It was a cool, drizzly day in Ponyville. Most of the harvesting was completed and the town's produce was either stowed away for the long winter or shipped off to foreign parts. The trees held bare branches up into the misty air, their red and yellow canopies put to bed by the Running of the Leaves.

Noctilucent reclined on a wooden bench in the post office's waiting area, gazing out of the window at the grey street outside. The helpful mailpony at the counter told her that Derpy's shift would be finished shortly, so here she was, waiting for the pegasus to return from her rounds. She snorted, fogging up the window.

Her plan was a simple one, but far from foolproof; approach Derpy as Noctilucent and confess to her true identity.

According to Twilight Sparkle, a friendship must be based on honesty and trust, and this was the only reasonable course of action. Showing up in Ponyville as Luna would attract too much attention and might cause an uproar. Noctilucent had overheard coworkers at the hospital making plans for 'Nightmare Night' parties and it seemed that ponies still feared Nightmare Moon. Albeit in a somewhat silly manner that involved costumes, candy and frivolous games. The true horror of the Eclipse was but a distant memory, for which Noctilucent felt both grateful and disturbed: Mistakes that weren't remembered were bound to be repeated.

Derpy certainly had not been frightened of her and so as long she could be trusted with keeping Noctilucent's secret the evening should go well. Or it could end in a rout, with her identity exposed to all and a flight back to Canterlot leaving behind much confusion and unfinished tasks.

Noctilucent sighed, steaming up the window again and thought about abandoning this plan. Her ears twitched as she heard a door towards the back of the building open and shut.

"Hey, Parcel! WooOooo! It is miserable out there. Eheh hee hee hee!"

The light brown earth stallion at the counter turned away from stamping letters and waved to Derpy. "Hi, Derps. At least you don't get covered in road muck. Hey, you have a visitor waiting for you."

Noctilucent sat up straighter on the bench as Derpy trotted up to the counter and peered at her through rain spattered and foggy goggles. She was wearing a dark blue rain jacket that had cut outs for her wings, the dripping wet hood pulled up over her head.

"Ummm… Hello?"

"H-h-hi." Noctilucent wasn't sure what else to say, she certainly didn't want to start having a conversation about anything potentially revealing with the other mailpony present.

Derpy stood quietly and blinked a few times, making her odd eye shift around with each blink, and finally said, "Ok, gimme a minute to get changed." Then she trotted away, back into the post office. Parcel Post looked after Derpy, then at Noctilucent, shrugged and went back to stamping envelopes.

A few minutes later Derpy trotted around the counter, having shed her work clothes and Noctilucent got up from her seat to go meet her.

"S-sorry to bother you after y-you've been working all day. My name is Noctilucent. C-can I talk with you for a bit?"

Derpy smiled and said, "Sure thing. But I'm in a hurry to get home and cook dinner for my family, can we walk and talk at the same time?"

Noctilucent nodded and followed her over to the post office's main entrance. She hadn't even considered that Derpy might have a family; this added complication made the urge to quit and retreat almost unbearably strong. Derpy paused at the door to plop a multicoloured umbrella hat atop her head, while Noctilucent pulled up the hood of her grey hoodie and placed her faith in its water repulsion enchantment. They walked out onto the rain-soaked cobbles, side by side.

"What did you wanna talk about?"

The streets were pretty much abandoned, so Noctilucent judged that it was unlikely anypony would overhear them talking. Might as well get to the crux of the matter.

"I am Luna. This unicorn you see is an illusion."

Derpy stopped abruptly and almost slid onto her rump as her hooves skittered on the slick cobblestones. Noctilucent stopped and waited while Derpy stood, her head cocked to one side as she looked at her with her good eye.

After a few moments of confused staring, she suddenly grinned and blurted, "Eee hee hee hee heee! I knew it! I knew there was somethin' special about you."

Derpy bowed with one leg bent, kneeling in the street as she lowered her head and said, "Welcome to Ponyville, Princess Luna."

Dancing on her hooves, worried that somepony might see Derpy bending the knee, Noctilucent commanded, "Stand up at once!"

Derpy rose up and brushed the mud off of her foreleg.

Noctilucent sighed and said, "Please do not refer to me as 'princess'; my name in this disguise is merely 'Noctilucent'. I also ask is that you keep my true identity a secret. I am visiting Ponyville on, umm, royal business and need to be somepony else for a time."

Derpy smiled and nodded enthusiastically, making her umbrella hat flop about. "Ok, no problemo, 'Noctilucent'. So… Can I make you dinner tonight then?"

"If I would not be imposing?"

"Nope! Though I'm just doin' a stir fry, nothin' special. Is that ok?"

Noctilucent wasn't certain what a 'stir fry' was, but nodded and said, "A simple meal with good companionship sounds perfect."

"Great! C'mon then, pr… uh… Noctilucent."

