A Crack in the Glass

Chapter Five: Eye of the Storm

The doors of Canterlot Tower’s main hall opened slowly, allowing a group of sharply dressed ponies to pour out into the early evening light. They stared in wonder at the two creatures sitting off on the side of the bridge leading to the doors, Varkrai glaring back at them with his back leaning against the wall beside the entrance. Noitorum sat on the ground in front of Twilight Sparkle, the unicorn holding one of her hands in her hooves and inspecting it as if it were a new type of spell she had found. The white winged feer’s smile faded as the delegates walked past her and Twilight, though she quickly gave each of them a small grin and a wave. None of the ponies even batted an eye at her in recognition, solely staring and walking the rest of the way across the bridge. Aside from one, the mayor of Manehattan. He was the last to walk out of the hall, and he was the first one to even dare to think about talking to the two feers off to the side, let alone take a step in their direction. However, Varkrai’s cold stare and his eyes dilating as they focused on the mayor prompted the stallion to continue down the path, though he didn’t leave without a subtle sneer and scoff towards both Varkrai and Noitorum. The delegates were soon out of sight, heading towards their private carriages awaiting near the train station.

The last pony out of the doors was Princess Celestia, who, in contrast to the scowls of the delegates, gave the feers a smile. “Thank you for waiting,” she spoke.

“Thanks for keeping the guards off me,” Varkrai said, pushing himself up straight with his wings and walking over to the princess. “I’m surprised they didn’t run away. Seems to be something this dimension is fond of.”

Celestia glanced at Twilight before she motioned for the three of them to follow her. “We’ll talk inside. Come with me.”

Twilight Sparkle followed as Celestia turned and headed into the hall, looking back at Varkrai and Noitorum. They walked in afterwards and the doors shut behind them as the royal guards stepped outside, following Celestia’s order she had given them earlier. Twilight forced a nervous gulp down her throat, wondering what Varkrai had in mind when he wanted to talk with the princess. She hadn’t heard anything more about other dimensions or concepts of the matter since the incident in the library, as Varkrai had been getting too impatient waiting around with Pinkie to talk about the subject. Now that she thought about it, Pinkie had been taking a liking to the black winged feer, despite his constant yells at her to leave him alone. She thought back to the incident before with Cranky and wondered if the same scenario was going on. Either that, or Pinkie was just trying her best to make him go insane, and from the look in Varkrai’s eyes when he even saw the color pink, it seemed to be working so far.

“Varkrai and Noitorum, was it?” Celestia asked as she reached near the middle of the hallway, turning around and looking at the two feers. Both of them came to a stop, Noitorum with her fingers laced together behind her and Varkrai with his hands in his pockets.

“Yes,” said Varkrai, sighing slightly. “I’ll get us nameplates soon so you won’t have to keep asking us. Sound good?”

Twilight Sparkle growled at the remark, but the princess nudged her with her wing and gave her a smile. Nonetheless, the unicorn kept a straight face towards Varkrai.

“That won’t be necessary,” Celestia assured. “but you could get a nameplate that has the information of what you were going on about back during the meeting.”

The two feers glanced with smirks at each other. “That’d be quite the nameplate,” Noitorum said.

Princess Celestia giggled lightly, tapping Twilight on her shoulder to wipe the solemn expression on her face. Celestia knew that Twilight Sparkle was protective of her as a mentor, but the formality that her student always used when in her presence had always bugged her.

“So then why don’t you tell me about it now?” Celestia asked.

“I’d be more than happy to as long as I don’t have to do it again later on the road,” Varkrai stated. “If something isn’t clear after all of this, go to her.” He pointed his thumb at Noitorum. “I’m sure she’ll be just ecstatic about it.” He leaned towards her and lightly pushed her with his right wing. “Won’t you, Noi?”

“As long as I’ll get to talk to more of the ponies!” she said excitedly.

“Great.” Varkrai looked back at Celestia, the alicorn levitating a roll of paper in the air beside her. “Where do you want us to start?”

Princess Celestia unrolled the piece of paper in her levitation spell, looking over the letter that Twilight had sent her earlier in the day. “Well, this letter has quite the bit of explanation of what went on in Ponyville on it.” She looked back up at the two feers. “How about starting off with where you came from?”

