There were very few times in Balanced Aspect’s life where he was downright afraid of a pony. The time when Luna had become the Nightmare certainly counted. Though he was more afraid for his daughters than of them.

This ranked a close second.

Twilight Sparkle stood in his doorway, her eyes blazing with righteous fury as she stared down the pony in front of her.

“You told Rainbow Dash! Of all ponies!?” Twilight took a step forward as a too-wide grin stretched its way across her face. “Oh my dear Aspect. You and I? We’re going to have a nice, long, talk~”

“I think there’s only one real answer to this,” the stallion said...before he vanished from sight, reappearing deeper in the house. “Nope!” Basic winking was something all the unicorn ponies from Dream Valley could do. And it was easily the most intuitive skill for him as well. He began his mad dash away from the crazy mare, winking where he could to cut across rooms.

The air cracked and he could smell burning ozone as Twilight appeared right in front of him with a flash of magenta light.

“I found you~”

The stallion rapidly backpedaled and began winking away again. He didn’t know how much space was in this house, but if it helped keep her away from him, he would be grateful for it!

He appeared in one room, it had some spartan furniture, two armchairs and a coffee table, all covered in dusty sheets. As he turned, her heard the door click and a barrier go up around the room.

And Twilight was sitting in one of the chairs.

“You’re just making this harder on yourself,” she cooed. “Come, sit with me. Let’s talk~”

Aspect sighed as a glow started to build up around his horn. “You can do this one of two ways,” he warned the mare. “The easy way, where you calm down. Or the hard way, where I have to perform sorcery to make you calm down.”

On one hoof, she’d get to see some new magic…

“Look Aspect, I just want to know what you told Rainbow,” Twilight said, now looking like her normal self. “I’d ask her, but she’s either forgotten half of it, made up her own stories, or simply won’t sit still long enough to tell it all.”

“It’s not like I told her everything anyways,” the stallion said. “So, what do you want to know?”

Twilight leaned forward as her eyes shone. “Everything!”

“Pick a spot,” Aspect chuckled. “Pick something to start with. I’m actually a talkative guy. The only problem the ponies back then had was believing me.”

“Yes!” Twilight pulled out a large tome, and it took a second, but Balanced Aspect noticed that every page was blank. “Alright, let’s start with this ‘Dream Valley’ that Rainbow mentioned. I poured through every atas and history book I could find. yet nothing with that name, much less an actual valley with something similar shows up.”

“Well, did you bring a map of Equus with you?” the stallion asked. “I could probably point out where it was.”

Twilight reached into her bag and produced said item. And it was an older one too, just to be sure. Ponyville wasn’t even on it. The stallion hummed as he looked it over, before pointing to the mountains north of the griffon lands.

“Up there,” he said. “I still had the Flashstone at that point in time, so when the valley started to freeze over thanks to the Windegos going a little out of control, I led the migration over to Equestria and simply willed a bridge into being at the narrowest point. It was a lovely place.”

“So… what happened to it then?” Twilight asked. As far as she knew, that whole area was uninhabitable now.

“I led the ponies here, to where they could survive, before going to where Ghelgeth and his kin made their home. It took me days to talk sense into him. But by then, the valley was ruined. I left it in the care of the Flutterponies, and they said they’d try to salvage what they could.”

“But, that area doesn’t exist anymore. It’s nothing but jagged mountains and sheer cliffs…” Twilight paused and frowned. “And, what’s a ‘Flutterpony’?”

“You should have seen them,” the stallion sighed. “They were the perfect fusion between butterflies and ponies, and they were willing to lend their aid whenever the ponies were in more trouble than they could handle. I don’t know...where they went. I wanted to go back to the valley in my wanderings, but I don’t think I could handle it. Too many memories without the ones I made them with.”

“I see,” Twilight said quietly. “I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to upset you. I get… carried away sometimes.”

“Like I said to Miss Dash,” Aspect said with a wave of a hoof, “I’ve had more than enough time to come to terms with what I’ve lost. It’s just such a pity I had to give up the artifacts from Dream Valley, but I wanted Yggdrasil to grow strong. And magical artifacts make for darn good food for a magical tree. Besides, it’s not like we didn’t get them back in some form or another.”

