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Under The Night Sky

Part 1

UNDER THE NIGHT SKY

Part 1

Author's Fore-note;

Here there by dragons, shipping, and a lot of scene-skipping. It's just the way I roll. Skip to the bottom for further commentary/notes from the author.

“Twilight! Twilight, you gotta see this!”

The purple Unicorn's head emerges from under a small pile of books, rubbing her face with a fore-hoof, “wh-...Spike? What is it?”. “Just come look!” her assistant insists excitedly, repeatedly pointing at the balcony door. Twilight offers a momentarily skeptical look, but shakes it off and climbs to her feet, tiredly crossing the library floor to walk out onto the balcony.

She gazes out over the town of Ponyvile, slowly scanning around the visible scape of it to recognition of no visible difference than any other night, save that it was curiously easier to see for the time. Spike offers his assistance, by gently grabbing the Unicorn's head and pointing it upward accompanied by a point of his other claw “look!”.

Twilight blinks once or twice in skeptical curiosity, but the her eyes open wide; the higher cloud of the sky had been spread so thin as to turn it a rich blue, with elegant swirls of lower cloud radiating from an open expanse around the moon, causing them to light up like gentle silver waves across the night sky under the moon light, she had never seen a night like it.

“That is beautiful, dear sister” Princess Celestia reports warmly, as she walks up to her younger sibling on the balcony of the castle, observing the same night sky from some distance away. Princess Luna seemed to struggle to take her eyes away from it, turning to look back at elder sibling, “It is...but w-...I mean, I didn't do it”. Celestia is taken aback by this momentarily, regarding the sky once more to offer a soft smile, “is that so...?”.

The next morning rolled on with no particular direction. The delicate cloudwork of the previous night had long since been undone by the weather pegasi, having set it as it should be for the day; a pleasant summer's day, if maybe a bit hot. The town of Ponyville was alive to the sound of its residents going about their daily business, though little of it was evident from within the library.

“I thought we talked about this whole 'reading eleven books at a time' thing” Spike mumbles to himself in strain, as he struggles under the weight and balance of the half dozen books he was awkwardly guiding back to their shelves. “I told you” Twilight begins, magically manipulating her brush to set her mane, “advanced magical studies involves a lot of … well, studying. It can't be helped”.

Spike rolls his eyes as he slots the last two books into their slots, then jumps down off the ladder to pick up the last two on the ground, holding either out before himself. One was titled Everything you ever wanted to know about earth ponies, and probably more, the other titled A hundred and one facts about Unicorn horns; Spike didn't see the connection between them and the subject at hand, but he knew any question was likely to draw an essay-length answer, so he simply sets about putting them back.

Or he would have, had his cheeks not suddenly bulged out; he promptly drops the books for their own safety, not a moment before he pushes out a belch of green fire, producing a scroll that falls into his hands, “oh, hey. A letter from the Princess”.

Twilight virtually fell off her elevated bedroom deck in the process of clambering over to Spike's position, neglecting to even use her magic … or remove her brush, which was now lodged in her mane, she grabs the scroll with both hooves and unfurls it hastily, “oh no, don't tell me I've fallen behind already...”

My faithful student,

You may have noticed the remarkable state of the sky last night. I believe it was the work of a pegasus paying tribute to Luna, and so would like you to find out who the pegasus was on my behalf, so that they can meet. I think it would do Luna a world of good to meet someone who appreciates her night, don't you?

Princess Celestia.

Twilight breathes a deep sigh of relief and visibly relaxes, draping the scroll on Spike's head and trotting off back to her mirror, “oh thank goodness”. Spike pulls the scroll off his head to reveal that he was less amused by it, but shrugs it off and reads the scroll for himself, “I guess we should ask Rainbow, huh?”.

Twilight regards the question momentarily, “no, I don't think that would help. Dash doesn't take the time to memorize all the other pegasi, much less ones who could do that much work on their own”. Spike nods along slowly, and illustrates with a claw “you got a point. But then what do we do?”.

“Do you suppose the dear is sick?” Rarity ponders aloud in concern, as she and Applejack canter down the street leading to the library. “Ah reckon” the earth pony returns with similar concern, “ain't normal fer Twilight t'disappear on us fer days at a time”.

As they drew closer to the library, they quickly detected the sounds of an awful ruckus going on inside. Without a moment's forethought, Applejack takes off in a gallop and flying-bucks her way through the door, “Twilight! Ah'm here sugarcube!”.

By the time Rarity trots in behind her, Applejack had gone from active to ponderous, bearing a confused cock-eared look and tilted head. The white unicorn follows her gaze, to gain much confused surprise of her own, as she finds a suddenly winged Twilight – hovering awkwardly, upside-down, and a library full of knocked over furniture and displaced books.

“This uh...this isn't as easy as it looks” Twilight reports sheepishly, swinging her hind legs around to try and flip herself over, only to succeed in performing a rolling somersault strait down into the floor, where she hands upside-down again heavily.

Spike sticks his head out from under a makeshift bunker made of books carrying a shell-shocked expression, “take her! Take her away from here! For the love of Celestia, the mess!”. Twilight shakes off her daze to give a frustrated “augh!”, then swings her hind-legs over again, this time managing to flip herself over into a proper seated posture at least, rubbing her head with a hoof, “so maybe I should have done this outside...”.

“Woah nelly!” Applejack reports, pulling back on the rope tired around her waist, the other end attached to Twilight's, using her body-weight to anchor the purple unicorn. They were outside now at least, Applejack keeping Twilight on a leash of sorts, as the two and Rarity stood in the field out the back of the library.

“Darling, are you sure this was a good idea?” Rarity inquires with concerned skepticism, watching her friend repeatedly veer off in random directions, only to be stopped by the length of rope, or the ground, though she seemed to be somewhat better at avoiding the latter now.

“I had to” Twilight insists awkwardly, managing with some considerable effort to organize herself into an upright hovering position, “I have to find a particular pegasus, and this is the best way to go about it”. Applejack and Rarity shoot each other an unconvinced look, before turning back to their friend, “uh...sugarcube? How's this meant t'help you? Y'cant even go in strait lines”.

Without prior warning, Twilight unfastens the rope from her waist and lets the line fall away – Applejack and Rarity immediately drop to the ground and duck for cover...but much to their surprise a moment later, the purple unicorn remains largely stable in her hovering position. “See? I'm getting the hang of this now” Twilight reports confidently, crossing her front hooves in a posture much like that often used by Rainbow Dash, “it's just a matter of balance and concentration”.

“NO WAY!”

The sudden outburst startles Twilight, causing her to flip over, but manage to stop herself before going head-first into the ground again, awkwardly flipping herself back over and returning to her hovering position. Rainbow Dash hangs out from over the edge of a cloud above the trio, wide-eyed and excited, “Twilight! You can fly now too!? That's awesome!”.

“It's temporary, dear” Rarity informs, accompanied with an under-breath thank Celestia from Applejack to the side, “Twilight is on a mission to find a particular pegasus and needs to be able to fly to do so”. Rainbow Dash however had taken little notice of Rarity's explanation, rolling off her cloud and hovering down to a position just behind Twilight, inspecting her newly acquired wings close up, “hey they even look real. I thought that temporary wing spell made fro-frou things?”.

The white unicorn is actually taken aback by this, remembering that indeed when Twilight had used the spell on her, they had produced a rather stunning pair of wings, far from ordinary. “Well the wings that come out depend on the pony” Twilight explains, with an oddly cautious tone, “they uh...look like whatever the pony thinks is ideal, basically”.

Rarity nods at this in agreement, considering her own experience, but Rainbow Dash gains a slightly puzzled, skeptical expression, before her eyes go wide, “Hey! Then why do yours look like Fluttershy's, not mine!?”. The purple unicorn averts her gaze off into space with a non-committal uhh... while Applejack and Rarity stifle a laugh.

“Thanks again for agreeing to come and help me” Twilight speaks, as she and Rainbow Dash fly along at a relatively leisurely pace – especially for the latter – above Ponyville, “I must admit to being a bit daunted by the task of finding one particular pegasus, with no clue at all who they could be”. Dash gives a casual shrug as she flies alongside her friend and smiles, “hey I'm just happy to finally have a flying buddy that actually talks. But Celestia really gave you NO clues who this pegasus is?”.

The purple unicorn shakes her head, “all we know is that she redid all the clouds last night”. Dash ponders this for a moment, rolling over to continue flying along on her back, “that's weird, you know? Pegasus don't really work at night, it's too cold and hard to see”. Twilight observes her friend's impressive flying, then cautiously rolls herself over – once too many times – but manages to copy Rainbow Dash's upside-down flying stance. “Hey, you're getting good at this!” Dash beams excitedly, “it's too bad this is only temporary”.

“Yeah about that...” Twilight begins, taking a moment to bite her lip nervously, then rolls over back into a proper flying posture, “I didn't tell the others, but...the way I set up this spell, my magic continually maintains it. I did it so it would last as long as I needed it to, but I'm not actually sure how I'm going to turn it off when I'm done”. Dash characteristically brushes off the negative, “hey what's the worst that could happen? You're winged for the rest of your life – sounds awesome to me”.

The purple unicorn shares a laugh with her friend in response to this, but then turns her head to conceal a momentarily concerned break, speaking under her breath yeah...or I could burn out my magic for good..., she isn't left with long to dwell on her concerns however, as Dash performs a skillful corkscrew and a half around her friend to end up on the other side of her, “so I'm thinkin' we should hit the local Weather Office first. They'll have a registry of all the pegasus in the area”.

Twilight nods affirmatively to this and takes a confident smile, “that's an excellent idea. We should also check in with the observatory in Canterlot”.

Applejack pushes her hat up with a hoof and brushes her forehead, gazing up at the summer sky – it was getting hotter as the day drew on, making working the orchard that much harder. She reaches back to rub her lightly aching side, where the harness for the apple-cart she was pulling was attached, but promptly stops as she spots Rarity and Fluttershy approaching.

“Howdy y'all” the earth pony greets with her usual friendly gait, albeit tempered with a bit of tiredness, “what brings y'all 'round?”. “Concern, darling” Rarity reports with a lightly furrowed brow, “Fluttershy dear, you explain” she continues, gesturing to their timid friend. The yellow pegasus rubs the front of one foreleg with the other hoof and lowers her head, “well, you see...um...there's been these weird noises...”

Applejack flusters slightly waiting for Fluttershy to eventually get to the point; Rarity observes this and gently interjects, “poor Fluttershy has been hearing strange noises, in the forest near her cottage in recent nights. I'm concerned there may be some dreadful creature lurking near her home”.

“Well that jus' won' do” Applejack responds with a light stomp of a hoof, “don' you worry none, ol' Applejack will come by later'n check it out”.

In the lobby of a building, predictably enough made of clouds, though with some actual wood and glass used as well, Twilight and Rainbow Dash sat side by side in front of a board, with a large diagram of the weather layout over Ponyville and the nearby areas, divided into sectors, accompanied by assignment-sheets of the various pegasi assigned to each sector.

Twilight read out each name as she used her magic to scribble them down on a list, accompanied by a running commentary from Dash of short descriptions like slow worker, early sleeper, bad sense of direction, and similar reasons they were unlikely to be the target pegasus, though one suspected largely derived from Dash's personal opinion alone. Twilight couldn't help but attach her own description of lazy when transcribing Rainbow Dash's own name, in counter to Dash's own description of awesome.

“So after all that...” Twilight begins, scanning over the list once more, “only a handful of names stand out as realistic possibilities”. She was evidently oblivious to the veritable parade of confused pegasi gawking at the winged unicorn as they passed by.

“Dash? Actually paying attention to your assignment for once?” the weather official snorts as she walks up behind the girls, inspecting what they're doing. “Ha ha” Dash retorts dryly, before placing a hoof to her chest and raising her nose, closing her eyes, “if you must know, we're on an important mission for Princess Celestia. Trying to find a particular pegasus”.

The official takes particular note of the fact Twilight was actually a unicorn with wings, but says nothing of it, instead offering a hoof forward, “then perhaps I can be assistance?”. The purple unicorn nods affirmatively, “that would be appreciated. We're trying to identify the pegasus responsible for last night's sky”. “Ah?” the official returns with a knowing tone, “you're looking for the Night Dancer?”.

Both Twilight and Rainbow Dash puzzle at this response, the unicorn canting her head, “Night Dancer?”. The official gives a sage nod, turning her head off into space, “yes, the Night Dancer. Oh that isn't her actual name, but then no one knows her actual name. Nopony's ever met her, though some have seen her”.

Twilight regards the mysterious way the pegasus official delivers the story with visible skepticism, Rainbow Dash seemed largely uninterested. “Her handiwork was first seen in Fillynois” the official continues, taking a matter-of-factly tone, “then she she disappeared, and her handiwork later appeared over Fillydelphia”, Twilight seems to actually regard this with some thought as the official continues, “then she disappeared again...and I guess she's around here now”.

“Let me guess” Twilight finally responds with a mildly skeptical tone, “she only appears at night, nopony's ever seen her up close – only from a distance, and seems to disappear into a burst of starlight”. The official halts at this with a blink or two of surprise, and stands down normally, “that's right, actually. You've heard the stories before?”. Twilight gives slow shake of her head, “no, but I've heard just about every other version of this story. They're all ponytails about Princess Luna”.

The official seems momentarily bemused by Twilight's response, then gives a dry chuckle and shakes her head, “actually it's just a fanciful story about a strange pegasus named Nightsky” she reports, “there's nothing mystical about her, but ponyfolk always come up with funny stories for things they don't understand”.

Twilight is taken aback by the frank response, momentarily regaining her composure, “so you KNOW her?”. The official gives a slow shake of her head, “no, nopony actually knows her. But I went to school with her, so I know it's her”.

Twilight gains a visibly perturbed look at this, furrowing her brow and gritting her teeth slightly, “so why didn't you just TELL us that in the first place?”. The official gives an idle shrug of her shoulders, “the story's more interesting? And it really doesn't matter. Even knowing her name, you'll never find her. She avoids other ponies completely”.

Twilight gives a frustrated “augh!” as she and Rainbow Dash walk away from the weather office, stepping off the edge of its cloud blank and resuming flight in the direction of Ponyville again, “can you believe that pegasus?”. Dash shakes her head, “oh you have no idea. She's always been a pain in the flank”, she turns her attention from her friend down to the landscape in the distance, “but you know, she kind of has a point. If a pegasus doesn't WANT to be found, our chances aren't so great”.

A Fluttershy remained securely cowered in the background, Rarity and Applejack continue past the boundary of her cottage grounds into the nearby forest. Even darkened by the canopy of trees overheard, the earth pony quickly notices the patchwork of heavy hooftread across the path a short ways in, “ain' no great mystery, looks like somepony's jus' been runnin' through here a lot”.

Rarity regards the tracks with an ever-attentive eye, being careful to only stand in the least dirty-spots of the dirt track – which was a feat in itself, “but Applejack dear, all these tracks go in the same direction”. Applejack turns her glance back down on the tracks and looks closer, “I reckon yer right...that does make less sense, why'd they only run'n th'one direction?”

Rarity ponders over this a moment, and perks with a thought, “perhaps this is just one part of a larger circuit the pony runs?”. “Ya maybe onta somethin' there” the earth pony returns, nudging her hat up with a hoof, “still, I can' think of many a pony that runs the Everfree Forest fer their health...ain' that what they call 'counter-intuition'?”. Rarity stifles a gentle laugh, and nods softly, “close enough, dear. And you are correct, it would seem like an awfully strange thing to do”.

Applejack continues studying the hoof-prints closely, as Rarity turns her attention to either end of the track, noting that neither end seemed to go in any particularly practical direction – one end just looped back into the forest, and the other lead out to the middle of nowhere in the rather vague general direction of Canterlot. “Now's it just me, or d'these tracks look awful deep?” the earth poiny suddenly queries skeptically, drawing the unicorn's attention back.

“Now that you mention it, they are rather deep impressions, and this ground doesn't feel particularly soft” Rarity returns, though doesn't dare to test the integrity of the ground itself lest it become stuck to her hooves, “perhaps we are looking for a colt?”.

“Stride's too long” Applejack returns with a notably analytical tone, “Big Mac's mighty big an' he still don' stride this long, too heavy fer it”

“Guys!” Rainbow Dash calls down, as she and Twilight fly overhead of the pair, banking down from her path and slowing to land in a short trot, and finally coming to rest nearby, “what's up?”. Twilight follows her down at a more moderated pace, landing next to Dash.

Rarity seemed preoccupied by something while looking at Twilight, but Applejack speaks before she has the opportunity, “jus' checkin' out these here tracks. Fluttershy was getting' the willies from some noises over here, but it turns out somepony's just been runnin' through here of the night”.

“How as your own investigations been going, dears?” Rarity finally adds curiously, though she was still preoccupied with some detail of Twilight's appearance. The purple unicorn had noticed by now, but leaves it for the time being, “well we think we've found out who we're looking for, but it sounds like the pegasus in question avoids contact with other ponies, so this may be as far as we get with it”.

“Nothin' doin' sugarcube” Applejack reports confidently, “if'n you wanna find this pegasus, ol' Applejack will make sure it happens”. Twilight presents a thankful smile, “thanks AJ. Anything you can think of would be a great help at this point”.

As Twilight turns to leave with Applejack, Rainbow Dash goes to follow along, but is halted by a gentle tug on her tail courtesy of Rarity's magic, “Rainbow darling, would you mind awfully coming to help me with something?”. Dash's first thought was to protest, but she quickly notices the suppressed look of concern on the unicorn's face, and drops from her hover onto the ground, “oh, uh...sure thing”.

As the temperature cooled and the sun drew down lower, the sky gained a more orange tint, and a gentle breeze began to temper the previous heat; as later afternoon drew into evening, it was evident it would be a pleasant one, at least.

Rainbow Dash and Rarity by this point had arrived at her boutique – judging from Dash's bored gait, as she hovered along in an upright, but slouched posture with her arms crossed, one presumed they'd done little talking or otherwise on the way.

“Now Dash, having spent virtually all day with Twilight, I must ask” Rarity begins with a concerned but thoughtful tone, turning to face her friend, “have you noticed anything...strange...about her today?”. The pegasus regards the question with momentary thought, staring up and to the side as she does so, then gives an idle shrug, “not...really, why?”.

Rarity gives a small shake of her head and gestures to her horn with a hoof, “you hadn't noticed? Her horn was nearly half its normal size when we crossed paths near Fluttershy's cottage”. Dash is again paused to think over this momentarily, dropping onto her hooves to stand properly this time, “now that you mention it, she used pretty much no magic today, which is kinda weird for her”.

The concern on Rarity's face grows at this, furrowing her brow momentarily in consideration as she glances out the nearby window, “I fear our dear Twilight has made some kind of error with her spell, but I do not understand her level of magic well enough to say what”.

