Care and Love, Always

The door to the outside opened, allowing indiscriminate access to the frost and atmosphere, abound. Contrary to what the newcomers may have been expecting, the air was cold, and the horizon clouded. Instead of lush, green patches, there were fields of brilliant white, and snow covered the rooftops of the local village with seemingly unnatural symmetry. Yet, the colors remained vibrant, cool as they were. The scene had an overall look of calm to it. It seemed hardly the place that would suffer the misfortunes of monster attacks, or apocalypse scenarios.

They descended from the floor of the castle, down the firm length of the tree's trunk. On solid, natural ground Rainbow and Shy met in true contact with the equine realm. Soft and cold to the touch, the land itself expressed a sort of welcoming feeling, seeming as if it were in anticipation of their arrival. Upon touching the Equestrian soil, harmoniously with the snow the two were intrigued to discover that the physical feel of the ground that they walked on bore little difference in tangible sensation. It felt, comfortingly, like any other soil. Or at least, any other soil covered in precipitation. Just as well, the new equine anatomy yielded the ability to hover above the ground if they so wished. It did not therefore immediately occur to any of the three that they would all need to reconfigure their appearances, lest they be made to endure Equestria's winter.

"Whoa. I'll be honest, Twi. The way you and Sunset compared your world to ours, it sounded a lot warmer". The athlete was not so much disappointed, as deceived, invariably by herself.

"Well, it is winter. In your world, you celebrate Christmas. Here, we celebrate something called Hearth's Warming, which, if I'm still able to properly tell time, is in about five days". It was a mystery to all, however, just what those days may contain.

"Touché. I guess I also hadn't considered the fact that it might be winter here".

"You know, as long as I've known you, Rainbow, you've never quite been the type to think things through. No offense, though", she said with a smirk.

The rainbow human mare shot her a look of suspicion, but relented before long.

"Uhm, Twilight?", inserted the caretaker. Fluttershy was beginning to feel her equine body at work, fighting hard, in an attempt to maintain homeostasis. So far, the autonomic effort manifested as a slight shiver, serving to mask the formidable, internal battle of attrition, in the interests of balance.

"Hm? Yes, Fluttershy?"

"S-should we be wearing winter clothes? Is that something ponies do? Do ponies even wear clothes?" Initially, Fluttershy had felt exposed by the lack of clothing.

The princess of friendship allowed a small chuckle to escape its orifice. "That's actually a funny question, Fluttershy. You should have seen us last winter. You'd have loved to see all six of us ponies garbed in winter dress. But for now, I suppose we should indeed be dressed more appropriately, for the weather".

With that, the princess lit her horn, and charged, with an upward thrust of the muzzle. Suddenly, both the caretaker and the athlete had their vision obscured, by a flash of purple light. Oddly enough, there was no actual feeling to it;it was just light. The purple pulse enveloped the mares' faces. And it barely lasted a second. Although the luminescence itself provided little to no sensation, there was some change after it dissipated. There was something different, the caretaker noted. Somehow, she felt heavier. She looked down to find that she was now garbed in clothes. Boom, just like that. Magic.

"Hm. Convenient", muttered the athlete. She and the caretaker took a moment to examine one another. Fluttershy's outfit was vastly simple. She donned a nearly minimalist purple sweater- a complement to her long, luxurious mane. Simple, but fitting. It suited her. Rainbow Dash was just a bit more variable. She sported a section of the obligatory color spectrum. Her hat rose a fair distance, and her scarf and shoes matched what hair was visible, conforming to patterns of chilled red, yellow, and orange, in true Rainbow Dash fashion.

They both turned to their alicorn guide, who was a bit more accessorized. She lacked a torso, but made use of a pair of high quality ear-muffs.

"Everybody cozy?", the princess inquired. Fluttershy, though, couldn't help but think that she may be more comfortable with a blue arm, or wing, to keep her cozy. "Alright? Alright then. Are you ready to begin, Rainbow Dash?"

The athlete did not hesitate. Rather, she wished to jump straight into the realm of aerial acrobatics. "Born ready, Twi. How should I start?

The princess almost giggled. "Start? Why, it's simple, Rainbow. Simply fly as fast as you possibly can. Fly in any which direction. Truly get a feel for your new form". She turned to the more demure of the two humans. "Might not be a bad idea for you too, Fluttershy. I mean- I know, you're not as big on flying. Believe me, the you from my world has... history with flight. But still. This must be somewhat new to you".

"O-oh, it's fine, Twilight". As if to meekly make a point, the caretaker took to hovering above ground, gracefully. "I have no problem with this level of flight. Rainbow is just in a different league". Her statement almost sounded like it had pride to it.