“Yggdrasil?” Twilight’s curiosity peaked again. “A magical tree?”

“Mmhmm,” the stallion said with a nod. “Planted him right over the remains of the Fountain of Eternity and gave him the artifacts from Dream Valley. Also gave him a bit of magic from, well, everything I’ve ever slain, so he would be connected to the magic of Equus as a whole. It’s his job to tame the magic of Equus, and he’s done a damn fine job of it.”

“So… Yggdrasil is still around?” Twilight asked, getting more excited. “Could… I see him?”

“You might one day,” the stallion chuckled. “I created a fair few kids when I went about righting the aspects. All of them just as immortal as what they’d been crafted from.”

“Oohh~” Twilight’s eyes danced with glee and she started to write, both his words and her thoughts on the matter. “Okay, so Rainbow mentioned a few other things as well. Like some of your old friends?”

“Yeah, a lot of you remind me of them,” Aspect said with a fond smile. “You, for example, share a name with the Twilight from Dream Valley, but she granted wishes to those that were nearby. Your mannerisms, though remind me a lot more of Wind Whistler, a pegasus fond of using lengthy words when saying something like ‘that wouldn’t work’ would do.”

“I do not needlessly extend my words for the sake of showing off the extent of my vocabulary!” Twilight replied with a small frown. “That’s preposterous.”

“She didn’t really do it to show off either, it was just how she was,” Aspect said with a shrug. “Her intellect saved us on more than one occasion, as she always came up with the soundest of plans.”

“Well, I wish I could claim that for myself, but I can’t,” Twilight replied and eased back into her chair. “If not for my friends, I’d have never have stopped Nightmare Moon in the first place.”

“Ponies are always strongest when they work together,” the stallion agreed. “And I don’t believe I ever thanked you for saving my daughter from her madness.” He then sighed and looked at the ground, muttering something that faintly sounded like ‘my fault’.

“I honestly had no idea she was really Princess Luna,” Twilight admitted, not hearing his last comment. “When we used the Elements, I thought she’d simply be sealed away in the moon again. But, you’re welcome none-the-less.”

“The Elements are strongest when they’re wielded by more than one pony,” Aspect said. “My daughters managed to do great things with them together. When Luna was sealed away, Celestia lost the ability to use them. She couldn’t very well harmonize with herself. And now the burden has passed to you and your friends.” He smiled again as he looked up at her. “I do hope you will be able to handle all the things that might need to be combated with their magic.”

“I think it would be better if we never had to use them again,” Twilight said quietly. “I mean, what else could pop up that would require their power?”

“You don’t want to know,” Aspect said with a shudder. “There were a few creatures back in the bad old days that I didn’t kill, but were simply sealed away. I dread to imagine any of them making a comeback.”

“You know what, even I don’t think I want to,” Twilight replied. She knew Aspect was powerful, but if these monsters were too tough for even him…

There was suddenly a furious banging at his door, one that made Twilight jump. Aspect’s form flashed back to his pegasus guise as he walked to the front. Eventually.

There was a lot of space in his house, alright?

After what had to have been at least five minutes of just walking through rooms, the stallion reached the front door and pulled it open. And just as suddenly, he was shoved back inside as Twilight’s friends all crowded him.

“Shhh!” Pinkie whispered. “We came to warn you Aspect.”

“Zecora’s in town,” Applejack nodded. “We gotta stay inside.”

“Oh, a zebra?” Aspect asked with a raised eyebrow. “It’s been awhile since I’ve seen one. A few hundred years at least.”

“Ya can’t go out there!” Applejack exclaimed. “She’ll put a curse on ya!”

“Oh please,” Aspect said with a roll of his eyes. “A proper curse takes time, the right ingredients, and a knack for sorcery. Which Celly tells me they’ve all but managed to confirm is nearly dead in this day and age.”

