A Crack in the Glass

Chapter Six: Unforgiving Nature

“Twilight?” Pinkie asked directly in her friend’s ear. “Whatcha doin’?”

Focused on Sugar Cube Corner too much to even realize Pinkie, Twilight Sparkle almost smacked her head on the awning above her.

Twilight quickly gave Pinkie a sneer after recovering, the pink pony returning with a subdued and guilty smile. “What is with you and sneaking up on me?” Twilight asked.

“Well, you always have your head in a book! It’s hard not to!” Pinkie explained. She looked over to Sugar Cube Corner, an idea of what Twilight was doing popping in her mind. “So, whatcha doing?”

“Uh...” Twilight looked back at the pastry shop, stretching her mind for an answer that wouldn’t land her in a completely weird situation. “Studying, I suppose.”

“Studying...?”

Twilight Sparkle shook her head and continued to keep her eyes on Varkrai, who stood in front of the colorful shop talking with a pale pink mare. “His nature.”

Pinkie leaned in closer to her friend, her head barely an inch away from Twilight’s. “Find anything interesting?” She lightly gasped. “Does he secretly like cupcakes? Is that why he’s in front of the Cake’s house? I knew he liked cupcakes!”

Concentration becoming a dull trace in her mind, Twilight Sparkle couldn’t hold back shoving a hoof in Pinkie’s mouth. “I haven’t found anything ground breaking yet, but he’s definitely something that’s not exactly familiar with how this world works.” She took her hoof away from Pinkie and wiped it on the ground.

Pinkie watched as Varkrai gave a passing pony a menacing glare after he was done talking with Noitorum, who happened to not be visible at the moment. “He knows how to get others to leave him alone, that’s for sure.”

A realization quickly popped into Twilight’s mind and she looked to Pinkie. “Wait. Didn’t you spend an entire night with him?”

Nodding her head, Pinkie smiled. “Yup! Why does it-?”

Twilight Sparkle’s crazed eyes sent a force backing Pinkie’s head away from her, the aura of enticement radiating off of the unicorn enough to lean against.

“Are you okay?” Pinkie asked unsurely.

With a chance to learn more about Varkrai without confronting him, answering questions became a speck of dust as Twilight held a sand storm of questions of her own. “What was he like alone? Did you get to speak with the other one with him? How does he handle pressure? Can he read minds? What about that weird stuff he uses? Is it like magic at all? How strong are his wings? And that language you said he was talking about? Was it complicated? How do you say-?”

“Woah woah woah!” Pinkie Pie intervened, raising her hooves in front of her. “Slow down! Sheesh, you’re gonna give even me a headache!”

Feeling her mouth a bit numb, Twilight sat back down after forcing Pinkie just barely above the ground. She sighed lightly. “Sorry about that,” she whispered, rubbing her hooves uncomfortably.

“What’s got you so uppity about him?” Pinkie asked as she sat up straight. She nudged her friend and smiled smugly. “Is somepony seeking some exploration?”

A glass shattered within the unicorn’s mind. She quickly turned to Pinkie angrily, her face a bit red. “Of course not! Pinkie!”

The pink pony let her laughter out. “I’m only joking, silly pants!” She rustled Twilight Sparkle’s mane and giggled to herself. “What’s the matter, though? You’ve had your eyes on him for quite a while.” She leaned in closer to Twilight and hushed her voice. “You don’t have to be embarrassed, you know.”

“Quit it!” Twilight Sparkle shoved her friend a bit less than playfully, giving the pink mare a stern stare as Pinkie fell to the ground. “I’m not thinking about any of... that.” She looked back at Varkrai. He seemed to be wrapping up his conversation with the mare beside him, Varkrai holding onto a partially torn sweatshirt she had been wearing. “I’m trying to figure out what he’s like when not searching around for answers. He could be a bit of a hazard to Ponyville, since he’s not from here. Or anywhere near here.”

“A hazard?” Pinkie repeated, sitting back up again and brushing herself off.

“You know what I mean. He’s not familiar with how things work here. He obviously doesn’t know how to treat royalty after seeing his display for Celestia, and I don’t think he understands the general etiquette of Equestria. He could end up hurting somepony, or worse than that, put an entire town in danger.”

Pinkie kept her eyes on the mare Varkrai had been talking to as she walked away from him. The feer remained in place, looking around curiously. “He doesn’t seem all that bad. Are you sure you’re not just being a little too cautious of him? I mean, look!” She pointed to Varkrai, the feer sighing and focusing his eyes on his sweatshirt as he leaned back against the outside of Sugar Cube Corner.

