Catching a Rainbow

Chapters

Learning a Lesson
Spiral Down and Up
Her Place

Learning a Lesson

Perched on a cloud not too high, Rainbow Dash peeked over the edge at her targets below. "This is totally going to be the best prank ever!" She tipped the bucket of black paint into the cloud and gave it a few taps with her wings to stir it around. "Almost…" Her sharp eyes locked on the tiny shapes below. "Almost…"

Seabreeze reached into a flower and tucked a little more pollen into his pollen bag. Something plinked on the flower beside him and, in typical breezie fashion, he turned to inspect it. The flower had turned dark black.

"Vid als ent?" Lightbreeze fluttered her wings on the still air, approaching her coltfriend. "Seabreeze, als ent?" She blinked in surprise when she saw the black flower.

Looking to his fillyfriend, Seabreeze opened his mouth to reply to Lightbreeze, when a black drop of rain hit the top of her head. "Klaxon!" He looked around for their attacker, but when he couldn't find anything he grabbed Lightbreeze up and flew as fast as he could.

Rainbow Dash started giggling at the brightly colored fey getting hit by more of the black rain. Giggles turned to laughter, and she was just about to roll to her back when she saw Seabreeze look up. "Got you, that's really—"

"Haaza! Ent hexxen!" Seabreeze wouldn't have felt bad about a prank if it hadn't hit Lightbreeze first. His short fuse was the trigger that Rainbow's words hit, and he fired off his magic at her before he realized it. "Ent hexxen daaf!"

"Huh?" Rainbow felt an odd tingle run up and down her spine. Something felt off, and before things got too out of hoof she delivered a solid kick to the cloud—dispersing it. Shrugging off the strange feeling, she spread her wings and pumped them hard. Rainbow sped away from the two breezies and headed back home. "That was the best one yet. I hope Fluttershy doesn't find out about it…" She yawned. "… though."

Landing at her own front door, Rainbow threw the door open and staggered inside. "Guess building that prank took more out of me than I thought." She walked, her legs wobbling more with each step, to her bedroom. Rainbow Dash barely made it onto her bed before her eyes fluttered, and the magic Seabreeze used took full effect.

Rainbow's thoughts drifted like pegasi on the wind. She soared through a light dream, and had not a care in the world. The mare barely even registered the first touch against her shoulder, but when tiny hooves began moving her hoof she jerked back awake. "Waddaya doin'?" Slurring her words, Rainbow had to fight to focus her eyes on the breezies.

"Ya don' 'ave t' worr'." Seabreeze commanded the swarm of breezies the same as he did when they were out hunting pollen. His first target was the mare's wings.

Struggling to move, Rainbow felt weak, and just trying to kick out was like shoving her leg through cool molasses. She tried to snap her wings out of the grip of the tiny fey, and if there was just a few fighting her movement she would have managed. There was nearly twenty breezies per wing; and weak as the spell had made Rainbow, she felt herself losing the fight against them.

A bright pink ribbon was first, and she stared over her shoulder as the breezies wove it around her wing. "Get offa me!" Even just talking was hard, and yelling at the breezies was actually tiring. She tried to toss the tiny fairy creatures away, but lacked the strength to lift her own body. Another ribbon was added, then another, and more. Rainbow watched with growing panic as they bound each of her wings up into tight bundles.

"Hol' still, dis'll take long' if ya struggle." Seabreeze tried to put a reassuring hoof on Rainbow's snout, but had to jump back when she snapped at him. "Long' it is."

The fey focused on one of Dash's forelegs at a time, folding it up and binding it with ribbons. She strained against their work, and strained more when they had her forelimbs secured. Panting hard at the effort needed to resist the breezies, Rainbow was losing the struggle and she knew it. "Just… Let's talk about this…"

Pressure at Rainbow's left back leg was a sure sign that her pleading wasn't any more help than her struggling, and bit by bit the fey folded her back legs up and bound them tight. Rainbow's tail was pulled down and between her legs, and when they wrapped ribbons around her entire body, it bound her last limb up too. Gentle eased to her side, Rainbow stared at the breezies as they approached her head.

Fighting to the last, Rainbow felt new ribbons wrapping around her head. They were pulling her snout down between her bound forelegs. Standing before her, looking satisfied with the work, Seabreeze was supervising. When her snout was tucked in, more ribbon wrapped around Rainbow's head, and she felt as tightly bundled up as a pony could be. The last thing she saw was Seabreeze walking up to her face and leaning forward to kiss her between her eyes. Everything got heavier, and Rainbow's senses fled in the wake of the new enchantment.

"Ye ay dirty joker, eh?" Seabreeze used his tiny legs to pat at Rainbow's cheek. Each tap he gave her snout banished a little of the weakening sleep spell he had instilled into her. "Ye wake!" This time he poked at Rainbow and sent a tiny jolt of magic down his leg.

The zap felt like a bug bite, and startled Rainbow Dash from a deep sleep. Standing right before her eyes was what seemed like a huge Seabreeze, but her brain kicked into gear and she realized the breezie was standing right at the bridge of her nose. "What gives?" She tried to stand up, only to have her body strain against binding ropes. All over her body she was restrained by thin strips of colorful ribbon. The bindings didn't look strong, individually, but together they were a net that kept Rainbow from doing more than straining. Studying her surroundings as best she could with the bridle on, Rainbow pieced together that she was on the edge of the breezie's village.

"Old law ya broke. Fey, when pranked… we prank back." Tapping the bridge of Rainbow's snout, Seabreeze smiled. "Yer jus' one pony, one pony o' debt." He leaned in and pressed his lips between Rainbow Dash's eyes. Magic flowed through him, pouring in from the other breezies in Rainbow Dash's bedroom, pouring into Rainbow Dash. "A year anna day."

A strong, magical tension built inside Rainbow Dash. An ache spread over her body and she felt tears coming to her eyes. "What are you doing to me? Why are you doing this? It was just a prank!" The ache turned into a need for something, something she wasn't getting. "P-Please…"

Ten breezies flew as hard as they could to lift something up in front of Rainbow's face. Eyes widening, the Element Bearer of Loyalty spotted the strange looking bridle and the pit of need found its focus. Nothing in her life had looked so grand as the bridle, bit, and blinkers that her eyes beheld. Tears flowed down Rainbow's cheeks, tears of joy that she had been allowed to see it.

The soft straps came closer, and Rainbow strained to push forward. Each tight ribbon worked with every other to keep her immobile, however. "I… Please, I gotta have that on me…" A tiny hoof rubbed down the bridge of her nose, like somepony reassuring their pet.

"Ye'll wear it." Seabreeze knew the effects of his spell, and could feel the magic binding itself to Rainbow Dash. At his guidance, the bridle was pulled up and over the bridge of Rainbow's snout. He only had to tap her lips once for her to open her mouth to accept the bit. More breezies fluttered down to help pull the headgear into place.

Rainbow worked her teeth at the bit a few times before it settled behind them. The edges of the metal pulled at the corners of her mouth, and the middle pressed firmly down on her tongue; she would not be talking easily like this, and it thrilled her to bits.

As more of the bridle pulled over her head, Rainbow could feel the soft straps gripping her head firmly, and when they were buckled up behind her neck she gasped at the jolt of magic that shot through her. She felt better than she had in her life. Rainbow Dash felt complete, perfect, right. She could feel a squirming of magic inside her, but with the bridle on she was calm enough that it didn't matter.

"Ay got ya now." Seabreeze rubbed at Rainbow's snout again and again, his little smile wide. "A prank fer a prank. Ees settle'."

Left staring ahead, her peripheral vision blocked by the blinkers on each side of her face, Rainbow could do nothing but stare at the breezie stroking her comfortingly. Her head felt funny. Her thoughts circled in a thickening fog that pulled her back down towards sleep. Rainbow's eyes fluttered a few times before she closed them for good.

Jerking awake again, Rainbow felt something touching her snout. Crossing her eyes down to narrow her vision, she could see Seabreeze stroking her muzzle slowly. Her mouth worked, and she felt the bit suppressing her ability to speak clearly, but nevertheless she tried to ask him what he was doing.

"Ey, stop et." Seabreeze turned his attention to the awake pony. "Jus' goin' fer a ride'." Without another word, Seabreeze jumped up onto the bridge of Rainbow's nose.

Surprised by the action, and feeling sensitive and strange, Rainbow's instincts worked before she could think. A pleasant discovery was had when, tossing her head, she discovered she was free of the binding ribbons. She intended to send Seabreeze flying, but at the last moment the little breezie's legs wrapped tightly around her muzzle and held firm.

"E ff m!" Rainbow couldn't help it, her instincts made her jump and bounce like a wild thing. She was so desperate to throw Seabreeze off that she didn't notice his wings flutter up before her blinkered eyes.

"Eef ya no be civlized, I make ya civlized!" Seabreeze was gripping as tightly as he could to hold on to the wildest ride in Equestria, but when Rainbow didn't react to his words, he sent magic into his wings.

Rainbow froze in place. Pretty colors danced along Seabreeze's wings, but it was more than just light; there was magic in his fluttering, gossamer wings. Her heart almost froze in her chest when her muscles all seemed to lock in place. Snorting hard, she watched the wings flick a little. Without any way to stop them, Rainbow's wings tucked down at her sides. Another flick and her stance straightened.

"Thar." Seabreeze gentle squeezed with his back legs, and gave his wings a flick that would guide his mount's body to walk forward slowly. "Ah train ya like this, den."

Rainbow stared almost blindly ahead. Seabreeze eased her body into a trot, tapping a little more firmly on her sensitive snout with his hooves. Her breath came quickly, and though part of her was eagerly awaiting the taps to change her pace, another part was breathing a sigh of relief that nopony was around to see her.

A new poke startled Rainbow Dash out of a daze. Seabreeze's forelegs squeezed again, and her own wings snapped out. "Fry?" Another squeeze and she found her wings flapping, and suddenly they were in the air. A shiver ran from the tip of Rainbow's dock up to her nose, there was something disturbing about everything the breezie was doing.

Flying around in a slow circle, it wasn't until she landed that Rainbow realized she hadn't been forced to adjust her pace the last time Seabreeze had squeezed his back knees together. A single word danced through Rainbow's head, and she realized the truth in it: training.

"Whoa now. Goo, goo." Seabreeze patted at Rainbow's nose. Still using his wings, he directed Rainbow Dash to lower her head as he tapped the tip of her nose. At ground level, Seabreeze dismounted Rainbow's snout. "Ees goot girl."

In the back of her head, Rainbow Dash felt a jolt of pleasure at being called good. She kept her head tilted down and forward, accepting a few gentle strokes on her nose. The moment his hoof pulled away, the spell on her seemed to pop. Rainbow Dash realized that she had been treated like somepony's pet, and it rankled with her. Free of everything but the bridle, she spun around and bunched her back-end to leap away to freedom.

"Nae." Seabreeze gestured with one hoof, and like a mighty spire collapsing, Rainbow Dash folded down on herself. Lifting his forehooves up to his mouth, Seabreeze blew a loud whistle. Prepared for the mare fighting his control more, he summoned his swarm, and called them down to the extra harness. "Ya no' goin' git away."

Rainbow Dash struggled against the magic inside her. It made her legs and wings feel like they were made of jello. She wanted to curse and scream at Seabreeze, but even her mouth betrayed her. Once more the breezies carried a mass of straps and buckles, but this was much larger than her bridle. They lowered it down like a net, laying it over her.

Tiny hooves moved as they positioned the straps and bindings just right. She wanted to look back, to see what they were doing, but her body was her biggest traitor. She barely noticed Seabreeze when he walked up to her snout, but when he slung his legs over her and mounted her muzzle, she wanted to fight him. A flicker of magic wings, and Rainbow realized she was done for.

Rainbow slowly unfolded her legs and stood up. Breezies worked all over her, tugging the straps and buckles into place, weaving the soft binding tighter and tighter around her body. Her wings had straps reaching up to her first joint, and the breezies buckled it tight to her muscled limbs.

"Ya can still fly." Seabreeze patted Rainbow's snout gently, looking back over his shoulder and adjusting Rainbow's body for his swarm to trap. They worked at her other wing, then trailed the harness down to the mare's legs.

Bit by bit, every part of Rainbow Dash between her hocks, her knees, and her alula was now a tightly bound mass of straps. Even her dock was trapped, wrapped with a strap and pulled up a little. She breathed heavily through her nose, but couldn't look away from the pretty wings in front of her.

Snapping his magic off, Seabreeze looked back at Rainbow. "Ay gotcha snared." He clicked his forehooves into her snout, then again.

Rainbow Dash knew what the breezie wanted, knew that it would cost her pride to just do it, but she dearly wanted to be let out of the tight bindings. Spreading her wings, she flapped them. Her tertiary feathers were slightly compromised, as was some of the freedom of her wings, but she easily had enough lift to rise up into the air. Flapping steadily, her muscles under her own control again, she found herself waiting for Seabreeze.

"Ya!" Seabreeze snapped his back hooves in once, twice, then thrice. Holding on tight, he gave a whoop of excitement when Rainbow Dash shot into movement. Using his forelegs to guide her flight, and his back legs to guide her pace, rider and mount soared and flew for hours as they got used to each other's movements.

By the time Seabreeze brought Rainbow Dash back to land at the village, the pegasus was actually panting. She had given her all, and even with the straps on her wings restricting her, she had flown better than any other pony alive.

Rainbow Dash was guided to a trough, and dipping her head in on command revealed a mash of grain and water. It was heavy food, and completely unspiced, but despite her normal feelings on the matter it was the best food she had ever eaten. Her mouth worked, pulling more of the sloppy oats into her mouth, and she gulped it down repeatedly. Without her tongue to help—it was still restrained by the bit—Rainbow was forced to eat much like an animal.

On command, she turned from the food before she was full. Guided to dip her head down at a touch from the breezie, Rainbow couldn't get over how different and wrong everything felt. The memory of being controlled was still fresh, however, and she knew she didn't want that to happen again.

She stared at the tiny fey when Seabreeze dismounted, and though she hated what had happened, she couldn't deny a bond between them. Seabreeze reached a hoof out to rub her nose, and Rainbow felt comfort in his touch. Then a slight tingle was her only warning that it was time to sleep again. Yawning around the bit, she curled up as best she could.

Awakening bound up tight, Rainbow Dash squirmed a little. She could feel the ribbons all over her, each one working to fight her movement. She had no way of counting the days other than her memory, but it had been seven days since she had become Seabreeze's pet.

Giving up at struggling, she focused on staying calm until the breezies came for her. It had been hard to just calm down for the first few days, but like it or not, Rainbow was getting used to the treatment.

"Ay arlo en varla?" Lightbreeze approached the pony who had stripped her pride from her. Walking down the length of Rainbow Dash, she ran one hoof along the soft blue fur. "Darya eel."

The touch soothed Rainbow, Lightbreeze and Seabreeze were the closest thing she got to being treated with real affection. The other breezies helped care for her, but the two she had wronged seemed to genuinely enjoy looking after her.

One by one Rainbow felt the ribbons untied. Each one slacking off gave her a fraction more freedom. She knew, once about half were gone, that she could rip her way free, but that would result in a day like day four. She trembled at the thought of being bound up and not allowed to move for a whole day. She held still while Lightbreeze worked.

She had finally been left to sleep without the harness, but the bridle had been left on since she had been captured. Rainbow shifted her head so she could turn and look at Lightbreeze. The little breezie mare seemed to walk around Rainbow, unbinding her slowly, at random. Calmness had never been Rainbow's strong suit, but the breezies were very efficient at training.

"Enar. Arlo en darn?" Lightbreeze looked up at Rainbow, looking in her big eyes for a hint of her emotions. She couldn't stop a little smile from creeping over her snout, the pony looked relieved—happy. Walking up to the huge—to her—snout, Lightbreeze rubbed the mare's nose affectionately.

Gentle touches on her snout felt much different now. Rainbow blushed a little and leaned very slightly into the attention. Closing her eyes, she let the happy sensation wash away all her fears and regrets, if only for a moment.

"Eh, ya gots d' touch wit' da beastie." Seabreeze fluttered down to find his fillyfriend bonding with Rainbow. His touch was more firm than Lightbreeze's, but he could see in Rainbow's features that it was no less welcome. "It be time ta take care a' ya." Stepping around behind Rainbow's cheek, Seabreeze unfastened the bridle.

