the start of a new morning for Cloudsdale and the start of the workday for the Cloudsdale Couriers. Their jobs involved making deliveries all over the cities, villages and even lone cottages of Equestria. There was nowhere too obscure or extreme that they would not deliver to. Unfortunately, this also meant their workday would always start early in order to ensure that the sterling reputation of the Courier Service stayed intact with their promise of next-day delivery. This, of course, included the beige stallion, Cloud Slider.

As usual, he and the other couriers were waiting in the Cloudsdale Post Office for their assignments for the day. While the other couriers were about ready to leave, Cloud Slider waited attentively for their manager—or as a few of the couriers jokingly called her—their “Wrangler” to give him his haul for the day.

“And… Cloud Slider…” Wrangler said. “Looks like it’s your lucky day, you have only one package to deliver today.”

“Where to?” he asked.

“To…” the mare paused and stared wide-eyed past the beige pegasus. “Derpy!?”

“Hi, Miss Wrangler!” the grey pegasus greeted the manager.

Derpy had made it a habit to accidentally visit the Cloudsdale Post Office every now and then. The higher-ups of the office were always lenient on her and chalked up these visits as a force of habit from her days of living in Cloudsdale. Even if she occasionally made a mistake or two, they could not deny she got the job done more often than not. However, her visits were always seemed to foreshadow some bad luck, whether that meant she would do something to physically harm the office or just bad luck would follow the deliveries for the day.

The two other couriers working that day had taken off as soon as they heard Derpy’s voice. Unfortunately for Cloud Slider, he had not received the location of his delivery for the day nor the package itself, and could not just leave as easily as they did. He waited for his manager as she attempted to deny Derpy entrance into the office. Unluckily for her, Derpy was deceptively strong and busted through the doors that the manager attempted to barricade with her body.

“Ready for my mail for today!” Derpy exclaimed with a smile as she looked down at the couriers’ fallen manager. “The doors didn’t wanna open again? Don’t worry, I think I fixed them!”

“Yes… ‘fixed,’” the managerial mare sighed. “As we’ve told you before, Derpy. You don’t work here anymore. You work at the Ponyville Post Office!”

“Oh yeah!” Derpy said, after taking a moment to register the thought. “I always forget!”

“Too often, if you ask me,” the mare whispered under her breath.

“Whatcha say, Miss Wrangler?” Derpy asked, curiously craning her neck.

“Oh nothing!” the manager faked a smile and waved the question off. “Now, where was I? Ah, yes! Cloud Slider, your delivery is listed right here and it is in Canterlot,” she said as she handed the stallion a package and a small scroll. “Please take Miss Derpy here and point her in the right direction back to Ponyville. Afterwards, you may go on to make your delivery. And be sure to keep an eye out for those renegade pirates!”

“Wait, why do I have to…” Cloud Slider began, taking a big step away from the klutzy pegasus.

“You will take Miss Derpy with you and you will go on to make your delivery for the day!” Wrangler ordered as authoritatively as the young courier ever heard her. “Did I make myself clear?”

The frightened stallion nodded as he trembled violently.

“Now, Derpy,” the manager continued, readjusting her clothes after her outbreak. “Please follow Cloud Slider, if you will.”

“Okay!” the carefree mare boomed as she followed the stallion through the damaged front doors. The manager sighed and went on to find a cloud-shaper to repair the office’s doors.

The six mares and Spike had waited an entire day after visiting their knowledgeable zebra friend to go off and find this “Cloud Slider” who, Spike claimed, knew a pony that was currently researching dragons. Not only was the trip to Cloudsdale a long one, but Twilight had quite worn herself out in her attempt to fix Spike’s age and simply did not have the energy to cast the cloud walking spell or even make the trip. They had decided to set off early to have the best chance of catching the courier before he left to make his deliveries.

“Are you sure about this, Spike?” Twilight asked the dragon as the ground bound ponies climbed into the hot air balloon. Due to his size, they were forced to leave him behind.

“Yeah, he said he knew a pony that was researching dragon, but he didn’t tell me where,” Spike answered. “He did tell me that he worked for the ‘Cloudsdale Courier Service.’ You might still find him there.”

“Ugh… he’s one of those overrated delivery colts,” Rainbow Dash commented.

“Whaddya know about the Cloudsdale Couriers, Rainbow?” Applejack asked her.

“All I know is that they go around and deliver packages and if they don’t report back in on time, they get in trouble,” Rainbow Dash answered. “At least on the Weather Team, as long as I got my work done, they didn’t care when I got it done.”

“Fluttershy?” the rest of the mares turned to the other pegasus in their group for clarification.

“She’s just a little cranky… they got mad at her for losing a lot of packages when she practiced her tricks, and for sleeping on the job,” Fluttershy explained softly.

“Hey! I gave them a show with their delivery!” Rainbow Dash snapped. “Not my fault if the packages couldn’t take on my level of awesome! And after a long day, I think I deserve a little nap!”

“Let’s hope that this courier is a little like you then, Rainbow, and doesn’t show up on time for work,” Twilight laughed.

“Ok…” Cloud Slider stopped as the two pegasi reached the outskirts of the floating city. “Ponyville is that way… okay, Derpy?”

“Alright!” Derpy nodded.

“You got that, right?” he asked. “Just fly that way and you should find Ponyville in no time.”

“Okay!” she exclaimed.

“Okay…” Cloud Slider paused for a second. “Bye, Derpy.”

“Bye!” Derpy waved.

As he began his long flight to Canterlot, he looked back to where he had left the grey pegasus. To his relief, she seemed to have taken his instruction. She was no longer there. Though she was nowhere to be seen, he did not bother lingering on it, preferring to focus on his delivery.

However, flying through the open air above the plains that separated Cloudsdale and Canterlot, the young stallion could not help but feel as though he was being followed. However, every time he would turn around to try and catch his stalker, there was never anypony there, only the occasional bird or cloud. About half way through his journey, the feeling became unmistakable and unshakeable, but not matter how often he looked behind him, he found no one. Not until his flight slowed to a paranoid pace did he finally receive a tap on his head from above.

“Why are we flying so slow?” Derpy asked.

“I… what…” Cloud Slider found himself at a loss for words. “Derpy, why didn’t you go back to Ponyville!?”

“But Miss Wrangler told me to follow you…” Derpy answered, her smile drooping.

“I-I’m sorry, Derpy,” he apologized with an exasperated sigh. “I didn’t mean to scream. I just thought somepony else was following me.”

“Like who?” the grey pegasus asked, perking back up.

“I don’t know,” he replied. “But I’ve been hearing stories about sky-pirates stealing stuff from ponies wandering around the plains like this.”

“Oh…”

“Let’s just get you back to Ponyville,” the stallion said as he changed directions.

“Or we could just ask them for a ride!” Derpy shouted as she pointed towards an airship hovering above them. Cloud Slider’s ears drooped as he saw the skull and cross bones that the ship had imposed on their black flag. Before they knew it, the two pegasi were surrounded by the ship’s raggedy pegasi.

“Bring them aboard! A courier should have booty aplenty! ARRR!” a dirty bearded pony ordered from the helm. He seemed to be the captain of this ship. His large, red, three-corner hat and mostly intact, red overcoat standing almost like symbol of authority among the rest of the tattered-clad crew.

“See!” Derpy exclaimed. “Told you they would help and we didn’t even need to ask!”

In the blink of an eye, the two mail handlers found themselves stripped of all their belongings, securely tied up, and being brought into the lower deck of the ship. Cloud Slider did not bother trying to explain what was actually happening as both were dropped carelessly on the floor.

“This is all he had on him, Cap’n!” one of the crew ponies handed the dirty bearded pony the courier’s saddlebags. “The mare had nothing to plunder!”

“ONE MEASLY PACKAGE!?” the captain yelled. “ARRR! It matters not! We shall fetch ourselves a mighty price from the ransom of these two ponies!”

“Wanna sing a song while we wait?” Derpy asked her fellow captive. “OH! One hundred barrels of cider on the wall, one hundred barrels of cider! Take one down, pass it around, ninety-nine barrels of cider on the wall!”

“This is going to be a long kidnapping…” Cloud Slider moaned as he hit his head against the floor.

“Alright… it should be right around this corner…” Rainbow Dash said as she led the group through Cloudsdale.

“Ya said that the last three times,” Applejack complained.

“Uh… darlings!” Rarity stopped the group as she turned her head side to side. “It seems that we have lost Twilight.”

“Where did she go?” Fluttershy asked.

“She’s over the~re!” Pinkie gestured behind her as she happily took a bite from an inexplicitly obtained snow cone.

A stallion dressed in well-pressed suit and tie began, “If there is anything else you need during your visit, Princess, please do not hesitate to ask. We are at your service, Princess Twilight Sparkle.”

“Actually… could you point us to the Cloudsdale Post Office?” Twilight asked the bowing stallion. “We’re a little lost…”

“Of course, Princess! If you need a guide as well, one can be arranged,” the stallion answered.

“No, no,” Twilight shook her head. “We just need directions to the Post Office.”

“As you wish, Princess,” the stallion bowed once more as he led the alicorn to a street and pointed out the city’s mail center. “It is right there, Princess. Straight down Nimbus Boulevard.”

“Thank you very much,” Twilight replied as she offered a hoof to the stallion. However, to her surprise, he kissed it instead. Twilight gave the stallion an awkward smile until he finished and walked away. She immediately ground her hoof against the clouds below before walking over to her group.

“What was that all about?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Well, it started when a few ponies noticed me and wanted to shake my hoof,” the purple alicorn began. “I didn’t mind. Did a lot more hoof-shaking back in Canterlot, but then the mayor’s assistant found me and wouldn’t let me go unless I asked for something. He wanted to apologize about not welcoming their ‘new princess’ properly.”

“Whatcha ask for, Twilight?” Applejack inquired.

“Pinkie was the one that actually asked for something,” she answered.

“Yup!” Pinkie affirmed as she swallowed what remained of her snow cone.

“Do be careful with cold foods like that, darling,” Rarity advised. “They can easily give you a brain freeze.”

“A what freeze?” the pink pony asked as giddy as ever.

“Somethin’ tells me that she ain’t gotta worry about that, Rarity,” Applejack said, sharing a light laugh with the dress maker.

“Come on, girls!” Twilight called. “We’ve already wasted enough time with our little tour of Cloudsdale.”

It was short walk to the post office. As they approached, they noticed a few pegasi working on the entrance of the office with a mare overseeing them. The mare had a very authoritative voice and it made her seem to be the one to ask about such matters as finding one of the couriers that worked for the office. However, as the group closed in on her, they realized that the mare was not in the best of moods as she barked angrily at the pegasi to work faster and gave a stern look to any pony who dared approach her. After one extraordinarily brave pegasus pointed behind her, the mare turned around and immediately relaxed her furrowed brows when she saw Equestria’s newest princess behind her.

“My apologies, Princess!” the mare immediately fell to the ground with a bow. “Is there something I can help you with?”

“I’m likin’ the new perks that comes being a princess, Twilight!” Rainbow Dash said as she smiled cockily and elbowed the purple alicorn.

“Uh… Yes,” Twilight coughed. “We are looking for a courier that works here.”

“But as a Princess,” the managerial mare told her, “you have access to the Royal Courier Service we provide to the Princesses in the royal family! You did not need to come all the way to Cloudsdale to find a courier!”

“Well… I’m not looking to send anything,” Twilight explained. “We just needed to speak to a specific courier.”

“Oh… if that’s the case, I believe I can help you,” the mare said. “Do you know the name of the courier you wish to speak to?”

“Uh… yes… I think Spike said his name was…” Twilight paused, trying to recall the name. “Nimbus Rider…?”

“No! That wasn’t it! It was… uh…” Rainbow Dash interrupted. “Tornado Dancer…?”

“That wasn’t his name, silly Dashie!” Pinkie said as she cut in front of the blue pegasus. “It was Sky Walker!”

“Oh, don’t tell me y’all forgot his name already!” Applejack scolded.

“Okay then, why don’t YOU tell us what his name is!?” Rainbow Dash shouted back, pushing her forehead against that of the apple farmer.

“I… can’t remember either…” Applejack said, hiding her red face under the brim of her hat.

“Rainbow Dash, there’s no point in fighting about it. No pony can remember his name, only Spike knows it. Unless…” Twilight intervened as she slowing turned her head towards the two silent members of the group.

“Yes, Twilight?” Rarity asked.

“Unless, either of you remember,” Twilight continued, looking to two members of the group that had stayed quiet until that moment. “Rarity? Fluttershy?”

“Hmm… let’s see,” the unicorn thought out loud. “I do believe Spike had said something about ‘clouds.'”

“Uh… I think it was…” Fluttershy spoke. “Cloud Sl… Slammer?”

“Well, we have a ‘Cloud Slider’…” the mare finally interrupted their desperate name search. “Is that the pony you were looking for, Princess?”

“Yes! That was it! That was what Spike told us!” Rarity confirmed.

“Unfortunately, Princess, he has not checked in yet,” the mare admitted after checking a nearby clipboard. “He only had a single package to deliver today. He should be back soon enough, Princess. That is, if you feel like waiting.”

“I think we can wait,” Twilight answered for the group. “If it means helping Spike.”

“One barrel of cider on the wall! One barrel of cider! Take it down pass, it around! No more barrels of cider on the wall!” the crew and Derpy finished the last verse of their hours-long song.

“Is it finally over?” Cloud Slider asked, letting out another deep sigh..

“Are we there yet?” Derpy whined. “I didn’t think Ponyville was that far away. If I don’t get back soon, who’s going to give Dinky her muffins!?”

“I don’t really think they were planning on taking us to Ponyville, Derpy,” the courier told her.

“Oh… Oh well!” Derpy smiled. “I can just fly back home!”

Just before he was about to explain how their wings and bodies were cocooned in rope, the binds that held her simply slipped off her body with no effort at all. It had become quite clear that they had not tied Derpy’s ropes and she had in fact been able to leave at any time she chose. She could have even quietly left for help or even untied Cloud Slider herself and helped him escape without the pirates being any the wiser. However, through her own aloofness, here they were half a day later.

“YOU…” he shouted but immediately adjusted his voice to a harsh whisper. “You weren’t tied up all this time!?”

“Nope!” Derpy continued smiling. “Why?”

“Okay… listen carefully Derpy…” Cloud Slider whispered. “Try and untie these ropes… we can sneak away from one of these windows.”

The cross-eyed pegasus ambled over to the still trapped courier. Fumbling with the ropes’ ends, it became painfully apparent that she had no idea what she was doing. Instead of freeing him, she only managed to increase the tightness of the ropes around his body, causing his eyes to nearly pop out of their sockets from the sheer pressure.

“S-sto-op…” Cloud Slider struggled to say as the blond pegasus released her grip on the ropes. “Okay… new plan! Go to Cloudsdale and tell Miss Wrangler that sky-pirates kidnapped me! You got that?”

“‘Kidnapped?'” Derpy echoed. “That’s silly! If anything, they ‘coltnapped’ you! You’re not a goat!”

“That’s not the poi-” Cloud Slider sighed. “Can you just go and tell Miss Wrangler that I’ve been ‘coltnapped’ then?”

“Okay!” Derpy replied.

For a moment, the courier felt relieved, finding hope in the form of the clumsy mailmare. However, that feeling soon faded as she flew to the deck above and began to bid everypony farewell. By some stroke of luck—or more accurately, stroke of stupidity on the part of the pirates above—Derpy was able to casually fly away from the airship without so much as order to stop as most were busy giving her warm goodbyes. Eventually, though, the captain realized their mistake.

“Arrr! You bunch of knaves let the airheaded lass get away!” the captain shouted at his crew.

“But captain, she did keep us entertained while she was here,” one of the crew spoke up.

“AH! That be true…” the captain agreed, scratching his beard contemplatively. “Then we shall let the young lass go, me maties! We still have the courier lad down below in the bilge! I’m sure we can still bring a hefty ransom for his return!”

“Bye, guys! It’s been fun!” Derpy said as the crew gave a final wave goodbye to grey pegasus.

“I’m doomed…” Cloud Slider said to himself as he banged his head against the wooden floor once more.

Castle Crashers

“This is taking forever!” Rainbow Dash finally broke the silence.

“He’ll be by shortly! I assure you!” the courier manager told her, nervously grinding her teeth. She quickly turned and gave Twilight a deep bow. “I am very sorry for the inconvenience, Princess!”

All of the mares had been waiting hours for the return of the courier that Spike met, but they had received no sign of him. Both other couriers had returned and were surprised to be suddenly interrogated by the princess and her entourage. After neither arrival turned out to be the stallion they were looking for, most of the group had had enough of waiting and wanted to either return to Ponyville or look for him themselves. However, Twilight chose to follow the manager’s advice and wait for him to return. Nevertheless, Twilight noticed the mare’s slow pacing around the office.

“Is everything alright?” Twilight asked the anxious mare.

“Yes! Everything is quite alright, Princess!” the mare said, giving her an half-hearted smile.

“Maybe we can help…” Twilight told the mare.

“Surely you have other more urgent matters to attend to, Princess, than finding a missing courier,” she replied.

“Well, we do but they have to do with that courier,” Twilight answered. “So finding him would help both of us out!”

“Well, if that is your choice, Princess,” the managerial mare conceded. “Firstly, I’ve been having a bad feeling from the start of the day, ever since Derpy came to pay us one of her ‘visits’…”

“Derpy was here?” Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow.

“Yes… as you can see, she left quite the impression on the front doors,” the mare answered as she pointed a hoof towards a gaping hole in the cloud doors. “Anyways, I had instructed Cloud Slider to show her the way back to Ponyville. But Derpy’s visits always seem to signal some bad luck to come for us. Most of the time it is some physical damage that is done to the office, usually by her, other times it can be missing packages. This time, however…”

“Yes…?” Twilight asked.

“Cloud Slider is not the fastest of our couriers, but he is one of our best,” the mare continued. “He has always reported in on time and has never failed to deliver a package. Him being late is rare, but this is very late already.”

She paused to give a heavy sigh. “The truth is that we’ve also been receiving warnings of sky-pirates out in the large open area between the cities of Equestria and he may have been taken by them. At first, they were just taking things from traveling ponies, but they’ve been growing a bit bolder as of late. They’ve been kidnapping ponies as well, holding them for ransom. Cloudsdale has made appeals to Canterlot for more guards between here and the cities,” she said sternly, but quickly hung her head. “But the expanse is huge and it also seems that the ship the pirates have their hooves on is very advanced and has some sort of boost to it that allows them to leave the scene quickly after they’ve been identified. I was afraid that it was only a matter of time before they took one of our couriers as we often deliver to rather important and affluent clients.”

“So you think they kidnapped Cloud Slider?” Twilight asked.

“It’s possible,” the mare replied. “I am often quite hard on my couriers, but it is always in their interest. This time, I seemed to have ordered my courier into a net.”

“So what’re we waitin’ for?” Applejack asked. “Let’s go find him!”

“It is not quite that simple,” the mare interrupted. “As I’ve said already, the area where we believe them to be is very large. One lone ship is hard to find out there.”

“So there’s no way to find them?” Twilight asked.

“Maybe not. I won’t stop you from searching for him, but none of the guards Princess Celestia has sent have been able to pin down these pirates,” the mare said as she stepped out of the group’s way.

“What should we do, Twilight?” Rarity asked.

“Well… Princess Celestia said that we are the guardians of Equestria, right? So I don’t think there should be a question about what we should do then!” Twilight answered confidently. “Besides, how else are we going to find out about the pony who’s researching dragons? Let’s go rescue us a courier, girls!”

“But how are we ever going to find those… pirates?” Fluttershy swallowed hard.

“With our eyes, silly!” Pinkie said as she rushed off, pulling a bundle of eye-patches from behind a nearby street post. “Besides, it gives me chance to finally wear my eye-patches. Twilight got to wear one last time, now it’s my turn!”

“How do you have eye-patches planted up here in Cloudsdale, Pinkie?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Oh silly Dashie, I brought them last time we were here!” Pinkie said as she bounced happily towards Rainbow Dash, and placed two over the pegasus’s eyes. “I have plenty! Since you’re extra cool, you can have two!”

“AGH! Stop it, Pinkie! I can’t see!” Rainbow Dash said, pawing at her face in annoyance. She managed to remove both patches just in time to see a familiar face flying at her at a dangerous speed.

“Oh! Hi, Rainbow Dash!” Derpy said, smashing into the blue pegasus head on. Shaking off the crash, Derpy failed to notice that she was sitting on Rainbow Dash. She merely looked around at the rest of the group and waved “Hello” to each.

“Derpy?” Rainbow Dash managed to ask before Derpy’s weight pushed her through the clouds below.