A grumble escaped Twilight Sparkle’s throat. “I don’t know. It’s just something about some sort of being coming from another dimension all of a sudden bringing news of an imminent invasion being... troubling.” She glanced at Pinkie. “How are you so friendly around him? Aren’t you a little scared of what he’s thinking?”

The pink pony shrugged. “Not really. He can be a bit of a meany sometimes, but he isn’t all too bad. Besides, it’s hard to be scared when he has Noitorum around him. She seems to keep him in check, kinda. Although she’s not exactly the most controlled herself, either.” She laughed to herself quietly at remembering Noitorum’s outburst when she ran into the crown in front of the Cakes’ home.

Twilight Sparkle bit her lip and shifted her eyes to the ground. “I just hope it isn’t too much of a confliction when it comes to dealing with us. I doubt he handles situations the same way any of us do.”

“Uh...” Pinkie tugged at Twilight Sparkle, pointing out to Sugar Cube Corner. “I don’t think he does. Should we do something?”

Lifting her eyes back up to the pastry shop, Twilight Sparkle quickly found what Pinkie was hinting at. The commotion in front of Sugar Cube Corner had come apparent now that she saw what was causing it, and an understanding of why there was a crowd of ponies in front of the shop, their faces plastered with anger, absorbed into Twilight’s mind. At the focus of the crowd, and slightly off of the ground, floated Varkrai with his wings cascading wind down on the ponies below him. Dirt, previously raked leaves, and the ponies’ manes whipped back and forth with the large gusts of wind repeatedly crashing through the street, the ponies closest to the ground under Varkrai having to shield their eyes from the harsh gales. Some of the kiosks farther off managed to almost tip over should the owners not have been at them. All the while, Varkrai remained oblivious to the yelling below him, or he was just ignoring them completely. He peered off into the distance with his sweatshirt in his hands, looking over the tops of the houses and buildings of the town profusely.

“What’s he doing?” Pinkie wondered out loud.

“I don’t know, but they don’t seem to like the wind,” Twilight noted, starting to worry about the level of anger rising in the crowd.

Hoofsteps behind the two ponies drew their attention away from the crowd for a second. A familiar orange pony trotted her way into view from the awning, a sense of confusion on her face.

“What in tarnation is going on over here?” Applejack asked as she came close to Pinkie and Twilight. “It sounds like a riot from the-!” However, with the awning now out of the way of the air over the crowd, her eyes quickly diverted to the winged beast hovering over top of Sugar Cube Corner. She stood still for a moment before backing up a bit. “...kiosk.”

Picking up the hint of panic in Applejack, Twilight Sparkle quickly spoke, “Everything’s fine, AJ. You don’t need to worry. Well, maybe you can a little right now.” She looked back at the crowd and her ears fell against her head.

“Yeah!” Pinkie added. “Varky’s not gonna keep it up for much longer, is he?” Varkrai’s eye twitched as Pinkie looked back up at him.

“V- Varky?” Applejack repeated, taking a few more steps backward.

Twilight Sparkle motioned her hoof for Applejack to sit next to her. “It’s... a long story. I’ll tell you about it more later. You might not want to be in his line of sight.”

“Uh... some explainin’ now would be nice...” Applejack muttered, hesitating to take a single step in the direction of the pastry shop. She forced a lump down her throat as Varkrai glanced at her for a second, Applejack quickly stepping to Twilight’s side and into the shade of the awning.

“He’s a thingy from another dimension here to help us fight against other invading species so that Equestria isn’t run over by other worldy monsters here to take over us!” Pinkie Pie spouted out, grinning at Applejack. “Also he’s grumpy.”

Applejack worriedly kept her eyes on Pinkie for a second before she leaned to Twilight. “She hasn’t been gettin’ more of that stuff from Zecora, has she?” Applejack whispered to the unicorn.

“Zecora stopped making it after Ponyville had to be quarantined last time,” Twilight reassured quietly. “Besides, Pinkie’s not just talking nonsense. As crazy as the situation might sound, she pretty much just summed it up.”

Poking Twilight, Applejack leaned closer to her and raised an eyebrow. “Are ya sure Zecora stopped makin’ it?”

Twilight pushed the orange pony lightly. “I’m sure.” She looked back up at Varkrai. “Equus isn’t alone anymore.”

“Do you think we should do something?” Pinkie asked, pointing out at the crowd. “I don’t think they’re gonna stop until he gets down.” The crowd had grown noticeably louder, and some ponies were starting to yell threats rather than complaints.

“I don’t think it would do much,” Twilight presumed. “Not even they are getting his attention, and even you could hear them down the street, Applejack.”