“But that’s just it,” Applejack continued. “She lives… in the Everfree Forest.”

“That place is so spooky,” Fluttershy added.

“And that wicked enchantress Zecora lives there doing her evil... stuff!” Pinkie jumped up and down. “She's so evil I even wrote a song about her!” The mare took a deep breath...

“Ahem,” the stallion said, holding up a hoof. “May I ask a simple question?”

“Yeah, what?” Rainbow asked.

“What are your actual experiences with her to support this line of thinking?”

“Aspect’s right,” Twilight stated. “This is all just a lot of gossip and rumors. Now tell me; what exactly have you actually seen Zecora do?”

“Well, she comes by Ponyville once a month,” Rainbow started.

“Oooh, spooky,” Twilight deadpanned.

“Why, I’m just as spooky, considering I got here not a week ago,” the stallion agreed.

“Then she just… lurks by the stores,” Rarity trembled.

“I’m shaking in my horseshoes,” Twilight replied dryly.

“Ever consider that she might be trying to visit, but nopony is ever open? Hardly friendly of you all,” Balanced sniped.

“Then she just… digs at the ground,” Fluttershy added and hid behind Pinkie.

“Oh my!” Twilight gasped with all the mock-shock she could muster.

“You know what, it’d be easy to confirm what’s going on if any of you ever...talked to her,” the stallion posed.

“Seriously,” Twilight sighed. She could feel a headache coming on.

“Yeah, well I heard she eats hay!” Pinkie declared.

“Pinkie, I eat hay, you eat hay!” Twilight almost yelled.

“Yeah, well it’s the eeeeeevil way she eats hay,” Pinkie waved her forehooves. Then she started to sing…

“She's an evil enchantress

She does evil dances

And if you look deep in her eyes

She'll put you in trances

Then what will she do?

She'll mix up an evil brew

Then she'll gobble you up

In a big tasty stew

Soooo... Watch out!”

“Catchy,” Twilight snarked.

“You know what,” Aspect said. “This is just sad. I used to be able to count at least five separate species of ponies back in the days of Dream Valley, and none of them were as scared of each other as you all are over one. Simple. Zebra!”

“This is utterly ridiculous,” Twilight let out a loud, exasperated sigh. “Aspect isn’t even a pony! And yet you’re all fine with him.”

“He’s not…” Rainbow started.

“A pony…?” Rarity concluded.

The five mares screamed and bolted from the house, even Fluttershy, but she was always scared. Pinkie was probably just doing it because everypony else was.

“Oh for buck’s sake,” Twilight facehooved.

“Okay, now I need to know,” Aspect breathed deeply. “Does the town have a lake in it anywhere? I want to see what happens when the ponies of this town meet the Seaponies.”

“Seaponies aren’t real,” Twilight said. “Unlike a Zebra, who is getting all this slander because everypony in this town is a complete—”

“The seaponies are very much real,” Aspect said, already fishing around in his saddlebags. “You just need to know...how to call for-aha!” He pulled out a simple seashell from his pack. “As I was saying. You just need to know how to call for them.” He winked at the mare. “So, how about you tell me if the town has a lake, I go there, and you go actually talk to the zebra of the hour?”

“Fine,” Twilight said. “Go and play pretend with your seashells. I’m going to sort this problem out once and for all.” And with that, she marched from his home to go and find Zecora.

Aspect rolled his eyes and walked out, taking to the skies and looking at the empty streets. There, on the edge of the town, a lake lay waiting for him. He flew and landed near the shore, before winding up and throwing the seashell they’d given him into the lake. And while he waited for a reply, he simply sat on the shore and hummed the tune the seaponies always sang when they appeared.

“Shoo be doo,” the stallion hummed. “Shoo shoo be doo, shoo be doo, shoo shoo be doo~”

An hour passed before there was any real movement on the lake. But when they did happen, the stallion looked up and smiled widely.

Ripples on the lake. Shadows in the water.

And when three pony-like forms breached the surface, the stallion grinned so hard, he felt his cheeks starting to hurt.