Dash sits up on her hind legs, crossing her chest with one foreleg and rubbing her chin with the other hoof, closing one eye in thought, “she said...this morning I think it was, that the spell she's using for those wings is constantly maintained by her magic, so it lasts”.

Rarity's eyes immediately grow wider at this, turning sharply on her hooves toward her friend, “darling are you sure!? Oh this is terrible!”, she promptly begins making for the door, “come, we must have Spike send a letter to Princess Celestia at once!”. Dash just blinks a few times in skeptical confusion at this, “uhh...why?”. “Because!” Rarity returns, sounding a little desperate now, “if the spell is continually feeding off her magic, that means it can deplete it completely. If it is so dire that it is actually causing her horn to shrink...”.

“Wait...you don't mean...” the pegasus ponders over the implications, gaining a deep concern of her own, “she's gonna burn it all up!”.

The sun by this point was just setting behind the mountains in the distance, as Fluttershy sat on the stoop out front of her cottage. She bore a nervous, but weakly determined expression for once, her eyes continually gazing back and forth along the tree-line of the forest edge near her home, waiting.

Right on cue, she hears the familiar muffled thundering of hooves on the track behind the tree line, distant at first, but quickly drawing close, accompanied by the occasional rustle of branches or pitched crack of a stone being trampled.

With a nervous swallow and a big breath of summoned courage, the yellow pegasus marches across her yard and steps through the tree-line to stand on the track, to one side, where she closes her eyes and firmly issues an order, “stop!”.

The figure that emerges from the darkness of the far end of track approaches rapidly, but at the sudden order, the pony digs their hooves in deep and carves a set of grooves in the ground as they arrest their intense pace as quickly as possible, grinding to a halt a few feet short of the timid pegasus.

Fluttershy almost immediately looses what little bravery she'd managed to summon by now, sinking in her posture a little and averting her gaze, “u-uhm...sorry...it's just...you make so much noise...” her voice gradually becomes inaudibly quiet. The halted runner, evidently a pegasus herself, simply stood in silent observation of the timid Fluttershy, lowering one ear and lifting the other, trying to to work out what she's saying.

After a few moments, Fluttershy carefully turns and lifts her gaze to find the other pegasus, and her eyes widen at the sight – she stood noticeably taller than any of her friends, and had wings of a curiously large proportion and design, which rather than being folded simply hung down at her sides, almost like they were too heavy to lift. Her mane was also peculiarly similar to Twilight's at the back, as was her tail, though the top, front, and sides of her mane were of merely similar style, they were ostensibly longer, with one side completely covering one of her eyes. She was a darker cobalt in colour, her mane and tail primarily a more pastel blue, with her multi-toned mane and tail striping similar to Twilight's, but beginning with a bold ivory and fading to a soft powder gray. Her one visible eye was a piercing yellow, and peered at Fluttershy from amidst a largely disinterested expression.

“I...I take care of small animals, you see...” the yellow pegasus tries again, swallowing nervously, “and they need their rest...and it's just...y-you make a lot of noise when...you run through here...”. The other pegasus doesn't say anything in response, simply walking over to one of the nearby trees, where she kicks an alarmingly deep indentation into its trunk at eye-level, then begins walking past Fluttershy along the track.

“Won' happen again. Ah'll know t'be quiet 'round this spot nex' time” the pegasus finally speaks in a low, distant tone, with an accent curiously similar to Applejack's, though it sounded by ear to be from a merely nearby but diferent region. And with that, the pegasus continues to walk off along the track without another word; a few long moments after fading from view, the distant sound of her breaking into gallop again could be heard, but quickly fades away.

“So what's the plan again?” Twilight inquires curiously, as she and Applejack stood on opposite sides of what appeared to be the same track of the forest, but in a different location. “S'really simple like” the earth pony responds, gesturing to the far end of the track from them with a hoof “when they come'a runnin' through here, we'll stop 'em, and jus' let 'em know they're scarin' poor Fluttershy when they run through here. Then we'll go see what we c'n do about getting a word in with yer mysterious pegasus”.

Twilight nods affirmatively and assumes a readied posture, fixing her gaze at the far end of the track as they wait. Applejack, planning ahead, readies a length of rope and keeps it ready to grab and throw, but for the moment, leaves it slack.

As they stood there in waiting, Applejack relents her preparation momentarily to cast a mildly concerned glance across at her friend, “uh, Twi...I been meanin' to ask...”. The unicorn glances across at her friend in turn, “hm? What's the matter AJ?”.

“Yer uh...yer horn there...why'sit getting' smaller?” the earth pony continues, motioning toward it with a nod. Twilight raises a hoof to feel her horn, promptly noting it was, by this point, almost a third of its original size. A heavy sense of dread visibly washes over her, but she firmly shakes it off and resumes her readied posture, “I'll explain later, okay? Lets do this first”.

Applejack clearly wasn't convinced, but out of respect for her friend's feelings, she forces herself to let it go for the time being, and returns her attention to the approach end of the track. Not a moment in time as it turned out, as it was just then that the same pegasus Fluttershy had encountered emerged from the bend in the track heading toward them.

“Hold up there y'all!” Applejack calls down the track, quickly getting ready to use her rope if need be afterward. The pegasus once again digs her hooves in and grinds to a halt, though this time several feet back from the pair, and with a visibly more defensive gait as she backs up slightly.

Twilight takes this opportunity to look past her slightly strange appearance, to notice the pegasus' cutie mark; a pastel purple crescent moon with a star set into its opening, both filled with a fade-in pastel white from the center, her eyes open wider, “Nightsky? You're Nightsky, aren't you?”.

The pegasus looks visibly shaken by the identification, becoming apprehensive and glancing around for a way past the pair; she quickly notices the rope Applejack has prepared, and that the other pony has wings, but is clearly not a pegasus.

Whether by calculation or desperation, Nightsky reacts as she sees it; she hop-steps back once more, inciting Applejack to prepare the rope to stop her, then immediately drops low on her launches and leaps into the air, her hooves leaving indentations in the track from the force – she throws her heavy wings upward, the initial force actually pushing her down, but then powerfully strikes them down and back, sending her hurtling at an angle up and forward at a startling speed.

Applejack casts her rope, but can't throw it fast enough to catch the large pegasus as she takes off, hastily working to draw the rope back for another try as Twilight swings around on her hind-hooves and briefly runs after her, only to jump into the air and take off.

By now Nightsky was coasting along on her initial momentum, which gave Twilight an opportunity to catch up fairly quickly, but only until the larger pegasus realizes she's being followed; she promptly strikes her wings again and hurtles forward, leaving Twilight to beat her wings furiously to try and catch up again.

“I just want to talk to you!” the unicorn calls ahead in a fluster of effort and mild frustration, “please!”. As she coasts on her momentum, Nightsky glances back along herself at the winged unicorn, her composure seeming to soften as she thinks it over, she calls back cautiously“w-...what'd'y'alll want with me...?”

As the built up momentum wears down, Twilight manages to pull up alongside the larger pegasus, allowing her to soften her tone to speak across to her, “Princess Luna was really impressed by what you did with the sky last night” she explains, reaching back along herself to pull out the original letter that started her mission, “Princess Celestia asked me to find you, so we could arrange a meeting, that's all”.

Nightsky allows the purple unicorn to glide in close enough for her to get a better look at the letter, difficult to read as it flapped in the wind, but she seemed to be taking it in, “a-ah dunno 'bout that...meetin' a Princess? Ah dun think ah cou-”, her response is cut short as Rainbow Dash hurtles up alongside them. “Hey, Twilight, is this the one?” she inquires excitedly, though in her haste startles the larger pegasus, who abruptly strikes her wings again and hurtles forward once more.

“Rainbow Dash!” Twilight yells impatiently, “that isn't helping!”. “Don't worry!” Dash calls back energetically, “I'll catch her!”. “No! That won-” Twilight begins, but it's too late – her friend had already taken off after Nightsky with her typical reckless haste.

Although curiously it seemed to be doing her no good – Dash easily caught up to the larger pegasus, but this only inspired her to continue striking her wings periodically, the repeated effect of the timed, powerful bursts causing her to retain enough sheer momentum to stay at the limit of Dash's own speed, neither pulling ahead from the deadlock.

“Hey you're actually pretty fast!” Rainbow Dash calls across to Nightsky with an impressed smirk, “but I can keep this up all night!”. As if in response, the larger pegasus suddenly draws back her wings and goes into an angled dive, which Dash quickly follows her into; Dash continues beating her wings, first compensating for the weight difference between them, then starting to pull ahead, before Nightsky begins striking her wings into the dive, causing her to speed up radically.

Dash's mouth falls open and her eyes go wide at this, before she grits her teeth and furrows her brow, pointing her hooves ahead of her and beating her wings harder – she forgot all about why she was even chasing the other pegasus now, she couldn't let her be faster, even if it meant showing her the Sonic Rainboom, regardless of the time of day.

In fact Rainbow Dash was so recklessly determined, she didn't notice when the other pegasus glanced back from her dive, having evidently been waiting for this, and suddenly spreads her oversized wings out to either side at flat angles – the immense up-current catches her immediately and sends her hurtling upward suddenly, sailing past Rainbow Dash and allowing her to convert it into a high speed forward cruise that carries her off into the distance.

Not thinking it through, with the vapor barrier forming up around her, Dash tries to pull up sharply to resume chase – in doing so, scrubbing off too much speed and presenting too much surface area to the resistance, producing a slingshot effect that sends it hurtling off...backwards.

Twilight could do little but repeatedly blink in a perplexed manner as Rainbow Dash went sailing backwards past her a few moments later - , in a mostly upside-down orientation with her forelegs crossed and wearing a rather unamused look - “all yours from here”.

Feeling like it had taken her half the night, as the moon now slowly rose in the sky behind her, Twilight finally spots Nightsky again at the bank of a lake. Thinking ahead, she doubles back a short distance as she descends, so that she can land a distance back from where the strange pegasus was, and then slowly walks the rest of the way.

“Nightsky? Please don't run away again” the purple unicorn begins with a gentle approach, slowly walking up behind her, “I'm sorry about my friend. Please, I just want to talk to you”.

Nightsky glances back from her upright seated position at the water's edge, giving a weak, defeated sigh as Twilight arrives just behind and to the side of her, “can't y'all jus' leave me be? I don' bother nopony, all ah'ask is th'same”. Twilight gives a small shake of her head and bears a thoughtful expression, “I'm not trying to harass you, Nightsky. My friend was just a bit overzealous”.

Twilight takes the opportunity to glance past the odd pegasus, to note the book. Inkwell and quill sitting in front of her, even from a distant glance she could see it was full of the pony's drawings, poetry, and journals – though as Nightsky notices Twilight looking at it, she promptly closes it.

“You know, before I arrived in Ponyville, I never really understood the point of friendship. I spent all my time in books and study...” she muses thoughtfully, offering a gentle smile, “but now I couldn't imagine my life without my friends”.

“Lucky you” Nightsky responds, though with a curious lack of any malice or ill-will of any kind, she actually sounded sincere. Twilight puzzles over this response at first, but shakes it off and resumes her thoughtful smile, “maybe if you didn't avoid everypony all the time, you could make some friends of your own...”.

Nightsky gives a slow shake of her head, “ah'on't need no friends. Bein' alone suits me jus' fine”. As the conversation continued, Twilight was inherently oblivious to the fact her horn – and the wings she'd used it to make – had disappeared completely by this point.

“Surely you get lonely” Twilight furthers, continuing to look at the back of the odd pegasus, who didn't seem intent on turning around any time soon. “Lonely's a state of mind” Nightsky responds in that same, almost hauntingly calm, yet depressive tone of hers, “if'n y'all got friends an' ya on your own too long, y'get lonely. If'n y'all got no friends, yer always on your own, nothin' to change”.

To her surprise, Twilight actually finds herself at a loss for counter to this point. It was a sad notion from her perspective, but the logic to it was airtight. After a few moments though, a thought visibly occurs to her, “so...you don't make friends, out of fear that they'll leave you alone?”.

Nightsky turns her head slightly in Twilight's direction at this, though there's no noticeable change in her attitude, “if all them friends of yours disappeared t'morrow, how'd you feel?”. Twilight doesn't even ponder the notion, shaking her head, “horrible. Lonely, sad, abandoned. But that would never hap-”. Nightsky cuts off her response as she continues, “an I reckon you'd do jus'bout anythin' t'avoid that, right?”.

Twilight once again finds herself unable to respond – she wanted to say yes, but she consciously realized that was also the point of what Nightsky was saying. It was quickly dawning on her that the strange pegasus had had a difficult life, and that her own intelligence had led her to where she is now.

“Just about anything, yes” Twilight finally responds, closing her eyes, “but I'd also like to think, that if it did happen, I wouldn't give up on ever having friends again. Knowing the joy it brings to my life, I would have to try again. And again, and again after that”.

As Nightsky doesn't seem to have a response to give to her last, Twilight instead turns her attention back to her original task - “anyway, as I was saying earlier...” she begins to use her magic to pull out the letter again, only to realize nothing's happening, prompting her to quickly lift a front hoof to feel her forehead – her composure quickly sinks as she realizes its completely flat now.

Shaking lightly, she slowly reaches a hoof back, brushing past her also completely bare sides to her saddlebag, from which she pulls out the letter and sets it down next to the strange pegasus, “Princess Celestia asked me to find out who you were, so we could arrange a meeting with Princess Luna”.

She was by now starting to tear up, but she continued holding her composure, somehow. “Drop by my library, if you want to arrange it...” she finishes, climbing to her feet and glancing back in the direction of Ponyville, shivering on her legs, “it was nice to meet you, Nightsky”.

“Twilight?” Applejack calls up into the door of the library, “c'mon now open the door sugarcube”. The sun was still fairly high in the sky, but it wasn't as hot as the other day – a soft breeze tempered the weather quite nicely. After a long few moments of silence, Applejack lifts a hoof and knocks on the door again, “Twi? I know y'all c'n here me, why won't y'open the door?” the earth pony tries again in concern.

Rarity gives a slow shake of her head behind Applejack, with a concerned and saddened gait of her own, “the poor dear hasn't come out in days, she wont answer the door, she sent Spike back to Canterlot...I tell you it's just dreadful”. “Y'aint leavin' me with many options now...” Applejack continues with concerned, mild frustration – Rarity takes the cue and backs up, covering her face with one hoof, and shielding her mane with the other – a moment before the earth pony swings around and bucks the door in with a sharp crack.

Applejack promptly walks inside with Rarity in tow – but the white unicorn quickly recoils as a cloud of dust billows out of the now opened door, peering cautiously and in mild horror inside, “in the name of Celestia, the dust...!”. Applejack, far less concerned with such matters, continues further inside the library – it was caked in days worth of unattended dust from being sealed so long, with no one doing anything to rectify it. Just about every book imaginable had been torn from the shelves and scattered around carelessly.

“What in Equestria...?” Applejack begins in bemusement as she surveys the scene, but snaps out of it when she realizes Twilight isn't even present, “Rarity, she ain' even here!”. “Well duh” Rainbow Dash reports, appearing from over the edge of the roof above Rarity, “she headed over to the orchard like ten minutes ago. I'm amazed you didn't run into her”.

“Oh heyseeds” Applejack remarks, glancing up at Rainbow Dash as she comes out of the library door, turning off down the street Twilight had to have taken, “ah'll catch her up”. The two friends watch the earth pony gallop off into the distance, leaving them in a silence last a long few moments.

“So...uh” Rainbow Dash starts awkwardly, rolling over onto her back and assuming a lazy-nap posture, “what are your plans for today, Rarity?”. “Besides worrying about Twilight...” the white unicorn responds with a distant, concerned tone, before her eyes widen and she snaps out of it, glancing up to Dash's position, “going to the spa, perhaps...if somepony would like to come along?”.

Rainbow Dash makes gestures of violent illness, at first...but stops and rolls over to peer out over the edge again, blushing slightly “that uh...that might be so bad, I guess”.

Some distance up the road, nearing the outskirts of Ponyville where the road branched off, Applejack finally eased out of her gallop – she could see Twilight up ahead, slowly walking along the road to her orchard ahead. She takes a moment to gather her composure, then canters along to catch up to her friend.

“Howdy Twilight. You had us awful worried...” she begins, but trails off as she notices Twilight actually seemed to be smiling, if perhaps a little weakly. “AJ, I was just on my way to see you” Twilight returns, looking across to her friend, “I'm sorry if I made you guys worry”.

Applejack wasn't quite sure how to process this turn of events – that Twilight seemed to be okay when her horn still hadn't grown back, even if Princess Celestia had assured her it would – seemed to defy reason. This was Twilight, who freaked out over a late friendship report, inherently unconcerned that she can't even perform magic for an unknown length of time.

“Uh, Twi? Everythin' okay?” Applejack musters in mild skepticism – Twilight's mane was kind of messy, but otherwise she seemed fine. Twilight seems to notice Applejack's attention to her mane and gives a playful roll of her eyes, “I'm not used to brushing it without magic, AJ. That's all. I'm fine, really”.

Applejack smiles weakly at this, but can't help shake the feeling this just didn't seem right, “really now, Twilight, you c'n tell ol' Applejack if-”

Twilight shakes her head and gives a light chuckle, “AJ, really I'm okay”, she assures, swinging around on her hooves and starting to walk backwards, “I've decided...that this is an interesting experiment, in what life is like without magic. It's something I've never experienced before, and I think I can learn from it”.

At this, Applejack finally calms, taking on a warm smile of relief – this, finally, sounded like the Twilight she knew - “well ah'm mighty happy t'hear that sugarcube. So why were ya comin' lookin' for me anyway?”. Twilight gestures her head toward the farm, “I thought maybe I could help out for a while. Get a feel for working the old fashioned way”.

The earth pony ponders at this skeptically, “uh, Twi...y'aint exactly built fer...”, she cuts herself off as she thinks it over a bit further, and resumes her warm smile, “well why the hay not, it'll be mighty nice to have y'around, and we c'n always use the help”. Twilight smiles to this, swinging around on her hooves to walk normally again, “then it's settled” .

“Hold still, darling” Rarity insists impatiently, magically manipulating a tube of lipstick, “you don't want to end up looking like a clown”. Rainbow Dash slumps into a defeated, upright seated posture – her mane had been set into a double braid, and her tail into a single braid, and she didn't look particularly amused – but she wasn't fighting back.

Rarity was evidently finishing up the last of the girlifying makeup touches on her face at this point, and clearly overjoyed to be doing it, on the other hand.

“There!” the white unicorn announces, standing back from Dash with a proud smile, “darling you look amazing, see?” she floats in a body-length mirror to rest in front of the pegasus. Rainbow Dash observes herself in the mirror, initially looking like she was about to snap – but after a long moment, she blushes and smiles faintly, “yeah...I guess I do look kinda nice...”

