“You can,” Rainbow Dash said. “I know a buddy from Cloudsdale who changed her name when she got a big job in global weather control.”

“Global?” Rarity asked.

“Yeah. There aren’t just local teams like mine, there’s also a group which controls the weather in all of Equestria. That’s why we have to plan out everything at least two weeks in advance, so we can run it by them first.”

“I didn’t know that,” Twilight chimed in. “They can’t possibly-”

“Looks like books don’t know everything after all!” Rainbow interrupted her, sticking out her tongue in mid walk. Pinkie Pie giggled.

“Rainbow Dash... you know that I haven’t actually read every book there is, right?”

“Meh.”

“So how can they manage every single weather team? That sounds like a lot to organize.”

Rainbow shrugged. “We usually get broad instructions, like ‘four to six rainfalls’ and then we can do the rest as we want. We have to run it back by them, but they never complain. Who knows if they even read it.”

“And how do you-”

“Should we go in here?” Fluttershy interrupted her, causing everyone to halt. Twilight turned her head. They were indeed standing beside what looked like a restaurant, albeit a very small one, with just two tables situated outside the place. One of them was empty, and on the other, Thunderlane was sitting with some pegasus mare she didn’t recognize.

“‘The Lunar Commander’,” Applejack read aloud from the sign hanging on top of the entrance. “Can’t say I’ve been here before.”

“I have,” Rarity said. “They have great mushrooms.”

“And we have a nice view,” Fluttershy added, pointing towards Town Hall, were a group of foals could be seen playing tag.

“But do we even fit around that?” Twilight gave the empty table a skeptical glance. There was a cushioned bench on the side of the restaurant’s wall, along with three comfortable-looking chairs positioned around it, but it seemed like it was intended for five ponies at most.

“We’ll just have to sit tight!” Pinkie exclaimed, giggling, whether at her wordplay or at random Twilight wasn’t sure. With a few bounces she made for the bench, dropping down. “Who wants to sit next to me?”

“I do,” Fluttershy said immediately. “I really like watching foals play,” she added with a smile after taking her seat. This apparently settled it, and as everyone took their seat, Twilight ended up at the third spot on the couch on Pinkie’s other side. There was now indeed very little space left between them.

“Only four menus,” Rarity observed, picking up the items in question.

“We’ll just need one.” Twilight took one of the articles in her magic, levitating it so that she and both ponies next to her could take a look. “Rarity, what was that mushroom dish you liked?”

“One moment... ah, here it is. Item fourteen.”

Twilight flipped a page, giving it a brief look. “I’ll take that one.”

“Me too,” Fluttershy agreed, but Pinkie Pie made a face.

“I don’t like mushrooms. Can you go to the desserts?”

“You ain’t really gonna order just cake, are you, Pinkie?”

“Hehe... I like to see how other ponies bake things!”

“Just a professional interest?” Fluttershy asked, causing a series of laughs from the group. A bit more chatter followed, though Twilight soon stopped paying attention, her mind wandering back to the tower.

It was such an incredible thing. A structure evading even the princess’ gaze. That was, unless Celestia did know about it and just didn’t want to tell her. But that was unlikely... she seemed to have been quite open with her, even sharing some of her own fears.

She barely noticed the waiter approaching, a good-looking unicorn with a blue coat and a short, silver mane.

“Have the ladies chosen yet?”

“Yes,” Rarity said, “we’d like the champion plate three times, please, both the strawberry and the apple pie – not for dessert, but along the main course – the hay fries once, and I will take the big mixed salad, item three. As for drinks...”

“I’ll take the cider,” Rainbow Dash said.

“Still water for me,” Twilight murmured absently.

“I want the chocolate milk!”

“The apple juice for me.”

“Uhm. Also a glass of apple juice for me, please.”

“And I will have the blackcurrant juice, if you will,” Rarity concluded.