Derpy led Noctilucent through the drizzly streets as night began to fall. Stopping a couple of times to look around and get her bearings There were very few ponies out and about in the cold drizzle; no foals, just adults on their way home from work or shopping. After one false turn, they arrived at the white picket fence around a two story, timber-framed house with a thatched roof.

As they walked up to the front door, Noctilucent asked, "You do not reside in Cloudsdale?"

Derpy shook her head, water droplets splattering out from the edge of her umbrella hat as she said, "Nope. My daughter's a unicorn." She opened the front door and waved for Noctilucent to enter and after a moment's hesitation, she trotted inside.

She found herself standing in a small 'mud room' with a rough hemp carpet underhoof, on her left was a small wood bench and an open closet with several coats hanging inside. Beneath the coats were many winter boots, with one set small enough for a foal. On her right was a closed door and in front of her was a set of stairs going up. Noctilucent stood to one side of the room, carefully wiping her damp hooves against the rug, while Derpy took off her umbrella hat using her wings tips, folded it shut and tucked it up onto a shelf in the closet.

After wiping her own hooves, Derpy headed up the stairs. Opening the door at the top of the stairs she was greeted by a little unicorn filly who dove into her forelegs and hugged her.

The little filly chirped, "Hiii, mama!"

Derpy stepped out of the way of the door to let Noctilucent into the room and scooped up her little, grey coated and yellow maned foal for a proper hugging. As she walked into the room Noctilucent saw that the upper story of the house had been converted into an apartment, with a combined living room and dining room, a small kitchen, two open doorways which led into bedrooms and a closed door which was no doubt the water closet. The walls were all painted a warm yellow, a few shades darker than a certain grumpy unicorn that she knew. There was a wooden table with six chairs, a couch and a bookcase filled with books and knick knacks. Hateful electric lighting illuminated the room, but they were at least yellow tinted and gave an illusion of candlelight.

Derpy put down her foal and pushed her toward Noctilucent with a wing saying, "Dinky, this is my new friend, Noctilucent. She's havin' dinner with us."

The little pony grinned, showing that she was missing one of her lower front teeth. "H'lo, Noctilu.. Noctiloosen…"

Lowering her head down to Dinky's height, Noctilucent smiled and said, "You may c-call me 'Luci' if you wish. I'm p-p-please to meet you, Dinky."

Noctilucent held out one of her cloven fore hooves and Dinky politely tapped it with one of her's.

"H'lo, Luci."

Noctilucent noticed that there was another pony present, sitting on the couch with a large book propped up on her thighs so that all she could see of them was the top of their head. Another unicorn judging by the pale purple horn poking up through her darker purple mane.

Derpy called to her, "Hiii, Amethyst. Come'n say hello to our guest."

The unicorn mare waved a hoof and said, "Hey, Derps. Sorry, I'm kind of busy. Hi, Luci."

Derpy smiled and shrugged with her wings. "Amethyst is Dinky's sister…"

"Half-sister!" Dinky chirped.

Derpy smiled down at her foal and ruffled her mane with a wing tip. "Yep, half-sister. Well… I'll get dinner goin'. Please make yourself at home, Noctilucent." She trotted off towards the kitchen with Dinky at her side.

After shutting the door Noctilucent walked over to the couch and before sitting she cast a quick drying cantrip on herself. She laid down on her belly and tucked her hooves up under herself as the couch's springs squeaked and groaned, protesting having to deal with the weight of an alicorn. Amethyst glanced out from behind her heavy tome at Noctilucent.

"H-home work?"

"Yup." She went back to reading.

Noctilucent read the title, 'The Paradoxes of Legal Science'. Sensing that her fellow couch sitter would prefer to be left alone, she watched Derpy and Dinky preparing the evening meal. The pegasus mare was a little clumsy as she chopped vegetables, placed a large, round frying pan of a type that Noctilucent had never seen before upon the gas stove, and retrieved a bowl of what appeared to be wavy, white noodles from the refrigerator. Dinky chatted about school with her while she worked. Oil, vegetables and seasonings were dumped into the pan and the room quickly filled with the crackling sound of frying and a delicious aroma. After a few minutes, Derpy tipped the noodles into the pan causing the frying sound to escalate, while she quickly stirred the contents with a large metal spoon.

Amethyst huffed, snapped her heavy book shut and dumped it onto the couch between herself and Noctilucent. She jumped up and walked to the kitchen, declaring, "I'll set the table."

A cupboard was opened by Amethyst's purple glowing magic and four plates floated out to land gently on the table, followed by glasses, forks and a jug of fruit juice. Noctilucent was impressed by Amethyst's display of power and control; she was a well-trained unicorn. She finished setting four places down at one end of the table just as Derpy finished cooking and switched off the stove's gas, clumsily igniting a feather on the tip of one of her wings in the process. After a moment of panic and a quick dip under a running faucet, Amethyst brought the heavy pan of stir frying over to the table and set it down atop a three-legged metal trivet.