It was just about that moment the irrepressible self-titled trio, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, burst in through the door of the boutique, rather literally. Sweetie Bell and Apple Bloom seemed to be carrying a half-intelligible conversation about decorating the clubhouse, oblivious to the two older ponies as they passed strait through – Scootaloo, on the other hand, stops dead in her tracks at the sight of Rainbow Dash, wide eyed and mouth agape in horror.

The sun by now had begun to descend toward the horizon as the evening neared. It was still fairly warm, and the breeze had died down too much to ease it off, but the pegasi above were busy organizing the cloud for a night storm, quickly lowering the temperature in the process.

Twilight huffed a bit with effort and strain, visibly struggling to keep pace with Applejack as they both pulled apple-carts toward the barn – though one couldn't help but notice Twilight's had half the amount of apples in it. Applejack gives a small shake of her head with a soft chuckle, “y'don give up easy do ya?”.

Twilight shakes her head with a defiant smile, “not a chance. I'm not going to be beaten by an applecart”. Her pace labored and slowed as they neared the barn, and she was visibly loosing the battle to pull the weight, but she dug her hooves in and kept at it, finally rolling it in the last few inches before slumping onto her stomach.

Applejack gives an approving smile and a soft chuckle, detaching herself from the harness of her own applecart, then moving over to release Twilight from hers, “ah gotta admit, ah din' think you'd manage half'a what y'did today, but y'sure showed me”.

Twilight climbs to her feet, smiling proudly, if tiredly, and shaking a little from the exhaustion as she and Applejack slowly walk back toward the farmhouse, “today was just what I needed, AJ. It was hard work, but I had a lot of fun hanging out with you”.

She pauses for a moment in thought, then looks back over at her friend, “I admit, this morning I really was still pretty down, just putting on a brave face. But after today...”, she pauses herself, glancing out at the orchard, then back to her friend, “well, if my horn never grows back, I think I could be just fine here”.

Applejack blushes faintly at this, lifting a hoof to rub the back of her neck – Twilight may have drastically exceeded her expectations...but they were pretty low to begin with, not having expected her to last the first couple of hours. Still, she'd worked so hard, and showed such determination at it, she couldn't help but believe if she kept at it, she'd become as strong as she was herself.

“You know, Twi...” Applejack begins softly, smiling warmly and blushing a little more, “ah think ah could get'ta likin' that”. Twilight blushes faintly at this, wondering if she was reading more into it than she should, finding herself unable to come up with a safe response. Applejack becomes visibly nervous by this delay, herself wondering if she'd gone a step too far, but before she could say anything else, Twilight smiles widely through her blush, “I'm glad you feel that way, AJ”.

A long moment of comfortable silence passes as they simply smile at each other, eventually being broken by the heavy hoof-steps of Big Macintosh walking up to them. “Gonna need to git'a start on dinner, ah reckon” he reports idly, apparently oblivious to the scene he'd walked into.

Applejack and Twilight both turn slightly and rub the back of their necks with a hoof, gazing off into space. “Uh, yeah” Applejack begins quickly, “ah reckon yer'right...”, she pauses a moment and glances over at Twilight, “you wan' stay for dinner, sugarcube? Least w'could do after all th'work y'put in today”.

Twilight smiles softly, but gives a small shake of her head, “as much as I'd like to, there's something I should really follow up on”. Applejack seems a little dejected at first, but returns a soft smile and a small nod of her head,”well awright then”.

“I'll be back tomorrow through!” Twilight blurts out, blushing at how slightly over-zealous she'd sounded, “I mean...if you'd like me to come back tomorrow, I'd like to do this again”. Applejack smiles widely at this, “ah'd love that, Twi”. Big Macintosh observes the whole scene from nearby with a dry smirk, then gives a shake of his head and proceeds into the farmhouse.

The night was already rolling on by the time Twilight finally reached the lake where she'd met Nightsky previously. It was drizzling slightly, but the rain the clouds had been organized for hadn't yet properly started – though from the looks of them, it wouldn't be long now.

Twilight slowly walks along the water's edge, gazing around for any sign of the strange pegasus – all too aware this was a long shot at best. Consequently she finds herself in surprise when she comes upon a large piece of parchment fixed down with a rock roughly where they'd been talking last time.

With noticeably improved manual finesse, Twilight slides the rock aside and unfolds the parchment, careful to shield it as best she could from the drizzle with her body as she looks it over – a hand-drawn map, consisting of the lake she was currently at, leading back to part of Ponyville, and on past that to an area just beyond it's northern outskirts, from the look of it.

Elsewhere at that moment, the scene was quite different. Once more in Rarity's boutique, in the dining room/kitchen specifically, lit only by candles on the table, the aforementioned white Unicorn and Rainbow Dash sat at opposite ends of the small table with dinner spread in progress between them.

For the longest few moments in history, Dash just gazed in complete loss of how to react, at the very skilfully prepared, but excessively fancy food before her, of which she'd eaten relatively little so far, largely as a result of not being entirely sure how to appropriately do so.

“Is there...something wrong with the meal, dear?” Rarity inquires nervously as she observes her friend, finally breaking the silence. Dash quickly lifts her head in surprise, and shakes her head, “oh, no, no, not at all. I'm...just not used to food like this, I guess” she assures nervously.

Rarity didn't seem completely convinced, and looked to be getting a bit self-conscious, so Dash quickly gives up a nervous smile, “so hey...today was...fun, you know? Not my normal kind of thing, but...it was nice”. One noticed that Rainbow Dash had done nothing to spoil the look Rarity had given her earlier in the day, which further suggested she'd done virtually nothing she would normally do.

Rarity's white coat did not work in favor when it came to concealing a blush, however subtle it was. “I'm glad to hear it, Dash” she returns warmly, “I must admit, I would never have believed you would tolerate a day like today. It means a lot to me that you did”.

Realizing what she'd just said, Rarity's blush only intensifies, and Dash gains one of her own in kind. A few moments of nervous silence pass, leaving the sentiment to brew, but before Rarity can add anything further, Dash suddenly blurts out awkwardly, “well it's not like I'd do it for anyone else, right?”.

Dash promptly goes wide-eyed in embarrassed horror at what she'd just said, as though she'd observed it from a distance. Rarity, blushing profusely at this point, sat there with her mouth wide open, even as it caused a piece of half-chewed food to fall out onto her plate. The fact such a thing happened, and she didn't even react to it, was something of a statement in itself to just how stunned she was.

By now Dash was having serious thoughts of escaping through the nearest window, open or otherwise, and one imagined Rarity knew it, as she promptly reached across the table to place her hoof on top of one of Rainbow's own, presenting a warm smile, “I have a fantastic idea...”

Twilight stopped to pull out the map once again, as she neared the northern edge of Ponyville – the town was very quiet at this time of night, most ponies eating dinner or having turned in for the night. It was raining now, but Twilight had thought ahead to bring her hooded raincoat, within which she carefully shielded the map to check it by a street-lamp, before safely tucking it away and continuing on her way.

A surprisingly short distance beyond the northern boundary of Ponvyville was a much older part of the original town, long since abandoned and largely run down. That is, save for just one structure – or rather, tree-home – what Twilight could only presume was the predecessor to her own library, which looked to be in what would've been the square of this area once upon a time.

Twilight could tell even from a distance that it was still inhabited by the familiar stable radiance of reading-candles coming from the window of her facing. She walks past the letterbox that had clearly not been used in her lifetime up to the front door, takes a moment to prepare herself, then lifts a hoof and lightly knocks on the door.

It takes but a moment for the door open, though the face that greets her on the other side was far from what she expected.

“Sparkle” Trixie greets dryly from the other side of the door, before stepping back away from it inwards, “well...come in I guess”. Shaking off the initial shock, Twilight proceeds inside the tree-home, as Trixie closes the door behind her, taking a moment to glance around the interior.

Compared to the outside, which suggested it was just as abandoned as the rest of the area, the interior was quite well restored, if a bit spartan. There were few books to speak of in the old shelves, and few of those shelves left to speak of to begin with, most of the wall-space having been replaced with large hand-drawn artworks and caligraphy, and a few of Trixie's old advertisement posters – more designs of which than Twilight had seen before.

Trixie poits her nose skyward and trots across the main floor to a separated rear area, disappearing behind the curtain she closes, which separates it from the rest of the room. Within a moment of this, Nightsky slowly walks down from the raised bedroom area beyond, which one quickly noticed was further up and further forward than the layout in Twilight's library.

“Ah wondered if'n y'were gonna show up” Nightsky reports calmly as she descends into the main area not far from Twilight, “suppose yer here t'tell me off fer not respondin' t'that invitation”. Twilight seems momentarily oblivious to the question, having long since forgotten her last act before becoming a recluse until recently was to report Nightsky's identity to Princess Celestia.

“Actually, no” Twilight finally returns, finding herself unable to stop glancing around at the hand-drawn artworks adorning the walls, “I really just...wanted to see how you were doing, actually”. The strange pegasus takes a moment to look back toward Trixie's separated little area, “y'used all th'hot water again. Don' think I don' know”. The blue unicorn's head bursts out from between the curtains with a bemused and slightly worried look, “T-Trixie's mane requires a great deal of attention...sorry”, her head slips back through the curtains out of view.

Nightsky shakes her head lightly, then gestures her head toward the door, before walking across the room and out of it herself, with Twilight in puzzled tow. Now slowly walking around the square surrounding the tree, in the pouring rain, Twilight observed the strange unicorn promptly become completely soaked down, but she seemed totally unfazed.

“You should be careful...” Twilight insists as she follows Nightsky around the square at their slow pace, “you'll catch a cold or something”. Nightsky glances back past herself momentarily, then looks forward again, “not likely. Ah'm too used to th'cold to get a cold”.

Twilight ponders this a moment, but finds herself with more pressing curiosities, “so....you live with Trixie?”. Nightsky visibly gives a shake of her head, “ah let'er stay with me, thas' all. Aint nothin' more to it”. Twilight couldn't help but wonder how this arrangement came to be, but found herself doubting she'd get the story and defers to other matters, “so Luna sent you an invitation to meet her?”.

“Ye-uh” Nightsky returns idly, pausing her walk to glance up at the moon, “ah thought about it, but ah'm too set in mah'ways t'start changin' now”. Twilight puzzles at this, gaining a skeptical look, “what about Trixie? That doesn't seem like your 'normal' way”.

Nightsky visibly gives an idle shrug of her shoulders, “ain't much sense to it, ah'know. Girl turned up on mah doorstep one day cryin' somethin' fierce an' about as ashamed as ah've ever seen a pony. Ah may be ah'lot of unpleasant things, but heartless ain' one of them”.

Twilight couldn't help but feel a deep pang of responsibility to this information, but knew there was hardly anything she could do about it now, nor that it was actually her fault to begin with. “I don't think you're unpleasant” she responds finally, “that's not really the point though”.

Nightsky just nods in agreement to this, finally stopping and turning around where she is to face Twilight directly, “now, look...” she glances off to the side in thought momentarily, then looks ahead to Twilight again, “ah'm sorry if'n you think it poor of me t'not go meet Princess Luna, the truth is ah'm just too afraid to”.

Twilight puzzles at this, but Nightsky continues before she can inquire on it, “th'reason ah do everythin' at night is ah'get powerful weak under the sun. Always have, born that way. When th'night is yer natural climate, ah'pony has to figure they should be thankful to Princess Luna. Ev'n b'efore sh'came back from exile. But y'see, normal people are well enough able to disappoin' ya, let alone yer idol. An' so ah'm too afraid to meet'er”.

Nightsky seems to have to take a deep breath after that, almost as though saying that much took a massive amount of effort – considering her personality, that probably wasn't far from the truth either. Twilight regards this for a long few moments in consideration, but finally submits a nod, “I think I see what you mean. I myself have idolized Princess Celesita most of my life. She's never disappointed me...but I've disappointed her at least once that I know of, and that was hard to take”.

“...ah thought you lived in a library” Nightsky suddenly inquires, raising a brow at Twilight. The purple unicorn – however hornless at present – blinks once or twice in ponder, “I do”. Nightsky tilts her head slightly, “y'smell like y'live in'n apple tree”. Twilight pauses at this, then gives a shake of her head, “oh, no. It's just I spent most of today working at Sweet Apple Acres with my friend Applejack”.

Nightsky seems to regard the answer with some mild skepticism, lifting a slightly oversized ear from its usual slump, “frien'? Don' you mean....”, she cuts herself off, giving a small shake of her head, “ah-see. Well this'been great an' all but I got a sky to change, now's been enough rain”. “Enough rain?” Twilight inquires thoughtfully, glancing up at the sky, then back down to Nightsky, “oh I see...you only change the sky when it wont cause problems”.

The strange pegasus seems almost bemused that even needed clarification, but she doesn't say anything to the subject. Instead, she slowly walks back to her tree, entering through the front door, reappearing a few moments later on the balcony with Trixie in tow. The blue unicorn holds up a large hand-drawn illustration of a night sky, which Nightsky studies closely for a moment or two, then nods to Trixie – who promptly backs away cautiously.

Duckling low on her legs for a long moment, Nightsky makes a powerful leap into the air off balcony, throwing her oversized wings upward – in turn forcing her body down sharply – before giving them a powerful strike and sending herself hurtling up and forward at an angle, leaving a cleaved wake in the rain along the way.

At the limit of the first strike's momentum, Nightsky uses a slow, timed rhythm of the powerful motions to propel herself upward – the moonlight catching the white bands in her mane and tail, creating a radiant silver trail behind her as she disappeared into the dark clouds.

Twilight couldn't help but watch in mild awe as the silver streak Nightsky left in her wake was all that could be seen against the dark sky, fluidly arcing back and forth through the clouds in a slow-form spiral formation that gradually draws the cloud-mass together into a spiral-arm mass itself.

Just as the spiral cloud mass had gained enough momentum to continue rotating on its own, Nightsky plunges down out of its center and performs a wide revolving sweep around the outside of it, gathering a large vapor trail in her silver wake, sparkling from the light of it as it ribbons behind her, banking out of the circle once more into a low dive, and from that into a steep, high-speed climb strait up into the middle of the cloud-mass.

As she enters it, she suddenly throws her wings out flat and her forelegs out to either side, the ribbon of accelerated vapor rushing up through the middle of the cloud-mass around her, the high-friction causes a spontaneous – and substantial lightning bolt to arc out from her position – the cloud mass literally explodes outward, covering the sky in delicate strands of gossamer cloud which illuminated silver under the moon above.

Twilight was astounded by the spectacle, but this was quickly replaced with shock as she realized Nightsky was plummeting lifelessly from the epicenter of the effect. She broke into a desperate gallop to where she thought the strange pegasus would hit the ground, but promptly grinds to a halt at a distance when she sees Trixie already standing there, who uses her magic – and a visibly substantial amount of effort – to arrest the pegasus' fall, slowing her enough that she lands on the ground no harder than one would by tripping over.

She could only watch in in a mixture of shock and surprise, as Trixie exerted herself to prop the large pegasus up, then strain as she carried Nightsky on her back, back to the tree. “Is...is she alright?” Twilight inquires with shocked concern.

Trixie relents her usually obnoxious attitude with a tone of genuine concern, “she's fine, Sparkle. Doing that takes everything she has, that's all”. The blue unicorn gives an awkward and largely unsuccessful flip of her soaked mane, the announces “true artists suffer for their art, and all that”, as she continues to carry Nightsky the last of the way back to the tree, pausing at the door momentarily to glance back in Twilight's direction, “...sorry about your horn”, promptly closing the door behind them after disappearing inside.

Elsewhere in Ponyville, in the dark, smoke-machine and technicolor laser-show atmosphere of a late-night dance club, Rainbow Dash and Rarity were to be found on one of the dance-floors. Rarity had taken the elegant curls out of her mane and tail so they assumed more of a bang-like style, and adopted a collection of multicolored glowing bracelets for each leg.

“Now this I imagine is much more your scene, no?” Rarity inquires playfully as she dances by Dash. The pegasus couldn't help by smile ear to ear excitedly as she danced with her friend, “you know it! I can't believe you thought of this!”

Rarity smiles and dances in closer to Dash, quickly darting her face in beside the pegasus' own to whisper playfully in her ear, “like I'd do so for anyone else, right?”. As she pulled back, Rarity could help but smile at the intense blush – and exuberant smile – on Dash's face.

Suddenly finding herself possessing of no concern for their surroundings or who may be watching, given they were surrounded by plenty of other dancers, Rarity spontaneously slides back in close and places a carefully timed kiss on Dash's lips. Rainbow Dash beams excitedly in the moment the white unicorn pulls away, only to gladly pull her back in for another in kind.

Author's Commentary

Devon here. I just wanted to clear up any points that may, or maybe didn't occur to the reader, but may in future. Nightsky is my OC Pony, which is probably obvious enough, and I would like to illustrate the following;

This series is effectively named after my OC pony, but it's not actually about her specifically. I know, that probably sounds strange, but the thing is – I don't conceive of my stories with titles. But without titles, they would be awfully hard to quantify or identify, so it's just simpler to donkey-title it. It is really that simple.

And yes, it is a series. Or it could be. I have two more installments I could post, but I'll wait to see what kind of reaction (if any) I get first. Not a ransom, just common sense. Incidentally, I do my actual writing in openoffice, then transcribe it to the editor, so there may be missing italization (I don't use bolds). This may occasional confuse a line.

Nightsky is not faster than Rainbow Dash by any means. The strange manner in which Nightsky flies simply means she maintains her maximum speed with far less effort – the trade off is that precisely because of the way she flies, she cannot accelerate and maneuver at the same time. Her wingspan and mass does enable her to perform some aerodynamic/physics actions a small, agile pegasus like Rainbow can't, though.

Nightsky exercises by running because she requires a much larger initial leap into the air to achieve flight, due to the way she flies. I conceived her as being able to run exceptionally fast, and use her wings as aerodynamic assists while doing so, though I've not thought of any comparison between her running speed and the main-6. She consequently also has very powerful legs, though again, I'm in no mind to claim they're stronger than Applejack's. AJ is my favorite pony to begin with.

Pinkie Pie doesn't and probably wont appear in my fiction because I am not satisfied with the way I write the character. As I do not feel my portrayal does the character any justice, omitting her from my work rather than half-assing it, is my way of respecting the character.

Similarly, I'm not all that satisfied with the way I portray Fluttershy, so I tend to use her very little, but I'm gradually working that out.

There is not and will not be a relationship between Nightsky and Trixie. There won't be a relationship between Nightsky and any official character. Call it a spoiler, but I don't work that way. I use my OC pony solely as a literary tool to provide additional situational material and context as necessary, not to indulge in any self-gratifying practice. Shipping Twilight and AJ, and Rarity and Rainbow together is all the self-gratification I require.