“Honestly, Rainbow,” she added once the waiter had disappeared, “do you have any ability or interest to distinguish good and bad food?”

“I know I can distinguish good from bad hay fries! You think it tastes the same when you eat it at home?”

“She’s hopeless,” Applejack whispered to the fashion designer, though loud enough for everypony to understand.

If they really entered... what would they find?

What would they find?

There was something in there. Something was inside that tower.

Sooner or later, she’d find out what it was.

While she was still musing the tower, a thought from earlier came bubbling up from the depths of her mind. She distinctly remembered thinking “I now work for him,” as Pewee had overseen her first set of experiments. But did she really?

Peewee had never taken the initiative. He hadn’t found her; she’d found him. Had confronted him. Had connected to him. And yet, was now doing what it seemed like he wanted...

The problem was this: if examining the tower was what the phoenix really wanted, then why hadn’t he done more to get her here? Sure, it had worked out for him – at least so far – but only because her curiosity had done the entire work. If he had just talked to her earlier, he could have made sure...

This, then, brought her back to the question of his intelligence.

Her research had found that phoenixes were generally considered animals, but the single fact that she had witnessed Philomena doing a joke had led her not to believe it. Now she had confirmation. What Peewee had done was –

She snapped out of her thoughts as she heard Rarity say her name.

“–to make you actually go in there.”

“Sorry, can you say that again?” Twilight asked. Pinkie snickered.

“Told you she was totally spaced out!”

“Rainbow said she’d like to see what’s in the tower,” Rarity explained, “and I pointed out that you’ll probably try to make her go in there. Won’t you?”

“Oh. Uh, didn’t we just have this discussion earlier? I do want us to go in there, but I won’t force anyone, like I said.”

“Yes...” Rarity sounded reluctant. “... yes, we did. But you know, darling, you...”

She stopped. “Yes?” Twilight asked as the silence began to stretch on.

“I have nothing new to say, I suppose,” Rarity murmured. “Girls, what do you think? This isn’t just a matter between Twilight and me. If Twilight does find an entrance, will you try to get inside?”

“I can’t even see it,” Rainbow was first to respond. “If I did go in there, wouldn’t it just, well... like, still be nothing?”

“I can’t say for sure...” Twilight let her gaze bounce between Rarity and Rainbow. “... because the tower might be doing things in an... err, in a different way, but if a unicorn cast this spell, then it almost certainly wouldn’t work anymore once you’re actually inside. So-”

“You mean I’d see everything once I’m in?”

Twilight nodded. “Probably.”

“Sweet...” Rainbow licked her lips. “Rarity, aren’t you also curious?”

“Well, I suppose I am, but not enough.”

“Come on! We’ve beaten Nightmare Moon and Discord and you’ve made it out of a dirt hole full of giant dogs all by yourself! What are you so afraid of?”

“It seems there won’t be any need for Twilight to convince you after all.”

But Rainbow kept watching the fashionista with a raised eyebrow, who clearly hadn’t actually answered the question.

“There’s some reason to be afraid,” Twilight came to her help. “Like I said, this invisibility stuff is really impressive. If the tower wanted to hurt everyone going inside, well, it probably could.”

“But you don’t think that will happen,” Fluttershy asked, “because...?”

“I trust Peewee. So far that has worked.”

“And that’s what I take issue with!” Rarity insisted. “Your trust in this... in Peewee seems misplaced, or dare I say: irrational.”

“Mh,” Twilight just made, trying to consider the possibility that Rarity was actually right. It was indicative that she couldn’t quite articulate why she was so sure of her position.

“Ain’t we just treadin’ old water, now?”

“Perhaps so. But I am worried that Twilight will lead you to do something dangerous, so the least she should do is explain everypony what for.”

“I can’t tell you what for,” Twilight said slowly. “I don’t know what inspecting the tower will do anymore than you. Or what’s inside. I can try to explain why I trust Peewee as much as I do.”

Rarity nodded. “Please.”