“Not to sound rude, but what are you doing here, darling?” Rarity asked.

“Hmm…” the grey pegasus rubbed her hoof against the underside of her muzzle. “I can’t remember...”

“Then maybe you should head back to Ponyville, Derpy…” Twilight suggested, looking back at the labors still working hard to repair the Post Office’s front doors, “before you cause anymore damage.”

“But… I think I had to do something… important…” Derpy strained herself to remember but gave up quickly with a smile. “Nope! Can’t remember!”

“Well, let’s head out, girls!” Twilight told the rest of her group. “We’ve got a long day of searching ahead of us if we want to find those sky-pirates…”

“WAIT! Sky-pirates!?” Derpy interrupted excitedly. “Hmm… No! Still can’t remember!”

“Ugh… I guess that means I have to skip my afternoon nap…” Rainbow Dash groaned as she broke back through the clouds below the group’s hooves.

“Do you wanna come with us, Derpy!? We’re going to go battle some sky-pirates and rescue a damsel in distress!” Pinkie asked the grey pegasus.

“He’s a stallion, Pinkie,” Applejack corrected her.

“Then what am I supposed to call him!?” Pinkie complained loudly.

“I dunno, but he ain’t a ‘damsel,’” Applejack answered simply.

“Anyways, you wanna come with us, Derpy?” Pinkie invited the blond pegasus, hopping all around her.

“Sure!” Derpy answered as she followed them.

“Should we really have Derpy, of all ponies, tagging along, Twilight?” Rainbow Dash whispered to the purple alicorn.

“She was the last pony with Cloud Slider before he disappeared…” Twilight reluctantly answered. “Besides, we can use the extra wing power while we’re looking for the sky-ship.”

“Wait! Cloud Slider… Sky-ship…?” Derpy said suddenly as if the name triggered her memory. “Nope! Can’t remember a single thing!”

“Let’s hurry up and get this over with already…” Rainbow Dash said. “Can’t believe we’re going to all this trouble to save a delivery colt!”

“Oh come on there, Rainbow!” Applejack said. “It ain’t that bad. How about I give you a mug of cider from our first barrel of the season when we get back? On the house!”

“Now that’s something I can look forward!” the blue daredevil said as she licked her lips.

“Cider!?” Derpy gasped.

“Don’t worry, Derpy,” Applejack reassured her. “Ya can have some too.”

“No! I remember now!” the grey pegasus shouted. “Cloud Slider said to tell Miss Wrangler that he was being kidnapped… but I told him that he was silly. Kids are baby goats. He was being ‘coltnapped!’”

“He thought he was a goat!?” Pinkie laughed.

“You know where Cloud Slider is, Derpy?” Twilight asked surprised.

“I think so… last time I saw him, he was in this big ship with a whole bunch of nice ponies…” Derpy answered. “Their clothes were all torn up though and they smelled kind of bad. They couldn’t sing either!”

“What kind of ship was it?” Twilight inquired further, dawning a desperate look on her face. “What did it look like?”

“I think… it had a black flag… with some bones on it!” the grey pegasus answered. “It was all torn up too!”

“Do you remember where you saw it last?” Twilight continued her line of questions.

“Uh… maybe…” Derpy replied, grinding a hoof on her head.

“That’s not much to go on…” Twilight said dejectedly.

“It ain’t much, but it’s all we got,” Applejack said, giving her alicorn friend a strong pat on the back.

“Perhaps if we bring her along, something else might jog her memory, Twilight,” Rarity told her.

“Well then, we don’t have any time to waste,” Twilight said with more confidence.

“It was this way!” Derpy shouted as she pulled the balloon in a sudden change of direction. “No, wait… This way!”

“Derpy!” Rainbow Dash snapped. “You’ve been making us change direction every two seconds!”

“Yes, darling!” Rarity yelled from the balloon’s basket. “Can you please try to remember where you last saw the ship?”

“Ooooooooh! You want me to take you to the ship?” Derpy asked. “Why didn’t you just say so?”

“Arrgh! It’s like having two Pinkies around!” Rainbow Dash screamed, rubbing her temples. “I… don’t know how long I can take this!”

“Uh… Derpy…?” Fluttershy said, panting heavily from their relentless journey all over rural Equestria.

“Sorry, Fluttershy,” Derpy apologized, momentarily losing her smile. “I was just having fun hanging out with all of you!”

“It’s fine, Derpy, but we’re on an important mission right now,” Twilight cried from the balloon. “So can you please take us to where you saw ship?”

“Sure! This way!” Derpy answered loudly, regaining her wide smile as she pulled the balloon all by herself further away from any town or city.

“What’s that?” Applejack said, spotting a small dot along the horizon.

“Avast! It be the scallywags that plundered our courier!” Pinkie yelled from the top of the balloon, looking through a small telescope she produced seemingly out of thin air. “Full speed ahead, buckos!”

“I think we’ve gone and lost Pinkie…” Applejack commented.

“But we found the ship!” Twilight interrupted as she pointed at the dot. “Hurry, Rainbow Dash!”

“Already on it!” Rainbow Dash said, taking the lead.

“Ya ok there, Fluttershy?” Applejack asked the yellow pegasus who was plastered against the outside of the basket.

“Ready the cannons, lasses! Take no quarter!” Pinkie ordered, tying an Equestrian flag to the balloon.

“Pinkie, darling, I know you’re having fun playing a pirate and all but we don’t have any cannons!” Rarity yelled.

“Arrr! The strumpet be correct!” Pinkie said, sliding back down to the basket. “Then we shall board the enemy vessel!”

“What did you just call me, Pinkie!?” Rarity glared at the pretend pirate.

“Cap’n!” one of the crew yelled out from the crow’s nest of the ship. “We have a small craft coming our way.”

“Throw me the spyglass, matie! Let me see this ship!” the captain replied, spotting a hot air balloon proudly displaying the Equestrian flag. “It be privateers, but they sail with but a wee balloon, me maties!”

“What are yer orders, Cap’n?” the crew stood ready.

“Raise anchor,” the pirate leader told them. “There’s no need for a fight here, me hearties! A balloon can never hope catch the Rocket Wing!”

“Uh… Cap’n?” the lookout called out once more. “We might have a problem! The balloon is closing in on us!”

“Yer eyes be losing their keenness…” the captain said, taking another look through the handheld telescope to find the balloon being accelerated by only two pegasi. “Impossible!”

“They will be upon us any second!” the crew said, also observing the balloon from over the ship’s railing. “Cap’n?”

“We have no choice!” the captain shouted, pointing out a bandana-wearing member of his crew. “You, man the helm, and the rest of ye scurvy lot, brace yerselves! We will use the Rocket Wing’s secret weapon!”

After giving his orders, the captain immediately returned to looking through his spyglass, snickering at the tiny balloon’s “crew.”

“Alright, Rainbow Dash!” Twilight cried from the balloon’s basket. “Just a little closer and I can teleport everyone onboard safely!”

“No problem!” Rainbow Dash responded, speeding up her pursuit (which Derpy surprisingly kept up with). “Al… most… there…!”

“What’s that!?” all those aboard the basket, minus Pinkie the Pirate, said in unison as they witnessed the ship apparently grow two large, red tubes on both sides of its rudder.

“It looks to be a pair of rockets! ARRR!” Pinkie answered.

“Rockets?” Rarity repeated.

“Now, how in the hay do ya know that?” Applejack asked the pink pony, who simply smiled and shrugged.

“Hurry, Rainbow!” Twilight yelled out.

“It be too late, lasses!” the captain laughed as he signaled his crew to pull a lonely lever near the ship’s helm.

Just as the two pegasi pulled alongside the ship, the pirate ship gained a sudden burst of speed, sending the entire balloon and the pegasi guiding it for a whirl. Those in the basket screamed as they held on for dear life, its violent spinning threatening to hurl them to the ground. Through her training—her training mishaps more so—Rainbow Dash was able to quickly regain her bearings and began attempting to stop the balloon. However, the two scatterbrains of the group seemed to be enjoying the uncontrollable spin.

“Weeeeeeeeeee!” Derpy squealed happily as she allowed herself to ride out the whirl.

“Hahahaha! This be nothing compared to the storms I have braved on the high seas!” Pinkie laughed as she fearlessly stood on the outside of the basket.

By the time the blue pegasus finally slowed the balloon’s rapid rotation, the ship that was once with a stone’s throw was now a mere speck on the horizon. The group sighed dishearteningly at the new, large distance between them and their target. However, Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes at the slowly shrinking dot as she slipped free of the ropes binding her to the basket.

“Guess that’s what the manager meant by ‘an advanced ship’…” Twilight said, finally regaining her composure.

“Rainbow?” Applejack asked, noticing the determined look on the mare’s face.

“They’re not getting away that easy!” Rainbow Dash said. “Come on, Derpy, Flutter…”

“I don’t think she’s feeling up to it right now, darling…” Rarity stated as they dragged the worn and dizzy yellow pegasus onboard.

“Well, if you can slow them down, Rainbow,” Twilight told her, “we can catch up as soon as Fluttershy has had some rest.”

“Then I guess it’s just me and you, Derpy!” Rainbow Dash said, grabbing hold of the grey pegasus. “Let’s get ‘em!”

The courier in the lower deck finally peeled off the wall as the ship regained a manageable speed. Throughout the boost, he had been pinned, face first, against the splintered wood of the ship’s inside hull. After hearing the ruckus from the deck above, he had wished it to be some sort rescue squad sent to retrieve him and stop the pirates. However, hearing the crew cheer and seeing one of them check up on him quickly diminished the only glimmer of hope he had of being liberated.

“I told ye, buckos! As long as we have the Rocket Wing, no pony can ever hope to catch us!” the captain told his crew, all taking a swig of some mugs they had. “She’s the fastest ship around!”

“Cap’n!” the crow’s nest crew member called out. “Two pegasi approaching quickly from behind!”

“Arr! These lasses just don’t know when to give up!” the captain laughed.

“Should we use Rocket Wing’s secret weapon, Cap’n?” the crew asked.

“No need for that, me maties!” the captain shouted. “It be only two mares!”

The captain immediately gestured his pegasi crew members to gather the rope and prepare for the capture. The raggedy crew patiently waited for the two pegasi to close in and allow them a chance to incase them in rope, ideas of adding to their haul of hostages rushing through their heads.

However, all instantly lost heart and became wide-eyed when they realized the speed at which their attackers were approaching. Unfortunately, they had no time to rethink their strategy as the duo blew past them, enwrapping them in their own bindings.

“Eh? She be a fast one!” the captain said to himself as he gritted his teeth. “All hooves on deck!”

While his crew grabbed hold of the balloon’s ropes and swung around in an attempt to capture the blue pegasus, she was much too fast and agile for them. A small smile formed on the captain’s face, even as he watched his crew easily outmaneuvered by a single pony.

“Finally, some action!” Rainbow Dash smiled cockily. “I might just get to my afternoon nap after all!”

“Ooooo! Ooooo!” Derpy exclaimed, twirling in the air. “What should I do, Rainbow Dash!?”

“Uh…” Rainbow Dash stuttered, trying to find a task for the clumsy pegasus to do that would not cause some sort disaster for her. “You can… get the wheel!”

“I’m on it!” Derpy saluted playfully.

The blue rainbow easily outmaneuvered any and all of the floor-bound crew on board the ship. Not even the remaining pegasi not trapped in rope could even come so close as to touch her.

Unfortunately, all she was able to do is keep them distracted, because in the end they outnumbered her and would easily overwhelm her in a fight. However, this was more than enough as she kept their attention from the grey pegasus who whimsically approached the ship’s helm.

“Arrr! I’ve had just about enough of this little lass!” the captain yelled as he removed his large hat, revealing his glowing horn underneath.

A gasp escaped Rainbow Dash’s mouth as the captain shot a powerful magic blast. She just managed to dodge the short burst of magical energy but a quick follow up blast knocked her out of the air. The blue pegasus immediately fell into a nose dive and landed hard on the ship’s deck. The crew immediately surrounded her.

The captain casually walked up to Rainbow Dash, looking down on her with a smirk as she shook off the initial shock of the magical blast.“I must say, lass! Ye be quite the flyer!” the captain told the downed pegasus. “Why don’t ye come and join my crew? Be me first mate with all the freedom that ye can ever want! No responsibilities, just open skies and booty aplenty! What do ye say, lassie?”

“You’re kidding, right?” Rainbow Dash asked, dumbfounded.

“No, lass! Ye made quick work of me boys!” the captain remarked as he offered his hoof. “With yer speed and the Rocket Wing, we’ll plunder all of Equestria’s treasures and the landlubbers will never know what hit them! What do ye say?”

“Ha! In your dreams, pal!” the blue pegasus answered sassily, slapping away the captain’s hoof. “It’ll take a lot more than that for me to ever betray my friends like that… Besides, I don’t think that they let pirates into the Wonderbolts!”

“I see…” the captain said as he hung his head. “What a shame! Oh well, boys take…”

“I got it, Rainbow Dash!” Derpy interrupted the pirate leader, waving the ship’s wheel above her head.

“Cap’n!” some of the crew shouted from behind the blond pegasus as they attempted to grab hold of the broken wooden rod that the wheel once attached to, only to have their hooves riddled with splinters. “We’ve lost control of the ship! We’re headed to straight to Canterlot!”

“I didn’t mean literally get the wheel, Derpy!” Rainbow Dash yelled exasperatedly, quickly taking flight once more.

“Lower the sails! Kill the propellers! Drop the anchor! Slow the ship!” the captain manically ordered. “We must not reach Canterlot! The guards will swarm us within seconds!”

The majestic Canterlot Castle could clearly be seen by those aboard the vessel, striking a new wave of panic into the pirates. The few pegasi crew members that remained immediately moved to the ship’s bow and pushed against it with all the power their wings would muster. However, even with the ship’s engines dead and sails down, the ship still retained much of its momentum and it was more than enough to resist any attempt made by the pegasi to slow it down.

An idea quickly formed in Rainbow Dash’s mind as she thought over the last sentence the captain had yelled. She quickly began to interrupt the pegasi in front of the ship and the grounded crew members heading for the anchor release with quick tackles and powerful kicks from her hindlegs. Her speed and agility made it easy for her to stop any and all their efforts to slow the sky-ship as well as avoid the captain’s magical blasts.

Soon the rest of the regal city came into clear view and so did the guards. Unfortunately, Rainbow’s plan worked a little too well and the ship abruptly rammed through the guards that attempted to stand in its way.

The seemingly unstoppable ship swept over the city, damaging the rooftops of many shops and homes with its hull as it passed by. The pirates found their ship on a collision course with the royal castle of Canterlot. With no way to steer it from its current path or slow it down, most, including the captain, began abandoning the ship and jumping into the custody of the waiting guards below, leaving only the two mares onboard.

Many of the guards began joining the pirates at the bow of the ship, attempting to stop the ship before it reached the regal structure. Rainbow swallowed a large lump in her throat as she saw the pegasi attempt to manually stop the ship before it hit. Even with so many working against its momentum, the ship barely seemed to be slowing down at all. Though the anchor release was right next to her, another glance revealed the citizens of Canterlot running beneath the ship in a frenzied panic and she realized that dropping the anchor might end up injuring many of them. Instead, she joined the other pegasi at the front of the ship, lending her own wingpower to their effort.

The patrols along the castle’s walkways seemed almost oblivious to the ship headed right towards them; their usually boring and uneventful jobs had dulled their senses over time. Two guards in particular were more concerned with their conversation. However, their little chit-chat was promptly cut short as they noticed a shadow darkening their surroundings. Turning their attention towards the skies ahead of them, they saw the ship slowly headed right towards them. Both instantly went into a shaky embrace as they clenched their eyelids and waited for their demise.

Luckily for them, the Princess of the Sun had noticed the impending disaster they had not and immediately intervened. Her horn flared with a bright light and a magical aura enveloped the ship’s bow. She slowly brought it to a halt, ironically saving the guards who were meant to protect her.

Both guard and pirate alike dropped out of the air, exhausted. Rainbow Dash hesitantly looked below to the relieved Princess and fear-paralyzed guards. She wiped her brow and gave a deep sigh. Unfortunately, it seemed that her troubles were still far from over.

“Hey, Rainbow Dash!” Derpy called from the deck of the ship. “I found the brake!”

“The brake?” Rainbow Dash asked herself.

Flying back onto the deck and looking towards the airheaded pegasus, she saw that she was gripping a lever near the location of the ship’s former helm. A memory of the pirates pulling the same before the ship gained its rocket boost flashed through her mind as her eyes widened and pupils shrunk.

“Derpy! Wait!” Rainbow Dash called, extending her fore leg towards the grey pegasus. “Don—”

It was too late. Derpy had already pulled the lever. The ship gave a quick jerk forward before slamming into the castle with the full force of the rockets. Princess Celestia’s horn flashed in a brilliant light once again. This time, she reappeared out of the rear-end of a teleportation spell moments later, on a nearby balcony. She let a quiet sigh escape her lips after assuring that her guards were safely behind her.

No pony seemed to be hurt from the crash, but the same could not be said about the once beautiful castle. That is except for the poor courier below the deck of the ship who was hurled out of the destroyed hull and ricocheted against the debris of the castle, eventually landing on a walkway below.

“I-I’m alive!” Cloud Slider cried as he bounced against the floor in joy. However, his happiness was short lived as an anchor soon came crashing in from above and crushed him under its weight.

“HI, PRINCESS CELESTIA!” Derpy waved from the half-destroyed ship’s anchor release, while the other pegasus aboard struggled to remain conscious.

“Princess!” Twilight called from her balloon’s basket as the remainder of the group finally caught up with the ship. “Uh-oh…”

“Oh my…” Rarity commented as the rest of the group saw the accident.

“Aww… I didn’t even get to say ‘Prepare to be boarded!’” Pinkie whined.

Princess Problems

“Princess Celestia, I want to say that I take full responsibility for this,” Twilight spoke out preemptively.

However, Celestia merely continued the same routine from before. She paused her pacing, looked up at the eight ponies lined up in front of her, opened her mouth but promptly dropped her head with a sigh and resumed her back-and-forth. She was at a loss for words. Never in the entire history of Equestria did a ship manage to crash into her castle.

Those who had taken part in the incident were spread out in the castle throne room which was left littered with fallen pillars and pieces of the ceiling. Twilight stood in front of the remaining seven, closest to Celestia with a very defensive stance. Behind her sat her friends as well as Derpy and Cloud Slider, the latter still sore from the anchor dropped on him but shaking violently in place as they waited for their Princess to lay down some sort of punishment.

“It’s not all her fault, Princess,” Rainbow Dash added. “If I didn’t leave Derpy alone on the ship…”

Celestia lifted a hoof in a motion to cut off the blue pegasus.

“We were just trying to protect Equestria…” Twilight said, lowering her head.

“Sister?” The eight ponies nearly jumped as they heard a loud, strong voice call from the room’s formerly elegant doors. Princess Luna entered the room, mouth agape, as she took in all the damage done to the castle. “What has happened to our home?”

“I am sorry if the accident has disturbed your rest, sister,” Celestia spoke. “Please, go back to your room and sleep. You have a long night to watch over.”

“Now, now, Sister, We are not so fragile that losing a few hours’ worth of sleep will prevent Us from performing Our duty,” Luna answered. “Please, tell Us; what has happened here?”

Twilight went to speak. “I—”

“We!” her friends corrected her in unison.

“We accidently caused this damage to the castle while pursuing a group of pirates that were threatening Equestria and kidnapped a stallion,” Twilight answered, bowing. “I’m sorry to you and you too, Princess Celestia. I guess I failed in my duty as a guardian of Equestria.”

“Don’t be so hard on yourself, Twilight,” Fluttershy told her. “You tried your best…”

“We all did,” Applejack added.

“Yes, darling,” Rarity said. “Not every design I come up with is completely fabulous, but I never let it get to me… too much anyways.”

“If you get all pouty-wouty on me, I’ll just have to throw you an ‘It’s-ok-that-we-destroyed-Canterlot-Castle’ surprise party when we get home,” Pinkie said, sliding underneath the huddled group.

“There’s no use in dwelling on the past, Twilight,” Celestia finally addressed the group. “What is done is done. But I see even in this low point, your friendships remain strong and that is the very reason I know you will succeed in your future duties.”

“Thank you, Princess Celestia,” Twilight told her as she gave another bow.

“There is one thing that remains a mystery to Us,” Luna said, joining her sister at her side. “We are curious as to why this stallion was so important that you had to such lengths as this to rescue him.”

“Ah, Sister, it seems that I neglected to inform you that Spike had experienced a quite unnatural growth spurt,” Celestia said, turning to her.