“Dimensional gate,” Varkrai answered instantly. “Strange piece of work; they’re quite the sight. Here, check this out.” With no further warning, the black winged feer raised his right hand into the air, collecting a field of solance around it. He smirked at the sudden startled expression that had become Celestia’s face, even more so at Noitorum’s chuckle at what he was doing. A high pitch ring announced itself to Canterlot Tower’s hall, and as the sound quickly escalated to a deafening screech, Varkrai rotated to his side, stepped away from Noitorum, and viciously slashed his hand down through the air, almost knocking him off balance. A blast of air exploded through the hall, blowing Twilight and Celestia back slightly, though Varkrai and Noitorum remained as they had been before. Regaining their composure from the abrupt wave of force, Twilight and Celestia stood up straight, slightly shaken not only at the strange performance, but also at its aftermath.

In place of Varkrai, an eerie black slash, its outline flowing like some sort of substance in between water and fire, floated in the air where he had been standing, humming lowly like wind in a tunnel. Its shape retained the path that Varkrai had moved his hand through the air, curved and slightly taller than both the feers standing next to it. The middle of the slash looked like a blind spot hanging suspended in time, pitch black and periodically rippling.

“What... is that?” Twilight Sparkle asked unsurely, staring at the phenomena with a hoof raised limply.

“This is a dimensional gate,” Varkrai explained. With a glove of solance around his hand, he daintily stretched the gate wider from its thin shape, forming it into a oval just big enough for him to fit through. “It’s not as scary as it looks or sounds, and it’s not going to harm you.” Varkrai smiled at Twilight, though Celestia seemed calmer given the situation. “You can stop shaking now.”

Twilight, realizing her body slightly trembling, cleared her throat and stood up straight, walking forward to stand by Celestia’s side again.

“This is what you came through?” Celestia asked, now along with Twilight convinced more than ever that Varkrai wasn’t spouting nonsense.

“It may not look like much, but this thing can take you farther quicker than the fastest thing you have here,” Noitorum assured. “As dimensional gates work, this is an opening to a, more than likely, entirely different world from the one you know. You may not be able to see through it, but there’s quite a sight on the other side.”

“Why can’t we see through it?” Twilight wondered out loud.

“Because what you’re seeing right now is sub-dimensional energy, the purest form of energy that will ever exist,” Varkrai said. “As I’m sure you’re wondering about what it is in the letter, what you’re seeing right now is The Omnipotent Force.”

Celestia looked at the letter. “How did you guess?”

Varkrai nodded at Twilight. “It’s one of the more complicated and thought provoking things of the dimensional vocabulary. I also covered it in my little lecture back in the library. I knew Twilight Sparkle would mention that somewhere in there.” He turned back to the gate. “The Omnipotent Force, as you can see it here, is one big vat of energy, though it’s not your normal type of it. It’s one of the primordial states and the most complicated form of energy that you’ll find and see. There’s little known about it, despite its accessibility through unused dimensional gates. All that is know is that it keeps all the dimensions from mashing into each other, despite all of them being in the same place, and it is also the source for all energy you can find. Watch.”

Varkrai extended his arm out in front of the gate. Like bees returning to their hive, a stream of a pitch black fluid slithered out from the gate, slowly making its way from the opening to Varkrai’s hand. As if it were escaping from some sort of barrier, the energy passed through a gradient around the feer’s hand, turning from white to black as it collected in Varkrai’s palm. The stream broke and quickly sucked back into the gate as Varkrai stopped the process, Varkrai left with a sphere of solance gently flaming in his fingers.

“As solance is a form of energy and energy is derived from sub-dimensional energy, what you saw is a slowed down process of what normally happens,” described Varkrai. He repeated the process again in his other hand, though this time the solance appeared in a split second with no visible connection to the gate. He looked back at Twilight and Celestia, both of them with wide eyes and completely still. “I can see you’re immersing yourselves in the moment.”

The princess and Twilight perked up and realized what they had been doing.

“Well... yes,” Celestia muttered. “What you’ve showed us here is quite new. I’ve never seen the likes of it before.” She motioned a hoof at the gate. “Is it safe to go through?”

Noitorum thought for a moment. “Not really,” she figured. “The process of traveling through the gate is harmless, but what could lay on the other side often isn’t. Chances are you’re going to run into something hostile rather than passive.”

“Also, if you don’t know a thing about dimension traveling,” Varkrai said. He lifted his hand over the gate. “you could end up missing this.”