“Shoo be doo~” the seaponies sang in concert. “Shoo shoo be doo~ Shoo be doo, shoo shoo be doo~”

“It’s so nice to see some of Neptune’s subjects,” the stallion said as he waved.

“The shell was meant for a human in distress,” one of the seaponies said. “Why do you have it?”

“Ah, well, funny story,” the stallion said, before pointing at the sword still on his side. “I sort of am that human still. I’m just in disguise. And it’s not an emergency, I just wanted to show the residents of Equestria their more aquatic cousins. Seeing as how they’re currently in a bit of a tizzy about a zebra of all things.”

“The king has wanted better relations with Equestria for a while now,” one mused. “Prove that you are who you say you are. Show us some magic that only the human could wield.”

With a sigh and a flash of the sword, the stallion glared at a portion of the lake, that rapidly turned into a small ice floe. “Will that do?” he asked once he turned off his icy stare.

“That it does,” the third seapony said with a nod. “So...what do we do? Just wait here for a pony to come by?”

“That works for me, though could one of you get my seashell back for me please?” the stallion asked. “I’d like to be able to call you again if I actually need to.”

One went below the surface of the water, before returning a moment later with the shell in her mouth. With a concentrated effort on the seapony’s part, a bubble formed on the lake’s surface, and she stuck the shell into it before willing it to float over to the stallion on the shoreline. Aspect gratefully took his shell back and smiled at the blatant control over water.

“So I see you all took quite well to the ability to control the waters like that,” he said, chuckling softly. “Always knew you lot would.”

“Of course we would,” one of the seaponies spoke up. “We’re seaponies. We were already attuned to water. The ability to make it do what we wanted as long as we sang was a wonderful idea.”

He didn’t have to wait long as Twilight approached, looking a little worse for wear.

“Well that could have gone better,” she sighed and he noticed a strange blue flower stuck in her tail.

“Uh-oh,” Aspect said as he backed up. Out of all the things in Equestria. There was one thing he was allergic to, or had such adverse effects that he wished he was only allergic to it. He’d touched Poison Joke once. Never again.

He’d been stuck as a pink pony for three. Days.

“Twilight, do me a favor and take the flower out of your tail?” he asked the mare. “I’m allergic.”

“Huh?” She spun around and looked at her tail. “Oh, one got stuck? They were everywhere in the forest.” She lifted it out with her magic and tossed it aside. “There.”

“Thank you,” the stallion sighed. If there was one thing he never wanted to deal with again, it was Poison Joke. “So, what do you think of my friends?”

“Shoo be doo~” the seaponies sang from the middle of the lake.

“Friends? What… friends?” she stared at the lake and Aspect could literally hear her brain grinding to a halt. “Ah.. oh ahah, hilarious. You got a few ponies to sit in the lake and pretend to be seaponies. Real great Aspect. But a bit too far for a joke right.”

“It looks like she needs more proof,” Aspect said to the three seaponies. They all nodded, and the two on the edge swam away a bit and began humming their iconic song. Soon, a bubble formed around the seapony in the middle, lifting her up out of the lake and clearly showing off her fishlike lower half.

Twilight’s horn glowed for a second, but nothing happened. Well, nothing aside from her shocked expression.

“It’s… it’s not an illusion,” she gasped. “H’ooohmigosh! They’re real!?!”

“The seaponies are as real as you or me,” Aspect said as the seapony in the air was floated back into the lake. “They were good friends of mine once, and could be again, if Neptune remembers me.”

“He does,” the three seaponies chimed.

“Though he mostly said something along the lines of ‘Get our three fastest swimmers over to that shell now,’” one said.

“Yeah, he knew if you were calling, it was desperate,” the second one added.

“Didn’t know it was just a social visit...granddad~”

“G-Grand...dad!?” Twilight blinked slowly and turned her head. “N-Not only… are Seaponies real. But you...But you...But you…”

The three seaponies giggled at that as Aspect shook his head.

“Not like that,” he said. “Neptune is another of my children. Think of him like a Seapony version of Celestia or Luna. He’s in charge of the ocean.”