On the subject of how big Nightsky actually is – she's somewhere in between the main-6 and Season 2 Luna, closer to Luna's end of the scale. She is not meant to be a part of the royal family by any stretch of the imagination, either. There are no cross-breeds in MLP to my knowledge, but that's basically how I conceived Nightsky – as a half earth-pony, half-pegasus, resulting in an oversized pegasus with oversized wings. She's also not related to Applejack at all, she just comes from a nearby region with a similar native accent.

Actually let me fully literate that point – she isn't related, distantly or otherwise – to any official character.

Intermission
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Under The Night Sky

Intermission

UNDER THE NIGHT SKY

Intermission: The Lost Days

Author's Fore-note

Here the be dragons, shipping, and an (un)healthy dose of insanity.

What am I going to do...? Twilight gazed vacantly into space as she walked the long road back to Ponyville. It was the dead of night, the wind was bitingly cold, cloud-cover blotted out the sky. The tears in her eyes were still welling up, but she fought to hold them back. In the distance behind her, the vague semblance of the area she'd met Nightsky in was still partially visible.

What if my horn never grows back...? the hornless unicorn monologues to herself, a fear building in her eyes as she raises her gaze up to the distant sight of Canterlot, if I can't use magic...I'm not even her student anymore...I've never done anything else...I wouldn't know where to start...

A strong lick of the biting cold rushes over Twilight, tossing her mane out of place; it falls back in cover of one eye, without her horn to make a parting under the way she normally brushed it, magic is my special talent...will my cutie mark disappear too...?

Her mind begins to swell with recollections of past instances when her magic had been of no use; her troubled entry into magic school, her first winter-wrap up when her lack of non-magical skills had made her feel so useless. As she dwells on the memory she begins to fall into a loop, her composure began to visibly dissolve.

Buried deep in her own thoughts, Twilight doesn't notice that she'd already arrived back at her library, and walks head-first strait into the door, recoiling with a dull thud. The noise rouses her faithful assistant, the young dragon promptly appearing on the other side as the door swings open.

"Twilight!" Spike begins in half-frantic concern, "oh I was so worried! Where have you been all night? No one knew where you'd flown off.." he trails off as he notices the recently formed wings have disappeared from the unicorn's back, and more alarmingly that her horn seemed to be gone, stuttering in shock "Twilight!?".

"Take a letter, Spike" the now-hornless unicorn offers as her only response, her done having grown dull and muted as she walks past him into the library. The young dragon doesn't question her instructions, hastily collecting a quill and parchment.

"My dear Princess Celestia" Twilight begins as she walks across the library to stand in front of her mirror, "I have identified the pegasus you sent me to find; her name is Nightsky. However...", she pauses, fixated on the sight of self without a horn in the mirror's reflection, "as a consequence of a poorly thought-out spell, I have lost my magic, and can no longer be your student".

Spike's eyes go wide and his mouth falls agape in horror, but before he has any opportunity to say anything to it, Twilight continues with a rapidly deteriorating tone, "I ask that you promptly send a carriage to take Spike back to Canterlot, and forgive me for my failure. Studying under you was the highlight of my life. Your faithful...ex-student, Twilight Sparkle".

"Twilight..." Spike struggles out, at this point trying desperately not to cry himself, visibly shaken by her words. "Send it, Spike" Twilight returns solemnly, turning to walk toward her bed. "I-..I can't do that! You-" Spike retorts desperately, but Twilight stops and stamps a hoof firmly with a suddenly grim insistence, "I said, send it".

A dull ribbon of sunlight did its best to pierce the curtains of the library windows, still drawn from the night before, the sounds of everyday life in Ponyville could be heard faintly outside. Twilight slowly rouses to the touch of the sun on her face, but her reaction to it as she woke was more of disdain than welcome. She carelessly kicks the covers back and shuffles over, initially falling out of bed onto her fore-knees, before climbing to her feet and walking to the mirror.

She stares at the letter attached to its frame, knowing full well it was from Spike, but doesn't even bother to take it down - she reaches for her brush instead and sits back, staring at it in her hoof. I don't even know how to do this properly without magic...what possible hope is there for me if it doesn't come back...?

"Brushing your mane is overrated" Rainbow Dash announces, posing proudly in the mirror beside Twilight, "I mean look at mine. It's never seen a brush in its life, and it looks awesome!". Twilight furrows her brow at this, "if by 'awesome' you mean 'scruffy'. Some of us actually care about our appearance".

"I couldn't agree more, darling" Rarity affirms, studying her reflection in the mirror on Twilight's other side, "why if I could not maintain my luxurious mane, I think I would just die". Twilight's eye twitches as a dark loom descends on her face, "not everypony lives or dies on how good they look, either".

Rarity retorts with an indignant 'hmph' and turns her nose up, looking away, while Dash points and laughs at her. Fluttershy dips into the mirror's reflection from above, hovering just above and behind Twilight, "oh but...but your mane looks so pretty normally. Are you sure that's okay?".

Twilight gives a frustrated "augh!", closing her eyes and dropping her brush, placing both hoofs to her ears, "why are you all torturing me!? Aren't things hard enough for me already!?" . After a long few moments with no response, she slowly lowers her hooves and opens her eyes - she was the only one in the mirror again...and by this point, she was starting to look unhinged, what do they know...they've never had to live without the thing that makes them special...

Rainbow Dash retorts this with childish mouth-bubbles, hovering upside-down above Fluttershy, who herself was sitting a short distance behind Twilight. "Just look at this one, huh?" Dash continues tauntingly, pointing down at the yellow pegaus below, "a pegasus afraid of heights? Couldn't fly a pair of pants? There's almost no point to her even having wings, you don't hear her complaining".

"Her special talent is looking after animals" Twilight retorts with a dark scowl, "she's never lost that. Even the one time she couldn't figure out how to look after an animal, it turned out she wasn't doing anything wrong the whole time". Dash just shrugs idly at this, starting to lazily backstroke through the air around the library.

"I'm sure you could find something else to do" Fluttershy responds instead, offering a reassuring smile, "I mean, that's what I did, right?". "Oh, please" Rarity suddenly interjects, trotting up to a spot nearby the yellow pegasus, gesturing with a hoof to the walls of books filling the library, "this is all Twilight has ever known. The poor dear simply can't survive without her magic, we all know it".

Twilight finally retorts with an angry scream, picking up her brush and hurling it at Rarity, "Shut up!". The brush sails harmlessly through the air and hits the floor, the sound of it clattering the only further sound in the otherwise silent, empty library, save for Twilight's own worked up, labored breathing.

After a long few moments glaring furiously at the empty space where Rarity should have been standing, Twilight finally slumps onto all four hooves again, slouched in posture am I...am I going crazy too...?

"Sleeping? In the middle of the day?"

Twilight's eyes open wide as she spasms into an upright seated posture, finding herself surrounded by small piles of books in the middle of the floor. She slowly glances around through one eye from behind her chaotic mane, trying to determine the source of the voice.

"And here I thought you were supposed to be the good student", the other Twilight Sparkle continues idly, using her magic to brush her mane, as she sat in front of the mirror. Twilight wasn't sure what was more confusing - that there were two of her, or that the other one looked like she was normally meant to, horn and all.

"Out of all those other unicorns, Celestia chose you" the other Twilight furthers, still idly brushing her mane - Twilight's mind is assailed with sudden memories of Trixie's visit to Ponyville - "other unicorns who were perhaps more deserving, who would have done anything for the opportunity you've squandered".

Twilight shakes her head, then lifts her fore-hooves up to hold onto it, "you're not real, why should I listen to anything you say!". The other Twilight gives a polite laugh, "well, I don't see any of your friends rushing to your rescue. You always relied on yourself before, why not now?".

"That's...that's not right..." Twilight begins, lowering her hooves and furrowing her brow, "I didn't know then how important it was to have friends. I'm a better pony for them...". "And yet I still don't see any of them helping you now" the other Twilight retorts, in a mockingly polite tone, setting the brush down and trotting from the bedroom area down into the main area where Twilight was, "even in your own imagination they're no help to you".

Twilight shakes her head firmly, closing her eyes tight, "no...you're wrong. My friends haven't abandoned me...they just don't know how to help me". "And who can blame them" the other Twilight mockingly agrees with a plainly fake thoughtful look, "I mean, look at you. One day without your horn, and you've already lost it".

"You're wrong..." Twilight insists again, weaker now, and it seemed more like she was trying to convince herself, "they haven't abandoned me...", she fights to put up a front, but her mind swims, she finds it hard to focus, and suddenly the world tumbles.

Twilight is once more roused to consciousness by a loud crack of wood, startling her awake. The wagon she was drawing shudders as its wheel comes down off the large rock, drawing her frantic attention back at it in confusion, then promptly up at the autumn sky. It was the middle of the afternoon, on some unknown stretch of tree-lined road somewhere in Equestria - Twilight wasn't even sure where.

"Twilight, dear? Are you alright?" Trixie calls from inside the stage-wagon, climbing half-way out of the window of the dressing room, "are you getting tired?". Twilight furrows her brow in confusion, at a loss to her current surroundings or situation; she still had no horn, more confusingly she felt stronger than she ever remembered being, and could swear she was taller. None of it made any sense, and yet somehow it seemed normal.

"I.." she pauses herself, her mind visibly wading through the confusion, "a rock...it was a rock, I didn't see it there". Trixie frowns in concern, disappearing into the window and reappearing from the door at the back, triggering the struts to support the wagon and trotting up to Twilight.

"You must be more careful dear" she insists with concern, carefully detaching Twilight from the harness, "the wagon can be replaced but you can not. I wish you would not worry Trixie like this". Twilight blushes faintly and steps out from the rails, following Trixie back to the door into the wagon, "I know...I'm sorry. I guess I'm just tired after all..."

The interior of the wagon was much more homely than one may have expected - it was clearly lived in, but the ponies obviously did their best to make it feel like a home. Trixie promptly sets about pouring Twilight a cup of the tea she had been drinking, as Twilight herself becomes absorbed looking into the mirror - she looked just like an actual earth pony ... but that was right, wasn't it?

"So the nearest town on the map is Ponyville" Trixie announces warmly, setting the cup of tea in front of Twilight as she resumes her seat at the table, "it is but a small town, who's residents would be easily amazed by Trixie's magic, but the crowd wouldn't be suitably large".

"Ponyville?" Twilight returns with a faint glimmer of recognition, "actually I think the population there is fairly big...and it's a largely earth-pony town, some real magic would be the highlight of their year". Trixie regards this for a moment and smiles, "so wise to the world, my dear. Perhaps we should make it our next stop after-all".

Wow...you're actually buying this?

Twilight furrows her brow in confusion, feeling an unfamiliar pang in the back of her mind. She draws her attention back to the mirror in the wagon, its reflection replaced with a window into her library, and the other Twilight. Surely you realize this isn't real...or are you that desperate to escape your reality?

Twilight closes her eyes and begins to shiver lightly, feeling an icy chill down her back, she turns her head from the mirror. Yes, that's it. Pretend it'll all go away. Oh how much simpler your life would be, if only this was real. You didn't regard this other unicorn for more than a day, and somehow you've made her the center of an imaginary world

"Twilight...? Darling...?" Trixie inquires in concern, noting her strange posture. Twilight opens her eyes to look at her, a desperately lost look strode her face, tears beginning to form in her eyes. Oh how precious. You actually had a crush on her. Is that why you felt so guilty when she ran off...crying and alone, after you humiliated her?

Twilight began to cry and shake, unable to contain the emotions swelling up, or the images running through her mind. The world around her, including Trixie, seemed to have become frozen in time. Just imagine it... the other Twilight peers out from the mirror with a mocking smile, just imagine what could have happened to her. You never knew. You never cared to find out. Did she freeze to death in the wilderness? Maybe she ended it herself, unable to take it...

"Enough!" Twilight screams at the brink of rational thought, leaping across the wagon and burying a front hoof into the mirror. The reflective glass explodes out, shattering further as it flies out onto the library floor around her, leaving her in a hunched standing posture with her hoof dented into the now split wooden backing, as she breathed heavily and tears fell from her eyes.

It takes her a long few moments to realize where she was, but when she finally does, she breaks down even more, collapsing to the floor and covering her head with her front hooves, sobbing hysterically somepony...anypony...help me...

Twilight's eyes fight their way open once more, her mind swimming in the weight of sleep and intense strain. It was day time, that much could be gleaned from the sunlight coming in through the still-drawn curtains, though of what day at this point was not discernible.

A visible coating of dust had coalesced on the glass of the windows, the many books scattered about the floor, the furniture, parts of the floor itself, even Twilight's bed - which didn't look like it had been used in days now. Twilight herself uneasily picks herself up off the floor, finding herself once more in front of that dreadful mirror. It was shattered now, and the other Twilight was finally silent. Apparently oblivious to the unusable state of the mirror, Twilight picks up her brush in a hoof, shaking the dust from it once or twice, then sets to slowly, awkwardly brushing her mane while gazing into its splintered wooden backing.

"Y'all really so bad off?" Applejack inquires thoughtfully, standing behind and just to the side of Twilight. "Y'know, ah ain' never had no fancy wings or magic, 'n ah live a perfectly happy life". Twilight pauses at this, furrowing her brow, as if trying to filter out the sound, she continues brushing her mane.

"C'mon now, y'know ah ain' in the business of lyin'" Applejack continues, extending a hoof in Twilight's direction, "y'all seen for yerself how happy ah am with mah life. ah work hard, 'an yeah maybe magic would help, but have y'ever seen me actually need it?".

Twilight can't help but pause again and bite her lower lip, slowly setting down the brush and turning to face the earth pony, "no...but then I haven't watched you at home, doing mundane things...". Applejack shakes her head, "but y'reckon that means ah don' do 'em? C'mon now, yer smarter than that".

Twilight takes a ... unstable, but mostly thoughtful look at this, "it's...true. I haven't seen you do them, but you obviously do. You do all sorts of things without magic that I don't even do with it". Applejack gives an affirmative nod, "thas' right. Now ah reckon that horn of yers is gon' grow back anyway, but even if it don't...y'really think y'can' live a good life without it?"

"But I..." Twilight begins to sink back into her doubt, "I wouldn't...even know where to start...there's so many things I don't know how to do without magic...". Applejack turns her head and focuses at Twilight with one eye, "ain' you suppose' t'be the one that likes learnin'?"

Twilight manages a weak smile at this, giving a small nod of her head, "yeah...yeah, you're right. Maybe my magic wont come back ... but I can learn to live without it...right?" she raises her head and stands up more properly, she still looked exhausted, but there was finally a tone of confidence to her gait, "my life doesn't have to be over. I've got four hooves, a brain, and all the reason in the world to learn to use them properly for the first time".

Twilight realized she was alone in the library still, but this time, she shrugs it off and continues to carry her stride, making her way across the library to the door with a soft smile, "even in my imagination...she knew just what to say..."

Author's Notes

Devon here. You probably noticed this installment is much, much shorter than the previous. Well, that's because it's a sub-chapter, which I call "intermissions". It's a break in the main story that expands on a part of it that would have over-inflated and misdirected a main-chapter's flow. In this one we see what happened with Twilight during the "missing days" she was locked up in her library, and the reason for her decision afterward. Each chapter will be punctuated by one of these, although the subject and nature of each one will vary.

Part 2
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Under The Night Sky

Part 2

UNDER THE NIGHT SKY

Part 2

Author's Foreword

I thought it only fair to warn, the story starts getting dark toward the end and into the next chapter, but this isn't a grimdark story, so don't worry about it going too far.

The flitting of small birds was carried by the warm summer breeze as it flowed over the town of

Ponyville. At Sweet Apple Acres, the typical scent of apples and wood mixed well with the warmth of

the breeze, but less so with the dry metal screech of rust.

"Consarn it!" Applejack exclaims in frustration, raising a fore-hoof to brush her brow. She

looked more disheveled than usual, strangely already tired for such an early hour and a bit

frazzled, as she unhooked herself from the applecart's harness.

Striding around to its side, she quickly identifies the problem, "aw heyseeds, the axle's shot.

What foal left it out'n the rain anyway!?". Twilight grimaces with an embarrassed blush as she

observes this, raising a fore-hoof to cover her face, "uh...I think that...was the one I was

pulling yesterday..."

Applejack furrows her brow at this and steps away from the cart, stomping her hoof down in

frustration, "darn it Twi, y'know how hard these things are t'fix? Ah told y'it had to go in the

barn...", she pulls herself up as she realizes her tone, and the dejected look on Twilight's face.

"Aw shoot..." Applejack sighs, relaxing back on her haunches, "don' worry 'bout it sugarcube,

these things'll happen". Inwardly she wondered how a pony as fastidious as Twilight could make such

an oversight...but then, she hadn't been quite the same recently.

Applejack trots over to Twilight and carefully rubs her cheek with her own, "ah'm sorry I yelled

at ye...ah know y'didnt mean to do it". Twilight closes her eyes and gently brushes her cheek into

the earth pony's in kind, her spirits lifted a bit by the gesture, "sorry, AJ. I guess I'm not as

into this yet as I thought..."

"Well ah dunno 'bout that" Applejack returns warmly, gesturing out to the fields with a hoof,

"y'dun'a pretty sweet job so far, 'specially for a pony not accustomed to this kinda work", she

turns her gaze back aside to Twilight, "an' I ain' about to complain 'bout all yer company lately

neither".

Twilight blushes faintly at this, moving over to lay her head lightly on Applejack's back,

"getting to spend so much time with you is the only good thing to have come from this", Applejack

smiles at this, then stands up on her hind-legs and pulls Twilight into a proper hug, which the

unicorn promptly latches into firmly. "Y'all doing strange things to mah thinkin'..." the earth

pony whispers softly, securing Twilight against herself, "why'd'it take y'this long...?"

The ringing of the bell of her boutique's door rouses Rarity from sleep, initially garnering

little more than a yawn, though she momentarily realizes the meaning of the sound and promptly

scrambles out of bed.

With far less than her typical grace, she levitates her brush and frantically tries to set her

mane, calling out "j-just a moment!". She bites her lip in conflict, torn between the state of her

appearance and the possibility of loosing a sale, but ultimately puts her pride aside and rushes to

the shop floor.

She takes a moment before arriving to adjust her pace and at least present some dignity as she

trots in, "welcome! How can I hel-..." she trails off at the sight of Trixie before her, and a long

few moments of awkward recognition pass between the two unicorns.

Clearing her throat, Trixie levitates her old costume out from her saddle-bag and suspends it

before the white unicorn, "Trixie would like to know-..." she pauses, lowering her nose and taking

a deep breath, softening her tone, "I would appreciate it if you could mend some damage to the

garment".