“Yes. I was actually going to write you a letter about this, Princess Celestia,” Twilight added. “After visiting Zecora, we still weren’t able to find a way to revert Spike to his normal age. That’s when Spike remembered that the courier he met knew another pony that was studying dragons. So we thought if we were able to find that courier, then maybe we could find the pony studying dragons, learn more about dragons and maybe find a way to get Spike back to normal.”

“So, then, you must be that courier,” Celestia said, turning to the beige stallion, “aren’t you, young Cloud Slider?”

“Uh-I-umm…” Cloud Slider stuttered, feeling like his heart was about to burst out from his chest. “Yes…”

“Princess, how do you know…?” Twilight paused.

“That is neither here nor there,” Celestia interjected. “For now, it seems that you all have found your courier. You needn’t to worry about the castle. It can easily be repaired with a little magic.”

“Are you sure, Princess?” Twilight asked. “It was our fault that this happened. We can help with the repairs at least a little…”

“There is no need for that, Twilight,” Celestia said, raising a hoof to silence any further protests from her. “You have a duty to Spike to keep.”

“Thank you, Princess Celestia!” Twilight said, bowing once more. “I promise, I won’t fail again.”

“As I have told you before, you needn’t bow to me anymore, Princess Twilight,” Celestia told her, lifting her up with gentle hoof and a bright smile on her lips.

“I’m sorry, Princess Celestia,” Twilight replied with a twitchy smile. “Force of habit.”

The royal siblings quietly watched the eight ponies exit the room, during which Cloud Slider narrowly avoided a piece of the ceiling from crashing down on him.

“Sister,” Luna asked as soon as she was sure that the others were out of earshot, “do you really believe that covering for her mistakes will ready her to serve as a true princess of Equestria?”

“We all have to begin somewhere, Luna,” Celestia answered, beginning to magically fuse together the debris back together and reuniting it with the rest of the damaged column. “Not even we were born so prepared and regally groomed. True success is not measured by the absence of failure, but learning from it when it does occur.”

“Yes, yes. I suppose you are right in that regard,” Luna replied as she began aiding her sister in her task. “However, correct Us if We are wrong, We believe We heard you promise her the throne in the event of succession.”

“Ah, so you overheard that, did you now, sister?” Celestia said, her eyes momentarily widening.

“Yes, I did,” Luna responded, her unusual use of “I” catching Celestia’s attention. “I had always that it was I who was meant to succeed you if some misfortune were ever to befall you.”

“Well, it was only a matter of time before this presented itself before us,” Celestia sighed. “I did not want to offend you in any way, sister. However, your leadership skills are lacking. It is only to be expected, having been absent for over one thousand years. You still have not been able completely adjust to our current times and integrate yourself into the society you wish to reign over.”

“If this is a question of my manner of speech, I have been slowly adjusting it ever since the prior year’s Nightmare Night. It does feel very strange not using the royal ‘we,’ but I know We—I will grow accustomed to it,” Luna replied as she lost concentration of her magic, dropping a piece of a nearby wall in a frantic attempt to prove herself to her sister. “And after visiting the modest cottage of Fluttershy, I can assure you that I have learned to lower the volume of my voice.”

“Dear sister, it is not only your speech that is one thousand years behind, but your way of thinking as well,” Celestia continued. “Much has changed from that time long ago. With that said, I can’t blame you for I know it was I that sent you away to spend that millennium sealed within your own moon.”

“I’d… rather not remember that time, sister,” Luna said as her work slowed to a halt.

“I’m sorry to bring back those painful memories,” Celestia said, placing a gentle hoof on her sister’s shoulder. “Back on point, our citizens have known peace for generations now. There no looming threat of war or some awful, deadly creatures as back in the old days. Most focus their energy in creating luxurious conveniences for their lives, rather than defending them. Our guard is no military force. No, they exist for the sole reason of peacekeeping and deterring what little crime there is in our fair kingdom.”

“But I still see you schedule frequent trips to the different towns, villages, and cities,” Luna interrupted as she walked over to an opening in the wall of the throne room, looking down upon some of the awestruck citizens gazing up at the destruction of the castle. “Surely that must mean that your presence is required to deal with severe happenings.”

“No, sister. That is not why visit our land’s small towns or big cities. I no longer pass down royal mandates to tell the our subjects how to live in order to stay under my rule and protection or see to any punishment,” Celestia said as she joined her sister, waving down at the citizens with a disarming smile. “I visit them for the sole reason to present myself before them, an event that many of them regard highly.”

“But there must still be some lingering tension between the different races,” Luna added, walking away from the hole in the wall. “Back before I had become Nightmare Moon, they were very much at each others’ necks. Even if they had progressed so far in a thousand years, I have doubts that such prejudices could simply disappear.”

“In that too you are wrong, dear Luna. The once divided tribes have grown docile and accepting of one another. The pony races no longer eye each other with malice and one makes no problems for either of the other two,” Celestia replied as she eyed her throne will a sigh. “You must understand, there is really very little I do other than serve as a symbolic ruler. More of an idea, really, than a pony whose hoof guides their way of life. The intricacies of my actual duties are derived from what I see is required to continue the way of life they have grown accustomed to.”

“I-I suppose those years I missed have changed much,” Luna stuttered as her gaze fell to the floor. “I have yet to understand their obsessions with such things as garments. It used to be such a worry seen only among the wealthiest, as they were the only ones with the time of day to fritter away. All this trade confuses me as well. Back in our time, trade was simple, perhaps a carrot for three radishes or a pumpkin for two heads of cabbage. Now there are these ‘sales,’ bits being exchanged for actual useful items, each with an ever fluctuating amount of bits attached to them. I can see your logic in having chosen a pony who’s much more informed and understands the ways and culture of these times…”

“Thank you for taking it so well, sister,” Celestia told her as she resumed repairing their castle. “I was afraid you would hold some ire for me. I only do what I must for the citizens’ well-being…”

“Oh, do not mistake my understanding for acceptance!” Luna said with a bit of fire in her voice. “And merely because I was worried to who would assume the throne does not mean I wish for some incident to happen to you, sister. I am sure that there will be much time before you are removed by some extraordinary circumstance. In that time, I will learn all that I can about our current subjects and how to properly rule over this new Equestria. You can take my word on that!”

“No matter the reason, I am glad that you’re willing explore more of Equestria,” Celestia told her, flashing a faint smile. “Perhaps as you do, you’ll come to realize why I made that decision on your own.”

“And perhaps you will come to realize that you have made the wrong one,” Luna told her, beginning to walk the room’s entrance, her heavy hoofsteps echoing loudly. “Even though you have groomed Twilight Sparkle yourself, and I have seen first-hoof just how well, she is still far from ready to rule this kingdom on her own. However, I am in no better shape to do so myself. Until then, I shall respect your choice.”

Celestia sighed heavily as she watched her sister exit the room. She had been afraid that her decision to leave the throne to Twilight would create some turmoil between herself and her sister, just as the ponies from a thousand years ago had by rejecting her sister’s night and preferred bathing in the light of her sun. Celestia was worried that Luna’s ambitions would once again lead her to a dark place. Watching her younger sister be sealed away once more was not something she was prepared for, but she also was not prepared to leave the kingdom to her just yet.

Celestia sincerely hoped that perhaps her sister would indeed learn the proper lessons that would continue her down the right path. She knew that Luna would not accept her help in teaching her the correct lessons; her pride would not allow it. Fortunately, it seemed Luna was not dejected, more as determined to prove her worth. All she could do is wait, watch and hope that her sister could in fact change her mind and prove to her that she deserved to assume the throne.

For the time being, Celestia allowed her mind to wander to the predicament that her student was trying to resolve.

“How do you know the Princess?” Rainbow Dash asked, menacingly pressing her forehead against that of Cloud Slider.

“Huh?” he asked, a bit intimidated by her brashness. “I…”

“She knew your name,” Twilight added, closing in on the stallion with a raised eyebrow. “I didn’t even tell her yet.”

“Umm… I—” Cloud Slider stuttered, breakin out in a cold sweat. Fortunately, or unfortunately, his eyes wandered onto the sky-ship’s wreckage, reminding him of his original task. “The package! I haven’t delivered it yet! Oh… ‘Wrangler’s’ going to have my mane!”

“We just spoke with her. I think she’ll understand if you’re late,” Twilight told him.

“Umm… well… uh—” he stuttered, his ears folding flat on his head.

“Will you just spit it out already!?” Rainbow Dash snapped.

“N-n-no offense, Princess,” he replied, bowing as he spoke. “And I can’t stress that enough, b-b-but you’re kind of a princess. She can’t really get mad at you. But she still can scream my ear off.”

“Guess she wasn’t jokin’ when she said she’s hard on ‘em,” Applejack said.

“I guess you are in a hurry. I can always ask Princess Celestia,” Twilight said. “But before you go, we have been looking for you for awhile.”

“Me?” Cloud Slider said as he pointed a hoof at himself with eyes wide open. “Why me? I’m just a regular courier.”

“It has to do with Spike. You remember Spike, right?” Twilight asked him.

“The big, purple dragon?” he asked, furrowing his eyebrows in further confusion. “Kind of hard to forget meeting someone like him.”

“Well, as you probably heard in the throne room, I couldn’t get him back to his normal age,” Twilight continued. “We need to meet that pony you know that is studying dragons. Can you please take us to him?”

“Professor Tall Tale?” Cloud Slider asked. “I guess… b-but not today.”

“Hold it right there, buddy!” Rainbow Dash said, pushing him down until he landed. “Your little delivery can wait. Right now, Princess Twilight Sparkle is asking you to take her to a pony.”

“What Rainbow is trying to say is: why can’t you take us today?” Twilight asked as pushed Rainbow Dash aside.

“I-I’m sorry, Princess, but… i-it’s already late…” he responded with a shaky voice, taking a step back from her and bowing once more. “H-he lives up in the Frozen North.”

“You mean in the Crystal Empire?” Twilight asked. “I think there’s still one last train going there today. We can still make it.”

“N-no…” the stallion stuttered again.

“Ya all right there, sugarcube?” Applejack asked concernedly. “Yer stutterin’ worse than Fluttershy he— Wait, where is she?”

“She’s right here,” Pinkie sang, pointing at Fluttershy who was hiding behind Rarity.

“Well… this is only the second time I’ve talked to a princess…” Cloud Slider admitted.

“So you have met Princess Celestia before!” Twilight exclaimed, pointing a hoof at the nervous courier.

“O-only once! A long time ago! When I was a colt!” he said defensively, shaking his head violently. “I didn’t think she’d remember me!”

“Ahem, Twilight. Spike?” Rarity whispered, giving the alicorn a small nudge from her knee.

“Oh, right…” Twilight said, taking a second to clear her throat. “So why exactly can’t you take us to Professor Tall Tale today?”

“He lives up in the Frozen North…” Cloud Slider paused. “Past the Crystal Empire. Up in the Icepeak Mountains. It takes most of the day to get there. We can’t go now. It’s too cold to climb the mountain after the sun sets and there are snowstorms almost every night.”

“Why does he live all the way up in the mountains?” Twilight asked, cocking an eyebrow.

“To study the frost dragons…” the courier answered.

“Frost dragons?” Rainbow Dash repeated. “You expect us to believe that?”

“Hey! I’m not lying!” Cloud Slider said, taking flight once more and meeting Rainbow Dash’s gaze with narrowed eyes. “There are frost dragons up there! He said the others were too dangerous for him to study!”

“Okay, okay! That’s enough, you two!” Twilight said, placing herself between the two pegasi. “When can you take us?”

“It takes about two days for a round trip…” the stallion responded, breaking his staredown with Rainbow Dash. “And I work every other day… so…”

“Now you’re just trying to get out of it!” Rainbow Dash snapped.

“That’s fine,” Twilight said, nonchalantly walking over to her grounded hot air balloon and producing a quill and scroll from inside the basket.

“What!?” Rainbow Dash replied as Cloud Slider stuck his tongue out at her.

“Don’t worry, Rainbow,” Twilight told her, waving her hoof at her friend. All ponies present waited for her as they watched the lavender aura-enveloped quill rapidly dance across the levitating paper.

“Uh, Twilight,” Applejack spoke. “No offense, but I don’t think it’s the best time to write a letter to the Princess.”

“Oh, this isn’t a letter,” Twilight said, apparently finishing what she was writing with a final flourish of her quill.

“If it isn’t a letter, then do tell what it is, Twilight,” Rarity said, stepping forward, only to have Fluttershy continue to follow close behind.

“What this is is a ‘Writ of Conscription,’” Twilight said with a proud smile as she handed it to the confused courier. “Princess Celestia taught me about these while I was staying here in Canterlot.”

“What does it do!? Is it like an invitation to a party!?” Pinkie excitedly bounced in front of Cloud Slider, taking the paper from him, twisting and turning it in some futile effort to understand the writing.

“Actually, it kind of is, Pinkie,” Twilight said. “But it’s the kind of invitation you can’t say ‘no’ to.”

“It must be a really good party then!” Pinkie added.

“Actually, it requires whoever receives it to do what it’s asking,” the alicorn said, removing the paper from Pinkie’s possession and tucking it inside the stallion’s saddlebags. “Since he has to work, Cloud Slider can present this as proof that he has been called in to serve Equestria and it will excuse him.”

“Huh!?” Cloud Slider asked, his head jerking back.

“HA!” Rainbow Dash laughed, sticking her own tongue out at him.

“Now that your job isn’t in the way, when is the next time you can take us to see this professor?” Twilight asked. “The sooner, the better.”

“Tomorrow, I guess,” Cloud Slider sighed defeatedly. “You are all going to have to wake up early, though.”

“How early?” Twilight asked.

“When I go with the rest of the couriers, we usually want to catch the first train to the Crystal Empire,” Cloud Slider explained.

“I know that train,” Applejack said. “I always hear its whistle when I’m out in the fields.”

“But that train leaves Ponyville around six in the morning,” the courier commented, wide-eyed.

“Six o’ eight!” the apple farmer corrected, beating a hoof into her chest. “I’m usually up at the crack of dawn! That’s life on the farm for ya!”

“Okay, girls. You heard Applejack, we got to be up and ready by six tomorrow so we can catch the train,” Twilight said, turning to the rest of the group. “Well… not you, Derpy. You can stay home.”

“It’s okay. I don’t really like the snow anyways,” Derpy replied, giving the princess the usual wide smile that hardly ever left her face. “It always gets my muffins all soggy.”

“Anything else we should know?” Twilight asked, turning her head to Cloud Slider.

“Well, we’ll be walking the rest of the way, and it gets colder the longer we’re out there,” Cloud Slider began to list. “So, take only what you absolutely need. It’s pretty far from the Crystal Empire to the mountains and a long way up after that. You also want to dress as warmly as possible. I mean, sweaters, coats, hats, scarves, boots, the whole nine yards. It only gets colder the farther we go up the mountains.”

“Alright then,” Twilight answered. “We only want to ask a few questions. I don’t think we need to take much anyways. However, if it’s not asking too much, would you mind showing up a little early… just to make sure we’re ready for the trip?”

“I guess…” Cloud Slider replied with a small sigh under his breath.

“ROAD TRIP!” Pinkie yelled, spreading confetti over the group.

“Can I…?” the courier asked, gesturing toward the wreckage of the air ship.

“Oh yeah, your package!” Twilight exclaimed. “Of course, but remember tomorrow!”

Cloud Slider gave the purple alicorn a quick bow before taking flight towards the crash site, but paused as he overheard the group begin speaking. He hovered in the air a short distance from the group, though the mares seemed too wrapped up in their conversation to notice him.

“So what are we going to do now, Twilight?” Rarity asked.

“Yeah, can we head back to Ponyville now?” Rainbow Dash added.

“You girls can head back,” Twilight answered as she turned back to the castle’s entrance. “I want to stay and help out with the castle. I know that Princess Celestia said it would be alright, but I can’t help feeling a little responsible.”

“Then we’ll stay with ya, won’t we?” Applejack responded as she walked beside the alicorn.

“I guess missing one nap won’t kill me,” Rainbow Dash answered, hovering above Twilight.

“A chance to redecorate Canterlot Castle! I wouldn’t miss such an opportunity for the world!” Rarity said as she excitedly pranced behind the group.

“Oooooooh! Do you think there’ll be snacks after we’re done!?” Pinkie asked, bouncing in front of the group without waiting for an answer.

“We couldn’t just leave you here all by yourself, Twilight,” Fluttershy said as she also caught up with the group.

Cloud Slider hesitated for a second, turning around briefly before ultimately shaking his head and heading back into the wrecked ship to retrieve his package and finish his delivery.

After hours upon hours of work on repairs, the group finally returned to their home town, just as the sun rested on the horizon, lighting the sky in a brilliant orange. However, the majesty of the beautiful sunset seemed to be lost to the alicorn guiding the groups hot air balloon.

“Why wouldn’t she tell me?” Twilight asked herself out loud, her head hanging low. “He seemed like a normal pegasus. It didn’t even look like he even remembered meeting her at first.”

“There ain’t no use worryin’ yerself over it,” Applejack said as their balloon descended from the sky. “Ya can ask him tomorrow. But y’all better get ta sleep soon. Tomorrow’s gonna be an early day for y’all.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right, Applejack. Also, since you’re used to waking up at that time, can you make sure that Rainbow Dash wakes up on time?” Twilight asked.

“No problem!” the orange pony answered, a small, prideful smile breaking across her face. “Ya hear that Rainbow?”

“I’m losing a lot of sleep here,” Rainbow Dash sighed, her shoulders drooping as she headed back to her cloud home. “Spike owes me big time for this.”

“Alright, girls,” Twilight said after the group shared a small laugh. “I’ll see the rest of you tomorrow morning.”

Long Trip, Long Story

“Boots?” Twilight asked as she checked her hooves. “Check! Sweater, check! Coat, check! Hat, check! Scarf, check!”

“Do you really need all that?” Spike asked.

“Well, Cloud… umm…” Twilight paused, trying to think.

“Slider.”

“Yes, Cloud Slider did tell us to dress warmly,” Twilight said. She groaned as she fought to move even a single step forward. However, her several layers of clothing seemed determined to prevent her from walking. She had to settle on waddling, but even that was a struggle. “Let’s get going.”

Spike stifled a laugh as he watched while Twilight, alternating between tilting left to right, slowly made her way to the entrance of the library. By the time she reached the door, she already seemed out of breath, and all the heat building up inside her clothing was not helping either. Twilight groaned with each attempt she made to lift her leg and grab the knob. After one particularly strenuous try, the alicorn let out a small yelp as she tilted over onto her side, helplessly flailing her limbs in vain effort to get back on her hooves. It was the final nail in the coffin for Spike as he broke out in laughter, carelessly spewing flames in every direction.

“Okay, okay. I know it’s hilarious, but how about a little help?” Twilight said with a sarcastic laugh. “You’re lucky I fireproofed the library after your last little accident. I’m pretty sure this whole place would’ve been up in smoke by now.”

“Sorry, sorry…” Spike replied as he took a second to catch his breath after his long laugh and wipe a tear from his eye. He easily picked her up with one claw and opened the door with other. He then tried to help her out the door, but Twilight merely grunted and waddled herself out of the library.

“Good morning, Twilight!” Pinkie Pie sang as she greeted the alicorn right outside her door.

“If you can call it morning,” Spike yawned as he stared at the sunless horizon.

“Uh… Pinkie, you do realize that we’re going to the mountains, in the Frozen North, right? Not the beach,” Twilight said as she stared at her friend who donned an inner tube, a swim cap, flippers, goggles and some water-wings.

Pinkie gave her head a quick knock. “Well, I was thinking about it and Cloud Climber—”

“Slider,” Spike interrupted irritably.

“Cloud Slimer said that there are snow storms and snow is just water, right?” Pinkie continued.

“Frozen water, but still water, I guess,” Twilight said, rolling her eyes slightly. “But you should have brought a jacket and a hat instead of that floatie.”

“Do you want me to drown!?” Pinkie exclaimed, her brows cocking as she finished her question.

“Ugh…” Twilight groaned, knowing better than trying to argue with her Pinkie logic. “Can you at least leave the surfboard behind?”

“And miss a killer wave? I don’t think so,” Pinkie answered, hugging her pink surfboard tightly.

“Mornin’, Twilight!” Applejack yelled as she approached the scene with Fluttershy and what seemed like a wagon behind them. At first glance, Twilight was not able to see Rainbow Dash. But as they got closer, she saw that the blue pegasus was still fast asleep in the bed of a wagon behind them. “Sorry, had a lil’ trouble with this un’.” Applejack gestured towards Rainbow Dash with her head. “Hadda get Fluttershy to help me get her out of bed.”