Shock hit Rainbow like a hammer. Her mind started running in terrified circles. She tried to yell and beg for the bridle to stay on, but Seabreeze was unrelenting. At the breezie's whistle, a small swarm of his brethren came to help. The horrible need slammed into Rainbow the moment it started coming free. She screwed her eyes shut and tried to shut out the panic Seabreeze's magical enchantment caused. The spell had had ample time to settle in, bonding to her mind and bridle both, and now it made removal of the restraint a terrifying prospect.

But one thing cut through the pain and terror of being unbridled; Rainbow Dash opened her eyes to see Lightbreeze gently stroking her snout. Without the bit in her mouth, Rainbow wanted to beg and plead for the bridle to be returned, but she didn't want to disturb the breezie that was her only lifeline in a sea of panic.

Lightbreeze could see the panic in her pet's eyes. She could see real terror as the mare's mind writhed in the grip of Seabreeze's enchantment. "Enar, id dar. Enar…" She kept her voice calm, while other breezies rushed about Rainbow, brushing her mane and face with soft brushes.

"A pon' whisp'er…" Seabreeze marveled for a moment at Lightbreeze's ability to hold Rainbow from going crazy with panic. He knew well that the spell would make her life a misery with the bridle off. Turning back to the swarm, he commanded them to work as fast as they could.

The feel of soft brushes smoothing her fur where the bridle had rubbed only made Rainbow ache more to have the thing on again. She could feel tears in the corners of her eyes, and held on to Lightbreeze's gaze.

"'ere ya go." Seabreeze helped hold up the bridle, and wasn't surprised when Rainbow shoved her head forward, claiming the straps and bit as her own. A strap started to twist, but he reached down and heaved it flat again.

Rainbow gave a soft sigh, chomping her bit until it settled behind her teeth again. Her body was complete once more, she no longer felt like a limb had been cut off. Dropping her snout down again, she gently touched Lightbreeze's side with it.

The army of breezies now collected new weapons. Brushes, oils, and dusts were deployed, and they set to work on Rainbow's body. Rainbow Dash had spent time in the day spa in Ponyville, and found herself actually enjoying that attention, which was what made the new morning routine a problem. Soft brushes worked at her fur, exotic oils were worked into her coat, and when the breezies teased her wings out, her feathers too were getting oiled.

A groan of pleasure leaked from Rainbow's snout before she realized it, and once it was free, it was followed by more. A gentle tugging at her tail surprised her from almost dozing off, and turning her head didn't let her see what was happening. The blinkers of her bridle kept her from watching the breezies weave her tail into an exotic pattern of interlocking diamonds of braid-work.

Rainbow wasn't aware fully of what was happening, but she did sense when her cleaning and primping was nearing its end. Opening her eyes, she spotted somebreezie new. She held very still, not daring to move a muscle.

"Dis 's mm li'l-un." Seabreeze leaned down to nuzzle his little filly. "Sh' wanna t' see ya." He kept one eye on his foal and the other on Rainbow Dash.

"Al lo." Rainbow leaned forward and felt the gentlest touch yet on her nose. A warm sensation passed through her, and she found herself almost giggling at it. Tiny fluttering wings lifted the filly up and she landed astride Rainbow Dash's snout. Too tiny to reach her legs over the bridge properly, she sat up straight and looked back into Rainbow's eyes.

The vast array of straps that comprised her harness was set down on Rainbow's back, but she didn't dare move. She blinked at the little, tiny breezie perched there. The filly leaned in and kissed her between the eyes. Another tiny jolt of happiness welled through her, spreading out and making even the tight straps of the harness feel good.

Extending her wings—Rainbow didn't want the breezies to pull at them again—she felt the straps worked over her humerus, and smaller straps tighten to her radius and ulna. It was snug, but she was starting to get used to it. When she felt the straps tighten around her forequarters, she lifted her wings and gave the slightest of strokes. Something felt off about her right wing. Carefully lifting her head, she turned and nuzzled at where a strap was pinching.

Seabreeze rushed over, seeing Rainbow show some distress. "Wha' 'appen'?" He landed on her wing and checked each strap. The fifth, he discovered, had a half-twist in it. "I'ma fix it." With his own hooves he unbuckled the strap and smoothed it back out. "Ya made a frien'." His filly was still sitting proudly on Rainbow's snout, watching as Seabreeze refastened the strap.

A simple warmth spread through Rainbow Dash. She was cared for in a way that defied her actual level of intelligence, but it wasn't demeaning. The breezies needed somepony to help them do their work, and she was practically pampered in the role of workhorse.

The straps were all fastened, and Rainbow lifted her snout up. Hooves worked up from her shoulder as Seabreeze climbed up her body, and she couldn't stop a happy smile coming to her snout when he tickled her ear. The tiny stallion slid down her face and landed on her nose. She was surprised that he still kept the foal between his forelegs. The slightest poke at her nose came, and Rainbow extended her wings again, this time readying for flight.

Before she got the command to take off, Rainbow spotted something shiny. Staring back at her from a mirror, she saw a blue pegasus with rainbow-colored mane and tail. She was transfixed by the image, and looked at the bridled and bound pony with some surprise.

Seabreeze couldn't help but notice what Rainbow was staring at; for the mare to look at anything she had to turn her head to face it, and that meant he was looking at it too. He looked at her stunned expression, watched her wiggle her ears, work her jaw, and do a myriad other little things unconsciously so she could recognize the mare in the mirror as "her."

"Yer a pretty one." Seabreeze rubbed Rainbow's snout gently. "Ah'm proud a'ya."

The breezie's words were surprisingly uplifting for Rainbow. She knew he was a very practical breezie, and to have him compliment her beauty—particularly after she had just received enough primping to satisfy Rarity—brought a blush to her cheeks. She was so surprised that she missed the poke of his hooves against her snout. Light flickered before Rainbow's eyes, and her blood ran cold.

"T' deal is: ya do da work, you folla instruc', an' I don' use dis." Seabreeze extended more magic, sinking it easily into Rainbow through the open windows of her eyes. The magic seeped down into her body and tugged at her muscles like the strings of a marionette. "Go t' ya ma'." Seabreeze nuzzled at his foal, gently pushing the filly off so that she fluttered back down to Lightbreeze.

Rainbow felt her muscles bunch up, her wings tilt just right to catch air, and with a hard pump of both sets of muscles she was flying. She wanted to scream and beg Seabreeze to stop, to let her fly herself, but the breezie was in control, and to her dismay kept it for half the day.

Ferrying breezies and their pollen around was Rainbow's job. More accurately it was Seabreeze's job, and Rainbow was just the tool he used to do it. With her body under his full control, Rainbow Dash was literally along for the ride. She hated the feeling of him doing this, but with the blinders on she couldn't look away from his colorful wings, nor the magic commands they were feeding her body.

Circling down to the breezie village, Rainbow saw the light snap from Seabreeze's wings just as her hooves touched down. "Fank ooo." She dropped to the ground, snapping to follow the command his hooves gave her. Rainbow resolved to focus on his commands more.

"'ome 'ere." Seabreeze was more than a little tired; expending his magic for most of the morning had left him more worn out than Rainbow likely was. He led the mare to a prepared half barrel—a pony sized one—and tapped a tiny hoof to it. "Grub's on."

Rainbow fell upon the barrel. The breezies didn't believe in breakfast it seemed, at least not for their pets. Diving her snout down, she struggled to eat the mashed up soaked oats around the bit in her mouth. The first crunch surprised her, but the explosion of apple flavor reminded her of Applejack's farm so much she almost cried.

"Ya don' like dat, do ya?" Seabreeze fluttered his wings once for emphasis, even if Rainbow couldn't see them. "Ya don' train a pon' da same a' ya train a dog." Fluttering up, Seabreeze landed on the top of Rainbow Dash's head. He claimed one ear and started rubbing it slowly. "Ya folla me, ya don' get t' magic."

Even as her mouth worked, Rainbow's brain committed the "apple or stick" ultimatum into her mind. She hated the control magic so much that she would do just about anything not to experience it again. Giving a nod, she gulped and ate as fast as she could.

"Da's abou' enough, time ta work." Seabreeze petted Rainbow's head and slid forwards. The moment his hooves tapped Rainbow's snout twice, she shot into the air without a moment of hesitation. "Goo' girl. Goooo' girl."

Fear of being controlled again drove Rainbow to be on her best behavior. When Seabreeze gave her a command, she carried it out as swiftly and perfectly as she could. She found herself anticipating the tiny stallion's needs, moving moments before the command came.

With her last load of chatting breezies hanging from the straps around her barrel, and a big pair of pollen bags strapped on, Rainbow Dash was directed back to the breezie village. She took pride in making the flight as calm as she could for the breezies, and when she landed was thrilled at the happy little voices and occasional stroking of her fur.

"Ez time fer food an' sleep." Seabreeze guided Rainbow back to the trough of food, even giving her the command to lower her head into the oversize bucket. "Ya fly like da' an' Ah don' 'ave ta use magi'."

It was reinforcement, but it was reinforcement Rainbow was willing to accept. She munched away, staring past Seabreeze on her snout. Already the days seemed to melt together, but in a good way. The work was repetitive, but each time he took her out, Rainbow got to fly. Flying literally meant the world to Rainbow Dash.

A little poke drew her head up automatically, despite her belly wanting more food. Guided back to where she had been sleeping for the last week, she was guided to lay down. Breezies descended upon her, and Rainbow first felt the straps on her wings loosened, then the rest of her harness being unfastened.

Brushes assaulted her, and for the second time in the same day she was being brushed down and her fur oiled. It would have been pure luxury, except there was an oddness to it; when you were in a day spa, all the attendees' attention would be on your wants and needs, but the breezies only cared for the latter. The tiny fey poked her to make her move a limb, and didn't excuse themselves when they had to brush out a nasty burr that had made her coat its home.

Despite the strange care, Rainbow was soon primped and tired enough to sleep a week away, even though she knew tomorrow would be more work. Yawning, she felt the first ribbon being pulled over her. Seven days ago, Rainbow Dash would have panicked and fought, she would have bucked her way free and kicked the breezies away from her body. But the Rainbow Dash the breezies had first caught was different from the one laying down, letting them tie her up.

Rainbow knew that Seabreeze would just climb on her snout again, and force her to lie still and let them bind her. The outcome would be the same, only this way she didn't have his magic controlling her.

They focused on her back-end first. Rainbow's powerful legs were folded, each limb wrapped in multiple ribbons to keep her from being able to extend them. More ribbons wrapped around her whole body, trapping her legs against her belly. She glanced back to see what they were doing to her tail, but again the blinkers kept her from seeing the breezies efforts. She soon discovered that they had woven ribbons into her tail, and pulled it tight under her belly.

The breezies worked forwards, keeping her wings tightly folded, binding more and more ribbon around her upper limbs until all she could have done was wiggle them at her humerus. She didn't struggle, but moved her wings exactly as the little pokes and prods directed her, hugging her wings down while they were bound to her torso.

Guided carefully to her side, Rainbow moved with each urging poke, tucking her forelegs up against her barrel, and finally her body was rendered immobile. She felt so small, even her tail couldn't move, restrained as it was. She looked at Seabreeze, noticed the satisfied and possessive look he gave her. "'ank ooo." Rainbow Dash's eyes grew heavy, and she slowly closed her eyes and let sleep steal away her thoughts.

"Have you seen Rainbow Dash?" Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship, was short one friend. "She was supposed to be keeping the sky clear today, and I had to get Thunderlane to take care of the clouds. When I asked him, he said he hadn't seen her all week…" She had tried to find Fluttershy at the pegasus' home, but wound up meeting her in the town square.

"Um…" Fluttershy looked back over her shoulder, her eyes not seeing the breezies' hollow of course, but she felt a touch of guilt at what her little friends had told her. "She… she is paying somepony back…"

The way Fluttershy hesitated—more than often—tipped Twilight off that something a little strange was going on. "Paying back whom?" Her interest piqued, Twilight could feel that Fluttershy had some answers. "And what takes a week to pay back?"

"Seabreeze and Lightbreeze." Scuffing her hoof on the ground, Fluttershy took a deep breath. "You see, she played a prank on them, and then Seabreeze took it a little personal, and he claimed that under old law, fey were legally bound to repay a prank with another, and then it got a little out of hoof…"

Twilight lifted a hoof and planted it on her forehead; it was quickly becoming one of "those" days. "Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash has been missing for a whole week, she—"

"Two." Fluttershy blushed as she cut in, the word soft. "Two and a half, really."

"She has been paying back this prank for two and a half weeks? What is she doing?" Twilight racked her brains to think back to the breezies and what they needed.

Fluttershy tried to avoid her friend's gaze, half-hiding behind her mane. "She is… helping them with breezes. Seabreeze has been training her to help the breezies work further afield." It wasn't the full truth, Fluttershy had regretted asking when she heard Lightbreeze explain the "work."

"Well, that isn't so bad. How long is she doing this for?" Twilight smiled, glad to hear that her friend was not involved in anything strange. Twilight had, after experiencing the breezies' home town, examined a lot of lore on them.

"About fifty more weeks…" Fluttershy turned a little more to fully hide from Twilight's gaze behind her wash of pink mane. Surely Twilight wouldn't get too upset, Fluttershy thought. A moment passed, and finally she dared to peek at Twilight.

"What do you mean fifty weeks?!" Twilight finally exploded. "That is a whole year! What are we supposed to do if we need her during that time?!"

"Eep…" A pink curtain was called for again, and Fluttershy did her best to tuck her ears back and hide from Twilight.

"What'n tarnation are you doin', Twi?" Applejack marched up to her two friends and used her voice to cut over Twilight's panicked verbal flow.

"Rainbow Dash pulled a prank on some breezies, and now they are making her work for them for a year, and Fluttershy was—" Twilight suddenly realized what she had been doing. "I am so sorry Fluttershy, this isn't your fault…"

"She messed with a fey? Oh horse-apples. She's lucky if they only wanna mess with her fer a year." Applejack shuddered a little. "You know all about them, right, Fluttershy? You could take Twilight down to talk with 'em, maybe see if somethin' could be arranged?"

Twilight tilted her head to the side and thought. "Well I could go and demand they give Rainbow Dash up. Maybe I could work out something magical to help the breezies so they don't need her to help?" It seemed like such a small thing. "I mean, we can hardly go in and blast them with rainbows and all that… could't we?"

"We would need Rainbow Dash for that, I think." Fluttershy finally recovered from her panic and rejoined the conversation. "The Element of Loyalty and all."

"Hold on, both a ya. Be careful with them little-uns. Granny always says to be nice to 'em, but not too nice." For a moment Applejack thought she might have to grab Twilight's tail to keep her grounded. "If'n you offer 'em something, it means somethin' entirely different to what we think it does."

"I need to research this. I think I remember something about old laws to do with breezies." Snapping around, Twilight turned to face her castle. "I'll work out a way to get Rainbow Dash free in no time!"

"Smart girl, but Ah gotta wonder if she ain't just a bit… too focused." Applejack reached out a foreleg to hug Fluttershy, reassuring her friend.

Nervousness settled on Twilight like an old friend. It had kept her from doing stupid things on many occasions, but it was also nerves that whispered in her ear. Right now, Twilight's nerves complained that she was walking into a quagmire that she only had half a map for—and in this situation she was going to get more than dirty hooves. She pulled out her list again and scanned it. "Fluttershy, we have to be really careful what we say."

"I know, Twilight. Why do you think I urged everypony to cheer quietly when helping the breezies? That was a happy day for them, but still, please don't insult them." Trotting along beside Twilight, Fluttershy had only agreed to help the meeting so long as nopony else would be there.

"No, I mean… I represent a lot of ponies. If I say anything that implies I take responsibility…" Twilight trembled at the chill thought. "The last pony leader to have run afoul of the fey was King Sombra. He was gearing up for war with Equestria nearly a thousand years ago, and with Princess Celestia and Princess Luna on the way…" She gulped. "He had insulted a breezie. Said a lot of bad words to them. They held his entire kingdom responsible for the act of its leader."

Fluttershy stared at Twilight with dawning comprehension. "So the reason the Crystal Empire disappeared for a thousand years is…"

"Sombra's punishment." Twilight looked at her scroll, a list of phrasings she could use that wouldn't take responsibility for the "crime" Rainbow Dash committed. Studying it as closely as she could, she kept pace with Fluttershy until the other mare stopped.