Rarity almost slips off her fore-hooves onto her face in shock, but quickly regains her

composure and offers an awkward, thoughtful smile, "no problem at all dear. How soon will you need

it?". Trixie crosses a fore-hoof past herself to gesture toward the door, "I will...be leaving the

area for a while, later today. Will a few hours be long enough?".

The white unicorn turns her keen eye for detail to inspect the damage more closely - it was

largely superficial, but evident the garment had seen jagged branches and mud at some point, and

never been attended since. "That will be just fine" she responds with a thoughtful smile, "I can

have it ready in a couple of hours at most".

Trixie relinquishes the garment into Rarity's own magical manipulation, momentarily uneasy in

thought, but then presents a weak, polite smile in return, "thank you". And with that, she turns

and leaves, as Rarity makes her way back to the rear area of the boutique.

Setting the garment down on her work table, she turns her attention away to the long mirror in

the room, observing the sorry state of her mane. "Staying up all hours dancing like a

hooligan...what was I thinking...?" she mutters to herself in self-conscious concern, levitating a

different nearby brush and setting to fixing herself, "how I let that pegasus make me loose

possession of my senses I will never know".

"Funny, you seemed to be having fun last night" Rainbow Dash retorts with a disgruntled tone

from the nearby window, currently protruding halfway through it, balanced on the windowsill. Rarity

startles slightly in surprise, promptly turning to face the pegasus and raising a fore-hoof to her

chest, "oh but darling I did!".

It was only now Rarity noticed the carefully picked out bunch of flowers hanging in one of

Dash's hooves, and the hurt look in her eyes. "Honestly Dash...I did have fun" the unicorn insists,

raising her other fore-hoof to her chest "it's just that I stayed up too late for my own good, and

now I look a mess. And I almost missed a customer by oversleeping..."

It takes a few awkward moments, but Rainbow Dash finally concedes her disgruntled look,

"well...okay...I guess", she climbs the rest of the way in through the window - and seeming to

remember them herself just then - holds out the flowers to the unicorn, "I uh...picked these for

you...".

Rarity takes the flowers and cradles them in her arms with a warm smile, "oh, Dash. They're

lovely, and they smell divine. Thank you". "Yeah...well..." the pegasus returns awkwardly, rubbing

the back of her neck with a hoof, "they looked and smelled pretty...and that made me think of

you...so..."

Rarity stifles a giggle at how hard Dash was trying to act romantic, sparing her the

embarrassment by leaning in and placing a soft kiss on her lips, "it's a wonderful thought. Thank

you, dear".

A soft, enchanting melodic humming wafted from Fluttershy as she delicately hovered above the

ground, gliding from spot to spot with no great urgency picking summer flowers and placing them in

her basket.

She pauses abruptly in confusion at a rather crudely uprooted section of the ground, potted with

hoofmarks from a reckless and unpolished attempt to pick flowers, though within a moment she seems

to recognize the handiwork and give a small approving smile.

The yellow pegasus only dwells on this briefly before returning to the activity at hand,

beginning her melodic humming anew with a different tune, though as her collection efforts drew her

about the field she comes across a less inspiring patch of damage. It looked to be the deep end of

a pegasus crash mark at speed, the torn dirt track in the grass still holding onto small tufts of

cobalt fur and a few feathers the friction had pulled out.

"Oh my..." Fluttershy remarks...quietly, but in concern, her gaze lifting to scan the

surrounding area, "I hope they're okay". She inspects the ground closest to the skid, locating a

trail of hoof-marks leading away from it toward the nearby forest, and sets off following them

slowly.

The stride and actual size of the hoofprints seemed to get gradually smaller as the trail

continued, and changed from an awkward gait to a labored three-hoof limp as it neared the tree-

line.

Her concern growing deeper at this, Fluttershy sets down her basket before proceeding into the

forest, continuing to track the prints. The dirt was harder in here, and the light level

drastically lower due to the canopy of the forest itself, making the hoofprints almost

indistinguishable.

The yellow pegasus furrowed her brow in mild frustration as the trail become all but impossible

to continue following. She wanted to help, but under these conditions, it was unlikely should even

find the injured pegasus.

A spark of conception flashes through her eyes a moment later, and she promptly flies back

toward to the original impact skid. She picks up once of the pulled-out feathers from it, and

hurriedly continues on back to her cottage, where she taps on the thatched roof of one of the small

animal houses.

"Come on now, little one" she coaxes gently, but with determined concern, "I need your help". A

small gray fox slinks out of the animal house cautiously in response, turning it's nose to the

feather Fluttershy holds before it, "can you find this pegasus for me?". The fox puzzles over the

scent of the feather for a long moment, then takes off like a liquid shot into the forest, with the

yellow pegasus following close behind.

Even at the pace the agile fox was setting, it still took a long several minutes of weaving and

bounding through the dense overgrowth before the critter finally stopped. Fluttershy drifted to a

pause above it, surveying the scene quickly, "is it here?". The fox takes a step forward and angles

its body to point its nose indicatively at a tree ahead, the yellow pegasus following the cue to

proceed forward.

A pegasus smaller than any of her friends, but not as small as any of the fillies she knew, was

in a heavily slumped seating position at the base of the tree. She had a cobalt coat, a white

streaked pastel blue mane, and a cutie mark made of a star set into the opening of a crescent moon,

but it was so faded the colours could barely be made out.

Fluttershy didn't recognize the little pegasus at all - but she did recognize the sorry state

they were in - scuffed up and bruised, one of her wings and an ear bent at an odd angle, one of her

front legs cradled against her chest protectively.

The yellow pegasus quickly but carefully glides over to the smaller one, taking to the ground

gently in the process and leaning down to inspect her, giving her a shoulder a gentle nudge,

"hello? can you hear me?". The small pegasus doesn't stir - her chest was still moving, but her

breathing was clearly very weak. "Oh my...this is worse than I thought" Fluttershy exclaims in

concern, scooping the small pegasus up in her arms, "don't worry, I'll take care of you".

Twilight was out in a field of Sweet Apple Acres under the afternoon summer sun, on a small hill

amongst the trees. The purple mare herself laid on her side, curled partway into a ball, with

Applejack laid behind her, her own body curled to lay her head and a front-leg over the top of

Twilight's torso. A gentle breeze flowed across them as they lay peacefully in the affectionate,

but relatively conservative embrace.

"Y'sure this is awlright?" Applejack muses nervously in a quiet tone, glancing across at the

purple mare without moving her head. Twilight seems a little dejected by the question, "you don't

like this...?". "A-..ah like this plenty..." the earth pony admits nervously, but turns her eyes

down a little, "jus'...din' think of mahself this way before..."

Twilight regards the admission with a reassuring smile, "I didn't either, to be honest", she

turns her gaze toward the distant, vague sight of Canterlot, "not only did I think little of the

value of friendship before I came to Ponyville, for the longest time I never had the slightest

thought about the potential for romance..."

The gears in the purple mare's head visibly tick over after this, but she turns her gaze back to

Applejack, "actually it was you and Dash that made me start thinking about it. After the running of

the leaves, I couldn't help but imagine something was going to happen between the two of you".

Applejack blushes at this, turning her gaze away again, "ah...ah did have a crush on'her fer a

little while after that..but ah knew it weren' serious". She furrows her brow for a moment in

embarrassment, but seems to swallow her pride, "whenever ah got to thinkin' anythin' of the

sort...you kep' poppin' into mah head".

Twilight blushes profusely at this and looses some of her considered tact, "m-me!? But you

never...I'm not...", she catches herself up, softening her expression "I didn't...think I was your

type". The purple mare can't help but sigh as she turns her gaze away, "I'm not athletic...I'm not

easy-going...I fuss over the small details...I overthink everything..."

Applejack reaches her other fore-hoof around from the back and gently covers Twilight's mouth,

looking her in the eye. "Yer honest, y'don' give up easy, y'all go to the ends of Equestria fer a

friend, y'cain leave a problem un-fixed, an' you got more strength on the inside than a whole rodeo

of colts. If you ain' mah type, I don' have one".

The earth pony releases her hoof from Twilight's mouth, and slides her head over to lay over her

closer to her own, presenting a warm reassuring smile, "ah maybe nervous, but I ain' turnin' back

now".

Closer-by than either of the two ponies realized, Celestia and Luna stood on adjascent clouds

overlooking the scene, the former wearing a slightly pained look, but a proud smile. Luna raised

her head from observing the scene closely, though she kept looking down at them, "this is what you

meant. I see now..."

The white alicorn gives a small, sage nod of her head, "powerful as it may be, her heart is

still growing. This was the piece she needed right now". Luna regards this for a moment like a

valuable lesson, but promptly gains a skeptical look over it, "but Tia, you said this was a piece

you could not provide...that is hardly true".

Celesita takes a faintly solemn look to this, and gives a slow shake of her head, "our

responsibility is to all of Equestria, not any one of its particular inhabitants. Some say the

excess of my time and attention I've already invested in Twilight was improper...anything more

would be simply unacceptable".

Luna doesn't seem convinced, her tone shifting from skepticism to pointed doubt, "that sounds

more like an excuse, than a reason. Are matters of the heart not meant to be beyond such trivial

limitations?".

The white alicorn seems almost proud her sister put the question to her, as in part she was that

Luna had begun to learn such lessons; unfortunately, right now it conflicted with her own point,

and she presents a solemn glance aside...but it breaks to make room for a simply saddened one,

"they are...but I will always put what is best for Twilight first".

Luna thinks over the response for a long few moments with a skeptical stare, then gives a shake

of her head and looks back down at the ponies below, "you're a foal, Tia. I hope she never finds

out, for your sake".

"I'm afraid that's all that can be done" Nurse Redheart announces as she looks over the small

cobalt pegasus in concern, currently laid up in a hastily prepared spare bed in Fluttershy's

cottage. Her bad wing, bad leg, and parts of her torso had been bandaged, and her bad ear plastered

back to its natural position.

The nurse pony gives a slow shake of her head, "her injuries are serious, but nothing that wont

heal with time. She is dreadfully exhausted, however, and should be made to stay in bed as long as

possible".

"Thank you" Fluttershy returns with concern, carefully draping a blanket over the wounded

pegasus, "I wasn't sure what to do myself". Nurse Redheart offers an affirmative nod in turn,

before leaving through the front door.

The yellow pegasus sat by a few feet from the makeshift sickbed, simply staring at the small

pegasus for several long minutes silently. She couldn't shake the notion she knew her from

somewhere, but was also confident she wasn't a resident of Ponyville. She so rarely left Ponyville,

though, that she couldn't imagine where else she may have met her before.

Pondering this, Fluttershy takes her attention finally from the wounded pegasus to pull a large,

shallow case out from under the sofa, and fights its old temprimental lock open, flipping the lid

to reveal the trove of photographs, hand-drawn pictures, journals, and preserved flowers inside.

From the seemingly indecipherable mass, the yellow pegasus produces a simple book, which she

lays on the nearby sofa seat and begins to flip through. It was full of photos from her school

years as a fillie.

The many pictures from the start had a common feature; Fluttershy had always been a bit bigger

and awkwardly lankier than other pegasi, and she was always distant from any sort of group in the

pictures. As the pictures progressed to later years, a new noteworthy common trait emerged; after a

certain point, every picture featured Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash together, albeit still apart from

any other group.

As she reaches the end of the book, the very last picture was of her and Rainbow Dash alone - it

seemed to depict them having a home-warming party the day Fluttershy moved into the very cottage she

lived in now.

Though she wore a warm smile at the memories from the later pictures, Fluttershy regained her

puzzled look as she closed the book and rested her head on one upturned hoof. She had hoped it was

as simple as having gone to school with the smaller pegasus, though even a casual observation of

the apparent age difference between them rather insisted otherwise.

The yellow pegasus found herself beginning to wonder if the wounded fillie was perhaps just the

child of somepony she had met before, and the familiarity came from that. That is, until she is

struck by a spark of realization - her thoughts over the many ponies she had met in her life

eventually wind down to the most recent days, and she recalls her encounter with the night-time

runner from the other day - who as she thought of it, had almost the exact same features as this

wounded little pegasus, save for having a larger style of wind and being significantly older.

Perhaps this fillie was 'her' child?

Her train of thought was promptly derailed by a knocking at the door, as well as causing her

head to slip off her hoof in surprise and bounce off the sofa-cushion below with a startled squeal.

Fluttershy quickly picks herself up and heads to the door, opening it while still rubbing her chin,

"hello?".

Rainbow Dash tilts her head at her friends action, but shrugs it off casually, "hey Shy. I was

uh...hoping I could talk to you about something". Fluttershy's eyes open wide at this and she

begins to nod, grabbing her friend's hoof with both of hers and yanking her inside, "of course! You

can always talk to me! Are you okay? Is something wrong?"

Dash was slightly dazed by the sudden reaction, she could swear her head whipping back from the

yank was what closed the door behind them, largely as she found herself having to rub the sensitive

back of her head a moment later, "uhh...wrong? No, not wrong exactly. Wait...is it?".

The yellow pegasus seemed even more confused than her cyan friend at this response. Dash

promptly furrowed her brow and reassessed what she was trying to say, "so, basically...I've sort

of had thi-..." she trails off as the over-accommodating yellow pegasus makes her sit down on the

sofa, then bounces off to make some tea, and returns a few moments later like nothing she had just

done was questionable.

"...right...so anyway" the cyan pegasus starts again, shaking off her friend's behavior - truth

told, this was actually how Fluttershy acted every time Dash came to visit, but no matter how many

times it happened, she still couldn't reconcile it with the yellow pegasus' normal behavior.

"I've...kind of started this thing with Rarity...and I'm not sure it's working out" Rainbow Dash

continues, visibly having to think over how to say what she was trying to say. "At first it was

like, woah!" she articulates with her front hooves, "I was so impressed and everything, I didn't

really think about it. But then afterward I started thinking...and...."

Fluttershy tilts her head lightly to the side, "you're worried that your personalities are too

different?". Dash almost jumps out her chair in the process of pointing a hoof at her friend,

"exactly! I mean..." she slumps back into the sofa seat and slouches, "most of the time it's like

we come from different planets. And I don't see how that's supposed to work, you know?".

Fluttershy takes a cautious glance around the cottage ... though why exactly, one could only

guess, before looking back at her friend, slightly wide-eyed, "if I tell you something, do you

promise to keep it a secret?". Dash raises a brow at this, clearly confused what baring it had on

what SHE was saying, but submits a nod anyway.

"Well you see, I've been friends with Rarity for a long time. We spend a lot of time together

actually" Fluttershy explains, gesturing a hoof, "you guys all met her after she changed. You see

she wasn't always like she is now".

Rainbow Dash just sort of nods along to the story - she was interested, but she still didn't see

what it had to do with anything. "She used to be a totally different pony. Oh making clothes was

still her passion, but it was clothes for parties and dancing, and costumes for performances"

Fluttershy continues, her eyes going wide again as she leans toward her cyan friend, "but she never

got much done. She was always out dancing and partying".

Dash has to restrain herself from blurting out how impossible that sounded to her, she picks up

her tea cup and - with little per-conception of the consequences - slurps down enough to promptly

burn her tongue, and then have to suffer trying to hide it to remain cool.

"Then one day, there was a big formal event in town" Fluttershy continues, she points in the

direction of a picture on the wall, but it was too far away for Dash to actually see, much less

while trying to pretend she didn't just burn her tongue like a foal.

"Rarity really wanted to go. And she wanted to make her own dress for it" Fluttershy explains,

her voice now had gained a more solemn tone after her energetic musings before, "but she spent most

of the evening leading up to the formal event at a party, and left herself with very little time to

work on the dress. She got the dress finished, but she rushed it, and left herself almost no time

to actually get ready".

Fluttershy pauses, finally, largely because she seemed to be a bit out of breath at this point,

before continuing a moment later, "so when she arrived at the formal event, her dress was rough,

and she looked even rougher. The upper-lip sophisticate types at the party laughed and sneered at

her, and said terrible things about her behind her back. She finally couldn't take it any more and

ran away, crying her eyes out".

"She went through a really, really rough time after that..." Fluttershy furthers, though she

seems to hesitate going into too much detail about this part of the story particularly, momentarily

gazing out into space with a haunted look, before turning her attention back to Rainbow Dash, "a

couple of weeks later, there was another formal event. It was a lot smaller than the previous

one...but Rarity dedicated a whole week to making her dress, and most of that day to preparing

herself. When she arrived, she was the most stunning, elegant pony in the room, and everyone saw

it".

The yellow pegasus has to stop to catch her breath again momentarily, she actually looked a

little dizzy from overdoing it at this point, but she calmed and slowed considerably now, "she

changed completely after that experience, becoming the pony she is today. But I know somewhere

inside, the fun-loving unicorn she used to be is just fighting to get out more often than she lets

her".

Fluttershy pauses for a long few moments staring at Rainbow Dash with her hooves open like she'd

just delivered some amazing revelation. The cyan pegasus, however, was completely oblivious, and

possibly starting to go deaf.

The yellow pegasus eventually realizes Dash has completely missed the point of her story, and

firmly applies her hoof to her own face, before then grabbing the cyan pegasus by the shoulders and

shaking her lightly, "don't you get it? You're exactly what she needs!"

After a moment or two, Fluttershy realizes her cyan friend's eyes are just rolling around in her

head after being shaken up, and promptly shrinks back to her side of the sofa, shying beheind her

own mane, "o-oh..s-sorry..."

Rainbow Dash shakes her head clear, then raises a hoof to rub the side of it lightly, "nah, it's

cool. But...uh...maybe you're right. I hadn't really thought about it that way". "That's the other

thing" Fluttershy returns, gesturing a hoof at Dash, "I think she's what YOU need, too. Somepony to

help you remember to think about others more often. Somepony who inspires you to slow down once in

a while and actually enjoy the moment".

Rainbow Dash slowly rubs her chin with a paw in visible contemplation, "that DOES make

sense...". Fluttershy nods sagely, "and besides. You take pride in your appearance when people

compliment you for it. Rarity could show you how to get those compliments more often". One could

swear a light bulb actually springs up out of Dash's head at this notion, as she takes an excited

smile, "hey yeah! that's right!".

Lost in clearly excited thought over the possibilities, and her new-found perception of her

budding relationship, Rainbow Dash is only finally brought back to reality when her vision finally

falls over the small wounded pegasus in her makeshift sickbed nearby, that she somehow hadn't

noticed until now.

"Uh...Shy? Care to explain THAT...?"

The sun was low in the sky now, barely clearing the top of the distant mountains, and would set

soon. The temperature had finally relented and the evening drew cool, cooler still by the gentle

breeze that swayed the trees of the orchard.

Twilight and Applejack were still together on that hill, though now they sat upright, side by

side, watching the sun. The purple mare had her head rested against the orange mare's neck, the

earth pony's head rested aside atop hers.