“Well, I reckon we should at least try,” suggested the orange mare. “Them ponies don’t look like they’re gonna keep things to using their voices for much longer.” She blanched slightly at Varkrai. “Uh... as in we I mean you two.”

As Twilight and Pinkie stood up onto their hooves, Twilight tugged Applejack along with her. “Come on, AJ. He’s not going to hurt you. He hasn’t done anything to the crowd. He’s not going to do anything to us.”

“Uh... well... it’s just that...” Applejack tried to say as Twilight dragged her by the tail with a levitation spell. She sighed with defeat as Twilight continued bringing her along, lifting her hooves up slightly to stop them from digging into the ground.

The yells of the crowd grew to the point where Pinkie, Twilight, and Applejack could barely hear each other talk as they got closer. They shielded their eyes from the strong winds slashing down at them and tried to keep their manes out of their faces as best as they could. From the perspective of actually being in the crowd, the three could see why the ponies were so upset with Varkrai, not only because of the wind, but because he could hear them completely fine. He just didn’t care.

“Wow,” Pinkie spoke over the crowd to Twilight. “I don’t think it’s gonna be easy to get his attention, or convince him to stop, either.”

“Pinkie’s right, we should probably go,” Applejack nervously added. “I’m sure he’ll be just fine up there for a while longer.”

“And distract all of your customers away?” Twilight asked.

“There’s... always tomorrow...?” Applejack began, though she quickly nodded. “Alright, alright. I suppose it’ll be good to get him down. But how? He’s more caught up in what he’s doing than a fruit bat around zap apples.”

“I don’t think yelling at him’s going to do much,” Twilight concluded, her ears starting to hurt from the ponies around her. “What about your party cannon, Pinkie?”

Pinkie Pie scratched her head. “It’s being repaired right now. I guess I didn’t design it for launching baby drago-” She quickly stopped and laughed uneasily as Twilight raised an eyebrow. “I mean... plates of... spaghetti?”

Shaking her head, Twilight looked up at Varkrai. “That explains why Spike hasn’t been quite himself lately.”

“Well, you’re a unicorn, Twilight! Why don’t you use some of your magical magicy magic stuff to get his attention?” Pinkie suggested.

“Doesn’t sound like too bad of an idea,” Applejack agreed. “Why not give it a whirl? Something has to get him down before all of Ponyville gets mad at him.”

“I... guess it’s worth a shot,” Twilight said apprehensively. She remembered back in the library when Varkrai had pointed out her magic as some sort of a threat. Considering his attitude towards Equestria and its inhabitants so far, she didn’t know how he would react to any use of magic, neither did she know if that reaction would be violent or not. Twilight Sparkle clenched her teeth as she stared up at Varkrai, hesitant to build a single levitation spell within her horn. With the rising anger of the crowd and threats becoming more common in the constant blares, Twilight Sparkle shook her head and concentrated on her magic. Careful not to directly hit Varkrai, she aimed her horn slightly off to his side, trying to get the timing right so she wouldn’t hit his wing. She didn’t want to know what would happen if she did. As his wings came up for another swoop downwards, she figured it was the right time to act. A light magic bullet concentrated at the tip of her horn, Twilight held her breath, and clenching her teeth as tight as she could, fired the spell. Varkrai’s reaction was one she was hoping she wouldn’t get.

As soon as the magic bullet raced past Varkrai’s head and just barely clipped his wing, his cold, sharpened, and flared eyes locked down on the crowd below, and the fury of the crowd died from an inferno to a petty ember. In what seemed impossible for his fixed position in the air, Varkrai shot down from the area above the crowd down to the ground within a second, just barely an inch away from crushing the ponies in front of Twilight Sparkle. It was clear who his eyes were fixed on, and he made his intent even more clear with his hand suddenly wrapped around Twilight Sparkle’s neck, lifting her up to stand her on her back hooves. The area around him and Twilight had cleared as soon as Varkrai had landed, though Pinkie Pie and Applejack remained where they were, and even though they wanted to do something, interfering with the situation would only make it worse. In the time that Varkrai had grabbed onto Twilight, his other hand had collected enough solance to engulf it, the flaming glove of solance suspended at the side of his head. His fingers spread out as if he were ready to crush something in his fist.

Twilight Sparkle, pulling lightly at Varkrai’s arm, stared at him as she attempted to move her head backwards. The grip he had on her was loose enough to the point where it wasn’t choking her, but tight enough to keep her in place. Varkrai’s pupils had narrowed to the point where they were barely thicker than the edge of a razor, focused completely on making sure that Twilight didn’t try anything else. Knowing this, Twilight Sparkle restrained herself from casting anymore magic, though her mind begged her to do so to get out of Varkrai’s grasp. The glove of solance around Varkrai’s right hand slowly convinced Twilight to stop moving around, and she eventually came to a stop, staring frightfully back into Varkrai’s surprised and antagonized eyes. The silence of the crowd around the two amplified the anger in Varkrai’s breathing, though he quickly silenced it on instinct. His glare didn’t falter as he maintained his sight on Twilight Sparkle, and it seemed to look at her with betrayal rather than realization at what he was doing.