Noctilucent rose from the couch and joined them as everypony was sitting down. She took the seat next to Dinky's, who had a padded box atop her chair so that she could sit up high enough to reach. Derpy sat at the head of the table and Amethyst took the chair opposite Dinky and Noctilucent.

Fussing with her tail, trying to get it to slip between the middle gap of the four rungs of the chair's back, Noctilucent wondered again about why ponies were so committed to building such uncomfortable furniture. Some puritanical culture must have come into fashion while she was languishing in the Moon. She envied Dinky's cushioned booster seat.

Derpy served out spoonfuls of noodles and vegetables while Amethyst poured juice for everypony.

"Th-thank you for the food." Noctilucent politely nodded to Derpy and picked up her fork with the pale cyan glow of her magic.

Dinky had her hooves up on the table, looming over the steaming plateful of food; she paused and looked over at Derpy and said, "Thank you, mom."

Derpy mumbled around a mouthful of food, "You're welcome." She smiled happily while munching.

"Boner appetite!" Amethyst chortled and shovelled a forkful of food into her muzzle.

"Amethyst!"

Derpy's angry yelp sprayed a little and Noctilucent counted herself fortunate that the mailmare had not shouted in her direction. She focused on enjoying the food, while the giggling, purple unicorn received a light wing slap across the back of her head. The vegetables were still crunchy, coated with oil and seasoning; carrot, onion, green peppers, mushrooms and peas still in the pod. The otherwise plain noodles provided a refreshing counterpoint to the richly seasoned vegetables. The only thing which slightly hampered enjoying the meal's flavour was a hint of scorched feathers in the air.

Not having magic, Derpy went muzzle down on her plate to eat, which was rather messy looking but effective as the mare devoured her meal. Dinky was eating the same way. Imitating her mother's mode of eating and taking smaller, but just as messy, bites.

Noctilucent levitated her glass to take a sip of what turned out to be apple juice, just as Amethyst was putting her glass down. The teenage pony looked uncomfortable and asked Derpy, "How come you invited Luci over? Feels weird having a stranger eatin' with us."

Since Derpy was messily chewing on a mouthful of stir fry, Noctilucent answered for her. "W-we met a few days ago. I was s-sightseeing at the Castle of the Two Sisters, and ran into Derpy there." She twirled her fork on the plate, gathering up a load of the noodles.

Amethyst spared Noctilucent and irritated glance and asked Derpy, "What were you doin' out there? The Everfree's a dump."

Derpy swallowed, licked her lips and said, "I got lost… as usual." She rubbed a hoof through her mane and nervously laughed. "Ah heh heh heh. You know me n my lousy sense of direction. I got lucky and ran into Noctilucent. She pointed me in the right direction to get to Canterlot, so I invited her over to say 'thanks'."

Amethyst frowned and looked confused. "But you said that was Princess Luna. Right?"

Noctilucent dropped her fork and it landed on her half empty plate with a clatter, the sharp noise making everypony jerk upright and stare at her. Noctilucent sighed heavily, thinking about all the times that her sister had cautioned her about leaping into action before properly thinking things through.

Derpy quietly said, "Oops."

"Wait… What?" Amethyst squinted at Noctilucent, her horn briefly flaring and by the glow around her eyes, it was obvious that she was checking out her aura.

Dinky glanced back and forth between her mother, Amethyst and Luci, looking puzzled as a noodle dangled from between her lips.

Noctilucent was silent, thinking quickly, trying to conjure up a way to salvage this without revealing her true identity to Derpy's family. Nothing sprang to mind and the silence which shrouded the table was well past being awkward. Noctilucent picked up her fork, scooped up some noodles and a mushroom then roughly shoved them into her muzzle and chewed while the other three ponies watched. After swallowing she sighed and said, "Yes, I am Princess Luna."

She dispelled the disguise while staring down at her plate, morosely watching the table shrink away from her slightly as she returned to her teenaged alicorn stature. She was starting to stir her food with her fork when Dinky shrieked and leapt out of her chair, her little hooves clattering on the floor as she ran to her mother's side. Dinky clutched at her mother, burying her face in Derpy's side while hugging her and wailing.

Derpy turned in her seat and hugged her frightened daughter, shushing her and smootching the top of her head, leaving a smear of stir fry sauce in her mane. Meanwhile Amethyst looked both angry and frightened, glaring at Luna with her nostrils flaring. Luna sighed heavily and lowered her fork down onto her plate with a soft clink; this was exactly the kind of reaction she had worried about.

Luna slipped out of her chair and headed for the door, fluttering her slightly sore wings.

"Nooo. Princess Luna, please don't go…" Derpy craned her head around so she could see the dejected looking blue alicorn stop at the door and look back at her. Dinky had calmed down a little but was still sniffling as her mother rubbed her back with one of her hooves.

Amethyst yelped, "No! Derpy, she's evil."

"Hush, Amethyst! Princess Luna's not evil; she helped me! She's a good pony."

Dinky sniffled, her tear stained little muzzle pressed up against her mother. "She makes me have nightmares."