In one swift downwards movement and with a field of solance around his hand, Varkrai closed the dimensional gate, the solance around his hand turning black and the slash through the air gone with the motion. He quickly squeezed his fingers tightly into his palm, his entire arm shaking as he contained the energy in his hand. After a moment, the energy around his hand sucked inwards into his fist, Varkrai exhaling in relief and opening up his hand to show Celestia and Twilight. A small, hardened ball of solance rested on his palm, though now, instead of the normal white fiery aura around it, the aura that had been flowing around the gate had taken over.

“This is a lamnirex, or ‘key’ in english,” Varkrai said. “This is the remnants of what the dimensional gate used to be, reduced to a small sphere. This contains a portion of the energy that was used to open the gate, now locked inside a field of sub-dimensional energy. The solance inside, which is a feer’s specific type of energy manipulation, contains the information of the dimensional gate it created, and it can be utilized again to open another gate that leads to the same dimension the original one lead to. This is the only way to certainly travel back to a dimension you have been in before. You miss it on your first time going through a gate, you’re lost forever from your home.” Varkrai grew quiet for a second. He sighed and closed his hand in on the lamnirex, the key gone from his palm when he reopened it. “There’s another one of them that is created on the other side of the dimensional gate, in the other dimension. That is the one you pick up to travel back; the one I had was the one that’s left behind, and is usually forgotten about when you go through a gate.”

“Wait, there’s one in another dimension?” Twilight Sparkle quickly asked. “What if something finds it? Won’t they be able to come to ours?”

“Not necessarily,” Noitorum answered. “It is almost impossible for a species from one dimension to perform an energy manipulation from another dimension. They’re simply not built to do so, unless they have utilities to simulate the manipulation. There are, however, some species that assimilate their targets into their own, granting the assimilated being the ability to use their energy manipulation. Though, typically these species are hostile, and tend to use the beings that they assimilate for an army.”

“Thus being said, unless the dimension on the other side of the gate contained feers within it, they won’t be able to open the gate again,” Varkrai guaranteed.

Princess Celestia smiled. The display was without a doubt fascinating, but slightly more than that foreboding. With the mention of invasive species and assimilation, she grew weary of the whole situation, a sudden trigger within herself pulling and putting her mind at a cautionary state. “This is all very interesting, but you never exactly answered my question, Varkrai,” Celestia said. “Where did you come from? Aside from a dimensional gate.”

“The dimension we were previously in was overrun by demons, one of the more common species out in the dimensional wastelands and a species that uses assimilates their foes for their benefits,” Varkrai explained. “I assumed that the world we were on used to be populated by Shades, a slightly less common species though still noticeable, and considering the world was almost pitch black save for a few lights created by the demons, it seemed about right that it was previously populated by them. We managed to separate ourselves from the demons long enough to open a dimensional gate and escape here. It’s not that much of an exciting story, and I doubt you’re picking up on any of this due to this dimension never being visited before, though I would assume that you’re interested in wondering what a demon is now.”

Celestia shook her head. “We can discuss that later, but what I’m asking is where you grew up, who you are. You two are something that Equestria or beyond has never seen before.”

“We grew up on our home world, Crillist, the feerian equivalent for the english word life,” Noitorum explained. “In another dimension, of course. Varkrai and I were raised in a home out in the rural areas of the world, though that was most of the planet considering its size. We never really saw any of our fellow feers other than our mother, who nurtured us until we were able to fend for ourselves. She taught us all about dimensional traveling, and once we were ready, we went out into the dimensional wastelands ourselves...” She went silent for a second, shyly taking a glance at Varkrai. He remained quiet, his arms folded and his eyes aimed at the ground. “...but she didn’t really teach us everything,” Noitorum continued, a solemn tone in her voice. “We never knew about lamnirexes until later on in our dimension jumping. We’ve been traveling through dimensions ever since, just wandering and hoping that we’ll be able to find our home again.” Noitorum quickly put a smile on her face and her tone of voice bubbled up. “Nevertheless, we’ve seen a lot and experienced a lot, so I’m sure we’ll be of some use as to helping this dimension to prepare for what’s coming.”

Celestia nodded, taking another glance at Twilight’s letter. “Yes, Twilight Sparkle mentioned Varkrai talking about other dimensions invading here. Would you mind explaining what is going on?” she asked.