Though more appropriately dressed than their pink friend, the three did not seem nearly as prepared as they were told to be. Fluttershy only brought a thin parka with her while Applejack seemed to be wearing some hoof-woven sweaters. Rainbow Dash wore a simple jacket and hat that looked more suited to a brisk day than a snowy trek.

“So I guess we’re just waiting on Rarity then. I’ll go get her!” Spike said eagerly, hearts almost literally bulging out of his eyes.

“I don’t think you’ll have to,” Twilight told him, pointing out the white unicorn slowly making her way to join the group.

“Sorry I’m late, darlings,” Rarity told them as she walked over from the road that led to her boutique. Though on the surface it seemed that she was properly dressed, a closer look revealed her clothes to be much more stylish than practical. “I just had to pack some extra sweaters.”

“But Cloud…” Twilight paused as she looked at the irritated dragon beside her, “Slider said to only take what we absolutely need.”

“But this is absolutely necessary, darling,” Rarity rebutted, revealing her saddlebags filled to the brim with different sweaters, scarves, and boots. “What will I do if I get all sweaty from climbing that mountain, or if I fall in the snow and get wet? What kind of first impression will that make?”

Twilight let out a small sigh, hoping that the trip was not as egregious as the mail courier made it out to be.

“I did tell you guys that we were going to the Frozen North, right?” said a distant voice come from above. “Well, luckily, ‘Wrangler’ told me to bring these with me.”

“Hey, Cloud Slider!” Spike greeted the beige pegasus.

“Hey there, Spike,” Cloud Slider returned the hello with a small smile as he landed with a large sack, and quickly bowed after seeing Twilight. “Oh, and good morning, Princess.”

“Good morning!” Twilight greeted him more formally than she was used to.

She smiled at Spike and Cloud Slider as the two almost immediately engaged in a friendly conversation. She did not realize until just then, but she never saw Spike have too many friends besides the girls, especially male friends. There were Snips and Snails, but they often acted a bit too immature, even for the little dragon. He had met Big Mac a few times, but he was not much of the social type. Maybe it was good that they tracked Cloud Slider down; he seemed to provide something that the young dragon was missing. Her eyes eventually wandered to the large bag that the courier brought.

“What’s in here?” Twilight asked as she undid the sack’s knot.

“Oh, right,” Cloud Slider said, breaking away from his conversation with Spike. Reaching inside, the pegasus pulled out several coats that matched his own.

“They don’t look too special…” Applejack said as she examined them closer.

“Trust me, they’re better than what you’ve got on right now,” Cloud Slider said as he handed one to each of the mares. “Sorry, Spike. We only had coats made for ponies, but if what the Professor told me is true, I don’t think you’ll need anything.”

“You seem to know a bit about dragons yourself,” Twilight pointed out.

“Th-thank you, Princess,” he replied, shying away. “Uh-umm… So these coats… They’re made from phoenix down. The feathers keep it warm and it’s not as bulky as other coats. The Cloudsdale Courier Service spent a pretty bit to buy these, specially made so that we can deliver to Professor Tall Tale.”

“By the way, there was something I wanted to ask you about,” Twilight addressed him again as he stiffened up once more. “How—”

Before she was able to ask her question, the distant whine of a train’s whistle caught the attention of the group.

“Let’s get to the station,” Twilight instructed the group. “We don’t want to miss our train.”

“It’s a bit early today,” Applejack said, checking the station clock..

All of them filed into the empty train car and took their seats. Spike sat in the middle of the aisle, closest to Rarity. Applejack took a seat near Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy hid behind Twilight Sparkle. Of course, being as hyperactive as she was, Pinkie Pie bounced around the train car, joining each group only momentarily before moving onto the next.

Cloud Slider, on the other hoof, sat at a distance. He looked around the group as they talked or just kept each other company with friendly gestures. As his gaze reached her and Fluttershy, a small blush came across his face and he quickly turned to the window to avoid further eye contact.

Twilight opened her mouth to speak, but the train’s sharp whistle, followed by a violent jerk forward, effectively silenced. It might have been for the best. She barely knew the pegasus. She hesitated in asking him what was wrong. Moreover, he seemed to not be used to speaking with a princess and shied away each time she tried to talk to him. She believed maybe introducing the group could help him feel a little more comfortable among them.

“So, Cloud Slider,” Twilight began, throwing her voice around the car. “We kinda just dragged you along without even introducing ourselves. Well, I think you know Spike already. I’m Twilight Sparkle, uh, Princess Twilight Sparkle now, I guess. But you’ve probably heard a lot about me lately with the coronation and all.”

“Twilight’s right. We’ve been mighty rude to ya,” Applejack said, taking off her Stetson hat and giving a slight nod. “I’m Applejack. Me and my family run Sweet Apple Acres in Ponyville.”

Rainbow Dash remained silent as the group gazed over at her and pretended to look out the window instead. Her eyes momentarily shift to the rest of the group, stopping on Cloud Slider. She narrows her eyes intensely before returning her gaze back out the window, whistling as nonchalantly as she could.

“Until Rainbow stops her little fit, I will introduce myself,” Rarity said with a flick of her mane. “Rarity, Ponyville’s premier stylist and proprietor of the Carousel Boutique.”

“Oooooooh! MY TURN!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed.

“Uh… Pinkie Pie, right?” Cloud Slider asked. “I think I’ve delivered to you a couple of times before.”

“Oh yeah!” Pinkie Pie beamed. “I threw you a party for bringing my stuff!”

“What did you need to use the Cloudsdale Couriers for, Pinkie?” Twilight asked curiously.

“Emergency party supplies, duh!” Pinkie Pie answered, spreading confetting over the entire group.

“Fluttershy? Do you want to introduce yourself?” Twilight asked.

Fluttershy eyed the courier before weakly shaking her head.

“Did you do anything to Fluttershy?”

“No… I don’t think we’ve ever met before…” Cloud Slider said, drumming his hooves against the seat as he considered the mare.

“Well, this is Fluttershy,” Twilight introduced her friend as best she could as she tried to stay out of sight. “She likes to take care of the forest animals. I thought she was starting to get used to being around other ponies, but looks like she still has some ways to go.”

“Rainbow,” Applejack nudged the blue pegasus.

“Fine, fine,” Rainbow Dash said as she threw hooves in the air. Narrowing her eyes at Cloud Slider once again, she gave her curt introduction, “I’m Rainbow Dash. Future Wonderbolt and fastest pegasus in Equestria.”

“Wonderbolt? Really?” Cloud Slider asked dumbfoundedly. “I always thought they just a bunch of show-offs. They don’t really do anything in Cloudsdale. I never got why they were so popular.”

“Hey, pal!” Rainbow Dash said, closing in on him and poking his chest with her hoof. “Don’t badmouth the Wonderbolts! They’re the coolest! Way cooler than the Cloudsdale Couriers, that’s for sure!”

“Well, at least the Couriers help Equestria with all the packages and mail we deliver,” Cloud Slider said as he stood from his seat. “I don’t remember the last time a fancy trick helped anypony.”

“Alright, alright!” Twilight exclaimed from her seat, interrupting their little showdown. “Obviously both teams have their merits. There’s no need to fight about which is better. How about you introduce yourself now?”

“O-oh, it’s my turn?” Cloud Slider asked as he sat back down. “I’m Cloud Slider. I guess you guys already know that I’m a Cloudsdale Courier, but I’m looking to get promoted to be one of the new Royal Couriers.”

“‘New’ Royal Couriers?” Twilight asked.

“Well, you see, Princess,” the beige pegasus began with a now-puffed chest and a more stable, confident voice. “The Royal Couriers are a special branch of the Cloudsdale Mail Service, kinda like the Cloudsdale Couriers, but they only deliver for the Princesses. There used to be only nine couriers, three for each Princess. But now that you’re a Princess, the Cloudsdale Mail Service has to scout for three new Royal Couriers to serve you. They almost always get their choices from the Cloudsdale Couriers. Even though I’m kinda new,” he paused as he pointed to himself, “I was hoping to snag a promotion.”

“Ah okay,” Twilight responded, a small smile spreading across her face. But his talk about the Princesses harked back the question she had asked Princess Celestia the previous day. Her smile drooped and her expression became somber. “There’s been something that’s been bothering me since yesterday…”

Cloud Slider audibly swallowed, breaking out in a cold sweat. “I-if it w-was s-s-something I d-did…”

“Nonono. You didn’t do anything bad,” Twilight answered, realizing she was quickly losing him. “No, I just…” she rested her thoughtful frown against her hoof, “there’s a question that Princess Celestia didn’t want to answer for me…”

“I-I don’t think I would know something Princess Celestia didn’t know,” the courier answered, taking some deep breaths to regain his composure.

“It’s not that she didn’t know the answer,” Twilight told him. “She said it would be better to hear it from you. How did you meet Princess Celestia?”

“Oh…” Cloud Slider answered. “That’s kinda a long story, actually.”

“We got plenty of time,” Applejack said. “We ain’t gettin’ to the Crystal Kingdom anytime soon.”

The others trotted over and congregated in front of him, splayed out like kindergartners during story hour. Pinkie was already way ahead of the pack with a small bag of popcorn in one hoof and cup with a ridiculous silly-straw in the other. The stallion gave another loud gulp before speaking up again.

“Okay, well,” Cloud Slider began, slowly rubbing the underside of his muzzle with upturned eyes. “I guess it all start back a long time ago in Cloudsdale. I was just a colt back then. I couldn’t even fly yet. Most of the other foals could already, but I was still a year away from flight school. The other colts left me out of the games, so I got a paper route instead…”

“You were delivering even back when you were a colt?” Rainbow Dash laughed. “L~AME!”

“Rainbow!” Twilight snapped, shooting daggers at her friend.

“Seems kinda mean that the colts wouldn’t let you play with them just because you couldn’t fly yet,” Pinkie pointed out.

Cloud Slider retreated into the seat cushion, acting as if he were about to curl into a ball. He stayed quiet for a bit, almost as if he were deciding whether or not to answer it.

“A-anyways,” Cloud Slider continued, shaking his head. “While I was on my paper route one day, I accidentally threw a paper near the edge of the clouds. My mom told never to go near the edge because I couldn’t fly yet and if I fell, I’d get hurt. But there was no one around to get the paper for me, and I thought if I was really careful, I’d be able to get it myself.”

“Shoulda listened to your momma,” Applejack shook her head, already knowing what was coming next.

“Yeah, but it wasn’t my fault!” he countered. “When I picked up the newspaper, something hit me in the back of the head. Then everything went dark. The next thing I know, I woke up on a little cloud in the middle of nowhere. It was the only cloud around, so I knew I wasn’t in Cloudsdale anymore. And… well... “

“Yes?” the grouped asked.

“I… started crying for my mom…” Cloud Slider admitted, lowering his head to hide his red face.

“It’s alright, sugarcube,” Applejack said and flashed a sympathetic smile. “We were all foals once. No shame in admitting you cried for your momma. I can’t even count how many times I did it while she was around.”

Twilight’s lips curled into a small grin after seeing Applejack step in to comfort the embarrased courier. Nevertheless, she found herself looking expectedly at Fluttershy, who still kept her distance from the beige pegasus. She might ask him about it later, but for now, she wanted to hear the rest of the courier’s tale.

“Thanks,” Cloud Slider said, taking a deep breath to calm his embarrassment. “After awhile, I realized that no one could hear me, so I stopped crying. Since there was no other clouds around, I decided to look underneath me. I was kinda hoping maybe there was a pegasus or other ponies there. I inched over to the edge, careful so I wouldn’t fall again. When I looked below, I saw a bunch of trees. It was my first time seeing real trees. It was the first time I ever left Cloudsdale, actually. So I had no clue where I was.”

“The Everfree Forest?” Twilight asked.

“Yeah, I found that out later,” the stallion answered. “But while I was looking underneath, the cloud suddenly turned gray, rained for a couple of seconds and then just disappeared right beneath my hooves. I tried to get my wings to work. I flapped as hard as I could, but I still couldn’t fly. I ended up falling straight down in the middle of the forest.”

Most of the group gasped, reeling backwards in their seats.

However, Rainbow Dash seemed to raise an eyebrow. “Wwwwwait a minute!” Rainbow Dash said, flying towards him and mashing her nose against his.

“I think ya said enough already, Rainbow!” Applejack told her, trying to pull her back.

“This sounds a lot like that one rumor that was spreading around right before we went to flight school,” Rainbow Dash said, looking at Fluttershy. “You remember, don’t you?”

“Y-yes,” Fluttershy finally spoke up, nodding her trembling head.

“You’re telling me you’re the colt who made it out of the Everfree Forest by himself!?” Rainbow Dash said accusingly, narrowing her eyes at him once more.

“Why would I lie about that?” Cloud Slider said, getting up off his seat and staring directly back into Rainbow Dash’s eyes. “It isn’t my happiest memory…”

“Before you start calling people liars again,” Twilight said, enveloping both in her magic aura and forcibly separating them, “let’s hear him out, Rainbow.”

“Please, do go on,” Rarity said.

“Well, I don’t know if I’m lucky or unlucky, I hit a couple of branches on my way down and they broke my fall,” Cloud Slider continued, massaging his sides. “It still hurt… a lot. I finally got up and took a look around. I had absolutely no clue of where to go next. While I looked around for a way out, I heard howls.”

“Timberwolves,” Twilight offered.

“Yeah.” He nodded. “I heard the bushes shake. I was hoping it was another pony, but when I got close, one of those monsters popped. Even though I didn’t know what they were, I knew that it wasn’t something nice. It just stared at me at first, then it started growling and showing me its teeth. I tried to get away from it, but every step back I took, it took one forward. Then it suddenly jumped at me. It didn’t get me though. It did bite my left saddlebag and started to chew up all the newspapers that fell out. While it was tearing them apart, I ran away. I heard more howls and when I looked behind me, there were three more following me. They were getting closer and closer to me and I couldn’t keep running forever.”

“OH! MY! GOSH!” Pinkie Pie yelled. She grabbed the courier by the shoulders and shook him violently. “Did you make it? Tell me you got away!”

“I got away! I got away!” Cloud Slider shouted.

“Phew…” the pink pony said, wiping her forehead. “I didn’t think you were going to get away for a minute!”

“Ahem…” the courier coughed, fixing his mane and dusting himself off. “While I was running from the Timberwolves, I ran into the side of hill or something. I turned around and saw them slowly creeping up on me. But suddenly, they all just started backing away. They almost sounded like they were crying, like they were scared of something. I looked around and found a cave. When I looked back at the Timberwolves, they were still there, growling at me, but they wouldn’t get any closer. Actually, they were backing off. I sat there for a while. I wasn’t sure what to do next. I was tired and I saw that the sun was setting. If I couldn’t outrun them in the day, I didn’t stand a chance at night. But they didn’t look like they wanted to go near the cave, so… I crawled inside.”

“Not the smartest idea…” Twilight judged. “But you’re here in one piece, so I guess it was the right one.”

“Yeah...” Cloud Slider said, a small shade of red creeping over his face. “When I got into the cave, the Timberwolves fell back into the forest. I couldn’t see them anymore, but I could feel them watching me behind all the bushes and trees. Every time I tried to step one hoof out of the cave, the Timberwolves were right there, growling, howling. I was hoping maybe they’d get tired of waiting, so I just stayed at the entrance. The rest of the cave was too dark, I couldn’t see a thing if I went too deep inside, so I just stayed there until I finally fell asleep.”

“I woke up the next morning. I was sore all over and I was hungry. I looked in my saddlebags, hoping maybe I packed a snack or something. I emptied them, but all I had were the papers that I didn’t get to deliver. Maybe I had something in my left saddlebag, but everything fell out when the Timberwolf bit it. That’s when I realized that I couldn’t hear the Timberwolves outside anymore, but as soon as I stepped out, I could hear the growls start all over again. Since I couldn’t go outside, I went deeper into the cave. Even though it was morning, the cave was still pretty dark, so I went in as carefully as I could.”

“How does this have anything to do with him meeting Princess Celestia!?” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, exasperatedly throwing her hooves in the air.

“Shh!” the rest of the group hushed.

“So, anyways,” Cloud Slider flashed her a quick, cocky smile before continuing with his story. “While I was walking, I felt like I stepped on something. It wasn’t rocky like the rest of the floor. I lifted up my hoof and found some bits. I felt kinda happy. I thought since there were some bits, maybe that meant there were other ponies nearby. I ran deeper in, but I didn’t find any pony, only some piles of bits scattered around. Right when I started to give up, I saw a green light coming from in front of me. I got closer and found a big gem! It was an emerald the size of my head! I couldn’t take my eyes off of it. When I got even closer, I heard a crack. I looked underneath me and found some eggshells all around the emerald. When I got close enough to grab it, I saw an egg lying right next to it.”

“I looked around to see if there were somepony somewhere that left their egg just lying there,” the courier paused again, with another blush spreading across his face. “This was when my mom told me that ponies still came from eggs.”

“Ponies don’t come from eggs?” Spike asked with genuine astonishment. “Where do they come from then?”

“I’ll tell you later, Spike,” Cloud Slider said, earning him a glare from Twilight Sparkle. “I mean, much later! When you’re old enough…”

Spike frowned briefly, but a quick wink from the courier brought his smile back. He would have to ask him about when Twilight was not around.

“So, I couldn’t decide which to take,” Cloud Slider continued. “I wanted to take the emerald, but I couldn’t just leave the egg there. It was all alone, like me. Stuck in the middle of that dangerous forest, with no pony to take care of it. I only had room for one of them in my right saddlebag. I chose to put the egg in my saddlebag. But while I was walking away, it kinda felt wrong to leave the emerald there. It almost felt like it belonged to the egg. They were right next to each other after all. I only saw one way to carry both. I bit down on the emerald and carried it in my mouth, while the egg stayed in my saddlebag.”

“Hmm…” Twilight rubbed her chin methodically.

“I-is there s-something wrong, Princess?” the courier asked the purple alicorn, his shaky voice returning.

“Oh, no! Nevermind! Go right ahead!” Twilight said, giving him a reassuring smile.

“Okay,” Cloud Slider said, unsure of what to make of his Princess’s reaction. “Well, after taking the egg and the emerald with me, I saw a light from the other side of the cave. I didn’t remember seeing it before I found them, but I didn’t really ask any questions. I was just happy to find another way out.

“I carefully looked outside. I thought the Timberwolves might have been there too. All I could see was couple of drops of rain, but I couldn’t hear any of their growls. I took my first step outside since the day before. I was still scared, but I knew I wasn’t going to get home if I stayed in the cave. The only problem was that I still didn’t know where I was going. I just wandered around for a long time. Everything looked the same. I didn’t feel like I was getting anywhere and the rain was getting worse. I tried to fly, hoping that maybe I could see which way to go from up high, but my wings still couldn’t carry me. So instead, I climbed a hill, but that didn’t help either. The hill was full of trees too. I decided to take a break under a tree, just to rest my mouth and dry up a little. I put the emerald down next to me.

“After a while, it started raining even harder,” he paused as a whistle sounded, signaling the last stop before the long ride towards the Crystal Empire. Shaking off the interruption, Cloud Slider continued, “I didn’t think I was going to be able to get anywhere with that rain, especially when I hadn’t eaten all day. While I was trying to calm my empty stomach, a lightning bolt scared me and I knocked the emerald away. I chased it down the hill while it bounced around. Finally, I caught it. When I picked it back up, I found a weird-looking tree. It had windows, a light inside, and even a door. I got excited. I thought I finally found another pony. I knocked on the door, but it wasn’t a pony that answered. Well, she looked like a pony, but I could tell she wasn’t. She was black with white stripes… or maybe she was white with black stripes. I can’t really remember her name though...”

“No… it can’t be,” Twilight said with a slight slackjaw.

“Zecora…” the group said in unison.

“Yeah, that was her name!” Cloud Slider exclaimed ecstatically. “She opened the door for me, but she looked really surprised to see me. I guess she felt bad for me and invited me inside. It was weird though. Whenever she talked to me, she always rhymed.”

“Yup, that’s Zecora alright,” Spike said, rolling his eyes a bit.

“I told her that I was lost and that I needed to get back to Cloudsdale, but she didn’t know where that was,” the courier continued his tale. “She was really nice to me. She saw that I looked sad and told me she would take me to a nearby town where she knew other ponies lived. But she said she couldn’t take me that day because of the storm outside, so she invited me to stay the night. That’s when my stomach growled again. She smiled at me and made me some food. When I took off my saddlebags, she saw the egg and the emerald I was carrying with me. I thought she wanted to take them, but she just smiled again and told me that they were very special and to take good care them.