His eyes relaxing, Varkrai glanced off to the side at Pinkie, who fretfully stood with a hoof raised, though she remained where she stood. Varkrai didn’t need to look at Applejack to know what she was feeling, as he could hear her muttering under her breath as she tried to say something. The crowd, despite their silence, let Varkrai know without words that what he was doing had them frightened, their trembles barely audible over the distant, oblivious chatter of the rest of Ponyville.

Varkrai looked back at Twilight and tightened his grip, Twilight beginning to move around again. “You have thirty seconds to tell me why I shouldn’t kill you and leave this dimension without help,” he spoke in a murmur. His hand beside his head twitched.

Feeling the pressure on her neck faintly lift, Twilight Sparkle tugged at Varkrai’s arm before she whispered, “I- I didn’t mean to hit you. I’m sorry, I am. P- please let go of me.”

“Then why did you do it in the first place?” Varkrai asked with his teeth clenched.

Twilight Sparkle looked around at the crowd for a brief moment. “You weren’t paying attention. I... I had to get you to stop somehow. Everypony’s work to get the leaves out of the street was being blown around.” She pulled on his arm again. “I’m sorry. I didn’t want everypony to be upset.”

Varkrai squinted his eyes at Twilight. He could feel her trying to force her way back out of his fingers, and her hooves squeezed his arm to push it down from her. A silent, culpable exhale escaping his nose, Varkrai let his hand relax from Twilight Sparkle’s neck. The unicorn hurriedly backed away from him with Pinkie and Applejack quickly walking to her side. Varkrai slipped his hands into his pockets as he looked around at the crowd of ponies, each of them ducking down as his glare swept across them. Their worry had died down substantially, though they still remained cautious of him. Varkrai set his gaze back on the three friends gathered together. His eyes rested and his figure deflated slightly as he saw them huddled together, Varkrai glancing at the ground before he turned around and begun to walk.

All eyes remained on the feer as he calmly moved his way to the edge of the crowd, the ponies in his way stepping sideways and cowering subtly as he passed. Varkrai kept his eyes forward and his back to the crowd in front of Sugar Cube Corner, and after he was far enough away, he gently flapped his wings, lifting him up into the air higher and higher until he was level with the clouds. The crowd of ponies didn’t take long to disperse after Varkrai flew out of sight over the houses of Ponyville, some of them grumbling angry to one another and others thanking Twilight for doing something about him. Sugar Cube Corner was left with only a few ponies left, Twilight, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack still watching the sky should Varkrai come back. The atmosphere remained void of the feer as long as they watched the clouds pass by, and all three of them looked back down at each other with a feeling of relief that Varkrai had gone.

“I think that could’ve gone better,” Applejack muttered. She examined Twilight Sparkle’s neck. “Are you alright, sugar cube? He didn’t look like he was holding back.”

“Yeah... I’m fine,” Twilight said, rubbing her throat lightly.

“Are you sure? You don’t really sound all that cheery,” Pinkie Pie noted.

“Yes, yes, I’m alright.” Twilight peeked at the sky for a second. “It probably wasn’t the best idea to shoot at him, anyways.” She shook her head and furrowed her brow. “Still, he could’ve at least taken a less physical approach.”

“You did kinda shoot at him,” Pinkie added.

“And he kinda-” Twilight began. She quickly stopped herself. “Nevermind. Where do you think he went?”

Applejack peered in the direction Varkrai flew off in. “Looks like he headed towards the east orchards of Sweet Apple Acres. I couldn’t say where he’s goin’ exactly. Should we go check the orchard?”

Stretching out her neck one last time, Twilight Sparkle nodded and looked up at the sky with her friends. “Let’s just hope he doesn’t manage to get into any more trouble. I don’t think he’s quite familiar with what’s normal in Equestria. Let’s go.”

______________________________________________________________________

“Eee-ya! Take that, ya darn whippersnapper! Whataya done with Apple Bloom!? Big Mac! There’s a hairless monkey in the orchard! Get the hose!” Granny Smith shouted from behind a wheel barrow full of apples, peeking over the top of it while hurling an apple every other time.