"There she is…" Fluttershy pointed with a hoof, nearly straight up. Soaring through the clouds, a blue shape streaked along with a small swarm of breezies clinging to them.

Staring through Seabreeze's wings, Rainbow Dash let herself be guided by his actions. She swooped and flew, exulting in the sensation of being in control. Of course, she had no real control over where they were going, but Seabreeze let her have her head when she didn't fight him. The control the tiny breezie could exact on Rainbow made her skin crawl enough that she never wanted to feel it again.

Banking and circling down, she watched as their flight took them over two shapes on the ground. Rainbow Dash's focus shattered and she froze up.

Sensing his mount had a problem, Seabreeze shot magic into his wings and pulled Rainbow into a hover. "Wha's matter?" He reached lower down her muzzle so that Rainbow wouldn't interpret a touch as a "command," and rubbed her cheek affectionately. All his attention was on keeping her wings flapping, keeping her safe.

Forgetting about the bridle, the bit, and everything else, Rainbow felt the tight grip of Seabreeze's magic holding her body in check. The magic poured into her through her eyes, focused through her head and was trapped inside by the bridle. She could no more fight his control than she could stop her own heart, with the power he extended he controlled her body, denying her any hint of control. Part of her resented the lack of agency, but the parts not panicking about seeing Twilight and Fluttershy appreciated his protecting her. "Rnds own." She dipped her snout so that Seabreeze could see.

"Ya friend' at las'?" Seabreeze stopped his magic, giving Rainbow control of herself again. He tapped her snout just right, and felt her angle her wings to continue the glide. "They ain' gettin' ya out o' this. If they try it, might jus' end up in worse 'emselves."

Rainbow Dash didn't want anypony to bail her out of the payback. She wanted the year to be over and her friends not have to see her trussed up and acting like an animal. Following Seabreeze's directions perfectly, she found herself landing in front of Twilight and Fluttershy. She had to turn her head to see her friends, the blinkers keeping her to only looking straight ahead.

"O, lookit tha'." Seabreeze flapped his wings slowly, lifting back and up a little, hovering before Rainbow's face. "Wha kanna do fer ya?" He knew full well why they were here, but that didn't stop him being formal.

The sight before Twilight was shocking to say the least. Rainbow Dash's most obvious addition was the bridle. The supple straps wrapped the mare's face, and two big flaps blanked out her peripheral vision. Something seemed a little strange about her friend's eyes, but Twilight wasn't able to discern quite what it was.

Across Rainbow's body, a cage of straps wove and bound her. If they were restricting her, the pegasus didn't show it. Her tail was arched more than usual, forced up by the straps around it, showing off a little more length in her skirt than usual.

Hanging from the straps were breezies. Chatting away with each other, they seemed to flat out ignore the fact they were riding on a pony, acknowledging Rainbow Dash not at all.

"Uh…" Twilight quickly looked at her list and found what she was after. "I was checking up on my friend. Is she doing well?" She looked at Rainbow, and watched her friend turn her head away. The blinkers on the side of Rainbow's eyes prevented Twilight from reading the harnessed mare as effectively as she would have wished, but the blush was clearly that of embarrassment.

"She a bit light onta food. Ahm tak' good carea her." Seabreeze settled his weight down on Rainbow's head. "Loo' fore'."

Wanting to fight the breezie on the command, Rainbow hesitated for just a moment before doing it anyway. The fact that he wanted her embarrassed came as a revelation to Rainbow Dash, and with it her ego shrank just a little more. She looked at Twilight, wanting to beg her friend to get her out of the situation she had landed in, but Seabreeze's words came back.

"I want to offer," Twilight paused a moment, making sure of her wording, "that if you think I can punish her for what she has done, that I do so." It was tightly worded to take responsibility for punishment only, not crime.

"Yer a princess, aye?" Seabreeze's eyes narrowed down. "She did 'urtful fing. She repayin' it." He reached a little hoof out to rub Rainbow's ear, smiling when the mare tilted her head into the attention. "She' mine fer a year, a year anna day."

"Et oay." Rainbow Dash struggled to talk past the bit. She looked at her friends and ached to run to them, to hide behind their legs. The scratching at her ear intensified, and she tilted her head over a little more. "Eet oay…"

"You're accepting this?" Twilight's eyes widened. "But Rainbow, we need you to defend—"

"If'n ya nee' 'er, Ah'll lend 'er to ya." Seabreeze leaned down and pressed his tiny snout to Rainbow's ear. "If'n she offer' 'erself, or trie' t' 'elp ya, all 'questri'll pay."

"Don't worry, Rainbow, we will think of something." Twilight racked her brain to come up with ideas. "Fluttershy is taking care of Tank, and Thunderlane took over your normal duties."

" 'Tank'?" Seabreeze felt Rainbow stir a little at his mention of the word. "'oo 'ere is 'Tank'? Ah own 'er, an' all she own'."

Twilight's brain locked up. She had been trying to reassure her friend and now it could cost her a lot more. "She… Tank is…"

"Tank is my pet." Fluttershy's eyes hardened. "I was letting Rainbow Dash look after him for a little while. You don't have a claim on him; and besides, it is not right to own ponies!" She glared right at Seabreeze, not using The Stare, but approaching it.

"Tank' no my worry den." Seabreeze felt a tremble enter a hoof, and masked it by using the limb to rub Rainbow's head. "An we don' care wha' pon' think, this is breezie matta." He gave a firm nod of agreement with his own words.

"He's right, Fluttershy. Equestria is bound to let breezies have their own laws. They… they are some of the oldest laws in Equestria, in fact." Despite the topic being grim, Twilight still admired the law books she had found the information in; the old tomes were ancient beyond measure, and the enchantments on them stopped decay. "But what about Rainbow? You are taking a full year of her life for what, a few seconds of prank?"

"Nop', we don' take a day from 'er." Seabreeze rubbed the mare's other ear now, reassuring Rainbow and calming her as best he could. "I 'chanted 'er mesel'. A year 'n a day for yer is not a secon' for 'er."

The revelation that Rainbow Dash would not age for a year hit Twilight even harder than ever. This wasn't minor magic they were using on her friend, but something she had never heard used on a pony before. "I am here to make sure she is alright." She stepped forward, her horn lighting with magic.

Seabreeze didn't stop Twilight, and watched as her magic reached out and examined the layer upon layer of enchantments he had woven into Rainbow Dash and the bridle she was wearing. "Are ya don'?"

Twilight ground her teeth and pulled back her magic. Not only wasn't there anything wrong with Rainbow Dash, but there was a lot right. The magic that seemed wrapped around her like a net was protecting her, and making her stronger and faster among other things.

Fluttershy narrowed her eyes, intensified her look and focused it on Rainbow. "Are they hurting you?" She wouldn't use The Stare on a friend, but she had to know Rainbow was okay.

"Ooo." Rainbow Dash cursed at the bit in her mouth. She rolled her eyes and shook her head. Hurting was about the farthest from what the breezies were doing; to the fey, Rainbow Dash was a prized work animal, and you don't hurt those on purpose.

"Are they are feeding you? Are they taking care of you?" Fluttershy watched her best friend nod to the similar questions. She wanted to use The Stare right then and there, demand the breezies give up her friend… but it would all be wrong and Fluttershy knew it. "Are you happy?"

The question was a stunner, mainly because it made Rainbow think. She hated to lie to Fluttershy, but to protect her friends she would do just about anything. She focused on the sixteen days she had been with the breezies, and realized that if she had been asked just days earlier she would have shaken her head. But Rainbow Dash was flying, she was allowed to run, and to have fun with her movement, even if she was restricted by Seabreeze's commands. Summoning up the essence of her friendship, Rainbow didn't have to stretch the truth too far to nod.

"Time t' go Ah thin'." Seabreeze slid down Rainbow's face and landed astride her snout. "Nice t' 'ave see' ya again, Fluttershy." His voice warped a touch at pronouncing Fluttershy's full name, but he didn't want to insult her any more than she him. "C'mon, git on 'ome." His hooves dug in twice, then at the front. Rainbow Dash pumped her wings on command and flew!

Rainbow Dash couldn't count the days anymore. They flicked by like leaves on the wind, and she trusted Seabreeze to keep his word on the duration of her stay. Despite that, she knew some time had passed; the seasons had turned, spring had turned to summer, and summer to autumn. Flying as she was bid—as always—Rainbow was a little spaced out.

Circling down, Rainbow landed in the middle of the breezie town. Nearly a dozen breezies were latched on to her, not counting Seabreeze. Dipping her head on command, she watched her rider dismount. She didn't feel embarrassed, not until her former friends around town started to stare.

"Focus on me." Seabreeze spoke as clearly as he could, rubbing at Rainbow's snout to hold her attention. Seeing too much panic on his mount's face, he jumped back up onto her nose and gripped his legs down tight.

Rainbow's shaking stopped dead. Her rider was mounted, and his legs were giving her firm assurance that he was in control of the situation. She stared at the pretty wings before her and smiled past the bit.

The command to move forward slowly came, and Rainbow stepped into a walk. Seabreeze guided her to various shopfronts before he found what he was after. Turning her more forcefully, Rainbow was led into Quills and Sofas.

Seabreeze departed Rainbow's snout, fluttering to the counter to begin discussion with Davenport. Rainbow smiled at remembering the stallion's name, but rather than watch that conversation she turned to look outside. Ponies were almost pressed to the glass, staring. The looks of shock and horror were about equal, but Rainbow Dash heard Seabreeze's voice and took comfort in it.

Rainbow Dash's heart stopped in her chest when she saw Rarity start to march inside the shop. Ruffling her wings in shock, Rainbow couldn't alert Seabreeze in time before her friend was facing her.

Rarity looked up and down Rainbow, and couldn't believe what she saw. "I heard all about the… service." The word dropped from Rarity's tongue in a distasteful manner. "And I think the outfit is…" she fumbled for a word to express her distaste, "very base."

Rainbow Dash looked changed, to Rarity's keep eyes. Rarity first focused on her tomcolt-friend's Face. Thicker lashes surrounded Rainbow Dash's cerise eyes, giving them a more full look. Her gaze traveled over the bridle—something that was definitely not in this year—and locked on Rainbow Dash's mane. The hair was gathered up behind Rainbow's head, and it pooled down from a high arc to spill around her back. Rainbow Dash's mane was more shiny and perfect than Rarity had ever seen it, and she felt the first bite of envy.

The harness Rainbow Dash wore did nothing to hide her body, but at her wings it gripped her limbs, supporting them should they come under great strain. Rarity wasn't focusing on the straps, however, she gazed at Rainbow's feathers. A slight tint of color stained each one, and either it was magic or someone had taken the time to paint all her feathers to blend together perfectly.

Rainbow Dash's tail, too, looked different. Rarity could see how the straps held the bound mare's dock up, forcing her tail skirt to arc high, but the length of Rainbow Dash's tail was a sight to behold. Long and full bodied, the hair seemed to almost glow with its own life.

"Darling, who is taking care of you? This is astounding!" Rarity stepped closer to Rainbow, and she couldn't stop examining her friend. As she neared the pegasus, however, she noticed something a little stranger. Even accounting for Rarity having perhaps grown, Rainbow Dash had lost nearly two inches of height at her shoulders. Her focus on Rainbow Dash was broken when Rarity heard Davenport, the owner of the shop, approach.

"Is this her? Yes, I can see where she is a little raw. I am sure I can make you something." Davenport was as happy and excited as a shopkeeper could be—which was "fake grin and kind voice" mostly.

"Ees goo', get t' best fer my girl." Seabreeze fluttered back and landed on Rainbow's snout. Gently coaxing her around, he aimed them at the doorway.

"I'll see you tomorrow, then!" Davenport waved to the breezie, and when the door closed behind the pair, added, "Not even the strangest thing this week…"

"You have got that right…" Rarity stared at her friend, could see the slight movements of Seabreeze's hooves guiding Rainbow effortlessly. "I must tell Twilight about this!"

Rainbow found herself almost prancing. The prospect of getting something over her nose to protect her was making her a little giggly with excitement, but when she saw the Ponyvillians look away after Seabreeze fixed each with a stare, she felt more pride than excitement. Strutting through the middle of town, there was no hint of embarrassment in her.

Hauling around breezies was normal. It was Rainbow Dash's everyday job. She spiraled around towards something she hadn't seen in awhile. Seabreeze's hooves guided her with precision, neither rider nor mount needing words to know exactly what the other was thinking—normally. Right now, Rainbow was confused.

She wanted to ask why they were landing at her old house, but fighting the bit was more trouble than it was worth; Seabreeze would show her soon enough. Braking her speed with a back-wing, Rainbow settled all four hooves on the soft cloud and felt a tingle in the back of her head.

"Year an'a day." Seabreeze tapped Rainbow, guiding her snout down to the ground. Reaching up, he unfastened the little saddle he had used to stay comfortable on his mount. "An' yer debt is paid." He reached up and kissed Rainbow between the eyes. A bubble of magic popped. Then another. A cascade of enchantments that had been at work in Rainbow suddenly undid in a flood.

Rainbow Dash stared at Seabreeze. She couldn't move, couldn't think, couldn't ask him what to do. He was meant to just tell her what to do. To her shock, the breezie fluttered his way to the side of the cloud and dropped off it.

From the harness she still wore, Rainbow Dash felt breezie after breezie climb off, walk around in front of her and kiss her between the eyes, then follow Seabreeze. She stared at each one, and by the time the last left she was in a daze.

Her legs trembled, but she held still. Standing for what seemed like hours, she finally reached a hoof to rub her snout.

"Rainbow Dash!" Twilight landed on the cloud and rushed up to her friend. "I thought today would be the day. You are… what's wrong?" Standing stiff, Rainbow just looked ahead. "Are you okay? Let me get those off you."

Rainbow felt Twilight's magic remove the bridle first, unfastening the simple buckles and pulling it over her head. She felt her friend work down her body and free her from the harness, bit by bit. When her tail was allowed to lower for the first time in a year, Rainbow finally drew in free air again. "Twilight?"

Twilight frowned at Rainbow Dash's subdued demeanor. "Did they do a lot of magic on you? Let me check." Twilight focused her power, delving into Rainbow as deep as she could with it, but finding nothing. "What's going on? I don't understand it…"

"There wasn't much magic." Rainbow felt the confession sluggishly pull from her mind. All her thoughts were jumbled; life was no longer as simple as doing what she was told. "Well, not once he had me trained." She took a step, then another. Each time her leg moved it wobbled. "I guess I still expect the guiding commands he used…" She stared at her hooves, eyes focusing forward, never trying to look to the sides.

Another deep breath, and Rainbow entered her home. She froze up the moment Twilight was out of sight. When her friend was back she was hanging on her words. "T-T-Twilight… can you tell me to go in and curl up on the couch?"

Twilight was dumbfounded. She stared at her friend. "I… I am going to stay the night." Her decision made, Twilight forgot to give her friend the command until she couldn't get past Rainbow Dash. "Uh… Rainbow, go and curl up on the couch."

"Thanks, Twilight." Rainbow Dash's mind buzzed a little, but with a command at the forefront she trotted to her living room and jumped onto the couch. In the back of her mind the free part of Rainbow Dash felt herself growing, but there was no way she could crush the other part of her mind completely—the part that enjoyed being able to relax and let somepony else control her. While she started to drift off, her dreams soared again, with her tiny rider guiding her.

Author's Note

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Spiral Down and Up

Rainbow Dash woke up in her house, on the soft cloud floor. She felt uncomfortable, confused at why her limbs were moving. With her subconscious insisting she should be bound up, Rainbow finally jerked awake. She waited, but no breezie came to tend to her. Rainbow waited longer still.

The day lengthened, and it wasn't until midday that her thoughts finally cut through the routine she had built up for a year—a year and a day to be precise. Lifting a shaking leg, Rainbow pushed herself upright. Inhaling deeply, she fought back at the panic. "Foo'." Her speech was stilted, her tongue felt funny being unrestrained.

Turning around like she spotted a piece of paper sitting on the table beside her. At her first glance she remembered that Twilight was supposed to be spending the night. She vaguely remembered climbing off the couch and curling up on the floor; it seemed more comfortable to be on the floor.

Dear Rainbow Dash, please visit me as soon as you are awake, I will make sure you get some food, and you can tell me all about what happened.