“Yup!” one said. “And he calls us all his children.”

That did it. Twilight Sparkle let out a small groan as her worldview shattered and she fainted on the spot.

“I think I broke her,” the stallion chuckled. “Ah well. Take a message back to Neptune for me? About how this town could do with a few more Seaponies showing up? Heck, how there’s very little seapony action in my life in general?”

“We can do that,” the three chimed.

“Though we do have the rest of the day to just lounge about,” one mused.

“We could spend it getting to know the locals,” another agreed.

“And it’d make for a more full report to take back to Neptune,” the final one concluded.

“So we’re staying,” they said in unison.

“Fair enough,” Aspect said as he managed to get Twilight Sparkle on his back with no small amount of maneuvering. “I’ll just take her home and see you three later then.”

“Bye granddad~” they waved as the pegasus began the trot back to Ponyville proper. Those seaponies would soon get to know a very excitable mint-colored unicorn…

When Twilight awoke, she groaned softly as she rolled over in bed.

“Urgh… what a weird dream,” she muttered as she sat up and rubbed the side of her head. Her mane appeared to be a mess, so after some shuffling and getting her tired limbs to work again, she made her way to the dresser and grabbed her manebrush…

Twilight’s ear-piercing scream could be heard from halfway across town.

Aspect merely rolled out of bed, blinked a few times, and realized what that must be. “Ah. Twilight is getting to know Poison Joke as well as I did,” the stallion grumbled, though he was smiling as he did. He could only imagine the effects on her.

For him, the fact that he was not waking up pink and with a girly voice meant it hadn’t affected him. One or the other was bad, but that flower just loved to emasculate him.

There was some commotion from outside. And when he looked out his window…?

A white ball of tangled hair.

A cyan pegasus with backwards wings, being ridden by the tiniest pony he had ever seen.

Pinkie with her tongue trailing behind her.

Twilight running, as her horn flopped around like a wet noodle.

And a completely normal-looking Fluttershy.

“Ah, well, they’ve all had their experiences with the flower,” he said. “Though, odd how Fluttershy out of all of them is unaffected. Ah well.” He shrugged as he recalled the zebras on staff had been the ones to eventually supply the cure to the Joke back in the days when there was a palace in the Everfree. And that after his run-in with the plant, they’d kept a good stock of the stuff on hoof.

He figured some ponies were about to find out that their pride wasn’t too tasty and just sat back and waited for them to connect the dots.

Then he realised. This also meant that the only six ponies he knew would be out of town for the time being…

He swore, sometimes he could almost hear Yggdrasil laughing at him across the ether.

“Yes, fine, dammit, alright, I’ll follow the silly ponies into the Everfree,” he muttered. “If only so they don’t get eaten by a random manticore.”

With a check of his saddlebags, sword, and disguise, the pegasus followed the six into the forest at a discreet distance.

When he caught up to them, they were all crowded around a house built into a tree. Kind of, a spookier version of Twilight’s. And Aspect could see the multitude of Zebra decorations and masks.

And then he heard something he would never forget.

Fluttershy singing.

In the deepest, richest baritone he had ever heard.

It was a struggle to hold in his laughter at what he was hearing, but he managed it by sheer dint of it being that same song Pinkie had been singing the other day, to promote fear about the Zebra.

“You saw those terrible things,” Rarity said once the song had finished. “Now do you believe us Twilight?”

This was the sticking point. Would she fall sway to their rumors?

“Scary looking masks, confusing incantations, and a great big bubbling cauldron?” Twilight sighed and looked at the hut. “Everything is pointing to Zecora being... bad. Or... what if Zecora is just making soup?”

He heard a voice from inside the hut, but was too far away to make out what it said. But the effect on the six mares?

“What if she's making Apple Bloom soup?!” Twilight exclaimed and the ponies screamed.

“Ah’m comin’ fer ya Apple Bloom!” Applejack yelled in her teeny-tiny voice and cracked the reins she had on Rainbow Dash. The aerial pony yelped and crashed through the door of the hut, the sounds of destruction and Zebrican yelling could be heard as the others charged in as well.