Varkrai stood still where he was with a null expression, kicking away the apples that rolled past while the others that struck him casually bounced off. The middle of the dirt road was littered with leaves and rotten apples, a pile of them at the feer’s feet. He remained still no matter the fruit being thrown at him, wiping off the juice that splattered on his sweatshirt occasionally with his other hand in his pocket. Varkrai kept his words to himself and only glared at the old, cranky mare launching apples at him as if he were target practice, though her aim kept Varkrai laughing inside.

“He’s a strong one!” Granny Smith called back to the barn. “Where’s the hose, Big Mac!? I heard these things don’t like getting wet! Douse ‘im!”

One apple after the other plopping against his chest, Varkrai rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, leaning to the side and lowering his brow.

“Give me back my darlin’ Apple Bloom! I know you took her! Where are ya keepin’ her!? I’ll give you all the apples you want! Big Mac! The hose!” Granny Smith continued. Starting to get exhausted, the apples she threw only fell in front of the wheel barrow and rolled to Varkrai’s feet.

“I don’t have your ‘Apple Bloom’,” Varkrai spoke loudly. He swatted an apple out of the air as Granny Smith used the last of her strength. “And you can stop throwing whatever these things are at me!”

“It talks! It communicates! Don’t let it brain wash you, Big Mac! Where’s the hose!?” Granny Smith shouted, panting profusely.

“Granny, what is goin’ on over here?” a smaller, yellow pony asked as she emerged from the trees around the dirt path. “You’re gonna wake up all the fruit bats in the west orchard!”

“We’re under attack! Get yer head down!” Granny Smith quickly pulled her grand daughter to the wheel barrow beside her. “Get some apples and let ‘im have it! He’s not takin’ us down without a fight!”

“Let who have it?” asked Apple Bloom. She peeked over the wheel barrow and the apples to find who Granny Smith was yelling about. Varkrai stood in the place where had he been for the past two minutes, eyeing the filly now by Granny Smith’s side.

“Don’t look in its eyes!” Granny Smith quickly yelled, pushing Apple Bloom back down behind the cart of apples. “He’ll turn you into creamed corn and mashed potatoes! Big Mac! Where are you with the hose!?”

“He’s gettin’ the apples from the last few sections of the orchard, Granny!” Apple Bloom said, dropping the apples that Granny Smith shoved in her hooves. “And why are you so uppity about... whoever that is? He’s not doin’ anything!”

“You’re too young to understand war, and he’s trespassin’ on our property! He’s tryin’ to steal the apples! I saw him sneakin’ through the trees!”

Apple Bloom looked over the wheel barrow again. The feer had an apple in his fingers, casually examining it as he held it cautiously by the stem. “He doesn’t seem like he’s tryin’ to steal them, Granny. I think he just wants to talk. Why are you bein’ so mean to him?” Apple Bloom asked.

“You don’t know what mean is until I get my hooves on tapioca!” Granny Smith flung another apple over the wheel barrow. “What’re you just sittin’ there for?”

“Are you done yet?” Varkrai called out, dropping the apple in his hand.

“Uh...” Apple Bloom murmured. She quickly grabbed an apple in Granny Smith’s hoof and tossed it behind her. “Sorry about my grandma. She’s a bit off her rocking chair today.”

“What?” Granny Smith blurted, looking around. “I don’t see my chair anywhere. Did he take over your mind already, Apple Bloom?”

“No, Granny. He’s not taking anypony’s mind!” Apple Bloom said. She turned to the orchards. “Big Mac? Big Macintosh! Where’s Applejack!?”

A few seconds after Apple Bloom’s call, Big Macintosh walked out from the line of trees to the side of the dirt path, a cart filled with apples attached to the harness around his body. He scanned the dilemma on the dirt path leading up to the barn, blankly taking in the situation.

“Last I heard she was at the kiosk in town,” Big Mac flatly spoke. He rested his eyes on Varkrai, who remained in place with his arms crossed, staring down Granny Smith. The pale green mare returned the beam to Varkrai, growling slightly. “Who’s this?”

“Uh... a visitor, I think,” Apple Bloom assumed. “Would you mind takin’ Granny back to the barn?”

“Nope,” Big Mac slowly made his way over to Granny Smith, gently dragging her backwards. Varkrai and the mare continued glaring at each other as Granny slowly retreated back to the barn, the low thumps of a drum almost audible.

Apple Bloom gazed at Varkrai as the door of the barn further up the path closed with Granny inside, leaving the filly and feer alone on the path. Varkrai shifted his eyes to Apple Bloom once Granny Smith was out of sight, drawing a few conclusions from his impression on her grandmother about what he would be like.

The yellow filly smiled uneasily over the top of the wheel barrow at Varkrai. He remained still. “Maybe I’ll try to find Applejack,” Apple Bloom thought to herself. “Hopefully she’ll know what to do.”