Varkrai unfolded his arms and took a step forward. It seemed like he had been planning to take on a harsh approach. “A large number of your subjects will die,” he spoke abruptly. “I’m going to tell you that now. There is little chance that whatever comes through those dimensional gates will be passive, and if they are, they’re not going to be like that for long. This dimension, as I’ve found out that it has never been invaded by other dimensions until we arrived, has at least a month to prepare for an all-out war with an enemy that you have never seen before. It’s unavoidable, and it’s unpredictable to pinpoint when the first invaders are coming through. I can’t guarantee that you and the rest of this world is going to survive, but I can guarantee you that you’re going to put up a fight to do so. I’ve seen worlds crumble in defeat. I’ve seen the strongest of warriors turn to ash and fade away in an instant. You are no exception, whether you think you are or not. You’ll need all the information you can get to survive and learn more about your enemies before they learn more about you. This dimension from now on is the under the threat of extinction, and you can’t do anything about it.” Varkrai came to a stop, letting Twilight and Celestia soak in what he had explained to them. From the culture of the town he had been in and minds he has seen so far, the ponies didn’t seem used to the subject of war and destruction, and they seemed as if they would run from their problems rather than face them. He intended to change that.

Celestia sighed and closed her eyes for a moment before opening them again and glaring at Varkrai. “How can you be sure of all of this? What happens if whatever comes through decides to leave, and it continues that way? What would be the point of preparing us for something that would never happen?” she questioned.

Varkrai let his mouth creep into a smile. “Then you’ll be prepared for when it does happen. I’ve visited more dimensions than you have seen the sun rise and set. I’ve seen more lives extinguished than meals you have in a day.” He motioned his hand at Twilight Sparkle, who glared at him with anger. “You, me, her, them, we’re all the same when it comes to our final moments. Did you think that everything was perfect here, Celestia? That everything was going to be just fine?” He stopped to let her answer, but at the silence he was met with as Celestia hesitated to say anything, he shook his head and walked back beside Noitorum. “Don’t tell me. I already know the answer, and you’re going to pay the price for thinking so.” He turned back around to stare the princess dead in her eyes. “Either you accept our help to prepare this world for extermination or you die along with it. It’s up to you.”

Princess Celestia looked toward her student, who in turn looked back at her. Varkrai hadn’t intended to hold anything back about what would happen, and from the previous times he had been stuck in the situation, he knew it was necessary to get the worst out first. There wasn’t a single soul in Equestria or anywhere else on Equus that had a clue about the other dimensions, and Celestia knew that her subjects and the other nations were defenseless without knowing what they were up against. The decision of keeping Equestria and beyond now rested on Celestia’s hooves, Varkrai leaving her without any more options other than to accept his help. The princess didn’t know what she would do without it, and she didn’t plan to find out. Whatever was coming through the dimensions, Varkrai and Noitorum knew more about them than the ponies did, and Celestia accepted that what had been brought to her was real.

The princess set her eyes back on the two feers, both of them waiting for an answer. “At least a month to get prepared for another dimension to come through?” Celestia asked.

“At least,” Varkrai affirmed. “It could happen two years from now, or maybe a century, but when it does happen, you’ll be able to fight whatever comes through.”

“Even if they are passive, you’ll know what to do,” Noitorum added. “We can help you through this, no matter what it takes.”

Celestia nodded and brought Twilight Sparkle closer to herself, her student smiling at her and nodding as well. “We can discuss the terms of what needs to be done for preparation tomorrow,” Celestia said. “I’ll try to find a way to tell the rest of Equestria without panic ensuing for now. Until then, find someplace to rest. We’ll speak back here in the afternoon.”

Varkrai and Noitorum both smiled. “We’ll be waiting until then,” Varkrai spoke. “We’ll head back to Ponyville for now.” He focused on Twilight Sparkle. “I’ll take a guess that you’re gonna need a ride back home.”

The unicorn grinned sheepishly. “Uh... yes, I will,” she said.

“Well, I’m sure Noitorum will be fine with that,” Varkrai assumed, nudging her with his elbow. “Come on, you two, let’s head back to-”

A sudden poof of magic caused all four of the minds in the hall to jump slightly. A letter materialized in the air a short moment after, Celestia quickly grabbing it in a levitation spell before it hit the ground. She unrolled the piece of paper and read through it within a second, and a rough smile formed on her face.