—Twilight

Familiarity eased into Rainbow Dash, just the tiny sign that one of her friends was not just expecting her, but cared for her, shoved aside months of the breezies' training. Shaking off the phantom sensation of wearing a harness and bridle, Rainbow Dash grinned and trotted for the door. "Aww yeah, time to make sure I've still got it!" Blue wings with rainbow-colored feathers spread wide, and Rainbow Dash dropped from her home. She was free, free as a bird. She soared and flew. Rainbow climbed as high as she could and tipped her head down.

Her mane and tail streaming behind her, Rainbow Dash entered a crash-dive towards Twilight's castle. She felt as light as a feather and fast as a cannonball. At the bottom of her dive she pulled to the side and up. With her wings fighting incredible strain, Rainbow Dash felt herself slam through the barrier. Rainboom. It almost made her forget all the crazy stuff she had done. The Sonic Rainboom was literally her own personal expression of everything that made her life great. Shedding speed in a spiral around the Castle of Friendship, Rainbow Dash finally pulled up into a hover at the front door.

"Rainbow Dash!" A pink blur rushed at Rainbow, tackled her. "I missed you so much! And then somepony said you had been in town, but when I came out—I was busy baking cupcakes—you were already gone. I have the biggest party planned!"

"Slow down, Pinkie!" Rainbow Dash tried to divest herself of Pinkie's hugs, but doing so was just about impossible. With a resigned sigh, Rainbow hugged her friend back. "It's good to be back…"

Pinkie giggled and squeezed a little harder. "Are you here to visit Twilight?" Her honest and open expression almost ruined the effect of her joke.

"Pinkie, this is Twilight's castle, of course I am here to see her." Slowly easing from the hug, Rainbow Dash got to her hooves.

"Well, as soon as you have seen Twilight we can start the party." Pinkie bounced up to her own hooves and circled Rainbow Dash. "I'll see you then!"

Stepping to the doors of the castle, Rainbow Dash reached to knock on them. The moment her hoof almost touched the doors they flew open. Standing before a crowd that looked like it was everypony in town, Twilight yelled, "Surprise!"

The party had been everything Rainbow had come to expect from Pinkie, and having so many friends around banished all the strange feelings and let her feel like a pony again. At last all the visitors had left, except for four very special ones. Looking around the huge map, Rainbow felt comfort and familiarity settle. "It is so good to be home."

All Rainbow's friends spoke at once, talking over each other for a few seconds before laughing. "It's good to have you home, Rainbow Dash." Twilight watched her friend, amazed that the scared mare from the previous night was back to her old self.

Applejack nodded emphatically. "Ah'm with that, too. Ah heard what happened and… the little folk are not who you want to be playin' pranks on."

"Well, I know that now…" Rainbow rolled her eyes and got a laugh from everypony. "So what did you want to know? I didn't really see that much, they had me working pretty hard all the time."

"What was it like living with all the breezies?" Her full attention on Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy was leaning forward on her throne. "Did you learn their language? They can mostly understand ponies, but it is hard to learn theirs. Did you have any conversations with them?"

Rainbow Dash jerked back a little. "Uh…" She tried to steer attention away from herself by looking around at the others, but nopony was going to cut in on Fluttershy. "I… I didn't get to spend time with them like that." Embarrassment started to surge inside Rainbow, and she turned to Twilight with a panicked look on her face.

"Fluttershy." Twilight drew all the attention away from Rainbow, giving her friend a chance to recover. "You remember how Seabreeze was treating Rainbow Dash, she didn't get to talk to any of the breezies very much." She snapped a quick look to Rainbow and saw the mare looked both mortified and relieved, a horrible mix.

"Oh." Fluttershy dipped her head and leaned back in her throne. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to ask something difficult." She withdrew a little more, until a blue flash rushed to her side and hugged her.

Unsure why, Rainbow Dash found tears coming from her eyes while she clung to Fluttershy. "It's alright, Fluttershy." Her voice wasn't even a whisper, if Rainbow hadn't had her snout against Fluttershy's ear the other pegasus wouldn't even have heard it. "I'll come around tomorrow and talk."

Fluttershy felt the dwindling connection to her oldest friend shored up. She squeezed Rainbow Dash tightly and pressed her snout into Rainbow's mane. Inhaling deeply, she was momentarily surprised by the scent of wildflowers, but she didn't care what Rainbow smelled like. Rainbow Dash was still her friend. "I'll make tea."

Wishing her friends a good night, Rainbow stood beside Twilight and waved at Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie. Worry colored her thoughts, and she couldn't shake the feeling of being out of control again.

Rarity smiled for one last wave back before turning to continue home. "Applejack?" Her friend made a sound of acknowledgement. "Did you notice Rainbow Dash a little… shorter?"

"An her mane 'n' tail bein' all… fru fru?" Applejack looked to Rarity, and got a nod. "Yeah. Twilight said they wouldn't hurt her, but Ah think she ain't come back unchanged."

Nodding, Rarity turned her thoughts inwards. Despite how Rainbow had changed, she couldn't deny that it was a fantastic look, one she was going to work at emulating for her next fashion show.

"You held it together pretty well." Twilight turned and looked at Rainbow, watched her almost crumple. "Hey, don't lose it now, now you can finally relax. If you think you are the only pony who goes a bit off the rails from time to time, remember that I spent a whole day time traveling to try to convince myself not to time travel. And don't get me started on our friends."

Rainbow Dash snorted. "Hey, up until this I was perfectly fine!" She watched Twilight close the double doors, leaving them standing inside the castle, and relief broke out. "I can stay?" Her voice was soft, broken to a whisper.

"Of course you can. If I could have woken you up again last night, I would have had you sleep here. Follow me and we can have some dinner." Twilight's tone brooked no arguments, and when she turned to make her way to the dining room, Rainbow Dash was following. "So just between you, me, and the castle walls, what happened?"

The question led Rainbow right back into her "year and a day," and she felt a warm, happy sensation pour over her like honey. For just an instant she didn't have to worry, or think to far, she could just be happy and do what she was told. "It was… relaxing. I worked every day I was there, and there was not a minute went by I didn't feel appreciated. It was strange, most of the breezies just ignored me, but Seabreeze and Lightbreeze… I was their prized possession."

Twilight didn't cut in with questions; it had taken time but the Princess of Friendship had learned her lesson when it came to cutting people off. Instead of talking, she focused on listening and preparing food.

"It… it was unlike anything I had ever been through before. Every morning they came to me, my day couldn't start until either Seabreeze or Lightbreeze unwrapped me. From the moment they had me uncovered I was their beast of burden. I was washed, brushed, and cared for. There wasn't a thing they wouldn't do for me except listen to me. Nothing I said mattered, nothing I thought mattered. If I screwed up, Seabreeze would use his magic and take… take control of my body.

"I stopped screwing up pretty quick. I learned what he wanted me to do and when he wanted me to do it I was fast to respond. It was confining and freeing." Rainbow stopped her flow of words and closed her eyes. Without anypony else around her apart from Twilight, she could almost imagine she was back in the village. Tight straps around her, a bridle on, and a familiar weight on her snout.

"… Rainbow Dash!" Twilight's yelling finally got through to her friend. "Rainbow, you spaced out a bit." She looked at her friend with a little worry. "Are you going to be alright?"

"Y-Yeah, Twi, I'll be fine. I just need to be reminded I am a pony, I think." Rainbow smiled, but was suddenly distracted. "What is that? It smells great!" She walked over to the two bowls of food and inhaled deeply. Whatever it was, it definitely wasn't mashed oats and apples.

"Just a stir-fry. I learned how to cook it back when I was studying. A Neighponese friend explained it as 'using some simple spices and whatever green things you can find.' " Twilight hovered both bowls up and floated them along into the dining room.

Settling both the meals on the dining table, Twilight settled down and started to eat. Opposite, Rainbow Dash hesitated for a full five seconds before she realized what was expected of her. Picking up a fork with one rainbow wing primary, she started eating too.

"You forgot." Twilight set her fork down and watched her friend tense up. "Rainbow, it's alright. It isn't your fault."

"But it is my fault! I pranked them, everything they did was their way of showing me how unhappy it made them. All of this," Rainbow gestured to herself, "is my fault!"

"Rainbow Dash, taking responsibility? This is new." Studying her friend closely, Twilight could see the frustration and confusion. "If you were alone, right now, what would you do?"

The hypothetical question suddenly wasn't so hypothetical. Rainbow Dash's world closed in and she sat still. She looked ahead, eyes blinking, waiting to be told what to do.

Twilight waited a full ten minutes. "Rainbow Dash, I am here." She got up and circled to her friend. Wrapping Rainbow in forelegs and wings, Twilight hugged her until Rainbow started to hug back. "You will be living here for as long as you need to."

Simple words, caring words, but they made Rainbow Dash cling even tighter. "Thanks Twilight…"

The first few days had been hard. Each time Rainbow Dash awoke she was lost and alone, needing to be told what to do. Each day her friend came and told her to get out of bed, to wash and have breakfast, and only when the sun warmed Rainbow's feathers did she get some measure of Rainbow Dash back from the mare who was Seabreeze's pet.

By the time Rainbow had spent a week in the castle, she only needed to be woken, and by the end of a month she could even do that for herself.

Then a day came when Twilight had to attend to Princess Celestia—with Spike too, of course—and Rainbow felt the chill of the surrounding castle. Without hesitation, she flew out and winged her way back to her cloud.

Flying around her home, she did some quick repairs to the cloud. Once she had it to her liking, she headed inside. Everything was neatly laid out, and even the usual messes a month-long absence would cause were not evident. There was only one pony who would do this for her. "Fluttershy." Speaking her best friend's name was like a mystic spell, it banished any hint of the fey training from her immediate thoughts.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Rainbow Dash walked through to her bedroom. Soft, fluffy, literally the best type of bed a pegasus could sleep on, the special clouds that made up her mattress and bedding practically sang to her.

The moment Rainbow Dash was on her bed she gave one yawn and her eyes snapped closed. Dreams came and went. Rainbow flew and flew, she spread her amazing wings—that seemed to be covered in almost transparent feathers stained in rainbow hues—and never had to touch the ground.

The flying dream faded and she was back in the breezie village, but rather than all the commands and work, she was just being cared for. It had made her days worthwhile. In the last month her mane and tail might have become a little more tangled and messy than she would have liked, but the breezies always had taken care of her.

"Mmmm…" Rainbow Dash eased back into wakefulness. It was a good day, just like they all had been recently. She was her own mare and didn't need commands to get up. Shifting, she started to roll from her bed when a tiny voice exclaimed something.

Rainbow Dash froze. She knew the voice if not the words. Her heart sped up and she held still.

"Eyta yer." Lightbreeze petted Rainbow's head with her tiny hoof, stroking one ear to show she meant no harm. "Eyta yer." Comforting and calming, she felt Rainbow Dash relax under her attention. Turning to her filly, she nodded towards the brushes.

The soft breezie brushes started up again, and Rainbow Dash was back in the village—in her mind—and back in the care of the breezies. She lay still, lifting her wings when commanded, her tail too when Lightbreeze tapped her dock. It was just like being back at the village except one thing: there was only two breezies, and one of those was a foal.

Lightbreeze tutted at every tangle in Rainbow's hair, but not once did she admonish the pony. She simply did her work, teasing the knots out, adding shine and oil to hair and fur, and even some special dust to her wings. "Eyta yer…" She was almost done. Weaving ribbons into her pet's mane, Lightbreeze worked to pull the mass of hair up into the big ponytail that kept all of Rainbow's mane under control.

Breakfast wasn't going to happen, not because the work was taking so long but because Rainbow couldn't prepare it without being told, and as Lightbreeze's pet she wouldn't be told to prepare her own. So Rainbow waited for the two breezies to finish, the final touches being her tail and a few sharp pokes at her dock. Rainbow finally got the hint, and lifted her dock up so that her tail would arch and flow behind her.

Laying on the bed, Rainbow watched as Lightbreeze and her filly fluttered around before her and each rubbed her snout and kissed her between her eyes. The spell the breezies had on her broke the moment they left her house, not that it was a spell using any actual magic.

"Whoa…" Rainbow sat up, then stood up. Her tail wouldn't go down, not that she dared. With so much tail behind her, Rainbow Dash either had to arch it up or tie it up, and she wouldn't dare ruin the breezie's work.

" 'ow ya 'ackin' it?" Seabreeze fluttered into Rainbow's bedroom as if he owned it. Technically, for a year and a day, he did. "Ya loo' a mite betta." He fluttered his wings and flew slowly up to Rainbow's head.

Rainbow Dash's heart almost pounded through her chest. Having Seabreeze on her again was amazing and terrible. She felt herself sliding back, but not all the way. "I… I really like it like this." She looked into a mirror, spread her wings, and couldn't lie. "It looks awesome…"

"Ya wants more care for a li' work, come 'n' visit. No prank, no punish. Take carea ya, ya 'elp us." Seabreeze rubbed one ear, just like he knew would always distract Rainbow.

Each stroke of her sensitive ear broke Rainbow's resistance a little more, and bit by bit she found herself looking in the mirror and admiring the mare standing there. She looked strong, she looked beautiful, and she looked fast. "Tomorrow… tomorrow night?"

"Aye, ya come 'n' we look af'er ya." Seabreeze slid down Rainbow's head, landing backwards on her snout. Looking at the huge eyes, he aimed a simple kiss betwixt them.

The kiss flicked a switch in Rainbow, and for nearly ten minutes she stood in place. She didn't see Seabreeze leave, but when her awareness snapped back she was aware she was completely alone again. A look back to the mirror told her that the meeting hadn't been a dream. Rainbow looked amazing, and giving a carefree laugh, she ran for the door and launched herself into the sky.

Early evening, and Rainbow couldn't help but itch in excitement. But, there was something important she had to take care of first. Twilight had returned to her castle and found an almost fully herself Rainbow Dash.

"Twilight." Rainbow found her friend in the dining room. "Twilight I think I am ready." With her tail held up in an arch, and her mane in a ponytail, Rainbow Dash looked like she had spent half a day in the day spa.

"Ready?" Twilight looked up from her food. "Ready for what?" Ready Rainbow might think herself, but Twilight thought something was up.

Rainbow didn't pick up on her friend's doubts. "To move back to my house. I haven't relapsed in over a week, and I spent yesterday and today there. Fluttershy must have—"

"Fluttershy spent a day each week taking care of your house while you were… away." Twilight still hadn't worked out a simple way to talk about Rainbow's incarceration. "But that is besides the point. I trust you to make your own decisions now, Rainbow Dash." She stood up and hugged Rainbow.

"Thanks, Twilight." Rainbow Dash hugged her friend back. "I even stocked the fridge, so I don't need to mooch food off you anymore."

"You weren't a mooch. I had to cook meals up anyway, might as well make an extra bowl." Releasing the hug, Twilight gave her friend a little boop on the nose. "If you get hungry, or just want to talk, come back."

Rainbow rolled her eyes. "You're totally the best ever, you know that right?" Disengaging completely, Rainbow made her way, on slightly shaky hooves, for the door. "I'll visit tomorrow some time."

"Bye, Rainbow…" Twilight sighed as her friend left without a proper goodbye. "I guess she felt a little too coddled? I might write a letter to Princess Celestia and ask her about this."

Rainbow Dash hadn't lied about her fridge—it was stocked—but she wasn't going home. Soaring over town on wings that pushed her faster with each flap than ever before, she was soon gliding over the Whitetail Woods. She could almost feel the touches on her snout that would guide her to circle around and slowly come down to land at the breezie village.

The tiny portal that had been intermittent had been thrown wide lately, exposing the village permanently. She dipped a wing as Seabreeze had always commanded her to and came in for a landing in her old spot. Looking around, she spotted some breezies pointing at her. Without a word, Rainbow curled up on the flat ground beside the house Seabreeze and Lightbreeze lived in.

"Ya back." Seabreeze wasn't asking a question, merely observing that his pet was beside his home again. "Ya a goo' girl. We take care'a ya tonigh', ya work fer tomorra mor'." Walking right up to Rainbow, he began to stroke at her snout.

The familiar settled onto Rainbow Dash like an old blanket. She tucked her pony-ness up inside and wrapped in the simple needs of being Seabreeze's pet. The slow strokes of her snout were relaxing, calming, and as her eyes started to close she felt a kiss between them.