“Are you gonna start throwing more of these red things at me?” Varkrai asked suddenly. He had been surrounded by apples within the amount of time Granny Smith was throwing them at him, a few of them squished from him stepping on them.

“You, uh, don’t have to worry about that anymore, for now,” Apple Bloom spoke slowly. She walked out from behind the wheel barrow and hesitantly moved closer to the feer, though stopped ultimately as he uncrossed his arms.

Varkrai looked over Apple Bloom’s stature before sighing and raising his hands as if he were surrendering. “Whatever you think I’m going to do, it’s probably not gonna happen, alright? You don’t need to go all stiff whenever I move.” He let his hands slap against his sides and his shoulders drooped. “Is there anything in this place that you ponies aren’t afraid of?”

Not sure of the question was meant to be audible, Apple Bloom chuckled awkwardly and ignored it. “What’s your name? My names Apple Bloom, if you didn’t hear my grandma. And sorry about her. She’s a bit... cooky.”

The feer glanced at the barn in the distance after noticing a pale green shade hovering in the window. “Varkrai Solvus Dulensix, or just Varkrai to you.” He set his eyes on Apple Bloom. “You wouldn’t happen to know what time it is, would you?”

Apple Bloom looked to the barn, and slightly jumped at the sight of Granny Smith frowning out at the path. She shuttered and turned back to Varkrai. “No, I don’t. Sorry. If I can ask you, have you seen my sister Applejack anywhere around here?” She opened her eyes wider as Varkrai gave her a blank stare. “Oh, right. She’s orange coated, three apples for a cutie mark, yellow mane tied up with a red ribbon, same deal with her tail.”

Turning around to see which way he had taken from inner Ponyville to the orchard, he found that his answer would be quite simpler than he expected. “Unless your sister’s changed in the past half an hour, she’s coming down the path right now,” he replied as he rotated back to face Apple Bloom.

A smile on her face, Apple Bloom leaned to the side to peer down the path behind Varkrai. Applejack trotted down the dirt road in a hurry, though her pace soon slowed to a walk as her eyes focused on Varkrai. The feer stepped to the side as she came close and blankly stared at her, folding his arms.

Varkrai motioned his head to Apple Bloom, Applejack worriedly switching her eyes from the feer to her sister with her hooves halting on the track. “She’s been looking for you, apparently,” he spoke.

With a small nod in recognition, Applejack hurriedly trotted past Varkrai to her sister. Applejack, keeping her eyes on Varkrai, brought Apple Bloom behind the wheel barrow and hushed her voice, looking back down at the yellow filly. “I want you to go to the barn and stay with Big Macintosh, okay?” Applejack insisted to her sister.

“What? Why?” asked Apple Bloom.

The orange mare glimpsed at Varkrai for a second. “He didn’t hurt you, did he?”

“Who? Him? No, he didn’t. Why are you so jumpy? Did something happen?”

Applejack jumped slightly as she heard Varkrai’s feet shift around. “No, no, nothin’ happened. Just go to the barn, alright? I’ll be up in a bit.”

“I... I guess.”

Apple Bloom gave her sister a strange and troubled expression before she sulked her way up the path to the barn. She watched her sister take in a few deep breaths behind the wheel barrow before she kept her eyes ahead of her, gradually taking step after step up to the end of the path.

“So?” Varkrai called out. “Where did your friends go?”

Applejack slowly stepped out from behind the wheel barrow, averting her head from Varkrai slightly. She only took brief glances at him, the feer standing with his hands in his pockets. “They’re... looking for ya. We figured we’d come and find you. Twilight said that she wanted to ask-”

“I didn’t hurt her, did I?”

Startled slightly, Applejack peeked out from her side. Varkrai had his head lowered a little and his eyes at the ground, though he kept the same stoic expression on his face. “Uh... no, you didn’t. She’s quite alright.”

Varkrai sighed and picked his head up. “Good. Your name is Applejack, right?”

The mare nodded, lifting a hoof limply.

“You’re friends with Pinkie Pie and Twilight?”

She nodded again.

Varkrai scratched his head. “I have to get going somewhere soon. Next time you see them, I’d be grateful if you could tell them that I’m sorry for my actions. It’s just... I’m still getting used to everything not trying to kill me for once. You can tell them that I’d be fine with talking it out once I get back from Canterlot. You’re welcome to talk with us if they’re okay with the situation.”

Applejack’s words hesitated to come out of her mouth, “Uh... sure thing. I’ll be sure to let them know... what’s your name?”

“Varkrai.” He took a quick glimpse up at the sun. It sat just about in the middle of the sky, just barely leaning off center. He brought his gaze back down to Applejack. “Thank you, for doing this for me. I’ll see you some time later.”