“Before you do that, however,” Celestia announced, rolling up the paper and setting it aside. “There are some things I would like to discuss further.” She raised an eyebrow at Varkrai. “Something about a tall, black winged, bipedal creature running around kicking Canterlot’s doors of their hinges. You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?”

Noitorum gave Varkrai a small push. “I told you to stop,” she whispered.

Scratching his head lightly, Varkrai let out a sigh and a chuckle. “Yeah.... yeah you did.”

Princess Celestia giggled to herself. “And while we’re at it, I’d like to talk about the weather yesterday, as well. I’m sure you know plenty about that.”

______________________________________________________________________

After staring at the sun setting behind the mountains for so long, Honey Flower found a pain in her neck as she looked up at the moon. The watch around her hoof had itched more and more as the minutes passed, but it was fragile and falling apart, compelling her to keep it on. She didn’t want to lose it in the grass or accidentally step on it, for she wouldn’t have a way of telling if Varkrai had abandoned her or not. Two hours had already passed after midnight, and Honey Flower was growing more exhausted with every minute she sat near Canterlot’s gates. The guards had left her alone for the time being, though she was beginning to get the feeling they were going to ask her to leave soon. They had been standing at their posts near the sides of the drawbridge as the later hours of evening drew near, occasionally glancing at the pale pink mare sitting off in the field leading to the city before they were called to Canterlot Tower for a sudden meeting. Honey Flower had already given some of the ponies leaving Canterlot a strange feeling, seeing her just sit there, and the guards knew they had a job to make sure the citizens and the princess stayed as safe and comfortable as they could. Flower wouldn’t stay longer waiting for Varkrai once the guards got back, she was sure.

The cold air of the autumn night shook Flower with its frigid touch, the lack of any clothing aside from her barely managing saddle pack and a torn scarf forcing her to take the chill winds head on. Her mouth let out short breaths that scattered through the air and disappeared with the breeze, the moisture from her breath collecting on her lips and chilling them as the wind blew. She covered her mouth with her scarf, though her neck and upper body became just as cold as the rest of her, Honey Flower’s bleak shivers becoming more noticeable. She tried her best to keep herself warm by laying down and curling around herself, but the unforgiving autumn night kept her from staying so. As much as she desired to go back to her home near the mountains and be only slightly warmer, she knew it wasn’t what she truly wanted. She shook her head and cursed quietly at the thought of being trapped within Canterlot any longer, begging for work and living in a barely standing home made of rotting wooden planks and rusting nails. She needed to leave, to start a new life, and Ponyville was the answer, but the only thing that was going to get her there was Varkrai.

Honey Flower lifted her eyes to the sky. The light of the moon provided a glow for her to see around herself, and the stars gave her a guide to the tops of the buildings around her, though there weren’t many near the city’s borders. The mountain tops in the distance towered tall into the sky, spiking and curving up and down against the dim nocturnal abyss above. For the moment, there weren’t any signs of pegasi or any other flying creatures in the air, specifically the being that Honey Flower was waiting on. She had started to believe that Varkrai had forgotten about her not too long ago, and the thought grew in certainty with every minute she was left sitting in the grass, shivering and wishing for warmth. The option of walking to Ponyville from Canterlot barely crossed her mind, despite her yearning to be inside and under a cozy blanket, sound asleep. She knew the night was too cold to be away from any sort of help, and out in the plains, hills, and mountains of of Equestria wasn’t the best place to be in the weather she sat in now. Either way, she had no idea how to get to the town, and the thought of being lost during the night kept her still. The thought of Varkrai never coming to take her to Ponyville convinced her to stand up.

The rush of cold air through her legs quickly made up Honey Flower’s mind, the mare beginning to walk away from Canterlot’s gates. The cold had gotten to her and she didn’t want to fall asleep out in the open, exposed completely to the elements. Her legs felt weak under her as she slid them along the grass, making her way back to the other side of Canterlot where her home laid just outside of its borders. She dreaded to see the shack after her hopes of getting a home in Ponyville had been lifted, but now that they were out of her reach and fallen into darkness, her home was now again what it had been for almost her entire life. She felt a tear fall down her cheek as she looked back at the gate of Canterlot, knowing she was bound to the city for her life. Or so she thought.