Amethyst waved a hoof at Luna and said, "Nightmares, Derpy! Nightmares! Damn nobles even mess with us when we're asleep."

Luna gritted her teeth as she felt a hot blast of anger rip through her in response to this intolerable slander. She turned, gave Amethyst the Royal Stink Eye and in an intimidating growl, she said, "We… I, do not give ponies nightmares." At least it was supposed to be an intimidating growl, but with the voice changing spell still in place it came out as a mildly annoyed whisper. "Mayhaps tis forgotten knowledge, due to my long absence: But I only bring nightmares to the wicked, to drive them back into my sister's Light."

Derpy picked up a napkin from the table, holding it in the crook of her foreleg she wiped at her daughter's face to dry her cheeks. She looked up and said, "Please stay, Princess. You don't have to leave."

Torn between wanting to avoid upsetting poor little Dinky any further and the seeing Derpy's eyes starting to brim with tears, Luna walked back to her chair. No matter what she did it seemed somepony would be unhappy, not least of whom was herself. She had been genuinely enjoying dinner up until now.

Derpy wiped at the sauce in Dinky's mane but only smeared it further into the bright yellow hair, making a long sticky wing of mane stand up from Dinky's head. She sighed and tossed the napkin back onto the table.

Sitting back down on the uncomfortable wooden chair Luna grabbed her fork in her magic, scooped up some of her cooling dinner and got back to eating. The food was still delicious and made up for the tension, and burnt feather, in the air.

Dinky hesitantly climbed back up onto her chair, looked at her nearly demolished dinner, then over at Luna. She sniffled and said, "So… You don't make nightmares?"

Luna looked over at the little grey filly, finished chewing and swallowed before answering, "No, little one. Nightmares and dreams come from within, they are how ponies explore their innermost desires and fears." She leant closer to Dinky, smiled her most friendly smile and asked, "What is it that you are having nightmares about?"

Dinky leant away, looking up at Luna with spooked eyes and her little hooves pressed over her mouth. The scared little filly looked over the table at Amethyst, who sighed and said, "She told me about havin' a terrible dream about being an earth pony."

Derpy nodded, her muzzle slick with sauce and oil as she continued to eat.

"I know this is likely of little comfort, but the fears which cause you that nightmare are not uncommon for a unicorn whose magic has yet to blossom."

Dinky looked puzzled and mumbled behind her hooves, "Blossom?"

Luna looked at Amethyst and asked, "Is this not how it is called, nowadays?"

Amethyst shrugged and mumbled, "Dunno. Never heard of it."

Luna tsked, "A shame. No blossoming party then, I suppose?"

"Blossoming party?" Dinky smiled behind her hooves and looked up at Luna, obviously liking the idea of having a party. "You mean like a birfday party? With cake, and balloons?"

Luna smiled back and said, "Yes, very much like a birthing day party. Indeed."

A party one celebrated by taking solemn oaths, blood letting and imbibing of strong spirits. Luna well knew that such things were not considered good activities for Equestria's young now—more's the pity—so she did not bring it up. Perhaps this was the reason a blossoming was no longer observed? Perhaps it was for the best, as Nurse Trainee Pearl Singer had shared with Noctilucent a little of what she had learned about the ill effects of alcohol upon the unborn and foals.

Sensing an opportunity to both provide succour to the little foal and perhaps endear herself to both Derpy and Amethyst, Luna decided to share some of her vast experience with pony dreams.

"I have witnessed many dreams in which young unicorns find themselves hitched up to ploughs or heavily laden carts. Forced to cut acres of grain with a sickle or to buck apples from the tree. All the while being mocked by their peers for being a mere earth pony."

Dinky sniffled and nodded.

"I understand the fear of being made to work the land, as unicorns wilt beneath the heavy labour that is daily life for an earth pony. But I do not know why unicorns would mock somepony for being an earth pony. Why do you think they would do that, Dinky?"

"Umm…" Dinky's brows furrowed as she thought for a moment. "'Cause they don't have magic?"

"Oh, but that is a falsehood! Earth ponies and pegasi both have magic, but tis not the flashy spell casting magic of a unicorn. Earth pony magic is a part of them, in their very bones, muscle and sinew. It makes them far stronger than any unicorn, and they can hear the land's voice, making them gifted miners, farmers, and noble stewards of Equestria's health. Tis how they can grow an abundance of food on infertile land where a unicorn would fail and starve."

Amethyst snarkily asked, "If earth ponies are 'noble stewards', how come there aren't any earth pony nobles?"

"Because of the Revolt and Reformation approximately five centuries past. There were many wealthy, landowning earth ponies, but those who survived the revolt were stripped of titles and their domains. Even for unicorn nobility, the titles are merely that; a title which no longer grants lands or rule. Most of the unicorns in Canterlot are merely bureaucrats or teachers." Luna was grateful for the many history books she had been tasked with reading while staying with Twilight Sparkle.

Dinky tried to get Luna's attention again and blurted out, "My teacher's an earth pony."