"Well, there is some truth to that statement, I suppose".

As if on cue, the daredevil shot off, like a rocket. Both mares in attendance turned, to pay the daredevil some recognition. The rainbow mare's flight left a signature trail of rainbow in its wake, ever the distinction. To the alicorn princess, such a feature was routine- this was the Rainbow Dash she knew. To the caretaker, however, this was a spectacle. She'd only ever gotten glimpses in the episodic "pony up". But this? This was perpetual, for the Equestrian Rainbow.

Attempting to be heard over the speed and pressure of the frosted atmosphere, the princess called out. "Rainbow Dash! Go as high up as you feel comfortable! When you have a decent altitude, come back down with as much speed as you can possibly muster! But do not hit the ground! You need to pull off a change in direction at the last second!"

At this, the caretaker took on a face of concern. "That sounds... dangerous, Twilight. Is this sort of thing really safe to be doing?"

But Rainbow Dash was, at the moment, above danger. This was so much more than what she'd felt at the Friendship Games. She remembered it like it was yesterday. She'd circumvented the motocross course, with speed she rarely experienced. To and fro, with a rainbow trail, unparalleled. But now she had few constraints. The athlete, heeding her friend's words, took to the sky, altitude climbing with every passing second. Her eyes and teeth clenched initially, but relented, and slowed to a stop as the optimal height quickly approached. After a brief period of time, she looked down for the first time since she'd taken off. And her breath itself almost stopped. It was just looking so surreal.

The view was breathtaking. Many thousands of feet below, the expanse of Equestria presented itself in all of its frozen majesty. The temperature momentarily forgotten, the daredevil took a moment to soak up the image. It was something she might never see, for as long as she returned to the human world. Even without the knowledge that the equine Rainbow Dash had played a considerable part in crafting the weather, it was something the locals should take pride in. After-all, the fields of white and frozen lakes were interesting sights.

Having been momentarily entrenched in the admiration of the view, the bearer of loyalty was further surprised when, after several moments, she was nearly hit by a purple bolt. "What the-", she muttered, as another shot lanced by.

"Are you sure, Twilight?"

"I'm fairly certain. She really should have begun her descent, by now".

"Maybe she's... getting ready?"

"Well, that could be a possibility, I guess", she said, firing yet another bolt into the atmosphere.

The purple bolt just barely missed the cyan mare. It seemed the princess was still waiting. "Alright, alright, I get it. Jeez. And you're patient?".

With that, Rainbow Dash dove, using her wings in conjunction with gravity to conjure every little bit of speed she was capable of. Before long, she could feel the air start to wrap around her, and could swear she was hearing paper tearing. Although she would never admit it, she could feel the pressure rising, and the resistance climbing. It was an awesome feeling, the likes of which had not been previously known.

"Aha! There she is!", the princess exclaimed, a hoof pointed in the rainbow mare's general-and rapidly changing- direction. The entire flight, the prismatic trail was perpetually bound to its mistress, as would be all of its derivatives.

"But what is she doing, exactly?" Fluttershy knew that the objective was a "sonic rainboom". While it certainly sounded like Rainbow Dash, it was still an unknown.

"She, Fluttershy, is about to perform the supposedly legendary sonic rainboom. It's something of a legend among the pegasus ponies of Equestria, and Rainbow is the only one to have ever done it. In all honesty, that's another coincidence to add to the endless list. I'm not sure precisely how your band relates to the maneuver, but it must".

"What does it look like?" The caretaker was trying with a degree of focus to picture something so rare in her mind.

"If I had to describe it simply and briefly?", Twilight asked, as her breath was visible in the frigid air. "Like an explosion".

This did not quite sit well with the shy mare, as was signified by the tightening of the muscles under the canary coat.

"Technically though, it is an explosion. I just hope she remembers to pull up before she hits the ground". Hearing those words, Fluttershy's slightly concerned gaze went unnoticed.

And then it happened.

To a human, to see a sonic rainboom might seem like the fore-coming of the apocalypse. Quite abruptly, there is a massive boom, ringing out across the land, radiating concentric conics from the organic epicenter. The radii spread out among the Equestrian domain with an air of brilliance. Its progenitor was made with a rainbow trail deeper and more intense than ever before. Thus, one could only imagine the caretaker's intrigue upon seeing such a wonder. However, she could not shake a lingering sense of familiarity, as though she'd seen this before. But there was no way. She couldn't have seen this before. Or, technically...

"Ha. That, Fluttershy, is a sonic rainboom!" For a moment, they both tracked the athlete and daredevil, as her way was made about the circumference of the village, several times over. With a final loop, eventually, the seemingly perpetual prismatic path came to an end, as its traveler touched down upon the solid ground.