The feer had already left before Applejack could respond to him, his wings sending the leaves on the dirt path twirling into the air. Applejack watched Varkrai fly amongst the clouds for a while until he faded through the sunlight. She took a deep breath in ever since she had been holding it when she first saw him on the path, starting to wonder why he chose to go to Sweet Apple Acres over anywhere else in Ponyville. The thought out of mind, Applejack recollected herself as she realized the mess that was the path she stood on. With a shake of her head, she slowly walked along the dirt up to the barn, occasionally twitching her eyes at the sky. The evening she had saw the wings on the mountainside, now knowing that they were Varkrai’s, sent a chill up her spine. She shivered at the thought of coming face to face with him again.

______________________________________________________________________

“Noitorum, wake up,” Varkrai spoke quietly, tapping at himself.

A low grumble resonated in the air around him.

“Did I just pick up some attitude?” asked Varkrai, tapping more on his chest.

“Hmmf...” Noitorum groaned. “You’re damn right you did...”

“You sure that’s a good idea?” Varkrai extended his arm out and slammed his fist against his chest, smiling at the sound of Noitorum gasping and covering her mouth.

“Okay, okay! I’ll get up...” muttered Noitorum. “You know that’s so much louder in here than it is out there. Just give me a second.”

“I’ll be waiting.”

Varkrai leaned his head back against the wall of a building behind him, closing his eyes and listening to the sounds of Canterlot from the alley way. Common topics seemed to be the events of yesterday’s door-kicking maniac and the meeting of the other cities’ representatives with Celestia, though Varkrai could barely tolerate the ponies’ accents. Hooves trotted along the paved roads and an occasional haughty burst of laughter echoed through the streets. Varkrai turned his head to the end of the alley way, taking survey of the ponies that passed by. With their heads tilted up and their eyes almost shut, they didn’t even take notice of the feer observing them. They continued on with their day as any other, and even through the rumors of yesterday, they seemed like they couldn’t care about anything else. It was obvious to Varkrai already that they were of the higher class, with the structure of the city and the royalty placed so near to them. The stability of the social class seemed odd to him, the majority of them unicorns, but nothing would save Varkrai’s growing distain for them.

“Are you coming or what?” Varkrai asked, looking back in the alley.

“Hang on, hang on. Don’t need to be so pushy,” Noitorum quickly answered.

“It’s hard not to when it usually only takes you ten seconds to get out here.”

A quick, loud ring shot into the air, Varkrai gently setting his eyes on Noitorum as she materialized beside him. She punched his shoulder as quickly as she could.

“What was that for?” Varkrai questioned as he almost toppled over.

“That was for rushing me,” Noitorum replied, a smug expression on her face.

Varkrai sneered at her. “You were gonna hold us back from speaking with Princess what’s-her-face. You’re the one that suggested we help them, aren’t you?”

Crossing her arms, Noitorum walked past Varkrai, staring him in his eyes. “Her name is Princess Celestia, and just because I suggested we help them doesn’t mean they need us at every single moment. At least a month before we need to worry, right? We have plenty of time to teach and prepare them for what’s coming.” She pushed against the walls of the alley as her wings wedged in between them. “Why’d you have to pick such a small place to wait for me? I feel like I’m getting crushed in here.”

“Because I didn’t want the ponies to start freaking out before I even took a step in the streets,” Varkrai explained, tucking his wings in and walking towards Noitorum. “It was hard enough to dive in here in the first place without any of them seeing me.” He poked at Noitorum’s stomach, who was having a hard time maneuvering her wings to turn around. “Can we go now?”

“Well, maybe if you would’ve picked somewhere where I wouldn’t have to do a front flip to turn myself around...” Noitorum muttered. “You know my wingspan is a bit bigger.” With a quick push against the wall, she shoved her way around in the alley, eventually facing the streets of Canterlot. She looked angrily back at Varkrai, the black winged feer grinning behind a hand. “If I didn’t miss seeing you smile...” Noitorum grumbled as she focused back ahead of her.

Varkrai placed a hand between her wings. “Let’s go. Celestia’s probably waiting for us right now. We’re not far from where she told us to meet her.”