At first the touch of another breezie wasn't felt, but then more and more were around Rainbow. She lifted her wings, arched her back, tucked her legs up and let the fey bind her in ribbons. Each limb was tucked tightly against her belly, wrapped first individually, but then again to completely wrap her.

Rainbow's wings were folded tight, but a group of breezies worked on each side to fold tiny ribbons around each primary, secondary, and tertiary feather. Her wings were poked, and she folded them back up. More ribbons, and she had no wiggle room at all. Eventually her tail was woven with ribbons and worked between her legs.

The last thing she could feel was more of the tiny strips of fabric woven into her mane. Each touch from a breezie was a comfort Rainbow had been missing for over a month. Looking up, her eyes already drifting down again, Rainbow Dash watched the bridle pull over her head. Nuzzling forwards, opening her mouth to take the bit, she took her old mantle with pride and happiness.

The dreams came again, but they went. Rainbow Dash didn't need to dream of her time with the breezies because they had invited her back. She woke to the sound of her belly grumbling. Bound tight, Rainbow Dash couldn't move an inch, and didn't care to. The ribbons took so much time to fit her with, particularly with the new feather-binding that was done, that she truly realized how much she meant to the whole village.

"Ya gonna 'afta lear' breezie." Seabreeze stepped into Rainbow Dash's sight range, much narrowed again by the blinkers of the bridle. Climbing up on her nose, he settled his plot down facing her. "Ya 'member t' firs' thing Lightbreeze said t' ya?"

Rainbow was confused at first, it was the first question that had been asked of her like this. Bound and unable to move, she had no way to avoid the lesson Seabreeze was ready to give her.

" 'Darya eel.' Calm dow'." Seabreeze started to stroke Rainbow's snout. " Darya eel. Calm dow'." He repeated the words again and again.

Hungry and tired, Rainbow couldn't break her attention from the breezie on her snout. The blinkers of her bridle ensured she could only look at him, and with her body still bound she certainly couldn't get away physically. So with reluctance, she listened and learned.

Seabreeze focused first on commands, then on softer things. He made sure Rainbow could understand when a breezie was offering comfort or demanding her do something. It took him all the morning, and by the time midday rolled around he judged her ready for her reward. Lifting his forehooves to his snout, he whistled loudly.

Rainbow knew what was coming and if her tail was unbound it would be wagging. Breezies appeared from all sides and closed in on her. Each ribbon was being removed slowly, and Rainbow would have it no other way. First her legs were released, but she kept them folded under her. Wings came next, and Rainbow heard a simple request.

"Wings out."

The words were clear to her, and Rainbow raised her wings and slowly extended them. Dozens of tiny ribbons wove around her feathers, and she held still as could be while the breezies worked to unbind her. Ribbon was unforgiving. It didn't stretch. Having ribbon wrapped and woven around her limbs was a comfortable strain, having it around her feathers, if they flexed the wrong way, would be horrifying. So Rainbow relaxed.

Brushes came down, borne by tiny wings. Rainbow melted into a veritable puddle as the ribbons in her mane and tail were removed, and the brushing began. She had gotten used to spending regular time in the day spa in Ponyville, but this was something different. Taking care of her mane wasn't just a job, nor was it a destiny, taking care of Rainbow Dash was like life to the breezies.

The brushing seemed to take hours. Rainbow forgot about her empty stomach and closed her eyes. Feeling each stroke of the brushes in an intimate way that left no doubt in Rainbow's mind that she was loved, she was startled from her bliss when a hoof brushed her snout. Rainbow barely got her eyes open before Lightbreeze kissed her between them.

"Good girl. Stay calm." Lightbreeze saw recognition of the words in the mare's eyes and smiled more. "Good pony." She stroked Rainbow's snout again and again, soon settling the mare into a light doze.

Rainbow Dash slowly drifted from her sleep. She was hungry and felt amazing. No bridle bound her, and no harness wrapped her, but despite those being missing she didn't lift her head for a full five minutes.

Looking around, she spotted her feeding trough and climbed to her feet. Tail arched high, Rainbow fluttered her wings again and again as she walked to the half barrel of oats. Stir fry might be good when Rainbow was a pony in Ponyville, but in the breezie's village, soaked oats and apple pieces was pure ambrosia. She ate and ate, eating the food like the animal she was got treated like. With her belly finally full, Rainbow rolled her shoulders and looked up to the sky.

"Come back soon." Lightbreeze's voice was soft, but she watched Rainbow's ears twitch and turn to her. The pegasus launched herself into the sky, as free and as bound as she wanted to be.

Something was different. Rainbow Dash's feathers seemed to catch even more air than ever, and she cruised the sky almost fast enough to cause a Rainboom. Pinning her flight on the amazing night and great morning, Rainbow winged towards home to prepare for her visit with Twilight.

The visit went as well as Rainbow Dash could hope. She had dinner with Twilight and Spike, and everything seemed normal until Spike left them alone, the dragon having an early night. Rainbow was sitting in the library with Twilight, catching up on the latest Daring Do book, when the first real question came.

Twilight lifted her head from her book. Rainbow Dash looked like she had spent half the day getting a makeover, but there was a lot more to it. "You went back to them?" She watched Rainbow jerk and look over the top of the book towards her. "You did, didn't you?"

"Y-Yeah." Part of Rainbow Dash felt bad for admitting it. She had surrendered to the part of her that liked being the breezies' pet, but the oddest thing was it made the pony that she was seem brighter. Being cared for made life better, and it made her able to be a pony. "I don't even know why… It just feels…" She breathed out heavily. "It feels really good. Relaxing."

"What did they do to you? Did they hurt you?" The moment the second question left Twilight's lips she could see that no hurting was involved.

Rainbow Dash shook her head. "No, nothin' like that. They…" She hesitated.

"Go on, Rainbow. I won't write this down." It took every bit of her self control not to, but Twilight was determined to keep to her promise.

"When I got there, all they did was tie me up. They fitted my bridle," Rainbow Dash's mouth curled up a little, "and they wrapped me in ribbons."

"Ribbons? Bridle?" Twilight itched to get a scroll and take notes. "Describe it."

Closing her eyes, Rainbow Dash rode her memories back to the moment. She inhaled and her olfactory fooled her into smelling the bridle's comforting scent. Her nose twitched as if a breezie had stroked it gently. "When they first put the bridle on I had never wanted something so much as it. I know Seabreeze did some magic with it, but it helped me get used to it. When he held the bridle up, I pushed into it. I love the way it holds me safe, makes me not have to think of stupid things to say, and I can just relax."

There was a dozen things wrong with how her friend was describing the event, but Twilight could glean only that there was a psychological link in Rainbow's head between the bridle and safety. Twilight focused as well as she could, wanting to make sure she could write everything down at the end.

"When it was buckled on, Seabreeze petted me, helped me relax." Rainbow Dash snorted a little. "Like he needed to, but I loved it." She replayed the scene over and over in her head. "And then they got the ribbons out. I fought against them the first few times, but they had me weakened in their magic. I am glad they did. Each ribbon they work around me grips and restrains. When they are done I can't move more than a twitch."

Twilight's eyes widened, she hadn't been aware of everything that had happened. "Is there anywhere in particular that they wrap?" She thought she already knew the answers, but Twilight waited to confirm them with Rainbow's own words.

"My mane, my tail…" Rainbow Dash tossed her head and wiggled her dock in demonstration, and her memories flooded with the memories of being tightly bound. "And my wings. They did something really cool last night." Spreading her wing out, Rainbow looked at the rainbow-hued flight feathers. Something else looked a little different, but she couldn't work out what. "They wrapped each of my feathers in its own little loop. Tiny ribbons all up and down my wing."

Pondering if her friend would notice one little notebook, Twilight was on the verge of breaking her promise. "And then they released you so you could sleep?"

"What?" Rainbow Dash broke from her memories and blinked away her experiences. "No. They left me bound up tight all night. I woke up like that."

Twilight's confusion was plain on her face because her friend groaned. "Look Twilight, you are just about exploding to write this down, aren't you?" Confusion turned to guilt, and Rainbow knew she had guessed something right. "What about if you come with me next time?"

"Next time?" Twilight's voice came in a squeak of shock. She was partly terrified of the breezies—particularly after reading about the old laws and traditions to do with them, the fey were older than Equestria itself—and partly concerned for her friend. "Rainbow Dash, you shouldn't be goin—"

"Twilight!" Spike's urgent call from outside the library heralded him smacking the doors open. "Twilight! I think there is a message… a mes—" Without further warning Spike opened his mouth and let out a gust of flame. It boiled in the air for a second before a single, small piece of paper fluttered down.

Catching the scrap in her magic, Twilight pulled it closer to read.

I will be there tomorrow to talk about Rainbow Dash.

—C

"P-P-Princess Celestia is coming to talk about you?" Twilight blurted the words out before she realized it might worry her friend. "I mean, she must know something about what is going on. She probably knows about the breezies' ancestors."

"Twilight?" Spike was confused and looked to the mare he thought of as his big sister. "What about the breezies? Wait…" Spike went into minor freak-out mode. "Princess Celestia is coming, that means I have to clean the castle extra well. How long until she gets here?"

"Tomorrow." Twilight's answer had the dragon racing back out the library doors. Soon the sound of furious sweeping was heard from the direction he had run. Turning her attention back to Rainbow Dash, Twilight studied her friend. The size change was the least noticeable of all of Rainbow's new quirks, but it had the biggest implication. Her mane and tail were nearly double the length the sporty mare usually kept them, and her eyelashes would have looked like some of Rarity's fake ones, but Twilight knew they were real.

Twilight focused on Rainbow Dash's wings, and picked up what had been bothering her since first seeing Rainbow for the night. Rainbow Dash's primary feathers were not only rainbow colored now, but the very tips of each feather was slightly transparent.

"This was the first time they wrapped your feathers?" Twilight approached Rainbow Dash and reached out with one hoof for a wing to inspect.

"Yeah, it felt really nice." Rainbow didn't need to focus much to slide back towards the memory, and with her friend gently touching her wings it only reinforced it. Folding her legs under her, Rainbow Dash slid slowly to the ground and relaxed.

Narrowing her focus down to just the feather she was examining, Twilight Sparkle discovered traces of magic glinting off the feather. "You are staying here tonight Rainbow, until I can talk to Princess Celestia about this."

Rainbow Dash just nodded, her mind halfway back to just doing what she was told. "Mmm…" She closed her eyes and ignored Twilight, settling on the floor to sleep.

With her wings spread, Rainbow Dash soared over Whitetail Woods. She had her favorite bridle on, and had Seabreeze riding her snout. The breezie knew her body, and how it could perform, better than she did herself, and he pushed her to her limit. Dropping out of a steep dive, she was moving fast enough that a Sonic Rainboom was near.

Seabreeze led her into the trees of the woods. The speed was too much, Rainbow couldn't keep up with the movement of the world and her own body. But Rainbow didn't need to. Little taps, precision-timed, guided her better than she could have. She didn't need to see, she didn't need to think, Rainbow Dash followed her rider and navigated the woods like a blue missile.

Dawn broke as Rainbow landed in her dream. She waited patiently as her mind started to rouse, only remembering Seabreeze's little stroke of her snout as dawn's light pierced the windows of the library.

While Rainbow Dash sat peacefully, her calm mind ran over the dream again, pulling her snout into a big smile. Her waking mind agreed with her dream, there was no way she would have navigated the woods at that speed without Seabreeze.

She ran through the dream once more, gazing out the window at the growing light, letting the day pass by. A twitch in one wing caused her to snap the limb forward for attention. Nuzzling at an errant feather, Rainbow heard the door open and close. Her first thought was that it was Seabreeze, but that was her heart talking. "Twilight?"

"Why didn't you go to your bedroom to sleep, Rainbow?" Twilight floated a tray with a bowl of warm porridge in. "Princess Celestia sent another note, she will be here shortly."

When the tray set down before Rainbow, she had a moment where the smell of the soaked, rolled oats revived the scents of her meals at the breezies' village. Everything she had told her to shove her snout in and start eating, but just having Twilight there divested her of the desire. "Thanks, but it's more comfortable here."

Twilight half expected Rainbow Dash to act strange, or do something weird, but she sat calmly and ate her porridge. "What is so good about them?"

Rainbow calmly ate another spoonful of the delicious meal while she thought about the question. "Seabreeze is amazing. With him in control I can do things I just can't on my own. We are a team, like the Wonderbolts but much tighter. I don't think I could let another pony do… well, do what he does." She shrugged her forequarters a little. "I always tend to speak before thinking or act before thinking. With Seabreeze in control he takes care of the thinking and I take care of the flying."

The sound of heavy hooves coming up the stairs behind Twilight, and then along the hallway had her turn.

Princess Celestia smiled when she saw her former student. "Twilight Sparkle, it's good to see you again so soon." She marveled at how large Twilight had grown, and remarked upon it. "It is hard to gauge height when sitting on a dais, but you are growing taller by the day." She certainly didn't have to bend far to press her neck to Twilight's in a gentle hug.

"Thank you Princess Celestia." Twilight still had trouble knowing what to do with such compliments from her mentor. "But I really wanted to talk about Rainbow today." She drew back and turned to the side, gesturing to Rainbow Dash with a hoof.

Celestia took a deep breath and let it out. Her eyes traced Rainbow Dash's form, and despite her station, despite her stance; Celestia, Princess of the Sun, Co-Ruler of Equestria, envied the pegasus. She bit back on the green monster and shoved it away. "Rainbow Dash? You have had a run in with the breezies."

Rainbow lifted her head up and looked at the Princess as if she had barely noticed her. "Y-Y-Yes, Your Highness!" She sat up straight and snapped a hoof up to her forehead in the sharp salute she had been taught at the Wonderbolts. "I… I played a prank on one of them…"

"That is less than ideal. Becoming a breeziemount is best done as a deal. They would grant much power to a pony who would dedicate their lives to serving the fey." Celestia reached a hoof out to gently stroke Rainbow Dash's mane. "You probably have some questions?"

"Uh…" Rainbow blinked. The only one she could think to ask was, "What is a 'breeziemount'?" but her brain had put two and two together and come up with her. She carried breezies around, they rode her, she was their mount. "Not really."

"Oh come on!" Twilight jumped into the conversation. "What is a breeziemount? What do you mean a 'deal'? What power do the breezies give? And what do you mean 'dedicate their life'?" Writing material was poised already, and Twilight wasn't going to miss this chance at taking notes.

"Egghead." Snorting, Rainbow Dash took a half measure of porridge into her mouth and gulped it down. "A breeziemount is what I am."

"What you are becoming." Princess Celestia was interested to hear what Rainbow Dash would say, but she felt the need to correct the mare on the term.

"Become? I am still changing…" It was a revelation to Rainbow Dash, but one she found herself interested in. "I already fly faster than I ever could, what are they going to do to me in the end?"

Celestia smiled at that. "After. You were answering Twilight."

"Oh right!" Rainbow Dash cleared her throat. "A deal is what Seabreeze and me made two days ago. Power… well they seem pretty great with magic that changes things. As for dedicate my life…" The idea was one she wasn't sure she could really answer. "I don't think I have, yet. I have agreed to help them when I can, but I still want to be a pony some of the time."

The news surprised Celestia enough that she stared at Rainbow Dash for several moments before it sank in that the mare hadn't committed herself to the breezies completely. The moment she came to the conclusion she almost kicked herself. "I have some stories to tell both of you. They are mostly old stories, but some are new."

Twilight was a little lost. She wanted to ask what Princess Celestia meant, but just then golden magic carefully dispelled her dictation magic. "P-P-Princess?!"

"These stories don't leave this room, Princess Twilight Sparkle. There are reasons why the breezie are accorded so much in our laws—as you found out, Twilight—and that is because Equestria would not exist without them." Princess Celestia gently probed the room with her magic, sealing it to any outside spells.

"Normally a story like this would start with, 'A thousand years ago,' but not this time. It is far closer to three-thousand years since I went to the breezies. Seabreeze listened to my problem. Discord was rampaging, causing havoc throughout what is now Equestria." Celestia looked out the window at her sun and smiled. "He thought about everything I told him, and he promised me something."