Turning back to talk to Dinky, Luna asked, "If thy…" She coughed, "I mean if your teacher is an earth pony, how does she teach you about magic?"

Dinky shrugged, "I dunno. We just read books 'bout it. I guess?"

Amethyst said, "They teach theory in grade school and once a unicorn, uh, 'blossoms', Cheerilee sets 'em up with a master. I've been tutoring Dinky a bit too."

Luna smiled warmly and said, "Oh? That is pleasant news to mine ears, as home and hearth are so very important in the growth a young foal. I well know how important it be to have a strong sister to depend upon."

"Half-sister," Dinky insisted.

"One's half-sister is still a sister, in all ways that are important." Luna nodded to Derpy who was wiping her muzzle clean with a napkin, "I presume you are not Amethyst's mother, as you are far too young." She glanced at Amethyst and asked, "So you share a father?"

Amethyst grimaced and swallowed a mouthful of juice before saying, "He's an asss..." She glanced at Derpy, who did not look happy. "...sssault! Uh… Yeah, an assault. On, uh..."

While Amethyst floundered Derpy sighed, shook her head and said, "He's not a nice pony."

Luna nodded once and said, "Then we shall not speak of him. But be assured that it matters to me not if somepony is born out of herd, as was t'was common in my time."

Derpy looked puzzled, "'Out of herd'?"

"Aye. Mmm… What is the term nowadays? 'Out of wedlock?'"

Derpy nodded, blushing a little. "T-that sounds right."

"What's a herd? What's a 'wedlock'?" Dinky looked around the table with an adorably curious tilt to her ears and head.

Derpy leant over to ruffle her daughter's sticky mane. "Adult things, Dinky. You don't need to know about them yet." She gave Luna a look; brows lowered and giving her head a little shake.

"But…" Dinky wasn't about to let go of her curiosity that easily.

"Did you finish your homework?"

Dinky nodded and said, "Uh-huh."

"Okay! Why don't you go 'n read comics for a bit an' then I'll give you a nice, warm bath?"

Dinky grimaced at the mention of an impending bath. With a long suffering sigh she hopped down from her chair and trotted off to the bedroom she shared with Derpy.

With dinner finished, Amethyst and Derpy set about clearing away the table. Derpy enthusiastically scrubbed dishes in the kitchen's sink, making a mess that would need to be cleaned up after she finished cleaned up. She used a scrubbing brush, held in the crook of one foreleg to scrub with and placed the clean dishes on a drying rack. Where they didn't stay for very long, as Amethyst grabbed them in her magic, quick dried them with a simple domestic spell and then put them away in the cupboards.

"How's your studying goin', Amethyst? Think you'll be ready for the exams?"

Amethyst nodded while tucking a glass away and said, "Yeah, I'm gonna ace it! I gotta go to Canterlot in a couple of days. Wish I could just take 'em here."

"You'll be stayin' with Auntie Nin, right?"

"Mmmhmm. I'll be back Thursday night."

"Might I inquire as to what you are studying?" Luna asked. She had remained at the table, not certain what she should do while a guest in someone else's home. Luna was used to dirty dishes vanishing into the servant's passages, a part of the — now ruined castle — where she had never needed to venture. Should she offer to help clean? Derpy and her family were not servants after all.

"I'm doin' Crime Scene Divination at Clover College."

"Ah… Soothsaying spells and the like."

Amethyst snorted and said, "Nope! Duh. Truth spells ain't admissible evidence, so they hire ponies like me to find concrete evidence. Or at least they will once I graduate."

"Tis… I mean, that sounds to be a most noble profession. To seek…"

Amethyst cut Luna off with a bitter laugh, "Ha! You like to throw that word around a lot. 'Noble' my ass. It's the damn nobles who're the worst criminals! Rape, murder, extortion, drug dealing, black magic; oh they have it all goin' on up there in precious, pure, white Canterlot."

"Oooh, Amethyst! Keep your voice down." Derpy pressed a few damp feathers over the irate, purple unicorn's muzzle.

Luna grimaced, were things truly so bad at Equestria's capitol? Things had seemed quiet and pleasant, and she couldn't imagine her sister allowing such behaviour. There were always bad ponies amongst the ruling elite; those who abused their status and wealth. Perhaps they had become more difficult to deal with as the legal system changed over the centuries? Not permitting sooth spells in court? That was alarming news. How was justice even served now? Was garotting, drawing and quartering, and torture no longer practised? She had noticed there were no heads upon the pikes over Canterlot's gates and had thought her sister merely did not wish to get the beautiful castle's walls dirty.

"Perhaps I misspoke. Indeed, there have always been those charged with rule who abuse their position. I know little of what has occurred during Our… during my long absence, but the wicked once shook in fear of my performing justice upon them." She sighed wistfully. "Simpler times."