“And just as I thought,” the stallion sighed. “Well, at least I get to practice my rhyming for a reason other than my sorcery.”

As he stepped out of the bushes, a little earth pony filly walked up behind him.

“Oh, heya mister. What are y’all doin’ out here?”

“Catching up to my friends, and I fear I may need to make amends,” the stallion replied. “They let their fears turn them quite silly, they all acted like they were just fillies.”

More yelling and Apple Bloom frowned. “What in the hay is goin’ on in there?” She trotted forward and past the broken door. Almost right away, the yelling ceased.

Aspect walked up to the door as well and sighed as he saw the destruction they’d caused in such a short time. “I must apologize for my friends,” he said to the zebra. “Normally they are not so destructive in their ends.”

“How dare you!” Zecora yelled.“They come into my home and ruin my work, then rudely accuse me of being a jerk?” Zecora was understandably, quite pissed.

“These ponies are a skittish lot,” Aspect explained. “The days they encounter something strange? More often, they do not.”

“You ruined my horn!” Twilight exclaimed.

“You made me look ridiculous,” Rarity added.

“You made me sound ridiculous,” Fluttershy’s deep tone echoed.

Zecora narrowed her eyes. “It is unwise to venture down this road, your actions will make my anger explode!”

“Do not anger the shaman, please,” Aspect said. “If you are wise, you will get on your knees.”

“Yer such a silly filly,” Apple Bloom giggled to Twilight. “Did they finally get all that ‘curse’ nonsense into yer head? Remember Zecora’s warnin’?”

Twilight closed her eyes. “The blue flowers…”

“That plant is much like poison oak, but it’s results are like a joke,” Zecora said curtly. “I was preparing a cure with Apple Bloom, until you charged in here with cries of doom.”

“I am all too aware of the flower’s power,” Aspect said with a nod. “Fortunately, its effects are easy to scour.”

Zecora turned and gave him a polite smile. “So we finally meet, O’ Aspect of Harmony. Do you accompany this rude little army?”

“I was unaware you knew of my name, or that in this place I had any fame,” Aspect said with a polite bow. “Their attitudes I do not explain, as even to me, there has been rudeness without refrain.”

“Your stories still go around, it’s been so long, we feared you cold in the ground,” Zecora said and looked at the six mares.

“The cure is easy,” Apple Bloom piped up. “All ya gotta do is take a bubble bath.”

“But I checked every book in the library,” Twilight said. “None of them had the cure.”

“This is the book you see,” Zecora pulled out the green-colored tome. “Sad that you lack it in your library.”

“Actually, I do have this book,” Twilight admitted, looking quite ashamed. “But I didn't look inside because the title was so… Weird. Supernaturals: Natural Remedies and Cure-alls That Are Simply Super. I...I... I'm so sorry, Zecora. I had the answer the whole time, if only I had bothered to look inside.”

Zecora chuckled and shook her head. “Maybe next time you will take a second look, and not judge the cover of the book.”

“To judge by the exterior is rather thin,” Aspect agreed. “It is where the hatred Windegos feed on begins.”

“Do ya think you’d still help them?’ Apple Bloom asked the zebra.

“Mix a bath, I certainly will. But I need a herb from Ponyville.”

“And whenever Zecora goes into town, all the shops are mysteriously closed,” Apple Bloom deadpanned. Aw, she was snarking already~

“I think the cure for that in these mares can be found, assuming they can be bothered to spread good words around,” Aspect snarked with her.

“I think we can help you with that,” Twilight laughed sheepishly.

In town, six mares, one filly. A zebra and a stallion walked as ponies screamed and fled.

“Look Rose! How awful!”

“The wicked enchantress has cursed them all.”

“The horror, the horror!”

Ponies screamed and panicked as they bolted.

“Run, ponies! Run!” Daisy shouted.

Twilight sighed and walked up to the house that the Flower mares had run into. She knocked on the door and when Daisy poked her head out?

“We need to talk,” Twilight said.