Rainbow Dash, not quite as familiar with Celestia's stories as Twilight, cut in. "Wait. Seabreeze? As in Seabreeze that is still—"

"Is still the leader among the breezies. You are hardly the first pony he has fit a bridle to, Rainbow Dash." Celestia's memory stirred and she smiled at some of her oldest memories. "He proposed a deal to Luna and myself. We found him six common gemstones that we had mined with our own hooves, and he made the Elements of Harmony from them." Tears fell from Celestia's eyes in thin runnels at the memory. "They had a price, and it was both terrible and wonderful."

Rainbow Dash saw something in Celestia, she saw the feelings that were bubbling through her own body mirrored on the Princess' face. She gulped and wondered what the full extent of their price was for her.

"Princess?" Twilight couldn't keep quiet. She shuffled along the floor so she was beside Celestia. "What was the price?"

"Eternity. The breezies disliked what Discord was doing almost as much as ponies. For fey, they have rigid requirements for law. They took Luna and I into their service, not as puppets, but as their protectors." Celestia breathed deep and exhaled. "You are the first ponies in a long time I have told this to, and the only ones living apart from Cadance and Luna."

Twilight bowed her head at the honor of hearing the truth, not that she understood it all.

Rainbow Dash was a little less reverent. "So, did they tie you up?"

Celestia barked a laugh. "We took it in turns. Luna first, for a full hundred years, then I submitted to them." She trembled a little. "They had need for mighty creatures, ponies who would defy all that the world could throw at them. Though we were just unicorns, Seabreeze made us into the first alicorns."

"Cool." Rainbow fluffed her wings and jostled a little in place. "So they made you wings, did they make you bigger, too?"

"Oh yes. Although they didn't have quite the taste for mirroring their own traits as they took up later." Celestia reached out and ran one hoof along Rainbow Dash's impressive mane. "And so we kept our bargain, even as they gave us the tools to keep it. Harmony was not just among ponies, but also between Equestria and the fey.

"Luna… she didn't agree that we should be still bound. She resented our deal. The Elements… I didn't use them on Luna, but it was better that than to explain to everything. They took her. I didn't even know that Seabreeze had come and she was gone the next morning. Suddenly I had power over the sun and moon, and Luna was… she was theirs. I begged them to release her, but Seabreeze told me they knew she had broken her word."

"Nightmare Moon?" The question was soft, but in the wake of having her worldview inverted Rainbow Dash couldn't have spoken any other way.

"Luna was angry, she was furious beyond belief. She resented the power and wanted to be free." Celestia regretted not having waited for tea to be offered. "When you used the Elements on her it was something very special. They siphoned her power and her fate, split it, and implanted a little of it in each of you."

A knock at the door set off a jolt in Celestia's mind, and she reached with her magic before thinking. Breathing a sigh of relief at who she found, she lifted her voice. "Come in, Spike."

"Twilight! What were you thinking." Spike's sass was turned up to eleven and he didn't care if he showed it in front of Celestia. "You know the promise you made to Celestia."

With the weight of the knowledge imparted by Celestia, Twilight's mind raced to think what her promise had been. "Uh…"

"I believe Spike means the promise to always welcome me with tea and cake." Celestia reached a wingtip to Twilight and gently booped her nose with it. "Thank you Spike, your honor knows no bounds."

The praise was enough to derail the next little bit of snark Spike had saved up. "Aww, thanks. I was just doing it because Twilight had forgotten…"

"She is troubled by the things we talk about." Celestia looked to Twilight and Rainbow significantly, then back to Spike.

"Yeah, yeah." Spike set the tray down, but cheekily grabbed a piece of cake from it. "I know when there is 'girl stuff' to discuss." The god of snark was avenged, and he earned the chuckles he got from all three mares. Closing the door behind him, he discarded any urge to listen in and headed for his room to read a comic.

"You taking that power appeased the fey. In their eyes the obligation and power had shifted to others, but it was still there. The deal is now… more agreeable to Luna, although she does have regrets about involving you." Celestia sipped at her tea, politely leaving the cakes for the other two to try first.

Rainbow Dash recovered from the deep revelation about the Elements first, since it helped that her worldview had already been adjusted recently. "Luna's thousand years with them? That was a punishment, like my year and a day?"

"A 'year and a day' is the shortest time they will take umbrage for. My thought is that they liked the prank, but their obligation to punish you was law. Do you regret it?" Celestia looked into Rainbow's eyes, picking for the truth that was hidden inside them.

"No…" Rainbow's voice was nearly silent. She remembered every day as clear as if it were only a week past. Fighting, struggling, and being broken to the bridle, to Seabreeze's control. "Seabreeze is… Okay, he is a lot older than I thought. All this," she waved a wing into the air, "makes a lot more sense when it comes together. The reason he knew exactly how to handle me… practice."

"His bridle is comfortable to wear, and he is kind to those he loves." Celestia finally reached for a slice of cake and nibbled the corner. "What interests me is what will happen now. What do you want from this? Is there something you need?"

"I have my friends, I want to keep them safe." Rainbow's loyalty was beyond question. "And everypony else, too. I want Equestria to last forever as somewhere like… like it is. Somewhere happy, where anypony can grow up and be who they want to be." She looked into Celestia's knowing eyes. "That was your bargain."

Celestia knew it wasn't a question, but she answered it anyway. "It was, and through the breezie's help we have held Equestria like this. But with Luna punished, and the power fragmenting, I guess it might just have been time to shore up our power base." More tea, more cake. "There have been other ponies. They came up with names for the types: breeziemount, goldhorn, thunderwalker… I am sure the breezies don't care about the names, but there was once a pegasus that started looking like you do now."

"Really? What did she look like?" Rainbow Dash ignored the tea, but snagged a piece of cake to nibble on.

"He." Celestia could see so much of him in Rainbow Dash for a very important reason. "Some tribes have ponies that dealt with the breezies as forebears. These ponies passed on traits of their time with the fey to their foals. In unicorns the trait tends to make the pony very tall, long legged.

"Earth ponies tend to become giants. There are some who will tower almost as tall as myself. Big McIntosh carries a little of that." Celestia grinned at the look of shock and realization on Twilight's face. "But the trait in pegasi has dwindled. I knew of just a few living stallions with it. One met a lovely mare, and they had a single foal they loved more than anything in the world."

"Oh no!" Rainbow shot to her hooves and danced back. "This can't… I am like one of the only rainbow-maned pegasi I know!" She stared in shock at Celestia. "Who was the stallion in the past?"

"Hurricane." The moment Celestia said the name, Rainbow Dash started to fall sideways. Gold magic caught the pegasi before she got anywhere close to the floor. "In case it matters, Twilight, I don't think you are related to any of the unicorns who were touched."

"But the Elements did something anyway?" Twilight floated pillows over to her unconscious friend. What did they do?"

"Twilight, your ascension. A buildup of magic infused into you. Each time you used the Elements it increased. The Elements might be bound in the tree, but they still work through you and your friends. I hazard to think how Rainbow Dash's changes will affect the balance. Perhaps breezie magic will spread out to the others." Celestia saw the peace and calm on Rainbow Dash's face, and ached for that hundred years she had spent in Seabreeze's care back. But she had a promise to keep.

Rainbow Dash had her wonderful dream again. She soared and flew faster than she ever had in her life. Mounted on her snout, Seabreeze was more than just her rider. She could feel the breezie's age, his importance in the world, and it translated down to the time he spent with her being infinitely more important.

She felt faster than she had ever been in the waking world, just the slightest flick of her wings would send her speeding off, and a heavy flap would rifle her into a Sonic Rainboom. Rainbow Dash wasn't just a pegasus, she wasn't just a pony of the skies, she was the very definition of speed and loyalty. Her rider was her partner, and he demanded she match his every desire.

A jolt hit her, like a thunderbolt from an angry storm cloud. The fantastic dream faded from Rainbow's mind quickly and she jerked her head up. A sense of danger and urgency filled her and she looked around for the quickest way out of the library. A huge window stood before her, but there was no obvious way to open it. Trembling with the need to be outside, Rainbow Dash threw herself at the glass.

Her heart beat at the moment Rainbow Dash's forehooves hit the glass, and she felt a flicker of something burst through her body. The feeling reminded her vaguely of the times they had used the elements.

Shards of the window pane rained around Rainbow Dash, but she felt the call more strongly in the open air. "I'm coming…" She had never flown so fast in a horizontal line. Ponyville raced past, and then she was skimming over the trees of Whitetail Woods. She wasn't even at the breezies' village when she spotted a group of the fey out gathering pollen… flanked by two timberwolves.

Loyalty to her friends was something that would drive Rainbow Dash to the edges of Equestria, but she didn't need the sharp pang of fear that it caused to aim herself at the nearest wolf. Pumping her wings for speed, she aimed right at the monster and waited for the last moment to turn her body so her hooves were aimed at the huge beast.

Seabreeze was working his magic as fast as he could. Marks of sleep were on both timberwolves, but in their hunting mindset they ignored such needs. Breezie magic was powerful beyond measure, but it always took time. "Klaxon! Klaxon!" He shooed the others behind himself, intending to do what fighting he could as one of the monsters lunged forward. "Lightbreeze…" His voice was soft, the knowledge that he was about to meet a painful end not affecting his emotions nearly so much as the thought that he wouldn't see his wife and foal again.

The power came again, but this time Rainbow Dash only felt it in her hooves. Whatever it was clearly worked for her, not against her, and she tried to focus it further. It wasn't a full rainbow, but she didn't need a full rainbow to beat one timberwolf.

The timberwolf cleared half of the distance between itself and Seabreeze in an instant, but then it was crushed down into the ground. Seabreeze's eyes widened at the rainbow-maned pony stomping the monster. "Girl?" His heart skipped a beat and he turned his attention to the other wolf. "Klaxon!"

The word for alarm pulled Rainbow's attention to the second wolf, and she leapt from the path of its charge at the last moment. The changes in her body made her faster, but fast was its own kind of power. She ran through her choices: taking to the air was out, the wolf could just grab a breezie; taking it head on was not a wise plan— Rainbow was halfway through fishing for more options when Seabreeze landed on her snout.

The world froze where it was, and Rainbow could feel tiny hooves tapping her, guiding her. She didn't have to make a choice because she was flying directly at the timberwolf. As Seabreeze pulled her back to loop, Rainbow Dash lashed out with her hooves.

Real power came now. She felt it tingle from Seabreeze's hooves, and her body took it as a trigger to lash out with such force that she broke bits off the monster. Excitement grew within her, and she felt even closer to her rider.

Again and again they charged the animal, and each time it tried to catch them, and failed. At last, the timberwolf started to turn and flee. Seabreeze guided her to give chase, but the wolf didn't make ten steps before it slowed to a halt and fell to a slump.

"Ya came." Seabreeze hadn't taught Rainbow enough words for a conversation, so he stuck to Equish to start with, but she did know the words a breezie would use with their mount, so changed back to his native tongue. "Good girl." Stroking her cheek repeatedly, Seabreeze guided Rainbow back to the attacked breezies. The timberwolf Rainbow had hit glowed a soft green, but it wasn't regenerating like its kind were known for.

Rainbow Dash watched the green glow of the wolf she had defeated, fade. It finally dimmed down and faded completely. Her hooves hit the ground and, on her snout, Seabreeze was shouting at the breezies he had been gathered with. "Have them grab my mane, we'll go slow." Seabreeze nodded to her, but kept yelling. Terrified breezies grabbed hold of her mane, and Rainbow was given the commands to fly slow and steady. She barely had to flap her wings, the air itself wanted her to fly. "Are you alright?" Rainbow's voice almost trembled, this was the first time she had been able to talk while Seabreeze rode her. "I felt…"

"Ya sav' us." Seabreeze stroked Rainbow's snout. "If'n ya ain't came…" He left it unspoken. The wolves would have killed breezies, broken their little bodies before succumbing to the sleep magic. He lay his head down against Rainbow's nose and breathed deeply of her own breath. It excited him that she had come, and she had responded to his magic as a good mount should. "Mor' trainin'."

"I want to make a deal." The words left Rainbow's mouth in a tumble. She wanted to press on but felt a slow stroking of her snout distract her.

"Deal' afta'." Seabreeze let his well trained mount carry him back to the village, barely needing to encourage her to spiral slowly towards the breezie village. Breezies rushed out to see what had happened that would bring Rainbow Dash back to them, and found the breezies that had been out gathering pollen helping one of their injured members from Rainbow.

"Is he… she…" Rainbow gulped as the hurt breezie was carried away. "Are they alright?" She walked as Seabreeze bid, advancing into the village. She had never been actually within the breezie's home—always around the edges—but her hooves found careful purchase, and it was Seabreeze guiding her.

Despite being huge, Rainbow felt like she belonged. She paused when given the command, and then lowered herself to the ground in what seemed like an open area at the middle of the village. She lay still as Seabreeze dismounted her. The hurt breezie was brought to the only free space in the little park area, leaving Rainbow Dash to wonder what was happening.

Another breezie rushed through the assembling crowd, and flung themselves at the injured fey. Rainbow could see the little mare's belly had a distinct bulge, and felt her throat tighten. "I…" Her voice was loud in the town center. "I'm sorry I couldn't get there quicker."

"You did well." Seabreeze looked significantly at Rainbow Dash. "Bu' ya coul' do betta." He turned to the injured breezie and began a ritual of magic. Life energy for healing. Fire energy to clean. Earth to give his kin strength. Weaving, Seabreeze built the magic up into a minor tornado of energy, and wound it around Softgust. "He be fine, 'cause'a ya." He settled the power and wrapped it around itself to bind and strengthen Softgust. "We owe ya. Ya ain' bound ta us, but ya came."

Rainbow was about to tell them that they owed her nothing, but she knew instinctively that it would insult the breezies. She lay her head down so her eyes were at the same level as Seabreeze. "What're you offering?"

Seabreeze grinned and gestured to Rainbow. "Finishin' thi'." Looking over his mount's body, he gave an involuntary little shiver of excitement—it had been far too long since they had a true mount serving the village.

"That… what would I be like? Would I be fast?" Rainbow's question was answered with a nod. "Would I be able to protect my friends?" Another nod. "Would I want to ever leave?" She saw astonishment on Seabreeze's little face. "Then I want a lot more than that."

"Ya a clever pon'." Seabreeze advanced on Rainbow and walked right up to where her face rested on the soft turf. Catching a huge breath (to him) he exhaled as Rainbow Dash inhaled. Magic flowed, and he watched the mare's eyes widen. "Ya still hafta protect ya friends, but when we call, ya come. I'll bind ya, an' ya me." The breezie's eyes narrowed. "'spose ya wanna horn?"

The question was casual, almost off-the-cuff, but it made Rainbow Dash blink and think about what had happened, and what she was at her core. "Nah, there are plenty of alicorns already. I like flying, and I bet being an alicorn comes with all that extra size, and…" She trailed off at the grin on Seabreeze's face. "Not like we can't come up with a new deal later."

Air energy for flight. Fire energy for spirit. Magic energy for power. Seabreeze was planning the full changes. He knew well that ponies had names for the changes he made, but Rainbow Dash was a very special mare. "By t' time I'm done, ya won' wanna deal lata." The smirk Rainbow wore was a challenge to him. Infusing the shrine around him with all the elements, he began to weave a slow-acting spell.

"Air fer flight." Seabreeze pulled in the invisible power that was the essence of air itself. "Fire fer ya spirit, an' a double 'elpin'." Red flames danced around the circle they were within, woven through with Air already. "Pure Magi', 'cause no mount a mine gon' be light-up." He mixed it through. Earth he wouldn't use, she had no need of its solid nature. "Life…" he paused a moment, "in an endle' stream." From the very heart of the grove a pure green wave swamped outwards. "Maybe this'll match ya ego."

Rainbow Dash could only stare at the whirlwind of power circling the grove. She watched as Seabreeze seemed to weave each of the elements together, wrapping them into a single strand that looked exactly like the ribbons she had been wrapped with. Realization dawned as to the source of her existing changes, and she could plainly see what Seabreeze was about to do. Curling up as tight as she could, Rainbow Dash waited for the bindings.

Seabreeze took the single ribbon and started on Rainbow Dash. Back legs together, then bound tight to her body. He wove up and through her already amazing tail, then bound that under her. She moved for him, as she could, helping him immobilize her. "Good girl. Relax." He kept working, already marveling at her body. Anticipation stirred for the first time in millennia.