The ground did little to curb the high of the endorphins. "Whoa! Did you guys SEE that? People must have been able to see that for miles!", she exclaimed, regaining her bearings on land. "I mean, that was just awesome! And I'm the only one who can do that?!"

The princess rolled her eyes. "Yes, Rainbow Dash, they probably saw that from Canterlot. And yes, before you came along, the sonic rainbow was thought to be but a legend". The stroking of the ego induced a grin that would surely rival the most majestic of facial expressions.

"That looked incredible, Dashie! It was beautiful", the shy human complimented. "Although, it did look kind of familiar, like I was getting a sense of déjà vu. Are you sure you've never done that before?"

"What?" Rainbow Dash still managed to retain a degree of excitement in her voice, despite the hint of confusion. "Trust me, Shy. I'm pretty sure I've never been compelled to go that fast. I mean, I know I'm awesome, but that's something else". The princess subtly rolled her eyes, while the caretaker suppressed a giggle.

In this, however, the princess was amused. "I'd actually like to see what that would look like, performed by a human, with both considerable height and slender builds. Such a maneuver just might reveal more about the synergy between humans and ponies, and about their potential similarities in genetic makeup, despite the fact that -due to the fact that we hail from different worlds- one would never expect us to share evolutionary commonalities. Just imagine- being able to extrapolate genetic homogenieties across dimensions", she spoke, with anticipation.

The brief soliloquy was made just so, as the new arrivals had more or or less failed to follow the train of thought. Thus, they all stood, in silence, for some moments. "Ugh...Never mind".

Reluctantly, not yet willing to come down from her new high, the athlete decided to change the subject. Maybe they could get to something less scientific. "Yeah... so, anyways... what happens now, Twi? What's our next order of business?"

"Well, in all truth, Rainbow, there is a reason I brought you both here". The alicorn's countenance took on a slight change, reflecting a bit more uncertainty. "I wanted you to reflect, and to learn".

"A-and how, exactly, should we do that? I'm sure Dashie and I can make the most of our time here".

Still with the most subversive, yet abiding slights, Twilight nodded. "If you say so". After-all, what could go wrong in Equestria? Indeed, everything would be just fine. "Regardless, come with me, you two. We've got a number of encounters to get through, today". The princess took the initiative to lead the new ponies further toward the edge of the place called Ponyville. It was true- there were ponies to see, places to be, dilemmas that needed to be silenced and buried. Had any of the three been any more alert, however, they may have noticed a faint whistling sound, emanating from the atmosphere.

"What exactly do you mean, by "encounter"?"

"To encounter. To convene, unexpectedly and/or casually,in the interest of-..."

"Yeaahhh, NOPE. Not going there. I know what an encounter is, thanks". The whistling sound grew somewhat louder.

"Any time, friend". Rainbow Dash was trying to decode whether or not the alicorn was serious. At least, as far as the banter was concerned.

"Girls? Do you both hear that? That sound?", Fluttershy interjected. The whistling would appear to be harmless, insidious though it were.

"Hm?" They all took pause, and listened, carefully.

"What is that?" The mares begin to scrutinize their surroundings.

"It sort of sounds like it's coming from-", Rainbow got out, before the impact. Abruptly, the athlete felt the impact of what was surely a flying boulder. The sizable mass struck her directly in the back, pinning her to the ground, and conjuring a conical plane, of dust, snow, and natural debris where she'd stood

The spout of dust and debris erupted from the tender soil, momentarily obscuring the vision of all outsiders. The princess's mane was blown exuberantly back, the force of the impact almost maliciously extant to trespass against her. The shy mare was not so much touched by the resultant ecstatic winds, but forced to shield her eyes, defensively, against the foreign materials, and against the amplified cold.

"Dashie!", she called.

As the miniature mushroom cloud began to dissipate, the two bystanders could very nearly make out the conspicuous outline of a pony. A pony with a disfigured head, but a pony, nonetheless. The sight of the peculiar hole in the ground was accompanied by a disgruntled, drawn out "ouch".

The Princess and the Caretaker leaned over the gaping hole in the land, expecting to find some semblance of their friend's atmospheric assailant. What they found, however, was not a meteor, nor a comet, nor a falling boulder, nor any of the more plausible explanations. Rather, it was more accurate that it had actually found them.

Out of the modest hole in the frozen ground sprung a familiar face. The face bore a hardy smile, seemingly unaffected by the apparent plummet from Equestria's skies. To any being familiar with the pony though, such a feat was hardly a surprise. Pinkie Pie only bounced off some exiguous amounts of precipitation from her coat, ever with a spring behind each step. As the Universe would have it, her tendencies were only exacerbated by the upcoming winter holiday.