“Well – he’s a phoenix, for one. I know there are some exceptions, but on the whole, creatures which look friendly to us also tend to be friendly. Take ponies, sea serpents, uhm... mules... and compare that to dragons, griffons, manticores, timber wolves...”

“Diamond dogs!” Rainbow chimed in.

“Very few dangerous animals look friendly,” Fluttershy confirmed. “The only real exception are nymphs. Though there are a few species which look scary but are still friendly, like... I’d say manticores, actually. And zebras, and-”

“Zebras don’t look scary!” Pinkie Pie protested.

“What?” Rainbow gave her a disbelieving look. “Weren’t you the one who wrote that song about Zecora when we first met her? About her being an evil, err...”

“Enchantress,” Rarity said.

“Right.”

“Right,” Twilight echoed. “But that’s not the only reason. We know that they aren’t animals, now. Peewee has talked to me and there’s still the thing with Philomena pulling a prank on Fluttershy. And... and I think they killed the dragon king.”

“What?” Rainbow asked, while at the same time, Fluttershy took a sharp breath.

“A-are you serious, Twilight?”

“Hold on,” Applejack interrupted her. “Somepony’s gotta explain what yer talkin’ about.”

“Two-hundred years ago,” Rarity began before Twilight could, “there was a war between griffons and dragons. They say it started when a young dragon took her resting place too close to a griffon village. The griffons wanted her gone, and when she refused, they sent a small group to push her out by force. In the resulting confrontation, two of the griffons were killed. Burnt alive. The remaining ones reacted by mobilizing half the village, and the dragon was murdered on the same day.”

“This is well-documented,” Twilight chimed in. “Not just some tale ponies made up or exaggerated. As far as I know, it all happened like that, except that only one of the griffons was burnt, the other took a claw to the chest and died on the retreat. Err... anyway. Go on?”

Rarity nodded. “The dragons did not react well. They are an immensely proud race, the murder of one of their own, even after what she had done, was not something they were willing to take without consequence. The dragon king declared that everyone who took part in the incident – and that meant several dozen griffons – was to be executed, only then would there be peace. Naturally, the griffons refused. What resulted are the most bloody months in Equestrian history thus far.”

“Griffons outnumbered them fifty to one,” Twilight added quietly, “but a fully grown dragon is far stronger than any griffon. They were matched almost evenly, which just made things worse.”

“But why didn’t Celestia put an end to it?” Applejack asked.

“If it was between any other two species, she probably would have,” Twilight responded, her voice now barely more than a whisper. “But dragons are strong. Remember how Spike always says it’s hard for me to do magic tricks on him because he’s a dragon? He’s right. Dragons have a natural resistance to unicorn magic, and that only grows as they grow. I don’t doubt that Celestia could deal with a single dragon, but she can’t force her will on all of them. She tried her best to negotiate peace, though.”

“Without success,” Rarity added.

“And then the dragon king died,” said Fluttershy.

“Precisely,” said Rarity.

“But wait,” Rainbow protested, “why did that end the war? Wouldn’t that-”

“Ahem,” Applejack made, giving a nod to the approaching waiter.

“Blackcurrant juice for you, Miss Rarity. Water for you, Miss. Twilight...” He gave three more drinks out without commenting. “... and the second apple juice for you, Miss Applejack.”

Everypony murmured their ‘thank you’s, and as soon as he was out of ear range, Rainbow continued.

“So I don’t get it. Wouldn’t murdering the dragon king just make the remaining dragons more angry, and make things worse? He was murdered, right?”

“He was,” Rarity said, quickly cutting herself off to leave space to Fluttershy, who had started responding at the same time.

“Dragons have a very unique sense of pride and moral,” she explained. ”You might think they’d want revenge, but actually they considered the war to be lost and settled as their king died. He was the one who had declared it in the first place.”

“Murdering one dragon was what started the war, but murdering another put an end to it?” Applejack asked disbelievingly.