Rainbow Dash rolled into place at last, letting the final bindings around her forelegs tighten up. The ribbon trailed around the back of her neck and led to her snout. She wished she had her bridle, but understood that in moments she would be bound with a bridle that didn't need straps. To her surprise, Seabreeze climbed up on her snout and pressed his soft belly to her fur. Staring back at her, he kissed Rainbow between the eyes, and lopped the end of the ribbon over his own back.

Rainbow felt the power of the ribbon moving, but she couldn't work out where it was going. She wanted to look back, to see what was happening, but with Seabreeze on her snout she wouldn't. A revelation came to her as it felt like an ocean suddenly flooded her body: the power was moving into her.

Dreams of flying. Dreams of working with Seabreeze. Dreams of being with her friends. Rainbow Dash floated along happily, her mind skipping from dream to dream, never taking in one more than enough for her to notice that it was a happy one.

Unlike her normal dreams, Rainbow noticed that these were flitting past on great big panes. She was aware of herself hovering in empty air, watching the dreams that were very familiar. Focusing what attention she could, Rainbow looked at one in particular.

"Shining and Cadance's wedding." Princess Celestia walked up and stood beside Rainbow Dash. "These are all your accomplishments." She gestured to Rainbow Dash defending Fluttershy, with changelings all around them.

"Whoa… I thought dreams were Princess Luna's thing?" Rainbow worked her wings, hovering closer to the image of the wedding. "So what is all this?" She gestured at all the floating images around her.

"This," Celestia smiled and pointed one wing directly at Rainbow Dash, "is the first time in over a thousand years that anypony but an alicorn was here. Seabreeze must have taken quite the price from you to secure this."

"I saved his life." Rainbow Dash turned her focus on Princess Celestia. "When I woke up in Twilight's library, I felt a crazy-strong… pulling… in my head." She lifted a hoof and tapped the side of her own head for clarification. "Something felt wrong, bad, so I flew to where it felt strongest and Seabreeze was fighting off some timberwolves."

Seeing Rainbow halt, Celestia was about to prompt the mare for more just as she continued.

"His magic wasn't working or something, I don't know, but he couldn't just zap them. I didn't think, I dove and slammed into one." Rainbow looked up at Celestia, hoping to get some explanation. "One of them was hurt, but with Seabreeze's help I fought the other away until his magic worked on it."

"You saved Seabreeze's life, and the life of other breezies?" Princess Celestia was at a bit of a loss. "What was the deal, exactly?" To her surprise Rainbow Dash pointed and flew off. Idly noting that the mare's tail and mane were both much longer than her body now, Celestia followed.

"Here, this is it." Feeling proud, Rainbow pointed at the image of herself in the breezie's town circle. "Do these things have sou—"

Seabreeze's voice cut Rainbow off. "We owe ya. Ya ain' bound ta us, but ya came."

Surprised at how effectively Rainbow Dash was manipulating the astral plane, Celestia focused on the event. Her mind worked to pick apart the situation, and the meaning behind each and every word. When at last the image faded back from a bound and still Rainbow Dash, she was still struggling to divine all the meanings. "You saved them, and there is nothing a breezie values more than their immortal life. That was why Seabreeze made the deal he did with Luna and I."

One thing still itched at Rainbow's mind, and she thought it a good time to ask. "Was he joking about making me into an alicorn? If I had said yes—"

"If you had said yes, you would stand here as an alicorn." Celestia looked at the shocked mare. "Do you think you chose well?"

Rainbow Dash turned and looked at her wings. Her body shrinking slowly hadn't been easy to notice, but she had. Now her wings looked to have gained some size, "Bigger wings, smaller body. I think I am cool with this."

"If you had chosen to be an alicorn, that likely would have been the end of it. The life of his own kin could not be written off to gain the village a mount. He had to trade as fairly as he could, or risk owing you." Celestia smiled. "You saw that green stream of magic?" She waited for Rainbow to nod. "He bound your life to the world of Equus. This certainly explains why you are here."

"Wait, what?" Rainbow was confused. "I don't get what you mean, 'bound to Equus'?"

"Immortal."

The universe shrank around Rainbow Dash. She closed her eyes to shut out Celestia (because what she couldn't see wouldn't hurt her, right?) and centered herself. "Immortal?" Opening her eyes, she watched Celestia nod. "Huh, cool. So I can't die?"

"You can die if something harms you. Seabreeze is immortal, but the timberwolf would have snapped his body in half." Celestia gestured at the myriad of windows showing Rainbow's life. "This is only the beginning."

"Hold on!" Rainbow Dash tilted her head to the side as she thought. "This is the place Twilight told us about, when she ascended and became an alicorn, right?" Celestia nodded in agreement. "So that means she is immortal too?"

Feeling the tug of the real world, Celestia sped up her speech. "Make sure the breezies are safe, then please bear Seabreeze here."

Rainbow was tugged from the celestial plane and woke up. She was still in the town circle, and resting against her snout was Seabreeze. She tried to twitch a limb, but was reminded of how she was set down to sleep. The enchanted ribbon still bound Rainbow, still gripped her all over and wouldn't let her move.

She took a deep breath and let it out in a puff of air. Seabreeze's wings twitched a little, so she repeated the pattern until the fey lifted his head.

"Alway' t' bindin'd be from them ta me." Seabreeze shook his head and, reaching a hoof out to Rainbow's show for support, he got to his hooves. "Ah can feel t' beat o' ya heart 'n all." Leaning up as far as he could, he kissed Rainbow Dash between the eyes. With his own hooves, Seabreeze began unwrapping Rainbow, slowly easing the spent ribbon from her body.

With her mouth free, Rainbow turned her head. "Princess Celestia said you need to speak with Twilight." As more of her body was freed, Rainbow got to see the full effect of Seabreeze's spell. Her wings had grown—a pegasus notices when her wings change—and half of each feather was now translucent with a rainbow hue. She spread her wings wide while Seabreeze was still working to free her rear.

"Ah tol' ya." Seabreeze felt the mare's enthusiasm for her wings in each flap of the new appendages. "Ya gotta take care o' ya mane an' tail more now. We ca' only do so much." He freed Rainbow's tail from the confines of the ribbon, and the mass of hair caught in gentle breeze.

"Rarity is going to scream when she sees this." Rainbow's snout curled into a smile. Standing up, she felt like a million bits, until the gentle breeze swung around and her mane flew back into her face. "Hey!"

"Ya a vain one." Seabreeze's smile was evidence he didn't consider vanity to be a problem. "An ya got an ego bigger 'en ya 'ead." With Rainbow completely free now, he fluttered his wings and ascended to her face. Dropping carefully onto her snout, he felt the established connection between mount and rider renew.

Rainbow Dash's heart sped up, and she felt the breeze push at her feathers without her even needing to flap her wings. The first double tap on her snout was her signal, and she lifted up into the air. Seabreeze guided her to circle up higher and higher, until the village was but a spec below.

Seabreeze eased back until they were just barely held aloft in a thermal. Rainbow Dash's eyes widened like saucers when the command came to dive; it was just like her dream. Speed was not an obstacle before Seabreeze worked magic on her, now it was her destiny. With her smaller body, Rainbow's wings had increased back up to their normal size.

Her thoughts fled as she hurtled towards the ground. The world rushed up towards her, and her keen eyes picked out the gap in the canopy that Seabreeze had aimed her towards. His hooves guided her, and Rainbow pulled up at his touch less than a heartbeat before she would have hit the ground. Seabreeze anticipated her movements perfectly, and Rainbow snapped her new wings out and began to weave through the forest at incredible speed.

The forest felt alive around Seabreeze, but he was past that. His heart was beating rapidly, and his eyes strained to make out the trees ahead of them. Each twitch of his hooves guided Rainbow perfectly between the old trees, and in a brief moment of introspection he realized that bonding with the mare had been a two-way street.

Clearing the Whitetail Woods, rider and mount yelled out their joy at the same time as they regained some height and flew lazily over Ponyville.

Rainbow's thoughts swirled lazily, and she couldn't help but reflect on the work she had been through to get to this point of mutual trust. While on her snout, Seabreeze instead tried to think of when he had done anything so frivolous or dangerous just for the fun of it. Each set their own mental self-exploration aside as the Castle of Friendship rushed to meet them.

Author's Note

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Cross Lament

Her Place

Landing carefully at the front gate of Twilight's castle, Rainbow Dash stretched her wings a little before finally tucking them back. The tips of her feathers, she noticed, now stretched a little past her plot. Big wings were required on big ponies, but when a smaller frame had them it meant some amazing stunts could be performed. Just as she lifted a hoof to push the door open she felt a tap on her snout to halt her. "What?"

"Ya can go in willy-nilly, but Ah don' think Ah'm tha' welcome." Seabreeze straightened up a little and leaned forward with his hoof. Rainbow obliged her rider, of course, and leaned close enough so that he could knock on the door.

The crystal castle resounded with the three tiny hoofbeats. If Rainbow Dash weren't as well-trained as she was, she would have reacted more than to just step back a pace. A soothing rub against her snout soothed her nerves. "How'd you do that?"

"'twas breezie magi' tha' built dis." Gesturing up at the castle, Seabreeze cocked his ears forward at the sound of hooves coming towards the door. "Ah, 'ere t' come."

Twilight opened the door to her castle and had to look down a little more than normal to see Rainbow Dash. Seabreeze was sitting proudly astride her friend's snout, and if it weren't so serious she would have thought it cute. "Rainbow Dash, Seabreeze. Just visiting?"

"Well, I am." Rainbow tilted her eyes inwards towards Seabreeze. "But I think Seabreeze wants to chat about something." With Seabreeze on her snout, Rainbow's wings twitched, ready for the command to fly.

"Ay, she got t' right o' it." Seabreeze gave Rainbow's snout another gentle, reassuring stroke. "Am Ah welcome or no'?" He did nothing to be unassuming. Seabreeze was the oldest being in Equestria and considered respect should be automatic.

Twilight cleared her throat. "Seabreeze of the breezies, I welcome you into my castle and home as a guest, on two conditions." Studying the laws governing breezies had taken months of reading and more putting them together into a coherent whole, but Twilight was quite sure by the surprise look Seabreeze gave her that she had his attention. "You don't affect anypony with your magic while inside, and while you are here you are not to affect Rainbow Dash at all. That includes riding her."

Seabreeze seemed about to refuse, but cracked a grin instead. "Right'cha are t' take concession." He bowed to Twilight and spread his wings. "Ya be goo'." With one last stroke of Rainbow's snout, he flapped his oversize wings.

Blinking, Rainbow Dash felt a calmness settle on her. With Seabreeze mounted she had been on guard, ready to do what he needed. Without him, she felt more like a pony than ever. Once Seabreeze had fluttered his way into the castle, Rainbow Dash lifted her hooves and started to trot in.

"Get her!" Applejack rushed at her friend and tackled Rainbow Dash to the floor. "Now, Twilight! Zap her back ta normal!" With Rainbow Dash smaller than she normally was, Applejack had a much easier time of keeping her friend pinned. It helped that Rainbow was holding back, not wanting to hit her friend with the same force she had used on the timberwolf.

"Applejack! We decided not to jump on her!" Twilight lifted a hoof up and clopped her own forehead. "Let her go…"

"Ah ain't buyin' it, Twilight!" It was getting harder for Applejack to hold her friend down, Rainbow Dash's longer legs had more reach, and with them she was slowly pushing her way out of the tight hold the earth pony had. "Either zap her back ta normal, or we keep her locked up here until she changes back!"

Twilight turned to her friends, but each of them stared on with similar looks of shock and horror as she herself had first shown. She was almost turned to Seabreeze to ask him for help, but stopped herself in time. Lighting her horn, she did zap Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow was suddenly sitting on the other side of the room without an apple-themed earth pony on top of her. "Thanks Twilight!" Getting her long legs under her, she barely got back to her hooves than Applejack was coming for her again. "Hey!"

When Rainbow Dash's wings pulled her from Applejack's reach, she pulled out a rope and formed a lariat on the end. "Get back here!" Swinging the lasso around, she cast it up at Rainbow Dash's leg.

Met with a target she could lash out at, Rainbow brought both her back legs—now more slender than she had ever had as an adult—down against the incoming rope. A thunder crack sounded, and blue light flared from Rainbow's hooves. The rope wasn't just singed, a good half the lariat vaporized at the power Rainbow Dash put into it.

Rainbow Dash's heart thudded in her chest, and she looked down at Applejack's shocked expression. "Give it up, you can't stop me flying if I don't want you to." For good measure she stuck her tongue out and blew a raspberry.

Applejack looked around at her other friends. "What're y'all standin' around for? She needs our help! Can't you see the breezies have her all messed up in her head?" Her attention focused mainly on Twilight. "Why'd you help her get away fer?"

"Because Seabreeze promised he wouldn't affect her while he was here." Twilight turned to the breezie. "And the one sure, absolute thing I found out about breezies is—"

"We don' break our word." Seabreeze's tone brooked no wriggle room so far as the topic went. He turned to Applejack specifically. "Ya from an ol' line, li'l filly. Ah see some o' t' ol' hints in ya, an' new ones from t' Elements."

Seabreeze's grin at the last surprised Applejack, it was more open than she had any right to believe he would be. "Ah still don't like it. He did all this," she waved her hoof up at Rainbow Dash, "to Rainbow without her say-so. Then he spends a year makin' her think she wanted it all along!"

Rainbow's mental chiding of Applejack halted dead in its tracks. Tucking her wings in, she dropped and hit the floor, landing on her long legs like they were giant shock absorbers. "Whoa!" She backed a step up when Applejack moved towards her. "Just calm down. You are right in a few things."

"She is?" The question was chorused by Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Twilight.

"A' course she is." Seabreeze fluttered closer to the two ponies in contention, but kept from his usual roost of Rainbow's snout. "'er punishmen' was t' feel like an animal fer a year an' a day." He turned to Rainbow Dash and gave the mare his proudest smile. "An' she took 'er licks."

"Then why do you still let him ride you like that?" Applejack gestured at Rainbow's face. "You're a pony, Rainbow Dash! Why do you let him ride you and do all this crazy magic on you?" Her confusion was plain on her face, but it was mixed with determination and love for her friend.

"Look at me, Applejack." Rainbow Dash spread her wings out—careful of Seabreeze. "He made my wings bigger, my body smaller. I am faster than I have ever been!"

"Yer his pet! He trained you like a dog!" Applejack stomped a hoof in frustration. She glared at Seabreeze with anger in her eyes and fire in her heart.

"You trained Winona." Fluttershy hid herself behind her hair the moment she said the words. Only able to tell Applejack had approached her when she felt her friend's hoofsteps through the stone, she felt herself shaking.

"Fluttershy…" Applejack saw the mare she cared so much about hide from her. "Ah'm just trying to get her to see it isn't right to train a talkin', thinkin' pony." She reined in her anger at the situation Rainbow Dash was in to comfort Fluttershy.

"B-B-But, you trained Winona, and she talks to me all the time." When her words tripped Applejack up, verbally, Fluttershy wanted to hide again. "That is, I mean… eep…"

"I'm not an animal, Applejack." Rainbow Dash walked over to wrap a huge wing around Fluttershy, managing to half-hide the bigger mare under the big, translucent feathers. "But I kinda deserved a bit of payback. It wasn't like the breezies were the first ponies I pranked that day.

"What I am trying to say is, I deserved what they did, and what Seabreeze did. All those pranks weren't very nice, and all of it was just to make me laugh." Turning her attention to Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash pressed her cheek against her best friend's. "I have a new job to do, Fluttershy."

The change in conversation derailed Fluttershy's panic, and she lifted her head out from behind her mane. "A new job? But what about the Wonderbolts, and looking after the weather?"

"Yeah, Rainbow Dash. What about your lifelong dream of bein' in the Wonderbolts?" Applejack seemed determined to keep the original topic going.

Rarity cleared her throat. "Darling, don't you think this is a bit much? We agreed not to push this right away."

Seeing her chance to wade in on the topic too, Pinkie Pie walked up so that she stood nearly nose to nose with Seabreeze. "You know the trolls?" Her question got a surprised nod from Seabreeze. "Thought so. They used to talk about the 'little folk of central Equestria,' and I thought to myself, 'Pinkie Pie, breezies are little, and they are definitely folk, annnndddd they live in—"

"We got it Pinkie." Rainbow Dash couldn't stop herself smiling along with Pinkie, the irrepressible pink pony could laugh in face of literally anything. Looking back to Applejack, she shook her head a little. "The Wonderbolts can survive without me." Rainbow Dash's voice held sufficient serious tone even to keep even Applejack from interrupting. "I… I promised myself I would take care of all of you. That is literally what loyalty is all about. I should know, I was the Element Bearer of Loyalty after all."