"It's...probably time for me to head home..." Twilight submitted softly. Applejack gave a small

nod of her head, without moving it too far, "ah know...". They didn't move though, remaining as

they were for several long minutes yet. "...I don't want to go..." Twilight reports softly, closing

her eyes and turning her head further inward against the earth pony.

Applejack bends her closer front-hoof upward to cradle Twilight's head against herself, lowering

her head down to rest nearer it "w-well...why-...why don' y'just-...", she falters, Twilight could

feel the orange mare's heart beating through her chest at a race-horse pace, she didn't notice her

own not far behind it as her mind finishes the question the way she wants it to.

The earth pony summons up a gut-full of the courage that normally came so easily to her, but

right now was harder to grasp than water, "why don' y'just stay here ton-", she falters again as

the courage slips away, a faintly ashamed look crossing her face.

Twilight gently knocks Applejack's head upward off her own, but in turn reaches a hoof up to

gently cradle the side of her face, resting her forehead gently against the other mare's. "It's

okay...you're just not ready yet" she breathes gently, pulling her head back a little now -

Applejack opens her eyes, full of apology, but is met with Twilight's as they open in turn, holding

nothing but affection, "I can wait".

As they slowly made the walk to the edge of the farm together, Applejack's mind still swam with

the fear of disappointing Twilight that kept holding her back. The overheard sign that indicated

where the farm essentially started, or from their perspective ended, loomed closer and closer, no

matter how slow they walked.

There was a lot of pride wrapped up in that old sign, but right now, Applejack hated nothing

more in Equestria - once they reached it, she would have to watch Twilight leave. Those last few

steps to the imaginary line the sign drew felt heavy and hard to make.

When they finally reached the boundary, Twilight stood on the "outer" side of the imaginary

line, while Applejack stood on the "inner" side of it, facing each other. Only a few inches

separated them, but in the orange mare's mind it was an ironic and slightly painful reflection of

the way their lives had grown so close, but were still separate yet. That meaningless imaginary

boundary still drew a line in the dirt between them.

And Applejack wanted that to change. As she looked into Twilight's eyes, and knew she was about

to say goodbye for the night, a powerful spark of something the orange mare didn't recognize lit up

in her chest - she didn't care what it was, for that one moment, her fear was driven back and she

had no intention of wasting it.

With almost reckless determination she pushes her head forward while twisting her neck just

slightly and presses her lips to the purple mare's, testing their resistance with her tongue. A

swell of fear of rejection and disappointment coursed up her body, but it was promptly driven away

as Twilight responded almost immediately, welcoming her tongue into her mouth and greeting it with

her own.

The kiss probably only lasted a matter of moments, and the purple mare demonstrated nothing

resembling skill, practice, or even basic knowledge of how it works, but Applejack didn't care. In

her mind it could have been hours, and the notion it could only get better made it even sweeter.

When the kiss finally broke, Twilight was slightly out of breath and visibly woozy, but had the

dumbest, sweetest smile the orange mare had ever seen on her face. As she smiled contently in

return and stared into the purple mare's eyes, that imaginary line felt much less substantial now,

even if it was still there.

Night had fully set in now, the sun had gone to rest and the moon took up its place. The breeze

had died out, but it was cool enough now not to need it, though the clouds above were dark and

suggested rain was scheduled tonight. It might have been foreboding, or suggested a cause to hurry

for most ponies, but Twilight was far too lost in her content thoughts of what the future would

bring.

Against seemingly ever fiber of her obsessive nature to plan everything in consideration of

every variable, this thing she had with Applejack ran to no checklist or schedule. It at once

scared her, and made it all the more special, to finally let something just play out without trying

to control it.

She wondered if her compulsion to plan and schedule every day was the reason she had never tried

anything like this before. It had certainly never occurred to her to add "explore the potential for

romance" to any of her checklists or schedules, it was only since arriving in Ponyville that she

even realized such a thing could hold any interest to her, and only in the last few months she

found herself thinking about it as a genuine possibility.

Is this really the firs time? the purple mare seemed faintly confused, but not completely

aware of the voice in her head - it was her own, though it didn't quite sound right. Maybe I

missed something? Could one of the others tried to get close to me before? Maybe I just didn't

notice....

The voice carried too much weight, it easily overrode the rest of the thoughts in her head,

making them too intangible to grasp. Twilight felt a faint twinge of pain in the back of her head,

like a glance from the beginning of a headache, but it was slowly getting stronger, and the world

started becoming faint...

"Hey, Twilight!"

The sudden greeting snaps Twilight back to clarity, the dull ache receding away. Rainbow Dash

swoops in overhead, assuming a casual side-on, slow flight posture beside though a little above

her, "aw I haven't seen you in forever! How are you?".

The purple mare smiles warmly, casting aside any thought of what just happened, "Rainbow! I've

been pretty good, what about you?". The cyan pegasus actually looked like she'd explode in

excitement for a moment, but instead she flies a ring and a bit around twilight to end up hovering

backwards in an upright position in front of her.

"You wouldn't believe!" Dash insists with a gesture of her hooves, then rubs her face with both

into a faux-shocked look and leans her head in close, "I'm going out with Rarity now! Isn't that

crazy?". Twilight chuckles softly in return, offering a happy smile and coo, "aww that's so sweet!

I'm happy for you guys".

Dash rolls over backwards into a slumped-back posture, though while still hovering backwards,

"it almost all went wrong, I was freaking out", she rolls back completely and assumes a slow flying

back-stroke, "but then I talked to Fluttershy and she got my head in the right place. Now I'm just

so pumped..."

She trails off slightly, then continues rolling backward until she was basically upside-down,

but with her back, neck, and head arched back enough that she was actually looking forwards at

Twilight again, "but hey, what about you and Applejack? I heard you've been spending ALL your time

with her lately".

The purple mare can't help but gain a deeply content smile as she turns her eyes toward the

ground in front of her, and her voice softens, "me and Applejack? ...well it's...early days

yet...but I think we have something pretty special..."

Noting Twilight wasn't actually watching, Dash rolls over completely back into an upright

posture and begins performing a victorious mid-air dance, which she promptly stops and places her

hooves behind her back, looking off to the side as Twilight's vision comes back up toward the

commotion.

"That's cool" the cyan pegasus reports with a forced casual tone, "I'm uh...I'm glad things

are-", she never was very good at fighting her nature, her repression cracks and she throws her

hooves open excitedly, "aw I knew it! When AJ told me she had a crush on you she thought she was

crazy like me, but I told her you guys would work together".

Twilight can't help but laugh at her friend's behavior, it was normal for Dash to be excitable

and energetic, but it was obvious she had a much larger reason to be happy now, and it hadn't quite

balanced out yet.

"I should really get home" Dash finally reports, now looking up at the sky, "that storm looks

more worked up than it was supposed to be. We'll have to cut it off early". Twilight follows her

gaze up to the dark clouds overheard, having thought herself they did look a bit over-done - she

gives an affirmative nod, "of course. Hopefully it wont be quite so long before we catch up again,

though".

The cyan pegasus gives a somewhat inappropriate but, fittingly excitable hoof-pump in

recognition, "you know it! Take it easy Twi!". And with that, she races off through the sky in the

direction of her cloud-home.

Twilight shakes her head lightly with an amused smile as she continues walking home, she always

liked to see her friends happy, but knowing two more of them were experiencing the same kind of

'special' happiness she was made it even better.

Her frivolity, however, was soon to be cracked. What a strange choice of words, the voice

in her head chimes in, with an almost obnoxiously amused tone, she said, when Applejack told her

she had a crush on you, she thought she was crazy - like she was. I wonder what she meant by that?

That dull pain in the back of Twilight's head began creeping forward again. The voice seemed

stronger than before, able to split her thoughts and command her attention. The purple mare furrows

her brow, willing it to go away.

Oh please, you think you can get rid of me that easily? I'm a part of you. It's just not

going to happen. "Shut...up..." Twilight quietly growls under her breath, thankful the streets

of Ponyville were deserted because of the looming storm.

Yes because that's SO likely the voice retorts obnoxiously, it was so loud and clear now

it sounded like it was coming from somepony actually standing right beside Twilight, but she was

alone in the street. What are you going to do, prove me wrong again? Oh but then...if you did

that, why am I still here? Hmm...

Twilight's head felt heavy now, the air seemed to press down on her, somehow making it harder to

move, but she pushed through it, running the last of the way to her library. The door was still

damaged from when Applejack bucked it in days ago - it had been repaired, but with little care or

skill. The purple mare simply kicks it into its own frame, jamming it closed tight.

The books were still scattered everywhere, and the cake of dust on everything had only gotten

thicker. It was quickly becoming clear that Twilight had been doing virtually nothing but sleep

here each night, and judging from the bedroll set up behind the stairs, not even in her actual bed.

The inside of the library seemed a world apart from what it had before recent events; once a

lived in and inviting place, it was now cold, dark, almost decrepit. A foreboding pushed in from

the walls, the floor somehow felt like it hung precariously over a terrible abyss. It was as the

building itself had been consumed by some dark presence.

Twilight stood in the midst of the main room, breathing heavily but keeping her eyes shut tight.

It was cold enough that her every breath came out as a visible mist, yet her coat glistened with a

thick layer of sweat that slowly dripped off onto the dusty floor below.

Now that we're alone, I'd like to share a thought with you the voice began, it actually

seemed to come from the very walls of the library, actually it's one of your own thoughts. I

found it deep inside here, you seem to have tried to loose it. Luckily, I found it for you. Aren't

I helpful?

Twilight's shadow appears on the wall, cast by no discernible light source. More importantly, it

began moving around independently of Twilight herself, though it didn't leave the confines of the

walls.

What happens when you horn grows back? Assuming it will, of course. You'll have your magic

back, and be back to your old self?, the voice resounds with a cruel laugh at this, the shadow

moves about, seemingly trying to find a wall closer to Twilight herself, but what will happen

between you and Applejack, I wonder? Oh sure, she said she likes you just the way you are, magic

and all. But that was before all this happened. Before you started impressing yourself upon her, as

a magic-less, ordinary pony like herself...

Twilight furrows her brow and shakes her head firmly, trying desperately to block it out. I

mean it seems to me that Applejack is attracted to the idea of you as an Earth Pony, like herself.

She's having enough trouble reconciling that you're both mares. Would the complication of you being

a unicorn again just be too much?

Tears begin forming at the corners of the purple mare's eyes as she tries to hold her ground.

The voice had forced her to acknowledge that terrible fear she'd worked so hard to bury, and the

terrifying possibilities that came with it.

First she'll break your heart and leave you. Then she'll be so ashamed of herself, she won't

be able to talk to you again, so you'll loose her friendship too. Oh, I wonder...what if it's all

too much for her to take? There are an awful lot of branches and rope on that farm...

"NO!!" Twilight screams desperately back at the voice, slamming her fore-hooves onto the floor

with enough force to crack the boards, "you don't stay that! You never say that! You're wrong!

Applejack loves me for who I am! She knows my horn will grow back and she won't leave when it

does!".

'loves' you? the voice retorts with a cruel chuckle, I don't recall her actually

saying she loves you. And being that she is the element of honesty, I'm pretty sure she'd say so,

if she did

Twilight tries to refute the voice, but her defense breaks at this; she couldn't argue it's

point, no matter how desperately she wanted to. She'd been taking things on faith alone lately, not

trusting her mind to hold the right answers anymore. Life had seemed so much better without the

usual overbearing logic she normally applied to it; now she couldn't help but wonder if in doing so,

she'd made a horrible mistake. Tears begin to fall freely from her eyes...

See? I am helpful the voice announces with a cruel pride, as it suddenly trots out of the

wall's limits as a three-dimensional construct of inky substance, and begins slowly walking a

circle around Twilight, And now, I can help you more than ever.

A pair of intense white pin-pricks of light appear where the inky visage of Twilight's eyes

should be, and it begins to gain more of her physical features, though they're all etched from its

form as a single mass of the same twisted black substance.

The dark doppelganger raises onto its hind legs and stretches out in mocking relation. One

couldn't help but notice it's form still included the horn the real Twilight had recently lost.

I have to admit, I didn't think this would work out. When I first reached out to you and your

friends managed to pull you back, I thought I was too deep in to get you

Twilight's mind is assaulted with a force replay of a day months ago, when her fear over being

late with a report to Celestia had made her freak out and cause a problem just to have one to fix.

And then things seemed to go so well. I began to wonder if I'd get another chance...and then low

and behold, your dedication to carry out Celestia's orders brought you to the edge of reason once

again

The dark doppelganger crosses one arm and supports its head with the hoof of the other, braced

against the first, I wonder, do two instances count as a forming pattern? It seems your need to

appease Celestia extends far beyond the boundaries of sense

Twilight found herself fighting just to remain stood. She'd lost all sensation of the

temperature, or how hard it was to breathe, or how heavily she was sweating. All she could feel was

an immense weight pushing down on her from every conceivable direction, and a slow, resounding

thump in her chest that wasn't her heart, but something deeper down, and much, much larger.

Augh that incessant noise. Doesn't it drive you crazy? the doppelganger reports

indignantly, gripping the side of its head, it's always there, never stopping. Even I don't know

what it is. Come to think of it, you have some pretty messed up stuff in here, don't you?

The doppelganger picks up an arbitrary book from the floor, though it's not the actual book that

comes up with its hoof, but an inky imitation of it much like the doppelganger itself, maybe one

of these things that take up so much of your life has the answer? Do you have many books on the

subject of insanity?

The doppelganger was growing increasingly ridiculing, but had begun to stray away from painful

topics. With what little conscious thought she could scrape together, Twilight noticed the sound

got quieter and the weight on her lessened, the longer the twisted mimic went. Her focus had begun

to rebuild.

Of course, that's just wishful thinking the doppelganger announces as it carelessly

throws the "book" away; the matter forming it breaks up and dissipates into nothing shortly after

leaving its hoof, I doubt even Celestia knows much, if anything of the horrible things in YOUR

head. I mean, she hasn't even tried to reassure you since this all started, let alone help....

The doppelganger pauses, gesturing aimlessly into space with a forehoof come to think of it,

it almost seems like your letter about not being able to continue as her student even warranted a

single thought. She didn't even reply

A powerful kick of the thump deep inside physically weakens Twilight's footing, bringing with it

an almost re-doubling of the weight that had been baring down on her before. The doppelganger had

finally found the one thing Twilight hadn't permitted herself to think about since this all began.

Aha! There it is... the doppelganger announces with obnoxious triumph, that quickly

deforms into twisted amusement, oh you tried so hard to hide it from me, but I knew it was

there, its tone twists again into mocking sympathy, as it leans in closer to Twilight and

lowers its voice, Celestia didn't care...

Twilight begins to sob heavily at this point, no matter how hard she tries to fight it back. The

resounding thump grew louder and closer, it almost sounded like it was reverberating off the walls

around her now.

All those years, all the time, attention, and effort you could manage, pushing yourself

beyond healthy and sensible limits, doing things at a speed no one believed possible, all to earn

the approval of a mentor..., the doppelganger throws its arms up and announces, as if mockingly

celebrating, ...who doesn't even care!

The doppelganger comes down to Twilight's head level again, it didn't seem like it could

actually touch her, but it was trying to rub her back, awww it's sad isn't it? I know. Despite

knowing she'd taught so many before you, and that your lifespan was barely even a footnote in her

own, you still thought you were special to her...

The doppelganger stands back up and resumes its "thinking" pose, maybe I can make you a big

banner that says "you were wrong!", would that help?

"ENOUGH!!" Twilight screamed angrily at the doppelganger, her eyes replaced with an intense,

solid white glow that radiated so strongly it lit up the library around her, burning away all the

shadows but the doppelganger itself, "YOU THINK YOU KNOW ME SO WELL!? YOU THINK YOU UNDERSTAND

WHAT'S INSIDE ME!? HOW WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE IT!?".

The doppelganger seemed almost elated at the reaction at first, but then seemed to start pulling

away as it realized just how 'irrationally' angry Twilight actually was; she looked like she was

beyond the limits of any sense or reason at this point.

Her mane suddenly parts as he horn almost violently reappears on her head, lit up with a

powerful purple aura that was 'corrupt' with murky streaks of red and black that swam around in it;

intense radiant sparks of light flew off it in random directions, as did occasional slow but

horrifyingly powerful "ribbons" of the same intense energy that slide away and burned grooves

through anything they touched.

Well this can't end well... the doppelganger submits in foreboding, but then suddenly

breaks out in unstable laughter, for anyone!, it gets no opportunity to say anything further

a particularly long, intense ribbon of the chaotic energy slides off Twilight's horn and smoothly

glides through it at an odd angle, separating it in two very uneven pieces that promptly break up

into their inky substance and dissipate into nothing.

The resounding thump grew louder and heavier, the books scattered about the library lifted off

the ground and begin tumbling in space at random pitches and speeds, the very structure of the

library groaned and strained. Twilight's hooves left the ground and she slowly lifted into an

upright posture. One of the resounding thumps is particularly powerful and sends to reverberate for

miles, accompanied by the formation of an incredibly intense, but wickedly unstable spark, hovering

in space just in front of Twilight's chest.

"C-..CELESTIA!" Luna cries out in shock. The elder sister runs to the balcony to find her

younger sibling, but doesn't even need to follow her gaze to find the cause of her alarm. In the

distance, where Ponyville lay, an intense column of light rose from the ground into the sky above.

Even at this extreme distance, they could both see the dark spec suspended in the middle, and the

radiant ribbons of energy swirling around and away from it.

"Make preserve us...how could I have been so wrong!? What have I done!?" Celestia struggles out

as she watches in mixed horror and sorrow. Twilight rose her fore-hooves to her sides, jutted out

to either side and rose her head. A pair of wings not dissimilar to Celestia or Luna's own suddenly

spread from her back out to the sides.

"W-what..what do we do!?" Luna demands from her sister frantically. The elder sister's eyes were

wild and unreadable, but her voice had grown weaker, 'we...we pray...we pray she hasn't been hurt

too much..."

Another resounding thump comes forth, this one far above the others; it was as if the world

itself had a heart and it had just beat. A haunting wail, distant at first, climbs in volume until

it was almost unbearable, as the column of light around Twilight begins to lift away from the

ground and shrink away from the sky, forming into a large sphere around her instead. The ribbons of

energy that had been coming from her now flowed directly into the sphere, the spiral of its motion

growing faster and faster each second as the wail grew louder and louder still.

Finally, a dreadful scream of pain, anguish, anger, sorrow, all somehow mashed into one issued

across all of Equestria, at the same split second the sphere instantly doubles in size, and than an

instant later transforms into a huge, solid ring that flies outward across the land, engulfing

everything in sight.

It takes several long seconds to reach Canterlot, and it brought with no pain, it seemed to do

no actual damage, but the light was blindingly bright, the scream pieced to the very soul, and the

Alicorn sisters felt themselves being lifted from the ground by the sheer intensity of the energy.