"HEY, girls!", she exclaimed, a bit loudly. Looking down, into the recently carved excavation, the party animal greeted the object of her shenanigans. "Hey, Dashie!"

Pinkie Pie took a step back, allowing the rainbow human some room, to return to the surface. Rainbow Dash reached out of the hole with a single hoof first, pulling herself upward. As she shook the snow and debris off her coat, her countenance was one of inquisition.

"You're lucky, Pinkie- that really didn't hurt as much as it probably should have", she said with a grunt.

"Oh, but are you sure you're ok, Rainbow? That looked like a really nasty... fall?" Rainbow Dash was never off-put by her girlfriend's concern.

"Yeah, Shy. I actually think I'm good. In fact, even though it stings a bit, it's not some unbelievable, excruciating pain", she noted with amusement, examining her body for any persistent damage.

Twilight giggled. "That's the kind of thing you need to expect, when you share a world with Pinkie Pie". She nodded to the party animal, who, in turn, only sustained the hardy smile.

"Hmph", Rainbow scoffed. "You must be forgetting, Twi. We do have a Pinkie of our own. She even comes with party canons, and everything! Even if she won't tell us where she got them".

"Not to get off topic, and no offense to your world's Pinkie, but can your Pinkie survive a fall like that? Can your Pinkie Pie conjure miscellaneous objects out of supposed hammerspace?" Evident by the princess's tone of voice, this was not banter, nor necessarily pride. This was genuine curiosity.

Rainbow shook her head. "You'd be surprised, Twi. You'd think that in our world, a human wouldn't be able to stand on a ceiling. And I've never seen Pinkie try to fall from a distance that high, but i know it'd kill me".

"If it's OK with you all, let's try to prevent that, please"

With a chuckle, the athlete closed some of the distance between her girlfriend and herself. "Don't worry, Shy. I won't go jumping off any cliffs. At least, not without wings.

"Thank you".

Lost to the moment, the three multidimensional travelers had almost forgotten their spectator. At the close of the exchange, the three turned their attention back to they pink mare. She stood, relentlessly radiating an ever personally exultant presence, almost to the point of wringing disease, with the incessant smile.

Fluttershy took this momentary reprieve to look at who was apparently this world's Pinkie Pie. Deep pink skin, that smile, the menacing poof of hair, and the balloon symbolism. To anybody who was familiar, the pony's identity was unequivocal.

Pinkie Pie, however, had not been informed of the newcomers, who would grace Ponyville with their collective presence.

"I-I suppose we should tell you what's going on Pinkie-", the shy human began.

"Oh, oh, wait! Lemme guess!"

Twilight did not allow such a freedom. "No, you let me guess", the princess interjected with energy. "You have a hunch?"

A mischievous grin was the only response that was to be given, and the only response which was needed. The party animal licked her lips, in anticipation of the wall of dialogue ahead. And then she spoke.

The four mares traveled along a dirt path, most of them trotting with ease, and simplicity. For the most part, there appeared to be little need for anxiety, or for worry. Hearth's Warming was quickly approaching, and Equestria was harboring its first multidimensional visitors. The party-crazed mare questioned the harmonic analogs, intently, her excitement never visibly fading. The visitors relished in the new experience. They had once been in the position of the inquisitor, curiously probing, for information of the world unknown. While the questioning proceeded, the host to the newcomers ran brief simulations, in the recesses of her mind.

Was it expected that some great crises would befall Equestria in the next 12 hours? Certainly not. But as a host, one would tend to feel some pressure, from time and time. It was analogous to hosting a party- a magical, fantastic, literally out-of-this world party, but a party, regardless. As a host, one would desire for things to go smoothly. Somewhere in her mentality, the princess also faced the lack of a resolution to her logical dilemma, but suppressed her vocalization of it. She'd been reluctant to share it.

"Wait a minute", the athlete caught, impeding the group's movements. For several moments, she'd thought that the path looked strangely familiar. "This looks like... the path to Sweet Apple Acres?" It was a dead give away, though, once she'd noticed the farm house not too far ahead.

Twilight nodded, approvingly. "Indeed, Rainbow, it is. Sweet Apple Homestead is our first stop".

"Why is that, Twilight? If you don't mind me asking, of course". The caretaker tried to remember that these were her friends. Only, with somewhat different memories, and with a significantly different culture.

"Why, isn't it obvious?" The two humans listened, awaiting the palpable answer "Applejack asked for an apple, didn't she?"