“She woke me up the next day. She even fixed my saddlebags so carrying the emerald wouldn’t be so hard. I followed close to her, still scared of the Timberwolves, but we got the edge of the forest pretty fast. I guess she had lived there for a long time already. She pointed out a farm and the town a little farther ahead. I looked back, but she disappeared. I never got to thank her for all her help. If it wasn’t for her, I would’ve never gotten out of the forest. I wanted to go back to look for her, but I didn’t really want to go back into the forest. Instead, I decided to just head towards the town… Now that I think about it, I never went to thank her after I got older.”

“Don’t worry! We can introduce you after we get back,” Twilight said, putting a hoof on his shoulder. “We’re good friends with her. She’s helped us quite a bit too.”

“Thank you, Princess,” Cloud Slider bowed, giving Twilight a genuine smile. “As you probably know, the town was Ponyville. When I got there, there was a huge crowd of ponies. I was trying to get somepony’s attention, but everypony just wanted to see what was on the street. That’s when a colt came up next to me and started asking me a bunch of questions, really fast. He wanted to know my name, how old I was, a whole bunch of stuff. That’s when he noticed that my saddlebags were full and he opened them up and started to ask why I had an egg with me. That’s when another colt came over tried to take away my egg, telling his dad to buy it for him. I tried to protect the egg, but he kept pulling at my saddlebag. While we were fighting, it ripped and the egg flew over the crowd. I chased it down, but I couldn’t push past the crowd. I knew if I didn’t catch it, it was going to break and I remembered what Zecora told me. I didn’t know what was happening, but suddenly, there was no pony in front me. I went straight towards the egg and finally caught it.

“I was pretty happy I was able to save the egg, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that somepony was looking at me. I looked around and saw a pony. She was nothing like I’ve ever seen before and since! Pure white coat, long, flowing mane, a big crown, both wings and a horn! She looked so beautiful and regal! I couldn’t stop looking at her and that’s when our eyes met. It might have just for a couple of seconds, but for me, it felt like forever,” Cloud Slider paused as the train rocked. A quick glance out of a nearby window revealed that the train had slowed down as it entered the snowy plains of the Frozen North. Though their destination was only a short distance away, the group continued staring at him attentively, egging him to go on. “That look her eyes was just so intense! I know ponies don’t usually wear clothes, but that’s the first time I ever felt absolutely naked. I swallowed hard and felt myself sweat. I couldn’t stop looking into her pale-purple eyes. For a second, I saw her smile at me. Suddenly, I heard somepony yell at me. I finally pried my eyes away and saw that I was surrounded by guards, all of them pointing their horns at me. All the crowd was looking at me too. But I noticed that I had to look down to see all of them. That’s when I realized that I was just kinda floating in mid-air. I was flying!

“As the guards got closer, the white pony waved a hoof and they all bowed. She walked towards me. I couldn’t move. Her eyes locked me in place again. She asked me my name and I told her. Then she looked at the egg I was holding and asked she could see it. I couldn’t say no, I just nodded. It floated to her and she looked at it carefully. After a while, she gave me big smile and asked me if it was for her. I don’t know why, but I said yes. It just felt right. She asked me if there was something I wanted since I had given her the egg. I told her that I just wanted to go home, to Cloudsdale. She gave me another big smile, patted me on the head, and gave some of the guards a quick bow. They got a chariot and sat me on there. A couple pegasi strapped themselves to the chariot and we flew off. I looked back her. She still had that smile on her face and I saw her lips move. I think she said, ‘Thank you, young Cloud Slider.’ On our way back, I realized that I forgot all about the emerald and thought maybe I shoulda given it to her too. I looked at my saddlebag and I noticed that I got my cutie mark too.

“Learning to fly and getting my cutie mark in one day,” Cloud Slider flashed a prideful smile as he looked at the messenger bag printed on his flank. “I think I could call that a good day. When I got home, my mom and dad were really happy to see me. I could tell that they had been both crying. Their eyes were red and puffy. They told me they hadn’t slept since I went missing. After I told them what happened, they told me who it was that I met.”

“It can’t be…” Twilight shook her head.

She quickly glanced over at Spike. The dragon did not pry his widened eyes away from the courier for even a second as Cloud Slider tapped his head. His bottom lip was quivering and his brows were intensely furrowed. He was also panting very quickly, small flares of fire escape with each breath.

“D-do you remember what the egg that you gave Princess Celestia looked like?” she asked.

“I think so… it was purple…” Cloud Slider said as he looked down at the dragon. “It kinda looked like Spike’s scales, I think. It was a long time ago, though. I might not be remembering that well.”

“It was you…” Spike said, his eyes filled to the brim with tears. “You were the one that found my egg.”

“W-what!?” the courier stammered. “I-I w-w-was… That was a dragon egg!?”

“It makes sense if you think about it,” Twilight answered him. “Though we might not know a lot about dragons, their lairs are usually filled with gold and gems. That would also explain why the Timberwolves wouldn’t go near the cave. They were scared of the dragon that they knew lived there.”

“But why did they just leave me there?” Spike said, his tears beginning to flow. “Did you see what the dragon that was there looked like? Didn’t you see them leave? Can you take us to the cave where you found me?”

“I-I’m sorry, Spike,” Cloud Slider said, trying sound as gentle as he could. “I didn’t see any dragons. The cave looked pretty empty to me, and I can’t really remember how to get there.”

“Spike…” Rarity pulled the dragon back and looked him in the eye.

“I’m sorry,” Spike said, lowering his head.

“I really wish I could help, Spike,” the courier said, hanging his head as well. “I do, but it was a long time ago. I don’t remember every little thing that well.”

“It’s alright. Don’t blame yourself,” Twilight told the beige pegasus. “You found him and you kept him safe until you gave him to Princess Celestia. If it wasn’t for that, he wouldn’t be here with us now.”

Cloud Slider bowed before falling silent. He constantly glanced over at Spike. Each time, he opened his mouth but always ultimately closed it, letting a heavy sigh escape his lips instead.

“Is this why Princess Celestia didn’t want to tell me?” Twilight whispered under her breath as she watched the courier pet the dragon. “Did she want Spike to hear this too?”

Back in Ponyville, the most of the town was still fast asleep. Even those attending the train station were “resting their eyes,” knowing full well that the next train would not arrive for hours. Despite that, a stallion sat at full attention on a nearby hill with the perfect vantage point of the train tracks that led beyond the horizon. Though the day’s first train had long since left, he waited patiently as if he expected it to return. After what he felt to be an adequate amount of time, he finally stood. His legs felt like they were being stung by pins and needles, but he ignored the uncomfortable feeling and made his way onto the road.

The stallion casually made his way to the town’s library. As he approached it, he eyed a note on the door left by its occupants. A smile spread across his face as he reached for the doorknob. However, he quickly retreated his hoof as he heard the clumsy mailmare crash into a nearby house as she attended her daily route. She had not noticed him yet, but soon enough, she would be heading over to the tree-house.

“What’s another few hours?” the stallion asked himself as he walked away from the door. He had plenty of time, according to the note. He would wait until night, when no pony wandered through the streets, no risk of being seen.

A Cold Heart in the Frozen North

The group had arrived in the Crystal Empire. Though usually a bustling city, the early hours only saw the ambitious shopkeeps setting up their wares and goods for the day. As they made their way through to the northernmost part of the city, a dazzling light caught Twilight’s eye. The rays of the dawning sun reflected off the castle at the heart of the city, creating a magnificent display of color. She had never seen dawn at the Crystal Empire before, most of the time, she was much too busy to admire such a beautiful spectacle, as she was now. As she marveled at the sight, a thought suddenly popped into her head.

“Mind if we make a quick stop while we’re here?” Twilight Sparkle asked Cloud Slider. “We don’t come here that often. I’d really like want to pay my big brother a visit.”

“I guess not, but we really should get going as soon as possible, Princess,” the courier said, trying to hide any hint of pushiness. Twilight gave him a quick nod before taking the lead. “I didn’t know you had family up here, Princess.”

“I’m a little surprised,” the alicorn said, smiling when she realized the courier was finally comfortable enough to speak openly. “He is pretty important up here. And so is my sister-in-law.”

Twilight teasingly left out their names, leaving Cloud Slider scratching his head. As they proceeded down the city’s main road, lined with stalls and shops, many of the store owners gave the Princess a quick bow before continuing on with their preparations. The local bakeries were also readying themselves for the day ahead, as the smell of sweet breads wafted through the air, nearly causing Pinkie Pie to abandon the mission for a taste. Finally, they reached the large, crystalline palace that sat in the middle of the city.

“Umm…” Cloud Slider said, biting his lip a bit. “I thought we were going to visit your brother, not the castle, Princess.”

The mares all let out a mischievous giggle as they entered the castle, given no trouble by the guards on duty. The courier paused in his tracks, not knowing what was happening.

“Her brother’s Shining Armor,” Spike whispered to him before continuing into the palace as well.

“Wait! As in ‘Prince Shining Armor!?’ The one that’s married to the Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, the Princess of the Crystal Empire!?” Cloud Slider asked, dumbfounded. “Oh… what did I get myself into?” He drooped his head and he slowly followed them into the castle.

“Princess Mi Amore Cadenza! You have a visitor.” The herald’s thunderous voice resonated the large throne room. “I present Princess Twilight Sparkle!”

“Twilight!” Princess Cadence exclaimed as she raced down the long and luxurious red carpet. She quickly adjusted herself, feeling the eyes of her guards on her. “Excuse me. I mean, welcome, Princess Twilight Sparkle.”

With a nod, Cadence dismissed her guards, leaving her alone with the group. The two alicorns immediately started their little dance that they shared since Twilight’s foalhood. After a small laugh, Cadence set her sights on the newcomer in their group as well as the semi-grown dragon.

“Wow, I know they say ‘they grow up so fast,’ but I didn’t know they meant it literally,” the Princess of Love said, wide eyed.

“Actually, that’s what we’re here to find out about,” Twilight replied from behind her. “Spike had a sudden growth spurt. According to Zecora, it was due to some kind of herb called ‘Age Sage.’ I tried to fix him with my magic, but it didn’t have any effect on him.”

“I suppose I can try, Twilight, but I’m not too sure I’ll do any better than you,” Cadence said, charging her horn.

“Actually, we were on our way to find a pony that has been researching dragons up here in the Frozen North,” Twilight responded.

“Ah, of course! Professor Tall Tale from the Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns!” she exclaimed as her horn lost its powerful light.

“Told you!” Cloud Slider yelled, pointing a hoof at Rainbow Dash. Realizing that his sudden outburst had again earned him the attention of the Princess of Love, he quickly covered his mouth with his hoof.

“Who are you?” Cadence asked, raising an eyebrow as she walked up the stallion.

“U-umm… I-I’m…” he stuttered, trying to disentangle his tongue. He quickly fell to the floor with a bow. “M-my name is Cloud Slider, Princess! A courier from Cloudsdale!”

“You can stand,” Cadence laughed.

“I-it’s n-n-nice to meet you, Princess,” he replied.

“Expanding your little group I see, Twilight. I guess you are at that age. Not too sure how Shining’s going to take the news, though,” Cadence said before giving the courier a teasing wink. “I’d start running if I were you.”

“N-n-n-no, I-I’m not…” Cloud Slider tried to speak, feeling his cheeks almost literally burning from embarrassment.

“He’s actually here to help us get to the mountains,” Twilight said with a small giggle, believing that the poor pegasus had had enough.

“If you’re headed for the mountains, I think you should get moving soon,” the pink alicorn responded, giving Cloud Slider a smile for being a good sport. “No pony can survive out there at night.”

“But I was really hoping to see…” Twilight trailed off as she saw her brother enter the room.

“Twily! I haven’t seen you since your coronation!” Shining Armor said, hugging his sister tightly. “When my guards told me you were here, I came right over!”

“We didn’t even get to talk too much at the coronation,” Twilight said, breaking away from the hug.

“So what brings you here, Twily?” Shining asked as he looked over to the two unusual members of her group. “I’m guessing this isn’t just a friendly visit.”

“H-hello, Prince Shining Armor,” Cloud Slider introduced himself with a bow after locking eyes with the unicorn. “My name’s Cloud Slider.”

“Nice to meet you, Cloud Slider,” the guard captain said, extending his hoof. He smiled warmly as he shook the younger stallion’s hoof. “Did you manage to work yourself in with one of Twily’s friends? Not a bad bunch of mares. A little kooky, but not bad. Though, if you managed to somehow get this little bookworm…”

“I aaaammmmm—” the courier said, his voice strained by the pain of the tightening hoof shake.

“Should’ve taken my advice…” Cadence whispered to him with a small chuckle.

“Take it easy, Shining. He’s only here to help us visit Professor Tall Tale,” Twilight said, feeling a little guilty at how far the teasing has gotten.

“I thought I remembered you from somewhere,” Shining said, letting go of the courier’s hoof. “You’re one of the Cloudsdale Couriers that come around every month or so to deliver him some supplies, right? My guards always have to authorize your passage to the Icepeak Mountains.”

“Yes, sir…” the courier agreed, sucking on his stinging hoof.

“Sorry about that. Guess I overreacted a bit,” Shining apologized. “Well, I don’t want to keep you then, Twily. I’ll tell my guards to let you guys through.” He took a small pause, his smile disappearing from his face as his tone fell a bit somber. “But, Twilight, please be careful. The mountains are dangerous, even if you have a guide with you. I can send some of my guards along—”

“We can manage ourselves, Shining!” Twilight interrupted, a bit annoyed. “We are supposed to be the ‘Guardians of Equestria,’ right?”

“I’m just looking out for my L.S.B.F.F.,” Shining said, his mouth drooping into a frown. “But you are an alicorn, and a princess at that. Maybe I am being a little overprotective, but you’ll always be my little sister, Twily, even if you tell me not worry.”

“I’m sorry,” Twilight said as her gaze fell to the floor. “It’s just... this is my first real test as a princess of Equestria. I really want to try to do it without too much help.”

“I understand, Twily,” her brother said, giving her another hug. “Good luck.”

“Just remember one thing, Twilight,” Cadence interjected. “If you ever need help, don’t be afraid to ask us. There’s no shame in doing so. We’ll always be there to help you whenever you need us.”

“Thank you, both of you,” Twilight answered, resisting the urge to tear up. “We’ll be back! Don’t worry!”

The group took a quick pause as Cloud Slider and Twilight Sparkle talked with the Crystal Kindgom’s border patrol.

“So, we coulda asked any of the other couriers to take us?” Rainbow Dash asked, nearly boring a hole in the back of Cloud Slider’s head with her eyes. “We went through all that trouble finding the sky-pirates and rescuing his sorry flank and we coulda just gotten another courier to take us.”

“Hey! I was the one that got kidnapped by pirates and squished an anchor!” the courier retorted, furrowing his brows.

“Yeah, but if it wasn’t for us, you’d probably be swabbing the decks for some dirty pirates!” the blue pegasus said as both got into each other’s face. “You didn’t even want to take us anyways! A ‘thank you’ wouldn’t kill you!”

“Well, I didn’t! I didn’t ask to be dragged into all of this, you know!” Cloud Slider barked. “I’m just a courier! I deliver mail and packages! I don’t wake up expecting to have to fight pirates, or find dragon eggs!”

“Calm down, both of you!” Twilight said sternly, separating the two with her magic. “You’re fighting like little foals.” Her brows furrowed as she turned her attention to Rainbow Dash. “Rainbow Dash, it is our duty to help the ponies of Equestria now. And besides, Spike finally found out who found his egg,” she paused, briefly setting her sights on the courier, “even if he’s being an insensitive blockhead. I don’t think it was a waste of time.” Turning to Cloud Slider, she continued, “Cloud Slider, she’s also right. You haven’t been very grateful. Her and Derpy were the ones that saved you from the pirates. It might not have been the perfect rescue, but they still did risk a lot taking on those pirates alone. You might not want to be here, you might not have wanted to find Spike’s egg, but you’re here and you did.”

Cloud Slider found himself unable meet the purple alicorn’s intense eyes. As he averted his gaze, he noticed the reactions of the rest of the group. Fluttershy was shaking so violently behind Applejack that one would think she had been walking through the snowy wonderland bare. Applejack herself kicked some dirt up with her hoof. Rarity comforted Spike who seemed to have reeled back from his comment on finding his egg. Even Pinkie Pie, usually a vision of positivity, pretended to play with the buttons on her jacket, refusing to look up at the trio.

“I’m… sorry, Princess… and to you too, Spike...” Cloud Slider’s voice trailed off. With narrowed eyes, he turned to Rainbow Dash. “Thank you…”

“That’s more like it!” Rainbow Dash said with a victorious smile.

“Rainbow…” Twilight growled, staring daggers at the proud pegasus. “Ugh… nevermind. We’ll talk about this later. You said we need to get going, didn’t you, Cloud Slider?”

“Yeah,” the courier said, tearing his glare away from the blue pegasus. “It looks like it pretty clear today, we should get to the mountains in no time, as long nopony wanders off. After that, the easy part’s over.”

“Wait...” Spike said quietly, having stayed out of the toxic situation until now. “I don’t have a coat, or hat, or, well, anything...”

“Oh yeah…” Cloud Slider said, taking the lead of the group, leading them through the weather barrier that defined the Crystal Kingdom’s border. “Well, you shouldn’t need it really. According to Professor Tall Tale, dragons are really sturdy, even in really cold or hot weather. Something about their ‘inner flame’ and their thick hides. You should be fine.”

“Ya sure about that, partner?” Applejack asked with a raised eyebrow. “It looks mighty cold out here.”

“I don’t understand all the details, but I got the gist of it,” the courier said, his voice seeming even more distant than before, to Twilight’s dismay. “He should be okay, at least until we get to Professor Tall Tale’s cabin.”

The fight as they left the border had set the mood for the group’s journey, any chance of conversation being as dead as anything to be found in the frozen tundra as they travelled towards shadowy outlines of a distant mountain range.

As the group neared the base of the mountain, the bright blue skies turned into a frosty, grey shroud. The weather changed as they got further and further from the crystal city, turning the clear skies a cloudy grey with a small flurry of snow showering them.

“Don’t worry, everypony,” Rainbow Dash said as she noticed that the snowfall was starting to affect the group’s speed. “I got this!”

“I wouldn’t do that if I was you,” Cloud Slider warned halfheartedly.

“Well, I’m the leader of the Weather Squad back in Ponyville. I think I can handle some little snow clouds,” Rainbow Dash huffed, taking flight towards the clouds. Cloud Slider simply shrugged as the rest of the group watched the blue pegasus.

“Why shouldn’t she try to clear the clouds?” Twilight asked the courier, turning her head between the two pegasi.

“Because... those clouds are made by draconic magic,” Cloud Slider said with a heavy sigh. “It’s much stronger than anything regular ponies can do.”

“Rainbow Dash! Wait!” Twilight yelled, flying after her friend.

Unfortunately, Rainbow Dash had already reached the dark clouds, winding up for a big kick. However, with a loud yelp, she repelled back with a stinging sensation in her hoof. She looked down at her hindleg that made contact with the clouds and found her hoof encased in ice. She immediately descended and kept her icy hoof above the snow.

“Agh! What happened?” Rainbow Dash as the group seated her on Spike’s back.

“I did try to warn you,” Cloud Slider said, reluctantly joining the group. “But no, don’t listen to the one pony that’s been here before. He doesn’t know anything.”

“Y’know, I’m getting pretty tired of you!” Rainbow Dash said as they entered another staring contest.

“Don’t worry! As soon as we’re done here, you’ll never have to see me again!” he replied loudly.

“That’s more than enough out of both of you already!” Twilight yelled, her eyes emitting a powerful light. “This trip isn’t about either of you! It’s about Spike! So please, can you just get along long enough to finish it!? Even if it’s just for him!”

“How come you’re taking his side?” Rainbow Dash whined.

“I’m not taking anyone’s side, but you have started most of the fights, Rainbow!” Twilight answered.

“No offense, RD. But it’s kinda true,” Applejack said. “And Cloud Slider might not be that excited about bein’ here, but heck, he came. It ain’t exactly a small favor to ask a pony ya just met.”

“Fine, fine! You guys win!” Rainbow Dash admitted, throwing her front legs in the air. “I’ll just keep a lid on it until we’re done. But I’m not apologizing to this jerk!”

“No one is asking you to…” Cloud Slider said, turning away from her.

“You talking back isn’t helping either!” Twilight said, teleporting in front of the stallion.

Again, Cloud Slider could not bring himself to look her in the eyes. “I… I’ll stop.”

“Thank you,” Twilight said with a deep sigh. “So, where to next?”

“Up the mountain,” the courier said, pointing about halfway to the peak. “The Professor has a cabin set up close to the top so he can be close to the frost dragons. This is where everypony needs to stick close. It’s pretty easy to get lost up there. Unless you always wanted to know what it feels like to be a ‘ponysicle,’ you really don’t want to get stuck on the mountain at night.”