The two feers slowly made their way out of the alley way, stepping out into the afternoon sunlight of Canterlot’s streets. The stores on the sides of the roads bubbled with overly dressed unicorns, almost all of them talking with their heads tilted back. With the city’s inhabitants stepping delicately on the pavement as not to scratch their hooves, the louder, rougher footsteps of the feers walking along the side of the street attracted quite the amount of attention. Anything out of the ordinary in Canterlot seemed to be stared down at with shame, and as Noitorum looked around at the ponies, she got a sense that she and Varkrai weren’t exactly welcome. Some of the ponies glaring at them with anger and others hiding away slightly in fear, Varkrai and Noitorum’s appearance back in Canterlot seemed refined from the day before, though only slightly. Varkrai wasn’t kicking doors down and Noitorum wasn’t yelling at him to stop, but Noitorum couldn’t tell if it was because they were being generally normal or something else that was keeping the ponies from running away.

“Varkrai?” Noitorum whispered, tugging at his sleeve. The noise of the area had grown noticeably quieter.

He maintained his eyes ahead of him, his hands tucked in his pockets. “Hmm?”

“Don’t stop whatever you’re doing. I think we’re somewhat less of a threat. Do you think Celestia said something to them over night?”

Varkrai ran his eyes over the ponies in the street. Most of them kept their heads up high, continuing with their day as if nothing was different, though some of them still had their eyes angled towards the two feers in curiosity. “I don’t know,” he spoke, looking back where he was walking. “I’m fairly sure she didn’t say anything about it when we were talking with her. Maybe she announced something about us earlier today. It’d probably be a wise thing to do. Trust might be out of the option if someone comes to your home and breaks down your door and leaves a second later. The residents didn’t look too happy, and the guards didn’t either when they were helping us clean up.”

Noitorum jabbed Varkrai’s side with her elbow. “I still have a splinter because of you. How did you not think that kicking down the city’s property would back fire later?”

Shrugging his shoulders, Varkrai lightly shoved Noitorum with his wing. “Oh I knew something would happen. I just wanted to see you get all flustered because of it.”

“Well you’re lucky she didn’t put us under any sort of punishment besides clean-up duty, not to mention the share of doors you’re gonna have to fix later. What would happen if she made you pay for all that?” Varkrai remained silent, his face noticeably trying to hide a smile. Noitorum growled, “You’re like a walking canister of aggravation and stoicism.”

“That’s it?” Varkrai asked with a smirk, nudging Noitorum’s arm. “I figured you would have a bit more to say than just that. Do I need to get into more trouble to get some of that anger out of you?”

“No, and I don’t need to let out my anger,” Noitorum declared, shooting Varkrai a menacing glare. “I know how to handle myself when it comes to frustration, unlike you. I’m surprised you haven’t taken it upon yourself to lash out at any of the ponies yet, although I suppose I might have had something to do with that.”

Varkrai’s smirk straightened out and he felt his hands loosen subconsciously. He gently sighed and put his arm around Noitorum, bringing her against his side. “Yeah yeah, and I thank you for it. You’re a part of me, aren’t you? I guess you manage to have a better grip on my good side than I do.”

“You have your own good side,” Noitorum spoke quietly, smiling. “And I have mine. Maybe you should learn to let out the good and give the bad a bit of a break every once and a while.”

“Oh? But what fun would that be?”

Noitorum giggled and lightly pushed Varkrai away from her. “Fun without all the verbal lashings and angry glares.” She poked at his side as he let out a snicker. “I mean it. You’re not gonna make many friends here if you don’t stop being such an ass. And speaking of friends, I see you might have made one, maybe? Who was that pony that you brought with you back from Canterlot?”

“She wasn’t a friend. Just someone that looked like she needed some help.” Varkrai shook his head. “I’m sure she’ll be out of my hair within the week.”

“Aw, come on. Why do you have to be so mean to the ponies?”

Rolling his eyes, Varkrai growled quietly. “Because I don’t like them, and they don’t like me. I don’t know what Pinkie Pie’s deal is, but I hope she’s only trying to get me on my good side. I don’t think I can stand another second around her.”

A smirk on her face, Noitorum leaned into Varkrai slightly. “You know, I think, deep down inside, you like being bugged.”

Varkrai stepped off to the side almost causing Noitorum to topple over. “And deep down inside I think you’re plotting to make me lose my mind.” He shifted his eyes up at a large tower sliding out from the corner of the buildings lining the street. “Looks like we’re almost there. Say we fly the rest of the way?”

Still collecting herself from stumbling around, a mysterious glint shimmered within Noitorum’s eye as she heard the question. Casually, she stood up straight and stopped with Varkrai as he turned to her, fixing her hair. “Well... I guess we could fl- race to the tower! Threetwoone go!”

The launch Noitorum made off of the ground sent the leaves around her and Varkrai sailing into the air, twirling in the wind as Noitorum gained a heavy lead on her fellow feer. Already behind far enough, Varkrai let out a puff of unimpressed laughter before he shot up into the air as well. A challenge was hard for him to pass up.