"Givin' nightmares to wicked ponies?" Amethyst's eyes glistened with mischief as she said, "'I know some shi… Uh…" She glanced at Derpy who was glaring at her, and at the ceiling. "I mean, a few evil ponies who'd be, uh, 'helped' by havin' a nightmare or three."

Luna smiled a cruel little smile and asked, "Oh? Pray tell?"

Perhaps now that she was walking again, she should take up that particular duty once more. She could dust off her nightmare templates and make up for her failures with Dirt Nap. It would be nice to have a victory, and driving wicked ponies into the light was usually the low hanging fruit of her domain.

Having finished up in the kitchen, Amethyst came over to the dining table and sat down opposite Luna, while Derpy went to the bedroom to check on her daughter.

"Well… There's Poppycock, who I'm sure is dealin'."

"'Deelin?'" Luna looked puzzled.

"Sellin' illegal drugs that fu… uh… mess up ponies."

Luna nodded and said, "Oh, yes. Tis certainly not the behaviour of a good pony."

"I'm pretty sure Snap Shot's been takin' sneaky photos of mares an' fillies. Y'know, of their butts n' stuff, while they're, like, out shoppin' n stuff. I think he sells 'em too."

Luna's nose wrinkled in disgust. "That is terrible, but what of the murderers, rapists and the like who you mentioned?"

Amethyst looked abashed, her ears flopping down limp. "Well… I, ah… Nopony I know is that bad, but they say Duke Star Glow murdered his first wife an' got away with it."

Luna nodded, that was certainly a serious accusation that could well do with investigating. Amethyst waved a 'come hither' hoof at her and leant across the table, so Luna also leant closer and cocked an ear.

Amethyst whispered, "And Prince Blueblood."

Luna frowned and whispered back, "What crime hath my many-times-great grand nephew committed?"

Derpy herded a protesting Dinky out of the bedroom, head bumping her rump toward the bathroom, where the heinous crime of a good scrubbing down before bed was about to be committed. Amethyst glanced guiltily at Derpy and sat back in her chair.

"Are you guys gettin' along now?" Derpy gave them a tentative looking smile as she walked past.

Luna sat back and smiled. "Aye. It seems we share a common interest; that of punishing the wicked for their crimes."

Derpy chortled nervously, "Ehee hee hee. Ok, well, I'll be back once this filthy lil filly is sparkling again." She shut the bathroom door, cutting of Dinky's whining protest.

Smiling a grim smile that boded ill for somepony, Luna leant forward again and asked, "Tell me, what crimes hath my relative committed?"

The muffling sound of the bathtub being filled with water seemed to embolden Amethyst's foul tongue. "He's an asshole! A buckin' tribalist, psycho, perv, scumbag, mare-killin' manwhore!" Amethyst panted, her face twisted with anger and her nostrils flaring, and it looked like she was eager to continue with her tirade.

Luna held up a hoof and calmly interrupted. "Aye, that sounds like Blueblood alright. But none of these things are crimes, unless 'mare-killing' is meant to be understood literally?" She wasn't certain what some of the things Amethyst had called her father were, but was little doubt that they were not compliments.

"It means he screws anythin' with a heartbeat an' doesn't care if somepony gets pregnant." Amethyst pointed at the bathroom, "He's Dinky's father. And… And he's my father. But is he here takin' care of Dinky and Derpy? Buck no! He's off chasin' his next piece of tail."

Having temporarily run out of steam, Amethyst sniffled and wiped angrily at her eyes with a crooked foreleg.

Luna sighed. If Amethyst were to be believed then her grand nephew was quite the debauch, though certainly her opinion of him must be coloured by her anger. Nevertheless... "I will have words with him about taking responsibility."

Amethyst gasped and said, "No! No, forget I said anythin'. I don't wanna have anythin' to do with him an' I know Derpy doesn't too."

The room seemed to darken as Luna leant forward to glare at Amethyst and there was a foreboding, deep rumbling sound that was probably distant thunder. Probably. "I will have words with him. Do not presume to tell Us what We may and may not do."

Feeling a sudden terror, Amethyst would have fled but under Luna's piercing glare she couldn't do more than twitch.

Luna's voice was thick with anger and threat, despite still being constrained to a melodious whisper by Twilight's spell. "Blueblood is, regrettably, a member of Our family. Thus you and Dinky are also family and I will not suffer any slight."

Amethyst moaned, "Oh, balls. Don't tell Derpy about this!" She gulped and looked away as the Princess of the Night raised an eyebrow at her demanding tone. "P-p-please?"

Luna sat back in her chair and the ominous gloom quickly faded. "I will keep your secret, but in return, I would ask that you keep mine." So saying, she recast her disguise spell and in a few moments, Noctilucent sat at the table. "The task of mine which requires secrecy is not yet completed."

Amethyst's voice wavered as she said, "Sure, you got it. Not like I'd blab that Derpy's friends with one of the Princesses anyway. Who'd believe me?" Released from the paralysing fear, she quickly got to her hooves and stumbled into the kitchen area, putting some distance between herself and Luna. After taking a moment to gather her wits, she picked up a glass carafe and started filling it with water.