“What about my hoof!?” Rainbow Dash asked with an outstretched hindleg.

“I’m not sure if I know a spell that can fix that, Rainbow,” Twilight said, frowning as she inspected the thick ice around the hoof.

“The Professor knows a spell to counter the frost dragons’ magic,” Cloud Slider told Twilight. “Something like that happened to the other couriers when we first came to deliver supplies for him. If we can make it to him, he can definitely help.”

The group had made only some headway up the mountain before their pace slowed to a crawl. Both Fluttershy and Rarity breathed heavily, constantly stopping to catch their breath every few steps. Even as they took turns riding Spike with Rainbow Dash, they still could not keep up with the rest of the group. Twilight and Pinkie Pie also seemed to be a bit winded. Though not as ragged as that of their friends, their breathing was loud enough to be audible. Their speed also suffered accordingly. Only Cloud Slider, Applejack, and Spike were able to keep up their original pace.

“Hey, Cloud Slider, partner?” Applejack whispered to the beige pegasus. “Ya think we can take a bit of a break? It don’t look like the others can keep this up much longer.”

“I guess we can, but it can’t be too long,” Cloud Slider answered after taking a quick look over his shoulder. He looked up at the shroud of snow ahead of them, so thick that he could not see anything more than couple of feet ahead. “It’s starting to snow even harder. If it gets any worse, I might not be able to find the cabin. I’ve never seen it this bad before.”

“Y’all! We’re takin’ a break!” Applejack called out, much to the relief of the group.

Without any place to sit down, however, their break was little more than a moment to catch their breath. Cloud Slider kept his distance from the group, especially from Rainbow Dash, and simply stared straight ahead.

“Spike, dear, can I ask you an tincy-wincy favor?” Rarity asked gingerly, giving the dragon a small pout. “Can you please breathe a little of that fire of yours? Just to warm my hooves… Plea~se?”

Unable to resist her charm, Spike took in a deep breath and let out a small, but constant, stream of fire. Rarity took turns holding either of her front hooves near the fire, closing her eyes and taking in its warmth. The rest of the mares followed her example.

“Hmm… I wonder…” Twilight said under her breath. She looked at the fire, then at Rainbow Dash’s frozen hoof. “Rainbow Dash, come here for a second.”

“What? What’s up?” Rainbow Dash asked, carefully slipping off the dragon’s back. She hopped over to the purple alicorn on her three good hooves.

“Okay, now turn around…” Twilight ordered as the blue pegasus raised an eyebrow. The pegasus cooperated and Twilight grabbed the frozen leg. Twilight pulled the icy hoof close to the fire, hoping that perhaps she could fight fire with fire, or more literally, ice with fire. The ice showed some signs of melting, some droplets of water sliding off the bigger chunk of ice, but the small stream seemed to weak to fight the ice magic.

“Spike, can you try to breathe a little harder?” she asked the dragon. The dragon paused for a second, took another deep breath, and let out a much larger cloud of fire. The mares all took a step away from the intense inferno, except for Twilight who continued to hold Rainbow Dash’s hoof close to the fire. Slowly, but surely, the fire began to melt the ice around her hoof. “Just a little more, Spike. It’s really starting to melt now.”

Spike strengthened his breath even more, its length creeping closer and closer to the oblivious courier ahead of him. Most eyes were on Rainbow Dash and Twilight as the ice finally melted, the last chunk of which falling slipping off Rainbow Dash’s hoof.

“You did it, Spike!” Twilight cheered, smiling up at him.

“That’s feels way better! Thanks, kid!” Rainbow Dash said, giving him a small punch on the shoulder.

Though the mares celebrated and thanked the dragon, Spike could only stare straight ahead with his maw agape. Twilight followed his gaze and found what had him so shocked. He had incidentally lit their guide’s tail on fire. The flames slowly ate away at what little tail he had and was inching close to his body.

“I think we should get movi...” Cloud Slider paused as he turned around, sniffing a peculiar smell in the air. “Did you guys burn something?”

Most of the group remained too shock to say anything. All but one.

“Your tail’s on fire!” Pinkie yelled panically, pointing at the courier’s behind.

“My... “ Cloud paused again, his irises widening and his pupils shrinking after realizing the severity of what she had said. “MY TAIL’S ON FIRE!”

He began to run around like a headless chicken, desperately trying to escape the creeping flame on his tail.

“Hold on there, partner,” Applejack said, running towards a nearby tree. “I got ya.”

She timed her buck on the tree with his frantic running. A large amount of snow fell on top of the courier, easily extinguishing the flame on his tail, and then some.

After shaking off the excess snow, Cloud Slider frowned at his miserable, singed excuse for tail.

“Hey… Look at this way,” Twilight said with forced smile, “at least you won’t need a tail cut anytime soon.”

“Let’s… let’s just go…” Cloud Slider replied, taking the lead again with a low hanging head.

After hours of marching through the snow storm, the group’s destination finally was within sight. A small, brown cabin stood out in the backdrop of pure white. The steady cloud of black smoke from the chimney and the shelter from the constant snowfall was a sight for sore eyes for the cold and weary travellers.

Cloud Slider made his way to its door, knocking with a trembling, snow-covered hoof. Within a few seconds, the door opened and the group was greeted by the silhouette of a unicorn.

“Well, if it isn’t Cloud Slider!” the unicorn said cheerfully. “And what’s this!? One of the Princesses too! And a dragon no less! You keep some interesting company, Cloud Slider!?” He paused as he saw his visitors trembling uncontrollably. “Ah! Where are my manners? Please, come in!”

At the Top...

Night had again fallen upon the small town of Ponyville, its residents all asleep. However, one pony still stirred around the silent streets. With a slow stride and toothy grin, he made his way over to the town’s library. He had kept his word from earlier in the day and returned to now empty, hollowed out oak tree. The smirk he carried momentarily disappeared as he jiggled the doorknob only to find it locked.

“Not as naive as you seem, ‘Princess,’” he whispered to himself. With a small kick, he flipped the “Welcome” mat in front of the door, revealing a hidden key. “But you’re still oh so predictable.”

Wasting no time, he unlocked the door and entered the library. His eyes strained to spot anything in the low light of the moon. With a grunt, he produced a small lantern from his saddlebag. He had waited out every pony that was still wandering about at night, but his paranoia still lingered. It would only take a single pony to spot him, then his plans would be compromised. But with so little light filtering in from the windows, his work would be slow going and he could not risk coming back the following night.

As he struck a match to his lantern, his gaze immediately glued itself to the glass case in the middle of the room. An ornate tiara surrounded by five small necklaces sat inside, glinting brightly by the light of his lantern.

“You made this far too easy. I had expected to find something, but the Elements of Harmony unguarded?” he thought aloud, stifling a laugh. As he examined it, he found a large padlock securely locking the case. “If it means collecting the Elements, the risk is well worth the reward.”

He stood up on his hindlegs and gave the case a large stomp, only to rebound against it and fall onto his side. With a defiant snort, he stood up and this time gave the case a strong kick from his hindlegs. Yet again, the force only rebounded, hurling him onto his back. He stood again and growled at the case, bearing his teeth.

“Reinforced with magic. I won’t be able to break through,” he concluded. “Finding the key is the only way, then. They weren’t the only reason I came, anyways.”

He trotted over to a very busy-looking desk, stacked with books and letters alike. He opened one of the books and found a compilation of memos and notes. Another was what seemed to be a schedule. Yet another was a daily journal. His mouth slowly curled back into a smile.

“With this much information, I’ll have you figured out within a few hours, ‘Princess,’” the stallion said as his eyes quickly scanned the pages of each book he opened.

After hours of endless research, the stallion hurled the book he held across the room. With an extreme vigor, he flipped through the countless pages of each book and scroll sitting on the desk. However, his pace slowed and his expression grew sour with each he finished. After what seemed to him like hundredth book of spa trips and tea parties with her friends, he angrily swept his hoof across the desk, clearing of all the materials he had been reading.

“WHERE IS IT!?” he nearly yelled. “All these books filled with useless lessons of ‘friendship’ and she doesn’t bother to write down the location of the key! Is this really the student that Celestia chose as her protegé? This has to be some sick joke.”

After so long a time, his lantern was nearly out of oil and its fire waned with every little breath of wind that passed through. It would not be a problem for long, as dawn was close at hoof. His patience wore out and he cleared the desk, pulling its drawers out in a desperate search for the key. After finding nothing, he continued his search in the upstairs bedroom. But again, he found nothing but pictures and keepsakes from residents and their friends.

“I will not leave empty-hoofed. Not when I’m so close! When will I ever get a chance like this again!?” he exclaimed, pressing his hooves into the glass case, as if by some miracle they would sink through. As he stared into the glass, he saw the very tip of the rising sun appear from over the horizon. “NO! Just a little more time!”

Just as he was about to cut his losses and gather his belongings, the reflection of a previously shadowy picture began to reveal itself on the glass. The picture was of course a large portrait the six bearers of the elements and the dragon assistant. The stallion could not help but laugh at himself.

“How could I miss such an obvious hiding place? Who would the ‘Princess of Friendship’ trust to protect the key more than her friends?” he asked himself as he approached the portrait.

Flinging it out of the way, he found a small crevice in the wall behind with a key hiding inside. He quickly grabbed the key and ran to the lock on the glass case. With a satisfying click, the padlock unlocked and he opened the case. The elements pulsated in a small, frantic light before dimming down. In one swift motion, he gathered all the magical accessories and stowed them away in his saddlebags.

“Why give up such a good opportunity?” he asked as he reorganized all of the library as it had been when he had entered. He even went so far as to replace the lock on the case, leaving the scene exactly how he had found it minus the Elements of Harmony. “Just one step closer. There’s still so much to do, but these will definitely jump start my plans. Let’s see how well your student does, Celestia,” he said to himself, giving a toothy grin as he stared at the legendary artifacts in his bags.

The stallion strolled out of the library, locking the door behind him and replacing the hidden key back under its mat.

In the northern mountain, each of the bearers of the elements suddenly jerked awake from their slumber in a visible sweat.

“Hmm…?” a turquoise unicorn said from a desk. “You should really sleep. I know that you came all this way to ask me your questions, but you must be exhausted. Of course, you’re free to help with my notes if you want to stay up.”

The mares did not answer him, they instead simply looked at one another under the dim light of the fireplace. Each looked disheveled and wide-eyed, as if woken from a nightmare. Though each ground their teeth, all lied back down, tossing and turning for what seemed like an eternity before finally falling back to sleep. All except Twilight Sparkle. Try as she might, she could not find any comfort in her makeshift bed anymore. As quietly as she could, she got onto her hooves and headed to the unicorn who was attentively reading and writing on page after page, adding to the mountain of notebooks by his desk.

“Umm… Professor Tall Tale?” Twilight asked in a weak whisper.

“Princess?” He nodded with a wide smile. “I was really just joking. But you really should get back to sleep. Even Cloud Slider was exhausted and he makes this same trip once a month.”

“I can’t, but I thought I could ask you a few things,” Twilight said, frowning a bit. “Not about the dragons. Spike should probably hear about them with me, but some… other things.”

“Well, they do say that Princess Celestia knows more from age than from being a princess or alicorn, Princess,” he replied, rubbing his white mane and small, triangular beard. “What can this old codger do for you?”

“First, I wanted to know a little bit more about Cloud Slider,” Twilight said. “He seems a little—”

“Distant? I got that impression when I first met him too,” the Professor interrupted. “I don’t know too much about him, but he isn’t a ‘bad’ pony. He’s one hay of a listener. He’s the only one of the couriers that even bothers to listen to my little rants when they come to deliver my supplies. What’s the point of research if you can’t share the knowledge you obtain from it? I can already tell that some of my colleagues from Celestia’s School would definitely answer ‘knowledge for knowledge’s sake...’”

“Ahem, Professor?” Twilight cleared her throat.

“Oh yes, sorry. I often like to go off on a tangent. Don’t feel bad about trying to get me back on track!” He laughed quietly. “Where was I? Ah, yes! Cloud Slider is very… strange. While he’s usually mild, he doesn’t get along with the other couriers too well. They don’t seem to talk to him too much. The first time they delivered the supplies, they claimed that he almost left some of them behind when they had frozen their hindlegs trying to clear the clouds above the mountains.”

“He really did that?” Twilight said in disbelief as she looked back at the sleeping courier.

“I can’t say for sure. That is what they had told me. He wouldn’t give me his side of the story,” the Professor said with a heavy sigh. “But it might not have been as clear cut as the other couriers made it seem. With so much snow, an unfamiliar route, a large wagon full of supplies, AND some incapacitated ponies, it might not have been very easy to handle that all himself. You’re going to have to ask him the rest yourself. Don’t judge him too harshly from what I told you, Princess. He doesn’t really seem like a bad pony. He is certainly dedicated to his work, always making the trip up here without fail. But, as you can see, he doesn’t always have the easiest of times. Was there something else you wanted to talk about?”

“There was something about Spike, but it’s a little personal…” Twilight said as she looked to the dragon resting near Rarity.

“The dragon? I was pretty surprised to see him, almost as much as when I saw you,” he answered. “I don’t get too many visitors up here, aside from the couriers. I always dream to get a nice, ‘mature’ mare knocking on my door, but that’s a little too much to ask, huh? A stallion can always dream!” he said as he subconsciously drew a picture of an older mare on his notes, only to quickly scratch it out. “I’m getting sidetracked again. If you don’t feel comfortable asking about it, I won’t pry.”

“You see, umm… he has feelings for a pony and uh… he’s too big right now. Some sort of plant aged him,” Twilight said, awkwardly trying to avoid names to keep the dragon’s “secret.” “That’s the reason we came to see you. I couldn’t get him back to his real age. But if I return him to normal, he’ll be too small. And he wanted to be his normal age, so he doesn’t have to leave us, especially her. And I just don’t know…”

“You’ve kept this pent quite a while, haven’t you?” the Professor asked with a reassuring smile. “You could have asked Princess Celestia. I’m sure you have access to her like that, but now you’re asking me?”

“I didn’t want her to think that I couldn’t handle something like this on my own, now that I’m a princess. Especially since she told me that I’d have to rule over Equestria in her place someday,” Twilight said, a light red blush taking over her otherwise purple cheeks. “But… I’m not sure what to do anymore. I was hoping by the time I met you and found out how to return him to his normal age, I would have figured it out. But here we are and I still don’t know how to help Spike. Spike doesn’t really want to go back to normal. He realized he could never actually confess to Rarity as a baby dragon, but he knows that he can’t stay with us if he gets any bigger and more… dangerous.” Twilight quickly covered her mouth with a hoof, realizing she just had used names.

“Rarity? Is she that white unicorn he’s sleeping next to?” the Professor asked, glancing over to the sleeping couple. “I can’t say that I’ve ever heard of such a star-crossed love story, but we can’t help who we fall for, can we? So… he was aged. Do you know how far?”

“No,” Twilight answered, shaking her hanging head. “We took him to Zecora, a zebra that knows a lot about strange stuff, but even she couldn’t exactly place him in years.”

“Hmm…” he hummed as he closed his eyes and stroked his beard. “Now, since you don’t know how far he was aged, why did you think you should revert him all the way?”

“What do you mean?” Twilight said, lifting her head.

“You’re only seeing two options: Either keep him the way he is and lose him soon, or return to his infant state and crush his heart. You’re not seeing the in-between, Princess,” he answered as he set two of his books at opposite ends of his desk, moving his hoof between the two. “If I had to guess, I’d place him somewhere around 200 years of age.”

“200 YEARS!?” she exclaimed with wide eyes.

“Shh… quiet now, Princess,” he said with a hoof to his lips. “Your friends are still asleep.” He glanced over at the sleeping group. “Anyways, he hasn’t sprouted his wings, which all matured dragons have. Matured dragons are usually between the ages of 300-700 years. So I can only say for sure that he’s less than 300 years in age. The only problem is… I’m not sure how far back you should age him. I haven’t been able to see the age that a dragon would be pony-sized. All the information I get are estimates.”

“Pony-sized? You mean there’s an age where Spike would be the size of a grown pony!?” Twilight said excitedly.

“Yes, and he should remain that way for quite some time,” the Professor said, nodding ecstatically. “In exchange for their longevity, dragons both age and mature much slower than most other species and breed even slower. Along with that, very few female dragons are born every mating season for them. That’s why you don’t see them just dominating and claiming all the territory in Equestria.”

“Uh… Professor,” Twilight interrupted his rant once again.

“Sorry, sorry. Anyways, I can’t help you completely. I never thought to ask the sizes of each stage of maturity, but if you go and see the elder dragon… she might be able to give you an exact age to shoot for,” the Professor said with a wide smile.

“Thank you, thank you!” Twilight said with a new light in her eyes. “You have no idea how much this means, especially to Spike. But, wait, we’re going to talk to the ‘elder dragon?’”

“It’ll mean extending your stay for possibly another day, but yes, you’ll go and talk to the elder dragon tomorrow. She is the closest thing to a ‘leader’ dragons have. She is a frost dragon, along with the rest of her clan, and she commands the respect of all of the dragons inhabiting the mountains for her age and wisdom. She lives much higher up, near the peak of the mountain,” the Professor said, nose turned up. “Of course, I’ll guide you there. Not even Cloud Slider has been that far up the mountain. Don’t worry, though. She is very tame and patient. It takes a lot for her to lose her cool. Pun definitely intended.

“For now, you should really head to bed, Princess,” the Professor said, turning back to his work. “You have a very long day ahead of you.”

“Of course,” Twilight said as she bowed to him, “and thank you again.”

“Please, it’s a little embarrassing for a princess to bow to me,” the Professor laughed quietly. “Also, don’t thank me just yet. There is still one problem with this whole situation that I think is best saved for when everyone is awake.”

With a bright, new smile on her face, the purple unicorn returned to her bed and rested her head on the pillow. Slowly, the warm light of the fireplace disappeared as her heavy eyelids were finally allowed to fall.

“Twilight... Twilight...” Twilight heard a distant sounding voice say. “Twilight!”

The young alicorn’s eyes fluttered opened to see the slit-like pupils of her dragon assistant. With a small yawn, she lifted herself from her bed. She saw that everypony was already awake, most of them seated at an unfamiliar, long table having breakfast. However, a quick scan of the room revealed that one pony was missing.

“Spike,” Twilight said, rubbing her eyes, “where’s Rarity?”

“That’s kinda why I woke you up…” Spike answered as his eyes pointed towards one of the beds. “She won’t come out no matter what I do. She told me to call you over.”

Following his gaze, Twilight saw a large lump under a blanket. She got off her bed with a bit of a wobble and walked over to the lump. Prodding it, she asked, “Rarity?”

Within the blink of an eye, a hoof grabbed her and pulled under the blanket as well. Under the dim light of a unicorn horn, Rarity looked desperately at Twilight. “Twilight!” Rarity said, grabbing hold of both of her friend’s shoulders. “Thank goodness! I need you conjure me up a brush! You can manage that, can’t you, Twilight? PLEASE!”

“Uh… sure,” Twilight said, charging up her own horn. With a brilliant light, a brush instantly appeared and fell onto the bed.

“Thank you so much!” Rarity said as she took hold of the brush with her magic, rapidly brushing her messy mane. “You are truly the Princess of Friendship! I woke up with the worst case of bedhead!”

“But… we are all friends here, Rarity,” Twilight said, reaching for the covers. “I don’t think anypony would care about your mane...”

“NOOOO! I just can’t let him see me like this!” Rarity yelled as she grabbed hold of the alicorn’s hooves. “I mean… Please, I wouldn’t want to make a bad impression on Professor Tall Tale. Especially after the condition we arrived in yesterday.”

“Oookay…” Twilight said, lowering her hooves. She waited patiently under the covers as her friend styled her mane back to perfection. “This is all for Professor Tall Tale, huh?”

“No… I mean, yes…” Rarity said, a light pink blush overtaking her cheeks. “I mean, let’s eat breakfast! I’m absolutely famished!”

Before Twilight could protest, her stomach growled from the smell of freshly-cooked pancakes. With a flourish, Rarity threw off the covers, freeing her captive friend. They walked over to the table and joined the rest of their group.

Spike on the floor next to the table, being too small to accommodate his new size, but he kept his tail on the chair closest to the edge of the table, only removing it as Rarity approached. Though most of the table all appreciated each others’ company, Rainbow Dash and Cloud Slider shot one another daggers from across the table. With a sigh, Twilight sat down.

The professor quickly greeted her with a plate of pancakes. “Good morning, Princess,” he said with a bright smile.