Rainbow Dash, with a groan and a thud, fell to the ground.

"Oh", was all Fluttershy had to offer.

"Don't get me wrong, Twi. I have no problem with Applejack. But don't do that. And for the love of harmony- let me do the joking", she said, returning to her hooves. Some day, Dash resolved, Twilight would pay for her teasing. Likely in discomfort, and in reciprocal teasing. The poor girl must have lost sight of who she'd been messing with. "Seriously. You're not allowed to joke anymore, ever".

The princess raised an eyebrow. "I'd like to think that the creative burden that falls on the interpersonal banter that you often participate in is something that can be learned, Rainbow. Don't you agree?"

"Maybe. Just maybe. And that's if you're learning it from me".

"Dashie, won't you play nicely with our friends? I'm sure you could teach them a lot, so long as nobody's feelings get hurt". When motivated by playfulness, Fluttershy's voice was often imbued with a subtle air of innocent inquiry. The cuteness, Rainbow had found, could very well be lethal in the beginnings of an argument.

"Eh. Sorry, Shy. All's fair in love and war. And Trust me, we've both got the love part down". With this, the bold human shot a look, and raised her eyebrows at her girlfriend.

"Oh my", was all she could say in return, with a blush.

"But anyway-", Dash attempted to get back to the question. "Really, what does bring us to Sweet Apple Acres?"

Pinkie Pie allowed her mouth to fall agape, intent on giving an undoubtedly wise answer, when she was interrupted, by a violent series of somatic contractions, all in short order. To a newcomer, it would strongly appear that the crazed party pony was experiencing the misfortune of a seizure. It sure would have looked like that. Visibly, the party animal endured a heavy ear flop, followed by swift flutter of the eyes, finally followed by a savage twitch of the knee, almost appearing to buckle under her rose body.

"Umm... Are you OK, Pinkie Pie?", the Caretaker inquired, as the sequence repeated itself. The violence of the autonomic convulsions appeared to escalate, moderately.

The athlete laughed. "Come on Shy, this is Pinkie we're talking about, even if she is a pony. She's fine, I'm sure".

The party animal, though, had a sense, of sorts, for what was to come. "Oh boy, this one's gonna be goooooood", she trailed with dramatic duration.

These apparently spontaneous, physical grievances were not lost on the princess, as she quickly compiled the sparse data. "An ear flop, then an eye flutter, then a knee twitch. That usually means 'look out for opening doors'", she warned.

The human couple stood briefly, processing the statement. Before long, both pairs of eyes squinted, in cognition, only to open wide, in realization. They shared a glance with one-another, as if asking for confirmation, that their thoughts were the same. Before any words could be spoken however, a loud 'boom' was heard some short ways ahead of them. It was not the sort of boom that foretold destruction, or ruin. Rather, it was an episodic boom- one that told of mild inconvenience, and of lightened misfortune.

Fluttershy saw it first. At first, it looked like it simply appeared in the background- an inconspicuous acrobatic deviant, a plane of dark brown, against a field of warm green, and hazel. It had no reason to be of any suspicion. Before she'd realized it was going to be coming right for them, at the speed of sound, however.

For just a second too long, the moment had been somewhat lost. Sure, the best thing to do might have been to get out of the way, but the shy human had not the time to process. She only stood, as the flying projectile appeared to become larger, spontaneously. In the barely ample window of time, Fluttershy braced herself for an impact, braced herself for a direct, head-on collision with the object. It was sure to leave a sting. Expectations dulled pain though, right?

Just before the object was able to make impact with the human's body, the caretaker felt another presence wrap itself around her. She felt another body up against her back, a pair of wings wrapping itself around her front, partially obscuring her vision. Rainbow Dash had always been fast. Both were standing on their back legs. She could feel the wings in front of her clench, in anticipation. And then the large entity struck, and sent them both back, reeling.

Fluttershy received the lesser of the shock impact from the large tree they had been bound to hit, instead colliding with the pegasus at her back, who in turn took the brunt of the force from the tree's coarse trunk. And although the cyan wings were momentarily compressed against her canary head, they did go some way to dulling the pain. All that was felt amounted to a warm, rough, collision, with flat, simultaneously blunt surface. It was akin to a violent, sustained vibration. The shy human could only guess how her partner had fared. They were pinned by the large wooden aggressor to the organic post, shortly, before gravity blessed them with reprieve.

The mares both allowed themselves to slide to the ground after the collision. For the moment, they were content to allow the surprise and immediate sting to dissipate. Until the time that they collected the motivation to question what had just hit them, the pair only attempted to regain lost bearings. today was, so far, looking to be quite a day.