In their minds, they saw a flash of Twilight herself, crying furiously and reaching out to them

as everything is consumed in a blinding sea of white...

Author's Commentary

Gogo pony instrumentality time. I'm joking, but it's actually not that far off the truth in a sense. Actually, there's an intermission first. It won't be like the last one - but don't worry, if you liked that - there's going to be a lot of "that" in part 3.

Second Intermission
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Under The Night Sky

Second Intermission

UNDER THE NIGHT SKY

Second Intermission: Between Pages

Author's Foreword

This intermission is OC heavy, and notably longer than the previous one. While I should encourage you to read it, I only thought it fair to warn, as I know many dislike OC ponies, or stories that focus on them.

It was the middle of the day, but you could be forgiven for not being able to tell - this old tree-home had few windows to begin with, and they were all covered with heavy, dark fabric, to block out as much light as possible. Still, it was at least possible to see without too much trouble with what little daylight did filter in through the gaps and around the edges.

The space was dominated by a well-practiced silence; Trixie sat quietly at the restored, but still old and worn writing desk to one side of the main area, the scratching of the quill she manipulated with her magic providing the only real noise. There was a substantial amount of scrapped parchment strewn about the floor behind and around her - whatever she was writing, it was evidently not coming out the way she wanted it to.

After another apparently failed attempt, Trixie scrunches up her current sheet of parchment and tosses it over her shoulder with a frustrated growl. It was the most noise she'd made thus far, and even it was held quiet as quiet as possible. The reason for this excessive consideration was obvious enough, even if its source - the ever self-important Trixie - was surprising; in the old, worn bed upon the raised bedroom deck beyond the main area, Nightsky lay asleep, somehow managing to look sad even then.

One had to imagine a pony that, by their own explanation, was somehow weakened by the sun and most active at night, would logically sleep during the day. Still, it seemed somehow at odds with the notion of letting somepony else stay with you - to be asleep most of the time they're awake, and awake most of the time they're asleep.

Trixie had not found this arrangement easy early on - while she would never admit how grateful she was to have found somewhere to stay with no expectation of compensation, she had had to learn more consideration in the first couple of weeks than she remembered showing other ponies for many years before.

The experience had been, to use a word Trixie found distasteful to just think of - humbling. And yet Trixie could not have quantified it as fulfilling, for all she had managed to learn of the strange pegasus over the many months was what they were willing to say only when asked, or what Trixie had learned simply by observing her. She was not cruel, she did not treat Trixie badly, nor did she say mean or unpleasant things to her - in fact, she said very little of anything without substantial prodding.

It had only been in the last few weeks that Trixie had begun to realize how empty her life had really been, that this strange pegasus who had little to say and even less to share emotionally, was the best friend she could remember having in many years. Her interactions with the strange pegasus had helped Trixie self-improve her interactions with other ponies, but it was only ever going to go so far with her personality.

It was for this realization and new-found desire to improve her social skills that Trixie had decided it was finally time to move on, and try to make a fresh start in a new town. She had worked out a new routine for her act that wouldn't offend other ponies - she hoped - and didn't rely on having her long-since destroyed caravan. With a little preparation and planning, her new routine could be performed anywhere with a stage.

The ironic thing that stuck in Trixie's mind was that the strange pegasus had told her this was her best course of action at the very start, and at least once more since, but she still found herself languishing over how to actually tell Nightsky she was going to do it - that she was finally leaving.

Part of her expected the strange pegasus not to care, to take it in the same apathetic yet somehow still depressive way she seemed to just about everything else. Another part of her expected Nightsky to be upset or angry. Some part of her actually hoped she was upset about it, if only to prove Trixie's presence mattered.

Still, another part of her seemed to know exactly what the strange pegasus would say - "this isn't about me, it's about you. Stop fretting over what I'll think or how I'll react and just do it already", or something to that effect, with an accent and dialect Trixie found hard to take seriously.

Suddenly Trixie began to wonder if she should even leave a letter for the pegasus in the first place. Should she wake her up to tell her and forgo consideration in circumstances like this? Perhaps any notice at all was unnecessary? Did Nightsky go to sleep each day not actually expecting Trixie to still be there when she woke up? Trixie found herself only more confused the more she tried to reason it out.

And then, finally, Trixie found herself wondering why it even troubled her so much. In a moment of weakness, a couple of months in, she had made an ill-advised attempted move on the pegasus, and learned Nightsky was, somehow, even more complicated in that respect. She had known ever since there was no possibility of such a thing happening, and that didn't bother her. Why should this?

"Oh...enough of this already" Trixie submits in frustration, not trying to keep her voice down. She walks away from the writing desk into the main area proper and turns her head up toward the bedroom deck, "Nightsky! Trixie wishes to speak to you. Wake up".

When Trixie's response is nothing but silence for a few long moments, she furrows her brow and raises her voice, "T-...Trixie has decided it is time for Trixie to leave" she blue unicorn continues, trying to hold the conviction in her tone, though her nerves were essentially dancing on her brain.

The cobalt pegasus still doesn't say anything, she just sticks a hoof up in the air high enough to be seen and gestures it about - it didn't actually look like a wave of any sort, just some random gesture of acknowledgment that she'd heard the blue unicorn. Trixie is left speechless at this at first, but her cheeks quickly flush red, and she jumps onto her hind legs, "that's it!? Trixie tells you she's leaving and THAT is your response!?".

A barely audible sigh issues from under the disheveled covers of the old bed, before Nightsky finally sits up, the covers sliding off her head enough for it to actually be visible. She seems to immediately become discomforted by even the marginal amount of sunlight that was getting in, though none of it was even touching her.

Trixie doesn't take this well, immediately growing in frustration. "Oh I'm SO sorry to wake you up in the middle of the day" she snorts sarcastically, "I just thought it might be nice to actually get SOME kind of response to me LEAVING", she'd dropped her constant use of the third person, one wondered if this was some kind of subconscious measure to the severity of her mental state, "I only spent the last THREE HOURS agonizing over a letter to leave for you. I've only left myself with little time to collect my mended costume before my train leaves going out of my mind trying to word this right! By all means, be busy trying to sleep!".

"Y'need twenty minutes after ya wake up ta get t'speaking a language anypony c'n understand..." Nightsky finally responds, slowly and tiredly, "...an' you expect me ta wake up'n three seconds?". Trixie spent the next awkward few moments removing her hoof from her mouth, before lowering her gaze to the floor, "...sorry". The blue unicorn takes a deep breath, and relaxes back down onto all four hooves again.

"I've decided it's time for me to leave" Trixie paraphrases her earlier attempt, straining to keep her third-person speech in check this time, "I'm going to make a fresh start, in a new town. Hopefully, not let my ego ruin my chances of making friends, for once".

"Ah get it. Y'hit yer head again" Nightsky finally returns after a long moment, in what sounded suspiciously like a joke. Trixie flusters and very nearly yells back again, but stops herself as she realizes this, and her expression softens, "what? No depressive reply? Did you finally run out of them?".

The cobalt pegasus gives a lazy shake of her head, followed by a deep yawn, "too tired. Yer jus' gonna have t'live without one". Trixie gives a shake of her head with a small laugh, but can't help but lower her head - and tone - again afterward, "I'm going to miss you, know you. I know you won't miss me...but I do hope you remember me, at least".

Nightsky gives a lazy shrug of her shoulders in return, gesturing toward the door with a hoof, "y'should really git goin' y'know. Y'might miss that train of yers". Trixie couldn't help but feel dejected by the strange pegasus' luck of sentiment - but she also couldn't claim it actually surprised her - so she gives a simple nod of her head, and turns toward to the door, levitating her suitcase to follow her.

She pauses just before opening it, taking a moment to glance back past her shoulder at the cobalt pegasus, who was had already buried herself back under the covers of her bed, "you...you are going to be okay on your own...right?". For a second time, a hoof simply appears above the covers and gives a random acknowledging gesture in response. This time, Trixie was actually kind of comforted by the consistency of the gesture, and finally makes her way out the door.

"So...you're not going to come after me with the makeup and stuff again today, right?"

Rarity couldn't help but giggle softly at Rainbow Dash's nervous concern, or appreciate how attentively she was watching her brush out her mane, despite how hard it was for her to stay still without napping most days. They had moved to the unicorn's bedroom since their slight misunderstanding earlier, the flowers Dash had brought now sat in a vase by the mirror Rarity was using.

"Darling, I don't do that sort of thing every day" Rarity reports to the restless pegasus in the background of her mirror, "nor do I imagine you would hang around long if I did. I realize your mane is unlikely to even see a brush more than a few times a year".

Rainbow Dash actually seems a little disgruntled by this, "h-hey...I'm not that bad" she protests, reaching a hoof back to toy with her mane, "it's just...I don't really see the point messing with it. It gets blown around so much when I fly anyway...". Rarity gives a small shake of her head, looking at the cyan pegasus through the mirror's reflection, "only because you fly so fast, dear. Look at Fluttershy, her mane is never effected by her flying".

"...but I LIKE flying fast..." Dash retorts, seeming almost perturbed she has to point it out. Rarity gives a light sigh, stopping her fastidious brushing to actually turn around and face the pegasus, "yes, dear. I know. But you don't need to fly so fast all the time. If you toned it down even just a little, you could do something with your mane and almost never ruin it".

The cyan pegasus seems to need a few moments to actually process what the unicorn had just said to her - not because it required any specific thought, but in disbelief she'd actually said it. "...you're..joking, right?" Dash finally respond with a furrowed brow, "you can't seriously not know me better than that by now".

Rarity rolls her eyes at this, taking a defensive tone, "honestly Dash, must you be so dramatic? I was simply suggesting you could stand to slow down a bit for the sake of your appearance, once in a while". The cyan pegasus suddenly narrows her eyes, and her tone lowers, "oh..so you're saying there's something wrong with my appearance, huh?".

The white unicorn finds herself blinking vacantly once or twice as she processes this, "wh-...? Darling, that isn't what I said...", though Dash put up an aggressive front, Rarity could tell she wasn't actually angry, but hurt, and she softens her tone, "oh Dash, please. That wasn't what I meant..."

Seeing the tears forming in the corners of Rainbow Dash's eyes, Rarity promptly discarded her brush with no concern for where it landed, standing up onto her hind legs and sweeping the pegasus up into a tight embrace against herself. The cyan pegasus quickly hides her face in the unicorn's coat and holds onto her tightly, hiding her weak sniffling as Rarity lowers her nose to whisper to her softly, "you are pretty just the way you are, darling".

After a few minutes, Rainbow Dash gently pushes herself back from Rarity, bringing a hoof up to quickly wipe her eyes, "hey uh...would...would you mind if I left for a while?". The unicorn is at first visibly worried by this, but she bites her lip and considers it for a moment, "you need some time to think?".

Dash nods softly, her face awash with apology, "it's not your fault or anything...I just...need to think things over, you know?". Rarity takes a clearing breath and submits a gentle nod in return, "I understand, dear. You take your time. I'll be here when you're ready".

The cyan pegasus gentle kiss on the unicorn's lips, and then with none of the enthusiasm Rarity was accustomed to, she opens the window and flies away, with no speed or purpose. It was only in that moment she began to wonder if she was actually doing more harm than good.

She was given no quarter for these thoughts however, as within moments of Dash's departure, she once again heard the jingle of the front-door bell. Rarity summons up whatever of her grace and composure she can, lifting her head and taking a confident stride to carry her back out to the shop floor.

"Welcome to the Carousel Boutique" she announces, as closely to her usual mix of pride and grace as she can hold up at the moment, but pauses with at least some ease as she recognizes Trixie, "oh, hello darling". She activates her magic and lifts the stage magician's restored costume from a nearby mannequin, drawing it across to the blue unicorn, "the garment is ready if you'd like to inspect it".

Trixie strained trying to hide her mixed emotions over the day so far - it was plain to see, but Rarity had the consideration to say nothing, and for that Trixie found herself grateful. "I'm sure it's perfect, I doubt you do less" Trixie responds, with awkward effort, but genuine intention as she assumes levitation of the garment from Rarity and lowers it from her eyesight, "we didn't agree on a price before, though. How much do I owe you for this?".

Rarity doesn't even seem to consider the question, simply presenting a polite smile, "oh, the repairs were very simple dear, and took me no time at all. Lets just call this one a 'mending fences gift', shall we?". This time Trixie is the one who nearly falls off her front-hooves onto her face, though she quickly regains what awkward composure she can, "o-oh...than-", she takes a pacing breath to steady herself, "thank you, Miss Rarity".

Rarity was compelled to offer a comforting laugh, but thought better of it, seeing Trixie's difficulty to adjust to proper social interaction, and settles instead for simply holding her smile, "you are quite welcome, Trixie dear". The blue unicorn couldn't help but feel there was more she should say, but possessing of no idea what to, she settles for an as-yet weak and unfamiliar smile in turn, and takes her leave of the shop.

In the skies over Ponyville, the weather pegasi worked furiously to construct an impromptu rainstorm for the night. The sun had been particularly more intense than normal lately, making the days hotter and drier than expected, and thrown the weather schedule out of whack. Everypony respected Princess Celestia too much to ask why, knowing it implied she was making a mistake, so it was much easier to just work around it.

Clipboard in hand, Rainbow Dash hovered in an upright posture nearby, watching the pegasi work. Or at least, looking in their general direction - mentally she looked a thousand miles away, her brow furrowed lightly in complex thought. To an observant little bird following the events of the day, the cause would be obvious - but to the weather pegasi working with little direction or coordination, they just hoped it meant they were doing their job right.

Far below them, and far beyond their concern, there is a stirring in the older, abandoned part of town. Draped under a heavy, hooded cloak, a figure emerges from the old tree-home, laden with two heavy saddlebags but nothing else. Rainbow Dash's attention was so diverted from the task at hand that she notices this, and virtually jumping at the distraction, promptly flies down to investigate.

Not one generally taken to shyness, Dash lands just in front of the cloaked pony and immediately bends over at an odd angle to try and see under the hood, promptly recognizing the pony beneath. "Hey! It's you! ..." she pauses awkwardly, suddenly realizing she didn't actually remember Nightsky's name.

The larger pegasus is predictably unfazed by this, glancing out at Dash vacantly from under her hood, with the one eye that wasn't covered by her mane, "ye-uh...?". The cyan pegasus lifts a hoof to rub the back of her neck, feeling slightly guilty, but trying to put up a front, "I didn't realize you lived in Ponyville. I haven't seen you around since...well, that night".

She glances upward momentarily with a spark of thought, then gestures out her hoof, "oh, hey...sorry about that by the way. I just got carried away". Nightsky continues her one-eye blank stare for a long few, rather awkward moments, before finally giving a visible shrug of her shoulders, "awright".

Another long, awkward silence sets in - Dash was quickly getting the impression this hadn't been a good idea, the larger pegasus either didn't like her, or didn't want to talk, it was difficult to work out which. As it draws on she grows nervous, and despite having a perfectly good reason to excuse herself from the situation, begins wondering how to change it instead.

"So..." Rainbow Dash begins again, glancing around aimlessly as she looks for something to say, as though the words would be hanging in mid-air somewhere, "...you live in Ponyville, huh?". Nightsky turns her head partway back toward the tree home, then returns to facing Dash, "...Ah jus' decided to move, actually".

"Oh..." the cyan pegasus returns, lifting the wrong hoof to rub her neck and nearly clotting herself with the clipboard she was still carrying, which she promptly tries to disguise by holding it behind it her head, "that kinda sucks. I mean, I don't really know you or anything, but you seem okay".

She hadn't really noticed it, but Rainbow Dash was effectively blocking the larger pegasus from being able to move away - she couldn't use her awkwardly sized wings under the cloak, and Dash had expertly positioned herself in the only opening between the letterbox and the protruding over-sized root of the tree on either side of the door.

"Ah might not...move outa Ponyville completely..." Nightsky finally responds, though she seemed curiously less convinced of herself for once, "jus'...to a differen' part...maybe". Dash gives a slow, idle nod to this, then gestures a hoof off in a direction the cobalt pegasus doesn't actually try to follow, "the sky over that way is pretty cool. I mean you know, in terms of position..I built my house over there".

"Ah don' do the whole...cloud house thing" Nightsky returns with a slightly relaxed tone, lifting a hoof and giving it a shake to emphasize the heavy cloak over her form, "don' do well in the sun...cloudwall don' block it so well". It was only at this point it actually occurred to Dash how strange the cloak thing was in the first place, her thoughts clearly being far from organized.

"Oh, yeah...I wondered about the cloak" the cyan pegasus returns, bending the truth a little for the sake of making conversation, though she did seem to be genuinely curious, "what DOES the sun do to you anyway? Sunburn easy? You have a dark coat though..."

Nightsky seems slightly perturbed by the question, though it was difficult to tell exactly with so little of her actually visible. "Ah wouln' know how to explain it" she offers as her only stipulation to the point, though to herself she wonders why'm ah still talkin' to this one? Yer slippin' girl, fin' a way out

"Anyway..." Nightsky begins again, before the cyan pegasus can question her any further, "ah should get goin'...can' be out in the sun too long, even covered". Rainbow Dash didn't really understand, but she decided at this point it was probably better to cut her losses - this conversation had gone anything but well. "Oh, that's cool" she returns casually, looking back up toward the sky, "I should probably make sure these guys don't mess things up anyw-...", she trails off, realizing the larger pegasus had already found a way around her and set off the other way, "...uh...bye?".

She hadn't made it all that far through it yet, but by taking the least traveled streets and back alleys of Ponyville, Nightsky had at least managed to avoid the majority of the town's population so far, and no one had tried to talk to her - to her rather palpable relief. One had to wonder why she was even traveling by day at all, since it seemed to be about the last thing she should logically be doing.

The cobalt pegasus doesn't recognize or acknowledge the unfamiliar buzzing sound rocketing up behind her, and is even less prepared when the tiny pegasus-prepelled scooter it was coming from and the little red wagon carrying another two fillies it was pulling nearly takes her legs out from under her.

"Zecora!" one of the fillies yells back, a moment before the bizarre vehicle recklessly turns around up the street and comes racing back, to narrowly avoid crashing her when the attempted skid-stop results in it flipping over and all three fillies landing in a heap a couple of feet from her hooves.

Applebloom promptly springs out of the pile and bounces in place happily, "Zecora! Zecora! I din' expect to see ya today!". Still rubbing her head from the crash, Sweetie Bell glances up into the hood at the confounded pegasus, then looks over to her friend through one eye, "uhh...maybe because that's not Zecora?".

Applebloom finally stops bouncing to take a skeptical glance up into the hood herself, then promptly springs backward toward her friends defensively, "hey! Who are you!? Why are you dressed like Zecora!?". Scootaloo dusts herself off, then clops her friend on the head with a hoof, "Applebloom, Zecora's not the only pony in Equestria who wears a cloak".