“Mornin’, Twilight,” Applejack said as she took the seat next to her. It was obvious that she had been helping the Professor with all the cooking with her fur covered in flour. “Professor, I’ve been wonderin’. It ain’t got nothing to do with what we can here fer, but this place seems a lot smaller from the outside.”

“Ah, yes,” the older stallion said, sitting down at the table as well. “That is because I enchanted it with—”

“An Impossible Space Spell?” Twilight asked.

“Yes, very observant, Princess. I expect no less from Princess Celestia’s prized pupil!” the Professor answered.

“I thought those types of spells were too difficult for most unicorns,” Twilight said, taking a bite of her meal.

“They don’t let just anypony become a professor at Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, you know?” the Professor replied, resting his chin on his hoof and letting his eyes wander onto the ceiling. “I still remember my school days. Back then, we had a wonderful Mythical Creatures Professor. Most of us colts took all her classes for…” he paused to clear his throat, “obvious reasons… But I do thank her for helping me find my passion in the field. I ended up taking her place as chair of the Mythical Creatures department at the school when she finally retired.”

“I’m sorry to interrupt, Professor,” Twilight spoke up. “But we are all here now. And I think we’re ready.”

“Ah! Yes!” the Professor said, perking up. “Well, after the Princess briefed me on your little situation, I did offer her an idea. You are all going to come with me to meet the elder dragon. She can give you any information you can possibly want on dragons. But there is one obstacle that I know will prove to be a bit problematic.”

The Professor got off his seat and walked over to Spike. “As you have probably experienced, a dragon is much sturdier than anypony. Even the scales of hatchlings are stronger than stone. However, the scales merely provide a physical defense for dragons,” the Professor explained, giving Spike’s scales a small knock with his hooves. “But the most remarkable defense a dragon has is its hide. Its hide provides a natural defense against all types of magic. As it matures, a dragon’s hide grows thicker and more resistant to magic. As adults, they are virtually invulnerable to nearly all magic.”

“So that’s why my magic wasn’t working!” Twilight exclaimed.

“Yes.” He nodded. “Although he isn’t fully grown, our dragon here has grown quite a bit. His hide is undoubtedly very resistant to magic. If your own alicorn magic wasn’t enough to penetrate his defenses, then I’m not sure if it actually possible to use an age reversing spell on him.”

For a moment, the room fell deathly silent. Finally after what felt like an eternity, Twilight spoke, “But… what if… What if I could amplify my magic?”

“I suppose if somehow manage to strengthen your magic, it may be possible,” the Professor said, rubbing his chin. “But no pony can boost their magic so easily or quickly.”

“What if I used… a magical object?” Twilight said, earning her a few concerned looks from her friends.

“Twilight, ya ain’t thinkin’ about what I think yer thinkin’?” Applejack asked.

“There must be another way, darling,” Rarity said, pursing her lips. “You don’t need make such a hasty decision.”

“Rarity’s right, Twilight,” Spike agreed. “I can wait.”

“For how long, Spike!?” Twilight said, slamming her hooves on the table. “Do you really think you could wait a couple of years while I train? All the while, you become more and more resistant to magic.”

“Decades,” the Professor corrected, his eyes closed. “It would take decades to see a significant increase in the strength of your magic. And that’s only if you concentrate solely on increasing its power, rather than learning new spells.”

“See, Spike!?” Twilight said, pointing at the stallion next to him. “By the time I get strong enough, it’ll be way too late. I can handle it. I promise.”

“What magical object are you talking about exactly, Princess?” the Professor asked.

“A while back, a pony we met before, a unicorn named Trixie, managed to get her hooves on an amulet that amplifies the wearer’s magic,” Twilight said somberly. “But it has a cost. It corrupts the wearer the more power he or she draws from the amulet.”

“Ah, I remember coming across something like that in a book in the library of Celestia’s School,” the Professor said, nodding.

“It’s called the Alicorn Amulet,” Twilight deadpanned. “After what I saw with Trixie, how much it strengthened her magic, I know that I’ll be able to use it to use the age spell on Spike.”

“Well, that seems like a decision only you can make, Princess,” the Professor replied. “I won’t lie. Magical objects aren’t exactly my forté. But before you decide on anything, perhaps you should first speak with the elder dragon. She perhaps has some advice on your predicament. She may even rival Princess Celestia in wisdom.”

“How far to the top, Professor Tall Tale?” Twilight asked as the last of her friends exited the lone cabin in the frozen wilderness.

“It could be a while,” he replied as he threw the hood of his parka over his head. “Feel free to ask me any questions as we ascend. While I’m still learning about them, I gathered worlds of information from the elder dragon. I’d be happy to answer any question you or your friends have.”

“Well, I would like to know why you decided to come and study frost dragons,” Twilight said.

“Oh, there isn’t too much to it!” the Professor said as he continued up a noticeably beaten path of packed snow. “One day, a promising student, perhaps my future replacement, asked me during our discussion on the wyvern, a large, menacing creature that was said to be very dragon-like, ‘What about actual dragons?’” He paused briefly, scratching his head as if reenacting his reaction that day. “Embarrassingly enough, I had very little to answer her question with. I told her about some of the myths and stories about dragons I had read. She seemed… less than satisfied.

“After my lecture, I tried my best to find any information to give my student a better answer, to no avail. I found myself feeling a little ashamed for being so oblivious to such a huge hole in my field of study. That is when I decided I was going to be the one to fill that gap in knowledge,” he said, again taking a pause to determinedly strike his hoof on the ground. “I took a sabbatical from my job at Celestia’s School to observe and document dragons. To be honest with you, Princess. I did not know about frost dragons at all. I had first attempted to follow the migratory dragons, but it proved… a bit more dangerous than I expected.” Yet again, he paused as he opened his coat to reveal a blanched, hairless spot on his underside.

“So how did you find out about the frost dragons?” Twilight asked.

“Well, through some less than reliable sources…” the Professor said, letting out a nervous giggle.

“Rumors, you mean?” Rainbow Dash said with half-lidded eyes and a pout.

“I like to think of them ‘traveller’s tales’…” he replied, climbing up a small ridge, “but yes, I guess you can call them that. As you might know, there were attempts to expand into the Frozen North prior to the re-emergence of the Crystal Empire. Some of the workers talked about seeing shadowy silhouettes of dragon-like creatures occasionally flying around in the distance. They never were attacked or even disturbed by them. I found those claims both a little curious and promising. If these were docile dragons, perhaps they’d be willing to let me study them. So, I joined a workers’ caravan to the Frozen North, simply to see if there any truth to these rumors.

“When I first reached the small outpost out here, I found nothing to them,” the Professor said with a heavy sigh. “I was disappointed, to say the least. The night before I planned to leave, I saw something amazing. I was awoken by a commotion outside. A pack of about five rather large dragons were high above our camp. They were not threatening us or planning an attack. They simply… began to breath this sort of blue mist from their mouths, almost like an icy fire. They all concentrated their breath into a single spot in the cloudy sky. It was truly a sight to see. After only a few minutes, the clouds grew thicker and grayer. Later, I was told by the elder dragon that this ritual was done to keep the Frozen North, well, frozen. Just as we do, the frost dragons also manipulate the weather of their environment, but in their case, they like to keep their habit nice and cold. As they finished, I saw them return to a single specific mountain.” He paused as he gestured to the mountain they were on.

“I could not hold in my excitement,” he continued, his voice growing louder. “That very night, I left the Frozen North and returned only a few days later with the supplies and help I needed to make a settlement deeper into the wilderness…”

As the Professor continued his rant, describing in excruciating detail how he found each member for his expedition, Twilight turned her attention to the extra member of their little group. “Umm… Cloud Slider, mind if I ask you something?” she asked in a whisper.

“Yeah, he’s always like this,” he answered prematurely.

“Oh no, not about that,” Twilight said. “It’s about your first trip up here. Somepony told me that you left some of the other couriers behind. That isn’t true, is it?”

Just as she finished her question, Cloud Slider’s entire body stiffened and he stopped in his tracks. “Wh-who t-t-told you a-about that?” he said in a shaky voice, swallowing hard.

“But it’s not true, right?” she asked again.

“It was the other couriers, wasn’t it?” he said.

“So… you did…” Twilight replied sadly.

“It isn’t like it sounds, Princess,” he whispered, looking away from Twilight. “But, if you want the short answer; yes, I did.”

Before Twilight could question further, the Professor slowed his pace and raised his voice. “As we reached what seemed like a satisfying height on the mountain I had seen the dragons return to, we constructed the cabin and I began looking for these dragons that I saw, and eventually…” the Professor said, stopping in front of the mouth of a very large cave, “I stumbled upon this cave. Inside,” he paused again, smiling widely, “I was greeted by the elder dragon. The wise Sapphire.”

Lost in the Frost

“Punctual as always, Tall Tale,” a powerful voice bellowed.

The group, with the exception of the Professor, all jumped at the deep voice. As they cautiously entered the cave, the found it well lit by the light filtering through several small holes along the sides of the large cave. In the middle of the room, a large dragon sat on an impressive hoard of jewels. It was larger than any dragon they had previously seen. Its head alone was easily as large as Spike. Its scales were a pale blue and its underbelly an immaculate white. As it saw the group, a toothy grin spread across its face and it slowly laid its head on the ground, as close to eye level that this behemoth could get to its visitors.

“I’ll... wait outside,” Cloud Slider declared as his shaking legs gave way under his weight.

“You come with guests, I see,” the dragon bellowed, her booming voice echoing off the cave’s walls.

“Good morning, Sapphire,” the Professor greeted her. “Sorry to not have given you any warning.”

“No, no. Do not apologize,” she said calmly, lowering her volume to a mere whisper of what originally was. “This is truly a treat. To see each of the races that you described with my own eyes. It is a rich experience.” She paused, looking at the group. “We have the pegasi, the ponies with wings and magic of weather control, the unicorns, the ponies with horns and the ability to manifest their magic in multiple ways, and the earth ponies, the ones that lack the special appendages but masters with the magic of nature and the land. But wait, this one…” she said, narrowing her gaze at Twilight Sparkle, “she is special, is she not? To have both the appendages. Is she what you told me is an ‘alicorn?’ One of the rulers of your lands? Perhaps she is Celestia, or the younger sister, Luna.”

“Actually, Sapphire, she is our newest princess,” the Professor politely corrected her. “Her name is Twilight Sparkle.”

“Ah, yes! I remember now,” Sapphire said with a smile. “She is even more special. She is the one not born an alicorn but ascended to one.”

“I’m not that special,” Twilight said, a small blush forming on her cheeks. “I could not have done it without my friends.”

“You and your friends, you are the Elements of Harmony, am I correct?” the dragon asked.

“Yes…” Twilight nodded nervously. “I don’t mean to sound rude, but how do you know all this?”

“I apologize, Twilight Sparkle,” the dragon said, closing her eyes and giving Twilight what appeared to be a bow. “I have been rude. My name is Sapphire, eldest dragon of the frostkin. Like the good professor here, my own curiousity gets the better of me. Just as he has been learning about my kind, so have I about his. It is a simple exchange of information,” she said, quickly glancing over at the Professor. “When I had first met him, it had been such a surprise. I had only heard of ponies from stories told to me by the previous elder. I never imagined that I would ever see one in the flesh. So in exchange for the knowledge I pass on to him, he tells me about the lives of you ponies. They shall make excellent stories to pass onto my successor.

“You see, very few things can live up here in the mountains. Even fewer are brave enough to enter our caves. It gets rather… dull,” she said as she stared at the silent wilderness outside her cave with half-lidded eyes. “Getting visitors such as yourselves puts me in such an excited mood. The last time my kind had any contact with ponies, the different clans were still waging war against each other. I honestly found it hard to believe when Tall Tale told me about their unification. However, seeing all of you here together, I can see that he was not trying to deceive me. But I am sure you did not come here to answer all these questions of mine—”

“Wait, what is this? You brought a dragon with you,” she interrupted herself as she pushed her head forward. The group parted, allowing her a straight path to Spike. She briefly sniffed him and narrowed her gaze, slowly scanning his entire being. “You are not of the frost dragons. You’re calm demeanor means you are not part of those brutish migratory dragons. You are definitely no water dragon, they would not risk freezing here in the north. A desert dragon? No. You’re much too colorful. Who are you…?”

“I-I’m Spike…” Spike stuttered, taking a step away from the larger dragon.

“Spike… Not a strange name for a dragon. Where do come from, fledgling?” Sapphire asked.

“Well, I was born in Canterlot—”

“Canterlot… That is one of your cities, is it not?” she said, looking towards Professor Tall Tale.

“Yes, it is.” The Professor nodded.

“A dragon born among ponies,” she thought aloud, withdrawing her head. “I have honestly never heard of such a thing.”

“He is actually why we came to see you,” Twilight said. “He was artificially aged and we need to find a way to reverse it.”

“Hmm… While he is no longer a hatchling, he should not have matured enough to become impervious to your magics,” Sapphire said as she examined Spike again. “But if you came all the way out here, it must not be that simple.”

“I tried to use a spell on him, but nothing happened,” Twilight said, lowering her head.

“Just as we frost dragon have grown a resistance to any magics dealing with the cold, it might be the case that he has grown a unique resistance to the magic of you ponies. It is a wonderful adaptation that all dragons have. Depending on our surroundings, our bodies adjust to dominate our territory. Usually this adaptation takes a few generations in order to develop,” Sapphire said, taking an even closer look at Spike. “Yet he seems much different from any dragon I have ever seen. That does not say much. The only dragons I have seen are frost dragons.”

“Well, he wasn’t born the usual way, I guess,” Twilight replied. “I was the one who hatched him using my magic.”

“That may have had something to do with his appearance and his resistance… perhaps even his magic… But as far reversing his age, it seems that you are out of options,” Sapphire said, frowning as she saw the dejected faces of the group. “However, as you were so patient with me, I will reveal a secret that I even kept from Tall Tale. The previous elder may have been angry if she had known what I was about to reveal, but even so, you ponies appear to be peaceful enough. Not to mention, even with this information, you would still be no match for any matured dragon. While we dragons stand supreme among the lesser creatures of this world, we are not without our weakness. There is a spot on our bodies that is especially vulnerable to all attacks, including magic. This spot is our underbelly. While an adult dragon will still be able to resist your magics, perhaps if you aim at this spot, you may penetrate this fledgling’s defenses.”

“Really?” Twilight said, a ray of hope shining in her eyes.

“Do not be so quick to celebrate, young Twilight Sparkle,” the elder dragon replied. “It may take more power than what you currently have to do so. I can sense your magic. It is… questionable if you can do this by your power alone.”

“There is a way to boost my magic,” Twilight said. “And now with what you gave us, I’m sure we can help Spike get back to his right age.”

“Thank you for your wisdom, Sapphire,” Tall Tale said, bowing at the dragon. “Unfortunately, I believe that we will have to make this a short visit. They may still be able to return to the Crystal Empire by the end of the day if they leave now. As you might imagine, they have much to do.”

“Yes, I understand,” Sapphire answer. “I had some more questions about this dragon, but they can be answered by one simple request.” She turned her gaze at Spike again. “Fledgling, show me your breath. Show me the magic that burns inside you, a dragon born among ponies.”

“Umm… what do you mean?” Spike asked with a large gulp.

“As I’ve said before, the different dragon clans are all rather unique in certain aspects, including their magic,” she said. “Just as the ponies can manifest their magics, we manifest ours, through our breaths.”

“My breath is my magic?” Spike asked himself in a whisper.

“Perhaps you require a demonstration,” she said, taking a deep inhale through her nose. “As our name suggests, we frost dragon have control over ice magics.”

With a relatively small exhale, Sapphire released a white mist of breath. Though she seemed very relaxed, her breath was strong enough to frost the ground along its path. Though most of the group moved out of the way as it neared them, they all still shivered as they felt the icy breeze pass by, none more than Cloud Slider.

Just as Sapphire’s breath reached the entrance of her cave, the courier cautiously walked on in. “Are you almost done in there? It’s getting kinda cold out her—” was all he was able to say before the chilly breath touched him, immediately encasing him in ice.

“Oh, that is truly unfortunate,” Sapphire said with a small chuckle, much the horror of the group. “Do not fret. It was not strong enough kill him. He is simply frozen. It can easily be reversed. Perhaps even by you, fledgling. Go on now.”

Hesitantly, Spike walked up to the “ponysicle.” He swallowed hard before looking back at the group, their eyes egging him on. Taking a few shallow breaths, he felt his body relax. Again, he looked at the frozen courier and took a deep breath. A second later, he released his pent-up fire. Though at first it seemed like the ice was winning over his emerald fire, but he held fast and continued his efforts. Suddenly, the ice began to melt. It was merely a few droplets, but it was enough to renew Spike’s vigor.

As Spike and the other busied himself with defrosting the courier, Twilight cautiously walked up to the elder dragon. “Um, Sapphire,” she said in a whisper.

“Yes?” Sapphire answered, craning her long, slender neck around the lone pony. Though she tried to keep her voice to a down, it was still loud enough to be heard by anyone nearby. Luckily, the group was more preoccupied with Spike and his efforts to defrost the courier.

“There’s… another issue I wanted to talk you about,” Twilight said, taking a deep breath before continuing. “I-I need to know about how old I should make Spike.”

“I take it that he does not want to return to his original age,” the dragon said as she looked towards the dragon working diligently to melt the ice surrounding the frozen pony. “Naturally, I’m a little curious why he would not.”

“He’s… in love with a pony,” Twilight replied. “But at his real age, he’s too young to actually, well, be with her. Professor Tall Tale told me there would be an age where he would be the size of a pony, but I need to know how far back to age him once we get back home.”

“That really is a shame...“ Sapphire said with a frown. “He’d make such a interesting mate for his fellow dragons. His breath is quite unique, even… adaptable. He may be able to emulate the breaths of the different dragonkin. I would make him mate with one of my clan, but I doubt he would pass on his magic in just a single generation. If he were a female, I would have made him my replacement perhaps.” She paused, letting out a long sigh. “So many ‘ifs,’ but it seems fate has a different path for him. However, returning to your question, I would place him around 220 years of age. To be the size of one of you ponies, I would say to age him to around 60 years.”

“Are you…”

“I am very sure,” Sapphire interrupted. “I have lived for nearly two millennia now. I have seen many males born and parish. I am quite sure.”

“Thank you,” Twilight said, hugging the dragon’s snout, much to her surprise. “I don’t know how to repay you for all the help you’ve given us.”

“I do,” the dragon said in between a toothy grin. “If he ever has children, if it is not possible to bring them, then please come and tell me of them. They will certainly be interesting. The union of dragon and a pony, what children might they bring?”

“Of course!” Twilight said, nodding her head ecstatically.

“It seems that he is done…” the dragon said, turning her head towards Spike.

Sure enough, Spike finished melting the last of the ice that held Cloud Slider prisoner. While Spike stood proud that he was able to defrost him without harm, the courier himself was a complete mess. His teeth were clattering. He was soaked to the bone. His whole body was trembling uncontrollably.

“T-t-th-that’s it!” Cloud Slider said in a shaky voice. “I-I-I’m d-done!”

“Wait, Cloud Slider!” Twilight running towards the stallion storming out of the cave.

“N-n-no! Royal Courier or no, I-I’m done!” he shouted, stomping his hoof against the rocky floor. “Since I’ve met you guys, I’ve lost my hat, I’ve been kidnapped by pirates, my tail’s been burned off, and I’ve been FROZEN! Professor Tall Tale can lead you down the mountain, but I’m gone!” With that, the courier stormed out of the cave.

“Oh-ho-ho! I’ve been waiting for this!” Rainbow Dash said, rushing out of the cave after him. She met him just outside the entrance, tackling him into the powdery snow against the side of the mountain, loosening the snow above. “You’re not going anywhere, buddy!”

Cloud Slider gave no verbal response, but rather violently pushed her off of him.

“I’ve been waiting for this since I met you,” Rainbow Dash said as she gave him a satisfied smirk, digging into the ground with one of her hooves.

“Everypony just settle down!” Twilight yelled, to no avail.

Cloud Slider took flight straight towards Rainbow Dash, as did she. However, just as they were about to meet, he took a sharp turn to avoid colliding with her and flew off, nearly out of sight.

“Oh no, you don’t!” Rainbow Dash yelled as she shook off the initial surprise and gave chase. She easily managed to catch him with her speed, tackling him from above and driving him into the ground. “You can’t get away from me! I’m the fastest pony in Equestria, remember!?”

“Why can’t you just leave me alone!?” Cloud Slider said, half-buried in the snow.

“Why would you just leave us alone!?” she replied, meeting her narrowed eyes with his. “You don’t just abandon friends!”

He kicked her off of him and stood back up. “Since when are you my ‘friends!’”

“Since we saved your sorry flank from the pirates!” she yelled, pointing her hoof at him as the snow on top of the mountain shook the volume of her voice.