Rarity's eyes went wide, and a pure white handkerchief appeared by magic. "You gave up your dream for us?"

"Ah didn't ask you to do that…" Applejack scuffed a hoof on the floor, a little of her anger turning to shame at her outbursts.

"A friend doesn't need to be asked. Seabreeze told me I had a boon from him." Pointing at the breezie in question, Rainbow Dash gave her best, lop-sided grin. "I told him I want to protect everypony." A memory tickled Rainbow Dash's thoughts and she pointed at Twilight. "And can you believe he offered to make me an alicorn? What do I know about magic? I wanted to go fast, to hit hard, and look awesome doing it." Rainbow nodded to all three points.

"But he already had his hooks into you, Rainbow Dash." Applejack was like a dog with a bone. "The Wonderbolts was everything to you!"

"The Wonderbolts was the dream of a little filly! She grew up and did everything she dreamed of, even joining the Wonderbolts. I'll never forget my time there, and if they will still have me after…" Rainbow gestured to herself, "after this, then I will happily be there for them. But I have a bigger dream now." She gave Fluttershy a little squeeze and started to turn to look at all her close friends. "I want everypony to be safe."

"I remember those words well, Rainbow Dash." Princess Celestia's voice was soft, but held a sympathetic note that few in Equestria could have matched at that moment. "And I traded away more than a year to get it." Her vision, half obscured by her mane, turned to Seabreeze. "Dedication and loyalty are not traits to be shunned." Smiling suddenly, she took a deep breath and let it out. "But let's not argue out here. There is tea and cakes waiting."

Seabreeze almost instinctively flew towards Rainbow Dash before remembering his pledge. He fluttered in the air a moment ins shock at his impulsiveness, until he remembered the binding. Life was a whole new animal for the breezie to explore, and giving his wings a determined swish, he sent himself after Princess Celestia. "T' castle's fine. Need' more roosts, t' be honest."

As the group filed into Twilight's castle's dining room, they found a huge spread of cakes and an immense dinner service. Spike waddled around on his little legs, making sure the cakes were all organized properly by taste, color, and smell (in that order), before he took his seat beside Twilight.

Celestia moved naturally to sit on one of the ordinary seats, and floated a cupcake from one platter over and took a bite from it. Her face split in a huge grin, and passing the sweet cake across the table, she set it before Seabreeze. "Let's dispense with all the formality, for now, and get to the important things. I do plan to enjoy at least one of each plate that Pinkie Pie has prepared for us." She gave a warm smile to the baker.

"They're all really good!" Pinkie reached a hoof out to a green-iced cake and, tossing it in her mouth, trembled in bliss. "Cream and lime juice, my favorite!"

Color drained from the faces of nearly every other pony in the room, but Seabreeze laughed at the display of fortitude. "Cordlin' as qui' as eatin'!" He chortled in delight at the intimate atmosphere with ponies that he didn't have to guard against. "Ya got questions."

"You have done a lot to Rainbow Dash, what was her bargain?" Princess Celestia clearly avoided the tray Pinkie had pointed out to be Insta-Curdle-Deluxe cupcakes, and hoped to the sun that there were no other booby traps. "What did she promise?"

"She di' more 'n promise. She saved a breezie." Seabreeze saw the shock on Celestia's face. "She saved a few o' us. So ya see, my life and other need' a balance." He munched on some more of the soft vanilla cake that Celestia had tested for him in advance.

Celestia turned and looked at Rainbow Dash, who was stuffing her mouth with a cupcake. "You saved his life?" The pegasus just nodded, mouth full. "And what did you ask for?"

Gulping down the food in her mouth, Rainbow Dash grinned. "To be more awesome. He wanted to do the whole horn and wings thing, but I was all, 'Nah, I just want to fly really fast so I can protect my friends.' "

"An' don' forget t' lifespan. Eternity for eternity." Seabreeze nibbled a little more cake.

"I totally didn't ask for that!" Rainbow pointed a hoof at the breezie. "That was all your idea, not mine."

Seabreeze grinned widely. "Ya din' say no."

"That just means he has his hooks in you forever!" Applejack had been waiting for the catch. At the groans that accompanied her outburst, she shook her head. "Ah just don't get why y'all ain't as angry about this as Ah am! Particularly you, Rainbow."

Rainbow Dash shrank instead of standing up for herself, and it had every eye in the room on her as a result. "What?" Her hackles were up with her back pressed to the chair.

"You are acting really weirdly, Rainbow darling." Rarity's tone held worry for her friend.

Fluttershy looked at her best friend since foalhood. "You… You do seem to be not quite yourself."

But it was Pinkie, giggling around her latest cupcake of gastronomical distress, that answered their questions. "Pfft, you silly billies. Rainbow Dash likes being treated like that. Anypony could tell that." When silence met her reasoning, Pinkie gulped down her food. "What? Anypony could! It's as obvious as the feathers on her wings… although those are both more and less obvious now."

"Is this true, Rainbow?" Rarity had to reach across the table with her magic and gently tilt Rainbow's jaw up so she could look in the mare's eyes. "Oh darling, there is no reason to feel embarrassed."

"If Ah 'ad known ya would treat 'er like this, Ah wouldn' have made that bargain to come in." Seabreeze left his snack and trotted across the table to Rainbow Dash, one hoof reached out to stroke her nose. "Tha tha." Rainbow Dash's worry eased almost immediately and she pressed her snout against the attention a little more. "Ah'm goin'. Ah see how you trea' ya frien's."

"Wait." Rainbow Dash, her mind having relaxed under the care Seabreeze had shown, jerked her head up. "You can't do that, Seabreeze. The only reason they are doing all this is because I am their friend."

"Too right we are!" Applejack stomped a hoof on the table. "Ah ain't leavin' my friends ta the likes of you!"

Seabreeze turned to look at Applejack. "Tha' right is it?" He looked towards Princess Celestia and saw the same calm look she had always worn. "There were a litt' filly. 'Er gran were the greatest witch in t' land. But when 'er li'l filly was of age ta teach the ways, she up an' left."

"What 'n heck are you talkin' about?" Applejack squinted at Seabreeze a moment as her brain put together his hard to follow words. "Are you accusing Granny Smith of being a witch? Witches aren't even a thing!" If somepony had dropped a pin, Applejack would have heard it. "Right?" She turned to look at Princess Celestia.

"Witches are real. They are one of the manifestations of fey magic within ponies, specifically earth ponies." Princess Celestia looked at Applejack and studied her face carefully. "I think you need to talk to Granny Smith about this."

Seabreeze cleared his little throat, getting the attention of Applejack again. "An' ya brother."

Applejack just stared past Seabreeze, her mouth working without any words coming out. She turned to look at Celestia, then back at the breezie. Slumping back in her chair, she kept any further words to herself while her mind turned over the implications.

Silence descended, and the longer it was upon them the heavier it got. Even Pinkie Pie found it hard to crack the boulder of reality that had crushed the conversation. At last, however, Princess Celestia finally cleared her throat. "So you aren't leaving right now?"

Lifting his snout from the tasty, frosted cupcake, Seabreeze shook his head. "Ah like it 'ere now; it's much quieter." He gave a brief nod to Applejack before turning his attention back to Celestia. "Ah 'ad ya fer a hun'red turns an' ya didn't learn ya lessons near half as good as Rainbow."

Celestia blushed hotly at the derision, but though Seabreeze had used a jovial tone of voice, she couldn't help but look at Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow Dash looked directly back at Celestia, a blush of surprise on her own cheeks. Inside the mare's head, a little voice pointed out that she was a better mount than Princess Celestia. Rainbow Dash was a moment from looking away in embarrassment, but Celestia beat her to it.

"Why did you take the Elements of Harmony away?" Twilight's voice cut the awkward moment like a hot knife in butter. "Not that I don't appreciate what you did with the castle, but—"

"Luna broke 'er word. She 'came tha' which needed t' be defended fro'. We too' back t' reward tha' 'er promise 'ad gained. Balance." Seabreeze pointed a hoof at Twilight. "Ya too' 'er task up, 's why ya look so gran'." Looking around the table, the breezie wore a satisfied look.

"B-B-But if Twilight is paying for them, why don't we still have the Elements?" Fluttershy tried to hide the moment she finished talking, her pink mane ever the best defense she had against the world.

"Twilight Sparkle is paying the price, but has not made a deal." Princess Celestia looked to Twilight. "Just how we practiced, it is up to you, Princess." Pride in her student built within Celestia, and she smiled widely and gestured at Seabreeze.

With a nod to Princess Celestia, Twilight turned to face the tiny being that could twist ponies around his hoof. "Seabreeze. First, any deal I make that requires payments are made by myself only. Equestria, my friends, possessions, and offspring are all subject to their own deal."

"Ya been studyin'." Seabreeze nodded his head. "Alright."

Twilight smiled. "I pledge to serve Equestria as its protector." Heart racing, Twilight made sure to watch her words. "What would the breezies pledge for this protection?"

"Ya're already its protector, but I get ya point. Ya got ya power." Seabreeze gestured to Twilight's wings with a little hoof. "An' that has bee' granted too. Luna Duskdancer turned down 'er role as protector, ya can 'ave it."

"What—" Twilight slammed a hoof over her snout quickly. She rushed through her lessons in her head again: asking for a completely true answer was a boon in and of itself to the breezies. "I am not aware of the full details of your deal with Luna…" she blinked a few moments at having learned Luna's full name, "… Duskdancer."

"Luna made two deals with Seabreeze." Celestia's words broke a little of the tension. "Her first was to serve Seabreeze for a hundred years, in payment to be an alicorn. I paid a hundred years too, for my own horn." She let the truth of her words settle in. "Her second deal was to protect Equestria for all time, and against all threats, in exchange for the Elements of Harmony. Seabreeze took them because she broke her deal."

Armed with new knowledge, Twilight turned back to Seabreeze. "You have taken your payment before making the deal, which means you are at a disadvantage."

Seabreeze's eyes went wide, but he threw his head up in a laugh. "Right ya are."

"Then it is simple. All the power of the Elements of Harmony, and I will spend eternity, as the protector." Twilight knew full well she was leaving something out, as did Seabreeze. She locked eyes with the breezie, and held his gaze for what felt like eternity, but was probably no more than a few minutes.

"An' Ah suppose ya bein' an alicorn is the disadvantage?" Seabreeze lifted his tiny hoof up and rubbed his chin. "Ya, this can work. Bu' t' gems are gone." Walking across the table, Seabreeze got right to the edge of the table fore Twilight. "T' power'll hafta be in ya. All o' ya."

Twilight's eyes widened, and she looked around at her friends. "I need to discuss this with my friends." She looked around at her closest friends and read a mix of excitement, worry, and outright refusal from various members of her clique.

"This sounds exciting!" Pinkie Pie bounced in place. "What will the power do to us? Make us like Rainbow Dash?" Somehow, the pink mare managed to make her limbs thin, and her mane and tail resembled huge wings.

Seabreeze looked to Pinkie Pie for a moment before grinning. "T' trolls're more open wit' questions. So I'll gi' ya a pass. There's many way' breezie magic can take a pon." He gestured to Rainbow Dash. "Could ya imagine 'er as anythin' but fast?"

Pinkie blinked owlishly at Rainbow Dash for a moment. "Nope!"

"Ya already 'ave t' strength a ten pon, an' can do amazin' things. But Ah can see ya bring happiness whereva ya go." Walking right up to Pinkie, flapping his wings to reach her face, Seabreeze reached a hoof out and gently tapped her snout.

Everypony's attention was glued on Pinkie, and they watched her eyes widen impossibly huge, and a massive smile cleft her face. Not a pony in the room could keep their own smiles from growing at their immensely happy friend.

"Who' next?" Seabreeze looked around the rest, his eyes falling first on Rainbow Dash. He grinned at his breeziemount and looked on. Another pegasus, yellow of fur and pink of mane. Fluttering his wings, Seabreeze made his way over to land before Fluttershy. "Ya don' wanna go fast."

"N-N-No…" Fluttershy knew she couldn't really hide, but it didn't stop her trying to deflect as best she could. Turning her head slightly, she managed to get Seabreeze completely out of her line of sight.

"Ah've seen t' care ya show the beasts. Ya can speak t' 'em, an' un'erstan' 'em. But t' truth is ya love all t' forest. Ah can let ya speak t' trees, flowers, an' even t' forest itself." It wasn't hard for Seabreeze to see Fluttershy's entire demeanor change. He had something that was burning in the mare's heart, and was waving it before her snout. "Ya can 'ave ya Element back, an' it'll come with those changes. A druid it'd make ya."

Rarity trembled in a moment of fear. She had no idea what Seabreeze would offer her, but all the same she felt terrified at the prospect of wanting something from the fae. When he turned to face her, however, she braced up her courage and looked directly into his eyes.

"Brave. Savvy. Glorious." Taking the time to get the enunciation as correct as he could, Seabreeze could see that Rarity could be both the hardest and easiest to persuade. "T' power already flow' through ya heart'n'spirit. An' beautifu' as ya are, t' magic woul' make ya more so. I can't do more'n enhance t' ideals ya already 'ave."

"It won't change me?" Rarity blinked at the "offer," and wasn't quite sure how to take the compliments—apart from gracefully. "If you excuse me for saying so, I assume it will change me."

Seabreeze nodded, his eyes tracing over Rarity's form, admiring the beauty of every line. "Of course it will." He turned, leaving the mare to ponder her choice, and once more faced Twilight.

"Hey!" Stewing on her thoughts, Applejack glared at Seabreeze. "Tell me then, what'd you do to me?" It was a challenge. Applejack wanted to see what he would try to tempt her with.

"Ya'd be a witch. Plain'n simple." Waiting up until the moment Applejack was about to open her mouth and complain, Seabreeze continued. "Ya already have affinity wit' t' plants. This'd make that a whole lot more."

"What do you mean?" Narrowing her eyes, Applejack tucked her ears back a little. She had the look of a pony in battle, and it was true enough.

"Talk t' ya brother." Seabreeze yawned and walked directly for Princess Celestia. "All o' ya, make up ya minds and be here tomorrow." With his eyes locked on Celestia's own, he held the alicorn in his gaze as he neared. "Ya free, but can Ah rest a while?"

"For a price." Princess Celestia wanted to let the tiny creature bridle her more than anything, but she knew her duty to Equestria, and allowing him to rest on her was worth something, or he wouldn't appreciate it as much. "That you make a fair deal with these ponies."

"Fer one night o' rest?" Despite his indignant tone, Seabreeze couldn't help but smile. "Ah was wrong. Ya t' witch 'ere." Without another word he buzzed his wings and floated up, landing behind Celestia's head and settling into her mane.

The six friends stared at each other around the table. Though Applejack was still angry, she could see enough logic in talking to her brother before completely dismissing Seabreeze's words. "Ah'm goin' home. Ah got a brother who is goin' to be explainin' a whole lot."

Twilight watched her friend leave, and let out a breath. "I am not quite sure how this works, but technically I have already paid the price. You just need to decide if you can…" She looked at Rainbow Dash. "… deal with the changes."

"Hey, I'm not saying it wasn't odd to get used to." Flicking out a large wing, Rainbow Dash flashed her irrepressible grin. "But he does want what we want, kinda. To be safe. You didn't see what those timber wolves were going to do. His magic is slow—it took forever for his sleep spell to stop one of the wolves. If he is the source of…" Rainbow just pointed at Twilight and Celestia. "… then somepony needs to protect him."

"We all protect him. Equestria protects him." Princess Celestia could feel the tiny weight hidden in her mane. Just knowing she had gotten a concession from him for this had her smiling. "It is by no coincidence that they are so close to Canterlot."

"I'm still going to totally be helping when you guys need it, but there is a lot more I can do for Equestria than just push clouds around." Yawning, Rainbow Dash looked around at her friends. "But right now there is a pony I need to help more than you guys." Getting up, she spread her wings and launched herself towards the castle doors.

"Applejack." Twilight grinned. "That really is our Rainbow Dash."

Author's Note

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