“I hope these experiences have not colored your view,” Aspect said as he stood near Zecora. “Perhaps now with the town you could start anew.”

“These mares have proven that they are sorry,” Zecora nodded. “This might be the end of the chapter, but it is just the start of the story.”

“Perhaps I could come and see you again,” the stallion offered. “I would not mind having a new zebra friend.”

“You do well to keep up the rhyme. Perhaps I could visit you next time?” Zecora smiled.

“If I failed to keep it up when I worked my more freeform magic, the results could very well be tragic,” the stallion said with a shrug of his wings. “It follows my intentions, true, but rhyming always makes it pull through.”

“Our ways can be a little strange, but our variety for magic? None else have such a range.” Zecora nodded as one of the spa ponies approached her, asking for the recipe for the herbal bath.

Pinkie erupted from the water and beamed. “Oh, my gosh! I never realized how horrible it is not to be able to talk. I mean, I love talking so much, and when I couldn't talk anymore, my tongue was all 'ehhhh'! It was the worst! Don't you agree, Fluttershy?”

“...yes,” the timid mare nodded in her normal speaking voice.

“Perhaps,” Aspect said to Zecora, “It would be easier if you write it out for them? You need not rhyme when holding a quill pen.”

Zecora nodded and wrote out the mixture for the twin ponies.

Said twin that were looking at Aspect and smiling at him, winking when his attention drifted to them for a moment…

The stallion just snorted and shook his head. He wasn’t looking for that.

“Well now… that was jus’ plumb embarrassin’,” Applejack said to Zecora now that she was normal-sized again. “Ah’m real sorry Zecora. Fer everythin’.”

“I do not have a spiteful bone, but you all will help me repair my home,” Zecora nodded. “We will be friends once it is done. And when we meet next, it will be for fun.”

“That sounds like a plan,” Twilight nodded. “Oh, and Spike? Take a letter please?”

Spike tore his eyes away from a wet Rarity long enough to dictate Twilight’s words.

Dear Princess Celestia,

My friends and I all learned an important lesson this week: Never judge a book by its cover. Someone may look unusual, or funny, or scary. But you have to look past that and learn who they are inside. Real friends don't care what your "cover" is; it's the "contents" of a pony that count. And a good friend, like a good book, is something that will last forever.

Your faithful student,

Twilight Sparkle

Spike nodded and rolled it up before breathing his flame on it and sending it on its way.

“A lesson that is sorely learned, but one I think they have well-earned,” Aspect said. “Eating their pride is a bitter task, but in the end, was it so much to ask?”

“I was having such a good day too,” Twilight sighed. “That blasted Seapony dream was as weird as all getout though.”

“Oh, thank you for reminding me of my friends,” Aspect said. “Perhaps with ponykind they will finally make amends?”

“That… wasn’t… a dream?” Twilight said slowly before swooning. “Okay. I’m done. G’night everypony.”

“One of these days, she will finally see, the majesty that is a Seapony,” the stallion said with a chuckle.

“You’re never going to stop rhyming, are you?” Rainbow asked with a raised eyebrow as she tried shaking Twilight awake.

“As you shall surely see, around a zebra, my rhymes flow free,” the stallion said. “Plus it is mental exercise as well, in case I ever want to whip up a spell.”

“It is a means to keep my mind clear, though it is not for everyone my dear,” Zecora chuckled. “Come now, once you have dried yourself. My home will not fix itself.”

“Hey, that’s cheating,” Rainbow said as she pointed out the same-word rhyme. “Can she do that?”

“It is not the strongest rhyme, true, but that does still not excuse you,” Aspect pointed out.

“Darn,” Rainbow sighed as the six mares followed the zebra out of the spa to help fix her home.

And then he realised that they’d left him there.

Alone.

With the twins.

“Well, this has been educational for all the ponies involved,” Aspect said as he took one step back towards the door. He also dropped his rhyme now that Zecora had gone. “But I have things to do at the place.”

“Oh, but Mr. Aspect~” Lotus purred.