“Yep,” Twilight confirmed. “And it was just about the only thing that would have done the trick. Peace negotiations hadn’t been working at all, because whenever there was a tiny bit of progress, it got squandered once the next fight broke out. And there were fights all the time.”

There was a pause, during which Rarity took a sip of her drink, then asked:

“You think phoenixes did it. Why?”

“It fits the evidence. There is no plausible explanation of how else he died. He was found dead right in the great cave of Svyrrdan, apparently after lying with his mate. It’s close to impossible for griffons to have snuck in there unnoticed, and how would you even do it? It’s extremely difficult to poison a dragon. You’d need a zebraharian shaman, about as good as Zecora, who’s willing to brew a deadly potion, and then you’d have to get it past at least a dozen dragons, and even that shouldn’t have worked so smoothly. I can’t imagine any potion...”

But, throwing another look at Pinkie Pie, she stopped herself. It was unnecessary to go into more detail.

“Perhaps Celestia did it?” Rarity suggested. “Somehow?”

“She once told me she didn’t know what happened.”

“Maybe she lied. Doesn’t sound like something you’d tell your student.”

It was Rainbow who had said that, and it was probably the second best explanation. Phoenixes aside, Celestia might have been the only player on the board who was capable of murdering such a powerful foe in such a clean way. And while any sentence with both ’murder’ and ’Celestia’ in it sounded absurd, the circumstances had been truly extraordinary. Her gut said no, but she couldn’t be sure.

“Could be,” she admitted. “But it could also have been phoenixes. They erased Luna’s memory. If they can do that, they can probably also murder a five-thousand year old dragon without anyone knowing how. At least it’s more likely than that griffons did it, or any other species.”

“Okay,” Fluttershy now said, “but why does that make you trust Peewee more?”

“It probably did save dozens of lives,” Rainbow Dash pointed out.

“Thousands,” Fluttershy corrected her. “Uhm, but still. I don’t see how...”

“That war was the worst thing,” Twilight said, “that ever happened in Equestria. Ever. Over a quarter of all dragons and almost a third of all griffons lost their lives. And that one death ended it all. Come on, girls! If they did it, I’m convinced it was the right thing.” She threw an expectant look around, but no nopony, not even Applejack, took the chance to disagree with her.

“We might not be sitting here if it hadn’t ended that day,” Fluttershy whispered. “I, um, I don’t mean we wouldn’t be alive, but if those two species had driven each other to extinction, Equestria wouldn’t look the same way it does now. But still, I don’t see why-”

“Is it so crazy of me to think they’re watching over us? Given everything?”

“Us?” Pinkie Pie asked.

“Ponies. Griffons. Even dragons. Maybe every sentient species. Maybe every living creature. Our history... of Equestria... it’s extraordinarily peaceful. We know so little about lands outside, but... they aren’t like that.”

Nopony spoke after that. Twilight could feel it too: the unrest that always came with thinking about the land outside of Equestria. Regions that few ponies had ever laid eyes on... and that neither included her nor any of the others... at least not as far as she knew.

“I think I understand you better now,” Rarity said eventually. “But darling, all of this is speculation.”

Applejack and Fluttershy murmured in agreement.

“Yeah,” Twilight admitted, “I know.”

“Anyway,” Rainbow said after a short pause, “I’m going in there.”

“The tower?” Pinkie asked.

“Yeah. I wanna know what’s in there.”

And that settled it.

Rarity didn’t say anything, and soon the conversation shifted to the elements of harmony, and from there to Applebloom and Sweetie Belle’s struggle with Diamond Tiara. Then their food came, and they began a discussion about restaurants and Rarity’s new fashion line and eventually about Thunderlane. But everyone knew that at least Rainbow Dash and her would soon try to get inside the tower.

And Twilight still hadn’t notified Celestia.

Author's Note

The planning fallacy is the fallacy to think humans can plan. This is wrong.