“The only reason you saved me because you needed me to take you here!” he cried, the snow shaking even more violently. “You said it yourself. If you knew the other couriers could have taken you, you would have just left me there.”

“I didn’t mean it! You were just being a jerk,” Rainbow Dash said as they slowly circled each other. “I would never leave a pony behind. Unlike you!”

“I guess we’re just two different ponies,” Cloud Slider said as they both slowed to a halt.

“I guess we are...” she said, readying herself for another charge.

However, the courier once again feigned a tackle and bolted away, but Rainbow Dash was prepared. She immediately caught him in a powerful tackle against the mountainside, causing the snow to rumble precariously. “Not this time, pal!”

Both pegasi began tossing and turning in the snow as they rolled down the mountain, landing a few hooves to each other’s faces. As the tumble and blows wore them down, they separated from each other, panting hard as they stared each other down.

After catching his breath, Cloud Slider charged again. Though Rainbow Dash expected another fake tackle, she was met with a very real one, tumbling onto the ground from its force.

“Okay, you’re asking for it now!” Rainbow Dash said, shaking off the snow that caked onto to her. She took flight and flew off, making room for her next move.

As she did so, Twilight Sparkle finally caught up to the two pegasi. She watched Rainbow Dash pause in the air, setting her sights on the stallion attempting to escape and winding up for another powerful tackle. However, Twilight also caught sight of the trembling, loose snow on the face of the mountain above, just a small quake away from toppling over. She attempted to catch the two pegasi before they could collide, but she was no match for the experienced flyers’ speeds.

Moments later, Rainbow Dash crashed into the fleeing stallion, directly into the mountainside, with enough force to cause perceivable tremor on the snow above. After a small tremble, what looked to be years of snow buildup began to collapse and slide down towards the ponies below. Twilight could only stare as the huge wave of snow devoured both pegasi in front her.

Thinking quickly, Twilight magically flashed towards the rest of the group, who just managed to catch up in time to find themselves in the path of the incoming avalanche. Twilight immediately surrounded the group with a large, purple bubble. However, not even her magic could stand up to the fearsome power of mother nature. The shield promptly began to crack under the intense pressure of the crashing snow, even as Twilight poured all her strength into her spell. All too soon, it gave way completely, knocking the Alicorn unconscious as her shield was shattered to pieces.

Try as they might, the rest of the group found themselves at the mercy of the snow’s current, oddly, except for Pinkie, who rode through the avalanche on her pink surfboard, carrying Twilight along with her. The rest soon became scattered among the vast mountain. falling off cliffs and parted by some sturdy trees. They found themselves separated in groups, hanging on to the closest pony they could get their hooves on. The momentum of the avalanche finally died down, but not before each smaller group completely lost sight of the others.

A Faithful Friend

The soft snowfall on the mountain began to intensify and the wind howled, slowly evening out the rough ground created by the recent avalanche. However, something beneath the origin of the avalanche stirred, cracking the new snow on the surface. Suddenly, a snow-caked, blue hoof broke free from under the snow, followed by a second. Both grabbed hold as best they could on the loose snow directly in front of them, slipping from time to time. Finally, they succeeded in hoisting up the pony they belonged to.

Rainbow Dash gasped deeply and promptly shook off the snow that clung to her. She suddenly recoiled and winced. Though the avalanche had not completely crushed her, it still managed to make her sore all over, hardly being able to move without making her entire body ache.

“Where is he!?” Rainbow Dash hissed as she quickly scanned the area and found something rustling beneath a small mound of snow. She limped over to the mound and uncovered it. Underneath was the head of the very pony she was looking for. For a moment, they stared at each other in silence. With a heavy sigh and a roll of her eyes, Rainbow Dash grabbed ahold of Cloud Slider’s head and pulled out him of his snowy prison.

As he stumbled to his feet, Rainbow Dash socked him in the face, sending him back down. “That’s what you get!”

“What was that for!?” he barked.

“For making the avalanche!” Rainbow Dash wheezed.

“That was more your fault than mine!” Cloud Slider said, pointing a trembling hoof at the mare. “You’re the one that crashed me into the mountain!”

“Well, maybe if you didn’t try to run away, I wouldn’t have tackled you into the mountain!” Rainbow Dash yelled back.

“I wouldn’t need to run if a certain pegasus wasn’t chasing me like a maniac!” he replied.

“Me, me, me! Is that all that you ever think about?” she said as she narrowed her eyes on him. “Ugh! I’m wasting time!” Rainbow Dash paused, rubbing side of her head with a hoof. “I need to find Twilight and the others… It’s getting colder… And I’m pretty sure the avalanche didn’t go easy on them...”

“We’re not exactly the picture of health either. We’re not gonna find them like this,” he replied, feeling his own sore muscles and eyeing Rainbow Dash’s limping form. “We should just head back to the cabin. I’m pretty sure they’ll head over there too.”

“I’m going to look for everypony. You can do whatever you want!” she told him, pushing her hoof into his chest.

“How do you expect to find them?” Cloud Slider asked. “You don’t know the mountain at all. The only thing that’s gonna happen is you getting lost.”

“How about you worry about you? It’s what you’re best at anyways,” she said, grinding her hoof further into his chest.

“What makes you think you know anything about me?” he growled, slapping her hoof away.

“Besides spilling your guts on the train ride here, you also act like you don’t even want to be Twilight’s personal courier,” Rainbow Dash said as she turned away from him. “You’d think you’d try and impress her or something, not leave her stranded on a mountain.”

“I didn’t leave her stranded, you guys still had Professor Tall Tale,” he answered. He continued under his breath, “Besides… I don’t want to become a Royal Courier to serve the Princess.”

“Huh?” she asked, just barely catching his last sentence over the howling winds. She turned around and Cloud Slider instantly refused to meet her in the eye. “Why would you want to become a Royal Courier then?”

“The bits… the time…” he muttered. “Royal Couriers don’t have as heavy a workload as the Cloudsdale Couriers, and they get paid even better. If I was able to get promoted… then maybe I would have the time to find a marefriend…”

“You think that anyone would want to be your marefriend with the way you act? Pff, good luck with that, buddy!” she scoffed, trying to catch his evasive eyes. “You got to learn what it takes to be a good friend before you can get a marefriend at all.”

“What is a ‘friend’ anyways?” Cloud Slider said. “When I was a colt, my ‘friends’ got me in a lot of trouble. Whenever we accidentally broke a window or hurt somepony while playing, I was always left to take the blame! My parents even stopped defending me after a while and considered sending me to the Junior Guard Academy, where all the bad colts are sent. Then when we had decided to stand up to a bully that used to take all our lunch money, they chickened out and let me get beaten to a pulp by a colt twice my size! Is that what a ‘friend’ does!?” As he finished, he waited with gritted teeth for a response from the blue pegasus, his chest heaving and his nostrils flared.

“You done?” Rainbow Dash finally said through a yawn and half-lidded eyes. “The way you were acting, I thought you were going to tell me about how your older brother betrayed you or something.” She paused and pulled him in. “Look, I get that you had a lousy bunch of colts that you hung out with back then. Trust me, I grew up in Cloudsdale too. I know first hoof how lame they are. But those weren’t real friends. Real friends will always stand with you, they won’t abandon you… and you shouldn’t abandon them. I knew something was wrong with you, but... ”

She paused with a sigh. “Look, I’m not all that great with emotional junk like Fluttershy, or Twilight... or even AJ,” Rainbow Dash admitted. “I wanted to help, but you weren’t making it easy on me, so it started to get on my nerves. So when you just bolted on us, I guess I kinda lost my cool. But I only chased you because I couldn’t leave you when you needed help! Even if you didn’t want it!”

“I… I didn’t see it that way… I thought you just wanted to beat me down for running…” he said, finally meeting her eyes with his own widened ones. He fell silent for a few moments before letting his gaze fall to the floor with a sigh.

“I… I’m s-sorry… I just assumed you guys were gonna use me and toss me away like those colts did…” Cloud Slider said as he flattened his ears and hung his head. “I just couldn’t bring myself to rely on anypony after what those colts did to me. I guess that’s just how I started to treat everypony since then… and I kind of turned into them too. I haven’t been a very good pony, have I?”

“Nope, not at all!” Rainbow Dash said, smiling brightly and vigorously shaking her head. “But what kind of friend would I be if I didn’t forgive you!?” she asked, playfully tousling his mane. “Now, there’s not time to be feeling sorry for yourself! If you wanna start making up, you can help me look for the others!”

Cloud Slider lifted his head at her words. Quickly digging through his saddlebags, he retrieved a flat, blue hat and set on his head. With a smile, he nodded determinedly.

“Twilight!” Pinkie shouted, jerking her unconscious friend. “TWILIGHT!”

“Ugh… uh…” Twilight groaned as her blurry vision slowly focused. “Huh? Pinkie?”

“Twilight, you missed it!” Pinkie said, grabbing Twilight’s shoulders tightly. “I just had the best ride in my life! That must’ve been the biggest wave I’ve ever seen!”

“Pinkie, where is everypony else?” Twilight said, noticing nothing but an icy layer of white as far as the eye.

“Oh… I dunno!” Pinkie said with a shrug of her shoulders. “But about that wave…”

“Pinkie, focus please,” the alicorn said, lifting herself up but finding her body a little heavier than usual.

“You okay, Twilight?” Pinkie asked, helping her get her footing.

“Just a little tired,” she answered huskily. “Guess that avalanche took more out of me than I thought.”

“Well, I’d say so! You’ve been out for almost two hours!” Pinkie said as she looked at an inexplicably obtained pocket watch.

“Two hours!?” the purple alicorn yelled as her wings sprang open. “Pinkie, don’t you remember what Cloud Slider warned us about? The higher we are on the mountains, the colder it gets, and at night, no pony can survive the cold of the mountains! We have to find the others!”

“Looks like they already found us!” Pinkie said, looking through some inexplicably obtained binoculars. She watched two ponies awkwardly marching through the snow. “It’s looks like… Rainbow Dash and Cloud Glyder!”

Twilight squinted, trying to bring the two distant figures into focus. Though she could only make out the color of their coats, she could tell that Pinkie was not wrong. She rushed to the two approaching ponies, with Pinkie following suit. However, as she closed in on them, she noticed both exhaustedly dragging their hooves through the snow.

“Ha… I to… told you it… would work!” Cloud Slider said between heavy pants.

“I… owe you... two bits!” Rainbow Dash said with a smile, her chest heaving with each word.

“Are you two okay?” Twilight said, supporting Cloud Slider from his left side and Pinkie rushing in to support Rainbow Dash from her right.

“Well, we were crushed by an avalanche and been wandering around the mountain for past few hours, but nothing we can’t handle,” Rainbow Dash said, proudly pounding a hoof against her chest, wincing a bit as she did so. “Ain’t that right?” she asked, looking towards Cloud Slider.

“Don’t worry about us, Princess,” he told Twilight, finally catching his breath. “We pegasi are made of sterner stuff.”

“How did you find us? The avalanche could have sent us anywhere on the mountain range,” Twilight asked.

“While the Cloudsdale Couriers aren’t the coolest group around...” Rainbow Dash began.

“We always get the job done…” Cloud Slider finished the sentence, handing the purple alicorn a crudely wrapped package with tag labeled “For: Princess Twilight Sparkle.”

Twilight quickly unraveled it and revealed a small twig. “What’s this?”

“You see, Princess, we were pretty lost for a while,” the courier answered. “And we didn't even find a trace of anypony out here. I haven’t failed a delivery since I joined the Cloudsdale Couriers. So I figured that maybe I could use my special talent to find you… but we needed something I could deliver to you.”

“And I bet him two bits it wouldn’t work,” Rainbow Dash said with small, breathy chuckle.

“Since when have you two been so buddy-buddy?” Twilight said with smile. “If I’m remembering right, it’s you two not being able to get along that caused the avalanche in the first place.”

“Yeah… about that...” Rainbow Dash said with an awkward smile.

“It… it’s my fault, Princess,” Cloud Slider interjected with a heavy sigh. “I have been a pretty bad pony lately. If I wasn’t acting so bad, Rainbow Dash wouldn’t have gotten so mad and we wouldn’t be in this mess. I must’ve been getting on everypony’s nerves throughout the whole trip. For all the trouble I’ve made for you and your friends, Princess, I’m so sorry. I’m ready to accept any punishment from you. But first… I want to help make things right. I want to help find everypony.”

“Whatcha think, Twilight?” Rainbow Dash asked with a smile reaching from ear to ear. “I did a good job, didn’t I? Score: 1 Friendship, 0 Jerks!”

“I think…” Twilight paused. “I think Professor Tall Tale was right. You’re not a bad pony. As for your punishment,” she paused again, rubbing her hoof under her muzzle, “I guess I can put it off until we find the others, but I won’t be lenient!” She gave the girls a small wink as she finished her sentence.

Twilight then rewrapped the twig and crossed out her own name on the label, replacing it with Fluttershy’s. She hand it back to him and said, “If it worked once…”

Cloud Slider nodded as he readjusted his hat.

“Sorry about this, Spike…” Fluttershy said, a large frown overtaking her face. She and Rarity were riding on the dragon’s back, exhausted from their hours of trudging through the snow.

“Don’t worry, Fluttershy,” Spike replied, chuckling. “I’ll take a lot more than this to tire me out!”

“It’s our own knight in scaly armor!” Rarity exclaimed, smiling and petting his head.

Truth be told, Rarity’s praises were the only thing keeping the dragon going. Between lack of sleep and all the mountain climbing they have been doing, Spike was exhausted. Rarity and Fluttershy were probably the two most delicate members of the group, so he knew if the fatigue was catching up to him, then they surely could not last much longer either. He tried his best to hide his ragged breathing from the two mares, but he was sure they could feel how often his back rose and fell from each breath he drew.

Though they had been wandering the mountainside nonstop since the avalanche stopped, every area they came across looked exactly like the last; a blanket of white dotted with a couple of trees or bushes here and there. He had hoped that they would run into at least one of the others by now, but they had no such luck. Suddenly, his two front legs give way and his head fell into the snowy ground.

“Spikey-Wikey!” Rarity gasped, jumping off the dragon’s back. She rushed to his front and lifted his weary head from the ground, brushing the snow from his features. “Are you alright?”

Spike did not respond. He simply looked back at Rarity with weary eyes. But then he noticed a group of figures behind Rarity, moving towards them. He felt a new rush of energy burst within him. Squinting his eyes, he was able to make out the figures. “Twilight!”

“Twilight?” Rarity asked, a bit confused as to why he would call her name out.

“Twilight!” Fluttershy called out as well as she took off towards the approaching ponies

“Girls! Spike!” Twilight exclaimed, meeting Fluttershy in the air with deep embrace. Looking around, Twilight frowned as she could not find the remaining members of their group. “You guys haven’t run into Applejack or Professor Tall Tale?”

“No… we haven’t seen anypony, until now,” Fluttershy answered with a frown.

“Hmm… But it’s okay, Cloud Slider can…” Twilight paused as she saw the courier breathing heavily and his head hanging low, lagging behind her and Pinkie. Rainbow Dash looked no better. “You two really need to rest! You can’t keep this up!”

“Don… don’t worry a… about me, Princess,” Cloud Slider said between pants, giving her a small, but cocky, smile. “You’re looking at the best courier in Equestria! I’ve delivered to all of Equestria by myself! I can do this… Besides, it is my responsibility! I promised to take you to Professor Tall Tale and bring you back, remember?”

“Not bad, pal,” Rainbow Dash said, patting him on the back. “Not bad at all! Maybe the couriers aren’t as lame as I thought.”

“But…” Rarity said as she turned her head to Spike, who struggled back to his feet. “I don’t think Spikey-Wikey can continue like—”

“I can keep going!” Spike interrupted, his eyes narrowed and small fire plumes shooting from his snout.

“Okay, then let’s make this fast!” Twilight said, once again readdressing the “package,” this time writing in Applejack’s name.

“Just wait till I get mah hooves on that Rainbow Dash and Cloud Slider!” Applejack fumed.

“Now, now, there’s no need for violence,” Professor Tall Tale lectured. “That is the very reason we are in this whole mess.”

Though Professor Tall Tale had very good knowledge of the mountain, they had hardly made any progress. While Applejack came out of the disaster with only a few scratches and bruises, Professor Tall Tale had broken one of his front legs in the aftermath. She was used to such injuries on the farm and was able to set the bone with a few strong branches and some torn cloth from their saddlebags, but they needed to get him some real medical treatment. However, due to his injury, he had to support himself on the farm pony which made walking for both awkward and slow.

Applejack released a heavy sigh. “Yer right. I’m really just hopin’ everypony’s okay.”

“Hmm… Are you sure that the others wouldn’t head back to the cabin?” Professor Tall Tale asked, combing his hoof through his beard.

Applejack simply shook her head. “Ain’t a doubt in mah mind that they’re out there, lookin’ for us. Don’t know about that Cloud Slider, though. He looked like he was about ready to leave when he first met us.”

“I didn’t think he would just up and leave back there. I had him pegged as the dependable sort, but I guess I was...” Professor Tall Tale paused, spotting something in the distance. With a smile, he finished his thought, “Right!”

Led by the courier pony, the large group of ponies approached them. They sped up as they noticed the two colored dots on the otherwise white surrounding. Though over the moon at the sight of her final, lost friend, Twilight’s eyes opened wide as she noticed the splint on Professor Tall Tale’s leg. Cloud Slider also hurried towards the injured unicorn at the sight of his leg.

“Professor Tall Tale!” Twilight exclaimed, frowning as she examined his leg.

“It’s nothing, Princess,” he replied. “I assure you.”

“Professor…” Cloud Slider said as he hung his head.

“Now, now. I said it’s nothing, Cloud Slider,” he said with a smile.

“But it’s my fault…” Cloud Slider said, slamming a hoof on the floor. “If I didn’t…”

“Instead of thinking what you could have done, think about what you can do,” the turquoise unicorn smiled again, placing a hoof on the courier’s shoulder. “Now then, is everypony accounted for?”

Twilight smiled and nodded at him. “But it looks like we’re not heading back to the cabin. We’ve got to get you to the Crystal Empire and get that leg looked at.”

“I suppose I could use a break from my work,” Professor Tall Tale laughed to himself while the rest of the group rolled their eyes.

Though the trip down the mountain was brutal, the group made it to the guard’s checkpoint before the storms of the north claimed them. To their surprise, Shining Armor was waiting there, ready to welcome all of them back. However, Shining Armor’s smile soon faded as he saw the condition the group was in and ordered his troops to escort Professor Tall Tale to the castle’s private doctor. The prince also saw that each of the ponies received a filling meal and a comfortable bed. Though he did not want to bother his sister with the details, his worry won over and he entered Twilight’s room.

“Twily?” Shining Armor said, knocking on the door behind him.

“Oh hey, Shiny,” Twilight replied, jumping a bit from the break in silence.

“So…” he began his eyes wandering around the room. “Wanna talk about what happened?”

Twilight did not answer him at first, nibbling her lip.

“I mean, if you don’t want to talk about it…” Shining said as he turned to leave the room.

“Wait!” Twilight exclaimed, accidentally slamming the door with her magic. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t worry, it happens. Your magic’s probably gotten a lot stronger since—” he began.

“No, not about that… well, that too… but…” Twilight interrupted, tripping over her own words. “About… before I left. I didn’t mean to get mad you. I’ve just… been under a lot of stress lately.”

“It’s alright, Twily,” he said, nuzzling her hanging head. “I’ll always be there. Even when you don’t want me to. B.B.B.F.F., remember?”

“Thanks, Shiny,” she told him, looking at him with tear-filled eyes and a bittersweet smile. “Anyways… we were caught in an avalanche—”

“An avalanche!” Shining Armor shouted, taking her by both shoulders. “I mean… uh… you did… good? You all made it back okay.”

“Yeah, thanks to Cloud Slider,” she said.

“The courier? Didn’t look that impressive,” Shining replied with a small pout. “How did that avalanche happen anyways? In all the time that Professor Tall Tale’s been up there, I don’t remember once there being an avalanche.”

“Oh… umm… I’m not sure…” Twilight said with a small gulp. “I’m just glad everypony’s okay.”

“I guess you’re right,” he smiled and nodded. “By the way, you don’t have to worry about anything tomorrow. I’ve already got your tickets for train tomorrow afternoon and I’ve got the chef making your favorite daffodil salad for breakfast. Get some rest, sis. You’ve earned it.”

“Thanks, Shiny,” Twilight said, flopping onto her bed with a heavy sigh.

“No problem, Twily,” Shining told her as he tucked her in. Walking towards the door, he extinguished the lanterns lining the room’s walls with his magic.