"D-do you like coffee, Princess? I'm gonna be up late studying so…"

Noctilucent nodded and pondered what she was going to do to Blueblood.

The warm, burnt scent of coffee was filling the air when the bathroom door opened and Dinky came galloping out, still damp from her bath. The little filly stopped in the middle of the room and shook herself violently, causing a fine spray of water to go everywhere.

Noctilucent chuckled and hid her face behind a raised leg, thinking that she should have kept her rain repellant hood up.

Dinky blinked a few times, looked up at her and said, "Hi again, Luci."

"Hello, Dinky. Did you have a nice bath?"

Dinky frowned and grumped, "No."

Coming out of the washroom and shaking water droplets from her wings, Dinky chuckled. "Awww… We can't do a bubble bath every night, Dinky."

Noctilucent turned sideways in her chair, wincing as she had to tug her long tail halfway out of the back rungs. She leant down and looked Dinky in the eye and said, "Dinky, may I beg a favour of you? Your mama and Amethyst have both promised to keep it a secret that I'm actually Luna and I was hoping you might do the same. Tis very important to me."

Head cocked to one side, Dinky asked, "Why?"

"I am on a very, very secret mission in Ponyville. So I have to wear this disguise."

"Ohhh… Like when Daring Do snuck into the Temple of Zombies disguised as a mummy?"

"Umm… Yes, I think." Luna had no idea who this 'Daring Do' pony was, but she was quite certain that wearing a disguise would be of little use in combating the undead. It wasn't like they actually used their eyes when hunting their prey.

Dinky giggled and said, "Ok! I won't tell nopony."

"Thank thee… you, Dinky." Luna returned the sweet little filly's grin and sat back up, feeling very relieved. From the moment she had revealed her true identity she had been worrying about this, that her 'vacation' was abruptly terminated. Now, not only was she able to continue, but she felt a renewed sense of purpose and was looking forward to investigating and potentially punishing the ponies that Amethyst had spoken of. Except for Prince Blueblood. She was not looking forward to opening that jug of worms.

She smiled at Derpy, who had her forelegs wrapped around Amethyst, giving her a 'thank you' hug. The grey pegasus was plainly overjoyed that dinner with her new friend had turned out alright in the end.

"I believe I should be going, as my shift at the hospital will begin soon. Thank you for the delicious dinner. I will make a point to task the castle staff with preparing 'stirred fry' in the future."

Derpy smiled, blushing a little at the compliment and asked, "Can't you stay for coffee and ice cream?"

"Ice cream!" Dinky leapt up into her chair, tongue hanging out and her tail wagging with excitement.

"Nae, I apologise for my unseemly haste. But I must be away." Noctilucent reluctantly slid out of her chair, regretting not being able to stay for coffee but she would stop on the way to the hospital to pick up a frappa-whatever to compensate for the loss.

Derpy walked her to the doorway at the top of the stairs and gave her a hug. Which Noctilucent hesitantly returned.

"I hope you can come for dinner again, Luci." Derpy squeezed Noctilucent and flapped her wings a little.

Noctilucent patted her back, down below her wings and nodded. "I would like that very much."

After she got to the bottom of the stairs Noctilucent turned and waved to Derpy, flipped up her hood and stepped out into the cold drizzle.

Three days after the Running of the Leaves, Clickspring decided it was time to deal with the soggy mass of leaves which clogged the water mill's sluice. Most of the leaves shaken from the trees had either blown away or been compacted into a stable sheet on the ground by the heavy rains which had followed the contest. So there was little worry that the sluice would become clogged again before winter arrived and froze everything solid. There were only a few weeks left where he would have power for the machines in his shop before winter put a halt to any work that required his lathe, drill press, or other water powered shop equipment.

While he could get similar equipment powered by magic installed it would be expensive and, he felt, would take some of the charm out of it. Ponyvillians did love their charming backwardness, Clickspring included.

Fortunately, he had help this year, so it should only take a single day to deal with the mess. While he raked leaves and twigs up out of the sluice channel and onto the bank, Dirt Nap was loading the heavy, sodden mess into a cart so they could be taken away.

Dirt Nap was resting, sitting down next to the cart, while Clickspring used a wooden rake, held in his forelegs, to pull chunks of leaves up from the sluice. Turning from the water channel and grunting he plopped the rake down atop a growing mass of leaves, which were in turn on top of a large metal shovel, which Dirt Nap would heave up into the cart once it was full.

"Clicky… Y'all know about magic, an’ stuff, raight?"

Clickspring paused and propped the head of the rake against the ground, leant up against it and spent a few moments catching his breath before answering. "Well, yeah, I know a bit. Why?"

Rubbing his chin with a hoof, Dirt Nap looked thoughtful and asked, "Ah was wonderin', 'bout the Festival. Ah know that with the pegasus Festival it's all up in the air like, an’ so no earth ponies or unicorns end up at it. An’ you unicorns cast some kinda spell 'round yer own Festival t'keep everypony but unicorns out. But us earth ponies ain't got no magic an' we don't fly, so what keeps anypony but an earth pony out of the earth pony Festival? Y'all could just walk on in if'n y'felt like it."