As Honey Flower turned her head back in front of her, she jumped at the sudden sight landing in the field. Two pitch black wings spread out in the air, their feathers gleaming gently in the moonlight. They slowly retracted to the body they were attached to, Varkrai standing up straight and fixing his hair. His eyes came across the pale pink mare staring at him in partial anger and partial relief, but either way he could see a faint glow igniting in Honey Flower.

“Leaving so soon?” Varkrai joked, walking over to the pale pink mare. The reception of the question wasn’t quite as he had expected.

“I’ve been out here for three hours,” Honey Flower spat, furrowing her brow. “I’m cold and hungry and tired. Don’t make fun of me.”

Varkrai put his hands up warily. “Hey hey, take it easy,” he spoke softly. “I wasn’t making fun of you; it was just a small poke, okay?” He put his hands down as Flower lowered her head. “Not in the mood, huh?”

“Well... no,” Honey Flower murmured. She sat down and moved her scarf down from her mouth. “I was fired today and it’s just been really rough. I just... I just want to leave here.” She shivered and rubbed her hooves together. “Also getting somewhere warm would be nice.”

The feer walked closer to Honey Flower and reached his hand out to her. “You don’t seem very down about leaving. You don’t need another day to tell family that you’re heading out or anything? Or did you already?”

Honey Flower glanced at his hand before placing her hoof in it, Varkrai pulling her up onto her legs. “There isn’t exactly much to say goodbye to,” she said. “My parents live in Trottingham and... my brother here isn’t much of one.”

Varkrai’s hand closed in on itself as Flower pulled her hoof out of his, rubbing it on her other leg as she shivered again. “What do you mean?” he asked, putting his hand back by his side.

Flower shook her head and took a breath in. “It’s nothing. You shouldn’t have to worry about it. Let’s just get to the town you were talking about.” Her teeth chattered at the end of her sentence, another tremble coursing through her.

With the mare’s constant shakes and her clicking teeth, Varkrai looked over her in worry. “Do you need something to keep you warm?” he asked, lifting an eyebrow as Honey Flower adjusted her scarf again. “You don’t look like you’re holding up too well.”

“I’m fine,” she quickly uttered. A strong gust of wind convinced her otherwise, the cold air on her face stinging her skin. She shyly looked up at Varkrai. “Uh... maybe something would be nice.”

A smirk on his face, Varkrai spoke through his sweatshirt as he took it off, “It may not fit you very good and the hooves might be a little tight, but it’s something for you to put on.” Varkrai shook his head to straighten out his hair as he held the green sweatshirt in his hands. A simple, grey, woolen long-sleeved shirt was all that he wore on his shoulders, the feer holding out the green pile of cloth to Honey Flower. “If it’s not comfortable, you’re gonna have to deal with it. It’s all I’m taking off in this weather. Here, take it.”

Flower looked over him. “Aren’t you cold now?” she asked, limply raising a hoof to the sweatshirt.

“I can manage for the time being. Us feers may not be built to withstand cold weather, but it’s not fatal for prolonged exposure.” He bounced the cloth in his hands as the mare stared at him for a second. “Are you taking it or what?”

Honey Flower jumped. “Oh, yes.” The mare quickly grabbed the sweatshirt from his hands in her mouth. She subtly motioned back to her saddle pack, shivering slightly. “Can you lift that off for a second, please?”

Varkrai reached forward and pinched the strap of the saddle holding both two packs together, picking it up off of the mare and bringing it into his hands. He moved his fingers around on the cloth of the packs for a moment, though his curiosity of what she was bringing with was soon disrupted by grunts of frustration. He shifted his eyes to Honey Flower seemed to be having a bit of trouble putting on his sweatshirt, her face pressing up against the back of it and her hooves stuck in the cloth.

The feer chuckled to himself and set down the pack in his hands, walking closer to the struggling mare. “Stop moving,” he said with a touch of laughter. “You’re just making it worse. Hold still.” Varkrai grabbed ahold of the sweatshirt as Honey Flower stopped squirming around, a subtle nervous chuckle just barely escaping the cloth. He instructed Honey Flower to move her hooves around as he told, twisting the green cloth around her until it came to the correct orientation. One after the other, he stretched the wrists of the sweatshirt as far as he could, a few pops of the strings ripping causing him to wince slightly. With a few more adjustments, he slid Honey Flower’s head through the neck of the sweatshirt, the top of her mane coming out frizzy.