"Zecora's not even a pony" Sweetie Bell chimes in from the side, "she's a zebra". "Ah know that!" Applebloom protests indignantly, pushing Scootaloo over playfully and waving a hoof at Sweetie Bell, "y'all gettin' too big fer yer hooves. Ah was jus' surprised is all".

Nightsky takes the opportunity to excuse herself from the chaos while the fillies are preoccupied to continue making her way up the street, somehow now even less convinced it was good for health to be out during the day. There was something particularly unsettling about the young for her, memories she didn't like to recall.

Today, it seemed, was just not her day. "Who are y'all anyway?" Applebloom inquires curiously, having somehow taken a seat on the cobalt pegasus' back without her noticing. "Applebloom, that's not polite!" Sweetie Bell protests from the side, riding along in the cart behind the scooter, which Scootaloo was now flitting along beside her, "you can't just jump on somepony's back you don't know".

"Aw she don' mind" Applebloom retorts, gesturing over her generally with her forehooves, "lookit her, she's huge! Prolly don' even notice me up here". Sweetie Bell tries to argue the point further, but she's spoke over by Scootaloo, "hey she has a point though. You don't even know who she is. What if she's unfriendly? Did you thinka that before you jumped up there?".

Applebloom huffs at them, but jumps down anyway, trotting along beside with her nose turned up, "all folks'a Ponyville are friendly". Sweetie Bell chimes in once again cheerfully, "yeah, don't judge a book by its pages". Scootaloo furrows her brow at this in confusion, "wait...isn't it 'cover'?".

"WOAH!" the other two crusader's attention is drawn by Applebloom's exclamation, but they can't see her anywhere, "Scootaloo, you gotta see this! Her wings are huge!". Nightsky suddenly realizes where the little fillie is and almost freaks out, "wh-..g-..git out from under there!". Applebloom promptly appears from underneath the cobalt pegasus' cloak and resumes trotting alongside, oblivious to the horrified look on Sweetie Bell's face.

"So wat's yer name anyways?" Applebloom inquires curiously, "I don' recognize yer face or anythin' under there". Sweetie Bell looked like she was about to die of embarrassment at this point, while Scootaloo was trying not to laugh. The large pegasus was clearly, and quite uncharacteristically, flustered at this point, but tries to stay civil, "...uh...mah name's Nightsky" .

"I'm Applebloom!" the yellow fillie reports cheerfully, bouncing into the cart now and waving Sweetie Bell around a little by the shoulders, "this here's Sweetie Bell, an' that's Scootaloo. We're the Cutie Mark Crusaders". Nightsky turns her head partway across to the trio, "lookin' fer yer Cutie Marks t'gether huh?". All three crusaders seemed a little surprised the pegasus picked it up without any of the normal explanation, though only Applebloom speaks to it, "yeah thas' right! How'd ya guess?".

Nightsky cocks her head slightly, seeming a bit surprised by the question, "name's kinda self-explanatory ain' it?". Applebloom and Sweetie Bell turn to each other at this and remark in unison, "that's what we thought!". "Hey, guys" Scootaloo speaks back to them, grabbing their attention, "if we don't hurry we'll never get back to the club-house before the rain starts".

Applebloom and Sweetie Bell both seem to have a simultaneous shell-shocked recollection of the last time they let Scootaloo drive them along in the wet...and promptly begin to wave to Nightsky. "We should really get going! It was nice to meet you!" Sweetie Bell reports, politely but a little frantically, while Applebloom points ahead with a hoof, "les' go!". And with that, the strange little vehicle rockets off down the street into the distance.

Nightsky submits a slow shake of her head with a low chuckle under her breath as the crusaders disappear into the distance, musing to herself Okay...ah guess they were kinda cute. Wait...what? she gives a firmer shake of her head and furrows her brow, ah'm loosin' it...focus girl...been out'n the sun too long...git to the old castle, no more distractions

As the day drew on, the stifling heat under her heavy cloak and the weight of her saddlebags, and the sheer patience she'd had to muster along the way had drained Nightsky greatly. Her pace had been slow to say the least, but she was finally nearing the edge of Ponyville, the border into the Everfree Forest not far away now.

She doesn't notice the other pegasus flying up behind her, at least until she came to a curiously upside-down, half-upright position in front of her, while hovering backwards. "Mail!" Derpy announces casually, fishing around in the mailbag hanging awkwardly toward the ground from around her shoulders, until finally coming up with a royal-seal adorned letter, and offering forward.

Nightsky stares at it for a moment - without stopping - then gives a slow shake of her head, "send it back darlin'. Ah'm not interested". Derpy gives a wall-eyed frown at this, waving the letter in the other pegasus' face, "but it's from Princess Luna. You should at least read it".

The cobalt pegasus sighs weakly at this, lifting her head enough to give Derpy a one-eyed frown, "darlin' you know I don' want to deal with that. Can' y'just loose it somewhere?". The grey-blue pegasus promptly places her hooves on her hips and furrows her brow indignantly, "I can't do that. Delivering the mail is a sacred oath. Every letter is special and should be treated as if it were you own".

Nightsky sighs again, lowering her head, "ah know...I shouln' have suggested it". Derpy's expression softens a bit at this, reaching a hoof down to lightly rub the top of the cobalt pegasus' head, "hey, it's okay. But you know you should really at least read it".

The grey-blue pegasus doesn't wait for Nightsky to respond, simply flipping over to hover right and moving to her side, putting the letter into one of her saddlebags, "there, no more arguing". The cobalt pegasus rolls her visible eye as Derpy hovers back in front of her, "awright, fine. Now git outa here before some foal gits the idea we're friends".

Derpy chuckles at this, giving a mock salute, "alright, 'Sky. I've kept your secret this long, I guess", and with that she waves and flies off back in the direction of Ponyville proper, leaving Nightsky to the remainder of her journey. The Everfree Forest's edge was drawing near enough now to see hints of the activity within beyond the tree-line, but a large field and one last property still lay between it and the pegasus.

Nightsky recognized it as belonging to the shy yellow pegasus she'd encountered days ago, but for once this actually gives her pause to breathe a sigh of relief, at least that one's quiet. If she came runnin' out to talk ah'd eat these damn bags

She pauses again at the thought of her saddlebags, particularly the letter now being carried in one that she wished didn't exist, prompting her to sigh and lower head again with a furrowed brow in troubled thought. Maybe ah should have at least sen' a "no" to th' las' one...probably only sen' another thinkin' ah didn' get the first. The cobalt pegasus turns her eyes off to the side, how do y'even say "no" to an invitation from a Princess? Surely y'gotta give some kinda explanation. An' probably a convincin' apology. Neither 'em things ah'm good at

The cobalt pegasus opens her eyes wider with a touch of surprise as a sudden smell snaps her out of her train of thought. It was familiar but very out of place; her eyes quickly scan around for an explanation, and she promptly finds it - in the field some distance from the nearby cottage, a patch of the over-dried grass had caught fire under the summer sun. It was small yet, but Nightsky knew once a proper wind hit it, that would change - fast. More importantly, she noticed the breeze was currently moving in the direction of the cottage to begin with.

"Aw hay..." the pegasus huffs, quickly turning her eyes up to the sky and scanning around it, "ah'm gonna pay for this one...dang it". She promptly rears up onto her hind legs and unfastens her saddlebags, letting them fall to the ground as she awkwardly fights off her heavy cloak to get her wings out.

The instant the sunlight hits her exposed form, Nightsky is virtually thrown back down onto all four hooves, almost straining to stay upright even there at first. She furrows her brow and pushes her wings out, then begins a short run forward to leap into the air, giving an angled strike of her wings to launch herself into the air.

The cobalt pegasus wasted as little time as she could, soaring off to the first patch of heavy cloud she could find, where she quickly kicks a large enough chunk free and grabs it with her forehooves, dragging it back through the sky to the infant grass-fire.

She quickly positions the cloud over it, taking a moment for breeze-drift, then bangs on top of it several times with a hoof, bringing forth a quick but heavy downpour of the water inside it, which washes over the budding grass-fire and puts it out. "Th..there..." she announces with notable effort, still holding onto the cloud, though now clearly to support herself as she breathes heavily, "jus...jus gotta..."

It was too late - before she can finish her sentence, there is an odd sound like a large match being struck. A large mass of purple-streaked black, almost smoke-like mass rolls up off her body, which within the effect had immediately shrunk to the size of a regular pegasus, and she goes limp, falling out of the sky and hitting the ground with a heavy thud.

Breathing heavily and straining, and clearly hurt from the fall, Nightsky fights her way back up onto her hooves, starting to walk toward the nearby treeline. Along the way she is halted to wince and nearly loose her balance as she finds one of her front legs no longer willing to support her, but she presses forward on the remaining three.

It takes her a few difficult moments, but the cobalt pegasus finally breaks the treeline and enters the outer-forest. The canopy formed by the trees blocked out a lot of the sunlight, which seemed to substantially ease the unusual burden on Nightsky, but it seemed the damage had already been done.

She tries to hobble her way deeper into the forest, where the tree-cover was thicker, but her body protests the strain, and refuses to handle the obstacles with any efficiency. There is another strange "puff" of the mass off her body, which grows a bit smaller still as a result - her wings change from their larger design to simply a little over-sized variants of normal pegasus wings.

Her muscles had gotten smaller and her body weaker, but it also gotten substantially lighter. Summoning up the leftover excess strength from her larger form, she hops off the ground and flits her wings rapidly, managing to travel a good distance further into the forest until the burden of the sunlight eased to a nearly tolerable level.

Unfortunately, this was also as far as her body was willing to take her; her wings give out and she crashes to the ground, skidding a small ways along it to come to rest near the foot of a large tree. It was the densest shadow she could that she had any hope of reaching, so she drags herself the last little bit there and sits back against it, dropping her head.

"I'm afraid it's permanent"

Princess Celestia...?

"She flew too close to the moon. I don't even know how she had the strength to go so high"

"Will she survive?"

...moma...?

"She will. The lunar energy has caused her no harm. But the sun will burn it away, and the results will be unpredictable. It is best she is kept out of the sun from now on"

"Out of the sun? How will she live a normal life?"

Popa...? Whas' goin' on...?

"It will be hard, but there are many jobs that must be done at night. She will not be wanting of a place in Equestria. I promise you"

That's not true...ah never had a place...

"Can you hear me, little one?"

Ye-uh...

"Did you hear her calling to you? Is that why you did it?"

Y...ye-uh...

"She sleeps now, inside a terrible nightmare. I've had to make sure you can't hear her anymore, so you don't hurt yourself again. But she will return one day. You can meet her then. I promise"

But...but she's mah only friend...

"No, little one. You can make other friends. You just have to try"

W-...who's that...singing...?

Nightsky's eyes open slowly, and with more than a bit of difficulty. It was dark, but of the sort she appreciated; it was late in the day, after sunset. Though the dreadful sensation the sunlight brought with it was gone, as her consciousness rose, the ache through most of her body did as well.

Her eyes began to focus enough to begin making out her surroundings - a peaceful little cottage, simple but homely. It had largely been adapted for the accommodation of small animals, but the only dominant smell was of some delicate wild flower, and layered beneath that some kind of pleasant smelling soup.

With a strain of effort, the cobalt pegasus eases her good front-leg out of the neatly tucked blankets of the makeshift bed, then uses her stronger back-legs to slide them down, before rolling over toward the edge. As she rolls onto her side, she freezes in place and cringes to a strong bolt of pain from that side, but she pushes herself over further until she gets out of the bed onto her hooves.

Her balance immediately tries to betray her, but Nightsky seemed to have more than a bit of stubbornness to her, and she refutes the issue, quickly steadying herself. She noticed now the gentle, harmonic singing wasn't in her head; it was coming from nearby, though it was a bit muffled, suggesting it was coming from outside.

Whether she intended to locate the source or not, outside happened to be where she wanted to be anyway, so the cobalt pegasus glances around to get her bearings - the front door was easy enough to find, and it wasn't particularly far away either, so with a fair bit less conviction than she might have liked, Nightsky hobbles her way to it, and carefully pushes it open to get through.

Almost the instant the cool night air hit her directly, she felt her strength begin to muster - she hobbles further out into the front yard, turning in the precise direction of the steadily rising moon without even having to think about where it would be. Her body's reaction to its light was immediate and profound - within mere moments under its care, her form had increased in proportion and feature to that of a regular pegasus around the age the elements, and her wing design smoothly changed to their previous larger configuration, though curiously one noticed, she didn't return to her measurably larger original size overall.

Her bandages had now becoming uncomfortably tight in places, and began to rip and tear in places under strain as she moved off - walking normally now with little apparent difficulty as she slowly circles the cottage to find its back garden. It was here Nightsky found the source of the soothing melody - Fluttershy sat peacefully in the night air amidst the small garden singing to her flowers.

The yellow pegasus slowly trails off from her singing as she notices the other presence nearby, though to one's surprise she isn't startled at all, simply turning her to give a light smile, "good morning". Nightsky glances upward with a mildly puzzled at the choice of words - though they were quite fitting from her perspective - she finally returns her gaze to the other pegasus, "g'mornin'..."

"I see you're already recovering. That's good" Fluttershy observes politely, apparently unfazed by the impromptu physical changes in her patient, "will you be back to normal soon?". The cobalt mare was more than a bit puzzled by the yellow one's apparent knowledge, but returns a small shake of her head, "ah am back to normal right now. Healin' will take a bit longer, though".

Fluttershy cocks her head lightly at this, taking a curious glance, "shouldn't you be larger? I remember you being bigger than me". The yellow pegasus had, at the very least, obviously worked out who Nightsky was on her own, though how she'd learned what she seemed to know still baffled Nightsky.

"Oh, right..." the cobalt pegasus glances off to the side in thought, "that don' happen so fast. Buildup ah guess". Though she presented a civil tone, she was internally conflicted about the idea of this other pegasus knowing so much of her nature, much less how she learned about it.

Fluttershy observes this and takes a thoughtful look, "don't worry. Princess Celestia dropped by to explain everything, so I could look after you". Nightsky lowers her eyes to the ground at this, her tone seeming to follow it, "right...makes sense", though she didn't say anything, the cobalt pegasus suddenly realized why her mind had gone back so far in her sleep.

"You certainly are an interesting pony" Fluttershy reports thoughtfully, presenting another gentle smile, "complicated, but interesting". Nightsky seemed calmed somewhat by this, turning her gaze back to Fluttershy - she appreciated being called "complicated", at least to the extent it wasn't the familiar alternative, "a freak".

"years later...I learned there was a balance to it" Nightsky speaks up, awkwardly, but more openly, "if ah let my body time to adjust...it'll stay like this durin' the day an' ah'm almost fine...", she lowers her head again, "but ah git so set in mah ways avoidin' folks...always goin' round at night...ah git overloaded with it...an' then ah have a bad reaction to the sun..."

Fluttershy nods softly, "so that's what happened". She takes to the air briefly, flitting along in her easy, gentle way past the cobalt pegasus, and gestures toward the front of the cottage, "you must be hungry. Why don't you come back inside? I made extra in case you woke up earlier".

"Ah...ah should really go look fer mah bags..." Nightsky replies, as she turns back to face the yellow pegasus' new position, but she raises her head to look up at her "but...after ah find 'em...ah'd like that". Fluttershy presents a soft smile in turn, "I already found them for you. I brought them inside, but I didn't open them, honest".

As she was trying to be reassuring, the yellow pegasus doesn't mention the part where they were so heavy she'd gotten frustrated trying to move them, and kicked them a few times...of course, it was awfully unlikely Fluttershy's idea of a frustration kick actually did any damage anyway.

A short time later, Fluttershy sat opposite Nightsky at her dining table. It wasn't particularly large, but then the yellow pegasus wasn't known for hosting large gatherings. Besides the pleasant wild flowers in a vase that had been moved to the side and the table-cloth which looked home-made, albeit very skillfully so, a bowl of that soup the cobalt pegasus could smell earlier sat in front of either of them.

Being as it was still at ideal temperature without having been over-boiled or obviously reheated, it seemed more likely that rather than making extra, Fluttershy had actually put off eating dinner until she thought the other pegasus might wake up. Not wanting to seem rude...and feeling the expectant look from the yellow pegasus going strait through to the back of her head at this point, Nightsky dips her head and carefully gives the soup a sip.

It was evidently made of a careful balance of vegetables and herbs that were the least likely to trigger an allergy or offend a picky palette. Nghtsky couldn't help but imagine an awful lot of effort had to go into making such a careful recipe - though in truth, it was simply that Fluttershy had very mild tastes to begin with.

"This is real nice" Nightsky reports with a slightly awkward, but friendly smile, swearing she could almost feel the relief coming back off the yellow pegasus at this response. "Ah'm not real used to proper food, if ah'm honest" she furthers, pausing to take another, larger, but still polite sip of the soup, "ah ten' eat mostly carrots 'n apples, oatmeal, 'n bread, ah guess".

Fluttershy takes a polite sip of her own soup, then regards this information with some momentary thought, taking some mild curiosity, "not much of a cook?". Nightsky gives a small shake of her head, "naw, ah can cook. Ah jus'..." she trails off, turning her eyes to the side as she realizes how the next part is going to sound, "...ah jus'...don' take of mahself so well".

The yellow pegasus takes a thoughtful look at this, giving a soft nod of her head, "to be honest, I already figured that out. Sometimes I actually wonder if my own house would even be this extravagant if I didn't take of the animals". Extravagant? Nightsky ponders to herself as she glances around the cottage - as nice and homely as it was, that would be one of the last words anyone could sensibly use to describe it.

Fluttershy giggle softly, getting the impression she knew exactly what the other pegasus was thinking, "I know, you can't see how that describes my house at all. It's just, I have very simple tastes, and more than a few of the things in here are for the animals, or things I only got because my friends said I should".

"We're more alike than you probably realize" Fluttershy continues, though she hesitates a little to make the comparison out of consideration, "I avoid other ponies a lot too. You probably noticed...I'm quite shy. Timid, even. It's generally easier for me to avoid ponies, rather than try to talk to them".

It was only now the yellow pegasus noticed Nightsky wore a furrowed brow and a distant look, her head turned to the side uneasily. "Oh no...is something wrong? Is it the soup?" she quickly picks up her bowl and sniffs it, getting some on her nose in the process.

"Somethin's wrong..." Nightsky eventually replies, turning her head back to face Fluttershy in confusion, "can' you hear that thumpin'?".

Author's Commentary

I almost feel like I should apologize for how OC heavy this was. I don't regret writing it by any means, but I do hope the reader doesn't get the impression I put too much importance on my own little pony creation. This was something of an anomaly for me. But now I move on to part 3 of the main story. There is a great deal of coffee in my future.