“Don’t you want-” Aloe continued.

“The deluxe treatment~?” they said together.

“I’m fine as is, thanks,” he said as he all but bolted from the establishment.

“Ahahahaaha! I can’t believe Aspect would be so silly,” Lyra cackled as she chatted with her new Seapony friends. They’d spent all afternoon talking and had swapped quite a few stories. “Oh hey! Is that him? HEEYYY! ASPECT! OVER HEERREEEEE!!”

The stallion panted heavily as he arrived at the lake. “Haaaah...never going...back there...again…” he vowed as he caught his breath. “I also need to get involved in mad chases more often, I used to be able to go all day at a run without getting winded.”

“Wow, you girls were right. he’s such a lightweight,” Lyra chuckled.

“Yeah, grandpa is silly,” one giggled.

“But we all know him and the stories he told Neptune,” the second added.

“So we know he really did use to be able to run all day without worry,” the third finished.

“Wandering really took a toll on my physical health,” the stallion muttered. “I need to get back into shape.”

“You know,” Lyra smirked widely. “My best friend Bon-Bon is a real health nut. She exercises every morning. I bet she’d love to help you out as well.”

“I just need to get settled in my house, then I can turn one of the rooms into a weight room,” the stallion said as he finally caught his breath. “Then I can take up exercise again. So what have you all been up to?”

“Nothing~” the three seaponies chimed together.

“Just telling Lyra here some stories from old times,” one said.

“About all the times from Dream Valley that you passed on to Neptune,” the second added.

“Especially the parts about all the humans in them,” the third finished. “She really likes those.”

“You humans are really fascinating,” Lyra chirped and smiled at him. “So… can I see?”

“You told her?” Aspect deadpanned at the seaponies.

“Sorry grandpa,” one of them said.

“She sorta worked it out on her own,” another added.

“She’s a pretty smart mare,” the last in the line finished.

“Well, I didn’t graduate from Celestia’s School for gifted Unicorns for nothing,” Lyra puffed out her chest proudly. “So come on human-pony. Make with the magic. Please? Pretty please with a cherry on top?”

“Look,” Aspect said as he rubbed his forehead with a hoof. “I only really just got into town. I would like to get settled in my new house before I indulge any requests such as ‘can I look at the last human in all of Equus’ original form’. Maybe in a few days, if you swing by my place, I’ll indulge you.”

“I’ll do it,” Lyra said. “I’ll start singing ‘that’ song.”

“Look, I’m just not comfortable showing off my original form outside of my house,” the stallion countered. “And I’m still not settled in it yet. I would show you when I was in there, but I’m not, so I won’t.”

“You know she’ll probably follow you home,” one seapony said.

“Nah… it’s alright,” Lyra nodded. “I’ll come by again in a few days.” She looked at her new friends and smiled. “So, are you staying in this lake?”

“We have to get back to Neptune soon,” a different seapony said.

“But I’m sure we’ll be back once he learns that this is where Aspect is staying,” the third one added.

“Yay!” Lyra clapped her hooves and hugged them. “I’ll introduce Bonnie-Bon to you next time. Okay, bye~” she said and trotted off.

“That mare,” the stallion said with a shake of his head. “I get the feeling she is going to cause me all sorts of grief later.”

When he got home… something… didn’t sit right with him. He entered the living room and the door closed behind him as a chair turned, Twilight sitting in it with that damned book.

“Hello Aspect, you don’t think I forgot. Did you?”

“I had rather hoped your brush with the Seaponies had caused you to temporarily forget, yes,” the stallion said with a sigh. “Too much?”

She patted the other chair and he saw a large steaming mug of hot coffee, as well as some fresh donuts.

“Let’s talk~”

“Oh boy,” the stallion said. “Carrot and stick. Oh well.” He eased himself into the chair and turned to face her. “Fire when ready.”

Twilight smiled and bit into a donut. This was going to be a loooong night.

Author's Note

Technically both late and not. I forgot to edit and put it up, but it's still Wednesday!

And now we get to see some other Gen 1 holdovers...

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