Clickspring gazed over at the very attractively sweaty stallion and said, "There is magic involved, even though earth ponies don't have horns. You know, your tribe and the pegasi do have magic, but it's much more subtle than what my kind does. The Festival itself is magic, one that comes from everypony, no one actually casts it. It just is. It's a part of all of us."

Warming up to the topic he sat down and wiped sweat from his forehead with one of his fetlocks.

"I studied this way back when I started having issues with going to the Festival. The magical call which makes a Festival's tribe horny as Tartarus has the opposite effect if somepony from any other tribe gets near. They'd not only lose interest in making the beast with two backs, they'd feel horrified by the idea. Disgusted. There's also some kind of confusion magic which makes it impossible for them to find the Festival's location." He shrugged and said, "I suppose somepony could carry them in, but they would not be happy to be there."

Dirt Nap grunted and said, "Must be kinda hard on mixed tribe couples."

Nodding, Clickspring looked sad. "Oh, it is. Been there, done that. I hate the whole Festival thing, not just because of my, ah, problems. It doesn't promote inter-tribal unity at all, the way it messes with ponies relationships. Makes me a bit surprised that Equestria has become so well integrated. At least with modern prophylactics, everypony can choose who they want to have foals with. No more forced tribal breeding within the tribe if they don't want."

Clickspring stood up, scooped up the rake and leant out over the water to gather up another chunk from the mat of leaves. When that rakeful was deposited on the shovel, Dirt Nap wrapped his forelegs around the handle and with a grunt he hefted it up into the almost full cart. Leaving the shovel atop the dripping mound, he walked around to the front of the cart and slipped into the harness. He had to lean into it to get the cart moving, especially with the two wooden wheels sinking down into the soft, lumpy grass next to the channel. There was just enough room between the sluice and the forest edge for the cart. After moving ahead a couple of meters, he stopped, ducked his head out of the harness and walked to the rear of the cart, lifted down the empty shovel and placed it on the ground.

Clickspring struggled to dump a the particularly large rakeful of leaves he had gathered while Dirt Nap was moving the cart. "W-why did you want to know about… About the Festival magic, anyway?" He panted a few times, before turning back to the sluice.

"Well… Ah… Ah, kinda like this unicorn ah met. At the Back Passage."

Clickspring looked up at him from where he was splashing around in the water with his rake and asked, "Oh? Anypony I know?"

Dirt Nap pouted, looked away, and after a few moments said, "Frostbite."

Clickspring chuckled and went back to playing 'capture the leaf'. "I thought I saw you carrying him around on your shoulders on the dance floor. He's a fun guy, and drop dead gorgeous." He grunted and hefted another rakeful out of the water, turned and dropped it with a splat onto the shovel. "So…" He spent a moment catching his breath. "You're gay then?"

Shaking his head Dirt Nap mumbled, "Ah don' know. Maybe? Ah figure all know f'sure after the Festival."

"Are you looking forward…" Clickspring grunted as he hefted up another chunk of sodden leaves. "...to it? Should be any day now."

Dirt Nap snorted and nodded. "Yep. Ah'm impatient now, ah wanna get it done already. Listening to you all at the therapy sessions an' goin' to the Back Passage; it's really helped. Ah really owe you, an’ the rest of the group."

Another pile of leaves splatted down onto the shovel and Clickspring tossed his rake onto the ground. "You don't owe me anything, Nap. It's like giving a gift, you know? You should only hope the other pony is happy with the gift. That's it. You're happy, I'm happy, everypony is happy. Ok?"

"But ah…"

"Shush! No buts. Besides, you're being a good friend, helping me out with this…" Clickspring waved a hoof at the cart load of muck. "...so let's not bring debts into this, ok? Let's just be friends and leave it at that."

Dirt Nap nodded and said, "A'right." He hefted up the shovel and heaved the contents into the cart.

"Good! Well, I think we should get this load to the compost heap and grab lunch."

Dirt Nap headed to the front of the cart again and slipped into the harness, while he strained to get the cart moving Clickspring stood up on his hind legs and pushed on the back. Once it was rolling he trotted up to the front, squeezing between the foul smelling cart and the forest. It was a long haul to the public compost heap on the south side of Ponyville, but at least there were plenty of places to stop on the way back to get lunch.

As they walked along, side by side, Clickspring reflected on the value of friendship. He was certainly a happier pony since he'd started to go to the group sessions, and with a burly stallion like Dirt Nap to help he would get the mill up and running again in no time.

Life was better with friendship.

Author's Note

This chapter.... UGH! This chapter has taken forever to write. But I'm finally satisfied with it, more-or-less.

Please let me know if you spot any issues. Merci.

Edit: Updated with suggestions from Cross Lament.