“There,” Varkrai exhaled. He looked over Honey Flower. The sweatshirt was quite baggy on her chest and stomach, though the stretches he made into the wrists managed to fit her hooves almost perfectly, still a little tight.The hood kept her mane balled up against the back of her neck, the mare flattening the stray hairs sticking up from her head. “That looks comfortable, kinda.”

“It’s a little big...” Honey Flower mentioned, inspecting the extra cloth hanging from her shoulders. She looked up at Varkrai, his arms crossed, and she smiled. “Thank you. It’s been a while since I’ve worn something like this.” She rubbed her hooves together. “It’s warm.”

“That’s probably because I was just wearing it, but as long as it keeps you that way then it’s fine,” Varkrai said. He picked up her saddle pack and stood still for a moment, Honey Flower pulling her scarf out from inside the sweatshirt and wrapping it around her face again. “Ready to get going now?”

Flower made a few adjustments to the sweatshirt before looking up at Varkrai. “Yeah. Let’s go.”

Varkrai nodded and walked forward to the pale pink mare. “It took me about half an hour to get here from Ponyville with just me, and I doubt it’s gonna be very comfy with me holding you by your legs for that long, so don’t yell at me if I do anything that seems intimate, alright?”

Honey Flower gave him a weird look. “Wha-?”

Before she could even finish the word, she found herself being scooped up into one of Varkrai’s arms, her surprised eyes looking up at the sky the next thing she knew. Varkrai placed her saddle pack down on her stomach and put his other arm under her, cradling the pale pink mare to make sure he didn’t drop her. The sweatshirt around her not reaching back to her hind legs, she soon found that she didn’t mind being held the way she was, as Varkrai’s right arm kept her legs close against it, warming her completely now that he was holding her. She may not have been used to being suspended in air upside down with the only thing keeping her from falling being the grip of a creature she barely knew, but the sudden warm of Varkrai’s body heat against her kept her snug and comfortable for the time being.

Varkrai looked down at her in his arms, a corner of his mouth curved up slightly. “Ready?” he asked.

Flower, a little disgruntled at the sudden move, smiled anyways. “Yes.”

“Alright.” Wings spreading out and his legs bending in prepare to jump, Varkrai paused for a second. “You might want to hold on, just in case.”

He didn’t give the mare much time to decide what to grab ahold of. The suddenly wind rushing down on Honey Flower’s face sent her into a small panic as she looked over the edge of Varkrai’s arm, the ground seeming like it was falling away. In her attempt to grab onto Varkrai, she only found her saddle pack squished in her hooves, Honey Flower giggling nervously and looking around, feeling a slight lifting sensation. She felt heavy back in Varkrai’s arms as she realized they had come to a stable elevation in the air, the city of Canterlot visible below, though only as big as the mare’s hoof. She smiled as she blocked the city away with a single gesture, moving her hoof in and out of the way of the city. It didn’t take long for the city to roll under Varkrai’s arms and out of her vision, Honey Flower putting her head back on the feer carrying her. Though he paid almost no attention to her, Flower couldn’t look up at him without feeling like he was going to stare her down angrily. The normal, just barely so frown on his face and his naturally bent inwards brow urged Honey Flower to keep quiet. The flight was silent save for the rushing of air and Varkrai’s wings flapping, but Flower couldn’t help but smile the entire way, knowing she was away from Canterlot and heading somewhere new. She had no idea of what laid outside of Canterlot’s borders until now, and she wanted to keep her eyes open to see it from up in the sky, but the warmth she rested in, staying up two hours past when she usually slept, and the tranquility of the sky lulled her to sleep.

Varkrai looked down at Honey Flower as she heard a small snore from her, snickering quietly at how surprisingly loud she was for such a delicate pony. Nevertheless, he remained quiet for the flight, growing a little tired himself now that the concept of sleep had come to mind. He had barely slept since Pinkie woke him up at his arrival on the outskirts of Sweet Apple Acres, and he hoped that he would have some sort of place to sleep during the night. Of course, he would have to find Honey Flower some place to stay for the time being as well, and also find Noitorum in the town. He sighed at the slight obstacle, but shook it off and looked on the bright side. He would finally be able to get some sleep.